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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Gaming Mass Effect Series

Discussion in 'Community' started by Valyn, Sep 7, 2012.

  1. MarcusP2

    MarcusP2 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    The Incisor sucked. A sniper that fires weak triples? Useless.
     
  2. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Yeah, I didn't like it at all.
     
  3. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005
    I'm on my first playthough of the trilogy with a FemShep. Just finished Horizon and I'm now going around Illium picking up what side quests I can. I gotta say, I didn't get the fuss all that much in ME1 as to why a female Shepard was so much better than a male, but then in ME2 I finally "get" it. BroShep will always be my Shepard, but I bloody love my female character.

    As an aside, I've not got much of the DLC for ME3. Only From Ashes. Now, I have an old 20GB XBox 360 with just under 3GB left storage wise. I want to pick up the Extended Ending, that's for definite. Am I now going to have no space left for the other single player DLC?
     
  4. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Hell yeah, man. FemShep is awesome. She's my default and I always play through the first time with her, but my second playthrough is always with a BroShep.

    That sucks that you only have 3GB left...you might want to look at getting at least a 60GB hard drive and a transfer cable on eBay or Amazon or something. Do you have all the ME2 DLC?
     
  5. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005
    I'm pretty sure I have all of the ME2 DLC. I've for LotSB, Arrival, Firewalker and Overlord. I'm not fussed at all about multiplayer DLC or extra weapons/armour, just want the story based stuff. I'm contemplating getting a new 250GB XBox as my one is on it's way out (never had RROD, but the disk tray jams and general stuff like that). Pay day soon, so who knows.
     
  6. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Ahh, well, then that's good. LoTSB was my favorite DLC. For what it's worth, I recommend the Leviathan DLC and the Omega DLC sounds like it will be fun.

    If you're still on a 20GB 360, I am impressed. But yeah, might be time for a new one as your current one is probably on its last legs.
     
  7. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    The Incisor was crap. Never used it. I have used the M-90 Indra and M-13 Raptor as Designated Marksman Rifles since the scope mod is your best counter for Cerberus smokescreens. The Indra doesn't have much kick, but you get 200-odd rounds and full automatic fire which makes it almost a scoped assault rifle. The Raptor is the better pick there though - you can snipe through the scope at range and then just shoot from the hip to knock off enemies at close quarters.

    Just tried out the Groundside Resistance Pack with my soldier - most of the guns don't seem that useful. The Kishock Harpoon Gun seems gimmicky and redundant; the Acolyte pistol is just plain hard to use, the Executioner pistol is definitely the ME3 equivalent of a howdah pistol (a single-shot pistol firing "elephant gun" rounds used in the 1800s to kill big game like lions and tigers), and the Striker "assault rifle" (read: mini-grenade launcher) seems to be a great squadmate weapon for Vega. The Venom "shotgun" looks like it might do damage if I ever figure out how to use it effectively in combat. Now that I have a smart choke mod installed the N7 Piranha is a decent weapon and in Vega's hands it's lethal.

    However, the N7 Typhoon made the $1.99 worth it. Holy. Crap. Nothing like absolutely shredding that first Brute on Priority: Palaven in a matter of seconds, or taking out the Atlas at the end of Priority: Sur'Kesh in one adrenaline rush. That thing improves on everything I love about the M-76 Revenant and adds far better stability/accuracy (about on par with the Phaeston) and native 0.25-meter cover-piercing that turns Guardians into smoking fail-heaps behind their riot shields. Downside is that sucker is heavy as hell, but I could see my Infiltrator carrying a scope-modded version. Mmm, full-automatic armor-piercing sniper machine gun with 700+ rounds of ammo on tap .... :D
     
  8. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    So you can use the DLC guns in the single-player game? What is the N7 Typhoon? Is that a sniper? Too bad it's heavy, otherwise I'd consider using it...

    Right now I'm using the Mantis and the Paladin. The Mantis is a good mix of weight and damage, so I can kill things in one-shot but won't weigh me down. I have about 120% bonus recharge time with my current setup.



