Master Chief vs Commander Shepard (Halo vs Mass Effect)



“Heroism is not blind courage: it is selfless action. It is knowing the odds are stacked against you, but feeling that you must do what you do for the good of others.”

— John Baldoni


Master Chief, the Spartan Super Soldier


Commander Shepard, the Human Spectre




It’s said that space is the final frontier, full of truly endless possibilities and discoveries for humankind to explore. But when the wondrous ruins of an ancient civilization long past harbours the end of all galactic life, these two paragons of humanity will come to hold the fate of the galaxy in their hands, no matter how impossible the odds. But if these legendary heroes met in a battle to the end, who would come out on top?


Before we start…


Pretty much everything is on the table for both as far as material is concerned, both of their extended stuff outside the games are frequently mentioned and/or play a role in some fashion in their games. Only things that are being excluded are:



Shepard is obviously from an RPG with many branching choices, however there’s little reason to believe they have some immense difference in stats as far as versus is concerned. It’s not like Paragon/Renegade paths have some huge gap in technology and powers, nor major feat differences. DLC is also included, the events in them happen regardless (a marine team does the events of Arrival offscreen and Liara becomes the Shadow Broker regardless of Shepard, among others) and there’s no other reason not to. Gender is player chosen, but we will be referring to Shepard as male for those who care. Note that some footage may be female Shepard, though this changes nothing versus wise. Equipment stats that are raw numbers increases over percentages will also not be mentioned, due to being hard to quantify versus wise.


Also this will spoil absolutely everything in both series if that wasn’t obvious lol. THIS INCLUDES RECENTLY RELEASED HALO BOOKS AT THE TIME OF WRITING, though nothing too bad


Background

Master Chief



“Our duty as soldiers is to protect humanity... whatever the cost.”


  • Designation: John-117

  • Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer

  • Occupation: Spartan-II

  • Age: 49 years

  • Homeworld: Eridanus II

  • Likes: Cortana, the UNSC, Blue Team, the number 7

  • Dislikes: The Flood, the Covenant, racists (they are illegal)


In the closing decade of the 25th century, humanity’s colonial territories across the Orion Arm had sparked an Insurrection against the United Earth Government. By 2511, some projections indicated that all of these outer colonies would be in open rebellion within 20 years. The wars continued, and fearing the imminent breakup of humanity, the military arm of Earth, the UNSC, had begun resorting to far shadier methods to stamp out this resistance. This culminated in programs that took forays into biological augmentation, and eventually the Spartan-II program led by Dr. Catherine Halsey. The program was brutal, taking in gifted children and replacing them with short lived flash clones before subjecting them to rigorous military training. Even then, they had to survive their new, deadly augmentations that molded them into the soldiers they needed to be. Even despite these harrowing conditions, many candidates emerged successful, with one in particular standing above the rest; John-117, better known by his moniker and rank of The Master Chief.


While they enjoyed success in their counter-insurgency operations, their attention would have to be pivoted to a new, and far more existential threat; the Covenant, a hardline religious empire devoted to the worship of the ancient Forerunners who once ruled the galaxy and striving to achieve transcendence by initiating The Great Journey. Mounting escalations led to war, and to John leading Spartan Blue Team through operations fighting the Covenant and still present human Insurrection. Even with their successes, setback after setback and loss after loss painted a grim picture, that the war was closer to an extermination. A last ditch gamble from the UNSC sought to capture a Covenant Prophet and force an end to the war saw John, now at the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, gain the AI Cortana in the lead up. This plan was cut short when the Covenant found Reach, humanity's most developed and important planet aside from Earth. Chief fought in the battle, but it didn’t take long for Reach to fall, the Covenant was ruthless, efficient and most of Blue Team ended up MIA or injured. Chief and remaining UNSC forces fled aboard the ship Pillar of Autumn as the Covenant set fire to Reach, making a seemingly random Slipspace jump, one which would end up being the key to winning the war.


Halo, a massive artificial ringworld built by the Forerunners. There wasn’t much time to be blinded by its majesty, as the Pillar of Autumn was forced to crash onto the ring. A resistance was mounted by the ship’s Captain, Jacob Keyes across what would come to be known as Installation 04, with Master Chief playing a pinnacle role. One battle led Chief taking over the ring’s Control Room with Cortana’s help, and Keyes striking what was thought to have been a weapons cache. Chief was sent to find out what happened and found both UNSC forces dead and Covenant on the run. A video recording showed that Keyes and his men had fallen victim to a more ravenous, unseen foe in the form of the Flood, a virulent and parasitic life form. Chief had taken flight from the facility after a first hand encounter with the Flood, but he’d soon be saved by a Forerunner construct, 343 Guilty Spark.


Chief learned from Spark that Halo was meant to contain the Flood. The plan of action was to activate Halo’s defenses and get the Flood back under control. They acquired the needed Activation Index and teleported back to the Control Room. Right before activation of the defenses, Cortana stopped Chief and informed him what Spark had left out. The Flood survive by feeding off sentient life; Halo’s purpose was to starve out the Flood by wiping the galaxy clean of it. Spark turned on Chief, as he and Cortana were now the only human forces left to stop the carnage. The Pillar of Autumn, still intact from its crash, was self-destructed, destroying Halo, much of the Covenant’s forces, and ending the Flood threat for now as Chief and Cortana returned to human space.


The Battle for Installation 04 was a much needed win for humanity, with Chief having made it back to human space, but the celebration was short lived as the Covenant had finally found Earth. The resulting battle saw John fight in orbit, on Earth and finally through a slipspace portal to, as luck would have it, another Halo. The Covenant army they were chasing was led by one of the three hierarchs of the Covenant, the Prophet of Regret, but the loss of the first Halo had sent shockwaves throughout the Covenant, leading to their main armada and base of operations High Charity arriving to oversee the new Halo and prevent the same fate. Chief had assassinated Regret, fleeing the scene and finding himself in the clutches of the enormous Flood being known as the Gravemind, seeking to prevent the Great Journey, which in reality the firing of the Halo array, and sent Chief to High Charity to this end. Though the assassination of Regret and strife from the destruction of 04 led to the fracturing of the Covenant, the Flood alliance was brief, all a distraction so Gravemind could infect High Charity. Chief would evacuate from the station, but was forced to leave Cortana behind. As Covenant splinter forces and UNSC remnants stopped this second Halo from firing, Chief found his way back to Earth.


Events forced Chief to re-enter orbit, landing in east Africa where he had been picked up by UNSC forces and the Arbiter, a former Covenant admiral who had learned the truth of Halo. Humanity was on the brink of annihilation, and the only remaining Prophet, Truth, was excavating something on Earth. A brief campaign and stopping an infected Flood ship led to them finding the site was a portal to the Ark, where all the Halos were made and could be fired remotely. Chief, UNSC forces, Guilty Spark, who had made his way to Earth, and a Covenant separatist group launched a campaign against Truth’s forces. They were followed through the portal by Gravemind aboard High Charity, and had to deal with the threat in spite of Truth’s death and defeat. Chief and Arbiter mounted a rescue operation for Cortana, still aboard the station, and used the first Halo’s activation Index she held onto to activate a replacement installation that was under construction, as the galaxy was safely out of range. Events would lead to Gravemind’s defeat, Spark’s death due to him lashing out at the plan, and the Ring’s activation, ending the Flood threat again but stranding Chief with Cortana in space, his last words to her “wake me when you need me”.


Five years pass, and that need came when a passing Covenant remnant fleet found Chief orbiting the Forerunner Shield world Requiem. Woken just as they were pulled in by the planet’s gravity well, Chief and Cortana would explore the world, trying to contact a UNSC ship that had picked up their distress beacon, but leading to them unleashing Ur-Didact, himself a Forerunner with a massive grudge against humanity. He sought the Composer, a weapon that could absorb beings as data for Promethean soldiers. Chief and the now also stranded UNSC ship Infinity had to deal with Promethean and Covenant forces as they tried to escape, but also with Cortana, who was going rampant due to human AI only having a service life of 7 years. Chief pursued Didact, in possession of the Composer, as he went to Earth, stopping him at the cost of Cortana’s life. This would be far from the end of threats that plagued the galaxy, a resurgent Didact, Cortana who had survived and taken over Forerunner Guardians to try and impose order on the galaxy, and a former Covenant faction called The Banished trying to take over another Halo. No matter the task, the Master Chief will always stand as the defender of Earth and all her colonies, her sword and shield, always ready to finish the fight.


Commander Shepard



“However insignificant we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That’s what humans do."


  • Name: John Shepard (by default)

  • Rank: Lieutenant Commander

  • Age: ~31 years, 29 while alive

  • Likes: Space Hamsters, Model Ship collecting, Steak

  • Dislikes: Batarians, the Council, Reapers


The year was 2148, and humanity would make its most important discovery; a cache of technology from the Prothean civilization on Mars, a society that had vanished 50,000 years prior. As the newly christened Systems Alliance, these discoveries made possible the manipulation of mass effect fields, permitting new energy sources, weaponry and, no longer being bound by the speed of light and the discovery of a dormant Mass Relay orbiting Pluto, had begun settling the stars. It wouldn’t be long until humans would come into contact with other species, and after a brief First Contact War, would become a player on the galactic stage, led by the Citadel Council and based on the titular, Prothean built space station.


Years later, seeking a greater role in the galaxy, humanity would begin choosing candidates for the Council’s Spectres, an elite special task force. In 2183, one of these candidates was Lieutenant Commander Shepard, a veteran of the Skillian Blitz and stationed on the stealth frigate SSV Normandy. Joined by Turian spectre Nihlus to monitor Shepard’s progress, they would respond to a distress call from the planet Eden Prime and the recently uncovered location of a Prothean beacon. The planet was under assault by the reclusive, synthetic Geth attacking from an enormous Geth Dreadnought named Sovereign. The mission was meant to be one of many trials for the position, but it would have far more dire consequences than anyone could imagine.


Shepard would come across Nihlus, shot dead by fellow Spectre Saren, who received a vision from the beacon. Shepard’s mission would end with the colony saved, but himself getting a vision from the same beacon; though unclear, he only saw death and destruction. Shepard would return to the Citadel and, after some investigation, proved Saren had gone rogue, went looking for something called the Conduit, and was looking to bring about the return of the Reapers, beings who had caused the Prothean disappearance. Shepard is officially given Spectre status and tasked with bringing Saren to justice. Through his galactic travels trying to bring Saren down, Shepard found and learned many things; he found the Cipher to make the vision clearer, Saren was trying to find the Mu Mass Relay for unknown ends… and that the Protheans were unlikely to be the first civilization to suddenly vanish from the galaxy.


The trail led to the planet Virmire. Used by Saren to study the effects of his ship Sovereign’s Indoctrination, Shepard would find another Prothean Beacon, revealing the full message to be a Prothean distress call, as well as a nearby communication hologram. The communication was to Sovereign itself; not a Geth built ship, but in fact a fully sentient Reaper. The Citadel, Mass Relays, Prothean technology caches; all built by the Reapers in a cycle of galactic genocide to harvest the organic civilizations at the Reapers demand. Due to Council inaction, Shepard and the Normandy would sneak off through the Mu Relay and the planet Ilos. Finding a VI, a non-self aware AI, named Vigil would fill in the gaps. The Citadel was a trap, an enormous Mass Relay to bring forth the Reaper armada from their hibernation between galaxies. The Conduit, however, was an experiment from the Protheans into mass relays and became a backdoor into the Citadel, allowing a Prothean group to prevent the Mass Relay signal from going through and halting the Reapers. Shepard chased Saren to the Citadel as a major battle had begun unfolding between Citadel forces and Sovereign with his Geth allies. There, Shepard killed Saren, who was fully under Reaper indoctrination at that point, before he could gain access to the station, as Sovereign was destroyed by Alliance forces and earning humanity a seat on the Council (or taking over the whole council, it’s an RPG after all). Shepard never stopped trying to find a way to stop the Reapers, but only a month after, he would be found and killed by a strange ship.


This would not be the end, as human supremacist group Cerberus would pick up Shepard’s body and revive him after the 2 year Lazarus project and massive financial investment. Cerberus’ leader, the Illusive Man, believed Shepard was the only one who could stop the coming Reaper invasion. In return for the revival, Shepard was tasked with stopping the Collectors, aliens abducting entire human colonies. Shepard would begin assembling a team and learn that the Collectors were after him specifically. Searching a disabled Collector ship led to the discovery that the Collectors were cybernetically modified Protheans, serving as Reaper pawns and likely aimed to take Earth’s population as their main target. With final preparations made, Shepard would take the fight to the Collectors, finding them creating a Human Reaper from all the humans they had taken and processed. Shepard would destroy this Reaper, escaping the base before destruction.


Shepard had returned to the Alliance after severing his Cerberus ties and went back to Earth months after, but previous events only served to delay the inevitable. The Reapers had come for their harvest. Shepard narrowly escaped from Earth, falling in only hours and being tasked with gathering support from across the galaxy together to stop the coming armageddon. Shepard was ordered to the Prothean Archives on Mars, under assault by a n indoctrinated Illusive Man’s forces wanting a means to control the Reapers, and finds a Prothean blueprint that may be the key to victory. The humans would come to the Council for support in building the device, what would later be known as the Crucible. It was a superweapon perfected over millions of years from the Reaper’s innumerable victims, only needing a Catalyst to work. All the while, Shepard had secured support from all elements of the galaxy; Humans, Turians, Asari, Ex-Cerberus operatives, and more, all the disparate and warring races coming together to stop the greatest threat the galaxy had ever faced. An opportunity arose to remove Cerberus as a threat, but an assault on their base of operations led to a terrifying discovery; the Catalyst was the Citadel, now taken by the Reapers back to the heart of their invasion back on Earth. The coalition took the fight to the Reapers in a bid to activate the Crucible, with Shepard leading an infiltration of the Citadel.


The events that happened after are unknown. Whether the Crucible destroyed the Reapers, controlled them, organics and synthetics fused to become one, even if it never fired at all and could only pass along knowledge of the Reapers, future generations were freed from the threat. Those who came thousands of years after would only know of this time through the myths and tales of their saviour; “The Shepard”.


Experience

Master Chief



John was taken in and inducted into the Spartan-II program at the age of six. Even this early, he showcased a knack for small unit tactics and made it through the brutal training of the program, filled with long, quoted as "endless" periods of exercise and sparring. Later Spartan-IV’s are quoted as training in a number of martial arts such as aikido, jiu-jitsu, and krav maga and likely are applicable to Spartan IIs as well. Even in his teenage years, he fought multiple ODSTs, led a capture of a bunker from a group of Mjolnir-I wearing soldiers, a feat quoted as requiring 2-3 platoons of marines to accomplish, and led Spartan Blue Team against Insurrection forces and Covenant Forces, at one point fighting through a force numbering around 100 with only himself and Blue Team early in the war.


Even before the games started, he fought in 207 ground engagements and won every major service medal that wasn’t the Prisoner of War Medallion. By CE, he was the best soldier on the Pillar of Autumn with more medals than its entire general staff and caused thousands of Covenant casualties all by himself, with Spartans having more kills than 3 ODST divisions. He’s quoted as being proficient in all forms of ballistic weapons, tactics, and unarmed combat with Spartans routinely landing shots from a kilometer away while on the move and that many UNSC personnel defer to him for advice. Chief has squared off against all manner of factions, from Humans, the numerous aliens of the Covenant and Banished, the Flood and the Forerunner Prometheans. 


Overall, he’s a pretty cool guy.

Commander Shepard



Shepard’s been a career soldier for his entire adult life, with all backstories having their age of enlistment around 18 years old. The N7 on Shepard’s armour isn’t just a fancy number; it denotes Interplanetary Combatives Training (ICT) proficiency levels for Special Forces. Even just the first N1 level involves 20 hours a day of small unit combat with little sleep or food, and the first day involves being stranded on an asteroid and having to survive with no navigation data. Even just qualifying is considered a high honor. Further designations involve training in Zero-G fighting, parachuting and jetpack flight, frontline trauma care, and eventual live combat experience.


In terms of practical combat experience, Shepard is a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz campaign, a massive invasion of pirates and slavers with some backstories involving holding one invasion off almost single handedly or leading a brutal retaliatory strike. Shepard has otherwise been involved in combat against a variety of threats in an equal number of combat zones, from assorted mercenary companies, elite Cerberus specialists, other N7 operatives, and technologically advanced aliens like Reapers and Collectors. Shepard and crew have accomplished missions that otherwise require teams of soldiers to accomplish on many occasions, claimed to have killed hundreds of Geth platforms (source: dude trust me, I forgot where the of this source is lol), if not killed thousands of enemy combatants in general and can break the scoreboard on a combat simulator that centuries old Krogan Battlemasters have failed to do, who are quoted as being individually the equivalent of ten soldiers of other races, even beating a mirror match involving a squad composed of several versions of himself.


Arsenal

Master Chief

Cybernetic Enhancements/Spartan Physiology



The Spartan Augmentation process is brutal, with high death rates and a high chance of crippling injuries even among the survivors. Those few who do survive are left far stronger and more capable than any average human.


The list of augments includes:


Mjolnir Armour


Chief has used variants ranging between Mark IV and Mark VI, and Gen 2 armour. Successive armour typically have the features of earlier suits as well

  • Mark IV

    • Further enhances Spartan strength and reflexes

    • Refractive coating to disperse energy attacks

    • Has a reactive interface that allows for faster movements, knowing the users next move before they do

    • Can operate in a vacuum, and are resilient against EMPs and radiation

    • Contains a HUD including the ability to make fitting weapon reticles, communications suite, and ability to make waypoints

    • Contains motion and IR sensors

    • Failsafe detonation system

    • Impulse jets for minor vacuum movements

    • Magnetic Weapon Holsters

    • Polarized Visors

    • Micronized Nuclear Fusion reactor for power needs


  • Mark V

    • Recharging Energy Shields that can absorb and redirect kinetic and energy based weaponry. After they take damage, they start recharging after a few second delay. Enough damage over a short time overloads them, however

    • A super-conductor weave able to house AI, which can even further increase his reaction time (more on Cortana later).

    • First mention of recoil dampening for weaponry

    • Magnetic Boots for space walks

    • Biofoam Injectors, a medical treatment method with self sealing with antimicrobial and tissue regenerating properties which are able to heal wounds. It once fixed Roma after she sustained a Beam Rifle headshot

    • First known use of flashlights

  • Mark VI

    • New recharging energy shields, extremely resilient, very efficient

    • Improved Biofoam injectors

  • Mark VI, Gen 2


  • Mark VI, Gen 3

    • A scan that can reveal nearby weapons and visible enemies

    • Designed in such a way that it cannot be interfered with or controlled by an AI

    • Grappleshot - Hooks onto a target and pulls Chief towards it, including enemies for a melee strike

    • Threat Sensor - Places a beacon that scans the nearby area for targets. Can spot invisible targets

    • Drop Shield - Deploys a barrier in front of Chief that absorbs incoming fire for a time or until the shield is destroyed. It can be fired through from the direction it’s deployed

    • Thruster - Lets Chief dodge in a desired direction

    • Has a number of upgrades for the above tools. These are:

      • Grappleshot - Adds stuns to grappled enemies, delivers shockwaves with attacks while holding melee weapons, and reduces cooldowns

      • Shield Strength increases, up to an extra 60% of base

      • Threat Sensor - Increased radius, another charge, reduced cooldown, interrupted enemy visibility and reveals their health

      • Drop Shield - Reduces cooldown, increases size and strength of shield, and anything shot through gains shock damage

      • Thruster - Increases distance, charges, and temporarily cloaks Chief after use

    • The armour can put Chief into a “survival mode”, letting him be self sufficient for 6 months in space




UNSC Weaponry



The main firearms of humanity and created by and large by Misriah Armoury, primarily utilizing weapons with ballistic capabilities and explosive munitions. They are usually Chief’s weapon of choice in the field. Some weapons can be used with one hand and subsequently dual wielded (this applies to subsequent faction weapons as well)


  • Assault Rifles - Variants used include:

    • MA5B - Fires 7.62mm Armour Piercing or Shredder ammo, containing 60 rounds per magazine and 600 in reserve, though inaccurate. Fall of Reach shows they can equip silencers if needed, and Silent Storm shows they also have underbarrel grenade launchers

    • MA5C - More accurate than the MA5B, though with a 32 round magazine

    • MA5D - Similar to the 5C, but with a 36 round magazine

    • MA2B - Shortened variant of the MA5B seen in Fall of Reach. 900 rpm with .390 caliber ammo, effectively a smaller 

    • MA40 - Main assault rifle for Chief as of present. Has 36 rounds per magazine. Longshot variant has increased accuracy and damage with a reduced 25 round magazine

  • Precision Weaponry:

    • Battle Rifles - Precision weapon with 36 round magazines and 2x scopes, firing Armour Piercing ammo. They most commonly fire in 3 round bursts, though books elaborate they have single shot and full auto fire modes. Very popular infantry weapon overall. Most variants are extremely similar.

