Best Jacob builds - all you need to know - Mass Effect 2 (ME2)

In this post, I will go through the best build for Jacob Taylor in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 2 Legendary Edition.

Jacob is Cerberus Operative. He is the first companion that will join Shepard. He uses biotic powers together with Ammo upgrades.

Biotic Support Build

This build is perfect when you want Jacob to provide more of a support role for Incendiary damage and biotic explosion. This will make your party very effective against Armored enemies.

Talents and Abilities

This section will cover what skills you should obtain.

Power name	Evolution	Squad Points
Pull	Pull Field	10
Incendiary Ammo	Squad Incendiary Ammo	10
Cerberus Operative	Cerberus Specialist	10
Barrier	-	1

Now let's get into the detailed progression for Jacob's build

Early game, levels 1- 10

I start from level 5, because that is when you get on the first real mission,

Level	Ability	Description
5	Pull Lv 1 Incendiary Ammo Lv 3	We maximize Incendiary Ammo early in the game. Level 1 Pull comes by default
6	Incendiary Ammo Lv 4	Upgrade to Squad Incendiary Ammo. All your group members will have fire ammo. All of your squad will be effective against armors and organic enemies. Moreover, companions can forgo Incendiary Ammo abilities for other skills.
7	-
8	Pull Lv 2	Increases the duration of levitation
9	-
10	-

Mid-game, level 11-20

At this point in the game, skill acquisition will stop drastically as you will gain two points every two levels. My recommendation now is this:

Level	Ability	Description
11	-
12	Pull Lv 3	Increases the duration of levitation
13	-
14	-
15	-
16	Pull Lv 4	Upgrade to Pull Field. Heavy Pull is not worth it because not many enemies will stay alive for that long once they have only a health bar. Moreover, you can also prepare for biotic detonations which is extremely useful with companions that have Warp
17	-
18	Cerberus Operative Lv 1	Jacob's passive ability gives bonus health and weapon damage.
19	-
20	-

Late game, level 20+

In the late game, we concentrate on further improving Cerberus Operative.

Level	Ability	Description
21	Cerberus Operative Lv 2	Further increases health and weapon damage
22	-
23	-
24	-
25	Cerberus Operative Lv 3	Further increases health and weapon damage
26	-
27	-
28	-
29	Cerberus Operative Lv 4	Upgrade to Cerberus Specialist. Because you will not send Jacob to the front lines, having him deal additional damage with each shoot will be better
30	-

We leave Barrier at 1 point. For this specific build, Jacob will not be using it often.

Tactics and Squad

Tactics

• Use Pull, on enemies with Barriers or Armor. This way they can be detonated with Warp.
• Try to keep Jacob further away from the front lines. You will not have a high-level Barrier and you should avoid using it. Jacob's main ability is Pull.

Squad members

I personally think this build shines with these companions:

• Thane – you can use him to activate Biotic detonations with Warp.
• Miranda – I think she is the best combo for Jacob. They can constantly cast Pull + Warp and spam detonations. Moreover, Miranda will take out enemy shields with Overload opening offensive possibilities for Jacob
• Adept Shepard – due to multiple biotic abilities they match together well for combos
• Grunt – with this build Jacob is not as strong at soaking bullets. Due to this, we take Krogan companion. It can tank enemies better and use a Concussion Shot in between Jacob cooldowns.

Cerberus Soldier build

This build concentrates on making Jacob play more of a Soldier role rather than concentrating on disabling enemies. This build will allow him to play a tank role and soak enemy damage.

