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Disambiguous This article is about the power in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. For the skill in Mass Effect: Andromeda, see Tech Armor (skill).

Tech Armor is a tech power in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3's single-player and multiplayer modes.

The power generates an energy armor suit that boosts the user's shields.

Mass Effect 2[]

Tech Armor ME2 Icon Energy-charged armor that boosts your shields and detonates a damaging energy wave when destroyed.

Power Ranks[]

Tech Armor ME2
  • Rank 1 - Generates an energy armor suit that boosts your shields. When the armor is destroyed, it sends out a pulse of energy, knocking back and damaging all nearby enemies.
    • Recharge Time: 12.00 seconds
    • Duration: Lasts until destroyed
    • Shield Strength: +25.00% of maximum shields
    • Energy Pulse Radius: 7.50 meters
    • Energy Pulse Damage: 30.00 points
    • Energy Pulse Force: 100.00 newtons
  • Rank 2 - Generates an energy armor suit that boosts your shields. When the armor is destroyed, it sends out a pulse of energy, knocking back and damaging all nearby enemies.
    • Recharge Time: 12.00 seconds
    • Duration: Lasts until destroyed
    • Shield Strength: +50.00% of maximum shields
    • Energy Pulse Radius: 10.00 meters
    • Energy Pulse Damage: 40.00 points
    • Energy Pulse Force: 130.00 newtons
  • Rank 3 - Generates an energy armor suit that boosts your shields. When the armor is destroyed, it sends out a pulse of energy, knocking back and damaging all nearby enemies.
    • Recharge Time: 12.00 seconds
    • Duration: Lasts until destroyed
    • Shield Strength: +75.00% of base shields
    • Energy Pulse Radius: 12.50 meters
    • Energy Pulse Damage: 50.00 points
    • Energy Pulse Force: 160.00 newtons

Rank 4

Evolves Tech Armor into one of the following options:

Assault Armor[]

  • The armor is now rigged for maximum pulse when it is destroyed, increasing its damage, force, and radius. In case any enemies still survive, it gives an additional shield boost after the detonation.
    • Recharge Time: 12.00 seconds
    • Duration: Lasts until destroyed
    • Shield Strength: +75.00% of base shields
    • Energy Pulse Radius: 18.00 meters
    • Energy Pulse Damage: 100.00 points
    • Energy Pulse Force: 240.00 newtons
    • Energy Pulse Shield Boost: 50.00% of maximum shields

Power Armor[]

  • The armor's deflection capability is now at maximum, and the armor can channel its energy into biotic amps and weapons, increasing the damage of all your powers.
    • Recharge Time: 12.00 seconds
    • Duration: Lasts until destroyed
    • Shield Strength: +100.00% of base shields
    • Energy Pulse Radius: 12.50 meters
    • Energy Pulse Damage: 50.00 points
    • Energy Pulse Force: 160.00 newtons
    • Power Damage Bonus: +15.00%

Player Notes[]

  • When the armor is destroyed, it sends out a pulse of energy, damaging nearby enemies and knocking down unprotected targets while staggering most protected targets.
  • The Tech Armor's shield boost only applies to your base shield value. Any extra shielding from armor components and upgrades will not be multiplied by Tech Armor’s shield boost. However, your total shield value with armor components and upgrades will be refilled to 50% by the Assault Armor's pulse when it is destroyed.
  • Tech Armor gives you additional shield strength on top of your base shields. Thus, it is possible to raise Shepard's shields to more than double (even triple) their original strength, by using a fully upgraded Tech Armor, Damage Protection upgrades, and shield-boosting powers (such as Geth Shield Boost).
  • Tech Armor does not put an additional layer to your shields, it just doubles their strength. As long as there is still one shield strength left, Tech Armor holds, and your shields will regenerate to their full strength as provided by this power. However, if your shields are down, the Tech Armor is lost and your shields will only regenerate to their original level before Tech Armor kicks in. If you don't want to be spending a lot of your time reactivating Tech Armor, you will have to take care not to allow your shields to break from damage.
  • Tech Armor is unique among the four shield-increasing powers in that it has a duration of 'until destroyed'. This makes it very useful—simply activate it at the start of a mission and it will remain until taken down. You never need to worry about a timer running.
    • Unlike Fortification, Geth Shield Boost, and Barrier, Tech Armor cannot be used without interrupting Shepard while storming.
    • Unlike ammo powers which can remain active on the player even when loading a saved game (as long as they weren't being provided by a squad member), Tech Armor being active is not "remembered" by saves and it must be reactivated on loading a game. This can be particularly disadvantageous if loading an autosave that lands you in the middle of active combat, such as after you died.
  • Tech Armor will instantly kill any unarmored Husks once destroyed and the vast energy pulse radius only enhances its effectiveness. Hence, the Assault Armor's huge 18 metre radius could prove a viable tactic on missions like the Reaper IFF.
  • From Rank 3 onward, Tech Armor will reset the cooldown for all allies when used, making a Sentinel's allies more efficient than they are for other classes.
  • Tech Armor, being a tech power, benefits from omni-tool upgrades.
  • Assault Armor's secondary shield restoration can act to block much more than just 50% shields' worth of damage, thanks to the brief immunity to health damage that you gain whenever your shields are downed. The shield restore on-detonate is not instant, but gradual, essentially allowing for multiple potential damage immunity periods following the first one that triggers from shields going down initially (similar to how medi-gel works if it's upgraded to restore shields).
    • This can be life-saving when under particularly heavy fire that stuns you, e.g. getting hit by a barrage of missiles, or getting caught in the flamethrower of an enemy Pyro.
    • As long as Tech Armor is not on cooldown, it can be reactivated yet again for another short period of invincibility.
  • Aside from providing the strongest up-front boost to shield strength, Power Armor at rank 4 gives the Sentinel the highest potential power damage bonus of any class when combined with the "Raider" specialization of Defender, as long as Tech Armor remains active.

