Mass Effect 3.7: "That was for Thane"

[Morty]

Originally Posted by Psyren

Before the singularity buff the Cerberus Vanguard was better; now, the Adept definitely has more muscle, but I need to try them out to be sure. (My favorite Adept is still the Fury, so that's all I play.

When playing the Vanguard, I used only Lash and Smash anyway - Biotic Charge turned me into a glass cannon. Maybe I did something wrong, I'm not sure. I'll see how the Adept works. I've maxed Lash and Smash and I'll use Singularity as an auxiliary power - although it did get a big boost.

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Edit: Anyone but me surprised at how easy it was to make peace

Spoiler

between Quarians and Geth?

To be honest, I didn't at all.

Spoiler

The Geth have always - always - been the most reasonable race in the Galaxy, heretics not-withstanding (and they're all gone by the time of ME3) and Legion stated outright that the Geth would always consider diplomacy, if only the Quarians would stop trying to kill them long enough to make the attempt.

And the Quarians? Shepherd is at least best friends - if not, in a sexual relationship - with one of the Quarian Admirals, has only moments ago saved the life of another and is greatly admired by at least a third for what went down on the Aleraei in ME2. In a straight vote Shepherd probably wins 3 to 2, and there's very little he does that outright offends the other two enough that he couldn't swing them to his point of view.

The last part is entirely down to Shep's relationship with the Quarians, which is embodied by his Reputation and Paragon/Renegade scores being the lynchpin of the persuasion. I'd genuinely be more surprised only if it was impossible for him to fail.

[Avilan the Grey]

Damn this is hard...
If Red, as you know,

Spoiler

I kill one of my friends and an entire species of newly freed AI:s

But if I I pick blue...

Spoiler

I betray my orders (which is to destroy at all costs), I also betray Jarvik outright and acts directly against everything Shepard has fought for (self-determination). Not to mention I act against the DIRECT ORDER from my boyfriend to come back alive.

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Geth infiltrator: tac cloak 1, hunter mode 6 (accuracy boosts, damage boosts, and piranha) or (damage boosts, decent rapid fire gun). Proxy mine up to 5 for debuff. You can prioritize hunter mode for glass omnicannon mode, or proxy mine for team play. A geth infiltrator maxes out at 12, and gets better from there. Salarian infiltrator can be done the same, with a focus on proxy mine and enough energy drain to survive, or a quarian (male) infiltrator using tac scan as a personal proxy mine, and more weapons work. All Of these improve dramatically from 1-14, and can segue into gold or platinum with ease.

I'm already using a Salarian infiltrator as training wheels (for some reason it and my human infiltrator didn't despawn last time I promoted). Thanks for the tips. However, I didn't receive a reply as to my last question; Is it possible to allocate all of Shep's skill points (189 or so, IIRC) at lv. 60 so that there are no points left over?

[Avilan the Grey]

Hey I have a question / what-if to consider:

Spoiler

Given what the Leviathans are capable of doing, and have done before... Wouldn't a "Control" Shepard spend a lot of time monitoring them, specifically?

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Morty

When playing the Vanguard, I used only Lash and Smash anyway - Biotic Charge turned me into a glass cannon. Maybe I did something wrong, I'm not sure. I'll see how the Adept works. I've maxed Lash and Smash and I'll use Singularity as an auxiliary power - although it did get a big boost.

Smash does heavy damage but has terrible range. Often, using it (especially on higher difficulties) means you take some fire, and/or risk being staggered by a melee attack. Charge is helpful here because it can (a) instantly refill your shields, (b) stagger multiple opponents, and (c) detonate the primer from both Lash and Smash. These were advantages the Cerberus Adept didn't have - they just ended up being a weaker Human Adept (using Lash-Smash instead of the much longer-range and much higher-damage Warp-Shockwave combo.) And not only does the human-adepts version have better range AND damage, they could also dump Singularity entirely to focus on Fitness for a little extra survivability, which can easily be the difference between life and death on Gold.

Now, a Cerberus Adept can use Singularity and Lash to stay at long range too, while still being able to combo protected enemies. Since they will likely have lower survivability than a human adept or vanguard, being able to combo from further away helps their contributions immensely.

