ME1 - Basic Vanguard Leveling Guide

Prologue and Expose Saren

Level 1

Points: 2 initial +3 (5)

Pistols 2
Throw 1
Warp 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)

You get 3 points to spend. Vanguard starts with Throw and Warp, so it is time to work on weapon talents.

Kaidan comes with Throw and Decryption. Add Barrier and then put the last point where you want. The idea with him is to get Lift as early as available (Level 6), but points in unlock skills aren't bad either.  It is worth mentioning that there is a crate later on Eden Prime that takes Basic Electronics, and you will need to go through Decryption to unlock it.  If you skip passive and First Aid it should be possible to get Basic Electronics and then unlock Lift at Level 6 for him though.

Level 2

Points: +3 (8)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Throw 1
Warp 2
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 1

Get Marksman, and then start on Intimidate. You should have another level to go before you need to have 2 in Charm or Intimidate. The other point is in Warp, which we need to invest in to unlock Barrier.

For Kaidan, invest in Throw and Decryption. 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)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Throw 1
Warp 4
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
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, and the only place to really pull that is from Warp or the bonus.

The Stinger II pistol that the farmers give you is the best early game weapon of any class. It should be your primary weapon, whereas the AR should be used only under Overkill.

Behind the farmers is the shack with a crate requiring Basic Electronics.

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)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 2
Throw 1
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 2

Most of the other characters have Intimidate 3 here, but we need the point to unlock Barrier, the Vanguard's defensive skill. Medium Armor can be obtained after sufficient investment in Assault Training and the nested Tactical Armor but basic Barrier and Adrenaline Burst should get you through most of the early game.

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

Level 5

Points: +3 (17)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 3 (Adrenaline Burst)
Throw 2
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
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, alternate them to ragdoll the assassins. Mix in grenades for more ragdoll and damage, as well as Sabotage for more CC and Warp for extra damage. Use Adrenaline Burst to rest your cooldowns when appropriate. Ash should look something like AR 1, Armor 5, Assault Training 3 and Passive 3 at this point working towards Heavy Armor and then Immunity.

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)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 3 (Adrenaline Burst)
Throw 4
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 3

Points into Throw to work towards Lift.

Kaidan should get basic Lift (sufficient for Krogan bouncer) then work towards Medicine or continue with Decryption to Electronics. 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.

Level 7

Points: +2 (21)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 3 (Adrenaline Burst)
Throw 4
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 3

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)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 3 (Adrenaline Burst)
Throw 4
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
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 morality freebie for renegade or paragon passing 10% at some point. 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 is helpful for a Vanguard given that you have not lock skills yourself and she can cover all crates by herself.

Before you leave the Citadel I recommend doing Dr Michel’s quest (only need 3 Intimidate to make it easy), then using her trick to get enough credits to buy a Spectre pistol and a couple extra First Aid or Medical Interfaces if you want early game to be a bit less painful.  At the very least, try to get a decent health regen item for Shepard.  You don't have to have a Spectre weapon early game, the Stinger II is fairly competent.

Specialization

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

Level 16

Points: +2 (39)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 2
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 7 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

After Therum is when I tend to go back to the Citadel for some minor side quests. To continue plagiarizing myself, 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).

If you want to do a few more combat missions first, you can take the Intimidate points and work towards armor this level.

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, improver 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)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 3 (Shield Boost)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Level 18

Points: +2 (43)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 5 (Shield Boost)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Level 19

Points: +2 (45)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Mundane Citadel assignments have allowed us to unlock Medium Armor, as well as get to Intimidate 8. In both cases our investment in them is complete, although Intimidate will gain a couple more freebies.

With those two milestones we are ready to do some random missions, like Major Kyle and Missing Survey Team. Missing Survey Team is the first of many melee rush side missions. Lift and Throw are money there.

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 but I haven't shown it yet just in case.

Level 20

Points: +2 (47)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Vanguard 2
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Working on passive in anticipation of specialization. Alternatively, put the points into a pistol (for Advanced Marksman or Shotguns), or the bonus talent.

Level 21

Points: +2 (49)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Vanguard 4
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

After Missing Survey Team, you should get a call from Hackett.

