In this post, I will go into details on how you should build an Infiltrator class as Shepard in Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 1 Legendary Edition.

I will cover the best talents, recommended gear, and what tactics to use to best deal with the encounters that you will have throughout the game.

Shepard Infiltrator Commando build

Talents and Skills

In this section, I will cover the best talents that you can use with Infiltrator Shepard and how you should level them.

infiltrator build shepardmass effect 1

Here is a short list of what skill allocation you should have close to level 30

Pistols: 12
Sniper Rifles: 12
Tactical Armor: 12
Fitness: 8
Electronics: 9
Damping: 6
Decryption: 9
Charm/Intimidate: 12
Commando: 12
Spectre Training: 4

These are the base investments that I suggest, feel free to put any left points wherever you prefer. However, here is how you should put your points.

Note: Always invest in Charm/Intimidate and have it at the highest level whenever you can. This will unlock additional dialogue options.

Electronics and Decryption

Start by getting Electronics and Decryption to 9 as soon as possible. This will allow you to unlock any containers or boxes for additional loot. Extremely useful as you will be able to buy good gear early.

Pistols and Sniper Rifles

Get Pistols to level 5 and unlock Sniper Rifles. Maximize the Sniper Rifle tree to 12. At this point, with Master Assassination talent activated you should be able to take out most of the normal enemies with one hit.

Spectre Training

Get Spectre Training to level 4. It is important to get it as early as possible so that you could revive your squad members, whenever they die.

Commando

To unlock Commando talent tree, you will need its specialization. This can be done by finishing UNC: Rogue VI Assignment. This talent is extremely powerful as it boosts your weapon damage and enhances Marksman and Assassination active abilities by reducing their recharge times.

Tactical Armor

At this point, if you are playing on Insanity some of the encounters will become difficult. Invest into Tactical armor up to level 7. You can now equip Medium armor and boost you shields during tight moments.

Pistols

Now you can maximize Pistols tree to level 12. At this point, Master Marksman will boost your damage by 75% and headshots by 100%. So in close quarters, you can easily take down any enemies if for example your sniper overheats or you find yourself surrounded.

Fitness

The next step forward in ensuring that you survive the game encounters is Fitness. Level it to 8, this skill to bolster your health and unlock Immunity. Together with Commando, this will reduce the recharge rate and will make you almost invincible for 6 seconds.

Tactical Armor, Damping, Decryption, First Aid…

Now as you have all the core skills, feel free to put the rest of the points into one of the mentioned abilities. If you feel that you need more survivability, get more Tactical Armor. If you heal a lot, allocate points to First Aid. In the end, the build is the frame and you allocate points based on your playstyle.

Recommended Gear

Now let us cover all you need to know about gear as it plays a major role in Mass Effect 1, specifically for this Infiltrator build

Weapons

The most important weapon for this build is Sniper Rifle. You should not settle for anything less than HMWSR Spectre Sniper rifle. Try to get the highest tier variation: VII or X that you can. Even the VII outclasses most of the other weapons.

The second weapon that you need to have in your arsenal is a good Pistol. For this get HMWP. As with all Spectre – Master Gear get the highest variation that is available to you.

For Ammo upgrades here are my recommendations:

Inferno Rounds – deals damage over time and reduces enemy accuracy. It works on all enemies.
Tungsten Rounds – Works great against synthetic enemies like geth. Increases damage dealt.
Shredder Rounds – switch with Tungsten Rounds when fighting against organic enemies like Rachni or humans.
Sledgehammer Rounds – will guarantee that your shots knockdown enemies when they are without armors, use them together with Overload ability

For Weapon upgrades this is what I recommend:

Scram Rail – provides a large boost to damage. Tier X gives 26% damage. However, it also increases heat.
Frictionless Materials – reduces heat generation after each shot and increases damage. Unfortunately, the damage increase is fairly low
Kinetic Coil – boosts weapon stability and increases damage.

Armors

Regarding armors, the best recommendation is Colossus Armor. It provides the largest damage protection. Of course, you can also get Predator X armor, it has higher shields and biotic protection.

