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Are There Classes in Mass Effect: Andromeda?
The simple answer is no—but this does not tell the whole story.
Mass Effect: Andromeda may feel like Mass Effect 3, but character creation has been completely overhauled.
Perhaps influenced by many recent role-playing games, Andromeda removes the requirement of selecting a class at the start of the game. The idea of allocating your character to a class such as soldier, adept, etc. is replaced by a system that allows the user to customize their character as they see fit. Each character can choose any of the skills available; it’s up to the user to decide whether to focus or become a jack of all trades.
Character creation is more open-ended, and with the introduction of the profile system, it becomes possible to change gaming styles in an instant.
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What Are Profiles in Mass Effect: Andromeda?
The core mechanism for creating a character is by adding skills in the skill trees—combat, tech, and biotics. Skill points earned as you gain experience and level up allow you to buy new skills. As Andromeda is classless, you can mix and match skills to suit your own personal game style.
Profiles replace classes in Mass Effect: Andromeda. There are seven profiles available each profile draws on skills from within the three skill trees. Profiles are unlocked by spending points within the three skill trees. Additional skills within the profile are unlocked as you "invest" in skills.
"Mass Effect: Andromeda" Profiles
| Profile / Skill Points to Unlock | Pros | Cons | Bonuses |
|---|---|---|---|
Soldier (6 in combat) | Easy to play. Combat Oriented. | No tech or biotic skills. | Weapon damage, accuracy, defense. |
Vanguard (3 in biotic, 3 in combat) | Has siphoning strike skill to top up shield. Good melee damage bonuses. | Not effective where no melee allowed. | Enhances melee damage.. |
Explorer (3 in biotic, 3 in combat) | Best jack-of-all trades profile. | Less specialized than other profiles. | Enhances weapon damage, increased defense, enhanced tech and biotic powers |
Engineer (6 in tech) | Great profile for those who concentrate on tech skills. | Underpowered for melee | Boosts health, defense and damage of tech. |
Adept (6 in biotic) | Potential to cause huge amounts of damage. Biotic Expert. | Limited defense | .— |
Sentinel (3 in tech, 3 in biotic) | Has the tech armor power which adds to defense. Adding some combat skills will make the Sentinel useful against bosses. | Not a front line soldier. | Extra recharge speed for tech and biotics |
Inflitrator (3 in tech, 3 in combat) | Great for tactical battles. Great for focusing on one enemy. Stealthy. | Less effective when no melee allowed | Enhance awareness, weapon and tech bonuses |
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What Are Skills in Mass Effect: Andromeda?
Skills are what makes your character unique; they allow you to focus on any skill-set that you want, and when combined with the profiles, give you the ability to create almost any character style that you want.
Buying skills will unlock profiles and enhanced skills—the ability to swap profiles instantly allows you to be very adaptive during combat. There are three types of skills: combat, tech, and biotic.
"Mass Effect: Andromeda" Skills Overview
| Skill | Description | Abilities |
|---|---|---|
Combat | Perfect for the beginner to concentrate on as many skills are passive. These skills are aimed at increasing efficiency at all aspects of combat. Key skills allow you to carry a greater variety of weapons, have fast cooldown times and more powerful grenades etc. | Omni Grenade, Concussive Shot, Barricade, Turbocharge, Trip Mine, Flak Cannon, Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shot Guns, Sniper Rifles, Combat Fitness, Combat Tools, |