    Also, I just finished the dreadnought and fighter squadron missions and it was really satisfying to yell at Gerrel for shooting at the ship while we were on board...punching him was just icing on the cake. :p It was the first time I had done the "renegade" options for that response and it felt really satisfying.
     
  9. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Hah, I think my uber-paragon engineer was the first one not to sucker-punch Gerrel. It's too damn tempting otherwise. What's funny is that in ME2 he comes across as the most likable of the Quarian admirals, while the arrogant peacenik Koris turns into your best ally (aside from Tali) in ME3. I so loved razzing him about his ship name in ME2.

    As far as your gun loadout, you might want to rethink that. With two slow-firing, low-capacity weapons you'll probably be forked if you get cornered by a lot of close-range enemies like husks. A better bet is to carry either the Mantis or Paladin and something light and quick-firing like an SMG or AR (Avenger and Phaeston are pretty manageable, even for power classes) in case you need to put out a lot of bullets in short order. The Cerberus Harrier (Firefight Pack DLC) is a really good "panic weapon" - it doesn't carry much reserve ammo, but it doesn't weight excessively much and will drop targets fast. My engineer carried that, a Paladin, and an M-12 Locust into Priority: Earth - the Paladin had a scope and extended barrel for sniping, the Locust was an ultralight backup for taking down Reaper cannon fodder at close quarters, and the Harrier I reserved for Brutes and Banshees.

    There are two weapon DLCs for the single-player campaign, the Firefight and Groundside Resistance Packs. If you have those, you can select those weapons as early as Priority: Mars (once you get an opportunity to switch weapon loads in that mission). The N7 Typhoon is a machine gun like the M-76 Revenant. It has a "spin-up" time of four shots much like the Geth Plasma SMG or Geth Spitfire, after which it fires full-auto and gains a +50% damage bonus. The spin-up can allow you to fire accurate semi-auto shots at individual targets. Additionally, it has a 50% damage bonus against shields, barriers, and armor.Couple that with pretty low recoil and good accuracy and it devastates things. Stats-wise it has the highest Damage Per Second of any weapon. I'm not using my sniper rifle much now because with 700+ rounds of ammunition for the Typhoon I can afford to hose down targets with full-auto fire at most ranges. Couple that with Rank 6 Explosive Burst incendiary ammo (50% chance of each bullet lighting everything within 2.5 meters on fire) and well ... http://lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=3

    http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/N7_Typhoon:ME3SP
     
  10. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Well, there are two things for why it's a good loadout for me: 1) I'm on casual :p Taking a break from Insanity so I can feel like a biotic god. 2) I'm a Vanguard and when it comes to husks and things, I usually just biotic charge + nova, or I get Liara to clog up the husks with Singularity. I actually hardly ever use the Paladin and stick to the Mantis the majority of the time.

    Yeah, I noticed that too! What a funny switcheroo. Xen is still kind of a bitch though. :p
     
  11. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Fair enough. A vanguard might like the N7 Piranha though - that gun's main drawback is that unmodded the pellet spread is similar to Sergeant Detritus's "Piecemaker" (for those not familiar with Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, that means the only safe place for bystanders is directly behind the shooter as the pellet spread pretty much covers the entire forward arc). Of course, after a charge a vanguard more or less has the enemy at point-blank range anyway ... and the Piranha is full-auto with 8 rounds in the clip and about 48 more or so on reserve. It's like an M-27 Scimitar on speed. I loaded up Vega with that thing for N7: Cerberus Lab and he pretty much held off an entire wave of Cerberus troops by himself while I watched the landing pad, whistled a little, and occasionally covered Vega's flank with a burst from my M-90 Indra.
     
  12. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    I'll definitely get the new weapons pack and play around with both the Typhoon and the Piranha. Although I love the Mantis, I think it's time to experimentw ith some new guns.
     
