The Mass Effect thread

[Umbrage]

OK, so I started playing ME1 so I have saves to carry over to ME3, and FUCK I forgot that one does not simply speed-run Mass Effect. I'm constantly getting bogged down in sidequests and distracted with lore.

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No, I'm purposefully NOT doing all the side-quests. But I get sucked into them anyway. Like on Feros, I did the whole quest thingy, was going to leave, thought "eh, I'll just chat with some people" and next thing I know I'm doing all the side-quests to get their colony operational again. It's just so hard to stay focused on one goal.

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it took you to me3 to notice the games have ridiculous sex appeal?

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Um... in the second pic isn't she wearing a breastplate? I haven't played the game yet, but that looks like battle armour, which means she would be wearing a breastplate, and you can't get an accurate judge of size from that.

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Just finished ME1, yay. As I said, I stayed away from most sidequests so I can see how different things affect stuff later. I was mostly paragon, Wrex and Ashley are dead, Shiala, Rachni Queen, and the Council are alive, and I let Balak go. Can't think of anything else that would have consequences.

Spoiler: here be spoilers and philosophy

I have to say, knowing the ending really changed that last conversation with Saren. If you haven't yet, I recommend watching it again. Puts an interesting perspective on everything. I'm beginning to understand what BW was doing with the ending. When talking to Saren, you and Shepard dismiss everything he says. But is that just because he's indoctrinated? Our first instinct is to say no to synthesis, is that really logical? Or should we trust our instincts, do we know something bad is going to happen?

There was a thread on this forum talking about free will. Now, I don't believe people have free will, but if they did, synthesis would erase it. The difference between us and computers is that you cannot precisely manipulate our thoughts. You can use indoctrination to sway us, push us in one direction or another, but you can't control the very nature of our minds. Our personalities and experiences are too complex to be controlled, even in a deterministic universe. Computers aren't like that, their thoughts are based on ones and zeros and they can be changed easily with no resistance. And fuck, even though I am confident free will does not exist, I'm not sure I could make a decision that would destroy it, no matter the benefits. That's why I don't think I'll be choosing synthesis. I might change my mind, but holy shit it is NOT the perfect ending people make it out to be.

tl; dr: The endings are more complicated than I first thought.

Anywho, I want to kill off a few squaddies in ME2 just to shake things up and keep it interesting. I'm thinking Samara, Thane, Tali, and Grunt since they're my least favourite characters. Any preferences?

[Umbrage]

ALSO GETH PRIMES SUCK ASS

[Umbrage]

No, told him to fuck off once, no, no, none, alive, I think so, didn't do her sidequest, couldn't get the guy to testify so I just headed out to put the whup-ass on Benezia, no, did the interview without any special dialogue, let her run off, think I saved them all.

AND I COULD NEVER KILL MORDIN OR KASUMI I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

Am I the only one who wants a Kasumi romance option? She's just so CUTE!

I think I'll kill Samara, Tali, and Legion, see how the Quarian/Geth thing goes without those last two.

[Umbrage]

Oh right, she was the one Thane killed. Yeah, I don't see how that can affect 3.

And for the record, I actually don't give a fuck about the Council. It's those two asari you see in the cutscenes who are all like YAAY THE HUMANS ARE HERE, and then BUT WHY AREN'T THEY HELPING US???? I can't bear to watch them get blown up.

[Umbrage]

mass effect sux

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mass effect sux

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HOLY SHIT I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING

MASS EFFECT IS AN HOMAGE TO OLD SCIFI MOVIES AND SHOWS

WHAT IF THE ENDING WAS INTENTIONALLY BAD...

BECAUSE SO MANY SCIFI SHOWS HAVE REALLY BAD ENDINGS?

[Umbrage]

IT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION THAT MAKES SENSE

in other news, ME2 is going well, Zaeed's unloyal though, hope that doesn't bite me in the ass. AND OMG KASUMI WHY ARE YOU SO ADORABLE

[Umbrage]

what new DLC?

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am i the only one who liked arrival?

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The only problem with Arrival IMO was that after Shepard was like OMG INDOCTRINATED he could've just fucking shot Kenson, but no he just lets her leave, and then later they're like having a chat in the engine room... I always hit that renegade thing to kill her ASAP.

[Umbrage]

^ meaning Leviathan has the power to make the world all happy roses so if you choose Destroy you're a total asshole because that's the option for EVIL characters and it's BAD BAD BAD.

[Umbrage]

hey remember when both Paragon and Renegade paths had their advantages and disadvantages?

no of course you don't

the choice isn't Paragon or Renegade, the choice is "big idealistic hero who faces no negative consequences" or "big nasty realist who ruins everything"

[Umbrage]

so... shit. Nothing's going to plan, i've lost zaeed's loyalty and jack's loyalty, my morality scores are just too low. i'm going to try and keep to the plan, but let the chips fall as they may. something tells me the suicide mission is going to be nasty...

[Umbrage]

You can get Jack's loyalty back. One of your morality scores just needs to be high enough (75%) and go talk to her then. This will probably require you lean harder towards paragon/renegade whichever you prefer but both work

Tried it, wasn't high enough. I'm mostly paragon but those renegade interrupts are just SO AWESOME I CAN'T RESIST

[Umbrage]

That's a good one.

is my personal favourite though.

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I GOT JACK BACK <3

AND I BEAT THE GAME WEEEEEE

decided to keep Samara at the last second

Tali took a rocket to the face and Legion was dissected by Cerberus though

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oh it`s not like he`s really alive or anything...

i planned to have tali and legion dead, i wanna see what it`s like when they`re both gone. everyone keeps them alive

[Umbrage]

please tell me the whole game isn't this linear

[Umbrage]

ok i should've seen that keeping the base would turn out to be a bad idea

because although blowing it up was a futile gesture of defiance and the stupidest thing paragon shep has done, this is bioware's world, where idealistic heroes have everything work out for them, and you never ever have to sacrifice anything for the greater good because shepard is magical, and why the fuck do i play these games if i have so much spiteful hatred for them?

[Umbrage]

I don't give a damn about the ending. The ending's fine. Shitty, but fine.

I do give a damn about how every single Paragon/Renegade decision is meaningless, because it's almost always better to be Paragon. Supposedly, Paragon is idealism and Renegade is pragmatism. Paragons always do the right thing, but sometimes that means the results aren't very good. Renegade methods are shady, but the ends justify the means. That's what BW says, but realistically Paragons never sacrifice anything. Trusting people always pays off. You are always able to save everyone. Whereas Renegades cause needless misery and destruction.

The only choice in the games I remember where being Renegade pays off more than Paragon is when you find that merc on Samara's recruitment, and it later turns out she's the murderer. But that really doesn't affect anything else.

[Umbrage]

oh good

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MULTIPLAYER IS ACTUALLY FUN AND NOT REALLY PAY-TO-PLAY AT ALL

DID NOT EXPECT THIS

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I still play ME3 MP if anyone wants to play at any point. I mostly play on Gold but I'll play Silver too.

I might take you up on that

I recently started silver, and haven't died that much. I have also rediscovered how much I <3 Engineers. I'm just carrying an assault rifle so I get ridiculous cooldown times on my nearly maxed out powers.

DRONEOVERLOADINCINERATEINCINERATEINCINERATEOVERLOADINCINERATEOVERLOADDRONEPEWPEWPEW

[Umbrage]

Adepts are pathetic on insanity, but on other difficulties they're cool.

Main problem is that husks have armour so the usual SHOCKWAVEANDTHROWSPAM tactic doesn't work. Get squad incendiary ammo if you can, incinerate is good too. Miranda is AWESOME on insanity, keep her by your side. Kasumi is good when fighting mercs, don't bother with flashbang just get heavy overload and shadow strike. Mordin is OK too, but then you've got three softies, so be careful.

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.

HARDEST PART IN THE GAME on insanity, for me anyway is definitely the long walk. You're fighting husks the whole time of course, but there is one spot where you face a scion or two as well as a swarm of husks. Cover is useless, and you can't kite them without leaving the barrier. My advice is for the long walk, bring the arc projector. It will keep the husks from gnawing you to death. Bring Zaeed (for inferno grenade) and someone with warp field. Just dodge the scion attacks best you can and take out the husks QUICKLY. As I said, it's the hardest fight in the game, I forget how many tried to took me to get past. Save your heavy weapon ammo for that fight, and good luck.

