Tactical Cloak is a tech power available to Infiltrators in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 and a Tech skill in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Mass Effect 2
When activated, it instantly renders the Infiltrator invisible to all enemies and grants a damage bonus to all weapons. However it also halts health and shield regeneration, leaving the Infiltrator vulnerable once the cloak wears off.
Power Ranks
- Rank 1
- Recharge Time: 6.00 seconds
- Duration: 5.00 seconds
- Rank 2
- Recharge Time: 6.00 seconds
- Damage: +20.00%
- Duration: 5.50 seconds
- Rank 3
- Recharge Time: 6.00 seconds
- Damage: +40.00%
- Duration: 6.00 seconds
Rank 4
Choose to evolve the power into one of the following,
Enhanced Cloak
- You have modified your cloak's power cells to stay hidden for extended periods, useful for bypassing enemies or setting up a strike.
- Recharge Time: 6.00 seconds
- Damage: +40.00%
- Duration: 8.00 seconds
Assassination Cloak
- You are a master of the hidden strike, gaining a huge bonus to damage if you attack while cloaked.
- Recharge Time: 6.00 seconds
- Damage: +75.00%
- Duration: 6.00 seconds
Player Notes
- The power's 6-second cooldown does not begin until after the cloak is removed, however, no powers can be used whilst the cloak is active. Also, it should be noted that the cloak will deactivate sooner if Shepard fires a weapon or reloads one. Charging Heavy Weapons like the M-920 Cain will disable the effect as well (however it will not fully deactivate until the weapon is ready to fire).
- At least three enemies, the Oculus, the Geth Colossus, and the Thresher Maw, will continue to pursue and attack Shepard despite being cloaked.
- When activated, enemies will immediately stop attacking Shepard, and will instead turn their attention upon the rest of the squad. However, the cloak will not prevent automated targeting, such as missiles or direct-damage powers from hitting Shepard once they have been launched. Additionally, the cloak does not prevent damage to Shepard; the Commander can still be hurt or hindered by attacks targeted elsewhere. After the cloak wears off, enemies will attack Shepard again.
- If both of Shepard's squad-members are incapacitated, Tactical Cloak will cause all enemies to stop moving, giving the player ample opportunity to line up a head shot.
Mass Effect 3
Power Ranks (Kasumi)
Rank 1: Tactical Cloak
Become invisible. Gain a massive damage bonus when breaking from cloak to attack.
- Recharge Speed: 20 sec
- Duration: 8.80 sec
- Damage Bonus: 50%
Rank 2: Recharge Speed
Decrease recharge speed by 25%.
- Recharge Speed: 16 sec
Rank 3: Duration
Increase power duration by 30%.
- Duration: 11.20 sec
Rank 4: Duration/Damage
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Duration Increase power duration by 40%.
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Damage Increase damage bonus by 40%.
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Rank 5: Recharge Speed/Melee Damage
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Recharge Speed Increase recharge speed by 30%.
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Melee Damage Increase melee damage by 50% while cloaked. |
Rank 6: Bonus Power/Damage
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Bonus Power Fire one power while cloaked and remain hidden. |
Damage Increase damage by 40%.
|
Power Ranks (Shepard and Multiplayer)
Rank 1: Tactical Cloak
Become invisible. Gain a massive damage bonus when breaking from cloak to attack.
- Recharge Speed: 10 sec
- Duration: 8 sec (4 sec multiplayer)
- Damage Bonus: 50% (40% multiplayer non-asari, 60% asari)
Rank 2: Recharge Speed
Increase recharge speed by 25%.
- Recharge Speed: 8 sec
Rank 3: Duration
Increase power duration by 30%.
- Duration: 10.40 sec (5.20 sec multiplayer)
Rank 4: Duration/Damage
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Duration Increase power duration by 40%. (150% multiplayer.)
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Damage Increase damage bonus by 40%. (60% asari.)
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Rank 5: Recharge Speed/Melee Damage
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Recharge Speed Increase recharge speed by 30%.
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Melee Damage Increase melee damage by 50% while cloaked. |
Rank 6: Bonus Power/Sniper Rifle Damage
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Bonus Power Fire one power while cloaked and remain hidden. |
Sniper Rifle Damage Increase sniper rifle damage by 40% while cloaked. (25% multiplayer.) |
Rank 6 Multiplayer Variants:
Turian Ghost Rank 6: Bonus Power/Assault Rifle Damage
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Bonus Power Fire one power while cloaked and remain hidden. |
Assault Rifle Damage When Tactical Cloak is activated, assault rifles do 20% more damage for 10 seconds. |
Asari Huntress Rank 6: Bonus Power/Biotic Damage
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Bonus Power Fire one power while cloaked and remain hidden. |
Power Damage Increase Power Damage by 40%. |
Alliance Infiltration Unit Rank 6: Bonus Power/Shotgun Damage
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Bonus Power Fire one power while cloaked and remain hidden. |
Shotgun Damage Shotguns fired during cloak do 25% more damage. |
Player Notes
- Mechanics
- Stops shield regeneration upon activation.
- On Insanity difficulty, many enemies still attack a cloaked Shepard, even if other party members are alive and nearby.
