Mass Effect 3.7: "That was for Thane"

[Dhavaer]

Originally Posted by Landis963

Scorpion in mine. Am actually kind of pleased by this development, plus the ease of the N7 challenge. (I mean really, 3 extractions with a human char? I'll take that commendation pack now, thanks very much)

Are you sure the N7 challenge gives a pack? The Halloween one didn't.

[Morty]

I just finished the N7 challenge and got no pack. I did buy a Premium Spectre Pack, though. And got an Acolyte and Arc Pistol for my troubles. I really wish I could unlock some Soldiers. It's my favorite class, but it's also the one in which I have the fewest unlocked characters.

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

Are you sure the N7 challenge gives a pack? The Halloween one didn't.

That's a good point. Well, if it gives me another banner, I'd gladly take it over the "Hallowed Hero" one.

[CreganTur]

Is the N7 challenge the same duration as the Halloween challenge? Between a job, wife, kids, NaNoWriMo, DMing a new game starting tomorrow, and having to finish a miniature commission for said game tomorrow I know there's no way I can complete that challenge tonight.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Morty

I got the Indra from my pack. This isn't ideal. I wasn't impressed with it in single player and the Black Widow is my weapon of choice for Infiltrators anyway.

Don't think of it as a sniper rifle. It's an assault rifle with high accuracy, damage, low recoil, and great clip size. It comes preloaded with a scope so you can use two other mods.
It's actually makes the Drell usable.

Originally Posted by Corvus

The Indra is actually a very good weapon. Accurate, high ROF, very little recoil.

I got the Javelin I in mine.

There is also the N& day challenge - extract 3 times (on any difficulty) as a human character (which includes N7 and ex-Cerberus kits)

Yep. Banner, and a nice one too. Understated, instead of garish.

So stoked they changed the banner title after the challenge ended. Hallowed hero sounds way cooler.

Originally Posted by Landis963

Scorpion in mine. Am actually kind of pleased by this development, plus the ease of the N7 challenge. (I mean really, 3 extractions with a human char? I'll take that commendation pack now, thanks very much)

No, friend. Only N7 weekend challenges give commendation packs. Holiday ones don't. And presumably, community challenges wouldn't either. Just a victory pack.

Still, scorpion is boss. It's the best ammo gun there is. If you hit an enemy, every moment the mine is on them is another chance tat the ammo carrier affect takes. Makes fire explosions a snap. Fire once, wait. Boom.

Originally Posted by CreganTur

Is the N7 challenge the same duration as the Halloween challenge? Between a job, wife, kids, NaNoWriMo, DMing a new game starting tomorrow, and having to finish a miniature commission for said game tomorrow I know there's no way I can complete that challenge tonight.

I don't think so. Sorry

Odds are toucan jump into a bronze game most of the way through. Pick up three fast extractions, takes 45 minutes.

[CreganTur]

I don't think so. Sorry

Odds are toucan jump into a bronze game most of the way through. Pick up three fast extractions, takes 45 minutes.

Meh. I could solo bronze with my Krogan vanguard 3 times in that much time. I'll just miss out on this one.

Just imagine how much we would all have unlocked if they had this stats tracking at Launch.

[Morty]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Don't think of it as a sniper rifle. It's an assault rifle with high accuracy, damage, low recoil, and great clip size. It comes preloaded with a scope so you can use two other mods.
It's actually makes the Drell usable.

I've been playing the Drell Adept very effectively without it. But I'll try giving it to my Human Soldier. I wish I could unlock the N7 Soldier, but the game seems dead-set on denying me this class.

[Sholos]

Originally Posted by Morty

I just finished the N7 challenge and got no pack. I did buy a Premium Spectre Pack, though. And got an Acolyte and Arc Pistol for my troubles. I really wish I could unlock some Soldiers. It's my favorite class, but it's also the one in which I have the fewest unlocked characters.

