Players can dive right into the expansive Mass Effect universe as Commander Shepard, the hero of the Systems Alliance Navy and the first-ever human Spectre. Of course, this is far from a peaceful galaxy. The Terminus Systems region is packed with deadly mercenaries and raiders, and the insidious Collectors are a threat to all of humanity. It’s time to form a team and fight back.
Most of Mass Effect 2 is spent assembling an elite team of soldiers and operatives of all species, and Shepard’s team storms the Collector base with all guns blazing. Some squadmates, though, are more powerful than others based on their abilities, experience and ability to kill Collectors. In the context of the suicide mission, which ten Normandy fighters are the strongest?
10 Kasumi Goto, The Phantom Thief
Overall, Kasumi Goto is ideal for infiltration and sabotage missions, given her talents for stealth and quick thinking. Still, she has the right skills for combat as well, and she can prove a slippery and tricky opponent for even the Collectors to fight.
Kasumi’s firepower is limited, but she makes up for that with her remarkable cloaking field to evade enemy fire, and she is highly agile and unpredictable, making her downright impossible to hit. This allows her to slip past her foes or whittle them down without taking return fire.
9 Thane Krios, The Drell Assassin
Thane Krios, a highly trained Drell agent, is in a similar position as Kasumi. He’s less of a soldier and more of a specialized operative, except he takes lives rather than treasures. In fact, Thane can enter a “battle sleep” and allow his body to operate entirely by instinct.
Thane has a method for assassinating just about any target, and like Kasumi, he is quick, agile and stealthy. That’s not optimal for a straight-up fight with the Collectors, but his agility and precision allow him to wear down his foes and support his heavier allies.
8 Garrus Vakarian, The Turian Operative
Garrus Vakarian has been Shepard’s loyal ally from the very start, and he combines classic Turian discipline with a creative and flexible mind and a balanced view of the world. Thus, he can adjust to any situation with no loss of enthusiasm.
Garrus is a sharpshooter above all, and he can snipe high-priority Collector targets from a safe distance, which can certainly turn the tide of battle. He is also a capable martial artist, and he can lead a squad of soldiers with great skill and authority.
7 Zaeed Massani, The Grizzled Veteran
Garrus has a great deal of battlefield experience, but Zaeed has even more. He is the veteran of countless missions, battles and adventures, having fought for and against just about any gang, client or army out there. Nothing can surprise him.
All this experience grants Zaeed excellent intuition and reference for battle, making him highly adaptable, and he can exploit the weaknesses of any strategy. Zaeed, like Garrus, has leadership qualities as well, and he’s not afraid to mix some grenades and missiles into his arsenal for the toughest foes.
6 Legion, The Geth Ambassador
Commander Shepard never expected to have a Geth trooper on the team, but that’s just what happened. Legion is no ordinary Geth; it is not hostile to organics, and it wants to take down the Reaper fleets. So, Shepard welcomed this robotic ally to the team, and learned much about the Geth’s true nature.
In battle, Legion is totally immune to fear or intimidation, and Legion can also harden itself with Geth shields to survive enemy fire. Legion is also capable sniper, like Garrus, and can hack Collector databanks and servers without issue. Legion has minimal leadership qualities, however.
5 Miranda Lawson, The Cerberus Agent
Among all the members of Shepard’s team, Miranda might be the most balanced of all. She has some experience in battle and a self-reliant streak, and she has some leadership qualities, too (but not on Garrus’ level). Miranda is comfortable using submachine guns and pistols, and she’s a biotic on top of that.
Like Grunt, Miranda was engineered to be the best, granting her perfect health and advanced biotics by human standards. Miranda also has book smarts and a sharp mind that can calculate its way through any mission, no matter how dire. The Illusive Man was right to recruit her.
4 Grunt, The Perfect Krogan
Urdnot Wrex isn’t available for the Collector mission, so instead, Shepard recruited the tank-born Grunt to the team. Like Miranda, he was genetically engineered to be perfect, but he still has to prove himself. And Grunt is determined to show that he’s the best solder in the business.
Grunt boasts the incredible strength and endurance of any Krogan, and he can wield heavy, devastating weapons that no other squadmate could even pick up, let alone shoot. He’s a living tank, but he’s no battlefield commander. Grunt is better off following orders rather than giving them, since he has limited experience.
3 Jack, AKA Subject Zero
Jack is yet another character who fits the “born to be perfect” mold, but in a slightly different way than Grunt and Miranda. Jack was born as a biotic, but after some torturous experimentation, humanity’s true biotic potential was realized in Jack. She is a stronger biotic than any other human, even Miranda.
With this kind of power, Jack can devastate a group of foes with ease, blasting them away with biotic shockwaves or throwing maneuvers. Jack can also use small arms to take out ranged foes if need be.
2 Samara, The Justicar
The Asari people are generally known for their philosophy and diplomacy, but they’re hardly pacifists. Asari commandos are elite fighters, but even they are outclassed by the justicars, lone wanderers who use their weapons and biotics to slay wrongdoers everywhere. Samara is one such justicar.
With Samara’s ultra-advanced biotics, centuries of experience and small arms, she can dispatch any foe with ease, and with no hesitation at all. Samara can beat Jack at her own game, and without reckless ferocity. She’s more disciplined and refined.
1 Commander Shepard, Back From The Dead
None of this would be possible without Commander Shepard, the hero of the Alliance. It was Shepard who took down Sovereign and returned from the dead, and Shepard’s sheer charisma, courage and determination allowed the Commander to form a loyal and elite team that could challenge the galaxy’s biggest villains and win.
Shepard’s battlefield talents are up the player, but no matter how Shepard turns out, this hero can and will take down all manner of Geth, mercenaries, husks and more, and the Commander is the ultimate leader and role model for all. Shepard’s firepower, biotic talents (if any), leadership, courage and sheer guts allow him/her to win the day against any odds. Only Shepard could take on the prototype human Reaper and win; anyone else would have been crushed.