Talents and skills

Power name	Evolution	Squad Points
Pull	-	1
Incendiary Ammo	Inferno Ammo/Squad Incendiary Ammo	10
Cerberus Operative	Cerberus Veteran	10
Barrier	Heavy Barrier	10

Here are my recommendations on how you should level your skills:

Early game, levels 1- 10

I start from level 5, because that is when you get on the first real mission,

Level	Ability	Description
5	Pull Lv 1 Incendiary Ammo Lv 1 Cerberus Operative Lv 3	By default, we get Incendiary Ammo and Pull. However, we will want to maximize Cerberus Operative as early as possible. The reason for this is increased damage and health for Jacob
6	-
7	Cerberus Operative Lv 4	I suggest taking Cerberus Veteran upgrade to squeeze some more health. You will need to position Jacob constantly near the enemy fire.
8	-
9	-
10	-

After you get Cerberus operative to save your points until you finish the Horizon mission (available after you recruit 4 members). Then you should be able to do Jacob's Loyalty mission and unlock Barrier.

Mid-game, level 11-20

At this point in the game, skill acquisition will stop drastically as you will gain two points every two levels. My recommendation now is this:

Level	Ability	Description
11	-
12	Barrier Lv 3	Put all the points that you have saved up once you get this ability.
13	-
14	-
15	-
16	Barrier Lv 4	My recommendation is to get Heavy Barrier. It will give you a larger boost to shields and a recharge time of 12 seconds will be enough to constantly have this ability active.
17	-
18	-
19	Incendiary Ammo Lv 2	Further, improve the ability effectiveness
20	-

Late game, level 20+

Level	Ability	Description
21	-
22	-
23	-
24	Incendiary Ammo Lv 3	Further, improve the ability effectiveness
25	-
26	-
27	-
28	Incendiary Ammo Lv 4	Both upgrades work, however, if your squad members do not have Incendiary Ammo active, then pick Squad upgrade.
29	-
30	-

Tactics and Squad

Tactics

In this section, I will cover how you should play Cerberus Soldier Jacob's build. Jacob can play a similar role as Grunt by tanking enemies and soaking a lot of damage. This is thanks to the Barrier ability. So here are my suggestions:

• Jacob should constantly have a Shotgun equipped
• Order Jacob to move to the front lines. This will distract enemies and even allow him to flank them. He can even stand against Scions by constantly activating his barrier.
• It is best to activate Barrier manually so that Jacob would not activate other abilities like Pull when not necessary
• Even though you did not invest in Pull, Jacob still has one point in it. It can be used in critical moments or when Barrier has been up but Jacob did not get damaged in 12 seconds.

Squad

I think the best companions for this Jacob build are:

• Kasumi – she has Flashbang and Shadow Strike. The first skill disables enemies for a short period of time, perfect for this Jacob build. Shadow Strike is an extremely Strong offensive ability exclusive to Kasumi
• Tali – she mostly is useful against synthetic and mech enemies. However, her combat drone can support Jacob and distract the enemy’s attention.
• Any companions with Biotic abilities. You need someone who can disable enemies as Jacob will not be able to do that.

Equipment

In Mass Effect 2 your squadmates do not have as much customization as in Mass Effect 1. This makes deciding what gear to use much easier for many players. In this section, I will go through weapons that I think are a good match for Jacob

Heavy Pistol

Here is which heavy Pistol I recommend using with Jacob.

Weapon Name	Effective against	Description
M-5 Phalanx	Armors	Phalanx is a very effective pistol, that has extremely high accuracy. Due to this, I recommend equipping it to Jacob. It also has the highest effectiveness against armors.

Shotgun

I suggest a few options regarding Shotguns for Jacob builds:

Weapon Name	Effective against	Description
Geth Plasma Shotgun	Shields Barriers	It is moderately accurate from longer distances. Moreover, it deals large amounts of damage to enemy shields. So it covers the main weakness of Jacob – low damage against shields.
Eviscerator Shotgun	Armor Shields Barrier	One of the strongest shotguns in the game. Good shotgun for the second build – Cerberus Soldier. However, you have to constantly move Jacob close to the enemies, which is risky.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post. I hope it helps you to better understand how you should build Jacob and use it in Mass Effect 2. Feel free to leave any comments or feedback below