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Mass Effect 2 Legendary Edition

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Best Kasumi Builds

By
Matt Chard

This page will show you some of the best builds for your squad mate Kasumi Goto in Mass Effect 2. Here, you’ll find details on the best abilities to pick, and the best weapons to equip.

Kasumi Goto Overview

Kasumi Goto, often dubbed as the “master thief” has mastered the arts of stealth, infiltration, and subterfuge. The tougher the mission appears to be, the more excited she gets. After numerous failed attempts from Cerberus to contact her, she finally contacts them, when she finds out it is to work with you on your mission, mainly due to the stakes involved with it. She agrees to help you, but only if you help her find her ex-colleague, Keji Okuda’s graybox which is in the possession of one of the galaxy’s most notorious weapons dealers, Donovan Hock.

When do you get Kasumi

Kasumi was originally added with the Stolen Memory DLC in the original Mass Effect 2. With the Legendary edition, you can get her after completing the Mission Stealing Memory, which is available after the Prologue.

Shadow Strike Build

This build revolves around maxing out Kasumi’s Shadow Strike. This power is unique because Kasumi will cloak herself, making her invisible, then she’ll appear behind the targeted enemy, and attack it with a melee attack. Not only is this a powerful attack, but it will act as a distraction tool too, because the enemy will stop firing at you, and it’ll turn around to attack Kasumi. We then max out Flashbang Grenade, another unique ability, because it has a huge radius, hitting multiple enemies. When it hits, it’ll overheat enemy weapons, and if they’re unprotected, they’ll get knocked down. Finally, we put a few points into Overload because it’s generally a great power, and a few points into Master Thief for the Health and Weapon Damage boost.

Power Evolution Squad Points
Shadow Strike Rapid Shadow Strike 10
Overload 3
Flashbang Grenade Improved Flashbang Grenade 10
Master Thief 6

Powers

This section will go into more detail on why the Powers are chosen for this particular build.

Overload

Overload is one of the main reasons you bring Miranda along. Overload is the best power to use when you want to take down enemies who have shields, which in Mass Effect 2, there are a lot. You could max this out, if you don’t want the extra Health and Weapon Damage from Master Thief.

Shadow Strike

Shadow Strike allows Kasumi to stop being targeted, whilst she goes invisible, only to appear behind the enemy and perform a devastating melee attack, if it doesn’t outright kill the enemy, it’ll distract it by targeting Kasumi. On top of that, it does double damage to shields, armor and barriers, making it a great protection shredder as well, furthermore, it can incapacitate enemies if it goes through their shields, and hits their health, stunning them for a short duration. The only negative of the power is that Kasumi can only use it in places you, yourself, can reach. We choose the Rapid Shadow Strike evolution, so if it kills the enemy, it’ll be fully recharged to use it again, making it more useful to use against enemies with lower health.

Flashbang Grenade

Flashbang Grenade is a great crowd control power, which can overheat multiple enemy weapons. What makes this great is, if the enemies have protections up, the grenade will momentarily stagger them, if they’re unprotected, they’ll be stunned, and knocked down. Flashbang Grenade also has an unusually large radius, and with the Improved Flashbang Grenade evolution it’s even bigger.

Master Thief

Master Thief is Kasumi’s passive skill line which’ll increase her Health, Weapon Damage, and Power Recharge Time. We only put a few points into this as there are some bugs around the Power Recharge Time, making it not work at all sometimes.

Best Weapons

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. This build relies on Miranda using her Powers as often as possible.

Heavy Pistol

Weapon Base Damage Accuracy Recoil Fire Mode Fire Rate Clip Size
M-5 Phalanx 109 High High Semi-Automatic 80 RPM 6

The M-5 Phalanx was originally added as DLC in the original Mass Effect 2, in the Legendary Edition, it can be purchased from Ratch, who resides on Tuchanka.

What makes the M-5 Phalanx so effective, is that it’s highly accurate due to its built in laser, and it hits like a truck with 109 base damage. Like most handguns, it’s better to use against enemies with armor, or as a weapon to fall back on if you run out of ammo in your primary. The Carnifex is also a great shout, mainly due to its damage.

Submachine Gun

Weapon Base Damage Accuracy Recoil Fire Mode Fire Rate Clip Size
M-9 Tempest 14 Moderate High Automatic 925 RPM 50

The M-9 Tempest is available after the Mission Dossier: Tali. What makes this weapon so great, is its high rate of fire making it easier to tear the shields of your enemies, allowing your Biotics Powers to influence the battlefield.

or

Weapon Base Damage Accuracy Recoil Fire Mode Fire Rate Clip Size
M-12 Locust 25 High Low Automatic 550 RPM 20

The M-12 Locust was originally added with the Kasumi - Stolen Memory DLC which is Kasumi’s loyalty mission, in the legendary edition, the mission is available once you acquire Kasumi at the Citadel. The weapon can be picked up during the mission, or if you miss it, as a mission reward.

The Locust is one of the strongest SMG in the game, especially at mid to long range due to its pinpoint accuracy, and low recoil. This makes it act more like an Assault Rifle than an SMG.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Electronic Arts
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, XB One
  • Genre
    Action RPG, Third-person shooter
  • Guide Release
    14 May 2021
  • Last Updated
    7 September 2021
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Paul Williams

Share this free guide:

The guide for Mass Effect 2 Legendary Edition features all there is to see and do including a walkthrough containing coverage of all the main campaign Missions, Assignments, as well as a detailed breakdown of all the important choices, class builds and much more!

  • A complete walkthrough for the entire campaign, including all recruitment and loyalty missions, as well as details on weapons, resources and research projects found during each mission.
  • Every Assignment covered.
  • Updated media and formatting for the Legendary Edition.
  • In-depth look at the major choices in Mass Effect 2 and consequences - both short and long term - of each.
  • Full details on all possible Romances.
  • In-depth Class builds for Shepard with a focus on Insanity difficulty strategies.
  • Details on every Power.
  • Builds for all squadmates.
  • Trophy/Achievement guide, including embeded walkthrough links.

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