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Disambiguous This article is about the weapon in Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect: Andromeda. For the armor in Mass Effect, see Scorpion Armor.

The Scorpion is a heavy pistol in Mass Effect 3 and a pistol in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Mass Effect 3[]

Description[]

Originally issued to the salarian STG to allow small units to contain much larger enemy forces, the Scorpion pistol now sees service galaxy-wide. It fires low-velocity, squash-head projectiles with a dual use. The high-explosive filler within the projectiles contains an adhesive that secures the projectile to the target on impact. When fired into a surface, it turns into a proximity mine.

Acquisition[]

Singleplayer

The Scorpion is found during the mission Priority: Sur'Kesh in the corner next to the power switch. It is also purchasable from Aegohr Munitions post-mission if it was missed.

Multiplayer

Weapons are randomly rewarded through purchases of item packs. The Scorpion is categorized as ultra-rare and requires no multiplayer expansion packs.

Player Notes[]

General
  • The Scorpion fires explosive projectiles similar to sticky grenades instead of conventional slugs. Shots detonate roughly three seconds after attaching; the initial hit when the projectiles stick does no damage.
    • As with most weapons that utilize explosive munitions, the Scorpion's rounds suffer no damage penalty against enemy armor, but they can't penetrate solid objects or deal bonus damage to enemy heads or weak points.
    • The explosive rounds can damage or destroy multiple grouped enemies with a few shots. This trait also allows the Scorpion to hit enemies behind cover if shots can be placed such that the splash damage will connect.
    • The proximity detonation of the rounds can also be used to damage Guardians behind their shields fairly easily just by sticking rounds in their path or slightly behind them or to the side.
    • If the slug is fired to the ground and not attached to an enemy it acts as a proximity mine and will detonate immediately if an enemy is nearby, even triggering from invisible targets such as Geth Hunters. Players can take advantage of this characteristic of the gun to work around the detonation delay of the slug in the heat of battle. This is also a useful way to guard or check corners. However, teleporting Banshees often fail to trigger the proximity detonations.
  • One weakness of the Scorpion aside from delayed damage is its very low clip and reserve capacity. Accuracy is critical to using the Scorpion effectively, though this is somewhat mitigated by the explosive nature of the shots.
  • The Scorpion is one of the heavier pistols. This can be mitigated by upgrading the weapon or equipping it with the Pistol Ultralight Materials mod.
  • One other attractive feature of the Scorpion is perfect projectile accuracy at any range. The rounds aren't affected by gravity and will travel straight to where the crosshair is pointing without random deflection; however, both projectile travel time and minor muzzle climb have to be taken into account. The Pistol Scope mod provides little benefit for the Scorpion.
  • Most enemies will stagger when a round sticks to their body, and sometimes again when the round detonates, interrupting their actions and drawing them out of cover. This can be useful for preventing combat rolls or evasions to enable powers or follow-up shots to connect. Even heavy opponents such as Brutes and Geth Primes can be stunned. Phantoms will be damaged by explosive projectiles regardless of any of their acrobatics.
  • The Scorpion has a very high chance to trigger the effects of Disruptor Ammo/Rounds and Cryo Ammo/Rounds when an enemy is hit directly by a round. This makes the weapon very predictable at freezing, or priming targets for Tech Bursts.
    • This does not apply to enemies merely caught in the detonation of a shot, they must be directly "stuck" by a round.
    • The Scorpion can prime enemies for Fire Explosions with incendiary ammo modifications, but it has no standout ability to do so. Also, the holographic symbol for Incendiary Ammo/Rounds doesn't appear on the weapon.
  • The detonation of Scorpion rounds generates significant screen-shake at close range.
  • The Scorpion is very effective when combined with Tactical Cloak: the damage of the Scorpion projectiles is only done when they detonate and Tactical Cloak is only broken when they are fired, so firing them all onto a large target such as a Geth Prime and then cloaking allows for the damage bonus of Tactical Cloak to be applied to all the shots.
    • When firing the last round in a magazine whilst in Tactical Cloak, the Cloak will not break. This appears to be a bug.
  • The Scorpion can be a very effective weapon for Vanguard classes. The stunning and area damage of the shots can create a lot of space at close quarters, eliminating minor threats and suppressing enemy attacks. Direct hits with the weapon will reliably prime enemies for Power Combos, enabling every Charge to do even more damage. The Pistol Power Magnifier can be equipped to greatly increase the damage of Charge or other powers. Indirect fire can be used for immediate damage from the proximity detonations if the situation calls for it.
  • While it doesn't benefit from the accuracy or headshot damage bonuses of Marksman, the Scorpion can still become quite powerful from the rate of fire increases. With a Pistol Heavy Barrel and Pistol Magazine Upgrade the Scorpion can be used to dispatch even heavily armored targets with ease, dealing area damage to boot.
  • With practice, the Scorpion can be paired with biotics for unorthodox tactics. A player can shoot an enemy with the Scorpion and then use Throw or Pull to guide them into nearby groups of enemies to take full advantage of the Scorpion's splash damage. Alternatively, one can catch a group of enemies in a Singularity and then fire upon them with the Scorpion without having to worry about missing. Having Warp Ammo/Warp Rounds equipped will do even more damage to multiple enemies affected by biotics.
  • The Scorpion's area damage works well with area-debuffing powers that can increase the damage taken by multiple grouped enemies, such as Proximity Mine and Cryo Blast.

