Table of Contents:
• Changelog
• About
• Why play as N7 Paladin?
• Energy Drain
• Incinerate
• Snap Freeze
• Shield Mastery
• The Build: Detonator
• Using the Detonator
• The Arsenal
• Performance (Enemies)
• Performance (Allies)
• Tips and Tricks
• Final Considerations
____________________________
• Changelog
- March 2, 2013: added new info regarding gear and weapons at "The Arsenal" section
• About
I've noticed that there are no class guides referring to this class (or I couldn't find it), so I decided to write my own. It's not a generic class guide: it focuses on my personal choice of build. However I will discuss all the mechanic behind the N7 Paladin.
The N7 Paladin is probably my favorite offensive class in this game, alongside the recent introduced Batarian Brawler Vanguard. I just love Snap Freeze, and so should you!
• Why play as N7 Paladin?
This class is quite overlooked (not so much now that BioWare fixed most of its bugs) but holds immensely potential, being one of the most versatile and effective classes in the game, able to deal with almost any situation. With the right speccing, it is capable of holding hordes of enemies on its own, while providing many debuffs that makes life easier for the squad.
One of the best parts is that there is no right way to play it! While some builds are more effective than others, they're all relative, since their effectiveness depends on the stage, squad and enemy. So, there's not really a best build.
I personally like the Pure Tech Build (the one I'll discuss here), which functions like playing an Engineer (more specifically Quarian Engineer mixed with Human Engineer). That's because the N7 Paladin is the only class capable of performing all three tech combos (Cryo Explosion, Fire Explosion and Tech Burst), and all his powers can be detonated by each other:
• Cryo Explosion: Snap Freeze + Incinerate, Snap Freeze + Energy Drain
• Fire Explosion: Incinerate + Snap Freeze, Incinerate + Energy Drain
• Tech Burst: Energy Drain + Snap Freeze, Energy Drain + Incinerate
Those interested on learning more about specific combos can check Relix28's List of biotic and elemental (tech) combos.
Additionally, when specced on Cryo Shield or Fire Shield, the N7 Paladin can also cause Tech Combos using his Melee attacks:
• Cryo Explosion: Cryo Shield + Energy Drain, Cryo Shield + Incinerate
• Fire Explosion: Fire Shield + Energy Drain, Fire Shield + Snap Freeze
With that in mind, let's evaluate its pros and cons:
• Pros
- Best Area of Effect and Crowd Control in the game.
- Very all-round class, can deal deal with any kind of situation;
- Balanced melee attack and powers, being able to attack from any range;
- Capable of causing all types of Tech Combos with his Powers alone;
- Omni-Shield can block powerful attacks such as Banshee's Warp and even Scion's cannon blast. The Omni-Shield can also mitigate damage from attacks that break through its defenses, meaning the N7 Paladin will still receive damage, but reduced.
• Cons
- Regular Melee is powerful, however a bit laggy in the end, meaning the N7 Paladin cannot perform quick melees.
- Some enemy attacks can hit through the Omni-Shield (like Geth Hunter 's shotgun and Geth Rocket Launcher's shot);
- Since the class relies heavily on Snap Freeze, it suffers a bit on large stages, as said power has limited range;
- Being a power based class, carrying heavy and powerful weapons will decrease its potential.
• Energy DrainA great support power that was exclusive to Salarian Engineer/Infiltrator, this one is a tool of survival for N7 Paladins, since they're the only Sentinel class (other than Vorcha, Batarian and Volus) to lack Tech Armor. This means the only damage reduction bonus comes from Energy Drain Rank 6 (Armor Boost), which works only on shielded enemies and synthetics.
It's absolutely fantastic against the Geth, since even using it on unshielded enemies will restore your shields a little and give you the damage reduction, plus it can detonate Tech Bursts more easily (since on organics it'll only work if the enemy has a shield/barrier). This also works against Atlases and Turrets.
The base damage of Energy Drain causes 220 damage on enemies with health, and 110 on Armored enemies. However on enemies with Shields/Barriers, it's 660 damage, being over 1000 damage to Shields and Barriers if leveled for pure damage. This means instant shield down for most enemies, and in the multiplayer mode, Energy Drain will almost always stun the foot soldier enemies.
All N7 Paladin builds have at least 3 points on this, but I always like to maximize. Survivability over Damage is essential for Gold/Platinum, and 40% damage reduction from Rank 6 is awesome.
