Mass Effect 3.7: "That was for Thane"

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Xondoure

Zevox - With the right spec the Human Sentinel can out perform the Asari Adept damage wise (if not in cool down) while being slightly bulkier due to damage resistance. Other than that... Eh.

I know, because Tech Armor has an upgrade that boosts power damage, and they can get the same power damage boosts in all other areas. But again, that's not really what I'm looking for.

Guess I may have to play around with it myself then, if nobody else has given anything odd a try with it.

Originally Posted by Psyren

Well, its primary strength (aside from its weight/'coolness factor') is its accuracy, so I'm also looking at the increased headshot multiplier. And with a max AR piercing mod (which I have) I think I can cut down the armor DR quite a bit. (80%? I think?)

SiuiS said 65% for everything but the SMG mod - presumably he means the rank 5 versions of the mods. Still, with 35% of the armor still applying even then and that damage boost being as small as it is, I kind of doubt it'll make a difference.

As for the headshots, that's going to depend on the person I guess. I don't bother going for those myself.

Zevox

[Xondoure]

Originally Posted by Psyren

And yet, I find the Asari much more survivable - Stasis has prevented much more damage to my Adept than tech armor ever would.

Like I said... eh.

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Zevox

I know, because Tech Armor has an upgrade that boosts power damage, and they can get the same power damage boosts in all other areas. But again, that's not really what I'm looking for.

Thing is, combos don't benefit from damage upgrades (except for the ones that specifically affect detonations) and as that's the lion's share of the damage, the boost from the armor is negligible by comparison.

Originally Posted by Zevox

SiuiS said 65% for everything but the SMG mod - presumably he means the rank 5 versions of the mods. Still, with 35% of the armor still applying even then and that damage boost being as small as it is, I kind of doubt it'll make a difference.

As for the headshots, that's going to depend on the person I guess. I don't bother going for those myself.

Zevox

Normally I don't either, but if I'm going to be hosing down one pixel on my target with AR-spray, I may as well angle the barrel such that the one pixel is part of their cranium.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Psyren

Normally I don't either, but if I'm going to be hosing down one pixel on my target with AR-spray, I may as well angle the barrel such that the one pixel is part of their cranium.

I'd be too worried that trying to do that would cause me to miss. I'm already not very good at tracking enemy movements with my shots to begin with, so trying to hit a moving target that small is more likely to backfire on me than not.

Zevox

[Edge]

Idea for slightly different Human Sentinel build:

Tech Armour 6 (Damage Reduction, Power Damage, Damage Reduction)
Warp 6 (Detonate, Expose, Pierce)
Throw 0
Alliance Training 6 (Weapon Damage or Damage & Capacity, Headshots, Weapon Damage)
Fitness 6 (Durability, Shield Recharge, Fitness Expert)

Slap on your light but potent shotgun of choice (I'd suggest the Piranha or a high-level Wraith). Use the combination of durability and human agility to close in on targets, throwing Warp on your targets to take them down quicker.

Not sure exactly how good it'd work in practice, but it's a human sentinel that plays very differently from the asari adept.

[Mr._Blinky]

Is there an up to date list of the weapons stats available? I know there was a spreadsheet that's been posted a few times, but it doesn't look like it's been updated in a while.

[Dhavaer]

Originally Posted by Edge

Idea for slightly different Human Sentinel build:

Tech Armour 6 (Damage Reduction, Power Damage, Damage Reduction)
Warp 6 (Detonate, Expose, Pierce)
Throw 0
Alliance Training 6 (Weapon Damage or Damage & Capacity, Headshots, Weapon Damage)
Fitness 6 (Durability, Shield Recharge, Fitness Expert)

Slap on your light but potent shotgun of choice (I'd suggest the Piranha or a high-level Wraith). Use the combination of durability and human agility to close in on targets, throwing Warp on your targets to take them down quicker.

Not sure exactly how good it'd work in practice, but it's a human sentinel that plays very differently from the asari adept.

Toss incendiary ammo on this if you don't mind being absurdly overpowered.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Psyren

Concerning the Fury:
This is a playstyle difference; I never melee with my Fury, and have no trouble topping the charts in Gold.

You misunderstand. I was pointing out that you were basing your objective evaluation of a build's effectiveness based off of your playstyle. My point was that assuming you were going to be a fury with a shotgun (which was the premise) the heavy hitting weapon build was superior to being a distance fury who has a bad choice of gun. If you are A) a fury, who B) packs a shotgun which C) requires getting in close, then you are better off doing 1200 damage per light melee attack, while encasing your enemies in biotic fire, than you are basically being a slower Standard N7 Fury Model.

