The M-96 Mattock is an assault rifle in Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, and Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Mass Effect 2

Description

Medium-range, semi-automatic rifle effective against armor, shields, and barriers. Upgrades the Avenger assault rifle.

The Mattock is a semi-automatic hybrid weapon with an assault rifle's low heat production and a sniper rifle's punch. Though it does not have a sniper rifle's precision scope, marksmen favor its increased power over that of an assault rifle to bring down hardened targets. Its lack of a full-auto setting is advertised as a feature rather than a shortcoming since it curbs a soldier's tendency to spray inaccurate fire under stress.

Acquisition

Available through purchase of the Firepower Pack DLC. An e-mail from the Illusive Man appears if the weapon was obtained in this manner.

Mattock Heavy Rifle Shepard, Miranda has been working with EDI on crunching battle telemetry numbers, and EDI had an interesting thought. She suggested we may be overlooking older, proven technologies in an effort to provide you with the state of art. Normally I wouldn't give much credence to the idea, but when an AI criticizes you for loving high-tech, it gives one pause to consider. With that in mind, I delivered a few heavy rifles, the Mattocks, to the Normandy. They've been modified for thermal clips, but the rest of the rifle should be the old, reliable gun that colonist militias have been using for decades. Good hunting.

In the Legendary Edition, it may be purchased from Kenn's Salvage on Omega.

Squad Use

This weapon can be used by Garrus, Grunt, Legion, Samara/Morinth, and Zaeed.

Player Notes

• The M-96 Mattock fills a tactical role similar to that of the M-15 Vindicator or M-97 Viper, functioning as a high accuracy semi-automatic designated marksman rifle .
• The Mattock has a fairly low ammunition reserve, so good ammo management is important when deciding where it's safe to rely heavily on this weapon.
• Charging a lone enemy and rapidly unloading most of the clip at close range with an ammo power is an effective assassination tactic for the Vanguard as long as the target dies and Shepard is able to get back into cover afterwards.
• This weapon shines in the hands of the Soldier as its unique rate of fire being "as fast as you can pull the trigger" makes it ideal to use during Adrenaline Rush. An entire magazine can be emptied during the course of one Adrenaline Rush, doing extreme damage to one or many targets before the effect wears off. This is especially true if landing headshots during Heightened Adrenaline Rush.
• A headshot on an unprotected opponent may cause them to stagger and jerk their head backwards, potentially spoiling Shepard's aim. An excellent way to compensate for this is to fire the Mattock twice in rapid succession, resulting in two direct hits to the target's head before it moves.
• The Mattock works well with Cryo Ammo as it can reliably trigger the freezing effect with a single shot.

Mass Effect 3

Description

Medium-range, semi-automatic rifle. The Mattock is a hybrid weapon with an assault rifle's low heat production and a sniper rifle's punch. Marksmen favor its increased power over that of an assault rifle to bring down hardened targets. Its lack of a full-auto setting is advertised as a feature rather than a shortcoming as it curbs a soldier's tendency to spray inaccurate fire under stress.

Acquisition

Single-player

The M-96 Mattock can be found during the mission Grissom Academy: Emergency Evacuation, on a couch before reaching Seanne Bellarmine. A second upgrade can sometimes be found in the security room unlocked by David Archer, if he was rescued in Overlord. It is also purchasable from Kassa Fabrication post-mission if it was missed.

Multiplayer

Weapons are randomly rewarded through purchases of item packs. The M-96 Mattock is categorized as uncommon and requires no multiplayer expansion packs.

Player Notes

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Description

The M-96 Mattock's increased power is favored by marksmen looking to bring down hardened targets. Its lack of an automatic setting was originally advertised as a feature rather than a shortcoming as it curbs a user's tendency to spray inaccurate fire under stress.

Features

The Mattock suffered an issue that prevented it from reaching its stated rate of fire. Fixing it made the weapon too powerful, so to compensate its damage per round was lowered while its max ammo was increased. However, its last balance update drastically increased its damage as well as its clip size.

Strategies

Stats

Development

Rank	Blueprint Unlocked	Omni-Gel Canister	Iron	Fluorite	Element Zero	Augmentation Slots
I	Level 1	20	80	40	10	0
II	Level 6	20	90	40	10	2
III	Level 11	20	100	50	10	2
IV	Level 21	30	110	50	10	2
V	Level 31	30	130	60	20	2
VI	Level 41	30	140	70	20	2
VII	Level 51	30	145	70	20	2
VIII	Level 61	40	150	70	20	2
IX	Level 71	40	155	70	20	2
X	Level 81	40	160	80	20	2
Total	N/A	300	1260	600	160	N/A

Trivia

• The Mattock was balanced differently from other assault rifles. The rifle does very high damage per shot, but offsets this by significantly limiting the ammo available, forcing players to make each shot count.^[1]
• A Mattock is a hand tool similar to a pickaxe that was often used by infantry as a form of improvised weapon during the Middle Ages.
• Like the M-15 Vindicator, the Mattock fires on full-auto during cutscenes despite being semi-automatic.
• Like the Vindicator and Avenger, the Mattock's integrated scope was removed from its model in Mass Effect 3, likely to avoid looking redundant if the player adds a scope mod. In game, this does not affect its (unmodded) accuracy.
• There is a bug in which Grunt will not fire the Mattock. This can be corrected by swapping his weapon to shotguns and then back to assault rifles.
• The M-55 Argus, the Cerberus Harrier and L-89 Halberd are variants of the Mattock.
• Mass Effect: Infiltrator features a fully automatic version of the rifle known as the M-96 Mattock Auto, complete with a yellow and white Cerberus finish that is identical with other Cerberus weapons. The weapon was later added to Mass Effect 3 as the Cerberus Harrier. Unlike its Mass Effect 3 counterpart, the M-96 Mattock Auto in the mobile game will generate heat instead of using thermal clips.