[Umbrage]

Or Infiltrator.

Or Vanguard, except in certain fights.

ME1 is all about crowd control. ME2 is all about DPS.

[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

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also wtf is wrong with joker's eyes

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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

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

FUCK YEAH

SHEPARD IS STYLIN'

[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.

[Umbrage]

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

[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

[Umbrage]

until you get knocked out of cover

or some random mook flanks you

[Umbrage]

sentinels fucking SUCK

engineers are <3 though

ea should fix their servers though, these random disconnects are ridiculous

-----

You know, when I heard

EDI now had a body and was a squadmate,

I thought to myself: they have to pull some fancy bullshit for that to make sense. And... it doesn't. Like, OK, they find out that

Cerberus used a sophisticated robot to infiltrate Mars, even though we've never seen anything remotely like this in ME before, Cerberus has advanced tech or whatever. Tech advanced enough to so that the robot could live among organic scientists for days if not months studying stuff without anyone noticing, despite the fact that Cerberus also built EDI, who is discovered for her true nature by anyone halfway competent. (YES, THAT MEANS BRITISH CHICK IS INCOMPETENT.) I mean, it took Mordin a matter of seconds to catch her. But Liara is fooled by the doctor with plastic hair, OK.

And then they absolutely have to take the robot body aboard because DATA IS LOCKED INSIDE, sure, don't take it to a tech, just bring the supposedly dormant AI that's like 10x as dangerous as any lone geth in the AI core, which if you recall has complete uncontrolled access to the ship. And then off-screen EDI fights and kills it even though they were made by the same people, only Eva was made later and displayed more advanced programming in evading detection so logically it should be a complete upgrade over EDI and should've overpowered her in a millisecond, as EDI said in ME2, in an computer fight whoever has the better software wins.

And there's no self-destruct program in Eva that deletes all the data although it's already been shown that happens in ME. And EDI now wants to go out in combat and alter her programming, even though no part of her programming would be designed to do either of those things, because this is CERBERUS and they're not STUPID, they wanted to do that to SHEPARD, why wouldn't they put that control chip in EDI? And despite that EDI now has FREE WILL (I still can't believe they fucking said that) she still doesn't mind Joker drooling over her body of METAL AND/OR PLASTIC. Hell, he fucking creeped ME out. The whole thing just reeks of some scary fanboy fantasy. I can forgive asari, but this is just sad and contrived.

[Umbrage]

k

I FIGURED IT OUT

HUMAN VANGUARD = FAIL

ASARI VANGUARD = FAIL

KROGAN VANGUARD = BEST THING EVER

[Umbrage]

I do fine with my human vanguard. idgi

I will admit, part of the problem is that for my ME2 vanguard I mapped charge to '2', because that's the easiest button for me to hit. Now it's '1' on multiplayer and I keep hitting the wrong button.

[Umbrage]

i still don't really know what nova does...

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but why would i give up my shields to do damage when i have a BADASS SHOTGUN?

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yeah, but i miss my time warp effect...

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ok, i've officially changed my mind about multiplayer.

it's bullshit

First off, EA needs to fix their servers. The state they are in now is inexcusable, and there's no sign of a patch.

The item system needs a total rehaul. I've got some characters with no additional colours and shit unlocked, and some classes which I almost never play are higher than the ones I do play because of how many XP drops they are getting. I've got around 3 new snipers, but they're all at level 1, so they're all shit compared to the same old level 10 rifle I've been using. I don't know how many stupid fucks PAID for RANDOM drops, but it's going to kill the game in a couple months. Nobody wants to grind in a shooter.

On a similar note, the default classes and weapons are absolute shit compared to what I've been seeing. If someone is running an N7 or Phoenix character, then they get all the XP, and if there isn't an N7 or Phoenix, we're all scrambling to revive each other. Character level is a joke, it doesn't matter, all that matters is playing the game long enough, or shelling out enough dollars to get the good shit. Which could take quite a while because the item system is the most blatantly pathetic scam I've seen in a video game.

I'm trying to get better at the game, but there's always random bullshit that kills me. When running down a corridor, I graze an invisible wall and get stuck in cover, and no matter how much I spam Spacebar it doesn't move me anywhere. I go up to revive someone and either get stuck in cover again or it just... stops, for no reason. Just about every enemy can kill you in half a second if you're not paying attention, which I guess is fine, except that often enemies will spawn behind you, or they spawn in clumps at a point you need to get to, and the entire team can't clear them out without using rockets. This isn't a difficulty curve. It's random bullshit. And even when everything goes right it doesn't matter because I don't have the powerful characters or weapons unlocked, I only manage to kill a few baddies before the rest of the team swoops in and clears them in two seconds.

I think they might've had something really good here, but they ruined it by adding ridiculous unlocks on an even more ridiculous random item drop system, while the actual gameplay is underdeveloped. It's a quick cash grab that'll die in a month, maybe two unless it gets rebalanced. I've gotten to the point where I'm not even playing enough to finish the weekend challenge, because I know I'm not starting it up again.

[Umbrage]

At first I thought it was that the people with the new classes were just more experienced at the game, but I've seen those characters charge the enemy blindly and take them all out with those electric whips or a flamethrower or something, and rarely have their shields drop. These aren't experts at the game, all they are good at is killing enemies. Whenever there's an objective they lose their shit, they can kill them as they come but they don't focus on the objective, and it ends with them running out of time or succumbing to endless waves. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but from where I'm sitting the whole thing just seems like a pointless waste of time, hoping you'll get the upgrades you need. I've gotten all default character upgrades maxed out except feminfiltrator and both vanguards. So do I get those upgrades? No, I get more XP bonuses for the classes I've unlocked everything for. And since the only good and fast way to get those is to buy the now near-useless recruit packs, I'll probably never unlock them. Meanwhile I'm getting upgrades for weapons I don't use, no matter what I do I just can't kill enemies as fast as my teammates, and there're only a couple builds I've made that I can play properly since I don't know half of what the new abilities do or when to use them. I SWEAR incinerate is bugged. As if enemies being able to randomly roll and instantly nullify whatever power you're using wasn't bad enough, I've had powers enemies with health bars and have no effect. They might be catching on more invisible walls. I can't figure out the logic used for gaps in cover, sometimes bullets go through, sometimes they don't. I'm shooting at a target in cover, their head in my sights, and they don't take any damage. But I can be in cover from enemies head-on and they still hit me because they're two inches higher. And don't get me started on how many times I've been hit by a grenade because the cover controls don't work the way they're supposed to.

[Umbrage]

although I generally have a lot of problems having enough survival packs without buying equipment packs in the store.

This is the entire fucking point of the multiplayer.

t's a side effect of spacebar doing everything in this game.

It's shitty, and it should've been fixed in beta. Did BioWare forget how to make PC games?

Umbrage, it's recommended that you try saving up from PSPs, if you're not doing so already. This will increase the odds that you pick up fancy things rather than getting lots of mediocre stuff that'll never be used in the long run.

So yeah, the item system is broken.

[Umbrage]

exbox?

You buy recruit packs after all the weapons are maxed? o_O

ok so i AM doing it wrong

good to know

Find a group to play with and the game will be much funner.

I INVITE YOU BUT YOU NEVER ANSWER

[Umbrage]

Oh that's good. If he wasn't a dick, you'd feel bad about demanding your exbox back. But if he's a dick, who cares?

I have two problems with the Cerberus on the Citadel sequence. It was completely awesome from start to finish! I still have problems though.

First off: Thane. Thane. Let me explain to you how guns work. They shoot things, these little things called bullets. These bullets hurt people. Interesting thing is, these bullets can hurt people from far away. So if you have one of these guns, you can shoot at someone while you stay away from them, and still hurt them. You don't need to get close.

Now let's look at how swords work. Swords can hurt people too. But they're generally not as effective as guns. The main reason for this is that you have to be close to your target in order to use a sword properly. Somebody with a gun can defeat someone with a sword by simply staying away from them.

So let's take a look at this video to see what we did wrong.



Ah, there. At around 40 seconds in, you have a gun, and your enemy has a sword. Rather than do the sensible thing and shoot from a distance, you decide to charge at him and... I don't really know what. Looks like some kind of kick. Let me tell you, even if your little kick succeeded, bullets are a lot more dangerous than feet. It still would've been better to just shoot the guy.

