Mass Effect 2: Death from the Shadows - Infiltrator Guide (by Jaekahn)
Oct 22, 2016 18:07:53 GMT
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Post by RedCaesar97 on Oct 22, 2016 18:07:53 GMT
ATTENTION: This guide was originally created by Jaekahn on the old BioWare Social Network (BSN) forums. I am reproducing it here so it does not disappear when the old BSN forums shut down.
Table of Contents.
Introduction - Introducing the Author
Overview - A brief description of the Infiltrator class
Powers - A list of the Infiltrator's powers
Bonus Powers - Description of Bonus Powers and how they benefit Infiltrators
Combination of Powers - This will describe what powers are good during what scenerios
Builds - I will list several different builds that specialize in a distinct playstyle
Armor - A recommendation of what armor to wear
Weapons - A list of Sniper Rifles as well as a summary of their advantages and disadvantages.
Strategies - To conclude, I will discuss strategies on how to handle certain enemies as well as certain fights.
Introduction:
First let me introduce myself. I am Jaekahn, an avid Mass Effect 2 player. I've successfully beat the game 4 times, two with an Infiltrator (Veteran / Insanity) and two times with an Engineer (Hardcore / Insanity). In addition, I scroll through the forums quite often, commenting and offering what information I can.
I recently created an Engineer guide; a guide in which describes in detail everything you need to know as an Engineer. The powers and their description, the builds, squad combinations, etc. After starting an Infiltrator for the third time, I've decided to design a guide for the class, with help from Thisisme8.
In this guide, I will go over the basic fundamentals about the Infiltrator class.
Overview:
The Infiltrator is basically the rogue of Mass Effect 2. They rely on their elusiveness to stealth through the battlefield, avoiding enemy fire. They also gain an advantage through long range combat by using their beloved sniper rifle. To summarize the class in terms of powers, they are a combination of a Soldier and a tech. They not only rely on the amount of damage they deal from their Sniper Rifles, Sub-machine guns, and heavy pistols, but they also depend on their use of Cloak, incinerate and a couple other powers.
Powers:
Disruptor Ammo:
Heavy Disruptor Ammo - can cause synthetics to critically overload and explode, or
Squad Disruptor Ammo - expands the ammo power to all your squad mates.
Cryo Ammo:
Heavy Cryo Ammo- Increases the duration of Freeze to 7 seconds
Squad Cryo Ammo - expands the ammo power to all your squad mates.
Tactical Cloak:
Assassin's Cloak- gives you a 75% damage boost with a 6 second duration
Enhanced Cloak - Increases the duration of your cloak to 8 seconds but gives you a 40% damage boost
Incinerate:
Heavy Incinerate - increases the overall damage over time effect of your Incinerate to 210 damage over 3 seconds
Incineration Blast - Expands the radius of your Incinerate to effect multiple targets
AI Hacking:
Improved AI Hacking - increases the duration and the amount of shield on the synthetic puppet.
Area AI Hacking - expands the radius, granting the possibility of controlling more than one unprotected synthetic.
Operative:
Assassin - enhances your sniper zoom, and also provides a damage boost to all weapons and powers.
Agent - increases your endurance and mental fortitude, reducing the recharge time of all your powers and gives a bonus to their duration. In addition, it also gives you a 100% boost to Paragon / Renegade.
Bonus Powers:
Listed below are several Bonus Powers in which I thought benefits the Infiltrator's playstyle. I will summarize its uses briefly and then go into detail listing its advantages and disadvantages for the class.
Armor Piercing Ammo:
An ammo power that does extra damage against armored targets and enemies with no defenses. Its max rank gives you the option to choose between Tungsten Ammo, increasing the Armor and Health damage to 70%, or Squad Armor Piercing Ammo, which expands the ammo power throughout your squad.
- Advantages: AP Ammo is probably one of the most popular bonus power for an Infiltrator. Given the fact that most of the Infiltrator's damage comes from his weapon and that the class excels at executing kills, AP armor is capable of increasing its overall potential. Also, considering that it is a passive power, you don't have to worry about wasting a cooldown on it every time. Thus, giving you more opportunities to use Cloak or Incinerate.
- Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage I noticed with AP Ammo is that it only seems to shine when it is maxed out, causing you to put points into the power when you might need it somewhere else. But then again, the same thing can be said about most Bonus Powers.
Shredder Ammo:
The ammo tears through soft targets, inflicting more damage to unshielded organic enemies. When maxed out, you either have the option to increase the weapon damage Vs organics by 80%, Improved Shredder Ammo, or expanding it throughout your squad via Squad Shredder Ammo.
- Advantages: Shredder Ammo has similar advantages to Armor Piercing Ammo, but deals more damage to organic targets. This can become powerful and helpful in heavy organic fights such as Horizon. IFF Reaper, or Collector Ship. Also, it is a passive ability, thus not needing a cooldown every time you use it.
- Disadvantages: First of all, Shredder Ammo only benefits the Infiltrator Vs unprotected organics. This means that if your squad doesn't possess abilities to remove armor or if you're in a map heavily populated with synthetics, it cannot work to its full potential. This makes the power very situational and has you speccing in and out of it throughout the game's progression, if you choose it that is.
Energy Drain:
By Sapping the Enemy's barriers, the power recharges your shields. Similar to Overload, it is also capable of attacking unprotected synthetic enemies. When maxed out, the power's damage could be boost to 200, Heavy Energy Drain, or its radius could be increased, Area Energy Drain.
- Advantages: I found myself using this power more than the other bonus powers. If there is ever a moment where you are rushing through their defenses, you wasted a stealth and now you're fighting without shields. Energy Drain can recharge your shields, increasing your chance of survival as long as it is used against enemy shields or synthetics. In addition, it is extremely useful if you are being flanked without shields by opposing synthetics.
- Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage is the fact that is requires a cooldown. Thus, denying you the opportunity to use Cloak in key moments of the fight due to the cooldown. Also, Energy Drain only effects Shielded targets and synthetics and does not harm organics in any way.
Reave:
This power employs mass effect fields to biotically attack the target's nervous or synthetic systems and prevent healing. It also restores health and gives a temporary health bonus when the power is used against organics. Reave also does double damage to armor and barriers. When evolved, its strength, duration and damage is increased (Heavy Reave), or its radius is increased (Area Reave)
- Advantages: Reave can give Infiltrators an edge on several occasions. First of all, it can be used as a way to strip defenses on targets shielded by a barrier or armor. Second, it stuns targets who are unprotected, serving as a way of crowd control. Lastly, it can heal you. Thus, increasing your probability of surviving. Also, stunned enemies are easy targets for your sniper rifle.
