This page will show you some of the best builds for your squad mate Miranda Lawson in Mass Effect 2. Here, you’ll find details on the best abilities to pick, and the best weapons to equip.

Miranda Lawson Overview¶

Miranda Lawson is new to Mass Effect 2, and she is responsible for Shepard still being alive after the catastrophic incident at the beginning of it on the Normandy. She is a loyal Officer to Cerberus and the Illusive Man due to her upbringing. She is well traveled, which has given her access to a lot of contacts which extends well into Citadel Space and the Terminus Systems including the Alliance Military.

When do you get Miranda¶

Miranda is available in the Prologue during the Mission: Freedom’s Progress, and will be with you the entire game depending on your choices throughout it.

Warp and Overload Build¶

This build revolves around maxing out Miranda’s Overload to hit as many enemy shields she can with the Area evolution. We then max out Warp, which is great against armor, as well as being able to combo with Overload for more damage. We then max out her Cerberus Officer skill line to get her Cerberus Leader evolution which increases her Health by 20% and Weapon Damage by 25%, whilst also adding a lesser effect of that to the squad! Furthermore, we only put 1 point into Slam as it isn’t as useful as her other options.

Powers¶

This section will go into more detail on why the Powers are chosen for this particular build.

Overload¶

Overload is one of the main reasons you bring Miranda along. Overload is the best power to use when you want to take down enemies who have shields, which in Mass Effect 2, there are a lot. We spec for the Area evolution to take advantage of the clustered enemies Mass Effect 2 likes to have, allowing her to take down multiple shields.

Warp¶

What Overload is to shields, Warp is to armor, and the combination of both allows you to create a Tech Bursts, which causes a blast of electricity to inflict severe damage to nearby enemies with a small chance of stunning them. Warp will do extra damage to armor, making it one of the best ways to deal with armor in the game. With Miranda having access to Warp as well as Overload, it makes her the Queen of protection stripping in the game.

Cerberus Officer¶

Cerberus Officer is one of the best squad mate passives in the game. At max rank, it’ll boost her Health 20% and Weapon Damage 25%. What makes this passive so good is, that it also effects squad mates too! We chose the Cerberus Leader evolution to increase the squad weapon damage to 15%.

Slam¶

We only put one point into Slam because we can, it isn’t the greatest Power in the game, and Miranda has a lot better options than this, it does have its uses, but that’s few and far between.

Best Weapons¶

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. This build relies on Miranda using her Powers as often as possible.

Heavy Pistol¶

The M-5 Phalanx was originally added as DLC in the original Mass Effect 2, in the Legendary Edition, it can be purchased from Ratch, who resides on Tuchanka.

What makes the M-5 Phalanx so effective, is that it’s highly accurate due to its built in laser, and it hits like a truck with 109 base damage. Like most handguns, it’s better to use against enemies with armor, or as a weapon to fall back on if you run out of ammo in your primary.

Submachine Gun¶

The M-9 Tempest is available after the Mission Dossier: Tali. What makes this weapon so great, is its high rate of fire making it easier to tear the shields of your enemies, allowing your Biotics Powers to influence the battlefield.

or

The M-12 Locust was originally added with the Kasumi - Stolen Memory DLC which is Kasumi’s loyalty mission, in the legendary edition, the mission is available once you acquire Kasumi at the Citadel. The weapon can be picked up during the mission, or if you miss it, as a mission reward.

The Locust is one of the strongest SMG in the game, especially at mid to long range due to its pinpoint accuracy, and low recoil. This makes it act more like an Assault Rifle than an SMG.