Salarians

The salarians were the second race to join the Citadel.

Warm-blooded amphibians native to the planet Sur’Kesh, salarians are known for their seemingly hyperactive nature and their racial tendency toward nonlinear thinking, making them excellent scientists and espionage agents.

Unfortunately, their high metabolism leaves them with lives that rarely last longer than 40 human years.

Salarians are responsible for much of the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the Citadel safe from threats internal and external, and their famed Special Tasks Group is considered a key inspiration for the Spectre program.

Salarians share playable classes with the quarians but operate rather differently. Salarian operatives have limited evasive capabilities, as their sidestep does not cover as much ground as a combat roll or Biotic Dash.

They do have good foot speed during a rush from cover to cover, but if they are caught outside of protection, their options are not as solid as those of other species.

As Engineers, salarians are not as well suited to holding a position as a quarian or human, lacking a deployable sentry turret

This makes solo firefights as a Salarian Engineer difficult, requiring a player to constantly scan their surroundings for fear of letting a threat get too close.

Fortunately, the Decoy power can help a Salarian Engineer manage the enemy’s attentions, opening up new flanking opportunities and exposing weak points.

They have better tools for solo survival as Infiltrators, as they can set Proximity Mines to cover alternate approaches, while the Tactical Cloak allows the salarian a brief respite from assault to reposition somewhere more advantageous.

Both salarian classes share the Energy Drain power, which can strip shields and barriers off a target over time and add it to the salarian’s own defenses. Energy Drain can be a deciding factor in any encounter involving protected targets.

Later levels of this power can provide a temporary armor layer that reduces incoming damage while the Energy Drain is active, providing additional survivability under fire.

Light loadouts can allow this ability to be rapidly used, giving a salarian a chance to survive longer under fire.

In a group, salarians make for great support units that can facilitate the rapid shield and barrier destruction of harder targets while their more powerful allies finish the job.

It is best to stay close to allies, usually at middle ranges from the enemy.