Weapon Upgrades

Weapon Upgrades are applied to assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and pistols to augment them. Each weapon has one ammo upgrade slot and at least one weapon upgrade slot; better weapons have two weapon upgrade slots in addition to the ammo slot.

Combat Sensor
Description: Some enemies - especially Geth Hoppers - use jamming technology to block your weapon radar. The Combat Scanner upgrade improves detection levels, making these enemies visible.

Combat Scanner
Description: Some enemies use jamming technology to block your weapon radar. The Combat Scanner upgrade improves detection levels, making these enemies visible.

Combat Optics
Description: An advanced VI package maximizes effectiveness of combat radar while increasing maximum accuracy.

Tips & Tricks:
 * 1) You do not have to personally equip these upgrades to benefit from their increased detection. So long as one of your party has it equipped on a weapon they have drawn, your radar will reflect the enhancement.
 * 2) While in the Mako, if you approach Geth and find your radar jammed, exit the Mako and draw a weapon with one of these upgrades equipped, then, without re-holstering the weapon, enter the Mako and the vehicle's radar will receive the benefit of the detection upgrade. (A bug, but a very useful one).
 * 3) Tip 1 also applies to Tip 2. (All tips discovered using PC game version 1.01a/Steam and confirmed on the Xbox360 version on 2-16-10. Untested on other versions or platforms).

Improved Sighting
Description: Increases maximum accuracy.

Heat Sink
Description: Absorbs and dissipates the heat typically generated when firing.

Frictionless Materials
Description: Frictionless Materials give rounds more power at impact while minimizing weapon overheating. Highly recommended for shotguns. Also useful for sniper rifles.

Note: Frictionless Materials shares the same stats as Kinetic Coil, but varies where "Weapon Stability" is changed to "Heat Damping." Both used in conjunction on higher level weapons can create a chaingun effect, letting the user hold down the trigger without fear of losing accuracy, or overheating, while also dramatically increasing killing power.

High Caliber Barrel
Description: Fires larger rounds for more damage. However, the rate of fire is slowed and the weapon will overheat more quickly.

Rail Extension
Description: Modifies the length of the barrel to increase damage. However, this also increases weapon overheating.

Scram Rail
Description: This prototype upgrade greatly increases damage, but it also causes your weapon to overheat faster.

Recoil Damper
Description: Reduces kickback to improve accuracy.

Kinetic Stabilizer
Description: Advanced VI functionality reduces weapon kickback to improve accuracy.

Kinetic Coil
Description: Kinetic Coils improve stability by reducing kickback and increase projectile acceleration for extra damage.

Note: Kinetic Coil shares the same stats as Frictionless Materials, but varies where "Heat Damping" is changed to "Weapon Stability." Both used in conjunction on higher level weapons can create a chaingun effect, letting the user hold down the trigger without fear of losing accuracy, or overheating, while also dramatically increasing killing power.

Cut Upgrades
The following weapon upgrade was cut before release and can only be acquired through PC Cheats.

Hyper Rail


Description: A hyper rail upgrade extends the barrel of the weapon and "overclocks" its mass accelerator equipment. Its hypervelocity slugs impact with enough force to be useful against lightly armored vehicles, but produce significant heat and recoil.