[Morty]

I just played the Ex-Cerberus Adept, and I'm not sure what to think. Lash is nice, but Smash just seems impractical. It has a long animation, meaning you'll probably take a beating while using it.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Morty

I just played the Ex-Cerberus Adept, and I'm not sure what to think. Lash is nice, but Smash just seems impractical. It has a long animation, meaning you'll probably take a beating while using it.

Which is why you cast it through walls. Some people think this is cheap, but I call it playing smart.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Nerd-o-rama

Also I am pretty sure Bioware designated canon endings for both KOTOR games when they wrote The Old Republic...

Nope, that wasn't them. Star Wars EU did that after the games were made - not sure whether it was an author, some editor, Lucas himself, or whatever, but the decision was made well before the creation of The Old Republic. Male light side Revan, female light side Exile.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Funny thing is that nobody i know even considered the Green ending. Me neither.

Sure there is - several of us here on the forums that prefer that ending. Speaking of, I think I missed a post to reply to back there...

Originally Posted by Trazoi

The problem with Synthesis is coming up with an interesting story when everyone and everything is interconnected and the future is all lovey-dovey cyborg unicorns puking techno-rainbows.

Oh, they'd have to ditch the whole "everything is entirely peaceful now" part, no doubt. But that'd be for the best anyway, since that was ridiculously unrealistic. The Reapers stopping because their dumbass mission is now obsolete, sure, but every other source of conflict in the galaxy? Not so much.

Zevox

[Avilan the Grey]

For me the green ending is the ultimate evil. The absolute opposite of what Shep has fought for. And also, it is something that comes completely from left of field.

Speaking of left of field... I think I will have to lower the difficulty. I have NO CHANCE of surviving the part where you defend the missiles. I have reloaded 13 times (basically this is all I have done all evening) and it is impossible for me to do it on Normal. To my undying shame, this will be the first game in history I have not been able to beat on Normal.

[Morty]

Have you used the missile launcher lying around in one of the ruined buildings?

[Avilan the Grey]

Originally Posted by Morty

Have you used the missile launcher lying around in one of the ruined buildings?

No. Haven't survived long enough to be able to explore past using up all medkits.
(There are as far as I know no more medkits aviable on the level. I have one (1) left and Garrus and Jarvik dies within 10 seconds of the Banshees arriving. (I had to use up all medkits to survive the brutes).

Basically I just constantly stay cloaked and run like a little girl, because I am constantly surrounded by banshees on all sides.

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Morty

I just played the Ex-Cerberus Adept, and I'm not sure what to think. Lash is nice, but Smash just seems impractical. It has a long animation, meaning you'll probably take a beating while using it.

Originally Posted by Edge

Which is why you cast it through walls. Some people think this is cheap, but I call it playing smart.

You can also smash-cancel it when surrounded. During the Smash animation (i.e. when the CA or CV raises the biotic whips above his head, right before bringing them down), do a heavy melee. If you time it right, this will create a heavy-damage nova around you while simultaneously sending out the mini-shockwave in front of you. Not only does this do even more damage (enemies in front of you will take both the Smash hit and the heavy melee hit, while enemies around you will take the heavy melee and stagger), it also drastically shortens your recovery animation, allowing you to run for cover or fire again as needed without being shot at.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

For me the green ending is the ultimate evil. The absolute opposite of what Shep has fought for.

I'll just say here that you and I clearly have drastically different notions of "what Shep has fought for" and leave it at that. So long as you agree not to speak for MY Shep in the process.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Speaking of left of field... I think I will have to lower the difficulty. I have NO CHANCE of surviving the part where you defend the missiles. I have reloaded 13 times (basically this is all I have done all evening) and it is impossible for me to do it on Normal. To my undying shame, this will be the first game in history I have not been able to beat on Normal.

What bonus power are you using? Decoy and Energy Drain are both great choices for an infiltrator to take on Banshees with. Pick a squadmate with Overload (Garrus or EDI) and you can get a lot of Tech Bursts going too.

[Avilan the Grey]

Originally Posted by Psyren

I'll just say here that you and I clearly have drastically different notions of "what Shep has fought for" and leave it at that. So long as you agree not to speak for MY Shep in the process.

What bonus power are you using? Decoy and Energy Drain are both great choices for an infiltrator to take on Banshees with. Pick a squadmate with Overload (Garrus or EDI) and you can get a lot of Tech Bursts going too.