- Disadvantages: Like Energy Drain, Reave requires the use of a cooldown, risking the chance that you might not have Cloak or Incinerate at your disposal in dire situations. Aside from that, the only other disadvantage that I can think of is that it contradicts those who Role Play with their Shepard.
Neural Shock:
This is a power paralyzes enemies for a short amount of time. When you invest more points into it and it evolves in rank, it also impairs the target's accuracy as well. Heavy Neural Shock increases the duration to 12 seconds instead of 9 while Area Neural Shock increases the radius, allowing a wide area effect to hit multiple targets.
- Advantages: One of the key advantages for Neural Shock is that it serves as a form of crowd control on organic targets. If you are being flanked or if you're heavily outnumbered, Neural Shock can even the odds by taking one of the enemies out of the fight. In addition, when they are paralyzed, they often frozen in an upright positioning, giving you the perfect chance to execute a headshot without having to fear of missing.
- Disadvantages: First and foremost, Neural Shock only effects organics, so if you're fighting against a wave of geth or any type of synthetics, the power is practically useless. Secondly, from my experience, Neural Shock doesn't seem to affect Krogan at all and it most certainly won't affect Harbinger. This can lower its importance in certain challenging fights. Thirdly, in Mass Effect 1, Neural Shock also did toxic damage. However, now all damage has been removed so it only serves as that form of control.
Slam:
This power lifts a target and slams them to the ground, inflicting damage. Heavy Slam increases the damage to 800 newtons while Crippling Slam keeps a slammed enemy on the ground for a few seconds.
- Advantages: From my experience, Slam's uses seem to mimic that of Reave's as it serves as a form of temporary control while also inflicting a good amount of damage. Also, Slam does not have the restriction like Energy Drain and Neural Shock does, where it can only be used against one specific type of enemy.
- Disadvantages: One disadvantage is that this ability requires the target to have its defenses removed in order to get the full potential out of it. An Infiltrator doesn't have any powers aside from Incinerate to do so, so you may have to depend on your squad or have to use your precious ammo to set up a use for Slam. By this time, it may even be best to just finish them off with a sniper kill.
Dominate:
Working the same as AI Hacking, this power serves as a tool to temporary take complete control of an organic target, making it your puppet for a brief duration. Its max rank either increases the duration and the amount of protection it receives while under control, Enhanced Dominate, or inflicts multiple targets by expanding the radius of the power, Group Dominate.
- Advantages: This power, in my opinion, works really well for those Agents who would rather sit back and play conservatively. The controlled targets often takes the pressure off the Infiltrator, giving them more time to peek over cover and execute a precise killing blow with their sniper rifle. Also, Dominate has great synergy with AI Hacking as it covers the targets that AI Hacking cannot, giving you an edge on the maps that are populated with both organic and synthetic enemies alike.
- Disadvantages: Where AI Hacking's weakness is that it only affects synthetics, Dominate's weakness is that it only affects organics. Also, the power is most valuable when it is maxed out, quite possibly forcing you to take points from another useful power in order to get the full potential out of Dominate.
Combination of Powers:
Bioware designed Mass Effect's power system around one power enhancing the use of another, whereas in Mass Effect 1, you had your good powers and your bad powers and there were no reward with using them simultaneously. This section is going to discuss strategies and combinations in relation to certain powers and should help you choose which power is a priority under different circumstances.
Incinerate Vs Cloak Shot:
The most talked about subject in relation to Infiltrator's powers is whether to just use Cloak Shot or to use Incinerate. In other words, it seems that people are having issues figuring out a precise moment where Incinerate's value matches that of Cloak Shot.
Cloak Shot is the favorite by most Infiltrator players. It allows you to strip a good chunk of their health/ protection in one shot from your sniper rifle, or in one clip from your SMG. However, Incinerate also serves a purpose. For one, Incinerate's power is doubled on targets protected by armor. Thus, a fully maxed out Heavy Incinerate has the potential to remove armor completely, granting you the opportunity to execute a one shot kill with your Sniper Rifle. I found that this can be particularly useful and less ammo dependent than using Cloak Shot as the combination of incinerate's damage and your shot can do more damage than a simple Cloak Shot. In addition, say you decide to peak out of cover and you land a perfectly executed headshot only to find that it did not kill the target, but left him at 15% health. Incinerate can provide the finishing blow without taking one of your bullets to do so.
Another valuable use for Incinerate is the fact that it permanently stops health regeneration from Krogan and Vorcha. This can be helpful on earlier levels where you neither have Assassin, Assassin's Cloak, or Widow at your disposal. Let us not forget that the damage over time effect also momentarily distracts organics, posing as a form of crowd control in dire situations.
Tactical Cloak:
This can decide whether you live or die under intense circumstances. It also possesses a wide variety of uses, making it one of the most versatile unique power out of the six classes you can choose from. I will list these uses and also discuss how to include them into your strategy while in mid combat.
First of all, Tactical Cloak is a power in which temporarily makes you invisible, turning the enemy's attention to your squad mates while you're forgotten. This gives you the time and opportunity to move from cover to cover undetected. This strategy particularly works when you're being flanked, where if you lift your head from cover without cloak, you would die in an instant. I particularly found this strategy useful against Krogans, Praetorians, YMIR mechs, Geth Prime, Collector Guardians and Harbinger. If they get close, I would cloak and run towards another cover to avoid being flanked. This, of course, can be challenging if you're surrounded or if the map is populated with enemy forces, so it might be wise to analyze the battlefield before deciding to cloak n' run
Another use Tactical Cloak serves is that it provides a damage boost to your weapon and powers. The higher the rank, the more damage it does. You can execute a one shot kill on weaker targets on insanity by combining Assassin's Cloak with a perfectly executed Sniper shot, allowing you to quicken the pace of the battle by reducing their numbers.
Also, the Infiltrator can use the time while cloaked to close the distance from his enemy and himself, allowing him to charge forward undetected and release a clip of bullets in the target's head or chest. This particular style benefits those who chose Agents over Assassin and who chose Enhanced Cloak over Assassin's Cloak. Using this style of play can play to your advantage if you have incendiary ammo activated from a squad member. Their armor is stripped in seconds by an SMG and they are completely controlled by the flames as you release a clip into their skull. Just be mindful not to play too aggressive, considering that you cannot regenerate health or shields while cloaked.
