Best Sentinel Build - Mass Effect 3 (ME3)

This post covers the best Sentinel build in Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition. This class has the ability to both use Tech and Biotic abilities making it extremely versatile throughout the whole game. What makes them special is their Tech Armor which provides unique offensive, defensive and biotic bonuses.

Shepard Sentinel Build - Biotic Detonator

This Sentinel build will concentrate on using detonations to create constant combos. Moreover, thanks to the Tech Armor the build will have decent survivability chances, especially on Insanity difficulty.

The build is special that it can create and detonate combos by itself, not depending on any companions for that. This opens up multiple combat options on how to best utilize this Sentinel build.

Squad Point Allocation

This section covers how Squad points should be allocated for the end game on the Sentinel Build

Power name	Upgrades Order	Level (Points)
Throw	Radius Detonate Double Throw	6 (21)
Warp	Detonate Expose Pierce	6 (21)
Lift Grenade	Damage Max Grenades	5 (15)
Tech Armor	Durability Power Damage Power Recharge	6 (21)
Overload	Chain Overload Neural Shock Shield Damage	6 (21)
Cryo Blast	Radius Speed Reduction	5 (15)
Offensive Mastery	Force & Damage Weight Capacity Force & Damage	6 (21)
Fitness	Durability Shield Recharge Fitness Expert	6 (21)

Bonus Ability

Here I will cover what bonus abilities you should be picking with the Sentinel.

Power name	Upgrades order	Description
Stasis	Stasis Strength Recharge Speed Bubble	An extremely strong ability that can disable multiple protected enemies with a Rank 6 Bubble upgrade. Moreover, it can be followed up by Warp or Throw for Biotic Explosion.
Reave	Radius Recharge Speed Any	It allows Sentinel to prime any enemy (even if they have protection). It also gives some damage reduction and staggers normal enemies.
Fortification	Durability Power Synergy Power Recharge	This ability improves damage reduction and power damage. However, just like Tech Armor, it reduces the power recharge rate. This negative effect is reduced via upgrades.
Warp Ammo	Damage Headshots Damage	Provides bonus damage to health, barriers, and armor. Moreover, Sentinel will deal even more damage if shot at the enemies that are lifted by Biotic abilities.

Ability Progression

This section covers detailed ability progression for Sentinel Build. This is just a suggested progression, feel free to adjust it based on your needs. The idea

Order	Skill	Description
1	Throw Lv 2	The main point is to get the decreased recharge time for the ability
2	Overload Lv 3	I recommend getting this ability early in the game as you will fight many enemies with armor
3	Warp Lv 3	This ability will prove useful against enemy barriers and armors. Moreover, it can set and detonate combos.
4	Tech Armor Lv 6	The ability reduces the power recharge rate and we want to minimize that as early as possible. First, take the Durability upgrade. You can go another one, however, I did not use the detonation ability that much. The pick Power Damage upgrade. And last we take Power Recharge to reduce the cooldown penalty so that we could use our abilities faster.
5	Lift Grenade Lv 2	Although not the main ability, I still suggest having it. You can use these grenades to deal adequate damage against groups of enemies. This can be very useful in early to mid-game.
6	Offensive Mastery Lv 3	This passive ability provides all the bonuses the Sentinel build needs: Power damage and weapon damage bonuses. Moreover, it gives a weight capacity bonus.
7	Throw Lv 6	Take Force, Detonate, and Double Throw upgrades. The ability should have up to two seconds of cooldown and release two projectiles. This means that you can detonate two combos at the same time. Moreover, it deals some damage with the Force component
8	Warp Lv 6	Take Expose and Pierce upgrades. We skip recharge time because with all the abilities we take and low weapon weight you should have at most a few-second cooldown. This in turn greatly improves your damage to armored targets.
9	Cryo Blast Lv 3	I personally do not use this ability often. However, it can be extremely satisfying to be used on unprotected enemies. Once they freeze, use that chance to detonate Cryo Explosion

With the allocation that you have done, the Sentinel should have no problems progressing through the mid-game. Now, here is what you should do to maximize the effectiveness of the build

This is also a perfect time to start putting points to Bonus power (mentioned above). I did not mention it explicitly in Sentinel progression.

Order	Skill	Description
10	Offensive Mastery Lv 6	We maximize this ability tree for great offensive improvements. Take Weight Capacity and Force & Damage upgrades. With this, the Sentinel will maximize the biotic damage output. Moreover, due to greater carrying weight, your power cooldowns will decrease or you can carry an additional weapon.
11	Overload lv 6	We take Chain Overload so that Sentinel or companions could detonate multiple targets if targets are within 8 meters. This greatly boosts damage output. Neural Shock is special and has an unlisted effect that doubles damage to the organic enemy's shield. Shield Damage ensures that we take out most of the enemy shields.
12	Fitness Lv 6	Take Durability, Shield Recharge, and Durability. With these upgrades, we maximize the Sentinel survivability in the higher levels. This is not a mandatory ability just good to have
13	Lift Grenade Lv 5	Take a Damage upgrade for increased grenade damage. Max Grenades allows you to carry more of them which you can then spawn in some difficult late-game encounters.
14	Cryo Blast Lv 5	Take Radius and Speed Reduction upgrade. I think the latter upgrade is extremely useful once Cryo Explosion has been detonated as even protected enemies are chilled.

