Mass Effect 3.7: "That was for Thane"

[Edge]

Let me say that Omega is very good, in my opinion. Not as good as Shadow Broker, but still very good.

Perhaps more importantly, I am eager to see the Adjutants, Rampart Mechs and Flare and Biotic Protector powers added to multiplayer. Sadly, the latter is fairly useless in Nyreen's hands, due to single play not being threatening enough to really warrant its use, and squadmember cooldowns being too long to take full use of its rank 6 post-use weapon damage boost.

[Calemyr]

Let me say that Omega is very good, in my opinion. Not as good as Shadow Broker, but still very good.

Perhaps more importantly, I am eager to see the Adjutants, Rampart Mechs and Flare and Biotic Protector powers added to multiplayer. Sadly, the latter is fairly useless in Nyreen's hands, due to single play not being threatening enough to really warrant its use, and squadmember cooldowns being too long to take full use of its rank 6 post-use weapon damage boost.

Comparing DLC to Shadow Broker never strikes me as quite fair. It's going to take some real work to knock that one of it's perch at the top. How does it stack up against Leviathan?

[Edge]

Comparing DLC to Shadow Broker never strikes me as quite fair. It's going to take some real work to knock that one of it's perch at the top. How does it stack up against Leviathan?

Point.

I preferred it to Leviathan by quite a bit, and I did quite like Leviathan's investigation sequences. It's pretty combat heavy, but given how easy single-player is, I breezed through even on Hardcore.

I've heard a lot of people trashing it, though, and I don't know why, but I suspect it might be due to varying endings for the DLC, because being around my Paragon Shep certainly seems to... nudge Aria somewhat.

[Morty]

Omega sounds interesting, but it is my firm decision after the ending not to purchase any ME3 DLC.
In other news, I'm considering trying Gold, since Silver earns credits a bit too slowly. I'm skeptical as to my chances of survival, though.

[CreganTur]

Omega sounds interesting, but it is my firm decision after the ending not to purchase any ME3 DLC.

That is my stance. The ending made me feel like my choices don't matter, so I'm excercising the only choice I have.

In other news, I'm considering trying Gold, since Silver earns credits a bit too slowly. I'm skeptical as to my chances of survival, though.

As long as you are competent with the class you are using and have good weapons, then you'll find Gold to be a challenge and, hopefully, not a brick wall.

The big thing with Gold is that it really emphasizes the need for a good team. If your team isn't working together at all, then you will all have a tougher time.

[Calemyr]

Omega sounds interesting, but it is my firm decision after the ending not to purchase any ME3 DLC.
In other news, I'm considering trying Gold, since Silver earns credits a bit too slowly. I'm skeptical as to my chances of survival, though.

That's a pity. It's a fair decision and I respect it, but I was genuinely impressed by how much effort they put into Leviathan. It makes the ending suck to a far less infuriating degree and is really pretty freaking epic at a couple points (Tuchanka level epic). Sure, the Extended Cut spoiled a lot of the more interesting plot twists, but it was still presented in an awesome way.

[Tome]

In other news, I'm considering trying Gold, since Silver earns credits a bit too slowly. I'm skeptical as to my chances of survival, though.

Can you reliably clear Silver versus Collectors? Can you solo the occasional wave when your team mates all get downed? Can you handle boss enemies without needing backup? Can you do a Silver game without needing to camp down in one place (IE run and gun)? Can you work as part of a team?

If yes to any of those, then you can do gold. Even if you can't handle soloing a wave, so long as you can do Silver Collectors without struggling too much, you're more than ready for Gold versus everyone else.

