The Mass Effect thread

[esuriospiritus]

I did an adept insanity run for ME1/2 and the hardest part for me IIRC was Horizon. Fighting two of the scions and the praetorian with a whole bunch of husks chasing you... no matter who I brought with me, my squadmates dropped like flies and literally the only way I was able to complete that was by running like fuck from cover to cover until I glitched the enemy pathing AI.

I had to do the same thing for getting through all 5 waves of Object Rho, and once I did it was like an hour of slowly spamming singularity and warp until things died.

[TheButtonmen]

ME 2: Ignore all super powers in favor of any power that involves shooting faster/harder or living longer. Warp Ammo is broken-good, but you can get it on any class (thanks Bioware!) and that means

SOLDIER

Vanguard is the god class of ME2.

Anything a Soldier can do a Vanguard can do and then become invunerable while healing themselves and teleporting around the fight.

I don't think it's all classes having access to Warp Ammo that's the problem, it's that all classes can use ARifles which is the real issue imo.

[TheButtonmen]

I did an adept insanity run for ME1/2 and the hardest part for me IIRC was Horizon. Fighting two of the scions and the praetorian with a whole bunch of husks chasing you... no matter who I brought with me, my squadmates dropped like flies and literally the only way I was able to complete that was by running like fuck from cover to cover until I glitched the enemy pathing AI.

I uh just ran laps of the entire area throwing warps over my shoulder for 8 mins, exciting stuff.

[GreyICE]

ME 2: Ignore all super powers in favor of any power that involves shooting faster/harder or living longer. Warp Ammo is broken-good, but you can get it on any class (thanks Bioware!) and that means

SOLDIER

Vanguard is the god class of ME2.

Anything a Soldier can do a Vanguard can do and then become invunerable while healing themselves and teleporting around the fight.

I don't think it's all classes having access to Warp Ammo that's the problem, it's that all classes can use ARifles which is the real issue imo.

Nah, it doesn't have nearly the cooldown needed to shine. It's solid, but there's too long of a delay while you're standing there like a dweeb, and that tends to get you iced on Insanity. Vanguard is just not the best choice for your Insanity playthrough.

Soldier has every weapon except one of the crappy pistols, and is basically god-modding. That 'slowtime' buff allows you to actually duck out of cover for more than a few seconds, and is super-strong.

I'm actually fairly certain the Vanguard is the toughest class to do an Insanity playthrough on (although there's some strong competition out there with the Adept sucking like a $3 whore)

[GreyICE]

Oh yeah, I remember. In ME2, Charge didn't have invulnerability. It gave you a shield equal to 50/100% of your maximum shields. The stupid shield lasted 4 seconds and the power had a 6 second recharge time, meaning there was a 2 second interval where you were getting stomped flat. And tearing down 200% maximum shields was... not hard in insanity.

Vanguard was such a dork class.

You are so thinking of Mass Effect THREE here

[TheButtonmen]

You took the time dilation upgrade and the 100% shield upgrade and used a weapon with knockback / long reload animation (Claymore worked well for animation cancelling), plow through insanity without a worry in the world. Once you got the -20% CDR research the game became hilariously easy barring certain fights (mainly involving scions).

[Iecerint]

Stop using Thane, get Grunt instead. He can soak up way more damage, particularly if Miranda's in the party, and on insanity concussion shot > pull/throw (forget which Thane has) for crowd control. Zaeed is an alright substitute if you want a sniper instead.

Thane is broken if you have the Incisor.

[Iecerint]

I did a Sentinel insanity run on ME2 and an Infiltrator insanity run in ME3.

ME2 Hard Bits

Final Battle (i.e., seeker swarms scenario)
(Horizon's not too bad if you have ALL the possible upgrades purchased)

ME3 Hard Bits

lolReaperBattle, until I looked up how to not die in one hit on Youtube
Final battle. 6 Brutes/4 Banshees or whatever is brutal.

[Iecerint]

Oh. And Marauder Shields, obviously. But he's been patched out.

