Mass Effect 3.6: Are you engaging in reproductive behavior with this thread?

[SiuiS]

Almost. It seems to still have a slight startup delay, but... well, let's just say that I was able to fire it before I finished drawing it a couple of times today.

Interesting. I haven't had rockets since the fix, so that may be weird. I've been able to fire my particle beam before an animation for a power is through, too. It look like my shoulder cannon starts to fire an I grab it and bring it center mass. Weird.

Speaking of, I played quite a bit today. I promoted my Engineer class, since I really wanted to change that selection for my Demolisher's Arc Grenade but ran out of respec cards thanks to that bug when respecing my Slayer the other day. I've leveled back up to 18 now (practically 19 - the xp bar is so full that I could do a solo run of the first wave of bronze and level up), alternating my Human, Salarian, and Quarian Engineers while doing so (I still don't have the Geth or male Quarian Engineers unlocked).

Good stuff. I found arc grenades to be useful only as a panic button. When I'm revived next to a phantom or such, I chuck one at the ground and count on the radius to see me through. Otherwise, homing grenades are my staple; fire damage and huge immediate impact, no chance of missing (now, took me a while to acclimate to aiming and I'd occasionally fire a few off into space) and spamability make the difference. I suspect if I put more points into arc grenades I would like them more though. A fun class when it runs right.

Got two Premium packs for all that play, with mixed results. On the good side, both gave me a rank in gear that just increases biotic power damage, which will be good for my Adepts, plus I got a rank up for my Claymore (now rank 6, tied for my highest-rank rare weapon). On the "eh" side, I got the Pirannha shotgun and Cerberus Harrier AR, both of which seem too heavy for me to use without plenty of ranking up, if then (and the latter is ultra-rare, so...). On the bad side, an ex-Cerberus Adept card. So not bad I guess, but nothing to make me particularly happy or excited.

Zevox

The piranha is almost worth using on its own as a caster, if you're not a detonation specialist. It works really well with infiltrators. It might e a suitable gateway to get you to try the class, with token points in tac cloak and a focus on casting.

The Cerberus harrier is about twice as strong as any regular sniper rifle. Only two are stronger and they are both also ultra rares. Might be worth using on a Justicar.

I don't feel anywhere close to what you feel. For me, the prime annoyances in the game are the non-team players, the ones who wander alone and get picked off and I have to constantly go and revive them. Or the people who blow a Cobra missile at Wave 5, for no apparent reason, leaving one less missile in case we need it at Wave 10. Or the people who ignore the King of the Hill objective so they can score more kills and waste my time.

The super competent ones tend to result in nice clean runs for me and I appreciate that. I do get a tinge of annoyance when a Vanguard interrupts my line of fire, or someone kills the person I was about to prime a biotic explosion off of, but the goal (getting to extraction and getting my sweet, sweet credits) is what matters.

See, that all bothers me too. The guy who can't play, the guy who doesn't play and the guy who won't let me play are all the same problem. I'm not here for just credits; I'm here to play and get credits. It sucks playing and not getting credits right? It also sucks to get credits but not play.

P.S. I'd argue the reason they balance is to make the game challenging and to make more options viable. So, if something is heads or tails better to the exclusion of everything else (early Falcon, I'm looking at you), then it's not as fun, because then everyone will be using that gun and the difficulty will be trivial. Other times, something is lackluster, like Shockwave or old Paladin was, and they can buff it into something that at least has some use.

Yes. But if one gun is underwhelming and the other overpowered, the gulf is even more tremendous. An a hefty chunk of the foreseeable shortcomings of many guns can't be found if there is one gun that everyone takes. Is that gun too strong? Are the rest too weak? Is it a synergy issue? Is it only certain classes?

Cutting a strong weapon is just as valuable as boosting a weak one. Especially when it is undoable.

So is anyone else hoping the go back to the "no stomp on higher difficulties"? Because I was playing some earlier, and having Atlases smash guys I'm about to revive on Platinum makes the game so much harder. I mean, I'm all for increased difficulty, but it's almost an absurd jump and manages to kill some of the fun, at least from my experiences today.

Nope. It added a zest to te game where it was otherwise rote. There is something wrong when people panic more about being downe on silver than on gold.

-

So I bought a PSP and got a wraith III. which is interesting because it wasn't one of the designated rares; it was just sort of there, along with a gear boost and n arc pistol X. Feel kind of lucky about that.

