This article is about the power. For the enemy created by Geth Primes or opposing engineers, see Combat Drone (enemy).

Combat Drone is a tech power exclusive to Engineers in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. It is also used by both Tali and Legion. The power spawns a tech drone that draws enemy fire and can electronically stun targets while damaging their shields. Only one drone per character can be active at a time. Specializing as a Mechanic increases the duration of the Engineer's powers, including the length of time their drone is deployed.

In addition to attacking enemies, drones also act as a distraction for certain enemies, especially husks.

Enemies can sometimes also spawn combat drones, but these are generally less powerful than those the player spawns.

Contents 1 Mass Effect 2 1.1 Power Ranks 1.1.1 Attack Drone 1.1.2 Explosive Drone 1.2 Player Notes 1.3 Availability 2 Mass Effect 3 2.1 Power Ranks 2.1.1 Rank 1: Combat Drone 2.1.2 Rank 2: Recharge Speed 2.1.3 Rank 3: Shields & Damage 2.1.4 Rank 4: Shields & Damage/Detonate 2.1.5 Rank 5: Shock/Shields & Damage 2.1.6 Rank 6: Rockets/Chain Lightning 2.2 Player Notes 2.2.1 Mechanics 2.2.2 Strategies 2.3 Availability 3 Trivia

Mass Effect 2 Edit

Power Ranks Edit

• Rank 1
  • Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds (Shepard); 30.00 seconds (others)
  • Duration: 12.00 seconds (Shepard); 18.00 seconds (others)
  • Drone Attack Recharge Time: 4.00 seconds

• Rank 2
  • Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds (Shepard); 30.00 seconds (others)
  • Duration: 16.00 seconds (Shepard); 18.00 seconds (others)
  • Drone Attack Recharge Time: 3.70 seconds
  • Drone Health Bonus: 120.00%

• Rank 3
  • Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds (Shepard); 30.00 seconds (others)
  • Duration: 20.00 seconds (Shepard); 18.00 seconds (others)
  • Drone Attack Recharge Time: 3.40 seconds
  • Drone Health Bonus: 140.00%

Rank 4

Choose to evolve the power into one of the following,

Attack Drone Edit

• You have upgraded the combat drone so its electric shock damages health, armor, and biotic barriers.
  • Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds (Shepard); 30.00 seconds (others)
  • Duration: 24.00 seconds (Shepard); 18.00 seconds (others)
  • Drone Attack Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds
  • Drone Health Bonus: 160.00%
  • Drone Damage: 40.00 points

Explosive Drone Edit

• Your combat drone is rigged to explode when destroyed, pulsing energy that inflicts high damage on all nearby enemies.
  • Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds (Shepard); 30.00 seconds (others)
  • Duration: 24.00 seconds (Shepard); 18.00 seconds (others)
  • Drone Attack Recharge Time: 3.00 seconds
  • Drone Health Bonus: 160.00%
  • Pulse Radius: 6.00 meters
  • Pulse Damage: 100.00 points

Player Notes Edit

• Combat Drones are effective distractions as enemies will usually focus on them first, rather than firing at the squad. Rocket-launcher toting enemies may even damage or kill themselves by blasting the Drone at point-blank range.
• An attack from enemy combat drones will dislodge the player from cover, so they should be given the utmost priority.
• Enemy Combat Drones cannot be hacked.
• Since Combat Drones are counted as "allies" (they are blue dots on Shepard's radar), they can disrupt enemy spawns – and even cancel some whole fights – by spawning them at enemies who are currently in areas which should be inaccessible, e.g. a doorway leaving the current "arena".
• Combat Drones are very useful on higher difficulties. They can be used as a distraction, allowing the player to regenerate shields and health, or they can be used to whittle away an enemy's shields/health whilst allowing the player to finish them off.

Availability Edit

• Engineer
• Legion
• Tali

Mass Effect 3 Edit

Power Ranks Edit

Rank 1: Combat Drone Edit

Deploy this attack drone to stun targets and draw enemy fire.

• Recharge Speed: 5 sec
• Drone Damage: 40
• Drone Shields: 500

Rank 2: Recharge Speed Edit

Increase recharge speed by 25%.

• Recharge Speed: 4 sec

Rank 3: Shields & Damage Edit

Increase drone's damage by 30%.
Increase drone's shields by 30%.

