Mass Effect 3 provides five types of firearms to use against your foes: pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles.
In previous games, Shepard’s effectiveness with guns depended largely on what class you chose to play as.
In Mass Effect 3, there are no restrictions regarding what types of guns Shepard can take into combat. If you want to bring a sniper rifle and a shotgun as a Vanguard, go for it.
It is totally possible to run through the entire game with the weapons you are comfortable with.
There is one major factor to consider when selecting your weapons, and that is their weight. Weight directly influences the cooldown times of all the powers Shepard has.
Taking all the heaviest firepower you can muster can increase power cooldowns by up to 200 percent!
On the other side of the spectrum, taking a light loadout can significantly speed up power cooldowns, an excellent bonus for classes and character builds that reward rapid power usage.
Certain passive skills can decrease the weight of a gun or increase total carrying capacity.
Submachine guns have a special mod that can reduce their weight significantly, making room for heavier weapons in a loadout.
Weapons can be upgraded a maximum of five times on a first playthrough in single-player. In successive playthroughs, the limit is raised to 10.
These upgrades can be purchased from the Normandy’s Shuttle Bay. Multiplayer weapon upgrades max out at 10, with no prior restrictions.
Most weapons you unlock in single-player mode will be found during missions. Once Shepard is reinstated as a Spectre, you’ll be able to buy three very special Spectre-issue weapons...at a steep price.
In multiplayer, guns and their upgrades work similarly, though they come fairly randomly through purchases of special reinforcement packs.
Characters in multiplayer are also limited to two guns. See the “Multiplayer” section for more details.
Pistols
Pistols are your most basic firearm, specializing primarily in short- to mid-ranged combat.
They range from rapid-fire semiautomatics to hand cannons with heavy recoil and high damage.
In spite of their size, pistols make remarkably solid backup weapons due to their typically light weight.
Pistols are faster on the draw than other weapons, making them excellent to switch to if a primary weapon is out of thermal clips.
Of special note is the Scorpion pistol, which fires small explosives that adhere to hostiles, with a slight delay before detonation.
Melee combat with pistols can be surprisingly effective, as there are mods that add a shock effect to each swing of the weapon, stunning unprotected targets.
Shotguns
Providing one of the most powerful close-ranged punches in the game, shotguns are the answer to almost anything that gets too close to you.
Precision is not what these weapons are known for. Combined with an aggressive player and a resilient class build, it’s possible to be nearly unbeatable at close range.
Unfortunately, there are serious drawbacks to these weapons.
They typically do not have large thermal clip capacities, and this can lead to situations where you’re stuck trying to reload the shotgun at the worst time or forced to switch out to a new weapon.
Submachine Guns
Occupying a middle ground between pistols and shotguns, the submachine guns provide close- to midranged lethality, coupling well with ammunition powers like Cryo or Incendiary ammo.
SMGs suffer during sustained fire, rapidly becoming inaccurate over longer distances.
However, SMGs can absolutely rip apart armor, making them solid choices once the shields and barriers of a target are stripped away.
Of all the weapon types, SMGs benefit the most from being combined with special ammunition, as their high rates of fire ensure that the effects of each ammo type “stick” much sooner.
It’s not uncommon to see an SMG kitted out for reduced weight alongside heavier guns within a player’s arsenal.
Assault Rifles
The workhorse weapon of the game, the assault rifle can perform adequately at every range. These rifles enjoy decent rates of fire, good stopping power, and solid accuracy even at more extreme ranges.
There’s a lot of variety in the available ARs as well.
For example, the M-96 Mattock boasts good killing power, high accuracy, and semiautomatic capability that rewards players who can keep putting rounds into critical spots on a target, even while on the move.
Meanwhile, the starting M-8 Avenger provides full auto capability that remains surprisingly accurate even for longer bursts.
Because of the generally high accuracy of these weapons, adding a scope or stability mod is highly recommended, giving many of these weapons near-laserlike precision.
Sniper Rifles
Accurately firing from great distances is the job of the sniper rifle. Favored by the Infiltrator class the most, many sniper rifles provide single, powerful shots before charging a new thermal clip into place.
There are some semiautomatic rifles that make for great midranged weapons. While the sniper rifle is typically meant for longer ranges, it’s possible to use them in close quarters.
This is especially true during single-player, where mods exist to slow down time and allow for lethal snapshots to a target’s weak points.
In multiplayer, you lose out on the time dilation effects, but if a player has the reflexes for it, sniper rifles can be remarkably flexible.
HEAVY WEAPONS
Heavy weapons make a return to Mass Effect 3, with a twist. In single-player, heavy weapons are no longer selected prior to a mission; they are entirely situational and must be found and used in the field.
They are typically located in places where judicious use of their power can make life much easier...and much harder if you miss your mark.
In multiplayer, all characters have access to the Cobra Missile Launcher, but ammunition for this weapon is limited and cannot be replenished midmission. For more details, see the Multiplayer section.