Also got a +250,000 XP card for human infiltrators. Which means its entirely likely that my current plan to cycle; that is, raise four classes to max and promote the first three, sequentially, will run into the snag of only playing that class a couple times before having to shelve them. A self inflicted limit but still. Need to try out a lot of stuff I haven't bothered with prior.

[CreganTur]

For the Phoenix Vanguard(that's what the ex-Cerberus guys are most commonly called) I would not try to play it as a standard vanguard. The delay in getting of Smash means that you're going to take a lot of damage before the power actually goes off on your target. On Gold this means you often die or are nearly dead before smash goes off.

Charge is more of a backup power for boosting your shields back up when they go down. If a Phoenix charges into a group of enemies he's going to find it very, very hard to get out alive.

Don't ignore Lash- a capstone option lets you ignore sheilds/barriers, which makes it a very, very useful power. It's common to earn kills by flinging enemies outside the map with Lash. It's also the main power you ignite biotic explosions with.

I mostly use the Phoenix Adept and completely ignore Singularity- it's unneccessary and specing fitness all the way up really helps with your longevity.

The best thing about Smash is that you can send it through walls, so remember that when you're playing.

[Tome]

On the "eh" side, I got the Pirannha shotgun and Cerberus Harrier AR, both of which seem too heavy for me to use without plenty of ranking up, if then (and the latter is ultra-rare, so...).

The Harrier is very, very good. It has ridiculously high damage, held back by a really small ammo capacity. Best taken on a Demolisher or Batarian to compensate for the low ammo. Homing grenade + a single clip of fire from the Harrier is enough to down a Brute in one go on Platinum.

Give it a try next time you use your Demolisher, see if it works for you.

[Aotrs Commander]

For the Phoenix Vanguard(that's what the ex-Cerberus guys are most commonly called) I would not try to play it as a standard vanguard.

I noted that, after I tried it...

Maybe at some point I'll promote that character (unless I happen to get a respec card or something).

Though really, at this point, having done the extended ending now, my ardour for playing it is cooling now a bit.

[Zevox]

Good stuff. I found arc grenades to be useful only as a panic button. When I'm revived next to a phantom or such, I chuck one at the ground and count on the radius to see me through. Otherwise, homing grenades are my staple; fire damage and huge immediate impact, no chance of missing (now, took me a while to acclimate to aiming and I'd occasionally fire a few off into space) and spamability make the difference. I suspect if I put more points into arc grenades I would like them more though. A fun class when it runs right.

Arc Grenades are all about their huge radius (with the rank 4 upgrade to that) for me. I've taken out upwards of four enemies with them at once, and just chucking them at a big target like an Atlas often hits another enemy or two with them, sometimes for a kill. They're not as powerful as a Homing Grenade, but I find myself using them more often now, because of that radius, the fact that they're much faster, and the fact that they stun (so I can easily follow up with shots from my Striker for a kill). Plus the Homing Grenade is overkill on mooks yet won't outright kill shielded enemies without those shields being at least significantly weakened first, so I find myself mostly using them against armored targets.

The piranha is almost worth using on its own as a caster, if you're not a detonation specialist. It works really well with infiltrators. It might e a suitable gateway to get you to try the class, with token points in tac cloak and a focus on casting.

The Shadow is what will get me to try the Infiltrator class. The others I'm just not interested in.

For the Phoenix Vanguard(that's what the ex-Cerberus guys are most commonly called)

I know, I just refuse to call them that, since it's an unofficial nickname stemming from the initial leak of them, and kind of a silly one in my opinion.

I would not try to play it as a standard vanguard. The delay in getting of Smash means that you're going to take a lot of damage before the power actually goes off on your target. On Gold this means you often die or are nearly dead before smash goes off.

I wouldn't play an Ex-Cerberus character on Gold. I mostly play on silver, and the only character I've gone into Gold with so far is my Asari Adept. There's scant few others I'd consider using on Gold, and the Ex-Cerberus characters aren't among them.

Charge is more of a backup power for boosting your shields back up when they go down. If a Phoenix charges into a group of enemies he's going to find it very, very hard to get out alive.

Don't ignore Lash- a capstone option lets you ignore sheilds/barriers, which makes it a very, very useful power. It's common to earn kills by flinging enemies outside the map with Lash. It's also the main power you ignite biotic explosions with.