I love you Thane, you're still a badass, but getting stabbed was COMPLETELY YOUR OWN FUCKING FAULT AND I HAVE NO PITY FOR YOU.

Number two: Kai Leng, while undoubtedly awesome, is a really really really bad assassin.

OK, so it's quite strongly implied that Leng is supposed to be an equal match for Shepard. Illusive Man is disappointed he didn't kill him, after all. Hold on to that thought.

Now, put yourself in Leng's shoes. Your main goal is to kill the Council. You've got one member of the Council working on the inside. The Council is currently heading towards their emergency escape shuttle, which you've either already destroyed or are going to destroy in a minute or two. Shepard and friends are trying to save the Council, but you've managed to disable their shuttle and they've crash-landed with choice but to go on foot.

The logical step here is to finish off Shepard. In a fight soon after the shuttle crash Shepard faces a bunch of soldiers and an Atlas. Kai Leng is driving with a Phantom, and he could call in more reinforcements. With those odds he could easily take out Shepard, and then proceed to assassinate the Council at his own leisurely pace. THERE IS NO REASON TO HURRY AHEAD AND RISK SHEPARD RUINING EVERYTHING. THEY HAVE NO ESCAPE ROUTE. What was their plan after they saw the shuttle? Sit like fish in a barrel. They're not going anywhere because they have nowhere to go. And even if they do run off, there's still Udina, who can be tracked easily or even give his own location to Cerberus. There is no reason for Leng allowing Shepard to plow through half his troops on his way to the Council, and there is no reason to be rushing to the Council in the first place.

And while we're on the subject, the entire plan was incredibly fucking dumb. Seriously, think about it:

1. Get Udina to turn traitor.
2. Get an army of terrorists onto the most heavily guarded area in the galaxy.
3. Destroy the Council's means of escape.
4. Chase the Council down and kill them.

Well, I know how we can make that plan simpler without any major changes: DON'T DESTROY THE SHUTTLE UNTIL THE COUNCIL IS INSIDE IT. WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF BLOWING UP A SHUTTLE YOU KNOW THEY ARE HEADING FOR BEFORE THEY GET IN RANGE OF THE BLAST? The only downside to this plan is that it would kill Udina, but he's expendable as TIM said. Or he could've faked an injury or something and stayed behind. Whatever.

Or, why bother with the shuttle at all? Just plant a bomb in the elevator! Or maybe you DON'T bring in the terrorist army right away, sending everyone into high alert and the target into leaving. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure high alert and a running target are BAD things for an assassin. There's an inside man, why isn't he being used? Here's my plan:

1. Leng takes off the mask and armour.
2. Udina hires Leng as his personal aide.
3. Udina calls a meeting of the Council.
4. Leng fucking murders everyone.
5. With the primary target down, THEN you can bring in your terrorist army and yada yada yada.

I like my plan a lot better.

[Umbrage]

how'd he know Shep would be heading there at that particular time?

[Umbrage]

[Umbrage]

That assassin should be embarrassed. A terminally ill drell managed to stop him from reaching his target.

Yes, and you ran into his sword in the process. He's not the only one who should be embarrassed, Thane.

(Renegade +100)

[Umbrage]

never played survivor before, but I'd probably /in

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http://playthroughline.com/scripts/mass-effect-3/

[Umbrage]

nice

next time they should do a character that actually has character

[Umbrage]

Ardat-Yakshi Monastery?

are BW seriously trying to make a scary level in Mass Effect?

because this isn't scary

...

IT'S NOT

NOTNOTNOTNOT

[Umbrage]

lolwat?

since when do banshees do DoT?

this mission is bugged or something

[Umbrage]

warp?

oh yeah that power that never hits enemies because they can dodge it

but hits me through cover

lolok

also I feel completely confident in Shepard's judgement to let the indoctrinated dying person be the one to set off the bomb and thus hold the fate of the entire mission

good thinking there

and she couldn't have left with the rest of them because...

BW must maximize drama?

and the bomb takes out all the banshees but doesn't even stop the elevator from running

lolok

and oh yeah leaving the last daughter there is a totally smart move

seriously there is no other monastery for her to go to?

can't just put her on a non-reaper-infested planet and call it a monastery?

lolok

and how exactly were we supposed to react during scenes between a character whose ACTUAL FUCKING NAME is "Fill-Air" and Ms. Cleavage?

I thought it was hilarious, but I don't think that's what BW was going for

[Umbrage]

Hamburger Hepler

never heard of her, tell me more about this person

[Umbrage]

also I don't think the writing's as bad as the character design and voice acting but w/e

it really just seems like a couple really important plot points were cut

like how they knew the bomb wouldn't collapse the entire building and kill them

and how they knew they couldn't save the girl turning into one of them

it's not really bad, just underdeveloped

[Umbrage]

WTF

WHY IS THE CITADEL CONVERSATION LOOPING

YOU GAVE ME A TOUCHING STORY OF A WOMAN GETTING HER DAUGHTER TO SAFETY. AWESOME. NOW YOU TAKE AWAY ALL SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF AND EMOTION I FELT BY HAVING THE START OF THE CONVERSATION LOOP BACK AGAIN. WELL FUCKING DONE.

[Umbrage]

ok now there's a monologue that keeps on looping repeatedly

wtf

[Umbrage]

now i'm gonna have to buy DA2


guys...

I think I'm vanguarding wrong

it takes like 5 presses for me to charge

my ring finger is killing me

sometimes a dude's in front of me and I spam the button and nothing happens

what am I doing wrong?

[Umbrage]

KoC is the only one who said she ruined DA2. I said she wrote gay fanfaiction about my favorite character from Awakening and put it inside a game

I DEFINITELY need to get DA2...

[Umbrage]

I'M SO SORRY ZAEED

I'M SORRY I DIDN'T CARE ENOUGH ABOUT YOUR LOYALTY

I THOUGHT I HAD ENOUGH PARAGON POINTS

I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'D DIE

I'M SO SORRY

[Umbrage]

C'mon, tell me that's not heartbreaking.

[Umbrage]

oh just search 'me3 zaeed dies' then. Harrumph.

[Umbrage]

should i buy from ashes/leviathan before beating the game?

[Umbrage]

I think From Ashes is worth it, but it's better to do it early in the game. I've heard that Leviathan is recommended if you don't already know the ending because it contextualizes Starchild a bit, but people are ambivalent otherwise.

I'm really excited for Umbrage's outrage at DA2.

Sorry to disappoint, but I really never got into DA. I bought DAO:UE because BIOWARE, but I never got hooked on it. I'll probably play through it one of these days, but I just don't have the time now.

[Umbrage]

SERIOUSLY

YOU FUCKING PUT A FUCKING RED OCTOBER REFERENCE IN YOUR FUCKING SPACE OPERA SET 100 FUCKING YEARS IN THE FUCKING FUTURE

BIOWARE

THE FUCK ARE YOU SMOKING

[Umbrage]

as soon as people have forgotten the last one. >.>

[Umbrage]

(it would also help if I could get Pie into the series and then have him co-mod <.<)

YESH

DO IT

USE YOUR FEMININE WILES

[Umbrage]

he's too far away for me to be okay with him borrowing it.

so basically you love ME1 more than your boyfriend

[Umbrage]

So I went through ME2 a while ago.

The first thing that hit me was the shittiness of 2's HUD. Like 3's HUD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2's HUD. Seriously.

Overall though, 2 > 3.

no

in 1 and 2 you could actually tell your squaddies to move out of the line of fire

either you can't do that in 3 or it's too difficult for me to figure out

It's more oriented towards real time combat than 1 and 2, which I think is a step backwards considering the Artificial Stupidity these games are famous for.

Maybe it just sucks with Vanguard though.

The sounds of playing Vanguard:

dingdingdingdingdingdingshuuuuuuuWAPdingdingdingdingdingshuuuuuuWAPdingdingdingdingdingdingshuuuuuWAP BLAM BLAM ker-chunk dingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingshuuuuuWAP ZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT POOOOOOOOOW dingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingshuuuuuuWAP ZZZZZTTTTTT POOOOOOW BLAM BLAM BLAM ker-chunk BLAM ker-chunk dingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingding *die*

[Umbrage]

Wow.

