Builds: Swordsman [Melee] vs Sniper

You could easily do a melee/shotgun build but put points in the sniper passive and cloak, and carry a SR (maybe with bio converter) as a secondary weapon.

I think it's probably easier to build a melee character who can snipe than the other way around because you don't need to invest many points in other powers to make sniping powerful.

I always prefer sniping. To me, it's a tactical advantage especially if you can place your squadmates behind cover ahead of you. They act as covering fire for you while you line up for the head shots. I have to criticize Andromeda and Inquisition on this. The Companion AI is pretty shallow. It needs to be at the same level as Origins where situations dictate a course of action instead of relying on a rotation of abilities that aren't on cooldown. The smarter the companion, the more satisfying the combat for me, at least. After my third run in Origins, nothing was left default. I micro-managed the tactics then so I didn't have to micro-manage battles later. Morrigan became so OP in support combat roles. Alistair, Oghren and Sten became such great tanks that I was able to experiment with other classes with forgiving results. I was always the paladin-type. Sword, hammer or mace and shield or greatsword. I tried every class combination and still went back to sword and shield for Origins because I wanted that cinematic death blow. I got tired of seeing Alistair stealing the spotlight.

Good idea.

My favorite aspect of melee is death from above. Enemy gets knocked back, still has enough health to rejoin the fight, but o noes! someone's already coming down hard with fist full of omni-death.

Update

I think I found my happy medium.

Vanguard

Cloak
Charge
Invasion

Helmet: Heleus
Chest: Maverick
Legs: Kett
Arms: Kett

Invade.  Cloak.  Pick some uglies off from a distance.  Charge in.  Shank fools.  Cloak to reposition.  Charge.  Shank again.

Sounds fun, might borrow something similar for my next playthrough!

But why use the Kett armour? You haven't got any combat powers in your loadout so it's a bit of a waste. You'd be better off with Maverick, Hyperguardian, Heleus or Remnant.

Fair enough, I though Maverick arms and legs did too but apparently it's only the chest.

*looks at me3.
It's ok me3 at least I remember how great your melee builds are.

One of the first build videos I saw.

Passed up on it since AZZault rifles and the Piranha get the maximum benefit from Turbocharge.

Sniper Rifle and Melee are my main.  Shotgun is backup.

Typical way Shotgun is used with Charge takes the fun out of aiming.

See if one of these work for you, the gameplay is NG+ on insanity

I've been experimenting with different builds, but I keep coming back to Melee. Its OP, no matter what wep you use. Though if your melee force is high I'd recommend using bio amp or omni blade, unless you want to keep scattering enemies that might not be finished off, which is annoying. My melee force is so high that enemies fly off like they were hit by Superman or a biotic throw.

I switched from vanguard to explorer to offset this, and teleportation, but the build is still the same. Charge, and Nova. I haven't found a third power to round this out, because any power I add ends up being ignored. (Maybe turbo charge for extra fire power, but meh.) Charge, melee, nova, jump melee. Varies depending on the group, but its nigh unkillable.

The extra damage is good regardless, helps with setting up combos. I use biotics, but most of my combos turn out to be tech with the elemental status from my jump melee. Progressing that tech tree improved this.