Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer/Character Customization/Infiltrator

While focusing on taking out enemies from afar without detection, Infiltrators also specialize in flanking and misdirection, serving to disorient the opponent.

Human Infiltrator
Humans joined the galactic community after discovering a Prothean data cache on Mars in 2148. Their devotion to understanding and adapting to modern warfare left the staid Council races stunned. Humanity's persistence and unflappable spirit has taken them further than anyone in the galaxy could have imagined.

Human infiltrators focus on taking out enemies from afar without detection, but they also specialize in flanking and misdirection, allowing their allies to make short work of disorientated opponents on the battlefield.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * Cryo Blast can freeze unshielded and unarmored enemies, making them much easier to headshot. However, it is much more valuable to max out the other powers, as Cryo Blast does not do significant damage on any difficulty higher than bronze unlike Sticky Grenades, which can be upgraded to do lots of damage to one target.
 * As Human Infiltrators have no really damaging offensive powers with a cool down, it is worth foregoing the Power & Capacity/Power Damage/Weapon Weight ranks of Alliance Training in order to maximize weapon and headshot damage.
 * Sticky Grenades are perfect for escaping situations whilst damaging enemies, as they have no cooldown and will not break your Tactical Cloak when thrown, allowing an Infiltrator to retreat throwing grenades, whilst under cloak.
 * A duration maxed Tactical Cloak is very useful on Gold, when it allows a player to be invisible for the time it takes to activate an objective (such as Signal Boosters etc).


 * Cerberus
 * Cryo Blast is more useful here due to the number of enemies that can be frozen, since, barring Atlases, all Cerberus unit have health. If combined with a player who has a shield stripping power, such as Arc Grenade, Cryo Blast can be used in tandem to snap freeze groups of enemies if the increased radius evolution is chosen.
 * Cryo Blast can also be useful if a Phantom gets too close to your squad - it will slow her down significantly, allowing for retreat/headshots.
 * A Sticky Grenade can be used to eliminate whole groups of Guardians and Troopers by, if the increased radius evolution is chosen, sticking it to a low ceiling above them. They will rarely ever dodge it, and it ignores the Guardians shields as it damages them from the top down. Alternatively, a grenade can be stuck directly to a Guardians shield, which can kill them.
 * Tactical Cloak can allow the player to sneak out of close quarters situations, and to sneak past Guardians and attack them from behind if it is too tricky to shoot them through the slit in their shields.
 * On bronze, it is advisable to have maximised Sticky Grenade damage and to equip Grenade Capacity gear - this way, you can take down Atlases with ease by sticking up to 8 grenades to them, and this can be accomplished without breaking cloak.


 * Reapers
 * Cryo Blast is virtually useless, unless you have a problem dealing with Husks that run in - Cannibals are already slow moving enough, and it is not worth it to level it up to only really be useful against Marauders. In addition, it has negligible effect on the multitude of armoured enemies.
 * Sticky Grenades, when levelled up to do max damage to armour, can be used to instantly eliminate Brutes and Ravagers. They have the additional bonus that they will kill any Swarmers that appear with their area of effect damage. However, it is inadvisable to use them against Banshees unless they have had their barrier already removed - they are likely to biotic jump out of the way, wasting the grenade.
 * Sticky Grenades are very effective against Reaper enemies, given their propensity to stick together in groups. This allows a player to take down multiple enemies with only one grenade, as the area of effect damage will be utilised to the max.


 * Geth
 * Cryo Blast is only useful here for slowing down Geth Hunters that get too close, or freezing them solid if they have no shields. Apart from that, it is not useful to have Cryo Blast when fighting the geth - the high damage that can be done from Sticky Grenades and getting headshots whilst in Tactical Cloak is much more useful.
 * Headshots can be performed on all geth units, allowing for heavy damage to be inflicted easily with just a sniper rifle.


 * Collectors
 * The Human Infiltrator is useful for taking out hardened enemies and sniping from afar.
 * Cryo Blast is good at weakening armored targets like the Praetorian and the Scion, and using the power on unarmored targets, along with sticky grenade, will pull off powerful cryo explosions to decimate the target.

Salarian Infiltrator
Salarians have a high-speed metabolism that allows them to function on just one hour of sleep a day. They also process information much faster than other sentient races.

