Snap Freeze

Snap Freeze is a power in Mass Effect 3. It is available to the N7 Paladin and Alliance Infiltration Unit Infiltrator DLC character.

Power Ranks

Rank 1: Snap Freeze

Flash-freeze unprotected enemies and slow down the rest with a wave of ice damage.

Frozen targets don't regenerate health.
Weaken armor by 25%.

• Recharge Speed: 8 sec
• Damage: 250
• Range: 10 m
• Freeze Duration: 6 sec
• Movement Speed: -15%

Rank 2: Recharge Speed

Increase recharge speed by 25%.

• Recharge Speed: 6.40 sec

Rank 3: Damage

Increase damage by 20%.

• Damage: 300

Rank 4: Damage/Reach

Damage Increase damage by 30%. Damage: 375

Reach Increase range by 50%. Range: 15 m

Rank 5: Duration & Slow/Cryo Explosion

Duration & Slow Increase the duration of freeze effects by 50%. Decrease the movement speed of chilled targets by an additional 20%. Freeze Duration: 9 sec Movement Speed: -35%

Cryo Explosion Increase damage to chilled and frozen targets by 10%.

Rank 6: Damage & Weakness/Tech Combo

Damage & Weakness Increase damage by 40%. Weaken armored targets by an additional 25%. Damage: 475 (Damage), 400 (Range)

Tech Combo Increase the damage of tech combos by 100%.

Player Notes

Mechanics

• Snap Freeze is notoriously buggy, with variance depending on whether or not the player has the Reckoning DLC installed.
  • Without Reckoning, Snap Freeze always has the rank 6 Tech Combo evolution active, which means all tech combos primed/detonated by Snap Freeze do 2x damage. This also means that the rank 6 evolution does nothing.
    • However, for the N7 Paladin, the 2x combo damage only affects Cryo Explosions primed by Snap Freeze.
  • With Reckoning, the interaction is more complicated:
    • The N7 Paladin still gets no benefit from Tech Combo, but now the combo does normal damage until the rank 4 Reach evolution is chosen (at which point all Cryo Explosions primed by Snap Freeze do double damage).
    • The Alliance Infiltration Unit now has to choose the Tech Combo evolution as normal, and all relevant tech combos primed/detonated by Snap Freeze are affected (not just Cryo Explosions).
• Snap Freeze fires in a "Cone-shaped" area-of-effect. (similar to Ballistic Blades and Nightshade Blades).
  • The cones' effect will pass through obstacles.
• Snap Freeze will prime Cryo Explosions even if enemies are merely chilled instead of frozen.

Strategies

• Snap Freeze is extremely good at disabling a large group of enemies simultaneously, especially since it can trigger tech explosions. In one usage, it will only completely freeze one unshielded enemy, but all other unshielded enemies caught in the blast will be disabled with an effect similar to that of fire-based powers or incendiary rounds.
• The cone area-of-effect is very large, so there is no need to aim or target enemies before using it. Face the general direction, use the power, and you'll hit all enemies in range.
• Like Shockwave and Biotic Slash, this ability can go through solid objects, allowing you to hit enemies on other side of walls or even enemies hiding in cover. All enemies within range (10m or 15m) are guaranteed to be hit.
• As the ability suggests, only one target is actually frozen, which tends to be the closest target and as usual can only be a target in its health state (no shields or armor).
• This ability behaves unlike most tech powers in regards to tech explosions; when used as the detonating power, the tech explosion will originate from the character, rather than the enemy.
• An effective strategy is to combine this with a class that can use Overload and has it specced to hit multiple targets. When combined with hordes of enemies and low cooldowns, one can easily cause multiple Cryo Explosions, one after another, in very quick succession.

Availability

• Single-player: N/A
• Multiplayer: Alliance Infiltration Unit Infiltrator, N7 Paladin Sentinel