Garrus Vakarian

Garrus Vakarian is a noted turian sharpshooter and combat engineer.

He was born on Palaven and became a Citadel security officer like his father but left the force when superiors shut down his investigation into the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius.

Vakarian eventually discovered that Saren had been indoctrinated by the Reaper known as Sovereign.

In time, Vakarian found his way to the criminal haven of Omega and assumed the name Archangel. There, he and a small group of operatives worked to disrupt the settlement’s powerful mercenary groups until Shepard recruited him.

The turian narrowly survived the second Normandy attack on the Collectors. More recently, Vakarian has become the head of a turian task force focused on preparing for the Reaper invasion.

TACTICAL ROLE

Since Concussive Shot can serve as a detonator power, consider upgrading it to deal maximum damage. Similarly, Overload can serve as both a source and detonator power, so upgrading it can benefit nearly any squad Garrus is in.

Despite these power benefits, Garrus’s true strength is in weapon damage.

After all, Garrus is a weapon damage specialist. His ability to wield either type of rifle makes him a great mid- to long-range soldier, but skills like Proximity Mine, Concussive Shot, and Overload are also great at disrupting enemy movements.

If you favor direct combat, steer Garrus toward weapon-damage upgrades.

Given his affinity to sniper rifles, however, Garrus can also make a great tactical sharpshooter. Order Garrus to elevated positions, or have him hang back when approaching long, wide-open areas.

From the safety of cover, Garrus will be able to covertly snipe enemies from afar, lightening the load for the rest of your squad.

POWERS

CONCUSSIVE SHOT

Flatten your enemy with a precise blast at short or long range. Effective against barriers.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Concussive Shot is a lot more than just another burst from your weapon of choice. With a single blast of Concussive Shot, you can disrupt an enemy’s progress, knock them down, or deplete their protective barrier.

At Rank 3, Concussive Shot can dish out 100 points of damage and 300 Newtons of force. When paired with a source power like Incinerate, Concussive Shot is the perfect detonator.

Rank 4 Analysis

Like most other powers with explosive or concussive abilities, the first upgrade choice given is to increase either the power’s effects, in this case force and damage (Rank 4a), or increase its radius (Rank 4b).

Select your upgrade based on Garrus’s eventual build. If you want to shape Garrus into a formidable weapon damage dealer, select Rank 4a.

This will inflict more damage per Concussive Shot. By selecting Rank 4b, Garrus can knock more enemies down per shot but inflict less damage.

This option is helpful in squads that favor disrupting enemies before killing them.

Rank 5 Analysis

If you plan on grouping Garrus with Cryo-friendly squadmates, select Rank 5a. Shatter will affect only those foes that have been frozen or chilled using Cryo Blast or Cryo Ammo.

If you don’t favor Cryo users, then select Rank 5b.

The increased recharge speed for Concussive Shot will ensure you’re able to knock down enemies all over the battlefield with less time spent waiting for your power to ready.

Rank 6 Analysis

Like Rank 5a, Rank 6a takes other powers into account in order to function. At Rank 6a, Amplification will power Concussive Shot with ammo powers like Cryo or Warp Ammo.

Since Garrus also has Armor-Piercing Ammo, Rank 6a will automatically imbue Concussive Shot with armor-piercing abilities when Armor-Piercing Ammo is active.

However, when paired with squadmates like James who are capable of giving squadmates Incendiary Ammo, this upgrade will also imbue those ammo effects on each Concussive Shot.

If you vary your squad composition often, then you may not be paired with squadmates like James often enough to benefit from Rank 6a.

In that case, select Rank 6b, Shredder. This upgrade adds a damage-over-time effect to every shot and increases the force of each Concussive Shot, allowing you to knock down tougher enemies.

OVERLOAD

Overload electronics with this power surge, stunning your enemy. Effective against shields, barriers, and synthetics. Not as effective against organics.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

By far one of the most useful powers against synthetics, Overload can temporarily fry electrical equipment like turrets and can singe synthetic foes.

At Ranks 1 through 3, you gain a standard recharge speed and damage increase, so you could stop upgrading at Rank 3 if you don’t plan on making Overload an integral part of you attack arsenal.

However, during missions where you encounter geth or other synthetic opponents, Overload can still prove to be very useful.

Rank 4 Analysis

If you do make Overload a more integral part of Garrus’s arsenal, then consider upgrading Rank 4a. This will increase the amount of targets he can affect by one blast of Overload.

So instead of overloading only one enemy at a time, Garrus can stun multiple enemies with each Overload blast. Rank 4b is a standard damage increase.

Select this if you want to focus more dealing damage to individual enemies.

Rank 5 Analysis

At Rank 5 you gain the option to stun organic foes as well as synthetics.

The Neural Shock ability will expand Garrus’s role across a number of missions since his Overload power will no longer be effective against synthetic targets alone.

Rank 5b increases Overload’s recharge speed, allowing Garrus to use the skill more frequently in battle.