Salarian infiltrators specialize in long-range suppression, flanking, and stealth-based combat. These agile combatants are deadly and difficult to detect on the battlefield.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * Energy Drain is the biggest asset of a salarian Infiltrator. It allows them to not only inflict heavy shield damage against enemies but to also repair their own shields.
 * Proximity Mine can be used very effectively even on higher difficulties as, if it detonates whilst the player is in cloak, it can do lots of damage. However, it is worth maximizing one or the other but not both of Energy Drain and Proximity Mine in order to have maximum shields and weapon damage, and one very strong offensive power.
 * A duration maxed Tactical Cloak is very useful on Gold, when it allows a player to be invisible for the time it takes to activate an objective (such as Signal Boosters etc). Without the duration bonus a cloak will barely last halfway through a device (de-)activation.
 * Because the Tactical Cloak's cooldown is based on the length of time it is used, salarian Infiltrators should consider a heavy weapons loadout. Using for example a Valiant or Krysae with a Claymore can offer unprecedented firepower and so long as you use the Cloak judiciously, you can retain a 3 second cooldown as opposed to for example, 20 seconds. This can also be used in tandem with Energy Drain too, you could use the Cloak, then the Drain immediately afterwards and still maintain a 3 second cooldown. Just remember to break the cloak after a period of time has passed. This also subsequently bypasses the biggest weakness of an Infiltrator, which is the inability to regenerate shields when using Tactical Cloak on a regular basis. What it does not do however is protect you from enemies bypassing the "Shield Gate" aspect of your overall status if you have not had adequate time to properly recover (the time shields and health take to recover naturally).


 * Cerberus
 * Proximity Mine is arguably more useful than Energy Drain against Ceberus on lower difficulties - when fully upgraded, it can be used like a grenade with a cool down, allowing for takedown of groups of troopers.
 * However, on higher difficulties Energy Drain is much more effective as it can strip the shields/barrier from a multitude of the harder enemies, allowing for fast elimination of Phantoms and Nemeses.
 * Energy Drain can be used to remove the shields of Centurions, exposing them to a headshot, especially as it can momentarily stagger them.
 * Tactical Cloak can allow Infiltrators to sneak out of close quarters situations, and to sneak past Guardians and attack them from behind if it is too tricky to shoot them through the slit in their shields. This problem can be countered however by using a Piercing Mod on a weapon, as it then mitigates the need to aim for the hole in the shields. One should still be careful around Guardians however as they can flank you, or let other troops flank you while you are trying to deal with said enemies. Since the update, the Tactical Cloak's duration has been drastically decreased, and therefore is not as effective for avoiding said enemies.


 * Reapers
 * Proximity Mine is infinitely more useful against all of the Reaper troops except for Banshees. It can be used to guard against Husks/Swarmers that come to close, and does decent damage to armoured enemies.
 * However on higher difficulties, it is better to equip a harder hitting weapon such as the Javelin to deal with these armoured enemies, and max out Energy Drain to strip the barriers from Banshees, stopping them from getting any closer to you.
 * Tactical Cloak is incredibly useful, as it allows the player to retreat safely from a Brute/Banshee that has got too close.


 * Geth
 * The salarian is one of the best Infiltrator races to play as when fighting the geth as a player can use a maxed out Energy Drain to not only restore shields completely but to reduce the damage they take by 40% for ten seconds, after which they can simply use it on another target.
 * Salarians looking to play Gold should grab Damage instead of Armor Boost; this will ensure that Drain removes all of the shields from weaker enemies.
 * Proximity mine is comparatively redundant, as a player can instead use the headshots that can be performed on all geth enemies (except Primes) to do high damage to them. As well as this, the use of Energy Drain is far more useful since it can strip both shields and energy from geth units.
 * Despite their power, Hunters should be targeted as a priority, since the Hunters are more than capable of flanking you, and your team, and subsequently stunning or incapacitating you and them.
 * Energy Drain with the radius upgrade can be used to effectively reveal cloaked Hunters, even by accidentally using it on other nearby enemies.


 * Collectors
 * The salarian is somewhat useful against this faction. Energy Drain is good against barriers and replenishes your own while draining theirs.
 * Another useful technique is to use the Proximity Mine to debuff enemies, with the Damage Taken evolution of the power, then use a powerful Sniper Rifle or Shotgun to take down the enemy quickly.

Quarian Infiltrator
Quarians have spent centuries at perpetual salvage and ship repair; the survival of their species depends on this technical expertise.

Quarian infiltrators are elite support specialists with a talent for setting up ambushes. Their technical wizardry makes them crucial contributors on the battlefield.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * Sticky Grenades are perfect for escaping situations whilst damaging enemies, as they have no cooldown and will not break your Tactical Cloak when thrown, allowing an Infiltrator to retreat throwing grenades, whilst under cloak.
 * A duration maxed Tactical Cloak's Duration evolution allows a player to be invisible for the time it takes to activate/eliminate an objective (such as Signal Boosters etc).
 * In addition to the hacking ability, Sabotage is fairly useful for its brief stun effect. As almost all but the most powerful enemies have guns, stunning them briefly allows much easier headshots, killing infantry level enemies and severely damaging others.  The excellent damage-to-weight ratio of the M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle allows you to do this more often, and reload-canceling lets a player fire shots more often.
 * Players could rely on Tactical Cloak's quickened cooldown. By activating Tactical Cloak and immediately using the power, this reduces the cool down to about 3 seconds because it uses the Tactical Cloak's cool down instead of Sabotage's. Combined with a quick sniper shot, this allows for heavier load outs while still keeping lower cool downs and using the damage bonus from the cloak.


