When a player begins the Mass Effect trilogy for the first time, they will be presented with a dazzling variety of options to customize their character, Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. Fiddling with Shepard's first name and physical appearance can be a lot of fun, but it is vital that the player also chooses a class they are comfortable using.
The class you choose is a massive indicator of the experience you'll have. After all, the Mass Effect games aren't just sci-fi shooters, like Halo. These games also have heavy role-playing game elements to them, especially the first Mass Effect. For new players, two classes stand out as the best ones to start with: Soldier and Vanguard.
Soldier Is A Familiar Class For Many Gamers
While there isn't necessarily a "best" class in the Mass Effect games, it could be said that the Soldier class is the default Commander Shepard experience, especially since many gameplay trailers, clips and lore depict Shepard as a soldier. This is the most straightforward package, where Shepard uses tried-and-true rifles and military discipline to win the day, no fancy biotics or tech needed. Newcomers to Mass Effect can intuitively grasp the Soldier class with ease, making the transition from other games to Mass Effect with ease. This may be especially helpful if the player chose a rather high difficulty, where there is no room for error.
The Soldier class emphasizes physical abilities, and such Shepards can wear medium armor right away, while Mass Effect's five other classes must first unlock it. Soldiers are also the only class that can unlock heavy armor, something that allows a rookie player to tank a lot of damage, which is incredibly useful when getting acclimated to Mass Effect's complex combat system. Soldiers also use assault rifles and other weapons, making this class of Shepard feel closely analogous to other shooter heroes, such as Master Chief. These weapons are easy for any gamer to pick up and figure out as they function exactly how you would expect them to. Soldier Shepards can use other weapons, too, making them rather flexible. The Overkill ability is also a great choice for Soldiers, allowing them to rapidly lay down heavy fire without having to worry about overheating their weapons. This enables "rock and roll" fighting styles where a sheer quantity of bullets is necessary to win the day, and more than a few gamers can appreciate that.
Smash The Opposition With The Vanguard Class
Vanguard is one of the three hybrid classes, combining Soldiers with Biotics to create a damage-dealing biotic trooper. Such characters are even more fun in Mass Effect 2, where they can perform a high-speed charge to ram into enemies, but they are just as effective in the first game. Vanguards use pistols and shotguns, providing a practical balance of ranged and precise firepower vs short-range and brute-force firepower. Vanguards also have access to all kinds of biotic abilities, such as being able to quickly slow down and control enemies. For rookie players, this can buy them time to take cover, heal or rethink their strategies in the middle of a firefight. Vanguards are quite adept at giving the squad some breathing room in battle.
For some of Mass Effect's best instances of crowd control, Vanguards can train to use the Singularity skill, which will form a small black hole and draw nearby enemies into it, rendering them helpless. Vanguards will also have early access to the basic but effective Throw, which can hurl an enemy away with biotic powers, similar to a Force push. That, too, buys the Vanguard player some time and prevents that enemy from attacking or using abilities, or even move a melee-heavy foe out of melee range. While Vanguards cannot tank enemy shots with heavy armor the way Soldiers can, Vanguards can use the Barrier ability to quickly add a thick layer of biotic protection onto themselves, allowing players who have lost track of the battlefield to survive enough gunfire to reposition themselves.
If a Vanguard player completes the game and moves on to Mass Effect 2, Shepard can use that biotic Charge ability to ram an enemy and recharge their personal shields which, in the hands of a thoughtful player, can double as an escape button in case the enemy is about to overwhelm them. This means choosing Vanguard in the first Mass Effect game can set players up for an outstanding (and life-saving) ability in Shepard's future adventures.