The trade-off between Ranks 5a and 5b are simple; if you want to use Overload against more varied types of enemies, select 5a.

If you want to use it more frequently in battle to stun enemies en masse, select Rank 5b.

Rank 6 Analysis

Like Rank 4a, Rank 6a will increase how many targets you can reach with an Overload blast by one target and increase the damage it inflicts by 15 percent.

The choice is simple; if you selected Rank 4a, make the same selection here and he will be able to stun small groups of enemies with one Overload blast.

Not only will he incapacitate more enemies at once, but you’ll expend less power to do it. At Rank 6b, you can increase the damage dealt to barriers and shields, making Garrus extremely effective against all shielded foes.

ARMOR-PIERCING AMMO (UNIQUE)

Bring down heavy-armor units. Shoot through light cover to hit enemies. More weapon damage. More damage to armor.

RANKS 1 THROUGH 3 ANALYSIS

Armor-Piercing Ammo is a must for soldiers like Garrus who excel in dealing weapon damage. With skills like Overload in his arsenal, he can affect synthetic targets more efficiently.

With Armor-Piercing Ammo equipped, he can also more efficiently affect armored organic targets like Cerberus troopers as well.

Keep this active at all times since, like all other Ammo powers, you don’t incur any power penalties when you activate it.

RANK 4 ANALYSIS

At Rank 4, Armor-Piercing Ammo can either increase damage to health and armor (4a), or you can gain the ability to automatically grant it to all squadmates when active (4b).

The choice really breaks down to whether you want to inflict as much damage as you can or whether Garrus will hang back as part of the squad.

If you’re playing Shepard as a class that does not have an Ammo power (Cryo Ammo, Warp Ammo, or Incendiary Ammo), you can select Rank 4b and gain the use of Garrus’s Armor-Piercing Ammo when he’s on a mission with you.

Otherwise, select Rank 4a and increase his ability to inflict as much damage as possible. Rank 4a is also best suited for players who want Garrus to focus more on sniping and sharpshooting.

RANK 5 ANALYSIS

Since Garrus can carry only an assault or sniper rifle, then make your selection for the Rank 5 upgrade based on what will be his primary weapon.

Rank 5a increases his ammo count, which is great for weapons that expend a lot of ammunition, like assault rifles.

Rank 5b increases the amount of damage Garrus inflicts with a headshot.

While, technically, Rank 5a can benefit Garrus builds that favor sniper rifles (due to the low ammunition count of most sniper rifles) and Rank 5b can also benefit Garrus builds that favor assault rifles (since headshots are great no matter what weapon you employ), both Rank 5 options are a win-win situation.

RANK 6 ANALYSIS

Garrus’s Rank 6 choices are both geared to increase his damage output. If you chose the damage upgrade for Rank 4, then select Rank 6a.

It will also increase health and armor damage across the board by 10 percent. Rank 6b increases your ammunition’s ability to pierce armor even more effectively.

It will also increase how far your armor can penetrate cover, allowing Garrus to shoot through a meter of cover.

PROXIMITY MINE (UNIQUE)

Fire this sticky mine into traffic. It will detonate when an enemy steps within range.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Few other skills are as well suited to Garrus’s high weapon damage output than Proximity Mine. The mine is an explosive projectile.

Rather than explode on contact, however, the Proximity Mine will sit unbothered until a rival comes within striking distance and then explode.

This power is useful in creating bottlenecks and traps and setting down explosive perimeters around your squad.

At Rank 3, Garrus’s proximity mines can inflict 480 points of damage within a three-meter radius, which can give you or your squad a decent three-meter cushion before enemies get within striking distance.

Rank 4 Analysis

Like most grenade powers, Rank 4 grants you the choice to either increase damage (Rank 4a) or increase the damage radius (Rank 4b).

The choice should be made depending on whether you want to use his proximity mines primarily as damage-dealers or as tactical booby traps for enemies.

The wider the radius, the more enemies that can be affected by their explosion. Keep this in mind when entering narrow areas like catwalks or tight hallways.

Rank 5 Analysis

Rank 5 gives you the choice to either add an extra damage-over-time effect (increasing damage from all sources for eight seconds on the target it hits) or to slow a target’s movement.

Once again, the choice here is the same as Rank 4. If you want to inflict the most damage possible, select Rank 5a.

Enemies hit by a Proximity Mine’s explosion will take more damage from powers and weapons after the explosion.

If you want to use the Proximity Mines as crowd-controlling booby traps, select Rank 5b. The extra-slow effects will allow your team to execute tactical maneuvers or overwhelm them with attacks.

Rank 6 Analysis

The final rank upgrade will either increase the damage to a potential maximum of 800 per explosion (Rank 6a) or increase the recharge speed (Rank 6b), allowing you to use mines more often.

The more proximity mines you can leave on the battlefield, the more intricate a booby trap you can set.