- Abominations, Adjutants, Dragoons and Harvesters are not affected by the cloak, and will continue to fire at Shepard regardless.
- The recharge time for Tactical Cloak in Mass Effect 3 is proportional to the length of time the cloak is activated. For example, if the cloak is activated for the maximum duration, the power will take the full time to recharge. If the cloak is deactivated immediately, or within a time that would not affect the cooldown however, the recharge is always 3 seconds (the minimum).
- The damage bonus for firing while in Tactical Cloak stacks additively with those from other skills (such as passives) or weapon mods. However, the Rank 6 40% (25% for multiplayer) damage bonus for sniper rifles stacks by multiplying the other bonuses.
- Using grenade powers will not deactivate the cloak as firing weapons or using other powers does, allowing the Infiltrator to get in, place a grenade, and get out, without being seen. This is especially useful against enemies such as the Atlas mech.
- In multiplayer, despite the skill being active, enemies will attack the player if:
- They see the Infiltrator begin cloaking, and is alone in the area.
- The Infiltrator is too close (nearly point-blank range).
- The Infiltrator is the last one standing during a wave.
- Tactical Cloak buffs all damage dealt within about 2 seconds of the cloak breaking. This means an Infiltrator can actually fire multiple shots from certain rifles and even use a power in some cases before the damage increase wears off.
- The Asari Huntress's Tactical Cloak damage bonuses only apply to melee attacks and powers.
- During an escort objective in multiplayer, a cloaked player does not count towards the number of players within the drone's escort zone.
- In multiplayer, this power is one of few that exist in multiple versions as listed above.
- Strategies
- Using Tactical Cloak after firing an extended magazine upgraded Striker Assault Rifle achieves its maximum fire rate without breaking cloak.
- Using a sniper rifle after taking a cloaked shot, a power can be used immediately after the shot and it will still use tactical cloak's proportional cooldown, which can be very devastating to an unaware enemy. This can be done without the rank 6 Bonus Power upgrade.
- This can even be used when power recharge speed is decreased by 200% and cooldown times could be as high as 30-40 seconds. Depending on how much time you spent in the cloak when using the powers to break the cloak, you could still wait as little as 3 seconds for cooldowns rather than 30 seconds for example.
- This tactic can make Salarian Infiltrators very difficult to kill due to Energy Drain, quarians very apt at causing robotic carnage with Sabotage, and humans very capable of making sneak attacks with Cryo Blast.
- Following an update, the Tactical Cloak's duration was halved. This drastically decreased the chances of performing objectives in hostile environments, and also made evading large groups of enemies or avoiding longer cooldowns with heavier loadouts more difficult. The Cloak can retain the 11 second duration if the duration evolution at rank 4 is taken, but otherwise only lasts 5.2 seconds. As such, Infiltrators without the rank 4 evolution should use the Tactical Cloak cautiously and not expose themselves too much in the battlefield.
Availability
- Single-player: Infiltrator, Kasumi Goto
- Multiplayer: Alliance Infiltration Unit Infiltrator, Asari Huntress Infiltrator, Drell Assassin Infiltrator, Geth Hunter Infiltrator, Human Infiltrator, N7 Shadow Infiltrator, Quarian Infiltrator, Quarian Male Infiltrator, Salarian Infiltrator, Turian Ghost Infiltrator
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Ranks
| Cost | Rank | Description | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tactical Cloak | Employs light-bending technology to render the user invisible at the cost of shield and health regeneration. Guns, powers, and melee attacks used from cloak gain a damage bonus but break the cloaking effect.
Unlocked after investing at least 9 skill points into the Tech skill group. |
Duration (s): 6.5
Recharge Time (s): 12 Gun Damage Bonus: 60% Power Damage Bonus: 50% Melee Damage Bonus: 60% |
| 2 | Recharge | Recharge Speed: +20% | |
| 3 | Duration | Duration: +30% | |
| 4 | Recharge | Recharge Speed: +30% | |
| 4 | Damage | Gun Damage Bonus: +50%
Power Damage Bonus: +50% Melee Damage Bonus: +50% | |
| 5 | Duration | Duration: +50% | |
| 5 | Speed | Bonus Movement Speed While Cloaked: 15% | |
| 6 | Escape Artist | The cloak no longer prevents health and shield regeneration. | |
| 6 | Combat Cloak | Tactical Cloak remains briefly after attacking. Damage bonuses remain in effect after this time. | Cloak Duration After Attack (s): 2 |
Availability
- Single-Player:
- Multiplayer:
Trivia
- Commander Shepard, Kasumi Goto, the Clone, and Maya Brooks are the only notable users:
- In Mass Effect 2 the only users of this ability are Geth Hunters and Geth Recon Drones, though Shepard can still see their cloaks as blurred shadows.
- Kasumi Goto and the N7 Shadow Infiltrator utilize a very similar power to Tactical Cloak called Shadow Strike.
- In Mass Effect 3, if the player is holding a heavy weapon when cloaking, the weapon itself remains visible.
- In the mobile game Mass Effect: Infiltrator, the two protagonists can use a similar tech power. However, Cloak does not break when you fire a weapon or use another ability.