A Guide On How To Complete Solo Matches On ME3 MP (Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum) - Part 2 of 2

Welcome to the second part of my guide on how to complete solo matches on Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, if you missed the first part you can catch up by going here. To recap what I covered in part one and what I'll be covering today, please check out the contents list below:

Contents

---------------------------------- [ In Part 1 ] ----------------------------------
1) Enemy Faction
2) Map Choice
3) Class & Character Kit
4) Weapon Selection
5) Gear & Equipment
---------------------------------- [ In Part 2 ] ---------------------------------- 
6) Game Tactics
- 6A) Survival Waves
- 6B) Objective Waves
- 6C) Extraction Wave
7) Other Minor Topics
- 7A) Recommended Reading
- 7B) Write Down Your Game Plan
- 7C) Pre-Match Preparations and Warm Up
- 7D) Two Birds, One Stone [Bird = Challenges, Stone = Match]
8) Suggestions for Character Kits
- 8A) Kits Anyone Can Use
- 8B) High Risk, High Reward Kits
9) Summary

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6) Game Tactics

Every single Mass Effect 3 multiplayer match has two major components to it, the first is the survival waves, where you have to kill every single enemy unit and the second is the objective waves, where you have tasks that need to be completed within a set period of time.When playing in public matches with other random players, there's rarely a game plan that is followed by all and that's understandable, so we run around like a headless chicken and kill anything that catches our eye, with the others doing the same. Now you could do this in solo matches as well but I'm willing to bet the results won't be exactly the same, especially for difficulties Gold+, in fact I know they won't be. If you were lucky enough to get landed with good public players, during the objective waves, most of the team will have been on hand to assist with completing whatever task/s you were assigned. If you weren't lucky however, the chances are you'll have struggled to complete the tasks alone, let alone in a timely fashion.

Strictly speaking, you don't need to plan for your solo match and can just wing it if you want to but I think it's much better in the grand scheme of things, if you set aside a couple minutes just to think through what you're planning to do and how you're going to achieve it. While Gold is basically just a harder version of Silver, Platinum can at times feel like a different game altogether, I know when I first started playing Platinum games, it always threw me off when suddenly I had Banshees, Pyros and Phantoms all attacking at the same time but you do eventually get used to it. Another thing about playing solo matches is that the pressure on you is increased significantly, enemies only have bullets with your name written on them and so a bit of planning can really help get you through the waves (the objective ones in particular) a bit more smoothly. The tactics for each type of wave do vary slightly, so I think it's a good idea if I split this topic into three sub sections: 6A) will cover the survival waves, 6B) will cover the objective waves and 6C) will cover the extraction wave.

Before you carry on reading, if you haven't already checked out the thread that I linked in part one, where BSN member Cyonan talks a bit about enemy spawn behaviour and provides a link to one of his spreadsheets, I highly recommend you do that now. That spreadsheet provides hard numbers on the individual wave budgets for each round, as well as the re-spawn value for every enemy unit across all the difficulties and how many of each, can be active during any given wave. The information is very useful for planning how you might go about tackling each wave because by knowing when certain enemies will turn up, you can adjust your tactics accordingly and/or re-prioritise targets to get the waves completed quicker.

- 6A) Survival Waves

The task for these waves is straightforward, kill everything as quickly as possible, without getting downed or sync-killed in the process. The best way to do this is by trying to predict and control where the enemies will spawn, this way you can plan the most effective attack route and hopefully not get surrounded from all directions. If you visited the thread that I linked above, you should have some understanding as to how the game assigns enemy spawn points, combining this with your knowledge of a maps spawn points and you should be able to manipulate events in your favour. Spawn controlling isn't soo useful on the larger maps because your presence will usually only affect the one location i.e. the place where you're standing but on the smaller maps, they can be quite effective. Take for example Firebase Glacier and Firebase White, if you've played on these maps a lot, you probably already know that when you and the team are standing at the upper levels, the enemy will always spawn in the lower areas. It's a bit trickier to achieve similar results when you're playing solo but it's not impossible, by taking advantage of the "no spawning within players lines of sight" rule used in conjunction with the "no spawning on top of players" rule, you can stop enemies from spawning in at least two locations (i.e. stand in one and look at another). All maps have considerably more than two enemy spawn locations, so blocking two sites might not seem like much but you might've also noticed that, at the start of new waves, enemies generally tend to use one of a select few locations. Therefore by blocking two sites, you've effectively reduced the number of potential enemy spawn locations, which if you're playing on a small enough map, can make a big difference.

