Batarian Whaler on the Moon (in-depth Batarian Sentinel build)

Appearently a lot of players consider the Batarian Sentinel to be a rather weak kit. The reason for this is that you humans are all racist his kit doesn't seem to mesh very well and both Submission Net and Shockwave are largely seen as somewhat wonky powers. I am here to show you how the Batarian Sentinel can not only be a very effective combatant, but also one of the most versatile operatives you can bring to a firebase, whereas a Soldier and Bawler would be more or less pidgeon holed into a close quarters role.

Link to the build: Batarian Whaler on the Moon

Abstract The general idea of this build is to bank on the synergies between Submission Net and the KiShock Harpoon gun and to provide a very durable combatant that can operate effectively from long to close range, while bringing good utility to any team.

Powers

Blade Armor

I really like this power, my favorite among the armor powers and very Batarian: simple, effective, no-nonsense protection that gets the job done. It provides solid damage resistance, shield recharge, melee damage reflection that can stagger unprotected enemies and increased melee damage, which is great considering how strong Batarian melee is to begin with. And all you have to do is turn it on at the begining of an operation and then stop worrying about it. No fancy nonsense like disabling your armor to do an exploderation or gain melee damage like that Krogan shit, which would cause you to lose your protection and enemy laceration and messes with your cooldowns.

Submission Net

Ah, the prodigal child of the kit. In my opinion one of the most versatile powers in the game and vastly underrated. Submission Net is one of two powers in the game that is able to completely lockdown a target in place as long as it is not armored, the other one being Stasis. Now while the role of both abilities is very similar, both function very differently in many ways.

• Targeting: While Statis is an instant hit hitscan power, SubNet is a projectile that can be arced around obstacles. While Stasis seems largely superior on first glance, especially in the bubble evolution, it also has its drawbacks in that it can be intercepted by obstacles or miss the target completely if your aim is a little off. Subnet on the other hand is homing, but can be dodged, but also placed as a proximity trap, circumventing even the infamous phantom bubble of bullshit.
• Sniping tool: While Statis has the instant gratfication of an immobilized target on use, it will drop immediately the second a target receives a tiny amount of health damage, often causing it to drop even out of LOS. SubNet on the other hand can be dodged and has a travel time, but a netted target will remain netted as long as the duration says, no matter how much abuse it has to endure in the meantime. SubNet also has a considerably lower cooldown than Stasis.
• Damage: Stasis does no damage whatsoever but can be used as biotic primer, though it is rather weak as such and also causes the Stasis to drop. SubNet does considerable damage on its own, though it is a DoT effect, and primes tech bursts that can be detonated by pretty much everything. Evo 6b also provides AoE shock damage and electrocution around a netted target.
• Armor: Stasis is rendered completely ineffective vs armored targets, while SubNet is able to do damage, slow and set up tech bursts on those.

In the end I think Submission net is a very versatile power that is especially strong on a class and loadout that can exploit its utility. The dogeability can be worked around by either setting it up as a trap or simply reapplying it, because the same target will not dodge twice in a certain time window, and the cooldown of the ability is very low.

Shockwave

I ommit Shockwave, because although it is a good power in itself, I think the Batarian Sentinel in general and especially this build does not make good use of it. I also don't like that it adversly effects your team with the screen shaking.

Passives:

• Batarian Enforcer: Since this is a weapons build that capitailizes on lethal headshots, we obviously take the weapon damage and headshot damage. One could take 4b too for a cooldown advantage.
• Fitness: This is supposed to be a durable fighter and not a melee specialist, so I only take Melee Synergy to beef up the base melee damage and the occasional weapon damage buff. Evo 5b synergizes very well with the recharge speed bonus we get from Blade Armor.

Weapons

Our main weapon, and in effect the only one we really need, is the KiShock Harpoon Gun. This weapon has a quite unique list of traits that synergize very well with this build.

• It is a sniper rifle, though with a rather weak scope magnification, which is largely a good thing, because it can be used at almost any range that way.
• It is a projectile weapon, so you must account for travel time of the harpoon, especially off-host. While it is possible to headshot a moving target with practice, it is certainly a lot easier to do on an immobile target dummy. Which you conveniently can turn any foot soldier into.
• Aside from it's tremendous base damage, that can be further augmented by charging, the KiShock sports a 3.0 headshot damage multiplier, which means this is really one of the deadliest 1-shot-kill weapons in the game.
• Combine this with the fact that the Kishock ignores armor damage resistance and shield gating as well as being the only sniper rifle in game that has no hipfire penalty whatsoever and you have an extraordinarily powerful weapon that is effective in almost any situation and against all sorts of protection.
• The single shot nature of the weapon makes it a little unwieldy in close quarters though, but for those cases you can either carry an (ULM'd) SMG or Pistol or make good use of the awesome Batarian melee.
• It also provides a fraction of its damage as a bleed effect, which negates shield regeneration and can finish off low-health targets.
• While projectile weapons in general can not penetrate objects, KiShock will penetrate guardian shields.
• Alternatively you can also use a Graal, which shares a lot of the traits of the KiShock or any other sniper rifle.

On weapon mods: The vanilla barrel is a no-brainer. High velocity and AP mod are out, because the KiShock can not make use of (or needs) armor penetration. That leaves you with either of the scopes or extra ammo, the latter being plenty to begin with, so I would stick with a scope.

Consumbables

Ammo Mods

• I have no clear preference for ammo mods, but explosive shot surprisingly works really well, because it procs every time and if the target has a sliver of health left the bleed effect and explosion will take care of that.
• Phasic/disruptor for sure fire OH kills on shielded targets.
• Don't take AP. :P

Gear

• I like stronghold because it synergizes so well with the double shield regeneration buff we already have.

Armor

• Almost anything works here, but I like Shield Power Cells, because sub-1sec shield regeneration delay is really awesome, although shield gate still has a 3 second cooldown.

TLDR: This class build is designed to be a long-mid range fighter that can crowd control one or multiple targets, set up tech bursts and provide a tanky target for his team. His durability and melee prowess enables him to handle flankers himself very well and protect squishier teammates. As such the kit as a whole provides a degree of versatility that is really hard to match.