"Flightless" Bird - Melee-centric Turian Havoc

Overview

I've been frustrated with the Turian Havoc ever since I got him. The novelty of "OMG JETPACK TURIANS" wore off after 2 matches, and I didn't touch him for a month or so until recently. Turns out for me to get Commando Mastery, I needed to slog through 200 rounds with him. Ugh.

5-6 matches with a build geared towards weapon damage and utilizing the Saber and Harrier, no luck. Gold matches were painful as ever. During that time, I had also gotten the Turian Ghost, so the difference in AR power was astounding. I also really didn't want to do 13 Silvers just to finish the job. But then came along a saving grace, of sorts.

As we all know, Bioware recently buffed Havoc Strike with a reduced cooldown and more damage. Also, Havoc Strike could naturally gain the critical 1000N of force needed to stagger Gold Phantoms at level 5 with damage/force evolutions. So, as I was sick of the AR-wielding Havoc, I decided to turn him into a berserker.

Build

[Link]

Powers

I've chosen to ignore Cryo Blast, since I've never liked that power. Sure, people say it's a good debuff, but when it comes to tech I prefer teams that can prime and detonate multiple flavors of explosions. Unfortunately, Cryo Blast can't prime on mini-bosses or detonate in general.

Havoc Strike is specced for maximum damage and force. However, since I've only played one satisfying gold match (out of one) while only using Havoc Strike at level 5, Incendiary Strike may be a better option. If you can actually inflict 1050N of force onto three Phantoms at once, Incendiary Strike will be clearly superior. This results in the power being extremely deadly in close-quarters. Lag notwithstanding, you'll stagger any humanoid mook consistently.

Stimulant Packs for max shields and melee damage. With the recent Stim-pack nerf, it's not as useful as it used to be for pure tankiness. Still, 2400 shields at the press of a button is nothing to sneeze at. You'll need grenade capacity gear though.

Fitness for maximum melee damage. Obviously. Your heavy melee will deal serious damage - not as much as, say, a Kroguard with/without Rage going on, which means you'll typically have to Havoc Strike opponents before melee. Hey, at least you don't have Charge some enemies (read: put yourself into immediate danger) to refresh your shields.

Weapons & Gear

Unlike Vanguards, this build is much less reliant on charging everything, so a slightly longer cooldown isn't a death sentence. Also, the Havoc Strike buff reduced base cooldown time, so there's another plus. In general, you'll want to carry a shotgun with an Omni-blade attached for maximum melee damage. Preferably a non-DLC one, so pass on the Reegar and Piranha. I went with my N7 Crusader V, which gives an odd blend allowing both close-quarters and ranged combat. Melee/H-Strike anything near you, then take cover and fire potshots at mini-bosses from a distance to soften them up. Claymore also seems to work, and the Wraith as well if you want to Havoc Strike more.

For gear, bring Grenade Capacity. 7 Stim-packs is pretty awesome, but try not to run dry. You'll be exposing yourself to gunfire pretty regularly, so top up at every chance. Consumables should be the obvious ones - Strength Enhancer, Power Efficiency/Amplifier, so on and so forth. If you want an ammo bonus, go for Cryo/Incendiary/Disruptor so you can prime enemies before detonating them with Havoc Strike.

[EDIT - further comments]

Looks like Havoc Strike 6a and 6b can go either way. +50% force and damage means you'll usually kill normal mooks in one attack, but it's somewhat ineffectual against shields either way. Also, as I feared, this build is at the mercy of lag most of the time. I've had more than a few occasions where Havoc Strike wouldn't connect or I'd try to activate a stim-pack and nothing happens. Try to host matches, or at the very least make sure your connection isn't terrible.

One last thing, it seems that the Havoc's heavy melee has a small area of effect (akin to Incendiary Havoc Strike, but much smaller), making it possible for you to hit enemies to your sides/rear or tight clusters of enemies. I've only gotten two at once so far, but there might not be a limit.