Squad Members Guide (Mass Effect 3)

This Squad Members Guide details information and strategies corresponding to each of the squad members Shepard can acquire during the course of Mass Effect 3, including recommendations for use against particular enemy types and a quick reference table. Especially on harder difficulty levels, the proper selection and use of squad members can significantly affect the difficulty of a given mission or assignment.

General Information
When selecting a squad for effective combat (especially on higher difficulties), it is best to look for squadmates that have great synergy with not only Shepard's class, but also with other squadmates.

Adept, Vanguard and Sentinel Shepards will want to consider having at least one squadmate possessing Biotic powers: namely Liara, Kaidan and Javik. This allows for Biotic Detonations.

Soldier Shepards will want at least one squad-mate whom can strip away enemy protections (ie: barriers or shields). In this regard Garrus, EDI and Kaidan are excellent choices.

Engineer, Sentinel and Infiltrator Shepards should consider having Kaidan, Garrus, EDI or Tali on their squad for easier access to Tech Bursts.

Squadmates with powerful weapon bonuses are Garrus, Ashley and James, dealing heavy damage in general and not being overly reliant on powers.

The sturdiest squadmates, having high Health/Shield bonuses and powers increasing defenses or siphoning shields are Kaidan, EDI, James, and to an extent, Tali.

There are many factors affecting which squad will be most effective for any given Shepard, so the aim of this guide is to provide detailed information about what certain squadmates provide in combat, and how well they team up with other squadmates to give Shepard the best chance of survival in battle.

Kaidan Alenko
No matter what class Shepard or the third member in the party might be, Kaidan makes an effective partner for anyone. Only Garrus and EDI match his versatility for stripping enemy protections, as Kaidan has Overload to deal with shields, as well as his unique class power Reave for armor and barriers.

His Alliance Officer passive class power can give him an impressive boost to his biotics and tech powers, a maximum of 85% for his techs, while his biotics can be increased to 110% due to the Rank 5 Power Synergy upgrade of his unique skill Barrier.

Defensively, while both EDI and James have higher shields overall due to their passive class powers, Kaidan has access to both Barrier and Reave, which, if used together cuts the amount of damage he receives from all sources a maximum of 70%.

EDI
EDI's powers can be evolved to make her either one of the toughest characters in the game, or one of the most technically powerful. Her class power, Unshackled AI, provides substantial benefits to her shields, health, and power damage. By focusing on defenses, she can potentially have +120% shields and health by rank 4. She also possesses the unique skill Defensive Matrix to reduce damage, which can be purged to restore her shields. She also possesses the unique skill Decoy to distract enemy attention.

The weapon options for EDI are the SMG and heavy pistol, so EDI's offensive punch is largely based on judicious use of her powers. Thanks to Unshackled AI's massive accumulation of bonuses to power damage, EDI's Overload will devastate shields and barriers, while Incinerate will ravage health and armor. Note, however, that the Unshackled AI class power does not provide any power recharge reduction and utilizing Defensive Matrix will slow power cooldowns even further, so her offensive strikes require proper timing.

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy
Thanks to the addition of a few new and improved abilities, Tali is far more flexible than in the second game. Overall, Tali functions similarly to the Engineer class. Her Energy Drain ability enables her to strip away enemy shields and barriers while recharging her own shields, and Sabotage is useful for disabling enemy weapons and turning enemy synthetics and enemy Turrets against each other. Tali possesses not one but two different combat drones to give enemies other targets to shoot at, as well as deal damage of their own.

Moreso than other squadmates, Tali can be difficult to manage. There is no way to know if her drones have been destroyed or whether you simply can't spot them at the moment. Although it is generally far more effective to manually control squadmate powers, in Tali's case it may be more prudent to turn automatic power usage back on when she's on the team. Tali is also rather fragile, has only her combat drones for ranged options, and does not have a reliable way of countering armor.

