Mass Effect 3.7: "That was for Thane"

[Luzahn]

Hmm, interesting. Hopefully I havent spoiled him much already. I had him running with a reasonably light shotgun, but pistol would probably be better running three abilities.

Edit: Ah damn, two ranks in fitness. May still work.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

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

My own past statements also include mentions of me getting weapons ranks in things I don't use. In point of fact, I've actually taken to tracking what I have of late, so that I know which DLCs to use when getting packs to increase the odds of getting something I want. And I definitely have far more weapon ranks (over 120 total in rares/URs) than character classes/appearance unlocks (66 total in rares/URs).

Originally Posted by SiuiS

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.

Meh, a Husk is just a zombie animated by technology instead of magic. Doesn't even count as alive. Merely having Reaper tech cybernetics does not a Husk make.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

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?

Requiring a minimum difficulty of gold sets an actual challenge for those not great at the game. Requiring everyone to use a certain class requires at least some coordination between players (barring getting lucky), though admittedly it's a pretty weak one.

Looking over the list on the wiki, okay, most of the non-community objectives have been fairly weak. There were a few gold-required ones though, as well as one requiring the team to use no expendables through the end of wave 10, and several requiring full extraction, so there was some challenge to some of them.

These are still different though. Most of those required successful matches, and often required the participation of the team in some way. Here, it's just an individual player earning points with a specific ability. You can lose all day and still get it. It's just... well, basically no different from those silly achievements, except with an actual reward. It's a goal you probably meet every time you play anyway, unless you don't play the classes that qualify at all.

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.

Recon Mine is the power in question. It is quite handy, to be sure. Did you take Penetrating Scan at rank 6? Makes it extremely useful if you know where the enemies will come from on the map you're playing on. Just set it there and let it weaken and slow everything for people to mow down.

I've been running mine 6/6/6/6/0 myself. Others here advised me that Fitness is pretty useless when you have shield boost, and I can't say they're wrong, though there have been times when having higher shields could've saved me because of cooldowns or because I popped Shield Boost a moment too late. The rank 6 upgrade from his class power that lowers weapon weight is nice to have too, since the Volus have lower weight capacity than other races.

Zevox

[Beowulf DW]

I just opened the N7 loyalty pack, not expecting all that much. Then I get the Scorpion, at last. Strange how I always seem to get things when I'm not trying to get them.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Beowulf DW

I just opened the N7 loyalty pack, not expecting all that much. Then I get the Scorpion, at last. Strange how I always seem to get things when I'm not trying to get them.

...this forum's smileys do not convey jealousy and frustration well.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Hmmm....Any ideas as to which is least detrimental to lose for the Volus Engineer - Rank 6 Shield Boost, Proximity Mines, or Volus Training.

I'm leaning training because the only weapon I'm currently running is the Geth plasma SMG, which has a reasonably weight already.

If I do get rank 6 Proximity mines, I think I'll go for damage boost over recharge. 1/3 of a second isn't all that useful, especially considering the nature of the plasma SMG.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

Hmmm....Any ideas as to which is least detrimental to lose for the Volus Engineer - Rank 6 Shield Boost, Proximity Mines, or Volus Training.

I'm leaning training because the only weapon I'm currently running is the Geth plasma SMG, which has a reasonably weight already.

Probably that, yeah. Proximity Mine can get you more damage or recharge speed, either of which is quite good. Shield Boost you definitely want maxed out, for as much protection as you can muster. Class talent 6 is nice, but you can certainly do without if you're sticking to the lightest weapons like that anyway.

A tip: at class talent 5, take the Shield Boost enhancing one. Shield Boost is just that important. Also, in case you don't have ranks in it yet and haven't noticed, Shield Boost is an AoE skill, so you can use it on your allies as well, even if you don't take the radius upgrade at 4. Makes the Volus great support characters, especially during king-of-the-hill or escort objectives.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Thanks for the help, playing support like this is actually pretty fun.

