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Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition

Best Infiltrator Builds

By
Matt Chard

This page will show you some of the best Infiltrator builds in Mass Effect 3. Here, you’ll find details on the best abilities to pick, the best weapons to equip, and you’ll find what armor works best for the build. Finally, you’ll have builds included for the squad mates that accompany this build.

Infiltrator Overview

Infiltrators are Tech and Combat specialists, they have a unique ability in their Tactical Cloak which allows them to go invisible for a short while, this makes enemies not being able to target them when they’re in this state, and it also increases your damage. Although they are deadly at any range, they are particularly adept with a Sniper Rifle.

Tactical Cloak Sniper Build

This build revolves around using your Tactical Cloak bonuses to get a 40% damage increase whilst you take an uninterrupted headshot. Use Energy Drain and Garrus’ Overload to shred enemy shields whilst Liara controls the enemies with her Biotic Powers.

Power Upgrade Path
Cryo Ammo Squad Bonus > Headshots > Damage Combo
Disruptor Ammo Squad Bonus > Headshots > Damage
Tactical Cloak Damage > Recharge Speed > Damage
Incinerate Damage > Burning Damage > Freeze Combo
Sticky Grenade Leave at Level 3
Sabotage Backfire > Explosive Hack > Tech Vulnerability
Fitness Durability > Shield Recharge > Durability
Operational Mastery Weapon Damage > Weight Capacity > Sniper Damage
Bonus Power: Energy Drain Damage > Recharge Speed > Damage

Powers

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

Tactical Cloak

Tactical Cloak is the bread and butter of any Infiltrator build, as it allows you to go invisible for a short duration, increasing your damage whilst its up. Furthermore, you can’t be targeted by enemies as long as you’re invisible.

Cryo Ammo

Cryo Ammo is more of a crowd control power, it can slow down enemies, and sometimes even freeze them in place, making it very useful for a Sniper build as it’ll make it easier to target headshots, often leading to one shot kills. The Damage Combo upgrade will give you an extra 50% damage from all sources to frozen enemies whilst also weakening their armor by 25%.

Disruptor Ammo

Disruptor Ammo is great to use against shielded enemies like Centurions or Marauders to strip them of their shields. This is great for battles against Cerberus operative as a majority of them sport shields.

Incinerate

Incinerate is a Tech power that can deal fire damage to enemies, it’s great against armored targets like the Atlas, and it can also stop enemies regenerating their health. Furthermore, by taking the final upgrade Freeze Combo, it’ll deal an extra 100% damage, and if the enemies are frozen from the Cryo Ammo, you can trigger a Tech Burst by hitting them with this.

Sticky Grenade

Sticky Grenades aren’t anything special, which is why we leave this at level 3. Saying that, they do have their uses, mainly because they’re not on a global cooldown like the rest of the powers, so they can be used whenever, provided you have some left, these can add a bit of extra damage to your arsenal at no cost. You could take the armor-piercing upgrade which would make them more useful but that would be at the cost of another power.

Sabotage

Sabotage is taken to use against synthetic enemies, and in Mass Effect 3, there are a lot. This power will allow you to hack unprotected synthetics like the husks, and have them turn on the allies. The upgrade paths chosen in this build, are less for control, and more about damage. Backfire will increase your damage by 30% to enemies when their weapons overheat, especially useful against the Geth, Explosive Hack will make synthetics explode dealing 350 damage in a 4-meter radius, and Tech Vulnerabiltiy will increase all your tech power damage by 100%, thus making Incinerate hit for major damage. Finally, the best part about Sabotage is its ability to hack enemy turrets, which there are a lot off.

Fitness

Maxing out the Fitness line will give you some much-needed survivability, increasing your Health and Shield bonus up to 50%, whilst decreasing your shield-recharge delay by 15%. It’s also vital for melee builds, but we’re not going that direction with this build.

Operational Mastery

Operational Mastery will allow you to maximize your offensive output by increasing the damage you deal with weapons whilst also reducing your weight, allowing you quicker casts of your powers. The last upgrade is particularly important for this build because it’ll increase your Sniper and headshot damage by 15%.

Bonus Power: Energy Drain

Energy Drain supplements an Infiltrators’ arsenal by giving you a reliable way to shred enemy shields without having to fully rely on squad mates. On top of that, it can refresh your shield by draining it from the enemies

Best Weapons

This section will talk about what weapons are best for this particular build. This build relies on having the strongest Sniper possible to allow for one shot kills.

