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[khevan]

This guide is not for elite gamers with excellent quick twitch aiming skills.  There are plenty of other quality guides to the Infiltrator for that crowd.  I, however, am not in that crowd.  Mass Effect 1 was an easier game for me in this respect, but several changes to the combat system have made ME2 much harder. 

While I like the ammo system, and the combat itself is much smoother with better enemy AI (they'll flank if they have the chance, they move around the battlefield more, etc.), these elements have made it a harder game for me.  You'd think that I'd gravitate towards the "caster" classes of ME2, but I fell in love with Cloak on my first playthru, and now I can't really get into other classes without it.  While I'm not good at aiming and shooting, I will say that I think I'm pretty good at tactics, and I'll be touching on general tactics in this guide.

First, a disclaimer:  This is all based on my personal playstyle and opinion.  There are lots of ways to play the Infiltrator, and it's up to you to decide which works best for you.  I'm merely offering my playstyle for others to consider.

And now, on to the meat of the guide!  I'll be breaking this down into sections so it's easier to read and understand.

Skills and build

Disruptor Ammo:  If you have good aiming and shooting skills, this ammo power is probably the second best ammo power in the game, right behind Incindiary ammo.  It absolutely destroys shields.  However, since I'm not the best shot, I leave this power at level 2 for much of the game.  I rely alot more on powers to strip defenses.

Cryo Ammo:  Great CC ability, and if an enemy is frozen, it gives a huge damage bonus.  I personally suggest getting this to level 4 fairly quickly, and I'd evolve it to Squad Cryo.  Dropping out of sniper zoom and seeing a couple of enemies frozen from squad fire is definately worth the points.  There are other skills that I get maxed first, though.

Cloak:  The ultimate in utility skills.  With this skill, you can set up a sniper shot with no enemy interferance, move to a more advantageous position, or flank your enemy if the battlefield allows it.  More on this later in the tactics section.

Incinerate:  Hands down, the best armor stripping power in the game.  It has a 2.4X modifier to armor, it sets organic enemies ablaze (if they're down to health), giving you some minor CC, and it stops Krogan and vorcha health regeneration.  I tend to get this power to at least level 3 quickly.

AI Hacking:  Very situational power, and the situations where it's useful are few and far between, but when they come, it's an invaluable power on the higher difficulties.  Being able to hack a charging Geth Hunter is much faster and safer than killing it (for me, at least), and that Geth Hunter becomes a 3rd squadmember, helping to whittle down the enemy numbers.  But for most of the game, this power is useless.  My advice is to leave this skill alone, but for geth missions, retrain your powers to put at least two ranks into this power, preferably 3.  It's not necessary to evolve this power, in my opinion.

Passive:  If you're like me, and can't hit the proverbial side of a barn, then you definately want to evolve this into the Agent specialization.  The bonuses to skill cooldown and duration are key to my playstyle, and the bonuses to Paragon/Renegade don't hurt none either.

Bonus Power:  For much of the game, I recommend Energy Drain.  Since I rely more on powers than shooting, Energy Drain makes for a great shield stripper.  It doesn't have Overload's CC ability to overheat enemy weapons, but it does refill your own shields, which has saved my butt more times than I can count.  I don't rely on that part of the power, and mostly use it for shield stripping, but it's definately a point worth mentioning.

Build Progression:  I try to start with at least a point in Disruptor Ammo, Cloak, Passive, and Energy Drain, while taking Incinerate to at least level 2 to start.  You face alot of armored enemies on Omega, and shield stripping can wait a bit.  After that, I get cloak, passive and energy drain to level 2, and incinerate to level 3.  To finish off the build, I get passive/cloak/energy drain to 3, Incinerate to 4, then max passive, then cloak, then energy drain.  Once those skills are maxed, I work on my ammo powers.

   -Also, one point to remember:  Retrain your skills!!  If you know what you're going to be facing, enemy-wise, retrain to give yourself the best advantage you can.  Max Energy Drain and a few points into AI Hacking for Geth missions, Max Incinerate for Blood Pack and husk missions, etc.  The infiltrator is probably one of the most diverse classes in ME2, so specialize for what you need, and change up as you go.