Disruptor Ammo and Cryo Ammo:
Both can serve their purpose well, yet both are very situational. Disruptor Ammo is effective against synthetics and shields while Cryo Ammo can freeze targets on the spot. One thing to know about Cryo Ammo though is that it requires several shots before the target freezes, so it isn't wise to use it when you're sitting in the back sniping. In contrast, the Agent Infiltrators could use this ammo to its full potential as their SMG becomes their primary weapon. Also, even if you don't use your SMG and you do prefer to snipe, choosing squad ammo can benefit from this. Your squad can freeze the target, allowing you to shatter it in one hit from your Sniper Rifle
Disruptor Ammo can particularly useful on a Sniper Rifle against Geth Destroyers or Geth Primes. Your Sniper Rifle already does a lot of damage as is (also include the bonus from points), the Disruptor Ammo increases this and can also temporarily disable the unit or overheat their weapon. Despite these however, I personally, found that it was more useful to give Squad Disruptor Ammo to Zaeed rather than take it myself. I found its uses to be situational and that it wasn't valuable enough for me to invest 10 points into it to see its full potential.
In relation to Cryo Ammo, I strongly suggest picking Heavy Cryo Ammo if you are an Agent.
Builds:
First of all, I would like to say that the builds I am about to describe are builds that I have played personally. The powers, in my opinion, are the ones best suited for the build and I will discuss the reasons why. In relation to the Bonus Powers; after listing their advantages and disadvantages, you can practically get away with any of the ones I listed as long as it benefits from your playstyle.
Assassin - Level 30:
3 - Disruptor Ammo
2 - Cryo Ammo
4 - Assassin's Cloak
4 - Heavy Incinerate
1 - AI Hacking
4 - Assassin
4 - Energy Drain
50 points used - 1 point remaining
Assassins rely heavily on lethal efficiency and precision strikes and less on brutal force. They are always located as far away from the enemy as possible and favor to use their sniper rifles as their primary weapon. They avoid confrontation and slip out of pressure via assassin's cloak, which in addition also boosts their overall damage as long as they attack while cloaked. The reason why I chose Heavy Incinerate over Incineration Blast is because you already depend on your sniper to get the executing blow, so having Heavy Incinerate there to remove their entire armor bar can make the enemy vulnerable for your headshot a lot quicker.
I chose Energy Drain as my primary bonus power for two reasons; the first being that by absorbing enemy shields or energy from synthetics, the power recharges your own shield. This can be helpful in dire situations when you have no shields and the enemy is flanking you. Rather than cloaking and risking the battle in a 50/50 chance, you can remove their shields and restore yours. Of course this is entirely situational as it doesn't affect unprotected organics. The second reason has to do with killing the enemy at a quicker pace. By having Energy Drain at your disposal, you don't necessarily have to worry about bringing someone with overload as you practically have the ability yourself. This allows you to alternate your team and gives you a wider range of squad mates to bring with you on a specific mission.
Of course if you heave Heavy Disruptor Ammo, choosing Energy Drain can be a little redundant. Despite the ability to recharge your shields, it might be wise to pick another bonus power on the list above.
Agent - Level 30:
4 - Heavy Disruptor Ammo
4 - Heavy Cryo Ammo
4 - Enhanced Cloak
4 - Heavy Incinerate
1 - AI Hacking
4 - Agent
51 points used - 0 point remaining
The Agent build specializes in releasing the full potential of the class' close quarters combat (CQC) capabilities and the best way to describe them is as a Single Target shooter. They rely on Enhanced Cloak to travel from one part of the map to the other undetected. Once they are close enough to the enemy, they release clip after clip into them, stripping them of their armor in seconds. The rest of the Agent's powers shine when the enemy is at its most vulnerable. Heavy Disruptor can temporarily lockdown synthetics and also overheats their weapons. Heavy Cryo increases the pace when they freeze-up, which essentially quickens the rate that they die since frozen targets receive double damage. If you are not quite close enough, Heavy Incinerate can lockdown organics and you can execute the kill in just a few shots. Because these powers are so important to the Agent build, Thisisme8 and I think that it is wise to not invest any points into the bonus power. "You have everything you need built into the class. Taking a bonus power would actually be worse since you would give up another power and they are all so damn handy" quoted from Thisisme8 himself when we were discussing the build.
Of course Agents aren't entirely devoted to Close Quarters Combat. If you are confident with your sniping capabilities, you may as well snipe off the harder targets and then go in close to finish off the easier ones.
Tactician - Level 30
2 - Disruptor Ammo
4 - Squad Cryo Ammo
4 - Assassin's Cloak
2 - Incinerate
2 - AI Hacking
4 - Agent
4 - Dominate
Tacticians specialize in manipulating the field while picking off targets from afar. The sniper rifle is their primary weapon, which essentially is used to either execute a kill or strip the armor away. The ideal focus of this class, however, isn't to set up sniper kills, but to change the tide of battle. Whether that involves using Squad Cryo Ammo to freeze multiple targets, AI Hacking to temporarily control synthetics, or Dominate to control organics. When the battle is in your favor, you can then use your sniper to take out the target who is heavily outnumbered or who is most vulnerable (IE frozen targets. Also keep in mind that even the Mantis can shatter a frozen target in one shot)
Now, I feel that it is wise to respec a lot if you intend to pursue this playstyle. The reason for this is; since you don't have enough points to max each power, which each power is essential for the Tactician, it is wise to switch out powers for ones that would be more dominant. For example, perhaps choosing Squad disruptor ammo and maxed AI Hacking would be better for a heavy synthetic mission such as Haestrom and Tali and Legion's loyalty missions. Or perhaps cryo and Dominate would be wiser for heavy organics such as the Collector Ship, IFF and the Suicide mission
Also, you would notice that I didn't specialize anything for Dominate or AI Hacking. The reason for this is because it all depends on how fast you strip away armor. If you can strip away the armor for multiple targets, then it's better to pick up Area. However, if you focus on one, Enhanced Dominate is better. Same logic can be applied for AI Hacking. I would also like to add that if you choose dominate, particularly Area Dominate, you might want to take out points from Squad Cryo and put them into Incinerate to make Incineration blast.
Armor Preferences:
The ideal choice for armor regarding most of the builds is to pick up the most weapon damage as possible. Assassins and Agents rely heavily on their weapons and increasing their damage as much as possible is more important than focusing on Shields or Health. Perhaps for a Tactician who specializes in Area Dominate or an Agent that relies heavily on Incinerate, you would want to focus some customizable pieces into power damage instead. Listed below is my preference towards armor.