Personally, my recommendation is to maximize damage protection as mostly you will be hit by bullets and shields can be easily disabled with enemy abilities. So in my opinion get Colossus armor or the one that has the highest Damage Protection like Titan armor

For Armor upgrades I would prioritize these:

Energized Plating – increases damage protection. At level X gives 23%. One of the best mods that you can get
Medical Exoskeleton – reduces power cool down and gives health regeneration. Drastically increases your combat prowess as you can regenerate HP.

Omni-tool

Your Omni Tool plays a few major roles: increases shields, reduces cooldown, and gives a higher medical recharge bonus.

Due to this, my recommendation is to try to get Savant Omni-tool. You will get one from Bring Down the Sky DLC as a reward. Otherwise, you can be lucky and drop or buy it.

Some other alternatives are Polaris and Chameleon Omni-tools.

Tactics and Squad

This section is extremely important as for this build to shine you will need to become good with Sniper Rifles. Here are some short tips:

Position yourself further away from the enemies especially in the early game when your armors and health are low
Have a companion like Ashley or Wrex who can soak a lot of bullets and distract enemies while you take them down
Use Master Assassination before engaging in combat, this should ensure that you insta kill one enemy
Use Sabotage on enemies often. This will limit enemy firepower and they will mostly stand still while you can shoot them
Before shooting with Sniper Rifle, try to use Overload to take down enemy shields
Pistols together with Marksman ability can be deadly in close quarters
Infiltrators do not have Biotic abilities, due to this you should have a companion like Liara who can use talents like Throw and CC them

Shepard Infiltrator Operative build

This build is a variation of the previous one. It concentrates more on Tech abilities. However, you will still need your Sniper Rifle and pistol to deal major damage.

Talents and Skills

Here is a short list of what skill allocation you should have close to level 30

Pistols: 6
Sniper Rifles: 12
Tactical Armor: 12
Fitness: 9
Electronics: 9
Damping: 12
Decryption: 12
Charm/Intimidate: 12
Operative: 12
Spectre Training: 4

The main difference with this build is that you are getting Operative specialization. So we will cover in greater detail when you should invest in it.

Follow the previous build for how to allocate level to level points in these sections: Electronics and Decryption, Pistols and Sniper Rifles, Spectre Training. Now you are ready to move to the main variation of the tree.

Operative

Now put all the points into an Operative tree and get it to 12. This passive talent will reduce heat buildup and recharge times. Moreover, when using Tech abilities you spawn small mines, they will now deal 15% more damage. These are alternatives to grenades but they are unlimited.

Tactical Armor

It is a great time to bolster your defenses so get Tactical Armor to level 9. You will be able to wear Medium armor and also get some additional defensive shield boosts.

Damping, Maximizing Decryption

At this point you should maximize the mentioned talents. Moreover, unlock Damping. It can stun enemies and also disable their biotic and tech abilities. This skill will make your life much easier on Insanity difficulty.

Fitness and Tactical Armor

The Finish of this build is Fitness. Get it to level 9 and enjoy Immunity skill that makes you almost invincible for 6 seconds. Moreover, finish leveling Tactical Armor.

I have some points left…

Feel free to put them into First Aid.

Recommended equipment

Unfortunately, there is not much to recommend here and you can follow the main builds equipment. All of the things still stand as your main importance is having Spectre Master Gear weapons and best armor with high Damage Protection

Tactics and squad

This build shines when you have a companion like Ashley or Wrex who can deal large amounts of damage with their weapons.

Due to the bonus from the Operative tree, in lower heat generation, I recommend equipping two Scram Rails on your weapons. This will counteract lower damage.

They will be extremely strong, by instantly taking out enemy shields, disabling their weapon, and stunning them. This is the main idea of the build as you will also generate additional mines that deal bonus damage

Do not forget to use party commands, to position your allies closer to enemies, especially companions like Wrex who can soak a lot of damage.

Overload should be used on strong enemies like Krogans that need a lot of hits to kill. This talent increases enemy damage taken.

Conclusion

I hope these builds will help you with your Mass Effect 1 play-through. Infiltrator is an extremely well-versed character for those that like to snipe from long distances and sabotage enemies

Feel free to leave your feedback or suggestions in the comments.