[Build] This Is Great! - The Combo Happy Krogan Engineer
Apr 6, 2017 14:11:51 GMT
SalMasRac, guanxi, and 10 more like this
Post by JRandall0308 on Apr 6, 2017 14:11:51 GMT
11 May 2017 - I need to update this for game patch 1.06. The good news it that combos are way more powerful now!
(This was already posted on reddit but I may as well post it here too.)
[Build] This Is Great! - The Combo Happy Krogan Engineer
Build Summary
6/1/6/6/6
Weapons
Equalizer OR Talon with Pistol Magazine and Pistol Scope (or Barrel)
Boosters
Disruptor Ammo (or Incendiary or Cryo)
Power Efficiency Mod
Equipment
Juggernaut Shield
Who is the Krogan Engineer?
The first line of her fluff text quote is "This is great!" so that's the name of her build. She exhibits a childlike glee on the battlefield (another great quote: "They have a *Hydra*!" said with frank admiration). And with the ability to have two detonator powers, she's combo happy. She is the Krogan Engineer.
(As a side note, her array of active powers is essentially the same as the Human Engineer from Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer: Overload, Incinerate, and a pet.)
Overload 6 ranks
Overload is your out-of-the-box detonator power. It also briefly stuns weaker enemies, setting them up for headshots.
In my opinion, taking the time to charge up for a chained Overload is never worth it, so this build assumes you are simply tapping the Overload button.
Path: 4b (Recharge Speed) / 5b (Anti-Shield) / 6a (EMP)
4b (Recharge Speed) over 4a (Damage)
As weak as the powers and combos are in this game, being able to use them more often still trumps a little extra damage.
5b (Anti-Shield) over 5a (Charged Overload)
We're not charging up Overload so Anti-Shield is the obvious choice. This can be handy against annoying shielded enemies like Remnant Overseers.
6a (EMP) over 6b (Maximum Charge)
Again, we're not charging up Overload so yet more anti-shield and anti-synthetic damage is the obvious choice.
Assault Turret 1 rank
Unfortunately the Assault Turret is a pale shadow of Mass Effect 3's awesome Combat Drone. While the Assault Turret rank 6b Flamethrower evolution can prime enemies, it's not worth the point investment to get there.
Even with only a single rank, the Assault Turret is useful for clogging up doorways, distracting certain enemies, and providing an early warning system on your flanks.
Note that you cannot re-deploy the Turret until after it's been destroyed (by enemies or by you, manually) and its cooldown has occurred. For that reason, it's a good idea to destroy your Turret between waves so that it is ready to re-deploy at the start of the next wave.
Incinerate 6 ranks
Incinerate is your out-of-the-box primer power. Armored foes are the most dangerous in the game, so dealing extra damage to them is handy. Weak, unshielded enemies will catch on fire and be panicked by the burning damage over time (DOT), setting them up for easy kills.
Path: 4a (Radius) / 5b (Anti-Armor) / 6a (Detonator)
4a (Radius) over 4b (Burning)
Expanding the Radius of Incinerate to 2m may not seem like a lot, but it lets you simultaneously affect clustered enemies like the ones you see during spawns or any time the enemies gather around something (like your Turret or another player character). The more enemies who are affected by Incinerate's DOT, the more overall damage you're dealing, and the more you reduce incoming damage from panicked mooks.
Burning is a good evolution for increasing DOT, but I'd rather have more enemies taking the lower default DOT than one enemy taking the higher Burning DOT.
5b (Anti-Armor) over 5a (Impact)
Specialization is the name of the game, and Anti-Armor makes Incinerate even more effective against those types of enemies.
6a (Detonator) over 6b (Double Incinerate)
This is the most important power evolution in the entire class. Turning Incinerate into a Detonator gives you two ways to detonate combos, which -- even though they are weak -- are an extra source of damage and crowd control. The Detonator evolution gives you twice as many opportunities to create combos with your allies. What's more, you can now detonate and prime with a single power.
Double Incinerate looks cool as heck, but doesn't offer the utility of Detonator.
