Across the Mass Effect trilogy, players can select a class for their unique Commander Shepard from one of six options. In Mass Effect, there are six classes combining weapons combat, biotic, and tech abilities. Three classes, Soldier, Adept, and Engineer, are the pure combat, biotics, and tech classes, respectively. The other three, Vanguard, Sentinel, and Infiltrator, combine abilities from two classes to allow Shepard a greater range of combat options. The Sentinel class combines biotic and tech abilities, allowing Shepard to control the environment and support and defend their squad. While not as powerful in weapon-based combat, Sentinels have a good balance of skills that make them an excellent complement class to the heavier-hitting squadmates.
Sentinels do their best work from a medium distance and usually use Pistols and, in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, SMGs. They can also use Assault and Sniper Rifles if they so choose. They shine when taking down enemy defenses of any kind and can serve as a decent tanking class. When building Shepard as a Sentinel across the Mass Effect trilogy, players should make sure to increase damage protection, prioritize tech and biotic ability upgrades, choose whether to focus more on offensive or defensive abilities, select bonus abilities to supplement weaknesses, and choose the best equipment and squadmates to round out their team for any situation.
How To Spec Sentinel Abilities In Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Sentinels across the Mass Effect trilogy will have access to most of the same abilities, with a few minor differences. In Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, after reaching Level 4 on an ability, players can select powerful upgrades for each one based on their preferred fighting style.
A bonus when playing a Sentinel is that Shepard will have some biotic implants and an Omni-tool, allowing them to select an extra biotic or tech ability and use it to its fullest potential. However, Sentinels also have the option to buff their weapons with ammo abilities instead when selecting a bonus power to become even more well-rounded in combat. Before choosing how to allocate squad points and select bonus abilities, players should decide whether they want their Sentinel Shepard to have greater weapon damage or power damage, or do they want to focus more on defensive and supportive abilities.
Sentinel Abilities in Mass Effect
- Throw: Knocks enemies back, preventing them from firing and making them vulnerable; heavier enemies require more force, which take more skill points in this ability
- Lift: Floats a group of enemies in the air, making them vulnerable
- Barrier: Adds additional shields on top of those added with Basic Armor
- Stasis: Stun enemies and take them out of a fight for a moment; Stunned enemies are temporarily impervious to damage; Most effective with the Bastion specialization
- Decryption: Unlocks the Sabotage ability that overloads enemy weapons and prevents them from firing; makes it easier to unlock doors and containers
- Sabotage: Overheats enemy weapons, including geth armatures and turrets
- Electronics: Unlocks the Overload Ability; Allows Shepard to unlock crates, salvage probes, and repair the Mako; helps eliminate enemy shields and provides a shield bonus to Shepard
- Overload: Damages and takes down shields; Can be used on fuel tanks and other containers for greater environmental damage.
- First Aid: Increases the amount of health restored by medi-gel; only requires enough points to unlock Medicine to be effective.
- Medicine: Unlocks the Neural Shock ability; Lowers the cooldown time on medi-gel; most useful with the Medic specialization
- Neural Shock: Induces paralysis and deals toxic damage to organic enemies
- Specter Training: Increases health, adds the Unity ability to revive squadmates, and provides a bonus to damage, power duration, and accuracy.
Suggested Bonus Abilities:
- Singularity: Lifts multiple enemies into the air and sends them flying or crashing to the ground; good for crowd control.
- Damping: Temporarily disables enemy tech and biotic abilities; Increases the radius of all tech powers
- Warp: Decreases enemy damage protections and deals damage over time through their shields
Sentinel Abilities in Mass Effect 2
- Throw: Knocks enemies back, often over ledges; Even more powerful when combined with Pull
- Warp: Decreases enemy damage protections, stops health regeneration, and deals damage over time through their shields; Must be detonated with help from a biotic squadmate
- Tech Armor: Key Sentinel ability; Generates a suit of armor made from energy that boosts shields; Remains active until destroyed; Explodes with energy when destroyed, knocking enemies back and dealing damage.
- Overload: Shuts down enemy shields; Deals damage against synthetic enemies; Can overheat enemy weapons at higher levels; Can be used on fuel tanks and other containers for greater environmental damage.
- Cryo Blast: Freezes targets after a few seconds on impact; Frozen targets take double damage
- Defender: Increases Shepard's health, storm speed, and Paragon/Renegade scores and decreases power recharge time; evolves into Raider or Guardian.