That Acolyte you got? One of the best pistols, hands down. I have it on almost every one of my kits that doesn't already have a shield-stripping power. Destroyer? Got one. Adept? Got one. It's light and absolutely tears through shields. Also great for applying ammo powers.

[Zevox]

My free pack gave me a Black Widow.

Guess I can't complain, since it was free, but that is very close to the worst pull I could've gotten out of a free ultra-rare weapon.

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

Also, balance changes:

Spoiler

Everyone who logs in is awarded an N7 Loyalty pack. Must be collected today!

New N7 challenge available for a limited time

Geth Trooper Soldier kit now available as a new Rare card

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

Challenges
- New N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle challenge under Assault Rifle Mastery (140,000 point requirement)
- New M-55 Argus Assault Rifle challenge under Assault Rifle Mastery (140,000 point requirement)
- New AT-12 Raider Shotgun challenge under Shotgun Mastery (140,000 point requirement)
- New Collector Sniper Rifle challenge under Sniper Rifle Mastery (140,000 point requirement)
- New Collector SMG challenge under SMG Mastery (140,000 point requirement)
- New Smash challenge under Biotic Mastery (50,000 point requirement)
- New Biotic Orbs challenge under Biotic Mastery (50,000 point requirement)
- New Barrier challenge under Biotic Mastery (50,000 point requirement)

- Point reward for completing Solo Mastery decreased from 300 to 100
- Point reward for completing Biotic Mastery decreased from 300 to 140
- Point reward for completing Tech Mastery decreased from 300 to 140
- Point reward for completing Squad Elite increased from 130 to 200
- Point reward for completing Resurgence Mastery increased from 130 to 170
- Point reward for completing Rebellion Mastery increased from 130 to 170
- Point reward for completing Earth Mastery increased from 130 to 170
- Point reward for completing Commando Mastery increased from 160 to 200
- Point reward for completing Machine Mastery increased from 140 to 170
- Point reward for completing Outsider Mastery increased from 130 to 170
- Point reward for completing Shotgun, Assault Rifle, or Sniper Rifle Mastery increased from 140 to 175
- Point reward for completing Pistol Mastery increased from 130 to 155
- Point reward for completing Combat Mastery increased from 170 to 255
- Point reward for completing Cerberus Mastery increased from 220 to 250
- Point reward for completing Reaper Mastery increased from 200 to 250
- Point reward for completing Geth Mastery increased from 200 to 250
- Point reward for completing Collector Mastery increased from 200 to 250

- Fixed a bug where the Arc Grenade challenge for Male Quarian kits was not working
- Fixed a bug with the Survival Medal challenge not completing, details here

- Title for completing the Halloween Challenge changed from "Halloween Challenge" to "Hallowed Hero"

Batarian Brawler
- Now moves at the same speed as other Batarians when carrying objectives

Cerberus Wave Data
- (Bronze) Wave 6, 7, 9: Maximum number of Dragoons per wave capped at 2 (there was no cap before)

- (Silver) Wave 4, 8, 9: Maximum number of Dragoons per wave capped at 5 (there was no cap before)
- (Silver) Wave 5: Maximum number of Dragoons per wave capped at 3 (there was no cap before)

- (Gold) Wave 4: Removed 1 Dragoon and added 1 Centurion
- (Gold) Wave 7: Removed 1 Dragoon and added 1 Engineer
- (Gold) Wave 3: Maximum number of Dragoons per wave capped at 3 (there was no cap before)
- (Gold) Wave 4, 6, 7: Maximum number of Dragoons per wave capped at 6 (there was no cap before)

Collector Wave Data
- (Gold) Wave 3, 5, 9: Maximum number of Praetorians per wave capped at 3 (there was no cap before)
- (Gold) Wave 6, 8, 10: Maximum number of Praetorians per wave capped at 6 (there was no cap before)

Less dragoons now!

Kinda ironic that most of this week's "balance" changes are to the totally-irrelevant-to-game-balance Challenges. (Honestly, why did they even bother changing the points some give? The points from the Challenges matter about as much as the points on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?".) Caps on Dragoon numbers are appreciated though. And Praetorians I guess, though honestly I don't think I've ever seen more than four of them in one wave even on gold. Maybe I'm wrong though, I haven't exactly been counting.