Of course. My canon Shep fights for self-determination at all costs. This is why I now have decided to go with the Red ending, because even though

Spoiler

she brokered a peace with the Geth and Quarians, and encouraged EDI to be alive, ultimately Control is unacceptable because of the same reason a control chip in her own brain would have been; it might alter behavior. However Synthesis is even worse, since it forces change on people against their will. Also of course, the one single champion of that option was Saren. She doesn't like him very much.

Bonus power: Armor piercing Ammo. And I think I loathe the idea of having to start over the whole London thing from scratch to pick a different one is worse than just go down to the easiest difficulty. After all the only time you get to pick loadout, as far as I know, is even before

Spoiler

the living AA Gun

.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Psyren

You can also smash-cancel it when surrounded. During the Smash animation (i.e. when the CA or CV raises the biotic whips above his head, right before bringing them down), do a heavy melee. If you time it right, this will create a heavy-damage nova around you while simultaneously sending out the mini-shockwave in front of you. Not only does this do even more damage (enemies in front of you will take both the Smash hit and the heavy melee hit, while enemies around you will take the heavy melee and stagger), it also drastically shortens your recovery animation, allowing you to run for cover or fire again as needed without being shot at.

Worth noting that a roll can be used to Smash-cancel too, helping you get out of bad situations quicker. Also useful for kiting Banshees that have stopped teleporting around.

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Of course. My canon Shep fights for self-determination at all costs. This is why I now have decided to go with the Red ending, because even though

Spoiler

she brokered a peace with the Geth and Quarians, and encouraged EDI to be alive, ultimately Control is unacceptable because of the same reason a control chip in her own brain would have been; it might alter behavior. However Synthesis is even worse, since it forces change on people against their will. Also of course, the one single champion of that option was Saren. She doesn't like him very much.

1) "Treating every species like one's own is racist. Even benign anthropomorphism." To be blunt, Shepard has little moral high ground either way, so mine went with the option that saved the most lives.

2) Synthesis and what Saren wanted are two completely different things. To say otherwise is to have no understanding of Synthesis (or Saren) at all.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Bonus power: Armor piercing Ammo. And I think I loathe the idea of having to start over the whole London thing from scratch to pick a different one is worse than just go down to the easiest difficulty. After all the only time you get to pick loadout, as far as I know, is even before

Spoiler

the living AA Gun

.

It's your call of course - but for me personally, dropping difficulty to pass a difficult section is unconscionable. Still, you should at least be capable of putting out a ton of damage with a maxed AP mod and a powerful weapon. The DPS of a corpse is zero of course, so you have to live long enough to pour shots into the banshees, but your cloak should stand a decent chance of confusing them long enough to get some shots in.

[Morty]

Originally Posted by Psyren

You can also smash-cancel it when surrounded. During the Smash animation (i.e. when the CA or CV raises the biotic whips above his head, right before bringing them down), do a heavy melee. If you time it right, this will create a heavy-damage nova around you while simultaneously sending out the mini-shockwave in front of you. Not only does this do even more damage (enemies in front of you will take both the Smash hit and the heavy melee hit, while enemies around you will take the heavy melee and stagger), it also drastically shortens your recovery animation, allowing you to run for cover or fire again as needed without being shot at.

Originally Posted by Edge

Worth noting that a roll can be used to Smash-cancel too, helping you get out of bad situations quicker. Also useful for kiting Banshees that have stopped teleporting around.

Hrm. I'll try that, but it's possible the Ex-Cerberus guys simply aren't for me.
However, I did get lucky again and found the Black Widow. It seems perfect for my preferred way of playing Infiltrators.

[Avilan the Grey]

Originally Posted by Psyren

1) "Treating every species like one's own is racist. Even benign anthropomorphism." To be blunt, Shepard has little moral high ground either way, so mine went with the option that saved the most lives.

2) Synthesis and what Saren wanted are two completely different things. To say otherwise is to have no understanding of Synthesis (or Saren) at all.

It's your call of course - but for me personally, dropping difficulty to pass a difficult section is unconscionable. Still, you should at least be capable of putting out a ton of damage with a maxed AP mod and a powerful weapon. The DPS of a corpse is zero of course, so you have to live long enough to pour shots into the banshees, but your cloak should stand a decent chance of confusing them long enough to get some shots in.