Originally Posted by Landis963

Wait, challenge Banner? Do we get commendation packs for beating the challenges?

It's not an N7 weekend challenge. It's a fun "it's a holiday, let's have fun with it" thing. Otherwise 7,500 points would be waaay too low.

Originally Posted by Zevox

That's not really what I was looking for; I meant more different in terms of play style. The Asari Adept and Human Sentinel both have Warp -> Throw as their obvious go-to damage dealer, and that makes them too similar for me - I'll just use the Asari when I want to do that. I was hoping somebody might have tried something more out-there with the Sentinel and found some success with it, something that would differ from the obvious Warp -> Throw oriented tactic.

Try using different foci. Add damage an force instead of radius to the throw. Or get full defense on tech armor and use warp for armor weakening. The problem is any other good build is Gun-Heavy, and you don't like playing that way.

Rank 6 of warp grants 25% armor weakening by the way, compared to cryoblast's 10+15.

Hm, interesting, though I'd be quite hesitant to go without the flamethrower. Still, I do have three respec cards now (thank you, Veteran packs), so I could try that, especially if I decide to change to a build with 0 or 3 in Hunter Mode.

The flamethrower does not do extra armor damage (that's a quarian thing) and does the same or less as the single shot. The geth turret is the strongest turret/drone in the game, an has homing shots which hit for gads of damage and that can set of bursts. Setting it near you lets it direct you to nearby enemies, cover you in case of fire out of nowhere, and is basically a more functional version of the Hawk missile launcher. You don't lose much, and you become a better medic - throw the turret on their body to distract executioners, damage nearby foes and proved an instant full charge to their shields.

Yes, I know they did away with the damage multipliers of ME2 there. But the Geth Plasma SMG is quite noticeably good at stripping shields quickly, while meanwhile suffering immensely against armor, so I nonetheless think of it as an anti-shield weapon.

The eagle is just as good, though, and the high velocity barrel on the geth plasma SMG makes it one of the better anti armor weapons.

[quote]
The Disciple is weaker than the Eviscerator, so I'd just be surrendering firepower if I went with that now that my Eviscerator gives 200% cooldown.[/auote]

Shotgun omniblade is a heavy mod. The eviscerate with an omniblade would be 160%, the disciple is usually 180%+. On a shadow with no points in passive, the disciple with omniblade hits 160%.

Batarian Brawler, eh? Really not sure what I'll do with that one if I get it. Lash seems so out-of-place on a Vanguard that I'd normally ignore it in favor of other powers, but if I were to do that, I'd just end up with an inferior version of my Krogan Vanguard build.

The batarian is superior to the Krogan in terms of pure damage by a full 1/4th. Blade armor inflicts two and a half-times that creature's damage. Enforcement gauntlet also gives you DR equal to a fully buffed Krogan. Plus you can actually see where you are going and your gun has more extra ammo.

I don't know, that damage buff seems awfully small. I mean, I know it has a great rate-of-fire, but still, considering what SiuiS outlined about the specific mechanics of armor above, it's certainly not going to be the least bit more useful against armored foes.

Zevox

It's deceptive. The geth pulse rifle fires fast and accurate, and it ends up with power roughly equal to the geth plasma SMG. Now, it's actually better, since the pinpoint accuracy obviates the trouble with headshots.

Originally Posted by Psyren

Well, its primary strength (aside from its weight/'coolness factor') is its accuracy, so I'm also looking at the increased headshot multiplier. And with a max AR piercing mod (which I have) I think I can cut down the armor DR quite a bit. (80%? I think?)

Unless you mean the new high velocity barrel, it caps at 65%, which is still sufficient on gold to reduce the gun to minimum damage. Unless you're also packing armor piercing ammo, or have a sufficient boost from expendables and passive, you're better off with the barrel extension.

And yet, I find the Asari much more survivable - Stasis has prevented much more damage to my Adept than tech armor ever would.

Toupe fallacy. Of course the things you obviously see stop mid-motion have a more memorable impact than all the times you didn't die because you took less damage. Plus stasis is only useful against two enemies which cause problems. Techs rumor helps against all of them. The armor also specifically gives you more out of expendables; a cyclonic mod 3 and my standard gear gives me a full 170% more shields.

Originally Posted by Mr._Blinky

Is there an up to date list of the weapons stats available? I know there was a spreadsheet that's been posted a few times, but it doesn't look like it's been updated in a while.