If I played it like that, it'd be redundant with my Ex-Cerberus Adept. Besides, I don't see how an Ex-Cerberus Vanguard would find it harder to survive a Charge than most other Vanguards. I've got him with maxed-out Fitness for health/shields, so he's as durable as the regular Human and Asari Vanguards, and more so than the Drell. He'll be no Krogan, sure, but those are Krogan.

I mostly use the Phoenix Adept and completely ignore Singularity- it's unneccessary and specing fitness all the way up really helps with your longevity.

Singularity is questionable on that class, I agree, but I find it worth it for clearing mooks quickly. Singularity -> Lash is a fast combo that works well for that. Much more reliable at getting a quick kill than Lash on its own.

The Harrier is very, very good. It has ridiculously high damage, held back by a really small ammo capacity. Best taken on a Demolisher or Batarian to compensate for the low ammo. Homing grenade + a single clip of fire from the Harrier is enough to down a Brute in one go on Platinum.

Give it a try next time you use your Demolisher, see if it works for you.

No, thanks. I'm quite happy with my Striker on my Demolisher. It's way too thematically appropriate for her for me to ignore, and I really like weapons that I don't need to worry about aiming too precisely. (Actually, that about sums up why I like the Demolisher in general: lots of firepower that I don't need to worry about aiming with.)

Zevox

[Joran]

Arc Grenades are all about their huge radius (with the rank 4 upgrade to that) for me. I've taken out upwards of four enemies with them at once, and just chucking them at a big target like an Atlas often hits another enemy or two with them, sometimes for a kill. They're not as powerful as a Homing Grenade, but I find myself using them more often now, because of that radius, the fact that they're much faster, and the fact that they stun (so I can easily follow up with shots from my Striker for a kill). Plus the Homing Grenade is overkill on mooks yet won't outright kill shielded enemies without those shields being at least significantly weakened first, so I find myself mostly using them against armored targets.

Zevox

Also, if you took the electricity upgrade, Arc Grenades prime a tech explosion. I chuck both grenades pretty liberally when playing the Demolisher. The problem with her is that I have major issues when playing on an open map. On Reactor, I had a tremendously fun time, running around and chucking grenades willy-nilly.

[Zevox]

Also, if you took the electricity upgrade, Arc Grenades prime a tech explosion. I chuck both grenades pretty liberally when playing the Demolisher. The problem with her is that I have major issues when playing on an open map. On Reactor, I had a tremendously fun time, running around and chucking grenades willy-nilly.

Open maps do hurt, yeah. They're harder to camp in one spot on to get the benefit of Supply Pylon's continuous grenade resupplies, and since I've personally specced my Demolisher with no points in Fitness, anything that makes it easier for me to get shot at is a problem. I'm a total glass cannon.

Zevox

[CreganTur]

Phoenix Adepts work great on Gold, you just have to be smart when playing them. Sticking in cover and using Lash to deal with distant enemies is very viable, but the real fun comes when they start getting close.

Performing Smash with an object between you and your target works great because you're protected and Smash will still hit them. Same thing with walls. If you can't do that, then Lash to stagger followed with Smash will kill mooks outright and severely weaken if not kill anything not a heavy. Heavies aren't a problem either if you have cover/obstacles to work with or a team to help pull aggro so you can keep rolling behind the heavy to deliver Smash.

I run mine with a Carnifex X (armor piercing and extended barrel mods) and Geth Plasma SMG (light materials and the thing that lets you recycle ammo) and am running at +200% recharge.

That's actually my standard weapon loadout with most adepts.

[Tome]

I know, I just refuse to call them that, since it's an unofficial nickname stemming from the initial leak of them, and kind of a silly one in my opinion.

Actually, if you check their in-game description I believe they're noted as formerly belonging to Cerberus' Phoenix Project. So it's not just an unofficial nickname.

[Wraith]

So, this weekend's Bounty Mission has been declared: Operation OVERWATCH.

Operation OVERWATCH drops troops on Earth to tackle the most secure Reaper strongholds. Reaper anti-air defense will make for high-risk shuttle extractions.

Squad Goal: Extraction on any difficulty with at least one squad member using an Earth Pack character

Allied Goal: Extract 800,000 individual players on any difficulty, with each live member counting toward the goal.

Squad Goal Success: All squad members awarded a Commendation Pack.
Allied Goal Success: All players awarded a Victory Pack that includes a new Earth character.