Assassin:
Helmet - Kuwashii Visor (Omega Market) - 10% Headshot Damage
Chest - N7 Chestplate (N/A) - 3% Power Damage
Shoulders - N7 Shoulder Guards (N/A) - 3% Weapon Damage
Arms - Stabilization Gauntlets (Omega Market after Collector Ship) - 5% Weapon Damage
Legs - Stimulator Conduits (Omega Market) - 10% Storm Speed
Agent:
Helmet - Recon Hood (Dr Pepper DLC) - 5% Weapon Damage
Chest - N7 Chestplate (N/A) 3% Power Damage
Shoulders - Strength Boost Pads (Omega Market) - 25% Melee Damage
Arms - Stabilization Gauntlets (Omega Market after Collector Ship) - 5% Weapon Damage
Legs - Stimulator Conduits (Omega Market) - 10% Storm Speed
Tactician:
Helmet - Kuwashii Visor (Omega Market) - 10% Headshot Damage
Chest - N7 Chestplate (N/A) - 3% Power Damage
Shoulders - N7 Shoulder Guards (N/A) - 3% Weapon Damage
Arms - Off-Hand Ammo Pack (Citadel) - 10% Spare Ammo Capacity
Legs - Life Support Webbing (Citadel) - 10% Health
Sniper Rifles:
I've noticed that there have been a ton of threads regarding what Sniper to use, whether to pick Widow up at the Collector Ship or choose another weapon, the use of Mantis and the use of Viper. I plan to discuss each of these key points and perhaps provide some insight about the value of our beloved Sniper Rifles.
M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle
First of all, the Mantis is the Sniper Rifle we receive at the start of the game and only one accessible until Thane's recruitment mission. It deals a base damage of 263.1 and has the ammo capacity of 9, without upgrades.
For starters, the Mantis serves its purpose. It provides excellent precision and can deal a great amount of damage. However, on higher difficulties such as Hardcore and Insanity, the Mantis' damage is hardly capable of one shotting the target. So it is wise to set up a few combinations; remove protection via Incinerate or a squad mate's overload, then execute the killing blow with the Mantis. Or you could do the opposite and use the Mantis to remove the armor and then set up the killing blow with your squad mates. This strategy particularly works well with biotics capable of setting off a warp explosion.
Clearly the Mantis is ill in comparison to Widow and their uses are exactly the same. So in other words, if or when you get the Widow, it practically replaces the Mantis as your primary sniper rifle.
M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle:
The Viper is renowned for its rapid fire and huge ammo capacity. Its damage is pretty low in comparison to the Mantis and the Widow, roughly averaging at 81.3 base damage a shot. However, the rapid fire allows the Infiltrator to get off several shots in one instant where the other rifles only possess the capability of firing once. This feature can only be enhanced when you maximize Operative and choose either Assassin or Agent as your new Rank. The slow motion gives you the opportunity to fire five to six shots in two, maybe three seconds. In addition, the rapid fire also tends to cause the targets to stumble, temporarily disabling them and preventing them from firing back.
The Viper can be favored by those who like the Heavy Pistol but would rather have a scope. It also sets up the opportunity for you to pick up a Shotgun or an Assault Rifle considering that you wouldn't need the Widow if you favor the Viper.
M-29 Incisor Rifle:
In truth, I have little to no experience about this Rifle myself, considering that I did not by the Deluxe Addition and have not downloaded it. However, I do know a little about the Rifle. The Incisor Rifle has a three round burst, allowing you to take off a huge chunk of the target's health or defenses by pressing the trigger once. It does a total of 53.6 Base Damage, though if you count all three shots at once, it would total out to be roughly 159-160. It has a high accuracy rate with moderate recoil.
From what I've heard, however, its ammo capacity can be slightly risky. The three round burst practically has you wasting ammo left and right and as Infiltrator veterans, we all know how valuable ammo is. In my opinion, the Incisor Rifle can be valuable in the hands of Zaeed, Garrus, or Thane, since they have unlimited ammo, but is hardly worth it for Shepard. But then again, as I mentioned before, I have no experience with the Incisor Rifle
Widow Anti-Material Rifle:
The pride and joy for all Infiltrators and is the favorite among players. Out of all the rifles, Widow deals the most overall base damage, sitting at 368.3 per shot. This makes it possible to pull off a one shot kill as long as you have the proper upgrades to go along with it (IE Assassin's Cloak or Adreniline Rush. Also keep in mind that these upgrades won't surface alone and you'll need weapon upgrades as well). It is also safe to say that the Widow outranks all other rifles based on overall stats.
The only trait that may decipher the Widow from the Mantis, Incisor, or Viper is the player's particular playstyle. However, don't let my bias opinion sway you to completely disregard the other Rifles. Each are unique and each can benefit your unique style.
Strategies:
Cryo / Headshot:
As I stated before, targets who are frozen are more vulnerable to damage. Combine this with the amount of damage you can deal with a sniper rifle and you can shatter the target in one shot. Of course some of you may think "Sounds like an overkill to me, so why bother!?" and to answer that I have to say this; for those of you who have a difficult time aiming or who barely missed the target because he went behind cover, Cryo Blast in particular can help hold the target still, relieving the pressure of possibly shooting prematurely and help you align your shot. As an Infiltrator myself, I brought Mordin along with me quite often in order to experience this powerful combination.
Positioning:
A lot of the reason why Infiltrators die is due to bad positioning or peaking out of cover for too long. For the Assassins, it's ideal to set your squad mates up close while you snipe from afar. This way targets become distracted by your squad, decreasing the chance that they will go for you or try to flank you. Of course, Harbinger, Geth Destroyers and Praetorians can be excluded.
Also, it's good to analyze the map before you engage the enemy. That way if the enemy does try to flank you, you can cloak and immediately run to another cover. If you know the map and the enemy's position, you could avoid certain death.
Videos:
Thisisme8:
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator 1.
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator 2.
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator 3 - Horizon.
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator - Colossus.
Thisisme8's playstyle specializes in CQC and he gives a good example of how it should be played as well as provide some decent strategies.
Besetment:
www.youtube.com/watch.
Conclusion:
There is much more in which I want to add, but considering the tremendous length already, I may as well hit you with what I have now. The strategies could use some more work so if you have some additional strategies in which I left out, feel free to message me personally. You will get credit for your participation in the guide. Aside from that, I hope what I offer you is thorough and informative and if there is anything I've missed or got wrong, feel free to message me as well!