    • BR-75 Breacher - Variant of regular Battle Rifles with reduced magazine and spare ammo but with higher rate of fire, damage, and scope magnification.

    • M395 DMR - Semi-automatic marksman rifle. Has a 2x scope like the Battle Rifle, utilizing 15 round magazines

  • Shotgun - Variants used include:

    • M90 - 8 gauge shotgun for close quarters battles. Carries 12 shells

    • M90A - Similar to M90, but carries 6 shells

    • M45D - Similar to M90A

  • Magnums - Variants used include:

    • M6C - Comparatively low damage, but good fire rate. 12 round magazines, can be dual wielded

    • M6D -  Fires 12.7mm HE Rounds and has a 2x scope. 12 shots per magazine 

    • M6G2 - Similar to the M6D, but loses the scope and uses 8 round magazines. Can be dual wielded

    • M6H - Similar to the M6D, but has 8 round magazines. M6H2 variant has a projected sight

    • Mk50 Sidekick - 12 round magazine with 72 in reserve, though lacks the scope. Striker variant has 14 round mags and higher damage with more recoil

  • SMG - Variants used include:

    • M7 - Fires Caseless FMJ rounds at 900 RPM with a 60 round magazine. Can be dual wielded

    • M20 - Similar, but uses AP ammo and has a sight

  • SRS99-AM Sniper Rifle - Variants used include:

    • SRS99C/D Series 2 - Fires 14.5mm rounds with a 2 - 10x scope and 4 round magazine. Effective range of 1.5 kilometers. SRS99C has a night vision function

    • SRS99 Series 5 - Similar functions, but implied longer range of 2.3 kilometers

    • SRS99 Series 7 - Similar functions to the Series 5. The Flexfire variant has 10 rounds and higher accuracy but less damage and only a 3x scope.

  • M99 Stanchion - Used during the books, the Stanchion is Anti-Material Sniper Rifle, using Gauss technology to accelerate small projectiles at extreme speeds

  • Rocket Launchers - The SPNKR line of two barrelled rocket launchers come with a 2x scope, and are meant for killing heavily armored enemies or anti-vehicle warfare. Some models have a lock feature that works on vehicle targets and lets the missiles home in on targets

  • Spartan Lasers - The M6 Spartan laser is a UNSC foray into projected energy weapons. Has a 5 second charge time before firing a devastating laser that can easily kill tanks and aircraft.

  • M363 Sticky Detonator - Fires single round explosives that attach to enemies and can be remotely detonated

  • M739 SAW - Squad Assault Weapon firing 7.62 FMJ-AP ammo at a high rate of fire. Standard ammo uses a 72 round drum magazine

  • ARC-920 Railgun - Single shot, handheld railgun for infantry use. After a short charge time, it fires ferric-tungsten slugs at hypersonic speeds. Strong against infantry units but weak to vehicles.

  • CQS48 Bulldog - Pump action shotgun that fires from a 7 round rotating drum magazine. Convergence variant has tightened spread and 12 rounds

  • VK78 Commando - Fully automatic, 20 round rifle. High damage with strong recoil. Impact variant has increased damage and 40 round magazine with even higher recoil 

  • MLRS-1 & 2 Hydra - Rocket launcher that holds 6 rounds. Can either be dumbfired or lock onto targets. Pursuit variant locks on faster and from a greater range but with reduced rocket velocity

  • Carriable Turrets:

    • AIE-486H & M247 Machine Guns - Handheld machine guns with 200 rounds of ammo before needing to discard them. The former needs a brief time to reach its maximum fire rate

    • LAU-65D/SGM-151 Missile Pod - While not as powerful as a SPNKR, it carries 8 rockets before needing to be discarded and can lock on to vehicles

    • M7057 Flamethrower - As the name suggests, short range flamethrower that’s most effective at burning Flood forms, though has no problem with other targets. 

  • M9 Frag Grenade - Standard explosive grenade.

  • M11 Combat Knife - Lightweight knife made of hyper-dense alloys, maintaining sharpness in spite of repeated use. Cutting power works great with Spartan strength, allowing it to pierce through shield technology.

Covenant Weaponry


The alien coalition that makes up the Covenant produced a number of directed-energy weapons, typically using plasma as its projectile of choice but also containing a number of more unique types of shots. In-universe, plasma is effective against energy shields.


  • Plasma Pistols - Normal weapon for rank and file Grunts and Jackals. Small and unassuming, but they are quite potent, able to charge shots that can disable shields and many types of vehicle. One handed weapon.

  • Plasma Rifles - One of the primary weapons for Elites, they fire continuous rounds composed of plasma, easily hot enough to boil metal. They can fire over a prolonged period, but need to cooldown after enough fire. A Brute variant exists that fires much faster, but overheats faster as well. One handed weapon.

  • Needlers - 30 round automatic weapon. Fires slow moving crystal shard projectiles that are poor against shields, however they have special properties. They can track targets at close range, but more importantly they can stick in unshielded opponents. If enough are impaled in a target, they cause a devastating Super Combine explosion. One handed weapon.

  • Storm Rifle - A two handed weapon used by the Storm Covenant, intended to upgrade the original Plasma Rifles. Inaccurate, but high rate of fire and works off overheating.

  • Carbines - Semi-automatic precision weapon. Has 18 rounds before reload and fires radioactive slugs that can kill over the course of a few minutes. It may not look like it, but they are surprisingly good at making candy

  • Beam Rifles - Sniper rifles that utilizes particle beam ammunition and favored amongst Jackal snipers, typically having 10 shots before running out of charge. Also has the ability to awaken dormant PTSD in anyone who has played Halo 2 Legendary every time it fires

  • Fuel Rod Guns - 5 Round, magazine fed anti-vehicle weapon

  • Type-25 Brute Shot - Brute designed grenade launcher, carrying 4-6 grenades total depending on the version. Also come equipped with a blade on the end of the weapon

  • Paegaas Workshop Spiker - Automatic weapon made by Brutes, uniquely firing projectile based spikes. Carries 40 rounds per magazine, also equipped with an underbarrel blade and can be one handed

  • Type-52 Mauler - 5 round shotgun revolver used by Brutes. Comes with a blade on the handle and can be used one handed

  • Pek & Shea’p-Pattern Plasma Cannons - Heavy plasma cannons, having fire rates around 300 RPM and carrying between 200 and 255 rounds of ammo

  • Melee Weapons:

    • Energy Sword - Traditional Elite weapon made out of shaped plasma, formed into two blades. Typically has 10 swings before needing to recharge, though weaker enemies like Flood forms can use less energy.

    • Gravity Hammer - Weapon preferred by Brute Chieftains, using an already enormous Brute hammer and enhancing it within gravity technology for a powerful swing.

  • Grenades:

    • Plasma Grenade - As the name suggests, the grenades utilize plasma when exploding, disrupting shields and electronics and dealing damage. They also stick to vehicles and people if they hit the target directly and have no detonation time until landing.

    • Spike Grenade - Brute grenade that can stick like the plasma grenade, but instead can latch into any target. While they are heavy and can’t get thrown as far, they launch heated spikes around the impact zone.

    • Firebomb - Another Brute grenade, it bursts open on contact with any surface, spreading a pool of flame thousands of degrees hot within a few meters of impact and has flames intense enough it can cause damage to the retina



Banished Weaponry


Weapons created by the Covenant splinter faction known as the Banished. Though much of their kit are holdovers from the Covenant, they also have a number of their own unique weapons in their arsenal, such as electricity damage that deals more shield/vehicle damage


  • Sicatt Workshop Disruptor - Pistol meant for disabling vehicles, attaching ammo that can also damage everyone in a radius. The Calcine variant has a lower magazine capacity with delayed detonation rounds.

  • Ukala Workshop Mangler - 8 round revolver that fires a kinetic spike bolt and equipped with a spike for melee. Riven variant fires three rounds for a lower fire rate and projectile falloff

  • Pulse Carbine - 4 round burst plasma rifle, effective for short to medium range. Rapidfire variant has a faster rate of fire

  • Sicatt Workshop Shock Rifle - Special weapon meant for EMPing vehicles and shields and fires electricity that can chain to nearby enemies. Purging variant increases chaining potency

  • Flaktura Workshop Skewer - Infantry portable anti-tank weapon that fires a large spike that punctures enemy vehicles, carrying one round before reload. Volatile variant fires explosive spikes

  • Elutuzem-pattern Stalker Rifle - Plasma firing, semi automatic sniper rifle typically employed by Jackal marksmen. Carries 32 bolts. Ultra variant features faster rate of fire and more ammo 

  • Veporokk Workshop Ravager - Bayoneted weapon that fires bursts of plasma, meant for anti-vehicle warfare that can charge for a lingering area of damage. Rebound variant bounces off surfaces

  • Grenflekt Workshop Scrap Cannon - Cannon that fires explosive rounds rounds and ramps up in fire rate as the trigger is held

  • Dynamo Grenade - Electricity centric grenade

  • Diminisher of Hope - Escharum’s personal Gravity Hammer, it gives a wider area of effect upon hits and a faster run speed

  • Rushdown Gravity Hammer and Duelist Energy Sword both increases movement speed and jump height


Forerunner Weaponry


Weaponry utilized by the ancient Forerunners and their Promethean soldiers. Their projectiles are characterized by near-universally using Hard Light, a type of solidified light photons, or Ionized Particles as their primary ammo


  • Z-110 Boltshot - Hardlight firing pistol employed by Prometheans. Depending on the game, they have different functions:

    • Halo 4: Ten rounds before reload. Like the Plasma Pistol, it can charge itself up. While consuming 5 rounds, it instead functions as a powerful shotgun

    • Halo 5: 24 rounds, dropping the charge function to now function as a 3 round burst that track weakpoints 

  • Z-180 Scattershot - The Promethean’s take on a shotgun. Has a faster fire rate and better range than UNSC equivalents but within a lower lethal range. It also has the ability to ricochet off surfaces. Halo 5

  • Z-250 Light Rifle - Precision hardlight rifle. Unique in that it fires 3 round bursts when unscoped, or single shots when scope (which consume 3 rounds), though Halo 5 shows it can fire single shot while unscoped. 5 additionally shows it is able to fire flatter shots with a wider radius when zoomed, but 

  • Z-130 Suppressor - Hardlight assault rifle common amongst Promethean warriors. Halo 5 gives it minor homing properties

  • Z-750 Binary Rifle - Promethean equivalent of a sniper rifle that features a 5-10x magnification scope. Though it only has 2 rounds before needing to reload, it’s unique among Forerunner weapons in that it fires hard light jacketed antiparticle rounds that disintegrate foes when killing them. Antimatter is far from uncommon to the Forerunners, even being used on their starships as weapons

  • Z-390 Incineration Cannon - Promethean rocket launcher that fires multiple explosive rounds, which split into smaller explosives that briefly bounce when they impact. Like the Binary Rifle, it also fires projectiles that utilize anti-matter. Halo 5 changes it so it works off charging, firing a pair of shots uncharged or similar rounds to Halo 4 charged

  • Sentinel Beams - Pulled off of the countless titular Forerunner drones, it fires a continuous, burning beam for a few seconds. Has limited ammo when disconnected from its Sentinel host, but makes use of a perfectly straight beam. Arcane variant trades ammo capacity for damage

  • Cindershot - A hardlight grenade launcher carrying 6 shots. When optics are used, grenades follow the reticle. Backdraft variant deals more damage per shot

  • Heatwave - Hardlight shotgun that can switch between vertical and horizontal alignments. Scatterbound variant can seek targets after ricochets

  • Z-040 Pulse Grenade - Uses an Ionization pulse to make a damaging field. Damage is low, and is used mainly as area denial

  • Z-400 Splinter Grenade - When exploding, it creates several lingering particles that can damage anyone who enters its effective radius. Also has an EMP effect

  • Z-520 Splinter Turret - Used by some types of Armigers, has 30 hard light bolts that ricochet and can split into multiple parts when exploding


Equipment



John has picked up a number of single use equipment items with a number of varying effects.

  • Overshield - Supercharges Chief’s shields by 200%

  • Active Camo - Bends light around Chief, turning him invisible for 12 seconds. Actions like shooting or throwing grenades removes the effect briefly

  • Bubble Shield - Deploys an energy shield emitter that is invulnerable to attacks, though it cannot be shot out of while inside

  • Power Drain - Throws out an orb that emits a constant EMP field, disabling enemy vehicles and shields around it.

  • Portable Gravity Lift - Covenant technology that emits a field that manipulates gravity to propel most objects caught in it upwards

  • Trip Mine - UNSC created antipersonnel mine

  • Regenerator - Similar to the Bubble Shield, an emitter is thrown out that restores shields within its 6 meter range for 15 seconds

  • Flare - Orb that produces an extremely bright light, blinding enemies

  • Deployable Cover - Throws out a teardrop shaped energy shield. Though it can be destroyed, the shield can be restored and solid attacks like bullets can pass through it while behind it

  • Radar Jammer - Tricks motion trackers, overloading their mini-map with false data

  • Auto Turret - Forerunner designed floating turret that fires a superheated plasma beam when it spots enemies

  • Invincibility - Exactly what it says on the cover, prevents all damage to John for 10 seconds. Sources say this is caused by a shield overcharge

Commander Shepard

A brief explanation on protection types:

There are three types of protection types in the series:

  • Shields - Colloquial term for Kinetic barriers. Deflect projectiles moving at sufficient velocity. Protect against fire, biotic attacks, and normal weapons, can be depleted faster against rapid fire weapons and tech skills like Overload and Disruptor Ammo

  • Barriers - Shortened term for Biotic barrier. Similar to regular shields, but more vulnerable to biotic attacks over tech abilities

  • Armour - Protects against weapon damage and biotic abilities. Vulnerable to Armour Piercing ammo, fire based abilities, high impact weapons (snipers, shotguns), and some abilities like Warp.


Starting from ME2 onwards, any of these protection measures make you immune to biotic abilities.

Guns


Firearms in Mass Effect are broadly scaled down Mass Accelerators. They contain thousands of bullets that a computer shaves off a block of metal, mainly composed of Tungsten and launched at extreme speeds. To prevent over penetration, bullets are designed to squash and shatter to maximize damage. They initially worked off building up heat before needing a cooldown, but by 2185 (ME2) was streamlined into disposable thermal clips. All weapons are collapsible and stored on the back or hips


Note: Repeat weapons will not be listed unless needed or differences exist. All ME1 weapons have a set time of continuous fire until overheat depending on level, between 1 and 10, and universally have around 2 - 3 upgrade slots. Ammunition from ME2 onwards is mostly replaced with thermal clips. Weight is an ME3 mechanic; heavier weapons mean slower power recharge times


Assault Rifles:

  • Assault Rifles are general purpose weapons for a variety of situations

  • ME1:

    • Avenger - Standard rifle, good overall and fires 34.8 - 50.8 rounds straight without overheat. Full auto. All weapons in class have a base fire rate of ten shots per second

    • Banshee - Three round burst, 36 - 54 shots before overheat

    • Breaker -  Five round burst. 60.6 - 74.3 rounds before overheat

    • Crossfire - Semi-auto. 65 - 81 shots before overheat

    • Geth Pulse Rifle - Full auto. Increase fire rate over time. 29 - 36 shots before overheat

    • HMWA - Spectre Gear. Full auto, 52.5 - 77.3 shots to overheat and strong overall performance

    • Kovalyov - Full auto, 57 - 69 shots to overheat

    • Lancer - Full auto rifle, 38 - 57 shots to overheat.

    • Raptor - Full auto, 49 - 69 shots to overheat

    • Thunder - Semi auto, 30 - 60.4 shots to overheat

    • Tsunami - Five round burst, 46.3 - 64.4 shots to overheat

  • ME2:

    • M-8 Avenger - Standard, yet reliable assault rifle. 850 RPM, 40 ammo per clip and 400 reserve ammo (30 ammo and 210 reserve in ME3)

    • M-15 Vindicator - Accurate five round burst rifle. 24 ammo per clip, 96 in reserve (144 in ME3)

    • M-76 Revenant - Less accurate than other weapons but makes up for it with higher ammo capacity and damage, upgrading the Vindicator. 700 RPM, 80 ammo per clip and 480 reserve ammo (60 per clip and 320 reserve in ME3)

    • M-96 Mattock - Semi-automatic Cerberus rifle with high power, upgrading the Avenger. 16 ammo per clip, 64 ammo in reserve (96 in ME3)

    • Collector Assault Rifle - Organic rifle that still uses thermal clips, but uses an internal organ with biotic capacitance. Higher damage than the Avenger, but lower fire rate and ammo capacity. 500 RPM, 28 ammo per clip and 280 in reserve

    • Geth Pulse Rifle - Weapon that fires lightened slugs enveloped in a phasic envelope, being more effective against shields and barriers but less so against armour. Ramps up fire rate depending on how long it's been fired. Variable fire rate, 40 ammo per clip, 480 reserve (400 in ME3)

  • ME3:

    • Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle - Quarian created weapon. Very heavy, but accurate and fires small, area affecting rounds. 24 ammo clip, 72 ammo reserve

    • Cerberus Harrier - Modified Mattock that fires full automatic. Accurate and high damage, but a bit heavier than the Mattock. 20 ammo clip size, 80 in reserve

    • Chakram Launcher - Fires explosive discs that can be charged instead of standard bullets. 4 ammo clips, 40 reserve ammo

    • M-7 Lancer - Relic from the First Contact War that was refurbished with higher velocity rounds. Has an older self-cooling system over thermal clips. Effectively a stronger M-8 Avenger with higher recoil. 38 ammo before cooling

    • M-37 Falcon - Grenade launcher that requires specialized ammunition on top of thermal clips. 4 ammo in clip, 24 reserve

    • M-55 Argus - C-Sec rifle that is potent at close range, utilizing burst fire. Good damage, but low accuracy. 21 clip size, 168 reserve

    • M-99 Saber - Semi-auto marksman rifle. High damage but heavy with a low fire rate. 8 ammo per clip, 40 reserve.

    • N7 Typhoon - Light Machine Gun. Very heavy and inaccurate, but high damage and fire rate. 100 ammo clip size, 400 reserve

    • N7 Valkyrie - 2 round burst fire weapon. Good overall. 16 ammo per clip, 144 in reserve.

    • Particle Rifle - Uses a self-cooling mechanism over thermal clips. No recoil with a damage ramp up, but very heavy.

    • Phaeston - Turian infantry weapon. Fully automatic, heavier than the Avenger but greater ammo, rate of fire and damage. 50 clip size, 300 reserve

    • Striker Assault Rifle - Full auto weapon that fires high impact slugs that detonate on contact. Increases fire rate the longer the trigger is held, but inaccurate. 12 ammo clip, 60 in reserve


Sub-Machine Guns:

  • SMGs are universally useful against shields and biotic barriers, but weak against armor

  • ME2:

    • M-4 Shuriken - Three round burst machine pistol. 24 shots per mag, 240 reserve

    • M-9 Tempest - Fast firing close range SMG at 925 RPM, bad for long range combat. 50 shots per mag, 450 reserve

    • M-12 Locust - Upgrade to the Shuriken, with low recoil and an autotargetting software. Decent for long range, fires at 550 RPM. 20 rounds per mag, 240 reserve

  • ME3:

    • Blood Pack Punisher - Full auto, twin barreled SMG that fires an armour piercing round alongside regular shots, though the gun is heavy. 40 rounds per mag, 320 reserve

    • Geth Plasma SMG - Fires rounds that flash converts shots into plasma upon impact. Increases fire rate through continuous fire. 100 rounds per mag, 600 reserve

    • M-25 Hornet - Overall potent 3 round burst SMG. Accurate with good damage and weight. 24 rounds per mag, 144 reserve

    • N7 Hurricane - High raw damage output and fire rate, though with high recoil. 40 rounds per mag, 240 reserve


Pistols/Heavy Pistols:

  • Typically used as backup weapons, but fully capable of being a primary

  • ME1:

    • Raikou - Three round burst. 17.7 - 24.4 shots to overheat

    • Brawler - Semi-automatic. 24.6 - 30.5 shots to overheat

    • Stinger - Semi-automatic. 17 - 26.2 shots to overheat

    • Striker - Three round burst. 13.9 - 20.3 shots to overheat

    • Kessler - Semi-automatic. 14.4 - 21.5 shots to overheat

    • Stiletto - Semi-automatic. Slow fire rate, high damage. 15 - 22.9 shots to overheat

    • Razer - Three round burst. 23.1 - 28.2 shots to overheat

    • Karpov - Semi-automatic. 21.7 - 26.2 shots to overheat

    • Edge - Semi-automatic. 13.4 - 19.3 shots to overheat

    • HMWP - Spectre weapon. Fully automatic, powerful all around. 23.8 - 29.3 shots to overheat

  • ME2:

    • Pistols are universally more effective against armour, but weaker against shields and barriers

    • M-3 Predator - Popular and reliable sidearm. While not having the damage as other pistols, they fire much faster. 12 ammo clips, 60 reserve (15 ammo clips and 90 reserve in ME3)

    • M-5 Phalanx - Powerful hand cannon that uses a laser pointer for aiming. Slow fire rate. 6 ammo clips, 24 reserve (12 clip, 72 reserve with less damage in ME3)

    • M-6 Carnifex - Generally strong overall heavy pistol. 6 ammo clip and 18 reserve (30 reserve in ME3)

  • ME3:

    • Acolyte - Asari pistol which has strong effect on shields and barriers at the cost of poor armour damage. Fires only charged shots. 3 ammo clip and 12 reserve

    • Arc Pistol - Semi auto pistol that can be charged to fire added shots. Shoots electricity. 18 ammo clips, 72 reserve

    • Executioner - High impact, high damage, armour piercing shot. Only 1 shot, 15 reserve ammo

    • M-11 Suppressor - Suppressed variant of the Carnifex with a suppressor, high fire rate and low recoil. 6 clip ammo, 30 reserve

    • M-77 Paladin - Carnifex variant with a smaller clip but higher damage. 3-4 ammo clip size depending on the game version, 16 reserve ammo

    • M-358 Talon - Cerberus pistol that fires shotgun rounds with the associated strengths and weaknesses. 4 ammo clip and 24 reserve ammo

    • N7 Eagle - Full auto heavy pistol. Variant of the Phalanx, though with lower damage. 18-24 ammo clip and 180-192 reserve ammo depending on the version

    • Scorpion - Salarian pistol that fires low velocity projectiles that explode and can stick to surfaces serving as a proximity mine. 4 clip size, 20 reserve


Shotguns:

  • Shotguns are strong, close range weapons

  • ME1:

    • Note - Legendary Edition adds unique pellet spreads for all shotguns.

