Mass Effect: General thread of Awesomeness

[Psyren]

I like the Scimitar on an assault-Sentinel but that's not what I'm after. I need a higher damage per shot as I only use my shotgun as an emergency weapon when enemies get beyond the range where I'm comfortable slinging Warps or when I'm on cooldown. So the Eviscerator or Wraith are better suited as they're accurate enough for midrange and the Disciple comes with improved stagger capabilities so it works best for emergency shots.

Right, Disciple is better than Scimitar, but you also get it much later in the game. Scimitar can be picked up as early as Grissom Academy, but for Disciple you have to wait until the Asari Monastery. So no reason not to use Scimitar until then.

So, a bit of musing. Before he goes full collector, would you call it reasonable to assume that Saren is essentially a Sentinel?

I think you meant "full Husk" - but if you're asking "is he a biotic and tech specialist" - I think the answer is yes. I do recall one of the novels makes a big deal out of him being one of the rare Turian biotics who's more than decent at it, but I forget how tech-savvy he is. He might be a Vanguard.

[Landis963]

I mean Sentinel the class, not Sentinel whatever you're referring to.

I was thinking of Marauders, my bad. And maybe? I don't remember him actually doing anything in his first boss fight beyond fly around on that hovercraft thing and maybe shoot at you. Also haven't read enough of the expanded universe stuff to comment beyond that.

[Psyren]

I was thinking of Marauders, my bad. And maybe? I don't remember him actually doing anything in his first boss fight beyond fly around on that hovercraft thing and maybe shoot at you. Also haven't read enough of the expanded universe stuff to comment beyond that.

He definitely throws biotics. I'm not clear if he displays anything techier than his glider though.

EDIT: He also uses Carnage during the fight, so I'm leaning towards Vanguard.

[Xondoure]

Vanguard also fits what we know of Saren's personality and slash and burn tactics.

[Bit Fiend]

Right, Disciple is better than Scimitar, but you also get it much later in the game. Scimitar can be picked up as early as Grissom Academy, but for Disciple you have to wait until the Asari Monastery. So no reason not to use Scimitar until then.

I completely agree on the Disciple. If it weren't for the late acquisition it would be no contest at all. Still I'm don't see the Scimitar being of much use to me, when I can get the Eviscerator in Grissom Academy (you get the Scimitar even earlier, on Palaven). remember, this isn't supposed to be the favored "Tech-Armor + Barrier/Fortification = win" Sentinel, it's an ME1-style "Bag of Tricks" Sentinel, whose Tech Armor serves more as a DPS-boost than as a protective measure. I just don't see much point in carrying a fast-firing high-capacity shotgun on a caster. Could be wrong though...

Vanguard also fits what we know of Saren's personality and slash and burn tactics.

I'm pretty sure he throws some Tech-Mines, too. So he's essentialy what I'm talking about: a sentinel with shotgun training.

[Psyren]

I completely agree on the Disciple. If it weren't for the late acquisition it would be no contest at all. Still I'm don't see the Scimitar being of much use to me, when I can get the Eviscerator in Grissom Academy (you get the Scimitar even earlier, on Palaven). remember, this isn't supposed to be the favored "Tech-Armor + Barrier/Fortification = win" Sentinel, it's an ME1-style "Bag of Tricks" Sentinel, whose Tech Armor serves more as a DPS-boost than as a protective measure. I just don't see much point in carrying a fast-firing high-capacity shotgun on a caster. Could be wrong though...

Even more reason to Scimitar, I forgot you get it on literally the third mission

As for "why use it on a caster" - it's light and has great dps, simple

Evi is fine though.

I'm pretty sure he throws some Tech-Mines, too. So he's essentialy what I'm talking about: a sentinel with shotgun training.

Every class gets mines/grenades in ME1 so that doesn't mean much.

[Bit Fiend]

Even more reason to Scimitar, I forgot you get it on literally the third mission

As for "why use it on a caster" - it's light and has great dps, simple

Evi is fine though.

Sure but you have to take several shots which exposes you for longer - with the Evi (or even better the weight-to-damage monstrosity that is the Wraith) you can fire one devastating shot and take cover or focus on the next enemy with a Warp. Also, they're a tad better at range.

Every class gets mines/grenades in ME1 so that doesn't mean much.