 * Cerberus
 * A Sticky Grenade can be used to eliminate whole groups of Guardians and Troopers by, if the increased radius evolution is chosen, sticking it to a low ceiling above them. They will rarely ever dodge it, and it ignores the Guardians shields as it damages them from the top down. Alternatively, a grenade can be stuck directly to a Guardians shield, which can kill them.
 * Tactical Cloak can allow the player to sneak out of close quarters situations, and to sneak past Guardians and attack them from behind if it is too tricky to shoot them through the slit in their shields.
 * On bronze, it is advisable to have maximised Sticky Grenade damage and to equip Grenade Capacity gear - this way, you can take down Atlases with ease by sticking up to 8 grenades to them, and this can be accomplished without breaking cloak.
 * Sabotage is fantastic on higher difficulties as it can be used to cause Atlas Mechs to attack their own troops. More importantly, they will also normally have to turn around to do so, allowing the player a bit of respite as they then have to turn back to shoot at the player.
 * Sabotage can also be used on Turrets, which is useful to kill their own nearby master, the Engineers, and other nearby enemies, whilst distracting it from shooting you and your teammates.


 * Reapers
 * Sticky Grenades, when levelled up to do max damage to armour, can be used to instantly eliminate Brutes and Ravagers. They have the additionally bonus that they will kill any Swarmers that appear with their area of effect damage. However, it is inadvisable to use them against Banshees unless they have had their barrier already removed - they are likely to biotic jump out of the way, wasting the grenade.
 * The recent patch made Infiltrators a lot less effective against Reaper units as there are no longer any headshot bonuses against the larger foes, making them the enemy against which there are the fewest headshot bonuses.
 * Sticky Grenades are very effective against Reaper enemies, given their propensity to stick together in groups. This allows a player to take down multiple enemies with only one grenade, as the area of effect damage will be utilised to the max.


 * Geth
 * One of, if not the best class to play as when fighting the geth as Sabotage can turn any geth enemy into a momentary ally. This is very effective when used on Geth Rocket Troopers, as they deal high damage with their rocket launcher and thus can do a lot of damage to their fellow geth in the short time that they are sabotaged. Pyros can also burn through armor and shields very quickly and are also very slow to reach you when the effect wears off. Primes also deal massive damage to anybody around them, but it does not effect their drones or turrets.
 * However, it is important to remember that enemies build up resistance to Sabotage and so can only be used three times on any enemy before it becomes ineffective.
 * When used whilst in Tactical Cloak, depending on how long you stayed in the cloak (or your power recharge speed), Sabotage will use the recharge speed of the cloak instead of its own, meaning you can use it much more regularly. This can allow the player to headshot any enemy (whilst in cloak), Sabotage it before the cloak breaks and then headshot it again whilst it is attacking its allies.
 * Grenades can be used against the Pyros and Primes, but it would probably be better to use Sabotage since it will more than likely inflict more damage than a Grenade ever will, especially on Gold.
 * In some sense, Sabotage can also be used like a mobile bomb although a little unorthodox and slightly unreliable when the target has been hit multiple times with Sabotage. However used correctly, it can be used very effectively to deal significant damage to enemies around the unfortunate victim. Chain this together with other geth, and huge damage can be inflicted to tougher enemies, or smaller enemies can sometimes be killed outright.
 * Deal with Geth Hunters when able, since they can suppress a player's sabotaging skills. Allies with detection powers (i.e. Hunter Mode, Tactical Scan, Recon Mine, etc.) can partially eliminate this threat, but vigilance is the best tactic.
 * When Sabotaging targets, it is usually best to prioritze Geth Hunters and Pyros over other units, since both of these can seriously ruin your day if they get close. While a Sabotaged Geth Prime can do massive damage, it will usually deploy turrets, and then attack them first.  This wastes some of the hack's duration, and prevents the hacked Prime from drawing enemy fire.  Ideally, a Prime should be hacked when other Geth are in very close proximity, so that it will prioritize them as targets.


 * Collectors
 * The quarian is of almost no use here, since none of the Collectors are synthetic, they cannot be hacked. However, trooper level enemies can have their weapons sabotaged and done large amounts of damage.
 * If one wishes to emphasize on Sticky Grenades, one should choose a high rate-of-fire weapon to compensate for lack of barrier stripping powers.
 * Although, one could take a different route to focus on powers. If you wish to focus on powers and fill more of a support role, you should equip a light assualt rifle, like the Avenger or a Revenant (at level 10) (you can even use a Hurricane effectively, and lowering your cooldown), and a harder hitting heavy pistol, like a Talon or the Carnifex, using Sabotage to shock lower level enemies, and using your weapons to deal with barriers and armor.

