Mass Effect 2: Invasive Maneuvers - A Guide to an Aggressive Infiltrator on Insanity (by OniGanon)
Oct 22, 2016 20:11:38 GMT
Post by RedCaesar97 on Oct 22, 2016 20:11:38 GMT
ATTENTION: This guide was originally created by OniGanon on the old BioWare Social Network (BSN) forums. I am recreating it here so it does not disappear when the old BSN forums shut down.
Welcome to Invasive Maneuvers, a guide with video, images and great walls of text, all given in the hope of making your Infiltrator gameplay more dynamic, more exciting and effective. The aim here is to guide and suggest, not to give a walkthrough. In truth, the methodology presented here can probably be used for other classes, it's simply enhanced by Tactical Cloak. This is a playstyle meant for experienced Mass Effect 2 Insanity players, as knowledge of level layout and enemy composition greatly lessens its learning curve. If you've already played through a standard Widow Infiltrator and want to try something different, or have previously dismissed the Infiltrator class as being too static, boring or cowardly, this guide is meant for you.
Nameless Shadow.
The term CQC Infiltrator has been thrown around for a while now. I'd prefer not to use it for this playstyle. I fear it might be misleading. You're not trying to shotgun and melee every single enemy you find (although that might happen anyway). What you're trying to do is deny the enemy the best cover on the field, and/or surround them so that they have zero cover from either yourself or your squad. CQC often happens in the process, but it's an amusing byproduct of achieving your goal, not the goal itself. Unless you want to make it the goal.
I'd like to avoid the term Shotgun Infiltrator as well, because although I use a shotgun and it does make some things much easier, the general ideas can also be applied to Widow/SMG Infiltrators, though the specifics would be a little different. I intend to eventually make some vids of a fresh shotgunless Infiltrator to demonstrate.
Crossfire and Snipers.
Put simply, the aggressive Infiltrator uses Tactical Cloak not just to escape or to boost their sniper rifle damage, but also to push forward (and often a bit sideways) into the enemy's territory to claim a part of it for themself. By claiming and holding more territory on the battlefield, the enemy becomes increasingly limited in the angles from which they can attack you and take cover from your squad. If you can manage to surround them completely, then it's only a matter of time before you defeat them.
I'm sure anyone who has played an Infiltrator has noted that using Tactical Cloak to help your sniping often causes enemies to hide behind cover, making it difficult to take any shots. If you and your squadmates are firing from different angles, enemies hiding from you get hit by your squad. Likewise, enemies that hide from your squad, as may happen when you Cloak, becomes fully visible to you.
Additionally, enemies have spawn points that, if crossed, cease to spawn more enemies. If you can cross them and still have cover, you can essentially end the fight then and there by cutting off the enemy's reinforcements and putting you at their back, surrounding them.
This is where knowledge of the level layouts, enemy composition and spawn points really come in handy. You don't want to push forward only to be caught off-guard and on cooldown by a YMIR being dropped on your head, or charge what you think is the rearmost position only to have a Legionaire spawn right behind you. Without that knowledge, it will probably be a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.
Assuming the Position.
Taking a lightly occupied position (say, two enemies) is a simple affair with a shotgun. You just run up there and shotgun/melee things until they die. SMG/Pistol can do much the same if there's only one enemy. For positions more heavily occupied, it can be a bit more difficult using that method.
If you can strip enemies of their defenses from range, using your guns and squad abilities, then hit enemies with a long aoe disable like Neural Shockwave, Flashbang Grenade, Cryo Blast, low level Throw, Slam, or just freeze them with Squad Cryo Ammo, that position becomes very vulnerable for overrunning. See, dead enemies often get replaced. CCed enemies don't (because they are still occupying the limited space at their position). If you can storm a position filled with CCed enemies, it's easy to make that position yours.
So, the first step is to position the squad. This varies from fight to fight, but in general you want the squad spread so that one covers the left flank, one on the right, and one between them. Which of these positions you yourself occupy is up to you. Next, identify your target. Check the battleground for choice bits of cover that has protection from multiple angles, space for multiple enemies, or is just positioned to give you view of the enemy force's backs. These kind of positions are often occupied by Heavies, Rocket Troopers, Collector Guardians and Assassins, so check their positions if you don't know what kind of thing you're looking for.
