Loadout

Loadout terminals allow players to change or modify their active weapons and mods, armor, consumables, choose squadmates, and customize the ND1 Nomad's look. A terminal is shown when deploying on a mission. It can also be accessed at a forward station or in the Tempest's Airlock just off the Bridge. The loadout screen will not be shown when arriving at the Nexus or landing on Aya, Kadara, or Meridian. It will be displayed when leaving Kadara Port for the Kadara Slums. Besides the normal locations for loadout terminals, there are a few missions and locations that have a Loadout terminal. These are marked with.

Weapons
The loadout window allows for the equipping of a melee weapon and two firearms by default. Additional weapon slots can be unlocked through the Combat Fitness skill at ranks 3 and 5.

Weapon weight
Total weapon weight is affected by the number and type of weapons chosen at the Loadout terminal.

Melee weapons are weightless but each firearm adds more weight.

If Ryder carries too much weight, power recharge times are affected.

Certain skills can increase overall weight capacity:

Certain skills can reduce the weight of guns: Certain mods can reduce the weight of guns: Certain mods can increase the weight of guns:
 * Assault Rifles 1 Icon.png Assault Rifles - Rank 4A
 * Pistols 1 Icon.png Pistols - Rank 4A
 * Asari Commando 3 - Precision Icon.png Shotguns - Rank 4A
 * Sniper Rifles 1 Icon.png Sniper Rifles - Rank 4A
 * Icon Common Mod Materials.png SR Ultra-Light Materials
 * Icon Common Mod Materials.png SR Experimental Materials
 * Icon Common Mod Materials.png SR Latticed Materials

Certain armor can reduce the weight of guns:
 * Ultra Rare Chest Icon.png Scavenger Armor
 * Ultra Rare Helmet Icon.png Scavenger Helmet

Weapon weight mechanics
For a detailed investigation of weapon weight mechanics, see Weapon Weight Strategy.

Weapon weight percentage ranges from 100% to -100%. Each 1 percent can be considered a “weight point”. So if a weapon weighs 43 – that’s 43 weight points or 43%.

30 weight points is the base level weight capacity with no weight modifiers in place. Using Tier I Initiative Armor, no skill points spent, and the Soldier profile would be a good example.

The full base range of weight points is 130. That is 30 weight points in the blue zone and 100 weight points in the red zone.
 * A Pathfinder Deep Impact I weighs 30 and power recharge speed is 100% blue.
 * A Raptor V weighs 31 and shows power recharge speed as red with -1%.
 * -100% red is the highest the weight number can go. Equipping four Widow I's has the most weight possible and the -100% is reached with only three Widows. The fourth does nothing.

Weapons and mods that change weight have problems.
 * Having a weapon with a single mod and a second weapon with no mod causes the mod to incorrectly take into account the weight of both weapons.
 * Weapons with more than one mod use a cumulative weight system. The first mod applied to a weapon changes the weight of the weapon. Adding a second mod to the same weapon uses the new weight from the first mod to calculate the final weight.
 * The more weapons and mods involved, the higher the discrepancies found.

The easy thing to remember is that a single weapon and a single mod are reasonably accurate to the predicted weight numbers depending upon the weapon, weapon tier, and mod tier (except for pistols which are double what they should be). Additional weapons and additional mods cause weight increases to be higher than expected and weight reductions to be lower than expected.

Singleplayer

 * Auxiliary Systems, Barrier, and Combat Fitness are weight points and not percentage increases. A +40% increase from Auxiliary Systems is actually 40 points of increase to the base level. The base level of 30 goes up to 70. This is not 40% of the base level of 30 or an increase of only 12 points.
 * All of the weapons-based skills such as Pistols or Assault Rifles are percentage-based reductions. A Soned I that weight 60 weight points is only reduced to 48 points using the -25% weapon weight from the Assault Rifles skill.
 * All of weapons-based skills are inaccurate for percentage reductions. Each number is lower than it should be. 25% actually shows up as 20%.
 * Mods that increase or decrease weight are all percentage-based reductions. A Widow I that weight 65 weight points will only be reduced to 58 points by using a -11% mod.
 * Depending upon the exact mod and weapon, some mods are close to the stated benefits/penalties, some are slightly lower or higher, and a few are not even close to the stated value.
 * The Scavenger Set of armor pieces are percentage-based reductions. Each piece is slightly below the stated value separately. If both armor pieces are combined, instead of the stated 25% reduction (10% + 15%), it is only 20%.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer functions the same as singleplayer with a few clarifications:
 * All character kits start with a base of 30 weight points and the maximum is -100% weight points.
 * There is no armor or profiles to modify the weight of characters.
 * Each and every character kit in multiplayer reacts to weapon weight changes the same. All character kits were tested with the same weapons and same mods and no differences or errors were found because of the character kit itself.
 * Each skill in multiplayer reacts the same no matter the character kit that uses it. There are no differences or errors found with skills because of the character kit itself.
 * All multiplayer skills are weight points and not percentage increases.
 * Mods that increase or decrease weight are all percentage-based reductions.
 * Depending upon the exact mod and weapon, some mods are close to the stated benefits/penalties, some are slightly lower or higher, and a few are not even close to the stated value.
 * Multiplayer is limited to 2 weapons in the loadout screen.
 * Equipping two of the same weapon isn't possible as only a single version of a weapon can be carried. However, it is possible to carry a variant weapon and a normal weapon at the same time.