And the Geth Soldier is the new unlock this week, eh? Well, they've already put out a fair number of what I want, so I'm not bothered by this one being one I don't. Or I won't be, until it turns out to be in the next Premium pack I pick up, with my luck.

Originally Posted by Morty

I really wish I could unlock some Soldiers. It's my favorite class, but it's also the one in which I have the fewest unlocked characters.

I know that feeling. My favorite class is the Adept, but I don't like the Drell and am not very fond of the Justicar, so I feel like I've only got three of them (Human, Asari, Ex-Cerberus). Meanwhile I'd like to play the newer ones, but no, so far no Fury, Volus, or Krogan. Or Asari Valkyrie, who is basically an Adept with Tech Armor.

Zevox

[SiuiS]

I love the geth trooper. New favorite kit.
Fortification, stronghold and fitness, and my shield recharge is so fast that I have 30% shields back as soon as I sand up from being revived. 52% faster and good gracious is it noticeable!

Powe recharge is unnecessary, so fortification can get the whole defense bonus, 50%. Which means that 50% penalty from Hunter mode is only a 25% penalty, or less with health boosts in fitness. Flamer, powerful, detonatable, and recharges super fast.

I gave him the geth pulse rifle. I added thermal capacity. I have never before had more bullets than I needed. Ever. This is a first. 180 rounds, even with 20% faster RoF, was... It was like pouring a gallon of milk down the sink. You can see the progress but it still takes rever and you get bored. So from now on I'm packing extended barrel and AP mod. Add cryo or incendiary (probably incendiary, keep to the theme) an go to town!

Originally Posted by CreganTur

Meh. I could solo bronze with my Krogan vanguard 3 times in that much time. I'll just miss out on this one.

Just imagine how much we would all have unlocked if they had this stats tracking at Launch.

That's what I meant. You could do the whole thing in forty five minutes. Or an hour if you space it out. So why not? One game, do some chores, one more game, etc.

Originally Posted by Sholos

That Acolyte you got? One of the best pistols, hands down. I have it on almost every one of my kits that doesn't already have a shield-stripping power. Destroyer? Got one. Adept? Got one. It's light and absolutely tears through shields. Also great for applying ammo powers.

yeah. And the arc pistol is apparently the game's strongest? You don't have to charge it, but of you do it hits for 6x damage – base damage. So it also boosts the ammo damage and such. And passive damage, too.

Originally Posted by Zevox

Kinda ironic that most of this week's "balance" changes are to the totally-irrelevant-to-game-balance Challenges. (Honestly, why did they even bother changing the points some give? The points from the Challenges matter about as much as the points on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?".) Caps on Dragoon numbers are appreciated though. And Praetorians I guess, though honestly I don't think I've ever seen more than four of them in one wave even on gold. Maybe I'm wrong though, I haven't exactly been counting.

Per Wave, not spawn. This means that after you rocket all three to five enemies, five more don't appear. I've gotten as far as wave five on platinum where I ran from a group of four praetorians into a group of two praetorians and some scions. Flick the collectors, man. Flick them in their horns

On silver, today I've only ever fought one at a time. You silver players are lucky. But you can't even offhandedly grab a JEqP after a match, so it balances out.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I love the geth trooper. New favorite kit.

You know, I've been meaning to ask: why do you call characters "kits?"

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Per Wave, not spawn.

I know. Per wave is what I said there. In one spawn I don't think I've seen more than two, maybe three on gold.