    • Katana - Bolt action (contextually, semi-auto with longer cooldown). X-shaped pattern with 5 pellets. 4.2 - 5.3 shots to overheat

    • Avalanche - Bolt action. Fires one slug. 6.1 - 7.5 shots to overheat

    • Firestorm - Bolt action. Hexagonal pattern with 7 pellets. 4.5 - 5.8 shots to overheat

    • Hurricane - Fully automatic. Hexagonal pattern with 7 pellets. 3.3 - 4.0 shots to overheat

    • Storm - Bolt action. Hexagonal pattern with 7 pellets. 3.4 - 4.4 shots to overheat

    • Tornado - Bolt action. Fires one slug. 3.6 - 4.8 shots to overheat.

    • Armageddon - Fully automatic. Hexagonal pattern with 7 pellets. 5.5 - 6.6 shots to overheat

    • Sokolov - Bolt action. X-shaped pattern with 5 pellets. 5 - 5.8 shots to overheat

    • Scimitar - Bolt action. Hexagonal pattern with 7 pellets. 3.1 - 3.8 shots to overheat

    • HMWSG - Bolt action Spectre weapon. Hexagonal pattern with 7 pellets. 

  • ME2:

    • M-22 Eviscerator - Longer range than most shotguns. Equal damage to all protection types. 3 shots per clip, 12 reserve (15 in ME3)

    • M-23 Katana - Standard shotgun. Strong against shields and barriers, weak vs armour. 5 ammo per clip, 10 reserve

    • M-27 Scimitar - Shotgun capable of rapid fire. Strong against shields and barriers, weak vs armour. 8 shots per clip, 16 in reserve (24 in ME3)

    • M-300 Claymore - Shotgun that’s popular with Krogan and strong against all protection types. Has immense power overall. Only 1 shot per clip, 10 in reserve (8 in ME3)

    • Geth Plasma Shotgun - Fires superconducting projectiles that flash converts air by the impact point into plasma, overloading shields and barriers. Fires three pellets with long range and can be charged. 5 ammo per clip, 10 in reserve (15 in ME3)

  • ME3:

    • AT-12 Raider - High weight shotgun. Short range even by shotgun standards, but very strong. 2 shots per clip, 18 reserve

    • Disciple - Asari shotgun. Light, accurate, but less stopping power. 4 ammo per clip, 24 reserve

    • Graal Spike Thrower - Chargeable Krogan shotgun meant to hunt Thresher Maws. High chance to stagger enemies. 3 shot clip, 12 reserve

    • M-11 Wraith - M-22 Wraith variant with lighter weight and better damage, but less ammo. 2 ammo per clip, 18 reserve

    • N7 Crusader - Heavy but damaging and accurate shotgun. 4 ammo per clip, 20 reserve

    • N7 Piranha - Automatic shotgun meant for dealing with hordes of weaker enemies, though fairly heavy. 8 ammo per clip, 48 reserve

    • Reegar Carbine - Based on the Arc Pistol, generating a sustained current on a target. Strong against shields and barriers but weak to armour. 22 ammo per clip (about 3 seconds of fire), 66 reserve

    • Venom Shotgun - Salarian shotgun that fires one explosive shot uncharged and drops bomblets on contact charged. Very heavy. 4 ammo per clip, 12 reserve


Sniper Rifles:

  • ME1:

    • Naginata - Bolt action (contextually, loads a new shell after every shot). 1.5 - 1.6 shots to overheat

    • Punisher - Bolt action. 1.8 - 2 shots to overheat

    • Striker - Bolt action. 1.5 - 1.8 shots to overheat

    • Hammer - Three round burst. 1.2 - 1.4 shots to overheat

    • Avenger - Bolt action. 1.3 - 1.4 shots to overheat

    • Equalizer - Semi-automatic. 1.3 - 1.5 shots to overheat

    • Harpoon - Three round burst. 1.7 - 1.9 shots to overheat

    • Volkov - Semi-automatic. 1.6 - 1.8 shots to overheat

    • Reaper - Bolt action. 1.2 - 1.3 shots to overheat

    • HMWSR - Bolt action Spectre gear. 1.8 - 2 shots to overheat.

  • ME2:

    • M-29 Incisor - 3 Round burst sniper. Good against all protection types, but low total ammo. 15 ammo per clip, 30 reserve (120 reserve in ME3)

    • M-92 Mantis - Strong rifle with high armour penetration. 1 shot before reload, 9 reserve

    • M-97 Viper - Semi-automatic sniper. Good armour penetration and moderate shield and barrier damage. 12 ammo per clip, 48 reserve (6 per clip, 36 reserve in ME3)

    • M-98 Widow - Accurate and hard hitting anti-material rifle weighing 39 kilograms. Strong against armour. One shot per clip, 13 reserve (7 reserve in ME3)

  • ME3:

    • Black Widow - Widow variant that increases clip size, but with a damage penalty. 3 shots per clip, 15 reserve

    • Javelin - Geth rifle that fires ferrofluid like a high pressure water jet. Heavy, but accurate and high damage. 1 shot per clip, 5 reserve

    • Kishock Harpoon Gun - Chargeable weapon with the unique mechanic that 1/3rd of damage is dealt over time as bleed damage. 1 round per clip, 15 reserve

    • Krysae Sniper Rifle - Turian anti-material rifle. Fires rounds that are armour piercing and explode. 3 ammo per clip, 9 reserve 

    • M-13 Raptor - Lightweight semi-auto rifle with quick reload, but low damage. 15 ammo per clip, 105 reserve.

    • M-90 Indra - Automatic sniper, low damage per shot but highest capacity of the class. 25 ammo per clip, 180 reserve.

    • N7 Valiant - Semi-automatic rifle. Accurate with good damage but high weight. 3 ammo per clip, 30 reserve


Heavy Weapons:

  • Universally, Heavy Weapons have difficult to obtain ammo, longer unholstering times, and often have charge up times, but make up for it with devastating power

  • ME2:

    • ML-77 Missile Launcher - Fires missiles with IFF capabilities, tracking targets. 15 Shots by default

    • M-100 Grenade Launcher - Fast firing grenade launcher strong against armour, shields and barriers. 10 shots by default

    • M-451 Firestorm - Flamethrower that fires 1600 Celsius flames. Strong against armour, shields and barriers, it can suppress Vorcha and Krogan regeneration abilities, the latter of which is on the cellular level. 500 ammo by default, 800 “rounds” per minute

    • M-490 Blackstorm - Encases particles in a mass increasing field, elevating them to near infinite levels. This creates a gravitational singularity that draws in targets for a short time and can levitate unshielded opponents before exploding. 5 ammo by default

    • M-622 Avalanche - Uses a cooling laser to collapse rounds into Bose-Einstein condensate, a mass of supercooled subatomic particles that snap-freeze targets within a radius and makes them more damage prone. Contains 20 ammo by default

    • M-920 Cain - Extremely high damage, traditional high explosive weapon that requires several seconds of charge before a large, high damage explosion. Only has one shot by default

    • Arc Projector - Creates arcing electricity that can jump between up to 5 nearby targets. Very strong against shields and synthetics. 10 ammo by default

    • Collector Particle Beam - Pinpoint accurate focused radiation weapon made by the Collectors. Effective against armour, barriers, and shields.

  • ME3:

    • Geth Spitfire - Flash converts toroid projectile shards with an electric charge into plasma with increasing fire rate depending on how long the weapon is fired. Very strong against synthetics, contains either 200 or 1000 rounds

    • M-560 Hydra - Fires a salvo of miniature homing rockets after a charge time. Can only be fired once

    • M-597 Ladon - Similar to the Hydra, but locks on to targets before firing. Also only has one barrage of rockets

    • Reaper Blackstar - Using an Element Zero core and mass effect fields, the Blackstar fires micro black holes. Theorized to tear apart the strong nuclear forces holding atoms together, it induces localized fusion and fission reactions in atoms resulting in an extremely powerful blast. This is offset by only having 1 shot


Grenades




Standard explosive device. Thrown like a frisbee instead of a regular grenade. Have 10 second fuses, and holds 5 grenades by default

Omni-Tool



Omni-Tools are standard issue equipment to a number of soldiers. Don’t let the holographic appearance fool you - they’re part computer, part sensor analysis and part fabricator and come with a variety of functions:



Beyond this, they can fabricate a hot, near-diamond hard silicon carbide blade for use in melee combat. These too can be augmented in a variety of ways, imbuing the blade with electricity, fire, or biotic powers (further in Classes). 


Omni-Tools in ME1 can be swapped to increase Shields, Tech power cooldown, and Medi-Gel recharge time.


Biotic Amps


Biotic Amplifiers are implants required for individuals to utilize their biotic powers in any combat capacity. A more detailed power explanation will be saved for those classes, but amps can be changed around, which affects power duration, power damage bonus and barrier strength, and cooldown percentage bonus



Medi-Gel



Medi-Gel is a common medical salve, ranging in use from anesthetic, disinfecting, and clotting agent. It’s also noted to be sealable against contaminants and gases. In game, it’s used as a health restoring measure and applied via an Omni-Tool. It’s healing prowess is shown by:



The games usually have a capacity of 10 Medi-Gel uses at max upgrade

Armour


Universally speaking, Armour contains:


Mass Effect:

  • Though all armour only has a change in Damage Protection, shield boosts, and tech/biotic power protection, they come in light, medium and heavy armour.

    • Light Armour minimizes movement and accuracy penalties, though the lowest protection

    • Medium Armour is a balance

    • Heavy Armour is the best protection, but provides high movement and accuracy penalties

 

Mass Effect 2:

(Note: all customization pieces can only have one piece per slot. Preset Armours take up all slots)

  • Armour Customization:

    • Head:

      • N7 Helmet - +5% Health (10% in ME3)

      • N7 Breather Helmet - +5% Health (10% in ME3)

      • Kuwashii Visor - +10% Headshot Damage (additional 5% weapon damage in ME3)

      • Death Mask - 10% better negotiation in conversation, not combat applicable (10% melee damage in ME3)

      • Umbra Visor - +5% Power Damage (10% in ME3)

      • Recon Hood - +5% Weapon Damage (10% in ME3)

      • Sentry Interface - +5% Shield Strength (10% in ME3)

      • Archon Visor - 5% faster power recharge time (10% in ME3)

      • Capacitor Helmet - 10% reduction in shield recharge delay (+10% shield regeneration speed)

      • Kestrel Helmet - +5% Headshot Damage, +3% Weapon damage, +3% shields (10% ammo capacity in ME3)

    • Chest:

      • N7 Chestplate - +3% Weapon damage (10% in ME3)

      • Aegis Vest - +5% Health

      • Capacitor Chestplate - 10% reduction in shield recharge delay

      • Shield Harness - +5% Shield Strength

      • Kestrel Torso Sheath - +10% Melee Damage, +5% Weapon Damage, +3% shields

    • Shoulders:

      • N7 Shoulder Guards - +3% Weapon damage

      • Amplifier Plates - +5% Power Damage

      • Asymmetric Defense Layer - +5% Health

      • Strength Boost Pads - +25% Melee Damage

      • Kestrel Shoulder Pieces - +8% Shields, +10% melee damage

    • Arms:

      • N7 Gauntlets - +3% Health

      • Heavy Damping Gauntlets - +5% shields

      • Off-Hand Ammo Pack - +10% reserve ammo capacity

      • Stabilization Gauntlets - +5% Weapon Damage

      • Kestrel Arm Sheathing - +3% Weapon damage, +3% shields, +10% Melee Damage

    • Legs

      • N7 Greaves - +3% Shield Strength

      • Stimulator Conduits - +10% Sprint Speed

      • Life Support Webbing - +10% health

      • Ordnance Packs - +10% Heavy Weapon reserve ammo

      • Kestrel Power Pack - +8% Shield, +5% Heavy Weapon reserve ammo


  • Preset Armour:

    • Blood Dragon Armour - +15% Power Damage, +10% Shield Strength

    • Cerberus Assault Armour - +10% Heavy Weapon reserve ammo, +10% Shield Strength, + 10% Health

    • Collector Chitin Armour - +10% faster Health Regeneration, +10% Sprint Speed, +20% Health

    • Inferno Armour - +10% Paragon/Renegade Bonus (worthless lol), +10% Power Damage, +10% Sprint Speed

    • Kestrel Armour - +30% Melee Damage, +5% Headshot Damage, +11% Weapon Damage, +25% Shield Strength, +5% Heavy Weapon reserve ammo

    • N7 Armour - +3% Power Damage, +3% Weapon Damage, +8% health, +3% Shields

    • Terminus Armour - +10% Sprint Speed, +15% Shields, +10% reserve weapons


Mass Effect 3:

  • Armour Customization:

    • Head

      • Mnemonic Visor - +5% Power Recharge speed, +5% power damage

      • Securitel Helmet - +5% Health and Shields

      • Delumcore Overlay - +5% Headshot damage, +10% Weapon Damage

    • Chest

      • Kassa Fabrication - +10% Shield Regeneration Speed

      • Serrice Council - +10% Power Damage

      • Rosenkov Materials - +10% Power Recharge speed

      • Armax Arsenal - +10% Ammo reserve

      • Ariake Technologies - +10% Melee Damage

      • Hahne-Kedar - +10% Weapon Damage

    • Shoulders

      • N7 Shoulders - +10% Health

      • Kassa Fabrication - +10% Shields

      • Serrice Council - +10% Power Damage

      • Rosenkov Materials - +10% Power Recharge speed

      • Armax Arsenal - +5% Weapon Damage, +10% Headshot Damage

      • Ariake Technologies - +10% Melee Damage

      • Hahne-Kedar - +10% Weapon Damage

    • Arms

      • N7 Gauntlets - +10% Health

      • Kassa Fabrication - +10% Shields

      • Serrice Council - +10% Power Damage

      • Rosenkov Materials - +10% Power Recharge speed

      • Armax Arsenal - +5% Weapon Damage, +10% Headshot Damage

      • Ariake Technologies - +10% Melee Damage

      • Hahne-Kedar - +10% Weapon Damage

    • Legs

      • N7 Greaves - +10% Health

      • Kassa Fabrication - +10% Shields

      • Serrice Council - +10% Power Damage

      • Rosenkov Materials - +10% Power Recharge speed

      • Armax Arsenal - +10% Ammo Reserves

      • Ariake Technologies - +10% Melee Damage

      • Hahne-Kedar - +10% Weapon Damage


  • Preset Armour:

    • Blood Dragon Armor - +10% Power Recharge speed, +20% headshot damage, +10% weapon damage

    • Cerberus Ajax Armor - +25% Ammo Reserve, +10% Weapon and Power damage, +10% Shield Regen Speed, +25% Shields

    • Cerberus Armor - +10% Ammo Reserve, +20% Weapon Damage, +10% Shields, +20% Health

    • Cerberus Nightmare Armour - +20% Ammo Reserve, +20% Headshot Damage, +20% Weapon Damage, +10% Shield Regen speed, +10% Shields

    • Cerberus Shade Armour - +10% Melee Damage, +10% Ammo reserves, +10% Weapon Damage, +10% Power Damage, +20% Shield Regen speed, +20% Shields

    • Cerberus Spirit Armour - +30% Power Recharge Speed, +30% Power Damage, +10% Shield Recharge Speed, +10% Shields

    • Collector Armour - +20% Shield Regen Speed, +20% Shields, +20% Health

    • Inferno Armour - +30% Power Recharge speed, +30% Power damage

    • N7 Defender Armour - +10% Health and Shields, +10% Weapon Damage, +20% Ammo Capacity

    • Reckoner Knight Armour - +10% Health and Shields, +10% Weapon Damage, +20% Melee Damage

    • Terminus Assault Armour - +15% Melee Damage, +15% Ammo Capacity, +30% Shields


Modifications/Upgrades

ME1 Mods

NOTICE: ME1 weapons work off of heat generation for ammo. This is no longer an issue for weaponry as of ME2 due to in-universe changes of how heat dispersal is handled. Mods related to this will not be mentioned. Like guns, mods also have their own levels ranging from 1 - 10.