Javik
Javik possesses more biotic power than any other squadmate, as his Vengeful Ancient passive class power can bulk his power up to 150%. He is also quite adept at starting biotic combinations, as his unique skill Dark Channel will jump to another target if it's current target dies while under it's effect, while Pull will render most unshielded enemies completely helpless.

Liara T'Soni
Liara is the most fragile member of the squad, and her weapon options are unimpressive. However, her duration-based biotic powers, Stasis and Singularity, can turn a battle with rank-and-file enemies into a one-sided turkey shoot. Liara's Pure Biotic class power primarily serves to reduce the recharge time of her powers even further, so that at maximum rank the cooldown period for Stasis and Singularity is only few seconds. Coupled with her relatively fast recharge times, Warp allows for rather frequent biotic detonations.

Garrus Vakarian
Garrus specializes in tech and combat, and is an effective, well-rounded option for any class Shepard happens to be. Garrus offers superior ability to inflict damage with weapons. Maximum ranks in Turian Rebel can provide a total of up to +150% damage with his weapons of choice, rifles. Combined with a weapon damage bonus from one of his appearance options, the net effect would amount to almost triple damage on every shot he fires. Armor-Piercing Ammo contributes even more damage to health and armor, and with Overload peeling away shields and barriers, Garrus is primed to attack all categories of defense.

Garrus does not have strong defensive capabilities. Turian Rebel's damage bonuses comes at the price of relatively low shield and health bonuses (+40% maximum), and focusing on his weapon damage will make his Overload tech do less damage than other characters.

James Vega
The quintessential meat shield, Vega is built expressly for close-quarters combat. His unique Fortification power allows him to alternate between a damage reduction buff and a melee damage buff. Equipping him with a strong point-blank-range shotgun that's been modded with a blade attachment can make him brutally effective as a point man and at close range. James' class power, Arms Master, potentially provides the highest bonus to shields and health of all squadmates, topping out at +140% at rank 6. Incendiary Ammo and Carnage provide a strong counter to armored enemies, particularly when they are combined to create a tech explosion (by hitting a burning opponent with Carnage). Since Incendiary Ammo and Fortifcation are 'passive' powers that should be on all the time, and Frag Grenade is on a separate cooldown than normal powers, Vega is also good at blasting enemy armor and unshielded enemies with an unending stream of Carnage blasts. Vega does not possess shield or barrier-mitigating abilities.

Ashley Williams
Ashley packs unparalleled raw weapon damage. Her class ability, Alliance Officer, can increase her weapon damage dramatically, with a 75% base damage boost and even more power to her assault rifles.

Her unique buff, Marksman, increases her accuracy and rate of fire. Equipping her with the M-76 Revenant is an ideal choice; Marksman easily offsets the Revenant's wide spread. When equipped with the Revenant, Ashley will gain the ability to lay down suppressive fire (by firing at the location the enemy is at, even if they're in cover).

She also carries Disruptor Ammo, allowing her to quickly take down shielded or synthetic enemies. This makes her deadly on missions involving Cerberus or Geth, as both make use of shields and/or are susceptible to to disruptor ammo.

Though Ashley has Inferno Grenade for dealing with armored opponents, there are more ideal squadmates for countering armor, particularly since Inferno Grenade has limited uses. Inferno grenade is ideal for dealing with Reaper opponents, especially Husks and Cannibals.

Ashley receives fair bonuses to health and shields through Alliance Officer, to a maximum of +75% at rank four.

James/Ashley

 * Weapons: Sniper rifle, Assault rifle x2, Shotgun
 * Grenades: Inferno, Frag
 * Ammo: Disruptor, Incendiary

This pairing confers the benefit of having ammo powers for all occasions, perfect for enemies like reapers that cover the spread. Both use assault rifles, so they can have some degree of effectiveness at any range. Ashley can also hang back and make selective strkes with a sniper rifle while James digs in on the front line with a shotgun. When fighting heavy-duty opponents or swarms, there's an ample supply of grenades that provide significant AoE damage.