No no, I meant Tech Mines like Overload, Sabotage and Damping.

[Avilan the Grey]

For my sentinel it is Crusader all the way.

[Bit Fiend]

For my sentinel it is Crusader all the way.

For a TankTinel, sure any time - for a CasTinel the weight is unacceptable.

[Lord Ruby34]

So, I've been meaning to play the Mass Effect trilogy for awhile now, and I've got a PS3, a PS4, and a laptop I'm not even sure works for gaming. How should I go about buying it?

[Anteros]

PS3 is probably your best bet if you don't have an Xbox or a gaming computer. I'd look for the GOTY editions because there is a LOT of DLC and you're missing out if you don't get them.

[Derthric]

So, I've been meaning to play the Mass Effect trilogy for awhile now, and I've got a PS3, a PS4, and a laptop I'm not even sure works for gaming. How should I go about buying it?

PS3 has a trilogy set you cangrab, unfortunately it does not come with any DLC(which it should IMO). It is also the only way to get ME1 as it was originally released as a microsoft studios exclusive. Honestly the games are great without DLC. But some packs really enhance the game, like Zaeed, Kasumi, and Lair of Shadow Broker for ME2 for example.

PS3 is probably your best bet if you don't have an Xbox or a gaming computer. I'd look for the GOTY editions because there is a LOT of DLC and you're missing out if you don't get them.

I am unsure if there are any GOTY editions of the games out there that include DLC in this series.

[Rodin]

Also keep in mind that ME1's gameplay is radically different to ME2 and ME3. It's fairly common to skip over ME1 entirely if you don't like the gameplay - there's a prequel comic DLC for ME2 which allows you to set up your choices and gives a decent plot synopsis. You will miss out on some minor characters though, since it will assume that you didn't meet them or they otherwise don't survive.

Understand, I'm not particularly recommending skipping ME1, but if you don't like the gameplay don't let it put you off the rest of the series. I got delayed from playing for several years for that exact reason.

[Psyren]

PS3 has a trilogy set you cangrab, unfortunately it does not come with any DLC(which it should IMO).

None of them come with ME3 DLC, but the PS3 version of Trilogy does come with DLC for the older games: Bring Down the Sky for ME1, and for ME2, it comes with Kasumi, Lair, and the Cerberus Network stuff (i.e. Zaeed, Arc Projector, Cerberus Armor, Firewalker and Normandy Crash Site.)

[Lord Ruby34]

Thanks guys, looks like the PS3 Trilogy is my best bet. I'll drop some hints and see if I can get a family member to pick it up for me this Christmas.

[Derthric]

None of them come with ME3 DLC, but the PS3 version of Trilogy does come with DLC for the older games: Bring Down the Sky for ME1, and for ME2, it comes with Kasumi, Lair, and the Cerberus Network stuff (i.e. Zaeed, Arc Projector, Cerberus Armor, Firewalker and Normandy Crash Site.)

Well that's good to hear. My familiarity is only with the360 version which I think only came with Cerberus Network. Of course who knows if EA makes a PS4 Xbox One updated release. I wouldn't put it past them.

[LibraryOgre]

Man, that ME2 opening.

So, I finish ME1, and go right to ME2 (after having to fight the system to import... DO NOT USE THE CONFIG UTILITY! JUST COPY THE FILE!).

And your spend the opening movie with your helmet on. So you can't be 100% positive that the Jane Shepard you imported was the one you wanted to be using. So you go through the opening on the Normandy. And you get to where you can see and alter your face. HOORAY! Right person! And then you have ANOTHER movie where you can't do anything.

GAAAAH.

[Sasaisen]

I feel you. I've played through the intro to ME1 so many times, only to realize that once exposed to the game's actual lighting conditions I've made an uglyShep.

[LibraryOgre]

There's a Shep that's popular in the videos that has no chin. I just watched in horror, trying to figure out why they gae her no chin. Like... her cheeks practically blend into her neck.

[Anteros]

I always just go with default Shep. It's honestly the best looking, at least for the males. You can't even make a face that looks as good as the default Shep with the built in character creator.

[Nerd-o-rama]

The only problem with default Dudeshep, of course, is that as a buzz cut burly white dude who doesn't know how to shave, he looks like every single other protagonist of a shooter game made in the last ten years. The ones that aren't entirely encased in power armor, anyway.

