About the Claymore
For those unfamiliar with the Claymore, the Claymore is a shotgun that deals incredible amounts of damage, but fires only once before you need to reload. And it weighs half a ton so it will eat up a lot of your cooldown.
You can obtain the Claymore very early in the game. You can pick it up on your fifth mission in the game if you want to get it as soon as possible:
1) Escape Earth (Earth: Vancouver) This is part of the prologue.
2) Complete Priority: Mars. this is part of the prologue.
3) Complete Priority: Palaven (technically Menae, Palavan's largest moon).
4) Meet with the diplomats, then complete Priority: Sur'kesh.
5) After completing Sur'kesh, talk with Wrex or Wreav to learn about his missing Krogan scouts. You can obtain the Claymore at the very beginning of this mission.
If this is a new game, the Claymore I weighs as much as a house and has very little ammo (about 8-9 shots total). You can try using it right away, but I recommend waiting until after the mission so you can level up the weapon first. Leveling up the Claymore reduces the weight, increases the damage, and gives you more spare ammo.
Weapon mods
For new games, I recommend using the Spare Thermal Clip mod to increase your spare ammo capacity. The Claymore can kill most enemies in a single shot, but if you are a terrible shot (like me) you may end up wasting your clips. Ammo is usually plentiful enough, but there are occassions where you may fail to find ammo conveinently lying around, or enemies fail to drop thermal clips. Having the extra shots help. And since you are restricted to Claymore V for new games, your spare clip capacity may not be enough to hold you through some long fights, particularly if you do not have a backup weapon.
I also recommend Shotgun Choke. It helps to reduce the shot spread, increase the Claymore's effective range, and can land more bullets for headshots.
For New Game+ (new game with an ME3 character) after upgrading the Claymore to level X, I recommend dropping the Spare Thermal Clip mod and use the Shredder Mod (object penetration, increased damage to armor) or Extended Barrel (increased damage).
The Blade Attachment (Melee damage) is largely worthless on this build. Enemies should be dead after tasting the Claymore.
Using the Claymore as a Soldier
Adrenaline Rush--the Soldier's signature power--can increase weapon damage and slow down time around Shepard. However, activating Adrenaline Rush and then firing the Claymore is not very efficient. Rather, you want to fire the Claymore first, and then activate Adrenaline Rush.
Why? Adrenaline Rush will instantly reload your weapon. This allows you to shoot > activate Adrenaline Rush (instantly reload) > shoot again. This can turn the Claymore from a deadly one-shot weapon to a deadly two-shot weapon. Also, it may be my imagination, but the time dilation of Adrenaline Rush appears to slow down the reload time of the Claymore, which is already one of the longest shotgun reloads in the game. So activating Adrenaline Rush before shooting the Claymore can also hurt your killing speed.
Unlike the Vanguard (Charge) or Infiltrator (Tactical Cloak), the Soldier does not have a natively safe way to swiftly close the distance between you and the enemy, so you may have to rely on your squadmates, Concussive shot, or a bonus power to stagger or disable the enemy before closing the distance. You can use the cover in the environment to your advantage to avoid incoming fire while you close the gap.
Building the Claymore Soldier - Powers
I want to use this section to describe how I think you should or can assign skill points into the Soldier's native powers. Bonus powers will be discussed in a later section.
Adrenaline Rush
Rank 4 - Hardening (decrease health and shield damage) OR Damage (increase weapon damage and time dilation)
Rank 5 - Duration OR Melee Damage
Rank 6 - Shield Boost (increase shield strength by 50%) OR Power Use (use one offensive power while Adrenaline Rush is active)
For rank 4, I recommend Damage to increase Claymore damage.
For rank 5, take your pick. I think I prefer Melee Damage, if only keep Adrenaline Rush as short as possible. Why? I prefer the instant-reload provided by activating Adrenaline Rush and I want to exploit that as often as possible. Increased duration does not help, and since you spend most of it reloading, I am not sure if it is worth it.
