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Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition

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Best Liara Builds

By
Matt Chard

This page will show you some of the best builds for your squad mate Liara T’Soni in Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition. Here, you’ll find details on the best abilities to pick, the best weapons to equip, and the best Outfit to wear.

Liara T’Soni Overview

Liara T’Soni is the estranged child of the powerful biotic and well respected Matriarch Benezia. She is a Pureblood, which is the result of two asari mating, and it’s considered a negative term to the asari as they think they should mate with other species as it gives more insight about them. When Liara was younger, she became fascinated with the Protheans, and because of that, she pursued a career in archaeology against her mothers wishes. Because of her work, she spent a lot of time in solitude. With the exposure of her mothers’ involvement with the Spectre Saren, Shepard travels to Therum to find out what she knows. After you find out that she was clueless in her mothers dealings, she ends up joining Shepards team.

When do you get Liara

Liara becomes available in the prologue during the Mission Priority: Mars.

Singularity Controller Build

This build revolves around maxing out Liara’s Singularity, and taking the Expand upgrade path to control more enemies. Stasis is also maxed out, so you can control even more enemies, especially with the Bubble upgrade. Warp is upgraded to deal as much damage as possible, so you can not only weaken the enemies to help your team, but also to maximize the combo damage you can do. Finally, we max out her passive skill line Pure Biotic to increase her recharge time, duration of her biotics, as well as giving Singularity 100% recharge speed.

Power Upgrade Path
Singularity Duration > Lift Damage > Expand
Stasis Duration > Bonus Power> Bubble
Warp Detonate > Expose > Pierce
Warp Ammo Leave at Level 3
Pure Biotic Recharge Speed > Duration & Force > Singularity Recharge

Powers

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

Singularity

Singularity is a staple power for Liara, it’ll lift and hold the enemies in the air, leaving them open to attack. This ability will completely lock the enemies down, providing they don’t have any protection like Shields or Barriers. The reasoning behind the upgrade path is that we want it to hit as many enemies as possible, for as long as possible. The Lift Damage upgrade will inflict 20 damage per second whilst the enemy is lifted, dealing a moderate amount of damage.

Warp

Warp is a power that deals instantaneous damage along with damage over time. This pairs well with Singularity due to its fast cooldown. Following the path above, you’ll be able to deal more damage to armor and barriers whilst being able to deal more damage with your weapons. We choose the Detonate, Expose, and Pierce upgrades to increase the damage against armor, barriers, and biotic combos.

Stasis

Stasis is an extremely useful control tool because it can hit enemies behind their protections, meaning you can use it on enemies with shields/barriers. This will stop the enemies in their tracks. We choose the Bonus Power upgrade, so we have a 30% chance of having an instant cooldown on the second Power we use. Bubble is taken to complement Singularity as it acts similar to it, it can trap up to two enemies in the Bubble, allowing even greater control. The only negative to Stasis is it won’t work on armored enemies.

Warp Ammo

Although Warp Ammo is good on its own, we leave this at level 3 as Liara won’t be doing much shooting due to her incredibly fast recharge times, and as Warp Ammo effects your bullets, it’s kind of redundant to take it. Saying that, it can still have its uses for her.

Pure Biotic

Pure Biotic is Liara’s passive skill line, by maxing this out, you’ll gain 30% Health and Shield bonuses, and a massive 100% Power Recharge Time bonus. Finally, by taking the final upgrade Singularity Recharge, you’ll gain another 100% recharge speed specifically for Singularity.

Best Outfit

In Mass Effect 3, each outfit gives squad mates different bonuses. All of Liara’s choices are good here, you’ll either get +25% Power Damage or +25% Power Recharge Speed. For this build, we recommend her default Outfit for the +25% Power Damage due to her Recharge Speed being high already.

Best Weapons

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. This build relies mainly on using your powers, so you’ll want to keep your weight as low as possible. Doing this will keep your cooldowns low, allowing you to use powers more often.

Heavy Pistol

Weapon Base Damage Clip Size Reserve Ammunition Capacity Rate of Fire Accuracy
M-6 Carnifex Medium 6 30 Low Very Low High

The M-6 Carnifex is obtained during the Mission Arrae: Ex-Cerberus Scientists on a pipe in the tunnel immediately after leaving the scientists, it can also be purchased at Kassa Fabrication in the Citadel if you missed it.

The M-6 Carnifex is a pretty strong weapon as it has lowish weight compared to its damage output.

Or

Weapon Base Damage Clip Size Reserve Ammunition Capacity Rate of Fire Accuracy
M-77 Paladin Medium 4 16 Low Low High

The M-77 Paladin is acquired from the Spectre Requisitions Store which can be accessed at the Citadel or via the terminal in the Shuttle Bay of Normandy.

With this build you’ll want to be focusing on using your Powers, but if you have to make use of your Pistol, then the Paladin is a great option due to the large damage output. It’s also great against armored enemies.

Submachine Gun

Weapon Base Damage Clip Size Reserve Ammunition Capacity Rate of Fire Accuracy
Geth Plasma SMG Low 100 600 Very High Very Fast Average

The Geth Plasma SMG is acquired from the Elkoss Combine Arsenal Supplies Store which can be found in Presidium Commons at the Citadel.

This weapon is only equipped to make your overall Power Recharge Speed sit at 200%, so you don’t want to be using this weapon unless you absolutely have to, although, it’s fast rate of fire can tear enemies’ shields down at close range.

Or

Weapon Base Damage Clip Size Reserve Ammunition Capacity Rate of Fire Accuracy
M-9 Tempest Very Low 50 350 Very High Very Fast Medium

The M-9 Tempest can also be found during the Mission Tuchanka: Turian Platoon, early in the mission, next to some Turian bodies after killing the first group of Husks.

This is a great SMG that can compete with some Assault Rifles, this weapon has a high rate of fire, it’s relatively accurate, and it has low weight.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Electronic Arts
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS3, Wii U, XB 360
  • Genre
    Action RPG, Third-person shooter
  • Guide Release
    14 May 2021
  • Last Updated
    15 June 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Andrew Mills, Claire Farnworth

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For years, a lone soldier has told tales of the Reapers, of their return, of these sentient machines reaching out across the vastness of space, to harvest all sentient life. But the warnings were all for nothing. Until now. The Reapers have at last come to Earth and these warnings can no longer be ignored. You are Commander Shepard, the first human spectre and elite soldier of the Alliance, tasked with uniting the galaxy in the fight to stop the Reapers destroying everything you hold dear. In your hands lies the fate of the entire Milky Way but luckily, this time, you are no longer alone.

  • All side missions completed containing the included DLC.
  • Find every single weapon mod tucked away in the game.
  • In-depth look at the major choices and consequences of each.
  • Full details on all possible Romances.
  • Class builds to get the most out of your chosen class.
  • All Biotic Combos and Tech Bursts explained.
  • Details on every Power.
  • Builds for all squad mates.
  • Trophy/Achievement guide.

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