Liara T’Soni

Dr. Liara T’Soni is an asari information broker with a background in scientific research on Prothean technology.

Born on Thessia in 2077, she is the only child of the late Matriarch Benezia, although mother and daughter became estranged in the years before Benezia was indoctrinated by the Reaper known as Sovereign.

T’Soni is also a highly trained Biotic who served under Commander Shepard aboard the SSV Normandy before the ship was destroyed in a Collector attack.

Before she became involved in galactic affairs, Dr. T’Soni spent 50 years researching the Protheans’ technology and the mystery of their extinction.

She now spends her time running her information network, looking for anything to give them an edge against the Reapers.

TACTICAL ROLE

Liara is a surprisingly versatile squad member. Her ability to wield disruptive and destructive powers make her one of the best people to keep in your squad across nearly every mission.

She is also one of the few squad members who doesn’t excel against one type of foe—synthetic and organic foes alike are susceptible to her abilities.

Since she can only carry an SMG and pistols, she doesn’t have a lot of destructive power with weapons.

When she’s in your squad, make heavy use of powers like Singularity to redirect enemies, create bottlenecks, and set traps.

Singularity is her most powerful tool when trying to control crowds.

Better still, Singularity, Warp, and Stasis are all source powers, perfect for other squadmates with detonate powers to ignite and create explosive power combinations.

POWERS

Warp

Rip your enemy apart at a molecular level. Stop targeted enemy from regenerating health. Weaken armor.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Warp is a great power, perfect to use against Reapers and Cerberus scum. Even at low ranks it can deal 300 points of damage on an enemy for up to 10 seconds.

You can stop upgrading at Rank 3 and use Warp strictly as a source power for power combinations, but its value is far beyond using simply as a source, so consider making Warp one of your go-to skills when Liara is on your team.

Rank 4 Analysis

At Rank 4, you can either increase damage (Rank 4a) up to 375 points of damage, a worthwhile investment, or you can add a unique detonate ability (Rank 4b).

This benefit is gained only when using Warp as a source power and another power is used to detonate it.

When it does, Rank 4b will increase all aspects of the detonation by 50 percent. When combined with Pure Biotic upgrades, Rank 4b is an integral choice in Warp’s upgrade tree.

Rank 5 Analysis

Rank 5a, Lasting Damage, increases both damage and duration of Warp, making it deadlier and longer lasting. It may not be fancy, but the selection amplifies two of Warp’s three most important components.

If you plan on frequently using Warp as a stand-alone attack, then select Rank 5a.

Expose, Rank 5b, increases both weapon and power damage to targets affected by Warp. This is useful when you want to weaken enemies and allow your squadmates to inflict additional damage while Liara’s powers recharge.

Rank 6 Analysis

The final upgrade tree in Warp either increases its recharge speed to maximum, lowering the recharge speed to 10 seconds (Rank 6b), or increases piercing ability to weaken barriers and armor (Rank 6a).

Like Rank 5b, the benefits of Rank 6a allow your squadmates to pour on additional damage to affected enemies.

This particular upgrade is perfect when facing Brutes, Atlas Mechs, and Banshees.

Singularity

Create a sphere of dark energy that traps and dangles enemies caught in its field.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Singularity may be Liara’s greatest power.

Capable of lifting several enemies into the air (when upgraded properly), this lasting effect can be used to flush out enemies from behind cover; to lift them into the air, rendering them helpless; and even to function as a source power to create explosive power combinations.

At Rank 3, a single foe can be rendered harmless for up to nearly 5 seconds. Better still, that’s nearly 5 seconds that Singularity can serve as a source power.

Rank 4 Analysis

Rank 4 offers two very useful potential upgrades. Either increase the length of Singularity’s duration and keep enemies suspended in the air longer (Rank 4a) or widen its reach by increasing its radius (Rank 4b).

Both are worthwhile upgrades, but Rank 4a is slightly more useful since it will allow you to pick up even more enemies with a single blast.

Upgrade to Rank 4 and unleash a Singularity blast near a crowded area to create a bottleneck for attackers.

Even if you don’t manage to get multiple enemies in the blast, other enemies will be forced to reroute since the upgraded Singularity will last longer.

Rank 5 Analysis

If you plan on using Singularity often, perhaps to create multiple explosive power combinations, then select Rank 5b.

This will increase Singularity’s recharge speed and decrease your waiting time between blasts to less than 6 seconds.

That means that you could potentially catch enemies in a massive explosion every 6 seconds. If you want to focus on inflicting damage, then select Rank 6a.

This will add 20 points of damage per second for the duration of Singularity. If you chose Rank 4a, then that’s an extra 120 points of damage.