1) Indeed. However I am not sure what this has to do with anything? Besides, it is a roleplaying game after all. I think my pure Paragon will choose control, and my oddball with choose synthesis (just so I can experience it).
I have 4 sheps ready to go through ME3:
My Canon one, the female Renegon. She will pick Destroy for the reasons given.
My Pure Paragon one. She will pick Control because of the reason you gave above.
My Almost Pure Renegade (nice to children, women in need and his crew) will pick Destroy because well... Soldier. Killing things is what he does.
My Paragade Shep is my "oddball", I deliberately have picked different choices than any of the other three just to see what happens (from small ones, like he is the only one who picked Kaidan, to bigger ones like killing the rachni despite being paragon).

Edit: And as I said, these will all go through "New Game Plus" eventually when every single DLC has been released.

2. Really? It might be that it is SAREN that misunderstood the concept, but he indeed wanted to use tech to evolve organics. Just like TIM wanted to dominate the reapers. Besides the big hurdle is not that, but that force something unnatural on everyone in the galaxy (or even universe?) against their will is... not worth it. Period. IMHO, of course.

As for the rest... I am simply not that good of an FPS player to survive battles this intense. I mean with training all ME2's battles are beyond simple on Normal, but since they upped the ante (by renaming Veteran Normal and removing the easiest version and instead rename Normal Easy)... I am simply not twitchy enough. And I play on a PC.
Basically I am an RPG player, not an FPS player. I can handle Bethesda games because they are much slower, and I could handle ME2 because well... Normal in ME2 = Easy in ME3.

It doesn't help that the controls are too complex for me; I am extremely left handed and I have to map everything to my right hand (except the quickslots, of course). My right hand is quite slow and I am always getting it wrong (I keep rolling 3-4 times against a wall before managing to jump over it when stressed, like in these situations. If I could choose, I would disable the ability to roll since it fracks up my gameplay constantly).

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

1) Indeed. However I am not sure what this has to do with anything?

You said "I don't think Controlling the Reapers is acceptable for the same reason that I don't think a control chip in Shepard's brain would be acceptable." A statement like that requires considering the Reapers, or any other AI race, as being equal to Shepard's race. In some ways they are similar, but ignoring the differences can be dangerous, even irresponsible.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

2. Really? It might be that it is SAREN that misunderstood the concept, but he indeed wanted to use tech to evolve organics.

No - he wanted organics to be subservient to machines. Big difference. Working together yes, but clearly with the machines in charge of the flesh, and us jockeying to prove our "usefulness" so that we wouldn't be melted down to goo with the other races that resisted. And above all, no provisions to stop the Reapers' harvest.

The key differences of Synthesis are (a) it promotes equal footing with the machines rather than a master-servant relationship and (b) it's goal is to stop the Reapers, rather than assist them in their mission of melting us down. The fact that it also keeps the Geth/EDI alive is just icing on the cake.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

As for the rest... I am simply not that good of an FPS player to survive battles this intense. I mean with training all ME2's battles are beyond simple on Normal, but since they upped the ante (by renaming Veteran Normal and removing the easiest version and instead rename Normal Easy)... I am simply not twitchy enough. And I play on a PC.
Basically I am an RPG player, not an FPS player. I can handle Bethesda games because they are much slower, and I could handle ME2 because well... Normal in ME2 = Easy in ME3.

Well, I can't judge you for that. Certainly there are some games/game types I'll never be good at (I hate Mario Kart...) so I say go ahead and switch to Narrative mode - They put it in for a reason, and no game is worth raising blood pressure via frustration

[Avilan the Grey]

Originally Posted by Psyren

You said "I don't think Controlling the Reapers is acceptable for the same reason that I don't think a control chip in Shepard's brain would be acceptable." A statement like that requires considering the Reapers, or any other AI race, as being equal to Shepard's race. In some ways they are similar, but ignoring the differences can be dangerous, even irresponsible.

No, that is definitely not what I meant. I meant having a force of unstoppable god-machine-cthulhu ever present in the galaxy ready to exterminate you if you do something stupid will change your behavior as a species.

Basically what I mean is that a reaper force controlled by Shepard will hamper evolution and technological growth by it's mere presence

Originally Posted by Psyren

The key differences of Synthesis are (a) it promotes equal footing with the machines rather than a master-servant relationship and (b) it's goal is to stop the Reapers, rather than assist them in their mission of melting us down. The fact that it also keeps the Geth/EDI alive is just icing on the cake.

