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Disambiguous This article is about gameplay attributes and tactics relevant to Shepard's clone. For general information, see Mysterious Figure.

The culprit behind Commander Shepard's identity theft is a rogue Cerberus-made clone of the Commander. The real Shepard's team confronts the clone for the last time in the hangar bay of the Normandy SR-2; three people against the fake Shepard, Brooks, and their army of CAT6 mercenaries.

The clone plummets from Normandy to their death across all outcomes of the battle.

Capabilities[]

Offensive

The clone has powers dependent on what class the player is using. The weapon it uses also depends on the player's class. The clone also attempts to mimic Shepard's close-quarters combat styles if close enough, excepting the Vanguard as it employs Nova instead.

The clone's class-specific weapons and powers are as follows:

*Appear to be purely cosmetic visual effects.

Every version of the clone save the Vanguard will also try to grapple with Shepard at close range, similar to a Husk's grab attack. Tapping melee rapidly can contest the grab; whichever party wins the grappling contest takes significant damage. Shepard remains vulnerable to enemy fire while wrestling the clone.

Every version of the clone also has a grenade that it will sometimes use to force Shepard from cover. This is like most standard grenades thrown by enemies except that it has an incendiary after-effect that slowly damages anyone standing in it. The burn effect of the Vanguard and Adept grenades is blue rather than red.

Defensive

The clone has very high armor and shields, and also has access to five medi-gels which it will use to heal itself back to full health and shields once its armor has been moderately damaged. The amount of medi-gel remaining is visible in the top right corner of the HUD. Legendary Edition: The clone's medi-gel count is no longer visible to the player.

The clone, being armored, is immune to Stasis and cannot be ragdolled or knocked down completely. The clone is also fairly stun resistant: it is totally immune to tech electrocution stuns even when unshielded, and it is also not stunned by the standard attacks of Combat Drone or Defense Drone.

During the second stage of the fight when the shuttle bay doors are open, the clone's shield is 50% stronger than during the opening portion of the fight.

Tactics[]

