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.1B.03. Fighting and Cover
Mass Effect 2

.1B.03. Fighting and Cover

Master Mass Effect 2 combat by using cover effectively, understanding enemy patterns, and timing your attacks for maximum damage.

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Master Mass Effect 2 combat by using cover effectively, understanding enemy patterns, and timing your attacks for maximum damage.

Walkthrough
  1. 1
    Prioritize engaging enemies that charge directly at you, as they are the most dangerous despite seeming "mindless."
  2. 2
    Observe enemies that stay at long range and learn their firing patterns; most fire for about 5 seconds before returning to cover, with heavy weapons taking slightly longer due to projectile delay.
  3. 3
    Exit your cover when an enemy's firing stream ends, rather than waiting for them to fully retreat, to maximize your damage output.
  4. 4
    On easier difficulties, you may not always need to stay in cover if enemies cannot hit you due to firing angles, but cover still aids faster health recovery.
  5. 5
    Be aware that your squad's AI behavior changes based on their equipped weapon: snipers stay back, shotguns move very close, and other weapons use cover frequently.
  6. 6
    Understand that weapon damage, excluding sniper rifles, doubles at short range (about five paces away), and enemies also benefit from this bonus.
  7. 7
    Aim for specific locations on enemies, such as legs, arms, and heavy weapon packs, and aim for headshots to increase damage.
  8. 8
    Combine melee attacks with weapons at very short range against enemies without defenses, but be cautious as other enemies can still attack you.
  9. 9
    When red veins appear on your screen, indicating critically low health, immediately find safe cover and rest for approximately 5 seconds for your armor and health to regenerate.
  10. 10
    If you cannot reach cover immediately when critically low on health, sprint away; you have about 12 seconds of sprint before an 8-second cooldown.
  11. 11
    Reload your weapon while in cover, as it takes 1.5 seconds to reload.
  12. 12
    Time your actions to reload, use abilities, and duck back into cover nearly simultaneously when exiting cover to attack.
Tips
  • Focus on charging enemies first, as they are the most dangerous.
  • Learn enemy firing patterns to time your exits from cover effectively.
  • Stay in cover to recover health and armor more quickly.
  • Squad AI behavior is influenced by their weapon choice.
  • Weapon damage is doubled at short range for most weapons.
  • Targeting specific enemy body parts, especially headshots, increases damage.
  • Melee attacks can be combined with weapons at very close range.
  • Red veins on screen signify low health; seek cover immediately or sprint away.
  • Reloading and using abilities can be timed with movement in and out of cover.
  • There is no healing in Mass Effect 2 other than health and armor regeneration.

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