Offensive Tech 6 ranks
Offensive Tech is your 'passive' tree that provides some extra damage for your powers and guns, as well as a nifty (but overly specific) debuff.
Path: 4b (Combo Detonation) / 5b (Anti-Armor) / 6a (Elemental Tech)
4b (Combo Detonation) over 4a (Power Enhancement)
The combo damage in Mass Effect Andromeda is so weak that even buffed by +30% it doesn't do much. But +30% combo radii is excellent. You'll catch a lot of enemies in giant fire explosions thanks to this evolution.
5b (Anti-Armor) over 5a (Anti-Shield)
Again, pile on all the Anti-Armor capabilities you can get. Overload will suffice for your anti-shield needs, but you can never have enough anti-armor.
6a (Elemental Tech) over 6b (Weapon Mass Reduction)
You're going to pick up some extra carrying capacity from the Rage tree, so Weapon Mass Reduction isn't needed, plus its boost to accuracy and stability is wasted on a class that is not primarily a weapons user.
Elemental Tech reads: "Inflicting a status effect on enemies causes them to take more damage from heat, cold, and electricity. Elemental Defense Debuff: 35%." To be clear, you're *only* debuffing your enemies' defenses against the three listed sources of damage, *not* against general gun damage (nor against Biotic / Combat powers for that matter).
Conveniently, though, both of the Krogan Engineer's powers fall into the 'heat' and 'electricity' categories. I believe that the stun from Overload does count as a status effect, and certainly the burning DOT from Incinerate does, so the debuff should be applied no matter which order you use your powers.
You will also debuff enemies against the three types of ammo: Incendiary, Cryo, and Disruptor. And of course, your allies' heat, cold, and electrical powers will also benefit from the debuff.
Elemental Tech doesn't always apply, but when it does it's a nice source of extra damage.
Rage 6 ranks
Your 'fitness' tree gives you more survivability and a decent 'panic button' that kicks in when you're low on health.
Path: 4a (Resilience) / 5a (Regeneration) / 6a (Berserker)
4a (Resilience) over 4b (Melee)
Resilience offers more health and shields and a little more DR. It all adds up. Besides, you're not going to be head-butting on a regular basis.
5a (Regeneration) over 5b (Martial Arts)
Regeneration means that while Raging, you can fully regenerate your health (to 100%); it also halves the delay before health and shields start regenerating. Together that means less time spent in cover and more time spent in battle. (If you do take cover, that in-cover bonuses will stack with Regeneration.) It may be hard for you to get Rage going until you also have 6a Berserker, so keep that in mind when leveling up.
Martial Arts is a great evolution... for the Krogan Vanguard. Not for you.
6a (Berserker) over 6b (Inspirational)
With Berserker, your Rage kicks in automatically when your health drops to 33% or below. Combined with 5a Regeneration, you'll quickly start regenerating and can get back up to 100% health. Effectively, your health bar functions like a shield bar -- as long as you stay enraged.
Berserker also means you only need 2 melee kills to enter rage, which is much easier to pull off on the early trash waves. You can gratuitously headbutt some Adhi, Assemblers, or Chosen to get your blood pumping.
Inspirational lets you provide 30 DR to allies within 6 meters, but it's just too hard to stay that close to people.
Leveling Up
The Krogan Engineer is an Uncommon character, meaning that it's not trivial to get her ranked up to X at which point she has all of her skill points. Fortunately, she's good to go even as a Krogan Engineer I -- Incinerate plus Overload work just fine at rank 1 while you wait for more character cards to drop.
My recommended build order:
I normally like to get both active powers to rank 6 sooner than later, but in the Krogan Engineer's case I think the extra survivability from Rage takes precedence.
Weapons
Any fast-firing weapon that applies ammo effects, so you can detonate more combos with both Overload and Incinerate. The Charger when you're starting out, or the Equalizer or Hurricane at higher rarities. The Equalizer is the default 'caster' weapon that frees you up from ammo boxes.
The Raptor and Thokin are also good rapid fire guns, but they both have relatively small clips meaning you'll spend a lot of time reloading.
