Mass Effect 2 - Best-in-class Infiltrator build

Here's the build that I'm using currently for my Mass Effect 2 Insanity playthrough. Ammo oriented to say the least. This build alone won't save you in the difficult sections of the game, however. UPGRADE YOUR WEAPONS AND TEAM as well. Subscribe, comment down below, and hit that Like button if you think my Shepard looks damn good!

[@kari4990]

Thank you, I’m about to beat the trilogy on Insanity as a infiltrator as a promise. It helped a lot.

[@ebonslayer3321]

I would actually change the squad ammo powers to heavy, especially warp ammo. Your idea of "3 is greater than 1" looks good on paper but there is also another saying: "dead DPS is no DPS". Squadmates die quickly unless you micromanage the hell out of them, sometimes you can't do that, and even if you do babysit their asses 2-3 shots usually puts them down anyway. I'd rather increase my one-shot capabilities than rely on my squad for max damage.

[@nstorm2424]

James Buck i use heavy warp ammo, squad electric ammo on my infiltrator, and squad ammo on my team.

[@patrikgyurcsovics7826]

Tell taht to fully upgraded grunt and elts shee how he dies xD

[@ebonslayer3321]

@@patrikgyurcsovics7826 1/13 squadmates in the game take more than a few bullets. Whoop de fuckin' do.

[@lildaiki7629]

In insanity the optimal followers were snipers using the inviscerator. Due to a bug where they don't get a reduced damage and the fact that they'll never miss and will fire extremely frequently. So early game use zaeed and garrus regardless of what you're fighting. And in late game you get thane so you don't even need warp ammo on your Shepard, I usually go energy drain because of survivability and everything has shields now.

[@ebonslayer3321]

@@lildaiki7629 I know that much. Zaeed with an Incisor fucks shit up. Problem is he dies just as quickly as he puts things down, and 90% of the time you're outnumbered.

[@suhkawnit]

Good video! I agree with almost all of what you said, though I prefer to upgrade to Incineration Blast and Heavy Warp Ammo. The Infiltrator Class doesn't have many CC options -- Squad Disruptor and Cryo Ammo require you to stick out of cover for too long. Incineration Blast, with all tech upgrades, is strong enough to strip armor off of most enemies in one hit and make groups of unprotected organics panic. For the heavily armored enemies like Scions, you should be using your Sniper Rifle anyway. As for Warp Ammo, my philosophy with ammo powers is "If it can CC, give it to your squad. If it's pure damage, keep it for yourself." Squadmates tend to die a lot on Insanity if the enemies aren't CC'ed, so I always make sure they are using an ammo type that can stop enemies from shooting at them for a few seconds. This improves their survivability in the long run, and allows them to consistently contribute via weapons and powers. Meanwhile, the extra damage you get for upgrading to Heavy Warp Ammo helps you kill strong enemies much more efficiently.

[@BillyDrakePianoMan]

I spam the shit out of Incinerate too haha.

[@CommanderBroShep]

I myself gave my Infiltrator Shepard the bonus Fortification power instead of Warp Ammo. I usually bring either Jack or Miranda with me when dealing with enemies that have Barriers for protection. I know I might get slack for it, but Fortification has saved my ass SOOO many times in my Insanity play (from a brand new game btw). When I got to the Collector ship, I took the shotgun training instead of the Widow because Cloak + Shotgun to the face = ded. But thanks for this advice, once I get to the point where I need to calm my squad down, I'll consider these tips.

[@xxxdjsantinodjxxxmartinezd8331]

+SuperMissile xD. Well, i select the widow because the same thing of the shotgun. Cloak+Widow+Head=Dead. And the Fortification is very good to save your ass XDD. (Sorry for my English)

[@Captain__Harlock]

Thanks for this video. Going through ME again now, last time I was Vangard, now I'm Infiltrator. Sniper is love. Kinda surprised they took most of Infiltrator's powers in ME2. Sure I get the cloak that I want, but now the only other offensive skill is incinerate. Its been awhile but I remember in ME2 not liking the fact that the "ammo" upgrades where powers you where forced into upgrading instead of mods you can just slot in your weapons, and that it is class restricted. Oh well, its not like I can mod it or anything, oh wait...

[@St_Heresy]

Captain Harlock most upgrades are for ammo. warp is essential on an infil if you plan on beating any collectors. andromeda will be less restrictive in terms of learned abilities, luckily

[@Captain__Harlock]

Nekrophage Thanks I'll bear that in mind. I hope so too, more room for interesting powers and versatility.

