Adept Guide

Adept is the purely biotic-focused class in Mass Effect. The available talents feature every biotic ability in the game which focus on debuffing and controlling enemies instead of killing them outright. Powerful biotic talents often make otherwise challenging encounters downright trivial. To make sure a biotic ability is available at all times, multiple abilities need to be developed to high levels so effects can be overlapped, which can make early progression difficult.

The primary weakness of the Adept is extremely close or extremely long range combat. Their heavy dependence on shields for defense and the low damage protection offered by Light Armor makes them vulnerable to melee damage and the limited range of biotic abilities can expose them to sniper fire while closing range. But with the proper playstyle, build, and party makeup, the Adept can be one of the most entertaining, powerful, and unique classes for Shepard.

Talents
Talents selection is an important choice in character development and will define what Shepard is capable of doing and the style it will be done in. There are a limited number of assignable talent points, 102 at level 60 compared to the 148 required to max every ability, so it is important to allocate talents as efficiently as possible.

Combat Talents
Basic Armor: Damage mitigation talent, additional points increase Shepard’s resistance to damage. Basic Armor unlocks the Shield Boost ability which will recharge a portion of Shepard’s shields when used, higher ranks recharging larger percentages of shields. Adepts are limited to Light Armor which feature low shield and damage reduction overall so the percentage gains from Basic Armor and Shield Boost are small. Barrier will provide more shields to the player than their armor with fewer talents points making Basic Armor a second rate defensive talent investment. Five points in Basic Armor are required to unlock pistols.

Pistols: The Adept’s only native weapon talent, damage scales very well with Master Marksman and the bonuses from Spectre Training. If Shepard will use pistols as a primary weapon Master Marksman would be a prudent talent investment. The true cost of maxing Pistols includes the five required points in Basic Armor, a total of seventeen points, while maxing out a bonus talent for another weapon will only require twelve points.

Biotic Talents
Throw: Pushes moveable objects in the targeted area away from Shepard. The force of the push increases with additional talent points. Heavy objects and enemies with high physical force thresholds, like krogans, will require a stronger push to be knocked down or moved. Throw has a stronger effect on already airborne objects or on objects in zero-G and can be combined with Lift or Singularity to push targets further. Throw has no effect on flying enemies like drones. Unlocking advanced and master Throw reduces the recharge time and accuracy cost in addition to increase the force of the effect. Opportunities to quickly kill any target by throwing it off of ledges, balconies, or into space will present themselves frequently and should be taken advantage of. Six points are required to unlock Lift.

Lift: Lifts moveable objects in the targeted area until the duration is over. Additional points will increase the duration of the effect which results in affected objects being further from the surface when the duration ends. When the duration ends the targets are drop and can receive damage based on how far they have fallen. Unlocking advanced and master Lift reduces the recharge time, accuracy cost, and increases the radius of the effect in addition to extending the duration. Singularity will also suspend targets in the air but also clumps them together and has a larger radius, making it a superior form of crowd control. However, with lift mastery from the Nemesis specialization the radius of Master Lift, at 10 meters, becomes the largest radius of any biotic ability overtaking Singularity.

Warp: Deals damage over time and reduces the damage protection of all targets in its radius. Additional points will increase the duration of both effects. The damage over time is unmitigated by damage reduction and shields but is not particularly fast compared to direct damage from weapons or tech mines. The ability can be paired with Stasis to lock an enemy in place while the damage over time takes effect. The damage protection debuff can make enemies with high armor take significantly more damage from weapons fire. Unlocking advanced and master Warp increases the armor reduction, damage per second, and reduces recharge time of the ability in addition to extending the duration. Warp mastery, available to the Nemesis specialization, increases the radius and damage per second of Warp’s effect. Six points are required to unlock Singularity.

Singularity: Draws moveable objects in the effect’s radius towards the targeted point. Additional points will increase the radius of the effect. In addition to suspending targets in the air this ability tends to pull groups of enemies closer together making them more vulnerable to area of effect damage and status effects like Warp, Damping, Sabotage, and Overload. Unlocking advanced and master Singularity will increase the duration and reduce the recharge time of the ability in addition to increasing the radius. Master Singularity is the Adept’s best crowd control ability unless Master Lift and lift mastery from the Nemesis specialization is unlocked.

Barrier: Creates additional shields for Shepard on top of those provided by armor. Additional points increase the amount of shields added by Barrier and extend the duration of the effect. At four points Barrier will provide more shields than the best light Human Armor making it a more attractive defensive talent than Basic Armor and Shield Boost. Unlocking advanced and master Barrier will reduce the recharge time in addition to increasing the shields added by and the duration of the effect. The Bastion specialization offers barrier specialization boosting the shields and duration by 25% and adding regeneration of 40 shields per second. Four points are required to unlock Stasis.