(Point taken about Saren)

Yes, but you destroy nature itself by doing it. I don't care of the godbrat presents it; what you are doing is forcing something utterly UTTERLY unnatural on all of nature. Everywhere. Stopping evolution as we know it. And without asking all involved if they want this.

Edit: Plus, it completely contradicts Mordin's speech from ME2. I trust Mordin over godbrat 8 days a week.

Originally Posted by Psyren

Well, I can't judge you for that. Certainly there are some games/game types I'll never be good at (I hate Mario Kart...) so I say go ahead and switch to Narrative mode - They put it in for a reason, and no game is worth raising blood pressure via frustration

I will never switch to Narrative Mode. If the only way to survive the game is to do that, I will simply admit defeat and uninstall it. The combat is the most fun part, after all.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

For me the green ending is the ultimate evil. The absolute opposite of what Shep has fought for. And also, it is something that comes completely from left of field.

Comes completely out of left field, absolutely. "The opposite of what Shep fought for?" I don't see that at all. Shepard's fight was against the Reapers, not against synthetics in general.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Speaking of left of field... I think I will have to lower the difficulty. I have NO CHANCE of surviving the part where you defend the missiles. I have reloaded 13 times (basically this is all I have done all evening) and it is impossible for me to do it on Normal. To my undying shame, this will be the first game in history I have not been able to beat on Normal.

That is probably the hardest part of the game, simply due to volume of Banshees, Brutes, and Marauders. I've managed it on hardcore or insanity with all of my characters so far though (Adept, Vanguard, Sentiinel). Which class are you using?

Ah, Infiltrator, given one of your later statements. Can't help you there, haven't used that class in ME3, and I wasn't a fan of it from the previous games.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Of course. My canon Shep fights for self-determination at all costs. This is why I now have decided to go with the Red ending, because even though

Spoiler

she brokered a peace with the Geth and Quarians, and encouraged EDI to be alive, ultimately Control is unacceptable because of the same reason a control chip in her own brain would have been; it might alter behavior. However Synthesis is even worse, since it forces change on people against their will. Also of course, the one single champion of that option was Saren. She doesn't like him very much.

Spoiler

While I'd normally agree with those sentiments (save the last - more on that in a moment), this is a very odd situation. Control, while still leaving a bad taste in my mouth from the mind-control aspect, seems much more acceptable given the Reapers are already being controlled in such a way by the Catalyst, which is something you're not able to alter in any event. And as for Synthesis being forced on people, while that's true, I find that it is a far lesser evil to genocide of an entire race, since all it does is physically change people. Some may not like it, but they certainly won't be worse off for it, which is far better than can be said for the Geth in Destroy. That's why I personally rank Synthesis as the best, Control as a barely-acceptable alternative, Destroy as the worst originally (second to Deny in EC, which is of course just dumb).

And as for Saren: no, he wasn't the champion of anything like Synthesis. He served Sovereign because partial indoctrination convinced him that doing so was the only way to make the Reapers spare anyone. He had Reaper tech implanted in him by Sovereign after Shepard's argument with him on Virmire to further solidify his control over him without sacrificing his effectiveness. He mentally justified that because it would benefit him physically, and maybe it did that too, but that wasn't the point of it at all. Lacking indoctrination, Synthesis has no connection to Saren's situation there.

Zevox

[YakYak]

Hints on Infiltrator for missile scene: Walk away from enemies and use sniper, with tactical cloak to get out of hot spots. Note that if you can bait the Reaper, you can get it to laser the banshees for an insta-kill. You don't need to fight everything in this area, you just need to stay alive.

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

No, that is definitely not what I meant. I meant having a force of unstoppable god-machine-cthulhu ever present in the galaxy ready to exterminate you if you do something stupid will change your behavior as a species.

That depends entirely on how much God-Shepard plans to micromanage the galaxy. My personal hunch is that the Reapers wouldn't really be used to police governments or stop banditry or anything quite so pedestrian. They might be used to slow the Geth down, though again, without pure consensus their threat is diminished. Perhaps the Reapers would even be sent back to dark space to hibernate indefinitely once reconstruction is complete.

