Gaming Mass Effect Series

I applaud your principles, sir. Unfortunately I'm not that strong-willed ...

 

Unfotunately, that's exactly what BEAWare is counting on.

 

THIS.

Since multiplayer in ME is pretty much glorified Horde mode so can get pretty old pretty quickly. If I'm playing alone I can only make it 1 or 2 games before I get too frustrated. But playing with friends makes things a lot more fun. At least then you know there'll be a little bit of teamwork and if you go down, someone's got your back.

Does anyone else play on PC? We should be friends on Origin and play some mp sometime. I'm kasanator on Origin.

 

This almost makes up for ME3's ending. Almost.

 

Well, I didn't pay a cent for KotOR I & II, picked up ME1 & 2 for cheap, and I'm not taken in by the siren song of TOR. I can afford to let them win a round or two.

 

Eh, I want to care about Omega and future dlc, but I just don't. Not enough to spend $15 on something that was cut from the game. Maybe if they get that stick out of their butts and actually fix the ending... Not that I'm counting on it at this point.

I'll look up playthroughs of it though. Worked well for Leviathan for me.

 

I've also heard rumors regarding folks getting snooty about teammates' weapon configurations and other factors - i.e. they're more in it to rack up points than just have fun.

 

I've heard rants about snipers getting upset about vanguards...they claim that biotic charge and nova "shake" the screen and makes them miss their shot.

It is also slightly annoying when you are close to killing an enemy and someone else swoops in and gets points for the kill. It's nice to still get the "assist" points, but not as satisfying, somehow.

I also get really annoyed when playing with people who think they're "soo good" (then why are you still playing on Bronze? I know I suck, so I'm allowed) and who refuse to heal fellow players...and then when you use medi-gel you're mocked for using medi-gel on a "bronze" match.

 

They pool all the points and divide them at the end so there's no difference in who gets the kills. People that complain about 'stealing kills' usually do not understand this.

 

Mostly what I've heard is people refusing to take players on if they have a "n00b" loadout - i.e. crap weapons or a power class carrying more guns than they should.

I might get into MP at some point, but right now I've decided to kill time by redoing most of ME2 with my femShep infiltrator. I originally only intended to do three characters (soldier, infiltrator, vanguard), and I was going to gun for the Destroy, Control, and Synthesis endings respectively. Ergo, the infiltrator neutron-bombed the Collector base. Now I want to redo that so she destroys it and does the Destroy ME3 ending, and also flirt with Kelly Chambers so my "sniper queen" can get a big fat weapon damage bonus in ME3 New Game+.

 

I see what you mean, but it is still slightly annoying to see the kill go to someone else. Also, while there might not be a difference points-wise, there is still a difference when it comes to the badges you get for kills.

That's the other problem I run into. I'm not that picky on what gun I carry as long as it does the job. And, playing on bronze, I really don't get enough points/money/whatever to buy the bigger packs to get the better guns.

 

Yeah. Playing on Bronze is a great way to learn new characters or try out different configurations when re-leveling something. Or to test out new guns. But configuration shouldn't make a difference, especially on Bronze. As long as you have an idea of what you're doing, fine. I can see how it would be necessary on Platinum, but that's intense stuff.

Also, the shop option of MP is terrible. I hate having to rely on pure luck to get something that might be useful to you. I have a crap ton of high level snipers rifles (some all the way to level X), but I NEVER use sniper rifles. So that's just useless. I'm still trying to get a decent level Carnifex. VI just isn't cutting it anymore. It's also frustrating trying to unlock new characters to play. Since I mostly play Silver matches (with a few on Gold if I'm having a good day on my Sentinal), it doesn't take quite as long to save up points, so I always spring for the Spectre packs (except for the few times I've gotten the weapons pack trying to pick up better shotguns or the Carnifex upgrade). Even then, I think I only have 2 of the new unlockable characters (the N7 Shadow and the Cerberus Vanguard).

 

With the Weapons Packs DLC, does your MP character automatically get those weapons or do you have to still unlock them?

 

Yeah, in SP I'm fond of occasionally trying out wacky loads. Since most of the N7 missions have opportunities both for sniping and knife-fighting I usually go in with a sniper/shotgun loadout. Since most are Cerberus, I typically pack the M-13 Raptor or M-90 Indra with an enhanced scope and a lightweight shotgun with a smart choke - that gives me a long range and a short range weapon that are both effective at intermediate range (I've been able to win close-quarter fights firing the Raptor from the hip). The exception was the N7: Fuel Reactors mission against Reapers; there even with a power class I bring a boomstick-level shotgun (GPS, Graal, or Claymore) and a scoped heavy pistol. That gives me a devastating close-range weapon and a precision backup for picking those blasted Marauders off.

I'm also not crazy about the difficulty level bit - on SP, I play normal. If I want more of a challenge, I just try to do things more efficiently (I believe I got through my most recent engineer playthrough with just 2 medigel uses - and none in the final fight, which may have been a first).