Anyway, I got a Volus Adept tonight! Only thing I got all day worth a damn, but hell, considering my luck of late, I'll take it. Tried him for a couple of games, and oh boy, he's going to take some getting used to. Even having played the Volus Engineer doesn't seem to have fully prepared me for the Adept. Biotic Orbs have such an awful cooldown when activated, yet can be fired without regard for cooldown, which is just a weird combination for me. Makes deciding when to fire the orbs and finding times to bring out a new set crucial, since that cooldown from doing so interferes with the all-important Shield Boost. Also makes using the Orbs in any especially offensive manner rather difficult, which makes the class especially awkward for me in particular. At least the Volus Engineer has Proximity Mine as a general-use offensive power, as awkward as firing that thing can be.

Oh, speaking of the Engineer, I somehow already have three of his four appearance options. This is seriously making me suspect that the "ultra-rare" classes don't actually have a much lower drop rate than the rares - I've gotten more of them in a short period of time than I ever have of the ultra-rare weapons, and there are quite a few more of those than there are ultra-rare classes.

Zevox

[Dhavaer]

Originally Posted by Zevox

You know, I've been meaning to ask: why do you call characters "kits?"

That's what Bioware call them. See the addition of the Geth Trooper in the balance changes.

Originally Posted by Zevox

Oh, speaking of the Engineer, I somehow already have three of his four appearance options. This is seriously making me suspect that the "ultra-rare" classes don't actually have a much lower drop rate than the rares - I've gotten more of them in a short period of time than I ever have of the ultra-rare weapons, and there are quite a few more of those than there are ultra-rare classes.

It's because there's only two of them. Ultra-rare characters have the same low drop rate as ultra rare weapons, but when you get one there's a 50-50 chance of any particular one. There's a huge amount of rares, though, so while you'll unlock rares quite often the chance of it being any particular one is vanishingly small.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

That's what Bioware call them. See the addition of the Geth Trooper in the balance changes.

Also, the classes are abstractions. Not every human sentinel is limited to the three powers they have. It's a load out: X powers, Y Armor, Z weapons. It gets even more obvious with the geth. They may as well all be the same geth. Several platforms with different optimisations. Why would I not refer to them as kits, in this instance? In my narrative, my shadow and fury are the same person. Some days she picks up her cowl and goes psychotic biotic, other days she puts on a catsuit. Heck, the only difference between battlemaster and shaman is whether you're throwing your Dave at enemies from one meter or thirty.

There are a lot of things that fall apart if you look too hard – such as a squad of four random soldiers of different races being able to fly around a reaper infested foxy pickin up devices left by geth and sabotaging recon stations left by Cerberus. Or occasionally fighting all three at once, while the collectors come out of left field...

Counter query. Why do you call the Phoenix units ex-Cerberus? You don't call the batarians ex-slavers or the Krogan ex-mercenary. And the game itself refers to them as Phoenix [class].

It's because there's only two of them. Ultra-rare characters have the same low drop rate as ultra rare weapons, but when you get one there's a 50-50 chance of any particular one. There's a huge amount of rares, though, so while you'll unlock rares quite often the chance of it being any particular one is vanishingly small.

No, I'm with Zevox. I got every volus appearance option really fast, even before getting all of the collector rifle or sniper rifle. And I'm only now getting some of the other things I'm missing.


On the upside, my ammo flood is no more. I've been getting more gear, I have my pistol heavy barrel at 3 (still barely more useful than extended barrel; not worth the weight increase until full rank). And I started the day at particle rifle 2, javelin 1 and ended at particle rifle 3, javelin 3, geth trooper 2 and brawler 4. Pretty slick.

[Dhavaer]

So, I've completed Earth Mastery and earned the dubious distinction of having more challenge points than N7 rating. Good times. On the downside, the single thing that stands between me and Cerberus Mastery is 83000 points of Nemeses. Anyone know which difficulty has the most?

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

So, I've completed Earth Mastery and earned the dubious distinction of having more challenge points than N7 rating. Good times. On the downside, the single thing that stands between me and Cerberus Mastery is 83000 points of Nemeses. Anyone know which difficulty has the most?

There's a ton on gold, but I don't know if it's more than Silver. (It's been a very long time since I've played Silver.) But since you can replenish all your supplies after every extraction and still make a profit on Gold, I think that's the best route.