When playing solo matches, enemy spawns are much harder to control during the later waves and in most cases, enemies will be spawning in at least two different locations (if not more), regardless of your efforts but by trying to control where these will be, you can still generate an advantageous situation for yourself. For example, if you can efficiently control and predict enemy spawns, this will also allow you to "nuke" them with Cobra Missiles. A tactic best employed at the start of some the later waves and if done successfully, will eliminate a big chunk of the wave budget and thus can reduce the overall length of the match. You'll want to ration your missiles very carefully during solo matches and my advice would be to not use any until wave seven or higher, assuming you've unlocked the max limit of six, you can spare maybe three for spawn nuking and should keep the rest for emergencies. If you've selected the Armoured Compartments gear, you can nuke a couple more spawns but unless you can land a good hit with each one i.e. a kill streak, you might still be better off saving them for objective waves. Nuking spawns might seem tempting to try and speed up the match but you'll be kicking yourself if you've run out before wave ten and then come across a situation where a missile would've been handy for clearing out a group of enemies, especially if they're stopping you from completing whatever task you have at hand. Of course it's not just the start of waves when you can use your missiles to try and deplete the wave budget quickly , if you can corral the enemy forces into a nice tight group (bosses in particular), that's a good a time as any to launch one.

OK, so now you've got your game plan for the beginning of new waves, it's time to discuss what you should do for the other 95% of the time :P Depending on your character kit and your skill level, you can probably get away with playing however you like in early waves of Bronze and Silver but when bosses start appearing in later waves and for Gold and Platinum matches, you'd be well advised to have a tactic in place. The following game plan is probably the most boring you'll come across and won't produce record breaking match times but it is the simplest and safest tactic to follow. In part one of the guide I mentioned the term "kiting", a situation whereby you string enemies along and have them follow you on a path of your choosing before turning the tables and begin attacking them at a particular location. I completed most of my solo Platinum match by following that game plan and while I was bored stupid, there's no denying that it works and furthermore, it's a tactic that practically anyone can adhere to. When you've decided on a map to play, you pick either a clockwise or counter clockwise route, one that will take you around most of the map and through which ever locations you've designated as your "killzones". Avoid any paths that require you to use ladders and where possible always use ledges as short cuts to quickly get from one level to the next, also if the map allows try and designate killzones so that you have the height advantage over enemies. Once a new waves starts and you've done any spawn nuking, you let the enemy come looking for you (and trust me, they will), some units will reach you quicker than others and so you should use this opportunity to pick off those eager to die first.

Then comes the next bit, it's very important that you don't get over zealous in your killing of these first few enemies and forget to pay attention to what's happening around you. Once you feel that most of the enemies are closing in on your location, it's time to start moving along your path, you'll want to travel fast enough so that the enemies struggle to attack you but not soo fast that you leave them too far behind. If that happens, they may well break from your preferred path and end up splitting into multiple groups, with each taking a separate route, which is the last thing you want. When you reach one of your killzones, you should either jump into cover or use a wall/corner and stand just so your cross hairs are able to target enemies, then when they turn up, you put them down as quickly as possible. In order to try and eat though the wave budgets quickly, you should prioritise the enemy units that cost the most to re-spawn. By using Cyonans spreadsheet (linked above), you can plan accordingly so that you strike a good balance between time and effort to kill vs. their worth. Once you've killed a number of enemy units (your call on who and how many), it's vital that you move on from that location because the enemies that you just killed will now be re-spawing somewhere else on the map and that can very well be somewhere behind you. At this point it's just a case of rinse and repeat, do a lap of the map to make sure all the enemies are following you and then when you feel ready, prepare to carry out an ambush. If you're not confident in taking out top tier bosses quickly, it's probably better if you leave them until last because it's very easy to get caught out by other units, when you're concentrating soo hard on just one (i.e. tunnel vision). In fact for difficulties Silver+, I'd say you'll always be better off killing other units to whittle down the wave budgets, then taking out the top tier boss/es when they're the last unit/s standing, with no other enemies to distract you.

