The Assault Pioneer (Turian Sabotuer)

At least someone else gets the fault for having a nickname conflict with another class.

Preface

Finals are done, so I'm pretty happy for that. I celebrate by doing mod things and making this guy about my new favorite class. And of course people whine about how some of the classes I like suck, mostly because they don't play to the strength of those classes.

Introduction

An assualt pioneer is an infantry unit, typically in the sphere of the Commonwealth, that is geared towards combat but also has engineering duties. I think that's a good way to describe the Turian Sabotuer (and the Vorcha Hunter as well, for that matter): a combat specialist with Tech supporting him. Sabotage does a good job stunning humanoid enemies with Health, while Homing Grenades wreck Armor. This allows for a high mobility class to slow down enemies to easily kill them. Well, in the words of the great Ahnold, I believe IT'S TURBO TIME!.

Power Evolutions

Sentry Turret- Nice power, but to get the full effect you need to go deep into it and that's too costly considering the other power the Sabotuer offers.

Sabotage- Considering most enemies are organic, the evolutions were taken to maximize damage/time against them. With a Graal X and three ranks into Armiger Legion, the cooldown is about 5.3 seconds, which isn't too bad.

Sabotage also wrecks synthetic targets. I would prioritize non-boss synthetics (especially Pyros, Bombers, and Cerberus Turrets) over boss synthetics (Fatlases and Primes) because the boss synthetics are slow in dealing damage to their former friends. Do consider that taking off the heat off of someone as an important factor, so it may be advantageous to hack a Fatlas or Prime from time to time.

Homing Grenades- Standard anti-Armor duties. Take Grenade Capacity over Fire Damage if your max grenade capacity gears only give you one extra grenade. The animation to fire it takes some time, so take that into account when using it.

Armiger Legion and Fitness- Weapon Damage and Shields are key. Sabotage and Homing Grenades don't do enough damage combined to warrant power damage over weapon damage. Defensive Fitness supplements survival which I argue is more important, despite the fact that his melee counts as Tech damage (and thus benefits from the Tech Vulnerability evolution from Sabotage).

Tactics

Against enemies with Health, use Sabotage and then shoot them in the head. Most enemies (not Phantoms because they are B.S.) flinch when they are hit by Sabotage, making it easy to shoot them in the head. The cooldown on Sabotage is ~4 to 5.9 seconds, so it can be used fairly often.

If it is against Armor, Homing Grenades are an excellent way to damage them. They do great damage against Armor and can detonate Tech Explosions. Homing Grenades also force the Phantom's Bubble of BS, granting easy headshots.

Team combinations are also important. The flinch and hack of Sabotage can take the heat off of someone and Tech Vulnerability dramatically helps Tech players deal damage. You should be a mini-guardian angel to your Tech teammates to get your creds and XP faster.

Don't forget the importance of cover. The high mobility will only get you so far and you do not have Stim Packs to instantly supercharge your shields. Cover can be abused by jetpacking past obstacles and behind walls. It's a quick way to live another day.

Equipment

I recommend Grenade Capacity increasing gear because Homing Grenades are quite useful to have on hand. If that is not possible, take weapon damage amps or Vulnerability AI to improve weapon damage.

As far as consumable equipment goes, any armor module is fine depending on how you want to benefit your Sabotuer. I recommend a Power Recharge Module if you are carrying a Graal, but that's personal opinion. Weapon amps should be the appropriate weapon amp or Targeting VI depending how confident you are on headshots. More often than not Targeting VI is the best option. Ammo is also variable depending on weapons, but take into account that Homing Grenades can detonate Tech Explosions. I personally prefer Explosive Rounds on my Graal to get that extra bit of psuedo-DoT and group stagger.

Weapons

Easily the most important part of this build outside of Sabotage's flinching ability. The weapon in question should be good both in close quarters and with dealing headshots. In my opinion, the Graal fits this bill cleanly. With a 3.0x headshot bonus, 6 hot knives that do not suffer from armor damage reduction, and two great tricks to boot, it is the best gun to use hands down.

The two tricks I am referring to both revolve around the charging nature of the gun. The first trick is the "double tap". Shooting a charged shot and rapidly shooting again, a charged shot (2x damage) and an uncharged shot come out with rapid succession. Useful if you know your charged shot is going to get close to killing a target but need a followup shot to kill them. The second trick revolves on how the charge level affects damage. Unlike the GPS or Kishock, the charge on the Graal determines how much damage it does on a binary level. If you charge it for .0000001 seconds or 1 second or 1 minute .8 seconds , the Graal will deal 2x damage. By charging for a short bit before firing, you slow down your firing rate slightly but double the damage per shot, massively raising damage output.

Edit- social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/343/index/15202482 states the Graal should be charged for .8 seconds to ensure the 2x damage is done.

Graal side rant- Once you get around the projectile nature of the Graal, it's quite hard to find a fault with that weapon outside of a small-ish clip (solvable by reload cancelling). In my opinion it is the best gun in the game as it has no glaring weakness once the projectiles are mastered.

Now you may be saying, "Shredder, projectiles are so unreliable off-host and I want to hit enemies". Well, Xcal did a video with the QFI and Harpoon Gun, and the logic is quite similar. Sabotage will flinch targets long enough for the projectile to hit them, almost negating the projectile disadvantage. Even if your host is in Most Glorious Country Russia, you will hit their head nearly every time. Don't forget to calibrate your projectile gun appropriately to anticipate potential problems that might occur.

Russia side rant- Despite the difficult internet and verbal communication issues, the Russians who play on Gold and above are REALLY GOOD at this game. Way better than the average American or Canadian player I play with often. I'm a lot more optimistic about Russian lobbies than some American lobbies.

Now if lag is really that bad of an issue, there are alternatives. Namely, high powered variable distance guns. These would include the likes of the Mattock, Raptor, Wraith, Kishock Harpoon Gun (somehow not a fan on this kit), heavy pistols with a Cranial Trauma System/High Caliber Barrel/Heavy Barrel mod, and even the Harrier (provided extraordinary ammo management). While the Locust, GPR, and sniper rifles benefit greatly from headshots, they are too narrow in terms of firing range and damage to be useful in the variety of situations you will be put in.

Conclusion

Like the Vorcha Hunter, the Turian Saboteur is a class that benefits from the mindset of "powers to support the guns". Sabotage is an excellent way to constantly pop headshots, while Homing Grenades will eat through Armor. Remember your teammates as well and everything should be fine and dandy.

You may now post comments, constructive or whiny, down in the comments section. Whining by itself will not earn you much favor, but it's ok to disagree saying "this kit is not for me" and outlining the reasons why. Remember it's the season of giving.

DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO MY MISPELLING OF THE WORD SABOTEUR IN THE TITLE. I'M HAVING A BAD DAY SPELLING TODAY.