[Morty]

The Indra seems like a decent weapon. I tried it with my Human Soldier and it worked nicely. The long range helps, given that the Human Soldier is surprisingly squishy. Unfortunately, I got disconnected on Wave 4.

[Psyren]

I love the Indra, but then I've always been a big fan of "more dakka" weapons. (The Revenant is my most-used AR, even more than the Harrier, because of the magazine size.) I slapped it on the Destroyer, and with his fire rate upgrades I was tearing through mobs like butter. Still not a big fan of the Destroyer but that gun made it a little bit fun.

This isn't to say I don't enjoy slug-pounders either. The Widow is still my favorite sniper, and I love my Sabre (still only at VI sadly )

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

That's what Bioware call them. See the addition of the Geth Trooper in the balance changes.

Okay, I guess that sort of explains it. Except that now it makes me wonder why Bioware calls them that.

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

It's because there's only two of them. Ultra-rare characters have the same low drop rate as ultra rare weapons, but when you get one there's a 50-50 chance of any particular one. There's a huge amount of rares, though, so while you'll unlock rares quite often the chance of it being any particular one is vanishingly small.

No, that's not what I meant. I meant that I've gotten the ultra-rare characters at a noticeably faster rate than ultra-rare weapons in general, not any particular one specifically. Over the past couple of weeks I've gotten four ultra-rare character cards to one ultra-rare weapon upgrade, not counting the free one yesterday. I'd also swear that I never got ultra-rare weapons in the past at a rate remotely comparable what I have for the characters.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Counter query. Why do you call the Phoenix units ex-Cerberus? You don't call the batarians ex-slavers or the Krogan ex-mercenary. And the game itself refers to them as Phoenix [class].

Two reasons. At first, I didn't believe the "Phoenix" thing was an actual in-game term, but a fan one, since the actual announcement of the DLC (as opposed to the leak before it) referred to them as former Cerberus troops - now I know otherwise, obviously.

The second is simply that "Phoenix" sounds just wrong as the name of a Human character class to me (that was also part of why I didn't believe "Phoenix" to be an official term - I just couldn't see it being such). It's too strange and out of place for me, whereas Ex-Cerberus is at least an accurate description of them, and differentiates them from the original Human classes to avoid confusion that would be caused by just using their racial name.*

And of course I wouldn't call Batarians ex-slavers or Krogan ex-mercenaries. They have racial names, and not all Batarians are slavers nor all Krogan mercenaries.

*Speaking of, anyone else wish that Bioware would set those classes to be called something besides just "male human X" in the lobbies? Ditto for the Asari Justicar.

Zevox

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Zevox

*Speaking of, anyone else wish that Bioware would set those classes to be called something besides just "male human X" in the lobbies? Ditto for the Asari Justicar.

Zevox

YES. This was literally the first thing that popped into my head when I saw their slots for the first time. "Hmm, 'Human Male' Adepts and Vanguards. This won't get confusing at all. No sirree."

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

So, I've completed Earth Mastery and earned the dubious distinction of having more challenge points than N7 rating. Good times. On the downside, the single thing that stands between me and Cerberus Mastery is 83000 points of Nemeses. Anyone know which difficulty has the most?

Welcome, brother! And I know that feel. Reapers are sitting at 99% done – with husks at a solid 87%. My suggestion is to get a class that has large area powers (not just bursts) and spam those on gold. That's where you start getting waves of like, eight nemeses at once. Try solo, if you can do crazy damage with powers in an area and then split you'll be okay. Also, it's points, not kills, so it is entirely possible to get a little extra by not killing them before their shields come back since its base on damage inflicted. Not a sound strategy but technically possible.

What are your thoughts on the Earth Mastery banner? I find it to be one of the best looking ones myself. That alliance symbol is sexy.