Next, strip the enemy of their defenses. Use SMG vs shield/barrier, SR/Pistol vs armour, use Overload on shields, Warp on Barrier/Armour, Incinerate on Armour etc. If you yourself don't have a defense strip ability, be sure to bring squadmates who do (preferably evolved into aoe). You want their defenses down ASAP. When they're down, hit them with a disable that doesn't move them around too much (Neural Shock, Cryo Blast, low powered Throw, Concussive Shot, Flashbang), or just freeze them with your Cryo Ammo. Remember, DON'T kill them from long range. If you do, another enemy may just move in and replace them and you have to do it over. When all enemies are CCed, move in and take the position for yourself, kill the trash on the floor, and congratulate yourself on a successful assault.
If a position is lightly manned (1-2 enemies) or you have a shotgun, you can attempt the last several steps simultaneously. Weaken them from range if you wish, then move in and kill or at least disable the enemies from close range, taking advantage of the increased damage that close range gives. Take the position and mop up as necessary. Do not run in without having cover nearby, unless the enemies you're rushing are the last few on the field.
The video 'Assuming the Position' shows this method in action, and how it can be done with any weapon, even a Viper and your mighty elbow. Of course, I actually suggest you use a shotgun/smg/pistol in close quarters, rather than your sniper rifle!
Hold the Line.
Once the postition is yours though, you've got to hold it! Try to have the squad positioned to cover wide, overlapping angles. Prioritise any enemies that are advancing, with first priority to the more rapidly moving enemies like Varren, FENRISes and Husks. Focus on stripping enemy defenses with your gun and squad abilities, keep them staggered, and disable/freeze them when they hit health. Don't bother killing them, just keep them disabled. Squadmates seem fond of picking on the helpless frozen guys anyway. Squad Cryo Ammo is great at keeping enemies permanently disabled until death. At worst, Cloak at the last minute and let them get in position, then take it right back! Do NOT retreat unless you're massively overwhelmed.
Thisisme8 has a great video on the subject, linked in the video section. Note though that his advice to strip enemies with guns and use abilities to disable can be reversed just fine if you have Cryo Ammo.
Cloak and Stagger.
Playing aggressively with Cloak as your only defense is risky business. Rather than recharging your shields or reducing damage taken, Tactical Cloak works by simply making the enemy not target you. This doesn't stop gunfire or abilities from hitting you if you step into their path or if they have seeking abilities like rockets or Warp. So I hope you're good at dodging rockets. In addition, activating Cloak will halt and reset your shield and health regeneration. For these reasons, it's often better to use Medigel rather than Cloak in emergency situations.
Tactical Cloak makes enemies focus on and react to your squadmates if they're still alive. This obviously reduces the squad's survivability, and it makes enemy movement harder to predict. Sometimes it seems as though the enemy senses you're there and is fleeing from you. It is surprisingly easy to miss your shots at point blank range if your target is moving, and having Cloak break without taking your target down can be severely detrimental to your health. This can be even more a problem when using very accurate weapons like the Phalanx or the GPS, or very slow ROF weapons like the Eviscerator.
It's also important to know the duration of your Cloak. This will vary depending on upgrades, level, and how you've evolved Cloak and your passive. In general, your cloaked movement range is around 8-20m depending on how much of it you spend sprinting. You can extend your range at the cost of your health by running out and waiting until you've taken a few shots before activating. Using the GPS, SMG or Pistol extends your range a few more metres.
Now, if you aren't already aware of the glory of staggers, you need to learn it for this playstyle. Many abilities stagger enemies if they hit their defenses. This very briefly stops them from moving or taking any action (like shooting your face off), and will interrupt whatever they were doing. This gives you an opportunity to move into cover, to rush up to them, or to shoot them. Enemies also stagger when hit with melee or weapons, with some weapons providing more reliable stagger than others (shotguns, Viper and Mattock have reliable stagger). Abilities used don't have to be effective vs the defense, either. Warp or Neural Shock will stagger a shielded foe just fine. Actually, Overload doesn't stagger anyway.