OK, not sure if this is a well known fact, but as I was exploring the galaxy I came across Pinnacle Station and Intai'sei. There was even a sidequest macguffin on Intai'sei. I think it's really great that BW included places from a nearly universally hated DLC that was outsourced to another studio in the game.

It's silly, but I got fuzzy feelings.

[Umbrage]

Finished Thessia. Was awesome until the end. They really seem to be pushing the LENG IS SUCH A BADASS OMG angle, and I'm not really seeing it. They're like HE BEAT SHEPARD and I'm like, no, a gunship capable of firing multiple rockets beat Shepard. And WTF, Shepard's weakness is a bright light shone in his face? Seriously.

Seriously.

...

Seriously.

Not sure if they just failed to test that fight for Vanguards or what, but Leng pretty much just stood there at let me charge/nova him repeatedly, until LOL GUNSHIP. Screw Leng, who the fuck drove that gunship? He's Shepard's greatest rival. Not Mr. Ponytail.

And oh yes SPECIALIST TRAYNOR DOES COMMUNICATIONS MAGIC TO FIND CERBERUS. LOVED THAT BIT. At least she didn't say anything in that scene.

Still, from a cinematic POV, that was really well done. Except Shepard's attempt to find Cerberus. That was just unintentionally funny. Taking a leaf from Batman's book:

[Umbrage]

Leng was a badass character in novels that were written by someone who no longer works for BioWare, then the ME writers took him, misinterpreted everything that WAS cool about him, and made him the terrible...thing...he is in ME3.

Food for thought.

Meh, he's cool as long as you don't look too closely. And even then he's still cool, just stupid.

I should probably read the books at some point.

REAPER BRAIN

FUCK YES

KNEW SAVING THE BASE WAS THE RIGHT CHOICE

Also Sanctuary was great. I love those creepy environments, I nearly shit myself when that husk hit the window. Whole mission was brilliant from beginning to end, I'd say it's my second favourite level in the series, coming after the end of ME1 where you walk on the Citadel tower. Cerberus base was pretty sweet too. Hoping to finish the game tonight.

[Umbrage]

Leng was a badass character in novels that were written by someone who no longer works for BioWare, then the ME writers took him, misinterpreted everything that WAS cool about him, and made him the terrible...thing...he is in ME3.

Food for thought.

Meh, he's cool as long as you don't look too closely. And even then he's still cool, just stupid.

I should probably read the books at some point.

To put it into perspective, he was Russian and Asian and used knives during the mission he was on in one of the books due to not wanting to attract attention by firing a gun. In the 2nd book he was in he used a gun. Bioware took "asian" and "knives" and went full retard and gave him a sword.

Eh, the dossier you got on him stated he was basically turned into an elite Phantom. But yeah, the OMG SWORD bit got old.

@ esurio: That sounds... pretty good. Might want to tweak the flavour and stuff a bit... we have the luxury of planning out all three games now. I'll try and think of some ideas.

sooooooo......................

Spoiler: my thoughts on the ending and other rambles

I liked it! I really did. Maybe knowing it and seeing clips online gave me a bias, but I felt it flowed naturally from the game. I find it hard to believe people would actually choose Refusal with everyone counting on Shepard, but w/e.

I'm pretty sure at least some of that was in Shepard's mind. At least the bit with the Catalyst, I don't believe a lift appeared out of nowhere, or that the three choices in front of Shepard deal was actually, physically there. It was an interaction like the dreams, the dreams were probably Catalyst's attempt to make contact with Shepard. I'm unsure of the encounter with TIM and Anderson. On the one hand, what happened to those characters? On the other, I'm pretty sure Shepard couldn't survive the fall to Earth (I chose Destroy FYI), that scene was pretty... weird, and the dialogue in that scene and just before it seems to have a hidden meaning if you interpret it as being within Shepard's mind. TIM is the indoctrinated part of Shepard, Anderson is a kind of a superego. I really have no idea if that was BW's intention or not, but either way I like the ambiguity.

And I guess that's what it comes down to: do you like ambiguous endings? Are you the kind of person who wants to know whether the top falls or keeps spinning?

I don't think we're supposed to know. From the start of the series, it's been firmly established that we are not Shepard. We don't write the lines, or even know what the lines are before Shepard says them. We see things Shepard doesn't, we even lose control completely and take over Joker for a while. Our role in the story is limited.

Maybe I'm just generalizing my own experience. You see, Mass Effect is the first and only RPG I've played where I truly created a character. I don't mean choosing hair styles and stats, I mean an actual character with thoughts that weren't my own. I started ME1 hating Ashley, but my Shepard grew to like her and eventually saved her on Virmire. I didn't make those choices. Shepard did. No other game has done this. It's a balance of interactivity that is truly unique. You can influence events, but never control them directly. And it makes sense that we don't see the ending in much detail. These aren't puppets, they're living characters. They create their own future.

I also liked Catalyst. His origin story is vague, but it... feels right. The end product of a totalitarian society, seeking to impose order on the chaos of life. People complained that synthetics vs. organics wasn't the main conflict of ME, and that for it to be the purpose of the Reapers was wrong. But that's not the whole story. It's order vs. chaos. It's the krogan being uplifted by the salarians, then trying to wipe them out. It's the protheans studying humans like lab animals. It's Cerberus, the protectors of humanity, killing humans for some mad scheme of control. The created rebel against their creators, is what Catalyst said. That's chaos. But the Reapers are stability. They are certainty. Eternal, infinite. Or so it would be, except for Shepard. It's been shown time and time again that Shepard represents the best of humanity, in fact of all organic life. Shepard fights for free will, for the chaos of life. Shepard is a destructive force not bound by rules. Shepard is a spectre, spectres do not submit to law or authority. Shepard is the anti-Catalyst, the anti-Reaper. That's been the driving force through all the games, and it's that conflict that is finally resolved in the ending.

So yeah. I thought it tied up the series nicely. I don't see any plot holes or important things left unexplained. I don't see any conflict with the other games. It's the final ascension of Shepard.

The Stargazer ending on the other hand... that was just confusing. Liked the original title theme music being played in the background though. I'll think on it. Maybe I'll understand it with a few more playthroughs...

I think there was a lot I missed. I never ran into Kelly, and don't you make some video with Liara for the next cycle in case you fail? Lots of things to explore in the future. I've been thinking of attempting no-death playthroughs of the games. And then there's multiplayer... yeah I'm not done with Mass Effect. Not by a long shot. I'll probably wait until school's out to get hooked on it again though. Probably.

[Umbrage]

Seriously? Somebody needs to run one.

NAO

/headdesk

Presented by ReaperCharlie, esuriospiritus, and Umbrage.

The defense rests, your honor.

(You don't even NEED to read the game to know that nuclear apocalypse levels of horror and despair that radiated out from that one)
(Also there was that Tony Montoya game with 16 serial killers or something)
(So yeah, someone should do a Mass Effect game someday)

that game was awesome, wtf are you on about?

i mean yeah RC derped in the role PMs but still

[Umbrage]

^ brofist

in other news, multiplayer sentinel still fucking sucks

i mean, i don't get the role

Adepts disrupt and weaken enemies - they soften things up and make it easier on everyone
Infiltrators deal heavy damage and get to objectives/wounded easily when needed - they are weak in general but hit hard when it counts
Vanguards take out weaker enemies and run amok behind enemy lines - they take the heat off other players
Soldiers are damage sponges that whittle away enemy health - they deal with mundane difficulties that others aren't equipped for
Engineers defend areas by destroying anything that comes their way - they are great as long as control over the battlefield is maintained

I'm not seeing where the Sentinel fits into the equation. Theoretically they seem to be designed as a jack of all trades, but in practical matters their versatility is overshadowed by other classes' specialization.

[Umbrage]

2907 = best post in this thread

[Umbrage]

I wasn't sure if you were being dense intentionally or unintentionally.

UberNinja in eleven words.

[Umbrage]

I LOVE MY VIPER

SO

DAMN

MUCH

[Umbrage]

So, my shockwave is broken. It does NOTHING to enemies, making my adepts completely useless. Apparently it's a known bug BW have yet to fix. *sigh*

Soldier is great though, if I could join a game WITHOUT GETTING DISCONNECTED HALFWAY THROUGH.