[@gibster9624]

Just got back into play the OT again and forgot what was even good. I know people hate on Andromeda but they have definitely made the combat/leveling up/build process much more enjoyable.

[@St_Heresy]

The combo system in Andromeda was a fun addition to the franchise. I hope to see it iterated and improved upon going forward.

[@isaacpaz9287]

I prefer dominate as my bonus power. Once you are able to control them, set up cloaking while you're dead. While your distraction helps whittle their health down for you and and eliminates each other for a brief moment. Once I am ready to do the insanity run. I am implementing this to the test. In my experience, you're better off. Having the stronger ammo since ammo is more scarce and it allows each shot to count. My go to partners are Grunt and Thane. Both of their abilities are useful for the team. Grunt offers Concussion Shot for barriers and incendiary ammo for armor (inferno ammo for ally usefullness up close w barrier primed). Thane has the widow if you select this weapon on the derelict ship, heavy warp for all damage, and is a prfect ally for settin in the back if you need retreat cover.

[@robbybobby4373]

Interesting build. Especially for ME2 since Insanity difficulty in much more harder in that game than compared to ME3. In ME3, I feel so OP no matter which class in Insanity.

[@St_Heresy]

Robby Bobby I felt the same. it gets hairy at the end of 3 on insanity, but every mission in 2 is one mistake from failure.

[@robbybobby4373]

Agreed. I recently replayed ME2 as an Adept class for the first time. And I definitely had a hard time going thru each mission smoothly. It can be brutal. hah!

[@St_Heresy]

This build will help you out tremendously if you plan on doing an insanity run. That's where the real fun is! I didn't try any other character class until ME3 multiplayer. Infil' for life I guess.

[@air_born_ninja]

I just got the legendary edition I’ll definitely try this out on new game +

[@St_Heresy]

I have the legendary edition as well. I may have to update the channel with some new guides. 👍🏼

[@awacsbandog658]

@@St_Heresy well I see this Remaster united Mass Effect community once again. Now they need not to fuck up with new game.

[@St_Heresy]

Sorry to hear you started your whole save over. Playing an Infil is fun though! Less health but more buffs. I normally ran with Miranda and Grunt during my insanity run. Grunt is a walking talking tank, where as Miranda comes in handy whenever the Collectors are around (Warp). I must warn you though, using Miranda can be frustrating at times due to her AI running into a hail of gunfire.

[@earlhutchinson591]

Reave is a much better power for insane run reason is it can hit more then one enemy at a time and also regain your health plus give you damage protection for I believe 5secs add that plus your invisible power for max damage out put and you are basically immortal for the whole game

[@JohnDoe-gp5fx]

Love the build using it on insanity first play though

[@St_Heresy]

Good luck!

[@St_Heresy]

Jack is cool too, but you run into the same problem as you do with Miranda. No health. Jack's Throw power saved my ass more than a few times though. Throw + ledges = hilarity

[@lucienlalachance]

Yo you got an electric heater up in tha studio? Word dawg made me feel comfy ya dig. I just started dis game tuday and this was fun to watch bc I'm all sentinaled. I'm drunk. Word?

[@St_Heresy]

Word. Mass Effect Remastered is just around the corner dogg. I’ll be runnin’ it back fa sho

[@foxglove65]

Ayo, you still drunk?

[@lucienlalachance]

@@foxglove65 no not anymore but I remember this now and that's cool lol

[@brainconqueror8095]

Three changes to my build - the infiltrator is a rogue who fights dirty, so he’d be Renegade instead of Paragon. So, I usually select Assassin since unlocking Intimidate options is easier than Charm, plus the additional damage bonus. Also, the Widow is OP with Heavy warp ammo.

[@XeonFactor]

I was thinking of using Grunt and Jack... I like taking Jack along for the pure offense she brings, and Grunt would be a great tank... What do you think?

[@adrkskn2540]

I could've sworn you had a Vanguard video too.

[@St_Heresy]

Just an infiltrator. I’ll most likely play another class for the next run.