Armour Upgrades:

  • Stimulant Pack - 5 - 9% reduction in cooldown

  • Armour Plating - 5 - 9% damage protection

  • Ablative Coating - 10 - 16% damage protection

  • Energized Plating - 15 - 23% damage protection

  • Hardened Weave - 10 - 12% protection against biotic and tech attacks

  • First Aid Interface - 1 - 2 HP regen per second

  • Medical Interface - 2.3 - 3.3 HP regen per second, 30 - 60% toxin resistance

  • Medical Exoskeleton - 3.5 - 4.5 HP regen per second, 50 - 80% toxin resistance, 15 - 23% Cooldown reduction

  • Kinetic Buffer - 10 - 16 Shield points, 10 - 16% accuracy while moving, 10 - 16% cooldown reduction

  • Kinetic Exoskeleton - 40 - 50 Shield points, 20 - 26% accuracy while moving, 25 - 35% Shield Recovery speed

  • Motorized Joints - 10 - 20% Melee damage increase

  • Exoskeleton - 25 - 40% Melee damage increase, 30 - 60% knockdown resistance

  • Combat Exoskeleton - 25 - 35% Melee damage increase, 25 - 35% Melee damage increase, 50 - 90% knockdown resistance

  • Shock Absorbers - 10- 20% knockdown resistance

  • Shield Battery - 40 - 50 Shield points

  • Shield Modulator - 90 - 120 Shield points

  • Shield Interface - 120 - 160 Shield points

  • Shield Regenerator - 15 - 21% Shield recover rate

  • Energized Weave - 20 - 32% Shield recover rate, 15 - 30% protection against biotic and tech attacks

  • Toxic Seals - 30 - 50% Toxin Resistance


Weapon Upgrades:

  • Combat Sensor/Scanner - Gives protection against weapon radar jamming

  • Combat Optics - Gives protection against weapon radar jamming, 18 - 21% Max accuracy

  • Improved Sightings - 5 - 9% Max accuracy

  • Frictionless Materials - 5 - 7% Damage bonus, 20 - 28% Heat absorption

  • High Caliber Barrel - 10 - 14% Damage bonus, 20% Rate of fire penalty

  • Rail Extension - 20 - 29% Damage bonus, 20% Heat Absorption penalty

  • Scram Rail - 20 - 26% Damage bonus, 10% Heat Absorption penalty

  • Recoil Damper - 10 - 14% Weapon Accuracy

  • Kinetic Stabilizer - 15 - 24% Weapon Accuracy

  • Kinetic Coil - 5 - 7% Damage Bonus, 20 - 28% Weapon accuracy


Ammunition Upgrades:

  • Anti-Personnel Rounds - 15 - 25% Damage bonus to Organics

  • Shredder Rounds - 25 - 40% Damage bonus to Organics

  • Armour Piercing Rounds - 15 - 25% Damage bonus to Synthetics

  • Tungsten Rounds - 25 - 40% Damage bonus to Synthetics

  • Incendiary Rounds - Deals damage over time, 10 - 16% accuracy penalty on target. Stops regeneration of Krogans

  • Inferno Rounds - Deals damage over time, 20 - 28% accuracy penalty on target. Stops regeneration of Krogans

  • Cryo Rounds - 10 - 22% Shield bypass, 20 - 35% accuracy penalty on target

  • Snowblind Rounds - 20 - 28% Damage bonus, 20 - 28% accuracy penalty on target, 40% rate of fire penalty

  • High Explosive Rounds - Shots get a 4 - 4.2 meter blast radius, 500% increase in weapon force and 20 - 28% damage bonus. 500% increases in weapon heat generation

  • Hammerhead Rounds - 20 - 30% Weapon force increase

  • Sledgehammer Rounds - 40 - 50% Weapon force increase, 40-50% of damage is done as radioactive “Toxic” damage (healing has to go through the toxic damage first) and stops healing. 20% Heat Absorption penalty

  • Phasic Rounds - 20 - 30% Shield bypass. 30% damage penalty

  • Proton Rounds - 40 - 55% Shield bypass. 20% damage penalty

  • Chemical Rounds - 30 - 40% Toxic damage. Deals damage over 5 - 7 seconds

  • Polonium Rounds - 40 - 55% Toxic damage. Deals damage over 5 - 8 seconds

  • Radioactive Rounds - 15 - 21% target cooldown penalty


Grenade Upgrades:

  • Anti-Thorian Gas - Designed to counter the mind controlling effects of the Thorian

  • Cryo Explosive - 20 - 47% Accuracy penalty on targets, freeze targets

  • Fusion Explosive - 20 - 65% Toxic damage

  • High Explosive - 10 - 37% Damage bonus, 50 - 140cm increased blast radius increase, 10 - 37% increased weapon force

  • Incendiary Explosive - Deals damage over time for 5 seconds


ME2 Upgrades

Weapons:

  • Assault Rifles:

    • Tungsten Jacket - +25% damage bonus to armour, shields and barriers

    • Targeting VI - Increases assault rifle accuracy

    • Kinetic Pulsar - +10% damage bonus per level (up to 7)

  • Heavy Pistols:

    • Sabot Jacketing - +50% damage bonus to armour

    • Smart Rounds - Shots sometimes deal double damage

    • Titan Pulsar - +10% damage bonus per level (up to 6)

  • Shotguns:

    • Microphasic Pulse - +50% bonus damage to shields and barriers

    • Thermal Sink - Doubles shotgun ammo per clip

    • Synchronized Pulsar - +10% damage bonus per level (up to 6)

  • Sniper Rifles:

    • Tungsten Sabot Jacket - +50% bonus damage to armour

    • Combat Scanner - +50% headshot damage bonus

    • Scram Pulsar - +10% damage bonus per level (up to 6)

  • Submachine Guns:

    • Phasic Jacketing - +50% bonus to shields and barriers

    • Heat Sink Capacity - +50% more rounds per clip

    • Microfield Pulsar - +10% damage bonus per level (up to 6)

  • Heavy Weapons:

    • Microfusion Array - +15% heavy ammo per level (up to 7)


Armour:

  • Shield Harmonics - Medi-Gel restores shields/barriers as well as health

  • Microscanner - Adds another Medi-Gel use per level (up to 6)

  • Medical VI - Medi-Gel heals all squadmates to full health

  • Ablative VI - Provides 10% shields, armour or barriers where relevant per level (up to 6)

  • Nanocrystal Shield - 20% damage reduction to shields/barriers

  • Burst Regeneration - Small chance to restore Shepard’s shields instantly when depleted


Bio-Amp:

  • Smart Amplifier - +20% faster Biotic cooldowns

  • Hyper-Amp - +10% biotic damage per level (up to 6)

  • Neural Mask - +20% biotic power duration


Omni-Tool:

  • Hydra Module - +20% faster tech ability cooldowns

  • Multicore Amplifier - +10% tech power damage per level (up to 6)

  • Custom Heuristics - +20% duration for all tech powers


ME3 Mods & Upgrades

Weapons:

Note: All weapons have 2 slots, and some can only have 1 upgrade in certain positions (i.e. you can’t have two barrel mods on the same gun)


  • Assault Rifle

    • Stability Dampener - 70% stability bonus (vertical recoil)

    • Magazine Upgrade - 80% more rounds per magazine

    • Piercing Mod - Pierces 1.1m of material at 60% damage. Ignores 65% of armour

    • Extended Barrel - 25% more damage

    • Precision Scope - 4x scope, 35% more accuracy (bullet spread) 

    • Omni-Blade - 25% melee damage bonus

    • Thermal Scope - 35% more accuracy, sees through smoke and invisibility. 50% weapon weight increase

    • High-Velocity Barrel - Pierces 1.35 meters at 60% damage. Ignores 90% of armour. 50% heavier weight

    • Ultralight Materials - 15% weight reduction

  • Heavy Pistols

    • Melee Stunner - 25% melee damage

    • Piercing Mod - Pierces 1.1 meters at 60% damage. Ignores 65% of armour

    • Magazine Upgrade - 80% more rounds per magazine

    • High-Caliber Barrel - 25% damage bonus

    • Scope - 2x scope, 35% accuracy increase while aiming

    • Ultralight Materials - 50% weight reduction

    • Heavy Barrel - 40% damage bonus, 50% heavier weight

    • Cranial Trauma System - 40% headshot damage

    • Power Magnifier - 30% power damage

  • Shotguns

    • Spare Thermal Clip - 90% more rounds per magazine

    • Shredder Mod - Pierce 0.65 meters of material at 60% damage. Ignore 65% of armour

    • Blade Attachment - 25% melee damage boost

    • High Caliber Barrel - 25% damage bonus

    • Smart Choke - 50% accuracy bonus

    • Omni-Blade - 50% melee damage bonus and weapon weight

    • High-Velocity Barrel - 25% damage bonus, pierces 0.65 meters at 70% damage. Ignores 65% of armour

    • Ultralight Materials - 15% Weight reduction

  • Sniper Rifles

    • Concentration Mod - 35% time dilation for 2.5 seconds. 15% damage bonus while active

    • Spare Thermal Clip - 90% more rounds per magazine

    • Extended Barrel - 25% damage bonus

    • Piercing Mod - Pierces 1.35 meters at 70% damage. Ignores 65% of armour

    • Enhanced Scope - 35% accuracy bonus. Highlights targets through smoke

    • Thermal Scope - 4x scope, 35% accuracy bonus while scoped. Sees through smoke and invisibility. 50% heavier weight

    • High-Velocity Barrel - 25% damage, pierces 1.1 meters at 70% damage. Ignores 65% of armour

    • Ultralight Materials - 15% lighter weight

  • Sub-Machine Guns

    • Ultralight Materials - 90% lighter weight

    • Magazine Upgrade - 80% more rounds per magazine

    • High Caliber Barrel - 25% damage bonus

    • Heat Sink - 45% chance for shots to not consume ammo

    • Scope - 2x scope, 35% accuracy bonus while zoomed

    • High-Velocity Barrel - Pierces 0.65 meters of material at 60% damage. Ignores 90% of armour 

    • Recoil System - 70% stability bonus

    • Power Magnifier - 30% power damage bonus


Intel Upgrades:

Note: Some upgrades in this category are worthless in combat, such as store discounts. Such upgrades will not be mentioned, which is why some points will only have one options


  • Armour Modkit - +5% Ammo Capacity or Shield Strength

  • Prejek Paddlefish - +10% Weapon or Power Damage

  • Weapon Upgrade Kit - +5% Ammo Capacity or Weapon Damage

  • Remains of a Reaper Destroyer - +5% Power Recharge speed

  • Advanced Biotic Implants - +5% Power Damage or Power Recharge Speed

  • Improved Geth Resistors - +5% Shields or Power Damage

  • Miniaturized Armour Capacitors - +5% Shield Regeneration Speed or Power Recharge Speed

  • Intel from Battle of Arcturus - +5% Weapon Damage or Shields

  • Gallae’s Electronic Signature - +5% Power Damage

  • Intact Reaper Weapon - +5% Weapon Damage or Ammo Capacity

  • Volus Intelligence Archives - +5% Health or Power Damage

  • Research Data from Pragia - +5% Power Recharge speed or Power Damage

  • Med Bay Surgery - +5% Health


While not an intel upgrade, the mission Citadel: Medical Supplies ends with Shepard getting either a 50% probability to not consume medi-gel on use or 2 extra uses.


Lazarus Project Enhancements



After dying to an ambush from the Collectors, Cerberus spared no expense bringing Shepard back. Among what they added was a number of upgradable Cybernetic Components to increase Shepard’s physical attributes


  • Lattice Shunting/Heavy Skin Weave - Fibers woven into the skin, reducing incoming damage in the form of a health increase and acting as a medi-gel conduit

  • Skeletal Lattice/Heavy Bone Weave - Adds a synthetic weave to Shepard’s skeleton, increase bone durability and reducing melee damage

  • Microfiber Weave/Heavy Muscle Weave - Perforates muscles with microfibers, increasing overall strength and melee damage


Abilities

Master Chief

Armour abilities



Armour abilities differ from equipment where it instead is integrated into Chief’s suit rather than just a single use item. They possess cooldowns instead. Only one can be equipped at any given time.


  • Active Camo - It’s the same thing as the equipment but on a cooldown lol

  • Autosentry - Similar to the Auto Turret. While smaller, it’s made from a fabricator unit with a recharge time instead of a one-time drop. It fires a hardlight projectile

  • Hardlight Shield - Chief spawns a protective barrier made of hardlight that protects him from the front. Chief cannot use weapons while it’s active

  • Holographic Decoy - Deploys a holographic decoy of Chief wherever he’s pointing at when activated

  • Jet Pack - Allows Chief to briefly gain height while active, making this brick fly pretty good. Jetpacks can be used for general flight as well

  • Promethean Vision - Grants Chief the ability to briefly see through solid objects and the ability to see invisible enemies

  • Regeneration Field - Drops a field that restores shields within a radius of deployment

  • Thruster Pack - Accelerates Chief in any horizontal direction when used

Geas


The Geas is a genetic command bestowed upon Chief by a Forerunner known as the Librarian. It is a set of genetic commands that, although the full extent of it has never been shown, allows Chief to survive the Composer, a Forerunner weapon that can break victims down via the use of Precursor neural physics and absorb them as raw data.


Extreme Luck



It’s noted frequently in the books and other media that Chief seems to possess extraordinary luck. This isn’t some sort of supernatural luck and it does have limits


Resistances


Commander Shepard

Biotic Class Abilities


A brief introduction to Biotics:

In Mass Effect, some beings are born with exposure to Element Zero, allowing nodules throughout the body to manipulate dark energy and create mass effect fields with the brain. This use of Dark Matter falls into one of three categories:


  • Telekinesis which uses mass lowering fields to levitate or impel targets. Force stat represents how strong an opponent is hit with these attacks, measured in Newtons

  • Kinetic fields to block or pin objects

  • Distortion which uses rapidly shifting fields to shred targets


Biotics have also been shown amplifying Shepard’s melee attacks with some heavy melee animations (video also contains other class melee options). While Shepard has not shown the use of them and they usually require some degree of training, several other biotics have achieved large barriers, slowing falls, moving in a manner similar to Biotic Charge without a target and energy blasts.


Lastly, combinations of powers can cause biotic detonations, sometimes called combo detonations or power combos, for a variety of effects. A good breakdown can be found here


Many skills are repeated across multiple classes, and will not be mentioned more than once if they have the same function. All abilities will be listed as their max level. ME1 skills often have a brief accuracy debuff, but this was removed in later games. “Rank 4” is the maximum achievable in ME2 and indicates a branch in how the power works. ME3 has 6 ranks, with branching options starting at rank 4.


  • Adept

    • ME1

      • Basic Armour - Increases damage reduction and tech power resistances by up to 20%. Gives the Shield boost ability, restoring 50% of shields per second over 2 seconds. Recharge time of 45 seconds

      • Pistols - Increases pistol damage by up to 20%, and accuracy by up to 30%. Gives the Marksman ability (Boosts accuracy by 60% and increases fire rate by 2 rounds/second and reduces heat by 50% or increases damage by 75%, headshot damage 100% and purges all weapon heat buildup on use depending on version. Lasts 6 to 16 seconds depending on game version with 45 second recharge)

      • Throw - Hits enemies with up to 1250 Newtons of force. 6 meter radius of effect, 40 second cooldown

      • Lift - Lifts opponents in a 6 meter radius. Lasts up to 12 seconds, 40 second recharge time

      • Warp - Makes a rapidly shifting mass effect field on a subatomic level, inflicting damage and lowering damage protection by up to 75%. Radius of 6 meters, lasts 20 seconds, recharge time of 40 seconds

      • Singularity - Creates a dense gravitational field, sucking in nearby foes and suspending them in the air. Up to 8.25 meter radius of effect, 8 second duration, 40 second recharge time

      • Barrier - Creates a biotic barrier that absorbs damage. Lasts 23 seconds, recharge time of 40 seconds

      • Stasis - Locks an opponent in place, though they become immune to damage. Lasts 21 seconds, 40 second recharge time

      • Adept - 14% biotic recharge time reduction and 21% biotic power protection

    • ME2

      • Warp - Mass Effect field that damages enemies on a molecular and is revealed to stop health regeneration. Can cause a biotic detonation. Mainly used to weaken armour and biotic barriers. Rank 4 increases damage or increases combo detonation blast radius to 7 meters. 6 second recharge time. Novels state that the ability can cause cell hemorrhaging and rupturing

      • Throw - Hurls a projectile that hits a target with 900 newtons of force. 3 second recharge time. Rank 4 increases force or a 3 meter radius of effect

      • Singularity - Creates a sphere of dark energy that draws in enemies and suspends them in the air helplessly. Effect radius of 1.75 meters, lasts 30 seconds, affects 4 targets for up to 7 seconds. 4.5 second recharge time. Rank 4 increases targets to 6 for up to 9 seconds with the singularity lasting 45 seconds or increases the radius of effect to 3 meters

      • Pull - Projectile that levitates targets helplessly towards Shepard on hit. 9 second duration, 3 second recharge time. Rank 4 either increases duration to 12 seconds or adds a 3 meter impact radius

      • Shockwave - Fires a number of concussive blasts in a forward path. 12 Shockwaves, 2.5 meter radius, 500 newtons of force, 6 second recharge time. Rank 4 either increases force to 700 newtons or the radius to 3.5 meters

      • Biotic Mastery - 15% health and power recharge time reduction. Rank 4 increases health bonus and power recharge time reduction to 20% and a 15% longer power duration or 20% power recharge time reduction and 15% power damage bonus

    • ME3

      • Warp - Same application as ME2. Lasts 10 seconds, recharges in 6.4 seconds. Branching options:

        • 30% bonus damage or 50% increase in combo detonation force, damage and impact

        • 40% more damage and 60% longer duration or 15% more weapon and power damage for 10 seconds

        • Increases damage to barriers and armour by 50% and weaken armoured targets by additional 25% or 35% faster recharge speed

      • Throw - Same function as ME2. Hits with 780 newtons, 3.2 second recharge time. Branching options:

        • 40% force increases or adds a 2 meter impact radius

        • 50% force and damage of biotic detonations or resets recharge time after a biotic detonation

        • Launches 2 projectiles or increases recharge time by 60%

      • Shockwave - Same functionality as ME2. 2 meter radius, 10 meter range, 720 newtons of force, 6.4 second recharge time. Branching paths:

        • 30% force and damage increase or 30% radius increase

        • 50% force and damage increase for combo detonations or 50% range increase (15 meters)

        • 40% faster recharge speed or shockwaves lift targets briefly

      • Singularity - Same functionality as ME2. Radius of effect of 1.8 meters, 4.8 second duration with 3.6 second recharge time. Branching options:

        • 30% longer duration and more enemies can be lifted or 25% larger radius of effect

        • Singularity deals damage over time or 30% faster recharge

        • 50% more damage over time or Singularity detonates with a 7 meter radius

      • Pull - Same function as ME2. Duration of 6 seconds, 3.2 second recharge time. Branching options:

        • 8 second duration or 2 meter impact radius

        • Damage over time to lifted targets or 25% more damage to lifted target

        • Launches 2 projectiles or 60% recharge speed reduction

      • Cluster Grenade - Launches enemies in a 4 meter radius with a force of 1400 Newtons. Branching options

        • 30% damage and force bonus or 35% larger radius of effect

        • 1 extra grenade or 100% more damage to lifted targets

        • 2 extra shrapnel fragments (up to 5) or 50% more damage and force

      • Biotic Mastery - 20% power damage and force. Branching options:

        • Additional 15% power damage and force or 25% longer power duration

        • 30% increases in squadmate power damage and force or 10% damage and force bonus for Shepard with higher weight capacity

        • 40% power recharge speed for 30 seconds after combo detonation or additional 25% power damage, force, and power duration

      • Fitness - 25% more health and shields, 35% melee damage bonus. Branching options:

        • 30% additional melee damage or 15% additional health and shields

        • Increases melee damage by 75% for 30 seconds after a heavy melee kill or 15% shield recharge delay reduction

        • 30% additional melee damage and 30% power damage for 20 seconds after heavy melee kill or 25% additional health and shields


  • Vanguard

    • ME1

      • Pistols

      • Shotguns - Increases shotgun damage by 20% and accuracy by 30%. Unlocks Carnage, dealing 150% of weapon damage within 3 meters of impact (250% weapon damage with a heat purge in LE). 45 second cooldown.