A few useful bits of advice for gold:
-Consumables. Use them, but use them wisely. Don't missile a banshee just because it's there, but do use them to clear the area if your team has gotten trapped in a vicious cycle of reviving and dying of if you've got lots of tough enemies grouped together (two atlases and an accompanying gaggle of phantoms and dragoons).
-Stay with the group. Either you move as one or you split into pairs, but don't go off on your own so you can play rambo for a bigger score. Don't necessarily stand right next to them, but be in line of sight and able to revive them quickly if needed (and vice versa).
-Know when to run. If your position is getting overrun, know when to fall back and find another place to hole up. In particular, once enemies start flanking you it's time to make a break through the thinnest crowd and head to the other side of the map.
-Be able to deal a lot of damage without dying. This should be obvious, but any build that can't kill things had best be a Geth Engineer or a Volus. Some way to stagger or stun enemies like dragoons or pyros is also helpful.
-Pay attention to objectives. The instant an objective wave starts, sprint for it. A good bit of the time you can make it there before the enemy has a chance to even leave their spawns.
-Learn the maps. Know where the good places to hole up are, where to find ammo and where enemies spawn. If there's a place you don't want the enemy spawning, that's a good place to stand at the start of the wave.

If you're on Xbox, you could always send me a friend request (GT: Taejix) and I'll run a few gold games with you.

[Morty]

That's a pity. It's a fair decision and I respect it, but I was genuinely impressed by how much effort they put into Leviathan. It makes the ending suck to a far less infuriating degree and is really pretty freaking epic at a couple points (Tuchanka level epic). Sure, the Extended Cut spoiled a lot of the more interesting plot twists, but it was still presented in an awesome way.

I know that Leviathan is a good DLC. If the ending had not been a collosal screw-up, I'd buy it. As it is, it's a matter of principle.

Can you reliably clear Silver versus Collectors?

Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. It might depend more on my team, though.

Can you solo the occasional wave when your team mates all get downed?

Occasionally.

Can you handle boss enemies without needing backup?

Definetly.

Can you do a Silver game without needing to camp down in one place (IE run and gun)?

Yeah.

Can you work as part of a team?

I suppose.

If yes to any of those, then you can do gold. Even if you can't handle soloing a wave, so long as you can do Silver Collectors without struggling too much, you're more than ready for Gold versus everyone else.

I guess I'll try, then.

[Edge]

If you're on Xbox, you could always send me a friend request (GT: Taejix) and I'll run a few gold games with you.

Speaking of, last time we tried to have a game I was having router issues, Tome. We should have another go at getting a game in together.

[CreganTur]

Speaking of, last time we tried to have a game I was having router issues, Tome. We should have another go at getting a game in together.

What did you do to solve your router issues?

I've been having terrible lag issues the past week and also there have been times when I cannot connect to a party or join a game when I'm invited. I opened the respective ports for ME3 last night, but that didn't seem to help.

[BlackDragonKing]

That's a pity. It's a fair decision and I respect it, but I was genuinely impressed by how much effort they put into Leviathan. It makes the ending suck to a far less infuriating degree and is really pretty freaking epic at a couple points (Tuchanka level epic). Sure, the Extended Cut spoiled a lot of the more interesting plot twists, but it was still presented in an awesome way.

Leviathan's cutscenes certainly add to the game, but I have to say the Leviathans as a species kind of make the ending worse for me.

The Catalyst isn't some godlike intelligence put together by wise and well-intentioned beings before it turned on them. It's a computer program designed by omnipotent idiots to solve a perceived problem they didn't really understand in the first place. It does not fill me with hope that Shepard's final choice is presented by a computer program designed by something that didn't get other species well enough to understand their problems, and really, the DLC sort of convinced me the starchild is just a VI being a literal genie in response to a very poorly-worded directive, "preserve organic life whatever the cost". Never mind that there is the plot hole that the super-mind-control hypnosquids never thought to tell their slave-galaxy to just stop building robots instead of building one for themselves?

I'm kind of hard on the Leviathans because it's my estblished sci-fi rule that any Precursor race smart enough to build or genetically engineer a race of unstoppable living death-engines that cannot be easily controlled if they can be controlled at all and then stupid enough to ACTUALLY MAKE THEM is not a precursor race worthy of respect or awe.

I am going to get Omega though, since that looks pretty epic. I will say, though, that I'd be much more interested in maybe having the option to shoot Aria several times than the option to bone her.