References

	Mass Effect 2 Downloadable Content
	Promotional	Blood Dragon Armor • Collectors' Weapon and Armor • Inferno Armor M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle • Terminus Weapon and Armor
	Cerberus Network	Zaeed - The Price of Revenge • Normandy Crash Site Cerberus Weapon and Armor • Arc Projector • Firewalker Pack
	Missions	Kasumi - Stolen Memory • Overlord • Lair of the Shadow Broker • Arrival
	Additional Content	Alternate Appearance Packs • Equalizer Pack • Aegis Pack • Firepower Pack Mass Effect: Genesis • Recon Operations Pack • N7 Complete Arsenal Bundle

Mass Effect 2 Weapons
Heavy Pistols	M-3 Predator • M-6 Carnifex • M-5 Phalanx
Submachine Guns	M-4 Shuriken • M-9 Tempest • M-12 Locust
Shotguns	M-23 Katana • M-27 Scimitar • M-300 Claymore • M-22 Eviscerator • Geth Plasma Shotgun
Assault Rifles	M-8 Avenger • M-15 Vindicator • Geth Pulse Rifle • M-76 Revenant • Collector Assault Rifle • M-96 Mattock
Sniper Rifles	M-92 Mantis • M-97 Viper • M-98 Widow • M-29 Incisor
Heavy Weapons	M-100 Grenade Launcher • ML-77 Missile Launcher • M-622 Avalanche • M-920 Cain • Collector Particle Beam • M-490 Blackstorm • M-451 Firestorm • Arc Projector

Mass Effect 3 Weapons
Heavy Pistols	M-3 Predator • M-5 Phalanx • M-6 Carnifex • M-11 Suppressor • M-77 Paladin • M-358 Talon • Acolyte • Arc Pistol • Executioner Pistol • N7 Eagle • Scorpion
Submachine Guns	M-4 Shuriken • M-9 Tempest • M-12 Locust • M-25 Hornet • Blood Pack Punisher Collector SMG • Geth Plasma SMG • N7 Hurricane
Shotguns	M-11 Wraith • M-22 Eviscerator • M-23 Katana • M-27 Scimitar • M-300 Claymore • AT-12 Raider • Disciple • Geth Plasma Shotgun • Graal Spike Thrower • N7 Crusader • N7 Piranha • Reegar Carbine • Venom Shotgun
Assault Rifles	M-7 Lancer • M-8 Avenger • M-15 Vindicator • M-37 Falcon • M-55 Argus • M-76 Revenant • M-96 Mattock • M-99 Saber • Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle • Cerberus Harrier • Chakram Launcher • Collector Rifle • Geth Pulse Rifle • Geth Spitfire • N7 Typhoon • N7 Valkyrie • Particle Rifle • Phaeston • Striker Assault Rifle
Sniper Rifles	M-13 Raptor • M-29 Incisor • M-90 Indra • M-92 Mantis • M-97 Viper • M-98 Widow • Black Widow • Collector Sniper Rifle • Javelin • Kishock Harpoon Gun • Krysae Sniper Rifle • N7 Valiant
Heavy Weapons	M-451 Firestorm • M-560 Hydra • M-597 Ladon • M-920 Cain • Cobra Missile Launcher • Geth Combat Software • Geth Spitfire • Reaper Blackstar • Sync Laser

	Mass Effect: Andromeda Weapons
	Augmentations • Mods
	Assault Rifles	L-89 Halberd • M-8 Avenger • M-37 Falcon • M-96 Mattock • Cyclone • N7 Valkyrie • Pathfinder Pioneer • P.A.W. • Revenant • Sandstorm • Soned • Sovoa • Sweeper • Thokin • X5 Ghost • Zalkin
	Pistols	M-3 Predator • M-5 Phalanx • M-25 Hornet • Carnifex • Charger • Equalizer • N7 Eagle • N7 Hurricane • Pathfinder Ranger • Rozerad • Scorpion • Sidewinder • Silhesh • Talon • Ushior
	Sniper Rifles	M-90 Indra • Black Widow • Incisor • Inferno • Isharay • Kishock Harpoon Gun • Lanat • Naladen • N7 Valiant • Pathfinder Observer • Raptor • Shadow • Vanquisher • Viper • Widow
	Shotguns	M-23 Katana • Dhan • Disciple • Hesh • N7 Crusader • N7 Piranha • Pathfinder Deep Impact • Reegar Carbine • Ruzad • Scattershot • Shorty • Venom
	Melee Weapons	Angaran Firaan • Asari Sword • Biotic Amplifier • Electric Firaan • Kett Carfalon • Kett Vakarsh • Krogan Hammer • Omni-Blade • Remnant Cryo-Gauntlet