Mass Effect Andromeda Best Starting Skills & Training Classes
Investing points in powers and passive skills in Mass Effect: Andromeda is something that can be modified for any game style. There are three main power trees – Biotics, Tech and Combat. Each one of them has 12×6 skill points to invest to. If you want to be as efficient as you can, be sure to check out the Pathfinder Profiles first, before you choose to invest any skill point. These pathfinder profiles have different unlocking levels. They heavily depend on the amount of points you invest into a specific skill tree. In this guide, we’re going to show you the best starting skills & trainings in Mass Effect Andromeda
Which training class to choose in ME: Andromeda
If you choose to customize your own character at the start of the game, you’ll spot the “Choose Training” option. It allows you to pick one of the six training options. Each one of them already has one starting power available, and two skills unlocked. This is not that big of a deal later on, when you have tons of skill points, but for the start, it somewhat limits you to the one specific power or pathfinder profile.
Once you gain access to the Tempest (the ship that takes you to any corner of the galaxy), you can re-spec at the re-spec station. This will remove all invested points, including the one from the starting power. However, it will not remove access to the unlocked skills; you’ll still have those two unlocked, and you won’t need to invest 9 skill points in a particular tree to unlock it.
| Name | Power | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Concussive Shot (Combat #2) – Fires a heat-seeking, high-impact round to knock down opponents. | Turbocharge (Combat #4) – Grants a massive short-term boost to weapon fire rate and thermal clip efficiency. Combat Fitness (Combat #11) – Grants increased durability and the option to carry more weapons into battle. |
| Biotic | Throw (Biotics #2) – Use your biotic powers to hurl an opponent through the air. | Singularity (Biotics #8) – Create a vortex that will trap and disable enemies caught in its field. Barrier (Biotics #10) – Bolster your defenses with a powerful biotic barrier. |
| Technician | Overload (Tech #1) – Unleash an electrostatic discharge that deals high damage to shields and synthetic enemies. Can chain to multiple targets. | Invasion (Tech #9) – Hack into your opponent’s armor and weapons, infecting them with a computer virus to weaken their defenses and even spread to nearby foes. Team Support (Tech #10) – Develop specialized technology to bolster the survivability of your entire squad. |
| Leader | Energy Drain (Tech #5) – Drain your target’s shields to replenish your own. Especially effective against synthetic enemies. | Annihilation (Biotics #6) – Weave a shifting aura of mass effect fields around you to slowly damage nearby foes. Team Support (Tech #10) – See above. |
| Scrapper | Charge (Biotics #3) – Launch yourself like a comet at opponents and regain a portion of your shields on impact. | Combat Fitness (Combat #11) – See above. Charge (Biotics #3) – See above. |
| Operative | Tactical Cloak (Tech #6) – Employ Light-bending technology to become invisible for a short duration. Gain a large damage bonus when you break cloak to attack. | Combat Fitness (Combat #11) – See above. Tactical Cloak (Tech #6) – See above. |
Pathfinder Profiles
This is where the importance of investing skill points into one tree or two trees, instead of 3 or more, becomes apparent. These pathfinder profiles that you unlock fairly early on in the game grant a significant boost and even unlock a new talent. The first rank requires at least 3-6 skill points invested into the specific tree.
| Name | Requirements | Rank 1 Unlocks | Special Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soldier | 6 in Combat | +10% Weapon Damage, Accuracy, Weapon Clip Size +2 Damage Resistance | Marksman’s Focus: Grants an escalating damage bonus for every target killed in a short time. |
| Engineer | 6 in Tech | +20% All Combo Damage, Tech Construct Health & Regeneration, Tech Construct Damage, Tech Restoration & Defense. | Combat Drone: A small drone improves recharge rate for tech powers and self-destruct with an EMP pulse if enemies get close. The improved recharge rate is lost after destruction. |
| Adept | 6 in Biotics | +15% Biotic Force, Biotic Area of Effect Damage & Radius +20% Biotic Effect Duration & Combo Radius | Biotic Echoes: Biotic combos can set off additional explosions on each enemy they touch. Biotic Jump & Evades: Instead of a jump-jet use biotics to jump and evade. |
| Sentinel | 3 in Biotics and Tech | +15% all Combo Damage +10% Tech Recharge Speed +20% Power Shield Cost Reduction, Power Restoration & Defense | Tech Armor: Absorbs a significant amount of whatever damage gets past shields. |
| Vanguard | 3 in Combat and Biotics | +20% Melee Damage, Power Shield Cost Reduction +10% Max Shields, Biotic Recharge Speed +50% Melee Force | Siphoning Strike: Melee Attacks restore shields. Biotic Jump & Evades: See above. |
| Infiltrator | 3 in Combat and Tech | +20% Weapon Accuracy & Stability, Tech Recharge Speed +10% Weapon Headshot/Weak Point Bonus | Battlefield Awareness: Observe enemies through walls when using a scope. Cloak Evades: While evading, a brief cloaking device is activated. |
| Explorer | 2 in Combat, Tech and Biotics | +5% Weapon Damage & Resistance +15% Tech Recharge Speed, Biotic Power Damage, Power Restoration & Defense | Biotic Blink: Evades allow you to quickly traverse a short distance, even seemingly passing through solid matter. |
Power Trio Combinations & Skill Builds
You can save your favorite power trio and use it during the fight. The small penalty that the new powers are put into immediate cool-down, which is not that big of a deal, considering the freedom it allows.
| Power Trio | Training /Skill Tree /Pathfinder Profile | Pros/Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Pull /Throw /Charge | Biotic, Scrapper /Biotics / Adept | Rather fun specs for early on. You can pull an enemy into the air, charge it, and fall down with an air strike. It doesn’t have any debuff skills.. |
| Overload /Energy Drain /Incinerate | Technician /Tech / Engineer | Suited for a medium range combat. Charged Overload is a rather powerful ability, that can even stun enemies. It can also get them while they are behind the cover. Energy Drain allows a bit more open gameplay, without the need to always be behind the cover. Incinerate is good for combo detonations. Engineer allows the fastest recharge times. Be sure not to remove pistol for any other range weapon. |
| Concussive Shot /Turbocharge /Flak Cannon | Security / Combat /Soldier | Strong single target build. Just like any other combat build, it relies heavily on weapon damage. Hence the need for the best weapon power called Turbocharge. Concussive Shot and Flak Cannon can be switched with something like Tactical Cloak for a brief relief. |
| Charge / Backslash / Flak Cannon | Scrapper /Biotics, Combat / Vanguard | Best for close combat. The Vanguard benefits allow decent melee presence, you just have to reach them. |
| Omni Grenade / Shockwave/ Singularity | Biotic / Biotics, Combat / Adept | Suited for AOE damage. The groups of enemies will go down easier. The down side is that there are not as many situations where they are grouped close to each other. |
