Asari Duelist and Salarian Operator Platinum Solos

Break’s over, and I’m back with a double feature of Platinum Solos, this time with the Asari Duelist and Salarian Operator!

Asari Duelist
The Duelist is another Ultra Rare character that you don’t see often in Platinum PUG lobbies. Back when Andromeda was more popular, there were several Platinum tier lists in which the Duelist was placed near or at the bottom. Well, I’d like to think that the Duelist not only is viable on Platinum, but can actually excel. She’s well suited for hit-and-run tactics, weakening crowds with Tech Combos, protecting herself and the team with Backlash, getting quickly to objectives with Charge and Biotic Blink, and taking out single non-boss targets.

Objectives: Triple Retrieval



Gameplay Notes and Build link: goo.gl/QCbe9k

• Backlash: 4A 5B
• Charge: 4B 5A 6B
• Lance: 3 points
• Offensive Biotics: 4A 5A 6B
• Barrier: 4A 5B 6B
• Rozerad Siphon V
• Rozerad Concussive I
• Multicapacitor
• Pistol Rail Amp III
• Disruptor Ammo III

Powers
With my Batarian Vanguard solo, I used Charge only as a last resort to get back some shields or to escape a tricky situation. The Asari Duelist, on the other hand, can employ Charge more frequently since she has Backlash and Biotic Blink to tank enemy fire or escape.

I used the latter liberally throughout the match to quickly navigate through the map and prevent the enemies from getting a read on me. I think she and the Human Guardian are the characters best suited for soloing Platinum aside from the stealth characters because of their teleport dash. Just remember, a jump dash will stop at obstacles. Evading while on the ground will cause you to blink through objects.

Both options for Rank 6 Backlash are not worth it, so I invested the points into Lance. It was my primary means over Charge to create Tech Combos from primed enemies.

Saving Barrier gives her a get out of jail free card when her health is low. And her melee offers immunity frames, something her melee’ing colleagues — the Krogan Gladiator and Batarian Vanguard — don’t have. Just be sure not to melee an enemy when an Ascendant is nearby. The time it takes to perform the melee animation is longer than the Ascendant’s sync-kill bubble animation. You will get picked up! Biotic blink also has a slightly longer animation than other characters evade. In previous attempts, I got hugged by the Ascendant several times while taking too long to blink off the roof.

Weapons and Loadout
On my initial attempts, I went with the Rozerad Siphon and Piranha Siphon (Smart Choke and Heavy Melee mods). The Piranha is great for chewing through armored targets like Berserkers and Behemoths, especially when I equipped Incendiary ammo. On paper, the Rozerad deals a lot of damage to armor, but it takes a long time to pump out 141 bullets compared to the 12 rounds in the Piranha. On the other hand, the Piranha takes longer to prime enemies than the Rozerad.

As the failures mounted, I began changing my weapon loadout. I still kept the Rozerad Siphon, but I experimented with the Inferno and Equalizer Concussive variants. I wanted some extra oomph when I took down enemies and an extra 800-1500 damage across a radius of 7.5m sounded good. Ultimately, I went with dual Rozerad pistols. I just got the Concussive variant and wanted to see if I could accurately target those weak points. On console, I think the key is not to hold down the firing button when performing the finishing shot. The Rozerad’s bloom, while not much, is significant enough to miss hitting weak points. Instead, pretend the Rozerad Concussive is a Phalanx and spam that fire button when the enemy has very little health yet. Single shot accuracy is much improved and you will have a better chance at creating that Biotic explosion. I‘ll be practicing this technique in future matches.

Finally, disruptor ammo was a great addition. Originally I went with shotgun and melee boosters but that only allowed me to handle single targets. Next, I equipped incendiary ammo; while it handled armor, it didn’t provide as much crowd-control as I desired. Disruptor ammo, on the other hand, stunned enemies I shot at, and tech combos left a residual electrical field which shocked anything walking through.

Objectives
Of all the enemies, I was downed most of all by the RNG objectives on Wave 6. Prior to this successful mission with three Retrieval objectives, I got a Hack or Upload seven straight times! It’s almost enough to make you want to quit and give up, but the Duelist and I were not to be denied!