      • Assault Training - 9% weapon damage increase and 64% melee damage increase. Unlocks Adrenaline burst, resetting all cooldowns. 45 second recharge time

      • Tactical Armour - 20% damage reduction and tech/biotic power defense. Unlocks Shield Boost, restoring 50% of shields per second over 2 seconds. Recharge time of 45 seconds

      • Throw

      • Lift

      • Warp

      • Barrier

      • Vanguard - 21% biotic protection increase and 10% pistol/shotgun damage increase

    • ME2

      • Incendiary Ammo - Burns through flesh and weakens armour, prevents regeneration. Deals 20% of weapon damage over 3 seconds, and like all ammo powers lasts until overridden by another type. Rank 4 deals 60% of weapon damage over 3 seconds with a 3 meter blast radius or gives the ammo type to all squadmates

      • Cryo Ammo - Supercools enemies with subatomic particles that freezes victims for 5 seconds, making them more prone to damage. Rank 4 increases freeze potency and duration or gives the ammo type to all squadmates

      • Biotic Charge - Shepard launches at an enemy within 40 meters. Impact force of 750 newtons, has a brief shield that lasts for 4 seconds to protect from fire. Rank 4 increases force to 100 Newtons, increases shield strength, and briefly slows perception speed or creates a 3 meter impact radius. 6 second recharge

      • Shockwave

      • Pull

      • Assault Mastery - 15% health bonus, 9% weapon damage and power recharge time reduction. Rank 4 gives 15% additional weapon and power damage or up to 20% health bonus and 15% power recharge time reduction

    • ME3

      • Incendiary Ammo - Same functionality as ME2. 14% health and armour damage with a small chance for the target to panic. Branching options:

        • Additional 6% health and armour damage or squadmates gain ammo type at 50% effectiveness

        • 30% extra ammo reserves or 25% headshot damage increase

        • 10% additional health and armour damage or 50% chance to explode on contact with a 2.5m radius

      • Cryo Ammo - Same functionality as ME2. Enemies also won’t regenerate health, weakens armour by 25%. Enemies move 15% slower, 4.2 second freeze duration. Branching options

        • 40% longer freeze duration or squadmates gain ammo type at 50% effectiveness

        • 30% extra ammo reserves or 35% increase in headshot damage on frozen targets

        • 50% better odds to freeze target and additional 20% movement speed penalty on affected targets or 50% more damage from all sources and 25% additional armour weakening (50% less effective in total)

      • Pull

      • Biotic Charge - Same functionality as ME2. 600 Newtons impact force, restores 50% of shields. 8 second recharge. Branching options:

        • 30% additional damage and force or can hit 2 targets within 2 meters of impact

        • 15% extra weapon damage for 3 seconds after successful charge or 25% power damage and force for 15 seconds after successful charge

        • 25% chance to not trigger cooldown or 50% additional barriers restored after charge (100% total)

      • Shockwave

      • Nova - Expends all barrier strength to hit the ground with a shockwave 5 meters in radius, scaling in potency with shield strength. Can be used at any time with any level of barriers. Branching options:

        • 40% damage and force increase or 40% impact radius increase

        • 25% power recharge speed increase after use or use Nova twice at 50% barrier consumption, but 40% damage and force reduction

        • 100% more damage to barriers, shields and armour or 25% chance to not use any barrier strength

      • Assault Mastery - 5% more weapon damage, 10% more power damage. Branching options:

        • 10% additional power damage and 5% more weapon damage or 30% power force bonus

        • 15% additional squadmate power damage and 10% squadmate weapon damage bonus or higher weight capacity

        • 15% shotgun damage increase or 25% additional power damage and duration

      • Fitness


  • Sentinel

    • ME1

      • Throw

      • Lift

      • Barrier

      • Stasis

      • Decryption - Grants Sabotage, a mine that can be fired onto surfaces. It overheats enemy weapons within a 10 meter radius and deals some burn damage over time. 25 second duration before exploding, 40 second recharge time. Decryption skill increases damage by up to 30%

      • Electronics - Increases shield strength and vehicle repair effectiveness. Grants Overload, dealing damage in a 10 meter radius and reducing damage protection by 30% for 10 seconds. Strong against shields. 40 second recharge time

      • First Aid - Grants the skill of the same name. Increases effectiveness depending on skill level

      • Medicine - Reduces First Aid cooldown by 30%. Grants Neural Shock, inducing paralysis on organic targets by targeting nerves. Deals toxic damage and knocks out the target for 5 seconds. 45 second recharge time, and cannot be lowered by any means

      • Sentinel - 10% tech and biotic power cooldown time reduction, 12% pistol damage bonus and 19% pistol accuracy bonus. Grants Marksman ability


  • ME2

    • Throw

    • Warp

    • Tech Armour - Energy armour that boosts shields by 75% of base. Sends out a 12.5 meter, 160 newton pulse when destroyed. Armour lasts until destroyed. 12 second recharge time. Rank 4 gives an 18 meter energy pulse radius and 240 newton force while granting 50% shields back or 100% base shield strength with a 15% power damage boost

    • Overload - EMP that briefly stuns synthetic targets, overheats weapons for 6 seconds, deals extra damage to shields and synthetics. 1.2 meter radius. 6 second recharge. Rank 4 has synthetic enemies explode on death or covers a 3 meter radius

    • Cryo Blast - Fires a mass of supercooled subatomic particles that snap freeze targets within 1.2 meters. Lasts 5 seconds, cooldown of 4.5 seconds. Rank 4 increases duration to 7 seconds or increases radius of effect to 3 meters

    • Defender - 15% health and 15% power recharge time reduction. Rank 4 grants 5% additional health and 15% additional power recharge time reduction or a 15% power damage bonus


  • ME3

    • Throw

    • Warp

    • Lift Grenade - Grenades with the same effect as Lift. 5 meter radius and 4 second duration. Branching options:

      • 30% more damage or 30% larger radius

      • 2 more grenades or 50% longer duration

      • Slam opponents when effect wears off, stunning for 3 seconds or 30% additional damage and radius

    • Tech Armour - Reduces damage by 35%, can be detonated in a 3.6 meter radius explosion. Slows power use by 50%. 4.8 second recharge time. Branching options:

      • 30% increased detonation radius and damage or 5% additional damage reduction

      • 30% additional power damage and force while active or 40% more melee damage while active

      • 30% reduction in power speed penalty or 10% additional damage protection

    • Overload - Stuns enemies, strong against shields, barriers and synthetics. Not as good against organics. 6.4 second recharge time. Branching options:

      • 1 additional target within 8 meters with a 60% damage penalty or 30% more damage

      • Incapacitate weaker organic enemies or increase recharge speed by 25%

      • 15% additional damage and 1 additional target within 8 meters or 100% additional damage to barriers and shields

    • Cryo Blast - Flash freezes unprotected enemies for 4.2 seconds, slows the rest by 15%. Weakens armour and frozen targets can’t regenerate health. 4.8 second recharge. Branching options:

      • 60% freeze duration increase or adds 2 meter impact radius

      • 20% additional movement speed debuff or 10% additional damage to chilled/frozen targets

      • 50% faster recharge speed or 15% additional damage to chilled/frozen targets and 25% additional armour weakening

    • Offensive Mastery - 5% weapon and power force bonus, 10% power damage boost. Branching options:

      • Additional 15% weapon damage and power force or 25% longer power duration

      • 15% squadmate power and force bonus, 10% squadmate weapon damage or doubles weight capacity

      • 25% additional power damage, duration and force or 15% chance to not cause a cooldown

    • Fitness


Combat Class Abilities

  • Soldier

    • ME1

      • Pistols

      • Shotguns

      • Assault Rifles - 20% damage increase and 30% accuracy increase for Assault Rifles. Unlocks Overkill, reducing heat generation by 60% for 15 seconds. In LE, the gun produces no heat and does 100% more damage, but only lasts 6 seconds. 45 second recharge time in both versions.

      • Sniper Rifles - 20% damage bonus and 30% accuracy increase for sniper rifles. Unlocks Assassination, inflicting 225% damage on the next sniper shot for the next 20 seconds. 300% damage for the next 6 seconds and purges all weapon heat in LE. 45 second recharge in both versions

      • Combat Armour - 20% damage reduction and tech/biotic power defense. Unlocks Shield Boost

      • First Aid

      • Assault Training

      • Fitness - 30% Health increase. Unlocks Immunity, increasing damage protection by 80% for 20 seconds. 30 second recharge. In LE, 90% damage reduction for 6 seconds. 45 second recharge time

      • Soldier - 14% health bonus, restores health slowly over time


  • ME2

    • Adrenaline Rush - Hyperaccelerates reflexes, slowing enemies down to your perspective by 50% for 5 seconds. 100% damage bonus. 3 second recharge. Rank 4 reduces damage by 50% while active or increases time dilation to 70% and damage bonus to 140%

    • Concussive Shot - Explosive shot to knock down opponents. Strong against barriers. 450 Newtons of force, 6 second cooldown. Rank 4 gives 600 Newtons of impact force or a 3 meter impact radius

    • Disruptor Ammo - Deals bonus damage to shields and synthetics with a chance to stun for 3 seconds. Can also overheat weapons for 6 seconds. Rank 4 either increases Synthetic and Shield damage and explode on death or give the ammo effect to all squad members

    • Incendiary Ammo

    • Cryo Ammo

    • Combat Mastery - 30% health bonus, 40% faster sprint speed, 9% extra weapon damage. Rank 4 grants 6% additional weapon damage and 15% power damage or 10% additional health and an additional 10% sprint speed


  • ME3

    • Adrenaline Rush - Same functionality as ME2. Dilation of 30%, 50% damage bonus over 5.2 seconds. 8 second recharge speed. Branching options:

      • 25% less health and shield damage or 15% more time dilation and 25% more weapon damage

      • 40% longer duration or 50% melee damage bonus

      • 50% shield bonus or the use of one offensive power while active

    • Concussive Shot - Same functionality as ME2. 450 Newtons of force, 8 second cooldown. Branching options:

      • 30% force and damage increase or 1.5 impact radius

      • 100% force and damage to frozen targets or 35% faster recharge speed

      • Imbues shot with the current ammo type or 100% of shot damage to organics over 10 seconds and 50% increase in force

    • Frag Grenade - 6.5 meter radius frag grenade. Branching options:

      • 30% damage increase or 30% radius increase

      • 2 extra grenades or deals 40% of damage over 10 seconds

      • Pierces 50% of armour or deals 50% more damage to shields

    • Incendiary Ammo

    • Disruptor Ammo - Deals more damage to shields and barriers with a 15% chance to stun. 7% health damage bonus and 28% extra shield/barrier damage. Branching options:

      • 3% additional health damage and 12% additional shield/barrier damage (10 and 40% respectively) or all squadmates gain the ammo type at 50% effectiveness

      • 30% extra ammo reserves or 25% headshot damage bonus

      • 5% additional health damage and 20% additional shield/barrier damage or 25% additional chance to stun

    • Cryo Ammo

    • Combat Mastery - 10% Weapon Damage bonus. Branching options:

      • Additional 5% weapon damage and 10% power damage bonus or 25% power duration bonus

      • 20% increase to squadmate weapon damage or 20% headshot damage bonus

      • Doubles weight capacity or 10% weapon damage bonus and 40% ammo power damage

    • Fitness


Tech Class Abilities

  • Engineer

    • ME1

      • Pistols

      • Basic Armour

      • Decryption

      • Hacking

      • Electronics

      • Damping - Increases Sabotage, Overload and Damping radius by 30%. Unlocks Damping, adding 60% cooldown on enemy tech and biotic powers, stuns most enemies for 3 seconds, and deals a small amount of damage in a 10 meter radius

      • First Aid

      • Medicine

      • Engineer - 14% tech power recharge time reduction, 21% tech power protection 


  • ME2

    • Overload

    • Incinerate - Creates a ball of plasma that damages armour and deals damage over 3 seconds in a 1.2 radius of impact. Stops health regeneration. 6 second cooldown. Rank 4 increases damage or impact radius

    • Combat Drone - Spawns an electricity spewing drone. Shots stun and damage shields. Lasts for 20 seconds with a 3.4 second interval between shots. 3 second cooldown, only one can be out at a time. Rank 4 can damage health, barriers, and armour or explodes in a 6 meter radius when destroyed

    • Cryo Blast

    • AI Hacking - Hacks synthetic enemies to attack former allies. Generates a protective shield around them. 6 second cooldown. Rank 4 grants either a stronger shield or a 3 meter area of effect

    • Tech Mastery - 15% Health bonus and power recharge time reduction. Rank 4 grants 5% additional health, and power recharge time reduction and 15% power duration or a 5% power recharge time reduction and 15% more power damage


  • ME3

    • Incinerate - Same functionality as ME2, barring damage over time. May cause enemies to panic. 6.4 second recharge. Branching options:

      • 30% damage increase or 2 meter increase in radius

      • 40% additional damage over 8 seconds or 25% faster recharge

      • 100% damage bonus to frozen targets or 50% more armour damage

    • Overload

    • Cryo Blast

    • Combat Drone - Same functionality as ME2. 4 second recharge. Branching options:

      • 40% damage and drone shield bonus or explodes in a 5 meter radius when destroyed

      • Drone fires a short range attack across a 2.5 meter radius or 50% additional damage and shields

      • Gives the drone long range rockets or electricity can chain to 3 more targets

    • Sabotage - Similar to AI Hacking, but also overheats enemy weapons. 3.25 meter radius, deals some damage from weapon overheat. 6.4 second recharge speed. Branching options:

      • 50% longer power duration or enemy takes 30% more damage taken when weapon overheats

      • Synthetics explode in a 4 meter radius when destroyed or 25% faster recharge speed

      • Hacked synthetics move faster and do 100% more damage or target takes 100% more damage from tech powers for 10 seconds

    • Sentry Turret - Deploys a shielded, automated turret. Branching options:

      • 40% shield and damage bonus or turret has a stunning shock attack

      • Turret has cryo ammo with a chance to freeze for 3 seconds or armour piercing ammo with 100% damage bonus against it

      • Turret uses long range rockets or gains a flamethrower

    • Tech Mastery - 20% power damage bonus. Branching options:

      • 15% additional power damage or 25% longer power duration

      • 30% squadmate power damage and force or 10% power damage boost and 66% more carry weight

      • 100% Combat Drone and Sentry shield and 50% more Drone and Sentry damage or 25% power damage and duration

    • Fitness


  • Infiltrator

    • ME1

      • Pistols

      • Sniper Rifles

      • Tactical Armour

      • Fitness

      • Electronics

      • Damping

      • Decryption

      • First Aid

      • Infiltrator - 10% less pistol and sniper rifle heat buildup and 15% tech power explosion damage


  • ME2

    • Disruptor Ammo

    • Cryo Ammo

    • Tactical Cloak - Turns Shepard invisible for 6 seconds with a 40% damage bonus while cloaked. 6 second recharge time. Rank 4 increases damage bonus to 75% or duration to 8 seconds. 

    • Incinerate

    • AI Hacking

    • Operative - 15% Health, 9% Weapon damage and power recharge speed reduction, 50% Sniper time slow while aiming for 2 seconds. Rank 4 slows time further and for longer with 15% more power damage or 15% total power recharge time reduction and 15% longer power duration


  • ME3

    • Disruptor Ammo

    • Cryo Ammo 

    • Incinerate

    • Tactical Cloak - Same functionality as ME2. 50% damage bonus, lasts 10.4 seconds. 8 second recharge time. Branching options:

      • 40% longer duration or 40% additional damage while active

      • 30% faster recharge speed or 50% melee damage while active

      • Fire one power while hidden or 40% Sniper damage while active

    • Sticky Grenade - Grenade sticks to an opponent with a 2 meter radius. Branching options:

      • 30% more damage or 30% larger blast radius

      • 2 more grenades or 50% armour damage bonus

      • 40% additional damage or the grenade stays active for 15 seconds when attached, serving as a mine, and a 50% radius increase

    • Sabotage

    • Operational Mastery - 5% Weapon damage and 35% Sniper time dilation. Branching options:

      • 5% additional damage and 10% power damage or 25% power duration

      • 10% squadmate weapon damage and 15% squadmate power damage and force or doubles weight capacity

      • 25% power damage and duration bonus or 15% Sniper damage and headshot damage

    • Fitness


Specialization Classes

ME1 has further class specializations, boosting certain attributes of classes and their abilities


  • ME1

    • Bastion

      • Adept - 28% power recharge time reduction, 21% extra biotic biotic protection. 

      • Sentinel - 28% power recharge time reduction, 9% tech power recharge time reduction, 23% pistol damage and accuracy increase.

      • Both - Barrier gets 25% more strength and duration and regenerates shields. Enemies affected by Stasis lose damage invulnerability

    • Commando

      • Infiltrator - 10% less weapon heat buildup, 21% weapon damage bonus, 15% tech explosion damage. 

      • Soldier - 14% Health bonus, regenerates health, 21% Weapon damage bonus. 

      • Both - 25% recharge time reduction for Immunity and Assassinate/Marksman

    • Medic

      • Engineer - 20% reduction in tech power cooldowns, 35% for all medical powers. 21% extra tech protection.

      • Sentinel - 15% power recharge time, 30% First Aid and Neural shock recharge speed reduction, 10% pistol damage bonus and 16% pistol accuracy accuracy bonus.

      • Both -  Neural Shock lasts 25% longer and deals 40 toxic damage, First Aid does more healing, ignores toxic damage, and revives fallen squadmates

    • Nemesis

      • Adept - 14% power recharge time reduction, 21% biotic protection, 14% longer duration. 4% more damage and force for Throw, 4% longer duration of Lift, Warp, Singularity, Barrier and Stasis.

      • Vanguard - 15% Pistol/Shotgun damage, 21% biotic protection, 14% power duration or damage. 4% more damage and force for Throw, 4% longer duration of Lift, Warp, Singularity, Barrier and Stasis.

      • Both - Warp radius increases by 2 meters and deals 25% more damage per second. Lift’s radius is increased by 4 meters

    • Shock Trooper

      • Soldier - 28% health bonus, 16% extra damage protection, heals over time. Immunity recharges 25% faster

      • Vanguard - 14% health bonus, 21% biotic protection, 16% damage protection, 10% pistol and shotgun damage bonus.Increases Barrier strength and duration by 25% and regens shields while active

      • Both - Adrenaline Burst recharges 25% faster

    • Operative

      • Engineer - 28% tech power recharge speed and 21% tech protection.

      • Infiltrator - 14% faster tech power recharge, 10% less heat buildup, 15% tech explosion damage

      • Both - Increases Overload’s radius by 2 meters, increases explosion and shield damage, and 5% more damage vulnerability. Increases Sabotage’s radius by 2 meters, increases explosion damage, more damage over time and a longer duration

Advanced Training Powers


Mass Effect 2 and 3 allows Shepard to complete projects that grant him squadmate unique powers that can be used with any class. Only one can be equipped at any given time, though this may be game mechanics.


  • Armour Piercing Ammo - Increases weapon and armour damage. 

    • ME2 - Rank 4: Increases damage or all squad members get the ammo type

    • ME3 - Shots can penetrate up to 0.7m of material. Branching options:

      • Increases power effectiveness or give squadmates the bonus at 50% effectiveness

      • 30% extra ammo reserve or 25% headshot power

      • Shot effectiveness, or negates more armour and up to 1m material penetration

  • Barrier - Adds an additional Biotic Barrier to shields

    • ME2 - Adds up to 75% of max shields for 60 seconds. Rank 4 is either 100% of max shields or 180 second duration. 12 second cooldown

    • ME3 - Reduces damage by 15%, can detonate the field. Slows power regeneration by 60%, 8 second cooldown. Branching options:

      • Blast radius of 5.4 meters with higher damage, or another 5% extra damage reduction (up to 20%)

      • 15% faster shield regeneration while active or 25% power damage and force

      • Reduce power recharge penalty by 30% or 10% extra damage protection

  • Dominate - Controls organic beings, making them fight for Shepard

    • ME2 - Control lasts for 9 seconds, adding a barrier for extra protection. Rank 4 grants either a better barrier or an Area of Effect to control multiple enemies. 6 second cooldown

    • ME3 - Branching options:

      • 30% faster recharge speed (7.74 seconds) or 40% longer duration (17 seconds)

      • Inflicts nerve damage while active or target deals 40% more damage

      • Target is 30% more vulnerable to damage or deals 60% more damage and 50% less damage from other sources

  • Energy Drain - Saps enemy shield strength, adding it to Shepard’s. 

    • ME2 - Rank 4 increases potency of drain or area of effect. 6 second cooldown

    • ME3 - 1.5m impact radius with 50% damage restored as shields, 6.4 second cooldown. Branching options:

      • Increases damage or 3m impact radius

      • 100% shields restored or 25% faster recharge speed

      • 40% damage boost or reduce damage by 40% for 10 seconds after use

  • Flashbang Grenade - Low damage grenade that disorients enemies within 7 meters. Rank 4 increases damage or radius and duration. 6 second cooldown

  • Fortification - Adds more armour to Shepard via Foucault currents

    • ME2 - Give Shepard up to 75% of his shield strength in additional armour for 60 seconds. Rank 4 increases duration to 180 seconds or armour up to 100% of shields. 12 second cooldown

    • ME3 - Reduces damage by 25% and can purge the current for a 70% melee boost. 50% slower power recharge. 4 second cooldown. Branching options:

      • Extra 5% damage reduction or 30% extra melee damage (100% total)

      • 15% shield recharge rate or 30% power damage and force while active

      • 30% power speed penalty reduction or 10% extra damage protection

  • Geth Shield Boost - Gives an extra 75% shield strength for 60 seconds. Rank 4 is either 100% shields or a boost to 10% weapon damage boost. 12 second cooldown

  • Inferno Grenade - Contact explosion grenade that ignites enemies for damage over time. 

    • ME2 - Rank 4 increases either afterburn damage or affected area and damage. 6 second cooldown

    • ME3 - Branching options:

      • 30% Damage increase or 30% impact radius

      • 2 extra grenades or 40% damage increase

      • 50% extra damage to armour or 40% impact radius and 1 extra shrapnel shard

  • Neural Shock - Stuns organic enemies for 9 seconds. Rank 4 increases stun duration or adds an area of effect. 3 second cooldown

  • Reave - Biotic power that targets nervous or synthetic systems to prevent healing. Restores health and gives a temporary health bonus when used against organics. 

    • ME2 - Does double damage to barriers and armour. Rank 4 grants either greater duration and damage or an Area of Effect. 6 second cooldown

    • ME3 - Reduces damage to Shepard by 15%, 6.4 second recharge time. Branching options

      • Increases duration by 40% (7 seconds) or increase impact radius by 3 meters

      • 10% extra damage reduction (25% total) or 35% faster recharge speed (5 seconds)

      • Increases armour and barrier effectiveness by 75% or increases damage and duration by 30% and damage reduction by 15% (40% total)

  • Shredder Ammo - Ammo mod that increases damage against targets with no armour or shield protection. Rank 4 increases damage or gives the ammo to all squad members.

  • Slam - Lifts enemies into the air before slamming them down. 

    • ME2 - Rank 4 increases either damage done or incapacitates the target for some time

    • ME3 - Up to 1170 Newtons of force, 3.2 second cooldown. Branching options:

      • 40% increases in impact force or 2 meter impact radius

      • Increases damage and force of biotic detonations by 50% or further 50% increase in force

      • Slammed targets are incapacitated for 5 seconds or 50% faster recharge speed (2.29 seconds)

  • Stasis - Affected enemies become immune to damage, but are immobilized for 9 seconds, though enemies become slowly more resistant to it with repeated use. 

    • ME2 - Rank 4 increases duration or decreases the rate enemies become immune. 6 second cooldown.