[Edge]

What did you do to solve your router issues?

I've been having terrible lag issues the past week and also there have been times when I cannot connect to a party or join a game when I'm invited. I opened the respective ports for ME3 last night, but that didn't seem to help.

We took the offending router out of the network and everything worked fine again. Might not be an option for you, obviously.

[Psyren]

In other news, I'm considering trying Gold, since Silver earns credits a bit too slowly. I'm skeptical as to my chances of survival, though.

I recommend breaking in with an Infiltrator. You can earn your keep by focusing on annoying infantry units (e.g. Marauders and Rocket Troopers), freeing up your squad to focus fire on the big bads. You can also run behind enemy lines to revive unlucky teammates. And definitely save your rockets for Wave 9 or 10 if possible.

[Calemyr]

Leviathan's cutscenes certainly add to the game, but I have to say the Leviathans as a species kind of make the ending worse for me.

The Catalyst isn't some godlike intelligence put together by wise and well-intentioned beings before it turned on them. It's a computer program designed by omnipotent idiots to solve a perceived problem they didn't really understand in the first place. It does not fill me with hope that Shepard's final choice is presented by a computer program designed by something that didn't get other species well enough to understand their problems, and really, the DLC sort of convinced me the starchild is just a VI being a literal genie in response to a very poorly-worded directive, "preserve organic life whatever the cost". Never mind that there is the plot hole that the super-mind-control hypnosquids never thought to tell their slave-galaxy to just stop building robots instead of building one for themselves?

I'm kind of hard on the Leviathans because it's my estblished sci-fi rule that any Precursor race smart enough to build or genetically engineer a race of unstoppable living death-engines that cannot be easily controlled if they can be controlled at all and then stupid enough to ACTUALLY MAKE THEM is not a precursor race worthy of respect or awe.

Actually, that's kinda my favorite part of the DLC: The fact that ME3's ending is about a great and glorious golden empire brought to ruin by raw unthinking arrogance and the belief that they even a plan as outrageously stupid as that would obviously succeed for no better reason than the simple fact that it was them doing it.

In fairness, though, the way I read it was that the Leviathans had no control over the appearance of synthetics. It's presented as an inevitable element of societal evolution - an ever-increasing reliance on ever more complex tools. The problem is that the boundary between a smart tool and an intelligent tool is blurry enough that you may never see it coming, as the quarians can attest. And once a tool becomes intelligent, an inequality becomes immediately apparent and friction inevitably results.

The point was that the Leviathans watched as useful client (slave) species got wiped out again and again due to this, and there was no way short of taking direct control of all people for all eternity to keep it from happening. So they made the same mistake everyone else made, creating a synthetic tool to deal with a task they were unwilling or unable to do themselves. Oops.

[BlackDragonKing]

Actually, that's kinda my favorite part of the DLC: The fact that ME3's ending is about a great and glorious golden empire brought to ruin by raw unthinking arrogance and the belief that they even a plan as outrageously stupid as that would obviously succeed for no better reason than the simple fact that it was them doing it.

Ah, the meta-humor. I get ya now.

Although with the Reapers drawing inspiration from Lovecraft, I suppose it also makes sense that they'd also borrow Lovecraft's idea that the oldest and most powerful of the Great Old Ones were idiot hedonists with no conception of how to use their immense powers.

[Mudpitmissfit]

I recommend breaking in with an Infiltrator. You can earn your keep by focusing on annoying infantry units (e.g. Marauders and Rocket Troopers), freeing up your squad to focus fire on the big bads. You can also run behind enemy lines to revive unlucky teammates. And definitely save your rockets for Wave 9 or 10 if possible.

the 80% damage boost is kinda kewl too

@ Morty

I'm currently doing my gold runs with a QMI and my trusty wraith II , I still see myself as very newbish on gold but I can currently blaze through silver without gear (depending on class, please note) so I heartily recommend taking the jump and as mentioned earlier , teamwork is paramount - as is using soft cover to stay out of the line of fire (I've found)

[Morty]

I finished a Gold match against Geth on Reactor, playing a Quarian Male Infiltrator. It went surprisingly well and we even managed a full extraction, to my surprise.

