Mass Effect 3.7: "That was for Thane"

[CreganTur]

I'm CreganTur on the xbox if anyone wants to try to team up. I'm available late at night EST.

[Morty]

The bug with invisible enemies is gone. I suppose it was just a glitch with my Internet connection.
The Krogan Soldier was fun. I smashed things with melee, blew them with a shotgun and burned with grenades. Inferno Grenades are surprisingly effective at rank 4. They don't do much damage immediately, but the damage over time effect is impressive.
Not sure if the Claymore is a good choice of weapon, though. I feel as though I'd be better off with the Eviscerator. It's a lot more versatile.

[Krade]

Originally Posted by Morty

Not sure if the Claymore is a good choice of weapon, though. I feel as though I'd be better off with the Eviscerator. It's a lot more versatile.

You may have read our discussion on the Claymore a couple pages back, but I'll fill you in.

The thing with the Claymore is for it to be as/more effective than other shotguns, you NEED to not miss and reload cancel. If you can do that effectively, it's an extremely potent weapon. Otherwise... not so much.

[YakYak]

Fun fact: Adrenaline Surge automatically relaods your weapon instantly, which has saved my life more than once. Actually, I did some goofing around on the Citadel firing range, and I got a Geth pulse rifle with extended mags V to fire continuously until it ran out of ammo, by spamming Adrenaline Surge, which reloaded it right when the magazine was getting to 20 rounds.

[Triscuitable]

Adrenaline Surge + Scimitar = Very, very powerful attacks. I've downed more enemies than I can count with that simple combo.

Cloak + Sabotage + N7 Valiant also does the trick.

[Morty]

I'm aware that Adrenaline Rush reloads your weapon. Sadly, it doesn't apply to the Krogan Soldier. So, yeah. I'll switch to another shotgun. This way I'll also be able to use Carnage more often.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Morty

I'm aware that Adrenaline Rush reloads your weapon. Sadly, it doesn't apply to the Krogan Soldier. So, yeah. I'll switch to another shotgun. This way I'll also be able to use Carnage more often.

The problem is that Carnage is horribly lacklustre, even against armour.

For that reason, I skip it entirely on my Krogan Soldier, max out Inferno Grenades, and never worry about cooldown on him ever again.

[Beowulf DW]

Originally Posted by Triscuitable

Adrenaline Surge + Scimitar = Very, very powerful attacks. I've downed more enemies than I can count with that simple combo.

Cloak + Sabotage + N7 Valiant also does the trick.

The Scimitar is the one shotgun I have that always seems useful. I got through a Gold match quite handily with a Scimitar on my novaguard. Using the smart choke makes it remarkably more accurate. I barely even had to use my Phalanx at all.

[Morty]

Originally Posted by Edge

The problem is that Carnage is horribly lacklustre, even against armour.

For that reason, I skip it entirely on my Krogan Soldier, max out Inferno Grenades, and never worry about cooldown on him ever again.

I've found Carnage pretty decent, myself.

[Triscuitable]

Originally Posted by Beowulf DW

The Scimitar is the one shotgun I have that always seems useful. I got through a Gold match quite handily with a Scimitar on my novaguard. Using the smart choke makes it remarkably more accurate. I barely even had to use my Phalanx at all.

Vanguard: Eviscerator + Acolyte
Soldier: Scimitar + That one GL assault rifle I got recently
Sentinel: Scimitar + GL Assault Rifle
Infiltrator: Valiant

So, anyone on PC this weekend wanna snag that challenge? I propose a team of all-Quarians or Turians. I've got a Turian Soldier and Sentinel, and a Quarian (Female) Infiltrator.

[Morty]

Uh, what challenge is that? I literally started playing again today, so I'm out of the loop...

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Morty

Uh, what challenge is that? I literally started playing again today, so I'm out of the loop...

Operation: Patriot

Operation: PATRIOT (Sept. 21st – 23rd)

Cerberus continues to put pressure on our troops, hindering our fight against the Reapers. Our allies have committed their top military units to target Cerberus’ most valuable assets: their Atlas Mechs.

Squad Goal: Extraction on any difficulty with all squad members as the same non-human race. Requires 2 or more players in squad.

Allied Goal: Kill 600,000 Atlas Mechs on any map at any difficulty.

Special Circumstances: Escort Drones travel speed reduced.

Squad Goal Success: All squad members awarded a Commendation Pack.
Allied Goal Success: All players awarded a Victory Pack.

Emphasis mine.