If there's more than one top tier boss present in the wave, you'll want to get them moving alongside each other, for example there's nothing worse than being chased by a Banshee and then having another approaching towards you along the path you're traversing, it'll be (slightly) less stressful if they're both chasing you together from behind XD Something else I think worth mentioning, is that you should pay a lot of attention to your surroundings while you're leading the enemy because running and accidentally getting caught on obstacles can have dire consequences on higher difficulties, especially if you have a sync-kill boss hot on your heels. Like running away from the police, you should try and throw in as many turns as possible and always look where you're going, rather than constantly looking over your shoulder ;) Another thing that you should be aware of is the fact that while all enemies are supposed to obey the set rules, when it comes to re-spawning back into the map, in solo matches they quite often don't and so you can actually have them spawn right next to you and in some cases, even right on top of you. During one of my solo Platinum attempts on Glacier, I saw several enemy units including bosses, spawn literally a couple metres away from me, one of my most frighting experiences was when I had just killed a Phantom that was chasing me into the basement and then I turned around and saw her replacement jump down from the rafters. If I hadn't heard her spawn and turned around to investigate, my next few steps may well have been right into the tip of her blade O_O [there are non-phantom examples in my Plat solo video, if I ever get around to uploading it lol]

- 6B) Objectives Waves

Before you carry on reading this section (if you haven't already), I highly recommend you should check out this other article that I wrote; Essential Tips for Completing Objectives Quickly, in it I discuss some useful tips and tricks that you'll want to take advantage of, in order to get these waves done as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Objective waves are generally the hardest to clear, even when you're playing with a full team, so you can imagine how much more taxing they are when you're trying to do a solo. The thing that makes them tricky to deal with is that one, the objectives you're assigned are completely random and two, the location of their appearance is also out of your control. On top of this, there is no limit on the number of times enemies can spawn while the tasks have yet to be completed and so if you can't buy yourself some time to finish doing whatever, you may find the clock runs out on you. Enemies will cease spawning after the objective/s have been completed, so once this has happened, you can just treat the clean up operation as if it were any other killing wave. Speaking of spawns, even though you won't be nuking/attacking them during objective waves, it's still a good idea to try and control them, just so that if you do have to kite the enemies they're already mostly bunched together. By far the worst objective you can be given on a big map is a Drone Escort, even at max movement speed it's not quick enough to outrun any of the enemies that will undoubtedly be chasing you (btw a cross map escort on wave ten Platinum is the definition of a nightmare). Coming in as a close second is the Object Recovery, again on larger maps this can be nearly impossible to do but on smaller maps, it can actually be one of the quickest to complete, though very risky. Computer Hacking is a good objective to get, if you're using an infiltrator you can just dance around within the circle, staying cloaked to avoid enemy attacks. With another kit you just need to occasionally lead the enemy away from that particular area, if you treat the hack circle as your starting location for a new wave, then just follow the same kiting plan i.e. leading them away on your chosen path. For both of these objectives (if not all of them), it's good practice to have the Cobra Missile launcher in your hands, ready to blast a hole in enemy lines and/or kill a fast approaching sync-kill boss.

The four Dis-Arming terminals can be a blessing or a major annoyance, if the four nodes are spread widely across the map, you can begin by kiting the enemies to the opposite side, then head back to deactivate the first. By the time that one is done, the enemy will probably have caught back up, at which point you rush to the next one and so on for the last two, spaced apart these can be the easiest to complete (even easier with an Infiltrator). On smaller maps, occasionally the nodes can be very close to one another and when enemies don't chase the bait that is you, this can be very problematic and is where Cobra Missiles come into play. On lower difficulties, Target Assassination is the best objective to get, most of the time it won't be a boss and so you should be able to take them out quickly and comfortably. But on higher difficulties they'll usually always be a boss (if not a top tier one), which makes things a lot more difficult because they require more time and effort to kill. Your best hope is to try and get the target switched (as outlined in my other article, that I linked above), if you manage to do it successfully, you probably won't need to use more than one missile and should end up with three other slightly easier targets to deal with. If you were unsuccessful in getting the target switched, you should maybe think about using another missile, this will then leave a decent amount of time to try and kill the last two with your weapons/powers. It goes without saying, that if you're on wave ten and have the missiles to spare, you might as well just nuke all four targets, to get the job done quickly and safely but it's up to you. Sometimes Assassinations can be the riskiest objective to complete, as it's very easy to get blindsided when you're concentrating on taking out top tier bosses, so be careful not to let yourself get flanked by other units or get too close that you end up being sync-killed, either by the target itself or another boss that managed to sneak up on you.