- Geth Shield Boost: Greatly increases shields and, at Rank 4, can provide a 10% damage bonus
- Armor-Piercing Ammo: Boosts damage to armor and health
- Warp Ammo: Cuts through biotic barriers; increases damage against targets affected by biotic abilities like Pull or Singularity
- Stasis: Stun enemies and take them out of a fight for a moment; useful even on large targets like Scions and YMIR mechs
- Flashbang Grenade: Disorients enemies, overheats weapons, and disrupts tech and biotic abilities for crowd control.
Sentinel Abilities in Mass Effect 3
- Tech Armor: Key Sentinel ability that generates a suit of armor made from energy that boosts shields; Remains active until destroyed; Must be detonated manually in Mass Effect 3; Imposes a significant power cooldown penalty when active.
- Throw: Knocks enemies back, often over ledges; Even more powerful when combined with Pull and evolved to Recharge Combo at rank 5
- Warp: Decreases enemy damage protections, stops health regeneration, and weakens armor; Detonates power combos; Especially useful with the Detonate evolution
- Cryo Blast: Freezes targets after a few seconds on impact; Can be Detonated using other Sentinel abilities.
- Overload: Shuts down enemy barriers and shields; Deals damage against synthetic enemies; Can jump between enemies at higher levels; Can be used on fuel tanks and other containers for greater environmental damage.
- Lift Grenade: Sends enemies flying and deals high damage.
- Fitness: Increases Shepard's health, shields, and melee damage; Increases squadmate health and shields
- Offensive Mastery: Increases Shepard's weapon and power damage, reputation, and carrying capacity.
- Defense Matrix: Reinforces Shepard's armor but slows power use by 60%; Useful for tanking
- Stasis: Stun enemies and take them out of a fight for a moment; Useful even on large targets; Can be detonated with Throw or Warp
- Armor-Piercing Ammo: Boosts damage to armor and health
- Barrier: Creates an extra biotic barrier that can be detonated to damage enemies; Can combine with Tech Armor for up to 70% damage negation
- Warp Ammo: Cuts through biotic barriers; increases damage against targets affected by biotic abilities like Pull
- Inferno Grenade: Sets multiple enemies on fire to get them out of cover and cause them to panic; Burns through Armor
In the Mass Effect 1, players should prioritize investing points into Charm or Intimidate to buff their Paragon or Renegade score. These unlock special dialogue options. Higher Charm scores provide bonuses to first aid and power cooldown time, while higher Intimidate scores increase power and weapon damage.
In Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, players should prioritize maxing out the Defender or Offensive Mastery ability. It allows Shepard to choose a specialization between Raider and Guardian. Guardian adds further bonuses to Paragon/Renegade scores, boosts health, and decreases power recharge time. Raider increases weapons and power damage and decreases power recharge time by slightly less than the buff from the Guardian specialization. In Mass Effect 3, Offensive Mastery significantly increases weapon and power damage, reputation, and carrying capacity right away.
How to Select Sentinel Equipment and Squadmates in Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Sentinels start with Pistols in Mass Effect 1 and typically start with Heavy Pistols, SMGs, and Heavy Weapons in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. Many fans who choose Sentinel elect to use Assault Rifles. Assault Rifles are versatile weapons that are effective against all enemies and defenses and from mid-range, where Sentinels tend to be best positioned. Some Sentinel players may also prefer using Sniper Rifles to fight from further back. Shotguns are generally not advised for Sentinels, as it becomes more difficult to fight at close range without the abilities of a Soldier or Vanguard. However, each playstyle may call for different features, and weapon loadout is ultimately up to player preference.
Shepard should purchase or research armor upgrades that increase power damage, improve survivability, and lower power recharge speed. Good options include:
- Blood Dragon Armor set
- Inferno Armor set
- Kestrel Armor
- Shield Harness
- Capacitor Chestplate
- Sentry Interface
- Archon Visor
- Umbra Visor
- Rosenkov Materials Shoulders
- Kassa Fabrication set pieces
Additionally, the best Mass Effect: Legendary Edition squadmates a Sentinel Shepard can bring along will fill in for some of their weak points, particularly in weapon and combat abilities. Squadmates who can deal high weapon damage, like Garrus, Wrex, Thane, Zaeed, Grunt, Legion, James, Ashley, and Jacob are all effective options. Jack, Samara, Javik, and Liara are also good choices to set up biotic detonations. Ideally, Shepard should always bring a more combat-oriented squadmate, especially one with access to tech or biotic abilities, and one biotic- or tech-adept squadmate to set up power combos.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with backward compatibility for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.