[Umbrage]

Problem is most of my evenings are taken up by schoolwork right now, and I'm busy the next couple of weekends.

[Umbrage]

kill ALL the atlases

[Umbrage]

more than the LAZARUS PROJECT?

[Umbrage]

I could see that.

[Umbrage]

I doubt it. I think it's more 'fans won't rest until every single plot point has been explained to the point of beating it into our heads with a hammer'.

I don't think we needed to see the origin of the Catalyst, but the fans are so butthurt over it's inclusion that BW's trying to retcon it earlier into the game. I can see the Catalyst as God POV, but I think a proper god should be all-powerful, and the Catalyst is not that. It's just an AI.

I haven't played Leviathan yet, but AFAIK they're supposed to be the first race ever? I don't see why we needed to know about them, I like having this mystery around the other cycles, all those lives and cultures we don't know about. There's an air of mystery surrounding the Reapers, and I'm not sure how much I want revealed. I mean, the fans are going to be pissed no matter what, they should focus on more gameplay/romance/character DLC instead of trying to change the plot/endings.

[Umbrage]

I don't see the Catalyst as having God-like powers though. At best it's a composite intelligence shared by the harvested races, at worst it's just a rogue AI. It's pretty much useless without Shepard and the Crucible able to turn it on. It needs someone to operate the controls. Shepard's pretty much a god in Control ending, but I'm not seeing it otherwise. Catalyst is more accurately described as a force than a god, the force of order upon chaos, IMO.

And I'm no trekkie, but didn't Q have some god-like powers?

[Umbrage]

Can the antagonist also be a deus ex machina?

[Umbrage]

And the reason for the conflict in the first place.

Still not sure if that's cool or sucky.

[Umbrage]

my friend said they were basically fired

I read online they retired

doesn't really matter, EA will be blamed no matter what anyone says.

I don't recall anyone blaming those two for ME3 though, it was mostly Walters/Hudson/EA.

So I doubt it has to do with either the complaints or EA firing them.

Most likely they see the direction BW's headed and are jumping ship before it's too late.

[Umbrage]

COOOOLLLECTOOOOOOOOOOOOOORS

are cool.

From what I've seen, all the units seem to have really high health. Scions and Praetorians have really strong attacks, but it's easy to outflank them. Mobility is very important, bunkering down will only get you killed, more so than the other enemies. Last game I played we all kept dying to a praetorian's AoE attack a few seconds from extraction. So it's basically a game of tag. Wear down the baddies slowly and keep moving so you don't get swarmed. They don't use shields at all, which will make preparing for random matches very difficult. Disruptor ammo is useless.

Main flaw is that the battles get a little monotonous. There's really not much need to change tactics, it's just run and shoot. But that's a nice change from dealing with hunters, phantoms, or banshees closing in on you.

[Umbrage]

Nah, I think geth are still the OP class. They really need to do something about the rocket launchers. And the turrets.

[Umbrage]

People thought Reapers were OP back when I played MP.

I'm pretty sure Reapers are supposed to be the hardest, but geth are just so glitchy that they take the cake. They will randomly shoot multiple rockets at a time, and there's nothing you can do about it. Hunters will stunlock you to death with regularity. Primes are simply the deadliest unit in the game, hands down, turret spam wins every time. If you have a good team that watches your back, and are specced for them, they're not difficult at all, whereas Reapers always make things chaotic. BW is loathe to patch them since they're still the best candidate for credit farming, but in PUGs they're absolutely broken. Of course, now that the geth bomber has arrived, camping isn't as effective. Hopefully that will encourage BW to make geth easier.

[Umbrage]

I was an Engineer at first, so I just did like pet -> overloadoverloadoverloadoverloadoverload.

Then I switched to Vanguard, and everything was easy except for maybe Banshees.

Banshees are pretty easy as Vanguard:

1. Are there any other enemies in the area?

If yes, then 2. Charge them and kill them.

If no, then 2. just walk backwards while shooting at the Banshee.

3. Repeat.

Basically though, just stay out of their way. Vanguard's job is to move around causing havoc and taking out the weaker enemies. Leave the big guys to Soldiers and Infiltrators to wear down. You can chip away at their health to be sure, but it's not what the class is best at doing.

[Umbrage]

I liked killing everything to hog points.

If you charge carefully, you can do Banshees without getting grab-killed. Or you used to be able to. But I would screw up maybe every third Banshee.

I think if you charge their back when they're not doing the mini-charge things you're safe. Might be wrong.

[Umbrage]

AHHAHAHAHHA THIS IS PERFECT

http://ineffableigor.tumblr.com/post/19 ... rough-gifs

[Umbrage]

Eagle acts more like an SMG than a pistol. Mine's level II and it's STILL better than most of my shitty small arms. I really need to play some more silvers and get better guns.

I think I'm doing something wrong with the Turian Soldier. He's really fragile for a non-dodging class. Maybe I just need to level Fitness a bit...

[Umbrage]

I agree, I think adren rush is better. Not sure what it is, but enemies drop faster with my humans. *shrug* Turian Sentinel is good though, he's the only sentinel I like.

[Umbrage]

Poor Ashley.

?

[Umbrage]

OIC. In my playthrough her claim-to-fame was hugging a nuke, so...

[Umbrage]

isn't that what jumbo equipment packs are for?

[Umbrage]

I main silver and buy veteran packs, and I've got over 100 of all consumables.

Of course my max medigel is still 2, if it was higher I

might

be a little poorer.

[Umbrage]

or are you talking about the equipment thingies?

I rarely use those

[Umbrage]

Problem found: get better teammates who will revive you!

ALSO YOU CAN HOLD 6 MEDIGEL WTF

[Umbrage]

You play vanguard right?

I read some people where having trouble with vanguard, when BW fixed the invulnerability glitch they may or may not have messed up the shield/health gating system for some players.

There's a stickied thread in the forums, everyone's still trying to figure out wtf is going on.

[Umbrage]

k game is officially a broken piece of shit

I got fucking invisible enemies on one game.

Two matches later the ending screen showed the wrong class.

I'm scared what will happen if I boot it up again.

[Umbrage]

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/937 ... 8414DADA3/

says I'm a vanguard and a sentinel

[Umbrage]

< still on veteran packs

btw when did you go from silver to gold? I'm not sure if my manifest is weak or I just suck.

[Umbrage]

Well, it varies...

Tonight I wiped because my teammates were too fucking stupid to kill nearby enemies before rezzing a teammate.

You'd think they'd figure it out after a couple of them fell, but nope, one would get surrounded and die, the other just ran right in, got stunned and shot.

I was topping the scoreboard with my asari vanguard + phalanx VII + shield boost II while the other guys had rare and UR weapons and N7 classes.

Sad.

I died repeatedly though because charge decided to be absolutely useless tonight, I had to hit the button around 8 times before it triggered

guessing it's lag? I dunno

[Umbrage]

AHA

[Umbrage]

BW's confirmed they're changing the difficulty, and they're looking into the health/shieldgate problem.

[Umbrage]

Excellent. I'll continue doing whatever and hope my interest doesn't get stretched enough to quit the game before they come out.

but CHALLENGES

[Umbrage]

First unlocking the Krogan Battlemaster and N7 Paladin in the same pack.

Winning.

Kroguard is the best thing ever, ignore carnage and spec for CC and survivability. Melee is good too, my Kroguard could 1shot melee bombers.

I'm liking the Turian Sentinel more and more...

[Umbrage]

Hm... a quick poke around the forums gives me this:

Spinotech wrote...

Easiest Reaper solo silver ever. 6/6/6/4/4 + Piranha + Acolyte.

Tech Armor: damage reduction + power damage + power recharge
Annhilation Field: radius + movement speed + shield drain
Warp: detonations + lasting damage (may respec for expose) + pierce
Passive: capacity/power damage
Fitness: health & shields

[Umbrage]

Welp, I am officially moving to Gold matches. At least with my Kroguard, I think I'll have to do some more levelling before I try it with others. I've also maxed out mah uncommon weapons, yay!

[Umbrage]

I didn't read the changes, hold on...

HUNTER AND PRIMES ARE NERFED

YESSSSSSSSSS

[Umbrage]

*gets like 4 new gold characters*

*still only plays Kroguard*

[Umbrage]

Nice. I only have a Reegar I and it's still insanely powerful.

