I've seen multiple blogs going on Halo vs Star Wars yet I haven't seen a blog going over Halo vs ME, so I've decided to start one just because I can. Information is from the Mass Effect wiki.

The Facts about mass effect


Ships


Weapons

The main weapon is a mass accelerator like the UNSC's MAC cannons; the largest, used by dreadnoughts, are 20 kilograms and are fired at velocities of 1.3% the speed of light every 2 seconds. Projectiles either squash or shatter to effectively transfer kinetic energy, otherwise they would simply punch right through the target with minimal damage. The larger a ship's size, the mass accelerator increases in velocity and range but decreases in maneuverability (meaning that they would not be able to hit things up close).

Dreadnoughts are most effective at extreme ranges of tens of thousands of kilometers

Cruisers are most effective at long ranges

Frigates are most effective at close "knife fight" ranges of 10 kilometers or less

Disruptor torpedoes have warheads that create space-time warps capable of ripping a target apart. Due to extra mass, they are slow and easy targets for GARDIAN lasers. Because of this, they must be fired from close range by frigates and fighters.

GARDIAN anti-missile/anti-fighter laser turrets, they have two limitations: range (they are strictly for short-ranges due to diffraction) and heat (continued use would build up heat and as a result would reduce damage, range, and accuracy).

Thanix cannon is a weapon that fires a liquid iron-uranium-tungsten alloy at a fraction of the speed of light to strike its target with impact force and massive heat. Can fire reliably every five seconds.


Ship Sizes

Nearly all information about the sizes of Mass Effect ships are completely unknown. All that is known is that the dreadnought and carrier classes are anywhere between 800 meters to 1 kilometer while the Reapers themselves are 2 kilometers in length.

Size Estimates

Frigates: Mass Effect fan estimates that the SSV-Normandy is no larger than a 747 jetliner while the Normandy-SR2 is twice the size of the original Normandy, meaning frigates would be anywhere between being slightly larger than a Longsword fighter to 150 meters in length.

Cruisers: (My own estimate) Anywhere between 250 meters to 500 meters; around the size of a UNSC frigate I guess.

Stealth

The only form of stealth system used in the world of ME is used by the Normandy, which involves storing its heat emissions so scanners would be unable to detect the ship.

Weaknesses

As far as I can tell, ME ships do not have any form of coolant systems. Instead, ships remove heat by having large, fragile radiator panels that are impossible to armor in order to vent heat into space. Heat builds up quickly in battle, meaning that a ship needs to either win or escape by FTL before the temperature reaches critical and fries the crew.

Shields

Kinetic barriers provide protection by deflecting small objects at rapid velocities, however, as their name suggests, they are only effective at protecting against kinetic energy, meaning that they provide no defense against DEWs.

Small arms

Ranging from pistols to assault rifles, all infantry weapons use micro-scaled mass accelerator technology. The magazine is a simple metal block, whenever the trigger is pulled, the gun shaves off a piece of the block the size of a grain of sand and is fired at supersonic velocities. Projectiles either squash or shatter to effectively transfer kinetic energy, otherwise they would simply punch right through the target with minimal damage. Each block of metal can provide thousands of rounds, meaning ammunition is not an issue during missions.

Thermal clips are an improvement to weapons combat; previously combatants had to shoot more slowly to avoid overheating their weapons, thermal clips are detachable heat sinks that, after a certain amount of shots, can be ejected and swapped for a new one in under a second one. These thermal clips are combatable for all infantry weapons, and serve as ammunition to the soldiers of the Mass Effect universe.

Races

(Only races capable of combat are listed) Asari: Race of blue women, natural psychic abilities known as biotics Turian: Avian race with a civilization centered on military Salarian: Salamander-like race, extremely fast metabolism, basically knows everything about everyone Quarian: Humanoid race, wears enviro-suit due to weak immune system, entire race forced to live on fleet of 50,000 ships, extremely capable with machines Geth: Sentient machine race created by Quarians Krogan: Reptilian race that has secondary and tertiary organ systems, large physical strength, and was capable of extremely fast reproduction Rachni: Hive-minded, insectoid race capable of spitting acid Collector: Giant bugs, minions of the Reapers Reaper: Sentient starships that show up every 50,000 years for who knows how long (at least 37 million years) to wipe out civilization before disappearing without a trace Batarian: Four-eyed humanoids Drell: Lizard-like race

My Conclusion

Space combat is no contest: small ships, shields that can't protect against energy, lack of any stealth or efficient coolant systems? UNSC and Covenant ships would have no trouble with those. Ground combat, on the other hand, is hard to decide. With even more races than the old Covenant (though without the sheer power matching that of the Elites, Brutes, and Hunters), and practically every weapon is a coilgun/railgun (they never specified which it was), meaning that it may or may not be more effective than UNSC weapons. The only problem they would have is lack of protection against energy weapons .