Because stagger makes it easier to hit a moving target, it can be beneficial while Cloaked to melee your target first before shooting them. Despite what some might tell you, Cloak damage bonus does not apply to only the first shot. It applies to all shots for roughly 2 seconds, or around the time it takes to emtpy a Predator/Carnifex/SMG clip. Alternatively, if you're using the GPS/Pistol/SMG, you can simply fire from a few metres away where it's much easier to hit (this additionally can provide a stagger), but you will do less damage from there. Or you can just use squadmate abilities to provide the stagger. Outside of Cloak, an instant aoe stagger like Neural Shockwave or squadmate abilities can be used immediately before firing a volley of SMG/Viper/Pistol shots, reducing the damage you take and sometimes forcing other enemies out of cover.
Staggers are also invaluable for pulling your boots out of the fire. I cannot count how many times that second or so of stagger time has been the difference between life and death. Squadmate abilities are especially useful here, as they are usually cast instantly, and if you need stagger to save you you're probably on cooldown anyway. Warp, Concussive Shot, Throw, Flashbang, these powers work great for this purpose.
Note though that some enemies are immune to staggers, such as YMIRs, Varren and FENRISes.
Shining Light Into the Shadows.
Description with words alone is never going to be sufficient. This section is for video and images to help illustrate aggressive Infiltrator gameplay.
OniGanon's Invasive Maneuvers video series (YouTube playlist).
thisisme8:
CQC Infiltrator Horizon.
Defense.
Polarl8ear:
Omega Slums.
Kronner's Invisible Shepard series:
Transport Station.
Weyrloc Base.
Reaper IFF.
Haestrom.
Bozorgmehr:
Collector Platforms without Cloak. (not recommended you actually do this, Boz is just crazy)
StarduskLP's Widow/Claymore Infiltrator (modded, obviously):
Horizon 1.
Horizon 2.
Cruc1al's Who Needs Squadmates? series (note: enemies do NOT stand still like this when squad is alive):
Infiltrator Horizon.
Shotgun Infiltrator Collector Ship.
ThatAverageGatsby's Infiltrator Montage NG+ (more traditional than others in the list, but still good viewing):
Omega.
Welcome to Invasive Maneuvers, a guide with video, images and great walls of text, all given in the hope of making your Infiltrator gameplay more dynamic, more exciting and effective. The aim here is to guide and suggest, not to give a walkthrough. In truth, the methodology presented here can probably be used for other classes, it's simply enhanced by Tactical Cloak. This is a playstyle meant for experienced Mass Effect 2 Insanity players, as knowledge of level layout and enemy composition greatly lessens its learning curve. If you've already played through a standard Widow Infiltrator and want to try something different, or have previously dismissed the Infiltrator class as being too static, boring or cowardly, this guide is meant for you.
Nameless Shadow.
The term CQC Infiltrator has been thrown around for a while now. I'd prefer not to use it for this playstyle. I fear it might be misleading. You're not trying to shotgun and melee every single enemy you find (although that might happen anyway). What you're trying to do is deny the enemy the best cover on the field, and/or surround them so that they have zero cover from either yourself or your squad. CQC often happens in the process, but it's an amusing byproduct of achieving your goal, not the goal itself. Unless you want to make it the goal.
I'd like to avoid the term Shotgun Infiltrator as well, because although I use a shotgun and it does make some things much easier, the general ideas can also be applied to Widow/SMG Infiltrators, though the specifics would be a little different. I intend to eventually make some vids of a fresh shotgunless Infiltrator to demonstrate.
Crossfire and Snipers.
Put simply, the aggressive Infiltrator uses Tactical Cloak not just to escape or to boost their sniper rifle damage, but also to push forward (and often a bit sideways) into the enemy's territory to claim a part of it for themself. By claiming and holding more territory on the battlefield, the enemy becomes increasingly limited in the angles from which they can attack you and take cover from your squad. If you can manage to surround them completely, then it's only a matter of time before you defeat them.