  • The fight with the clone occurs in two distinct stages. Round 1 is usually the hardest and lasts until the clone drops down to 2 medi-gel total, at which point you will hear Cortez say "Moving in, Commander." After a cutscene, Round 2 begins where the clone starts to become less aggressive especially once its medi-gel count gets down to 1 and then 0 when it is nearly defeated, at which point the clone and Brooks retreat to the very edge of the now-open shuttle bay. The only other wrinkle during Round 2 is that the Normandy is now rocking back and forth, so aiming, especially through scopes, becomes fairly difficult.
  • The clone single-mindedly focuses its attention on Shepard, ignoring friendly squadmates, Combat Drones, Decoys, Sentry Turret, and any enemies affected by Dominate, which it is also immune to.
  • Class: The clone fights aggressively according to whatever the player's class is, using powers and weaponry appropriate to that class.
    • An Infiltrator clone will not appear on your targeting display while it is cloaked, but as with all cloaked enemies its shimmering silhouette can be seen and it can still be damaged by weapons fire or by targeting an ability in its approximate location. Unlike Shepard, the Infiltrator clone is able to fire its weapon without breaking invisibility, and its cloak appears to last indefinitely and only breaks in two situations: the first is if it takes enough damage that it has to use medi-gel, and the second is if it gets into melee with Shepard, which it will try to do. Getting flanked or caught from behind by this attack results in receiving two powerful omni-blade hits in quick succession that will leave you with a sliver of health or even kill you outright, so keep your eyes peeled. If you take the attack head-on, the clone will instead decloak and grapple with you, which is still dangerous but won't result in Shepard taking as much damage.
    • A Sentinel clone will only use its Tech Armor when the Normandy's bay doors are opened, and will never try to detonate it; it seems to be a purely visual effect.
    • A Vanguard clone spams Biotic Charge to close the distance on you, then endlessly tries to Nova you once in close proximity. Unlike Shepard, the clone doesn't need line of sight to use Charge, though intervening cover will sometimes prevent the clone's Charge from actually landing on you. The Vanguard clone's Charge does not restore its shields, but it can Charge without a target to teleport around unpredictably. Unlike your version of Nova, the clone's Nova doesn't deplete its shields, but on the plus side the clone's version does not penetrate cover. Even better, the clone will use Nova as if it can penetrate cover, so if you can get a Vanguard clone stuck on the other side of a thin piece of cover from you it will continue to spam Nova uselessly without being able to hurt you. If the clone gets in your face, alternately spam your own Charge and Nova as needed until it backs off.
    • A Soldier clone activates Fortification mid-fight and is prone to firing off Carnage or throwing grenades at you if you stay in cover for too long. It appears to throw grenades more often than some of the other classes.
    • An Engineer clone possesses Defense Drone which can stun you and your allies at close range, and it spams Incinerate bolts, though these seem somewhat easier to dodge than the Warps and Carnage thrown out by the other clone types. Even though the clone usually ignores friendly drones, turrets, and Decoy, the Engineer clone's Defense Drone can attack and destroy them in close proximity.
    • An Adept clone lobs Warps and can cast them very often. During Round 2 it also glows with a visual effect that resembles the Reave damage protection buff; as it doesn't cast Reave, it is likely a purely visual effect. The blue sheen also appears during Round 1 when the Adept tries to grab you.
  • Every version of the clone except the Vanguard can grab you in melee range and will try to do so during the fight. This can pull you out from behind cover and leave you extremely vulnerable to the other enemies in the area, so always try to evade the clone if you're in an exposed position. Dealing heavy damage to it will usually cause the clone to back off. "Winning" the grab contest with the clone by tapping melee rapidly enough is a good way to deal hefty damage to it, so if you are in a well-protected cover position accepting the wrestling match can actually be advantageous. Clones try to grab more often during Round 1 than during Round 2 of the fight once their medi-gel count gets low.
  • Each version of the clone has some form of tracking projectile power that will momentarily stun you on contact (usually Warp or Incinerate). Be ready to take cover or combat roll when the projectile is launched.
  • During Round 2 when the Normandy shuttle bay doors are open, the clone's grenades can roll around with the ship's side-to-side rocking. This can cause grenades to miss your position when they otherwise wouldn't and vice-versa, making the effect a mixed bag.
  • The area denial burning effect of the clone's grenades is actually not that damaging, so you can still take cover in a burning area in an emergency while you heal up with First Aid or restore shields with Defense Matrix. The major disadvantage of staying in the burning areas is that your health and shield regeneration is halted.
    • Also be aware that squadmates will remain in cover in burning areas especially if they were ordered to stay there by you. They will take damage as well and their shields can't recharge so be sure to order them to move if you see them sitting in the fire.
    • There is a maximum of 3 burning effects on the ground during either stage of the fight. If the clone throws an additional grenade while there are already 3 burning patches, the oldest patch will extinguish. Burning patches otherwise last "forever"; only the cutscene between stages resets them.
  • Fortunately the clone is vulnerable to Energy Drain or Overload, and the Tech Bursts you can prime with them will vaporize its whole shield even on Insanity.
  • Just like Shepard, the clone can be staggered by many powers, certain weapons that cause staggering (such as the M-37 Falcon or the Scorpion) and also by taking heavy damage from weapons.
    • The clone can be stunned by the regular attack of Sentry Turret, as well as the Shock evolutions of Sentry Turret, Combat Drone, and Decoy.
    • It can also be stunned by the explosion of Combat Drone with the Detonate evolution.
    • It can also be stunned by biotics with a strong force component such as Throw and Shockwave.
  • Because the clone attacks and uses powers very rapidly, the best defense is usually a good offense, hitting it hard and often so it's stunned, doing combat rolls, or forced to use medi-gel which means it's not attacking as often. Your allies are invaluable for suppressing the clone so revive them immediately if they go down.
  • Anti-armor abilities such as Warp and Incinerate work extremely well once you get the clone's shields down, and either type of combo explosion will take away big chunks of armor.
  • The clone has a moderately tough shield/barrier, which it recharges very quickly when left alone, so it's best to wait until you can hit it with lots of concentrated damage all at once, punching through to the armor.
  • The Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle can be a useful weapon to equip on squadmates during the clone fight; the weapon is capable of staggering the clone and Brooks while doing good damage to their shields.
  • If Brooks goes down, the clone may occasionally kneel down to revive her, presenting you with an opportunity to hit both at the same time. This only happens in the second portion of the fight after the shuttle bay doors open; during the opening stage of the fight Brooks merely cloaks and reappears a short time later if she takes fatal damage, she doesn't go down.

Trivia[]

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