Best Soldier Combat Build - Mass Effect: Andromeda (MEA)

This post covers the Best Soldier Build in Mass Effect Andromeda

Soldier Combat Build

The idea that I wanted to achieve is to create a pure combat warrior, an N7 operative, that could be deadly in combat. Moreover, many of the builds on the internet mostly take Tech skills for Soldier build which is counterintuitive. In my opinion, this is Infiltrator.

So for pure Soldier experience, I concentrate only on Combat skills. This is still an extremely strong build, and you can shred enemies easily.

Another important aspect is that this soldier build will be able to detonate any type of combo. So the more your companions use their skills the stronger the build is

Overall this is a great build if you enjoy ranged weapon combat, changing covers, and looking for enemy weak spots.

Skills allocation

This section covers how Squad points should be allocated for the end game on the Soldier Build. At levels 4-6 each skill can take one of two upgrades. I list the preferred ones. "Any" means that you can take the one that looks the most useful

Combat

Because we are going for pure Soldier experience it is obvious that this is our main skill tree

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Concussive Shot	Recharge Speed Damage & Force Any	This skill is primarily used to detonate combos that either your companions or you (via consumable ammo) apply. It is also a good choice to knock out enemies or finish them off in case you are out of ammo and need to reload. The last upgrade is your personal preference, I would go for additional shield damage.
Barricade	Duration Weapon Feedback Regeneration	With this ability soldier build will be able to get a cover anywhere on the battlefield. The good thing is that this will also increase weapon damage and stability.
Turbocharge	Duration Damage & Force Supercharge	A very powerful ability that increases gun damage, rate of fire, clip size, etc. A perfect skill for weapon combat. I take Supercharge upgrade as I mostly recommend weapons with large clips for this build
Assault Rifles	Weight Clip Shatter Defenses	Because Assualt Rifle is our main weapon, getting this passive skill will improve the damage and weight penalties. The last upgrade Shatter Defenses is very powerful once you have a weapon like Soned or Revenant
Combat Fitness	Regeneration Heavy Lifting In the Trenches	Provides general survivability stats. Moreover, reduces weight penalties from weapons. The last upgrade In the Trenches greatly reduces damage taken while with the Barricade. This is important as it lets you continuous shooting with Revenant
Combat Tools	Hover Detonators Aerial Combat	As the build does not use melee attacks, we take upgrades related to Hovering and aerial combat. I personally enjoy this part of Andromeda as it allows one to hit enemies that are behind a cover, giving additional angles for shooting. Another important aspect is that some upgrades improve combat skill damage and detonations. This is perfect for Concussive Shot.

Biotic Skills

Power name	Upgrades order	Description
Barrier	Any Biotic Alacrity Saving Barrier	I love this ability and the bonuses it gives. Although we purely concentrate on combat skills, getting this late in the game will have no negative impact on the Soldier profile and give tons of shields.

Profile

Profile	Description
Soldier	The profile gives everything that you need for better weapon handling - weapon damage, stability, accuracy, and clip size. It is a perfect choice for squeezing out everything from the Combat skill tree.

Ability Progression

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

Order	Skill	Description
1	Barricade Lv 3	Our goal is to unlock the first active skill and get the next tier of abilities with invested 9 skill points
2	Assault Rifles Lv 3
3	Turbocharge Lv 3	Getting the main offensive abilities of the build. Concussive Shot will also allow to start detonating combos from companions or special ammo.
4	Concussive Shot Lv 3
5	Turbocharge Lv 6	Get these upgrades: Duration, Damage & Force, and Supercharge.
6	Concussive Shot Lv 4	Getting the Recharge Speed upgrade allows doing combo detonations more often
7	Combat Fitness Lv 3	Continue with the passives to improve general survivability and damage.
8	Assault Rifles Lv 6
9	Combat Tools Lv 3
10	Concussive Shot Lv 6	Finish off the build by maximizing the core combat skills
11	Combat Fitness Lv 6
12	Combat Tools Lv 6

After this, you are free to take the additional abilities in Combat tree to level up Soldier profile

Tactics

This section will cover playing the best Soldier build in Mass Effect Andromeda.

Concussive Shot to detonate combos

One of the most important aspects of the build (besides spraying bullets) is that you can easily detonate any kind of combo - cryo, fire, biotic, etc. This greatly improves short-burst DPS, knocks back enemies, and deals large areas of effect damage.