I found a cute glitch on Youtube where you can sneak around his rock and shoot him in the back.

[Umbrage]

Oh yeah, I remember. In ME2, Charge didn't have invulnerability. It gave you a shield equal to 50/100% of your maximum shields. The stupid shield lasted 4 seconds and the power had a 6 second recharge time, meaning there was a 2 second interval where you were getting stomped flat. And tearing down 200% maximum shields was... not hard in insanity.

Vanguard was such a dork class.

You are so thinking of Mass Effect THREE here

with each charge you get a shield boost, not invuln but close enough. With Claymore it's pretty sweet. Yeah, the period between charges sucks, but if your charge is right you shouldn't be standing in direct fire, and enemies rarely turn to track you that quickly IIRC.

Factor in incendiary ammo and you're on par with a soldier for most scenarios, and kill things much more quickly.

[Umbrage]

OMG WHEN IS THE STUPID BRITISH CHICK GOING TO SHUT UP

[Umbrage]

also wtf is wrong with joker's eyes

[Umbrage]

WHERE'S MY FISH? FUCKING ALLIANCE ASSHOLES STOLE MY FISH!

HACKETT WILL ANSWER FOR THIS

N7 jacket looks fucking BOSS though

smooth Shepard is smooth

[Umbrage]

http://steamcommunity.com/id/youarethee ... tab=public

FUCK YEAH

SHEPARD IS STYLIN'

[GreyICE]

You took the time dilation upgrade and the 100% shield upgrade and used a weapon with knockback / long reload animation (Claymore worked well for animation cancelling), plow through insanity without a worry in the world. Once you got the -20% CDR research the game became hilariously easy barring certain fights (mainly involving scions).

Or you could pick soldier, snipe down groups of 4+ enemies with ease, use Assault rifles if they got close, time dilate to hell and back, and use Reave for shits and giggles.

I mean taking the Claymore means no Assault Rifles/Sniper Rifles. Period. At all. You can't get them. And the claymore has 10-20 rounds in it, MAXIMUM. Ammo starvation happens on insanity.

I mean it works, but you'll be dying and reloading, hording ammo, and using Pistols much more often than you want to be.

[Iecerint]

WHERE'S MY FISH? FUCKING ALLIANCE ASSHOLES STOLE MY FISH!

You can get them back if you invited Kelly to your cabin in ME2 and she survived.

[Umbrage]

who the fuck is Kelly?

You took the time dilation upgrade and the 100% shield upgrade and used a weapon with knockback / long reload animation (Claymore worked well for animation cancelling), plow through insanity without a worry in the world. Once you got the -20% CDR research the game became hilariously easy barring certain fights (mainly involving scions).

Or you could pick soldier, snipe down groups of 4+ enemies with ease, use Assault rifles if they got close, time dilate to hell and back, and use Reave for shits and giggles.

I mean taking the Claymore means no Assault Rifles/Sniper Rifles. Period. At all. You can't get them. And the claymore has 10-20 rounds in it, MAXIMUM. Ammo starvation happens on insanity.

I mean it works, but you'll be dying and reloading, hording ammo, and using Pistols much more often than you want to be.

I always start a hard fight with my pistol, switch to charging with shotgun when I start getting flanked. If you run out of ammo, just keep charging and let your squad deal damage, by then there should only be a couple baddies left anyway. Adrenaline Rush isn't nearly as useful as you're making it out to be, except for the Mattock glitch.

[Iecerint]

Kelly Chambers, the yeoman from ME2.

[Umbrage]

Oh yeah. So she has dialogue and stuff? She was less annoying than the Brit, I should talk to her next playthrough.

[Iecerint]

The Brit isn't annoying! She has lesbian adventures with FemShep.

The Brit probably has more depth than Kelly, but Kelly also has lesbian adventures with FemShep.

[Iecerint]

I think all Kelly gets is one extra scene or two beyond her original dialogue loop. If you keep talking to her after missions, she'll eventually offer to feed your fish for you, and then Shepard can invite her to his/her cabin for implied fun times. You can also call her up to "play" post-game if you didn't romance anyone else and got the fun times with her (i.e., a second ME2 romance will overwrite the Kelly romance).

