In Mass Effect 1, the Vanguard is the best overall class. It is followed by the Soldier, Adept, Infiltrator, Engineer, then Sentinel. Some of the classes become better in later titles.
Mass Effectwas lauded by critics for its immersive characters, world-building, and being entirely built around player choices. But one of the most important choices a player can make in the game is which class to play.
Mass Effect‘s classes were created around three different types of combat: gunplay, biotics (magic), and support. Each of the six classes in the game were designed to be either focused on one of these or is a combination of two. These classes are:
Adept – Pure biotics, which is the magic-like system in Mass Effect
Engineer – Full support class
Soldier – Pure combat and strength class
Vanguard – Mix of Soldier and Adept
Sentinel – Mix of Engineer and Adept
Infiltrator – Mix of Engineer and Soldier
When choosing a class for Mass Effect 1, you don’t need to think about how that will impact your playthrough of future titles. You can choose a new class for Shepherd in the second title of the series, so don’t worry at all about how these classes will change from one game to the next. Just choose what is best for you for the first title. The following are the Mass Effect classes ranked from worst to best overall.
Worst Overall: Sentinel
Unfortunately for the Sentinel class, it takes all the worst bits about being Engineer and Adept and puts them together, leaving out most of the fun stuff. Not only do you give up all the cool stuff about being a Soldier, you also lose a lot of what make an Adept fun to play. The Sentinel has no weapon specializations, no Adrenaline Burst cooldown resets, and just is overall not fun to play. And besides, why would anyone make a Tech character when Tali is around?
Tech and support classes can be awesome when you are playing in games with other real, live people. But this support class is boosting the other people in Shepherd’s party, which are all AI. Relying on NPCs to do all the fighting while you heal from the sidelines isn’t a great move in Mass Effect. And on top of that, Tali’Zorah nar Rayya is always there to take care of all of your Tech needs, so Shepherd doesn’t need to worry about it at all.
The Most Awkward of Classes: Infiltrator
Snipers are super cool in all games, so it’s such a shame that the Infiltrator class is not awesome inMass Effect 1. The main problem? Almost all of the combat in the game takes place in small locations where long ranged combat is nearly impossible. And if anyone has ever tried to use a sniper rifle at close range, they can easily see what makes this class so awkward. That being said, this class thankfully gets much better in future games.
Squishy but Fun Class: Adept
Adepts are extremally fun to play. There’s nothing better than being able to pick up an enemy and toss them across the room like a doll. But unlike the Vanguard and Solider classes, Adepts don’t get to use the higher classes of armor; being pure psychic means settling for ranged combat as often as possible because light armor just doesn’t hold up as well. On the up side, though, you still get to specialize in pistols and take advantage of their great accuracy and good heat management.
Easiest Class to Play: Soldier
If you aren’t especially comfortable with the combat ofMass Effect 1with its clunky and sometimes glitchy play, the Soldier is the class for you. This is the straightforward gunplay class with no bells or whistles. Just loads of different gun types to choose from, including the all-powerful pistol and an abundance of health. This class also gets access to Adrenaline Burst, lots of health regen, and stronger armor.
Best Overall: Vanguard
Vanguard is the best of the two strongest worlds inMass Effect 1. Not only do you get the strong physical attacks and armor from the Soldier class, but you also get to throw people around with your biotic psychic powers. The Vanguard gets access to all the best stuff in the game from pistol specialization to Adrenaline Burst to spells like Lift, Warp, and Throw. And this is what makes it the very best class in Mass Effect 1.
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The whole concept of Vanguard is silly, you're going in with Biotic Charge alone, left surrounded by enemies with your allies nowhere near you. ME3 gave them Nova, which makes it a bit more useful, but still ultimately a pointless pick when there are much superior classes to pick.
According to gameplay statistics for Mass Effect Legendary Edition as of July 27, 2021, 40% of players are Soldiers, followed by 21% Vanguards, 15% Infiltrators, 11% Adepts, 8% Sentinels, and only 5% Engineers.
This game wants you in cover and using Rock, Paper, Shields mechanics. Since the new class system limits your weapons then Soldier is hands down the easiest class to play this game on. As long as you have incendiary rounds, just take Garrus who has overload and piercing rounds and someone else with biotics.
One shot will kill no matter where you hit. On most enemies. The great thing about this though is that you can cause the same amount of damage even if you hit just the elbow or their foot. When enemies hide behind cover they usually have some part of their body exposed.
Soldier is more defensive and Vanguard is more offensive class. If you want to attack your enemies straight on, Vanguard is better option, but if you want to use your gun more and keep your distance, Soldier is pretty good for that.
The Vanguard is a powerful combatant, able to combine the offensive powers of the Adept and the Soldier. They have access to various weapons and armor, as well as biotics. Gameplay focus is on taking down enemies with quick and brutal force.
The fate of the Rachni Queen is one of the most important choices to make in the Mass Effect games, but her survival is crucial to gain the maximum amount of war assets. By saving the Rachni Queen in the original Mass Effect, players will encounter her again and have another chance to save her in Mass Effect 3.
It has now come to light that the Engineer was the least popular class in the Legendary Edition, chosen by only five percent of players, according to the Mass Effect Twitter account.
Soldier is the only one that truly makes sense. Nah, all of the half Soldier classes make sense as well. Shepard doesn't specialize in the other disciplines, so not having a complete understanding makes a certain degree of sense.
Sentinel with Warp ammo bonus power is the best class for insanity. Get the Locust as fast as humanly possible and the game is essentially over. Tech Armor for tanking. Get AR rifle Mastery and use the Mattock.
Probably Sentinel, Adept or Soldier. You can switch classes though so there's no need to stick with one. Soldier was considered the best for a long time in ME1 because of the lack of weapon restrictions and the durability of the class. Now that there's no weapon restrictions something with Biotics is probably better.
If you go straight into insanity on ME2, you'll have a very difficult time, you have no research done for weapons or shields (like damage reduction), you have no worthwhile weapons and your squadmates, which are worthless at the start even at rank 30, are now even more worthless with less abilities and less resistance.
Obviously Ashley and Wrex/Garrus make for the best "Rarr kill everyone" squad (i believe thats the official term by the way) but Tali for example gives a major boost to electronics or hacking whenever you need it. In general its best to have a balanced squad: Soldier, Tali and Liara.
We recommend you head to Therum first to grab Liara. If you leave her recruitment until after Feros and Noveria, she suffers from the length of her imprisonment, and will initially treat you and your squad as hallucinations.
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