Very satisfying to see a mob of ten collectors light up and promptly be gunned down. By the way, can other players see the recon mine's effect on the enemies?

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

Thanks for the help, playing support like this is actually pretty fun.

Very satisfying to see a mob of ten collectors light up and promptly be gunned down. By the way, can other players see the recon mine's effect on the enemies?

Yep. It's like the male Quarians' Tactical Scan ability - lets everyone see those affected by it. Quite nice against invisible enemies or Cerberus smoke.

Zevox

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Zevox

...this forum's smileys do not convey jealousy and frustration well.

Zevox

I personally add a few more smileys, i.e. to the beginning, and adding somewhere in the middle, like so:

Also, typing out "RAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEGGGG!!!!!" helps get most of it out.

[Luzahn]

I got a Black Widow yesterday from the November 7th event. It seems excellent, but I keep compulsively reloading after every shot. Which kind of defeats the purpose.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

I got a Black Widow yesterday from the November 7th event. It seems excellent, but I keep compulsively reloading after every shot. Which kind of defeats the purpose.

I did as well. The problem is that it's two things I don't like - a sniper rifle, and too heavy to put on a caster even if I used sniper rifles.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

I've never really liked sniper rifles on casters. Don't want to risk out-ranging my abilities. That and they seem to be the heaviest slot.

What I really need a nice caster shotgun... Is that Asari shotgun from the singleplayer in the multiplayer by any chance? It's the lightest one I can remember.

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

I've never really liked sniper rifles on casters. Don't want to risk out-ranging my abilities. That and they seem to be the heaviest slot.

What I really need a nice caster shotgun... Is that Asari shotgun from the singleplayer in the multiplayer by any chance? It's the lightest one I can remember.

Ayup. The Disciple. Although it gets outclassed by first the Eviscerator, then the Wraith, once those start to get higher in level.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

What I really need a nice caster shotgun... Is that Asari shotgun from the singleplayer in the multiplayer by any chance? It's the lightest one I can remember.

Yep, as Landis said. However, it is a rare, and other shotguns that are easier to acquire get light-weight enough to get you near no impact on cooldown once ranked up, such as the Eviscerator (my default choice on my Vanguards), the Scimitar, and even the common Katana.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Hmm, interesting. I think I have the Eviscerator, but sadly it's pretty low level. Maybe I should start buying non-Spectre packs.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

Hmm, interesting. I think I have the Eviscerator, but sadly it's pretty low level. Maybe I should start buying non-Spectre packs.

If you haven't yet, spamming Recruit packs until you max out your common weapons and mods is a good idea. The Katana is an okay shotgun until you rank up the Eviscerator, the Avenger at rank 10 gets you 200% cooldown and is a decent all-around weapon, the Predator is a decent backup weapon, and I'm told the Mantis is a good sniper rifle even once you have others.

You can do the same with Veteran packs to max out uncommons, which I just did recently, though that will obviously take longer than the commons, both because the packs cost 4x more and because there's a lot more uncommons than commons. Gets you some good weapons at a low weight though.

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Most of my previous efforts revolved around getting new races, I've likely neglected weaponry for too long.

[Zevox]

Woot! Well, today has actually been a good day for me pack-wise.

Earlier I picked up the Collector SMG. Took it for a spin - given enough ranks, it could become a favorite of mine. For now it seems a bit lacking in damage, and I had some trouble with the spread of the shots, but that can be learned. Ammo regeneration rate was all kinds of amazing. Still, even with that, I felt the actual amount of ammo it carried was too low - hold down the trigger for more than a brief moment and you'll be out of ammo and need to go through the long "reload" animation in no time. More ranks should help there though, so I'll try the it out again if/when I get some of those.

And just recently I nabbed not one, but two new classes: the Krogan Shaman and Turian Havoc Soldier. Hell yes ! Already specced the Krogan out - pretty straightforward 6/6/6/5/3 build - but I'd like some advice on the Turian. Namely on how to spec Havoc Strike, and whether Cryo Blast is worth taking. Obviously I'm familiar with Cryo Blast on my Quarian Engineer, but lacking Incinerate to combine it with, it seems more questionable here. As for Havoc Strike, I'll probably take damage at rank 4, but 5 and 6 make me hesitate, so any advice on those would be appreciated.

