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Mass Effect 2 Hints
Combat Tips
1 of 4: One of the many annoying changes this game makes to the original Mass Effect's way of doing things is that weapons now have to be frequently reloaded, and can completely run out of ammo. Due to this, you'll have to be more careful with your shots to avoid wasting ammo, and you'll need to remember to search for thermal clips dropped by dead enemies after each combat. (For heavy weapons, you'll need to find boxes of power cells.) Note that if you're about to return to the Normandy, there's no need to search for ammo, since it'll be fully replenished when you land somewhere again. (Except heavy weapon ammo, which may or may not be replenished.)
2 of 4: Thankfully, your two squad members will have no such problem, so you might want to have them do most or all of the shooting in combats that don't involve tough "boss" monsters that they can't handle alone. Stay back under good cover while using the "Order Move/Attack Henchman" keys to send your squad members to strategic shooting locations. To keep them from getting shot down, have them return to cover near you every now and then. Also, always stay well-stocked in medi-gel (and get all the medi-gel capacity and Unity-related upgrades ASAP) so you can use your Unity power to instantly restore your squad whenever they're both shot down.
3 of 4: Whether you're helping with the shooting or not, it's always very important to stay under cover. Even weaker enemies can knock down your shields and chew through your health very quickly with sustained fire, so always try to find some good cover to stay behind while periodically peeking out and shooting at the nearest hostiles. Tall crates and such are good to stand behind, and low railings and barricades are good to go into cover mode next to and shoot over (use the Zoom key for aiming). Also, there are many times when you can hide to the left or right of a room's doorway for cover, or run back the way you came to find better cover and to lure hostiles to you a few at a time.
4 of 4: One very useful thing that's easy to forget about are the powers that you and your squad members have. At any time during combat, you can press and hold a certain key (LEFT SHIFT on the PC) to pause the game and bring up the squad command interface. On it, you can change which weapon you and your squad members are using, and you can choose to use any power that you or a squad member has (unless the person who has the power is currently in cooldown mode from just having used one). Look for opportunities to take good advantage of specific powers, such as using Overload to take down an enemy's shields or Adrenaline Rush to help you get head shots.