[Dhavaer]

With a bit a lot of luck, and some powerful weapons/combos, you may be able to solo Platinum on Rio by hiding in the crate at the back. I'm going to have to try that in case they decide to nerf it

I think I'll stick to running in a circle around Giant while flamering anything that gets close. Works pretty well as long as I stay out of corners and away from sync-kills.

[Morty]

My second Gold match didn't go so well. I played a Krogan Soldier against Reapers on Jade and we were wiped out on third wave. After completing the objective, though, so I got something out of it.

[Dhavaer]

My second Gold match didn't go so well. I played a Krogan Soldier against Reapers on Jade and we were wiped out on third wave. After completing the objective, though, so I got something out of it.

Different group?

[Morty]

Different, yes. I've never played more than one match with the same group.

[Edge]

"Balance" changes are up.

-------------------------
Nov 27, 2012
-------------------------

New hazard maps available this week are Firebase Glacier and Firebase Reactor

Adept Huntress Infiltrator is now available as a new Rare card

Challenges
- New Asari Huntress challenge under Commando Mastery

[Morty]

I really wish we just got all appearance upgrades upon unlocking a class and couldn't find the card ever again after that. I mean, I'm sure they won't do it, but it'd make the random booster pack system much less of a pain in the ass.

[SiuiS]

Got my Gold solo, after two failed attempts (banshee grabs on wave 5 both times). Got assassination, escort and hack, fortunately not in the open up the top. Now to dream of Platinum...

What load out?

I have the unfortunate tendency to push my limits. Sometimes this works out (ten waves with no expendables used) and sometimes it makes me wonder why I ever left bronze (like bein chain-raped by hunters and bombers so bad my battlemaster can't unstatger long enough do anything but move the camera). When trying solo, I either continue over extending, or play too defensively, getting myself pinned down with no viable escape route due to thickness of enemies.

There are exceptions to this, most notably tactical cloak and headshots.

Powers can't really get headshots
I actually thought headshots were a weird thing. They have their own tier of multiplication. They add 250% (or 300% for locust and pulse rifle), and the cranial trauma unit can add 40% to that, but does that increase damage base (like extended barrel) only upon headshots or does that increase the headshot multiplier to 290% bonus damage?

What level does tactical cloak operate? I get the most consistent results by adding in 80% to the base gun damage. Or does it also work at top level, multiplying passive bonuses, equipment and ammo as well?

With a bit a lot of luck, and some powerful weapons/combos, you may be able to solo Platinum on Rio by hiding in the crate at the back. I'm going to have to try that in case they decide to nerf it.

Unlocked the Volus Sentinel last night, was too tired to spec him at that point though.

Huh. Come to think of it, the only class I know that can handle such easily would be vorcha. Preferably sentinel or soldier, but regen, flamer for priming and then a detonation effect... Use Stronghold package and shield power cells for the less than a second shield recharge and it might be possible, though I don't know which gun to bring. Sentinel would have the best time of it since only flamer is keyed to cooldown and being in the box firing and reloading refills grenades pretty quickly.

A fury could potentially make it once you get to the heavier enemies if only by virtue of some shielded rube constantly walking into the area. Worth trying I suppose, while I try to get a huntress.

Volus Merc. I suggest 6/6/6/6/0 myself, and get the detonate, pulse, and chain shock evolutions. At rank 5, I was able to watch my drone chain stagger pyros and similar on gold, shock, pulse, shock, pulse. I grabbed the rocket and now the shocking and pulsing happens noticeably less frequently. Half of my damage from powers comes from detonate, on both drone and decoy. For shield boost, DR and 20% faster shield recovery are my choices. Haven't respec'd at all though so its not the most tested build (what not being compared to anything) but its darn solid and fun. Eagle, scorpion, or other light-ish high payload weapon is good, but you want a decent range on it.

