Mr. Freeze (N7 Paladin)

Learn it well, for it's the chilling sound of your doom.

Preface

I was thinking of call this kit The Shield (A special cop in PAYDAY), or Bumblebee Man/Purple Thunder (the Paladin has a cool pattern scheme), but then I recognized that the Paladin helmet kind of looks like Mr. Freeze played by Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Combine that with how the Collector Sniper Rifle vaguely looks like a Freeze Ray (with Cryo Ammo giving it super-freezing powers) and Snap Freeze, and that's how this Paladin got its name.

Introduction- Allow me to break the ice.

So the N7 Paladin is unique in that it can create all three types of Tech Explosions all by himself. Tech Bursts are excellent against synthetics and Shields/Barriers, while Fire/Cryo Explosions are amazing at getting that crowd control and Armor damage. Let's try and take advantage of his ability to control the battlefield and have a nice gun as well.

Instead of the usual power discussion, I'll instead talk about some tactics instead, as the powers were designed for utility first and Tech Explosion damage second. The tactics are much more interesting (and important) than the setup.

Omni-Shield- Their bones will turn to ice! Their blood will freeze in my hands!

Before talking about the Tech Explosions, the Omni-Shield deserves special attention. It is capable of shrugging off most damage (even Praetorian laser beams and missiles) without breaking and can even chill enemies with the proper set-up. The deployment of the Omni-Shield is useful for tanking during power cooldowns and defending players in a hacking circle/annex objective. The Omni-Shield deployment can be cancelled after planting either by a melee attack, roll dodge, or power (such as Energy Drain). The slowing effect of the Cryo Shield melee is very useful in my opinion, and can prime for Cryo Explosions if done right.

Which brings up an important note about the chilling effect of the Omni-Shield. If you do a light melee (just a shield bash), you get to chill the target but it doesn't prime for a Cryo Explosion. Basically you give them the cold shoulder. However, if you do a heavy melee (planting the shield, then shield bashing) the target will be primed for a Cryo Explosion. Cryo Shield will count as a Rank 6 primer so it will help create huge Cryo Explosions, especially with Snap Freeze.

Edit- Through further testing, a deployed Omni-Shield acts like Blade Armor. Enemies that try to melee you (like Assault Troopers and Dragoons) will be snap frozen (primeable for Cryo Explosions) and damaged as if they were hit by a heavy melee. The initial deployment of the Omni-Shield also gives a similar effect, although the radius is very small (say ~1.0 m) Mildly useful at best, but it's good to know.

Tech Burst (Energy Drain + Snap Freeze/Incinerate)-Let's kick some ice!

You will rarely make Tech Bursts all by yourself, but Energy Drain is an excellent detonator for Tech Bursts do to the instantaneous nature of Energy Drain. You can prime on all targets (3 second priming window applies), but Energy Drain can only detonate when the Shield Drain effect applies (Shields/Barriers being drained, synthetics). Also, Snap Freeze will have the Tech Burst detonate with the Paladin being the center of the Tech Burst, not the target itself.

Shields/Barriers in general shouldn't be an issue because in between a single Energy Drain and some weapons fire, Shields/Barriers go down very quickly and even faster with teammates with anti-shielding powers/weapons.

Fire Explosion (Incinerate + Energy Drain (Drain Effect)/Snap Freeze)- Mercy? I'm afraid my condition has left me cold to your pleas of mercy.

Fire Explosions will be your long range anti-Armor technique. This generally is self detonated (with Energy Drain) against the Geth, due to their synthetic nature, while you will need the help of others to detonate them easily on organics at long range. In my experience, it's better to just Incinerate a target at long range and then close the distance than depend on Fire Explosions as a main source of damage. Why, you ask? Because synthetics (and sometimes organics) don't care that they are on fire, but freezing them forces them to chill out.

Cryo Explosion (Snap Freeze + Energy Drain (Drain Effect)/Incinerate)- What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age!