Availability[]

Mass Effect 3[]

ME3 Tech Armor

Power Ranks[]

Rank 1: Tech Armor[]

Protect yourself with this holographic armor or detonate it to damage nearby enemies.

Slows power use by 50%.

  • Recharge Speed: 6 sec
  • Damage Reduction: 35%
  • Explosion Damage: 400
  • Explosion Radius: 3 m


Rank 2: Recharge Speed[]

Increase recharge speed after armor detonation by 25%.

  • Recharge Speed: 4.80 sec
  • Damage Reduction: 35%
  • Explosion Damage: 400
  • Explosion Radius: 3 m


Rank 3: Damage & Radius[]

Increase detonation damage by 20%.
Increase impact radius by 20%.

  • Recharge Speed: 4.80 sec
  • Damage Reduction: 35%
  • Explosion Damage: 480
  • Explosion Radius: 3.60 m


Rank 4: Damage & Radius/Durability[]

Damage & Radius

Increase detonation damage by 30%.
Increase impact radius by 30%.

  • Recharge Speed: 4.80 sec
  • Damage Reduction: 35%
  • Explosion Damage: 600
  • Explosion Radius: 4.50 m

Durability

Increase damage protection by an additional 5%.

  • Recharge Speed: 4.80 sec
  • Damage Reduction: 40%
  • Explosion Damage: 480
  • Explosion Radius: 3.60 m


Rank 5: Power Damage/Melee Damage[]

Power Damage

Increase power damage and force by 30% while armor is active.

Melee Damage

Increase melee damage by 40% while the power is active.


Rank 6: Power Recharge/Durability[]

Power Recharge

Reduce power speed penalty by 30%.

Durability

Increase damage protection by an additional 10%.

  • Recharge Speed: 4.80 sec
  • Damage Reduction: 45% (Damage & Radius), 50% (Durability)
  • Explosion Damage: 600 (Damage & Radius), 480 (Durability)
  • Explosion Radius: 4.50 m (Damage & Radius), 3.60 m (Durability)


Player Notes[]

  • The power use penalty at Rank 1 Tech Armor is not 50% overall reduction to Power Recharge Speed, but a 50% points reduction of the Power Recharge Speed bonus visible in the weapon loadout screen. For example, if you have a +200% Power Recharge Speed bonus when looking at the weapons screen, activating Rank 1 Tech Armor reduces that bonus to +150%.
    • The power speed penalty reduction of 30% at Rank 6 Tech Armor reduces the penalty down to 20%. E.g. if you have +200% Power Recharge Speed, activating Rank 6 Tech Armor only reduces that to +180%.
  • Tech Armor differs from its Mass Effect 2 incarnation in providing damage resistance as opposed to extra shielding. It also no longer breaks when shields are destroyed, and it continues to provide protection to health as well, even when shields are depleted. The damage protection bonus can also stack with additional powers such as Fortification, Defense Matrix, Barrier, or Reave. If optimized, the protection can stack up to a maximum of 90%, which is incredibly useful on higher difficulties. However, any power speed penalties from these powers also stack, further slowing power use.
  • Detonation: As in Mass Effect 2, Tech Armor can be detonated, creating an omnidirectional blast wave centered on the player.
    • Tech Armor only has a cooldown when detonated, it cannot be broken by enemies; even when downed in multiplayer, you will always rise with your armor intact.
    • Detonation is immediate, but the player's character does a short animation of using the omni-tool which will override most actions such as running, rolling, firing, or dodging. This can leave the character open to enemy attacks, but it can be cancelled by light melee, leaving cover from the sides, sprinting, rolling again, or simply hitting the "interact" key (as is the case with most animations in the game).
    • Tech Armor's detonation can hit enemies from behind cover and through walls.
    • Somewhat uniquely for a power, the detonation can hit any number of targets within its blast radius.
    • The detonation has a hidden base force value of 1000N, which can at least cause most humanoid enemies to be staggered.

Availability[]

Trivia[]

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