For another Cabal build, go here to see Megabeast's guide.
I don’t post build threads because I’m not very good at explaining things, so I apologize for being a little long-winded and if I’m not making a hell of a lot of sense. I’m also one who gets bogged down with details.
I’d also like to give a forewarning that the way I’ve been using this class is basically as a highly evasive hit-and-run attacker. It doesn’t take down bosses uber-quick and requires some serious finesse (and practice) in order to not constantly die. If that’s not something for you, then I’d advise to stop reading my wall of text right about now.
For those who simply want to look at the Narida class Builder to copypasta the build and jump right in, go here.
Note that the Pistol Power Magnifier mod is not in the class builder, so I left the second mod blank. I use AP ammo to deal with Guardians.
Might I point out that I myself feel that I’m not very good with this build, I still die a few times during a game when playing with it. However I’ve been able to carry PUGs with it on Gold and, for those who it matters to, get top score by a significant margin.
I’m going to go ahead and give a bit of a breakdown on power use and my choice
for evolutions, as well as some combos for taking down various enemies.
This is how I have her built.
Poison Strike – Rank 3
Nightshade Blades – Rank 6 (Damage, Poison Duration, Enhance Blades)
Biotic Focus – Rank 6 (Damage Taken, Melee Damage, Biotic Shield)
Turian Veteran (Passives) – Rank 5 (Damage & Capacity, Power Damage)
Venom Gauntlets (Fitness) – Rank 6 (Durability, Shield Recharge, Fitness Expert)
Weapon - Talon X (Melee Stunner, Power Magnifier)
I’d like to point out that you do not have to copy this build exactly, but it’s what I’ve found to be the most effective in terms of dealing damage and surviving. I’ve been able to play against all factions, and the only enemies that I’ve consistently struggled against are Geth Primes and Praetorians. The former due to pets and stagger, the latter due to not being able to do a lot of constant damage.
Biotic Focus – You could change the Rank 4 to extra movement speed but I personally don’t like it. With the
minor extra damage reduction I’ve been able to stand up to small arms and machine gun fire a lot better. The Rank 6 evo is basically a must to stay alive, but note that it does not restore the shield gate so don’t rely on it for near-invincibility. Often the best option is to turn and run or Poison Strike away. Also keep in mind that with the Rank 6 evo you get a half-second of invincibility, and timed perfectly can save your ass from an incoming Atlas rocket or Banshee warp.
Poison Strike – Plenty people don’t bother with this power but I feel it has its place. It’s best attribute isn’t the power itself but its ability to detonate any combo. It’s feasible to upgrade to the Rank 4 Range evo, but if you want to go that route you’ll be taking a rank off of fitness or the passives. I’ve found the initial 12m to be more than sufficient to charge through multiple walls. Also take note that Poison Strike will take your character to a different elevation (i.e. down ladders on Firebase Ghost, up through the center building on Firebase Condor). This is as useful as a means of evasion as it is an attack due to its invincibility frames.
Some of my friends I play with say that Poison Strike has hit-detection issues. I won’t debate this. I’ve found that if a smaller enemy is one step to either side of my character, the Poison Strike hits without fail.
Passives – I cranked up the power damage for obvious reasons; with the Power Amp mod on the Talon the Poison Strike deals ~1000 instant biotic damage and the Nightshade Blades deal ~3000 instant-hit damage. Plus, not everybody has a Talon X like I do so the capacity will help with cooldowns. Currently my Poison Strike has a 2.46 second cooldown, and Biotic Focus 3.08 seconds. With such low cooldowns, I can Poison Strike through an enemy, turn and shoot them once, and then use Biotic Focus before closing in for a melee if necessary. It’s about that fast.
Fitness – I was expecting to get shot a lot using this build as I have been, and I do. So that’s why I went
for pure health/shields. The character still gets an extra 35% melee damage bonus, and coupled with equipment a single heavy melee ought to do more damage than Poison Strike (the class Builder says ~2200 damage, ~1600 against armour, take that for what you will). Melee is also the main source of damage, especially for killing mooks. I’d like to point out that this character’s heavy melee lunge range is ridiculously big. It can also teleport you up or down different elevations and, without a target, through walls.
