Kasumi build - Best Thief in the Galaxy - Mass Effect 2 (ME2)

In this post, I will go through how to best build Kasumi. This will cover squad points allocation when to pick them, what gear to equip and what tactics to use.

Kasumi Goto is a Master Thief that joins Shepard's crew on Normandy. She is extremely skillful in subterfuge allowing her to hit enemies from behind, blinding them, and dealing large amounts of damage.

So let's start

Kasumi Build - Best Thief in the Galaxy

Squad points allocation

In this section, I will go through how the squad points should be allocated and at what level intervals. This way you ensure optimal damage and party support for Kasumi.

Power name	Evolution	Level (Squad Points)
Shadow Strike	Deadly Shadow Strike	4 (10)
Overload	-	0
Master Thief	Master Infiltrator	4 (10)
Flashbang Grenade	Improved Flashbang Grenade	4 (10)

Important! You should take Overload for Kasumi loyalty mission: Stealing Memory and respec Kasumi after it. However, if Shepard has it by himself then you can skip this ability.

Master Thief is bugged on the base Mass Effect 2 game by not giving the correct cooldown times so kip it. However, it is fixed on Legendary Edition.

Level 1-10, early game

Here is how you allocate skill points early in the game for Kasumi:

Level	Ability	Description
5	Shadow Strike Lv 3	It is an extremely strong ability allowing hit enemies from behind. With Shadow Strike, Kasumi will also become invulnerable when the ability is cast and distracts enemies. Another important point is that it deals double damage to defenses: barriers, shields, and armors. This can ensure that you incapacitate most normal enemies in the game
6	-
7	Shadow Strike Lv 4 Master Thief Lv 1	Upgrade to Deadly Shadow Strike. Master Thief will increase Kasumi's health, weapon damage, and most importantly cooldowns. Now she can reuse her skills more often
8	-
9	Master Thief Lv 2
10	-

Early, you will stay with only one ability, however, as I mentioned it is extremely powerful.

Level 11-20, mid-game

By this time you should have done Kasumi's loyalty mission to unlock her additional ability.

Level	Ability	Description
11	Flashbang Grenade Lv 1	This ability is very useful. For protected enemies, it fazes them and overheats their weapons, omni-tools, etc. However, if the enemy is unprotected it also incapacitates them. So use it to your heart's content
12	-
13	Flashbang Grenade Lv 2
14	-
15	Master Thief Lv 3	Further improves Kasumi base stats
16	-
17	-
18	-
19	Master Thief Lv 4	Fully invest in this passive and get Master Infiltrator upgrade. With it, Kasumi will have a -25% cooldown reduction.
20	-

Level 21-30, late-game

Level	Ability	Description
21	-
22	-
23	-
24	-
25	Flashbang Grenade Lv 3
26	-
27	-
28	-
29	-
30	Flashbang Grenade Lv 4	Get an Improved Flashbang Grenade upgrade. This will increase the impact radius to 9 meters, making it much more effective

With these skills, the build is fully finished. Be sure to read through the tactics section to understand all the details.

Equipment

This section will cover what weapons you should equip for Kasumi. She can equip two types of guns: a submachine gun and a heavy pistol

Sub-machine Gun

I recommend one of the two options below. They are fairly similar, however

Weapon Name	Effective against	Description
M-9 Tempest	Shields Barriers	Effective against Shields and barriers. Due to its large clip, AI can shoot much longer with it. Also Kasumi has good accuracy making it effective against protections
M-12 Locust	Armor Shields Barrier	Is effective against all armor types, but the multipliers are very low. It has a decent fire rate but overall it will do less damage than M-9 Tempest with the whole clip

Heavy Pistols

I am not a fan of AI using Heavy Pistols, however, if you choose to have one here are some options.

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 on Kasumi. It also has the highest effectiveness against armors.

Tactics and Squad

In this section, I will give some recommendations on how to best use Kasumi:

• Using Flashbang Grenade is extremely effective. It works on most enemies. If they have defenses then it staggers them but still overheats their weapons.
• Shadow Strike can be bugged, however, while it is in use, Kasumi is invincible (you can use it to save her from death). Use it on some ranged enemy that is hidden far away and let Kasumi take care of it.
• Shadow Strike does not work on enemies that Shepard cannot reach (like balconies).
• You can take Overload for her loyalty mission, otherwise, skip it or respec once you have finished Laik of the Shadow Broker.

Squad

I think Kasumi performs well in two-party compositions:

1. When there is one member who can setup Biotic explosions: Jack, Samara, Shepard Adept, Shepard Sentinel, and Shepard Vanguard. After this, you would need someone who can detonate them: Thane, Miranda, Sentinel Shepard, Adept Shepard
2. The second option is having a group that is good at using Tech abilities and Weapons. This would include: Grunt, Jacob, Mordin, Shepard Soldier, Garrus

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the post. I hope it helps you to understand how to best build Kasumi in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 2 Legendary Edition.

Feel free to leave a comment below.