  13. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    My first Shepard was a FemShep, so I get it, more or less. I think Hale did a slightly better job than Meer did in ME1, but in 2 and 3 they were about the same.

    As for the ME3 DLC... Speaking as someone who does not like the ending (to put it mildly :p ), I'd play through the game first with the EC before deciding to get Leviathan or Omega (My reasoning? Despite what happens in Leviathan, it has no impact whatsoever in the final battle, other than two sentences of dialogue that didn't really add anything, and I suspect similar from Omega). If you don't mind the ending, it doesn't bother you... well, I won't tell you how to spend you money.

    Speaking of hard drive space, as a head's up, the EC is somewhere between 1.5 to 2GB. So if you're already hurting for space on your hard drive, just be warned that you will not have any room left for any other DLC from the sound of things.


    Well, she is voice by Morrigan... :p

    Oh, and punching Gerrel? One of my favorite Renegade interrupts. :cool:
     
  14. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    I think Hale and Meer are both fine voice actors...the funniest thing, though, is when Cortez drops you off on Earth and you think he's been killed or something...Meer's voice acting is hilariously uneven. He yells, "STEVE!" at the top of his lungs and then immediately following, in the most monotone, deadpan voice, "You all right?" So funny.

    Leviathan gives you a small amount of war assets to increase your military strength. I also like the idea of incorporating them in the final fight against the Reapers, so in my current playthrough, I did it before I did everything with the geth and quarians and I really liked doing it that way. I'm actually now considering whether or not I want to wait to finish this playthrough until Omega comes out. But I don't really wanna wait until November 27...ugh. :p
     
  15. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Okay, so I equipped the Acolyte, N7 Piranha, and the Blood Pack Punisher. The Acolyte really annoyed me until I realized you had to "charge" it and then I liked it a lot more...especially when it just knocked husks and marauders off their feet and killed them in one hit...fun! I really liked the Piranha and the Punisher isn't bad either.

    However, I really really miss the Mantis... :(
     
  16. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Hmm, might have to rethink my disdain for the Acolyte then - maybe I'll equip it on Javik or Liara and see how they do with it. The Punisher I'm not crazy about, but then again in general I consider SMGs also-rans. I'd rather carry a light shotgun like the Disciple or lightweight AR like the Phaeston to cover that area. The armor-piercing properties on the Punisher were a bonus though, and unlike most SMGs it doesn't turn into an anti-aircraft gun after two seconds of sustained fire. Mantis is a decent sniper rifle, but it was never one of my faves - it seems like an interim choice between a bolt-action cannon like the Widow and a faster-firing gun like the Valiant or Raptor. The latter two guns I'd say are my favorite SRs by frequency of use - I think prior to the release of DLC weapons like the Valiant, Harrier, and Typhoon the Raptor actually had the highest theoretical DPS of any gun in the game, albeit at the price of spamming your trigger button to exhaustion.

    As far as waiting for Omega - I'm probably going to redo most of my ME3 playthroughs to change some choices and streamline the weapon upgrades. Right now I have my soldier living up to Traynor's "unstoppable juggernaut of headbutting destruction" billing - combine the Typhoon with a stability damper, extended barrel, taking every weapon damage boost in Shepard's power trees, having carnage as a bonus power, and modding the N7 armor for 45% additional weapon damage and 10% added headshot damage. I'm actually looking forward to my first Banshee encounter just to see how fast I can kill one.
     
  17. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    I think that's exactly why I like the Mantis...that it's mid-range. It's not as heavy as other snipers, allowing me to equip a second gun with plenty of room left over for recharging powers. But, it still packs quite a punch and while I'm waiting to reload, I can use Carnage or have a squadmate use a power or something.
     
  18. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Try adding a scope to the Executioner pistol - just did that for Priority: Tuchanka and fell in love with the thing. One hit kills Cannibals and with an Executioner V and an Ultralight Materials II mod I get a cooldown bonus of over 80% even while toting the N7 Typhoon. I think I've found my new "heavy hitter" loadout for Reaper missions. I'm still carrying the Raptor for Cerberus missions though - it's basically a second "battle rifle" with a scope and the ability to see through smokescreens.
     
