Forum:Class Tier Lists

Prescript: I have not actually played mass effect 1 so I will not be able to make a tier list for that alone.

This page will discuss how good each of Shepard's Classes are in mass 2 and mass 3 comparative to each other and 'buffs' and 'nerfs' that happened during the transition between the games. Later it may also begin to include a tier list for the mass 3 multiplayer Classes. Each list should be followed by a paragraph or so reasoning why the tier list is set up as so. How good a Class is depends largely on how it is played. However it can be widely agreed that some classes are better than others.

Numbering: tiers reach v 1.0 when all (current) Classes are on the list in some order. after that point any edit to a list should add 0.1 to its version number (i.e. version 1.3 will become 1.4 after being edited). Edits to a list version 0.9 should add a hundredth and edits to 0.99 should add a thousandth for each edit should the list still not include all the Classes available at that point in time (only expected to happen on the multiplayer tier list).

n.b. Classes can share tiers

Mass Effect 2 Shepard Classes:

tier 1 (top) Sentinel

tier 2 Infiltrator

tier 3 Vanguard

tier 4 Engineer Soldier Adept

In Mass Effect 2, Powers are substantial. Sentinel rules the tier list because of Warp, Overload, and Tech Armor. This gives the sentinel a lot of power especially on lower difficulties while being very difficult to kill since Tech Armor restores shields to full. Infiltrator takes second for being able to cut down anything at range with the Widow and ammo powers while, in the worst case scenario, being able to retreat undetected. Vanguard sneaks in just behind on the back of Claymore and Biotic Charge. These two combined mean that you can restore a good chunk of shields on a whim and the Claymore's surprising effective range makes the Vanguard a powerful foe. The lack of 'ballistic Powers' will put a Vanguard at a disadvantage in places where enemies are at range and untrackable by Biotic Charge such as Mordin Solus's loyalty mission. The other classes are good but not great I found. Adept brings comprehensive set of crowd control powers and they seem to be tweaked for an anti collector role. Spamming Throw field with the biotic cooldown upgrade means you never have to worry about husks while Warp will help deal with anything that does not have shields. Things with shields however are common and quite sometimes must be faced pretty much single handedly. Engineer has a good compliment of attack powers, but Combat Drone is a bit lacking. Engineer suffers against Barriers making the Praetorian a hellish enemy to fight. Soldier is a capable fighter who can take anything but SMGs into a fight, however Concussive Shot does not compare to the offensive powers of other Classes and you will spend ages putting ammo powers on each weapon only to not use half of them. In a game balanced in the favour of Powers soldier just cant quite keep up.

This will be worked on. Comments and suggestions are welcome.