Insanity made easy: The Sentinel

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On the Insanity difficulty, enemies become overwhelmingly damaging, and the cover system becomes the only means of survival for Shepard and his team. Playing any class, you might want to use one of the defensive bonus powers such as Barrier, Fortification, or Shield Boost as a "panic button" to give you that extra bit of defense and ensure that you don't die in a tight spot. There is one class that specializes in that field however, and that is the Sentinel. Sentinels are described as a very defensive class, and their class ability fulfills that. Tech Armor is an ability that boosts your shields above their normal level. It never expires, unlike the bonus powers, meaning you can cast it immediately after one fight, and be armored and able to use a different power by the time you enter the next fight. Once tech armor is broken, it also has the added benefit of emitting a large burst of energy that knocks over any enemies without special defenses, and at the very least causes protected enemies to flinch. Tech Armor, at stage 3 and 4, also has the unnoted effect of resetting the cooldowns of your squadmates' abilities, meaning you can rely more heavily on them to do fighting for you. My preferred evolution of the final stage is Assault Armor. It causes your shields to recharge back up to 50% after being broken, meaning even after it breaks, it doesn't leave you unprotected. This is great, because the other focus of Assault Armor is the energy burst released upon a shield break. The burst from Assault Armor is increased in every way, making it a sort of weapon in its own right. My style of Sentinel is to use Tech Armor as my main skill, then pair that with the Warp Ammo bonus power to give weapons the bite they normally lack for a Sentinel. The Guardian branch of the Sentinel's passive skill gives a great reduction in cooldown time, allowing for more frequent usage of a Sentinel's fantastic library of skills. Once those three are set, I grab Overload and Warp (unlocking throw along the way) ensuring that even if ammo runs out, Shepard won't have to resort to melee to finish a fight, although with Assault Armor, melee's actually a viable option. What squad you bring with you is not crucial, either bring your favorites, or bring members who are beneficial for the specific mission you're doing. Once the decision becomes available, choosing which weapon to gain proficiency with is not crucial either, any weapon becomes useful with Warp Ammo. I prefer the Assault Rifle for its effectiveness in every situation and high ammo capacity. Simply put, the Sentinel is possibly the best class in Mass Effect 2. Capable of handling any situation without ever firing a shot, but also capable of handling any situation by only firing shots, Sentinels are the perfect class for a patient and calculating Shepard. Assault armor grants Shepard the alternative strategy of rushing in and elbow-bashing hostiles as well. With their flexibility and strong squad support, a well-equipped Sentinel should have no problem taking on any foe, even on the Insanity difficulty.

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