Played "get in the box" on Rio last night on Platinum using my GI with the Pirahna. It worked very well except for the terrible lag issues I've been suffering.

Over this past weekend I've started having lag in almost every game, so it's either me or the servers and it seems like it's me b/c the other guys didn't experience half the problems I did.

I opened the ports for MP last night on my router, but that didn't seem to help at all. Not sure what else I can do at this point.

I've also been having issues where XBLA won't let me connect to people's parties or I continually get kicked and re-added to parties. This is in connection with ME3 issues where if I try to join a session in progress I get a loading screen in multiplayer that never lets me into the game.

The lag is semi-universal. I've been getting such lag as host, even.

The XBL stuff I've suffered forever; I have four friends who I can I ly play with if I get someone else to be proxy; that's why my standard policy is to have a friend make a lobby and invite me (I think that's why I tried with you, even). The loading screen? Here's a hint. Top left corner? Says communicating. When that stops, if you're not in a game in five seconds you never will be. Hit the Xbox button and choose an open friend to join session, otherwise you have Togo back to the dashboard.

I really wish we just got all appearance upgrades upon unlocking a class and couldn't find the card ever again after that. I mean, I'm sure they won't do it, but it'd make the random booster pack system much less of a pain in the ass.

no, no it does not.

Those new classes? If you don't have them, you don't get guns more French. You still get guns every now and then. What you do get more often is ammo. An ungodly amount of ****ing ammo. Nothing pisses me off worse than a couple million credits spent on ammo.

Be thankful you get experience cards. You could promote an entire class, and ten get it bak to 16 solely from appearance options. So it's actually more awful to get them.


—

So my gripe for the week is the recent update to xbox. I got kicked in the middle of a game. I had 42% for gps mastery two games ago, due to having smart choke on and this never actually hitting anything. I have it off now, and expensive expendables, and I'm ruling the day with my Turian soldier. An then I get disconnected, update, get back on. Go to see if it recorded my 80,000 points progress, and I'm now at 36%— less than several games ago! The hay?!

[Corvus]

"Balance" changes are up.

Gah, where is my Drell Infiltrator, dagnabbit! We have enough blue bimbos already.

[Zevox]

This is where our biggest stopping block is. A single power cannot define a class. There are five on every character. You are right in that Tech Armor, Barrier, or Bloodlust cannot make a sentinel, since they show up elsewhere. But where we differ is that is not sufficient to make an argument, because no single power can define a class whatsoever. No class in the current system at all has definition by this rubric – even vanguards with Biotic Charge because the drell and Asari "didn't feel like vanguards".

So we have to look at the whole package. Out of all the combinations available for any one class there are emergent properties. When filtered by a minimum amount of success (such as "can survive on silver with a good team") you will find that the majority of these emergent profiles fall under that class' 'defining characteristic'. As an arbitrary and untested example; out of all, say, 40 build possibilities for the vorcha soldier and vorcha sentinel, I would find that more than 30% could successfully engage in defensive play for both classes, but where the soldier stops at or arous 30% possible defensive builds, the sentinel does not, and goes on to 70% or 80%. This is because the available options, between all "ten" power permutations (given any power above rank 3 has two definite trees) lend themselves to certain patterns.

Now, I know you understand this idea. Where I think it is sufficient to define a class by its sum, you do not (possibly seeing it as being too broad in definition; I don't mean to imply inadequacy by the terms "unable to view a class as defined by its sum"). I'm okay with that. Where you see an obvious failing point I see a half-finished equation.

Alright (though I'll have more to say on the part about Vangaurds in a moment). Perhaps part of our stumbling block here then is that I do not see how, outside of those particular powers, the current crop of Sentinels other than the Volus are geared towards defensive play. Just the reverse, there are a few that seem quite geared towards offensive play to me - particularly the Vorcha, who has a single short-range but powerful area power and grenades that he can now use to create bursts with that power; the N7 Paladin, who is the single best class in the game at creating solo tech bursts but relies on a short-range power (Snap Freeze) to do so; and the Asari Valkyrie, who has Annihilation Field, the single shortest-range offensive power in the game, as one of her two non-Tech-Armor powers.