[@fouronetwo813]

I think the Paragon and Renegade boosts are meaningless. That is If you import a character from ME1. Their 190 starting bonus to paragon or renegade makes the boost from the talent meaningless. From what I remember the game works on a percentage system. Total acquired points vs the total of points you could have possibly acquired. When you start with an import you are at 190 out of 0. You'd have to purposefully go out of your way to avoid 190 points just to get yourself down to 100% . And then you'd still be able to solve all the disputes. Infiltrator is a weird class. I normally cringe when I see people getting squad ammo powers on their character but there's not much else for the infiltrator to get. Although I'd suggest getting squad Cryo over disruptor. Use someone's overload to take care of shields or have Zaeed get it if you really want it. No one else on the team has cryo ammo Squad cryo makes some of the most frustrating parts of the game (Scions + husks) much easier. Warp ammo is a pretty good call. Jack has it but beyond that she's largely useless on insanity. When things are down to health it's best just to kill them. Not fling them around with biotics. If someone just wants to get through insanity I'd suggest the Engineer class. I just finished an insanity run with that class and the drone is so useful. Quick cooldown means even things that kill it fast can be distracted almost constantly. YMIR. Geth Primes, Harbinger, Scions all largely neutered by it. Plus it's just plain fun to launch fire and ice all over the place.

[@NayfaJoinsMinecraft]

Hey! I've got a shepard also called "Spectre Shepard".

[@St_Heresy]

I named him before I knew Mass Effect had the name Spec.T.Re for their elite soldiers. Just a coincidence. Ha

[@NayfaJoinsMinecraft]

LOL!

[@bigpoison408]

Yeah sure

[@MrSeffect]

Seeing this video made me check out some infiltrator play and restart a 20hr save to switch class aha, properly in love with the ME series. Which would you say are the best squad members/builds to run with an infiltrator?

[@St_Heresy]

Take the widow. With its potential for one shot kills (especially if you are playing as an infil) the widow is almost the ONLY choice. Just be wary of the widows ammo capacity- it's minimal at best

[@jeremyduke4938]

I would get rid of warp ammo, and replace with dominate. Dominate and AI hacking is essential as you can control any species in the game with these two abilities. It takes fire away from you, and puts it on an enemy. I usually focus all fire on the toughest enemy on the field, to get shields down than control them the rest of the fight. Makes things a hell of a lot easier. You dont need to max them out lvl 2 or 3 is fine as your just using it as a distraction to give you breathing room. Max out everything else.

[@St_Heresy]

I haven’t broke open the legacy edition yet. I’ll be sure to make a new guide when I beat it

[@St_Heresy]

Chris Tauer, you will have a tremendous amount of difficulty with the enemies late in the game. I was able to get through about 3/4s of the game on insanity on my first run before admitting defeat and going to hard. You simply wont do enough damage to enemies without your powers being upgraded (which will not be an issue once you start a newgame+). I remember health being an issue, as well. I had even more fun the second time around though.

[@thevashfan12392]

Nekrophage after hours of insanity I can conclude the best classes (for TRILOGY RUNS, playing through ALL the games) : Infiltrator (ridiculous damage output with decent defense in the first and brute force the rest) , sentinel (Aggressive Tactics) , and engineer (defensive tactics with control and distraction skills)

[@St_Heresy]

I agree for the most part. 3 is definitely more lenient in terms of class selection

[@warriornorman4026]

I know this has nothing to do with the video but I got questions that I want answered now appreciate it somebody can answer this for me can you use Game Plus mode on Mass Effect 1 and make new decisions can it carry over to Mass Effect 2 on Game Plus mode

[@greyleaf]

I still don't get how more people played male Shepard when the legendary Jennifer Hale voiced femshep. xD

[@St_Heresy]

Justin Lassiter I jumped into the series when it finally came to PlayStation. I wasn't aware she voiced femshep at the time. Meer still did an awesome job

[@greyleaf]

Oh yeah, I played him on my second run through the series and he definitely did, too. But four out of my five playthroughs over the years have been femshep. Can't get over how much Hale brings Shepard to life :D

[@victoriasharpe1661]

Because he had the better romances, simple Lol

[@THEME-SICKLE]

Tali'Zorah, that's why I played a broshep

[@dev.1359]

IMO both are great, but Meer fits Paragon Shepard better while Hale's voice acting is better suited to Renegade Shepard. Meer just does a better job playing that big boy scout hero archetype; Hale on the other hand does a better job playing that antihero who is all "shoot first, ask questions later" and doesn't take shit from anyone

[@il2xbox]

I would rather use Geth Shield Boost rather than Warp Ammo because if you evolve Geth Shield Boost to level 4, one one of the options gives you extra weapon damage while the shield is enabled. And the shield lasts 60 seconds, and you get a good boost to your total shields. It can even be used to recharge your shields instantly if your shields go down. If I want my sniper to do as much damage as possible, I can activate the Geth Shield Boost at the same time as my Cloak to do massive damage. I don't think that Warp Ammo is that useful seeing as I already have two ammo powers.