For this reason, its good to have companions that can apply these debilitating effects, or check the next section on how you can do this yourself

Use Consumable ammo for Combos

Compared to previous Mass Effect games, ammo works differently. Now you have to consume an item for it to be activated. I will not go into a discussion about whether that is bad or good. However, what I can tell - the best way to utilize it, is to use it. Moreover, it is also activated for three clips, so weapons with large magazines benefit the most.

Just remember which ammo is effective against what:

• Disruptor Ammo - shields and can stun any type of enemy. This makes it a good choice in any difficult encounter. Once detonated creates a large area of electricity
• Cryo Ammo - health and armor. When detonated, slows or freezes nearby enemies (depending if they have any protection)
• Incendiary Ammo - armor and health. Bruns unprotected enemies. When detonating sets the whole area on fire.

Utilize Barricades and Protection

The build takes passive abilities that greatly improve damage resistance while undercover. You would also think that this way the Soldier build becomes less mobile. However, that is not true.

By using Barricade skills, we can create protection anywhere on the battlefield. Moreover, it also improves shield restoration and weapon damage. So do not be afraid to change position and find the best shooting angle constantly

General combat Rotation

As the build has both defensive and offensive skills I recommend finding a good spot that will make it easy to hit enemies. Just run to it even if under fire. Then release a Barricade to have protection and increase weapon damage.

If you have lost shields, wait for them to recharge and then use Turbocharge. This is a perfect moment as you get bonus protection behind the cover and can constantly spray bullets. Once you deal with the bulk of enemy forces, I recommend using Hover to get the last ones that are hidden

During all of this, if you spot an enemy that is affected by fire, biotic, or disruptor, do not wait and use Concussive Shot.

Companions

Here are the companions that I recommend for Soldier in Mass Effect Andromeda. The best ones in my opinion are those that can apply various status effects, like fire, biotic, etc. Check the squad build recommendations

Peebee

She is an effective biotics user and has two skills to lift enemies. Pull is especially good as you can clearly see when an enemy is affected. Moreover, it is active for a long time, so you can wait till the Concussive shot reloads

Drack

The Krogan warrior has Incinerate ability that is effective against armored enemies. Moreover, you can exploit burning enemies by using Concussive Shot and detonate it for Fire Combo.

Another good aspect of Drack is that he is extremely sturdy and can take the enemy's attention well.

Equipment

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

Weapons

Here are recommended Assault Rifle options. N7 Valkyrie is probably the most powerful weapon and shreds the enemies

Name	Mods	Augmentations
N7 Valkyrie	AR Light Stock AR Heavy Magazine AR Barrel AR Scope	Automatic Fire System - turns the weapon into automatic Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Double Mod Extension - adds two mod slots Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage
Revenant	AR Light Stock AR Heavy Magazine AR Barrel AR Scope	Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Double Mod Extension - adds two mod slots Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage

If you wish to go guns blazing, this is the choice. It is something like a machine gun, that lacks in accuracy but shoots extremely fast. I do not recommend using Battlefield Assist Module with this one, as most of the time you will be hit before you get a chance to release a first bullet

Name	Mods	Augmentations
Soned	AR Light Stock AR Heavy Magazine AR Barrel AR Scope	Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Double Mod Extension - adds two mod slots Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage

Melee Weapons

Even if you do not use melee weapons, the augmentation bonuses still apply always in combat. So it is good to fill them with your preferred bonuses.

Name	Augmentations	Description
Asari Sword	Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage	Even though you may not use melee weapons, their bonuses from augmentations always apply. Due to this, we want to maximize weapon damage

Armors

Here are what Armor pieces I recommend for the Soldier. Generally, our goal is to have high weapons and combat power damage.

Armor piece	Stats	Augmentation options
Kett Helmet	+3%-12% Combat Power Damage +1%-10% Weapon Damage	Combat Recharge Module - decreases cooldown time for combat skills
Maverick Chest	+3%-12% Weapon Headshot/Weak Point Bonus +3%-15% Weapon Spare Ammo +5%-20% Weapon Damage	Shield Oscillator - provide shield restoration on kill Kinetic Coil - increased damage resistance
Kett Legs	+3%-12% Combat Power Damage +1%-10% Weapon Damage	Combat Recharge Module - decreases cooldown time for combat skills
Kett Arms	+3%-12% Combat Power Damage +1%-10% Weapon Damage	Combat Recharge Module - decreases cooldown time for combat skills Aerial Performance Optimizer - increases combat skill damage while hovering

Fusion Mods

Name	Description
Fusion Mod of Adrenaline	You can try out this fusion mod, which provides instant skill recharge after killing an enemy. However, it decreases power recharge times, so you can try this out and see how you like it. Generally, it should be very easy to take out normal enemies

Conclusion

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

Feel free to leave a comment below!