Originally Posted by Psyren

I love the Indra, but then I've always been a big fan of "more dakka" weapons. (The Revenant is my most-used AR, even more than the Harrier, because of the magazine size.) I slapped it on the Destroyer, and with his fire rate upgrades I was tearing through mobs like butter. Still not a big fan of the Destroyer but that gun made it a little bit fun.

This isn't to say I don't enjoy slug-pounders either. The Widow is still my favorite sniper, and I love my Sabre (still only at VI sadly )

The destroyer exists to make weapons you would discount because of their limitations viable. And I find for dakka, the revenant is actually errrr than the typhoon. Fewer actual rounds but slower rate of fire, means you can just blast stuff without fear. Forever. It was a mainstay on my Krogan walldefensive fighting battlemaster.

Originally Posted by Zevox

Okay, I guess that sort of explains it. Except that now it makes me wonder why Bioware calls them that.

Game jargon. They are literally a kit you pick to go into battle with.

No, that's not what I meant. I meant that I've gotten the ultra-rare characters at a noticeably faster rate than ultra-rare weapons in general, not any particular one specifically. Over the past couple of weeks I've gotten four ultra-rare character cards to one ultra-rare weapon upgrade, not counting the free one yesterday. I'd also swear that I never got ultra-rare weapons in the past at a rate remotely comparable what I have for the characters.

Yeah. We know there is an order of priority – characters, guns, ammo, gear – and it seems to hold for ultra rare cards. Nine characters before any of the forty or do guns I still lack? Rigged.

Two reasons. At first, I didn't believe the "Phoenix" thing was an actual in-game term, but a fan one, since the actual announcement of the DLC (as opposed to the leak before it) referred to them as former Cerberus troops - now I know otherwise, obviously.

The second is simply that "Phoenix" sounds just wrong as the name of a Human character class to me (that was also part of why I didn't believe "Phoenix" to be an official term - I just couldn't see it being such). It's too strange and out of place for me, whereas Ex-Cerberus is at least an accurate description of them, and differentiates them from the original Human classes to avoid confusion that would be caused by just using their racial name.*

And of course I wouldn't call Batarians ex-slavers or Krogan ex-mercenaries. They have racial names, and not all Batarians are slavers nor all Krogan mercenaries.

All good reasons. I would argue that the Phoenix units are no longer human, in the same way a husk is not. They are cyborgs, to a greater degree than anyone else save Shepard hirself.

*Speaking of, anyone else wish that Bioware would set those classes to be called something besides just "male human X" in the lobbies? Ditto for the Asari Justicar.

Zevox

Nah. Either you don't care a lick, or you are going to look at their guns and equipment. And if you do you will also see their powers. If you are fighting with an Asari adept and fail to notice the biotic sphere/pull/reave listed under their load out that's your bad for not looking. The info is there, though.

[Morty]

I went through a whole Silver match with a Human Soldier using the Indra, and it worked well - I topped the score board. Which isn't bad given that the Human Soldier is so-so and I was suffering from lag. Of course, a lot of it was spamming Frag Grenades.
And I got Piranha II for my pains. I guess I might actually use it, but I have no idea on which class...

[Corvus]

This weekends operation is Operation Blast Furnace.

Operation BLAST FURNACE (Nov. 9th – 11th)

Event Description: Resistance movements across the galaxy continue to fight. We will provide these groups with literal firepower, allowing them to stand their ground and protect our homeworlds.

Individual Goal: Earn 75000 points of damage using fire-based powers (Incinerate, Carnage, Inferno Grenade, Flamer, Sentry Turret Flamethrower, Geth Turret Flamethrower) on any map at any difficulty. Points are cumulative across matches. Extraction not required.

Reward: Commendation Pack

[Morty]

Looks like a job for my Krogan Soldier. Between Inferno Grenade, Carnage and fire explosions this should be easy.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Game jargon. They are literally a kit you pick to go into battle with.

That's some pretty strange game jargon. Never heard of it anywhere else before. Is it something from shooters or somesuch?

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Yeah. We know there is an order of priority – characters, guns, ammo, gear – and it seems to hold for ultra rare cards. Nine characters before any of the forty or do guns I still lack? Rigged.