The main attraction of the Paladin. In between Cryo Explosions' damage/radius, mass freezing ability, and buff to Incinerate's Freeze Combo evolution, Cryo Explosions are the best Tech Explosion one can hope for.

Snap Freeze has three useful properties for making mass Cryo Explosions.

The first is its ability to go through walls. Like Shockwave, Smash, and Electric/Biotic Slash, Snap Freeze can damage and prime through walls. Very useful in keeping the Paladin alive by minimizing risk to himself. And at 15m, it can prime for Cryo Explosions at a distance farther than you would think.

The second is Snap Freeze's ability to prime several targets by sweeping the freeze across the screen. This means that the Paladin can prime several targets, and use Incinerate on different targets to make several Cryo Explosions in a row.

Finally, Snap Freeze can prime Cryo Explosions through any defense (Barriers, Shields, Armor). This makes it very easy to make Cryo Explosions any time you are within range. A lot of powers can detonate Snap Freeze, so spam it away to take advantage of massive Cryo Explosions.

On Geth, Cryo Explosions will likely be detonated by Energy Drain to due instantaneous explosions and gaining those desperately needed Shields. On organics, Incinerate detonating usually is a better option as it is more reliable and Incinerate benefits from the 100% damage bonus from the Freeze Combo evolution. Overall Cryo Explosions make for some pretty cool effects and results, and should be the main source of damage against enemies.

One of the great benefits of focusing on Cryo Explosions (and its chilling effects) is that enemies become much slower. If you remember from my discussion of the Vorcha Engineer, I vaguely mentioned how speed directly affects the power of enemies. Debuffing speed is just as important as debuffing Armor damage reduction in my opinion, and Cryo Explosions will put enemies on ice and kill their movement speed. The reasoning is that slower enemies are much easier to deal with as it gives you more time to damage them or choose to run away.

Weapons- No matter what anyone tells you, Bane, it really is the size of your gun that counts.

The Collector Sniper Rifle is pretty chill. It does have some weight behind it and can run out of ammo quickly, but it does boast several advantages that are unparalleled by other weapons.

• Extraordinary damage/ammo applicability output- The CSR has amazing damage output and combined with rapid burst firing, it can apply ammo powers at a very high rate. This means that if you have Cryo Ammo, the application of the speed/armor debuff will cause the enemies to freeze in their tracks in a very short time. jesuspeeker, another Redditor, is a big fan of the CSR and the person who showed me how amazing that gun is.

• Unlimited ammo, but cautious reserves- All this means is don't drop the ammo to 0, which is not to hard if you burst fire and mix it with powers. DO NOT GET TO ZERO AMMO OR ELSE IT WILL BE VERY BAD. The cooldown on overheating will make your temper flare after two or three overheats. On the plus side, you no longer depend on ammo boxes. I think that's pretty cool.

If you are in the market for something with much less weight, I recommend the Hornet with Stability and Capacity mods. The Hornet has amazing burst damage and is very reliable in dealing with enemies with a rapid volley of headshots. At X, it will put you at a nice and comfortable 195% cooldown and you can equip the Expert Package (SMG damage + power recharge) to further improve the strength of the Hornet and N7 Paladin.

Conclusion- You're not sending ME to the COOLER!

Don't neglect the N7 Paladin. He is multifaceted and can mix with any team (even Biotics as Snap Freeze is very effective to slow enemies to be caught by a Biotic Explosion). You may want to skip the nice ice puns, as puns are an under-appreciated form of humor because everyone is jealous they didn't think of them first.

And that is why you should play as an N7 Paladin. He is a true Sentinel in terms of both tankiness (Omni-Shield) and being multifaceted (all types of Tech powers and Explosions). Easily one of the best characters up there with the Turian Ghost, Geth Infiltrator, and Asari Adept once you understand how he works.

Comments, questions, praise, undying hatred, or cool puns? Put them in the comments below. I know there are people who want further clarification and refinement without fear of retribution, and I will do my best to respond to any of the comments below. Now go out there and remember: In this universe, there's only one absolute... everything freezes!