Another thing that makes Assassination objective waves difficult to complete within the time limit, is that if your targets are top tier bosses, the chances are you won't be able to put them down in a single engagement. In fact unless you use a Cobra Missile, it will probably take at least two/three separate skirmishes before you kill your target but of course whenever you stop to shoot, all the other enemy units will be using that time to close in on you. So you do the smart thing and run around the map to buy yourself some breathing space, the problem is when you decide to tackle the target again, they will have likely regenerated some of their shield/barriers, which means you'll need to strip them again. If you can't effectively deal with those first layers of defence, you are going to run out of time, this is why it's important that you pack a weapon that can quickly take them down, which is why I recommended packing either the Reegar or Acolyte (alternatively, some powers/bonus ammo can actually delay the regeneration). If you're not using either of them as your primary, you should switch to it as you approach the boss and land as many shots as is safe to do before the other units catch up. Ideally you'll take down all the shields/barriers in the first encounter and maybe begin working on the health/armour as you begin retreating. The next time you face the target, they may have regenerated some shields/barriers but if you successfully managed to dent their second layer of defence, the amount they'll have should be less than full value. If you follow the same process, defence layer one should be stripped a bit quicker this time round and you'll be able to spend more time chipping away at the second defence layer. Depending on the boss in question, by the the third encounter, you might be able to put them down for good. Something not a lot of people are aware of is that Atlases can regenerate their armour, well technically a Cerberus Engineer repairs it, so if you're attacking the armour defence and see an engineer nearby, you should take them out as a matter of urgency, as their repairs can put the armour value back at full health in seconds.

When completing objectives during solo matches, it's very important that you keep an eye on enemy movements, even though sometimes you won't have a say on where you need to go, you should usually be able to choose your direction of approach. If you're kiting enemies to buy yourself some time in order to complete an objective relatively uninterrupted, you have to learn how to read situations accurately, for example, is the main party of enemies now far enough away and what about that one stupid straggler that refuses to fall in line? The smaller the map you're playing on, the better your prediction has to be, you'll find that most of the time enemies will close in surprisingly fast and success or failure can ultimately hinge on a few split seconds. Don't forget that some enemies don't actually need to be in close proximity to disrupt your progress, grenades can be thrown from a fair distance and will stagger you, even if they don't put you down. Some boss attacks will also knock you off balance, regardless of how far away it originated, so just because an enemy won't physically reach you, you should be aware of their attacking capabilities through line of sight.

One last small thing I want to mention to round off this section is that, if you have to engage enemy units for whatever reason, it's worth trying to soften up the tougher units that might be in the vicinity, which you know that you won't kill in one encounter. The reason for this is that when you've completed the task you were assigned, enemies will be a bit easier to put down and can therefore reduce your match time slightly. If you didn't soften any enemies up, you can always use a Cobra Missile to clean up a large mob (after the credits appear in kill feed) but that's probably only really worth doing on wave 10 and only if you think you can spare one.

- 6C) The Extraction Wave

Strictly speaking Wave 11 is neither a killing wave or an objective wave but it is just as important as any of the waves before it, if not more so because it means you're now two minutes away from the end. In some ways it's probably the easiest wave to complete because all you need to do is survive and make sure you're at the landing zone when the timer hits zero. On difficulties Gold+ I generally don't kill anything during this final wave because it's much easier and safer to just kite enemies around the map, I mean I don't need the XP (at least not for my character) and I'm not competing with anyone for top spot. But that's just me, if you feel you want to earn as much weapon XP as possible, then by all means now is the perfect time to do it. If you're going to kite enemies, I suggest using the same path that you used in previous waves, it should work exactly the same, except there's going to be a load more enemies trying to kill you. Like objective waves, enemies will continually spawn even if they are killed during the extraction wave, so if you're planning to just kite, then you'll want to avoid killing and instead get the units to follow in a tight a group as possible.

Whatever you end up doing, the last 30 seconds or so on the clock are the most crucial, at this point ideally you'll have kited as many of the enemy units to the opposite side of the map and started to slowly make you way back to the LZ. You don't want to head back too early as you'll most likely have enemies hot on your heels and if they reach you at the LZ before your pick up arrives, that can be very problematic. Conversely you don't want to cut it too fine either, you should always account for one unexpected incident on your way back to the LZ or even at the LZ itself, the last thing you want is to fail because you didn't extract, especially when you've already done all the hard work. Things like Atlas Rockets and Geth Prime shots, will stagger the crap out of your character if they connect and can often lead to you getting downed, if you kited carefully they shouldn't have a clean shot but it only takes one lucky hit to knock you for six. If you have any Ops Survival packs left over, be ready to pop one if you feel there's any risk to you getting downed, I've often used packs with one second left on the clock, I'd much rather be overly cautious than take a risk. Finally I always like to keep at least one Cobra Missile saved for Wave 11 and have the launcher in my hands as I kite the enemies around the map, just in case I need to clear a blockade or do an emergency LZ clearance. You don't get any bonuses for having left over consumables after completing matches, so if you've got spares and need to use them, for heavens sake don't be tight.


