Mass Effect 2's classes are all very good at what they do, whether they are the gun-toting Soldiers, rifle-wielding Infiltrators, or biotically charged Adepts. The only thing that could make them even better is giving them a bit more flexibility — this is something so easily achieved by taking a Bonus Power.
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PostsThese are acquired by making a team member loyal to you. You do this by completing their loyalty missions, which are among the best side missions in the series. Each one unlocks a new Bonus Power that can be slapped onto Shepard's class by using the Advanced Training research project. Of course, some are more useful than others.
Updated December 10, 2024 By Ben Jessey: Mass Effect 2 remains an iconic action RPG that is still beloved today. In this list, we ranked the best bonus powers you can unlock in the game. Now, we've updated the piece to add a bit more information about the powers and update some of the formatting.
14 Fortification
Unlocked By Beating Grunt's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
12 seconds (At Rank One)
Duration
60 seconds (At Rank One)
Armor Bonus
25 percent of maximum shields (At Rank One)
Fortification almost seems like a pointless reward for helping Grunt. It's a defensive ability like Geth Shield Boost and Barrier, granting Shepard a large bonus to armor that makes them a lot more durable.
The problem is when compared to the other defensive bonus powers (and possibly the Sentinel's Tech Armor), Fortification doesn't benefit from any research projects and thus cannot be buffed — the perils of being a Combat power instead of a Tech or Biotic power.
13 Shredder Ammo
Unlocked By Beating Thane's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
1.5 seconds (At Rank One)
Duration
Until overridden by another ammo power (At Rank One)
Health Damage
40 percent of weapon damage (At Rank One)
Shredder ammo is one of three ammo powers that affect Shepard's bullets. It makes them hit a lot harder, literally shredding up Shepard's enemies — the organic ones, at least.
This power provides a huge damage bonus, but it has many caveats. The enemy must be organic and have no armor, shields, or barriers. While still a useful power, it pales in comparison to others.
12 Inferno Grenade
Unlocked By Beating Legion's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
6 seconds (At Rank One)
Impact Radius
3 meters (At Rank One)
Damage
50 points over 4 seconds (At Rank One)
Number of Fragments
3 (At Rank One)
Zaeed's loyalty is required to unlock the Inferno Grenade power, and it's quite a tough loyalty mission. As a result, the power feels just a little bit underwhelming.
Inferno Grenade is what it sounds like: a launchable grenade of flames that can deal a lot of damage to armored enemies. The problem is that other powers are more versatile, and it's quite possible for your grenades to be hindered by pieces of cover.
11 Stasis
Unlocked By Beating The Lair Of The Shadow Broker DLC
Recharge Time
6 seconds (At Rank One)
Duration
5 seconds (At Rank One)
Freezing enemies in place sounds like a great technique for crowd control. Unlocking the power to do so requires the completion of the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC. This is another skill that might be better in theory than in practice.
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PostsWhile getting some breathing room during a tough fight is possible with Stasis, enemies become immune to damage for the duration — it may be better to simply take a bonus power that finishes them off quicker instead of delaying the inevitable.
10 Neural Shock
Unlocked By Beating Mordin's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
3 seconds (At Rank One)
Duration
5 seconds (At Rank One)
You may not think of Mordin as much of a combatant, but the power you get for completing his loyalty mission isn't horrible. In fact, Neural Shock is useful on higher difficulties because it deals with powerful threats quickly and recharges even quicker.
Neural Shock causes a foe to fall over, instantly affecting the target and making them easily taken out since you get double damage against enemies that have fallen over. Additionally, the power will instantly kill an unarmored husk!
9 Dominate
Unlocked By Beating Samara's Loyalty Mission And Siding With Morinth
Recharge Time
6 seconds (At Rank One)
Duration
5 seconds (At Rank One)
Dominate is quite the reward for players who decided to betray Samara and recruit her daughter Morinthinstead. It is a biotic version of the useful AI Hacking skill, affecting organics instead of synthetics.
While turning enemies against themselves may sound like a fantastic idea, Dominate, unfortunately, has a somewhat low duration and is basically a short-lived distraction skill as a result.
8 Slam
Unlocked By Beating Miranda's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
3 seconds (At Rank One)
Lift Duration
0.9 seconds (At Rank One)
Slam Force
400 newtons (At Rank One)
Slam is a biotic power that targets an enemy and lifts them into the air before slamming them onto the ground. It's a very simple but effective skill.
What makes it useful is that it recharges extremely quickly (in just 3 seconds for Shepard) and leaves enemies on the floor ripe for picking off. Thanks to this, it may be an even better crowd-control skill than Stasis. It's rather like Neural Shock but with a greater damaging element.
7 Energy Drain
Unlocked By Beating Tali's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
6 seconds (At Rank One)
Energy Drain
120 points (At Rank One)
Impact Radius
1.20 meters (At Rank One)
Tali's Energy Drain skill might not have the ability to kill organic enemies, but it is still a very versatile power to have.
It's most useful on synthetic enemies, as it shreds both their defenses and health. Yet, it also works against shielded foes, which is what makes it versatile. The power will drain an enemy's shield and replenish Shepard's. So, this is a fantastic power to have if you're sick of waiting for your shields to get back up behind cover.
6 Warp Ammo
Unlocked By Beating Jack's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
1.5 seconds (At Rank One)
Duration
Until overridden by another ammo power (At Rank One)
Damage
15 percent of weapon damage (At Rank One)
It makes almost too much sense that the biotically charged Warp Ammo is unlocked by completing Jack's loyalty mission. This makes Shepard's ammo very deadly when used in conjunction with biotics.
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PostsNot only does the ammo deal extra damage, but it also gains a bonus against any enemies currently affected by biotic powers such as Lift. If that wasn't enough, Warp Ammo also makes enemy barriers melt. The only thing stopping Warp Ammo from being even more perfect is the relative rarity of barrier-using enemies in Mass Effect 2.
5 Flashbang Grenade
Unlocked By Beating Kasumi's Loyalty Mission
Recharge Time
6 seconds (At Rank One)
Impact Radius
6 meters (At Rank One)
Damage
45 points (At Rank One)
Incapacitate Duration
3 seconds (At Rank One)
Kasumi is responsible for this power, and completing her loyalty mission lets Shepard access her stash of grenades. These are very useful projectiles that explode and incapacitate enemies caught in the blast.
The main draw of this power is the way it completely disables enemy Tech powers and Biotic powers for a while — this can be so crucial to survival on the higher difficulties. It also has a huge radius, making it even more useful in crowded situations.