Weapons and Armor

Even though I'm not a shooter, by any means, I recommend taking the Widow as your "bonus" weapon on the disabled Collector ship.  As an infiltrator, unless you're going for a CQC Infiltrator (for which there are other great guides), you generally want to keep the enemies as far from you as possible.  I'll go into that a bit more during the tactics section of this, but in short, the Widow is the strongest Sniper Rifle in the game, and can do some serious damage. 

Armor, however, is totally up to you.  The Off-Hand Ammo pack sounds like a good idea, but it really isn't that useful.  It gives a whopping one extra shot for the Widow, which is useful, of course, but not as great as "10% extra ammo!" sounds.  I do, however, use this armor piece, because it looks cool.  I also use the Kuwashii Visor (+10% headshot damage), mainly because it looks cool, but because I do manage a headshot now and then, and any damage boost is a good thing, in my opinion.

Tactics

Everything I wrote above is pretty much common knowledge, but I added it for completeness (and because my OCDishness wouldn't let me omit it).  This section, however, is the main reason I decided to write this down.  In this section, I'll lay out my personal playstyle, give some general combat tips, and try to show how I get the most out of my infiltrator.

First and foremost, remember the four "F's" of infantry combat:  Find 'em, Fix 'em, Flank 'em, Finish 'em.  To expand on this a bit more, I'll take each "F" one at a time.

Find 'em:  In ME2, you don't need to find your enemies, they'll be there when you get there.  But, it's important to note that you should try to meet the enemies on your terms.  Pause the game, take a look around the battlefield.  Is the battlefield open, or crowded and confined?  Are there multiple avenues of approach to the enemy that you can use (or that they can come at you from?)  Are there any good, strong looking cover positions within easy reach?  Use the battlefield, it can seriously affect how easy or hard a fight is.

Fix 'em:  There's no such thing as suppression fire in this game, so it's hard to fix enemies in one location so you can flank, but you also need to keep the enemy from flanking you.  Set your squad to cover your flanks if you can, and keep a close eye on how the enemy is moving.  Enemies charging up the middle can make you focus on them, leaving that one guy to sneak around the side and cap you when you least expect it.  Use abilities to disrupt enemy movements.  Kasumi's Flashbang is great for this, as it staggers enemies even when protected, disrupts their weapons, and knocks 'em down if they're in health.  It's here that I "thin the herd," so to speak, by using powers to strip defenses, taking out a couple of enemies to make it safer to move around, etc.  I usually use the Locust SMG at this point, because it's accurate, has more ammo than the sniper rifle, and because I'm a poor shot, I'm not out of cover for a long time trying to line up a headshot.  Once the enemy's numbers are down a bit, we go to the next section.

Flank 'em:  When the opportunity presents itself, and the battlefield allows it, do what you can to move so that the enemy is facing fire from two different directions.  Even if they all focus on you, and they usually will, they'll generally expose themselves to your squadmate's gunfire.  Not to mention that if you use Cloak to flank (and you should) they won't adjust to your movement until after Cloak ends, giving you time to take out an enemy or two while they shuffle around looking for cover from your current position.  Anything you can do to disrupt the enemy's movements is worth doing.  Here is where I generally pull out my Sniper Rifle.  The enemy's numbers are down to the point where it's safer for me to poke my head out of cover, and the SR makes short work of much of the remaining enemy.

Finish 'em:  Here you have a couple of options, depending on how you want to play.  You can either stay and use the SR to finish off the battle, or pull out your SMG and cloak-rush the last couple of enemies to get that visceral close combat rush.  It's a coin toss to me which I do, but the option is there for you to take.

I mentioned earlier that, generally speaking, you want to keep the enemies at longish range.  The reason for this is that the farther away they are, the longer I have to line up a shot, whether with the SR or anything else.  The more distance you have between you and the enemy, again, generally speaking, the more time you have to see a flanking enemy and neutralize them before they get to you, and the same for a charging Krogan, etc.  There are battlefields where this isn't possible, though, so do what you can, and pay very close attention to what the enemy is doing. 

Don't get so focused on one enemy, or one section of the battlefield, that you lose sight of what's going on.  Keep your head on a swivel, pause every so often and look around.  Is there an enemy trying to sneak up on you that you missed?  Glad you paused and found him!  Is there an opportunity to flank that suddenly presented itself?  Good thing you paused to see what's going on, so you can take advantage of it!  Yes, the elite players can play without pausing, and that works for them.  I try not to pause too often, but it's there, and I use it.