  19. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    I'm about to assault the Cerberus HQ and so I'm doing my burst of MP. It's helping to reaffirm that most people online seem to not be very nice. :p Granted, I am not the best at MP and I am probably the "weakest link".

    I'm at 5000+EMS and 6000+TMS so I'm wondering if I should just quit playing MP now and assault Cerberus HQ...or play a couple of MP matches a day for a month until Omega comes out...ughhh...
     
  20. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Hehehehe [face_skull] .... finally got to the Ardat-Yakshi monastery with my soldier replay and tested the N7 Typhoon on my most loathed adversaries. Granted, I loaded up my squad with Liara and Javik for some biotic bombing, but it was still soooooo satisfying to cut two of the things down in a matter of seconds. One of them did land a warp attack on me, but both Banshees were smoking heaps of fail by the time it actually hit. At best they got halfway across the room; usually I have to shoot at least one off a squadmate.

    The Executioner is now a definite favorite. On that mission I pot-shotted a Cannibal right through one of those glass staircase railings - gotta love innate cover-piercing. A few hits from that monster will take down a Ravager. Also tried out the Striker and found it to be a good husk-buster - it's really more of a long-range shotgun in appearance and effect than an assault rifle.
     
  21. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    I couldn't hold off any longer and beat ME3 for the third time yesterday. I was very satisfied that I finally got the Illusive Man to kill himself, but disappointed that I forgot to talk to Liara after Thessia and Javik talked about killing himself. :(

    I booted up a ME3 save+ and finally got the Gun Smith achievement. All I have left are around 500 kills to get the Veteran achievement.
     
  22. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Yeah, I think I'm going to go through and replay most if not all 5 of my ME3 characters from scratch (i.e. delete and re-import from ME2 rather than New Game+) up until before Priority: Thessia and then leave them there until Omega comes out. I also have to finish up my ME2 infiltrator replay, which I picked back up at the end of Garrus's recruitment mission. When I first played ME3 I was under the assumption that I might not be able to upgrade a weapon to Level X in New Game+ if I didn't have it upgraded to V the first time around, so I pretty much blew the bank on upgrading every gun I even moderately liked. Now I know that's not the case and also with the DLC some weapons have been completely superseded (M-76 Revenant by the N7 Typhoon, M-96 Mattock by the Cerberus Harrier), so I'm being more choosy about spending on weapon upgrades. So far with my soldier I've upgraded just 4 ARs, 4 SRs, 4 shotguns, 1 pistol, and 0 SMGs.
     
  23. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Yeah, I was very choosy with gun upgrades. First, I upgraded only the ones that I used, and then moved onto what I had my squad using. I probably won't be playing ME again until Omega comes out and I'll only play my most recent ME3 save to get the Veteran achievement.
     
  24. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Yeah, so far the squadmate guns I have upgraded are Javik's Particle Rifle, Tali's Geth Plasma Shotgun, and Vega's Striker and Graal Spike Thrower. I rarely if ever use those myself. I haven't used the Krysae or Phaeston this time around, but in the past those have been staples and I gave them to Garrus. Ash has the N7 Typhoon and M-13 Raptor, which is my default anti-Cerberus loadout. I'll probably get around to upgrading Liara and EDI's N7 Hurricane/Scorpion combo. I also upgraded the N7 Valiant, Black Widow, Disciple, and Executioner for myself.
     
  25. DarthCane

    DarthCane Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    Restarting my vanguard now; did Priority: Palaven mostly with a Striker/Piranha loadout. I find the Striker is easier to use as a long-range shotgun than an assault rifle, which makes me consider just using it as my vanguard's sole weapon. The Piranha is murderous up close, especially if you set a bunch of guys on fire with incendiary ammo and then uncork a nova.