• IncinerateWhile overlooked for this class, Incinerate can provide a huge damage boost, specially against armored enemies (can cause almost 1000 damage to armor when properly leveled).
Combined with Snap Freeze, Incinerate can trigger large Fire Explosions that can devastate small groups of enemies and take chunks of the big ones. The only drawback is the speed of the projectile, unlike Energy Drain that is an instant power.
Incinerate is very useful to trigger Combos from afar with Energy Drain when you can't approach the enemies easily, mostly when they first spawn far away from the squad. In large stages like Firebase Dagger and Firebase Giant that have less walls and objects to hide behind, this is quite useful.
• Snap FreezeThe bread and butter of the N7 Paladin. Playing as N7 Paladin and not getting this ability is like playing a Vanguard without Biotic Charge, or a Vorcha without Bloodlust: it's a waste.
This power is like an improved version of Cryo Blast combined with a trait seen in the Batarian Soldier's Ballistic Blades: launches a wide cold wave in a cone effect that will hit all enemies within range. However, only one unshielded enemy can be completely frozen, but the others will be chilled with reduced resistances and movement.
Additionally, it works like Shockwave and Biotic Slash/Eletric Slash: it can go through walls and other solid objects, hitting even enemies in cover or at higher/lower ground. This means that literally ALL enemies in range will be hit. Also, this power can be detonated by almost any other power (even some Biotics, like Biotic Charge).
The only problem about Snap Freeze is that when used to Detonate, the explosion will come from your character (not at the "tip" of the cold wave), meaning you have to be really close to the enemies in order to hit them properly with the combos. However, you'll be rarely using Snap Freeze to detonate, rather to set Combos.
• Shield MasteryAnother unique trait of the N7 Paladin is that Fitness is replaced by Shield Mastery, a passive power that improves the character's health and shields, melee damage and additionally the Omni-Shield's health.
Some builds give emphasis to the unique melee combat of the N7 Paladin, which can be used to block enemy fire or unleash a powerful shield bash, that, with the proper upgrades, can burn or chill the enemies (and these melee attacks can cause Tech Combos too).
The use of this melee ability can be lethal if the player picks Shield Mastery Rank 6 (Cryo Shield) and combines with Snap Freeze Rank 6 (Damage & Weakness), which will reduce the enemy's armor to 100% for 5 seconds.
The Omni-Shield is a very powerful weapon, and the melee attack of the N7 Paladin is quite fast and incredibly powerful, being able to throw away unshielded enemies even without the Fire/Cryo Shield evolutions.
Also, as the name suggests, the Omni-Shield can block attacks, and have its own health, breaking after it is reduced to zero. Enemies who hit it in close combat will be repelled away and stagger, but powerful attacks and grabs can pass through it.
• Builds
The N7 Paladin can be very lethal and versatile in the right hands, and there are lots of builds for this. My personal favorite is the one I like to call the "Detonator", which focuses on pure Tech Power and Combos, and turns the N7 Paladin into the most effective class for crowd control in the entire game.
Power Evolutions
• Energy Drain: Radius (4), Drain (5), Armor Boost (6)
• Incinerate: Damage (4), Burning Damage (5), Freeze Combo (6)
• Snap Freeze: Reach (4), Cryo Explosion (4), Damage & Weakness (6)
• N7 Paladin: Damage & Capacity (4), Power Damage (5)
• Shield Mastery: (1), (2), (3)
The other ranks of Shield Mastery are sacrificed in favor of maximizing the Tech Powers, and since the N7 Paladin have a base health/shield of 500/750, not focusing on health and shields shouldn't be a problem (with the first three ranks he'll have 625/938). Plus going Melee in Gold/Platinum is not advised, since the N7 Paladin is quite squishy without the damage reduction from Energy Drain.
• Using the Detonator
Like said before, you'll use this class like playing a Engineer (similar to the Ice/Fire Builds for the Quarian Engineer). However, since Snap Freeze has limited range, you'll be fighting in mid-close range. That's why, in order to not get owned fast, the idea is to use and abuse of the line of sight and ability of Snap Freeze to go through walls.
This build excels in small/tight stages, such as Firebase White and Firebase Glacier, but suffers a bit in large/wide stages, like Firebase Giant and Firebase Dagger. Paying attention to your surroundings is essential. So if you see enemies spawning from afar, approach them while keeping out of their line of sight.