The Talon pistol is also excellent at applying ammo effects because it fires multiple pellets like a shotgun.
You don't particularly need a secondary weapon, but a light single-shot pistol like the Carnifex or Sidewinder can give you something to use as long range during objectives.
Boosters
Elemental ammo is a necessity to syngergize with the debuff from Offensive Tech 6a (Elemental Tech). In order: Disruptor (stuns humanoids and the tech combo creates a lightning field on the ground), Incendiary (yet more anti-armor), or Cryo (chills everything and actually freezes health-only enemies pretty quickly).
Power Efficiency Mod to speed up your cooldowns because you're a 'caster' after all.
Equipment
You may as well equip the Juggernaut Shield because you will occasionally headbutt something.
Gameplay
Find a chokepoint and deploy your Turret there. Locate enemies, hose them down with your elemental ammo, detonate with Incinerate, then either detonate again with Overload or spray some more ammo first and then use Overload. If it's safe to do so, finish off the stragglers with headbutts to get your Rage going.
You do equally well holding the line or running-and-gunning with your allies. If you're holding the line, you can either toss your Turret out in front of you where it will attract attention from Adhi, Wraiths, and Overseers (thus clustering them up for Incinerate + Overload); or you can toss your Turret on your flank where it will serve as an early warning system.
If you're running-and-gunning, ideally wait for an ally to prime the enemies so you can detonate with Incinerate while simultaneously also priming for a fire combo (which you can detonate yourself with Overload, or wait for an ally to detonate with their powers).
When your Berserker mode kicks in due to low health, don't be afraid to fall back temporarily. Unlike your krogan brothers, you are not a tank, so don't play like one.
(This was already posted on reddit but I may as well post it here too.)
[Build] This Is Great! - The Combo Happy Krogan Engineer
Build Summary
6/1/6/6/6
- Overload 4b / 5b / 6a (EMP)
- Assault Turret 1 rank
- Incinerate 4a / 5b / 6a
- Offensive Tech 4b / 5b / 6a
- Rage 4a / 5a / 6a
Weapons
Equalizer OR Talon with Pistol Magazine and Pistol Scope (or Barrel)
Boosters
Disruptor Ammo (or Incendiary or Cryo)
Power Efficiency Mod
Equipment
Juggernaut Shield
Who is the Krogan Engineer?
Explosives technician with high survivability and area damage.
The first line of her fluff text quote is "This is great!" so that's the name of her build. She exhibits a childlike glee on the battlefield (another great quote: "They have a *Hydra*!" said with frank admiration). And with the ability to have two detonator powers, she's combo happy. She is the Krogan Engineer.
(As a side note, her array of active powers is essentially the same as the Human Engineer from Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer: Overload, Incinerate, and a pet.)
Overload 6 ranks
Unleash an electrostatic charge that deals high damage to shields and synthetic enemies. Detonates combo primers. Tap to use, or hold to chain to up to two additional targets.
Overload is your out-of-the-box detonator power. It also briefly stuns weaker enemies, setting them up for headshots.
In my opinion, taking the time to charge up for a chained Overload is never worth it, so this build assumes you are simply tapping the Overload button.
Path: 4b (Recharge Speed) / 5b (Anti-Shield) / 6a (EMP)
4b (Recharge Speed) over 4a (Damage)
As weak as the powers and combos are in this game, being able to use them more often still trumps a little extra damage.
5b (Anti-Shield) over 5a (Charged Overload)
We're not charging up Overload so Anti-Shield is the obvious choice. This can be handy against annoying shielded enemies like Remnant Overseers.
6a (EMP) over 6b (Maximum Charge)
Again, we're not charging up Overload so yet more anti-shield and anti-synthetic damage is the obvious choice.
Assault Turret 1 rank
Deploys an automated turret that counts as a tech construct. Tap to deploy, hold to destroy the turret, damaging nearby enemies.
Unfortunately the Assault Turret is a pale shadow of Mass Effect 3's awesome Combat Drone. While the Assault Turret rank 6b Flamethrower evolution can prime enemies, it's not worth the point investment to get there.