Geth Infiltrator
The geth are a humanoid race of networked AIs that were created by the quarians 300 years ago as tools of labor and war. Having since won their freedom from their creators, the geth have proven they are able to reason, analyze situations, and deploy tactics as well as any organic race so long as they remain networked with other geth.

Geth hunters converge quickly on a target while remaining undetected. Unique perception systems give geth an unsurpassed understanding of the battlefield.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * This is potentially the most damaging class in Multiplayer, as you can acquire passive weapon damage bonuses from Networked AI and Hunter Mode, an additional bonus from Tactical Cloak, and still more from Proximity Mine. This makes the geth Infiltrator one of the best classes to take down heavy units, due to the high damage that they can put out.
 * Taking into account the geth weapon damage bonuses acquired from Networked AI, it is worth using the Javelin or the Geth Plasma Shotgun on this class in order to maximise damage done.
 * A player can use the ability of the Plasma Shotgun to be charged up, then go into cloak, and then fire without breaking cloak to devastating effect, as it allows for an incredibly powerful attack without losing your cloak. Beware of the "charge-cloak" glitch when using the GPS though; the cloak is prone to instantly deactivating if the player has been using a charged weapon.
 * Having Hunter Mode on allows a player to use the penetration of either the Widow, the Black Widow or the Javelin to great effect, as it outlines enemies through walls and allow a player to then headshot them. However, it comes at the price of incredibly reduced shields, making the player very vulnerable to grenades and rockets, which can kill a player in one hit on gold. Grenades, however, require the enemy to have a straight line of sight on you, in order for the enemy to target you, and on higher difficulties, Grenades one-shot everyone but the most sturdy Krogan. Even without Hunter Mode on, one is likely to be killed by a grenade on Gold. Rockets can't initially shoot through shields, but if shields are not given a chance to regenerate adequately enough, rockets CAN hit through shields. That being said, there is an annoying bug where Rocket Troopers may shoot 2 rockets practically simultaneously. Other than that, both grenades and rockets can be avoided to taking no damage, and the battle information and tactical awareness gained from Hunter Mode can be invaluable regardless.
 * The Javelin's natural Pierce distance is 1m, while the Widow's is 0.5m, while the Black Widow's is 0.25m. Hunter Mode, any of those weapons, and a wall shorter than the applicable distance means easy kills with no worries of fighting back.
 * Hunter Mode allows a deadly strategy on even the highest of difficulties. Knowing exactly where you opponent is, especially their head, even through environment is invaluable information.
 * Defensively, Hunter Mode allows you to defend yourself against enemies by always keeping a wall and some cover between you and them at all times, thus never taking any damage.
 * Offensively, with the aforementioned Sniper Rifles with natural piercing, the player can combine one with Armor Piercing Ammo, a Sniper Rifle Piercing Mod V, and a Sniper Rifle Rail Amp III to be able to penetrate the furthest possible distance of any combined set of weapons and equipment. Combined with Hunter Mode's awareness of where enemies are exactly behind a wall, and you can pierce up to 3.35m of environment with a shot, targeting the head, doing massive damage. The only reduction of damage is the 30% reduction of the Sniper Rifle Piercing Mod, and it is made up for in damage bonuses of the Armor Piercing Ammo and the Extended Barrel, the other advised mod. The only problem is that the Javelin and Widow only have one shot per clip, and Hunter Mode is a passive ability that increases damage dealt with guns and powers but does no damage. If you're shooting through walls completely, the Proximity Mine can be ignored. As such all damage will be coming from weapons, so its recommended to take the Black Widow, as of the 3 sniper rifles which can increase piercing damage, the Black Widow is the only one with a multi-shot clip. The resulting pierce distance is 2.6m. An alternate option is to use the Javelin due to its piercing properties and high damage.
 * With all damage bonuses of Ranks 4 and 6 for Sniper Rifles in Tactical Cloak, and all other damage bonuses it is possible to kill a Prime with 9 shots, 3 clips, and 2 reloads or less.
 * A duration maxed Tactical Cloak is very useful on Gold, when it allows a player to be invisible for the time it takes to activate an objective (such as Signal Boosters etc). That being said, when buying the Rank 4 Damage bonus rank over the Rank 4 Duration bonus rank, one can cloak right before starting a device, and finish mere seconds after the cloak breaks. If timed properly and no one sees you, enemies are unlikely to attack, and you can even use a power right as you're finishing the device and standing, and the Tactical Cloak will override the recharge speed, as it would have anyway.
 * Proximity Mine can be used very effectively even on higher difficulties as, if it detonates whilst the player is in cloak, it can do lots of damage. However, it might be worth maximising either Hunter Mode or Proximity Mine, but not both in order to have maximum shields and weapon damage, and one very strong power.
 * The geth's "light" melee strike is actually slower in execution than the "heavy" shield pulse, which is also capable of doing more damage, to multiple enemies, so it is generally better to use the shield pulse.
 * Note that keeping the melee button held will cause you to continuously send out up to six pulses.
 * The Geth Infiltrator can also excel with a heavy shotgun like the Claymore or Wraith. A cloaked Proximity Mine + Shotgun blast is fatal to all but the most powerful enemies, even on Gold. Don't put points into rank 6 of Tactical Cloak if you want to use a shotgun, though; put them in Advanced Hardware to give you some extra survivability.