Thanks,
Jae Kahn
Table of Contents.
Introduction - Introducing the Author
Overview - A brief description of the Infiltrator class
Powers - A list of the Infiltrator's powers
Bonus Powers - Description of Bonus Powers and how they benefit Infiltrators
Combination of Powers - This will describe what powers are good during what scenerios
Builds - I will list several different builds that specialize in a distinct playstyle
Armor - A recommendation of what armor to wear
Weapons - A list of Sniper Rifles as well as a summary of their advantages and disadvantages.
Strategies - To conclude, I will discuss strategies on how to handle certain enemies as well as certain fights.
Introduction:
First let me introduce myself. I am Jaekahn, an avid Mass Effect 2 player. I've successfully beat the game 4 times, two with an Infiltrator (Veteran / Insanity) and two times with an Engineer (Hardcore / Insanity). In addition, I scroll through the forums quite often, commenting and offering what information I can.
I recently created an Engineer guide; a guide in which describes in detail everything you need to know as an Engineer. The powers and their description, the builds, squad combinations, etc. After starting an Infiltrator for the third time, I've decided to design a guide for the class, with help from Thisisme8.
In this guide, I will go over the basic fundamentals about the Infiltrator class.
Overview:
The Infiltrator is basically the rogue of Mass Effect 2. They rely on their elusiveness to stealth through the battlefield, avoiding enemy fire. They also gain an advantage through long range combat by using their beloved sniper rifle. To summarize the class in terms of powers, they are a combination of a Soldier and a tech. They not only rely on the amount of damage they deal from their Sniper Rifles, Sub-machine guns, and heavy pistols, but they also depend on their use of Cloak, incinerate and a couple other powers.
Powers:
Disruptor Ammo:
Heavy Disruptor Ammo - can cause synthetics to critically overload and explode, or
Squad Disruptor Ammo - expands the ammo power to all your squad mates.
Cryo Ammo:
Heavy Cryo Ammo- Increases the duration of Freeze to 7 seconds
Squad Cryo Ammo - expands the ammo power to all your squad mates.
Tactical Cloak:
Assassin's Cloak- gives you a 75% damage boost with a 6 second duration
Enhanced Cloak - Increases the duration of your cloak to 8 seconds but gives you a 40% damage boost
Incinerate:
Heavy Incinerate - increases the overall damage over time effect of your Incinerate to 210 damage over 3 seconds
Incineration Blast - Expands the radius of your Incinerate to effect multiple targets
AI Hacking:
Improved AI Hacking - increases the duration and the amount of shield on the synthetic puppet.
Area AI Hacking - expands the radius, granting the possibility of controlling more than one unprotected synthetic.
Operative:
Assassin - enhances your sniper zoom, and also provides a damage boost to all weapons and powers.
Agent - increases your endurance and mental fortitude, reducing the recharge time of all your powers and gives a bonus to their duration. In addition, it also gives you a 100% boost to Paragon / Renegade.
Bonus Powers:
Listed below are several Bonus Powers in which I thought benefits the Infiltrator's playstyle. I will summarize its uses briefly and then go into detail listing its advantages and disadvantages for the class.
Armor Piercing Ammo:
An ammo power that does extra damage against armored targets and enemies with no defenses. Its max rank gives you the option to choose between Tungsten Ammo, increasing the Armor and Health damage to 70%, or Squad Armor Piercing Ammo, which expands the ammo power throughout your squad.
- Advantages: AP Ammo is probably one of the most popular bonus power for an Infiltrator. Given the fact that most of the Infiltrator's damage comes from his weapon and that the class excels at executing kills, AP armor is capable of increasing its overall potential. Also, considering that it is a passive power, you don't have to worry about wasting a cooldown on it every time. Thus, giving you more opportunities to use Cloak or Incinerate.
- Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage I noticed with AP Ammo is that it only seems to shine when it is maxed out, causing you to put points into the power when you might need it somewhere else. But then again, the same thing can be said about most Bonus Powers.
Shredder Ammo:
The ammo tears through soft targets, inflicting more damage to unshielded organic enemies. When maxed out, you either have the option to increase the weapon damage Vs organics by 80%, Improved Shredder Ammo, or expanding it throughout your squad via Squad Shredder Ammo.
- Advantages: Shredder Ammo has similar advantages to Armor Piercing Ammo, but deals more damage to organic targets. This can become powerful and helpful in heavy organic fights such as Horizon. IFF Reaper, or Collector Ship. Also, it is a passive ability, thus not needing a cooldown every time you use it.
- Disadvantages: First of all, Shredder Ammo only benefits the Infiltrator Vs unprotected organics. This means that if your squad doesn't possess abilities to remove armor or if you're in a map heavily populated with synthetics, it cannot work to its full potential. This makes the power very situational and has you speccing in and out of it throughout the game's progression, if you choose it that is.
Energy Drain:
By Sapping the Enemy's barriers, the power recharges your shields. Similar to Overload, it is also capable of attacking unprotected synthetic enemies. When maxed out, the power's damage could be boost to 200, Heavy Energy Drain, or its radius could be increased, Area Energy Drain.
- Advantages: I found myself using this power more than the other bonus powers. If there is ever a moment where you are rushing through their defenses, you wasted a stealth and now you're fighting without shields. Energy Drain can recharge your shields, increasing your chance of survival as long as it is used against enemy shields or synthetics. In addition, it is extremely useful if you are being flanked without shields by opposing synthetics.
- Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage is the fact that is requires a cooldown. Thus, denying you the opportunity to use Cloak in key moments of the fight due to the cooldown. Also, Energy Drain only effects Shielded targets and synthetics and does not harm organics in any way.
Reave:
This power employs mass effect fields to biotically attack the target's nervous or synthetic systems and prevent healing. It also restores health and gives a temporary health bonus when the power is used against organics. Reave also does double damage to armor and barriers. When evolved, its strength, duration and damage is increased (Heavy Reave), or its radius is increased (Area Reave)
- Advantages: Reave can give Infiltrators an edge on several occasions. First of all, it can be used as a way to strip defenses on targets shielded by a barrier or armor. Second, it stuns targets who are unprotected, serving as a way of crowd control. Lastly, it can heal you. Thus, increasing your probability of surviving. Also, stunned enemies are easy targets for your sniper rifle.
