Mass Effect 3 : Batarian Tracker (Engineer Class)

Batarian Tracker

  Once again I challenged myself to design a character that would blend into the cooperative multiplayer experience of Mass Effect. This is what I would come up with if I was asked by Bioware to "Come up with a new character for multiplayer". ​
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Disclaimer: I do not work for Bioware and this blog post will be very confusing to anyone who is not familiar with the lore or multiplayer of Mass Effect 3.

   So as a fan and active player of Mass Effect 3's awesome multiplayer I decided to take a swing at designing my very own character for the game. I wanted to design a character specifically for the Engineer class. Since creating a soldier, sentinel,adept or vanguard class would be pretty easy for me (Since I play those classes quite often) I decided to create an engineer to give myself a bit of a challenge.

   I know a lot of people out there are not fans of the Batarian race but I am. I love the Bro-tarians! The Batarians are a very mysterious and interesting race in the Mass Effect universe. I believe most people don't care for them because often times the Batarians the player meets in the campaign are criminals and we are never allowed to have a Batarian squad mate to connect with. I wanted to make a Batarian with a hint of a criminal past but since he is a playable character to fight the Reapers the player can identify that the character is a good guy.

   The character I came up with is the "Batarian Tracker". He is an engineer that specializing in distracting his enemies, slowing them down and overall debuffing them. I was trying to design a class that would fit in with the other engineers in the game but would still have it's own unique flavor and play style.

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Batarian Tracker - Engineer

A quick sketch of the Batarian Tracker and his Varren. They both look really happy.

Bio:

   The Batarian Tracker is a mercenary that works for anyone that can afford him. Blue Suns, Eclipse, Slaver Gangs are just a few organizations that have come to these Trackers for aid. Batarian trackers use nets, harpoons and enforcement gauntlets to catch their prey dead or alive.

   Batarian trackers are known for using Varren when tracking and hunting to flush out their prey. Their loyal beasts are trained to be highly aggressive and with their durable claws and teeth they can tear apart even the most heavily armored foe. The Tracker's role on the battlefield is to distract enemies, set up tech combos and halt their advance. Decimating the enemy and breaking their spirit.

Armament

- Electroshock gauntlet stuns enemies and is effective against shields.

- Lighter armor allows for slightly more movement speed and mobility.

- Skilled with a wide array of weapons.

Stats
Shields : 1250 (Max) / 700 (min)
Health : 1450 (Max) / 650 (min)
Class : Batarian Tracker
Fitness :  Mercenary of Khar'shan
Ability 1 :  Submission Net
Ability 2 : Varren Tamer
Ability 3 :  Neural Shock
Melee : Standard Melee
Heavy Melee : Electroshock Gauntlet
Evade :  Side Step

Abilities

Submission Net – Ensnares enemies and electrocutes them. Weakens armored enemies and traps unarmored ones.

Varren Tamer - Summon Varren to the battlefield to shred enemy units to pieces.

Neural Shock - An attack that paralyzes organic targets and slows armored targets. To a lesser extent disrupts synthetic targets.

Ability Evolution Tree

Submission Net – Unchanged

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Varren Tamer

Rank 1: Varren Tamer

Summon a Varren that will charge into battle and attack enemies until it is defeated in combat. *Note: You can not summon more Varren until they have been defeated in battle.

Recharge Speed : 9 Seconds

Varren Damage: 200

Varren Health: 450

Rank 2: Health and Damage Boost

Increase the health and damage of your Varren.

Varren Damage: 325

Varren Health: 600

Rank 3: Recharge Speed

Increase recharge speed.

Recharge speed : 5 seconds

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Rank 4A: Two Varren and Health

The player now summons two Varren to the battlefield. And slighly increase their health and damage


Health: 900

Damage: 550

Rank 4B: Purebred Varren Champion

Your Varren is a purebred killing machine, descended from the strongest and most ferocious Varren ever to be bred.

Health: 1200

Damage: 820

Movement speed: 10%

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Rank 5A: Shock Collar

Equips your varren with a shock collar that stuns nearby enemies and damages shields and barriers. The stuns sets up tech detonations.

Shock Collar Damage: 200

Rank 5B: Venom Fang

Your Varren now has a toxic bite that poisons organic targets.


Damage over time: 210pts over a 3 second period

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Rank 6A: Aggression

Your Varren are more aggressive. They attack weakened targets and rip them to shreds.