 * Cerberus
 * Using both the Javelin and Hunter Mode in concert are effective vs. Cerberus. They render Centurian's smoke grenades useless, pierces through multiple Guardians, reveals cloaked Phantoms, highlights a Trooper's head behind cover, and renders thick cover comparatively redundant.
 * Proximity Mine combined with Hunter Mode's awareness bonuses, can help kill phantoms easily. Use Hunter Mode to first locate, cloak, shoot the ground near their feet with Proximity Mine to stagger and weaken them, then move in or aim for the kill. Repeat until dead.
 * Geth Infiltrators are the only enemies that can truly one shot kill foes even on Gold, but a Javelin and some equipment is needed.


 * Reapers
 * Geth are overkill against Reapers, and as such it would generally be better to play as one of the other Infiltrators, or switch your weapon loadout since the snipers can kill enemies regardless of cloak. If you do opt for the standard Javelin Geth Hunter combo, then you will completely annihilate weaker enemies, and do extreme damage to Brutes, Ravagers, and unprotected Banshees. This'll make you a very powerful support class, but not really ideal for constant work on smaller foes. As such you may want to consider the Valiant, Black Widow, or Indra, if you want to snipe as these will give you more room for error, more shots to kill foes with, and make you more flexible.
 * The Acolyte would prove quite useful against the Banshee, since you can then single handedly take down barriers alongside armor, the Geth Infiltrators main weakness.


 * Geth
 * Both Hunter Mode and the Javelin are fantastic! It allows a player to clearly see any Hunters sneaking up on their squad, and highlights where the head of a hunters is. Headshots can be performed on all geth foes: Geth Pyro's fuel tanks are especially vulnerable points.
 * Shielding can easily be stripped off of heavier enemies by using the Acolyte. This will expose the armor in just a couple of shots.


 * Collectors
 * Geth are very weak, even with Hunter Mode off and Advanced Hardware maxed out. It's advisable to maintain distance/cover/cloak vs. heavy hitters and armoured foes on higher difficulties, like Scions and Praetorians.
 * It may be best to forego the Javelin and instead use a weapon that is a little more versatile I.E. the Valiant, Indra, or Collector Sniper Rifle, or the Acolyte pistol to dispose of the barriers. That will help you to strip barriers from every enemy who has them, and still allow you to deal with enemies who have armor.

Quarian Male Infiltrator
Quarians have spent centuries at perpetual salvage and ship repair; the survival of their species depends on this technical expertise.

Quarian infiltrators are elite support specialists with a talent for setting up ambushes. Their technical wizardry makes them crucial contributors on the battlefield.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * Tactical Scan is one of the most useful powers in game, as it can increase weapon damage taken by a target by up to 32.5%. This allows for incredibly fast takedown of hardened enemies on gold, especially if paired with a damage maxed geth Infiltrator.
 * Due to the Male Quarian Infiltrator having 3 good powers, it can be useful (if unconventional) to maximize all of them along with Quarian Defender in order to do the most damage possible - however, this comes at the price of being physically weak.
 * Arc Grenades can be combined with Tactical Scan to remove the barrier/shields of an enemy very rapidly, as they can do an extra 32.5% damage when Tactical Scan is evolved to maximize power damage.
 * Arc Grenades do not break cloak and as such can be used to kill enemies/take down their shields whilst the player is retreating.
 * Cerberus
 * Tactical Scan can be used to not only eliminate Atlases, but, if placed on a Phantom, also show where a cloaked Phantom is hiding.
 * If the Area Scan evolution is chosen, it allows for easy headshots of Guardians since it displays them in a similar manner to Hunter Mode. It can also be useful for finding cloaked Phantoms without having to target them with it.
 * Arc Grenades are incredibly effective against Cerberus troops, as they can remove the shields from Centurions, Nemeses, Phantoms and Atlases with ease - it is therefore recommended to equip the Grenade Capacity gear in order to be able to spam these for a long period.
 * Reapers
 * Tactical Scan works wonders against the armored units that Reaper forces possess - when used in tandem with Arc Grenades, a player can strip the barrier of a Banshee and then use a sniper rifle to finish her off.
 * However, Arc Grenades are less useful against all other Reaper units, so it might be a good idea to invest points elsewhere.
 * Geth
 * The best enemy to use the Male Quarian Infiltrator against, as Arc Grenades can kill entire groups of enemies with ease, even on gold, since they have such a large area of effect.
 * Arc Grenades can easily be used to remove the shields from multiple Geth Hunters at one time and therefore make them all visible, which is very valuable on gold as Hunters are much more deadly.
 * The Tactical Scan evolution Area Scan can also be used to reveal where Geth Hunters are - however, its effects wear of quickly.
 * Tactical Scan can be used to fantastic effect on Geth Primes - it allows a player to then easily strip its shields with Arc Grenades, and then to kill it with a few sniper rifle shots from Tactical Cloak.
 * However, having all of the non passive powers and Quarian Defender upgraded leaves the player very vulnerable to attack. On gold, a player will die after two hits from a Geth Prime's cannon.
 * Collectors
 * Quarian Infiltrators should not be the first class to choose in battle against the Collectors, since they only have one offensive power, Arc Grenades, and they can only be effective against either armor or barriers, not both.
 * It is best to equip a weapon opposite of what Arc Grenades are evolved to do.(Assualt Rifle and SMG when used against armor, and Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, and Heavy Pistol when used against barriers.)

