Mass-effect – Which Bonus Power for an Engineer on Insanity mode

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Which bonus power would be best for an engineer class on an insanity play-through or is it better to take a different class and if so what class/Bonus power should i take? And does anybody have any advice on the best way to approach an Insanity play-through? And what things would make it easier to do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Best Answer

Lets take a look at each bonus power and break it down individually:

Ashley (assuming she's alive):

  • Inferno Grenade: Not a bad choice as the engineer class doesn't have any grenade powers. Really useful to flush enemies out from behind cover.
  • Marksman: Boosts accuracy and fire rate of your weapons, but an engineer is more focused towards powers so not that useful.

James:

  • Fortification: Provides defense and melee on purge, but slows power recharge by 60% (can be reduced to 30%). Although survivability is nice, an engineer relies heavily on power spamming so the slowdown on recharge is a big killer.
  • Carnage: Very high single target damage, can even stagger Atlas mechs. Pretty useful skill in a pinch, does high armor damage, but incinerate also does high armor damage.

Kaiden (only if he survives virmire):

  • Barrier: provides defense at the expense of power cooldown just like fortification, not really a good choice imo.
  • Reave: Insanely useful as the only other way to recover health is to use a med-gel.

Garrus:

  • Armor Piercing Ammo: Since the engineer doesn't have an ammo ability, and the majority of big and tough enemies in the game high high armor, this is an excellent choice to take.
  • Proximity mines: Very handy if you can lay down a lot prior to an engagement. Enemies tend to be more aggressive and mobile on insanity so this isn't a bad choice.

Liara:

  • Stasis: Holds a single (non armored) target in place for a long time. Okay ability, not too useful imo.
  • Warp ammo: One of the best ammo powers imo, grants high damage against everything.

EDI:

  • Defense Matrix: Same with fortification, reduces power recharge as a trade off for survivability.
  • Decoy: I never played around with this much, so I can't say either way if its effective or not.

Tali:

  • Defense Drone: Having an additional target on the battlefield is always handy. Fully upgraded drones also have a handy AOE effect in chain lightning. I like this skill a lot.
  • Energy Drain: Does massive damage to shields and barriers while recharging your own. This is a great skill to have since it provides survivability without suffering power cooldown penalties. This is a good alternative to overcharge.

Javik: I don't have him so I'm leaving him out.

In conclusion here are the good ones to consider:

Reave/Energy Drain for survivability
Defense Drone (and possibility decoy) for an additional target
Warp/Piercing ammo for an ammo power
Inferno Grenade/Proximity mine for something different