Tactics and Squad

This build is very versatile. The main idea is that it can create multiple combo explosions by itself, without needing companions.

Main Combo loop

Now take a look at the main loop that I use with Sentinel. It is fairly easy to use and becomes very efficient at tearing down protected enemies:

Let's go through each of the steps:

1. Tech Power - Incinerate, Overload, Carnage. This can either be done by Sentinel or companions. If done by companions you will not need to wait for an additional cooldown to create the first detonation. That is what I did with EDI.
2. Warp - this ability is very important and unique. It can detonate both biotic and tech abilities. Moreover, once that happens it also applies biotic debuff, which can be used for another combo.
3. Throw - we finish the chain with this ability. Once you have it maximized you will release two projectiles. Thanks to Warp that we used in the previous step, now Sentinel will create a Biotic Explosion.

This will greatly improve your damage output rather than using two abilities combos, that were used in previous games.

Detonating Tech Armor

Although this build uses Tech Armor to mainly increase Power Damage and Force. It can also do other effects - wide explosion in the area around the Sentinel:

This is a very helpful option as you can use it to stagger enemies around you. Moreover, it is a good ability when there are multiple enemies like Husks surrounding Sentinel.

Also, do not forget to put on the armor back after detonation as you will miss a lot of good stat bonuses.

Companions

In this section, I would like to talk about what companions should be taken with Sentinel build:

• An obvious choice is Liara. She has one of the most powerful biotic abilities in the game - Singularity. It also affects protected enemies and can be used to set up Biotic Explosions. Moreover, she has Stasis. This is a powerful ability that can disable an enemy for a period of time. It is truly a lifesaver in some difficult encounters. She also has Warp that can be used to both set and detonate various combos.
• Another choice is EDI. She is extremely versatile because she is effective against all protections. Overload deals damage to shields and barriers. Incinerate takes care of enemy armors. I usually use her abilities first against protected enemies and then follow up with my or Liara's Warp.

Equipment

This section will cover what equipment you should be using with Sentinel Build. Choosing the correct weapons and armor will greatly improve Shepard's overall performance. Moreover, you will be able to deal more damage and have better bonuses.

It is important that you try to pick at most two weapons. This way Sentinel will have reduced power cooldown times, the aim is 200%. Of course, you can use any weapons that you prefer but have this in mind.

Moreover, to minimize the weight impact I suggest taking an Ultraweight materials upgrade.

Assault Rifles

Name	Upgrades	Description
M-7 Lancer	Piercing Mod Extend Barrel	A decent option that has balanced damage.
M-96 Mattock	Extend Barrel Magazine Upgrade	A reliable assault rifle that deals adequate damage and has very high accuracy. Moreover, it is fairly light.

Submachine Guns

Name	Upgrades	Description
Geth Plasma SMG	Magazine Power Magnifier	Light Submachine gun with a very fast fire rate.
M-9 Tempest	Recoil System Power Magnifier	This SMG has a high fire rate and decent clip capacity. However, it requires some practice due to its large recoil. It is also a very light option

Heavy Pistol

Name	Upgrades	Description
M-77 Paladin	Power Magnifier Magazine Upgrade	A high-tier weapon that deals high damage. It is also lightweight and has a low impact on power cooldown.
M-5 Phalanx	High Caliber Barrel Power Magnifier	Cheaper option compared to the Paladin. However, it also has a semi-automatic fire rate providing different combat approaches for Sentinel.
M-358 Talon	Piercing Mod Power Magnifier	This is a shotgun in pistol disguise. It is very lightweight and deals adequate damage. I recommend trying it out before committing. It can work well if you constantly detonate Tech Armor

Armors

I recommend this armor sets for Sentinel Build in Mass Effect 3. Generally speaking, getting Inferno Armor is the easiest way as it does not require a lot of effort in getting.

Name	Effects
Inferno Armor	+30% Power Recharge Speed +30% Power Damage
Cerberus Spirit Armor	+30% Power Recharge Speed +30% Power Damage +10% Shield Regen Speed +10% Shields
Blood Dragon Armor	+10% Power Recharge Speed +30% Power Damage +20% Shields

If you wish to go with separate parts. Here is what I recommend:

Type	Armor	Description
Helmet	Archon Visor	Increases power recharge speed by 10%
Helmet	Umbra Visor	Increases power damage by 10%
Helmet	Mnemonic Visor	Increase power recharge speed by 5% Increase power damage by 5%
Chest	Serrice Council	Increase power damage by 10%
Chest	Rosenkov Materials	Increase power recharge speed by 10%
Shoulders	Serrice Council	Increase power damage by 10%
Shoulders	Rosenkov Materials	Increase power recharge speed by 10%
Arms	Serrice Council	Increase power damage by 10%
Arms	Rosenkov Materials	Increase power recharge speed by 10%
Legs	Serrice Council	Increase power damage by 10%
Legs	Rosenkov Materials	Increase power recharge speed by 10%

The only reason to use these is for the looks, if you get tired of Inferno armor. Otherwise I see no point or benefit

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post on the best Sentinel build in Mass Effect 3. I covered recommended abilities and their progression, best equipment, and tactics. All of this information should allow you to have a blast with this versatile class.

Feel free to leave a comment below!