N7 Shadow Infiltrator
These soldiers are the go-anywhere, fight-anything special forces of the Alliance that were trained at the Interplanetary Combatives Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They had to survive combat situations "in an admirable and effective fashion" to receive the N7 rank. Many N7s now train other species in anti-Reaper asymmetric warfare.

Shadow infiltrators use implants to dramatically improve agility, making them slippery combatants on the battlefield. Their monomolecular blades are a menace from cover and close range.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * Primarily, a Shadow's specialty is to quickly eliminate dangerous or hard to reach enemies while the rest of the team deal with the main force. Key targets include Geth Rocket Troopers, Nemeses, Phantoms, Ravagers and Turrets.
 * When using Shadow Strike, you will cloak and move behind the opponent, even if they are at range. This essentially turns Shadow Strike into an Infiltrator's Charge, allowing unsurpassed mobility around the battlefield.  Shadow Strike can also be rank evolved to provide either; damage reduction or shield drain evolutions of the power.  Couple this with the fact that the N7 Shadow Infiltrator can cloak, and a player can: select targets while shielded from enemy sight, Shadow Strike (which is a melee class attack and as such could couple cloak damage bonuses and dual power use evolutions at rank 6), and return to cover before the target (if still standing) is alert to the player.
 * The rank six shield drain evolution of Shadow Strike will make the N7 Shadow significantly more durable in combat. It functions in a similar manner to Energy Drain; when performing Shadow Strike on a shielded opponent, you will absorb their shields, restoring your own.  Unlike Energy Drain, it will not restore shields when used on unshielded synthetics.
 * With Sword Mastery maxed out in favor of heavy melee damage, and Shadow Strike maxed out in favor of damage, it is possible to kill almost every single enemy in one hit (on Silver) if used with Tactical Cloak. This is true even without the rank 4 Tactical damage evolution.  Even Phantoms can be instantly killed in this manner.  This makes duration a much more appealing option at rank 4, since the Shadow is far better at close range than any other infiltrator.
 * The bonus power evolution of Tactical Cloak is extremely useful for the Shadow, as it allows two Shadow Strikes to be performed before uncloaking (and therefore benefit from the Cloak's damage bonus twice). This allows the cloaked Shadow to dance around the battlefield, taking at two enemies in each cloak. Alternatively, she can cloak, take out a target with Shadow Strike, then return to safety while still cloaked. This gives her some great mobility options for getting out of tough situations.
 * The Shadow performs best when geared around melee damage and power use. For these reasons, a light load-out is recommended.  With the massive damage of their melee attacks, the sheer lethality of Shadow Strike, and the decent crowd control ability Electric Slash, they are well suited to complete a match without firing a single shot.
 * If the Rank 5 Electrical Damage evolution of Shadow Strike is taken, players can detonate it with Electric Slash to create a Tech Burst singlehandedly. This is useful when engaging large enemies who will still be alive after the former - execute a Strike, quickly dodge behind cover, then activate the Slash.  The brief vulnerable period is largely irrelevant since Electric Slash can hit enemies behind solid objects.
 * As always, caution should be exercised when engaging Banshees, Brutes, Atlases, and Phantoms at close range, in order to avoid their insta-kill moves.
 * The rank 4 damage reduction evolution of Shadow Strike can greatly increase your survivability after uncloaking, allowing you to shrug off 40% of all damage for five seconds after performing Shadow Strike. This lets you survive in heated combat until cloak is off cool-down.
 * As with Kasumi's power in Mass Effect 2, Shadow Strike can be a useful distraction. Using it on a powerful enemy such as an Atlas will get its attention, causing it to turn around and redirect its fire from the player's teammates.  A nimble player can dodge the retaliatory strike and escape into cloak, though this is a risky maneuver.
 * While shotguns combine well with Shadow Strike for a close quarters specialized character, equipping a lightweight sniper rifle is also an excellent choice. The resulting character is strong at all ranges, with melee attacks and Shadow Strike (with a short cooldown) covering short-range combat, and the rifle covering long range.  A sniper rifle's scope also allows the player to lock onto enemies for Shadow Strike from further away.
 * For a completely Shadow Strike-oriented Shadow, to retain a cooldown reduction of 200%, a heavy pistol is an excellent choice. With this play style, you are unlikely to fire your weapon, so damage is irrelevant. What is important, however, are the Melee Damage and Scope mods. This gives you even more damage output and a longer range for Shadow Strike at no cost to your power recharge.
 * The Bonus Armour Damage Evolution of Sword Mastery is an excellent choice, as it allows the Shadow to be good at what it previously lacks - dealing with armour. Both shields and barriers are devastated by Electric Slash and Shadow Strike but armour remains stubborn without this Evolution taken. Alternately, the Shadow can carry a weapon such as a sniper rifle or the Carnifex that is effective against armor.
 * The Shadow is capable of using Shadow Strike twice, at 200% CDR, if Bonus Power Cloak is taken but the window of time available requires extreme precision and an instant jump to a second target; Shadow Strike followed by Electric Slash is impossible. To improve this, the 4th Evolution of Tactical Cloak, Duration, is an ideal choice. The window of time available for double Shadow Strike gives you time to choose your second target or escape if you must and Shadow Strike followed by Electric Slash becomes possible, for Cloaked, high damaging Tech Bursts.
 * It's possible to replace Tactical Cloaks' cooldown timer with Electric Slash by cancelling Tactical Cloak manually right before using Electric Slash itself. This essentially swaps the two powers' respective cooldown timers, as Electric Slash is done last. Due to Electric Slash' extremely low cooldown, this is extremely useful as it allows the Shadow to get Tactical Cloak back up extremely fast, or even allow a player to simply reset it if the duration is running low. This can also make it so rapid use of Electric Slash, or the Shadow Strike to Electric Slash combo as noted above, can always be done in stealth or minimize exposure respectively.