I'm sure anyone who has played an Infiltrator has noted that using Tactical Cloak to help your sniping often causes enemies to hide behind cover, making it difficult to take any shots. If you and your squadmates are firing from different angles, enemies hiding from you get hit by your squad. Likewise, enemies that hide from your squad, as may happen when you Cloak, becomes fully visible to you.
Additionally, enemies have spawn points that, if crossed, cease to spawn more enemies. If you can cross them and still have cover, you can essentially end the fight then and there by cutting off the enemy's reinforcements and putting you at their back, surrounding them.
This is where knowledge of the level layouts, enemy composition and spawn points really come in handy. You don't want to push forward only to be caught off-guard and on cooldown by a YMIR being dropped on your head, or charge what you think is the rearmost position only to have a Legionaire spawn right behind you. Without that knowledge, it will probably be a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.
Assuming the Position.
Taking a lightly occupied position (say, two enemies) is a simple affair with a shotgun. You just run up there and shotgun/melee things until they die. SMG/Pistol can do much the same if there's only one enemy. For positions more heavily occupied, it can be a bit more difficult using that method.
If you can strip enemies of their defenses from range, using your guns and squad abilities, then hit enemies with a long aoe disable like Neural Shockwave, Flashbang Grenade, Cryo Blast, low level Throw, Slam, or just freeze them with Squad Cryo Ammo, that position becomes very vulnerable for overrunning. See, dead enemies often get replaced. CCed enemies don't (because they are still occupying the limited space at their position). If you can storm a position filled with CCed enemies, it's easy to make that position yours.
So, the first step is to position the squad. This varies from fight to fight, but in general you want the squad spread so that one covers the left flank, one on the right, and one between them. Which of these positions you yourself occupy is up to you. Next, identify your target. Check the battleground for choice bits of cover that has protection from multiple angles, space for multiple enemies, or is just positioned to give you view of the enemy force's backs. These kind of positions are often occupied by Heavies, Rocket Troopers, Collector Guardians and Assassins, so check their positions if you don't know what kind of thing you're looking for.
Next, strip the enemy of their defenses. Use SMG vs shield/barrier, SR/Pistol vs armour, use Overload on shields, Warp on Barrier/Armour, Incinerate on Armour etc. If you yourself don't have a defense strip ability, be sure to bring squadmates who do (preferably evolved into aoe). You want their defenses down ASAP. When they're down, hit them with a disable that doesn't move them around too much (Neural Shock, Cryo Blast, low powered Throw, Concussive Shot, Flashbang), or just freeze them with your Cryo Ammo. Remember, DON'T kill them from long range. If you do, another enemy may just move in and replace them and you have to do it over. When all enemies are CCed, move in and take the position for yourself, kill the trash on the floor, and congratulate yourself on a successful assault.
If a position is lightly manned (1-2 enemies) or you have a shotgun, you can attempt the last several steps simultaneously. Weaken them from range if you wish, then move in and kill or at least disable the enemies from close range, taking advantage of the increased damage that close range gives. Take the position and mop up as necessary. Do not run in without having cover nearby, unless the enemies you're rushing are the last few on the field.
The video 'Assuming the Position' shows this method in action, and how it can be done with any weapon, even a Viper and your mighty elbow. Of course, I actually suggest you use a shotgun/smg/pistol in close quarters, rather than your sniper rifle!
Hold the Line.
Once the postition is yours though, you've got to hold it! Try to have the squad positioned to cover wide, overlapping angles. Prioritise any enemies that are advancing, with first priority to the more rapidly moving enemies like Varren, FENRISes and Husks. Focus on stripping enemy defenses with your gun and squad abilities, keep them staggered, and disable/freeze them when they hit health. Don't bother killing them, just keep them disabled. Squadmates seem fond of picking on the helpless frozen guys anyway. Squad Cryo Ammo is great at keeping enemies permanently disabled until death. At worst, Cloak at the last minute and let them get in position, then take it right back! Do NOT retreat unless you're massively overwhelmed.
Thisisme8 has a great video on the subject, linked in the video section. Note though that his advice to strip enemies with guns and use abilities to disable can be reversed just fine if you have Cryo Ammo.