Biotics | Biotics is essentially the magic of the Mass Effect world. They allow manipulation of physics and are focused on long range or area effects. Skills can cause massive amounts of damage, and negate enemy armor and barriers. | Pull, Throw, Charge, Nova, Shockwave, Annihilation, Backlash, Singularity, Lance, Barrier, Offensive Biotics, Containment, |
Tech | This skill-set focuses on tech abilities such as fire, electric and freeze based attacks. Tech is useful in reducing enemy shields and is very tactically focused. It allows you to deploy tech for defensive purposes. It gives the ability to provide shields for the whole squad. | Overload, Incinerate, Assault Turret, Cryo Beam, Energy Drain, Tactical Cloak, Flamethrower, Unknown, Invasion, Team Support, Offensive Tech, Auxiliary Systems |
"Mass Effect: Andromeda" Skill and Abilities
| Skill | Ability | Ranks |
|---|---|---|
Combat | OMNI GRENADE | 1 - Omni Grenade ; 2 - Grenade Capacity ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Sticky Grenade OR Frag Grenade ; 5 - Grenade Capacity OR Shrapnel ; 6 - Anti-Armor OR Anti-Shield |
Combat | CONCUSSIVE SHOT | 1 - Concussive Shot ; 2 - Force ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Recharge Speed OR Repeat Concussion ; 5 - Radius OR Damage & Force ; 6 - Anti-Armor OR Anti-Shield |
Combat | BARRICADE | 1 - Barricade ; 2 - Power Cells ; 3 - Duration ; 4 - Duration OR Power Cells ; 5 - Weapon Feedback OR Power Feedback ; 6 - Regeneration OR Electric Defense |
Combat | TURBOCHARGE | 1 - Turbocharge ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Recharge Speed OR Duration ; 5 - Damage & Force OR Accuracy & Stability ; 6 - Supercharge OR Dump Heat |
Combat | TRIP MINE | 1 - Trip Mine ; 2 - Power Cells ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Sensor Range OR Power Cells ; 5 - Damage & Force OR Blast Radius ; 6 - Detonator OR EMP |
Combat | FLAK CANNON | 1 - Flak Cannon ; 2 - Power Cells ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Damage & Force OR Power Cells ; 5 - Anti-Armor OR Stunning ; 6 - Flak OR Shredder |
Combat | PISTOLS | 1 - Pistols ; 2 - Accuracy ; 3 - Mobility ; 4 - Weight OR Spare Ammo ; 5 - Reload OR Clip Size ; 6 - Unassisted Targeting OR Augmented Targeting Assistance |
Combat | ASSAULT RIFLES | 1 - Assault Rifles ; 2 - Accuracy ; 3 - Stability ; 4 - Weight OR Spare Ammo ; 5 - Reload OR Clip Size ; 6 - Shatter Defenses OR Critical Hits |
Combat | SHOTGUNS | 1 - Shotguns ; 2 - Stability ; 3 - Precision ; 4 - Weight OR Spare Ammo ; 5 - Reload OR Clip Size ; 6 - Damage & Force OR Melee Synergy |
Combat | SNIPER RIFLES | 1 - Sniper Rifles ; 2 - Accuracy ; 3 - Headshots ; 4 - Weight OR Spare Ammo ; 5 - Reload OR Clip Size ; 6 - Damage & Force OR Killing Spree |
Combat | COMBAT FITNESS | 1 - Health ; 2 - Shields ; 3 - Extra Holster ; 4 - Consumables OR Regeneration ; 5 - Extra Holster OR Heavy Lifting ; 6 - Hold the Line OR In the Trenches |
Combat | COMBAT TOOLS | 1 - Power Damage ; 2 - Melee ; 3 - Detonators ; 4 - Hover OR Evasion ; 5 - Arial Melee OR Detonators ; 6 - Arial Combat OR Martial Arts |
Biotics | PULL | 1 - Pull ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Duration ; 4 - Duration OR Radius ; 5 - Crushing Grip OR Expose ; 6 - Anti-Shields OR Biotic Drain |
Biotics | THROW | 1 - Throw ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Damage & Force OR Radius ; 5 - Duration OR Recharge Speed ; 6 - Double Throw OR Swift Detonation |
Biotics | CHARGE | 1 - Charge ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Damage & Force OR Radius ; 5 - Weapons & Melee OR Power Synergy ; 6 - Shock Trooper OR Bastion |