I agree that having them still around can cause all kinds of problems or threats down the road - but that's a good thing, more conflict means more games.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Basically what I mean is that a reaper force controlled by Shepard will hamper evolution and technological growth by it's mere presence

Why? The original reapers only stopped people innovating to prevent one side or the other from achieving the singularity first. If both sides reach it at the same time, Shep should have no reason to get involved, though of course the logical conclusion of that would be Synthesis yet again.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

Yes, but you destroy nature itself by doing it. I don't care of the godbrat presents it; what you are doing is forcing something utterly UTTERLY unnatural on all of nature. Everywhere. Stopping evolution as we know it. And without asking all involved if they want this.

Edit: Plus, it completely contradicts Mordin's speech from ME2. I trust Mordin over godbrat 8 days a week.

1) "As we know it" still leaves plenty of room for the ways we don't know. Unknown does not necessarily mean bad.

2) None of the endings involves asking the galaxy what they want; this is hardly a drawback unique to synthesis.

3) Mordin's speech doesn't really apply here. There are still limitations under Synthesis (e.g. they haven't cracked immortality yet, they haven't perfectly integrated machines and organics yet etc.) And even once those things are achieved there could be more challenges, our limited organic minds are just incapable of understanding what those could be. Asking Bioware to come up with a challenge like that would be like asking them to invent a new color; it's enough narratively to say it's possible and move on.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

I will never switch to Narrative Mode. If the only way to survive the game is to do that, I will simply admit defeat and uninstall it. The combat is the most fun part, after all.

So you won't give up, and you won't change tactics... I guess the only suggestion I have then is to hope for a lucky break on one of your runs. Soldier on and all that.

Originally Posted by YakYak

Note that if you can bait the Reaper, you can get it to laser the banshees for an insta-kill.

I never knew about that, nor would I really recommend it, but if you can pull that off hey, style points for you.

[Triscuitable]

Originally Posted by Zevox

Which has what to do with any of this? Those are separate game series.

Plenty. My reasoning is Dragon Age was a spiritual successor to Baulder's Gate, Mass Effect was a spiritual successor to KotOR, and the next Mass Effect game could very well be a spiritual (or indirect) sequel to the original trilogy.

Originally Posted by Zevox

A direct sequel has never been intended - Shepard's story is over, remember? Any further games will be entirely new stories, simply using the same setting.

Zevox

Despite this, you continue to speak as if there will be one. I was saying "no, not gonna happen, make a spinoff in another galaxy." Same universe, same laws of physics, possibility of mass effect technology. Possibly more advanced, possibly less.

[SiuiS]

EDIT: I spent that mission punchig banshees and rolling away, dodging reaper laser and cussing them out. I'll take my style points when you've got a suitable surplus

Originally Posted by Psyren

Remember, the names don't necessarily mean all those will be new classes, so don't crow your triumph just yet...

I care not whether I fly or fall, for both are worth doing. All that matters is the jump, knowing you may fail but hoping that you rise.

Shadows are great against Cerberus and Geth. All you have to do is focus on everything that isn't an Atlas or Prime; go after all humanoids (including heavy hitters like Phantoms and Pyros.) Run around the map gleefully slitting throats for your team and racking up points, buff your melee damage as much as possible, and be sure to get the duration and free power evolutions for your cloak. Get to 200% cooldowns and as much melee as possible, which generally means a powerful heavy pistol like a Carnifex or Acolyte.

With the small and annoying threats handled, your team can tear apart the slow-moving Atlases and Primes easily. You can even help out (once you're done cleaning up the trash) by hiding behind a nearby wall and spamming Electric Slash safely through it.

Additionally, with the AP sword upgrade (or even without it!) you can cloak, shadow strike to get begin the heavy, prime a heavy melee (you'll en the attack animation moments after using shadow strike) and then flurry the light melee swing. If anyone else shot it first, it will go for them and leave you to take off a full bar of armor per sword stroke.

Originally Posted by Landis963

I'm already using a Salarian infiltrator as training wheels (for some reason it and my human infiltrator didn't despawn last time I promoted). Thanks for the tips. However, I didn't receive a reply as to my last question; Is it possible to allocate all of Shep's skill points (189 or so, IIRC) at lv. 60 so that there are no points left over?

Yes, but I don't recall how. I'll check when I get home I suppose.

Originally Posted by Morty

I just played the Ex-Cerberus Adept, and I'm not sure what to think. Lash is nice, but Smash just seems impractical. It has a long animation, meaning you'll probably take a beating while using it.

