How strong of a biotic is Miranda?

I don't think she's a liar; rather, she's overconfident. She probably is a powerful biotic - by the standards of a human sentinel, i.e. a generalist, not a specialist.

The concept of Miranda is that she's designed as a certain conception of perfection, not that she actually is perfect. That there are things she really, as a trained and competent person, is superior at. Then there's the things she really isn't a great at and needs to realize it.

One of those things is her biotics. She's great at it. But there are better and she needs to sit down.

Like Exile explains, Miranda doesn't have the endurance, she isn't tested. Jack is tested in extremes and keeps pushing those extremes, Samara (and wrap in Morinth there) is tested in stability and is the wisest choice. But Miranda isn't lying - she thinks she can do it. And she is wrong sometimes.


If the Long Walk was shorter, and/or with less attacks on it, yeah Miranda could clearly have held it. The cutscene shows this. But she just didn't have that slight bit needed that kept everyone surviving this Suicide Mission. Oh well.

She's still one of the best human biotics, I'm very sure. But that isn't good enough, since her 'best'ness is in terms of something more vague in practice like a general genetic affinity. She wasn't good enough for that test.

EDIT: Oh and in case I wasn't clear, Jack is better because experiments could show that distress of the body and mind can open oneself to stronger application of biotics. That the pain is 'good'. Jack survived the extremes the most, without succumbing to death or worse madness, and her survival, while ethically part of a horrible experience, has lead to her being surprisingly increasingly on an upward trend with her abilities, and probably with the extra flavor of more punch than most biotics offer (human or otherwise). She's a fluke, but a useful one. Even though I'd suggest Jack couldn't hold a biotic bubble as long as Samara can, she can probably empower a bubble better than Samara, so it evens out in such a Long Walk situation.

I always got the impression that Jack/Samara were more powerful as well. I always take Samara with me to hold the barrier.

Agreed.  For RP reasons, I often have a full biotic squad with me "just in case".  It would have been a great idea for you to get better results with more than one biotic.

I do exactly this too! My preference is loyal Jack to make the bubble as a good round out to her story arc, and Samara and Miranda/Thane as biotic backups on case Jack time into trouble (even though I know that's not really an option).

"I'm still human, Shepard. I make mistakes, like everyone. The consequences are more dire when I do."

Miranda isn't always right. In theory, any biotic should be able to handle it. But the biotic also needs to be the best that the galaxy has to offer. Samara was a merc and a pirate before becoming a justicar, who honed her lethality skills with that code. Jack was experimented upon to be the best that human biotics had to offer. Miranda by contrasted, says her biotics are "pretty advanced, for a human." And she was trained mostly to be a leader, a security chief type who handled the troops and the investors at the same time. She's probably better at biotics than Jacob, but Kaidan would probably be stronger than she would.

Miranda also thinks Samara is a good choice to lead the fire teams because she's got amazing judgment. However, she did all of this alone, and wouldn't be very good at running a team. Zaeed also got many of his men killed, yet Miranda sort of likes him too.
 
I wouldn't call her a liar. She is, however, incorrect. 

I view Thane more like he has little skill with barriers because he has little use for them. He is an assassin, trained in stealth and to neutralize targets unseen. The biotic bubble is all about endurance, and an assassin is a get-in-get-out kind of person. 

Yep, I'd agree with this. The extensive genetic engineering and enhancements means she's probably one of the best human biotics - stronger than the likes of Jacob and Kaidan, for sure. I'd expect that she's also incredibly well trained, so likely has the best actual finesse and tactics.

However Asari are natural biotics, and also have almost 10 times the lifespan to adapt and hone their skills. Jack underwent countless extensive experiments to enhance her natural abilities, as well as extreme stress-testing. Her endurance would naturally be much, much stronger, and that's kind of what matters for the barrier - the ability to sustain it. 

Personally I always chose Samara, because I was terrified of anyone dying and I feared that Jack might just crack.   An Asari seemed like the best choice - although someone earlier here mentioned that Asari levels seem to vary, too. I just realised now that Councillor Tevos was a bit helpless during the Udina debacle! 

Samara is a Justicar - she is as powerful as a Matriarch. Matriarchs are considered the most powerful biotics of the known species. Jack is the most powerful known human biotic because of her natural abilities as well as (possibly) some Cerberus experimentation.

Saying that Miranda falls short of the most powerful known human biotic actually is not that bad. We don't know too much about Miranda's element zero exposure either. Jack's case was.... staged. Asari had element zero in their environment- so it was pretty much part of their evolution (plus some possible interference by the Protheans).

Miranda was a little over-confident and it could cost you a team member - this is likely because holding a barrier with no insects vs holding a barrier with insect clouds could be quite different in terms of effort. She claims that any biotic could do it, however she has no experience fighting back hordes of collector mini-bots. This is similar to how the academics of lets say, Newtonian Mechanics compares to having to push your car up a hill. One looks easy in theory, but the reality is that it is much more difficult. Miranda is human, and it is human to err, as they say.

I think the devs/writers did a very good job with that part of the mission.

Yea that. Also, biotic power seems to rely not only on genetic predisposition but also training. Miranda seems to have a very diverse skill set. She is proficient in biotics but also tech skills and leadership and she spends mot of her time with administrative duties and coordination. So she might have had less time to train her biotic skills specifically, unlike e.g. Jack or Samara who both specialize in biotic combat.

Oh btw., Kaidan is also pretty strong because he has the older L2 implants that seem to grant a lot of power but they are coming with the disadvantage of causing migranes for Kaidan (who apparently got lucky as they can cause much more sever damage and even disabilities).

Aren't Sentinels something along the lines of biotic/tech mix? Doesn't seem like Miranda to me. I'd call her an ME1 style Vanguard (since it became something different in ME2).