Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer/Character Customization

In Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode, the player can create and customize characters by choosing their class, race, weapon loadout, and equipment.

Class and Race
When creating a multiplayer character, players can choose from six classes and ten races. Certain races are only available to choose with certain classes. For example, human characters are available for all classes, but the asari are restricted to Adepts and Vanguards because of their biotic strengths.

The common human characters are available upon starting the multiplayer the first time; other races are unlocked by purchasing item packs from the store.

1 Bonus multiplayer character unlocked by the Battlefield 3 Pack. 2 Additional multiplayer character unlocked by downloading the Resurgence Pack and purchasing item packs from the store. 3 Additional multiplayer character unlocked by downloading the Rebellion Pack and purchasing item packs from the store.

Dodge Maneuvers
Each race except for krogan, turians, and batarians possesses a unique dodge maneuver: humans, salarians, drell, geth and quarians can perform a combat roll; salarians, quarians, and geth also jump to the side; asari can quickly slide using biotic energy (at the cost of some barrier each time unless down to health already, but this resets the barrier recharge timer); drell can perform acrobatic flips. In addition, krogan and batarians cannot easily switch between pieces of cover as the other races can.

Heavy Melee
Krogan, asari, geth, and batarians possess heavy melee attacks unique to their respective races: a krogan can charge forward a short distance before swinging its weapon, sending the target flying if the attack kills; asari can unleash a biotic pulse to deal massive damage to all enemies within a certain radius; geth release a series of tech pulses to deal damage and stagger surrounding enemies in a limited radius, but at the cost of shields; and batarians create an "enforcement gauntlet" in their right hand before punching the target, dealing heavy damage and splattering the enemy's head if it's a kill. Furthermore, geth, drell, batarians and krogan possess light melee attacks that are also unique to their race.

Defenses
Health and shields/barriers also vary in durability between race and class. The default values are:
 * Asari have 500 health and 500 barrier strength.
 * Asari Justicar have 500 health and 600 barrier strength.
 * Batarians have 750 health and 750 shield strength.
 * Drell have 500 health and 250 barrier strength.
 * Geth have 250 health and 750 shield strength.
 * Humans have 500 health and 500 shield/barrier strength.
 * Krogan Soldiers and Sentinels have 750 health and 1000 shield strength.
 * Krogan Battlemasters have 1000 health and 1000 barrier strength.
 * Quarians have 500 health and 600 shield strength.
 * Salarians have 500 health and 600 shield strength.
 * Turians have 500 health and 750 shield strength.
 * Vorcha have 750 health and 250 shield strength.

Appearance
Players can also create unique names for their multiplayer characters and customize armor coloration. Cosmetic customizations have the same rarity as character they apply to. A character class is unlocked with Primary and Highlight Color options, and another customization is unlocked each successive time that class card is found in packs. The exception is the armor of the Battlefield 3 soldier, which cannot be customized.

Powers
During gameplay, players can increase the level of their characters to unlock new powers. Cooperative multiplayer character leveling is capped at level 20. All classes start with 1 skill point automatically allocated, and receive 83 additional skill points to distribute as desired by level 20.


 * Adept
 * Human: Warp, Singularity, Shockwave, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Asari: Stasis, Warp, Throw, Asari Justicar, Fitness
 * Drell: Reave, Pull, Cluster Grenade, Drell Assassin, Fitness
 * Asari Justicar:2 Biotic Sphere, Reave, Pull, Asari Justicar, Fitness
 * Ex-Cerberus:3 Singularity, Lash, Smash


 * Soldier
 * Human: Adrenaline Rush, Concussive Shot, Frag Grenade, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Krogan: Carnage, Fortification, Inferno Grenade, Krogan Berserker, Rage
 * Turian: Marksman, Concussive Shot, Proximity Mine, Turian Veteran, Fitness
 * Battlefield 3:1 Adrenaline Rush, Carnage, Frag Grenade, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Batarian:2 Ballistic Blades, Blade Armor, Inferno Grenade, Batarian Enforcer, Fitness
 * Vorcha:3 Bloodlust, Flamer, Carnage, Vorcha Resilience, Fitness


 * Engineer
 * Human: Incinerate, Overload, Combat Drone, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Quarian (female): Incinerate, Cryo Blast, Sentry Turret, Quarian Defender, Fitness
 * Salarian: Incinerate, Energy Drain, Decoy, Salarian Operative, Fitness
 * Geth:2 Geth Turret, Hunter Mode, Overload, Networked AI, Advanced Hardware
 * Quarian (male):3 Incinerate, Tactical Scan, Arc Grenade