You'll be basically spraying Snap Freeze everywhere, and sometimes it's good to even spray it where you think there are enemies, based on sounds, behavior and spawning areas. This simple act can sometimes give you and the squad a chance to spot a sneaking Geth Hunter or Phantom, or incapacitate large groups of enemies before they can reach you and pose a threat to the squad. This allows the N7 Paladin to even go Rambo and disable lots of enemies by himself, however don't abuse of your luck: he's far more powerful with the squad, specially if there are other Tech users or heavy hitters.
Also, since you can detonate all powers with each other, no cooldown is ever wasted, so even if you throw an Incinerate in a bad time, you can use Snap Freeze or Energy Drain right after and BOOM. Sure, unless you use Snap Freeze or Incinerate in a critical moment where Energy Drain would restore your depleted shields.
Since the N7 Paladin powers are perfectly balanced, you have skills for different types of enemies and situations. Shielded Armored enemy? Energy Drain+Incinerate. Fast Shielded enemy in close quarters? Snap Freeze+Energy Drain. Big bad bully with loads of armor? Snap Freeze+Incinerate.
Your focus shall be foot soldiers over big bad bullies, since you can incapacitate them in matter of seconds to allow the squad to focus on more dangerous enemies.
• The Arsenal
Since this build is completely Power dependent, you'll want to keep your load the lowest and lightest possible, always at 200%. In other words, no heavy weaponry, so you can trigger Tech Combos in succession and really fast. Here are my suggestions:
• Acolyte (Heavy Pistol): Some might ask "Why use the Acolyte if you'll be using Energy Drain?" or "Isn't the Acolyte better suited for a Biotic class?". The answer is because Energy Drain is just a support power (unless you're fighting the Geth). In Gold/Platinum enemies have over 1000 shields, and you can't down them easily with just Energy Drain alone (since it's not powerful as Overload). The Acolyte long firing intervals works perfectly with the N7 Paladin recharge speed interval, causes good damage/hitstun and has a quite large explosion radius, not to mention the projectile bouncing which can be quite handy sometimes, specially against annoying Phantoms. Since BioWare reverted the Acolyte to the charging mode, it is no longer the best weapon for the N7 Paladin.
• Scorpion (Heavy Pistol): a bit heavy, so Ultralight Materials is a must if you want near 200% cooldown. Quite powerful, it has a nice synergy with the N7 Paladin Tech Powers, however I still prefer the Acolyte for the sake of fast shield/barrier downing (Phantoms can be a pain).
• M-6 Carnifex (Heavy Pistol): one of the most reliable sidearms for the Paladin. Quite powerful, can do some neat damage if packed with Armor Penetration mods/ammo.
• M-12 Locust (Submachine Gun): useful as a secondary weapon when fighting armored enemies (such as Brutes and Atlases). Depending on your primary weapon you'll might want to use Ultralight Materials to keep cooldown at 200%. It's pretty useful, but its lack of stability can be a bit annoying, however works fine.
However, if you do want to carry more powerful weapons and sacrifice a bit your cooldowns, I'd recommend those:
• Cerberus Harrier (Assault Rifle): highest DPS (Damage per Second) of all Assault Rifles, can be used in the same manner as the SMGs, with Incendiary Ammo to trigger combos.
• N7 Piranha (Shotgun): most N7 Paladin players that go for more weapon damage and melee damage (ignoring Incinerate to get Shield Mastery full) tend to stick with this one, since it's not that heavy and packs a punch (highest DPS of all Shotguns). It's quite deadly at mid-close range, which is how the N7 Paladin functions.
• Reegar Carbine (Shotgun): second highest DPS of all Shotguns, it's fun to use since you can spray it while waiting for the cool down recharges. A bit heavier than the Piranha.
Aside weapons, gear is always important:
• Geth Scanner: simply the BEST gear for the N7 Paladin, without any doubts. Why you say? You get the Geth Hunter vision ALL the time, with a maximum of 20 meters if maxed, which means you can time precisely your Snap Freeze by seeing enemies through walls. This allows the N7 Paladin to deal much better with potentially dangerous and fast enemies, such as Phantoms and Geth Hunters.
• Omni-Capacitors: very useful if you want to keep your cooldown the lowest possible, plus a nice Tech Damage boost. It won't exceed the maximum cooldown reduction of some abilities, but its very useful and allows you to carry some heavier weaponry to compensate.
• Medi-Gel Transmitter: Good if you're fighting unpredictable enemies such as Collectors.