Movement speed: 20%

Rank 6B: Fearsome Fangs

Your Varren's fangs have been upgrade to do more damage toward armor and synthetics.

Armor damage: 25%

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Neural Shock

Rank 1: Neural Shock

Paralyzes organic, unshielded targets for a short period of time and causes nervous system damage. Slows armored targets.

Recharge time: 8 seconds

Duration: 5 seconds

Damage: 200

Speed reduction:10%

Rank 2: Recharge Speed

Recharge speed is reduced.

Recharge Speed : 6 seconds

Rank 3: Damage

Increase the amount of damage neural shock causes to a targets nervous system.

Damage: 240

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Rank 4A: Neural Storm

Increase impact radius by 4 meters. Hitting multiple targets.

Rank 4B: Damage and Stun

Increase damage and stun duration.

Damage: 310

Duration: 8.5 seconds

Speed reduction : 10%

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Rank 5A: Exposed

Enemies that are hit by Neural shock now take 15% more damage from weapons and tech powers. Armored targets have their speed reduced by an additional 10%

Exposure duration: 5 seconds

Rank 5B: Recharge Speed

Recharge speed is greatly reduced.

Recharge: 3.45 seconds

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Rank 6A: Neural Crush

Can bypass shields and barriers dealing direct damage to an enemies health bar, paralyzing them. If it is an armored unit this will greatly reduce their speed.

Duration: 10 seconds

Speed reduction: 10%

Rank 6B: Accuracy Crush

Afflicted targets are neurologically damaged. Their accuracy is greatly afflicted.

Accuracy reduction: 30%

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Strategy

   Unlike the other Batarian characters this one can actually side step and is a bit more mobile. His shields and health are good but they are not as high as his Vanguard or Soldier counterparts. The Batarian Tracker is a versatile character more than capable as a long range character equipped with a light sniper rifle, mid range with an assault rifle or close range with a shotgun.

   The player can choose to utilize their Submission Net and Neural Shock powers to hold targets captive so they can line up an easy head shot or to make enemies easy prey for their Varren. With well balanced abilities players can set up and detonate Tech Explosions all on their own. One simple way would be to send in their Varren (with the shock collar upgrade) to attack an enemy. Once the enemy is being stunned the player can hit them with a Neural Shock that will detonate a tech explosion. If the enemy is still alive he will still be stunned by the Neural Shock leaving him a sitting duck for the Varren.

Varren.

   The Attack Varren ability is very usefull in almost all scenarios. The Varren can easily tear unarmored, unshielded enemies apart. Enemies such as Husks, Cerberus/Geth/Collector Troopers are easily torn to pieces by the Varren's ferocious claws and jaws.

   Varren act just like the combat drones but they are much more aware of their surroundings. They will actively pursue enemies, seeking out the weakest and most vulnerable targets. When there are no enemies in the vicinity it will return to the player's side until enemies reappear.

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    When upgraded to have the shock collar they can weaken enemy shielding. Varren are not as effective against armored or synthetic targets but they can still inflict damage as well as create a distraction. It is not recommended to send them out against such enemies as Atlases, Turrets, Praetorians because they will meet a quick end. Varren can however distract those enemies long enough to allow for the player to escape or land a critical hit. 

   The player's Neural Shock ability is very useful and can be utilized in a few ways. The most useful would be to stun an groups of enemies to keep them from advancing. If the enemy is armored they won't be stunned but they will be slowed down, buying you and your team time. With the Exposed upgrade heavy units can be severely weakened for a short amount of time.

   Neural Shocks can be upgraded to add an Accuracy Crush. When an enemy is afflicted with the accuracy crush their aim with their weapon is greatly reduced. This can make very accurate enemies such as Marauders and Phantoms look like stormtroopers.

  When used in combination with Submission Net or the Electroshock Gauntlet (Heavy Melee) the player can easily set up and detonate Tech Explosions. Stunning and gunning is a viable strategy. Stun an opponent and blast them with your shotgun to finish them off.

   Overall the Batarian Tracker is a well rounded character that works well as part of a team or even as a solitary unit.

An enemy being stunned by Neural Shock.

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On the Hunt

   Overall the Batarian Tracker Engineer is a versatile character that I believe would be a great addition to the Mass Effect multiplayer experience and universe. His skill set allows for players to equip a variety of weapons and to play a support or attack role on the team.

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100
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