Singleplayer
Due to the amount of customization possible, there are many combinations of weapons and skills possible. There are some guidelines that can be helpful for weapon weight:
 * The best strategy for carrying the most heavy weapons into combat and still retaining +100% power recharge speed is to purchase Auxiliary Systems 4A and Combat Fitness 3 & 5A. This is a 90 point increase to the base weapon weight level. Adding Barrier 5B increases this to a total of 100 points of extra weight capacity.
 * The weapon-based skill weight reductions aren't worth the skill points. The percentage reductions are lower than they should be and only the most heavy weapons see any measurable amount of weight reduction.
 * Mods that reduce weight aren't worth the mod slot. Reductions are low even on the heaviest of weapons and it ties up a spot that could be used for a better mod.
 * The Scavenger Set of armor pieces isn't worth using for weight reduction. Like weapon-based skills, the armor pieces are percentage-based and only reduce the heaviest weapons a small amount. It would be better to pick more effective armor than use Scavenger armor for weight reduction.
 * As levels increase and weapon weights decrease on their own, weapon weight becomes much less of an issue. Weapons at Tier X weigh half as much weapons at Tier I. Even the most heavy weapons will be much lighter without having to spend any skill points or use any mods.

It is possible with Auxiliary Systems, Barrier, and Combat Fitness to carry four Tier X Soned's at the same time (which is one of the heaviest weapons in the game) and still be at +100% power recharge speed.

Multiplayer
Weapon weight in multiplayer is unique because of the combination of restrictions and changes over time.
 * Weapons and mods are awarded from the store randomly. Once a new rank/tier is acquired, the lower ranks/tiers are gone forever.
 * This means that eventually all of the weapons at Rank X weigh half of what they do at Rank I. Even the heaviest weapon the Widow I at 65 weight points will be reduced to 33 weight points.
 * Variant weapons starting at Rank I weigh the same as a Rank X normal version of the weapon.
 * Weapon loadout is restricted to two weapons maximum.
 * At the start of gameplay, the highest that weapon weight will ever be is 135 weight points. This is obtained by equipping a Widow I at 65 weight points and either a Soned I or an Isharay I at 60 weights points.
 * After lots of gameplay and acquiring many weapons from the store, the highest that weight will ever be is 66 weight points. A Widow X is 33 weight points and a Variant Widow X is 33 weight points.
 * Skills are fixed to each character kit. It isn't possible to choose different skills for different combat needs. Changing the character kit is the only way to get different amounts of weapon weight capacity.
 * Thirty one out of the thirty six character kits have weapon weight capacity increases possible by selecting the certain skill choices.
 * Five character kits have no weapon weight capacity increases: Angara Exemplar - Circle.png Angara Exemplar, Asari Adept - Circle.png Asari Adept, Human Female Adept - Circle.png Human Female Adept, Human Kineticist - Circle.png Human Kineticist, and Human Male Adept - Circle.png Human Male Adept.
 * Characters that have low weight capacities can choose to carry a single weapon and resupply ammunition as needed as supply caches are plentiful and restock after each wave.
 * The heaviest weapon will eventually weigh as low as 33 weight points before a weight reducing mod. The lowest weapon weight capacity can be is 30 base points. This is a -3% red zone for recharge speed. Adding a weight reducing mod makes this weapon below 30 weight points and therefore returns the character kit back to +100 blue for recharge speed.

At the start of multiplayer gameplay, weapons are heavy and limited in availability. Gameplay style should be tailored to the character kit, the skills the kit uses, and the weapon weight capacity increases possible.
 * Character kits that focus on weapons and don't rely on skill recharge times, won't be affected by negative red recharge speeds. Pile on as many heavy weapons as possible.
 * Character kits that focus on skills should watch weapon weight for recharge times. It may be better to choose a low weight weapon and a single weapon instead using skills for offensive capabilities.

As gameplay progresses, weapon selection increases and weapons go down in weight. With careful selection of weapons and weight reducing mods, eventually every singe weapon can be equipped by every single character kit with a +100 blue recharge speed.
 * It is eventually possible to chose to not increase weapon weight capacity with skill purchases and still have +100% blue recharge speed for the character kit. With careful selection of weapons and mods, this can free up those skill points for alternate skill point purchases.

Mods
Most guns can be outfitted with various mods to make them more powerful or specialized. Only one mod of a given type can be installed on a gun. For instance, two barrels can't be equipped on the same gun.

Armor
Helmets, chest, legs, and arms can be equipped in this window. Chestplates can be socketed with fusion mods.

To customize the armor's colors and patterns, use the Wardrobe in the Pathfinder's Quarters on the Tempest. To choose when the helmet is shown, see the Settings menu.

Consumables
The loadout window allows for the equipping of 2 consumables by default. Additional consumable slots can be unlocked through the cryo pod perks Always Prepared and Versatility.

Squad
Two squad members can be selected. Some missions require a certain squadmate, so sometimes one will be locked in.

Nomad customization
The Nomad's paint job can be customized in this window. Paint job selections are available on the left and can be previewed on the Nomad.