An awesome display of raw biotic power as demonstrated during the struggle between Morinth and her mother, the Justicar Samara

Jeff Moreau: "It'll be good for them, too. Biotics face a lot of discrimination. Maybe if they save the galaxy, people will learn to get over their issues."

Marcus L. Shepard: "I didn't expect you to be sensitive about that."

Jeff Moreau: "Hey, I'm just tired of them stealing the spotlight from people with actual disabilities. I break a rib if I sneeze too hard, being able to move crap with your mind is not a handicap."

— Jeff Moreau and Marcus L. Shepard discussing biotic users.

Element Zero Abilities, known more commonly as Biotics, are abilities that can manifest in organic hosts when exposed to large amounts of element zero. Asari are natural biotics due to Thessia being the largest deposit of element zero in the galaxy, but other species must gain these abilities from an exterior source. Biotics, as a scientific concept, is the ability of some lifeforms to create mass effect fields using element zero nodules embedded in their body tissues, and through these fields, the user is essentially granted a form of telekinesis and physics manipulation, able to twist and bend reality in a way that is almost magical in its manifestation. While asari evolved with these nodules embedded in their tissue from birth, most other species did not evolve with this ability and had to develop it through severe exposure to element zero, and even then this required cybernetic implants known as biotic amps to be surgically grafted to the user's skull before their nodules could be triggered at will. Some species are physiologically incapable of developing these necessary nodules, with exposure either killing them or having no effect, and as a result these species cannot develop biotics: physiology also has an effect on the visual appearance of biotics as well, and while most biotics are typically a cobalt or purple color, prothean biotics were unusually a green color and biotics used by Reaper husks are a reddish-orange color. A species' physiology can also determine the power a biotic user can wield, with asari naturally producing the most powerful biotics.

Biotics, despite centuries of scientific research and knowledge, is still something of a scientific quandary, and by all means something that should be impossible, with biotics jokingly called the "magic of reality" in one particular research paper written in 1425 CE, further saying "it shouldn't work, there's no way reason it should work, science says its impossible, yet I can click my fingers and see for myself the reality of it. I can reach over, pick up a chair and throw it. I can look at my door and be there in a blink of an eye. I can't explain it, but I can't deny its uses." Obtaining biotics is also considered extremely dangerous, as non-asari species usually obtain it through direct, large-scale exposure to element zero sources: this is something of a gamble, as exposure alone does not guarantee the development of biotic powers. For starters, 96% of element zero exposures that result in biotic development occurred in-utero, with the child growing inside the mother's womb with the nodules developing naturally during their development process: it is extraordinarily rare for somebody as an adult to develop powers, although there have been cases of children in the womb being exposed to element zero, and exhibiting no signs of biotic potential until adulthood as a result of further element zero exposure finally "triggering" the inactive nodules. Even then, 70% of element zero contamination of a fetus results in nothing happening, with the eezo fading harmlessly, and those 30% that result in biotics either develop the nodules, or develop horrific physical mutations and, in the majority of these latter cases, have an almost guaranteed chance to develop cancerous tumors. In the asari cycle, with the obvious exception of the asari, the only species to have biotic potential are turians, humans, krogan, batarians, rachni, drell and quarians. Vorcha cannot develop biotics as a handicap of their aggressive regenerative abilities, as their own body essentially consumes the element zero before it can form the necessary nodules for biotics: this does not affect krogan, despite also having regeneration, as theirs is not as hyper-aggressive, and their bodies have evolved to not view element zero as a hostile force, and therefore their bodies ignore it, allowing the nodules to form. It is also possible for biotics to develop in non-sapient creatures, with varren also capable of developing biotics.

Once identified as having biotic ability, the process for a subject to learn to harness those abilities can be grueling, stressful and sometimes dangerous. Biotic abilities do not mature or begin to develop until puberty, at which point a child can choose to go through the surgical procedure to have a biotic amp grafted to their skull or leave their biotics untapped. The first stage of learning biotic power is to develop a conscious control over their nervous system, which is considered the most difficult and slowest ordeal of the training, although biofeedback therapy is often used to speed up the process. Once a biotic fully unlocks their potential, the abilities at their disposal are almost limitless, able to harness dark energy to bend and manipulate physics and mass effect fields to their will: this varies from the ability to lift and throw objects by lowering their mass at a whim, to manipulating the composition and elements of reality, to creating kinetic barriers capable of deflecting oncoming objects. As a biotic user becomes more experienced and comfortable with their abilities, they can develop more complex, hard to master and, in some cases, more dangerous powers such as creating mini-black holes, limited translocation, lowering one's mass for limited flight/gliding, and decomposition of organic and physical matter. Biotics who can exert tremendous amounts of devastating power are colloquially called "super-biotics", a term with no official meaning and usually referring ad-hoc to biotics demonstrating power and mastery matching that or even exceeding that of the most powerful asari matriarchs.

Numerous instances of biotics being used in unconventional and surprising ways exist throughout galactic history. The rachni learned how to harness biotics in ways even the asari could not achieve, harnessing its power inside "crystals" that could then be used to power their starships, and they even managed to develop devastating, powerful biotic-based weaponry from them. The Reapers harnessed the ability to grant their legions of husks biotic abilities at will, even if the previous host did not possess them, an ability that has forever puzzled scientists who have been unable to explain it: during the Collector campaign, the Reaper commander Harbinger was able to possess collector troops at will, transfiguring them through possession into an augmented version known as a "Possessed", and this often came with the capability for that collector to use powerful biotics. These biotics were often limited, lacking the capability that came effortlessly to biotic masters, but were often devastating, seemingly drawing upon a pool of dark energy that allowed a Possessed biotic to be relentless and deliver powerful attacks.