This is part of why I concluded that, if Sentinels are supposed to be defined by their defensiveness, those powers must define a Sentinel: because they're the only thing I see making Sentinels stand out in that area. Which in turn lead to the rest of my thought process there.

No class in the current system at all has definition by this rubric – even vanguards with Biotic Charge because the drell and Asari "didn't feel like vanguards".

I wouldn't say that. I would say that the Drell seems a poor choice for a Vanguard race given Vanguards rely on their shields taking a beating in between Charges so much, but otherwise they're fine. Both have grenades, which, though I dislike them because I'm personally awful at using them, do synergize with the Vanguard style since they're an attack that is not tied to cooldowns and thus doesn't interfere with Charge use. Each also has a power that seems out-of-place on a Vanguard to me, but that's true of all the multiplayer Vanguards other than the Slayer.

This, actually, I think is a result of this very argument. Some designers said "a sentinel is a tech-biotic, we will make our sentinel's tech users and biotic users" and we got the Turian, the human, the Asari. Some designers said "that's a limited view; a carpenter isn't defined by his hammer. Sentinels are defensive characters, who just happen to have tech and biotic proficiency." and we get the volus, the paladin, the Valkyrie. As such, I don't think it can really be used as an argument for anything more than the existence Of both branches of thought. The classes are a jumbled mishmash because the left hand didn't know what the right hoof was doing.

Heh, fair enough. That'd certainly go a long way towards explaining the mess the class is.

Actually, fortification is the very first power we have access to from a crew mate, whereas Shepard has access to tech armor from the get-go if you're a sentinel. The fact that fortification is primary and we all still say tech armor-like power is sufficient proof for me.

Hm, true I suppose, though personally I basically never used Vega and did little more than glance over his powers before sidelining him, which explains me at least.

"Balance" changes are up.

Asari Huntress eh? Well, that makes three Retaliation classes that I want but don't have. Guess I'm going back to that as my DLC for pack-buying now.

Also, Omega released today I take it? I will be picking that up and post my thoughts on it once I complete it, then.

Zevox

[SiuiS]

THEY SAID THERE WERE ONLY THREE PRAETORIANS A WAVE
THE LIEEEED TO MEEEEEEE

Alright (though I'll have more to say on the part about Vangaurds in a moment). Perhaps part of our stumbling block here then is that I do not see how, outside of those particular powers, the current crop of Sentinels other than the Volus are geared towards defensive play. Just the reverse, there are a few that seem quite geared towards offensive play to me - particularly the Vorcha, who has a single short-range but powerful area power and grenades that he can now use to create bursts with that power; the N7 Paladin, who is the single best class in the game at creating solo tech bursts but relies on a short-range power (Snap Freeze) to do so; and the Asari Valkyrie, who has Annihilation Field, the single shortest-range offensive power in the game, as one of her two non-Tech-Armor powers.

AF requires a solid defense to survive using, and failing that can be used defensively itself to secure an area from most enemies through panic, corner catching and protection from mooks.

I wouldn't say that. I would say that the Drell seems a poor choice for a Vanguard race given Vanguards rely on their shields taking a beating in between Charges so much, but otherwise they're fine. Both have grenades, which, though I dislike them because I'm personally awful at using them, do synergize with the Vanguard style since they're an attack that is not tied to cooldowns and thus doesn't interfere with Charge use. Each also has a power that seems out-of-place on a Vanguard to me, but that's true of all the multiplayer Vanguards other than the Slayer.

That's how you play vanguards (relying on shields between charge) not how yet were designed.

And shockwave is totally close quarters. It's one of the few they got right.


---

Now back to being sidelined by strange glitches. I got banshee'd while turning down my game volume when the dialogue suddenly spiked to "speakers can't take much more captain!" levels. As the very first casualty of wave seven, even score an enemy was taken down.

I'm seeing that I've come to rely on my team too much, possibly not contributing as much as I once did. I focus on soon my job to make theirs easier, but not as much actual enabling. I'm getting sloppy.