Special Circumstance: Extraction time lengthened due to failure of Operation BROADSIDE.

Requirement: Mass Effect: Earth must be installed to earn these rewards.

Have to admit, that sounds pretty easy, certainly compared to some we've had. 800,000 individuals to extract, at 4 per game? 200,000 games INCLUDING Bronze? Unless the multiplayer crowd has SERIOUSLY slacked off in the last couple of months after the Extended Cut DLC, I wouldn't have thought we'd need a whole weekend for that.

The hardest part will be making sure you already have your own Earth DLC character, since my own Packs seem unwilling to offer me anything that aren't more fecking shotgun or pistol upgrades....

[Wagadodo]

Same here, I have yet to get a N7 class, or heck, any class that I already don't currently have with my Premium Specter packs. I am starting to get a little jaded here if I can't get one soon, I might go crazy.

[Zevox]

I run mine with a Carnifex X (armor piercing and extended barrel mods) and Geth Plasma SMG (light materials and the thing that lets you recycle ammo) and am running at +200% recharge.

That's actually my standard weapon loadout with most adepts.

I don't have a Carnifex at all, nor an ultra-light materials mod. I have a Geth Plasma SMG (rank 3), but I really only use it on my Quarian Engineer. On my Adepts I tend to favor the Tempest or my Avenger X.

Actually, if you check their in-game description I believe they're noted as formerly belonging to Cerberus' Phoenix Project. So it's not just an unofficial nickname.

Nonetheless it's also not their official name. The actual announcements of the DLC from Bioware referred to them as Ex-Cerberus operatives, so that's what I've taken to calling them. Plus as I said, I find calling them simply "Phoenix Adept/Vanguard" just sounds silly to me, given they're not even aliens.

Re: Operation - Well, that's something I won't need to go out of my way to participate in, given I already have two of the new classes and enjoy both. Still, I really hope we don't fall short of the allied goal, since a free new class is far more appealing to me than the N7 weapons from those Commendation packs. (Though with my luck I'd probably just get a customization unlock for one of the classes I already have...)

Zevox

[Krade]

Well, if anyone on Xbox doesn't have one of the new characters yet, I'll gladly take you with me whenever you need. I'm off work all weekend (a rare occurance, I assure you) and work early on Friday.

[SiuiS]

The Harrier is very, very good. It has ridiculously high damage, held back by a really small ammo capacity. Best taken on a Demolisher or Batarian to compensate for the low ammo. Homing grenade + a single clip of fire from the Harrier is enough to down a Brute in one go on Platinum.

Give it a try next time you use your Demolisher, see if it works for you.

Wow. That's a strong gun.

Arc Grenades are all about their huge radius (with the rank 4 upgrade to that) for me. I've taken out upwards of four enemies with them at once, and just chucking them at a big target like an Atlas often hits another enemy or two with them, sometimes for a kill. They're not as powerful as a Homing Grenade, but I find myself using them more often now, because of that radius, the fact that they're much faster, and the fact that they stun (so I can easily follow up with shots from my Striker for a kill). Plus the Homing Grenade is overkill on mooks yet won't outright kill shielded enemies without those shields being at least significantly weakened first, so I find myself mostly using them against armored targets.

I get almost no stagger from arc grenades. I tried to rescue an ally who was being stomped, to no avail. So I can't trust that enemies will stop. With the homing grenade, I can decimate their barriers with my fun by the time they explode so I'm fine.

I ended up with 6/3/6/6/5 though, dropping a point of fitness for arc grenades. And before anyone says anything, yes. The arc grenade that failed to stagger an assault trooper on gold was at full power; this is we're I'm sitting now. Between homing grenade's slow fire speed, an te particle rifle, I benefit more from having my head put longer than from a grenade boost.

The Shadow is what will get me to try the Infiltrator class. The others I'm just not interested in.

Okay. I still feel that it's your loss.

I know, I just refuse to call them that, since it's an unofficial nickname stemming from the initial leak of them, and kind of a silly one in my opinion.

No sillier than Project: Phoenix vanguard, which is their actual class title. Ex-Cerberus is as much a nickname as Phoenix is.

I wouldn't play an Ex-Cerberus character on Gold. I mostly play on silver, and the only character I've gone into Gold with so far is my Asari Adept. There's scant few others I'd consider using on Gold, and the Ex-Cerberus characters aren't among them.

