ME1 - Basic Sentinel Leveling Guide

Prologue and Expose Saren

Level 1

Points: 2 initial +3 (5)

Throw 1 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 1 (Sabotage)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1

You have 3 points to spend. Pick up Barrier, and get Overkill. Sentinel's pistol buff is hidden in passive, so go ahead and put one there.

Kaidan comes with Throw and Decryption. Add Barrier and then put the last point where you want.

Level 2

Points: +3 (8)

Throw 1 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 3 (Sabotage)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 1

Put two in Decryption and one in Intimidate. We will need two in Intimidate shortly, as well as Electronics...

For Kaidan, invest in Throw. If you pick up Ash at this level, get Overkill, 1 pt in passive for health regen, and then invest in Armor for Shield Boost (and towards Heavy).

Level 3

Points: +3 (11)

Throw 1 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 4 (Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 2

You will probably be Level 3 sometime before you reach the farmers. I like to get the second Intimidate point here so I can get the smuggler’s name. For all checks left on Eden Prime you will need 3, you would need to use the point from Passive if you really wanted to do that.

Behind the farmers is a shack with a crate requiring Basic Electronics, which works out for us. They should have given you the Stinger II, which is the best early game weapon. Too bad we don't have real pistol training.

Kaidan should still invest as much as he can in Throw, and other points in Passive or Decryption, while Ash should try to work towards Immunity or Heavy Armor.

Level 4

Points: +3 (14)

Throw 3 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 4 (Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 3

I went ahead and put another point in Intimidate in anticipation of the Citadel. The other two can go in Throw.

Keep working towards Heavy Armor for Ash, or Assault Training. For Kaidan, Throw and Decryption or First Aid.

Level 5

Points: +3 (17)

Throw 6 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 4 (Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 3

Now you should be on the Expose Saren quest. This is also likely the level you will confront the Assassins if you chose to go see Harkin instead of picking up Wrex first.

You and Kaidan have Throw, Ash should look something like AR 1, Armor 5, Assault Training 3 and Passive 3 at this point. Basically try to get one by himself, then use Throw to get him off his feet, hit him with Overload. Sabotage if he gets up. Rotate Throws and Sabotages with Kaidan, and mix in grenades if needed.

You should also only need 3 in Intimidate here to do Dr Michel’s personal quest, which will allow you to exploit her generosity and get a Spectre pistol before you leave the Citadel. If going Charm, you need 6 (or you need to kill the Krogan).

Level 6

Points: +2 (19)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 1 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 4 (Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 3

Do you even lift, bro? You and Kaidan should get basic Lift (sufficient for Krogan bouncer). He can either work on Electronics or Decryption. Ash should still prioritize durability, and makes sense rounding out your squad with Kaidan. If you picked up Garrus, go Overkill, Armor 6, Advanced Decryption, Damping 1, First Aid 1. Alternatively you leave Decryption at 1 and then get First Aid 6, in an attempt to unlock Electronics faster.

Level 7

Points: +2 (21)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 1 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 4 (Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 3
+2 Spare Points

You hit this sometime dealing with Fist’s group and saving Tali. That section is at a fairly quick pace and I end up skipping over this level with a lot of characters. This often works out for me because of what I like to do with saved points at 8…

Level 8

Points: +2 (23)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 1 (Basic)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 4 (Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Sentinel 1
Intimidate 5 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

You should be 8 after becoming a Spectre, and you get an extra talent and one freebie persuasion point in Charm and Intimidate. You probably also got the first moralty freebie for renegade or paragon passing 10%. Invest your banked points in Spectre for Unity.

Alternatively, if you plan to do a lot of Citadel side quests now, increase Intimidate to 6, which will allow you to pass all checks currently available on the Citadel.

Note that Level 8 Tali should be able to level to Master Sabotage (Decryption) and Master Overload (Electronics) right away. This does offer you a degree of flexibility in your build since you can rely on Tali to take care of hard crates while you focus on leveling weapons or biotics.

Before you leave the Citadel, I recommend doing Dr Michel’s quest (only need 3 Intimidate to make it easy). Then you can exploit her to get enough credits to buy a Spectre weapon and a couple extra First Aid or Medical Interfaces. This isn't absolutely necessary of course. At the very least you will have someone to give you better prices for all the loot you want to sell throughout the game.