[Psyren]

I always just go with default Shep. It's honestly the best looking, at least for the males. You can't even make a face that looks as good as the default Shep with the built in character creator.

Given that I like my protagonists to be black (the human ones anyway) I have to disagree.

[LibraryOgre]

The only problem with default Dudeshep, of course, is that as a buzz cut burly white dude who doesn't know how to shave, he looks like every single other protagonist of a shooter game made in the last ten years. The ones that aren't entirely encased in power armor, anyway.

I think you can get some good mileage out of picking one of the pregens, then customizing them a bit. My current Shepherd is Latina, but she's still named Jane.

[Kiero]

I made my own custom Shepard who isn't ugly, though he does look faintly like Barack Obama, which is funny in and of itself. Like Psyren, I almost always make my protagonists black, when I have the ability to choose.

Just replaying Arrival, and I think I've finally worked out how it is The Project was able to destroy the mass relay. Nothing to do with the huge asteroid, but Object Rho. It was Object Rho colliding with the relay that caused it to explode.

[Landis963]

Just replaying Arrival, and I think I've finally worked out how it is The Project was able to destroy the mass relay. Nothing to do with the huge asteroid, but Object Rho. It was Object Rho colliding with the relay that caused it to explode.

I know the relays are Reaper tech, and that means that Clarke's Third is in full effect, but is it really so inconceivable that throwing a large enough rock at one would mess it up beyond repair?

[Kiero]

I know the relays are Reaper tech, and that means that Clarke's Third is in full effect, but is it really so inconceivable that throwing a large enough rock at one would mess it up beyond repair?

It didn't "mess it up beyond repair", it caused a supernova. Throwing a big rock at it wouldn't do that, as far as everyone was concerned up to that point, the relays were indestructible.

[Landis963]

It didn't "mess it up beyond repair", it caused a supernova. Throwing a big rock at it wouldn't do that, as far as everyone was concerned up to that point, the relays were indestructible.

The relays were indestructible, so no one knew what happened when one was destroyed. Is it so inconceivable that the destruction caused the supernova?

Or is this an attempt to reconcile the supernova with the original ending? (Not, I hasten to add, that such an attempt is a bad thing)

[Inarius]

It didn't "mess it up beyond repair", it caused a supernova. Throwing a big rock at it wouldn't do that, as far as everyone was concerned up to that point, the relays were indestructible.

The asteroid itself didn't cause the supernova. The relay caused the supernova when the energy contained in its core was released. If the relay hadn't of had all that energy bound up in it, then the outcome would've been for the asteroid to simply mess it up beyond repair.

Also the whole idea that the relays were indestructable was always sort of a silly one and I'm glad they did a turn around on it. If you throw an object with a high mass and enough speed at another object you are going to make a nice big cloud of debris no matter the composition of the two objects.

[Psyren]

It didn't "mess it up beyond repair", it caused a supernova. Throwing a big rock at it wouldn't do that, as far as everyone was concerned up to that point, the relays were indestructible.

Kenson's exact quote was "We planned to slam a small planet into it at high speed. By our calculations, that was more than enough." While not far off from "throw a big rock," her phrasing implies they did a little bit more homework than yours does.

Also, there were nuclear cores on the asteroid - as we saw during the Arrival mission itself, when Shepard had to prevent the asteroid from going up like a firework by reinstalling the cooling rods.

[Bit Fiend]

I was bored and took another look at Save Game's Mass Effect squad coctails.
While many of them are rather good and fitting I was always dissatisfied with the "Shadowbrokertini". This is not a "-tini" of any kind, it's sickeningly sweet and more fit for a teenager who's just entered the legal drinking age (read: Tali ) than for the most powerful information broker in the galaxy.

So yesterday I made one of my own:

Simple yet effective, it's a classic Martini with 1cl "Martini Bianco" (instead of a dry vermouth to give it a slight sweetness) and 6cl "London No. 1" gin, this makes it blue without any curacao whatsoever. I have yet to decide what to put on the toothpick - the classic olive contrasts the blue-theme too much and blueberry juices colour the drink purple.

It's classy, straightforward, efficient, blue and a tad on the sweet side of things - everything Liara is about.

Cheers!