The end damage output of a Phoenix vanguard actually exceeds a straight adet by a wide margin on gold. They get the double detonation boost, have Steiger powers and get a solid power boost from biotic charge.

Them again, the human sentinel does more damage than an Asari adept with the same skill set, by the books. So I don think it's a matter of just output.

Same here, I have yet to get a N7 class, or heck, any class that I already don't currently have with my Premium Specter packs. I am starting to get a little jaded here if I can't get one soon, I might go crazy.

know that feel. It took me something like 40 packs to he the demolisher.

A suggested tip; get enough credits to buy three or four PsPs, and then delete the rebellion and extraction DLC from your box. With only Earth available, your odds of getting a new N7 class skyrocket, as it takes a chunk of weapons off the market as well.

[Zevox]

I get almost no stagger from arc grenades. I tried to rescue an ally who was being stomped, to no avail. So I can't trust that enemies will stop.

That's extremely strange. I get the same shock effect as from Overload when I use them. And no, I didn't take the rank 5 upgrade that gives an electric damage-over-time effect, so it's not that. All I have over you is additional radius and additional damage to shields/barriers, so we should be equally effective on mooks.

The end damage output of a Phoenix vanguard actually exceeds a straight adet by a wide margin on gold. They get the double detonation boost, have Steiger powers and get a solid power boost from biotic charge.

Them again, the human sentinel does more damage than an Asari adept with the same skill set, by the books. So I don think it's a matter of just output.

It isn't, no. The handful of classes I'd use on gold are the ones I think are both most effective statistically and that I'm best at. Asari Adept is amazing mostly because of Warp -> Throw, yes, but it's also given versatility thanks to Stasis which the Ex-Cerberus classes and Human Sentinel lack. The Ex-Cerberus classes are also limited by the short range on Smash, their best power, and the fact that Lash does nothing to armored targets at all.

(Actually, what do you mean by they get the "double detonation boost?" It sounds like you're referencing having two powers that get the Detonate upgrade, but they don't - neither Smash nor Charge get that, only Lash, which as mentioned doesn't do anything to armored targets. All they can do against those is spam Smash or do a combo with Smash -> Charge that has no detonate upgrades boosting it.)

The main other classes I'd consider bringing into Gold are the Salarian Engineer and Krogan Vanguard, both for what I'd figure are obvious reasons. There's only an off chance I'd try anything else I have at this point, as I'm not comfortable enough with the overall effectiveness of and/or my own abilities as any other class I play.

Zevox

[Strife Warzeal]

Well, if anyone on Xbox doesn't have one of the new characters yet, I'll gladly take you with me whenever you need. I'm off work all weekend (a rare occurance, I assure you) and work early on Friday.

I think I'll take you up on that offer, grabbed your tag from the list in the opening post. I'll send a friend request, mine is aafro1109.

[SiuiS]

Zevox: could have sworn smash had something specifically to affect biotic detonations. Ah well. Lash can still, I believe, cause denationalize and minor damage over time. Not a total loss... Aside from holding phantoms at bay however, I've never seen a situation stasis worked better than warp/throw Combos.

I think I'll take you up on that offer, grabbed your tag from the list in the opening post. I'll send a friend request, mine is aafro1109.

Gah! I keep forgetting that second A. I'll have to resend then.

[Zevox]

Zevox: could have sworn smash had something specifically to affect biotic detonations.

It does, it's just not detonate - its rank 4 upgrade is necessary to allow it to prime combos.

Lash can still, I believe, cause denationalize and minor damage over time. Not a total loss...

On armored targets? I don't believe it can, no, though at the moment I don't have time to run a game and test it. Anyone else know for sure?

Aside from holding phantoms at bay however, I've never seen a situation stasis worked better than warp/throw Combos.

Phantoms are the biggest one, definitely, since their "I'm immune to powers" barrier doesn't stop Stasis. Guardians are another, since the field version beats their shields. Hunters are another, since their invisibility makes it frustratingly difficult to get homing powers like warp and throw on them before taking their shields down. Any closely-clustered groups of unarmored enemies are a good one, of course, which can happen a lot on certain maps (Glacier, for example). You can also lay down the field at an area you expect enemies to walk through to catch them as they're coming, if you wish - I do this on Firebase White gold matches at the start of waves all the time.

Zevox

[Krade]

On Lash:

It can stagger armored targets, but that's it. It does negligable damage and has no other effect. It can not prime OR detonate.

