Soldier Guide (Mass Effect 2)

The Soldier is a pure combat specialist who focuses on draining enemy defenses and dealing out constant damage.

Overview
Not much has changed for the Soldier class in Mass Effect 2. It still has the widest variety of weapons available, with its only task being to deal out damage. There are new powers available to the class to complement the new combat system, but combat flow remains largely unchanged. Damage largely comes from the class-specific assault rifle, while the sniper rifle can be used to lock down enemy snipers and heavy weapons.

Powers
The player will gain a maximum of 50 Squad Points from levels 1-30. The class comes with six default powers with the ability to add one more later in the game. This means a maximum of five powers can be fully evolved.

Active Powers
Adrenaline Rush

This power slows down your surroundings by 50% and lasts for five seconds. Damage percentage increases for the duration to compensate for slowed rate of fire. It is best used when popping out of cover, in order to line up shots and chip away at enemy health, while taking less damage from weapons fire for the duration. Be sure to check that your weapon has a fresh thermal clip before activating the power, otherwise it will be wasted with a proportionately slow reload sequence. Rush is also useful if you find yourself flanked, as it allows you to hastily retreat for better cover. Evolving the power allows you to choose between taking 50% less damage (Hardened) or increasing the slowdown to 70% (Heightened). Heightened Adrenaline Rush is the preferred upgrade, as damage from weapons fire is already mitigated by the time dilation.

Concussive Shot

Fires a high-impact shot that can stun enemies and damage biotic barriers. It is ineffective against shields and armor. This power can be used together with Pull to toss enemies over railings or into walls for more damage. Concussive shot is most useful for knocking down charging enemies, such as krogans and husks. Damage is moderate, but can be used to finish off weakened enemies. The stronger force from heavy concussive shot is probably better, but either evolution will be useful.

Passive Powers
Cryo Ammo

Has a chance of snap-freezing targets, leaving them more susceptible to damage with a chance of an instant kill. This is the only form of crowd control available to this class beyond bonus powers. Despite this, cryo ammo is the least recommended ammo power, as it still requires sustained fire on one target in order to freeze them. Therefore, its value as a crowd controller is weak. Evolution involves sharing the effects of the ammo with your squad or increasing the chance of freezing targets.

Combat Mastery

This class can specialize in one of two areas: Commando or Shock Trooper. Commando increases weapon damage, storm speed, and damage dealt with powers. Shock Trooper increases conversation skills, health, and the duration of powers.

Shock Trooper isn't that useful with the classes only durational power, Adrenaline Rush. The increase in duration is 15%, meaning it will last for 5.75 seconds instead of 5, which is hardly a noticeable difference. The Shock Trooper's duration bonus can be useful if you pick a bonus power that will benefit from it, however, such as Reave. The increase in health is for the most part negligible, and there is enough Paragon/Renegade points in the game to be able to resolve most speech checks.

Commando, on the other hand, is quite useful to the soldier. The increase in power damage benefits all of the ammo upgrades. More weapon damage is always welcome for this weapons-heavy class, and storm speed can help to close in on enemies, or to run for cover.

Disruptor Ammo

Increases damage against synthetics and shields. Adds the ability to disable synthetics and overheat weapons with added squad points. Arguably the best non-bonus ammo power, it is useful for its ability to take down the many enemy shields found in the game. Combined with the rate of fire inherent with assault rifles, enemy shields can be taken down very quickly. Mechs are also widespread throughout the game, extending this power's usefulness. Can be evolved to extend its effects to your squad or increase its damage and chance of overloading synthetics.

Incendiary Ammo

Increases damage against organics and armor. Prevents health regeneration and deals damage over time. This power is very useful for the same reasons as Disruptor Ammo, only against armored enemies and healing enemies like the Vorcha and Krogan. There are probably just as many enemies with armor througout the game. Evolving the power allows you to choose between increasing the burning effect and damage, or sharing the effects with your squad.

Notable Bonus Talents
Barrier / Fortification / Geth Shield Boost

Erects a barrier/shield that effectively increases your shield power for its duration. If you're a soldier veteran from ME1 who misses the days of Immunity tanking, this power is for you. With this power a soldier can close the distance and take down enemy defenses and your squad can finish them off. Barrier and fortification are exactly the same, and can be upgraded for better protection or longer duration. Better protection is clearly the logical choice, as the cooldown time is well under the power duration. Geth shield boost is very similar, but instead of a duration evolution, a +10% damage bonus can be chosen, which may appeal to run-and-gun players.

