Worst Squadmates to run from a combat perspective.

Question

Ok so i'm aware this varies based on difficulty however I have only played on insanity since my 2nd playthrough of me1 and so i am heavvvvvvily biased here to the insanity diffiiculty when i mention my weakest squadmates.

My 'best/weakest' is based more on which squadmates are relevant consistently throughout the game. Squadmates who are good in specific missions or squadmates who are super squishy and always die early game before scaling up later i consider bad becausse half the game is done before they become relevant enough to have with me.

ME1:

Top 3: Wrex, Kaiden, Ashley

Weakest 3: Liara, Tali, Garrus

Wrex has that beautiful regen, ashley can be tanky and with good armour is hard to down, kaiden has that barrier to absorb massive damage through the whole game and with good armour late game he just doesnt die. The three of them are just so good for getting through some of the early stages when you dont have the best gear yet because they actually stay on their feet more than 2 seconds each fight and in the mid-late game with good gear they stay relevant even if they dont have the top damage by the end game.

Dear god garrus is the worst. purely from a combat perspective i have never seen someone die as much as this turian. I have genuinely had garrus die the moment a fight started, i didnt have time to get in cover and i had to revive him. the 3 weakest can definitely be useful late game with good gear sure, but in the early game these three are dead the within seconds of a fight starting and are only useful for "decryption" and abilities like that, dont waste a medigel on them until midgame at least.....

ME2:

Top 3: Grunt, Zaeed/Garrus, Thane

Weakest 3: Kasumi, Jack, Legion

Ok so grunt is just, beautiful, love me a tank. Zaeed is surprisingly tanky but also has good damage output however as he is a DLC character in the original games i've put a 4th in for anyone that hasnt played MELE and doesnt know Zaeed. Garrus is in line with zaeed but as in ME1 he is waaay too squishy early. thankfully it doesnt take too long to get some upgrades that make him relevant and when he does become relevant i find zaeed/garrus output so much damage and are decently tanky enough that they can carry fights even on insanity, especially if i bring in grunt and put grunt in front of one of them. Thane beats out others in the crew to get into the top mainly because he outputs good damage especially when paired with a tankier teammate who draws fire and i like his abilities, warp is always useful.

Kasumi is an interesting one, i may not be giving her a fair shake because i think most of my playthroughs with her had a bug that didnt give her the correct cooldown time on her main ability so she would punch one person then just hide in cover for ages before punching someone else (or getting downed). Sadly she doesnt seem to really change from start to finish. I love legiion but the decision to tie it to the reaper IFF doomed legion to almost never being used in more than a mission or two so even if he if useful in combat the developers kind of made him irrelevant in the course of ME2. Jack..... reaaaaally liked her on the first playthrough but once i started insanity runs i just couldnt get a use out of her again. Warp ammo is nice on collector missions but thats kind of it. a shortgun and pistol so she fights close range but she isnt tanky, abilities dont shield her from damage and unless resistances are stripped off enemies her offensive biotics are no effect.... youd think a super powerful biotic could knock armoured/shielded enemies that arent bosses where normal biotics cant, or at least that she could biotic charge in to replenish shields or put up a biotic buttle to stop incoming bullets while she regens barriers. Without anything there she just does nothing all game on insanity. Strangely her most consistent pairing seems to be miranda, has warp and overload for consistant stripping of resistances to give jack a chance to toss people around.

ME3:

Top 3: Kaiden, Liara, Garrus

Weakest 3: Ashley, Tali, EDI

Personally think ME3 is the most balanced, Kaiden is once again beautiful, the barrier is so good, it is the main reason he is ahead of garrus. I can give that dlc gun that makes garrus shred anything on insanity but while garrus can still be downed with the OP gun kaiden can consistently unload on enemies and rarely go down with the strong shield. Liara while squishy can do so much in this game thanks to the improved combos. regardless what class shephard is you can pretty much combo it with liara singularity allowing for a whole crowd of enemies to be deleted.

