I hear what you're saying, and maybe you're the greatest Drell Adept to play this game; however, this is how I see the comparisons playing out. Drell Adept is bar none the greatest spike damage in the game. Have a room filled up with enemies? Nothing wipes it out like reave + cluster grenades. The problem with that is that you only have three of them. Sure you can have up to 5 ammo clip packs as well, but you will be required to run out to ammo boxes during rounds at some point. Therein lies one of the major problems for the Drell. Depending on the maps, there are only a certain number of ammo boxes that you can safely run to based on where your team is camping. While you're running to these ammo boxes, you're taking on additional risk of getting downed by some random enemy that happened to be walking up behind the group or whatever. Now you say "Not me, I never get taken out while running for ammo!" That's fine and all, but do you know what your team is doing while you're running for that ammo? They're shooting and killing more enemies, setting up other biotic explosions in that 5-10 seconds it takes you to run for ammo. As a salarian infiltrator, I can probably snipe about 4-5 enemies in the time it takes you to make that ammo run or I could probably set up 2-3 biotic explosions (killing maybe 4-5 enemies depending on groupings and enemy type) with an asari adept during that time. Either way, this equates to more damage done by the other classes.
Now let's talk about the other biotic combo you get with the Drell, pull + reave. This combo is amazing for large groups of unshielded enemies (depending on if you spec both skills to do AOE). The issue is that the the vast majority of crap they throw at you has shields on Gold especially in the latter waves. This coupled with the fact that you can never biotic explode anything with armor with this combo really limits it as well. One of the major reasons Asari Adepts get such crazy scores and DPS is they are constantly warp + throwing Primes, Atlases, or Brutes/Banshees to wipe out every smaller enemy around them. This is something you just can't do with the Drell unless you use the limited reave + grenade combo.
All that being said, Drell Adept is my favorite Adept class to play. I don't believe there is a better combo in this game then Drell Adept + Asari Adept with constant reave + throw biotic combos going off. This combo further synergizes with the fact that warp -> reave also sets off biotic explosions so even if the asari and drell aren't well coordinated, it still leads to massive damage.
In fact, you could even argue that Drell Adept might be the best overall Adept class because of all the other support options you have with it. Drell Adept + Human Vanguard with a well organized strategy is just insane. I believe that the fastest Gold clear time I've seen so far was with Drell Adept + Human Vanguard on Glacier in 14 mins. That was also with only one Drell/Vanguard pair so imagine what it could've been with another pair.
So in summary, Drell Adept in my opinion is definitely in the most elite tier of classes in the game, I just would have to disagree on it being the highest independent DPS class out of all of them.
Spawn control, spawn control, spawn control.
I've also typed about that more than a few times in this thread too. Learn the maps, learn how to control when and where enemies spawn. Note that this tactic is independent of what class you choose, but is especially important for a grenade heavy class like the Drell.
When I've typed Drell Adept strategy in this thread before, I've always mandated two things: Learn how to cycle ammo boxes and do *not* engage enemies at medium to close range. And yes, notice that both of those things run counter to normal strategy on gold (stick with your team, don't be a hero, etc.) But learning how the game spawns enemies on certain maps is absolutely key to the Drell's survival (but with damage reduction and insane mobility, he's also the best class to take advantage of it).
For example, Firebase White, which is (somewhat annoyingly) the predominant level being played on Gold nowadays. There are two methods you see on this level; either everyone clusters at the top of the ladder/stairs with vantage points to everything or cluster in the room downstairs. If everyone goes to the room downstairs, then I'll hang out outside in the L-shaped cover near the ammo box that has a clear view to the bottom of the ramp and the ladder. I have 2 "under fire" ammo boxes near at hand (the one to my right and the one at the bottom of the stairs inside the complex) and one safe ammo box behind everyone else near the rectangle shaped area. This is the standard situation you see on FW. Both "under fire" ammo boxes are only dangerous if they're swarmed, but both are close enough to resupply grenades quickly. (
not when you have zero, but immediately after you use one; this is
key) When things break down or if I needed to use numerous grenades at once then I'll include the ammo box in the back as well as both "under fire" ones. Spawn control is easy because nothing spawns at our backs... if the team gets broken down and gets pressed to the rectangle-shaped area in the back corner, then I'll clear an avenue with grenades (usually to the right towards the L-shaped cover and break out towards the launching pad to get breathing room.
Now, when does spawn control really come into play? When everyone is gathered at the top of the ladder. If they're there, then I will hang out next to the ammo box at the bottom of the inside stairs. At each wave I'll start in the middle level (a spawn area) then after your character says "Ready!" or "Marauders!" or whatever I'll go downstairs where enemies then begin spawning. Here's the key: if you go too far into that room, then enemies will begin spawning behind you (and behind your teammates) in that middle level. It's very important to run back to that general vicinity after every time you launch a volley in the lower room in order to prevent enemies from spawning there (if they do, it is *imperative* you clear it ASAP so they don't sneak up on your teammates). Following this method of spawn control though, you have 2 very safe ammo boxes nearby (2nd is near your teammates), one relatively safe one near the launching pad and one in dangerous territory near the L-shaped cover (if your teammates are pulling their weight, then it's fairly safe). Using this method, I'm able to hold the downstairs room by myself for most waves on Gold until usually 8 or 9 when groups become too thick. Then I'll hold for as long as I can and fall back to my teammates for combined firepower. During other waves I'll also break from holding the room to help/revive teammates as needed, or to clear out other areas if enemies stop spawning downstairs.
I use similar spawn control methods on Giant, Dagger and Glacier. Reactor and the two new maps are trickier to control spawns because of their size, but that also means it's easier to find relatively safe areas to reestablish your position (doesn't make them easier maps though... these are still the more difficult maps to play on).
Proper use of Drell Adept is absolutely a higher learning curve because you have to break certain habits that are bible for most other classes. For example, using cover. I *rarely* stick to cover and mostly use it only to get my shields back (notable exception: the situation in Firebase White I detailed above with the L-shaped cover). All other times, I'm using all my skills while strafing because it's easier to get more precise aim when strafing than when using cover. But once you do figure out how to control the maps and how to cycle boxes, you will become very, very effective at killing gobs of enemies at once.
Oh and for whoever asked, I play on 360.