For rank 6, either one should work, but Power Use is too good to pass up. The 250 extra shields will not hold up long and you can use that free power for Concussive Shot or a bonus power.
Concussive Shot
Rank 4 - Force and Damage OR Radius
Rank 5 - Shatter (increase force and damage to frozen targets) OR Recharge Speed
Rank 6 - Amplification (C-shot gains properties of the active ammo power) OR Shredder (Increased damage to organics; more force)
Concussive Shot is useful, but you can pretty much pick what you like and it will work just the same. I recommend Radius - Recharge Speed - Amplification.
Frag Grenade
Since they are a limited resource, I never use them. If you like them, spec them how you like.
Incendiary Ammo
Rank 4 - Damage OR Squad Bonus
Rank 5 - Ammo Capacity OR Headshots (extra damage for headshots)
Rank 6 - Damage OR Explosive Burst
I use Damage - Headshots - Explosive Burst, trying to make the most of the Claymore's incredible burst damage. For rank 4, you can give it to your squad instead and have everyone try to light enemies on fire; but I prefer to give the squad Cryo Ammo instead.
Disruptor Ammo
Rank 4 - Damage OR Squad Bonus
Rank 5 - Ammo Capacity OR Headshots (extra damage for headshots)
Rank 6 - Damage OR Stun (increased chance to stun)
Disruptor Ammo plus Concussive Shot is great for tech bursts, but better if you are using a rapid fire weapon instead of the Claymore. You could take Squad Bonus and Stun evolutions for your squad while you use Concussive Shot, but then you are more likely to be sitting back and not killing with the Claymore. If you do use it, speccing for Damage should help kill shielded enemies with body shots, and will be more useful against geth than Incendiary Ammo. So I recommend Damage - Headshots - Damage.
Note that Reaper forces do not panic when set on fire (at least not that I have seen) so Disruptor Ammo may be a better choice, although Reaper forces are organic and will burn when set on fire, so Incendiary Ammo should still be the better choice.
Cryo Ammo
Rank 4 - Freeze Duration OR Squad Bonus
Rank 5 - Ammo Capacity OR Headshots (increase headshots to frozen enemies)
Rank 6 - Freeze Chance OR Damage Combo (increase damage to frozen targets, weaken armor)
I recommend Squad Bonus for rank 4 unless you already give your squad Incendiary or Disruptor Ammo.
For rank 5, choose Ammo Capacity. The headshot bonus applies only to frozen enemies. It will help your squad only and you are unlikely to notice the difference. Claymore will kill frozen enemies outright (unless you are a very terrible shot) so the headshot damage is pointless.
For rank 6, Damage Combo is good for weaking armor. Freeze chance is good, but given the right weapons, squadmates should be freezing or chilling enemies regardless.
Combat Mastery
Rank 4 - Damage OR Influence and Duration
Rank 5 - Squad Bonus (increase squadmate weapon damage) OR Headshots (increase Headshot damage)
Rank 6 - Weight Capacity (increased weight capacity) OR weapon Master (increase weapon and power damage)
For new games, I recommend Damage - Headshots - Weight Capacity. The extra weight capacity helps with the still pretty-heavy Claymore V. Carrying only the Claymore V with this setup leaves your cooldown around +150% (no cooldown armor or research bonuses).
For New Game+ when you can upgrade the Claymore to level X, you could change rank 6 to Weapon Master for the extra damage.
Building the Claymore Soldier - Bonus Powers
Your choice of bonus power can influence your playstyle. You can also ignore the bonus power completely. These are my thoughts on the bonus powers:
Fortification
Reduces incoming damage, provides a power damage bonus, and increases melee damage when purged. Slows down power use by 60% (30% for a rank 6 evolution). Could work, but I think the other shield powers powers provide better benefits to the Claymore Soldier.
Carnage
An alternative to Concussive Shot. Massive damage, but cannot knock down enemies until rank 5 (unlike Concussive Shot) so you need to spend a lot of skill points for it to provide crowd control. Good against armor.
Marksman
Pointless with the Claymore.
