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Disambiguous This article is about the playable class in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer. For the enemy in the first Mass Effect game, see Krogan Warlord.

Krogan are large bipeds native to the planet Tuchanka, a world known for its harsh environment, scarce resources, and vicious predators. Until the invention of gunpowder, the leading cause of krogan fatalities was "eaten by predators." Though slow, krogan can take tremendous damage in combat, allowing them to inflict grievous harm with impunity.

Krogan Warlords have earned the dubious distinction of being the elder statesmen of the species. They hold little regard for the honor that other races often display in combat, resorting to hostage-taking and genocide when victory is at stake. Warlords lug battle hammers onto the field to make quick and brutal work of enemies foolish enough to stick around, and their maturity gives them unsurpassed regenerative capabilities, making them extremely difficult to kill when enraged.

Powers[]



Melee and movement[]

Fist Melee
  • Regular Melee (Krogan Headbutt) – The Krogan Warlord headbutts the enemy, staggering it briefly.
    • Melee Sequence: A headbutt followed by two hammer swings, the last one imbued with the respective power.
  • Heavy Melee (Battle Hammer) – The Krogan Warlord Sentinel uses a heavy hammer to strike enemies.
    • Krogan Charge - When storming, the Warlord instead charges forward a short distance and strikes an enemy with held weapons.
  • Grab – The Krogan Warlord Sentinel is unable to perform a grab.
Dodge Arrow
  • Dodge – The Krogan Warlord Sentinel lacks a dodge maneuver.

Notable mechanics[]

  • The Krogan Warlord Sentinel cannot take cover in the formal sense and is thus unable to perform over-cover grabs, nor can it vault or climb over low cover.
    • Pressing the button that normally does this still allows you to cancel reload animations, however.
  • The Krogan Warlord Sentinel moves slower than other krogan characters.
  • The Warlord cannot be grabbed by Husks or Abominations.
  • Visibility is somewhat improved due to its substantial height.

Player Notes[]

General Notes[]

  • The Krogan Warlord Sentinel is the only krogan with health regeneration and 1250 base shields. The health regeneration is considerable but still won't be sufficient to withstand a concentrated attack on you on higher difficulties.
  • Because of the huge size of the krogan and inability to use cover, maps with lots of high cover and walls are favorable for the Warlord as they make the use of "soft cover" (i.e. standing behind terrain without clinging to it) more easily. Maps with small "sections", or areas that are separated by walls and cover, are good as they make it easier for the Warlord to get within melee range of enemies packed together by the map layout. Conversely, wide open areas are less desirable.
  • Krogan Charge is replaced with a hammer attack that uses a charge based on the current hammer power. If no charges are present, then it will simply strike with the hammer.
    • Your current amount of charges is visible on the hammer as holographic rings (Electric Hammer) or biotic charges on the back of the hammer (Biotic Hammer). Keep an eye on it, to make sure you recharge it before using it.
    • Unlike the Krogan Charge of other krogan characters, the hammer blow will lock onto closer enemies even if they're moving. Geth Bombers are an exception to this; if they increase their height or zoom past the player, the hammer will strike nothing.
    • Running while executing the heavy melee will still allow the Krogan Warlord to do the Krogan Charge. The Krogan Warlord is unique in that its Krogan Charge deals damage in a small arc in front of the character.
  • When a Hammer Power is equipped, power damage bonuses increase the damage added by the power to the hammer, in addition to any melee bonuses. When the hammer is uncharged, only melee upgrades affect damage output.
    • It is possible to use the heavy melee to cancel the animation of any hammer power when being activated (charging), allowing the Warlord to quickly unleash his charged hammer blow.
    • It is also possible to fire and even reload weapons that have a charged shot function (e.g. the Graal Spike Thrower) during the hammer power activation period, as long as a shot began charging beforehand. The hammer power activation can also be used for reload cancelling like most other powers.
  • Pressing the melee button again after the Krogan Headbutt allows a second and third hit using the Battle Hammer; the final strike with the Hammer will consume any Hammer Power equipped.
  • The Warlord has the second highest hit-stun resistance in the game, following the Geth Juggernaut Soldier, and it constantly regenerates health, making it one of the best characters to tank with.
  • Despite its size and low mobility, the Warlord is not immune to sync kills. To effectively fight enemies with sync kill attacks one should stand just out of reach, activate whatever hammer powers will be applied, and utilize conventional weapons until the target initiates one of its other attacks. This opening should easily be long enough to deliver a heavy melee and back off before the subject can recover.
    • Standing above or below (NOT beside) an enemy on a ramp will make it difficult for it to sync kill you.
  • The Warlord spends a great deal of its time in melee attacks, making many weapons less useful. Many players, therefore, choose an armament that deals great damage in a very short period of time. Most shotguns naturally fit this role, but the Executioner Pistol proves remarkably effective at slinging exactly one shot between melee hits while also dealing effective damage at moderate range. The Pistol Melee Stunner together with the Pistol Power Magnifier is a viable alternative to the Shotgun Omni-Blade for a Warlord who makes frequent use of Tech Armor detonation.
    • Melee mods are multiplicative with respect to the damage bonuses that they grant, while power mods are additive. While power mods add a minor bonus to Tech Armor, and the hammer powers, a melee mod adds a significant bonus to both hammer powers as well as melee attacks. This makes melee mods a much better choice than power mods. Because hammer powers add damage to the regular melee attack, increasing melee damage indirectly increases hammer power damage by a much larger amount than a power mod could.[1]
    • The Warlord also spends a lot of time roaring after melee kills (see the main Rage page for details), especially if the Rank 6 Pure Rage evolution of Warlord Rage is taken. The best ways to cancel the roar animations are to hold down sprint after melee kills or to use heavy melee attacks repeatedly. The latter tactic is especially useful when under heavy fire to take advantage of the damage reduction.
  • An extremely damaging combo for high level enemies is to use the Rank 5 Chill Effect of Electrical Hammer to make your target much more vulnerable to a follow up strike with Biotic Hammer.
  • The Krogan Warlord's Biotic Hammer, when combined with the Shotgun Omni-Blade V can do ~7000 damage to health and shields, ~8,000 to barriers and ~10,000 damage to armour.[2]