Usually I do Michel's quest, scan some keepers, and also do some odds and ends like Homecoming before I leave.

Specialization

The next major step is leveling towards 20 to get your specialization.

Level 16

Points: +2 (39)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 5 (Advanced Sabotage)
Electronics 1 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 7 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

As per usual, after Therum is when I tend to go back to the Citadel for some minor side quests. 6 intimidate gets you through all of them. If you are going Charm, you may need 7 for Presidium Prophet, Rita’s Sister, and Jahleed’s Fears. The other exception is Snap Inspection, in which case you need 9 of either to pass every check (not worth worrying about, IMO).

Liara should come standard with a point in Throw and First Aid, and 32 points free. Since there is a glitch where you cannot use every power for Liara, I usually plan to skip Stasis. You can start her off decently by getting Advanced Throw, Master Lift, Warp 7 (Advanced), Singularity 1, Barrier 1, First Aid 4, and Overload 1. This is the same as I recommended as a companion to the Soldier.

Her leveling scheme is pretty straight forward. After you get Master Lift and 1 pt Singularity, improve her passive for power recharge, then go either Electronics or to Advanced Barrier for more durability. If she seems durable enough to you, max Singularity.

Level 17

Points: +2 (41)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 5 (Advanced Sabotage)
Electronics 2 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

With 6 total invested, we are done with Intimidate. The rest will be freebies.

The other decision point is rushing to Master Lift, or increasing durability. For the latter, you get a little more bang for the buck increasing Electronics (30 shields all the time per point vs 20 extra barrier with a little more duration).  Master Lift is great, but at this stage more Electronics is probably superior as it will be more helpful on Luna and we won't be running into very many elites that require Master Lift to be lifted.

Level 18

Points: +2 (43)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 5 (Advanced Sabotage)
Electronics 4 (Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Level 19

Points: +2 (45)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 5 (Advanced Sabotage)
Electronics 6 (Advanced Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

After taking care of most mundane Citadel assignments, and leveling up persuasion a little with investment, you can head to do some random missions, like Major Kyle and Missing Survey Team. Missing Survey Team is the first of many melee rush side missions. Biotics work well against them.

Major Kyle takes a minimum of 7 Charm or 8 Intimidate. You may have picked up another freebie persuasion point for passing 25% renegade or paragon.

Level 20

Points: +2 (47)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 7 (Advanced Sabotage)
Electronics 6 (Advanced Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Working on Decryption. You could do Electronics instead if you want more shields.

Level 21

Points: +2 (49)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 9 (Master Sabotage)
Electronics 6 (Advanced Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Hackett should call after a few side missions. Take Tali and Garrus to Rogue VI.

Tali should have Master Sabotage and Overload, and should have Master Hacking before Luna is over. Garrus should have Master Sabotage, Advanced Overkill, Damping 1, Medium Armor, and depending on if you invested in Snipers yet or not he may have Advanced or Master Electronics. You could also have skipped out on some of the weapon points for Adrenaline Burst.

With three characters spamming AOE tech powers, Rogue VI shouldn’t be too terrible. Just need to keep an eye on health and keep the turrets locked down with alternating Sabotages. Tali should hack Rocket Drones.

For most other characters I will work on passive during this mission, but we already did that to get Marksman. You can work on Electronics, or even bank some points for when the specialization unlocks.

Level 22

Points: +2 (51)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 9 (Master Sabotage)
Electronics 8 (Advanced Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Level 23

Points: +2 (53)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 9 (Master Sabotage)
Electronics 9 (Master Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Sentinel 6 (Marksman)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)
+1 spare point

I end up skipping this level often, if that happens no big deal. We want to bank at least a point if you are about to unlock the specialization.

Level 24

Points: +2 (55)

Throw 7 (Basic)
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Barrier 1 (Basic)
Decryption 9 (Master Sabotage)
Electronics 9 (Master Overload)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Bastion 9 (Marksman, Barrier Specialization)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

So with the points you saved from Level 23, you can get Barrier Specialization.

I go Bastion basically every time on Sentinel. Medic gives you faster Medigel cooldown, and can allow you to revive fallen squadmates with Medigel. Of course you already have Unity.

Bastion also allows you to damage targets in Stasis if you get Stasis Specialization. I personally don't care for Stasis and want to improve my other talents first.