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What is the best Heavy Weapon to use in general in Mass Effect 2? The Cain nuke launcher is pretty funny, but it's not worth using because of how much ammo it requires. In general, I use the Collector Particle Beam or the Grenade launcher. I find the Avalanche and Missile Launcher to not be as effective.

What's the best to use overall without switching?

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    The Cain is fun! Especially when you time it right, e.g., just as the lift door opens on the mission to collect Thane, turning a tricky fight into total hilarity.
    – Donal Fellows
    Commented Aug 29, 2010 at 17:21

6 Answers 6

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The Collector Particle Beam has many advantages over other heavy weapons:

  • No reload time
  • No projectile travel time
  • No delay before firing
  • No self-damage
  • Continuous, visible fire for adjusting aim and tracking moving targets
  • Zero recoil

It also has a +50% bonus against both armor and shields.

The main downside is you're out in the open while firing, but most of the time I feel the advantages outweigh the risks.

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  • Added bonus: at the final boss' second phase, it's the only weapon that allows you to destroy all 4 the targets in a single adrenalin rush.
    – drxzcl
    Commented Aug 5, 2010 at 22:12
  • Not true. I've done it with the heavy pistol, IIRC, from the Infiltrator Stealth.
    – Zed
    Commented Sep 14, 2010 at 19:47
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My two favorites are the Collector Particle Beam and the Arc Projector.

ZoogieZork has a good answer about why the Particle Beam is good, so I'll restrict myself to the Arc Projector.

  • no travel time. Charge up, and BLAM! Lightning
  • Minimal charge up time. Things like the Cain and the Blackstorm have lengthy charge up times, which can be the death of you (literally) on higher difficulties. The Arc Projector's time is fast enough that you can pop out, fire, and duck back into cover without taking any health damage.
  • no self-damage. Yay for ally-friendly lightning!
  • It's free DLC
  • Quickly available -- selectable as soon as you get back from Freedom's Progress (If not before? Maybe? Unsure)
  • Ammo Count - relatively high for a heavy weapon. Hard to waste ammo with misses (especially moving targets)
  • Chain hits. The AoE potential on the Arc Projector is insane. I haven't found an upper limit on number of targets yet. If they are in a group, it is hitting everybody.
  • Overloads / Stuns organic enemies, a la Reave. Will also overheat weapons a la Overload.
  • not bulky or out of place on Shepard's back. (Hey, it was a big deal for me! Collector Particle Beam looks very odd if you're not wearing collector armor)
  • Can duck into cover between shots.

I love it, it's a lot of fun to use. Occasionally, you'll even hit enemies you weren't expecting to. (Yay, free damage!)

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    I almost always carried the Arc Projector (chain lightning ftw). The Collector Particle Beam is pretty good too. The Cain I think I only really used for one boss. But yeah, I loves me the arc projector.
    – jordie3000
    Commented Nov 13, 2012 at 1:34
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I found myself using the Collector Particle Beam most of the time on my Sentinel, but on my Infiltrator I mostly used the Singularity Gun (which I think came as a preorder bonus). It was great for the Infiltrator because I could pop my invis and sit through (most of) the charge up time without drawing fire, then fire that big beautiful ball of destruction and sit in cover waiting for it to explode and kill everything.

It could get tricky to aim sometimes though. Generally speaking the Collector Particle Beam is probably the best, its only real draw back is having to stay out in the open while firing it (which was hard on the Infiltrator).

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Personally, my favorite is the anti-material cannon (sniper rifle); but then, I've always been a fan of the sniping style, and that thing can take out almost anything in one shot!

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I'm agreeing with the majority and going with the Collector Beam, for all the reasons ZoogieZork listed. It's very powerful against shields, armour AND health (not many weapons are), whereas every other heavy weapon I used had something or other that made it slow/unwieldy/difficult to use. I'd say its biggest (only?) problem is that you can only hit one target at a time.

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I really like the singularity. Taking out 3 or 4 baddies at once was great. I just used it in certain situations. I miss it in me3.

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    Singularity is a skill, not a weapon. While it is pretty awesome by itself, it's not what the question asked for.
    – MBraedley
    Commented Nov 3, 2012 at 14:10

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