I don't think that normal rares prioritize characters over guns - else it wouldn't be so hard to unlock new characters before maxing out all the guns. For ultra-rares that does seem to be the case, though.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

All good reasons. I would argue that the Phoenix units are no longer human, in the same way a husk is not. They are cyborgs, to a greater degree than anyone else save Shepard hirself.

And I would argue that being a cyborg doesn't make them no longer human, just humans with mechanical parts. *shrugs*

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Nah. Either you don't care a lick, or you are going to look at their guns and equipment. And if you do you will also see their powers. If you are fighting with an Asari adept and fail to notice the biotic sphere/pull/reave listed under their load out that's your bad for not looking. The info is there, though.

Yes, I know you can check that. It's a tad annoying that you need to, when you can tell instantly with everything else. And the developers must have noticed it, since future classes that could have suffered from the same problem, like the male Quarians or the new Turian Soldier, actually have distinct names in the lobbies rather than just race + class.

Originally Posted by Corvus

This weekends operation is Operation Blast Furnace.

Operation BLAST FURNACE (Nov. 9th – 11th)

Event Description: Resistance movements across the galaxy continue to fight. We will provide these groups with literal firepower, allowing them to stand their ground and protect our homeworlds.

Individual Goal: Earn 75000 points of damage using fire-based powers (Incinerate, Carnage, Inferno Grenade, Flamer, Sentry Turret Flamethrower, Geth Turret Flamethrower) on any map at any difficulty. Points are cumulative across matches. Extraction not required.

Reward: Commendation Pack

Anybody else get the feeling that they're not even trying to make these a challenge anymore? Earn points with Charge last week, earn points with any fire power this week, that's two in a row you can get very easily just by playing a class with the appropriate power.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Hey, just got back into multiplayer, haven't played since that first content patch with the Geth and Batarians.

Just unlocked a Volus, and I was wondering about their cover mechanics. I can't seem to be able to use cover with them; what are they getting to compensate for that?

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

Hey, just got back into multiplayer, haven't played since that first content patch with the Geth and Batarians.

Just unlocked a Volus, and I was wondering about their cover mechanics. I can't seem to be able to use cover with them; what are they getting to compensate for that?

You are correct, Volus cannot use cover. They are a uniquely vulnerable race, between that and having the lowest health in the game (average shields though).

To compensate, they have their small size, which helps them get the benefits of cover by simply standing near it more easily, and their Shield Boost power, which is amazing and you should be using basically any time you're taking fire. Also, hitting the button to do a normal melee attack instead causes them to cloak, although only for a brief period of time, which can help them escape enemy attention. Their heavy melee is also some kind of barrier, though I'm not clear on how exactly it works and haven't tried to use it much.

Which Volus did you get, incidentally? From what I've seen so far, the Engineer is easier to use than the Adept, although I did only get the Adept last night.

Zevox

[Tome]

Originally Posted by Zevox

Their heavy melee is also some kind of barrier, though I'm not clear on how exactly it works and haven't tried to use it much.

I haven't done any test to check for damage reduction so I'm not sure if it actually does anything along those lines, but the Volus shield bubble does provide both shield regen and an AOE damage pulse.

Circumstantial, but immensely useful if you just got tagged by an Atlas rocket or Banshee warp and Shield Boost is on cooldown as the shield regen will cancel out that lethal damage over time effect. A quick pulse can also knock back Husks or provide that last sliver of damage to finish an enemy when you don't feel like wasting ammo.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Morty

I went through a whole Silver match with a Human Soldier using the Indra, and it worked well - I topped the score board. Which isn't bad given that the Human Soldier is so-so and I was suffering from lag. Of course, a lot of it was spamming Frag Grenades.
And I got Piranha II for my pains. I guess I might actually use it, but I have no idea on which class...

