Shadow

This article is about the weapon in Mass Effect: Andromeda. For the playable class in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer, see N7 Shadow Infiltrator.

Shadow
General Info
Category	Sniper Rifles
Rarity	Rare
Tech Type
Mod Slots	2
Base Stats
Damage	64-101
Rate of Fire	600
Max Clip Size	20-30
Max Ammo	∞
Accuracy	65-81
Weight	55-28
Base Stats
Damage	93-112
Rate of Fire	600
Max Clip Size	20-30
Max Ammo	∞
Accuracy	65-81
Weight	55-28
Bulwark
Damage Resistance (1 Ally): 15-25 Damage Resistance (2 Allies): 22-37 Damage Resistance (3 Allies): 30-50
Concussive
Area Damage: 800-1500 Radius (m): 7.50
Siphon
% Damage Returned as Health: 3-3.75 % Heal Bonus per kill: 4.5 Kill Streak Duration (s): 7 Max. Kill Bonus: 3

The Shadow is a sniper rifle in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Description

Remnant particle technology is the cornerstone of the Shadow's design, though the Andromeda Initiative is responsible for the rest. This scoped rifle fires a continuous beam with pinpoint precision, only stopping if it overheats. As with all reverse-engineered Remnant tech, the Shadow should be considered experimental.

Features

The Shadow is essentially a longer-ranged version of the P.A.W. assault rifle. Its damage output is about twice that of the P.A.W., and its pinpoint accuracy ensures that its entire firepower hits exactly where the targeting reticule is pointed. Its continuous fire makes the Shadow a more forgiving weapon in the hands of inexperienced shooters than regular sniper rifles, but its lack of instant high-damage shots means that enemies are liable to evade the beam by either jumping to the side or running for cover. It also makes the "pop and drop" method of rising from cover for a quick killshot largely impossible to pull off, which tends to expose snipers to more enemy fire than they might be used to.

Being a Remnant-based weapon, the Shadow is subject to all the advantages and drawbacks of this weapon family.

Its internal heat sink gives it infinite spare ammunition, but its small clip size and immense rate of fire means that it empties its clip very quickly, which forces it into its lengthy cooldown animation if the player fails to keep an eye on their ammo count. There is no way to alleviate this shortcoming except for upgrading the weapon since there are no mods available to increase the clip size of sniper rifles.

The Shadow is the only Remnant-based firearm that does not suffer as much from the weapon family's arbitrary maximum range. It will still stop dealing damage past a certain range, but in its case this range is long enough that it should not be an issue under most circumstances.

Like all Remnant weapons, the Shadow can only be acquired by crafting it at a Research Station. It will never appear as random loot or in APEX loot containers.

The Shadow is unable to use a Sniper Rifle Clip Mod or a Sniper Rifle Receiver Mod.

The weapon received several changes during multiplayer balance updates. Aside from damage improvements, its recharge time has been slowed by 33%. The Shadow's damage output increases the closer it gets to overheating, though the weapon will overheat faster.

Strategies

• The Shadow can properly utilize an SR Vented Barrel: as a continuous-beam weapon, the rate of fire penalty can be ignored, allowing for greater damage output at the mod's higher levels compared to the regular SR Barrel.

• Singleplayer
• Multiplayer

Singleplayer

• There are only five Mods for sniper rifles. The Shadow can't use a Sniper Rifle Receiver Mod or a Sniper Rifle Spare Clip Mod, so there is no point in adding a Double Mod Extension augmentation to the Shadow to add 2 extra mods slots.

Multiplayer

• The Shadow can be thought of as a "poor man's P.A.W.", being only rare and more likely to appear in crates than the ultra-rare P.A.W., and therefore more likely to access its variants faster than the P.A.W.

Stats

• Singleplayer
• Multiplayer

Singleplayer

Rank	Damage	Rate of Fire	Max Clip Size	Max Ammo	Accuracy	Weight
I	64	600	20	∞	65	55
II	68	600	21	∞	70	52
III	72	600	22	∞	73	49
IV	76	600	23	∞	75	46
V	81	600	24	∞	76	43
VI	85	600	25	∞	78	40
VII	89	600	26	∞	79	37
VIII	93	600	28	∞	80	34
IX	97	600	29	∞	81	31
X	101	600	30	∞	81	28

Multiplayer

Rank	Damage	Rate of Fire	Max Clip Size	Max Ammo	Accuracy	Weight
I	93	600	20	∞	65	55
II	95	600	21	∞	70	52
III	97	600	22	∞	73	49
IV	99	600	23	∞	75	46
V	101	600	24	∞	76	43
VI	102	600	25	∞	78	40
VII	104	600	26	∞	79	37
VIII	106	600	28	∞	80	34
IX	108	600	29	∞	81	31
X	112	600	30	∞	81	28

Development

Rank	Research Cost	Remnant Polymer	Silicon	Lithium	Element Zero	Augmentation Slots
I	125	20	100	50	10	0
II	140	30	110	50	10	3
III	155	30	130	60	20	3
IV	170	30	140	70	20	3
V	185	40	160	80	20	3
VI	200	40	170	80	20	3
VII	215	40	180	80	20	3
VIII	230	40	190	90	20	3
IX	245	50	190	90	20	3
X	260	50	200	100	20	3
Total	1925	370	1570	750	180	N/A