James/Kaidan

 * Weapons: Assault rifle x2, Shotgun, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Frag
 * Ammo: Incendiary

An extremely tough team, with both James and Kaidan having defensive powers and a superior amount of shielding. The two are also very good at setting of tech combinations of any kind, since Kaidan's Overload will trigger with James's Incendiary Ammo, while Overload or Cryo Blast will be triggered with James's Carnage.

Unless Shepard has biotic powers, train Kaidan's Alliance Officer skill to boost his tech damage, since he won't be using any biotic detonations with this team. The team's only real drawback is that it relies on Kaidan to strip enemy protections, since James can only reliable hit armor with his techs.

James/Garrus

 * Weapons: Sniper rifle, Assault rifle x2, Shotgun
 * Grenades: Frag
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing, Incendiary

This is a solid pair having no major weaknesses, and pairs well with Engineers and Infiltrators. James and Garrus both offer solid firepower, having sizeable Weapon Damage bonuses and covering all ranges of the field. James makes up for Garrus' relative fragility with high Health/Shield bonuses and Fortification, while Garrus can easily strip the Barriers and Shields that James has trouble with.

James/Liara

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Shotgun, SMG, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Frag
 * Ammo: Incendiary, Warp

A solid choice for engineers and infiltrators, or any Shepard that attacks from range. James acts as the meat shield and close combat firepower, while Liara can crowd control and stasis, setting up easy targets for you.

James/Tali

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Shotgun x2, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Frag
 * Ammo: Incendiary

Tali's fragile nature is easily overcome by pairing her with James, as he can be positioned to take point and draw enemy fire while she supplants this with her combat drones. In addition, Tali's Energy Drain very easily compensates for James's lack of ability to hit shielded targets.

James/EDI
For players that prefer to hang back and let their squadmates take the brunt of attacks, this is a solid choice. Vega and EDI are the toughest members of the squad. They also offer a brutal trio of direct-damage powers: Carnage, Incinerate, and Overload. Well-suited for players that favor biotics or sniping.
 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Shotgun, SMG, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Frag
 * Ammo: Incendiary

James/Javik

 * Weapons: Assault rifle x2, Shotgun, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Frag
 * Ammo: Incendiary

Liara/Ashley

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Sniper rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Inferno
 * Ammo: Warp, Disruptor

Liara and Ashley compensate each other's shortcomings very handily: Liara's lack of ability to harm shielded enemies is mitigated easily by Ashley's Disruptor Ammo and Marksman, while Ashley's inability to reliably damage armor without grenades is covered by Liara's Warp. Singularity allows Ashley to use Marksman and mop up weaker, unprotected enemies, making this team a great choice for missions with Reapers, as husks and cannibals fall prey to a crossfire very easily.

Liara/Kaidan

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Warp

A team very adept at creating biotic combinations, as Kaidan's Reave and Liara's Warp can both start or finish a biotic explosion. These explosions, when coupled with Liara's Pure Biotic passive class, can come out quite numerously. In addition, Liara's inability to do extra damage to shielded opponents is mitigated with Kaidan's Overload.

While Kaidan does use an assault rifle and can use the squad boost of Warp Ammo, this team's strength, first and foremost, is biotics.

Liara/Garrus

 * Weapons: Sniper rifle, Assault rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing, Warp

This combination is a well-rounded option suited for most combat situations. Garrus provides strong firepower, AP ammo for armor and Overload for shields and barriers, while Liara provides crowd control with warp for armor/barriers. Liara's singularity can be used to rout unprotected enemies while her stasis can paralyze more powerful enemies (such as phantoms). If Shepard is a biotic, some interesting biotic combos can be made with singularity and stasis. On the other hand, if Shepard is an engineer, then Garrus can help set up and set off powerful tech bursts.

The main drawback of this combination is the lack of close range capability and survivability; however, this is easily offset if Shepard is a Vanguard, Soldier, or Sentinel.

