User blog comment:Mictlantecuhtli/Melee Guide (Mass Effect 2)/@comment-1895434-20100820162419

Nice write-up! I'm especially pleased to find this because I'm a close-combat proponent, myself. (A lesson I've learned: Krogans will always charge you if you've just slugged them in the face, even though they could just unload their shotgun on you. Touchy lot, aren't they?)

For my team, I agree that Grunt is great for his melee charge, but also because he's one of the characters who has a ranged staggering/stunning ability (Concussive Shot). Against protected opponents, I find that any ability that disables, even if only for a second, is more useful than a pure damage power, because if you're within melee range, chances are that you'll be able to deal more point-blank damage than any ability will but you have to survive long enough to unleash it. Garrus and Zaeed are thus strong candidates as well, if Grunt's not available, or if you've got jitters about having a trigger-happy Krogan at your back. Garrus, the old crowd favorite, adds in Overload to the mix, which at rank 3 overheats enemy weapons (even when they have their protections up, according to the wiki), thereby allowing you to continue punching with impunity. Aside from Concussive Shot, other skills also have notable knockback effects, including Warp and Shockwave (just remember to time the latter carefully so that you're not dead by the time it reaches your target).

Perhaps the most effective ally of all, though, is little Kasumi, provided you've got her Stolen Memory DLC. First off, she has Overload, which we've already covered, but it's her two unique abilities that set her apart from the rest. Her Shadow Strike can momentarily draw attention away from you and on to her, yet she can often withdraw quickly enough to avoid death (admittedly, she also looks pretty sexy doing it). Then we have the piece de resistance, her Flashbang Grenade with its sizable radius. She launches it, it goes off, you charge in like a rabid gorilla while the enemies are stunned, and you pummel them to death before they can regain their senses. In short, all of her abilities help make the enemies sitting ducks - combined with you keeping them off balance with your punches, they'll never be able to get in a shot before they're dead.

In sum: my personal take is that melee combat entails Shepard dishing out all the heavy damage while leaving crowd control elements to your allies (and Kasumi is nothing if not crowd control). Hope you find that information useful to your guide, which is terrific as it stands. I'll be checking back if you add more; keep it up~