TURIAN REBEL (UNIQUE)

Boost weapon damage, health, and powers.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

If you’re going to use Garrus as a heavy-weapon damage dealer, then his passive power, Turian Rebel, is an absolute necessity. At Rank 3, he’ll gain a generous 60 percent weapon damage bonus, making all of his rifle attacks even more effective.

Where a sniper shot to the torso would severely wound a Cerberus trooper, at Rank 3 of Turian Rebel, that same shot may kill off the trooper completely.

Even if you don’t favor spending upgrade points on passive powers, invest the six points in Turian Rebel’s first three ranks. It’s more than worth it.

Rank 4 Analysis

Players who want to increase Garrus’s weapon damage even more should invest four more points in Rank 4a, Weapon Damage.

This will increase weapon damage bonus to 100 percent, making all of Garrus’s weapon attacks doubly efficient. To make Garrus a tougher combatant, invest those points in Rank 4b, Durability.

This will increase health and shield bonuses to 50 percent.

Rank 5 Analysis

At Rank 5, you must choose whether Garrus will favor assault rifles or other destructive powers like Proximity Mine.

He’s a skilled sharpshooter and efficient weapon specialist with either weapons or power-heavy combat, so there is no real downside to making him favor one over the other.

However, do take into account the role you’d like him to play across the majority of your missions.

If you want Garrus to be a weapon-damage specialist, then select Rank 5b. You’ll gain a boost to assault rifle use.

If you select Rank 5a, then Garrus’s Proximity Mines, Concussive Shot, and Overload will gain a substantial boost in damage output.

Rank 6 Analysis

Like Rank 5, Rank 6 will also give you the option to increase weapon damage, in this case sniper rifle damage. If you’ve selected Rank 5b, then select Rank 6b as well.

This will result in higher weapon damage regardless of which rifle Garrus carries. The alternative is to grant the squad a power damage increase of 10 percent (Rank 6a).

Since this does not directly affect Garrus, select this upgrade only if your squad is built to complement each other through power sharing.

For example, if you have squadmates who can grant other teammates the ability to use their specific ammo power (like Kaidan’s Incendiary Ammo).

BUILD OPTIONS

WEAPON DAMAGE SPECIALIST

• Concussive Shot: 4a, 5a, 6b

• Overload: 4b

• Armor-Piercing Ammo: 4a, 5a, 6a

• Proximity Mines: 4a, 5a, 6a

• Turian Rebel: 4a, 5b, 6a

Garrus can be a deadly weapons specialist. When upgraded properly, everything from his rifle proficiency to his Proximity Mine power can dish out an impressive amount of damage.

Two of his powers, Concussive Shot and Overload, can deal damage, but they’re better used for disrupting enemies than destroying them.

So also consider upgrading both types of rifles (sniper and assault) to increase Garrus’s weapon damage.

Once upgraded, other powers like Armor-Piercing Ammo and Turian Rebel can help increase weapon damage and ammo efficiency.

Proximity Mines are also a valuable part of Garrus’s arsenal. Use them to blow up small groups and otherwise obliterate large rivals.

TACTICAL SHARPSHOOTER

• Concussive Shot: 4a, 5a, 6b

• Overload: 4a, 5a or 5b

• Armor-Piercing Ammo: 4a, 5b, 6b

• Proximity Mines: 4b, 5b, 6b

• Turian Rebel: 4a, 5a, 6a

A tactical sharpshooter is not much different than a weapon damage specialist. The only difference is that a tactical sharpshooter favors a sniper rifle as his primary weapon and doesn’t frequently engage in close-range combat.

A tactical sharpshooter favors enemy disruption, traps, tactical maneuvers, and long-range sniping rather than direct combat.

Use Garrus to hang back and cover your tactical approach. He can snipe enemies from afar, hold a flanking enemy at bay, or even set up Proximity Mines as complex booby traps.

With heavy use of Overload and Concussive Shot, Garrus can also concentrate on disrupting enemies before picking them off with his sniper rifle.

ROMANCE

If female Shepard romanced Garrus in Mass Effect 2 , she has the option to continue the relationship.

KEY CONVERSATIONS

After joining the squad, Garrus will speak with Shepard at his post at the Normandy’s main gun battery. After exchanging pleasantries, he will bring up his relationship with Shepard.

Shepard can either end it in a friendly fashion or indicate that she’d like to keep it going. This doesn’t commit Shepard to the relationship; it just allows the relationship to keep going.

Shepard can also talk with Garrus after finishing the Genophage missions on Tuchanka. Garrus is in the cockpit, trading barbs with Joker, and Shepard can share a moment of camaraderie and reflect on how she chose to resolve the final Genophage mission.

KEY MOMENT

Once Shepard has spoken with Garrus enough times, Garrus will offer to meet Shepard on the Citadel. Shepard and Garrus climb to one of the highest parts of the Presidium, and Garrus will declare his love and ask Shepard to make a commitment.