N7 Destroyer Soldier

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.

The Destroyer's T5-V Battlesuit gives these strong-but-slow soldiers mech-like protection. Driven by eezo-assisted actuators, these frontline troopers carry heavy weapons onto the battlefield.

General Notes

 * The Destroyer's only power that operates on a cooldown is Devastator Mode. This allows the Destroyer to ignore recharge speed bonuses with respect to weapon loadout or any mod that increase the weight of the weapon.
 * Devastator Mode properly evolved with fire rate, clip extension, and damage makes the M-77 Paladin a devastating weapon on any difficulty. It grants six rounds per clip, a fire rate comparable to the M-6 Carnifex, and allows for two-hit kills.
 * Evolved to improve stability and rate of fire, Devastator Mode can minimize the two greatest minuses of Striker Assault Rifle, which proved itself very effective against armored enemies and large groups (though using a piercing mod is not recommended as it seems to do minimal effect). With anti-shield weapon such as Acolyte or Reegar Carbine you can quickly destroy any enemy.
 * With Devastator Mode evolved to improve weapon accuracy at Rank 4, a Destroyer equipped with a heavy, high-recoil assault rifle like the M-76 Revenant or N7 Typhoon modified with a Stability Dampener can put a constant stream of bullets downrange with nearly pinpoint accuracy.
 * The Hawk Missile Launcher ability, while named so, acts more like Concussive Shot. It is unaffected by weight, which can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on if you have heavy or light weapons. It has the damage comparable to Concussive Shot only, however it has the same or a more powerful stagger ability, and can be quite effective against Phantoms, or enemies in cover. Despite the description saying it will take half of your shields, the Missile Launcher will only drain 500 shielding or 350 if evolved. This is because the Missile Launcher will calculate its shield drain off the class' base shield of 1000, not after it has been modified with upgrades from Fitness and Devastator Mode.
 * Deactivating the Missile Launcher at mid-to-close range is recommended because this class is arguably most dangerous within heavy weapons and grenade ranges.
 * The Destroyer often works best as continual heavy fire support for other units as the player closes the gap toward tougher targets. Due to the shield penalty of the Hawk Missile Launcher and the movement penalty of Devastator Mode, the powers synergize the best when the player can trade one for the other once moving from long to medium distances.
 * The Destroyer's regular melee attack is effectively any other Soldier's heavy melee attack and takes about as long to execute, but restricts the tracking of/movement towards the target. The regular melee attack has a small cone in which it can hit additional targets in front of the player with reduced damage. The heavy melee is a much faster ground stomp with an area of effect which can knock unshielded enemies to the ground, rendering them helpless (the effect being similar to Human Vanguard's Nova).
 * Because the Destroyer cannot evade forwards or backwards, or at all while in Devastator Mode, he is often more vulnerable to attacks from Phantoms and Banshees, as is the case with krogan, turians and batarians. The Destroyer makes up for this with some unusual stagger resistance, but only when employing Devastator Mode. Actions can be performed even after just being grazed by a Phantom sword swipe or hit by an Atlas missile.
 * Because the Destroyer is the slowest of all characters when Devastator Mode is active, cover should be used wisely. Even though the Destroyer has high shields, on Gold and Platinum enemies can shred through shields and expose your health which is quite low compared to other "tank" characters, plus the Destroyer lacks damage reduction passives. Also, using the Missile Launcher power will cut your shields by 500 points, making you all but a slight distraction to the enemies in the way of your tougher teammates.
 * Because of that, one can drop Hawk Missile Launcher and invest on the other powers in order to maximize his damage and survival, making the Devastator more suited to deal with harder enemies from Gold and Platinum.
 * When equipped with the Cerberus Harrier and appropriate fire rate modifiers and additional damage modifiers, the N7 Destroyer becomes a force to be reckoned with. It's an ultra rare weapon and has a low magazine capacity on top of firing full auto so you will need to stay near or be with in reach of ammo stockpiles. Because of the high damage output combined with Devastator Mode and the fire rate mod, the combination allows you to engage and kill targets very quickly. It is also an excellent choice when fighting the toughest enemies: such as Brutes, Banshees, Atlases, Scions, Praetorians and Ravagers.
 * When used properly, Multi-Frag Grenade can be a very devastating tool. If properly upgraded and combined with the war fighter package (assault rifle damage and 1-2 extra grenades) the grenade attack will devastate multiple enemies and is an effective tool for wearing down armor on Brutes, Banshees, Atlas, Scions, Praetorians, and Ravagers.
 * If upgraded the grenade attack can launch up to 3-5 grenades every time the corresponding key is pressed (3-6 grenade capacity if properly equipped and upgraded) at the cost of one, allowing the Destroyer to rain down death from above.
 * It is also an excellent tool when attempting to reach a fallen squad mate. The multiple explosions often stagger enemy combatants and prevent them from executing fallen squad mates.
 * Finally, the grenades make for a good counter measure if you're cornered. Aiming at the ground will mow down the enemies around you; if you're being pressured by larger enemy--such as an Atlas or Brute--unloading the grenades at point-blank range will detonate every grenade on that enemy, for massive amounts of swift damage. An upside to this tactic is that it will often stagger enemies, preventing them from using their instant-death attacks.