Sniper Rifle

Weapon Base Damage Clip Size Reserve Ammunition Capacity Rate of Fire Accuracy
Black Widow Very High 3 15 Very Low Single Shot Very High

The Black Widow can be purchased from the Spectre Requisitions store on the Citadel for 125,000 credits.

With this build you’ll want to be focusing on weapons with one shot kill potential, for this reason, we’ve gone with the Black Widow. It does major damage, especially if you connect with a headshot, and it’s extremely accurate.

or

Weapon Base Damage Clip Size Reserve Ammunition Capacity Rate of Fire Accuracy
M-98 Widow Very High 1 7 Very Low Single Shot Very High

The M-98 Widow can be obtained during the Mission Priority: Thessia, on a ledge next to an Asari Sniper, if you miss it, it can be purchased from Kassa Fabrication on the Citadel.

Once again, this weapon is picked purely for its one shot kill potential, It’s very similar to the Black Widow in all ways other than it has a clip size of 1 instead of the Black Widow’s 3 as well as half the reserve ammunition. The bonus for this weapon is you can get it for free. It’s worth noting that the M-92 Mantis will make a great substitute until you can get either of these weapons.

Best Armor

Armor Location Stats
Delumcore Overlay (Head) Found during the Mission Priority: Cerberus Headquarters, Sold at Spectre Requisitions, Citadel +10% Weapon Damage, +5% Headshot Damage
Hahne-Kedar (Chest) Found during the Mission Mission Tuchanka: Turian Platoon, Sold by Cipritine, Presidium Commons Armory +10% Weapon Damage
Hahne-Kedar (Shoulders) Sold at Elkoss Combine Arsenal Supplies, Presidium Common after the Mission Priority Rannoch +10% Weapon Damage
Hahne-Kedar (Arms) Sold at Kanala Exports, Presidium Commons after the Mission Citadel: Hanar Diplomat +10% Weapon Damage
Hahne-Kedar (Legs) Found during the Mission Priority: Palaven, Sold by Batarian State Arms +10% Weapon Damage

This set will give you +50% Weapon Damage, and 5% Headshot damage. If you don’t want to hunt down individual pieces, you could use Armax Arsenal Armor which is arguably better, this can be acquired from the Mission N -7 Cerberus Attack (arms) and the rest at the stores.

Best Squadmates

As an Infiltrator, damage will be through the roof, but you’ll need help with enemy shields and barriers. For this reason, take Garrus equipped with a Sniper and bring Liara along for her crowd control abilities which is invaluable.

Liara Build

Power Upgrade Path
Singularity Duration > Recharge Speed > Detonate
Stasis Stasis Strength > Recharge Speed > Vulnerability
Warp Ammo Leave at Level 3
Warp Damage > Expose > Pierce
Pure Biotic Recharge Speed > Duration & Force > Singularity Recharge

Garrus Build

Power Upgrade Path
Proximity Mine Leave at Level 3
Overload Damage > Neural Shock > Shield Damage
Concussive Shot Radius > Recharge Speed > Amplification
Armor-Piercing Ammo Squad Bonus > Headshot Damage > Damage
Turian Rebel Weapon Damage > Power Damage > Sniper Rifles
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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Electronic Arts
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS3, Wii U, XB 360
  • Genre
    Action RPG, Third-person shooter
  • Guide Release
    14 May 2021
  • Last Updated
    15 June 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Andrew Mills, Claire Farnworth

Share this free guide:

For years, a lone soldier has told tales of the Reapers, of their return, of these sentient machines reaching out across the vastness of space, to harvest all sentient life. But the warnings were all for nothing. Until now. The Reapers have at last come to Earth and these warnings can no longer be ignored. You are Commander Shepard, the first human spectre and elite soldier of the Alliance, tasked with uniting the galaxy in the fight to stop the Reapers destroying everything you hold dear. In your hands lies the fate of the entire Milky Way but luckily, this time, you are no longer alone.

  • All side missions completed containing the included DLC.
  • Find every single weapon mod tucked away in the game.
  • In-depth look at the major choices and consequences of each.
  • Full details on all possible Romances.
  • Class builds to get the most out of your chosen class.
  • All Biotic Combos and Tech Bursts explained.
  • Details on every Power.
  • Builds for all squad mates.
  • Trophy/Achievement guide.

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