That's why the Vanguard is considered superior to the Adept. With Charge, it can self-combo anything.

[Edge]

On Lash:

It can stagger armored targets, but that's it. It does negligable damage and has no other effect. It can not prime OR detonate.

That's why the Vanguard is considered superior to the Adept. With Charge, it can self-combo anything.

If you evolve Lash with the damage over time evolution, it will do that to armoured targets, but that and the stagger are all it can do to them.

[Calemyr]

So, this weekend's Bounty Mission has been declared: Operation OVERWATCH.

That looks like they took exactly the wrong lesson from the failure of BROADSIDE. The problem (in my experience) isn't the amount of time it takes to get to the extraction site, it's the time you have to defend while waiting for the evac shuttle. Making that time even longer only makes getting a full extraction harder, not easier.

[Edge]

That looks like they took exactly the wrong lesson from the failure of BROADSIDE. The problem (in my experience) isn't the amount of time it takes to get to the extraction site, it's the time you have to defend while waiting for the evac shuttle. Making that time even longer only makes getting a full extraction harder, not easier.

Given that the community goal for Broadside was failed, that's kinda the point.

[Calemyr]

Given that the community goal for Broadside was failed, that's kinda the point.

So they're punishing us for failing by making it even harder to succeed?

[Aotrs Commander]

So they're punishing us for failing by making it even harder to succeed?

Basically, yes.

Remember when we failed the last time and they stuck banshees in every single game, even with Geth and Cerberus?



I think they might be starting to get a bit too ambitious with the goals, though. I suspect that the number of people playing will dropping off over time (as it's easier to get discouraged the more thinly your packs get you anything with the increasing numbers of expansions). Plus it's summer. People go on holiday quite a lot. I know I've missed the last event or two because I've been away, as I will be this time.

[Edge]

So they're punishing us for failing by making it even harder to succeed?

Pretty much.

Word of advice, though, avoid trying to hold the LZ for the full duration. Hold out elsewhere on the map, then head over once there's about 45 seconds left on the clock. That way, you'll have very few enemies to worry about holding off at the LZ itself.

[Calemyr]

Pretty much.

Word of advice, though, avoid trying to hold the LZ for the full duration. Hold out elsewhere on the map, then head over once there's about 45 seconds left on the clock. That way, you'll have very few enemies to worry about holding off at the LZ itself.

Oh, I know. That's how I do it myself, but with everyone running around like beheaded chickens and the field swarmed by enemies that can do insta-kills, it's my least favorite wave of the bunch - no goal, just survive and hope the rest of these idiots don't get too preoccupied fighting that they forget the timer in the corner.

My problem is based on the assumption that they are fine-tuning the game to make the game more fun. When the community fails to accomplish the goal you set up, it means the balance is already tilted against them. If you're going to put your thumb on the fulcrum, you should be biasing it towards the balance, not away from it.

[Wraith]

I think they might be starting to get a bit too ambitious with the goals, though. I suspect that the number of people playing will dropping off over time (as it's easier to get discouraged the more thinly your packs get you anything with the increasing numbers of expansions)

To be honest, I think I would prefer it if the amount of time for the Extraction was random - anything between 30 seconds and 3 minutes.
The Extraction is the most predictable 'mission' in any game, and I think it would add an extra bit of drama - and thus be a lot of fun - if there was always a chance that you suddenly had to book for the LZ and make a hasty escape, or if a bedraggled squad had to make a desperate last stand as something went wrong and the shuttle couldn't make it....

Then again, I'm quite sadistic like that

It's on my wishlist for "the Last DLC" before Bioware finish developing ME3 Multiplayer:

• Random Extraction times
• Allow at least one more enemy race to fight against (I think using the three gangs from ME2 would at least add some thematic differences... although fighting Krogan Mercs backed up by Varren pets would be fun!)
• Randomly drop a Rare "Trade Card" that lets me send 1 of my classes to someone on my Friends list, so I'm not stuck still grinding away for that damn Geth Infitrator when everyone else in the world has stopped playing the game....

[Beowulf DW]

Well, I finally got a hold of a Geth Plasma Shotgun (yay!) and a Drell Adept (Boo!) and the shotgun penetration attachment (yay!). Now if only I could bet the stuff that I want, like the Destroyer, the Slayer, the Geth Infiltrator and the Phoenix Adept. If this keeps up much longer I'm just going to sell out. Buy Microsoft points and get a ton of PSPs, cause this grinding clearly isn't taking me places that I want to go.