Regardless of my class, I tend to 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 skimp on some of the weapon points for Adrenaline Burst.

Vanguard should focus on weapon talents and Warp here as Lift and Throw aren't particularly useful, but with tech squadmates 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.

Level 22

Points: +2 (51)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Vanguard 6
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

How many more drones are there?

Level 23

Points: +2 (53)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Vanguard 6
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)
+2 spare points

Level 24

Points: +2 (55)

Pistols 3 (Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 7 (Advanced)
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Shock Trooper 10 (Barrier Specialization)
Assault Rifles 1 (Overkill)
Intimidate 8 (2 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Time flies when you're killing drones, and not stopping to pull up the talent screen. In any case you may hit 24 at the end of the mission and unlock your specialization.

Shock Trooper gives you health and damage protection, whereas Nemesis is biotic duration and damage. Shock Trooper makes more sense, especially given Adrenaline Burst specialization for even more power spam. Either spec gets you Barrier Specialization, which boosts the duration and strength of barrier as well as adding regen.

Transition to Late Game

Finishing off your second plot world should net you a few more levels. The main priorities were Lift and Barrier, in whichever order. This may very well depend on which squadmates you have with you.

By Level 37, the character should be pretty competent. If you didn’t reach that during the plot world, you can do a few more side missions like Lost Module, Cerberus, or meeting Helena Blake (Amaranthine).

Level 37

Points: +1 (79)

Pistols 12 (Master Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 12 (Master)
Warp 4
Barrier 7 (Advanced)
Shock Trooper 12 (Barrier, Adrenaline Burst Specializations)
Assault Rifles 3 (Overkill)
Intimidate 10 (4 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

Wrapping up the second plot world and returning to Normandy should get you to Level 37. Lift is maxed and we have Advanced Barrier, which should provide sufficient durability for the rest of the game given the specialization and Adrenaline Burst.

Reaching Level 37 should also mean you have a chance for items rank VII to drop, which will include Colossus and Armax Predator. Colossus with its greater damage protection is slightly better. Medical Exos are of course the best mods for the armor, although Kinetic Buffer is also good.

With 4 or 5 more points you can take the bonus talent to the next milestone. Alternatively the next 3 could be in Assault Training for faster Adrenaline Burst cooldown.

The odd power out is Carnage. There just isn't much to be gained from investing in that line unless you just want to use Carnage and want extra shotgun damage. Carnage lowers your DPS and there is the aforementioned glitched interaction with Barrier.  More on shotguns at the end.

Level 42

Points: +1 (84)

Pistols 12 (Master Marksman)
Assault Training 5 (Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 12 (Master)
Warp 4
Barrier 7 (Advanced)
Shock Trooper 12 (Barrier, Adrenaline Burst Specializations)
Assault Rifles 8 (Advanced Overkill)
Intimidate 10 (4 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

With the next milestone on the bonus power the character is starting to plateau power-wise. From here on out you can choose what you like for your points dump. Maxing Assault Training makes the most sense. At the very least, 3 points get it to Advanced.

The next best place to spend points may be Warp to help burn through enemy Immunity.

Throw could get a pity point to hit Advanced. There isn't a compelling reason to go to Master most of the time, IMO.

Level 50

Points: +1 (92)

Pistols 12 (Master Marksman)
Assault Training 12 (Master Adrenaline Burst)
Tactical Armor 7 (Shield Boost, Medium Armor)
Throw 7
Lift 12 (Master)
Warp 5
Barrier 7 (Advanced)
Shock Trooper 12 (Barrier, Adrenaline Burst Specializations)
Assault Rifles 8 (Advanced Overkill)
Intimidate 10 (4 freebies)
Spectre 4 (Unity)

It is worth talking about Shotguns briefly.  They are most useful for their high weapon force, which can knock down melee rush enemies.  The DPS is not that great compared to pistols or assault rifles, and a min-maxed Vanguard probably won't spend points in that line.  That said, if you want to use them because it suits your style, then there are a few places to scavenge some points.

If you would have taken Medicine as the bonus talent, that is 7 easy points back.  If you didn't then the first place to look might be Assault Training.  You can lower that without hurting your power spam too much, at least if you have a halfway decent biotic amp.