Rank 6 Analysis

At Rank 6, you can expand the Singularity’s field by 35 percent for 10 seconds. If you’ve chosen upgrade Rank 4b, then your Singularity field will be 2.18 meters around.

Rank 6a will expand on those 2.18 meters by 35 percent for 10 seconds. By making Singularity last longer and reach farther, you can create countless problems for groups of enemies.

Your other option at Rank 6 is to detonate Singularity when the field dies, inflicting 300 extra points of damage across 5 meters.

Not only does this remove the need for a detonator power to be added in order to detonate Singularity, but it also reaches farther and causes a decent amount of damage.

If you chose Rank 5a, then you could potentially inflict up to 420 damage with one Singularity blast.

Stasis (Unique)

Stop an enemy in its tracks with this powerful mass effect field. No effect on armored targets. Enemies eventually break out of Stasis after taking major damage.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Like Warp and Singularity, Stasis can serve as an extremely useful disruptive power. A single blast of Stasis can slow an enemy down entirely.

Not only will you gain the advantage of moving faster than the enemy, but also the enemy will be stopped.

It actually freezes them entirely and affects targets through shields, so use it to freeze Phantoms, Centurions, Engineers, and other foes.

Rank 4 Analysis

By selecting Rank 4a, you can increase the duration of Stasis to 10.2 seconds. That’s more than enough time to either execute a power combination or allow your squad to focus on the target with weapon fire and obliterate them.

If you want to free your squad to concentrate on other foes instead, then select Rank 4b. This will increase the amount of damage a target in Stasis sustains by 150 percent.

Then, while a foe is in Stasis, you can turn your weapon on it and increase damage without the need of other squad members. If you have Warp Ammo active, this becomes an even more deadly combination.

Rank 5 Analysis

With so many useful powers at her disposal, Liara could benefit greatly from the ability to use two powers back-to-back.

Select Rank 5a, Bonus Power, to gain a 30 percent chance at skipping a power cooldown when using Stasis.

When effective, you could potentially use Stasis and immediately follow up with a second power nearly one-third of the time.

This would allow you to create explosive power combinations from the Stasis source power almost every 10 seconds.

If you’re not the gambling type, then select Rank 5b. This will lower the time it takes to recharge stasis to less than 8 seconds.

Rank 6 Analysis

Rank 6a grants Stasis a unique added effect. A bubble traps enemies that are foolish enough to walk into it. Like Singularity, Rank 6a is best suited for causing bottlenecks and traps that your squadmates can then capitalize on.

Rank 6b can also benefit your squad: It increases an enemy’s vulnerability, increasing the amount of damage they take while in Stasis.

Warp Ammo (Unique)

Blast vulnerable opponents already lifted by Biotics for a damage bonus, and weaken the armor of grounded targets. More weapon damage. More damage to barriers and armor.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Warp Ammo is specifically designed to work well with the destructive abilities of nearly all of Liara’s other powers.

At Rank 2, for example, it increases damage to lifted targets by 25 percent. When coupled with Singularity, this makes for significantly high damage, especially if Singularity is upgraded to Rank 5a, Lift Damage.

At the very least, upgrade Warp Ammo to Rank 3 to grant Liara useful ammo power.

Rank 4 Analysis

Like other ammo powers, Warp Ammo can either increase in damage at Rank 4a or grant your squadmates the ability to use it, albeit at 50 percent effectiveness, at Rank 4b.

Your choice should depend on how you expect to use Liara in combat. If she’ll be a main source of damage output on the squad, select Rank 4a.

If you want to complement the squad with other ammo powers, select Rank 4b.

Rank 5 Analysis

Since Liara can carry only an SMG or a pistol, then make your selection for the Rank 5 upgrade based on her primary role in combat.

Rank 5a increases her ammo count, which is great for weapons that expend a lot of ammunition, like SMGs.

Rank 5b increases the amount of damage she inflicts with a headshot, most likely while using pistols. If you intend on using Singularity more than any other power, then select Rank 5a.

Enemies will be harder to hit in midair, so an SMG’s short bursts will increase your accuracy per bullet. If you intend on using Stasis more, then select Rank 5b.

Slowed, grounded enemies will be easier to hit with pistol headshots, so the extra 25 percent damage will be of great help.

Rank 6 Analysis

Even though both Rank 6 upgrades increase the amount of damage you can deal on targets, you must choose whether to increase bonus damage to health and barrier (Rank 6a) or to weaken armor and increase damage on lifted targets (Rank 6b).

Since both choices increase the amount of damage enemies can take, make your selection based on whether you will be using Warp Ammo in conjunction with Singularity more often than not.