    • ME3 - 9.6 second recharge speed, 7.8 second duration. Enemies can now take damage. Branching options:

      • 40% extra duration or 150% more damage to target before stasis breaks

      • 30% chance to cause no power cooldown or 35% faster recharge speed

      • Plants a bubble to trap enemies that walk into them or 50% damage vulnerability to victim and 35% more damage before stasis breaks

  • Warp Ammo - Increases ammo against health, armour and barriers. Does extra damage against enemies affected by Biotics. 

    • ME2 - Rank 4 either increases damage or gives ammo to the whole squad.

    • ME3 - Armour is weakened when hit. Branching options

      • Extra 7.5% health/armour damage and 15% barrier damage or squadmates gain Warp Ammo at 50% effectiveness

      • 30% extra ammo reserves or 25% more headshot damage

      • Extra 12.5% health and armour damage and 25% barrier damage or 50% damage to biotically affected targets and an additional 25% armour weakening


ME3 Exclusive:

  • Marksman - 30% Rate of Fire and Accuracy bonus, 7.8 second duration and 4.8 second recharge speed. Branching options:

    • 30% extra accuracy or 20% extra fire rate

    • 40% longer duration or 25% extra headshot damage

    • 20% extra accuracy and fire rate or 40% faster recharge speed

  • Proximity Mine - Drops a proximity activating mine with a 3 meter radius. 8 second cooldown. Branching options:

    • 30% damage bonus or 4.5m blast radius

    • Victim takes 20% more damage for all sources or victim moves 30% slower

    • Additional 50% damage or 40% faster recharge speed (6.06 seconds)

  • Carnage - Shreds enemies in a 1.5m radius, strong against armour. 8 second cooldown. Branching options:

    • 2.25m radius or 30% higher damage

    • Enemies are briefly incapacitated or 35% faster recharge speed (6.25 seconds)

    • 65% more damage to armoured units or 50% more damage total

  • Defense Matrix - 15% damage reduction via Foucault circuits, can restore 70% of shields if purged. 60% slower power recharge while active. Branching options:

    • 5% damage reduction or 30% extra shield regeneration when purged (100% total)

    • 15% shield recharge delay reduction or tech powers are 25% stronger

    • 30% Power recharge speed penalty reduction or 10% more damage reduction

  • Decoy - Creates a shielded holographic decoy of the user that does not move or attack. 6.4 second recharge, 19.5 second duration. Branching options:

    • 40% longer duration or decoy has 40% more shields

    • Shocks enemies within a 2.5m radius or 35% faster recharge speed

    • Decoy detonates on destruction, damaging foes across 4 meters or increases shields and duration by 50%

  • Defense Drone - Deploys a drone that shocks enemies around it. 5m range, 2.15 second cooldown. Branching options:

    • 100% duration of drone or 40% more range (7 meters)

    • 50% faster attack rate or 100% damage bonus and 60% more range

    • 30% chance to knock down targets or lightning can hit 2 nearby targets

  • Dark Channel - Opponents are plagued with a damaging biotic field. Transfers to a second target if first dies. Only one can be active. 30 second duration, 10 second recharge time. Branching options:

    • 30% damage bonus or 40% longer duration

    • Target moves 30% slower or 35% faster recharge speed

    • 50% damage increase or 75% more armour and barrier damage

  • Lash - Biotic ability that latches onto enemies and pulls them to Shepard, damaging them in the process. 4.8 second recharge time. Branching options:

    • 30% more damage or 50% more force and damage from biotic detonations

    • 35% faster recharge or deals an additional 100% of power’s damage over 10 seconds

    • 35% chance of not causing a cooldown and 100% longer time a target can be detonated or penetrate through shields and barriers with reduced force. Armour still blocks the effect

  • Flare - Focuses biotic energy to throw enemies and cause a large blast with a 6m radius. 24 second cooldown. Branching options:

    • 30% extra damage and force or 30% impact radius

    • 30% faster recharge or 50% force, damage and impact radius of biotic combo detonations

    • 50% impact radius or 75% additional damage to shields and barriers


Resistances


Support

Master Chief

Cortana/Joyeuse


NOTICE: The Weapon, recently revealed and henceforth referred to as Joyeuse at the time of writing, is an exact copy of Cortana created after the events of Halo 5, meant to match and capture Cortana. She serves mainly the same purpose, and Cortana will be the main mention unless specified otherwise


Cortana is a UNSC “Smart” AI, created out of a cloned Doctor Halsey’s brain scans. Cortana generally monitors Chief’s vital signs and provides strategic advice, but she was made first and foremost for intrusion of enemy systems and providing hacking assistance in combat, able to upload from hand contact or remotely access some systems



Commander Shepard

EDI


(NOTICE: EDI gains a full mechanical body and becomes a squadmate in ME3. This is outside help and will not be factored in) 


The Enhanced Defense Intelligence, abbreviated as EDI, is an Artificial Intelligence created by Cerberus out of a malfunctioning training VI on Luna and upgraded with tech salvaged from Sovereign. She was installed onto the Normandy SR-2 to regulate its systems and provide cyber and electronic warfare suites, among other assistance. Of note:



Feats

Master Chief

Overall


  • Survived the Spartan program and led Blue Team through numerous missions

  • Destroyed Installation 04

  • Started the Great Schism, splintering the Covenant beyond repair and ending it for good

  • Survived 4 separate Flood infestations and eventually ended them as a threat

  • Stopped Didact from destroying Humanity, destroying Mantle’s Approach in the process

  • Prevented the Banished from repairing Zeta Halo and stopped the return of the Endless

  • Defeated the Prophet of Regret, the Gravemind, Guilty Spark, Didact, Spartan Locke, Escharum and Harbinger


Strength



Speed



Durability



Commander Shepard

Overall


  • Chosen as a council Spectre and earned N7 designation in the Systems Alliance

  • Saved the Citadel from Sovereign and the Geth

  • Commanded a successful trip through the Omega 4 Relay, ending the Collector threat

  • United the galaxy against the Reapers

  • Fired the Crucible

  • Defeated Saren, the Human Reaper, Kai Leng, his own clone, and The Illusive Man

  • Holds the record for shortest interrogation ever


Strength




Speed

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Durability



Scaling

Master Chief

UNSC forces/Other Spartans


Spartans come in many models and from many programs, and Chief has fought alongside and sometimes even against them. Spartan-IIs are depicted as the best among the assorted programs, with Spartan-IIIs being made for quantity over quality and aren't a match for Spartan-IIs, and Chief having fought Spartan-IVs such as Locke. There’s otherwise little reason to believe the armour models are drastically different in terms of enhancements and durability.



Covenant Species


The Covenant is composed of a wide array of alien species, from lowly Grunts to the more imposing Hunters, so it’s no surprise Chief has been able to fight all of them given they’re his primary enemies throughout the series. Weaker Covenant soldiers are easy pickings, Brutes and Elites are generally depicted as being around Chief in strength with latter having less advanced armour in some sources, and though Hunters are powerful, they still can be slain with stronger weapons even through their armour



The Flood


A monument to all the Forerunner’s sins, they’re the result of a war between the Forerunners and Precursors as the latter would try and preserve themselves as dust. This dust became infected and highly corruptive, sparking the downfall of the Forerunners. Chief has a track record of surviving numerous outbreaks and gunned down plenty of their regular combat forms 


Didact & Prometheans


The Forerunner civilization was all but destroyed upon the firing of the Halo rings, but one of them survived. The Ur-Didact held a massive grudge against humanity, lasting all the way until the modern day and unleashing his army of Prometheans. Chief and many Spartans are more than able to rip through the regular Promethean soldiers, and though Didact can easily ragdoll Chief with his telekinesis and is generally depicted as stronger than Spartans, Chief has harmed him before, though full scaling to him is Q&A section later


AI Capabilities (Cortana/Joyeuse exclusive)


Cortana is very frequently credited as being the most advanced AI humanity had ever created, with Joyeuse being an exact copy. Their capabilities being superior to other AI is quite straightforward



Commander Shepard

Squadmates


Shepard has several instances of fighting against squadmates. Squadmates such as Jack, Morinth, what becomes EDI’s body and Legion can be fought in open combat as enemies. The likes of Wrex and Legion can be killed through various decisions. Add the ability to generally fight the same foes and similar levels of tech and this should be straightforward.


Reaper Forces


Reapers carry their own ground forces in the form of harvested organics turned cybernetic abominations with their personality and free will stamped out. Shepard has had several run-ins with them through his travels and are a main enemy faction in 3. Reapers can also pour some of their own energy to assume direct control over implanted beings like Saren and the Collectors, magnifying their abilities.



Andromeda feats


Not all people in the galaxy were ignorant of Shepard's warnings. An underfunded exploratory mission called the Andromeda Initiative was discreetly given enormous funding and transformed into a mission to preserve the races of the Milky Way. Despite taking place over 600 years in the future, all the tech made no advancements during that time due to everyone being in cryosleep, and should scale back to the main cast as comparable technology. They can also fight on par with the native Kett, Angaran and Remnant technology. SAM, Ryder’s AI, is also a blue box AI that should scale to EDI in capabilities



Tech Capabilities (EDI only):


Assorted Characters

(Image source)


The galaxy is vast, and Shepard has fought against and with other countless beings throughout the series, many of whom Shepard has fought directly. While they may or may not scale directly, this section is dedicated to those characters and their feats.



Weaknesses

Master Chief


Chief has all the trappings of an FPS protagonist, limited ammo and despite his luck, he does need to find his weapons on the field rather than carrying all of them at any given time. Shields in the series are often stated to be more susceptible to plasma weaponry and they require some time to recharge if they go down. Despite biofoam having good showings of survivability with the ability to heal major head injuries, that particular instant took a while to heal, and Chief otherwise has no major superhuman showings of survivability.


Cortana has impressive hacking abilities, but she has lost to other, more powerful AIs such as a fragment of Mendicant Bias. Being fed too much information can expedite an AI’s descent into rampancy and cause unpredictable effects due to lack of storage space. Even just being inside the Halo Ring’s control center caused slowdowns. Gravemind very nearly corrupted and absorbed her between Halo 2 and 3 using the Logic Plague and was only saved by Chief’s arrival.


You would also not think it by looking, but Master Chief is also surprisingly very susceptible to being sealed inside of soda bottles

Commander Shepard


In spite of Shepard’s numerous implants, he’s not any more survivable than any other person. Enough bullets and regular injuries can prove fatal just the same. He also has limited thermal clips, heavy ammo, and Medi-Gel, in addition to some of his equipment being prone to sabotage and other debilitations. All his biotic abilities and other powers have cooldowns that need to be worked around. Biotics in extended material are also very tiring to use over long periods of time, and some lose their effectiveness over repeated use. EDI has had communications jammed and fallen prey to viruses before, and it’s possible to upload remotely to the Normandy and take it over.


Also, his dancing skills


Q&A

Master Chief

Master Chief and City/Nuke related feats


Out the gate, no, Chief did not survive the 30 Megaton nuke at the end of 4. Cortana says she got Chief off the ship right after the nuke goes off, likely from teleportation. Makes sense, Cortana was inside the ship’s system for much of the mission and was teleporting Chief throughout. 


Though, this page from the Halo Mythos book says “nope, she did!” which throws a wrench into the works. But even going with that route, there’s also a storyboard for the game that depicts Chief as being off the ship as it was destroyed which is more in line with the actual game. Even ignoring all this and saying Chief just lol no’d this, it doesn’t matter. As the Chief vs Doomslayer episode said, this was not done with anything Chief had on his normal kit, rather it was Cortana using a hard light bridge that already existed prior and isn’t something he or Cortana can pull out on a whim.There’s a good chance the whole thing is probably just someone screwing up when writing the guide, giving Majora- I mean Cortana something that isn’t supported in the actual game.


Didact does break some binds made by Cortana constructs that the book Epitaph confirms are made of the same hardlight as the bridge, with Chief surviving a solid hit while unshielded straight after, but that run into the same problem that it’s down to what you actually think happens in the scene.


Neither of the following are very commonly argued, but may as well cover them. Did Johnson survive the Pillar of Autumn’s self-destruct, since he shows up again in 2? No lol. Though Installation 04’s destruction has numerous different showings and variations in power over the years, nobody really scales. Hop in a time machine and go back to 2001 when Halo was one prequel book, one game and before the likes of First Strike and the Graphic Novel retcons it, Johnson died much earlier in the game, offscreen during the first Flood outbreak as he never shows up again afterwards. Unlike later legendary endings in the series, it’s pretty clearly meant as just a joke scene you only get when beating the game on max difficulty. Similarly, even though Guilty Spark was on the Pillar of Autumn just before detonation, we know he had left beforehand thanks to an H2A terminal and even as far back as the 2009 Halo Encyclopedia.


Some have said Chief survived the bomb at the end of the mission Cairo Station that destroys a Covenant Carrier, which yeah no he doesn’t. He’s pretty clearly kicking away from the bomb and was long out of reach of the blast, which is much more clear in the original cutscene.


What the hell is up with the Composer? (and Didact scaling)


So a long standing argument for Halo stats is if the Composer, a Forerunner plot McGuffin from Halo 4, is applicable to character stats. It’s easy to see why, given people get reduced to dust and echoes- I mean essences, yet Forerunner genetic modification is seemingly required to survive it. So what’s the scoop? Is it a hax ability? AP related?


…Kinda both, honestly


The issue is that it’s more complicated than just simple vaporization or what have you. The Composer uses this thing called Neural Physics. The precise mechanics aren’t well understood even in universe and Neural Physics is rarely talked about overall (Halopedia's list of appearances is kinda sad, really), but from what we can understand is that the Composer is said to extract essences (“Judgement of the Didact” paragraph and right page respectively) and is parroted a number of other times as such:



Essences are a term that essentially means memories or mental imprints, which are usually then used to create artificial constructs, notably being the Prometheans. Taking brain waves of recently deceased beings and making AIs out of them is actually how the UNSC makes AIs. Human and Forerunner AIs have also been compared in their structure in the books as being similar (the former example is an implied reverse engineered Forerunner AI used by the Covenant). We know that the human process doesn’t outright vaporize them, and Halo waypoint and Shadows of Reach have said that the Composer breaks down their bodies as an effect of its use, separate from it absorbing someone’s mind, so we know that destroying their bodies isn’t a requirement for this process. On top of this, Didact’s physical death in Escalation is caused by multiple exploding Composers hitting him at once, described later as "raw, destructive force" and that no amount of armour or modifications could’ve stood up to it despite having immunity to the Composer (he gets turned to ash after this, same as all the other victims).


Now, for numbers, the highest feat we have is at the end of Halo 4 and the destruction of New Phoenix, which happens to be what Didact survives. Even though a few sources say vaporization, the books Silentium, Point of Light and Epitaph all clarify that Composers destroy victims on an atomic level. Comics also state they only affect biological life. The comic Escalation says it took under 90 seconds, which is a good estimate since we know even single victims require around 3-4 seconds to affect. The comic itself and an old waypoint article both say it’s nebulously over 6 million, but Epitaph saves us again and states outright that it affected seven million people. Running the numbers:


Atomizing a human is worth 4,489,812,460 joules

7,000,000 * 4,489,812,460 = 3.1428687e+16 joules


We’ll go with 75 seconds for a timeframe, since it’s nebulously below 90 seconds
3.1428687e+16 / 75 = 4.1904916e+14 Joules per second, 100.2 Kilotons TNT


Now, what does Chief get for proper scaling? Not a ton, unfortunately. Chief’s Geas is the manner in which he resists it, which we know is needed since other Spartans have been absorbed by similar devices and Didact was surprised that Chief was not affected, since he didn’t know about Chief’s immunity at the time. Even with it however, Chief was knocked out for an extended and uncertain period of time from less exposure than Didact had. Mjolnir is pretty poor compared to Forerunner Armour in general, as even early in the series, Mjolnir scanned as a Class 2 Forerunner Combat Skin with Spark recommending a Class 12 to fight Flood, and Atriox, who Didact quoted as "very powerful", still pretty easily beat Chief in his most up to date armour. Chief does get some good hits in and survives some direct blows, and it’s not impossible to injure Atriox, but he's shown pretty clearly to be stronger than Spartans in general. 


Didact himself isn’t much better, he’s barely, if at all damaged by a number of different projectile weapons from the UNSC and Forerunner armoury, and is usually only shown injured by them if he's unarmoured. It isn’t impossible however. Chief does knock him off a bridge with a grenade, but Escalation shows us afterwards he suffered no damage aside from briefly being knocked out. That being said, a Monitor beam does temporarily knock him out in the same story, with Spartans having multiple feats of surviving them and Chief notably stabs him in the eye, though the sound effect and lack of glass makes it questionable if it’s penetrating any of the suit’s material.


It should be noted that Didact does match Warden Eternal in Epitaph, however that book is set near wholly in the Domain, where everyone is their essences and are impossible to kill aside from special weaponry, so physical feats from that book are a bit dubious.


In all? Didact’s pretty clearly meant as a foe much stronger than Spartans like Chief, and Atriox, who’s had his strength complimented by Didact, frequently stomp Spartans in fights. That being said, the gap isn’t likely to be insurmountable and leaves us with some textbook downscaling


Tl;dr, the Composer requires both durability and resistance to survive, and is overall viable for scaling, although Chief does not fully scale to its highest showings or anyone who does. He can downscale from them, however

The (Relativistic) Master Chief Collection



While it is true that some Covenant ships possess some light speed weapons (contextually, the ship is one of these), neither argued instance has Chief or another Spartan react to them, even if argued that these are the same weapon. They only ever move after the lasers already passed them, Legends showing this without the need for frame by framing and seems to just be simple evasive maneuvers. Pulse lasers also may just not be lasers to begin with, rather a plasma based weapon like the rest of the Covenant’s kit, though this is pretty inconsistent and sources do differ on this.


Next, Kelly doesn’t evade a Sentinel laser. The full excerpt is:


“A burst of three rounds hit and deflected off a gold shimmer of shields.

It turned toward Kelly, and its central sphere heated.


Kelly sprinted to draw the fire away from Dr. Halsey. Five strides, darting between trees, and she suddenly stopped, spun - jumped.


A flash of light blinded her, and then the world detonated where she had stood a second before.


The overpressure propelled her into the air. Kelly's shields drained to half, and she felt the heat prick her skin.


She hit the ground, chest first, rolled awkwardly, wobbled, and got to her feet.


A direct hit from that energy weapon would collapse her shield, and possibly melt her armor and her.''


As you can read, she doesn’t even outrun or even really react to an explosion caused by the very same beam. If we take the text literally, it mentions the whole thing took one second and five full strides while sprinting, indicating this was nowhere close to any form of relativistic movement. This is supported mere pages later when the book says her max sprint speed is 62 km/h which is consistent with books of this era (Light speed is about 1.08 billion km/h), so this is in all likelihood an aim dodge and otherwise not supported as a rela feat by the text. Her reacting to an explosion is still valid as a feat, however. Kelly is usually said to be the fastest runner of Blue Team, though this shouldn’t really be too much of a deal breaker since it’s never shown to be a huge margin.


Sentinels may not even have proper lightspeed lasers to begin with. A lot of sources do actually contradict each other, having them fire anything from plasma, anion based particle beams and hardlight, but the main point is that none say light or lasers outright (hardlight is a real concept where light is given solid form, and extremely common through Halo in general). Same goes for the Sentinel feat in Halo CE’s novelization, The Flood. The book was written in 2003 and was one of the first pieces of Halo media in general, so it’s likely it was simply retconned, not that we can quantify it or tell if it was an aimdodge anyway.


Arbiter (the Halo Wars one) moving in tandem with Spartan Lasers in Halo Wars is just simply RTS games having a tendency to have projectiles and units move at similar speeds (Here’s a clip from Empire at War of people and vehicles moving at similar speeds to missiles and lasers, people moving at somewhat similar speed to bullets in Company of Heroes 2, and so on). Halo Wars marks the only time in the series where Spartan Lasers have a notable travel time, and are hitscan weapons in all other appearances.


Funnily enough, dodging shots is an actual mechanic in the same game for a few units, Hunters being the example brought up in the feats section. It unfortunately doesn’t seem like this extends to Spartan Lasers (note how Jerome in the link has no problem dodging Fuel Rod rounds, which is a common occurrence with dodge capable units. Gauss Warthogs also seem exempt from dodging) which kills relativistic arguments from this angle. The Hawk unit also has a Spartan Laser variant on it which oddly can be dodged, however the impact burn from them seems to appear in one frame which makes them wholly unusable.


The Beam Rifle being near light speed is from a completely uncited claim on Halopedia, since nowhere else is this stated. Its old Bungie era speed was stated to be 3,657 m/s. Some sources go as low as below Mach 2, but this was later reconfirmed to be moving at hypervelocity which, fun fact, is an actual measurement of speed if you look it up!


…it starts at 3,000 m/s so lol.