[Morty]

Hm. Sounds like something that needs coordination. I'm up for it, although I don't have many people from here on my friends list. I did sign up for the list, though.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

From what I've been hearing on the Bioware forums, your impression is right. Apparently it's too inaccurate and has too much recoil to be used at range, and fires too slowly to be used up close. Sort of like if the Wraith were an assault rifle.

Now I wouldn't go that far. At rank 1 it was just below a one burst kill weapon, with extended barrel and recoil reducers. It is poewrful, and it is pretty accurate, even when scoped in,its just surprisingly stcatto with it's recoil.

Originally Posted by Morty

So, I played a few matches, earned 60000 credits and went to buy a Spectre Pack, not expecting much. Turns out, I finally got a Krogan Soldier. About time. Now I'm not sure how to allocate this guy's skills, since he starts out at level 20. Should I pick either Carnage or Inferno Grenade or rather split my points between both? I think I'll give him the Claymore shotgun with an increased clip and blade attachment.
EDIT: I ended up putting 4 points in Carnage and Inferno Grenade and maxing everything else. However, for some reason I can't see the enemy when I play.

ouch, tough glitch.

the "Best" krogan soldier uses a heavy weapon with a melee attachment (Claymore used to be the best, now not so much due to the assault rifle omniblade attachment), Foritification spec'd for melee damage boosting, and inferno grenades and Rage. the grenades have the advantage of not needing a cooldown, although carnage works because the claymore alone is pretty light on a krogan.

The claymore is a decent gun. With a smart choke its got more range than the revenant, and way more kick. The slow reload hurts, but it isn't too bad.

Originally Posted by Psyren

Tried the Locust on Gold - still sucks. I can't even really call it a caster weapon; Either you easily outdamage it without firing a shot (biotics) or you have the capacity for heavier, and much better, guns anyway (engineers/sentinels). I guess it's nice leveling up before you have your passive but once you can carry something heavier, toss it.

I have my Fury carry it (it still looks pretty sexy) but it gathers dust at her hip.

The headshot damage boost was nice, I found. It boils down to a free 50% damage boost over every other gun.... Not sure if that is sufficient to make it useable though.

Originally Posted by Krade

You may have read our discussion on the Claymore a couple pages back, but I'll fill you in.

The thing with the Claymore is for it to be as/more effective than other shotguns, you NEED to not miss and reload cancel. If you can do that effectively, it's an extremely potent weapon. Otherwise... not so much.

Yes.

Also, the claymore is more accurate when hip fired.
So is the piranha, actually. When hip-fired, it is almnost as accurate as the claymore, sending out a perfect circle of beads. Whe you scope in, the firing pattern becomes much more erratic.

Originally Posted by Edge

The problem is that Carnage is horribly lacklustre, even against armour.

For that reason, I skip it entirely on my Krogan Soldier, max out Inferno Grenades, and never worry about cooldown on him ever again.

I found this to be backwards, myself. With a sufficient cooldown, carnage is a fun and useful power. Though I'm using it on the Battlemaster, so that may influence things.
One of the best parts of being a Battlemaster is hitting a dude with carnage, and then following up with a biotic charge from long range. Presage your arrival with an incendiary explosion

Originally Posted by Morty

Hm. Sounds like something that needs coordination. I'm up for it, although I don't have many people from here on my friends list. I did sign up for the list, though.

What system? I'm pretty sure you are on there though.

[Morty]

I am on the list, yes. I gave my data back before I took my long break. The "no vanguards" note should be removed though, as I warmed up to the class, especially the Krogan Battlemaster.
As for the Krogan Soldier... I'll stick to my build for now and experiment with weapons. I have a respecialization card if I decide to scrap Carnage. Speaking of which, it seems that the respecialization cards are more common now - grey instead of gold. Or am I mixing something up?

[Krade]

Originally Posted by Morty

Speaking of which, it seems that the respecialization cards are more common now - grey instead of gold. Or am I mixing something up?

Yes. They reduced the rarirty to Uncommon some time ago.

So if anyone needs to build a team on Xbox to do the challenge, let me know. I'll be online most of today (Borderlands 2, of course) so don't be afraid to drop me a message/invite.

[Landis963]

So I just specced an Asari Justicar adept up to lv. 20 readiness. I also have a lv. 18 Infiltrator in Salarian, Geth, or Quarian (Fem, IIRC), and several other aliens in low-level classes. Note that Adept is the only class of mine that is lv. 20 and ready to promote. Should I spec/grind anything else?

[Morty]

Originally Posted by Krade

Yes. They reduced the rarirty to Uncommon some time ago.

