ME1 Vanguard Build

Personal opinion: Using both Pistols and Assault Rifles on the Vanguard is kind of a waste if you put points into Shogtuns.

Until you start getting level IV weapons (around level 20 or so), pistols are better than assault rifles. After level 20, Assault Rifles start getting accuracy ratings greater than 1, so their base damage-per-second (DPS) is better than pistols. If you get Master Marksman (12 points in Pistols), then Pistol DPS starts to match assault rifle DPS. With enough cooldown armor mods, you can keep Master Marksman up almost indefinitely.

Master Marksman on Pistols actually give pistols greater DPS than assault rifles, but the actual difference is small.

That being said, using both Pistols and Assault Rifles is fine. The problem is you also put points into Shotguns. Personally, if I was going to use three weapons on a Vanguard (and I have), I would use Pistols + shotguns + sniper rifles instead, giving me three different ranges/uses for each weapon: ranged (SRs), close-combat knockdown (shotguns), and close-to-mid-range DPS (pistols).

Another option would have been to use just Pistols and shotguns and use the bonus power slot for another power, like Singularity.


Simbacca in the Single Playthrough Builds thread recommended this build:

Lvl 49 Vanguard:
12 Pistols (Master)
00 Shotguns
08 Assault Training (Advanced)
07 Tactical Armor (unlocks Medium Armor)
08 Throw (Advanced)
12 Lift (Master)
06 Warp (Advanced)
07 Barrier (Advanced)
07 Singularity (Advanced)
12 Shock Trooper
08 Charm (12 at the end because of the 4 free points earned during the one playthrough)
04 Spectre Training (Basic)


If you want Shotguns on the Vanguard, you have to make sacrifices elsewhere. This was my attempt a shotgun Vanguard build using Simbacca's single-playthrough rules:

Lvl 48 Vanguard (shotguns):
06 Pistols (Basic + unlocks Shotguns)
12 Shotguns
08 Assault Training (Advanced)
07 Tactical Armor (unlocks Medium Armor)
08 Throw (Advanced)
00 Lift
06 Warp (Advanced)
07 Barrier (Advanced)
12 Singularity (Advanced)
12 Shock Trooper
08 Charm (12 at the end because of the 4 free points earned during the one playthrough)
04 Spectre Training (Basic)

After a first playthrough, you can get higher than level 50, so you have a few more points to play with (typically between level 53 and 58 depending on DLC and how much you try to kill outside the Mako).

i forgot to mention this is a ng + character
ive done some thinking and i might choose singularity instead as a bonus power
anyways thanks for the help i just finished making the changes for my build

haven't made the character yet this was what i was planning to do

Stuff worth getting:

Master Lift
Medium Armor
Advanced Barrier
Master Marksman
Unity (most of the time)

Character will be pretty decent regardless of what else you get.

I didn't think the game ever let you choose a bonus in NG+ character creation, but it has been ages since I played NG+, a little longer since I imported my very first character with no bonus into NG+.

Advanced would be ok, Master is a bit more DPS though.  That's part of why I tend to try and get MM on anybody who isn't a Sentinel since it is the best weapon DPS in the game.