All of them. Eventually, it gets light enough to use on all but the most time-critical casting classes. It's a little weaker now that it has a clip of 6 shots, but it is still pretty solid. Any class that does not [b]require[b] maximum possible range, or maximum possible power speed, can benefit from the piranha. Kind of like how in the old days you would see adepts running around with geth plasma shotguns.

Originally Posted by Zevox

That's some pretty strange game jargon. Never heard of it anywhere else before. Is it something from shooters or somesuch?

It's been in use since Gauntlet: Legends was out in the arcade, and rocking the N64, so no. Any time you have five different humans whose only distinguishing features are their loadout, they are each referred to as being a different human kit.

I don't think that normal rares prioritize characters over guns - else it wouldn't be so hard to unlock new characters before maxing out all the guns. For ultra-rares that does seem to be the case, though.

Your own past statements dissagree, otherwise you would have gotten more guns instead of yet another Krogan Soldier appearance option, etc.

And I would argue that being a cyborg doesn't make them no longer human, just humans with mechanical parts. *shrugs*

I would too, except given the techno-organic nature of the cybernetic enhancements in question due to reaper tech being a form of assimilation. A husk is not a cyborg human, it is a husk. If a marauder and a turian get jiggy, there is every possible chance that the resultant offspring would be a marauder, not a hybrid.

They breed true, and they are modified, mechanically and probably genetically, outside of the human norm. The phoenix are those who left the program and defected before they were entirely mutated, remember.

Yes, I know you can check that. It's a tad annoying that you need to, when you can tell instantly with everything else. And the developers must have noticed it, since future classes that could have suffered from the same problem, like the male Quarians or the new Turian Soldier, actually have distinct names in the lobbies rather than just race + class.

Err, no. They don't have unique tags, just unique gender listings. SO do the base two humans. For the quarians, at least. Ghost INfiltrator I chalk up to them not being infiltrators, but them having to fit into one of the archetypes and being forced.

Anybody else get the feeling that they're not even trying to make these a challenge anymore? Earn points with Charge last week, earn points with any fire power this week, that's two in a row you can get very easily just by playing a class with the appropriate power.

Zevox

You are comparing these to such gems as "One guy must extract while everyone is retaliation kit" and "get one extraction on gold" which are equally silly, right? Or are you comparing them to the combination community and squad level events, which would naturally seem more complicated if you assume they are a single goalpost and not two separate missions in one?

[Luzahn]

Originally Posted by Zevox

Which Volus did you get, incidentally? From what I've seen so far, the Engineer is easier to use than the Adept, although I did only get the Adept last night.

Zevox

Engineer. So far I've maxed out the sentry mine ability(if that's the name), and it seems pretty effective. I was planning on ignoring proximity mine with him and running shield boost and that along with the two bottom skill trees, but I've never played an engineer competently before, maybe I'd be better off running it as a caster.

He is only level 11 at the moment, as I am terrible and have only played an engineer once.

[Tome]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

Engineer. So far I've maxed out the sentry mine ability(if that's the name), and it seems pretty effective. I was planning on ignoring proximity mine with him and running shield boost and that along with the two bottom skill trees, but I've never played an engineer competently before, maybe I'd be better off running it as a caster.

He is only level 11 at the moment, as I am terrible and have only played an engineer once.

Proximity Mine is very good, I'd advise against skipping it. Particularly the rank 5 evolution that debuffs enemies (*hint* which stacks with the same effect on Recon Mine *hint*). It also has a much shorter cooldown than Recon Mine, making it better for using offensively.

The skill you can safely skip on the Volus is Fitness. With how fragile they are it doesn't really make much difference. Cloak and Shield Boost are what keeps a Volus alive - which is another reason why using Recon Mine for your offence is a bad idea, the long cooldown leaves you vulnerable when you can't use Shield Boost.

I use a 6/6/6/6/0 setup myself, but 6/6/6/5/3 is also good. Bring a decent lightweight gun, throw your Recon Mine into whatever area is going to be your killzone and then use Proxy Mine and Shield Boost to support your team (also, remember to shoot things a bit in between powers).