Krogan Gladiator Platinum Solo

The Krogan Gladiator finally conquers Platinum all by herself against the Kett on Firebase Sandstorm! It was a lengthy affair, but Kandros and I don’t care as long as the mission was successful!

Objectives were Retrieval, Devices, and Devices.



* Pull: 1 Point
* Annihilation Field: 4A 5B 6B
* Nova: 4A 5B 6A
* Offensive Biotics: 4A 5A 6B
* Rage: 4A 5A 6A
* Shorty Siphon I with Barrel and Smart Choke
* Kishock Harpoon Gun III with Barrel and Heavy Spare Clip
* Sniper Rifle Amp III and Targeting VI III
* Multicapacitor

Gameplay notes and build link: goo.gl/1aKchJ

This was a really hard Platinum solo to complete. The Krogan Gladiator excels in close combat, as you can see with how she performed on Wave 1. From Wave 2 through 6, however, her skills became much more situational. That’s because units like the Berserkers (flak cannon), Behemoths (red energy ball), Blaze Hydra (right-hand advantage busting gun), and Ascendants (orb attack) forced me to be constantly on the move. It was difficult for me to stay in one position too long before I was overrun.

Wave 1
With Annihilation Field set to Vortex, any red bar entering Building 8 would be instantly neutralized. It was like having two Electric Barricades with me at both entrances to the room. For shielded and health enemies like the Destined, Anointed, or Pariah, I could render them harmless with the Shorty or Nova. Then, I could finish them off with my gun, Krogan Hammer, or Pull followed by melee. Repositioning to the roof or back of Building 37, I could use the Kishock to snipe any remaining enemies safely behind cover.

Waves 2 through 6
So, with Waves 2 through 6, my strategy again was to run away from the enemies so they would be coming in from one direction, either from the rooftop position or the back of Building 37. With the Kishock, I could headshot any Destined, Anointed, Observer, or Saboteur. For the Anointed and Destined, I could also pull and hammer them if all I could manage was a body shot. Observers were also a priority target, and I would leave the Saboteurs mostly alone unless they were isolated and I had time to line up a harpoon shot. If I heard the tell-tale sounds of a Soned spinning up, an Observer beam charging, or Energy Drain being prepared, I was quick to run into cover.

An alternate Platinum solo strategy could have been to go around the map hunting just Destined and Anointed to deplete the wave budget. I didn’t want to pursue this since it would have taken more time and more failed attempts in order to perfect this new plan of action.

Powers and Weapons
I went with Annihilation Field 5B Biotic Wind so the Gladiator could move more quickly throughout the map. Rage wasn’t always active and the Gladiator gets no damage resistance from evading like the other characters I’ve soloed Platinum with: Asari Sentinel, Human Juggernaut, Batarian Scrapper, and Batarian Vanguard. I did feel like the 25% boost in movement speed helped with my survivability. Damage Attractor 5A would be more useful with a group and if I could engage all enemies close up like on Wave 1, but that wasn’t happening in the later waves.

Nova specced for Anti-Shields came in handy because one cast would completely drop the shields off of an Anointed or Destined. With their neutralized by Seismic Nova and Vortex, I could then dispatch them with a pull and melee or with the Shorty. I used this several times when an Anointed would re-spawn along my escape path. Since I was running around so much, the long, 18-second cooldown on Nova also wasn’t much of a problem. Shield-Powered Nova might be good with a team, but on a solo mission, Seismic Nova was the way to go.

With Offensive Biotics, I went with Power Damage 4A and Exposure 5A. These two evolutions were critical in allowing me to take down shielded enemy shields with one Nova cast. Biotic Warrior allowed me to destroy the Ascendant’s Orb if I cast Pull and followed up with a charged Kishock blast. If I had a Sniper Rifle Amp IV and a Targeting Amp IV, I could have dropped the orb without having to use Biotic Warrior, but I was all out after my other failed missions (you lose your equipped consumables from your inventory after Wave 4).

With Rage, I wasn’t going to be meleeing much except on Wave 1 and on pulled targets, so I went with Resistance 4A and Unstoppable 5A. I did choose Berserker 6A because triggering Rage on low health was more important than an extra 20% health and shields with Inspirational 6B. Getting into Rage in dicey situations gave me damage resistance and reduced health and shield regeneration delay. This stacked with my Multicapacitor equipment to get my shields back into action more quickly during the match.

Not much to say about the Kishock Siphon and Shorty Siphon that hasn’t already been said. They are the among the best weapons in the game. I did need the Smart Choke on the Shorty in order hit targets at medium range. It was also helpful that the Krogan Gladiator has a high carry weight (55), because my recharge times were already long enough with Annihilation Field active. I didn’t want to have to wait a fraction of a second longer on Nova or Pull if the Kishock and Shorty pushed me below a 100% recharge rate.

Objectives
Among my many failed attempts, I had that got all the way to Wave 6 twice before this run. The first featured Wave 6 Hack which I’m deeming impossible for the Gladiator. An earlier failed run featured a successful Wave 2 Hack, but there was no way I was going to hold off three Berserkers, a Behemoth, and an Ascendant from joining me in the circle. The second Wave 6 failure was with Devices. The first device was on the rooftop (Building 37) and the second was in Building 6. I didn’t kite enemies from my position after disabling the first device. I thought, "Hey, it’s close by, I have time to disable the second device." The Behemoth and Berserkers had other plans. So, when Wave 6 Devices came up on my successful run, I tried to be more patient. Still, I almost failed on the first and fourth devices when I was staggered by a Berserker Flak Cannon and the Ascendant’s Orb. Thankfully this time, luck was on my side, and I had time to recover and finish the objectives. With my other successful runs, extraction was all about running around the map until the 40 second mark, when I began my slow approach to the LZ.

I said that I would be taking some time off of Platinum Solos at the beginning of the year, and now I mean it. I still want to do a Kineticist and Salarian Operator run one day, but a break is sorely needed now. Months ago, I was able to get to Wave 5 with both of those characters, so I know it’s do-able. Failure is the best teacher, and Kandros sure knows how often I’ve failed. With my refined strategy and a lot of RNG-objective luck, I think those two runs will go more smoothly and more quickly than this run. Until then, please enjoy the first-ever Platinum Solo with the Krogan Gladiator!