That's good. Finally I don't have to fret before assigning each point.
Speaking of assigning points... I've unlocked another character. Either I'm lucky or they've increased the likelyhood of finding them. This time it's the N7 Shadow. I'm not sure how to approach it yet... it looks rather strange.

[Tome]

Originally Posted by Morty

That's good. Finally I don't have to fret before assigning each point.
Speaking of assigning points... I've unlocked another character. Either I'm lucky or they've increased the likelyhood of finding them. This time it's the N7 Shadow. I'm not sure how to approach it yet... it looks rather strange.

They're the melee Infiltrator, essentially. Two ways to do them, either focus on Electric Slash or on Shadow Strike (and by extension, melee).

I prefer Shadow Strike, personally. Other classes have a strong shockwave-style ability, but nobody else can pull off cloak-and-teleport thing that a Shadow can do. Get all the melee and power damage boosts you can (ignore the description, both of them boost Shadow Strike damage), go duration/melee/two powers for your cloak and just teleport around the map while invisible. It's pretty fun.

[Morty]

Hm. With that setup, I take it I should ignore Electric Slash.

[Edge]

Alternatively, you can skip the Shadow's class passive and max out everything else. You lose some damage on your powers, but I find that the flexibility more than makes up for it.

[Morty]

I guess I might try that. If it doesn't work, I'll respec. What sort of weapons would you recommend?

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Morty

I guess I might try that. If it doesn't work, I'll respec. What sort of weapons would you recommend?

I personally run a Phalanx with an extended barrel and melee stunner. Means I have 200% cooldown, a decent sidearm if absolutely necessary, and a nice damage boost to melee (and thus Shadow Strike).

[Morty]

Alright. So on level 15, I have everything on 5 except for the N7 Shadow passive which I've skipped. Let's see how it works...

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Morty

Hm. With that setup, I take it I should ignore Electric Slash.

I wouldn't ditch it entirely. You're going to get the most damage, and have the most versatility, with both powers of the class. Especially with the interplay; shadow strike can leave a damage over time effect, and electric slash can double the damage from a detonation.

I've tried using a pure shadow strike build, and I've tried a pure electric slash build, and neither of them were as useful as having both - even with just a token three ranks in one or the other. Despite the numbers, having a crazy strong shadow strike is limited in utility. Electric slash is more fictional as a solo power but that's boring.

Myself, I used an assault rifle - the geth pulse rifle with an omniblade attachment and an armor piercing mod. 200%, enhanced ammo capacity (with ammo expendables) and thus an easier time staggering enemies with disruptor or incendiary ammo. It also looks cooler than the phalanx, though if I want a lightweight, strong automatic weapon with a melee booster I Gould probably use the Eagle.

Hey look! I found something useful to do with the eagle!

[Morty]

I just played in a Bronze match with my Shadow, using the build I'd picked. It was... sort of crazy good. Of course, it was Bronze, but the ease with which I picked off enemies with Shadow Strike was surprising.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Morty

I just played in a Bronze match with my Shadow, using the build I'd picked. It was... sort of crazy good. Of course, it was Bronze, but the ease with which I picked off enemies with Shadow Strike was surprising.

Now bear in mind that a Cloaked Electric Slash will one-shot three basic trooper enemies (Assault Troopers, Geth Troopers and Cannibals). Without any ranks in N7 Shadow.

[Morty]

I know, yeah. I tried it and it works pretty well. Quite effective against turrets, too.

[Insanealien]

I'm usually on around midday GMT.

Gitp Name: Insanealien
Platform: PC
Gamertag: Kalehn
Favourite characters: Turian Soldier, N7 Paladin, Shadow and Demolisher.

[Psyren]

Well, that wasn't hard. Squad goal completed twice.

First game was all Asari, Gold Ghost. Two adepts (I was one), a Justicar and a Vanguard. I was reminded very keenly of Benezia's quote "have you ever faced an Asari Commando unit before?" Clearly Cerberus hadn't, because we tore through them like tissue. I almost felt sorry for the Illusive Man; Phantoms have to be expensive to make.

Then a little later was all-Krogan(!!!), Gold, . Two battlemasters, a sentinel, and my soldier. This one was Geth on Vancouver. I was reminded, quite forcibly, how freaking tough Krogan are; It takes 3 rockets to drop my shields instead of one, and 6 prime bolts. (Hunters however are still far too lethal. I was amazed at how easily they cut through my defenses when every other unit may as well have been flicking rubber bands.) The stunlock potential geth have is a big problem though. But we made it, full extraction.