- Disadvantages: Like Energy Drain, Reave requires the use of a cooldown, risking the chance that you might not have Cloak or Incinerate at your disposal in dire situations. Aside from that, the only other disadvantage that I can think of is that it contradicts those who Role Play with their Shepard.
Neural Shock:
This is a power paralyzes enemies for a short amount of time. When you invest more points into it and it evolves in rank, it also impairs the target's accuracy as well. Heavy Neural Shock increases the duration to 12 seconds instead of 9 while Area Neural Shock increases the radius, allowing a wide area effect to hit multiple targets.
- Advantages: One of the key advantages for Neural Shock is that it serves as a form of crowd control on organic targets. If you are being flanked or if you're heavily outnumbered, Neural Shock can even the odds by taking one of the enemies out of the fight. In addition, when they are paralyzed, they often frozen in an upright positioning, giving you the perfect chance to execute a headshot without having to fear of missing.
- Disadvantages: First and foremost, Neural Shock only effects organics, so if you're fighting against a wave of geth or any type of synthetics, the power is practically useless. Secondly, from my experience, Neural Shock doesn't seem to affect Krogan at all and it most certainly won't affect Harbinger. This can lower its importance in certain challenging fights. Thirdly, in Mass Effect 1, Neural Shock also did toxic damage. However, now all damage has been removed so it only serves as that form of control.
Slam:
This power lifts a target and slams them to the ground, inflicting damage. Heavy Slam increases the damage to 800 newtons while Crippling Slam keeps a slammed enemy on the ground for a few seconds.
- Advantages: From my experience, Slam's uses seem to mimic that of Reave's as it serves as a form of temporary control while also inflicting a good amount of damage. Also, Slam does not have the restriction like Energy Drain and Neural Shock does, where it can only be used against one specific type of enemy.
- Disadvantages: One disadvantage is that this ability requires the target to have its defenses removed in order to get the full potential out of it. An Infiltrator doesn't have any powers aside from Incinerate to do so, so you may have to depend on your squad or have to use your precious ammo to set up a use for Slam. By this time, it may even be best to just finish them off with a sniper kill.
Dominate:
Working the same as AI Hacking, this power serves as a tool to temporary take complete control of an organic target, making it your puppet for a brief duration. Its max rank either increases the duration and the amount of protection it receives while under control, Enhanced Dominate, or inflicts multiple targets by expanding the radius of the power, Group Dominate.
- Advantages: This power, in my opinion, works really well for those Agents who would rather sit back and play conservatively. The controlled targets often takes the pressure off the Infiltrator, giving them more time to peek over cover and execute a precise killing blow with their sniper rifle. Also, Dominate has great synergy with AI Hacking as it covers the targets that AI Hacking cannot, giving you an edge on the maps that are populated with both organic and synthetic enemies alike.
- Disadvantages: Where AI Hacking's weakness is that it only affects synthetics, Dominate's weakness is that it only affects organics. Also, the power is most valuable when it is maxed out, quite possibly forcing you to take points from another useful power in order to get the full potential out of Dominate.
Combination of Powers:
Bioware designed Mass Effect's power system around one power enhancing the use of another, whereas in Mass Effect 1, you had your good powers and your bad powers and there were no reward with using them simultaneously. This section is going to discuss strategies and combinations in relation to certain powers and should help you choose which power is a priority under different circumstances.
Incinerate Vs Cloak Shot:
The most talked about subject in relation to Infiltrator's powers is whether to just use Cloak Shot or to use Incinerate. In other words, it seems that people are having issues figuring out a precise moment where Incinerate's value matches that of Cloak Shot.
Cloak Shot is the favorite by most Infiltrator players. It allows you to strip a good chunk of their health/ protection in one shot from your sniper rifle, or in one clip from your SMG. However, Incinerate also serves a purpose. For one, Incinerate's power is doubled on targets protected by armor. Thus, a fully maxed out Heavy Incinerate has the potential to remove armor completely, granting you the opportunity to execute a one shot kill with your Sniper Rifle. I found that this can be particularly useful and less ammo dependent than using Cloak Shot as the combination of incinerate's damage and your shot can do more damage than a simple Cloak Shot. In addition, say you decide to peak out of cover and you land a perfectly executed headshot only to find that it did not kill the target, but left him at 15% health. Incinerate can provide the finishing blow without taking one of your bullets to do so.
Another valuable use for Incinerate is the fact that it permanently stops health regeneration from Krogan and Vorcha. This can be helpful on earlier levels where you neither have Assassin, Assassin's Cloak, or Widow at your disposal. Let us not forget that the damage over time effect also momentarily distracts organics, posing as a form of crowd control in dire situations.
Tactical Cloak:
This can decide whether you live or die under intense circumstances. It also possesses a wide variety of uses, making it one of the most versatile unique power out of the six classes you can choose from. I will list these uses and also discuss how to include them into your strategy while in mid combat.
First of all, Tactical Cloak is a power in which temporarily makes you invisible, turning the enemy's attention to your squad mates while you're forgotten. This gives you the time and opportunity to move from cover to cover undetected. This strategy particularly works when you're being flanked, where if you lift your head from cover without cloak, you would die in an instant. I particularly found this strategy useful against Krogans, Praetorians, YMIR mechs, Geth Prime, Collector Guardians and Harbinger. If they get close, I would cloak and run towards another cover to avoid being flanked. This, of course, can be challenging if you're surrounded or if the map is populated with enemy forces, so it might be wise to analyze the battlefield before deciding to cloak n' run
Another use Tactical Cloak serves is that it provides a damage boost to your weapon and powers. The higher the rank, the more damage it does. You can execute a one shot kill on weaker targets on insanity by combining Assassin's Cloak with a perfectly executed Sniper shot, allowing you to quicken the pace of the battle by reducing their numbers.
Also, the Infiltrator can use the time while cloaked to close the distance from his enemy and himself, allowing him to charge forward undetected and release a clip of bullets in the target's head or chest. This particular style benefits those who chose Agents over Assassin and who chose Enhanced Cloak over Assassin's Cloak. Using this style of play can play to your advantage if you have incendiary ammo activated from a squad member. Their armor is stripped in seconds by an SMG and they are completely controlled by the flames as you release a clip into their skull. Just be mindful not to play too aggressive, considering that you cannot regenerate health or shields while cloaked.
