Each Multiplayer character comes with a set of skills specific to that character and character type. Three active powers and two passive skills are pre-selected for each character.
Active Powers: These powers must be activated by the player and must recharge after each use. Some powers require only recharging before the player uses them again, while others require power cells that must be replenished from an ammo crate.
Passive Skills: These skills allow the player permanent buffs to things such as weapon damage, shield and health capacity, and modifiers for different powers. Skills require no resources for use and are always active while a character is in play. Investing in a character’s skill tree gives an experienced player an edge against AI enemies.
Leveling your character or gaining additional cards allows you to invest in the skill tree for a particular character.
Each set of skills or powers breaks down into one of three skill groups.
Biotic: Control the battlefield! Biotics can push, pull, stop, and otherwise disable entire groups of enemies. These powers cannot only prime enemies, but leave them open to unimpeded attacks from you and your allies. Biotic powers also lend themselves to great area-of-effect damage, which is best for clearing out groups of weaker infantry-type enemies. Employ biotic powers often to make good use of their quick recharge speeds!
Biotic characters are best utilized while on the move. If you prefer a long-range role or excel at soaking damage, consider choosing a character with a different skill group.
Shields and armor are a biotic character’s worst nightmare. Enemies with shields are almost completely immune to the effects of biotic attacks, until the shield is broken.
Run your enemy’s shield down before trying to push or pull them. Enemies with armor take damage but cannot be knocked down or thrown by biotic powers.
Combat: The combat skill group is great for dealing consistent, sustained damage, thanks to the available gun buffs that, for the most part, have no need to recharge beyond the time it takes to reload. Combat powers also increase player survivability, allowing you to stand up and take a few hits while you deal damage to your enemies.
Combat-based characters mostly deal physical damage, so you don’t get help in the way of buffs against shields and armor unless you equip some special ammo.
Tech: Tech powers can strip down defenses, thanks to their ability to deal fire and electrical damage. In fact, tech powers deliver all types of damage, with the exception of damage to biotic powers.
While there aren’t too many skills in the tech tree that increase your survivability, the tech tree helps you put out support items. These support items, like the sentry turret, draw fire from enemies, allowing you to move freely and lure them out of cover.
Long recharge times, low sustained damage, and the decreased ability to defeat enemies at close range are the downsides of tech-based characters. Consider having a close-range option, like a shotgun or submachine gun, ready to help fend off enemies in close proximity. Keep the weight of your loadout low to speed up your recharges slightly.
Leveling Your Skill Tree
Every character starts with one skill point invested into each of the three predetermined powers. Each time you level your character, you unlock additional points to spend within your skill tree.
For every rank of skill, the number of skill points required to unlock it differs.
Each skill rank must be researched in order, so you cannot research a Rank 6 skill without researching the first five skills in the tree. All skill trees, active and passive, follow the same format. The first three skills are predetermined, while Rank 4, 5, and 6 skills allow you to choose between one of two unlock options. You can only choose one option in each skill rank between Levels 4-6 and need a Character Re-Spec to change your selection.