Even with only a single rank, the Assault Turret is useful for clogging up doorways, distracting certain enemies, and providing an early warning system on your flanks.
Note that you cannot re-deploy the Turret until after it's been destroyed (by enemies or by you, manually) and its cooldown has occurred. For that reason, it's a good idea to destroy your Turret between waves so that it is ready to re-deploy at the start of the next wave.
Incinerate 6 ranks
Fires a plasma projectile that does bonus damage to armor and inflicts ongoing burning damage to unshielded foes. Primes for combo detonations.
Incinerate is your out-of-the-box primer power. Armored foes are the most dangerous in the game, so dealing extra damage to them is handy. Weak, unshielded enemies will catch on fire and be panicked by the burning damage over time (DOT), setting them up for easy kills.
Path: 4a (Radius) / 5b (Anti-Armor) / 6a (Detonator)
4a (Radius) over 4b (Burning)
Expanding the Radius of Incinerate to 2m may not seem like a lot, but it lets you simultaneously affect clustered enemies like the ones you see during spawns or any time the enemies gather around something (like your Turret or another player character). The more enemies who are affected by Incinerate's DOT, the more overall damage you're dealing, and the more you reduce incoming damage from panicked mooks.
Burning is a good evolution for increasing DOT, but I'd rather have more enemies taking the lower default DOT than one enemy taking the higher Burning DOT.
5b (Anti-Armor) over 5a (Impact)
Specialization is the name of the game, and Anti-Armor makes Incinerate even more effective against those types of enemies.
6a (Detonator) over 6b (Double Incinerate)
This is the most important power evolution in the entire class. Turning Incinerate into a Detonator gives you two ways to detonate combos, which -- even though they are weak -- are an extra source of damage and crowd control. The Detonator evolution gives you twice as many opportunities to create combos with your allies. What's more, you can now detonate and prime with a single power.
Double Incinerate looks cool as heck, but doesn't offer the utility of Detonator.
Offensive Tech 6 ranks
Technical training to maximize the omni-tool's offensive capabilities.
Offensive Tech is your 'passive' tree that provides some extra damage for your powers and guns, as well as a nifty (but overly specific) debuff.
Path: 4b (Combo Detonation) / 5b (Anti-Armor) / 6a (Elemental Tech)
4b (Combo Detonation) over 4a (Power Enhancement)
The combo damage in Mass Effect Andromeda is so weak that even buffed by +30% it doesn't do much. But +30% combo radii is excellent. You'll catch a lot of enemies in giant fire explosions thanks to this evolution.
5b (Anti-Armor) over 5a (Anti-Shield)
Again, pile on all the Anti-Armor capabilities you can get. Overload will suffice for your anti-shield needs, but you can never have enough anti-armor.
6a (Elemental Tech) over 6b (Weapon Mass Reduction)
You're going to pick up some extra carrying capacity from the Rage tree, so Weapon Mass Reduction isn't needed, plus its boost to accuracy and stability is wasted on a class that is not primarily a weapons user.
Elemental Tech reads: "Inflicting a status effect on enemies causes them to take more damage from heat, cold, and electricity. Elemental Defense Debuff: 35%." To be clear, you're *only* debuffing your enemies' defenses against the three listed sources of damage, *not* against general gun damage (nor against Biotic / Combat powers for that matter).
Conveniently, though, both of the Krogan Engineer's powers fall into the 'heat' and 'electricity' categories. I believe that the stun from Overload does count as a status effect, and certainly the burning DOT from Incinerate does, so the debuff should be applied no matter which order you use your powers.
You will also debuff enemies against the three types of ammo: Incendiary, Cryo, and Disruptor. And of course, your allies' heat, cold, and electrical powers will also benefit from the debuff.
Elemental Tech doesn't always apply, but when it does it's a nice source of extra damage.
Rage 6 ranks
Enter a blood rage after performing multiple melee kills within 30 seconds.
Your 'fitness' tree gives you more survivability and a decent 'panic button' that kicks in when you're low on health.