• Shield Booster: To compensate the lack of damage reduction.
• Survival Loadout: similar to the Shield Booster, but better since it also gives more Ops Survival Packs. Having more of these can be useful, since playing in mid-close range can sometimes make you eat some bullets and/or be flanked if you're not careful enough.
• Performance (Enemies)
VS Cerberus
• Over half of the enemies here have Shields/Barrier, so Energy Drain+Incinerate of Snap Freeze+Energy Drain works wonders. You'll be killing Nemesis and Centurions easily.
• Phantoms, as usual, are deadly. Even more deadlier since you'll be fighting in mid-close range. They're so annoying that even without barriers you can't freeze them completely, and they will constantly pop their Anti-Power Barrier and go stealth. However, your omni-shield can block some of their sword attacks, just be careful to not get impaled by their insta-kill attack! After absorbing a strike, either roll away or unleash a shield-bash. If you're skilled enough, you can go personal and melee them as soon they lose their shields, since a single bash will throw them away, allowing you to finish the defenseless Phantom lying in the ground.
• Guardians can be a bit annoying to deal with, since their large shields can block all your Powers. Either use a secondary weapon with armor penetration mods or work with a squadmate to take them down. With enough good aim you can hit their feet with your weapon and cause damage, or hit in the visor.
• The Omni-Shield can also be used to block Turrets' firing while the squad destroy it. However should be noted that using this is not too effective in Gold/Platinum, as the attack power of the Turret will break your Omni-Shield very fast.
• Energy Drain can restore your shields even when used against Atlases and Turrets with no shields (since they're synthetics).
VS Geth
• Despite being a class designed to fight the Reapers, the Paladin excels as one of the most effective classes in the game to fight the Geth. Energy Drain will always give you 40% damage reduction, and can be detonated even on Geth without Shields, since it has this trait against synthetics. It will also restore your shields even on unshielded Geths.
• Energy Drain will always cause Tech Combos when used with the two other powers even if the enemy has no shields, since Geth are synthetic. This means you can do instant explosions all the time. A Cryo Explosion of Snap Freeze + Energy Drain can quickly disable small groups.
• Geth Hunters can cause a bit of headache since they love to sneak behind you, but nothing the Acolyte or Energy Drain can't solve. While the aiming reticule doesn't appear when they're cloaked, you can use Energy Drain near the ground and it will reveal them.
• N7 Paladins can destroy Geth Bombers easily, so always give them priority if they're near, since a single Geth Bomber can sometimes kill the entire squad.
• Tech Combos can also get rid of those annoying Geth Turrets and Combat Drones that follow Geth Primes without requiring you to actually focus on them.
VS Reapers
• Since only two enemies have Barriers/Shields, Energy Drain becomes less useful, however this allows you to incapacitate enemies with no shield easier. Snap Freeze+Energy Drain can rape Banshees' barriers easily and keep you refilled, while Snap Freeze+Incinerate will take huge chunks of Brutes.
• It's not recommended to use the omni-shield to block Banshees and Brutes, as they can easily break it with a single strike. It's possible to block the Banshee's Reave, though. Ravagers explosions can be blocked too, but be careful with successive shots.
• Husks shouldn't be a problem, as a single Snap Freeze can kill them in Bronze/Silver. If not, a shield bash will do the job fine.
VS Collectors
• As with all classes, the Collectors are extremely dangerous (which makes no sense since technically the Reapers are superior) and should be take care with caution. Always stay with at least one other player, preference for another Tech user or some heavy hitter.
• Being a power based class, if the N7 Paladin is hit by a Swarm, he'll be rendered useless for some seconds. Be very careful.
• Snap Freeze is extremely useful to stop Abominations. Snap Freeze+Energy Drain should also be used in case a Abomination becomes possessed before it can make a mess. Shield bashes to push them away can also work, assuming you don't kill them with the attack and they have no barriers.
• Energy Drain is specially useful when an enemy suddenly becomes possessed, as their animation is lengthy, allowing you to strip down their barriers before they charge.
• Snap Freeze plays a major role, since Collector Troopers and Captains moves very fast in the battlefield. It can also be used to kill/slow down Collector Swarms slightly.
• The Omni-Shield can block Scion shots, but just one. So don't expose yourself too much. It can also block Troopers and Captains annoying melee attacks.