Biotics | NOVA | 1 - Nova ; 2 - Radius ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Damage & Force OR Radius ; 5 - Anti-Armor OR Anti-Shield ; 6 - Seismic Nova OR Shield-Powered |
Biotics | SHOCKWAVE | 1 - Shockwave ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Damage & Force OR Radius ; 5 - Recharge Speed OR Reach ; 6 - Anti-Armor OR Lifting Shockwave |
Biotics | ANNIHILATION | 1 - Annihilation ; 2 - Recharge Penalty ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Radius OR Recharge Penalty ; 5 - Damage Attractor OR Biotic Wind ; 6 - Draining Field OR Vortex |
Biotics | BACKLASH | 1 - Backlash ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Durability ; 4 - Durability OR Recharge Speed ; 5 - Durability OR Reflection ; 6 - Shield Resurgence OR Damage Aftermath |
Biotics | SINGULARITY | 1 - Singularity ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Duration OR Radius ; 5 - Anti-Shield OR Recharge Speed ; 6 - Exploding Singularity OR Expanding Singularity |
Biotics | LANCE | 1 - Lance ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage & Force ; 4 - Damage & Force OR Radius ; 5 - Focused Blast OR Anti-Shield ; 6 - Knockdown OR Shield-Powered |
Biotics | BARRIER | 1 - Barrier ; 2 - Barrier Speed ; 3 - Barrier Regeneration ; 4 - Unyielding Barrier OR Recuperative Barrier ; 5 - Biotic Link OR Biotic Alacrity ; 6 - Active Barrier OR Saving Barrier |
Biotics | OFFENSIVE BIOTICS | 1 - Offensive Biotics ; 2 - Speed ; 3 - Detonators ; 4 - Amplitude OR Alacrity ; 5 - Exploitation OR Detonation ; 6 - Biotic Expert OR Biotic Warrior |
Biotics | CONTAINMENT | 1 - Containment ; 2 - Effectiveness ; 3 - Anti-Shield ; 4 - Radius OR Duration ; 5 - Shield Detonation OR Concussive Detonation ; 6 - Manifold Duration OR Event Horizon |
Tech | OVERLOAD | 1 - Overload ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Damage OR Recharge Speed ; 5 - Charged Overload OR Anti-Shield ; 6 - Maximum Charge OR EMP |
Tech | INCINERATE | 1 - Incinerate ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Radius OR Burning ; 5 - Impact OR Anti-Armor ; 6 - Detonator OR Double Incinerate |
Tech | ASSAULT TURRET | 1 - Assault Turret ; 2 - Durability ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Durability OR Recharge Speed ; 5 - Damage OR Omni-Link ; 6 - Cryo Ammo OR Flamethrower |
Tech | CRYO BEAM | 1 - Cryo Beam ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Damage OR Recharge Speed ; 5 - Brittle Freeze OR Radius ; 6 - Snap Freeze OR Cryo Trap |
Tech | ENERGY DRAIN | 1 - Energy Drain ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Effectiveness ; 4 - Effectiveness OR Recharge Speed ; 5 - Extended Drain OR Auxiliary Drain ; 6 - Damage OR Team Drain |
Tech | TACTICAL CLOAK | 1 - Tactical Cloak ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Duration ; 4 - Recharge Speed OR Damage Bonus ; 5 - Duration OR Speed ; 6 - Escape Artist OR Combat Cloak |
Tech | FLAMETHROWER | 1 - Flamethrower ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Damage ; 4 - Damage OR Recharge Speed ; 5 - Reach OR Lingering Burn ; 6 - Anti-Armor OR Blinding Heat |
Tech | UNKNOWN | None |
Tech | INVASION | 1 - Invasion ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Duration ; 4 - Recharge Speed OR Outbreak ; 5 - Epidemic OR Weaken ; 6 - Virulence OR Sabotage |
Tech | TEAM SUPPORT | 1 - Shields ; 2 - Shield Recovery ; 3 - Support ; 4 - Squad Offensive OR Support ; 5 - Team Recovery OR Tactical Revive ; 6 - Defense Grid OR Life Support |
Tech | OFFENSIVE TECH | 1 - Damage ; 2 - Recharge Speed ; 3 - Detonators ; 4 - Anti-Armor OR Anti-Shield ; 5 - Detonators OR Anti-Synthetic ; 6 - Elemental Tech OR Technical Rounds |
Tech | AUXILIARY SYSTEMS | 1 - Duration ; 2 - Force ; 3 - Constructs ; 4 - Weapon Mass Reduction OR Priming ; 5 - Enduring Tech OR Impact Dilation ; 6 - Shield Feedback OR Omni-Vents |