 

Another addition to the weapons locker ... http://blog.bioware.com/2012/10/16/groundside-resistance-weapon-pack/

 

Two things:

1) My brother is playing ME2 on 360 and he says he's not able to get some of the side missions to trigger. Is this a common issue and can be this be fixed?

2) I love love love the heavy pistol in ME2 that has the aiming laser thingy? Does it exist in ME3? I miss it.

 

1) Which side missions?

2) The M-5 Phalanx is in ME3 (acquired in Priority: Tuchanka and used by Thane and Samara in cutscenes), but it no longer has the laser sight. The individual shots are also significantly less powerful, but it carries more ammo and fires faster. Essentially, instead of a "sniper pistol" it's now a more powerful upgrade to the M-3 Predator. If you want the same feel, strap a scope and extended barrel on an M-6 Carnifex (or M-77 Paladin, if you're feeling spendy) and start capping bad guys at long range. From what I've seen the Executioner heavy pistol in the new DLC should be devastating in that fashion, provided you don't mind a single-shot weapon with just 15 rounds on reserve. It's basically the pistol version of the M-98 Widow.

Frankly, I never got the Firepower Pack for ME2, or the Equalizer and Aegis Packs for that matter. Reading up on it I wasn't that crazy about the idea of the Phalanx - i.e. a laser sight that I heard was difficult to see in some areas and had a short "boot-up" time. Same with the Mattock - in my book, sniper rifles (which I picked as the bonus talent for every class without them) are for precision semi-auto fire and assault rifles are meant to be bullet hoses. The only character of mine that used assault rifles in ME2 was my soldier and he had the M-76 Revenant, which fit that philosophy exquisitely. 607 rounds of Rank 4 tungsten ammo + adrenaline rush = lots of dead things.

 

1) Packages for Ish, Medical Scans, and Indentured Servants.

2) That really sucks. I used to be able to take out enemies in one shot with that pistol! Damn. I tried using a scope on the Eagle but I didn't like how it felt. Guess I'll have to find a new favorite gun...

 

Hmm. You should be able to trigger those just by walking up to the people involved. Packages for Ish I believe isn't available until after Horizon, but the other two should be available at some point on Illium, Medical Scans should be there right off the bat and Indentured Servitude should be available once Conrad Verner is gone from Eternity (either by getting him killed in ME1 or dealing with him there).

The N7 Eagle is a bad choice to try with the scope mod - not much punch per shot and the muzzle climb on full-auto isn't good for precision fire. It's more of a heavy, slow-firing SMG than a pistol. Try using the scope and a barrel mod with the Carnifex or Paladin - if you go for headshots one bullet should kill any unprotected enemy; if your aim isn't that good or you're in a hurry two body shots will drop them. Those guns actually have a higher base damage per bullet than a lot of the lighter semiauto sniper rifles like the M-97 Viper. I think the Paladin actually hits harder than my favored N7 Valiant.

 

I'm pretty early in ME3. I haven't done the summit that leads to Sur'Kesh yet, so I only have Eagle and the other one. I forget the name.

And yeah, my brother has done Horizon and three loyalty quests and they aren't triggering. I think it's just a bug, although that has never happened to me.

 

I understand this and having a kill 'stolen' still annoys me. It's not the points or anything, it's that I do all the work and take all the damage and some random just happens to fire the fatal shot without doing anything else.

 

I guess my brother just had those missions magically trigger. Cool.

 

I was so afraid that because I missed Mordin's singing in ME2, he wouldn't sing for me in ME3. But he did, and I'm SO happy. Tuchanka is probably my favorite level in ME3.

 

On the subject of Mordin singing, he actually can sing *twice* in ME3, didn't know if you knew that. Once on the Normandy as an ambient convo between him and Eve and the other at the end of Tuchanka (that one *might* be dependant on whether or not he sang in ME2. I've seen two different versions of that scene).

And yes, despite my thoughts on the ending, I will admit that Tuchanka is probably one of the best written parts out of the three games. Other parts in 3 that I liked were Rannoch (especially with Tali), as well as the bro-time/date with Garrus on the Presidium.

 

Yes, I had that happen too. I love Mordin's singing and so I was absolutely gutted he didn't sing in my most recent playthrough of ME2 and terrified he wouldn't sing in ME3. I had him not sing in my second playthrough of ME3 and so I pretty anxious to get the singing ending this time around, as it's my preferred Mordin death scene. However, someone did tell me that if I got every Mordin convo in ME2 he would sing in ME3 and that's what happened and I am so so glad.

I have to agree with you about Tuchanka and Rannoch and Garrus/Presidium. I love all of those parts. There is so much I love about ME3 and it makes really sad that the furor over the ME3 ending controversy obscures the parts of ME3 that are awesome and amazing.



Also, I just got the Phalanx pistol, but I am lovin' the Mantis. First time I've ever really sniped in ME! Ever! I had the Incisor for awhile, but that was like a machine gun? And really weird and not as powerful.