Mass Effect General Thread II: The Other Final Frontier

[Calemyr]

See, I hate doing that unless I'm playing a biotic class. The furthest I'll go bonus power-wise on a non-biotic is Warp Ammo (this was the choice for my Infiltrator), and even then I just say that I have a stockpile of modded ammo given to me by one of the biotics on the crew. Per Jack, this is a thing that actually happens.

I can respect that. I just see Shepard as a particularly well-rounded character, with talents touching all three areas of expertise, though not all of them equally. I've got a mod in my ME3 right now that imported several of the MP powers to SP as bonus powers. Playing an infiltrator with Biotic Slash (and a N7 re-retexture of the Slayer armor from Citadel) is something beautiful. This is how a space ninja rolls, Leng. You may want to take notes.

[Psyren]

(and a N7 re-retexture of the Slayer armor from Citadel)

Why in the name of the Enkindlers did I not think of this???

[LibraryOgre]

I can respect that. I just see Shepard as a particularly well-rounded character, with talents touching all three areas of expertise, though not all of them equally. I've got a mod in my ME3 right now that imported several of the MP powers to SP as bonus powers. Playing an infiltrator with Biotic Slash (and a N7 re-retexture of the Slayer armor from Citadel) is something beautiful. This is how a space ninja rolls, Leng. You may want to take notes.

My WinShep was an infiltrator... but I gave her biotics in ME2, figuring that part of the "drifting in space" thing could have easily been eezo infection.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Do lift grenades even lift? Or do they just kill anything that could theoretically have been lifted and damage everything else. Because I'm wondering if duration at rank 5 and slam at rank 6 are just trap options.

Has anyone ever seen lift grenades actually lift an enemy. And even if they did, in what situation would slam be better than a 30% radius and damage buff? I'm speaking from my own limited experience though. Things may be different in Gold and Platinum, or in Single Player.

Recently tried to finish the 200 waves for my Asari Vanguard, hence the question.

[5ColouredWalker]

... Do you not know how biotics works? That'd just cause radiation poisoning. You need to have Eezo in your system as a featus when human to develop biotics.
I however think of it as being naturally biotic, or possibly being added surgically by Cerberus.

As for assualt riffles in ME 1, high accuracy ones can make up for not being proficient... Truth be told I just play a biotic in 1 though.

[LibraryOgre]

... Do you not know how biotics works? That'd just cause radiation poisoning. You need to have Eezo in your system as a featus when human to develop biotics.
I however think of it as being naturally biotic, or possibly being added surgically by Cerberus.

That's more or less exactly how biotics works. While exposure to dust-form eezo in utero is the usual way of doing it, there's no indication that such exposure afterwards will result in radiation poisoning... tumors or other anomalies, sure, but not necessarily radiation poisoning. Given the unprecedented amount of attention you were getting in the Cerberus hospital, I'd think they can overcome that... and the explosion of the Normandy would leave plenty of dust-form Eezo around.

[Inarius]

... Do you not know how biotics works? That'd just cause radiation poisoning. You need to have Eezo in your system as a featus when human to develop biotics.
I however think of it as being naturally biotic, or possibly being added surgically by Cerberus.

As for assualt riffles in ME 1, high accuracy ones can make up for not being proficient... Truth be told I just play a biotic in 1 though.

Theres a rare type of biotic that is exposed to it while in vitro, develops no Biotic talents but upon a secondary exposure can develop those talents later one in life. Shepard whether or not you choose to be Biotic was indeed exposed to Eezo before they were born, this is established in the timeline if I remember right.

[5ColouredWalker]

Theres a rare type of biotic that is exposed to it while in vitro, develops no Biotic talents but upon a secondary exposure can develop those talents later one in life. Shepard whether or not you choose to be Biotic was indeed exposed to Eezo before they were born, this is established in the timeline if I remember right.

I didn't know that, and yes she was [To explain how she can be a biotic if you so chose.].

[Psyren]

Do lift grenades even lift? Or do they just kill anything that could theoretically have been lifted and damage everything else. Because I'm wondering if duration at rank 5 and slam at rank 6 are just trap options.

They lift unshielded/unarmored enemies but the vast majority of those will die before the lift effect matters anyway, even on Insanity/Platinum. Personally I would agree that Slam and Duration are trap options.

Has anyone ever seen lift grenades actually lift an enemy. And even if they did, in what situation would slam be better than a 30% radius and damage buff? I'm speaking from my own limited experience though. Things may be different in Gold and Platinum, or in Single Player.

Recently tried to finish the 200 waves for my Asari Vanguard, hence the question.

Lift an enemy? Not really - most things hit by them die before the lift effect or slam effects matter, or their shields/armor negated the lift effect in the first place (see above.).

I've seen plenty of corpses go drifting off, but while this looks amusing, obviously it's irrelevant at that point.

[thereaper]

I can respect that. I just see Shepard as a particularly well-rounded character, with talents touching all three areas of expertise, though not all of them equally. I've got a mod in my ME3 right now that imported several of the MP powers to SP as bonus powers. Playing an infiltrator with Biotic Slash (and a N7 re-retexture of the Slayer armor from Citadel) is something beautiful. This is how a space ninja rolls, Leng. You may want to take notes.