Nightshade Blades – I chose raw damage on this one to help with taking down armoured targets and dealing with groups of mooks. The Rank 6 evo could be changed to Exploding Blades if you so choose. I did not choose it because I wanted maximum instant-hit damage. Also this way the power does enough damage that any basic level Trooper dies from DOT. I’d like to point out that in my use of this power, it does not seem to have the range it claims (15 metres), so I try to use it when I’m within roughly eight metres of my target(s).
Weapon/Equipment – I use the Talon for two very good reasons; low weight and good damage, especially against shields and barriers. Also the pistol brand can be equipped with mods for both melee and power damage. You could try a high-level Wraith with a blade mod, thus do more damage per shot with your weapon. Obviously you would have slower cooldowns and your powers would deal less damage. I still recommend AP or Drill ammo for those armoured enemies. You could also try an Acolyte with the same melee/power damage mods if you want to take down shields/barriers a lot better. I prefer not to deal with the charging mechanic; when I shoot the gun I want instant damage. I find the Talon works best for me, and the mods are extremely helpful. With the Power Amp mod you should be doing +3000 instant hit damage with Blades and Poison Strike should do ~1000 biotic damage, which is instant. The Melee Stunner mod is awesome for dealing with mooks as they get stunned or staggered from light melee attacks.
Since I have no Fitness evos for melee damage I use a Strength Enhancer and Juggernaut Shield; the extra shields from Juggernaut also help with survivability. Also with Shield Power Cells III, the shield gauge regenerates extremely quickly. If you’re not under fire, popping Biotic Focus practically starts the regen process. Other possibilities would be Adrenaline Mod, Cyclonic Mod, Power Amp or even Power Efficiency mods, if you wish to try them out.
Those are the reasons behind the choice of powers and equipment I’ve been working with, but as I’ve pointed out there’s still some room to experiment. Feel free to do so.
When playing this character, I spend about a quarter of my time running around between ammo boxes looking for enemies. During this time it’s not a bad idea to spam Biotic Focus in order to keep up your damage reduction, movement speed, and/or melee damage. When I actually find baddies, what I do next depends on what the enemy is and whether they’re alone.
Lone targets are obviously the easiest and it’s probably best to hunt them down as much as possible.
When dealing with basic Troopers, usually it’s shoot then heavy melee. The shot is honestly for insurance, so that the target dies instantly. If it doesn’t, the DOT will likely finish them off. Troopers get staggered from light melee chains because of the Melee Stunner mod.
Husks and Abominations are easy fodder. Husks die to DOT from a single heavy melee or Poison Strike. When the Focus buffs are active a full-strength Husk dies from a heavy melee. Abominations survive with one or two health bars from a buffed heavy melee. Either heavy melee then Poison Strike to kill them and escape their explosions, or shoot them once to deal a bit of damage then slice their head off with a heavy melee. Decapitating them will not cause them to explode.
Shielded enemies such as Centurions, Collector Captains, Nemeses, etc., die when you fire a shot, heavy melee, then Poison Strike through them. Again they might not die instantly but the DOT should take care of that. Remember that these enemies, like basic Troopers, will be staggered or stunned from light melee chains because of the Melee Stunner mod.
I tend to handle Hunters with a bit of care. They’re annoying enough that I’ll shoot a Nightshade Blade at them, if at the least so I can target them while they suffer DOT. Usually I handle them like any other shielded enemy, however if I get staggered I try to pop Biotic Focus before using a melee again.
Guardians are what I put on AP ammo for. You can get in uber-close and pop them in the face through the
shield. Nothing fancy.
Dragoons can be problematic when they're suddenly on your flank. As with the Pyros and most armoured units, a Blades can start massive DOT. Typically I'll hang back and shoot two or three shots at a Dragoon before closing in for melee hits. A light melee chain usually goes unanswered thanks to the Melee Stunner mod.
Geth Pyros are problem for me when I use this character, especially when with a Hunter or in groups. Typically I just stay out of their range, hit them with Blades, and shoot my Talon until they’re down to armour or half armour. At that point I close in with melee/Poison Strike combos to kill them if alone. With multiple Pyros I usually kill one or two of them with the Talon before finishing off the loner with melee.
Bombers have to be handled with in-and-out movements and attacks, fairly similar to Pyros. A Talon shot or two
will strip most or all of their shields, and once they're in close to drop bombs you can use a Poison Strike to escape and apply DOT. I'll usually kill them with a heavy melee lunge once all the bombs explode. If they still have two armour bars, DOT will bleed them out.