Anyways, some posit that IsoDidact was thinking faster than his armour’s ancilla (Forerunner term for AI), but the text says that the ancilla was essentially searching through details of Didact’s memories, which was what the two were doing at the time. The text outright said it was going too fast for him to make sense of. Characters are far more often depicted as thinking slower than AI at any rate, so this's likely just be a simple outlier even were this usable. The same sort of thing goes for commanding armies of soldiers, it’s later clarified to be assisted by their ancillas. There are instances of characters controlling large armies without AI (example: the whole plot of Envoy) but it begs the question if it scales back to actual reactions, which itself leads to a lot of circular scaling. They get reactions via a huge number of soldiers commanded and fighting against whoever, other characters scale to the person doing that, the soldiers they command scale, commander scales to soldiers, and so on. It seems to mainly be handing out commands anyway, so it’s best left disregarded.


Lastly, the jetpack feat from Fall of Reach is usable, since the book makes it clear that’s its max speed, but Chief doesn’t react to anything during the flight in any version of the story. The book Silent Storm (chronologically set after the FoR feat) has Spartans unable to react to objects while flying at 33,000 km/h (about mach 26.7), so they absolutely are not able to react to anything while moving more than 3,000 times that.


Wraith firepower



One statement used to get high numbers for Wraith mortars is being able to vaporize everything within 20 meters ("Evolution of Halo enemies" section for the latter link). While there have been some discrepancies in terms of how large the impact radius is, most sources, at least in the books and other media, do seem to agree on 20 meters. The current calc comes from vaporizing a block of Titanium, one of the mentioned materials. This calc is being quite charitable however, that much material being destroyed isn’t showed a single time, at least from Wraiths, and is far thicker than many types of armour in the setting (for reference, the UNSC Infinity, humanity’s largest warship, has 4.9 meters of titanium armour) and should be subject to just simple surface area, so let’s do that


Average of 90kg for a person, and then 15.66 kg (11.56 kg for armour and 4.1 kg for a regular rifle) for an average UNSC marine. We can assume is titanium given it's quite common for human armour and weapons across the series


Vaporizing a human: 305117917.122 Joules

Titanium density of 4506kg/m3 

15.66/4506 = 0.00347536617 m^3 (3475.36617cc)


Titanium vaporization of 49097.7 j/cc

3475.36617 * 49097.7 = 170632485.605 joules


170632485.605 + 305117917.122 = 475750402.727 joules total


20 meter blast radius, 5027 m^2 surface area

Average surface area of a person is 0.68 m^2


(5027/0.68) * 475750402.727 = 3.5170548e+12 joules, 840.6 Tons TNT


Most feats revolving around Wraith mortars don’t have them surviving direct impacts, though there have been decently close hits in the case of Black Team, who are presently too dead to have the most up to date armour. And while a bit gameplay exclusive, you can also fight enemies who can be shielded by Engineers, whose shields are able to survive them.


Wraiths having more firepower than some UNSC warships is also kind of silly lets be honest lol

Incineration Cannons vs Graveminds and Spore Mountains


So there’s a statement from Halo 4’s visual guide and echoed in an old Waypoint article that the Promethean incineration cannon is used to kill Graveminds and the lesser known Keyminds as well as destroying spore mountains.


…that’s it lmfao, like don’t get the wrong idea, all of those things listed above can be huge and everything but we have absolutely no idea about any details, no troop numbers, no number of shots needed to do it, no timeframe, nothing, which makes this pretty much impossible outside of speculation to assign proper numbers too. There’s also some sources implying that Spartans and even Promethean Knights aren’t able to unlock the full potential of the weapon at least during the modern era, along with an alleged email response to a fan from Kelly Gay, writer on several Halo books, saying the same thing (she wrote some of the better Halo books btw check them out).


Does Chief scale to Glassing Beams/MAC Rounds, and how potent are they?


Nope

Now, if you were determined to actually use it for feats, the only real way to go about it is by using the two Halo Wars games, as Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (MACs) and plasma beams are unique abilities for some leaders, both of which can be survived by some units. Starting with the former, MACs are quite strong, Frigates are able to get 64 Kilotons TNT off statements (note that the ships in the link are different, but are of the same class, barely visible in an H2A terminal and the Reach map Boneyard that’s reused 1-to-1 in campaign). The math isn’t incorrect for this in particular, but The Spirit of Fire, the main ship in both Halo Wars titles and relevant for the argument, does not actually have the same model of MAC. Though it still launches at a fraction of light speed, the shots are only 300 tons, and we can’t get much else from it, so kinetic energy is difficult to tell


There is a tech tree option up to a Super MAC (Cpt. Cutter tech tree section) but don’t let it fool you, all it does is increase the ammo capacity. Given Super MACs have incredible feats by verse standards and are otherwise never put on ships that aren’t defense platforms and super carriers, they shouldn’t compare back to the Spirit of Fire, on top of being an obvious outlier.


Glassing beams themselves are a more complex topic, however. Covenant ships are canonically far above UNSC ships given pretty much every space battles in the setting, and they have plenty of higher feats to show for it, fleets frequently life-wiping planets, carving canyons visible from space, the works. In Halo Wars 1, the ability icon's shape implies a Covenant Destroyer, far from their largest ship. At least with MAC guns, it is a leader power that can be used in the main campaign, but they never actually get used in the main campaign at any point. Halo Wars 2 is a different story, there are actually some instances of carrier beams being used in the campaign. A UNSC base actually survives a Carrier's glassing beams early in the game, though dialogue implies they were holding back with the base still sustaining major damage, and while Decimus, the Banished leader who uses these orbital strikes, can use it as an ability when you fight him, cutscenes show UNSC and Banished units alike getting immediately one shotted by Carrier beams. Decimus has a shield to protect him during it, but you can’t damage him while it’s active, and if you want to be pedantic the main ventral gun is shown as red in Wars 2 rather than the blue that Decimus is shown to use, so they may not be the same guns. Other material shows Spartans have been one-shotted by Capital Ship weaponry before, so while an argument could be possibly made for gameplay viability, it’s far from usable from a narrative sense.


As a minor aside, as mentioned at the start of this blog, unlike a lot of 343 era games, Halo Wars 2 Multiplayer isn't canon and there’s no reason to say the same for the first one either. Makes sense, the article linked is talking about playable Sergeant Johnson in multiplayer despite him and leaders like Forge and Serina being preoccupied with being dead and unable to participate in Halo Wars 2’s plot.


Basically;


Is Master Chief 11D via Slipspace scaling?


Did Bungie always intend Humans and Forerunners to be either the same or a descendant species in some way, shape or form?



B o t t o m t e x t

Commander Shepard

How fast are Mass Effect bullets + other related speed feats


(Template stolen from here)


Relativistic, fuck you Andromeda for nobody bothering to research you and jot literally anything down until now and causing this to fly under practically everybody’s radar, mine included during preliminary research, you jackasses grrrrr.


Ok, jokes aside, the book Deception also has a blanket relativistic statement, but we aren’t using it as a source. Still, it’s good the games have it at least so shrug emoji. There’s other ways to get a low end for bullet speeds if you do want to go with that and because I didn’t want to waste an already written Q&A bit, I swear there’s other important bits after this lol


To start, there’s a codex entry from ME1 that the projectile velocities are at previously unattainable speeds. It’s likely in reference to current day handheld weaponry instead of something like a tank cannon, so using an AR-15 for reference, it’s cited at 1006 m/s in some studies. Numbers will obviously vary depending on calibre, weapon, etc. but that general level of speed would at least be a baseline. The codex entry also mentions that a paint chip can achieve nuclear levels of power by accelerating fast enough. Obviously this isn’t to say random bullets in the verse can wipe a town off the map, not that that’s intended by the entry if you read it obviously, but it's explaining that shots can attain high levels of power via speed and the resulting kinetic energy (a few weapon mods and upgrades support this).


Now, how guns work for the most part in the universe is that they have a block of metal in the gun that they shear parts off of and fire as small pellets at high speeds. The book Mass Effect: Revelations (written by Drew Karpyshyn, writer of the first two games) quotes in Chapter 1 that they fire “miniature pellets smaller than grains of sand”. Ascension (Chapter 8) quotes them as “no bigger than a pin”. Andromeda differs slightly with a sand grain sized shot, but regardless all of them agree they are very small projectiles. Even the smallest bullets on earth are comparatively far heavier and larger than these examples, so all this to say bullets in Mass Effect should be a lot faster than normal to have lethal killing power.


Now, we have wide open areas in ME1’s exploration for a possible speed calc, but there’s no way to measure distance in a way that wouldn’t take an extremely long time to do. In terms of direct statements that aren’t the relativistic one from above, the only ones are Everest Dreadnought guns at 1.3% SoL and the Thanix, a reverse engineered Reaper gun, being a significant fraction of light speed, but neither are likely applicable to a normal gun given they’re far larger. There’s a generic relativistic statement for bullets, but that’s from Deception, a book we’re excluding, “hypervelocity” from the Hyper Rail weapon mod that’s cut content and has no legitimate means to access, and “Hyperaccelerated” from the pin size statement above, which is fully made up as a term with no numerical value on it.


It’s also part of a chess gambit name, apparently, which isn’t relevant but it was funny to mention.


What we do have is a quote from the M-920 Cain about it firing at 5 km/s. If we do the smelly versus way, comparing the speed of regular bullets to Cain rounds would be a heaping Mach 264 from this old, but accurate post. Other methods have been tried and gotten 0.04% light speed, or Mach 349 (or higher). Clearly there’s many ways to go about this, but even going with just the Cain should put Mass Effect rounds at least at mach 15, given the same entry says it’s firing a 25 gram projectile instead of metallic sand grains which are realistically much lighter (Even a 0.5 cm^3 bullet would weigh ~9.62 grams with the stated tungsten metal used for density)


Summary: Far heavier projectiles than normal bullets in the ME universe can be accelerated to Mach 14.6 with handheld weaponry, so regular bullets are in all likelihood much faster. Methods exist to get around Mach 264 - 349 (without factoring in Andromeda).


Tangentially related is that you unfortunately can’t really get Kinetic Energy as feats for this, normally it would be viable but statements exist in plenty of entries, even the one that gives the relativistic statement to begin with that shots have lighter mass when fired to allow for such speed, so that kinda nips it in the bud and makes it nigh impossible to get numbers on.


Anyway, as for scaling to this, Shepard has his own feat of dodging a point blank gunshot. As a mini Q&A bit on this in particular, the dodge is just off camera if you frame by frame it so an aim dodge is possible (period and comma keys while paused for the unaware). Though, you can hear two distinct gunshots in the clip. The second one misses entirely since Shepard is already ducking, but it’s likely he was already ducking due to dodging the first one. It’s overall likely good as a feat, but not needed overall. Grayson as a Reaper vessel has a direct, objective bullet dodge (Shepard’s never fought him, but as pointed out his implants are quoted as similar to Saren’s, who Shepard has defeated). Other characters like Liara and Miranda among many others have their own that should be valid, so overall Mass Effect as a verse is a go for some characters to be bullet timers in context.


Now, as mentioned in the feats section, during Shepard’s infiltration of a Geth Dreadnought in ME3, Shepard has to get out of the barrel of the ship as it fires and in gameplay, you can run alongside it at fairly comparable speed. Said guns are quite fast, Alliance Dreadnoughts are said to move at 1.3% light speed (283 km/s in ME1, though this seems to have been ignored). We know guns scale in speed proportional to the gun length/size due to this codex entry and assorted barrel extension weapon mods that are noted to increase the velocity of a given projectile in the descriptions. This is relevant since the Geth Dreadnought is stated to be about 30% larger than Alliance Dreadnoughts and this was explicitly the main battery of the ship. Now, this wasn’t the full distance of the battery so it’s possible the shell hadn’t fully accelerated, but being somewhere in that ballpark should be viable overall. 


Other stupidity involving Mass Effect weaponry


The M-490 and Reaper Blackstar are blackhole creating weapons quoted as creating singularities, with the former being quoted as being of near-infinite mass. A similar biotic ability is frequently quoted as having near-infinite mass across the novels. Anything that we can get out of it is also gonna be a huge outlier no matter what because black hole feats are whacky and people usually die immediately to them anyways, at least in the books, so lol.


Now the M-920 Cain on the other hand, the end mission of 3 has Shepard take out a Hades Cannon, which appears to be a smaller Destroyer Reaper repurposed as an anti-air gun. Even these smaller Reapers have taken a solid beating from multiple ships to bring down, the issue being however that you’re firing the Cain projectile into the interior of the cannon rather than destroying it through armour/shield penetration. That alone should really make this an open and shut case since you aren’t damaging shields or exterior armour in any way (same applies with the Human Reaper, you only ever target its weak points to do anything resembling meaningful damage). You’ll be noticing a running theme here that narratively there should be no reason that Shepard should be able to fight Reapers one on one without major support, as shown in the linked example. 


Basically;



Or it’s just the ending being a massive rush job and they didn’t think it through lol 


Lightspeed and assorted faster speeds


There's a good number of feats that can be used for extremely high speed arguments. Geth can think and communicate at light speed, and the Human Reaper's Brain is said to crunch “unheard amounts of data” within nanoseconds. Even Alliance VI can do similar (the VI in this mission becomes EDI). Whether or not Shepard could reasonably would scale to these given Geth are one of the more common enemies, the Human Reaper was the final boss of ME2, Saren’s consciousness was linked with Sovereign at the end of ME1, and anyone who's played ME2 will tell you Harbinger loves assuming direct control over Collectors (Don’t try using data transfer over interstellar distances as a speed feat or anything like that. The process is done by Quantum Entanglement, which in series means speed is irrelevant), you’ll notice however that most of these only count towards thinking and processing, nothing about actual movement speed, with few being actual reaction speeds. Mass Effect lacks Ki/Chakra Universal Energy System rules that would let people scale that way either. Legion in the second link does also say that in a bit of a robotic manner that humans are not capable of the same, same as the final VI link, and with EDI saying she reacts much faster than organics. And in a bit of a more comedic manner, Legion has gaming suspensions based on having reactions too fast for organics. Truly, we look at things from all angles. Most feats on this level get suffixed with “by the way nobody organic scales to this lmao”, the codex for GARDIAN lasers says this as well, so it’s pretty clear lightspeed is not intended. Best you could do is an unused Codex entry that AIs react “hundreds of times faster”, though this won’t be factored into anything given it’s not in the game.


As a small side note, there is a nanosecond statement from the book Nexus Uprising (Chapter 15), but the direct quote is 

“The salarian splayed his hands. “Let go,” he said, calmer than he thought he’d be. His brain ran thousands of kilometers a second, no, a nanosecond. He knew what this looked like. What it’d end with.” 


Pretty clearly an exaggeration from a literal nobody in the grand scheme of the series and not worth too much.


Does Shepard scale to Reapers?


Nope


As pointed out in the durability section, Shepard survives a beam from the Reaper Harbinger, though they sustained major injuries and could barely walk. Still, pretty good as a feat, so what would it get for numbers? Estimates vary in universe, but the lowest end estimates are 132-454 Kilotons. Also mentions dwarfing an Everest-class Dreadnought’s main gun, with Sir Isaac Newton being the deadliest son of a bitch in space worth 38 Kilotons and are quoted as requiring 3, reliably 4 Dreadnoughts to deal with full scale Reapers. Another quote has them get up to "Megaton scale". This is supported pretty frequently as well:



Harbinger is the largest Reaper, and as mentioned, gun length is a determining factor for weapon speed and power, so he should be comparable to this level of firepower. Overall consistent, but as you may have guessed from this being a Q&A section, it ain’t what it’s chalked up to be.


See, you’ll notice in the original feat that it cuts to white right before the beam actually strikes Shepard, meaning it can’t be confirmed if he was struck by it directly. The rest of the charge sequence also shows other Alliance soldiers, tanks, and aircraft being immediately one-shotted by Harbinger, and it’s possible for squadmates to die instantly as well. Tank/Starfighter scaling is strange, there are ways to argue for and against it even if they don’t pack much for feats, but earlier in the game you can die to the Rannoch Reaper from full health. Same for later on Earth. These aren’t even full sized reapers either, rather smaller Destroyer variants. The first codex entry linked further above also mentions dreadnoughts, the largest ship type for non-Reaper forces, have never survived a direct hit from a reaper beam. Said beams are shown effortlessly taking out whole cruisers and dreadnoughts in one shot numerous times throughout the series. Now, Shepard is hit by the beam in some regard, that’s undeniable given his injuries for the ending and even then it isn’t impossible for it to be a direct hit anyways, though point of impact varies between versions. Vanilla game, he’s hit seemingly more directly, Extended Cut, from some distance away. Narratively however, Reapers far, far exceed the capabilities of everything else in the galaxy, and it doesn’t make a whole ton of sense for Shepard to survive a direct hit from a blast capable of destroying ships which common sense should indicate are far above Shepard in durability.


So tl;dr survives it in some form, though impact location is disputable and realistically shouldn’t scale to the highest numbers via generally how strong Reapers are portrayed in-universe. Overall, we have dismissed this claim


This can also be debunked by just saying he wasn’t using his full firepower also but what’s that compared to some good ol’ agenda pushing lol


The Crucible/Citadel exploding


In what is somehow far from the only thing that is silly about ME3’s ending, we have the feat of Shepard being able to survive the destruction of the Crucible. In the best outcome for the Destroy ending, Shepard, while on death’s door and with his cybernetics destroyed (Star Child warns this will happen, and the initial energy wave that destroys all the Synthetics on Earth happens before the Crucible explodes), is in some way caught inside the blast in the Crucible. Shepard does indeed survive, they’re shown breathing at the end, a defunct Bioware forum post calls it a "Shepard survives" ending. Same post references the player love interest not placing Shepard’s name on the memorial board in the Normandy being meant to allude to this, as opposed to Control and Synthesis where they do and Shepard dies outright. There is a Destroy ending where he dies, but so does everything else on Earth and everything else caught in the Crucible’s path, so it’s not much to work on.

And that’s really all she wrote when it comes to this. Shepard can just survive a giant ass explosion and shockwave at the end of the game if you play your cards right. There’s really nothing wrong with this feat in particular. Now, the explosion part of the feat is pretty much impossible to get a proper number on. The explosion is likely coming from the Crucible, which is far detached from where Shepard is at this point.


The shockwave it produces, on the other hand, is actually more conclusive as a feat, the RGB wave does display concussive force, since you can see it pushing some Reapers and assorted starship debris, and the origin point is also much more definitively in the same room Shepard, which is the best way to get numbers for this. The calc for this is already in Shepard’s durability section


Does hacking work on Shepard?


Hoh boy. The hacking component of the match


So, on paper, what is Cortana/Joyeuse able to do? (Because spoilers if you haven’t been paying attention yeah she’s fucking slam dunking the AI companions category lmao). The Invasion skill in Andromeda, Peebee’s in particular, is said to be hacking related and works by firing darts that contain a program that acts as a debuff to enemy defense. A few of Shepard’s equipment upgrades are noted as having to involve VI assistance, so it’s likely those can get messed with as well. VIs are even said to be inferior to AIs in general, so they’d not hold out for very long. But that’s just some small time things, the real crux comes from hacking cybernetics, the actual things keeping Shepard together due to being rebuilt with them heavily. So what’s the scoop on that?


To start, no, there’s not a mind control chip implanted in Shepard of any sort to just instantly hack into and win, this is explicitly stated in both ME2 and ME3 and a fairly important note for Miranda’s character that she feels guilt over wanting to add in such a chip and rob Shepard of his free will. However, there comes a small and otherwise unimportant sidequest in Andromeda. In the mission The Firefighters, it involves Alain, a victim of the Overlord AI from the titular ME2 DLC having his implants hacked. He has spinal implants due to a nervous system infection that he needs to walk. He says that while they still work, he's stuck for a few hours to sync them, with the peaceful outcome of the mission requiring the creation of new software to fix them.


Otherwise, SAM in Andromeda is able to shut down Ryder’s heart and later greatly impair him to where he can barely move when taken over by Archon, but this is only a feature for SAM and Ryder due to how the two are integrated together far more than EDI and Shepard are, who can only really monitor Shepard’s vital signs and metabolism rather than outright modify. These are not comparable instances and not something that can be replicated in the event EDI is hacked.


Still, anyone who knows the plot of Overlord knows that Shepard is seemingly hacked during one sequence at the end of DLC after interacting with a computer. Might sound like a done deal, but it's lessened by the fact that he’s just being put into a virtual environment. The evidence? The objective marker right after this happens lol (and quest log as well). Legion in ME3 later compares entering the virtual Geth consensus with this event. Additionally, Shepard outright fights the Overlord AI later in the DLC while still under its effects, meaning this instance isn’t mind control and at worst means Shepard can simply fight back.


