Compared to the previous Mass Effect title, the amount of people that you can bring into battle with you is pretty underwhelming. However, with that being said, we can see several improvements in terms of abilities and damage stats for certain characters. Going throughout missions with your crew has never felt more in sync and easier.
There are certain crew members that will benefit you more than others, though. Whether they have devastating bionic powers, tech abilities, or a niche for getting involved in combat, everyone has a bit of something different they bring to the table.
8/8 Javik
Javik is a DLC character that specializes in biotics to take down his foes. Much like Jack from Mass Effect 2, Javik is primarily good for crowd control as his abilities are excellent at ensuring you always have the advantage in any situation you may find yourself in.
His abilities, like Warp and Warp ammo, can be used to debuff enemies allowing you to do massive amounts of damage while Slam, Lift Grenade, and Pull make sure that Javik can pull his own weight on the squad. Unfortunately, compared to another biotic crew member on this list, his abilities don’t match their power.
7/8 EDI
EDI is Normandy’s AI system in a physical body, so it makes sense that she specializes in tech abilities. What makes her so special is her special class Unshackled AI, which grants her significant boosts to her tech powers, allowing them to do more damage. Her abilities, Incinerate and Overload, should be paired together to reach the maximum damage output that she can inflict on enemies.
What holds EDI back from being great is the fact that while she can do damage, she’s more useful in taking away enemy shields and being a debuff factor to enemies. The weapons she brings to battle don’t really help her case either. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider recruiting EDI to the squad though.
6/8 Tali’Zorah vas Normandy
Tali’Zorah vas Normandy is significantly better than how she was in Mass Effect 2. This time around, she brings more skills to the table and provides more uses than just to take out mech and geth enemies. Tali is still a tech character; however, it feels more in the literal sense of things. Her abilities are somewhat complicated to use if you want to get the full impact out of them. You must know when to use her skills and how to combine them.
You don’t have to worry about her dying much as she is able to strip enemies of their shield, making it her own. By no means is Tali “weak”; it just takes some time to understand how she plays. Once you do that, you’re golden.
5/8 Kaidan Alenko
If you want another character that excels at debuffing enemies, Kaidan Alenko is your man. What makes Kaidan different from other characters on this list is that he can also do damage. Being a master at both tech and biotics allows him to set enemies up like dominos and watch them fall.
Kaidan is also durable, as his skills, such as Barrier and Reave, allow him to take more damage than usual on the battlefield. Kaidan has definitely improved since Mass Effect 2, and you should consider adding him to your party if you want to have a damage dealer on your squad. He won’t disappoint you.
4/8 James Vega
Every team needs to have a tank on their side that’s going to be able to aggro damage and be a bullet sponge. That being said, every squad needs to have James Vega on standby, ready for action when he’s needed. James is no Krogan, but the fortitude to be one.
He has the most health and shield out of every character in the game and is hard to put down. What suffers the most is the amount of damage that he can do. However, you can always rely on yourself or another damage-dealing member to pick up that weight. Don’t let that fact blind you from how valuable Vega really is.
3/8 Ashley Williams
Ashley Williams is a unique member to have on this list primarily because of her placement. Ashley excels at doing damage as her Marksman and Alliance Officer ability allows her to perform extremely well in battle. She can improve her rate of fire as well on her weapons too.
Her kit is meh, and you won’t need to use it that often as it’s nothing game-changing, but her being able to tear through enemies makes up for it. She’s able to use assault rifles and sniper rifles, so how you want her in your squad is up to you. The reason why she’s so unique is that she closely resembles the next person on this list.
2/8 Garrus Vakarian
Ashley is basically the human variant of Garrus Vakarian. In all the past Mass Effect games, Garrus has always been a powerhouse in terms of damage and skills, but in Mass Effect 3, it’s taken to a whole different level. Not only is he still versatile, being able to be long-range and up-close, but he can also strip enemies of shields and do crowd control.
While they don’t necessarily have a fast cooldown, it’s fair considering the damage that can be caused by them. If you combo them correctly, you’ll never want to take Garrus off your squad.
1/8 Liara T’Soni
Liara T’Soni and her biotic powers are on an insane level in Mass Effect 3. Even though she has the least amount of health in the group, she does have a high shield level to counter this. Upgrading her abilities, such as Warp, Stasis, and Singularity, to the max level will have her shredding through enemies like butter.
Not only that, but Liara has little to no cooldown for her abilities, which lets her constantly put pressure on enemies. As long as you protect Liara in your squad or at least provide some cover fire for her, you’ll be a-ok in a majority of your battles.