Inferno Grenade
If you use Frag Grenade, you can take Inferno Grenade to increase your grenade capacity.
Warp Ammo
Not worth it with the Claymore.
Stasis
Good for holding enemies in one spot for an easy Claymore shot, like Phantoms. Liara (Warp) and Kaidan (Reave) can detonate an enemy caught in Stasis.
Slam
Great for crowd control, can be evolved for a wider radius and stun enemies for a short time. Quick cooldown. Can both set up and detonate biotic explosions with Liara, Javik, and Kaidan.
Dark Channel
Can set up biotic explosions. The damage is not really worth it. could work okay, but there are better biotic powers to use instead.
Reave
Can provide damage protection, and both set up and detonate biotic explosions. Great with Liara and Javik with their insanely short cooldowns. Only downside is that you may not end up using the Claymore at all.
Barrier
Provides damage protection, and when purged, can lift enemies. Good if you are in the middle of a cross fire, closely surrounded by enemies. Slows down power use by 60% (30% for a rank 6 evolution).
Defense Matrix
In my opinion, the best shield power for the Claymore soldier. Provides damage protection, and restores shields when purged (up to 100% depending on evolutions). Slows down power use by 60% (30% for a rank 6 evolution).
Decoy
Have not tried it. Doubtful it would prove useful with the Claymore.
Defense Drone
It seems like it could work, but in practice it does not seem very useful on the Claymore Soldier. Pass.
Shield Drain
A very solid choice. Can steal enemy shields to replenish your own. Can stun unprotected enemies. This is what I use, since Neural Shock is not a bonus power.
I used Neural Shock (Medicine) on this character in both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, so this is the closest equivalent.
Proximity Mine
Could be decent when evolved with the ability to slow enemies. Not really worth it on the Claymore Soldier in my opinion. Have not tried it.
AP Ammo
If you want another ammo power, you should probably choose this one.
Building the Claymore Soldier - build strategy
My build priorities:
1) Squad Cryo Ammo (rank 4, 10 points)
2) Adrenaline Rush to rank 4 (10 points, Damage).
You can live without rank 6 for a while.
3) Max Combat Mastery (21 points)
4) At least one point in Fitness (for extra health and shields) although 10 points for rank 4 is good. At least one point in Incendiary Ammo.
5) Max Incendiary Ammo or your bonus power. Your choice.
6) Max your bonus power or Incendiary Ammo, whichever is left.
7) Max Fitness.
8) Max Adrenaline Rush.
9) Concussive Shot or Disruptor Ammo
10) Disruptor Ammo or Concussive Shot, whichever is left
11) Max Cryo ammo
12) Extra points. Dump into Grenades.
Squadmates
Any squadmate except James is good, although Liara and Javik are my mainstays, since they provide excellent crowd control with Lift/Slam and Singulatiry/Stasis. They take the heat off of me while I run around like an idiot.
[u][b]Claymore Soldier gameplay videos
Test: Claymore Soldier with Energy Drain
Test: Claymore Soldier with Defense Matrix
Test: Claymore Soldier with Incendiary Ammo and Concussive Shot
Test: Claymore Soldier with Incendiary Ammo and Concussive Shot
Cerberus Abductions
Eden Prime
Rescuing the Turian Platoon
Tuchanka Bomb Site
Cerberus Presence on Tuchanka
Cerberus Lab
Grissom Academy Atrium
Priority Tuchanka
Cerberus Coup
Geth Dreadnaught part 1
Geth Dreadnaught part 2
Ex-Cerberus Scientists
Rescuing Admiral Korris
Fuel Reactors
Ardat-Yakshi Monastery
Priority Rannoch
Cerberus Fighter Base
Priority Thessia
Sanctuary (Bonus: Critical Mission Failure - Sanctuary)
Communications Hub
Cerberus Headquarters part 1
Cerberus Headquarters part 2
Hades Cannon
Crossing No Man's Land part 1
Crossing No Man's Land part 2
Defending the Missile Battery
END
Сообщение изменено: RedCaesar97, 22 Май 2012 - 11:36 .
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