 * Cerberus
 * Shadow Strike is usually effective against Guardians -- since the Shadow appears behind the target, the Guardian's shield is useless. However, sometimes the Guardian will be aware of the Shadow, and will turn to interpose his shield in time.
 * Properly specialized, a double Shadow Strike from cloak (bonus power allows two to be used before cloak is removed) with melee damage bonuses will kill a phantom full health and barriers even on gold.
 * Even without the highest-damage Shadow Strike specialization, Shadow Strike is extremely effective at killing Phantoms. With the electrical damage evolution, the Phantom will continue to take damage over time, allowing her to still be targeted when she cloaks, and Shadow Strike has essentially perfect accuracy, allowing it to connect even if the Phantom is running or dodging.  Make sure to dodge away after performing Shadow Strike, though, as the Phantom will perform a retaliatory strike even if the player is cloaked.
 * It is very important to ensure that the Phantom is not aware of the Shadow when executing Shadow Strike or the Phantom will immediately counterattack, leaving the Shadow highly vulnerable and in critical condition. If the Phantom is aware of the Shadow prior to performing Shadow Strike, the Phantom may, on occasion, interrupt the Shadow Strike with her instant-kill attack, killing the Shadow before the blow even lands.


 * Reapers


 * When using Shadow Strike on a Ravager, be sure that you will kill it and whether or not you do, be ready to Dodge backwards as soon as you are able, otherwise you are going to be assaulted by Swarmers or be quickly damaged by the blood, something you simply cannot afford.
 * It is recommended to wait until the Ravager is preoccupied with shooting before using Shadow Strike or it will rupture its sacs and cause massive damage. Alternatively, one could deliberately shoot all of the Ravager's sacs before performing a Shadow Strike.
 * Brutes are an excellent way to test your capability to Shadow Strike. Always wait for a Brute to charge before you initiate your combo and Shadow Strike just before it reaches you. That way, you will teleport behind the beast and strike him from behind where he takes maximum damage.
 * Shadow Strike may be safely used against Banshees if they are in the early stages of a teleport chain. Shadow Strike will often position the Shadow a few jumps before the current location of the Banshee to slash at nothing. Despite the apparent miss, the Banshee will still take full damage.
 * Geth


 * With Geth, using shadow strike on enemies is not as risky as it is with the other factions, since Geth do not have any units that can instantly kill you. However, since all Geth possess the ability to stagger a player, getting caught in the middle of a cross-fire after using Shadow Strike can be a grave mistake.


 * Collectors


 * Using Shadow Strike on an Abomination (and thus killing it) will cause it to immediately explode, inflicting a lot of damage. For this reason, using Shadow Strike on Abominations is not recommended, especially if it is Possessed.
 * Shadow Strike is more effective against Collector Troopers and Collector Captains. If you evolve Shadow Strike and the Sword Mastery classes to do max damage, you can get rid of these enemies in one strike. If they are Possessed, you'll still do plenty of damage.
 * Electric Slash can be used to get rid of Seeker Swarms or Seeker Plagues without getting close.
 * Because Scions are very slow to react, Shadow Strike can be very useful on them, especially when evolved to do max damage to armor.
 * A good note to remember is that if you decapitate an Abomination, it will not explode. So if you maximize melee damage, along with a weapon mod that increases melee damage, one never has to worry about dodging their post-mortem explosions.