• Drone Damage: 52
• Drone Shields: 650

Rank 4: Shields & Damage/Detonate Edit

Shields & Damage Increase drone's damage by 40%. Increase drone's shields by 40%. Drone Damage: 68 Drone Shields: 850

Detonate Drone explodes when destroyed, dealing 400 points of damage across a 5 meter radius.

Rank 5: Shock/Shields & Damage Edit

Shock Upgrade drone's short-range attack to deal 130 points of damage across a 5 meter radius. Drone stuns enemies for a short duration.

Shields & Damage Increase drone's damage by 50%. Increase drone's shields by 50%. Drone Damage: 88 (Rank 4 Shields & Damage), 72 (Detonate) Drone Shields: 1100 (Rank 4 Shields & Damage), 900 (Detonate)

Rank 6: Rockets/Chain Lightning Edit

Rockets Upgrade drone with long-range rockets that deal 195 (325 multiplayer) points of damage across a 1.50 (2.5 multiplayer) meter radius.

Chain Lightning Upgrade drone's electrical pulse to jump and hit 3 additional targets.

Player Notes Edit

Mechanics Edit

• The rank 5 Shock attack is independent of the rank 6 Chain Lightning attack. The Chain Lightning evolution directly affects the drone's default "zap" attack. The Shock evolution gives the drone an additional type of attack. In other words, despite the common misconception online, the Chain Lightning evolution will not let the rank 5 Shock attack chain to multiple enemies.
• For the Rank 5 Shock/Shields & Damage evolution, if Shields & Damage at rank 4 is taken, shock damage increases to 170. For the rank 6 Rockets/Chain Lightning evolution, if Shields & Damage at rank 4 is taken, rocket damage increases to (425 multiplayer). If Shields & Damage at rank 5 is taken, rocket damage increases to (450 multiplayer), and if both are taken, rocket damage increases to (550 multiplayer).
• The Rank 6 Rockets evolution also changes the Combat Drone's AI to float away from enemies rather than float towards them (since its rockets have a minimum range).

Strategies Edit

• As its description suggests, the Combat Drone is effective at distracting enemies like the Atlas and Cerberus Guardians, allowing your squad to deal with these threats with their backs turned, as when a drone is summoned whilst targeting an enemy, the drone appears behind the target.
  • If you summon a drone without having an enemy targeted: if you are near cover or not near enemies, the drone will appear next to you; if you are far from cover and potentially near hostile forces, the drone will appear at a distance where you were aiming. Unfortunately, it is still somewhat hard to predict whether a drone will spawn beside your or from a distance, so it is always preferable to ensure you have an enemy targetted.
• Husks and Brutes react to drones by attempting to grab/instakill it, failing, and end up staring at it dumbfounded until sufficient incoming damage distracts them. Banshees will cycle their shockwave scream attack until the drone is destroyed.
• Combat Drones no longer have a specific duration. Instead, they last until combat ceases or they are destroyed by enemy fire.
• The Rank 6 Rockets evolution suffers on several multiplayer maps, as the drone will sometimes attempt to shoot enemies through walls.
• When spawned, the drone's outer ring color is blue to the player who spawned it. The drone's "health" can be gauged by the color of the outer ring, ie. a blue outer ring indicates full health, a purple outer ring indicates intermediate health, and a red outer ring color indicates that the drone is close to being destroyed.
  • The ring is also visible through walls, allowing the player to keep track of its position.
• One way to play the Combat Drone is as a sort of "mobile mine." Taking the rank 4 Detonate evolution, the Rank 5 Shock evolution, and Rank 6 Chain Lightning evolution will cause the drone to stay close and engage at point blank range. When it is killed, the explosion is usually powerful enough to finish off surrounding enemies damaged by the electrical pulses.

Availability Edit

• Single-Player: Engineer, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy
• Multiplayer: Human Engineer, Volus Mercenary Sentinel

Trivia Edit

• In Mass Effect 2, the color of the drone is different depending on who spawned it and whether it is combat/attack/explosive: Shepard's is blue/orange, Legion's is blue/orange, Tali's is purple/pink, enemy Engineers' are red and Geth Primes' are green/orange.
• Attack drones take on a new color, while explosive drones have sparks but stay their original color.
• Friendly Combat Drones can appear during cutscenes if deployed at the right time.
• In Multiplayer, one of the new objectives, added via the Mass Effect 3: Earth DLC pack, is to escort a combat drone that randomly appears on waves 3, 6, and 10.