Finally, the last section:

Squadmate selection

Personally, I tend to roll with Miranda and Kasumi.  With my Shep and Miranda providing good defense stripping abilities, Kasumi has great CC with her Flashbang, and she does great damage with her Shadow Strike.  I generally don't put any points into her Overload ability with this squad setup, because I have Energy Drain, and Miranda has Overload, so it's redundant.  Her other abilities are just too good.

Really, though, your squad setup is totally up to you.  Just remember that you don't have anything to strip barriers with, so you should have someone with warp or reave.  Grunt is also a great choice on husk missions, and as a general tank to send up the middle to disrupt the enemy.  Yes, he'll generally get knocked out if you do this, so I don't recommend it in the initial stages of a battle, but it's a great distraction when you want to try to flank.  Send him foward a bit, the enemy will shift focus to him somewhat, and you can cloak and flank.

Those are my suggestions, but who you use is up to you.  Just try to pick squaddies that compliment your playstyle, and fill any gaps in your offensive arsenal.

Conclusion

Hope this helps someone.  It took me a long time to figure out that the guides out there for the infiltrator really didn't work for me, because of how I play the game.  The guides themselves are great, don't think for a second that I'm trying to knock 'em.  I actually picked up a few tips here and there that I was able to adapt to how I play.  I just had to figure out how I best play, and I thought that I can't be the only one with trouble on the higher difficulties.  So, here's my guide.  Again, I hope it helps, and good luck!

[Some Dude]

Sounds awesome homie

[Pacifien]

These are guides I like to see specifically because strategy forums tend to lean heavily toward the higher difficulties. And there are certain squadmates and powers that work differently on Normal difficulty versus Insanity. Who's going to max out Jack's Shockwave on Insanity? (Someone will say they have now that I question it.) However, Jack's Shockwave on Veteran and below is deadly.



Pausing the game to look at the battlefield is also a tactic I use heavily. Especially since I can't hotkey more than 3 powers using the Xbox Controller, so I have to pause it if I need a power that's unmapped.

[khevan]

Just in case anyone is wondering, I generally play on Hardcore. I've beaten insanity with an Infiltrator, but that was an exercise in near-constant frustration. I may try insanity again on another playthru, but what I wrote above does apply to insanity too. I'm just not quite good enough to make insanity easy. Doable, but definately not easy.

[RGFrog]

I usually start with a lvl 60 me1 import so, I've got a few points to spend from the outset. That usually means I have enough points to put get to lvl 3 passive and lvl3 cloak. Since Miri and jacob are the only squadmates, i max out jacob's ammo to squad level and max out miri's passive for the bonus weapon %. This makes for a nice bit of punch once I finally get to Mordin's recruitment.



Thanks for the guide. We need more of these

[tonnactus]

Wouldnt you be more pleased with an engineer??If powers actually are more important then shooting.You could a sniper rifle later on the collector ship anyway and the range of a heavy pistol in not that bad before.

[Atmosfear3]

Assuming you start a fresh imported char @ level 5, I generally do my skill progression like this:



Skip disruptor/cryo ammo

Skip AI Hack

Start dumping points into passive (this is most essential since it provides the time-dilation effect for the infiltrator)

Points into incinerate

2 ranks into cloak



The reason I skip disruptor ammo is because once I recruit Zaeed, he provides it for me. Powers are often more effective at removing shields anyways like the OP says.

[Pacifien]

tonnactus wrote...
Wouldnt you be more pleased with an engineer??If powers actually are more important then shooting.You could a sniper rifle later on the collector ship anyway and the range of a heavy pistol in not that bad before.

Yeah, but the sniper rifle wouldn't be the Widow.

[SmokeyNinjas]

Pacifien wrote...

tonnactus wrote...
Wouldnt you be more pleased with an engineer??If powers actually are more important then shooting.You could a sniper rifle later on the collector ship anyway and the range of a heavy pistol in not that bad before.

Yeah, but the sniper rifle wouldn't be the Widow.

The OP says he's a rubbish shot & the Viper is far more forgiving then the Widow so i would say its better sinper rifle anyway for classes that don't get any slowdown

[Pacifien]

I'm a rubbish shot, too, but I do love the Widow.

[Tlazolteotl]

I'd like to throw in my 2 cents for having a single point in AI hack.