Liara/Tali

 * Weapons: Shotgun, SMG, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Warp

This pairing almost requires either the Soldier, Vanguard or Sentinel, as Shepard will act as the squad meatshield. Tali's Combat and Defense Drones can also give the enemies something else to shoot at. If the attention is kept off them, Liara and Tali will use their powers to raise all kinds of hell with the enemy's strategies. Even on Insanity, heavy units like the Atlas or Geth Prime cannot stand many repetitions of Energy Drain and Warp.

Liara/EDI

 * Weapons: SMG x2, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Warp

This pair provides little in the way of firepower compared to some other pairings, but what they have is essentially doubled. Since EDI has Defense Matrix and a Decoy, she can take all the damage for the weaker Liara and help draw out enemies for the perfect use of a Singularity or Stasis. Liara's weakness as with all biotic classes is shields, so EDI can again compensate for Liara with her Overload power, leaving the gate open for the asari to cast all manner of biotics on an unshield target for the player to take out.

Liara/Javik

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: Lift
 * Ammo: Warp

An interesting contrast exists between Javik and Liara's implementation of biotics. Liara's Stasis and Singularity powers immobilize, while Javik's Pull and Slam fling them about. Together, they provide a great deal of battlefield control, and, of course, biotic explosions should be abound.

Garrus/Ashley

 * Weapons: Assault rifle x2, Sniper rifle x2
 * Grenades: Inferno
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing, Disruptor

Ashley and Garrus are inarguably the most firepower heavy squad members in the game, and when paired are capable of wreaking absolute havoc. With access to both armor-piercing and disruptor ammo, enemy protections won't be much of a problem. Overload serves to only further complement this combination's shield/barrier countering capability. Keep Ashley on her Assault Rifle (ideally a Revenant), and switch between Sniper Rifles and Assault Rifles on Garrus for medium to long range and close quarters respectively. Works great with Adepts and Vanguards.

Garrus/Kaidan

 * Weapons: Assault rifle x2, Sniper rifle, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing

An exceptionally versatile team that can utterly decimate higher-level enemies, such as Banshees, Brutes, Geth Primes, and Phantoms. No other team can come close to stripping enemy armor, shields, or barriers so quickly and effectively, or mopping up unprotected enemies with gunfire.

Garrus's Overload can be ignored entirely in favor of Kaidan's, as Kaidan's Alliance Officer passive skill, and the Power Synergy of Barrier, will provide more tech damage than Turian Rebel. This leaves Garrus free to specialize in weapons and his other skills, granting the team more crowd control with Proximity Mine, Concussive Shot, and Cryo Blast.

In addition, Garrus's lower health and shields can very easily be compensated by having Kaidan, who has two defensive skills, taking a point position and letting Garrus stay back in cover.

This team will also synergize well with any class Shepard may be, as Kaidan's Reave can assist with any biotic detonations if Shepard is an Adept, Vanguard, or Sentinel, while the Soldier or Infiltrator can take full advantage of Cryo Blast to deal maximum damage. Garrus' and Kaidan's Overload can also help set up or set off tech bursts for Engineers.

Garrus/Tali

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Sniper rifle, Shotgun, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing

This team brings together long range and short range and some complimentary powers. Combining Garrus' Overload with Tali's Energy Drain can take a good chunk out of enemies' shields and Tali's Combat Drone provides the perfect decoy for Garrus to do some shooting. Compensating for each other, it might be an idea to keep Tali near Garrus if you are depending on his sniper rifle to cover you as he can get overwhelmed at close range while Tali seems to hold out much longer (activating her Defense Drone may also help with this). If you just want the two of them to hold their own during a close quarters fight, switch Garrus to his assault rifle and Tali to her shotgun and see the bodies stack.

This pair can be rather fragile, but constant usage of Tali's Energy Drain and Combat Drone can help distract enemies from them.

Garrus and Tali synergize well with Engineers, being able to set up and set off powerful tech bursts with a wide variety of their powers.