Rank 6b is the perfect upgrade for Liara builds that favor heavy use of Singularity.

Pure Biotic (Unique)

Boost Biotic and defensive abilities.

Ranks 1 through 3 Analysis

Players who want a Biotic powerhouse on their squad should invest heavily in Liara’s Pure Biotic passive power. Even at Rank 3 alone, she gains a 30 percent bonus to her health and shields, making her tougher on the battlefield.

She also gets a 60 percent power recharge bonus, meaning she will recharge all power usage 60 percent faster.

When coupled with a specific power’s recharge speed upgrades (like Stasis’s Rank 2 and Rank 5b), Liara will gain the ability to use her powers more frequently than any other soldier on the battlefield.

Rank 4 Analysis

At Rank 4a, you can increase Liara’s power recharge speed even more, up to 100 percent. Rank 4b, on the other hand, will increase her shield and health bonus to 50 percent.

Since Rank 4 will either max out your power recharge speed or your health and shields, then you must decide what kind of role Liara will play on the battlefield.

If you’re using her powers to augment her weapon damage, then select Rank 4a. Increase her health and shield bonus to keep her in the fight longer.

If you plan on using her as a Biotic specialist, then select Rank 4a. You’ll increase your power recharge speed to 100 percent and gain a significant power advantage.

Rank 5 Analysis

Like Rank 4, the Rank 5 options are designed to either make Liara a weapon-proficient fighter (Rank 5a) or a power-heavy hitter (Rank 5b).

Rank 5a increases weapon damage, further augmenting other upgrades like Warp Ammo’s Headshots.

Rank 5b, however, increases Liara’s power force and duration. This upgrade stacks with all other power-enhancing upgrades.

Rank 6 Analysis

The final upgrade selection depends on whether you want to make Singularity Liara’s main go-to power. If so, the choice is simple: select Rank 6a.

The whopping 100 percent increase in Singularity’s recharge speed means she can potentially unleash Singularity nearly every 2.5 seconds if you’ve upgraded Singularity’s Rank 5b.

If you don’t plan on using Singularity often, then select Rank 6a to give your squad increased recharge speed to their Biotic powers.

BUILD OPTIONS

Biotic: Crowd Control

• Warp: 6b
• Singularity: 4a or 4b, 5b, 6a
• Stasis: 4a, 5b, 6a
• Pure Biotic: 4a, 5b, 6b

Liara’s most effective role on the battlefield is to control crowds, disrupt enemies, and otherwise weaken foes for the rest of the squad to mop up.

Powers like Singularity, Stasis, and Warp are all designed to disrupt enemy movements and flush them out of cover.

Keep her weapon loadout as light as possible, and bypass all weapon damage modifiers in the upgrade trees.

Instead, select all upgrades that augment power recharge speed in order to increase Liara’s power usage on the battlefield.

Rely heavily on Singularity and upgrade Pure Biotic to Rank 6b to make the best use of it.

Biotic or Weapon Damage

• Warp: 4a, 5a
• Singularity: 5a, 6b
• Stasis: 4b, 6b
• Warp Ammo: 4a, 6a
• Pure Biotic: 5a, 6b

Liara can also become an efficient damage dealer. Many of the upgrade choices can increase either weapon or power damage.

Select these options instead of increasing recharge speed and make the best use of Liara’s damage-dealing abilities.

If you favor Biotic damage and power combinations, then rely a bit more on powers like Stasis, Warp, and Singularity.

All three abilities function as source powers that can be detonated with a squadmate’s detonator power, thereby creating large explosions that can inflict damage on nearby foes as well as the main target.

ROMANCE

Liara is a romance option for both male and female Shepard. She can be romanced by a new Shepard or a Shepard who did not romance her in previous games.

Because she joins Shepard early in the game, there are many chances to talk to her and build up intimacy.

Key Conversations

Liara’s first conversation aboard the Normandy offers a chance for players who romanced her in Mass Effect 1 to explicitly declare that they want to continue the relationship.

This does not lock the player into the relationship, but it does ensure that the option to commit to Liara is available during the key conversation.

She can also be found on the Citadel at a café on the Presidium Commons (before the second “Priority: Citadel” mission), reading war reports and trying to use the intel she has found to help you.

If Shepard speaks with her enough, Liara will also ask to come up to Shepard’s cabin, where she will show Shepard a time capsule she has made to tell future generations Shepard’s story if they fail to stop the Reapers.

Key Moment

Eventually she will ask to meet Shepard on the Citadel for a quiet moment. If Shepard has spoken to her enough times, this conversation gives Shepard the chance to commit to a relationship with her.