7) Other Minor Topics

7A) Recommended Reading

I've probably thrown a lot at you in this guide and so because I'm thoughtful ;) I'm going to re-list all the articles that I mentioned for you to check out (including a few I haven't yet suggested), some are my own and others are from different authors. You might be groaning at the idea of some extra reading but in my humble opinion, knowledge truly is power and when it comes to solo matches, you'll want every bit you can lay your mitts on.

My Other ME3 MP Related Articles:-

> A Beginners Guide To Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer [Part 1 of 2]

As I said at the start there's lots of information in that article, which a lot of players are not immediately aware of when they start playing ME3 MP and possibly still don't know to this day.

> Essential Tips On How To Quickly Complete Objectives In Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

Not enough people know about some of the tricks I've listed, so even if you don't end up needing them for your solo match, they'll still be useful for your public games.

> When To Change Difficulty On ME3 MP and What To Expect When You Do

A question I see asked quite a bit on the ME3 MP forum, so I decided to write an article on the subject and discuss some of the biggest changes you'll be facing.

> My Review of Narida's Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Kit Builder

If you don't already know about this amazing resource, you should definitely check out this article, absolutely everyone who ever touches ME3 MP should know about this site.


Links To Other Articles That I Found Useful:-

> Enemy Health Values by BSN member Cyonan

While it's difficult to accurately calculate the exact damage your weapon and powers will do when used upon enemies, this gives you some idea of how much enemies can take before going down.

> Enemy Spawn Logic and Wave Compositions by BSN member Cyonan

Quite possibly the most useful article I read before doing my Platinum solo, knowing what waves certain enemies would spawn in, was almost invaluable to me.

> Enemy Aggro Mechanic by BSN member Cyonan

A very illuminating read, probably more useful for public matches rather that your solo but still worth checking out. Ever accused the AI of cheating? Heads up, they actually do!

> Weapon Damage Table By BSN member Cyonan [Very detailed stats]

If you're interested in some very detailed weapon statistics, this is the place to visit, from damage per shot to rate of fire, it's all there.

7B) Write Down Your Game Plan

In order to make things a bit easier for you when you attempt a solo match I think it's a very good idea to just make a check list i.e. on a piece of paper, which will summarise your game plan and highlight actions that you might forget to do during the heat of battle. Again because I'm such a considerate individual :P I'll give you a general list to follow, you may or may not need to make your own adjustments.

• Picked a map you know very well including enemy spawns and potential objective appearances
• Decided if you're going Left or Right, that is to say, Clockwise or Anti-Clockwise around the map
• Got a kiting route that takes you pass the majority of ammo boxes and allow safe/quick pick up
• Identified your preferred enemy spawn locations for any start of wave nuking
• Decided on where your kill zones are going to be and subsequent fall-back locations
• Are there tricky spots on the map, which you will need to take extra care when traversing?
• Do you know which enemies you're going to target during each wave, for quicker budget depletion?
• Do you know on which waves, your most troublesome enemy units will start spawning in?
• Where will you stand at the start of waves, to manipulate spawns to your advantage?
• Do you have a preferred path for each objective and at least one back up, in case it's a no go?
• Does your map have more than one LZ? If so, do you have a kiting plan for each?

7C) Pre-Match Preparations and Warm Up

As well as being prepared for what you may encounter in the game itself, it's important that there won't be any real life complications that may scupper your chances of victory. Most people will tell you that their first solo attempts, in particular those on Gold+ lasted for at least an hour and it's actually not uncommon for that time to be a conservative average. A lot can happen in an hour, so if you don't think you've got time to play a whole match uninterrupted, you'll be better off waiting until you do have a solid space of free time. There is no pausing once the game has started, so make sure you've taken a bathroom break, not started cooking something on the stove, perhaps have some snacks and a drink on hand in case you do get peckish and maybe even have some music to listen to. Like I said at the start of this guide, while solo attempts can be very challenging during objective waves and on smaller maps, for the majority of the match it'll be very repetitive and thus can get quite boring.

