This page will show you some of the best Adept builds in Mass Effect 3. Here, you’ll find details on the best abilities to pick, the best weapons to equip, and you’ll find what armor works best for the build. Finally, you’ll have builds included for the squadmates that accompany this build.

Adept Overview¶

The Adept is a core class in Mass Effect 3, and is the de facto ‘Mage’ class of the game, overflowing with an arsenal of Biotic Powers. What they lack in combat training, they more than make up for it with their Powers. The changes to the combat in Mass Effect 3 really let the Adept come in to their own, allowing them to lower their cooldowns, which results in more ‘spell’ slinging.

Singularity Build¶

This build revolves around the power Singularity, arguably the strongest power in the Adept’s arsenal. What you want to do is use your squad mates or light weaponry to strip the the enemies protection, this’ll give Singularity the chance to lift them into the air, locking them down, and priming them for a Biotic Combo. Whilst they’re in the air, use Warp or Throw to detonate the combo for major damage.

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 Adepts, 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. Increasing the recharge speed allows us to use more Singularities, thus stopping the enemies from attacking us, and allowing more Biotic Combo opportunities.

Pull¶

Pull is great to deal with the Guardian enemies’, these have physical shields that protect their whole body from gunfire, and can be quite a nuisance. Pull will fling their shield away from them, leaving them exposed. It’s also great against enemies who are hiding behind cover providing they have no shields, just aim above them with the reticle still targeting the enemy, and the projectile will go above the barricade and thrash down, lifting the enemy into the air. Pull is also a primer for Biotic Combos. The reasoning behind the upgrade path is to keep the enemies in the air longer with Double Pull allowing you to hit an extra enemy giving you more crowd control, finally we choose Expose to increase the damage an extra 25% to enemies effected by Pull.

Throw¶

Throw works great in conjunction with Pull/Singularity, and acts as a detonator for Biotic Combos. The power itself uses a mass effect field to apply force to the enemies, throwing them around the battlefield like rag dolls. If the enemies are near a ledge, it can outright throw them off the side and instantly kill them. The reasoning behind the upgrade path is so Throw will hit an extra enemy from Double throw whilst increasing the force it provides. Finally, we choose Detonate to increase the damage to Biotic detonations by an extra 50%.

Warp¶

Warp is another great power, it weakens Armor and Barriers, and it can stop enemies from regenerating their health, also, it can detonate Biotic Combos. The reasoning behind the upgrade path is that we want Warp dealing as much damage as possible to the enemies Armor and Barriers as well as increasing the damage to the Biotic Combo you do when you detonate with it.

Shockwave¶

Shockwave is one of the weaker powers for the Adept, but make no mistake, it can still be useful. It’ll shoot out a series of Biotic impacts in front of you, hitting anything in its way. The idea behind it is to be a big crowd control power hitting multiple enemies, but that would need multiple enemies to have their shields stripped before it actually takes effect. Saying that, it will briefly stun the enemies it hits, and will take away a little of their protections. If you do face multiple shieldless enemies like the Husk, it will shine. The reasoning behind the upgrade path is to increase its damage and force whilst Detonate will increase the Biotic detonation damage by 50%. Finally, the last upgrade will lift the enemies in the air for a short time.

Fitness ¶

Maxing out the Fitness line will give you some much-needed survivability, increasing your barrier bonus by 15%, decreasing your shield-recharge delay by 15%, and finally, Fitness Expert will further increase your Health and Shield bonus by 50%.

Biotic Mastery¶

Biotic Mastery will allow you to maximize your Biotic Powers by increasing the damage and force they deal, decreasing your weight capacity, allowing you quicker cooldowns on them, whilst the final upgrade will increase the cooldowns by a further 40% for 30 seconds after you detonate a Biotic Combo.

Bonus Power: Energy Drain¶

Energy Drain is a great power to add to your arsenal. You can get it by talking to Tali. What makes Energy Drain imperative to this build, is that you get a strong power capable of dealing 3x damage to enemies shield/barriers. This makes it especially effective against Atlas’. The reasoning behind the upgrade path is to increase the damage it does as much as possible whilst allowing you to cast it more often with the recharge speed option.

Best Weapons¶

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. Due to the Adepts reliance on their powers, a lighter loadout will make it, so you can use your powers more often.

Heavy Pistols¶

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 your best option due to the large damage output. It’s also great against armored enemies.

Submachine Gun¶

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. Make sure to equip the ultralight materials mod to get your overall Power Recharge Speed at 200%.

Best Armor¶

The Cerberus Spirit Armor is the perfect set for this build, as it increases power damage and recharge speed. It can be earned as a reward for scoring over 9999 points in the Armax Arsenal Combat Arena which is on the Citadel. The Inferno Armor is a good substitute if you can’t or don’t want to do the Armax Arsenal Combat Arena.

Best Squadmates¶

Adepts are specialists in Biotics, and by bringing along someone who is good at setting up Biotic Combos will allow you to detonate Combos more often, thus dealing more damage. The other member should be someone adept with shredding enemy shields. It’s for this reason we recommend Javik and EDI. Javik has access to the very potent Dark Channel power which makes an effective primer for Biotic Combos allowing you to detonate it with Throw.

What’s great about Dark Channel is that it will shift to another enemy if the first target dies, this’ll allow you to keep detonating the Biotic Combos providing the enemies die from the result of it. For the other squad member EDI, she is great to have in general, other than Garrus, she is the only other member to have access to Overload, which is great against shields. Furthermore, she has access to Incinerate which is great against armored enemies like the Atlas. It’s worth noting that Garrus is a great substitute for EDI if you’d rather have him. All in all, focus EDI on using Overload on shields or Incinerate on armored enemies, and focus Javik on Dark Channel as much as possible.

Javik Build¶

EDI Build¶