I'm doing well with Slayer and Justicar, once I level them up to 20 they should be gold-worthy. I really hate PUGs though, today I got a game with two other players that died on wave 1, then more people dropped in and kept dying as well. I got 2/4 objectives done on wave 3 before I fell and decided to cut my losses and leave.

I fucking HATE the Havoc though. No idea why people play that class, it's useless.

[Umbrage]

N7 FURY IS SO MUCH FUN

HOT DAMN

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL I'M DOING AND IT'S STILL MORE POWERFUL THAN ANYTHING EVER

I played a silver match yesterday, groaned when I saw we drew Collectors, but not for long because THIS THING EATS SCIONS FOR BREAKFAST

I GOT GRABBED BY A PRAETORIAN TWICE AND BOTH TIMES I KILLED IT WITH MY POWERS BEFORE IT COULD STAB ME

WHILE IN THE AIR

I'M JUST SCREWING AROUND AND ENEMIES FALL LIKE PAPER

[Umbrage]

Hm. Never gave the Acolyte much of a go, but you're right. Geth is doable now!

[Umbrage]

She is surprisingly strong against Collectors. Throw spam takes out abominations and swarms, Acolyte destroys any barriers that show up, and dark channel is like the anti-scion. Which is pretty sweet seeing as how Collectors destroy pretty much every other class. Only problem is objective waves, particularly area defence. This class just cannot hold the line.

But yeah, Gold's less of a problem now that I'm relearning how to use consumables effectively. WE NEED TO PLAY TOGETHER.

[Umbrage]

[Umbrage]

AWEUIRAWPIOTHC23

WTF STORE

WHY

WHY DO YOU GIVE ME EVERY SINGLE OPS PACK UPGRADE

AND NO FUCKING MEDIGEL UPGRADES

NO UPGRADES FOR AGES

BUT THE MOMENT THE OPS PACK CAP IS INCREASED

I GET THE UPGRADE

WTFWTFWTF

I HOLD 6 OPS PACKS

AND 2 MEDIGEL

WHY

[Umbrage]

[Umbrage]

eheha, that's great

would've loved to see how the hell #6 happened

I'm able to handle gold quite well now, but I think I need to do some research into my builds. Anything other than my Fury or Kroguard is a real challenge. Baddies just aren't dropping fast enough, I'm sure I can squeeze out some more DPS. Right now anything bigger than a brute takes ages to kill, I'm not even going to try platinum. Maybe I just need to max out a rare or two.

[Umbrage]

also I fucking HATE the new acolyte

which is really the old acolyte

[Umbrage]

Hm... have to try that out. So Shockwave detonates the net then?

Why would you use a talon if you have the mattock? Mattock kicks ass. EDIT: Oh, anti-shield. Meh, I usually just use disruptor ammo if I'm worried about that.

BTW I finished Leviathan and it is THE BEST DLC EVER. Get it if you haven't.

[Umbrage]

Better than Overlord/LotSB?

Overlord still has the best story IMO, and Shadow Broker has more in terms of stuff like romance, upgrades, dossiers, etc. But all in all I'd say Leviathan is the best. Good story, missions are fun, and it helps makes sense of the Catalyst.

[Umbrage]

Close range with a Batarian? MELEE TIME

[Umbrage]

Really? I melee everything.

[Umbrage]

it's just really fun

btw you should all be reading this if you aren't already: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... 12487725/1

[Umbrage]

Hm.

Ok, for the BatSen, should I take the shockwave detonation path? Will it increase the power of the net/wave combo, or is it just biotic combos?

[Umbrage]

I know. Eh, still probably better than reach.

[Umbrage]

tried out this build, really powerful

I only have an acolyte III, and it still destroys everything

[Umbrage]

at least I know it's not unrealistic of me to try and get all the challenges someday.

lately though I've just been playing silvers, it's a lot easier, more fun, and I can buy spectre packs at a fairly good rate.

[Umbrage]

So apparently the game REALLY wants me to use the collector sniper rifle, mine went from 0 to 3 in a few packs...

[Umbrage]

trilogy collection sucks

like

it doesn't have any DLC for 2 or 3

none of it

only for money DLC it has is pinnacle station, and that sucks

it's way cheaper to buy them all separately

[Umbrage]

haven't played Omega so can't comment on that

Leviathan is epiiiiiic though

from ashes is p good too if you don't have that - Javik is hands-down the best squadmate in the game

Indoctrination theory still has a handful of followers, but it's pretty much considered head canon now. Certain bits of the theory

(the dreams being attempts to indoctrinate Shepard, the final room taking place in Shepard's mind, Destroy being the only real choice)

are still around, but it's generally accepted that the endings really happen and that they all have their merits.

[Umbrage]

Well, when I played before I shipped out, there was still all the buttpains about "WAHH TEH ENDING SUCKS!!! PLOTHOLES AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS BLEGH!!" and shit like that. Then while I was out they released the extended cut.

Most fans liked the EC, myself included. Adds some more context and a nice epilogue. It FEELS like an ending now, instead of just random crap thrown on the screen.

If you dislike the buttpains, stay the FUCK away from BSN. That's where all the fans who didn't like the EC nest, and prey on anyone brave or foolish enough to say anything positive about the game. MP forums are pretty cool though.

If you play MP, be sure to get the DLC. Collectors are fun.

[Umbrage]

Hurricane?

Meh?

Sir, you are quite insane, quite insane indeed.

In other news, with the most recent addition of the Geth Plasma Shotgun, I have unlocked all rare weapons! Now to get them to X...

[Umbrage]

my highest rare is the Widow and I hate it...

well I don't hate it, but I'm trying to get the sniper challenge and shield gates throw my rhythm off

I prefer the black widow or valiant

on the plus side I've gotten a lot better at reload cancelling

[Umbrage]

Valiant is mainly good because of the low recoil, it's like a black widow that handles like a viper. Damage is weaker though.

I always liked the raptor. Nobody else seems to, but it's my favourite of the silvers.

Still missing the Javelin and Indra. Going for the Collector points next.

[Umbrage]

Default human vanguards? They're pretty much the weakest of the humans, aren't they?

Charge+Nova plows through lower difficulties, but you're screwed higher up.

Also lol shockwave.

Although I did perfect the art of phantom killing on my kroguard by alternating well timed melees with my charge to keep them in stunlock.

Until I hit a lag spike of course, but whatevs.

Banshees will forever be untouchable though.

[Umbrage]

That assumes you've got a coordinated team, but yeah, if you have a couple warp spammers with a novaguard things die fast.

Pull/Reave combo sucks, so you've got to use Reave/Grenade. But the drell is really fast, and can carry some heavy weapons. Not my favourite adept (<3 Fury) but he's not bad.

[Umbrage]

Renedude > Renefem > Parafem > Paradude for me.

I find more active roleplayers prefer Hale, passive players who just like to watch their Shepard prefer Meer.

And I still don't have the SalInfiltrator.

[Umbrage]

I guess the saving grace of renedude is that you can have gay seks and red eyes at the same time.

but you can do the same thing with renefem one game earlier!

[Umbrage]

Yeah, you're right. Renefem is still superior.

Do you even get a sexy scene with the Kelly romance, though? I dunno if it counts if you don't get a montage of Shepard having gay sex with whomever with her pants on.

don't think so

never did the 'mance though

I love Meer's EVIL RENEGADE VOICE so Renedude will always be my #1 favourite.

I wanted to be ReneMale because I want to screw Ashley in the first one, then act like a dick to her in the second while screwing anything I can, maybe string her along in the third one before breaking her heart again. I'm kinda bad.

Probably should have stuck with ReneFem now I think about it though, ParaFem was my cannon play though, so I will be seeing a lot of the same things. Oh well.

I'm playing classes I never really have before so Infiltrator with ReneMale and Vanguard I think with ParaFem.

your main morality doesn't apply to romance, remember

I don't see why you couldn't be a sleazeball Shep while still being the perfect soldier.

I think you can get better results if you romance Liara though.

Start off romancing Ash and Liara both, then kill Ash on Virmire. For ME2, do the casual sex thingy with Jack, then romance Tali and Miranda. Dump Tali for maximum cruelty potential. You should also be flirting with Kelly as that doesn't trigger any break-up scenes. Then, of course, kill all the LIs at the collector base. I think you can reestablish your relationship with Liara in LOTSB regardless of other romances. Not sure how they work in ME3, but I think I read somewhere you can string Liara on for quite a bit, before finally dumping her for Kaidan or Steve. (Or Diana, but I'd kill myself first.) And of course refuse Liara's gift at the end.