There is a site for building characters, I'll try to find it. It seems up to date via info digging, so.

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

Toss incendiary ammo on this if you don't mind being absurdly overpowered.

if I mixed bein absurdly overpowered, I would stand alone against the reaper menace.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Edge

Idea for slightly different Human Sentinel build:

Tech Armour 6 (Damage Reduction, Power Damage, Damage Reduction)
Warp 6 (Detonate, Expose, Pierce)
Throw 0
Alliance Training 6 (Weapon Damage or Damage & Capacity, Headshots, Weapon Damage)
Fitness 6 (Durability, Shield Recharge, Fitness Expert)

Slap on your light but potent shotgun of choice (I'd suggest the Piranha or a high-level Wraith). Use the combination of durability and human agility to close in on targets, throwing Warp on your targets to take them down quicker.

Not sure exactly how good it'd work in practice, but it's a human sentinel that plays very differently from the asari adept.

I may try something like that, thanks. Don't know if I have any light-weight shotguns worth using besides the Eviscerator, though. My Wraith is only rank 1.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

The eagle is just as good, though, and the high velocity barrel on the geth plasma SMG makes it one of the better anti armor weapons.

I don't have the high velocity barrel, though. And my Eagle is only rank 1, compared to my Geth Plasma SMG 8.

The Eagle must've been buffed since I tried it way back when if it's as good as the Geth Plasma SMG now, though. It seemed pretty bad back then, more comparable to the Predator, at best.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Shotgun omniblade is a heavy mod. The eviscerate with an omniblade would be 160%, the disciple is usually 180%+. On a shadow with no points in passive, the disciple with omniblade hits 160%.

Ah, the omniblade is one of those new mods I don't have then. I thought you were referring to the regular melee-damage shotgun mod.

Don't think I'd use a weight-increasing mod when I can use a lighter-weight version of the same thing, though.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

The batarian is superior to the Krogan in terms of pure damage by a full 1/4th.

If you mean in terms of melee damage, I'd far rather take "just" Krogan damage to that considering how long the startup on the Batarian's is - half of the time when I try to use that with my Sentinel, my allies kill the thing I'm targeting before it goes off. If you mean something else, I am confused.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Enforcement gauntlet also gives you DR equal to a fully buffed Krogan.

What's "Enforcement Gauntlet?"

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Plus you can actually see where you are going and your gun has more extra ammo.

I can see where I'm going fine with the Krogan, and have no need of extra ammo. Certainly not compared to extra shields.

Anyway, after a couple of games with my Geth where I deliberately avoided using Hunter Mode, I did respec to 6/3/6/5/6, and went damage & shields/damage/healing frequency on the turret. And I saw an immediate improvement in my performance with the class. The healing frequency on the turret is huge, the turret is still powerful enough to give me solid support and kill weaker enemies on its own, and just having all those extra shields from both not using Hunter Mode and maxing out fitness is a great boon. And I still have Hunter Mode for dealing with smoke and cloaking - or heck, even just checking for enemies behind a wall occasionally, given how short its cooldown is. Very worth it.

Zevox

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Unless you mean the new high velocity barrel, it caps at 65%, which is still sufficient on gold to reduce the gun to minimum damage. Unless you're also packing armor piercing ammo, or have a sufficient boost from expendables and passive, you're better off with the barrel extension.

I actually use both, all the time. The stability mod is pointless (the GPR is near-perfect accuracy) as is the scope.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Toupe fallacy. Of course the things you obviously see stop mid-motion have a more memorable impact than all the times you didn't die because you took lesss damage. Plus stasis is only useful against two enemies which cause problems. Techs rumor helps against all of them. The armor also specifically gives you more out of expendables; a cyclonic mod 3 and my standard gear gives me a full 170% more shields.

Phantoms, Marauders, Hunters, and Collector Captains all cause problems, at least for me. Even Nemeses can be slippery without a quick bubble. Anything else is either weak enough for Throw to handle, or dangerous enough that I stay far away and my durability doesn't matter anyway.

As for cyclonic mods, I save them for my hulk classes, namely Krogans and Batarians.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Psyren

I actually use both, all the time. The stability mod is pointless (the GPR is near-perfect accuracy) as is the scope.

That's pretty much my default mod choices on everything, too. Other mods see use only in particular circumstances where they're especially useful or desirable - melee damage mods on Krogan and Ex-Cerberus Vanguards, ultra-light materials on my Carnifex since it's only at 3, and the ammo mod on my Particle Rifle for longer charged-beam firing. And that "sometimes doesn't use ammo" mod for SMGs, because I don't have the armor-piercing one or ULM for those, so I've got nothing better to use there.

