Mass Effect Wiki
Advertisement
Mass Effect Wiki

This is the talk page for Cryo Blast.
Please limit discussions to topics that go into improving the article.
If you wish to discuss matters not relevant to article upkeep, take it to the blogs, forums,
Discord chat, or discussions module.
Thank you.

Cryo Blast Damage[]

I have noticed on multiple occasions that Cryo Blast damages armor (on Hardcore), and not insignificantly. So does Energy Drain, for that matter. Anyone find the same? And does anyone know how much damage is done (or how one can discover how much)? --AnotherRho 03:36, September 1, 2010 (UTC)

Frozen vulnerability only against gunfire?[]

Can anyone else confirm that the vulnerability to damage while Frozen applies only to gunfire? I'm not seeing much of a difference when I Warp or Incinerate a Cryo Blast frozen enemy. Grail Quest (talk) 04:56, March 15, 2014 (UTC)

Snap Freeze Power and Cryo Blast Use Points[]

I'm placing this here as I found recently that something to do with Snap Freeze is registering as Cryo Blast Use points towards the Cryo Blast Use Challenge in multiplayer.

I had 0 points in Cryo Blast Use (0%) before I undertook the Snap Freeze Use challenge 50,000 points using the Alliance Infiltrator Unit(AIU). I played several games to get my points up to 50,000 and get the challenge award.

I noticed in the Challenges screen that I was now showing 3% (~750 points) Cryo Blast Use. I hadn't used Cryo Blast, Cryo Ammo, or any other cold based attacks.

This got me thinking that something to do with Snap Freeze is causing it to register as Cryo Blast Use points as I had just checked my screen before playing the matches and right after getting the award. A similar issue with another power happens with the Geth Turret power. The Geth Turret will register as Geth Turret Use points if it kills with the bullets and Sentry Turret Use points if the flame kills the enemy.

I tried each method below several times by killing just one enemy and not damaging anything else and then dying to check the points screen. I can confirm the following:

  • Using the AIU's Snap Freeze power multiple times in a row on an enemy to kill it doesn't give Cryo Blast Use points. However, if the enemy is frozen solid, the experience (xp) awarded goes up to +391 vs +316 just like Cryo Blast but no points are awarded in Cryo Blast Use.
  • Using Cryo Rounds to freeze an enemy and then detonating a cryo explosion with Incinerate (Human Engineer) doesn't award extra xp or give Cryo Blast Use points.
  • Using Cryo Rounds to freeze and then kill an enemy doesn't award extra xp or give Cryo Blast Use points.
  • Using Incendiary Ammo and then detonating a Fire Explosion to kill the enemy (using Snap Freeze) doesn't award extra xp or give Cryo Blast Use points.

I think this may have something to do with Cryo Explosions as killing using Snap Freeze alone doesn't register as Cryo Blast Use points.

  • Either cryo explosions killing other enemies close by or potentially some other power than Incinerate detonating the cryo explosion.
  • Based on the fact that the AIU doesn't have powers to detonate the Snap Freeze cryo explosion by herself, I am unable to dig deeper into why this is happening in a solo player setting.
  • All of the different powers that can detonate a cryo explosion make testing them all unlikely as well.
  • I haven't found anything online either.
  • Trying to play team multiplayers and only killing 1 guy then everyone dying to find the cause isn't going to happen anytime soon. :)

I wanted to make the issue know so that if others find the cause, the Player Notes section on the Cryo Blast page could be updated with the specific cause. I put the note there as it should be made aware to players that something registers as cryo blast use sometimes when cryo blast hasn't been used (when snap freeze has) but the cause is unknown at this time. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.26.159.235‎ (talk · contr). 12:00, December 8, 2017 (UTC)


I've repeated the same finding (after getting Tech Mastery) of Cryo Blast Use points being given when Cryo Blast hasn't been used. Some interaction between Snap Freeze and something else is giving Cryo Blast Use points. I played 4 games with the AIU and got the Snap Freeze Use challenge again. This time before playing Cryo Blast Use was at 0 points. After the 4 games, the Cryo Blast point count was up to 5629 (22%). No cryo rounds or cryo powers other than Snap Freeze were used. About 150,000 points were earned by only using Snap Freeze during those 4 games. Multiple different powers were used by other squadmates. Carnage, Inferno Grenades, Energy Drain, etc. It's still unknown what is giving the Cryo Blast Use points.
  • To determine if I needed to play with Snap Freeze long enough to find a problem that shows up only intermittently, I ran an entire solo match using the AIU. All 11 waves were completed using Snap Freeze. After the match, the Cryo Blast Use points had not changed. With this large amount of kills and points earned using just Snap Freeze, it is not Snap Freeze itself that is giving the Cryo Blast Use points. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.26.159.235‎ (talk · contr). 17:00, December 8, 2017 (UTC)


I've repeated the same findings with the N7 Paladin Sentinel using Snap Freeze. The same Cryo Blast Use points show up after multiplayer matches with other teammates. It is unknown what combination or circumstances are giving the points for Cryo Blast Use. This looks more and more likely to be related to Cryo Explosions. I had the last ~300 xp points to get to 25,000 happen when another player used a power of some sort (Carnage possibly) to kill a Brute that I had primed with Snap Freeze. The screen showed (Cryo Explosion) Brute for my user name right after I had the screen show up for Cryo Blast Use Points Challenge Silver Medal. The cryo explosions may or may not be what is giving the Cryo Blast Use Points. It is difficult/almost impossible at this time to replicate the circumstances reliably over and over. Without a method that is repeatable, there is no way to prove or disprove the exact circumstances leading to the extra points in cryo blast. Is it the detonating power that is causing the points? Is it the cryo explosion killing another enemy? Is it certain powers that cause this to happen?
It is clear that you can see points being awarded so this is happening across multiple playthroughs using multiple characters. Unless something changes and I'm able to prove the exact circumstances, this may be the last time I post on this subject. If anyone else is able to pin down the causes, please post and I'll gladly update the player notes section. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.26.159.235‎ (talk · contr). 03:00, December 30, 2017 (UTC)


I recently found that Sentry Turret with Rank 5A Cryo Ammo and potentially Cryo Rounds give the same cryo blast use points. It is much harder though to get points to register for Cryo Blast Use. This seems again to be related to cryo explosions. I had an enemy frozen by a sentry turret and it sounded like it was cryo explosion detonated. I didn't see it happen on my screen but I noticed I had 157 xp show up in Cryo Blast Use points later. I had recently rolled the Tech Mastery gold medal challenge again. I had no points in Snap Freeze and had only been using Sentry Turret with cryo ammo evolution. I would make the assumption that Cryo Rounds should also do the same thing. Something dealing with the explosion grants Cryo Blast Use points. It is much harder though to use cryo ammo to freeze and detonate as much as Snap Freeze does. This statement is based on the super low amount of XP points that it happens with Sentry turret 157 vs the thousands that show up with Snap Freeze. Still unknown what the exact circumstances are giving points attributed to Cryo Blast Use.
Snap Freeze gives much more than Sentry Turret or Cryo Rounds. I would propose/assume that any power that freezes an enemy and can be detonated in some fashion will more than likely give under certain circumstances Cryo Blast Points Use. I wanted to document these additional findings here. If anyone comes across the exact circumstances that can be repeated reliably, please post them here so that others can potentially duplicate those findings and lay this mystery to rest. Thanks in advance. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.26.159.235‎ (talk · contr). 18:03, February 1, 2018 (UTC)
Advertisement