I swear I'm a really nice guy IRL...

[Umbrage]

Yeah, you're right. Renefem is still superior.

Do you even get a sexy scene with the Kelly romance, though? I dunno if it counts if you don't get a montage of Shepard having gay sex with whomever with her pants on.

With kelly, all you get is dinnerl,

a strip tease if she survives the collector base attack

, and scale itch.


I think restarting, knowing how the plot goes, and insofar as headcanon should go, an earthborn soul survivor paradude shep is the best canonically to play as for a male. Granted the voice acting sucks dick van dike in ME2, given the plot, that combo just seems to work for me.

Also: Sentinal Krogans in multiplayer. What?
Are they even good/useful? The idea baffles me.

nah, colonist is where it's at - BEST origin sidequest in ME1

Sentinel Krogan isn't bad. His powers are pretty random, but they're GOOD random powers, so...

I think earthborns get paragon penalties, though, so that approach might be bad for power-gaming.

eh. that's really only a problem in ME1, and it's easily overcome. Of course you might not want your saintly Shepard to have run with gangs in the past, but it's not a major issue. Even if you're going for 100% morality, it's easy enough if you're careful.

[Umbrage]

I think earthborns get paragon penalties, though, so that approach might be bad for power-gaming.

Well, sole survivor nets you both paragon and renegade points anyways, but look at the context of the backgrounds. You're an earthling through and through. You enlist to get away from that negative lifestyle, hardened by life in the streets and living amongst the criminal element. From that you know how to survive in harsh environments and how to adapt and overcome, some overarching themes within the story. Then on the mission that nets you your psych profile, you and your unit were ambushed by a thresher maw attack that wiped out all but you and another person, whom was severely scarred mentally. With that paired with the earthborn background, it shows that, despite your resolve to fight against adversities and strive to become a better person, there are still things that exist beyond imagining and control, and it exposes the weakness of your character.. or alternatively provides you a resolve to further that ambition to get better despite anything that comes your way.
Apply that to the plot where you play soldier-(pseudo)politician with nothing less than galactic civilization at stake, with competing elements vetting to interfere with your goals along the way through various avenues.
While sure, similar stories can be used to validate other people's headcanon background stories for their shepards, for me that is the one that plays truest to me, within the realms of the story. It keeps Shepard human and grounded within all of the events of the story. It shows that you're aware of the tough decisions that sometimes need to be made to get the mission done, but sometimes it takes that civil approach to ensure the lowest amount of residual pain and suffering to others.

/end story tale.

that's the default Shepard I think. earthborn/survivor/soldier

really though it doesn't matter. each of the backgrounds have their own poetic merits.

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you get a LOT of morality points in ME2 for importing an old save

but I remember one of my imports glitched and I didn't get any points

still had maxed out renegade in time to get Morinth though

so all in all it doesn't matter, and it's even easier in me3 thanks to the reputation system

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Javelin > Black Widow > Indra > Widow > Viper > Collector Sniper Rifle > Mantis > Valiant > Raptor > Incisor > Kishock > Krysae

That's my best to worst list on sniper rifles. I really really really really don't like the Valiant. It feels like I'm shooting cotton balls and it never does any damage outside of headshots.

HOLY SHIT YOU WEREN'T KIDDING

KRYSAE IS RIDICULOUSLY SHITTY

SO BAAAAAAAAAAAAD

CSR is actually really nice once you get the hang of it though...

BUT SERIOUSLY THE KRYSAE

I MEAN THE INCISOR IS P BAD FOR A SNIPER AND I CAN STILL KICK SOME ASS

BUT KRYSAE

WHAT THE FUCK

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also the fucking store

right now I have:

no crusader

valkyrie I

hurricane III

valiant III

EAGLE FUCKING VII

COME ON

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nah, they've released 1 separately alongside the trilogy set

there's a small but dedicated group of PS3ers, just post a topic on BSN saying you want some friends to do silvers and you'll get a few replies

you usually meet a better class of people on gold, if you can handle it

all you really need is one good loadout to start doing the occasional gold for credits - for me it was the kroguard.

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Challenges. Once you get enough parts of a challenge done you can click on 'set title' and you'll get a background.

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but you don't get a challenge thingy for that...

just the pack

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realized I DID have the Salinfiltrator... not sure why I thought I didn't... anyway, did a couple geth gold. Feeling pretty good right now. I have enough equipment and consumables to reliably extract from Gold as long as my team is halfway decent, so I'm going to be going back to gold as my main, get them spectre packs. Maybe do a silver now and then for equipment. I'm not being stingy anymore though.

also got the sniper challenge, yay

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Still sounds better than my 'join on wave 9, see the only living player get synckilled, run around wearing down the spawns over time, almost finish them off to have the host leave, watch as my teammates go down in 20 seconds without gelling, use all my rockets, run around whittling down the remaining forces, finally finish them off in a spree of badassitude, get the escort mission, watch as my teammates use one rocket each before dying and refusing to gel, wave 10 failure 0 credits' match.

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There are six silver class unlocks: Salarian Engineer (total crap), Turian Soldier (not bad once you get a good assault rifle), Turian Sentinel (best sentinel), Drell Adept (some say this is the best class in the game), Asari Vanguard (better than human but nothing special), and Quarian Infiltrator (used to play her a lot). Those you can find in veteran packs and MAYBE recruits. All other classes are golds, which means they're usually only unlocked at spectre and higher, although you will get a few golds in veterans don't count on it happening.

Out of the non-gold kits I'd say your best bet is with the Turian Sentinel or Quarian Infiltrator. Human Sentinel and Adept aren't too shabby either, just focus on getting as many combos as possible. Vanguards are good if you're not lagging. BioWare recently nerfed most of the Engineers into oblivion thanks to their bullshit anti-camping crusade. Soldier is good if you have good weapons. Infiltrator with the Mantis is what got me out of bronze games.

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Well, lesse.. Ignoring the basic humans in each of the six classes, I've got:
Asari adept; Turian soldier; Salarian Engineer; Krogan sent.; Quarian and Salarian infil.; Drell and Asari vanguards.
As for weapons, I got that promo Valkyrie from that Geronimo op, Geth SMG and Widow, and Mattock (I was overjoyed when I saw this), Phaeston, Scimitar, Eviscerator, Raptor, and Locust for weapons.


With the Turian (and by extension the Krogan), the big thing I can't stand is the lack of a roll. Either it's running, or ducking behind cover. (At least with the Krogan, I could melee into an enemy and rage off of it after three kills.) Haven't found a loadout I like with it, but it's

sorta

speced out to be a rifleman. Just, being unable to duck away from an enemy's gotten me killed more often than not.

Mattock is the best of that group. Raptor's not bad either. Phaeston is crap. Scimitar is crap. Eviscerator is OK. Geth SMG is OK. If you're playing silver, you are probably better off with a high level mantis than a low level widow, the extra weight isn't worth the damage at lower difficulties. Locust isn't bad, but don't depend on it.

Salarian infiltrator is better than quarian IMO. It's my new favourite. I specced mine for powers with duration/power cloak, radius/shield energy drain, pure damage proximity mine, 3 fitness. Absolutely destroys geth, I use the Hurricane, but any light weapon should be fine. Bonus power on cloak lets you refill your shields with an energy drain while staying invisible. Proximity mine detonates tech bursts and helps make up for the lack of damage against armour.

Turian soldier is OK if you take the Mattock and stick to cover, you can nail constant headshots from across the map. Lack of dodge is a pain, but you'll get used to it.

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Also, don't listen to that crazy man, krogan melee is AWESOME.

Krogans are a pretty good learning unit actually, you have enough health and shields to survive most anything. So instead of dying and not knowing why, you take damage, find the source, and THEN die. Makes all the difference when you're learning to watch your flank.

Don't hide with a vanguard. Get in there and wreak havoc. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but Drell adept and vanguard are supposed to be really aggressive units. Until you run out of grenades.

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Alright, Phaeston is an OK weapon. But it's still completely inferior to the Mattock.

