The highly successful Mass Effect 2 comes with a bunch more characters than the original game, increasing the complexity of the RPG and making it difficult for the gamer to know which characters are the best in specific situations. This Mass Effect 2 characters guide for the squad members will analyze all your allies and give you advice on how to play.

Garrus Vakarian
Garrus is a turian with high military training – a dark character with great powers and highly useful since he’s available early in the game. Garrus’ loyalty powers are Concussive Shot, Overload, and Armor Piercing Ammo. He is of the Turian Rebel class and at rank 4 he can become a Renegade or Survivor, gaining extra stats (including +25.00% Weapon damage or +20.00% Health). Since Garrus can use both Sniper and regular Assault rifles, he’s one of the best choices in the game, being suited for both mid-ranged and high-ranged combat. A great companion!

Grunt
This “charming” character is a genetically engineered krogan super soldier with an immense desire for violence. His loyalty powers are Concussive Shot, Incendiary Ammo, and Fortification while his class is Krogan Berserker, meaning that on Rank 4 he can become a Pureblood (+50% health, 55 health points per second regen) or warlord (+25% weapon damage). Even though Grunt is useless in hihgh-ranged combat situation, he is lethal when it comes to short range combat – so he’s best to be used on the Normandy.

Jack
Known as Subject Zero, the character has the powers Shockwave and Pull, plus Warp Ammo when she’s loyal. On rank 4, she can either become a Primal Adept (pushing her biotic abilities to the limit, greatly reducing recharge times of her powers) or a Primal Vanguard (focusing her ruthless energy into combat, heightening her weapon damage). Except for the romance scene and the fact that she can recharge Warp Ammo at rank 4, Jack isn’t one of the best characters in Mass Effect 2 and I found her weak and not useful.

Jacob Taylor
Similar to Shepard, Jacob is a skilled fighter that has the Pull and Incendiary Ammo powers, plus the loyal bonus of Barrier. In-game he’s just a mediocre character, even if at rank 4 he can become Cerberus Veteran (extra health and 18% more weapon damage) or Cerberus Specialist (25% extra weapon damage). Personally, I consider him even less useful than Jack is and I don’t recommend using him!

Legion
Probably the most surprising follower, Legion is a great character with powers like AI Hacking and Combat Drone plus the loyal power of Geth Shield Boost. Also, at rank 4 he can become a Geth Assassin (better weapon usage) or Geth Trooper (better health and weapon damage). Legion is extremely powerful against synthetics and I found it working great together with Grunt and Tali! A really useful squad member!

Miranda Lawson
Probably the male’s favorite character, Miss Miranda can prove to be very helpful throughout the game, even though she won’t excel in any ability. Miranda has the Overload and Warp powers, plus the Slam loyalty power and she can either become a rank 4 Cerberus Leader (Extra 20% health, 25% weapon damage, 7.50% squad health and 15% squad weapon damage) or Cerberus Tactician with similar stats, but greater focus on squad health. A really useful companion that will certainly follow you around to the end thanks to her squad bonuses.

Mordin Solus
A Salarian Scientist, Mordin is skilled in Incinerate and Cryo Blast with the Neural Shock loyalty power. At rank 4 he can become a Salarian Genius (plus 25% health, 18% damage, 25% shields) or Salarian Savant with more weapon damage. Even though he’s not great in combat, he can prove helpful in certain situations since his powers help him freeze some opponents.

Morinth
A biotic character you don’t want to get too close to (since she suffers from a disorder that makes her kill her mating partners), Morinth has some really cool powers like Throw, Pull and the “loyal” Dominate. She can become a Endua Yakshi (increased health and damage, less recharge time for the powers) or a Malian Yakshi (extra health and weapon damage). She can replace Samara in a certain situation – but I won’t spoil too much on this topic!

Samara
Similar to her daughter (Morinth), Samara is a really useful biotic squad member with powers like Throw, Pull and Reave. She can become a Sapiens Justicar (extra health, decreased recharge) or Caedo Justicar (extra health and weapon damage). Thanks to her biotic powers, she’s extremely useful throughout the game, better than Jack at least!

Tali’Zorah nar Rayya
Or Tali, as we all know her as, she is a tech specialist with powers like Combat Drone, AI Hacking and Energy Drain when loyal. She can become a Quarian Engineer with higher power duration or Quarian Mechanic with a mix of health, weapon and power duration bonuses. As I said before when presenting Legion, she is a must have against synthetics!

Thane
The most skilled drell assassin in the galaxy, Thane has the powers Throw, Warp and the loyal power Shredder Ammo. Again a highly useful character to have around in Mass Effect 2, Thane can become a lethal Drell Marksman (50% extra weapon damage and 15% extra health) or Drell Veteran (20% health, 37.50% weapon damage). He’s a great companion, but you should make sure that he avoids direct combat at all costs!

Zaeed
Mercenary and bounty hunter, Zaeed is a character very similar to Thane. He’s got two nice powers: Concussive Shot and Disruptor Ammo plus Inferno Grenade. His bonuses are similar to those Thane gets, but he’s better used in close combat situations. Not the best character of Mass Effect 2, though.

Now that the list is over, let us know which is your favorite Mass Effect 2 squad member and why!