Disruptor Ammo and Cryo Ammo:
Both can serve their purpose well, yet both are very situational. Disruptor Ammo is effective against synthetics and shields while Cryo Ammo can freeze targets on the spot. One thing to know about Cryo Ammo though is that it requires several shots before the target freezes, so it isn't wise to use it when you're sitting in the back sniping. In contrast, the Agent Infiltrators could use this ammo to its full potential as their SMG becomes their primary weapon. Also, even if you don't use your SMG and you do prefer to snipe, choosing squad ammo can benefit from this. Your squad can freeze the target, allowing you to shatter it in one hit from your Sniper Rifle
Disruptor Ammo can particularly useful on a Sniper Rifle against Geth Destroyers or Geth Primes. Your Sniper Rifle already does a lot of damage as is (also include the bonus from points), the Disruptor Ammo increases this and can also temporarily disable the unit or overheat their weapon. Despite these however, I personally, found that it was more useful to give Squad Disruptor Ammo to Zaeed rather than take it myself. I found its uses to be situational and that it wasn't valuable enough for me to invest 10 points into it to see its full potential.
In relation to Cryo Ammo, I strongly suggest picking Heavy Cryo Ammo if you are an Agent.
Builds:
First of all, I would like to say that the builds I am about to describe are builds that I have played personally. The powers, in my opinion, are the ones best suited for the build and I will discuss the reasons why. In relation to the Bonus Powers; after listing their advantages and disadvantages, you can practically get away with any of the ones I listed as long as it benefits from your playstyle.
Assassin - Level 30:
3 - Disruptor Ammo
2 - Cryo Ammo
4 - Assassin's Cloak
4 - Heavy Incinerate
1 - AI Hacking
4 - Assassin
4 - Energy Drain
50 points used - 1 point remaining
Assassins rely heavily on lethal efficiency and precision strikes and less on brutal force. They are always located as far away from the enemy as possible and favor to use their sniper rifles as their primary weapon. They avoid confrontation and slip out of pressure via assassin's cloak, which in addition also boosts their overall damage as long as they attack while cloaked. The reason why I chose Heavy Incinerate over Incineration Blast is because you already depend on your sniper to get the executing blow, so having Heavy Incinerate there to remove their entire armor bar can make the enemy vulnerable for your headshot a lot quicker.
I chose Energy Drain as my primary bonus power for two reasons; the first being that by absorbing enemy shields or energy from synthetics, the power recharges your own shield. This can be helpful in dire situations when you have no shields and the enemy is flanking you. Rather than cloaking and risking the battle in a 50/50 chance, you can remove their shields and restore yours. Of course this is entirely situational as it doesn't affect unprotected organics. The second reason has to do with killing the enemy at a quicker pace. By having Energy Drain at your disposal, you don't necessarily have to worry about bringing someone with overload as you practically have the ability yourself. This allows you to alternate your team and gives you a wider range of squad mates to bring with you on a specific mission.
Of course if you heave Heavy Disruptor Ammo, choosing Energy Drain can be a little redundant. Despite the ability to recharge your shields, it might be wise to pick another bonus power on the list above.
Agent - Level 30:
4 - Heavy Disruptor Ammo
4 - Heavy Cryo Ammo
4 - Enhanced Cloak
4 - Heavy Incinerate
1 - AI Hacking
4 - Agent
51 points used - 0 point remaining
The Agent build specializes in releasing the full potential of the class' close quarters combat (CQC) capabilities and the best way to describe them is as a Single Target shooter. They rely on Enhanced Cloak to travel from one part of the map to the other undetected. Once they are close enough to the enemy, they release clip after clip into them, stripping them of their armor in seconds. The rest of the Agent's powers shine when the enemy is at its most vulnerable. Heavy Disruptor can temporarily lockdown synthetics and also overheats their weapons. Heavy Cryo increases the pace when they freeze-up, which essentially quickens the rate that they die since frozen targets receive double damage. If you are not quite close enough, Heavy Incinerate can lockdown organics and you can execute the kill in just a few shots. Because these powers are so important to the Agent build, Thisisme8 and I think that it is wise to not invest any points into the bonus power. "You have everything you need built into the class. Taking a bonus power would actually be worse since you would give up another power and they are all so damn handy" quoted from Thisisme8 himself when we were discussing the build.
Of course Agents aren't entirely devoted to Close Quarters Combat. If you are confident with your sniping capabilities, you may as well snipe off the harder targets and then go in close to finish off the easier ones.
Tactician - Level 30
2 - Disruptor Ammo
4 - Squad Cryo Ammo
4 - Assassin's Cloak
2 - Incinerate
2 - AI Hacking
4 - Agent
4 - Dominate
Tacticians specialize in manipulating the field while picking off targets from afar. The sniper rifle is their primary weapon, which essentially is used to either execute a kill or strip the armor away. The ideal focus of this class, however, isn't to set up sniper kills, but to change the tide of battle. Whether that involves using Squad Cryo Ammo to freeze multiple targets, AI Hacking to temporarily control synthetics, or Dominate to control organics. When the battle is in your favor, you can then use your sniper to take out the target who is heavily outnumbered or who is most vulnerable (IE frozen targets. Also keep in mind that even the Mantis can shatter a frozen target in one shot)
Now, I feel that it is wise to respec a lot if you intend to pursue this playstyle. The reason for this is; since you don't have enough points to max each power, which each power is essential for the Tactician, it is wise to switch out powers for ones that would be more dominant. For example, perhaps choosing Squad disruptor ammo and maxed AI Hacking would be better for a heavy synthetic mission such as Haestrom and Tali and Legion's loyalty missions. Or perhaps cryo and Dominate would be wiser for heavy organics such as the Collector Ship, IFF and the Suicide mission
Also, you would notice that I didn't specialize anything for Dominate or AI Hacking. The reason for this is because it all depends on how fast you strip away armor. If you can strip away the armor for multiple targets, then it's better to pick up Area. However, if you focus on one, Enhanced Dominate is better. Same logic can be applied for AI Hacking. I would also like to add that if you choose dominate, particularly Area Dominate, you might want to take out points from Squad Cryo and put them into Incinerate to make Incineration blast.
Armor Preferences:
The ideal choice for armor regarding most of the builds is to pick up the most weapon damage as possible. Assassins and Agents rely heavily on their weapons and increasing their damage as much as possible is more important than focusing on Shields or Health. Perhaps for a Tactician who specializes in Area Dominate or an Agent that relies heavily on Incinerate, you would want to focus some customizable pieces into power damage instead. Listed below is my preference towards armor.