If we jump back into Halo for a minute, Jega, a Sangeheili that visibly has a number of cyborg and robotic parts, is fought during Infinite and they don’t even consider this as an option. Even though Edge of Dawn shows he can be tracked through his implants while Joyeuse is in a security system, they do nothing to hack into him. And while free wall hacks is something that would be appreciated, he already has similar, so it’s not needed.


So, this leaves us with a few explanations:


  • Option 1: Shepard’s main implants, as in the ones that comprise most of his body, cannot be hacked, period. While Andromeda was obviously created long after 2 and the writers of MEA may not have had it in mind, it shows that while Overlord can hack implants, Shepard was unable to be hacked despite a golden opportunity.


  • Option 2: Even if Shepard’s implants are hackable, he’s still able to fight if they become compromised, removing this as an effective option.


  • Option 3: Chief and whoever his current AI companion is are incapable of hacking cybernetics remotely. While he can insert AI to nearby objects able to hold them, which happens all the time in the games, it’s gonna be extremely difficult to do during a gunfight and is not a strategy they have employed. This is further compounded as the circumstances behind Alain’s implants getting hacked are never elaborated on, and Shepard himself was only ever hacked from direct contact.


Now, is there any evidence that Jega is susceptible to hacks? Absolutely not. Neither is there any evidence of such for Shepard. The upgrades that affect Shepard’s implants do only relate to the skin, bones, and muscles and some of Shepard’s implants that seem to be attached to his spine don’t even remotely resemble the one used in Andromeda. We cannot call this match based on what hasn’t been shown to affect him.


tl;dr while Cortana/Joyeuse may have some ways to lower Shepard’s defense and cause a bit of mayhem in his armour due to similar abilities in the ME series, they either don’t have a way to infect his cybernetic parts, can’t meaningfully do anything if they do, or possess no easy means of accessing the hacking option in the first place.


Wtf Script jumpscare


Verdict spoilers of course


Verdict

Uploading: 6690816 of 8163095 bytes uploaded.


Oh boy, are there a lot of moving parts to this match


Stats

Before starting, it’s perhaps unsurprising that both sides are depicted as extremely grounded universes. As is typically the case with grounded verses, they rarely depict characters as insanely strong, which comes with a mountain of anti-feats from assorted characters:


Chief Anti-Feats;


Shepard Anti-Feats;


Neither of these lists comes remotely close to either how many anti-feats there are, nor how high some of their feats can get. Still, silly feats always seem to slip through the cracks and writers will be writers and do silly writer things, just as the gods of versus decree. All this to say that any anti-feats have similar leeway, and we’ll be sticking to feats that are (probably) agreeable, so basically no Ship feats, Reaper beams, nukes that nobody survives, etc.


So without further adieu;


Strength/Durability



So, Chief AP. A number of feats exist in the two to three digit tons TNT ranges. A few feats could get higher if surface area didn’t gut them, but the main thing we can focus on is Didact surviving inside the Composer while it was atomizing a city of seven million people. While the timeframe is a bit nebulous, statements of it happening over about 75 seconds give it a level of firepower of 100 Kilotons TNT.



On Shepard’s side of things, his best scaling comes from slaying the Human Reaper. Its core is surprisingly durable, being more than able to survive the enormous Collector base exploding. It’s a complicated calc, but the durability of it ends up getting 9 Kilotons


This edit was gonna be way better but I forgot to plan ahead for asset gathering I’m sorry lol


Shepard also has feats of surviving an enormous shockwave while near death, also capable of getting into the kilotons range.


100 Kilotons vs 9 Kilotons sounds like a pretty open and shut case towards Chief, but there’s a catch. We’ve discussed it pretty thoroughly, but Chief shouldn’t fully scale to Didact. The Composer had far more of an effect on Chief and Didact is always shown as far stronger than Spartans. Meanwhile, the Reaper core survived a somewhat lowballed explosion radius, and while not the only weak point in the fight, can also be very damaged as well, with Shepard having made it damaged in the first place. Upscaling and downscaling is going to be a contentious topic to the extent of both, but in the end, the Composer feat being a decent bit higher should very likely favour the Master Chief in this category



Speed


Speed is a bit of an interesting case. Both verses have no shortage of feats involving bullet dodging between the characters themselves and a score of comparable characters that are capable of the same.


To start, Chief himself has intercepted Beam Rifle shots, a rifle with a muzzle velocity of Mach 10.6. There’s other feats of Spartans that can also dodge the same rifle to varying degrees of speed, Spartan tier Prelates are able to block hypersonic projectiles, fodder Armigers being able to deflect Magnum rounds and numerous others feats that are of a range.



A good and consistent level of speed to be sure, and Mass Effect has many of its own bullet reaction feats. Characters like Shepard, Miranda, Grayson, and a number of other assorted characters can dodge or react to bullets. The difference comes from the context of both universes and the actual speed of projectiles, which heavily leans in Shepard's favour, with mass accelerators being able to move at Relativistic speeds.




It’s still not completely hopeless. In terms of actual mobility, this is a wash for Chief. Grappling hooks, assorted jetpacks and thruster boosts are a lot more than what Shepard can bring to the table, as well as higher running speeds due to Shepard lacking anything in that department. Shepard’s only option would be Biotic Charge, and that can only be used without a target if you assume it works like how Tela Vasir's version does, which has nothing supporting such.


Still, while Chief’s mobility tools outdoes what Shepard can bring to the battle, Shepard’s sheer number gap for reactions should put this in his favour



Abilities & Arsenal



Those of you who have read the previous (non-April Fools lol) blog, Zelda vs Nina, will have seen a tag on it that was made shortly after its creation about compositing. Shepard is in a similar boat where they do not have full access to all of their abilities with any one given class. In what is in hindsight probably what we should’ve done for that blog to begin with, we will be taking a bit of a more unique approach to this topic in particular; we’re gonna be running these all as little mini sections and tallying up how John would fare against all of the abilities of different classes to see how he stacks up. But before that, we’ll talk about;


Shepard vs Chief’s Toolset


So to usher a decently large elephant out of the room, Shepard against energy weapons. Kett tech uses plasma weaponry (typically said to be bullets encased in plasma) that are stronger against barriers. Plasma in Halo is usually shown to be in the thousands of degrees range, decently above what Shepard’s resistances are. That being said, it’s likely that Mass Effect shields would be under the same drawbacks as Halo shields, so plasma is a strong tool in general. Remnant tech also uses lasers that can be shielded, not like Chief has a huge assortment of them anyways.


Alright, now for the rest: 

  • Shepard has no counter to assorted EMP devices like plasma pistol overcharge shots or the Power Drain, similar abilities exist in Mass Effect. Thought they aren’t likely to shut his suit or cybernetics down, the shields very much are vulnerable

  • Shepard has a ton of class and universal abilities for defense boosting. While some of Chief’s tools like Invincibility and Bubble Shield are strong and should likely block anything Shepard has, they are one time use. Still, the Drop Shield is not, and has a good amount of defensive utility

  • Carbine rounds have equivalents in Mass Effect via the likes of Sledgehammer and Polonium rounds. Although they slow it for a time, the effect can be healed through with Medi-Gel.

  • Radar Jamming is worthless, similar effects can be countered in ME1 with basic upgrades and Shepard has far more potent resistance for what little it’s worth

  • Active Camo is worthless, Shepard has attachments able to see through invisibility

  • Chief has some auto turrets, but Halo 3 shows some of them can change allegiance (this isn’t likely hacking related, but they don’t have hacking resistance regardless)

  • As discussed, Shepard is much less mobile overall

  • Mass Effect isn’t foreign to antimatter on its own, but the only shown instance of Shepard interacting with it was on the Geth Heretic station, where it caused an explosion that would’ve killed him in one of the mission’s outcomes. This obviously isn’t even direct antimatter contact and it would’ve killed him regardless, so this would be a reliable option to deal with Shepard.


Cortana has been covered already


Alright, now that that’s done, let’s do Shepard’s kit


Master Chief vs (The) Combat Class Abilities


  • Disruptor ammo is strong against shields and Chief has no stun resistance

  • Incendiary/Cryo ammo stops more potent regeneration than Biofoam. The latter is particularly strong, Spartans have no defense against instant freeze attacks as shown in Halo Wars

  • Adrenaline Rush furthers the speed gap even more


Master Chief vs Tech Class Abilities

Shared:

  • Incinerate is plasma based and a good option overall. Overload hits shields hard

  • Sabotage overheats weapons, which a lot of plasma weaponry should be susceptible to, at least for some time. Some plasma weapons have fairly quick heat venting, however, and would likely equate to a simply reload


Engineer:

  • Combat drone/turret is a replenishable summon, but Chief has similar also. They may also be prone to getting hacked

  • Cryo Blast is very strong, flash freezes enemies and Chief has no counter for the same reasons as Cryo ammo

  • Neural Shock is a very powerful tool, Spartans have no resistance to nerve hijacking as shown with Halo: The Flood and the entire plot of Saturn Eating His Son, opening up Chief to anything Shepard feels like that day in particular


Infiltrator:

  • Cloak is countered, Chief has many options against it such as threat sensor

  • Has Cryo Ammo, Incinerate, Sabotage and Disruptor Ammo


Master Chief vs Biotic Class Abilities

Shared:

  • A whole assortment of telekinetic Biotic abilities (Lift, Pull, Throw, etc.) Chief simply has no resistance to, such as with showings like Didact. While he’s gotten better armour since Halo 4, Chief has no implication of gaining resistances

  • While Geas lets Chief somewhat resist the Composer ripping him apart atomically, Warp (in ME1) is specified to work Subatomically. It’s also yet another method of stopping healing

  • Stasis isn’t countered, lets Shepard get away from bad situations, heal, rearm, etc.


(Note that while Didact’s telekinesis is never elaborated on in terms of mechanics, it doesn’t change much. Chief still has no shown telekinesis resistances)


Adept:

  • Singularity lmao, Shepard drops it anywhere near him and Chief can’t do anything


Vanguard:

  • Has Cryo and Incendiary ammo


Sentinel:

  • Has Sabotage

  • Has Neural Shock


Master Chief vs Universal Abilities


  • Armour Piercing Ammo - While what counts as “armour” is debatable, a general damage boost is welcome

  • Dominate - Although it being used as a Jedi Mind Trick type of hax is up in the air, as Shepard hasn’t shown to use it like that, it’s a very potent tool. Chief has never fought mind manipulation before

  • Energy Drain - Goes uncountered

  • Flashbangs - Chief should resist

  • Neural Shock - Though ME2 exclusive, gives a powerful tool to any class

  • Decoy - Though Shepard’s has more utility, both have a similar ability

  • All the Biotic abilities Chief doesn’t counter


Any unmentioned ability is unnoteworthy to mention, is a class ability already mentioned, or Chief has a similar ability. It should also be noted that while not completely universal across the classes, there are a fair number of defensive boosts and defensive debuffs for opponents.


So where does it leave us? 


Soldier Class - 1 very strong option (Cryo ammo), Disruptor is solid as well

Engineer Class - 2 very strong options (Cryo Blast, Neural Shock), Incinerate is a decent option

Infiltrator Class - 1 very strong option (Cryo ammo), a few good options overall

The three Biotic classes - Many, many powerful options between all three (telekinetics, Neural Shock, etc.)


So every class has at least one really good option, all have an overall good set of tools, biotics in general are crazy strong. And not to mention, a lot of universal abilities that grant a number of strong abilities no matter the class, even if only one can be used in gameplay at any given time script had multiple being used at once due to creative liberties and because it was cool shush.


For Chief, he has an instant win option in the form of antimatter, EMP is also a good tool overall. So what’s the issue? Simple; availability. Chief will not have these on hand at all times. Sure, his luck may go his way and he’ll find them somewhere, but Shepard, regardless of class chosen, will have all of his tools on him at any given time. 


Now, as for arsenal, it’s effectively the same boat. They have a lot of weapons for a lot of situations, heavier weapons, plasma weaponry, and having some of their main win-cons (anti-matter, flash freezing, etc.). Shepard also has healing that can’t be stopped with a number of John’s abilities, which helps heavily.


So while Chief has some good defensive options and wincons, Shepard overall has more and better access to abilities and weaponry.



Assorted Secondary Factors

Experience


It’s no surprise that both fighters are expert soldiers, possessing long service careers and harsh training. They’re both regulars of the “group of highly trained enemies” soloers club, have partaken in hundreds of engagements, thousands dead in their wake, have every military award in the book and a knack for overcoming even the most impossible odds. The only major factor is service length, where Master Chief simply has the edge. Not only is John older (~49 years old vs ~31 years), Shepard enlists around the age of 18, whereas John got conscripted at the age of 6. Accounting for Chief’s four and a half years in cryosleep and Shepard’s two years being dead, Shepard has been a soldier for around 11 years compared to Chief’s almost 39, putting John-117 in the lead in this category.


AI Companions


So not much of a shock, Cortana wins here lol. EDI simply lacks any sort of quantifiable numbers for hacking feats, while Cortana has both better showings of defending herself from hostiles and for hacking into databases. 128,000 bit encryption key deciphering alone is an insane feat, and weaker AIs being able to crack a mind boggling 64 Zettabyte encryption solidify her supremacy in this category. And while EDI’s junk data flooding isn’t a bad option on paper, data storage being a problem Halo AI have to deal with, she doesn’t have the potency to really capitalize on it. Other AIs in Halo can fight off almost the exact level of data EDI has shown capable of dishing out without much trouble. EDI’s best option would be to shut Cortana out of her system, and when the AI equivalent of running away is your best hope in a fight, it doesn’t paint a good picture


Cortana/Joyeuse continue sweeping the AI companions category


Master Chief


Advantages:

  • Leads by a bit in AP/Durability

  • Defensive options can briefly block a good chunk of Shepard’s tools

  • Far more experienced

  • Many more mobility options

  • Shepard has no defense against Antimatter weaponry

  • Cortana > EDI

  • Steve Downes and Jen Taylor

  • Bungie era Halo

  • Old Halo trailers absolutely slapped


Abilities comparisons:

  • Both have and can see through invisibility

  • Both have and would be susceptible to EMPs

  • Though Shepard’s has more utility, both have holographic decoys

  • All manner of different tripmines and drone summons


Disadvantages:

  • Immensely slower reaction speeds

  • Is highly vulnerable to a number of common abilities through all of Shepard’s classes (instant freeze attacks, neural shock, biotics)

  • Inferior weaponry

  • Healing from Biofoam can be stopped by many of Shepard’s abilities and weapons

  • Post Bungie era Halo

  • Microsoft didn’t let Secret Level lock the fuck in


Commander Shepard


Advantages:

  • Biotics

  • Far faster in reaction speeds

  • All classes have at least one extremely powerful ability against Chief, many have multiple

  • Superior weaponry

  • Healing is keeping him in a fight longer, Chief can only slow it briefly with a single weapon

  • Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale

  • Bioware

  • I don't know where else to put this


Abilities comparisons:

  • Both have and can see through invisibility

  • Both have and would be susceptible to EMPs

  • Though Shepard’s has more utility, both have holographic decoys

  • All manner of different tripmines and drone summons


Disadvantages:

  • At a small AP/Durability disadvantage

  • Nowhere close to as mobile

  • Gets obliterated by antimatter weaponry

  • Not as experienced

  • Cortana slams EDI in a fight

  • Post Dragon Age Inquisition Bioware

  • ME3’s original ending, that shit is fucking bad when you read into it lmfao


So a bit of an interesting match. Master Chief on paper has a few more advantages, but when you look into it, Chief may have better AP and durability, but not to the extent to where he can brick wall the entire match. He has instant win antimatter and strong defensive options, but most of them are not going to be on hand at all times. He’s more mobile, but Shepard can realistically dodge nearly all of John’s arsenal. Cortana is stronger, but she has limited use cases


Conversely, Shepard’s advantages are much more impactful. Chief falls prey to a number of common abilities no matter the class used, especially for ammo types since Mass Effect rounds travel much faster than those in Halo to where Chief can’t dodge them. The durability gap can be lessened from a few debuffs. John doesn’t have as much staying power due to healing getting negated. Shepard has an uphill battle ahead of him, but it’s far from one that’s insurmountable.


It was a great journey to get all the way to the end. We’ve cycled back and forth on many topics. By no means is this a day at the beach for either and a very close match in general. But all in all, this is the way the matchup ends.



Next Time & Blog Updates


Alright, so next time is-



ATTENTION ALL VOTERS! YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION IS MANDATORY FOR THIS SPECIAL BROADCAST STRAIGHT FROM SUPER EART-



Huh, weird. You should definitely click that inscrutable, mysterious link above, it’d be crazy if it was like, a bonus blog or something.


Anyways this isn’t going to be long. The production of this blog obviously took a really long time to make (don’t shotgun massive multimedia franchises solo, kids) and while it was going on, a few back end decisions were made. For those of you who remember waaaaaay back in the original blogs I made, the last remaining match that was initially planned and not eventually released was Marth vs Erdrick. Sad to say that it has been cancelled, there was simply no motivation to work on it with way too much material and workload to cover, so apologies for anyone who was anticipating that.


As of right now, however, I can confirm three more matchup blogs are slated for production. Don’t take this as conclusive “I’m throwing in the towel and stopping blog making after they get completed”, just that a lot of plans are based on if I have an idea for a match and I want to cover them (and obviously if I have time to do it). If I end up planning on doing any more, it’ll probably be a future post blog update post


Oh yeah you’re probably wondering what’s next, let's actually drop that one, shall we?



Sources & Credits

Master Chief

Games:

  • Halo: Combat Evolved

  • Halo 2 

    • Halo 2 Anniversary

  • Halo 3

  • Halo 3: ODST

  • Halo 4

    • Spartan Ops

  • Halo 5

  • Halo Infinite

  • Halo Wars

  • Halo Wars 2

  • Spartan Assault

  • Spartan Strike

  • Fireteam Raven


Books:

  • Fall of Reach

  • The Flood

  • First Strike

  • Ghosts of Onyx

  • The Cole Protocol

  • Contact Harvest

  • Evolutions

  • Cryptum

  • Silentium

  • Glasslands

  • The Thursday War

  • Hunters in the Dark

  • New Blood

  • Envoy

  • Smoke and Shadow

  • Last Light

  • Divine Wind

  • Fractures

    • Shadow of Intent

    • Saint’s Testimony

  • Battleborn

  • Meridian Divide

  • Point of Light

  • Oblivion

  • Epitaph

  • Outcasts

  • Empty Throne

  • Legacy of Onyx

  • Silent Storm

  • Shadows of Reach

  • Edge of Dawn


Guides:

  • Halo: The Essential Visual Guide

  • Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo

  • Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide

  • Official Spartan Field Manual

  • Halo Encyclopedia

    • 2009 edition

    • 2022 edition

  • Halo Warfleet


Comics/Motion Comics:

  • Fall of Reach - Invasion (Issue 3)

  • Halo Wars: Genesis

  • The Halo Graphic Novel

  • Helljumpers (Issues 3, 4, 5)

  • Uprising (Issues 1, 2)

  • Bloodlines (Issues 1, 4, 5)

  • Collateral Damage (Issue 2)

  • The Return

  • The Mona Lisa

  • Initiation (Issues 1, 2)

  • Escalation (Issues 7, 9, 10, 21)

  • Lone Wolf (Issue 3, 4)

  • Tales from Slipspace

  • Rise of Atriox (Issue 2)


Movies/Shows/Trailers:

  • Fall of Reach

  • Landfall

  • Starry Night

  • Deliver Hope

  • Halo Legends


Websites:

  • Halo Waypoint

  • Halo Waypoint Chronicles

    • Saturn Devouring His Son

    • Battle for the Academy Part 1

  • Bungie.net

  • Official Halo Twitter account


Other:


Commander Shepard

Games/DLC:

  • Mass Effect

    • Bring Down the Sky

  • Mass Effect 2

    • Normandy Crash Site

    • Firewalker Pack

    • Lair of the Shadow Broker

    • Overlord

    • Arrival

    • Kasumi: Stolen Memory

    • Zaeed: The Price of Revenge

  • Mass Effect 3

    • Leviathan

    • Citadel

    • Omega

  • Mass Effect: Andromeda

  • Mass Effect: Legendary Edition


Books:

  • Revelation

  • Ascension

  • Retribution

  • Andromeda: Nexus Uprising

  • Andromeda: Initiation

  • Andromeda: Annihilation


Comics:

  • Incursion

  • Homeworlds (Issue 4)

  • Redemption (Issues 3,  4)

  • Foundation (Issues 2, 5, 7, 13)

  • Discovery (Issue 2)


Movies/Trailers:


Websites:


Other Credits

Comments

  1. DrunkGiraffeFebruary 2, 2026 at 11:20 PM

    Excellent Blog! Love to see MK getting covered next time.

    ReplyDelete

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