She carries over to ME3, too, apparently -- she gives you a hug if you tell her you forgive her and to change her name.

[GreyICE]

who the fuck is Kelly?

You took the time dilation upgrade and the 100% shield upgrade and used a weapon with knockback / long reload animation (Claymore worked well for animation cancelling), plow through insanity without a worry in the world. Once you got the -20% CDR research the game became hilariously easy barring certain fights (mainly involving scions).

Or you could pick soldier, snipe down groups of 4+ enemies with ease, use Assault rifles if they got close, time dilate to hell and back, and use Reave for shits and giggles.

I mean taking the Claymore means no Assault Rifles/Sniper Rifles. Period. At all. You can't get them. And the claymore has 10-20 rounds in it, MAXIMUM. Ammo starvation happens on insanity.

I mean it works, but you'll be dying and reloading, hording ammo, and using Pistols much more often than you want to be.

I always start a hard fight with my pistol, switch to charging with shotgun when I start getting flanked. If you run out of ammo, just keep charging and let your squad deal damage, by then there should only be a couple baddies left anyway. Adrenaline Rush isn't nearly as useful as you're making it out to be, except for the Mattock glitch.

Adrenaline rush makes sniping work. +140% boosted damage blows apart anything, and even if you take the health increase (for 25% damage instead of 50%) you still do +100%.

Basically you can stand up, shoot down 2 people, pop down, risk free. It also makes standing up to fire assault rifles much less dangerous. And really, it's how long it's activated. 5 seconds out of every 8 you're ARed, and it does 50%/75% reduced damage and 140%/100% boosted damage. And the other three seconds you can literally drop down behind cover. It's a very safe ability that just makes you better at doing what you do.

I mean honestly, that's the theme of the Soldier. Nothing flashy, nothing spectacular, just better damage, take less damage, have more weapons, have more ammo, etc. And with everything having armor/barriers/etc, it really, really helps to focus on core competence.

[Umbrage]

^ True. I'm not sure that makes the game easier with Soldier though. Hard fights are still hard. Vanguard and Infiltrator can temporarily remove themselves from combat, take down an enemy or just find a better position.

WTF@Kelly. I need to talk to more people.

[Umbrage]

WAIT

WAIT

FEED MY FISH???

IF I SLEEP WITH MY GAY SECRETARY SHE WILL FEED MY FISH?

FINALLY, A ROMANCE WORTH PURSUING

BRB GONNA MAKE A FEMSHEP

[GreyICE]

^ True. I'm not sure that makes the game easier with Soldier though. Hard fights are still hard. Vanguard and Infiltrator can temporarily remove themselves from combat, take down an enemy or just find a better position.

Lemme put it this way.

1) Five people rush into the room. I activate AR, stand up, put one down with the Widow.
2) 3 seconds, reloading. AR/Stand, put one down with the widow.
3) They're getting closer. Stand and tear one's armor down with assault rifle in AR and Tungsten Rounds. Squad Incendiary, means he's no longer a big concern.
4) One of them is getting close. I see armor. AR+Pistol! Pistol tears through armor with Tungsten rounds plus 140% damage boost, and even on Insanity he drops quickly.
5) The fifth is circling. Smack him with an overload off a squad mate to help lower his shields, then AR and Scimitar. Two rounds in him before AR drops, a third and he's dead. My shields are low, but AR is keeping me alive nicely. Drop behind cover when he's down.
6) Let shields come back, finish off the guy on fire from teammate's ammo.

It's like... a gun for every situation. Crowd control for every situation. At max level you can have

- Max AR
- Max Passive
- Heavy Disruptor Ammo
- Tungsten Rounds
- Squad Incendiary Ammo

Miranda/Kasumi and Grunt/Legion forever.

Armor? You can burn it down with 70% boost
Shields/Barrier? Same
Health? They'll be on fire and panicking.

You can take a squad with nothing but damaging skills, and just enjoy the party.