Cloak and Stagger.
Playing aggressively with Cloak as your only defense is risky business. Rather than recharging your shields or reducing damage taken, Tactical Cloak works by simply making the enemy not target you. This doesn't stop gunfire or abilities from hitting you if you step into their path or if they have seeking abilities like rockets or Warp. So I hope you're good at dodging rockets. In addition, activating Cloak will halt and reset your shield and health regeneration. For these reasons, it's often better to use Medigel rather than Cloak in emergency situations.
Tactical Cloak makes enemies focus on and react to your squadmates if they're still alive. This obviously reduces the squad's survivability, and it makes enemy movement harder to predict. Sometimes it seems as though the enemy senses you're there and is fleeing from you. It is surprisingly easy to miss your shots at point blank range if your target is moving, and having Cloak break without taking your target down can be severely detrimental to your health. This can be even more a problem when using very accurate weapons like the Phalanx or the GPS, or very slow ROF weapons like the Eviscerator.
It's also important to know the duration of your Cloak. This will vary depending on upgrades, level, and how you've evolved Cloak and your passive. In general, your cloaked movement range is around 8-20m depending on how much of it you spend sprinting. You can extend your range at the cost of your health by running out and waiting until you've taken a few shots before activating. Using the GPS, SMG or Pistol extends your range a few more metres.
Now, if you aren't already aware of the glory of staggers, you need to learn it for this playstyle. Many abilities stagger enemies if they hit their defenses. This very briefly stops them from moving or taking any action (like shooting your face off), and will interrupt whatever they were doing. This gives you an opportunity to move into cover, to rush up to them, or to shoot them. Enemies also stagger when hit with melee or weapons, with some weapons providing more reliable stagger than others (shotguns, Viper and Mattock have reliable stagger). Abilities used don't have to be effective vs the defense, either. Warp or Neural Shock will stagger a shielded foe just fine. Actually, Overload doesn't stagger anyway.
Because stagger makes it easier to hit a moving target, it can be beneficial while Cloaked to melee your target first before shooting them. Despite what some might tell you, Cloak damage bonus does not apply to only the first shot. It applies to all shots for roughly 2 seconds, or around the time it takes to emtpy a Predator/Carnifex/SMG clip. Alternatively, if you're using the GPS/Pistol/SMG, you can simply fire from a few metres away where it's much easier to hit (this additionally can provide a stagger), but you will do less damage from there. Or you can just use squadmate abilities to provide the stagger. Outside of Cloak, an instant aoe stagger like Neural Shockwave or squadmate abilities can be used immediately before firing a volley of SMG/Viper/Pistol shots, reducing the damage you take and sometimes forcing other enemies out of cover.
Staggers are also invaluable for pulling your boots out of the fire. I cannot count how many times that second or so of stagger time has been the difference between life and death. Squadmate abilities are especially useful here, as they are usually cast instantly, and if you need stagger to save you you're probably on cooldown anyway. Warp, Concussive Shot, Throw, Flashbang, these powers work great for this purpose.
Note though that some enemies are immune to staggers, such as YMIRs, Varren and FENRISes.
Shining Light Into the Shadows.
Description with words alone is never going to be sufficient. This section is for video and images to help illustrate aggressive Infiltrator gameplay.
OniGanon's Invasive Maneuvers video series (YouTube playlist).
thisisme8:
CQC Infiltrator Horizon.
Defense.
Polarl8ear:
Omega Slums.
Kronner's Invisible Shepard series:
Transport Station.
Weyrloc Base.
Reaper IFF.
Haestrom.
Bozorgmehr:
Collector Platforms without Cloak. (not recommended you actually do this, Boz is just crazy)
StarduskLP's Widow/Claymore Infiltrator (modded, obviously):
Horizon 1.
Horizon 2.
Cruc1al's Who Needs Squadmates? series (note: enemies do NOT stand still like this when squad is alive):
Infiltrator Horizon.
Shotgun Infiltrator Collector Ship.
ThatAverageGatsby's Infiltrator Montage NG+ (more traditional than others in the list, but still good viewing):
Omega.