Stasis: Places the target in stasis for the duration of the effect, unable to move, use abilities, or fire weapons but also immune to direct damage. Additional points will increase the duration of Stasis. Unlocking advanced and master Stasis will reduce the recharge time of the ability in addition to extending its duration. While Stasis is active damage over time effects will continue to damage the target but the target is immune to direct damage unless Bastion is taken and stasis mastery is unlocked. Stasis mastery will allow the target to be damaged directly by weapons while completely incapacitated making Stasis both the best offensive and defensive biotic ability against any single target, even Saren on Insanity difficulty. Without stasis mastery the effect will tend to leave the target standing at the end of the fight with the party waiting for the target to be damageable again.

Miscellaneous
Adept: Provides a reduction in recharge times of every biotic ability in addition to extra protection from enemy biotics. Useful for any build regardless of the other talents taken, combine with other recharge reduction talents and equipment to keep biotic abilities available as often as possible.

Charm: Opens additional conversation options that are likely to increase Paragon points and reduces the cost of items purchased at vendors. Shepard's talent points are retained between games; when appointed as a Spectre and as Shepard gain Paragon points Charm points will automatically be granted. After three plays Charm can be maxed without spending a single real point. Paragon points offer 10% first aid recharge reduction, 10% more health, and a 5% reduction in recharge times of all abilities. Pick between Paragon and Renegade early as events will typically require a choice of one or the other.

Intimidate: Opens additional conversation options that are likely to increase Renegade points and increases the buying price for items sold to vendors. Shepard's talent points are retained between games; when appointed as a Spectre and as Shepard gains Renegade points Intimidate points will automatically be granted. After three plays Intimidate can be maxed without spending a single real point. Renegade points offer 10% weapon powers recharge reduction, 1 health regeneration per second, and a 5% increase in the damage/duration of all abilities. Pick between Paragon and Renegade early as events will typically require a choice of one or the other.

Spectre Training: The jack-of-all trades talent line which adds health, damage, duration, accuracy, accuracy regeneration, and a powerful party skill. Highly useful for any play style but each point yields very small gains relative to the specialized gains offered by other skills. Scales very will with max abilities, most notably with weapon damage. Points in Spectre Training up to the eleventh point are more effective damage boosts for weapons than the weapon talents themselves; eleven points are a prudent investment for any build. The last rank offers only the Master Unity power, a slight upgrade from advanced, consider skipping it to unlock a higher rank of a biotic ability instead.

Specialization
After the first completion of the UNC: Rogue VI assignment which becomes available at level twenty, Shepard is allowed to choose a specialization that will extend the class talent.

Bastion
Shortens the recharge time of all biotic abilities and provides mastery bonuses to Barrier and Stasis. Barrier mastery will make Barrier a very powerful defensive ability and virtually guarantees 100% uptime by extending the duration. Stasis mastery transforms Stasis from a mediocre defensive ability to the most powerful offensive and defensive ability available against a single target. Bastion is a very attractive choice for higher difficulty levels were defense is key as both masteries provide impressive defensive bonuses.

Nemesis
Increases the duration/damage of all biotic abilities and provides mastery bonuses to Lift and Warp. Lift mastery will make Lift the most powerful crowd control available by increasing the radius to 10 meters. Warp mastery will offset the use of Lift as crowd control over Singularity by increasing the radius of the effect. Damage per second is increased as well making the combination with Stasis slightly more effective. Nemesis is an attractive choice for crowd control and damage vs. large groups of weaker opponents, typical in lower difficulty levels. While the specialization is certainly viable in harder difficulty settings it does not confer any defensive bonuses other than the passive duration boost to Barrier which makes it less attractive compared to Bastion.

Bonus Talent
When creating a new career if any weapon or ability achievements are unlocked an option will be available to selecting from that list a single extra talent that Adept’s do not already possess. This choice will open new strategic options, alter the play style of the adept, and in general enhance Shepard’s abilities in some way.

Combat
Adding a weapon talent will create the opportunity to put zero points in Basic Armor or Pistols in addition to making a potentially more versatile weapon more effective. Consider skipping Pistols and Basic Armor entirely if another weapon talent is taken.

Assault Rifles: A very effective mid to short range weapon capable of laying down fire in large bursts Assault Rifles can be paired with Singularity and Warp to quickly dispatch large groups of enemies. Assault Rifles are cheaper than Pistols, which require points in Basic Armor to unlock, and are least as versatile. A strong choice for a well rounded Adept character. Finally, top level Assault Rifles when modded generate very little heat with almost no accuracy loss. Due to this, Overkill isn't necessary so they function nearly as well without investing twelve points in the skill.