Warp Ammo

Warp Ammo is a slightly misleading power, as its effect is not simply Warp in ammo form. This ammo power will provide a damage boost against shields, armor, biotic barriers, and health. To compensate for this broad type coverage, warp ammo deals less additional damage than other ammunitions. However, it is well worth it, as the versatility keeps the soldier well prepared for any mission scenario, and will allow you to sustain your assault rifle fire on the enemy without interrupting to switch ammo types. Highly recommended.

Reave

Valuable for reasons similar to warp ammo, reave deals double damage against shields, armor, and barriers, while stunning unprotected organics. Reave also restores health when used on organics. Offers less dps than warp ammo, but grants more survivability and tactical variability.

Recommended Builds
This build is designed to provide the soldier with the most reliable damage output. Disruptor ammo will quickly shred shields and synthetics, while warp ammo is effective against everything else. The passive Commando bonuses provide substantial augmentation, and heightened adrenaline rush furthers your dps, allowing you to deal much more damage to the enemy in 5 seconds than they can deal to you. Inferno ammo and concussive shot are both good powers that can round out your Commando: Inferno will deplete armor and incapacitate unprotected organics, but I find it cumbersome to switch between three ammo types in battle, especially since heavy warp ammo provides a bonus against ALL types. Concussive shot can therefore be used, although its damage and stalling effect are only mediocre. Note that in all cases, the "self" ammo bonus is chosen over the "squad". This is because assault rifles allow the soldier to pump substantially more shots into their enemies than any other class or character; therefore, the larger "self" bonus will translate to more damage on enemies over time.

This build is intended to add utility to the soldier and experiment with a useful Shock Trooper. Cryo Ammo combined with Concussive Blast gives the soldier decent crowd control, while Shock Trooper and Heavy Barrier keep you protected.

Weapons
Assault Rifles

Not only is this weapon unique to this class, but it is also the most useful. Good for close- to mid-range firefights, this weapon is effective against all types of enemy defenses. Combined with the soldier's many ammo upgrades the class can be a force to be reckoned with. It is recommended that every soldier pick up the M-76 Revenant for a weapon specialization. While even less effective at longer ranges, the rate of fire, heat dissipation, and clip capacity more than makes up for. If you like to keep your distance the M-15 Vindicator is a great alternative. It is highly accurate with the accuracy upgrade and can be used in lieu of the sniper rifle. The BR does have a limited clip capacity, though, so you have to take your time and pick your shots.

Heavy Pistols

Not very useful to the soldier with other great alternatives. This trusty sidearm can be used to pick off leftover enemies if you want to save the clips on other weapons. The Carnifex Hand Cannon is very powerful and can take out a lot of enemies with just a couple of shots, defenses and all.

Shotguns

Only reliable at close range. The shotgun fires too slowly to be of any use in a heavy firefight. It is very useful against YMIR Mechs combined with Adrenaline Rush around cover, though, and for picking off stragglers.

Sniper Rifles

This will be the second-most used weapon of the class. If you're pinned down from across a room by snipers and heavy weapons, and can't take the risk of closing the distance, then this weapon is essential. Because of the utilitarian use, the Mantis or Widow rifles are better suited for these situations. Soldiers will be looking to take out these enemies quickly in order to stay in close to deal out damage. Snipers are best paired with Adrenaline Rush for steady aim and more damage.

Party Selection
In choosing a party, the soldier's number one concern is crowd control, as this is their most glaring problem. As in ME1, party members that specialize in non-weapon (tech/biotic) techniques will be most useful. Keep in mind however that their are no party members that are strictly better than other members. A team needs to be built according to the mission profile.For example, Garrus and Miranda are invaluable on missions with synthetics for their Overload. Learn each party members strengths and weaknesses, and build a team around what bases you need covered. That said, these party members prove most useful to the Soldier in basic combat situations:

Samara/Jack

Either of these two biotics provide the best crowd control options with their powers. Pull will expose and hamper enemies, who will be quickly picked off by your team's weapon fire. Jack's shockwave is also exceptionally good at crowd control, by breaking up dense enemy clusters. Be sure to choose the area of effect evolutions to their powers in order to maximize enemy group control.

Tali/Legion

Tali and Legion have virtually identical power sets, besides their loyalty power, so choose one based on preference. Explosive Combat Drone should be the first evolved power, as most enemies will immediately focus their fire on the drone when it is released, giving you time to rifle them with impunity. AI Hacking is semi-useless, being very situational, so focus on their other useful powers.

Other

Mordin can cripple groups of organics with Neural Shock, allowing you to pour a quick rifle round into the incapacitated enemies. Finally, Miranda provides a beneficial stat boost to the party, and can make a good addition to the team with her diverse powers, as long as crowd control is met with the other party member.