Best Explorer Build - Mass Effect: Andromeda (MEA)

This post covers the best Explorer build in Mass Effect Andromeda. This profile is something similar to Jack of All Trades where the user is proficient in all skill trees. Although this may sound bad, in reality it unlocks skill combos for any type of situation without any negatives.

Explorer Build

Explorer is a profile that should be something like Jack of All trades, it specializes in all skill trees - combat, tech, and biotics. Moreover, instead of being average everywhere it is overpowered

And that is possible. the build uses skills to quickly move around the battlefield, and constantly restore their shields. Moreover, with Turbocharge any weapon we use becomes extremely deadly and can take out most of the enemies in the blink of an eye.

There are choices for this build to be very aggressive or on the safe side. Tactical Cloak allows you to almost double your damage in short bursts of time but takes away HP regeneration. We really need Tech skill as it is important in sustaining weapons with Bio-Converter. Be sure to read as I will give you the option to address this

Skills allocation

This section covers how skill points should be allocated for the end game on the Explorer Build.

Biotic Skills

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Charge	Damage & Force Weapons & Melee Any	This ability is what allows the Explorer build to be reckless and mobile. With it we can detonate combos, restore shields and quickly move over the battlefield appearing next to any enemy. The big decision is what upgrade to pick for level 6. My preferred is Shock Trooper. It ensures that I always can use Charge whenever needed. Moreover, Bastion's 100% shield restoration is wasted as we get large bonuses for shield restoration from the Explorer profile. So it's just a bit more damage and damage resistance.
Offensive Biotics	Alacrity Detonation Biotic Warrior	Improves biotic skills. The last upgrade will also increase weapon damage for 3 seconds after Charge usage. So feel free to use it as much as possible
Barrier	Unyielding Barrier Biotic Alacrity Saving Barrier	Provides improvements to shields and gives instant shield restore when health is low
Containment	Any Shield Detonation Event Horizon	Gives bonuses to biotic skills like area of effect, detonation power, etc. Generally, this is a very low-priority skill, that gives minor improvements.

Tech Skills

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Team Support	Support Team Recovery Life Support	This is an extremely important passive skill. It gives bonus defense restoration for both Charge and Energy Drain (if you decide to pick it). Moreover, with the last upgrade, each tech skill used will restore HP.
Offensive Tech	Anti-Shield Detonators Technical Rounds	Improves tech power handling. For level 4 I pick Anti shield as these types of enemies are the most abundant. For level 6, I go with Technical Rounds to improve weapon damage.
Auxiliary Systems	Any Enduring Tech Omni-Vents	Improves tech powers. For level 4, either upgrade works, but I do not use consumable ammo, so I pick Weight. The last upgrade gives a huge power cooldown boost.

Here we have an exciting choice. If you like to play extremely aggressively and want to deal very high damage you should take Tactical Cloak

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Tactical Cloak	Damage Bonus Duration Combat Cloak	Become invisible and disappear from enemy sight. The last upgrade is the most difficult part of this skill. If you take Combat Cloak, the Life Support skill will not activate and you will not restore your HP after tech skill use (this is very useful when using Bio-Converter). Of course, you will deal a huge amount of damage in the 2-second window instead. However, by picking Escape Artist, you only get improved damage with the first action, which makes this skill lose most of its appeal if you use something like Hornet

However, it comes with a huge downside. The ability cancels any effects of shield or health regeneration. So as an alternative, I suggest this one:

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Energy Drain	Any Extend Duration Damage	A very powerful tech skill that restores shields and can both prime and detonate combos. The level 4 upgrade is your personal preference. I went with Recharge Speed, as the restoration is already high from Explorer profile stat bonuses.

Combat Skills

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Turbocharge	Duration Damage & Force Supercharge	With this ability any weapon you wield will become extremely deadly. It will provide bonus damage, a higher rate of fire, and a bigger clip size
Combat Fitness	Regeneration Heavy Lifting Hold the Line	Provides important bonuses to the main player stats. Specifically, we are targeting bonuses for damage reduction and health regeneration. It will be important when using weapons with Bio-Converter
Combat Tools	Any Any Aerial Combat	The skill provides some bonuses to aerial and melee combat. I recommend taking this ability late in the game when you have all other combat skills covered. The bonuses are not as game-changing.

Pick your preferred weapon skill. I personally went with Shotguns and Pistols as I used them both

Power name	Upgrades Choices	Description
Shotguns	Weight Clip Size Damage & Force	One of my favorite guns in the game. We want improvements to clip size and higher damage.
Pistols	Weight Clip Size Any	Improves pistol handling. For the last upgrade pick the choice based on your preference - aiming or no aiming
Assault Rifles	Weight Clip Size Shatter Defenses	Improves assault rifle handling. Take the Shatter Defenses for large damage increase with successful shots.

I did not go with Sniper Rifles, it is a valid option but could be hard to play if you are very aggressive and close to the enemies.

Profile

Profile	Description
Explorer	Has a unique Dodge mechanic, that moves through obstacles. Provides a wide array of stat bonuses, tech recharge rates, power damage, weapon damage, and damage resistance.

Ability Progression

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

Generally, you want to pump up your biotic skills and sprinkle combat little by little. This will make early to mid-game much easier.