Shotguns: A very effective extremely short range weapon capable of short bursts of very damaging fire Shotguns can paired with Stasis and Warp to focus fire a single target without fear of reprisal. The short range of Shotguns and the limited damage reduction of light armor will be a dangerous combination on any level. However, a defensive approach can produce high damage with minimal time outside of cover, and allows for the use of biotics while the shotgun is cooling down.

Sniper Rifles: Capable of firing several high damage shots that are accurate even at extreme range Sniper Rifles can also be paired with Stasis and Warp to focus fire a single target for massive damage. While not quite as effective at exploiting the effects of Lift or Singularity as an assault rifle, snipers can be used at much longer ranges and deliver much more damage over the short bursts between biotic recharges. Adjusting the play style to accommodate the range and burst of Sniper Rifles it can be as strong a choice as Assault Rifles.

Tech
Keep in mind when selecting a tech ability that Adepts do not have an omni-tool slot so all tech abilities will be without the complete spectrum of bonuses available via equipment.

Electronics: Increases Shepard’s shield capacity and unlocks the Overload ability, Electronics is a minor offensive and defensive supplemental ability. Without the synergies from the other tech abilities Overload is rather weak on its own and while the shield bonus is useful Barrier tends to render it rather negligible offering nearly four times more shields.

Decryption: This talent unlocks the Sabotage ability which deals damage in addition to overheating weapons, preventing return fire for a short period of time. Additional points will increase the damage of tech mine explosion damage but as the only tech ability this bonus is very weak. With all the biotic powers of an adept available one more ability that locks down enemies is not particularly useful.

Hacking: This talent unlocks the AI Hacking ability which will temporarily turn a mechanical target against its former allies. AI Hacking offers some unique strategic situations but pales in comparison to the effectiveness of the weapon abilities. Additional points will reduce the recharge time on other tech mines an Adept cannot possibly have making Hacking a weak talent investment. Hacking is an entertaining but not particularly useful bonus talent.

Medicine: This talent unlocks the Neural Shock ability which will stun any organic target and deal toxic damage. Additional talent points will reduce the recharge time on Medi-gel. Neural Shock works on fewer enemies and has a shorter duration than Stasis but in exchange requires no mastery to leave targets vulnerable to damage and deal additional toxic damage. Adept’s already impressive arsenal of status effects sees little benefit from the addition of another.

Damping: This ability deals damage, stuns, and removes the target’s ability to use tech or biotoic powers for a short time. Additional points increase the radius of the effect but without other tech abilities to buff are somewhat wasted. As with other tech abilities these effects are largely superfluous after all the biotic abilities of the Adept are taken into account, overall a weak bonus talent option.

Squad Members
An adept’s ability to control any encounter via biotic abilities makes squad selection easy. Almost any combination of squad mates will meet with success in combat because of the effortlessness with which the adept can control targets. With no native tech abilities it would be prudent to select one squad member with Electronics and Decryption so that every container can be opened and every terminal accessed.

Ashley Williams: A human party member and a soldier. A combat specialist, she offers weapon based damage to supplement the crowd control skill of an adept. With access to Immunity she is one of the most durable squad-mates as well, capable of serving as a skilled frontline distraction.

Kaidan Alenko: A human party member and a sentinel, Kaidan offers both the tech abilities an adept needs to open anything the party encounters. Lacking any weapon talents and equipped with only light armor, Kaidan is less than effective at dealing direct damage and absorbing return fire but makes up for this with the added versatility of additional biotic and tech abilities. Keep in mind Kaidan’s Stasis is not affected by stasis mastery.

Liara T'Soni: A reclusive Asari Scientist who is very similar to an Adept with all biotic powers, First Aid, and Electronics. Her Biotic abilities will clash with the adept’s when faced with small groups but can be advantageous against groups so large the adept cannot lock every target down alone. This is double true early in progression before the adept’s abilities have been completely developed. Lacks weapon and armor talents and her Stasis is not effected by stasis mastery.

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya: A Quarian Machinist on her Pilgrimage, Tali is very similar to a human engineer, receiving training in pistols, most tech talents, and light armor. Tali is a possible source for both tech abilities need to open containers and consoles. Tali is the only source of the Hacking talent which can be situationally useful. With the pistols and shotguns weapon talents Tali has the potential to be a very well rounded support character.

Garrus Vakarian: A C-Sec officer and Turian Agent similar to an infiltrator with tech abilities, sniper rifles, and medium armor. Perhaps the best source for the required tech abilities, Garrus also sports the best damage protection of any character that has the tech abilities with medium armor. With assault rifles and assault training weapon damage is superior and tech abilities are available more often.

Urdnot Wrex: A Krogan Battlemaster Wrex is a brick wall with legs and a shotgun. With Heavy armor, barrier, and access to assault rifles and shotguns Wrex is the best front line character available. When paired with an Adept his biotic abilities can take a backseat to armor, weapons, and fitness. His Stasis is not effected by stasis mastery.