Want to become a walking fortress in Mass Effect: Andromeda? This tanky build focuses on survivability, sustained damage, and combo efficiency. You’ll use biotics and tech to chain explosions, absorb massive amounts of punishment, and dominate the battlefield—even against bosses.

This setup works best if you favor a Vanguard-style playthrough but want more flexibility and weapon versatility than a traditional full biotic build.


Core Build Strategy

This tank setup hinges on three concepts:

  • Massive damage resistance
  • On-demand shield regeneration
  • Combo-triggering synergy between tech and biotic abilities

You’ll still be mobile and deal strong area damage, but more importantly, you’ll never stay down for long.


Combat Skill Tree

Combat Fitness (Max Out)

  • Rank 4: Regen – faster health recovery
  • Rank 5: Extra Holster – lets you carry heavier weapons while maintaining full recharge speed
  • Rank 6: Hold the Line – gives huge damage resistance when shields are down

This tree turns you into a wall. The regen keeps you up longer, the holster flexibility boosts your utility, and Hold the Line ensures you survive when it counts.

Combat Tools

  • Rank 1–3: Standard progression
  • Rank 4: Hover – allows for tactical mobility and some shield gain on movement
  • Rank 6: Aerial Combat – reduces incoming damage while airborne

This grants you more control and survivability when using verticality—great for dodging ground fire or repositioning.


Biotic Abilities

Charge (Max Out)

  • Rank 4: Damage & Radius – triggers easier combo explosions
  • Rank 5: Flexible – pick what suits your style (Power Synergy or Melee & Weapon boost)
  • Rank 6: Bastion or Shock Trooper – both are solid; Bastion is better for sustain with shield restoration

Charge is the heart of this build. It gives you burst mobility, shield restoration, and a core for combo detonations. You’ll be diving into enemies constantly—this ability keeps you alive and dangerous.

Backlash (Max Out)

  • Rank 4: Durability
  • Rank 5: Durability again
  • Rank 6: Shield Resurgence

Use Backlash as your mobile cover. It blocks projectiles and gives you time to recharge shields anywhere, any time. It’s especially effective when stuck in open areas with no cover in sight.


Tech Ability

Incinerate (Max Out)

  • Rank 4: Radius – improves multi-targeting potential
  • Rank 5: Armor Damage – for breaking down tankier enemies
  • Rank 6: Dual Incinerate – allows you to tag multiple enemies with DoTs for back-to-back combo detonations

Incinerate serves as your tech primer—throw it out to tag targets, then Charge in to detonate for tech explosions. It’s simple, repeatable, and effective.


Summary: Why This Build Works

  • Tons of survivability: Between regen, Hold the Line, and Shield Resurgence, you recover quickly under pressure.
  • Frequent combos: Incinerate + Charge = reliable detonations with great AOE potential.
  • Mobility advantage: With aerial combat boosts and Charge’s fast repositioning, you’re hard to pin down.
  • Scales into boss fights: You’ll never fear large threats—Backlash and Bastion give you tools to mitigate and return damage consistently.

Whether you want to clean up waves of enemies or slug it out with elite units, this build makes your Pathfinder practically unkillable while still dealing excellent burst and crowd control damage.


Try this build out in your next Insanity run or Vanguard-style playthrough—especially if you want to feel unstoppable while still being in the thick of every fight.


Discover more from My Gaming Tutorials

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a comment

Trending