Council Operative Vanguard
Council Operative Vanguard
With the recent patch and successful fix of the infamous Vanguard Glitch there has been a renewed interest in the Vanguard class. Almost all of this attention has been given to the Krogan Vanguard given his Rage mechanic was also fixed. And, properly spec'd and played the Krogan is probably the penultimate tank.
However, we don't always want a big fat Krogan head in the middle of our screen. We prefer a sleek, agile and powerful Asari to stomp our foes into the ground.
The Build
http://narida.pytalhost.com/me3/classes/#52PQLJDY9%400%5BEILN4K4%400%400
Biotic Charge - This one is pretty standard. Take it up to rank 6 choosing Area Charge, Weapon Synergy and Barrier restore. Area Charge gives us a little stagger cushion when charging groups in case we lock onto the wrong target and, it give us the ability to detonate explosions easier. We are mainly shooting our gun so Weapon Synergy affords the biggest return on investment. Charge lets us move around the map as well as escape bad situations or clean up some trash. Charge is still a little buggy though - it doesn't always want to activate and dropping dead is the typical result.
Stasis - This power is taken to rank 6 as well with the standard evolution's of Stasis Strength, Recharge Speed and Bubble. Stasis is there to lock down dangerous targets like Phantoms and Marauders or make it easy mode to line up headshots. Stasis can also act as a primer for Biotic Explosions that can be detonated by Charge or Lift Grenades.
Lift Grenades - Another strong power that we take to rank 6. We choose Damage, Max Grenades then Damage and Radius. With passives this gives us 1890 damage and a 6.5m radius. Although we can set off and prime BE's with these they are primarily used for spawn nuking, finishing enemies off screen or thrown after charging into groups of enemies. The lifting mechanic is hard to accomplish as the grenades typically kill anything that can be lifted. They can set off Fire Explosions but only if they kill the target. You do not need line of sight on the enemy as you are able to hit enemies though cover - make sure to take advantage of this.
Racial Passive - Here is where you can make some changes and tweak you build towards damage or toughness. My choice is towards damage taking this up to rank 5. We still want to improve our cooldown so Damage and Capacity at rank 4 is the best choice. I choose to take the Headshots passive at rank 5. When using the Graal it basically turns the 3x multiplier into a 3.6x multiplier - I like more damage. The build website has the wrong base force for Biotic Charge. On the September 4th balance updates the base force was increased to 650N. Our setup gives us 1040N of Force - enough to stagger a Phantom without needing to take the Power Damage rank 5 passive.
Fitness - The best you can do is the first 3 ranks. Although if you find yourself too squishy and unable to land headshots you could go 4/4 between the passive and Fitness.
Weapons
Graal Spike Thrower - This gun has everything we need. It is relatively lightweight giving us a 121% cooldown. But the power of this gun comes from the stagger it lays on the enemies. It buys us time after a Charge or, time for our Charge to come off cooldown. The Graal also has a 3x headshot multiplier which, as I noted above, works nicely with Stasis and the Headshot passive. Anything you can Stasis can be killed in a single headshot. The gun has good accuracy at very long ranges. The only disadvantage is the Graal is sometimes not optimal off host.
Geth Plasma Shotgun - Less cool than the Graal with no headshot bonus but still a solid choice.
AT-12 Raider - If playing off host or facing lag this might be the best general purpose shotgun. You will need to be nearly point blank to get headshots but it will be balanced out by the superior boss killing. Weight is the same as the Graal and GPS.
M-300 Claymore - Make your shot count. Great gun but no room for error.
Honourable Mentions - Talon, Paladin, Harrier, Wraith, Hurricane and Carnifex.
Gear and Equipment
For the permanent gear you can either go with Grenade Capacity or Shock Trooper Upgrade depending on the weapon you are using.
Cyclonic Modulator and Shotgun Rail Amps go a long way to improve your durability and damage - use them when you have them.
I prefer Incendiary Ammo for the Fire Explosions from Charge. Warp Ammo is another good choice for the flat damage boost.
Game Play Videos
Enjoy :)
Posted Oct 23, 2012, 12:53 PM UTC · edited