And now I'm underneath dagger?!

Well. That was fun. Two waves of spitefully using hunter mode and particle rifle to shoot enemies from Beneath, before the mobile area opened up enough that I could move. I spent those two waves pressing my trooper bulb through the wall of the round area beneath the building of Dagger, sniping who I could. Eventually, I got more mobility (no more invisible walls!) and was able to make a B-line for a ramp that led to the shuttle. Instead of getting to the ramp, I fell into quicksand and appeared on the LZ to enact my terrible vengeance before being sidelined by a banshee again on extraction. Some aiming issues afterwards but eh.

Today has been very glitchy. From being hit by an abomination and spending the rest of the match with a diagonally tilted camera, to shooting through enemies go don't take damage, to being dropped through reality by a banshee who kills me.

[Dhavaer]

What load out?

Geth Trooper, Acolyte w/ Heavy Barrel and Ultralight Materials.
Flamer with Range/Damage/Armour Damage
Fortification with Protection/Power Damage/Protection
Passive with Power Damage/Power Damage/Weapon Damage
Hardware with Shields/Recharge/Shields
Cryo Ammo, Pistol Amp, Shield buffing equipment (can't remember the name), Stronghold Gear.

I actually thought headshots were a weird thing. They have their own tier of multiplication. They add 250% (or 300% for locust and pulse rifle), and the cranial trauma unit can add 40% to that, but does that increase damage base (like extended barrel) only upon headshots or does that increase the headshot multiplier to 290% bonus damage?

Pretty sure it's an increase to 290%

What level does tactical cloak operate? I get the most consistent results by adding in 80% to the base gun damage. Or does it also work at top level, multiplying passive bonuses, equipment and ammo as well?

It's a multiplicative bonus - it affects the bonus damage from mods, gear, passive skills, headshots, everything.

[SiuiS]

Geth Trooper, Acolyte w/ Heavy Barrel and Ultralight Materials.
Flamer with Range/Damage/Armour Damage
Fortification with Protection/Power Damage/Protection
Passive with Power Damage/Power Damage/Weapon Damage
Hardware with Shields/Recharge/Shields
Cryo Ammo, Pistol Amp, Shield buffing equipment (can't remember the name), Stronghold Gear.

Hm. Shield power cells for recharge or cyclonic modulator for raw value.
that might not be such a bad idea. The raw output from hunter mode pales compared to the bonuses from maxing the other powers. I'm not sure I could do so well without viewing invisible goes though, that comes in handy a lot.

I've been bouncing about a similar weapon load out (for the vorcha, actually) usin cryo ammo to weaken armor and acolyte for shields, and getting a lot of synergy back and forth against all protections. Had a brain derp and forgot to change the actual weapon load out earlier, ha some regrettably painful incidents with the Reegar at along range being less than insufficient.

[Calemyr]

Just finished Omega.

Basic Impression: A little on the short side and entirely run-and-gun, this adventure is a completely self contained affair. None of the standard crew have a part in the story, and don't seem to have lines related to it, but in their place are two one-shot allies which are actually pretty interesting. It's not all that deep, but it manages to be engaging and it's kinda cool to see locations from Omega from a different angle. Also: Finally, a dlc item I didn't already have - the N7 Valkyrie.

Spoilered Impression:

Spoiler

Show

What outcomes are possible in this DLC? The version I had included Oreg taken into custody and prime minister psychodrama trying to be a kinder, gentler sultan.

Both of the allies were pretty cool, though I wish more had been done with Nyreen. She went out like a bonafide badass, though, and I have to salute the first female turian for having nearly as much brass as Garrus.

Final verdict: Better than Leviathan? Debatable. The story is not as varied it's pretty much just a three stage mission with a few new enemies. Those enemies are quite cool, though, and overall it's pretty fun. I'd say no, though. There's really not much here that is particularly new and there aren't any real game-changers like Leviathan had. So: great if you like combat, decent if you like plot.