No one is really a clear weak link. EDI might be the closest as she is a bit squishier and doesnt quite have the offensive output of other characters. Ash;ey is only here because she doesnt have the tanky barrier kaiden has or the "delete.exe protocol" that garrus has but give her the same dlc gun as them and honestly she is good too. Tali gotta love her, just a tad weak early, need to focus on upping her shields and then get her energy drain so she can replenish it and she becomes a decent tank too late game, although her damage mainly relies on enemies being shielded or bots.

Maybe ill update with andromeda tomorrow i need to hop off now,

Anyone else have thoughts on strongest/weakest characters ? feel free to note differences based on difficulty of game

fred_vdp · Answer

In ME1, the squishier characters can be more manageable if you invest heavily in electronics early on. I have built Tali as a tank.

In ME2 I like to use Miranda because of her party buffs.

In ME3 there's the "Garrus ascends to godhood" build. That said, even on insanity I think the game is not especially difficult when playing as an infiltrator, so I just pick whoever I like.

holger1405 · Answer

Liaras biotics end about every fight in ME1 before it even started.&nbsp;

Tali is a Tank&nbsp; if you update Quarian Machinist and get the Colossus Armor in BDtS.

I could go on, but IMHO there are no "Bad" squadmates in Mass Effect
It all depends on how you build them, how you manage them, what mision you are in and what your Shepard's class is, and that is true for all games imho.&nbsp;

mcsupersport · Answer

Hmmm, well first strike is you like Kaiden....that means EVERYTHING you say is wrong......lol.

Some of what you say I agree with, but honestly, it depends on what class you play and how you play....

ME1&nbsp; Garrus, Tali, Liara...well depends on gear spec and what class you are playing.&nbsp; Maybe early a bit squishy, but after a few levels and some gear they never die because nothing is shooting at them due to the powers being thrown.&nbsp; Now mind you I play caster mostly classes, and OE I pretty much stopped playing Insanity due to it being boring, but with the changes in LE I often HAVE to play it otherwise it is too much a cakewalk.&nbsp; Wrex is a beast, and Kaiden is dead or never goes anywhere with me(I hate his power distribution and others are better).&nbsp;
Tali....decent armor and gets bonuses to shields so buff her armor shields and nothing gets through, use her tech mines and nothing shoots either.
Garrus....AR platform with similar bonuses as Tali but medium armor.
Liara...adept...things float around her so they aren't shooting.

Mind you, it also helps if you know what you are facing....meaning don't take Tali to face husks, but then again she and Garrus shine on Earth Moon mission...
It also helps in how you play and what level you are and how is your gear....later game, cover, oh you mean the stuff that slows down my killing people...early, cover is what keeps you alive while your powers or shields recover.... As far as squads go...depends on the class I am playing, Adept and I usually run Ashley and Tali, Vanguard gets Wrex and either Garrus or Tali, Soldier gets Liara and Tali, Earth Moon ALWAYS gets Garrus and Tali, I will also change up some classes in my squad just for different feel or because I am doing a different play style that day.

ME2(Insanity difficulty)
Grunt is ok at best, others are WAY better.&nbsp; Again, I play Adept so Miranda, Thane, Garrus, are all frequent members, along with Zaeed.&nbsp; You pair an Adept with Miranda and either Thane or Garrus(depending enemy) and things go boom.&nbsp; Give Zaeed and Garrus the incisor sniper rifle and things die.&nbsp; Grunt, he goes on his Loyalty mission and sits home rest of time....maybe I would use him on a soldier run, but that would be it.&nbsp;
Worst teammate to me is Jack...for insanity, she is laughable....though I have heard at normal she is decent or powerful, but when shields and armor are on everything she stinks. Yeah, I can agree with your worst three Kasumi and Legion aren't good either...ok at best.

ME3...never played it enough to really comment, the ending of the original as released burned me bad on it and barely played much past ME2 after....so no comment, other than if you put the DLC mini gun into Garrus's hands with the Prothean&nbsp; as well, you don't actually have to fight anymore, they will kill everything for you.....and yeah, I mean EVERYTHING, it is insane to watch.

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Worst Squadmates to run from a combat perspective.

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