It would be nice if the classes and kinds of guns we use the most could be monitored so that the chances of getting stuff we would actually use could be increased. Also, I think that the we should be able to purchase the mechs from the last game as equipment. Or maybe there will be a "Mercenary DLC" that puts in a bunch of classes like Eclipse Engineers and Vanguards, or Blue Suns Soldiers and Sentinels. Maybe the Eclipse Engineer will get a mech instead of a combat drone or turret. I really miss those mechs...

In other news, it seems that I really enjoy the female Quarian Engineer. Especially when she's using the Hurricane (starting to get the hang of aiming that thing, btw).

[Zevox]

In other news, it seems that I really enjoy the female Quarian Engineer. Especially when she's using the Hurricane (starting to get the hang of aiming that thing, btw).

That's my favorite Engineer, personally . The turret is great, it can turn any mook into a walking bomb with Cryo Blast + Incinerate, and it's the only class that can take advantage of Incinerate's rank 6 bonus that doubles its damage when used on frozen/chilled enemies. It just needs a weapon that beats shields - which is why I use my Geth Plasma SMG with it.

Zevox

[SiuiS]

It does, it's just not detonate - its rank 4 upgrade is necessary to allow it to prime combos.

Well yes, but I meant detonations specifically, at a later point. Think I crossed the two powers in my head...

On armored targets? I don't believe it can, no, though at the moment I don't have time to run a game and test it. Anyone else know for sure?

Not sure how mine happened then, but the DoT still works. Not that it's anything to write home about, but...

Phantoms are the biggest one, definitely, since their "I'm immune to powers" barrier doesn't stop Stasis. Guardians are another, since the field version beats their shields. Hunters are another, since their invisibility makes it frustratingly difficult to get homing powers like warp and throw on them before taking their shields down. Any closely-clustered groups of unarmored enemies are a good one, of course, which can happen a lot on certain maps (Glacier, for example). You can also lay down the field at an area you expect enemies to walk through to catch them as they're coming, if you wish - I do this on Firebase White gold matches at the start of waves all the time.

Zevox

Phantoms have always had that shield, they just made it visible recently. Banshees have the same effect too, durin their electric web glow thing.

And hunters, well that doesn't really help at all. You still have to sight down on them and fire it, or spray them to render them targetable. Though I suppose the instant cast makes sighting them and firing easier.

If you evolve Lash with the damage over time evolution, it will do that to armoured targets, but that and the stagger are all it can do to them.

That what I thought. Must have had an ally with warp ammo then, because I swore I was detonating an atlas with smash and lash, and three infiltrators on my team.

That looks like they took exactly the wrong lesson from the failure of BROADSIDE. The problem (in my experience) isn't the amount of time it takes to get to the extraction site, it's the time you have to defend while waiting for the evac shuttle. Making that time even longer only makes getting a full extraction harder, not easier.

Oh, I know. That's how I do it myself, but with everyone running around like beheaded chickens and the field swarmed by enemies that can do insta-kills, it's my least favorite wave of the bunch - no goal, just survive and hope the rest of these idiots don't get too preoccupied fighting that they forget the timer in the corner.

My problem is based on the assumption that they are fine-tuning the game to make the game more fun. When the community fails to accomplish the goal you set up, it means the balance is already tilted against them. If you're going to put your thumb on the fulcrum, you should be biasing it towards the balance, not away from it.

Quite the opposite. We failed in our mission and there is a penalty. What they did learn is that they need to be damn specific about the goals. Notice that they are specifying now that it is player based and not extraction or full extraction based?

That's my favorite Engineer, personally . The turret is great, it can turn any mook into a walking bomb with Cryo Blast + Incinerate, and it's the only class that can take advantage of Incinerate's rank 6 bonus that doubles its damage when used on frozen/chilled enemies. It just needs a weapon that beats shields - which is why I use my Geth Plasma SMG with it.

Zevox

You know that SMGs do not do any better against shields than any other weapon right? That was specifically removed between ME2 and 3, along with hot guns doing more damage at close range and heavy pistols doing more damage to armor.

Also, being on a team with one of the many cryo-inducing classes or bringing along cryo Ammo gives you the boost, thought its harder to utilize.