After that, I would consider pulling points from Marksman, although the DPS drop will likely be noticeable.  We were investing in Shotguns for fun rather than pure power, so this isn't a big deal.

I wouldn't want to sacrifice Master Lift, but it is an option.  Most of the time you aren't going up against elites, so Advanced will still be useful.

Thanks for these guides. I don't really need the others, as I've already figured out what works best for me, but I might try out your Vanguard guide for my last Insanity run.

Master Marksman does have better DPS than assault rifles with equivalent weapons (HMWA X and HMWP X for example), but the difference is rather negligible. And determining if an assault rifle is equivalent with a pistol is difficult to determine unless they are the Spectre weapons (HMW weapons).

Pistol with Master Marksman versus assault rifle tests:
1. Test 1. WARNING: Video contains cringe-worthy commentary. (I hate the sound of my own voice.)
2. Test 2.
3. Test 3.
4. Test 4.

Some other things to keep in mind: 
1. Pistol with Master Marksman does have greater DPS than an equivalent assault rifle, but only for the duration of Marksman.
2. When Marksman duration ends, you are back to regular DPS. If Marksman is still on cooldown, you lose DPS.
3. All assault rifles are essentially unusuable at ranks 1 - III because they all have 1 accuracy.
4. You cannot keep Marksman permanently active until you get good enough cooldown armor mods. You essentially need two Medical Exoskeleton Xs plus the Marksman duration bonus from the Pistols achievement (kill 150 enemies with pistols) to keep Marksman active nearly indefinitely.

Given the above statements, Pistols will be better than assault rifles until rank IV weapons begin to drop (when Shepard reaches level 20 or so). At that point, Assault Rifles are generally better until near the very end of the game when you get the required mods. So there is a good chunk of the game when assault rifles are better than pistols.

The practical difference between Pistols with Master Marksman and Assault Rifles is negligible. You will not notice a difference when you are playing the game. You would have to record your gameplay and then go back and record the various kill times to see the difference.

Note that some enemies will use Sabotage, so having both Assault Rifles and Pistols with Master Marksman is not a bad thing if you care about that. I have used both Master Marksman and Assault Rifles on a Soldier before. For other classes, having just a Basic Marksman or Advanced Marksman (depending on class/build) along with assault rifles is not a terrible idea.

I do not know if capn233 will see it, but I can certainly provide my thoughts.

The Adept can get by without investing in armor (I have done it). So therefore the Vanguard can certainly get by without it as well. The Sentinel already gets by without any armor investment. Not spending any points in Tactical Armor means no Shield Boost, no armor talent bonuses, and no ability to wear medium armor.

Just still make sure you out points into Assault Training for the Adrenaline Burst skill. But I assume you were planning to do that anyway.

You can also free up some points by not spending any in Charm or Intimidate. The impact of not persuading people with Charm/Intimidate in ME1 is pretty small in the rest of the series.

You also do not have to max Assault Training; you could probably leave that at Advanced (60s cooldown). Shock Trooper bonus + Medical Exoskeleton mods will still get you a pretty good cooldown. By the end of the game, you may not end up using it all that much.

Level 50: 92 points (start with 2, plus 90 points levels 1 - 50).
You can max up to 7 talents (7 x 12 = 84) with 6 points left over.

You can max these seven talents:
- Pistols
- Throw
- Lift
- Singularity
- Warp
- Barrier
- Vanguard/Shock Trooper

And then you can put the remaining points into Assault Training.

Although I would drop Throw down to Advanced (8 points) to make more room for Assault Training.
If you want Charm or Intimidate at max, you have to take another 8 points from somewhere. So that means singularity and/or Barrier, and/or Warp.

Spectre Training is useful early game but nearly pointless by the end of the game. Boy I really wish there was a respec option in this game (but that could cause problems or exploits with the Charm/Intimidate system in this game).

If you want the Vanguard to play like an Adept but with Adrenaline Burst, the Vanguard is very point-starved. Most of the other classes tend to have a lot of garbage/throw-away talents that you can ignore. Vanguard can really only ignore Shotguns, and maybe Tactical Armor.