Turian Ghost Infiltrator
Turians adhere to a strict moral code: "The needs of the group outweigh that of the individual." Discipline is the foundation of turian society. A turian line never collapses; its troops fall back in order, setting ambushes as they go. You will only see a turian's back when they're dead.

Ghost infiltrators are a part of the turian's lethal 26th Armiger Legion, a respected and feared frontline assault squad. On the battlefield, a Ghost uses propulsion packs and advanced stealth technology to launch lightning-quick airstrikes on unsuspecting foes.

Player Notes

 * General Notes
 * Because of the Stimulant Pack power and Fitness upgrades that bolster a Turian's defenses, the Ghost has tremendous staying power in a regular firefight in addition to the "snipe and relocate" strategies available to all infiltrators. As such, the Ghost is a very versatile and tough combatant, able to switch roles easily between fire support and flanking maneuvers.
 * The Ghost Infiltrator is the only Infiltrator with Overload. Given the significant damage Overload does, it is much more effective than the Salarian's Energy Drain for destroying shields, but lacks the obvious absorption and area of effect the drain has. This makes the Ghost much more effective against singular enemies with bigger shielding, but its lack of any area of effect leaves much to be desired against squads. While you can hit 3 enemies, it comes at the cost of the majority of Overloads strength, plus the chain hits do 60% less damage, thus it is recommended to stick to single foes.
 * The Ghost Infiltrator's melee attacks and combat maneuvers involve jet propulsion effects on the armor. These generally propel the player faster and further than their normal counterparts, so it takes a bit of practice to get the timing and distance right.
 * The Stimulant Pack power exhibits the same behavior as a grenade power: it benefits from the same upgrades as a grenade power, is reloadable at ammo crates, and does not have a usage cooldown time.
 * However, Stimulant Packs do not have the brief immunity that Ops Survival Packs grant. Activating a pack right before health reaches zero will use up a pack without preventing the player's going down, due to the comparatively shorter shield gate cooldown.
 * The Rank 6 evolution for the Ghost's Tactical Cloak differs from the typical Infiltrator's Cloak—instead of the option to deal extra damage with sniper rifles, it offers the option to increase damage for assault rifles by 20% for 10 seconds when activated (it starts counting when activated, not after de-cloak).
 * Using Tactical Cloak after firing an extended magazine upgraded Striker Assault Rifle achieves its maximum fire rate without breaking Cloak.


 * Cerberus
 * Ghost's heavy melee attack can stun Phantoms and Dragoons, which gives them an edge to escape a fatal attack, or the dodge can help escape a dangerous position.
 * Overload is devastating against Atlases and Phantoms, due to the fact that the power hits instantly, and said enemies can quickly have their shields or barriers stripped, leaving them exposed extra damage - or to a headshot from a sniper in the Phantoms case, often killing them. It also works very well on the Centurions or Nemeses.
 * Dragoons will be the biggest problem, bearing no shields, but instead armor and a pair of whips. However, that is nothing a high-powered sniper rifle like the Widow, or Javelin cant handle at range.


 * Geth
 * You will be the Geths biggest threat due to your ability to Overload not only their shields, but their core systems too. Those that are incapable of being overloaded or have had their shields destroyed, are very vulnerable to an anti-armor weapon such as a heavy pistol or sniper rifle.
 * The only problem as always with any class, is the Geth Hunter which will stun you if you give it half a chance. They can be easily grabbed however, and any at range, if you have the skill can easily be dispatched with an automatic weapon, followed by an immediate Overload to strip their shields, and cloaking ability.
 * Reapers
 * Take note that you can be grabbed by Husks during the heavy melee animation, even while in the air.
 * Overload isnt really needed here, as only two enemies have a barrier, Marauders and Banshees.
 * The Dodge moves will prove invaluable against the Banshees since all other Turians cannot dodge back quickly.
 * Equip two anti-armor weapons or one if your going for a lighter loadout so you can strip shields from Marauders or Banshees with Overload, then eliminate them with some well placed shots, and/or deal with armored enemies like Ravagers much quicker.
 * Stimulant packs will be very helpful against the biotic attacks of the Banshees, or the barrage from the Ravagers.
 * Collectors
 * Overload is extremely useful against Collector Captains, possessed enemies, and Praetorians when their barriers are up. Once that is dealt with, a powerful anti-armor weapon will dispose of them in double-quick time. The anti-armor weapon will also prove effective against Scions since said foes can be dealt with very quickly if one knows where to aim. One shot will shred its armor, and a second will very likely kill a Scion.
 * Keep away from Praetorians, since their claw attacks will deal with you very quickly. Should you come under fire, a stimulant pack may give you the time you need to escape.