Garrus/EDI

 * Weapons: Sniper rifle, Assault rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing

This tech-heavy team is very effective at tackling Cerberus missions. Both can overload shields, and a combination of Armor-Piercing Ammo and Incinerate will make short work of armor. Place EDI front and center, keeping the heat off of Garrus with Decoy and Defense Matrix, while keeping Garrus behind cover with a sniper rifle to deal heavy damage with his Weapon Damage bonuses. Equipping Garrus with a rifle that penetrates cover like the M-98 Widow and levelling up his Armor-Piercing Ammo will prevent Cerberus Guardians from getting close enough to cause issues.

Garrus/Javik

 * Weapons: Assault rifle x2, Sniper rifle, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Lift
 * Ammo: Armor-Piercing

An unusual combo. Garrus provides powerful long-range weapon fire while Javik handles closer ranges. Garrus can easily strip Shields and Barriers with Overload, and handles Armor with AP ammo. Javik deals great damage to unprotected foes with Lift Grenade or Slam. Javik's Pull renders unprotected enemies helpless in the air, which are easy pickings for Shepard and Garrus.

The main drawback is the relative fragility of this team, so a Sentinel Shepard synergizes the best with this pair, who can also create biotic detonations with Dark Channel

Tali/Ashley

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Sniper rifle, Shotgun, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Inferno
 * Ammo: Disruptor

Useful squad pairing for Geth and Ceberus missions, Tali provides Sabotage and drone support while Ashley has Disruptor Ammo to strip shields and stun geth enemies.

Tali's drone support will force enemies out of cover and straight into Ashley's line of fire. This becomes extremely effective if Ashley is armed with the M37 Falcon or M76 Revenant.

Use Ashley to suppress enemy targets, Tali to strip shields or barriers and use Shepard to flank enemy targets.

Tali/Kaidan

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Shotgun, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: none

For missions against the geth, this is one of the best teams to use, as both Tali and Kaidan can start or finish tech explosions with Energy Drain or Overload, and utterly rip through geth. As all of the opponents are synthetic, Tali's Energy Drain will allow her to keep her shields charged. Even against Reapers or Cerberus, the team has excellent crowd control with Kaidan's Cryo Blast and Tali's drones.

While it does have long range options, the team is not the best at range, and relies upon Kaidan's assault rifle to drop foes from a distance.

Tali/EDI

 * Weapons: Shotgun, SMG, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: none

This pairing is one of the most ideal for Geth and Cerberus missions. EDI can Overload shields, while Tali drains them. EDI is tough enough to take the brunt of geth hunters, who will find themselves uncloaked by Tali's defense drones. Between Tali's drones and EDI's Decoy power, the enemy will rarely be spending much time attacking the squad itself. The weakness of this team is long range, because neither have access to rifles.

Tali/Javik

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Shotgun, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: Lift
 * Ammo: none

An interesting combination exists between Javik's Dark Channel and Tali's combat drones. The lack of range becomes almost a non-issue for them, as proper power use can mitigate this completely, dropping unprotected foes before they can even come close.

Javik's inability to hit shielded targets is covered by Tali's Energy Drain. However, this team lacks the ability to hit armor effectively, and needs Shepard to cover this.

EDI/Ashley

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, Sniper rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Inferno
 * Ammo: Disruptor

An utterly versatile and vicious team that can tear through enemies quickly. Particularly effective against Cerberus, since Ashley and EDI can provide quick tech detonations to quickly drop Atlas Mechs and turrets, as well as killing the nearby engineers that set them up.

While Ashley has decent toughness, EDI's superior defensive abilities and Ashley's superior range provides the dynamic for EDI to take point while Ashley hangs back in cover.

EDI/Kaidan

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: none
 * Ammo: none

First and foremost, this is one of the toughest teams in the whole game for raw survivability: both EDI and Kaidan are the two toughest tanks in the game. While EDI has higher shields and Defense Matrix, Kaidan can reduce damage even more than she can by combining Barrier with Reave.

Offensively, both characters are tech powerhouses. Both EDI and Kaidan can decimate enemy protections with their wide variety of powers. EDI's Incinerate will combo with Kaidan's Cryo Blast to deal increased armor damage, making them extremely effective at dealing with Brutes, Banshees, and Atlas Mechs at the higher levels, while both have Overload to deal with Shields or synthetic enemies.