Single-player
  • If the Scorpion was acquired from a previous playthrough, do NOT use this weapon for killing Dr. Eva at the conclusion of Priority: Mars. The weapon will always fail to stop Dr. Eva's final attack: the initial strike does no damage, and even though she is pushed back significantly by the impact, this will not prevent the cutscene where she kills Shepard. Having the Scorpion equipped during the sequence guarantees death unless you have another weapon equipped that fires standard rounds and you switch to it immediately. Otherwise, you will have to restart from an earlier save where the weapon can be unequipped.
  • Squadmate power recharge times are unaffected by weapon weight, making a Scorpion equipped with the Pistol Heavy Barrel mod a powerful weapon option especially for Liara and EDI who can't equip the heavier weapon types. The only downside is the squadmate tendency to miss fast-moving targets as they do not lead with their aim.

Multiplayer
  • This weapon is favorable for classes (e.g. batarians and krogan) that lack the ability to dodge, as it will always stagger enemy units near the explosion. Fire at the ground in front of you to take advantage of the slugs' proximity detonations; this will stop Phantoms as they close in on you, giving you a few crucial seconds to escape their instant-kill range.
  • The Scorpion can work very well in tandem with Flamer, suppressing and halting groups of enemies while Flamer's damage eats away their health. Disruptor or Phasic ammo bonuses can be used to aid in destroying shields, and the Pistol Power Magnifier can be equipped as well.
  • When fired on Geth Juggernaut Soldier's Hex Shield, the Scorpion's projectile will instantly explode instead of attaching to its surface.

Mass Effect: Andromeda[]


Description[]

A mini-grenade launcher with adhesive explosives that stick to walls and detonate after a short countdown. In the Milky Way, the Scorpion was issued to the salarian Special Tasks Group so small units could contain larger enemy forces. The Initiative procured and modified a small number of the weapons.

Features[]

The Scorpion is unable to use a Pistol Receiver Mod.

The multiplayer Scorpion does not have a Concussive variant. It saw numerous changes in post-launch updates: its reload time has been reduced to 1.2 seconds from 1.5 seconds, the force imparted by its projectiles is also increased from 55 to 75, and it repeatedly gained damage improvements.

Strategies[]

  • The adhesive nature of the weapon leans itself well to opponents behind cover: shooting near them and using the explosive radius to damage them. It is worth nothing that this weapon cannot utilize the receiver module and thus cannot pierce cover directly.

Singleplayer

Multiplayer
  • The Angara Insurgent has no innate bonuses for the Scorpion but the proper placement of mines related to his Trip Mine skill is also useful in where to aim the gun for maximum efficiency.

Stats[]

Singleplayer
Rank Damage Rate of Fire Max Clip Size Max Ammo Accuracy Weight
I 315 75 4 28 40 30
II 336 75 4 29 43 28
III 357 75 4 30 45 27
IV 378 75 4 30 46 25
V 399 75 4 31 47 23
VI 420 75 4 32 48 22
VII 441 75 4 33 48 20
VIII 455 75 4 33 49 18
IX 476 75 4 34 50 17
X 497 75 4 35 50 15

Multiplayer
Rank Damage Rate of Fire Max Clip Size Max Ammo Accuracy Weight
I 616 80 4 24 60 20
II 629 80 4 25 65 19
III 643 80 4 25 67 18
IV 657 80 4 26 69 17
V 670 80 4 27 70 16
VI 684 80 4 27 72 14
VII 698 80 4 28 73 13
VIII 711 80 4 29 74 12
IX 725 80 4 29 74 11
X 739 80 4 30 75 10

Development[]

Rank Rd icon milkyway orange Research Cost Omni-gel canister icon Omni-Gel Canister Graphite icon Graphite Lithium icon Lithium Element zero icon Element Zero MEA Augmentation Slot For Tables Augmentation Slots
I 125 20 100 50 10 0
II 140 30 110 50 10 3
III 155 30 130 60 20 3
IV 170 30 140 70 20 3
V 185 40 160 80 20 3
VI 200 40 170 80 20 3
VII 215 40 180 80 20 3
VIII 230 40 190 90 20 3
IX 245 50 190 90 20 3
X 260 50 200 100 20 3
Total 1925 370 1570 750 180 N/A
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