Cerberus

 * The Destroyer is very effective against Cerberus. The only problem you will encounter is with Phantoms when they close on you. If you can keep them at a distance you shouldn't have much of a problem. If all else fails the N7 Piranha is devastatingly effective against foes in close-quarters, especially when employed with Devastator Mode. The damage, rate of fire, and accuracy gained allow the Devastator to inflict heavy damage on any difficulty extremely quickly.
 * The Missile Launcher will help you counter Phantoms by forcing them to dodge or stagger often during the fight. As long as you can give yourself enough time until the next shot goes off, they will have a hard time reaching you. If they do reach you or are about to, it is advisable to stagger her with a heavy melee then blast the ground near her with Multi-Frag Grenade as it deals a tremendous amount of damage or outright kill her.

Collectors

 * Multi-Frag Grenade is very useful against Praetorians and Scions.
 * The Hawk Missile System can help you out in a pinch if you spec it out correctly, while causing minimal penalties, and will greatly help against tougher foes or groups of weaker opponents.
 * Your weapon choice once again will be the main defense against Collectors.

Geth

 * The Destroyer can fight the geth just as well as the other two factions, since his chances of success depend heavily upon the weapons he's using. It is recommended that you stick with the Reegar Carbine and also use some type of hard hitting assault rifle like the N7 Typhoon or the Cerberus Harrier. The geth for the most part will fall before your hail of bullets and only the Geth Prime will end up being a problem. Should you keep your distance and stay behind cover, Primes shouldn't be a problem either. This is especially true since the Geth's main strength, is being able to stagger/stun you, when Devastator Mode is activated, you become immune to all forms of stun and stagger. This eliminates the Geth's only real means of taking you and (if done correctly) your squad down. When the others are unable to act, you will be dishing out the damage right back at the Geth, and since the Geth have no instant-kill moves, the Geth can be rendered helpless.

Reapers

 * As with Cerberus if you have the right loadout of weapons and equipment you will do well against the Reapers. The Destroyer actually excels against Brutes as long as you aim for the Brute's unarmored parts.
 * Watch out for Banshees as their one hit kill moves are hard to dodge with the Destroyer and are generally hard to take down no matter what class you're using.
 * When a Banshee is chasing you down, it would be a great idea to turn the Devastator Mode off so that you can backpedal from a banshee faster. This helps greatly in avoiding their one hit kill move. If the Banshee is far away from the player or going after someone other than the Destroyer, then the Devastator Mode should be turned on to benefit from weapon bonuses.