Armax Arena Squadmate Builds

I seem to remember the most important thing was just to make them as tough as possible. Drawing attention away from me was the bots' main purpose.

Okay, here are my recommendations. All builds are level 60. Feel free to discuss, disagree with, or mock my recommendations.

For the record, I have not used any of the arena-only squadmates in a very long time if ever (other than Jack because of her unique Citadel DLC interaction). These are my recommendations based on their power sets.

Also, arena-only squadmates are missing 1 extra point that your regular squadmates have. Having that extra point would help so you could max 4 talent trees instead of 3.

Wrex
I do not Wrex since he wastes all his consumables within seconds, making him useless.

Survive build:
4 - Carnage: Radius
5 - Lift Grenade: Damage - Grenade Count
6 - Barrier: Barrier Strength - Shield Recharge - Barrier Strength
6 - Stimulant Pack: Max Shields - Pack Capacity - Survival
6 - Krogan Battlemaster: Durability - Shield Recharge - Fortification

You could have a Carnage build, but at that point you may as well use James. Or anybody else really.
(Carnage: Radius - Recharge Speed


Grunt
Grunt is a better version of James. (Concussive Shot > Carnage.)

Build with Squad Ammo (if you do not have your own):
4 - Concussive Shot: Radius
6 - Incendiary Ammo: Squad Ammo - Headshots - Explosive Burst
6 - Fortification: Durability - Recharge Speed - Durability
5 - Frag Grenade: Damage - Grenade Count
6 - Krogan Beserker: Durability - Shield Recharge - Fortification

Build without Squad Ammo (if you have your own):
6 - Concussive Shot: Radius - Recharge Speed - Amplification
4 - Incendiary Ammo: Damage
6 - Fortification: Durability - Recharge Speed - Durability
5 - Frag Grenade: Damage - Grenade Count
6 - Krogan Beserker: Durability - Shield Recharge - Fortification


Jack
Fast cooldowns. Pull and Warp are your main powers.

5 - Shockwave: Radius - Reach
6 - Pull: Radius - Expose - Recharge Speed
6 - Warp: Detonate - Expose - Recharge Speed
4 - Warp Ammo: Damage or Squad Ammo (up to you)
6 - Subject Zero: Recharge Speed - Duration and Force - Recharge Speed


Jacob
He is like a biotic version of James.

Build with Squad Ammo (if you do not have your own) +
6 - Incendiary Ammo: Squad Ammo - Headshots - Explosive Burst
5 - Lift Grenade: Damage - Max Grenades
4 - Barrier: Barrier Strength
6 - Pull: Radius - Expose - Recharge Speed
6 - Cerberus Operative: Durability - Shield Recharge - Fortification

Build without Squad Ammo (if you have your own)
4 - Incendiary Ammo: Damage
6 - Lift Grenade: Damage - Max Grenades - Damage and Radius *
5 - Barrier: Barrier Strength - Shield Recharge *
6 - Pull: Radius - Expose - Recharge Speed
6 - Cerberus Operative: Durability - Shield Recharge - Fortification
* If you want more durability, you can swap rank 6 of Lift Grenade for rank 6 Barrier (Barrier Strength).


Kasumi
Need to micro-manage her to get the most out of her I think. Squadmates auto-attack, so it may be hard to really get the most out of her Tactical Cloak. Ideally, you would want to Cloak > Power > shoot to get the most out of it.

With Squad Ammo (if you want AP Ammo from her):
6 - Tactical Cloak: Damage - Recharge Speed - Damage
6 - Overload: Damage - Neural Shock - Shield Damage
6 - AP Ammo: Squad Ammo - Headshot - Damage
4 - Decoy: Duration or Shields (take your pick)
5 - Master Thief: Power Damage - Tech Damage

Without Squad Ammo (if you do not want her AP Ammo)
6 - Tactical Cloak: Damage - Recharge Speed - Damage
6 - Overload: Damage - Neural Shock - Shield Damage
4 - AP Ammo: Damage
6 - Decoy: Duration - Shock - Exploding Decoy
5 - Master Thief: Power Damage - Tech Damage -


Miranda
What an ugly set of powers.
EDI does tech damage better (and faster).
Liara and Kaidan are better with Warp and Reave.

Tech-focused:
6 - Overload: Damage - Neural Shock* - Shield Damage
3 - Warp: **
6 - Incinerate: Radius - Burning Damage* - Armor Damage
3 - Reave: **
6 - Cerberus Officer: Durability - Tech Damage - Squad Bonus (either)***
* Switch with Recharge Speed evolutions if you save about 2 second off cooldowns
** Do whatever you want with these
*** Can skip the Squad Bonus and spend points into either Warp or Reave if you really want

Biotic focused:
5 - Overload: Damage - Recharge Speed
6 - Warp: Detonate - Expose - Recharge Speed
4 - Incinerate: Radius
6 - Reave: Radius - Recharge Speed - Damage and Protection
6 - Cerberus Officer: Durability - Biotic Damage - Squad Bonus (either)*
* Can skip the Squad Bonus and spend points into either Overload (Shield Damage) if you really want


Samara
Really good with a biotic Shepard. Pull and Throw are your best powers.
Only Reave and Warp really benefit from her power damage bonuses in her passive talent.
Max only Warp or Reave (not both). Warp has better combo detonation bonus damage, Reave can hit multiple enemies.
Throw with Recharge Combo bonus resets her cooldown after a biotic detonation; Shepard only needs to prime.

6 - Reave: Radius - Recharge Speed - Barriers and Armor
4 - Warp: Detonate
6 - Pull: Radius - Expose - Recharge Speed
6 - Throw: Radius - Recharge Combo - Recharge Speed
5 - Asari Justicar: Durability (power) - Power Damage
-or-
4 - Reave: Radius
6 - Warp: Detonate - Expose - Recharge Speed
6 - Pull: Radius - Expose - Recharge Speed
6 - Throw: Radius - Recharge Combo - Recharge Speed
5 - Asari Justicar: Durability (power) - Power Damage


Zaeed
Zaeed is Ashley with one useless skill (Marksman) replaced with another useless skill (Carnage).
Carnage is useless on Zaeed since he has Concussive Shot. (Curse the already-spent talent points!)

4 - Carnage: Radius
6 - Concussive Shot: Radius - Recharge Speed - Amplification
3 - Disruptor Ammo: Squad Bonus - Headshot - Damage
5 - Inferno Grenade: Damage - Max Grenades
6 - Mercenary Veteran: Weapon Damage - Sniper Rifles - Assault Rifles

Can skip Squad Ammo if you have your own or do not want Disruptor Ammo.
If not using any ammo types, can skip Amplification on Concussive Shot or switch it to Shredder.
If not using Disruptor Ammo, can max Inferno Grenade (Armor Damage)