I agree. My very first character in ME1 was Test Shepard, who was deaf and had a mental disorder which caused him to walk around doing nothing but spamming Overload on recharge at random objects.

After 75 Overloads, I wisely chose to retcon him away and make John Shepard, a Vanguard who could actually hear what was being said in cutscenes and happened to have Electronics as a bonus talent. In later games he always insisted on learning Energy Drain as a bonus power.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Decided to try some gold games, and it wasn't as bad as I had thought. I haven't been kicked yet, at least.

Running the geth trooper, and I'm looking for opinions. What weapon(s) would you take with the GT and what would you take for rank 6 of flamer. Armor damage or shield/barrier damage. I normally default to armor damage out of habit, and I started with the geth pulse rifle (because geth, lol). However the geth pulse rifle, even at level IX, is pretty weak in my experience.

I was thinking either the Reegar, which I have at X, or the Acolyte, which I have at V. But other suggestions are welcome.

[Dhavaer]

Decided to try some gold games, and it wasn't as bad as I had thought. I haven't been kicked yet, at least.

Running the geth trooper, and I'm looking for opinions. What weapon(s) would you take with the GT and what would you take for rank 6 of flamer. Armor damage or shield/barrier damage. I normally default to armor damage out of habit, and I started with the geth pulse rifle (because geth, lol). However the geth pulse rifle, even at level IX, is pretty weak in my experience.

I was thinking either the Reegar, which I have at X, or the Acolyte, which I have at V. But other suggestions are welcome.

The acolyte, and take armour damage. Slap warp or incendiary ammo and a shield booster on and you should be able to solo Gold/Reapers/Giant pretty easily.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Something amusing happened on my most recent Gold run.

Immediately after deployment on Firebase White my three teammates ran down the stairs and into the lower room. Surprised, I followed them, and found two geth and a drell crouching behind the counter.

It took me a while to realize that they were in fact planning to make that place a defensive position, and since I am loathe to stray too far away from my team I ended up hiding behind the counter at some points of the match as well.

I am actually surprised by how well it worked. It was a Gold match against Geth and they (we) held that counter against waves of pyros, primes, and bombers. Based on the powers I saw it was a geth trooper (flamer), geth infiltrator (cloak), drell assassin (recon mine), and me (another geth trooper). Double-flamer was pretty fun.

It worked so well that the group leader thought it would work on Platinum. We tried it, switching the drell and the infiltrator for a geth engineer and a volus adept. Even with all the healing we got wiped on wave 8. Doesn't help that Platinum has random enemies from other factions show up.

[Landis963]

Something amusing happened on my most recent Gold run.

Immediately after deployment on Firebase White my three teammates ran down the stairs and into the lower room. Surprised, I followed them, and found two geth and a drell crouching behind the counter.

It took me a while to realize that they were in fact planning to make that place a defensive position, and since I am loathe to stray too far away from my team I ended up hiding behind the counter at some points of the match as well.

I am actually surprised by how well it worked. It was a Gold match against Geth and they (we) held that counter against waves of pyros, primes, and bombers. Based on the powers I saw it was a geth trooper (flamer), geth infiltrator (cloak), drell assassin (recon mine), and me (another geth trooper). Double-flamer was pretty fun.

It worked so well that the group leader thought it would work on Platinum. We tried it, switching the drell and the infiltrator for a geth engineer and a volus adept. Even with all the healing we got wiped on wave 8. Doesn't help that Platinum has random enemies from other factions show up.

Ah yes, White/Geth/Gold. I recall it fondly from my days of cred-farming. Even after that half of the map was reworked hunkering down like that is still the easiest way to farm it. Even with those stupid Geth Bombers.

[Psyren]

Easiest way to farm creds is Geth/Rio/Platinum in the shipping container, provided you have a tank with you. (Geth Juggernaut is best, or an Asari Justicar or Valkyrie, or better yet the first two.) Have an infiltrator with you in case of a disable quest and rake in the dough.

[Landis963]

Easiest way to farm creds is Geth/Rio/Platinum in the shipping container, provided you have a tank with you. (Geth Juggernaut is best, or an Asari Justicar or Valkyrie, or better yet the first two.) Have an infiltrator with you in case of a disable quest and rake in the dough.

Well, now it is. But in the days between the rework of White and the release of the Earth pack, accept no substitutes. Even after Platinum came out, IIRC.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Can someone tell me the weak spots for the Atlas? I looked around and I get conflicting information. Some say the canopy, others the fans on the back, and even the crotch (there's a plate there that comes off if you damage it enough). Which of these is right?

[5ColouredWalker]

To my knowledge, the back, you want to shoot it's cylander. The Canopy used to be one, and still is in single player, but no additional damage anymore I believe.

[Psyren]

Well, now it is. But in the days between the rework of White and the release of the Earth pack, accept no substitutes. Even after Platinum came out, IIRC.

