Best Tali Build - Mass Effect 3 (ME3)

This post covers the best Tali build in Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition. She is a Quarian Engineer who joins Shepard for the Third time.

Tali Build - Engineer

Tali is a bit hard to pull off correctly. You will need some practice, but she can create some crazy combos and be very effective against Synthetic enemies. The build uses Combat Drone and Tali's Tech Abilities to confuse enemies and strip them of their defenses.

Squad Point Allocation

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

Power name	Upgrades Order	Level (Points)
Energy Drain	Any Recharge Speed Damage	6 (21)
Sabotage	Backfire Recharge Speed Tech Vulnerability	6 (21)
Combat Drone	Detonate Shock Chain Lightning	6 (21)
Defense Drone	-	-
Quarian Machinist	Recharge Speed Tech Upgrade Drone Specialist	6 (21)

I forgo the Defense Drone as it works best when in close-range combat. Unfortunately, Tali is very fragile and will die easily in these situations. Due to this, we want her to be effective at long range.

Ability Progression

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

Order	Skill	Description
1	Energy Drain Lv 3	This ability is very effective at removing enemy shields and barriers. It will also restore Tali's shields. This ability can prime Tech bursts.
2	Combat Drone Lv 3	A very gimmicky ability that can distract and interrupt enemies. The combat Drone can be summoned behind enemy lines. It does a small amount of damage.
3	Sabotage Lv 3	This is a very interesting ability. Sabotage can take control of Synthetic enemies, however, for organic enemies, it will overheat their weapons 1.5 seconds after using it. This Backfire effect will also prime Tech Bursts.
4	Quarian Machinist Lv 3	We take the first three levels to improve Tali's health, shield, and power recharge rate. The power recharge rate bonus is 40%
5	Energy Drain Lv 5	For the fourth level, both Radius and Damage work, test them both out. For the fifth, I recommend taking Recharge Speed. We want Tali to use another skill if the situation requires, as soon as possible.
6	Sabotage Lv 5	Take Backfire and Recharge Speed upgrades. Now the delayed backfire effect will deal bonus damage. The latter upgrade will allow Tali to cast another skill sooner as Sabotage has one of the highest recharge times.
7	Energy Drain Lv 6	I recommend taking Damage. We want to be sure that Shield and Barriers are removed from a single use. Moreover, I do not think Tali needs higher survivability as she will avoid short-range combat.
8	Sabotage Lv 6	Take Tech Vulnerability upgrade. This will both double Backfire and Tech Burst damage.

I suggest maximizing Energy Drain and Sabotage very early. These will greatly help during Act 2 of the game where you will fight multiple synthetic enemies.

Order	Skill	Description
10	Combat Drone Lv 5	With the Detonate and Shock upgrades, the Drone becomes much better. It can now act as a "mine" which when destroyed also greatly damages nearby enemies. You can freely spam this ability now.
11	Quarian Machinist Lv 5	Take Recharge Speed and Tech Upgrade upgrades. With these Tali's Sabotage and Energy Drain will have a greater damage effect. I do not recommend a Weapon Damage upgrade.
12	Combat Drone Lv 6	Although Rockets upgrade sounds great it has a big drawback the drone needs to be away 4 meters from the enemy. This causes many problems that decrease its offensive capabilities. Due to this, we go for the Chain Lightning upgrade. With this, the Drone can hit and interrupt multiple enemies.
13	Quarian Machinist Lv 6	To be honest both upgrades work. If your group is Tech ability heavy then Squad Bonus is useful. However, I found that using the drone as a mine and having a short cooldown ensures that Tali can use any ability if needed and can greatly confuse enemies.

Tactics and Squad

I would like to give a few tips for Tali build so that it would be very effective throughout the game.

Fighting Synthetic enemies

Tali is very useful on missions that include synthetic enemies like Geth. I would say she is mandatory on all missions and the game tells you that by picking her.

Sabotage will allow them to take over enemies. This will be very useful against enemies like Geth Primes who are very powerful and can help you to take out other enemies.

Energy Drain is perfect for setting up a Tech Burst and removing enemy shields.

Drone for drawing enemy attention

The drone is a very useful ability that can draw enemy attention and stun them. Spawn it behind enemy lines to make them turn around and concentrate their attention elsewhere.

Once that happens feel free to use Shepard's or other companions' powers to take them out one by one.

Companions

Tali is perfectly suited to run with other Tech classes. Due to this here is what I suggest:

• Engineer - will get bonuses from Tali powers and can also exploit her abilities for Tech combos.
• EDI - her strong tech abilities are perfect to be used together with Energy Drain. Moreover, she can take care of armor, which Tali is weak against.
• Garrus - powerful companion that also has tech abilities to synchronize with Tali. He can also use Concussive Shot to detonate any Tech Bursts she creates.
• Infiltrator - Tali can supplement this class against shields. Infiltrators do not have good abilities against them. Once Tali strips shields, Infiltrator can one-shot almost any enemy.

Equipment

This section will cover what equipment you should be using with Tali Build.

Shotgun

Tali can use shotguns, but she should avoid close-range combat. We try to pick those weapons that allow her to shoot effectively from afar

Name	Upgrades	Description
N7 Crusader	High Caliber Barrel Shredder Mod	The perfect shotgun for companions. It has good accuracy and changes AI behavior to keep its distance.
Geth Plasma Shotgun	High Caliber Barrel Shredder Mod	Another good weapon that is fairly effective with AI use.

Heavy Pistol

Name	Upgrades	Description
M-77 Paladin	High-Caliber Barrel Power Magnifier	This is a popular choice amongst most players. It is a Spectre-level weapon that gives excellent stats and ensures high damage.
Acolyte	High-Caliber Barrel Power Magnifier	I really enjoy giving this weapon to companions. It allows one to stagger them with charged shots that explode after some time.

Armors

In mass Effect 3 different companion armors provide some different stat boosts. So it is a good idea to see what you pick. Here is what I recommend for the Tali build:

Name	Effects
	Power Recharge Speed +25%

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post on the best Tali build in Mass Effect 3. I covered recommended abilities and their progression, best equipment, and tactics.

Feel free to leave a comment below!