Smash hits like a grenade and primes through walls. It can rip banshees down as fast on its own as a tandem assault from other biotics. Smash is not the big gun you let loose into the target's face, it's the trap you set, beginning it around corners and let them walk into.

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

No. Haven't survived long enough to be able to explore past using up all medkits.
(There are as far as I know no more medkits aviable on the level. I have one (1) left and Garrus and Jarvik dies within 10 seconds of the Banshees arriving. (I had to use up all medkits to survive the brutes).

Basically I just constantly stay cloaked and run like a little girl, because I am constantly surrounded by banshees on all sides.

run to the very, very back.
Shoot the reaper in the face a couple times.
Use the phone booth as cover and snipe the bejeezus out of everything. If your allies can survive up to this point, you can set them to guard the position while you flee, during thick assaults.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Triscuitable

Plenty. My reasoning is Dragon Age was a spiritual successor to Baulder's Gate, Mass Effect was a spiritual successor to KotOR, and the next Mass Effect game could very well be a spiritual (or indirect) sequel to the original trilogy.

Can't speak for the former since I've never played Baldur's Gate. Mass Effect a spiritual sequel to KotOR? I don't see that - the only thing they have in common is being a sci-fi series.

And if the game were a spiritual successor to ME, it wouldn't be Mass Effect, but a new series.

Originally Posted by Triscuitable

Despite this, you continue to speak as if there will be one.

Yes. Because it's always been obvious that no developer will abandon a series this popular. Oh, and because Bioware themselves have confirmed as much. It simply will have to use the setting - i.e. the galaxy we are familiar with - but not the existing storyline, since that has concluded.

Originally Posted by Triscuitable

I was saying "no, not gonna happen, make a spinoff in another galaxy." Same universe, same laws of physics, possibility of mass effect technology. Possibly more advanced, possibly less.

If it's set in another galaxy, it's not Mass Effect. It would have no connection to the existing setting. There would be no reason for why technology would have developed in the same way as in the ME galaxy, nor would there be any familiar species (including Humans, logically, but I think we all know no one is going to make a series without Humans). It would be a new series, not a new Mass Effect game.

Zevox

[Triscuitable]

Here's a few ideas for a sequel to the ME trilogy then.

• A time far in the future in which the entire universe has become united (I mentioned this previously).
• A prequel to the franchise that takes place during a time such as the first contact war.
• An aside from the perspective of a different race, or races. Perhaps a genre shift?

[YakYak]

Originally Posted by Psyren

That depends entirely on how much God-Shepard plans to micromanage the galaxy. My personal hunch is that the Reapers wouldn't really be used to police governments or stop banditry or anything quite so pedestrian. They might be used to slow the Geth down, though again, without pure consensus their threat is diminished. Perhaps the Reapers would even be sent back to dark space to hibernate indefinitely once reconstruction is complete.

I think it really depends on Shepard's reputation on this one. I can see a reneshep micromanaging the galaxy as described, but a parashep seems more likely to just be there, reminding everybody to keep in line.

I never knew about that, nor would I really recommend it, but if you can pull that off hey, style points for you.

It's tricky, but worth it. I actually discovered it by accident when a banshee got hit as it was holding me midair, getting ready to shank me.

[Beowulf DW]

Hmmm...just got an Argus from a Veteran pack. I think I'll take it for a spin with my Krogan soldier.

[Avilan the Grey]

My problem with Synthesis is that it alters EVERYTHING. Plants. Bacteria. Viruses. Earthworms. It doesn't just insta-connects humans and geth. It destroys nature and replaces it with something else; it is playing God on a scale several million times higher than merely wiping out a species or two (and yes, I consider the difference in scale being so huge that galactic genocide is a "merely" in comparison). On the cosmic scale killing all the Geth registers is like peeing in the ocean. Synthesis is to remove all the water from the ocean and replace it with pee. All of it. Besides, how do we know it stops at the milky way? Maybe we are destroying nature IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE?

As I said, the more I think about it the more I feel it is abhorrent, for this very reason.

Edit: It seems to me like Bioware's writers never thought about the implications, really. They push this as the true Paragon choice with the whole space ponies and rainbows thing, but they themselves have never actually stopped to think what what they are writing really MEANS. As I said, this option, unlike the other two, is truly Playing God. On a truly Cosmic scale. You change reality itself for your own selfish reasons. On that scale the survival of earth is unimportant.