On another note, has anyone else tried the new Medi-Gel Transmitter gear? (Makes medi-gel that you use revive allies within a certain distance of you as well.) I got a rank of it a few days back, and have been using it on my Volus. It doesn't come into play often, but it's very nice when it does. I once revived 3/4 of a team struggling with an escort mission on Firebase Rio thanks to that - followed of course by Shield Boost to get us all in good shape immediately. Potent combination that.

Zevox

[Dhavaer]

Originally Posted by Zevox

What's "Enforcement Gauntlet?"

Batarian heavy melee.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Zevox

The Eagle must've been buffed since I tried it way back when if it's as good as the Geth Plasma SMG now, though. It seemed pretty bad back then, more comparable to the Predator, at best.

It has been buffed three times, actually. It now sits somewhere between the Phaeston and Revenant for best assault rifle. Yes, I know it is a pistol. It's attributes fit neatly into the assault rifle range however, given accuracy, damage, rate of fire and weight.

Ah, the omniblade is one of those new mods I don't have then. I thought you were referring to the regular melee-damage shotgun mod.

No, that is the bayonet. I try to be specific nowadays due to all the redundant stuff.

[quote]Don't think I'd use a weight-increasing mod when I can use a lighter-weight version of the same thing, though.[quote]

Depends, really. On the shadow, fury, slayer, krogan, vorcha and batarian, half again as much damage is sufficiently huge to be worthwhile. And if your choices for an almost strictly melle & power build is +25% melee, full rechage versus +0% melee, full recharge, its not even really a choice. The damage output on a melee build is sufficient that I use my disciple solely to communicate ammo effects; A few rounds of incindiary or disruptor shot before a charge does wonders.

If you want to use your gun, then yes. The disciple is less potent than the eviscerator. However, as you are frequently fond of saying, you don't like shooting. Some peole like pure powers, other pure guns, etc. For pure melee, AT12 raider with omniblade. For melee and power support, disciple with omniblade.

If you mean in terms of melee damage, I'd far rather take "just" Krogan damage to that considering how long the startup on the Batarian's is - half of the time when I try to use that with my Sentinel, my allies kill the thing I'm targeting before it goes off. If you mean something else, I am confused.

Yes, melee damage. Your complaint has more to do with bad teammates than with any function of the build, though. The windup is not too long, only about as long as electric slash. When I'm fighting a brute with 4 health bars, nowhere to run, and pinned down under six or so cannibals and marauders, I'd rather kill the brute in one heavy shot, than risk having to follow up with more attacks. Anecdotal evidence suggests brutes are more likely to sync kill the more you melee them.

What's "Enforcement Gauntlet?"

Enforcement guantlet, Krogan charge, Heavy Burst(?), Omnishield, and double omniblades are the specific heavy melee attacks I can remember off the top of my head. While performing the batarian's heavy melee attack, you gain stagger resistance (or perhaps you already have it, unsure) and suffer only half damage from an attack. This means that beginning the melee sequence even without a target is a viable safety measure. Prevents ravagers from killing you and all.

Anyway, after a couple of games with my Geth where I deliberately avoided using Hunter Mode, I did respec to 6/3/6/5/6, and went damage & shields/damage/healing frequency on the turret. And I saw an immediate improvement in my performance with the class. The healing frequency on the turret is huge, the turret is still powerful enough to give me solid support and kill weaker enemies on its own, and just having all those extra shields from both not using Hunter Mode and maxing out fitness is a great boon. And I still have Hunter Mode for dealing with smoke and cloaking - or heck, even just checking for enemies behind a wall occasionally, given how short its cooldown is. Very worth it.

Zevox

Glad it worked out

Originally Posted by Psyren

I actually use both, all the time. The stability mod is pointless (the GPR is near-perfect accuracy) as is the scope.

GOod point. I was thinking about the AP barrel, and forgot you can combine the AP mod with the extended barrel for a minute. I usually grab the thermal capacity over the extended barrel, but that's preference. I've recently stopped caring about clip size on automatics.

As for cyclonic mods, I save them for my hulk classes, namely Krogans and Batarians.

I save them for when I can't risk going down. They're a staple on platinum, even for such things as the shadow or geth infiltrator. Shield power cells being a close second - shield count doesn/t matter if you never get them bak.

