Combat

Following the disastrous prologue, you wake up in a medical bay and must escape a frenzied attack on the facility.

This mission acts as an in-game tutorial that goes over the essentials of combat, such as how to take aim at enemies, the fine art of slamming into cover to avoid incoming fire, bringing up the Power Wheel, and how to use medi-gel to heal wounded squad members.

So, instead of going over the basics of movement and shooting, let’s instead focus on the assembly of a squad and how those decisions affect your success on a mission.

How you lead a squad in the field is also exceedingly important. Weapon choice and power development are also critical for success.

Squad

Shepard cannot save the galaxy alone. The commander needs to recruit a coterie of the most talented individuals—personally selected by Cerberus’s top man—to join the crew.

Once recruits have been convinced to join the crew, they are available to use when designating an away team for a mission.

You must select a squad to accompany you whenever you disembark from the Normandy , even if it is just to explore a city.

All potential squad members are detailed in the following chapter, including their powers, strengths, and personal information.

Use the information in those dossiers as well as squad staffing recommendations to assemble the best team for your personal play style or to complement your selected character class.

For example, if you selected an engineer, bringing along a combat-centric teammate like Zaeed or Grunt can greatly affect your chance of survival.

Squad Commands

Without any direction from you, squad members will do their best in battles to help you accomplish the current mission.

However, expert players will want to take a more hands-on approach with the squad, exerting greater control over weapon choice, power usage, and battlefield position.

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[001] The Power Wheel and Weapon Wheel are explained in greater detail in the “Weapons and Armor” and “Powers” sections of this chapter.

However, using them on a regular basis to keep tabs on your squad will make sure they are performing at the top of their game.

Tali, for example, may be fighting well in a battle against some mercenaries, but she could probably deploy combat drones more often.

So, when you see a crowd of mercs gathering, drop into the Power Wheel and select the combat drone on her behalf. Tali will follow the order and you will benefit from the combat drone exactly when you want it.

All potential squad members are detailed in the following chapter, including their powers, strengths, and personal information.

Use the information in those dossiers as well as squad staffing recommendations to assemble the best team for your personal play style or to complement your selected character class.

For example, if you selected an engineer, bringing along a combat-centric teammate like Zaeed or Grunt can greatly affect your chance of survival.

[002]

[002] Controlling the positions and targets of your squad is also critical for setting up tactics that may prove advantageous in certain circumstances.

You can direct each squad member to a specific location in your line of sight. If the squad members can reach the designated spots without putting themselves in the way of a bullet, they will follow the order.

You can order squad members to focus their fire on a specific target, which is useful for keeping a large enemy busy or creating a distraction.

Directing your squad members to designated positions is how to set up effective crossfires. Crossfires are deadly gauntlets that can trap enemies and cut them down within seconds.

By directing yourself and your teammates to equal points around a target, you make it extremely difficult for the enemy to select a target.

They are getting shot at from all angles. When they pick a target, they end up exposing themselves to two other fighters.

Crossfires are good for taking down enemies that are dug in, too. If you set up your squad to bear down on an enemy effectively using cover, you can keep that enemy busy while you flank to deliver the kill.

Position your squad members on either side of a chokepoint in a battlefield, such as a door or a bridge, to create an ambush for enemies.

Your squad members will instinctively seek cover and pop out when an enemy approaches. If you find that enemies are not falling for the ambush, use yourself as bait.

Attack from a distance and draw the enemy into your trap. When the enemy is within firing range of the ambush, your squad engages.

One more thing about squad placement: Don’t ever be too proud to retreat and regroup. You will face some incredibly powerful enemies and occasionally feel in over your head.

Rather than hold untenable ground and take losses that consume all of your medi-gel, order your squad to fall back from a battle. As they recover, you can decide on a new tactic for the troublesome battle.