I normally take the sniper damage. I randomly selected the bonus power to try something different, and discovered that it kicks ass on the SalInf because energy drain allows you to boost shields while cloaked, which is a huge plus.

And I almost always go for duration cloak over damage. It's just way more flexible, and is incredibly useful for most objectives. I tried using a sniper rifle on this guy, but it just didn't work. Low cooldowns mean more energy drain, which means LOTS of shields. And Hurricane does awesome damage, especially if you add disruptor ammo for easy tech bursts. You have lots of time in the cloak to scout out all the enemies, then pick an isolated target to kill. Rinse and repeat. If you're fighting geth, energy drain is even more useful, it rivals overload for stunning power. It can't kill things quickly, but it's excellent at surviving.

Krogan melee is only bad if you're lagging. Otherwise, it's all about timing. I used to be great at timing my charge and melee to keep phantoms stunlocked as I kill them. Good times...

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OK yeah, it's not really an optimum build, but it's fun, great against geth, and keeps your shields up. It's very flexible and easy to play, just sneak around, spam energy drain and hurricane, and use proximity mine to det combos on bigger fish. It's a totally different infiltrator style, and is good for those of us who suck at twitch aiming.

P sure you can prime with overload. And detonate with energy drain.

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I can get by with sniping most of the time. I'm just not especially great at it, and it shows in gold.

Last night I had probably the best gold match ever. We all scored +1000000.

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JAAAAAAVAAAAALIIIIIIIIN

is actually a disappointment.

the weight is fucking ridiculous

the spare ammo is fucking ridiculous

and of course LOL NO HITSCAN

in trade for being able to see enemies through a thin wall

damage against bosses is nice, but it's just too difficult to land a hit with the fucker

no thank you

in other news Paladin is my new favourite class

so

many

damn

COMBOS

still gotta figure out how to use the shield effectively though

but HOLY SHIT THIS KIT EATS ATLASES FOR BREAKFAST

slap on AP rounds and Cerberus Gold is a fucking joke

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so now I have my anti-geth kit (SalInfil specced the way I like it and who cares what Ank thinks)

anti-Cerberus (paladin)

once my Fury hits 20 I'll have my anti-reaper

anyone know what's good for Collectors?

I heard that devastator is boss against them, but fuuuuck I hate that class.

also I may be drunk right now fyi

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I forgot how annoying it is when you can't open things in the first game because your decryption skill isn't high enough. (And you can't be bothered with manually leveling all your squad members up to get a reasonable decryption.)

it's basically just like making sure there's a rogue in your party to open chests and things

Garrus, Tali, and Kaidan should all have maxed decryption and electronics

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the main reason to unlock containers is that you get XP for it, just a little, but it adds up. But if you're not worried about maxing your level, no real need for it.

but seriously you need electronics for your squaddies, otherwise their shields are pathetic. And sabotage is the best tech power in the game.

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Yeah, if you want maxed level, you can actually replay the character and start at a really high level.

The ps3 version has a lot of loading time... even with a hard drive install, it really adds a degree of impatience to the game.

this is actually the ONLY way to get max level, there's not enough XP in the game to get to 60 unless you use glitches.

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FUCK GUARDIAN POINTS

FUCK HUSK POINTS

FUCK ABOMINATION POINTS

THAT IS ALL

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Unlocked the Crusader and the Indra.

It was a good day.

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I DID A FUCKING BLIND BANSHEE WARP DODGE

ON PURPOSE

FUCK YEAH

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just missing the wraith, harrier, and CSMG now!

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There is one upside to doing that.

I'm pretty sure you can keep Mordin alive if you play your cards right.

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Then why didn't you just have Ashley do it for you?

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You can shoot him, signal Ash to shoot him, or try and talk him down only for Ash to shoot him anyway.

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I'm pretty sure you can keep Mordin alive if you play your cards right.

I was able to keel Mordin and Wrex alive on my paragon playthrough...

Either can live, or both can die, but both cannot survive ME3.

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so last night I made this thread: http://social.bioware.com/forums/forum/ ... 15858361/1

and I think I just may have pissed off a powerful corporation



can't wait to see what happens next

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it's mainly just that one mod who locks threads whenever he can't get an erection, everyone hates him, don't know why he hasn't been banned yet

and yeah, I took care never to mention Chobot or any real person, just Allers.

other people in the thread got a little rude, but I can't see how that's my fault

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I just get a kick out of a ban being handed out for company bashing.

when my ban wears off, I'm going to attack them for that

I mean, people on there hate on EA all the damn time

why ban me?

i think I hit a nerve

they're awfully sensitive when it comes to their relationship with IGN

and I'm going to hit them where it hurts, as hard as I can

tomorrow

the forums

shall buuuuuuuuuuuuurn

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annnnnnnnnd......... I completely forgot about all that. Ugh.

Feeling comfortable with gold, it's been a long while since I failed a mission. I'd like to get to platinum at some point, what's the learning curve like? do you have to be able to solo gold and have maxed everything, or is there some wiggle room?

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RECKONING

Collector is p cool. Talon and Warlord are disappointing. Want to get the juggernaut. Eva unit looks good, Cabal could go either way.

New weapons look good, need more credits.

New mods and gear are sweet.

It feels easier to play now, the lag problem is mostly fixed. That is, I still get laggy games, but that no longer means instant death.

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oh forgive me for talking about a game I play all the time

nobody's forcing you to read the thread asshole

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aw shit man that's out now?

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except that it was a completely hostile environment to begin with

like literally every thread has at least one person loudly whining and complaining about the ending/Kai Leng/Liara/Mac Walters/Casey Hudson/artistic integrity/space magic/etc.

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that's not really EA=evil as BioWare=NEVER PATCH/FIX ANYTHING EVER UNLESS WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO

like it took HOW long until you could play Vanguard off-host?

frankly it's a miracle they got the whole trilogy on the PS3 at all

personally I think Citadel is the perfect example of how you're supposed to do DLC.

it's basically just fanservice for those obsessed with the series (coughcough)

it's fun, but ultimately it doesn't fit with the tone of the game and adds nothing to the story or gameplay.

contrast to LotSB and Arrival - the lack of which will ensure you're totally confused at the start of ME3 - or Leviathan

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I think at least there's a flag for whether or not you did Arrival, so if you didn't you don't really miss out on much as the game can tell

not including LotSB is just sad though - SUDDENLY LIARA IS THE SHADOW BROKER THROUGH MAGIC WHAT

trilogy edition is a joke really

contrast to DA:O ultimate edition - which has like every DLC ever, because they released it AFTER THEY WERE FUCKING FINISHED MAKING DLC

god

like the series has a ton of pre-order and special order bonuses that are impossible to get now, if they threw those in with all the DLC in one easy to install package they'd get extra purchases from the more hardcore fans, but NOOOOO

they really shot themselves in the foot with that, it was released too early and without enough content to justify it's creation

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well it does have some combat and new enemies, but yeah unless you're in love with the characters I'd just youtube the funny scenes

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Apparently so, all the promo N7s are listed as regular URs now.

On the plus side there are a ton more banners available.

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also HOLY SHIT I FORGOT HOW MUCH I LOVE MY BLACK WIDOW

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Best way to break ME1 is to go soldier and pour all your points into shock trooper, combat armour, fitness, and finally spectre training. Get good armour with a medical mod. You should have high health, insane regen, and low enough cooldowns to spam immunity constantly. You see, there's plenty of stuff that ignores shields at least partially, so you have to depend on HP. Immunity is the most broken power in the game, when it's at max level you can survive a ton of shit, throw in regen and you're practically invincible.

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Made it through my first platinum the other day. They were doing that 'hide in the Rio crate' thing, it was surprisingly easy. I got top score without doing much with a char that wasn't specced for that. I know it's cowardly, arguably cheating, but hey: easy credits. Gonna try it again with my Demolisher today. Just need to find a friendly group with a volus and spam grenades.

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either:

a) Miranda knows that's the one place that isn't bugged

b) Miranda really hates Tali

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PvP would be ridiculously tough to implement and balance with wildly different manifests and experience levels

anyway, until I'm soloing Platinum I haven't hit the skill cap yet

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I'm pretty sure it's one of the options you get when talking with TIM. I'm pretty sure you have to go all one path in order for the same paragon/renegade path to be available to its end in the endgame.

yeah, but it doesn't really make much difference to the end