Originally Posted by Zevox

That's pretty much my default mod choices on everything, too. Other mods see use only in particular circumstances where they're especially useful or desirable - melee damage mods on Krogan and Ex-Cerberus Vanguards, ultra-light materials on my Carnifex since it's only at 3, and the ammo mod on my Particle Rifle for longer charged-beam firing. And that "sometimes doesn't use ammo" mod for SMGs, because I don't have the armor-piercing one or ULM for those, so I've got nothing better to use there.

I like ammo Boosts on weaker automatics, because with the rate of fire of, say, the geth SMG or the geth pulse rifle, gettting 80% more lead down range is more efficient than doing 25% more with each slug. And the heat sink on SMGs is actually better than the straight ammo boost thermal clip capacity mod.

On another note, has anyone else tried the new Medi-Gel Transmitter gear? (Makes medi-gel that you use revive allies within a certain distance of you as well.) I got a rank of it a few days back, and have been using it on my Volus. It doesn't come into play often, but it's very nice when it does. I once revived 3/4 of a team struggling with an escort mission on Firebase Rio thanks to that - followed of course by Shield Boost to get us all in good shape immediately. Potent combination that.

Zevox

Love it, for the same reason. Great for those moments when everyone tries to get everyone else up, y'know? Good on platinum, sometimes gold. The max rank apparently gives you 30 meters, making a hard sell for best gear.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Zevox

I may try something like that, thanks. Don't know if I have any light-weight shotguns worth using besides the Eviscerator, though. My Wraith is only rank 1.

Heck, the shotgun in question doesn't even need to be that light, since you aren't completely dependent on powers for damage. Just keep your cooldown relatively high, and it should be just fine.

[CreganTur]

Soloed Ghost with my Shadow last night on Bronze just to get a good feel for her and I have to say that I really like the class.

Once I figured out the proper balance between cloak-and-hide and aggressiveness I was able to use her pretty effectively against the Reapers for the Halloween challenge. Almost completed the Zombie and Monster hunter challenges from that single playthrough.

With Shadow Strike at about a 1 second cool down, she was really nasty against heavies. Shadow Strike followed by an immediate dodge let me avoid most counter attacks and any instant kills, which was great since it was a solo run.

I really wasn't certain how much I would like her, since it's the first time I've ever built a Shadow and I took a guess with the power selections (6/6/6/0/6) It seems to work out pretty well.

[Morty]

I still can't get a proper handle on the Volus Adept. This time I managed to stay alive, but I didn't seem to do much. And we were wiped on wave 7 against Collectors on Silver.
Respecializing the Krogan Soldier to give him Carnage worked well, though. I got it on level 4 by sacrificing the 6th levels of both passives. My tactics remain largely the same, only now I have Carnage to detonate fire explosions and hit targets at long range or around corners. And the targets seem to still take the DoT from the Inferno Grenade aftrer I do it, surprisingly.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

It has been buffed three times, actually. It now sits somewhere between the Phaeston and Revenant for best assault rifle. Yes, I know it is a pistol. It's attributes fit neatly into the assault rifle range however, given accuracy, damage, rate of fire and weight.

Wow. A pity it can only rank up from those weekend events, then. A pistol with those kinds of stats would be nice to have, if I could get it to a decent rank.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

If you want to use your gun, then yes. The disciple is less potent than the eviscerator. However, as you are frequently fond of saying, you don't like shooting. Some peole like pure powers, other pure guns, etc. For pure melee, AT12 raider with omniblade. For melee and power support, disciple with omniblade.

Just because I don't like relying on guns and won't use ones that inhibit power use doesn't mean I don't use them at all (though that can be the case with my Adepts sometimes, granted). On Vanguards in particular I'm very much an ME2-style player - getting into prime shotgunning range is part of the advantage of Charge (and eliminates one of the reasons I don't like doing so much with guns: my poor aim, which is rendered moot at those ranges against most enemy types when using a shotgun or fully automatic AR/SMG). Pretty much all my Vanguards tend to cycle Charge, shotgun shooting, melee, and sometimes another power (Nova a lot on the Human, Smash and Biotic Slash when appropriate on the Ex-Cerberus and Slayer). My Krogan in particular embodies that style, since I ignored Carnage, leaving him with no active power to use besides Charge itself.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Yes, melee damage. Your complaint has more to do with bad teammates than with any function of the build, though. The windup is not too long, only about as long as electric slash.