Cerberus[]

  • Phantoms and Atlases should be dealt with extreme care. Since the Warlord's heavy melee is slow, this can give them chances to sync-kill the character. While enraged the Krogan Warlord properly specced can insta-kill Phantoms with Biotic Hammer on any difficulty. Using the Acolyte to strip their barriers followed up with a headbutt or krogan charge can also usually end them as well, and this method leaves you less vulnerable to being sync-killed especially if multiple Phantoms are attacking at once.
    • Be especially wary of the Phantom's power immunity, as it will block all damage from hammer powers (though not the un-empowered hammer melee attack), and hammer attack animations are so long Phantoms will usually initiate their sync kill first unless you open with the attack immediately as they approach or stagger them, and without a combat dodge the Warlord is usually unable to get out of threat range fast enough.
  • The Warlord is so tall that it's actually possible to shoot Guardians right over their shields standing right next to them if the shot is aimed properly.
  • Turrets are one of your biggest problems, even with the Tech Armor and regeneration. The Warlord's low mobility and its reliance on melee to deal large amounts of damage will hinder its ability to deal with Turrets at range.
  • Atlases and Nemeses will be your worst problem, as they both inflict significant damage, even with your protection and regeneration. Nemeses are easy enough to kill once you track them down, but getting to them can be another matter. Atlases are shielded, heavily armored, and can instantly kill you. With a cautious approach, you can still take down Atlases fairly quickly once their shields are gone thanks to Biotic Hammer. The Acolyte will work nicely if you are on your own and need to kill the shields.
  • Although diminutive compared to the krogan, Dragoons should not be underestimated, as they can deal surprisingly heavy damage to you rather quickly, especially attacking in groups.

Collectors[]

  • The Warlord's basic melee (headbutt) and sprinting heavy melee (krogan charge) send enemies flying if the blow is fatal. Use this to knock Abominations back, as even if killed they only detonate after they've flown away from you, not instantly. Another effective strategy against Abominations is to simply ignore them, as their melee swipes don't hurt much and they can't grab the Warlord. Be cautious about inadvertently killing them with the hammer powers or charging melee swipe.
    • It is possible to kill a Possessed Abomination with Biotic Hammer and not have it explode, though this requires the game to fully register that the cause of death to the Possessed Abomination was not due to a damage over time effect or a Biotic Explosion. It is worth noting that the Warlord is one of the few characters that can tank a Possessed Abomination detonation without being instantly downed on any difficulty.
  • Seeker Swarm detonations will not prevent the Warlord from unleashing stored charges of the hammer powers, it only prevents any further charges from being activated.
  • In general, the Warlord should focus on Collector Troopers and Captains first before moving to engage the much more dangerous Scions and Praetorians. Biotic Hammer is effective at one-shotting even the possessed variants on any difficulty; another effective tactic is to strip any barriers with the Acolyte followed up by a melee or heavy melee charge.
  • Scions and Praetorians should be dealt with extreme care. Since the Warlord's heavy melee is slow, this can give them chances to sync kill the character.
    • Contrary to conventional strategy, Scions should be approached and engaged toe-to-toe as quickly as possible as a Warlord. Closing the distance prevents Scions from using their devastating and hard-to-avoid (for the sluggish Warlord) cannon attack while also putting you in perfect distance to use your hammer attacks. Their sync kills don't occur often and are very telegraphed as they always use their slow and easily avoided melee attack first.
    • Remember not to waste hammer powers on hovering Scions with their purple power immunity bubble active. If engaging them alone, generally you will have to rely on guns to defeat them and only go for melee attacks if you can knock them onto their back by hitting their weak point.