Path: 4a (Resilience) / 5a (Regeneration) / 6a (Berserker)
4a (Resilience) over 4b (Melee)
Resilience offers more health and shields and a little more DR. It all adds up. Besides, you're not going to be head-butting on a regular basis.
5a (Regeneration) over 5b (Martial Arts)
Regeneration means that while Raging, you can fully regenerate your health (to 100%); it also halves the delay before health and shields start regenerating. Together that means less time spent in cover and more time spent in battle. (If you do take cover, that in-cover bonuses will stack with Regeneration.) It may be hard for you to get Rage going until you also have 6a Berserker, so keep that in mind when leveling up.
Martial Arts is a great evolution... for the Krogan Vanguard. Not for you.
6a (Berserker) over 6b (Inspirational)
With Berserker, your Rage kicks in automatically when your health drops to 33% or below. Combined with 5a Regeneration, you'll quickly start regenerating and can get back up to 100% health. Effectively, your health bar functions like a shield bar -- as long as you stay enraged.
Berserker also means you only need 2 melee kills to enter rage, which is much easier to pull off on the early trash waves. You can gratuitously headbutt some Adhi, Assemblers, or Chosen to get your blood pumping.
Inspirational lets you provide 30 DR to allies within 6 meters, but it's just too hard to stay that close to people.
Leveling Up
The Krogan Engineer is an Uncommon character, meaning that it's not trivial to get her ranked up to X at which point she has all of her skill points. Fortunately, she's good to go even as a Krogan Engineer I -- Incinerate plus Overload work just fine at rank 1 while you wait for more character cards to drop.
My recommended build order:
- Incinerate up to 6a (Detonator) so you have two detonator powers
- Rage up to 6a (Berserker) for durability
- Offensive Tech to 4b (Combo Detonation) to maximize your combo radius
- Overload up to 6a (EMP)
- Offensive Tech 5b (Anti-Armor) and 6a (Elemental Tech)
I normally like to get both active powers to rank 6 sooner than later, but in the Krogan Engineer's case I think the extra survivability from Rage takes precedence.
Weapons
Any fast-firing weapon that applies ammo effects, so you can detonate more combos with both Overload and Incinerate. The Charger when you're starting out, or the Equalizer or Hurricane at higher rarities. The Equalizer is the default 'caster' weapon that frees you up from ammo boxes.
The Raptor and Thokin are also good rapid fire guns, but they both have relatively small clips meaning you'll spend a lot of time reloading.
The Talon pistol is also excellent at applying ammo effects because it fires multiple pellets like a shotgun.
You don't particularly need a secondary weapon, but a light single-shot pistol like the Carnifex or Sidewinder can give you something to use as long range during objectives.
Boosters
Elemental ammo is a necessity to syngergize with the debuff from Offensive Tech 6a (Elemental Tech). In order: Disruptor (stuns humanoids and the tech combo creates a lightning field on the ground), Incendiary (yet more anti-armor), or Cryo (chills everything and actually freezes health-only enemies pretty quickly).
Power Efficiency Mod to speed up your cooldowns because you're a 'caster' after all.
Equipment
You may as well equip the Juggernaut Shield because you will occasionally headbutt something.
Gameplay
Find a chokepoint and deploy your Turret there. Locate enemies, hose them down with your elemental ammo, detonate with Incinerate, then either detonate again with Overload or spray some more ammo first and then use Overload. If it's safe to do so, finish off the stragglers with headbutts to get your Rage going.
You do equally well holding the line or running-and-gunning with your allies. If you're holding the line, you can either toss your Turret out in front of you where it will attract attention from Adhi, Wraiths, and Overseers (thus clustering them up for Incinerate + Overload); or you can toss your Turret on your flank where it will serve as an early warning system.
If you're running-and-gunning, ideally wait for an ally to prime the enemies so you can detonate with Incinerate while simultaneously also priming for a fire combo (which you can detonate yourself with Overload, or wait for an ally to detonate with their powers).
When your Berserker mode kicks in due to low health, don't be afraid to fall back temporarily. Unlike your krogan brothers, you are not a tank, so don't play like one.