 * Sentinel
 * Human: Throw, Warp, Tech Armor, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Turian: Warp, Overload, Tech Armor, Turian Veteran, Fitness
 * Krogan: Incinerate, Lift Grenade, Tech Armor, Krogan Berserker, Rage
 * Batarian:2 Blade Armor, Shockwave, Submission Net, Batarian Enforcer, Fitness
 * Vorcha:3 Bloodlust, Flamer, Cluster Grenade, Vorcha Resilience, Fitness


 * Infiltrator
 * Human: Sticky Grenade, Tactical Cloak, Cryo Blast, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Salarian: Energy Drain, Tactical Cloak, Proximity Mine, Salarian Operative, Fitness
 * Quarian (female): Sticky Grenade, Tactical Cloak, Sabotage, Quarian Defender, Fitness
 * Geth:2 Tactical Cloak, Proximity Mine, Hunter Mode, Networked AI, Advanced Hardware
 * Quarian (male):3 Tactical Cloak, Tactical Scan, Arc Grenade


 * Vanguard
 * Human: Biotic Charge, Shockwave, Nova, Alliance Training, Fitness
 * Drell: Biotic Charge, Pull, Cluster Grenade, Drell Assassin, Fitness
 * Asari: Biotic Charge, Stasis, Lift Grenade, Asari Justicar, Fitness
 * Krogan Battlemaster:2 Biotic Charge, Carnage, Barrier, Krogan Battlemaster, Rage
 * Ex-Cerberus:3 Biotic Charge, Lash, Smash

1 Bonus multiplayer character unlocked by the Battlefield 3 Pack. 2 Additional multiplayer character unlocked by the Resurgence Pack. 3 Additional multiplayer character unlocked by the Rebellion Pack.

Weapons and Mods
During gameplay, players can unlock weapons and weapon modifications for use on the battlefield. Additional weapons and mods can be obtained through the Store. Only two weapons can be equipped at a time.

The following chart lists each weapon that can be unlocked through the Store and their rarity. Level I versions of the five Common weapons are available upon starting the multiplayer mode for the first time. 1 Unlocked by downloading the promotional Collector Rifle Pack. 2 Unlocked by earning a Commendation Pack from a weekly event. 3 Unlocked by downloading the Resurgence Pack and purchasing regular item packs from the Store. 4 Unlocked by downloading the Rebellion Pack and purchasing regular item packs from the Store.

The following chart lists each weapon mod that can be unlocked through the Store and their rarity. 1 The Ultralight Materials mod currently only works for the Geth Plasma SMG.

Equipment
Equipment in multiplayer consists of single-use items that can be utilized during gameplay. Additional equipment can be obtained through the Store.

Each of the Ammo, Weapon, and Armor Bonuses have three levels of strength, distributed in next order: Recruit Pack contains items of level I with a small chance for higher; Veteran Pack contains or items of level II with a small chance for level III; Spectre Pack only contains items of level III; and the Jumbo Equipment Pack randomly contains items of any level. Consumables do not have levels, but each card awards a different amount of the consumable depending on level of the pack - one in Recruit Packs, three in Veteran Packs and five in Spectre Packs. A Jumbo Equipment Pack contains five of each consumable type.

Ammo Bonuses

 * Armor-Piercing Rounds - Applies Armor-Piercing Ammo for one mission.
 * 10%/20%/30% extra damage to health and armor, 50%/65%/70% armor bypass, 0.5m/0.75m/1m penetration
 * Cryo Rounds - Applies Cryo Ammo for one mission.
 * 25%/35%/50% 2s armor debuff, chance of 3s/4s/5s freeze (40% greater at II, 80% greater at III), 15%/25%/35% slow
 * Disruptor Rounds - Applies Disruptor Ammo for one mission.
 * 5%/10%/15% extra damage to shields and barrier, chance to stun (40% greater at II, 80% greater at III), 3.5s tech burst, 8s shield regen delay
 * Incendiary Rounds - Applies Incendiary Ammo for one mission.
 * 10%/20%/30% extra damage as fire DoT
 * Warp Rounds - Applies Warp Ammo for one mission.
 * 15%/25%/35% extra damage to health, armor, barrier, 25%/50%/75% 2s armor debuff, 25%/50%/75% extra damage to lifted target.