Something else I think that's worth doing before starting a solo match, especially if it'll be your first ever attempt, is to have a warm up session. Do a couple public matches of your chosen difficulty, to put you in the right frame of mind and then maybe even do a mini dummy run, whereby you start up the solo match with only bonus equipment selected and try to clear the first three waves. This will gear you up nicely for your proper attempt and the idea is that you experience the game at it's hardest before making it slightly easier by applying all the gear and equipment. It also gives you the opportunity to make any last minute changes to weapon loadouts and their mods i.e. you may find that the things you equipped weren't as good as you thought they would be or that you need to swap around certain gear to be more complimentary to the kit. The last thing you need to do before hitting the "ready" button is to make sure you've got a good supply of all your in game consumables, you don't want to accidentally start a match and find that you're all out of Cobra Missiles and only have one Medi-Gel.

7D) Two Birds, One Stone [Bird = Challenges, Stone = Match]

These days if I end up doing a solo, it's because I've either failed to get any other players after starting a match by myself or I have some challenges that I wish to complete unhindered. For a lot of my non-Platinum solos, it was common practice for me to try and knock off some of the challenges at the same time. For example I'd often take my time and melee all non-boss units to death, then when the sync-kill bosses started spawning in, I'd end up using one of the weapons I needed points for. I wouldn't recommend doing this for your first ever solo but if you feel confident enough, it's a good plan for getting the most out of your solo matches. I should tell you that doing these extra things will more than likely extend your game time, so if you just want to get the solos done as quickly as possible, I wouldn't bother.

8) Suggestions for Character Kits

- 8A) Kits Anyone Can Use

In this section I'm going to be recommending a few character kits that I think most players should be able to use quite efficiently, just in case you need a few ideas.

I completed my first Bronze and Silver solo match using the Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard and it was surprisingly pretty easy, I don't think I even used any consumable equipment in my loadout. With Barrier active, he's one of the tankiest characters you can play as and if you use Biotic Charge to regenerate your shields, you should technically never die from anything other than a sync kill, which makes him perfect for taking on the Geth (but Cerberus can be pretty easy too). I haven't tested him out on a Platinum solo but if Gold difficulty is anything to go by, playing it safe i.e. not recklessly rushing sync kill bosses, should also yield good results. I have my kit specced for bonus weapon damage after a successful BC and by using that as part of an attack, can allow you to destroy enemies with some weapons, the Reegar and Cerberus Harrier spring to mind.

Another good kit for taking on the Geth is the Salarian Infiltrator, Energy Drain is a great offensive power in that it can strip away enemy shields and barriers, allowing you to immediately work on the second defence layer (of most non-bosses). Not only does ED make killing enemies a bit easier, it also restores your shields in the process, so it can actually be just as useful for keeping you alive. I think using him against the Geth is better than other factions because all of their units are heavily affected when hit with ED and even using it on non-shielded units will result in your shield being restored, something that wouldn't happen when playing against organic factions. Definitely my preferred sniping character when I'm going up against the Geth, with ED specced fully for damage and used under Tactical Cloak, I can then one-hit-kill any unit bar the Primes.

If you're thinking of taking on the Reapers, one of my favourite characters to use against them is the Vorcha Sentinel, while he doesn't have much in the way of shields, his health values are a bit higher than the average kit. This really shines when you max out his Bloodlust ability for health regeneration and then go on a killing spree, you'll find that it takes a lot of enemy fire to put you down and so like the KV, if you play it smart you shouldn't ever die from normal attacks. Flamer is incredibly effective against armour and can hit multiple enemies at the same time, which is perfect for those situations where Brutes and Ravagers are tripping over each other in tight corridors. On top of this you also have Cluster Grenades on hand, used in conjunction with Flamer you can set off fire explosions all match long, which is again great for dealing with large crowds of enemies.

Another kit that also has access to Flamer and is just as lethal to the Reaper faction, if not more so, is the Geth Trooper. If you max out all the health/shield evolutions and have Fortification specced for damage reduction, without Hunter Mode active you've got yourself a very sturdy character. With Hunter Mode on you do lose some shields but you can gain further damage bonuses for Flamer and even increase your weapon/s killing potential. At the same time you can even see enemies through walls and move a bit fast, this gives you a massive edge when carrying out attacks on smaller maps. The only downside is the low amount of health the character has, despite having a high shield value to compensate, I'm not sure if everyone would be able to work with that.