With a single point, you're not actually using it to make a synthetic fight for you ... you're using it as cc. Not giving your target any shields, you can just shoot/recast until the target is dead.

Useful on Hunters, Primes, and YMIRs obviously .. but can also save your bacon against Fenris or even Loki that get too close.

Of course, none if it matters if you can just gun down everything at range, but that's not the point is it?

[khevan]

tonnactus wrote...

Wouldnt you be more pleased with an engineer??If powers actually are more important then shooting.You could a sniper rifle later on the collector ship anyway and the range of a heavy pistol in not that bad before.

Well, I could go with the engineer, but like I said in my first post on this topic, I absolutely adore Cloak.  The tactical options it opens up are amazing, giving me a control of the battlefield that I can't quite match with other classes.  I've beaten the game on Hardcore with a Sentinel, started an Insanity Engineer, started an Insanity Vanguard (THAT was a disaster), and beaten Insanity with an Infiltrator.  I've actually done two complete Infiltrator playthrus, one on Veteran (my first ME2 playthru, actually), and the second on Insanity.  Every other class I've played, I simply haven't had the ability to control the battlefield like I could with the Infiltrator with cloak.

I just can't explain it any better than this:  Infiltrator fits my playstyle the best, even if it's a "shooter" class at heart, it's got enough other stuff to make it a great class for a shooter non-expert like myself.  (And Cloak is just the greatest  )

[jaff00]

I hope the irony isn't lost on you in that you favour what is generally considered a 'sniper' class while stressing how absolutely horrendous your aiming skills are.

Anyway, the part I really don't get is how you make frequent use of cloak, but at the same time you're not really all too keen on shooting ****. Do you just not mind the recharge times every you pop cloak and want to use, say, incinerate? You simply wait the wait?

[khevan]

I don't exclusively use powers. I do my fair share of shooting, and this is where most of my kills come from. Most Infiltrator guides, and most people who play or talk about the Infiltrator, emphasis headshots, for good reason. There's a huge damage bonus to headshots, and with the right ammo/weapon, most enemies can be one-shotted with a headshot. However, at least half the time I try to go for a headshot, the enemy moves at the last second, or I rush my shot trying to minimize incoming damage, and I miss. I can snipe body shots all day, but that's not nearly as effective as headshots, so I was wasting alot of ammo on misses or less effective damaging shots to the body.



Because of this, I've adapted my playstyle to use powers to strip defenses, so a body shot does kill the enemy. It's less effective than a cloak-headshot, but it works really really well for me, and by using the SMG in the opening phases of a battle to take out a few enemies while also stripping defenses on most (if not all) of the rest gives me the opportunity to use the sniper rifle to take out a bunch of enemies really quickly. Taking a few enemies out with the powers/SMG combo also makes it "safer" for me to use the sniper rifle, since I have fewer bullets flying my way. I can stay out of cover for that couple extra seconds to make sure I have a good shot lined up.



And my use of cloak isn't as a damage booster to my weapon. It's a utility skill, letting me set up flanking maneuvers, letting me move to better cover without getting shot, etc.



The beauty of the Infiltrator is that it's not just a "sniper" class. There are great guides detailing CQC Infiltrators who rarely use the SR, for example. I use my Infiltrator as more than just a shooter class. It's the hybrid of a Soldier (a shooter class) and an Engineer (a caster class), so my playstyle is a hybrid caster/shooter. From the videos I've seen online, it's not as "effective" overall as other Infiltrator styles, but it works better for me. My whole purpose in writing my "guide" was to give tips to people who, like me, aren't shooter royalty, but enjoy what the Infiltrator has to offer.

[Pacifien]

In response to a question khevan asked in the Completely Awesome Needs to be Stickied Comprehensive class and Strategy List. (Not biased, no.)

khevan wrote...
Are there any suggestions anyone has to improve my Infiltrator guide for the not-so-gifted shooters among us?

I think it's a bit difficult to explain to someone how a not-so-gifted shooter can enjoy the shooting aspect of the Infiltrator. I am a horrible shot and would simply not last in a multiplayer shootout. But I do love using the Widow, and I'm a good enough shot to at least get my much beloved YMIR mech headshots.