Geth[]

  • The geth lack a unit with sync kill capability, but they can make up for this with sheer damage, so don't underestimate them.
  • With its natural stun resistance in addition to the health regeneration granted by Warlord Rage, the Warlord is the least likely to be interrupted by geth melee attacks, Bomber stuns, and Geth Prime cannon and drone fire.
  • Geth Primes should generally be avoided until other enemies have been cleared out; even though they have no sync kill, they deal high damage and can tank your hits long enough for Hunters, Pyros, Bombers, and Rocket Troopers to down you if they are in the area. Don't get baited, and eliminate the other threats first.
  • Geth Hunters, Geth Bombers, and Geth Rocket Troopers are especially dangerous, as the Warlord can't dodge rockets, its large size and long melee animations make it vulnerable to grenades, and Hunters deal extreme damage as well, on top of being very difficult to lock on to with melee attacks. It's a good idea to reveal and preferably stagger Hunters with a gun first before going in for melee strikes, and avoid taking on too many at once; a good strategy is to wait around a corner and let them come to you.
  • Geth Pyros deal heavy damage but the Warlord can tank one alone without too much trouble long enough to stagger and interrupt the flame stream with a melee hit, and Biotic Hammer can one-shot them on any difficulty if properly specced.
  • Electrical Hammer can be very useful here as every single enemy except the basic trooper has a layer of shields that protect themselves. The range on this attack is very favorable too. The extra barrier/shield damage allows for significant damage against the shielding of all the enemies, so that your Biotic Hammer can get to work on armored foes, or unshielded enemies. As an added bonus, if you opt for fire damage, it can also disrupt a Hunter's cloak for a short period of time, making them targetable with other powers from your allies. Furthermore, Electrical Hammer's large splash damage will also likely take out nearby combat drones and turrets that geth primes tend to frequently summon, forcing it to replace them repeatedly instead of attacking you.
    • An added boon to speccing Electrical Hammer and its Radius & Combo evolution is that the Warlord can self-create Tech Bursts by equipping the appropriate ammunition (Cryo, Incendiary, or Disruptor rounds).

Reapers[]

  • Because the Warlord's main attack is slow, Banshees and Brutes should be attacked cautiously. These enemies are often staggered by the force of Biotic Hammer, which can make dealing with them easier when attempting to follow up with a second hammer attack.
  • Husks cannot grab you, but they can still down you if you are not careful. A light melee, or standard heavy melee should easily dispose of them.
  • Be extremely cautious about how you engage Ravagers. At close range, their sac-burst attack plus multiple Swarmers can deal high damage to you, so it's a good idea to either shoot out their sacs first before approaching to melee, or bait the Ravager into bursting their sacs by getting close but then backing off just enough to avoid it.
    • Also, while a properly specced Biotic Hammer can one-shot or nearly one-shot a Ravager regardless of difficulty, Swarmers can interfere with melee attacks including Biotic Hammer as there is a limit of targets hit, meaning your attacks sometimes will not deal damage to the Ravager. This also applies to your running heavy melee charge and regular un-empowered hammer blows. It's a good idea to use gunfire to eliminate any Swarmers first before going in for the kill in melee range. Weapons that deal area damage are ideal for this, as are Explosive Rounds; using your weapons to prime the Ravager for a Fire Explosion or Tech Burst can also ensure that your hammer powers will deal more than enough splash damage to clear the bugs out.

Trivia[]

  • The Krogan Warlord Sentinel never uses the voice line "For Tuchanka!" used by all other krogan multiplayer classes in Mass Effect 3.

References[]

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