The part about my allies was just an example to show how long that wind-up is. I would definitely say it's longer than electric slash's (assuming that is, as it appears to be, the same as for biotic slash), and electric/biotic slash's don't matter as much since you can fire them through walls and take out entire enemy groups with them. On a single-target heavy melee, the kind of wind-up the Batarian has is something I really don't like.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Enforcement guantlet, Krogan charge, Heavy Burst(?), Omnishield, and double omniblades are the specific heavy melee attacks I can remember off the top of my head.

Those have official names? Really? Where'd you find that out? I've never seen anything to that effect in the game.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

While performing the batarian's heavy melee attack, you gain stagger resistance (or perhaps you already have it, unsure) and suffer only half damage from an attack. This means that beginning the melee sequence even without a target is a viable safety measure. Prevents ravagers from killing you and all.

Stagger resistance I'm pretty certain they already have. Doesn't seem to be to the same degree as the Krogan (though it's awfully hard to measure that), but I've noticed it on my Sentinel.

I had no idea that their heavy melee gave you damage reduction while active, however. That's good information to have, thank you.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Love it, for the same reason. Great for those moments when everyone tries to get everyone else up, y'know? Good on platinum, sometimes gold. The max rank apparently gives you 30 meters, making a hard sell for best gear.

30 meters?! Holy crap, that's longer than the range that a reach-upgraded shockwave travels. Yeah, that's quite the argument for it being the best gear indeed. To the point where I suspect it may well be getting nerfed down the line.

Originally Posted by Morty

I still can't get a proper handle on the Volus Adept. This time I managed to stay alive, but I didn't seem to do much. And we were wiped on wave 7 against Collectors on Silver.

Yeah, the Volus Adept seems like a hard one to use. Biotic Orbs are just a weird power by any standard, and his other powers are purely support-type in nature.

About the best plan I've come up for him is to do my usual in Stasis and Shield Boost, and go radius/recharge speed/expose on the Orbs. Main idea being to get quick successions of stasis/orb combos going against unarmored enemies as a crowd control tactic, and use the expose part to weaken armored ones for my allies. Meanwhile the recharge speed boost from the orbs could also allow for rapid Shield Boosting if need be.

That's all theory-fighting though, since I only have the Engineer, not the Adept.

Zevox

[Corvus]

Got the Haloween challenge done.

For something different I took out the QMI and levlled him up on some bronze and silver runs, using the Valiant.

I'm still not a great infiltrator or sniper. I have trouble getting headshots and miss so much. At least the Valiant has a 3 round clip to help. On the other hand the QMI is fun, with scan and arc grenades to back up the cloak. Might try him on gold when I level him up further than 15.

[Tome]

Originally Posted by Zevox

Stagger resistance I'm pretty certain they already have. Doesn't seem to be to the same degree as the Krogan (though it's awfully hard to measure that), but I've noticed it on my Sentinel.

I believe they both have Stagger resistance by default, but Krogan get outright immunity to it from hits to the front during their charge.

On the flip side, Batarians get a 50% damage resistance boost when using their gauntlet.

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by Corvus

Got the Haloween challenge done.

Did you get your Commendation pack straight away? I did the challenge and haven't been rewarded yet. I wouldnt have given it two thoughts, apart from the fact that the last event gave it out immediately....

In other news: Operation JACKHAMMER is occurring at the same time as the Halloween Challenge.

Event Description: Data collected by our combat drones has identified key enemy strongholds. Over the next few days, we go on the offensive as small biotic strike teams hit a number of strategically significant targets.

Individual Goal: Earn 75,000 points using biotic charge on any map at any difficulty. Points are cumulative across matches. Extraction not required.

Reward: Commendation Pack

Sounds tricky, but doable. Time to break out my Krogan, I think

[Corvus]

There is no commendation pack for the Halloween challenge, just a banner title.

[Wraith]

That would be why, then. Thanks.

[Landis963]

Operation JACKHAMMER hasn't appeared on my challenges pane yet. When is that set to pop?

[Sholos]

Originally Posted by Landis963

Operation JACKHAMMER hasn't appeared on my challenges pane yet. When is that set to pop?

November 2nd, 10:00am PDT.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by CreganTur

Soloed Ghost with my Shadow last night on Bronze just to get a good feel for her and I have to say that I really like the class.

Once I figured out the proper balance between cloak-and-hide and aggressiveness I was able to use her pretty effectively against the Reapers for the Halloween challenge. Almost completed the Zombie and Monster hunter challenges from that single playthrough.

With Shadow Strike at about a 1 second cool down, she was really nasty against heavies. Shadow Strike followed by an immediate dodge let me avoid most counter attacks and any instant kills, which was great since it was a solo run.