[@St_Heresy]

il2xbox, I have never used the geth shield boost power before. It's a buff that sounds worthy of trying out. I'd be interested in knowing if it works.

[@il2xbox]

Nekrophage I've tried it out and the 10% damage bonus from the shield (If you choose the right option at level 4) doesn't make a huge difference compared to the 75% you get with Assassination Cloak at level 4, but the way I build my Infiltrator is to maximize weapon damage as much as possible, so stacking the 2 powers is the way to go. With those 2 powers, and the visor that gives +10% headshot damage, and the Widow Sniper, and the sniper headshot damage, you can kill any low level enemy with ONE headshot (eg. Vorcha, LOKI mechs, Husks, and standard Eclipse or Blue Suns or Geth or Collector troopers (but be sure you use disruptor ammo against the shielded or synthetic enemies otherwise you won't one shot them because the shield will block most of the damage because snipers aren't good against shields.)) And I LOVE being able to instantly recharge my shields when they go down.

[@RaHazam]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I did fresh start for all classes and also NG+ on all classes on insanity. ME3, basically the same. I beat this series so hard that BioWare had to make an entire new series for me to play. See y'all in ME:A.

[@St_Heresy]

jay100384 see your Ryder there!

[@Samoccer]

😆 running straight into insanity! And yes its tough AF, sentinel armor n guns ftw'

[@St_Heresy]

Anytime! Here to share the wealth when I can

[@Legacy0fALegend]

Any tips for lvling up fast on insanity I didnt play me1 and didnt get alot of the buffs and extra stuff for my playthrough but im doing the engineer class and im enjoying it

[@St_Heresy]

I would definitely upgrade your Overload and Incinerate powers. Cryoblast and Combat drone aren't overly effective in terms of steam-rolling through enemies. Don't forget to max out your class specific powers as well

[@Legacy0fALegend]

Thank u

[@thevashfan12392]

Legacy0fALegend main powers: overload, incinerate, combat drone (make it the ATTACK drone and not the EXPLOSIVE, reason why: attack allows LONGER distraction to the MOST DANGEROUS enemies over waiting for the thing to explode!) cryo blast you can choose whether or not to invest (I would go FULL over DEEP because it's good for stopping lots of enemies over just 1) **My Engineer build**: HEAVY overload (take down shields fast!) heavy incinerate (destroy armor as fast as possible!) FULL cryoblast (when they have only health stop their regen and break them) then ATTACK drone (great for distracting the MOST dangerous enemies), then DEMOLISHER over MECHANIC (you need the damage buffs also NOTE: the -25% research cost means CHEAPER upgrades!)

[@St_Heresy]

I do not have a lot of experience with the Engineer besides what I discovered through ME3 multiplayer. I have seen awesome class builds though.

[@12LoLproductions]

I run GSB for all classes in ME2

[@RiotforPeacePlz]

I found hacking useful but haven't tried insanity lvl in years. Might be different but I just played on veteran and it was insanely useful

[@St_Heresy]

Hacking is useful, but there are definitely better options for powers. Insanity is a different beast late game.

[@nstorm2415]

I only use one point on hacking, more than that is a waste in my opinion. I tend to go . go with cloak, damage focused warp ammo, strong incineration, and the agent upgrade. Having your teamates freeze the enemies helps a lot.

[@William-Sunderland]

jjajaa please, everyone with an infiltrator just spam incinerate all the time

[@TheNiall666]

Can we have a face code for this Shepard? He looks cool 🙂

[@St_Heresy]

Thanks. I haven’t played ME since the old consoles. I plan on doing a full run through of Legendary soon though. I’m sure I’ll make Shepard similar to this again. I’ll try to update you with one then 👍🏼

[@kingdom99hearts]

Im gonna try this cus i usualy play soldier and it gets boring

[@BananaJoe42]

thanks man!

[@Thisisthegreatestatofalltime]

Starting insanity on ng+ is a bad idea due to enemy scaling and the lack of upgrades you’ll have.

[@St_Heresy]

Without it you also run the risk of not having enough damage about midway through the game like my first attempt.

[@kingdom99hearts]

i love using incinerate its fun. im srprised that you dont have more subs.

