Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has arrived, returning players to BioWare's legendary sci-fi RPG trilogy. As a class-based squad RPG, each of the three games within Mass Effect: Legendary Edition begins with the player choosing a class. These classes are evenly divided between Combat, Tech, and Biotic abilities. While Combat is a little more straightforward, the other two offer all kinds of interesting powers. But which is more powerful?
Obviously, before we can start comparing Tech and Biotics in Mass Effect we need to define what those terms mean. We want to stay focused on the powers used by individuals, so Tech in this case doesn't refer to technology in general. Comparing Biotics to faster-than-light space travel, orbital bombardment, and hyper-intelligent AI would result in a quick win for Tech. Tech in this case refers to personal weapon technology/gadgets that can be used in battle by a single soldier or operative, keeping it comparable to the personal powers of a Biotic.
What Are Biotics in Mass Effect?
Unlike Tech, which is fairly self-explanatory, Biotics are something that needs to be defined. Biotic-users in the Mass Effect universe are individuals who are born with nodules of Element Zero in their bodies, allowing them to create Mass Effect Fields. While natural Biotic powers are normally very weak, or don't manifest at all, the use of a surgically-implanted Bio-Amp allows an individual to greatly boost their abilities.
Humans began gaining Biotic abilities after unborn children were accidentally exposed to Element Zero during humanity's first experiments with using the particle for FTL travel. However, the most Biotically powerful race in the Mass Effect universe are the Asari, who are all born Biotics. The two most powerful Biotic squad members in Mass Effect are certainly the Asari Justicar Samara and the human criminal Jack.
How Powerful Are Biotics In Mass Effect?
Jack and Samara are both recruited to Shepard's crew in Mass Effect 2, and are chosen because their Biotic powers rival any in the galaxy. Judging the two characters on the displays of power they perform throughout the games, it's clear that while Jack has more raw power, Samara has the greater control. Evidence of this is Samara's ability to fly using her Biotic abilities, maintaining a perfectly-controlled field around herself. She's not lacking in raw power however, as cutscenes show her stopping a skycar in mid-flight with her powers. This indicates that Samara's powers possess a greater force than a vehicle with a top speed of 650km/h, according to an in-game car enthusiast.
While Jack doesn't have Samara's centuries of training and experience to call upon, she is undoubtedly one of the most powerful Biotics ever born, and by the end of Mass Effect 3 acquires an experimental L5-X implant that further boosts her abilities. In multiple scenes Jack proves herself capable of ripping through mini-boss security bots and ATLAS mechs in a few seconds. She also demonstrates the ability to blast entire rooms of enemies off their feet, and throw an enemy hard enough to crack the glass in a space station window.
Jack and Samara are the only two Biotic squad members on the Normandy who are capable of maintaining a perfect Biotic barrier throughout the Seeker Swarm section of the final mission. After safely escorting the rest of the team through, they both end with a display of raw power that blasts the swarms back. Picking any other Biotic for this assignment results in at least one other squadmate dying as their strength fails. Given that the other Biotics on Shepard's team are all experts in their own right, this only helps prove that Jack and Samara represent the best of the best.
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How Powerful is Tech in Mass Effect?
The Tech powers in Mass Effect take many forms, and can vary heavily depending on the race behind them. Just as Biotics need Bio-Amps to function, Tech abilities require the use of an Omni-tool. Omni-tools are normally wrist-mounted, and contain a micro-computer, sensor analysis pack, and mini-facturing fabricator. Using this fabricator, an Omni-tool user can create everything from grenade-like items, to gadgets, to melee weapons. The computer can also be used to hack in real-time, breaking through enemy systems and causing havoc with synthetics.
As they're not heavily based on personal ability, Tech powers in Mass Effect remain consistently effective across characters. This means that there isn't really one character who is much better with Tech than the rest, though Legion, EDI, and Tali display the most proficiency in cutscenes.
When fully upgraded, abilities like Incinerate, Cryo Blast, and Overload can damage and incapacitate enemies over a wide area. Incinerate in particular launches plasma balls that are shown as being equivalent to a hand grenade, and can be fired as fast as the Omni-tool can produce them. The power level of some of other key Tech skills, like Tactical Cloak and AI Hacking, is harder to calculate. However, both of these abilities are shown t0 be deadly in the right hands, such as Cerberus assassin Kai Leng's stealth kills using his Tactical Cloak.
Mass Effect Biotics vs. Tech
While it's clear that Tech is the more dominant aspect of warfare in the Mass Effect universe, in terms of raw power it can't match up to Biotics. Tech appears more often because it has the advantage of being more accessible, but when a powerful Biotic takes the field they can accomplish feats that Tech can't match.
It's worth remembering that this comparison is all about the strength of these abilities in the lore, rather than in gameplay. The Mass Effect trilogy does a good job of balancing Tech and Biotics, and players should feel free to pick one, the other, or a mix of both in the Sentinel, without worrying about being underpowered.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.