Mass Effect 2 Soldier Guide

Mass Effect 2's focus on creating a "slick, more shooter-like game" has made it much easier to play in an FPS vein than the original game. That means a lot of players will probably be considering the Soldier class, and rightly so. The Soldier was my favorite class in Mass Effect, and is even better in Mass Effect 2.

This guide to the Soldier will lay out the basics of how to use the Soldier class and give recommendations on which skills are the most and least interesting. The Soldier is a straight-forward class on the whole - you shoot stuff a lot and it goes boom - but Soldiers also have to deal with the fact that they lack some of the tools other class do, such as heavy AOE damage or crowd control. This guide will help you build the strengths of your soldier so that the weaknesses are no longer a issue.

Since the Soldier does his damage by shooting things and only shooting things you'll need to master the basic combat mechanics of the game. While some other classes can sit behind cover and throw out nukes, you'll need to get to know the rhythm of gun-play.

All opponents in Mass Effect 2 who fire weapons have certain AI characteristics, including firing patterns. Take the Heavy Mechs, for example. Their basic firing pattern is to fire their chaingun, then fire one missile. They then stop firing for a short period of time before opening up again with the chain gun. As a soldier, that period of time where the mech ceases fire is when you want to come out of cover and ruin its day. All enemies have a pattern, but it is different for different opponents, so you'll need to pay attention when you see a new opponent to determine its firing pattern. Once you've figured it out, battles become much easier.

The second basic mechanic you need to master is positioning. It is absolutely critical not to get flanked, and it helps to flank opponents as much as possible. Keep an eye on the radar in the lower right corner that comes up when you pause battles to help with this, and try not to let the red dots get all the way around you. As with the firing patterns of opponents, it is important to identify patterns in the field of combat. There are quite a few battles in the game where the player can really ruin the enemy by darting up some cover off to the side while the Soldier's squad-mates distract the enemy. Better still, you can stay safe in cover and send someone else to the dangerous positions. More on this in a coming article on Squad Tactics.

These two basics will take you throughout the game as a Soldier on normal difficulty. They're not hard to learn, but they can be hard to master. Both become more difficult as more enemies are added to the battle. Remember not to be impatient and to wait until the right moment to come out of cover and fire or attempt a flanking maneuvre.

On the next page, we'll talk about skills.