Groups of mooks get shot with Blades, then cleaned up with melee and Poison Strike. I try to strip the shields of most if not all enemies with Talon shots before closing in.
Brutes and Ravagers I try to handle with care, due to stagger and Swarmer DOT. As with Pyros I hit them with Blades and shoot them a bunch. Poison Strike is useful against Brutes to evade their melee attacks, and Ravagers have to turn to be able to shoot at you again. I avoid using a melee unless it will outright kill the Ravager or Brute, and even then only if I’m certain they won’t immediately counterattack.
Phantoms are downright fun to manhandle. Shooting them once or twice and then hitting them with Blades does tremendous damage and starts to hurt them with DOT. Usually that alone will cause them to cloak and flee in an attempt to self-heal. A quick melee and Poison Strike combo often finishes them off. Poison Strike is also extremely handy to escape a sync-kill right after being hit from a sword attack.
As stated before, this build doesn’t kill bosses very fast. I have, however, been able to singe-handedly
take down bosses (not flawlessly I might add). It just takes a little while. Most of the time I avoid them until I have help. If someone is priming a boss for combos with whatever power, persistent Poison Strike is a great way to detonate the combos as well as evade their attacks.
I almost always hit a boss with Blades once or twice before doing anything else. If there are two bosses
side-by-side, sometimes I’ll shoot a Blades or two at them before turning away and leaving.
The Atlas I find the easiest because the Talon takes their shields down fairly quickly, and repeated canopy shots takes down a good chunk of armour. Once an Atlas is very weak, such as half armour or less, I go in for some melees and Poison Strike attacks. If an Atlas gets a melee hit off, either using Poison Strike to get behind them or doing a backwards dodge will avoid a sync-kill.
Banshees I tend to avoid without a team member’s help, but when alone I don’t do much until I have her walking. It’s best to fire a Blades or two and backpedal while shooting them, then once they’re walking you can close in for a melee and Poison Strike away from her Nova-esque attack. It takes a few attack combos to kill her. It's also feasible to lure a Banshee onto a ramp when she's walking, and chain light melee attacks while popping Focus to regen your shields. The melee and DOT stacks up to take down their armour at a good pace.
I mentioned I struggle with Praetorians, and it’s simply because there’s no reliable means to deal big damage quickly on them. Their bubble shield negates Blades and Strike attacks, and their sync-killing behaviour puts melee out of the question. Best I’ve found I can do is stay away and shoot them while they’re floating. Once they’re walking or shooting eye sperm/lasers you can hit them with some Blades for extra damage. I’d like to point out that side dodges can get you out of the way from eye laser damage.
Primes are, well, Primes. They’re difficult to handle in the open so it’s best to get them in an area where you can Poison Strike away to break their line-of-sight. As usual, a Blades attack or two then constant shooting will strip their shields. Once they’re down to armour you can continue shooting and hitting them with Blades, and Strike through walls to deal continuous damage while evading fire. The turrets and drone tend to manhandle me so if possible I kill them immediately.
As stated, the best way to deal with bosses is with help. It was not very fun having to solo two Praetorians on Condor and it took a few minutes. The best kind of help someone can give is priming for combos. Even someone using an EDIbot and Snap Freezing everything will cause several Cryo Explosions when you Poison Strike.
If you’ve read all that, more power to you.
The best advice I can give is no advice at all, basically when I first played her I slapped on powers and equipment and jumped right in. I’ve found that when using this character I’ve survived or been killed because I made the right or wrong split-second decision, such as regen’ing my shields with Focus rather than turning and Striking away to recover, or closing in for a melee when I could have just fired my gun. I’m not good at explaining anything and the method of play I use isn’t something I could describe well.
At best, I hope this wall of text gives some kind of precursor on how to play what I’ve found to be an extremely fun build with an extremely fun class. My biggest suggestion, if you’re going to use this, is simply practice with it. Eventually you’ll be able to make good decisions on how to kill stuff quickly while staying alive. I know I
myself still need some work.
TL;DR – Play this if you want, I hope you find it fun and that you get good with it. If anybody wants to put their
suggestions here, I’ll read them.
… I think I’ve covered everything.
Good day.
EDIT: Cleaned up the paragraphs.
EDIT: Added a couple things I left out, including a few enemies.
Modifié par MofuggerX, 02 mars 2013 - 09:15 .
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