Order	Skill	Description
1	Energy Drain Lv 3	We unlock the first skill. If you plan on going with Tactical Cloak, you can do Energy Drain Lv 4 or take Offensive Tech Lv 4 and then pick it. You need 9 skill points invested in Tech Tree.
2	Offensive Biotics Lv 4	Get the Alacrity upgrade for Offensive Biotics and unlock Charge.
3	Charge Lv 3
4	Preferred Weapon skill Lv 4	Take your preferred weapon skill, as we will need 9 skill points to unlock Turbocharge. You can later respec this. Now we are sure to have all the active skills for the build
5	Turbocharge Lv 3
6	Charge Lv 6	We maximize the core active skills of the build. Charge skill is especially important as fast Recharge Speed will allow restoring shields at will
7	Energy Drain Lv 6 or Tactical Cloak Lv 6
8	Turbocharge Lv 6
9	Offensive Tech Lv 6	These passive skills are very important in maximizing the build effectiveness. We get additional damage from using Tech skills and they also restore HP.
10	Team Support Lv 6
11	Offensive Biotics Lv 6	Maximize biotic skill effectiveness.
12	Preferred Weapon skill Lv 6	Maximize weapon damage, and improve health regeneration and survival with low HP thanks to these abilities.
13	Combat Fitness Lv 6
14	Barrier Lv 6	Finish the build by maximizing passive skills in all of the skill trees. This will also unlock the level 6 Explorer profile for maximum stats improvements.
15	Auxiliary Systems Lv 6
16	Combat Tools Lv 6
17	Containment Lv 6

Tactics

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

Charge

With the Charge and Shock Trooper upgrades, you can almost instantly restore your shields at any time in combat. You will have about 3 seconds (at maximum) of cooldown with this ability. Have in mind, sometimes it bugs out, and shows that enemies cannot be reached (this is very irritating)

Choosing between Tactical Cloak and Energy Drain

This is the big question as Tactical Cloak provides a very aggressive play and both act as a survival option and damage booster. The Combat Cloak upgrade is extremely powerful and will greatly boost your overall DPS. Sadly, this then negates the Life Support HP regeneration. So if you feel that you will not die via Bio-Converter, this is a perfect choice

Now Energy Drain is a beast on its own. Although it will not give this large of a damage boost it greatly improves survivability. Moreover, it allows you to set up Tech Combos, for large AOE damage. Also, you will regenerate your HP when using it from Life Support passive skill

What did I do? If I was using something like Hornet, I would go with Energy Drain. However, with Shotguns, I would pick Tactical Cloak, as they do not drain health as fast via Bio-Converter augmentation.

Main Combat rotation

I think combat can be approached based on your preference. However, what I like to do is constantly mix abilities and weapon shots. Remember, we are getting a boost after each biotic and tech skill usage. So here is how I go:

1. Find a group of enemies or a shielded one. Use Charge to get close to them
2. Activate Turbocharge
3. Release a volley of shots and just delete them (this should be easy, with suggested weapons)
4. Target the next enemy and use Energy Drain, to kill them. Or if you see that an enemy is primed by your companion's skill, use Energy Drain on them for a combo.
5. Release a volley of shots, and move to Charge
6. At any time feel free to use Charge to restore your shields. The skill has a low cooldown rate

With Tactical Cloak, I would use it after Turbocharge is activated and get a huge bonus to damage for the 2 seconds.

Companions

The build is powerful on its own and can even set up its own combos. Genreally, any companions work. Check the squad builds recommendations. However, one companion shines the most.

Core has a Shield Boost skill that restores shields and HP. This is especially useful once you get Bio-Converter and don't want to die fast. Moreover, she also has freezing bullets once you maximize Asari Commando, they make the combat much easier.

Equipment

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

Weapons

Generally, any of these weapon options are very powerful. So no need to worry about whether you are missing out on something. Pick the one that looks the coolest, and what type of shooting you want - close range or mid to long.

Name	Mods	Augmentations
N7 Piranha	Shotgun Barrel Shotgun Receiver	Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Seeking Plasma System - projectiles track enemies. Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage
Dhan	Shotgun Barrel Shotgun Receiver	Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage
Hornet	Pistol Barrel Pistol Light Magazine	Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Automatic Fire System - turns the weapon into automatic Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage
N7 Valkyrie	AR Barrel AR Heavy Magazine AR Light Stock AR Receiver	Bio-Converter - use HP to reload Automatic Fire System - turns the weapon into automatic Kinetic Coil - increases weapon damage Double Mod Extension - adds two mod slots

Melee Weapons

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 with 5 slots.

Armors

Here are what Armor pieces I recommend for the Explorer build. Generally, I would recommend either splitting bonuses between powers and weapon damage or just maxing weapon damage. Going only for Power Damage would be a waste because we use skills like Turbocharge.

Armor piece	Stats	Augmentation options
Heleus Helmet	+7%-25% Power Damage +2%-8% Weapon Damage	Biotic Damage Booster - increases biotic skill damage
Heleus Chest	+7%-25% Power Damage +2%-8% Weapon Damage +10-30 Damage Resistance	Shield Oscillator - provide shield restoration on kill Kinetic Coil - increased damage resistance

For pure weapon damage, there is another option. It also gives more augmentations slots for a little bit of stat boost. Just keep in mind that I do not use Kett Helmet even though it gives a bit more weapon damage at high tiers. My reasoning is that additional 2% weapon damage results in losing 25% power damage, which is a lot and not worth it.

Armor piece	Stats	Augmentation options
Heleus Helmet	+7%-25% Power Damage +2%-8% Weapon Damage	Tech Recharge Module - reduces tech abilities recharge time
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	Tech Recharge Module - reduces tech abilities recharge time
Kett Arms	+3%-12% Combat Power Damage +1%-10% Weapon Damage	Tech Recharge Module - reduces tech abilities recharge time Aerial Stabilizer - bonus biotic power damage

I think there are no relevant Fusion mods for this build. So you can skip them

Conclusion

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

Feel free to leave a comment below!