(And since I know someone will bring it up: yes, I've said before that I don't play Soldiers. But lets face it, the Turian Havoc is basically a Vanguard - Havoc Strike is Charge without the shield regeneration, and the Stim Packs conveniently give him that anyway. And heck, he's a more interesting new Vanguard than the Batarian Brawler.)

Heck, even one of my crap rare pulls today was a plus in its own way - I got the last appearance option for the Krogan Sentinel, removing it from circulation in these packs forever.

Zevox

[Dhavaer]

Go for weapon synergy and incendiary strike on Havoc Strike. Slap on Warfighter gear and a Striker and you are all the explosions.

[Edge]

My advice for the Havoc: skip Fitness, max out everything else. Extra base shields don't matter too much when you can have 2000, 3200 or 4000 shields on demand (based on how you spec Stimulant Kit).

Don't overlook the usefulness of Cryo Blast's debuff when paired with a good assault rifle, either.

Currently, my Havoc is specced thusly:

Stimulant Kit 6: Damage, Duration, Weapon Damage. This is based on me having Grenade Capacity V though, so Duration is negotiable.

Cryo Blast 6: Radius, Cryo Explosion, Frozen Vulnerability.

Havoc Strike 6: Cooldown, Weapon Synergy, Incendiary Strike.

Armiger Legion 6: Damage & Stability, Headshots, Damage & Stability.

[Strife Warzeal]

I got the Asari Valkyrie and there is one part of the build that I don't know what to spec with. Admittedly this is a problem I had with the Fury too, but what should I do with rank 6 of Annihilation Field? Is the Draining ability (and duration boost) worth it? As the boost to damage and explosion capability sound good.

What's people's experiences with it?

[CreganTur]

Damage and Explosion is always my choice. I can prime and detonate Phantoms, even with their silly little bubble, using the field. On lower difficulties it lets me walk up to enemies and mass prime/mass detonate. On Gold or above it gives me a great way to damage/prime/detonate anything that gets close to me when I'm in cover or anything that might sneak up on me (Hunters).

[Edge]

Always, always pick Drain on rank 6 of Annihilation Field, for one good reason. It isn't the damage that Annihilation Field does to shielded/barriered targets that restores your barriers, it's any damage from any source to such targets that are currently effected by your Annihilation Field. Thus, if you're stood next to say, a Banshee, and someone snipes all her barriers off with a Javelin, your barriers will fully replenish.

Works wonders with biotic detonations the Field sets up as well, since the explosion damage also restores your barriers.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

Go for weapon synergy and incendiary strike on Havoc Strike. Slap on Warfighter gear and a Striker and you are all the explosions.

Striker is a bit heavier than I'd want to put on a class that'll use powers much, at least unless I grab the class talent 6 reduction to AR weight. I was figuring on using a Phaeston or Mattock until I get a Grenade Capacity or Shotgun Damage/Grenade Capacity gear (since I do have the Warfighter gear, if only at rank 1, but neither of those), and then switching to a shotgun and backup pistol like I use on my non-Krogan Vanguards.

Originally Posted by Edge

My advice for the Havoc: skip Fitness, max out everything else. Extra base shields don't matter too much when you can have 2000, 3200 or 4000 shields on demand (based on how you spec Stimulant Kit).

Don't overlook the usefulness of Cryo Blast's debuff when paired with a good assault rifle, either.

Currently, my Havoc is specced thusly:

Stimulant Kit 6: Damage, Duration, Weapon Damage. This is based on me having Grenade Capacity V though, so Duration is negotiable.

Cryo Blast 6: Radius, Cryo Explosion, Frozen Vulnerability.

Havoc Strike 6: Cooldown, Weapon Synergy, Incendiary Strike.

