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

Samara Overview¶

Samara is an Asari Justicar, and a mother of three. To her horror, she found out that they are Ardat-Yakshi, which is a rare genetic condition in the Asari, which targets their nervous system. What makes them dangerous is, when they mate, their nervous system completely overpowers and dominates their mate’s mind, which can cause hemorrhaging in their brain. As a result of this, they become stronger and deadlier with each encounter, it’s because of this that the Ardat-Yakshi are contained in monasteries, and are made to focus on more productive pursuits. Samara is a well-rounded fighter, trained in both weapon combat and biotics, but because she lives by her Justicar code, she will do anything, that her code tells her to do, including taking down her daughter Morinth.

Morinth Overview¶

Morinth is the smarter and stronger daughter of Samara, when the other two agreed to live in seclusion in the monasteries, Morinth rejected it, and has spent the last two centuries as an Asari fugitive using her wits and cunning to survive. Like her mother, she is adept in biotics, and it’s one of the reasons she’s stayed alive this long. For this reason, Samara has been chasing Morinth’s shadows across Asari space for the past few centuries. When Samara found Morinth on one planet, she dominated the minds of the villagers to attack her mother whilst she escaped.

When do you get Samara¶

Samara becomes available during the mid-portion of the game. After finishing the Horizon mission, you’ll get a few more dossiers, one of them being Dossier: The Justicar, by completing this, you’ll unlock Samara.

When do you get Morinth¶

Morinth becomes available depending on your choices during Samara’s loyalty mission Samara: The Ardat-Yakshi. If you choose to kill Samara, Morinth will take her place aboard the Normandy with the rest of the squad thinking it is Samara.

Samara Build¶

Area Reave Build¶

This build revolves around maxing out Samara’s Reave power. Reave is very strong because it does double damage to armor and barriers, whilst stopping the enemies’ health regeneration, and healing her at the same time. We then max out Pull as it’s one of the better biotics in the game, then we put a few points into her passive Asari Justicar for the Health, Weapon Damage, and Power Recharge Time. Finally, we put the remaining points into Throw, which is another strong biotic, that allows her to detonate biotic combos.

Powers¶

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

Throw¶

Throw is great at manipulating enemies who are in the air, and at times, outright kill them if they’re thrown off a ledge. Throw is taken as an alternative to Warp to detonate combos, and is best used after a Pull or Singularity for maximum impact.

Pull¶

Pull works similar to Singularity, it’ll levitate the enemies in the air, rendering them helpless as you take them out. We choose the Pull Field Evolved variant, so we can hit more targets per cast, allowing more control of the battlefield.

Asari Justicar¶

Asari Justicar is Samara’s passive skill line which’ll increase her Health, Weapon Damage, and Power Recharge Time. This will increase all damage across the board for her whilst giving her 18% Power Recharge Time, allowing her to cast her powers more frequently.

Reave¶

Reave is a very stong power, which is the reason we base the build around it. Reave will damage the enemies nervous or synthetic systems to prevent healing. It’ll also restore her health and give her a temporary health bonus when the power is used against organics. Reave also deals double damage to armor and barriers, as well as doubling weapon damage to enemies effected by Reave. We choose the Area Reave evolution, so it can hit multiple enemies.

Best Weapons¶

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. Although this build is more about her biotics, a good weapon complements it.

Assault Rifle¶

The M-96 Mattock originally a DLC weapon in the base game can be purchased in Omega in the Legendary Edition.

The M-96 Mattock is taken purely for its high damage, it’s low ammo reserve doesn’t matter for squad mates, so the main negative of the gun is wiped out, making this a great choice.

Or

The M-15 Vindicator can be found on a couch where you meet Archangel in Omega. The Vindicator is a great weapon, and although it has less damage per shot than the Mattock, it shoots in 3-round bursts, making its damage very respectable.

Submachine Gun¶

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

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’s 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. Although the Locust is a better weapon for you, the Tempest performs better for squad mates.

Morinth Build¶

Dominate Build¶

This build revolves around maxing out Morinth’s Dominate power. Dominate acts a lot like the AI Hacking power but instead of synthetics, it effects organics. Think of it as a charm power from other games. What makes Dominate unique to AI hacking is it gives the dominated enemy a barrier which keeps them alive longer. The rest of the powers stay the same as Samara’s as they play similar to each other.

Powers¶

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

Throw¶

Throw is great at manipulating enemies who are in the air, and at times, outright kill them if they’re thrown off a ledge. Throw is taken as an alternative to Warp to detonate combos, and is best used after a Pull or Singularity for maximum impact.

Pull¶

Pull works similar to Singularity, it’ll levitate the enemies in the air, rendering them helpless as you take them out. We choose the Pull Field Evolved variant, so we can hit more targets per cast, allowing more control of the battlefield.

Ardat-Yakshi¶

Ardat-Yakshi is Morinth’s passive skill line, which is exactly the same as Samara’s Asari Justicar. It’ll increase her Health, Weapon Damage, and Power Recharge Time. This will increase all damage across the board for her whilst giving her 18% Power Recharge Time, allowing her to cast her powers more frequently.

Dominate¶

Dominate, much like AI Hacking can control the enemy to attack their allies. On harder difficulties, AI Hacking is more of a distraction tool as the enemy won’t survive for long, but because Dominate gives the dominated a barrier, they are more effective, and survive longer. We take the Group Dominate evolution to control more enemies, and it can instantly kill groups of Husks when used on them.

Best Weapons¶

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. Due to Morinth essentially being Samara, the same recommended weapons apply.

Assault Rifle¶

The M-96 Mattock originally a DLC weapon in the base game can be purchased in Omega in the Legendary Edition.

The M-96 Mattock is taken purely for its high damage, it’s low ammo reserve doesn’t matter for squad mates, so the main negative of the gun is wiped out, making this a great choice.

Or

The M-15 Vindicator can be found on a couch where you meet Archangel in Omega. The Vindicator is a great weapon, and although it has less damage per shot than the Mattock, it shoots in 3-round bursts, making its damage very respectable.

Submachine Gun¶

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

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’s 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. Although the Locust is a better weapon for you, the Tempest performs better for squad mates.