On higher difficulties, a Soldier’s Shields aren’t a terribly impressive component of their defense and will often be depleted, but Hardened Adrenaline Rush will effectively double their Health for its duration. The increased dilation will give you an even greater advantage, but the 50% standard dilation is already more than sufficient, while the 50% Health Damage reduction is a huge boon. Both seem promising, with the latter boosting the dilation up to 70%, while the former reduces the Health damage you sustain during usage by 50%. When you inevitably max it out you’ll get to evolve the power to either Hardened Adrenaline Rush and Heightened Adrenaline Rush. With a duration of 5 seconds and 50% time dilation, this is an ability you should spam at every opportunity, picking off troublesome foes, lining up efficient headshots, or just to dish out extra damage. There’s absolutely no reason not to max out Adrenaline Rush, as doing so will reduce its duration by one second per rank, up to a minimum of 3 seconds at rank three. This will greatly influence our choice in Bonus Powers, as there’s little point in picking something that’ll have its own active cooldown, hence restricting your use of Adrenaline Rush. It’s such a useful ability, in fact, that you’ll probably want to use it every time it’s off cooldown to the exclusion of other abilities.

Most classes in Mass Effect have a playstyle defining class power, and the Soldier is no exception Adrenaline Rush is their bread and butter ability, dilating time when it’s in use, hence allowing the Soldier to pick their shots more carefully and put more bullets in the air than the enemy can muster. Adrenaline Rush is the Soldier’s bread-and-butter power, allowing them to precisely dish out incredible damage while tanking enemy fire.

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