Earth Pack was a huge change to MP, yeah.

I did find it hilarious though when White got changed and everyone ran to the farming spot, only to have a bajillion grenades fall on them and everyone began panicking

[NEO|Phyte]

Can someone tell me the weak spots for the Atlas? I looked around and I get conflicting information. Some say the canopy, others the fans on the back, and even the crotch (there's a plate there that comes off if you damage it enough). Which of these is right?

I don't recall offhand if they add extra damage or stagger it or what, but there's plates on the knees, shoulders, and crotch that can be shot off from the front.

[Landis963]

Earth Pack was a huge change to MP, yeah.

I did find it hilarious though when White got changed and everyone ran to the farming spot, only to have a bajillion grenades fall on them and everyone began panicking

*cringes, squeezes legs together* Oooh, Bombers...

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Had a four juggernaut game one time. It was Silver, so probably overkill. Even though I died in the first wave because my heavy melee suddenly decided not to work. On the positive side I've finally locked down my juggernaut build.

When playing a juggernaut the mindset is really different. When I hear the Banshee scream, I immediately start looking for it. If I'm not playing a juggernaut, it's to keep my distance for fear of sudden hand-through-heart syndrome. If I am a juggernaut that game, it's because I want to run at it. If my team kills the sync-killer before I get there I'm disappointed, as opposed to relieved, which would normally be the case.

[Keld Denar]

Another dumb question...

I have ME1 for steam, and I can't find where my achievements are. They aren't in the steam UI, and I can't find them anywhere in game either. I just want to know when I've hit 75 spells/150 gun kills in case I want to restart the game with another toon.

Anyone?

[Inarius]

Another dumb question...

I have ME1 for steam, and I can't find where my achievements are. They aren't in the steam UI, and I can't find them anywhere in game either. I just want to know when I've hit 75 spells/150 gun kills in case I want to restart the game with another toon.

Anyone?

Theyre buried somewhere in the start menu if i remember right. Load up the game and I think if you go into the options you can find them there.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Theyre buried somewhere in the start menu if i remember right. Load up the game and I think if you go into the options you can find them there.

I believe this is the case as well. I vaguely remember feeling irritated that I had to switch in and out to find those achievements.

[Keld Denar]

Found it! I have Sniper Rifle and Electronics mastery! I should have Sabotage and Damping soon, and maybe Pistols.

[Inarius]

So I got to thinking earlier today and I wonder how Andromeda is going to handle heat sinks in the game. I really can't see the natives using heatsinks that are compatible with our weapons. Of course that's if they even use mass effect technology and not some other form since they wouldn't of had the Reapers manipulating their technological growth down that specific path.

TBH I kinda always thought the switch to ammo should've just been a retcon because the in game explanation only partially works. Sure you'd want to switch to heatsink guns because they fire faster and hit harder, but you'd also want to have your troops have an older style gun as a backup weapon at the least. Frontier worlds would also probably favor the older style weapons as well so they wouldn't have to rely on incoming resources for their ammo. It basically neglects the whole logistics side of the equation.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

They could go for multiple ammo types. Heat sinks for our guns, and a different type of ammo for local guns. There's precedent for that with ME2's heavy weapon ammo, which was tracked separately from the otherwise universal thermal clips.

It would set up logistical questions. Do you want to use a gun you're familiar with and probably have easy access to mods for, or an alien gun which probably has more ammo lying around the battlefield? Or a recharging gun which is heavier than a thermal clip gun, and has a slower overall firing rate?

Having thermal clip guns, local guns, and recharging guns as options would be cool. ME3 did bring recharging guns back, and they performed reasonably well as far as I can recall.

[5ColouredWalker]

Native/Self Cooling. Duh.

I mean, who likes running out of ammo? Yes, I could just play an Adept or Engineer, but I like shooting things.

[Psyren]

So I got to thinking earlier today and I wonder how Andromeda is going to handle heat sinks in the game. I really can't see the natives using heatsinks that are compatible with our weapons.

Omnitools are capable of mini-facturing in the field so this can be easily handwaved. Whatever the bad guys drop can become "ammo" with just a little engineering and/or chemistry.

Of course that's if they even use mass effect technology and not some other form since they wouldn't of had the Reapers manipulating their technological growth down that specific path.

Well that's the million-credit question, isn't it? After all, the only race we've known of who has ever left our own galaxy are in fact the Reapers. While making them the Big Bad of this title would be a bit of a stretch, it's possible for them to have some extra-galactic influence.

TBH I kinda always thought the switch to ammo should've just been a retcon because the in game explanation only partially works. Sure you'd want to switch to heatsink guns because they fire faster and hit harder, but you'd also want to have your troops have an older style gun as a backup weapon at the least. Frontier worlds would also probably favor the older style weapons as well so they wouldn't have to rely on incoming resources for their ammo. It basically neglects the whole logistics side of the equation.

The Particle Rifle and Collector Rifle show that they can make recharging guns if they want to (both in-universe and metagame-wise.) So I expect there to be a couple of guns like that in the new one too. But they'll likely be the exception rather than the rule.