Perhaps one thing to stress is that with the Tactical Cloak, you really don't need to be a great shot. You're a rogue. Get right up next to an enemy before unleashing SMG death, and aim really has nothing to do with it at that point. At point blank range, you're going to hit the target.

And perhaps my ability to do well as a sniper at all is a testament to how forgiving ME2 is compared to any other shooter out there. Or I'm not giving myself enough credit, but seriously, put a pistol in my hand and I will never hit the target.

[jaff00]

khevan wrote...

I don't exclusively use powers. I do my fair share of shooting, and this is where most of my kills come from. Most Infiltrator guides, and most people who play or talk about the Infiltrator, emphasis headshots, for good reason. There's a huge damage bonus to headshots, and with the right ammo/weapon, most enemies can be one-shotted with a headshot. However, at least half the time I try to go for a headshot, the enemy moves at the last second, or I rush my shot trying to minimize incoming damage, and I miss. I can snipe body shots all day, but that's not nearly as effective as headshots, so I was wasting alot of ammo on misses or less effective damaging shots to the body.

Because of this, I've adapted my playstyle to use powers to strip defenses, so a body shot does kill the enemy. It's less effective than a cloak-headshot, but it works really really well for me, and by using the SMG in the opening phases of a battle to take out a few enemies while also stripping defenses on most (if not all) of the rest gives me the opportunity to use the sniper rifle to take out a bunch of enemies really quickly. Taking a few enemies out with the powers/SMG combo also makes it "safer" for me to use the sniper rifle, since I have fewer bullets flying my way. I can stay out of cover for that couple extra seconds to make sure I have a good shot lined up.

And my use of cloak isn't as a damage booster to my weapon. It's a utility skill, letting me set up flanking maneuvers, letting me move to better cover without getting shot, etc.

The beauty of the Infiltrator is that it's not just a "sniper" class. There are great guides detailing CQC Infiltrators who rarely use the SR, for example. I use my Infiltrator as more than just a shooter class. It's the hybrid of a Soldier (a shooter class) and an Engineer (a caster class), so my playstyle is a hybrid caster/shooter. From the videos I've seen online, it's not as "effective" overall as other Infiltrator styles, but it works better for me. My whole purpose in writing my "guide" was to give tips to people who, like me, aren't shooter royalty, but enjoy what the Infiltrator has to offer.

Fair points. I realize the infiltrator isn't solely a sniper, I just meant that it's predominantly considered one and, as you pointed out, combining headshots with assassination cloak tends to be the most effective style of playing, at least as far as clearing rooms as quickly as possible goes.

[khevan]

jaff00 wrote...

Fair points. I realize the infiltrator isn't solely a sniper, I just meant that it's predominantly considered one and, as you pointed out, combining headshots with assassination cloak tends to be the most effective style of playing, at least as far as clearing rooms as quickly as possible goes.

This is most definately true.  If I were a better shot than I am now, I'd probably play the Infiltrator more that way as well, because it is faster.  However, another point for my playstyle is that it uses more powers, different tactics for different situations, basically it "changes up" how it plays depending on what the enemy is doing.  My Infiltrator isn't a one-trick cloak/headshot pony.  It's more fun to play, in my opinion, even if it isn't as "effective."  Since my lackluster shooter skills pretty much force me to play this way, I'm glad that it's at least fun.  And even if you are a better shot than I, I'd at least suggest you try this style of play, just for a change of pace.  Up to you if you play this way or not, just figured I'd give a different take on how to play the Infiltrator.

[jaff00]

I did try, as a matter of fact. Well, not exactly the build you described here, but just going for the Agent evolution and using cloak primarily for proper positioning and flanking purposes as opposed to using it simply for the damage bonus to line up headshot kills. Tried my hand at the CQC shotgun infiltrator as well but I found both builds to be only marginally entertaining and only for a short while, couldn't motivate myself to complete the game with 'm. There was very little satisfaction somehow in taking the stealth-route, even though generally speaking, in a lot of other games, I'm actually an avid fan of stealth-based classes. I didn't really feel like, say, the Predator or something. The cloak doesn't really let you lurk and stalk enemies since the duration is very short and the moment you decloak, the mobs immediately where you're at, even if you decloaked somewhere where they can't actually see you. The way the baddies, on insanity anyway, instantaneously swing their crosshairs around and lock on to your face the very millisecond your cloak drops really takes away from the experience of playing an actual 'infiltrator'.