The Turian Ghost Infiltrator is one of the best kits in the game, his tactical cloak bonuses can make a decent assault rifle truly lethal and when you've got Overload on hand to take out shields, you can very quickly clean house. Add to this the fact that he's pretty mobile and can regenerate shields using his Stim packs, means you've got a good all round survivor, an excellent choice regardless of the faction. Similar to the TGI but for shotguns instead of assault rifles, you've got the Alliance Infiltration Unit (AIU), she's got good mobility and has access to Repair Matrix, which can restore shields and auto-revive you if you get downed. Using her Snap Freeze ability she can also damage and de-buff multiple enemies in any one use, though it's a max of three targets per spray (big or small), a great kit for those smaller CQC maps nonetheless.

The Asari Justicar is one of the better Adept character kits because her powers are dual purpose, that is to say when you're attacking enemies with them, they also help you keep you alive. Reave is a great priming power for Biotic Explosions because you can hit multiple targets in any single cast and it's an instant effect power i.e. it can't be avoided. Additionally while it's active on enemies, your character gains a damage reduction from all incoming enemy fire, which is very handy when you're running from cover to cover on the bigger maps. Whether you're being offensive or holding down a location, Dark Sphere is a really useful power to have at your disposal, even at default values the sphere offers bonus damage reduction when you're inside it's radius and any enemies that wander inside will take extra damage from all sources.


- 8B) High Risk, High Reward Kits

The following kits are capable of high damage output but might not be a viable choice for all players because they're either a bit squishy or require a bit of nous to handle very effectively in solo matches.

Biotic kits are generally considered squishy and to some extent that holds true but at the same time, they can dish out the most damage per second out of any of the power based kits because Biotic Explosions are the most lethal of the power combos. The perfect example of this statement is the N7 Fury, easily one of my favourite kits on multiplayer, she's highly mobile and when it comes to detonating Biotic Explosions all match long, I can't think of anyone who can do it more efficiently via Annihilation Field and Throw. Additionally Dark Channel is a perfect "fire and forget" power, I like to hit bosses with it and then go off to deal with other enemies (namely basic troops) or vice versa and make use of it's auto jump feature to kill cannon fodder groups. But she is of course no tank, rushing enemies head on in the open will result in you getting downed, so you need to play it smart and use the map terrain to your advantage. If done successfully, you can destroy entire crowds of enemies with Annihilation Field primed BEs and escape through a wall before their back up has a chance to retaliate.

The Asari Huntress Infiltrator (AHI) and Asari Valkyrie Sentinel are two other Biotic kits, which can generate decent damage with their powers but again aren't exactly the tankiest kits you could play as. While the N7 Fury can teleport through walls to avoid conflict, the Asari Huntress can use Tactical Cloak to evade foes and the Asari Valkyrie has Tech Armour to buy her that bit of extra time, in order to make it somewhere safe. When it comes to attacking enemies both these kits have access to powers that can make your life that little bit easier, Dark Channel on the Asari Huntress really benefits from the damage boost when you use Tactical Cloak. Like the N7 Fury, the Asari Valkyrie has Annihilation Field, which can leech shield values from enemy units to replace your own, while also doing damage to them in the process. Both kits also have access to Warp, the most obvious benefit of it is that you can detonate a Biotic Explosion when used in conjunction with one of the other powers but the other thing that makes it even better, is the de-buff evolution via "Expose". If you've packed a decent weapon, you can drop most enemies very quickly after initially damaging them with a BE.

The Geth Infiltrator is another kit that can generate huge amounts of damage via Tactical Cloak and Hunter Mode but in order to do so, has to sacrifice some durability (i.e. reduced shield value). You might've seen some public players absolutely smash the scoreboard with this guy but I bet you've also seen some horrific performances, I know I have. Definitely not a kit for beginners but if you think you've got the skills, he's a great choice for those smaller CQC maps, a slightly more lethal but riskier alternative to the Alliance Infiltration Unit. Between the damage boost of TC, enhanced weapon performance in HM and Proximity Mine specced for de-buff, you can kill bosses very quickly when using a high DPS weapon. The downside is of course, if you get caught short by enemies, they'll put you down even faster and the additional graphics to your HUD when using HM, is really straining on the eyes, something that definitely matters when you're potentially playing in an hour long match.