Armiger Legion 6: Damage & Stability, Headshots, Damage & Stability.

Eeeeh. I am rather wary of that idea, since as mentioned above, my only + grenade capacity gear is a rank 1 Warfighter, so I will likely run out of stim packs at times. Also, I already specced my Stim Packs out last night, for maximum shields and the extra capacity - again, I'm looking at this like a Vanguard, so my major concern with those is survival, not damage. And that's pretty much the exact opposite of how I'd spec Armiger Legion, especially the headshots, which I'm awful at.

That is my standard Cryo Blast spec though - although recently I've been thinking that I should swap Radius for Duration, since I almost never get multiple targets with the same Cryo Blast even with that Radius boost.

I see you're both recommending Weapon Synergy and Incendiary Strike on Havoc Strike though, so I take it the class doesn't benefit so much from the melee boost, and the area on Incendiary Strike is preferable to the damage boost?

Zevox

[Luzahn]

Hm. Firebase Jade is not very friendly to snipers.

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

Hm. Firebase Jade is not very friendly to snipers.

To be fair, very few maps are. Only Dagger, Rio, and maybe Hydra have semi-useful sniper perches barring any powers capable of throwing up obstacles, e.g. turrets, mines, decoys, etc. Once those come into play you can technically make a sniper perch anywhere with two entrances and a good overview.

[Luzahn]

By the way, was any non-singleplayer purpose ever attached to promoting your level 20s?

[Mr._Blinky]

Just wanted to put in my two cents about the Armiger Legion Turians, after having played a lot with the Ghost specced multiple ways:

A lot of people are suggesting going with Stim Packs at 6 specced for damage, and no points in Fitness; I disagree with this, and would instead recommend putting Stimulant Packs at 5, speccing for Shields and Duration, and then put the leftover points into Fitness. The reason is that one Gold those 3 points of fitness are actually extremely important when fighting enemies like Rocket Troopers and Atlases. I originally had my Ghost specced the same way everyone else is suggesting, and for the same reasons, and I found it far too common that I would get hit by something strong enough to take down my shields in one shot and then get taken down by automatic fire before I had time to jam a Stim Pack; as insignificant as they may seem, those three points of Fitness are generally exactly what you need on Gold to buy you that extra half-second to heal yourself, which increases your survivability drastically.

As for Shields over Damage when speccing the Stim Packs, this basically comes down to the fact that even with them fully specced for damage the total bonus to weapons only comes out to 27.5%. That's a big bonus, until you consider the following things: A) Your Turian Ghost especially and to a lesser extent your Havoc should already have so many bonuses to damage that the 27.5% is only a fraction of the total, even if a big one, B) Because even with Warfighter V you only have 4 Stim Packs, and on Gold there will be times when you need all four of those to save yourself, constantly jamming Stim Packs to get a temporary bonus to damage is an easy way to run out of them when you need them, and C) Even if you chose Grenade Capacity V to counteract the above, that means you're missing the 12.5% constant damage bonus from Warfighter, meaning it ultimately isn't much of a difference.

Once I respecced with all the above in mind I found myself performing a lot better. While there is a decrease in damage output, I'm doing so much damage either way that I barely noticed the drop, but at the same time I did notice a drastic increase in my survival rate. The fact that Banshee warps and Atlas missiles no longer drop my shields instantly means that I have that extra half a second I need to hit Stim Pack, which has seriously decreased the frequency of getting dropped by surprise. The extra shields from the Stim Packs also means I'm capable of tanking through a group of enemies, so if I'm backed into a corner I can escape even if my Tactical Cloak is on cool-down.

[Morty]

Does anyone know if fire explosions count for the purposes of the current challenge? I managed to get one-third of the required points in a Silver match with my Krogan Soldier, but I'm not sure if the explosions contributed or if it only Carnage and Inferno Grenade kills counted.

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Luzahn

By the way, was any non-singleplayer purpose ever attached to promoting your level 20s?

Raising your N7 rating. That's about it.