Assassin:
Helmet - Kuwashii Visor (Omega Market) - 10% Headshot Damage
Chest - N7 Chestplate (N/A) - 3% Power Damage
Shoulders - N7 Shoulder Guards (N/A) - 3% Weapon Damage
Arms - Stabilization Gauntlets (Omega Market after Collector Ship) - 5% Weapon Damage
Legs - Stimulator Conduits (Omega Market) - 10% Storm Speed
Agent:
Helmet - Recon Hood (Dr Pepper DLC) - 5% Weapon Damage
Chest - N7 Chestplate (N/A) 3% Power Damage
Shoulders - Strength Boost Pads (Omega Market) - 25% Melee Damage
Arms - Stabilization Gauntlets (Omega Market after Collector Ship) - 5% Weapon Damage
Legs - Stimulator Conduits (Omega Market) - 10% Storm Speed
Tactician:
Helmet - Kuwashii Visor (Omega Market) - 10% Headshot Damage
Chest - N7 Chestplate (N/A) - 3% Power Damage
Shoulders - N7 Shoulder Guards (N/A) - 3% Weapon Damage
Arms - Off-Hand Ammo Pack (Citadel) - 10% Spare Ammo Capacity
Legs - Life Support Webbing (Citadel) - 10% Health
Sniper Rifles:
I've noticed that there have been a ton of threads regarding what Sniper to use, whether to pick Widow up at the Collector Ship or choose another weapon, the use of Mantis and the use of Viper. I plan to discuss each of these key points and perhaps provide some insight about the value of our beloved Sniper Rifles.
M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle
First of all, the Mantis is the Sniper Rifle we receive at the start of the game and only one accessible until Thane's recruitment mission. It deals a base damage of 263.1 and has the ammo capacity of 9, without upgrades.
For starters, the Mantis serves its purpose. It provides excellent precision and can deal a great amount of damage. However, on higher difficulties such as Hardcore and Insanity, the Mantis' damage is hardly capable of one shotting the target. So it is wise to set up a few combinations; remove protection via Incinerate or a squad mate's overload, then execute the killing blow with the Mantis. Or you could do the opposite and use the Mantis to remove the armor and then set up the killing blow with your squad mates. This strategy particularly works well with biotics capable of setting off a warp explosion.
Clearly the Mantis is ill in comparison to Widow and their uses are exactly the same. So in other words, if or when you get the Widow, it practically replaces the Mantis as your primary sniper rifle.
M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle:
The Viper is renowned for its rapid fire and huge ammo capacity. Its damage is pretty low in comparison to the Mantis and the Widow, roughly averaging at 81.3 base damage a shot. However, the rapid fire allows the Infiltrator to get off several shots in one instant where the other rifles only possess the capability of firing once. This feature can only be enhanced when you maximize Operative and choose either Assassin or Agent as your new Rank. The slow motion gives you the opportunity to fire five to six shots in two, maybe three seconds. In addition, the rapid fire also tends to cause the targets to stumble, temporarily disabling them and preventing them from firing back.
The Viper can be favored by those who like the Heavy Pistol but would rather have a scope. It also sets up the opportunity for you to pick up a Shotgun or an Assault Rifle considering that you wouldn't need the Widow if you favor the Viper.
M-29 Incisor Rifle:
In truth, I have little to no experience about this Rifle myself, considering that I did not by the Deluxe Addition and have not downloaded it. However, I do know a little about the Rifle. The Incisor Rifle has a three round burst, allowing you to take off a huge chunk of the target's health or defenses by pressing the trigger once. It does a total of 53.6 Base Damage, though if you count all three shots at once, it would total out to be roughly 159-160. It has a high accuracy rate with moderate recoil.
From what I've heard, however, its ammo capacity can be slightly risky. The three round burst practically has you wasting ammo left and right and as Infiltrator veterans, we all know how valuable ammo is. In my opinion, the Incisor Rifle can be valuable in the hands of Zaeed, Garrus, or Thane, since they have unlimited ammo, but is hardly worth it for Shepard. But then again, as I mentioned before, I have no experience with the Incisor Rifle
Widow Anti-Material Rifle:
The pride and joy for all Infiltrators and is the favorite among players. Out of all the rifles, Widow deals the most overall base damage, sitting at 368.3 per shot. This makes it possible to pull off a one shot kill as long as you have the proper upgrades to go along with it (IE Assassin's Cloak or Adreniline Rush. Also keep in mind that these upgrades won't surface alone and you'll need weapon upgrades as well). It is also safe to say that the Widow outranks all other rifles based on overall stats.
The only trait that may decipher the Widow from the Mantis, Incisor, or Viper is the player's particular playstyle. However, don't let my bias opinion sway you to completely disregard the other Rifles. Each are unique and each can benefit your unique style.
Strategies:
Cryo / Headshot:
As I stated before, targets who are frozen are more vulnerable to damage. Combine this with the amount of damage you can deal with a sniper rifle and you can shatter the target in one shot. Of course some of you may think "Sounds like an overkill to me, so why bother!?" and to answer that I have to say this; for those of you who have a difficult time aiming or who barely missed the target because he went behind cover, Cryo Blast in particular can help hold the target still, relieving the pressure of possibly shooting prematurely and help you align your shot. As an Infiltrator myself, I brought Mordin along with me quite often in order to experience this powerful combination.
Positioning:
A lot of the reason why Infiltrators die is due to bad positioning or peaking out of cover for too long. For the Assassins, it's ideal to set your squad mates up close while you snipe from afar. This way targets become distracted by your squad, decreasing the chance that they will go for you or try to flank you. Of course, Harbinger, Geth Destroyers and Praetorians can be excluded.
Also, it's good to analyze the map before you engage the enemy. That way if the enemy does try to flank you, you can cloak and immediately run to another cover. If you know the map and the enemy's position, you could avoid certain death.
Videos:
Thisisme8:
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator 1.
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator 2.
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator 3 - Horizon.
ME2 - CQC Infiltrator - Colossus.
Thisisme8's playstyle specializes in CQC and he gives a good example of how it should be played as well as provide some decent strategies.
Besetment:
www.youtube.com/watch.
Conclusion:
There is much more in which I want to add, but considering the tremendous length already, I may as well hit you with what I have now. The strategies could use some more work so if you have some additional strategies in which I left out, feel free to message me personally. You will get credit for your participation in the guide. Aside from that, I hope what I offer you is thorough and informative and if there is anything I've missed or got wrong, feel free to message me as well!
Thanks,
Jae Kahn