• Performance (Allies)
Adepts
• While not being able to cause Biotic Combos, the N7 Paladin works good with N7 Fury (due Dark Channel) and Human Adept/Krogan Shaman (due Shockwave).
• Ex-Cerberus Adept with Smash specced for Electrical Damage can detonate your Snap Freeze setups and unleash one of the most powerful Tech Combos in the game.
Soldiers
• The N7 Paladin can unleash near infinite Tech Combos with Vorcha Soldier or Geth Trooper using Flamer.
• Walking with a tankish Soldier (Krogan/Batarian/N7 Destroyer) is good since you can walk behind him while spamming Snap Freeze.
• Ballistic Blades and Concussive Shot are both awesome to quickly detonate your setups with Snap Freeze.
• Sticking close to a Geth Juggernaut is useful since they're powerful meat shields/bullet sponges that can protect you, and also can detonate your combo setups with Siege Pulse.
Engineer
• Almost all Engineers are good to use with the N7 Paladin, since they can detonate his combo setups and you can detonate theirs, allowing a quick successions of explosions. Overload upgraded with Chain Overload is specially useful and deadly to detonate. Arc Grenade is also absolutely amazing due the gigantic radius.
Sentinel
• Similar to the Soldier, Vorcha Sentinel with Flamer can detonate a lot of combos with the N7 Paladin.
• Having another N7 Paladin can work great as they can set and detonate each other Powers in succession.
• Sticking close to a Krogan Warlord is handy, since they're a close range melee-oriented class that can detonate your setups with Eletric Hammer, unleashing the most powerful combination ever.
Infiltrator
• N7 Shadow specced into Eletric Slash is possibly the best pair for the N7 Paladin, as it'll detonate anything with wide range, reach and damage.
• Some Infiltrators play similar roles of Engineers into detonating/setting combos, as they share few Tech Powers.
• Alliance Infiltrator Unit can use Snap Freeze as well, giving you another squadmate to set up powerful combos.
Vanguard
• Biotic Charge can cause a lot more of damage when used against an enemy who got Snap Freezed, plus it detonates it with incredible efficiency. Krogans and Batarians are specially useful, since they can serve as meat shields for the N7 Paladin to Snap Freeze everything while following them.
• Similar to the N7 Shadow, the N7 Slayer can hit a lot of enemies with Biotic Slash and detonate your Snap Freeze.
• Ex-Cerberus Vanguard with Smash specced for Electrical Damage can detonate your Snap Freeze setups and unleash one of the most powerful Tech Combos in the game.
• Tips and Tricks
• Fast turning with the mouse/analog stick increases the range effectiveness of Snap Freeze while you use, so you can hit even more enemies.
• Always give priority to foot soldiers over big bad guys. The N7 Paladin can quickly obliterate groups of foot soldiers in matter of seconds, so the squad can take on the big bad guy alone. Even a small fry like a Husk can sometimes be a distraction while dealing with something dangerous such as a Banshee. Using Snap Freezing randomly can sometimes catch an unnoticed Geth Hunter too...
• Heavy Melee (Omni-Shield Deploy) can be cancelled into Regular Melee before the shield is set on the ground. Doing that allows the N7 Paladin to unleash two shield bashes with the first one having no ending lag. Simply hold the melee button for a moment and press it again twice. With enough timing and practice you'll barely see the starting animation of the Heavy Melee and cancel it instantly into Regular Melee.
• Melee attacks can also cancel powers, such as Snap Freeze ending lag. This can be used in close-quarter combat to unleash a quick melee attack against enemies right after spraying Snap Freeze.
• Not only Snap Freeze can be used through walls, but also works against enemies on higher/lower ground. This is especially noted in Firebase Dagger.
• Don't charge in as soon you see the enemies from afar. Approach them from the corners of the stage while firing your weapon and using Energy Drain and Incinerate until you can reach a safe wall or large object to fire Snap Freeze through.
• Final Considerations:
The N7 Paladin is truly amazing, being without any doubt the best class for crowd control. While being extremely offensive with his powers, he plays a major support role with debuffs, allowing heavy hitter classes to put some serious damage against large enemies. It's one of the most fun classes to use, specially when played like an Engineer to set and detonate combos.
Any comments/critics are welcome, as long you keep the politeness. =)
Thank you kindly for the attention, and I hope you enjoyed.
Special thanks to thewalrusx for the corrections regarding the explanation of the Tech Combos.
Modifié par Valhalen, 03 mars 2013 - 01:33 .
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