I really wasn't certain how much I would like her, since it's the first time I've ever built a Shadow and I took a guess with the power selections (6/6/6/0/6) It seems to work out pretty well.

On higher difficulties, enemies will take to setting up a sync kill when you are out of range. Vanguards get pulled out of biotic charge, I've personally watched a legionaire do the jump for his heavy melee and land on the banhsee's claw, an have been pulled around a brute I shadow struck into it's claw for an instakill. Cloaking out of sight helps, immensely, but sometimes you will get slappe with a unfair death.

Your spec is what I'm using, personally. I think I sacrificed electric slash 6 for three ranks of n7 training to carry a heavier gun.

Originally Posted by Morty

I still can't get a proper handle on the Volus Adept. This time I managed to stay alive, but I didn't seem to do much. And we were wiped on wave 7 against Collectors on Silver.
Respecializing the Krogan Soldier to give him Carnage worked well, though. I got it on level 4 by sacrificing the 6th levels of both passives. My tactics remain largely the same, only now I have Carnage to detonate fire explosions and hit targets at long range or around corners. And the targets seem to still take the DoT from the Inferno Grenade aftrer I do it, surprisingly.

I usually build mine as below, but I tried something else to see how viable he is for solo play. Stasis bubble (more damage, not duration), shield boost for duration and recharge, biotic orbs for recharge speed, and volus training for (eventually) carrying capacity and weapon damage. I took the AT12 raider out for a spin, and spent it using stasis and shield boost as a shotgun infiltrator. it worked really well until Dragoons showed up, and I panicked. Not actual panic but I got darn sloppy, and couldn't seem to cloak, heal and reload in fast enough order to make it out of there.

I tried it with sniper rifles first, but the only one sufficiently light an powerful enough was the valiant. Did really good with backup, sucks solo.

Originally Posted by Zevox

Wow. A pity it can only rank up from those weekend events, then. A pistol with those kinds of stats would be nice to have, if I could get it to a decent rank.

Yeah mine is rank 8.

Just because I don't like relying on guns and won't use ones that inhibit power use doesn't mean I don't use them at all (though that can be the case with my Adepts sometimes, granted).

I do reca you saying several things, such as this, and also you don't like usin non casters. I extrapolated that into no guns, not ever, no not even then.

Incidentally, I feel vindicated about a past argument seeing as the game itself repeatedly refers to the Phoenix vanguard and Phoenix adept.

The part about my allies was just an example to show how long that wind-up is. I would definitely say it's longer than electric slash's (assuming that is, as it appears to be, the same as for biotic slash), and electric/biotic slash's don't matter as much since you can fire them through walls and take out entire enemy groups with them. On a single-target heavy melee, the kind of wind-up the Batarian has is something I really don't like.

Okay. I make use of sophisticated tracking on melee; I start the windup as far away as possible, an travel several meters while delivering the blow. Makes it easier. If you're just going to swing, yes, it's terrible.

Those have official names? Really? Where'd you find that out? I've never seen anything to that effect in the game.

Yes, and all in the same spot, the description that was dropped with rebellion back when. You pointed out dual omniblades as a thing for the Turians yourself. Cerberus lash, enforcement gauntlet, there are a few others.

I had no idea that their heavy melee gave you damage reduction while active, however. That's good information to have, thank you.

It's weird, and much easier to see if you are looking for it.

30 meters?! Holy crap, that's longer than the range that a reach-upgraded shockwave travels. Yeah, that's quite the argument for it being the best gear indeed. To the point where I suspect it may well be getting nerfed down the line.

Anecdotal thus far. The wiki lists 10/15/??/??/??, but I have a friend who definitely has rank three at 20, and a guy who didn't use it but claimed to have rank five and it gave 30 meters. It's pretty slick. I've stopped buying packs though because all I get is gosh-darned rare ammo. You haven't had suck until you drop almost a hundred thousand credits on nothing but ammo.

Yeah, the Volus Adept seems like a hard one to use. Biotic Orbs are just a weird power by any standard, and his other powers are purely support-type in nature.

About the best plan I've come up for him is to do my usual in Stasis and Shield Boost, and go radius/recharge speed/expose on the Orbs. Main idea being to get quick successions of stasis/orb combos going against unarmored enemies as a crowd control tactic, and use the expose part to weaken armored ones for my allies. Meanwhile the recharge speed boost from the orbs could also allow for rapid Shield Boosting if need be.

That's all theory-fighting though, since I only have the Engineer, not the Adept.