EDI/Javik

 * Weapons: Assault rifle, SMG, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: Lift
 * Ammo: none

While this team does not have a lot of synergy with each other, it does cover all of its bases due to EDI's versatile use of powers, having Overload and Incinerate to deal with all types of enemy protections. Slam can easily kill unprotected enemies from combat if EDI cannot get rid of them, while Dark Channel can help thin out the numbers of the enemies.

Javik/Ashley

 * Weapons: Sniper rifle, Assault rifle x2, Heavy pistol
 * Grenades: Inferno, Lift
 * Ammo: Disruptor

Javik/Kaidan

 * Weapons: Assault rifle x2, Heavy pistol x2
 * Grenades: Lift
 * Ammo: none

When it comes to biotic power, this team is unmatched, as both Javik and Kaidan's squad boosts will synergize with each other, propelling Javik's already high power due to Vengeful Ancient even higher.

Biotic combos will be plentiful with this team, so Kaidan's Alliance Officer skill should boost his biotics. Due to the time Javik's Slam triggers detonations, at the apex of being lifted, it is better to have Javik use Dark Channel or Pull, and have Kaidan detonate fields with Reave.

This team works wonders against Cerberus teams, since Javik's pull makes quick work of Guardians, while Kaidan can decimate Engineers and their turrets.

Cerberus
Many Cerberus forces have shields, while Cerberus Phantoms have barriers. This makes bringing at least one squad member with Overload a priority.

Cerberus also brings many assault troopers, which are unshielded and unprotected enemies, into a fight, so tech explosions, Cryo Blast and Singularity are invaluable to stopping multiple opponents.

The only armored unit that will appear are Atlas Mechs, which are rare, but demand immediate attention. Atlas Mechs contain both Armor and Shields, so squad members who can hit both of them at the same time, are good choices for those types of missions. Regardless of character, having piercing mods on character weapons is a good idea.

Combat Engineers can be very annoying, as they set up and repair turrets, damaged Atlas Mechs, or shield pylons. They possess Shields, and Overload tends to briefly stun them, so make them a priority when they are encountered.

Reapers
More than any other force, Reapers possess a lot of cannon fodder, unshielded troops with Husks and Cannibals, so effective crowd control is extremely prudent.

Marauders are very common, and shielded, so having a squad member who can hit shields quickly is also a priority. Because it is not uncommon to see more than three at any given time, Disruptor Ammo becomes significantly more effective since there is no recharge time.

Armor, and more specifically, armor plating, is very common among Reaper troops, as Brutes and Ravagers possess it constantly, Cannibals possess it when they consume a fallen foe, and Marauders can buff Husks or Cannibals with it. Warp and Cryo Blast can weaken the effectiveness of armor plating by a significant amount. Reapers also use Barrier engines to buff their front-line fighters by giving them a layer of barrier.

Reaper forces also possess Banshees, which can instantly kill a target, and possess barriers as well as armor, and phase across a battlefield. Reave will do extra damage a Banshee no matter which protection she is using.

Geth
Almost all geth are shielded, and all are synthetic foes. As such, Overload is an invaluable skill, as is Disruptor Ammo or Energy Drain. In addition, Hacking will work on almost any target, giving enemies an extra target to shoot at.

Geth Hunters cloak frequently. While they have a noticeable outline, it can be difficult to make out. Having combat drones, sentry turrets, or the Decoy ability, can help flush them out, as they will de-cloak when they are about to fire.

Geth Pyros are brutal at short-range, and possess armor in addition to shields. Geth Primes lack the short-range damage of pyros, but are defensive juggernauts.

Default
These are the default outfits available for squad members.

Alternate
These are alternate outfits for squad members that are included in the game.

N7 Collector's Edition Pack Alternate
These are alternate outfits for squad members that are added by downloading the N7 Collector's Edition Pack.

From Ashes Alternate
These are alternate outfits for squad members that are added by downloading From Ashes.