Zaeed build - Complete Guide - Mass Effect 2 (ME2)
In this post, I will cover one of the more notorious companions build Zaeed. I will go through weapons, squad points, and tactics that you should use with him.
Zaeem Massani is a mercenary and bounty hunter that Cerberus has recruited. He will join Shepard's crew if you will decide to help with his personal mission.
Zaeed build - Mercenary King
Squad points allocation
In this section, I will go through what skills when you should pick with Zaeed. Feel free to adjust the build to your liking.
| Power name | Evolution | Level (Squad Points) |
|---|---|---|
 Concussive Shot |
Heavy Concussive Shot | 4 (10) |
 Disruptor Ammo |
Squad Disruptor Ammo | 4 (10) |
 Mercenary Veteran |
Mercenary Warlord | 4 (10) |
 Inferno Grenade |
- | 0 |
Although many builds and discussions recommend Inferno Grenade I am against it. It does not work as well on Insanity and I would rather spam Concussive Shot. Moreover, you cannot get both Disruptor Ammo Lv 4 and Inferno Grenade without skipping Mercenary Warlord.
However, if you tried it and liked it feel free to switch it with Disruptor Ammo.
Level 1-10, early-game
Zaeed can be strong quite early in the game. His strength comes from his passive and equipping the right weapons, so do not neglect reading the Equipment section.
| Level | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Concussive Shot Lv 2Mercenary Veteran Lv 3 |
Concussive Shot is not a particularly strong skill, it knocks out defenseless enemies. It also works against Barriers. Mercenary Veteran gives an exceptionally large weapon damage boost. Due to this, we try to obtain it as early as possible. |
| 6 | - | |
| 7 | Disruptor Ammo Lv 1 |
This ability will boost Zaeed's damage against enemy shields. Moreover, it will overheat enemy weapons and deal additional damage against synthetics like mechs. |
| 8 | - | |
| 9 | Disruptor Ammo Lv 2 |
Further, improve ammo ability damage against shields |
| 10 | - |
Level 11 - 20, mid-game
Now, we further improve Zaeed's build. We will concentrate on obtaining better support abilities and increasing base stats
| Level | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Disruptor Ammo Lv 3 |
Further, improve ammo ability damage against shields |
| 12 | - | |
| 13 | - | |
| 14 | - | |
| 15 | Disruptor Ammo Lv 4 |
Once you maximize the skill get Squad Disruptor Ammo. Now everyone will deal additional damage to shields. This is really important on Insanity as many enemies have Shield bars. |
| 16 | - | |
| 17 | - | |
| 18 | - | |
| 19 | Mercenary Veteran Lv 4 |
Once you maximize this ability, take the Mercenary Warlord upgrade. It will give Zaeed a 50% weapon damage boost, making him one of the strongest companions. With the correct weapons, he will tear through enemies. |
| 20 | - |
Level 21-30, late game
We add some finishing touches to the build at this point:
| Level | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | - | |
| 22 | - | |
| 23 | Concussive Shot Lv 3 |
Upgrade the ability to deal more damage. |
| 24 | - | |
| 25 | - | |
| 26 | - | |
| 27 | - | |
| 28 | - | |
| 29 | - | |
| 30 | Concussive Shot Lv 4 |
Although any upgrade works, I prefer Heavy Concussive Shot, to deal more damage against a single target. |
With these abilities, the skill allocations are finished and you are ready to move to gear optimization in the next section.
Equipment
Zaeed can use both Sniper Rifles and Assault Rifles. This makes him very effective at ranged combat.
Sniper Rifles
For Sniper Rifles I suggest M-29 Incisor. It is bugged on Insanity, by not having its damage lowered. Here are some Incisor damage calculations. With this in mind, companions can deal extensive damage with no drawbacks to fire rate or other stats
| Weapon Name | Effective against | Description |
|---|---|---|
 M-29 Incisor |
Shields Barriers Armor |
This is an extremely strong rifle. On Insanity, difficulty this has its modifiers not decreased making its damage outmatch most other choices. |
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles are optional, I suggest only using them with Zaeed if you feel too overpowered.
However, I also recommend Geth Assault Rifle if you are playing on Hard or Insanity difficulty
| Weapon Name | Effective against | Description |
|---|---|---|
 M-96 Mattock |
Shields Barriers Armor |
Very effective Assault rifle in most situations. It is very accurate, making it easy to use |
 Geth Pulse Rifle |
Armor Shields Barrier |
Has a very high fire rate and is effective against all protections. |
Zaeed Tactics
In this section, I will give some tips on Zaeed tactics. Unfortunately, there is not much to say as he is well optimized:
- By having an M-29 Incisor sniper rifle, there will be not much to do with him besides leaving him to target appropriate enemies. So just use companion commands and target enemies.
- Spam Concussive Shot especially on enemies with barriers. This will provide additional DPS during encounters.
Regarding companions here is what I recommend:
- Because Zaeed is not a biotics user I suggest having someone like Miranda, Samara, and Jack. They can easily disable enemies after their protections are down
- Having Miranda will further increase the damage of all Squad members in the group, including Zaeed.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading this post. I hope it will help you understand how to build Zeed Massani the famous mercenary in Mass Effect 2
Feel free to leave any feedback below.
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