[@bloodbornepvp1443]

I'm confused. I just started this game and when i go to the Powers screen I don't see any of the powers you have. All I see is Adrenaline rush, Concussive shot, Distruptor ammo, Incendiary ammo, Cyro ammo & Combat Mastery. I don't see Cloak or other Power types. Help!!

[@St_Heresy]

BLOODBORNE PVP it depends on what class you chose in the creation screen. Each class has their own starting abilities. My video is for the Infiltrator class

[@bloodbornepvp1443]

Nekrophage Thank you!! That's weird, I didn't notice that you can choose a class. I just remember picking Shepard and the game started. I'm not too far in so I guess I'll start from scratch. Thanks again for the reply.

[@christauer3920]

Sooo yeah, both you and the game tell me not to play on insanity on my first play-through because it's "too hard" or something. I think that's bullshit. I'm on my first run through this game and I've found insanity to be delightfully challenging (at some points frustrating) but totally beatable. I just finished recruiting Jack and I'm about to go recruit the Krogan. Is this just going to get more difficult as the game progresses? Because so far it's been a breeze. (I'm an infiltrator.)

[@BattleshipAgincourt]

+Chris Tauer I myself beat insanity on a new game, but as a sentinel. That allowed for the greatest diversity of powers and survivability, but I have also used Infiltrator with assault rifle + reave. I did pretty well overall but the Collector Ship... absolute hell. The derelict Reaper was not too great either. I actually had the bright idea to switch to Dominate for my bonus power and that worked out quite well the second time through.

[@LeTtRrZ]

What about weapons?

[@St_Heresy]

LeTtRrZ I used the black widow and shotguns mostly

[@RevolverOcelot1]

Nekrophage can you even get both widow and shotguns on the same infiltrator play through?

[@St_Heresy]

Michael Relaford infil and soldiers can use the widow later in the game

[@RevolverOcelot1]

Nekrophage I know that but to get the widow don't you need to choose it on the collector ship which locks you out of the other choices?

[@christophercrowley9873]

Is infiltrator the best one

[@Not-an-Alien]

Depends. If you aren't too familiar with typical RPGs playing call of duty style games, I'd recommend soldier as your first try. That will be most familiar to you until you understand the other mechanics. If you are like me and tried mass effect after years of fantasy style games like dragon age, I'd recommend doing vanguard for first run. It gives you most diversity in style as well as making you a 1 man army. Great for hand holding. As far as over all best that depends on your perspective. Any build can be used to great efficiency if you do it right. Experiment and see which ones you like. This series can easily do multiple play throughs.

[@kolyh1561]

In Mass effect 2 Cryo ammo is better for this class, and Mass effect 3 disruptor is better!!

[@shap7296]

Game really isn’t that hard on insanity and it only gets easier overtime you can really use any build you want

[@ryanrich7133]

No

[@jannieschluter9670]

Why do you care about giving your squad anything? On insanity your squad is USELESS. Just buff yourself with all your L4-skills...

[@Apocalypt1cal]

False

[@mihajlocvijetic1868]

I think that only squad cryo ammo is worth it.Because it's pretty much necessary is you plan on beating the reaper iff mission on insanity

[@Explicitghost]

@@mihajlocvijetic1868 Just use shockwave lmao

[@Soulfly415]

If you're going to brag about beatig the game on insanity at least upload an LP and prove it!

[@St_Heresy]

Dave Mustaine This should set your mind at ease psnprofiles.com/trophies/730-Mass-Effect-2/NekroPhage In terms of an LP, probably not until Andromeda. There is an abundance of new games I will be playing until then. I will be covering Andromeda extensively, however, if all goes well

[@jannieschluter9670]

useless video...lol

[@St_Heresy]

Jannie Schlüter then the video wasn't meant for you

[@jannieschluter9670]

My point was that there is only ONE build since all skills are put to L4 anyway. Nothing personal.

[@jannieschluter9670]

It would have been way better if you would have talked about the best ORDER of distributing the skill points, maybe saying that one should put the first two points into tactical cloak, the next two points into incinerate and operative, and so forth...giving the "best" order of distributing the skill points in your opinion. Just making a video to say that you put 30 points into 30 skill slots is useless because there is only one "build" possible. I hope that is clearer now. I did not want to offend or insult you.

[@St_Heresy]

Jannie Schlüter no offense taken. This build is meant for a ng+ play through as stated in the video. You should be able to max out your skills by the time you do a second run.