The N7 Shadow is a very unique kit and like the GI, you've probably witnessed some great performances as well as some awful ones. There are two ways that she can be played and in my experience this depends on how much time the person has spent on multiplayer, the first thing most people do when they unlock her is to spec fully into Electric Slash and spam the crap out of it under Tactical Cloak. Despite certain people who like to think of it as a noob tactic, it's actually pretty effective (though very annoying to fellow players), I mean you can hit up to three enemies in any single use (even those behind walls) and it does a lot of damage. The second tactic is to use Shadow Strike on almost everything, done correctly you can work your way around the map effortlessly one-hit-killing everything you target. The problem is she's as squishy as they come and so if you make a mistake during an attack, you'll struggle to recover, especially during a solo match. Not recommended for Platinum because they're are too many boss units that she can't kill in one strike and who are very likely to take her out with a sync-kill.

9) Summary

The first thing that you'll need to adjust to when playing solo matches is that you're all alone, there's no other players to lend a helping hand during those tougher fire fights and no-one to pick you up during a hectic objective wave. While it may seem daunting at first having to tackle an entire match single handedly, you'll soon grow an appreciation for being the only dependent in the game, even though it does mean you're the only target for the enemy forces to shoot at XD For starters there are no noobs that will need repeated rescuing from dire situations or muppets that mess up the spawn locations you were planning to nuke (for everyones benefit), also you can complete objectives how you like and won't have to worry about some tw*t leaving the area and slowing down the entire process of upload/escorts or some numpty drawing enemies towards you during dis-arms/recoveries.

Remember that one of the key factors when it comes to selecting character kits is survivability, some form of self regeneration (whether it's health or shields) or damage reduction is ideal, heck if you pick a kit with access to both that's even better. While some people might say that picking weapons should be all about the DPS, I think it's equally important to choose something that you know can work well with, it might sound a bit ironic for me to say "make your own decision" when I listed some recommendations earlier but that's exactly what they are, my own personal suggestions, yes they do work for me but only you can say if they'll be suitable for your needs. Finally don't forget that spamming grenades can often be just as effective as a high DPS weapon and in some cases actually better because they can hit entire crowds.

When it comes to tackling the killing waves, it's best if you stick to the plan you outlined for yourself, as deviating from it can make things unnecessarily complicated and on higher difficulties, it only takes one iffy encounter for it to all end in tears. As I've already said, it's much harder to plan for the objective waves but if you give some thought to what you'll do when X scenario pops up or when Y might throw a spanner in the works, it better than nothing to have a back up plan, rather than just standing there panicking. Having said all this, thorough planning will only get you so far, like in John Steinbecks 'Of Mice and Men', even the best plans can go awry. Not read it? Well, maybe you'll remember something Michael Schofield said in Prison Break S01 "Preparation will only take you so far. After that you gotta take a few leaps of faith". Have a plan in place but be prepared to think on your feet, if the situation dictates.

Trust me I know first hand what a momentarily lapse in judgement can lead to, before I successfully completed my Platinum solo there were two separate incidents in the matches prior (on the same map) that still stick out as clear as day in my mind. I won't bore you with the details but in both cases basically my chosen patch was blocked and so I decided to cut through the centre and on the other occasion back track the way I came. I knew it was a stupid thing to do but at the time I felt I had no other options, in the end I paid the ultimate price, in the first match I was sync-killed on wave nine and then later it was on wave ten after successfully completing the objective :'( So as you can see, it really can all come down to "left or right" but if you've planned ahead, you shouldn't have to think about it when it comes up.

It should go without saying that you'll want to do at least one of each of the previous difficulty before moving onto the next one, even if you can handle public matches no problem, there's no sense in diving in at the deep end. In any case, even if you managed to successfully complete both Gold matches as your first solos, you'll still need to do at least 3 more Silver and 5 more Bronzes before you get the 'Lone Wolf' banner, so you might as well start off easy. If you're not following what I said just then, basically like all the other challenges, completion progress stacks, so for 'Solo Mastery' completing a Gold match will also add a completed match for Silver and Bronze. Therefore if you want to try and get the banner as quickly as possible, it's best to do 5 Bronze, then 3 Silver and finally the 2 Gold matches.

Finally, it's key that you remain calm and patient when playing, sometimes things won't go your way or you unnecessarily use up a Medi-Gel by making a silly mistake. These things can and probably will happen but if you keep a cool head and continue to play a bit more cautiously than you would for a public game, you should be OK. You might need a tiny bit of luck on the objective waves but for the rest of the match, you just need to keep your wits about you and follow your game plan. You will have to kill a lot more enemies when playing alone but at the end of the day, those enemies are no different than the ones you face in public games, so it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment.

(Tiny bit of) Good Luck and do let me know how you get on :)

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