Zevox

That's what I used. Selective use of de-buffing to break apart heavies.

Originally Posted by Wraith

In other news: Operation JACKHAMMER is occurring at the same time as the Halloween Challenge.



Sounds tricky, but doable. Time to break out my Krogan, I think

Sounds tricky? Dude, I got 89,000 points on wave three on silver.adding biotic charge makes that easier.

[Zevox]

Well, today has been remarkably productive for me as far as my uncommon weapons go. Spam-buying Veteran packs has now gotten all but two of my uncommon weapons to rank 10 - those two being my Incisor, which needs two more ranks, and my Phalanx, which needs four more. Since I do want the latter available, I'll keep at this, and hopefully finish up tomorrow.

Something that surprised me doing this - apparently, it is no longer the case that the guaranteed uncommon slot in Veteran packs cannot drop uncommon gear. I've picked up several of those recently, most in my biotic damage gear, which I'm sure as heck not complaining about . Gear does seem less likely to drop than weapons or expendables though, so I don't know if spam-buying Veteran packs will be worthwhile for getting uncommon gear even once all your uncommon weapons are maxed out. Haven't seen any uncommon weapon mods yet however, so they may still not drop in Veteran packs' guaranteed slot. Which is a pity, since I still don't have even the first rank of SMG ULM.

Originally Posted by Wraith

In other news: Operation JACKHAMMER is occurring at the same time as the Halloween Challenge.



Sounds tricky, but doable. Time to break out my Krogan, I think

Tricky? It says it's cumulative across matches. The only "trick" is that it has to all be done on one map. Just play as Vanguards on the map of your choice for a while and you'll get it easy.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Okay. I make use of sophisticated tracking on melee; I start the windup as far away as possible, an travel several meters while delivering the blow. Makes it easier. If you're just going to swing, yes, it's terrible.

I've found trying to use that unreliable, I'm afraid - it's hard to tell at what range it kicks in. I've had some deaths as my Slayer in particular simply because the tracking of his heavy melee failed to kick in properly sometimes, and he instead teleported somewhere I did not want him to be. On other classes it mostly just results in wasted time, but with the Batarian's windup time, that can be an issue.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Yes, and all in the same spot, the description that was dropped with rebellion back when.

Huh. I do not remember that at all, honestly.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I've stopped buying packs though because all I get is gosh-darned rare ammo. You haven't had suck until you drop almost a hundred thousand credits on nothing but ammo.

Ouch . I hate just getting those occasionally as I do. All the time wold drive me mad.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

That's what I used. Selective use of de-buffing to break apart heavies.

Well, good to know someone has tried it and had success with it, since it was pretty much my only idea of how to use that class.

Zevox

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Sounds tricky? Dude, I got 89,000 points on wave three on silver.adding biotic charge makes that easier.

"Tricky" in the sense that it's ONLY the points from Biotic Charge that count, and 90% of the points I get as a Vanguard come from the other skills, either Nova or Biotic Slash, simply because they do more damage over a bigger area.

I didn't say that it was HARD or anything. But, if I want it finished quickly, I'm going to have to break muscle-reflex and use it a lot more than normal without as many follow-ups.

Originally Posted by Landis963

Operation JACKHAMMER hasn't appeared on my challenges pane yet. When is that set to pop?

I have the Mass Effect/Bioware page linked on Facebook, if that helps. I always get the announcements earlier than most people, it seems.

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Zevox

Ouch . I hate just getting those occasionally as I do. All the time wold drive me mad.
Zevox

That's a good sign though. IIRC, the rare ammo has lower drop rates than other rares, while the first character card of a new class is slightly higher. So if you're getting ammo all the time, it should mean you've maxed out most of your guns and unlocked the entire roster. Not a bad position to be in, I'd say.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Psyren

That's a good sign though. IIRC, the rare ammo has lower drop rates than other rares, while the first character card of a new class is slightly higher. So if you're getting ammo all the time, it should mean you've maxed out most of your guns and unlocked the entire roster. Not a bad position to be in, I'd say.

You'd think so, but once you're in this position, the drop rate for Rare mods and Gears seems to shrink dismally. It's one of the reasons I'm so glad for the massive number of new characters in Retaliation. Since the DLC has hit, I've gotten more Rare Gears and mods than I have been for months.

[Sholos]

Forget rare mods, I'd like to know how to get uncommons. I'm almost matched, with 25 levels of uncommon mods and 22 levels of rare. 12 uncommon mods unlocked vs. 13 rare mods.