Weapon Bonuses

 * Assault Rifle Rail Amp - Applies an 10%/20%/30% Assault Rifle Damage Bonus for one mission.
 * Pistol Rail Amp - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Heavy Pistol Damage Bonus for one mission.
 * SMG Rail Amp - Applies a 10%/20%/30% SMG Damage Bonus for one mission.
 * Sniper Rifle Rail Amp - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Sniper Rifle Damage Bonus for one mission.
 * Shotgun Rail Amp - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Shotgun Damage Bonus for one mission.
 * Strength Enhancer1 - Applies a 25%/50%/100% Melee Damage Bonus for one mission.

Armor Bonuses

 * Adrenaline Module - Applies a 5%/15%/25% Movement Speed Bonus for one mission.
 * Power Amplifier Module - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Power Damage Bonus for one mission.
 * Power Efficiency Module - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Power Recharge Speed Bonus for one mission.
 * Power Stability Module1 - Applies a Power Duration Bonus for one mission.
 * Cyclonic Modulator - Applies a 30%/60%/100% Shield Strength Bonus for one mission.
 * Shield Power Cells1 - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Shield Recharge Speed Bonus for one mission.
 * Stabilization Module1 - Applies a 10%/20%/30% Weapon Stability Bonus for one mission.
 * Targeting VI1 - Applies a 25%/50%/100% Headshot Damage Bonus for one mission.

Gear
Gear consists of equipment items that bestow persistent bonuses when applied to a character, and do not expire with the conclusion of a match. Each piece of gear can be upgraded up to four times. Obtaining and using Gear items requires downloading the Rebellion Pack.


 * Hydraulic Joints - Improve armor joints to maximize the force and damage delivered through melee blows.
 * Vulnerability VI - User targeting VIs to pinpoint enemy weak points. Aim will be autocorrected to maximize damage.
 * Mental Focuser - Sharpen mental alertness and precision under stress to aid the performance of tech or biotic powers.
 * Structural Ergonomics - Enhance the ability of armor to bear loads, speeding up cooldown so that powers can be used more often.
 * Shield Booster - Amplify the power systems that generate shields to raise their effective strength.
 * Multicapacitor - Add a backup power supply to the user's shields, decreasing the time before they can be brought back online.
 * Assault Rifle Amp - Add power to assault rifles to increase round velocity and damage.
 * Sniper Rifle Amp - Add power to sniper rifles to increase round velocity and damage.
 * Shotgun Amp - Add power to shotguns to increase round velocity and damage.
 * Pistol Amp - Add power to pistols to increase round velocity and damage.
 * SMG Amp - Add power to SMGs to increase round velocity and damage.
 * Grenade Capacity - Add extra grenade storage compartments to the user's armor.
 * Warfighter Package - Deploy this modification package to increase assault rifle power and grenade storage.
 * Commando Package - Optimize pistol and biotic amp power to increase damage.
 * Stronghold Package - Optimize shield strength and the speed of shield restoration.
 * Berserker Package - Optimize shotgun and armor hydraulic power to increase shotgun and melee damage.
 * Expert Package - Optimize energy supplies with multicore VIs to increase submachine gun damage and to recharge powers faster.
 * Operative Package - Optimize sniper rifle and tech power damage.

Supplies
A maximum of 255 of each type of supply can be stockpiled.
 * Cobra Missile Launcher - A one-shot missile launcher useful for taking out hardened targets.
 * Thermal Clip Pack - Refills your thermal clips and grenade supply during a mission.
 * Ops Survival Pack - Emergency pack fully restores health and shields during a mission.
 * Medi-Gel - Revive yourself when incapacitated in combat.

Miscellaneous

 * Cobra Missile Launcher Capacity Upgrade +1 (permanent upgrade to all characters, maximum limit of 10)
 * Thermal Clip Pack Capacity Upgrade +1 (permanent upgrade to all characters, maximum limit of 10)
 * Ops Survival Pack Capacity Upgrade +1 (permanent upgrade to all characters, maximum limit of 10)
 * Medi-Gel Capacity Upgrade +1 (permanent upgrade to all characters, maximum limit of 10)
 * Reset Powers (one use, only drops if fewer than three stockpiled)

1 Available in Store packs after downloading the Resurgence Pack.

Promote
After obtaining level 20 with a class in multiplayer, you can promote them to the single player galaxy at war. Doing this will reset the promoted class characters to level 1. It will however increase war assets in single player by 75 and add 10 levels to your N7 ranking for multiplayer. Used character slots for that class will be reset to default and have to be remade, but any unlocked characters and any additional appearance customization options for the characters are kept.