The Plumber (Male Quarian Engineer)

Preface

Considering most of builds I use are either on or have similar counterparts in the BBLoB, I hope to phase from kit builds to team builds and weapons instead. But there's still a Human Soldier to look forward to, which I am certain you will enjoy (either the build's versatility or the fancy writing that will be going with it). It will take some time to craft the effort into it, so if you don't see anything from me for some time I'm likely working on that.

Introduction

Cover is pretty useful and nearly mandatory to survive on higher difficulties. So when enemies use it, it can get a bit frustrating. Enemies that are particularly frustrating include Nemesis snipers, Phantoms, and Geth Rocket Troopers. The QME has nicely built for cover breaking already with Tac Scan needing just some line of sight to set up (and can be seen behind cover), Incinerate arcing past cover, and Arc Grenades that can be lobbed behind cover.

I think that's not enough cover busting. Let's go one step further and look at the weapon that caused an entire class to be nerfed: the Krysae. While the Krysae is a shell of it's former self (and to be fair it made the Harrier seem tame at the time), it still has several great features that allow a properly specced QME to root out enemies from cover and even clog their own movement.

Power Setup

While Tac Scan is useful on bosses, this kit is not geared towards bosses. Even so, both Incinerate and Arc Grenades can do great damage on bosses along with some supplementary damage from the Krysae. Tac Scan is just icing on the cake here.

The rest of the powers are geared towards either knocking enemies out of cover (Arc Grenades especially) or making them suffer for being in cover (Incinerate does a good job at that). Fitness helps make sure that the QME stays alive when he needs to be due to the Krysae's RoF and getting the right angle to flush enemies out of cover. If you feel comfortable with a low amount of health, go ahead and dump points from Fitness to Tac Scan.

But Why the Krysae?

While a shell of its former self (especially in the RoF department), the Krysae still has its uses due to how its shells work.

1. Large AoE detonation- The Krysae shells have a huge explosive radius when detonated. This means that you can aim in the general vicinity of the target and get the shell to explode to hit it. While it hurts against Guardian shields unless you get the right angle, it helps against everything else. Enemies in cover, Geth Hunters, and Phantoms all succumb to this feature and get a second punch below the belt with the next feature.

2. Strong Projectile Force- Combined with the fact that it is difficult to miss, the immense force (and ammo priming ability) of the Krysae shell makes it a force to reckon with. The force is so immense that it will stagger Phantoms when they fail to use their Bubble of B.S. and flinch Nemeses out of cover. With this feature, I highly recommend using Disruptor Rounds to prime (and stagger/flinch caused by the Krysae shot) a target then sending Incinerate to detonate for a Tech Burst AND cause DoT.

If for some reason this does not satisfy your needs, the only substitute I can recommend is the Falcon. It is faster-firing than the Krysae, but it's weaker as well. Choose for yourself but I place high preference to the Krysae for hitting like a train with every shell. I'd also suggest taking a sidearm for close encounters with the enemies you are going to anger. Just be sure to account for weight as the Krysae is of medium weight and Incinerate is quite useful to have on hand.

Tactics

Simply enough, this QME has two jobs. The first job is to knock enemies out of cover, which can easily be done by using Incinerate, Arc Grenades, and the Krysae, depending on the situation. The Krysae stagger + Incinerate make for a nasty combo with either Incendiary or Disruptor Rounds, causing routine Tech Explosions. The second job is to slow down enemies out of cover using the same methods above to prevent them from killing your team. It's almost the same as the first job, but involves the movement of enemies.

Remember to prioritize. Don't try and flinch a Centurion out of cover while there are Phantoms runny willy-nilly out in the open space in front of you. Arc Grenades tend to ease the prioritizng as they force a large group of enemies to either stagger or get lodged out of cover. Because of that, make sure not to be caught with your pants down with 0 grenades. How to prioritize enemies will come from gameplay experience regarding "which enemy has a high damage/health ratio right now?" Sometimes it's obvious ( Phantoms and Atlases), sometimes it's not (Geth Rocket Troopers in a mixed crowd).

Conclusion

It's not all about them DPS. Sometimes even the ability to flush enemies out of their favorite places is more valuable than raw firepower alone. The Krysae, Incinerate, and Arc Grenades all have the power to push enemies away so that the team can take them out easily and effectively.

Do you even bother with cover flushing? What's your favorite way to halt enemies? Falcon and Disciple shots? Grenade spamming? Rapidly killing everything in sight? Do you hate the Krysae so much that you want to send me orange mail saying that I should stop posting such silly ideas (please don't)? These questions are why we have the comments section below.