1) Priority one in a firefight: take cover. Just bump into a wall or ledge, and you’re good. You can give your squadmates four rudimentary commands using the D-pad, but there’s almost never a reason to bother with that. The most effective focus of your attention is directing their attacks.

2) Hold RB to call up a radial interface, and use that to manage which biotic and tech attacks they use on which targets. (You can also tell them to amp up their shields and weapons here.) Do this a lot — it freezes the action, so you also have time to survey the battlefield and make plans.

3) The other key interface is squad weapon selection. Hold LB to make your choices, but remember to pick only the weapons that they’re trained on. Choosing the shotgun for a soldier will sending them charging into close-quarters combat, which can be smart or dumb, depending on the situation.