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[Archaix]

you can't commit genocide against robots. It's called a system wipe, like deleting my old windows computer or something. only these robots sometimes kill, and they don't do what I say when I click on them.

No story ever started out with "And then, after the humans were treating artificial life with respect and dignity, the robots turned on humanity and started wholesale killing them." It's always "Oh, I don't know why the robots turned on us, we had just enslaved them and treated them like shit despite the fact that they're sentient and intelligent beings"

Do ammo powers stack? if shepard is using squad incendiary ammo, and Jack is using Warp Ammo, will Jack get both effects, or will one supersede the other?

Any new ammo power overrides the previous one. They also last until the end of the mission otherwise. So you can put warp ammo on one weapon, switch to another and use incendiary, and both weapons will have that power active until you're done. But you can't have two ammo powers active on a single weapon.

 

[EatChildren]

.

You and Amir0x can keep each other company on the 9th circle of Quarian hell.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

.

you're a bad person and organic life will crumble underneath my polymer heel

 

[hooligan]

Is it just me or does anyone else watch that stupid show Chuck now because of Miranda?

 

[krakov]

I wish there wasn't a level cap for the insanity level on your second run through. I just don't have enough upgrades at this point to stay alive during Horizon - those damn Husk rushes kill me every time (Renegade Infitrator). Would be ok if the game didn't force you to go to Horizon after you pick up your fifth recruit, but since you can't go shopping after the fifth recruit mission, I'm stuck with the upgrades I have. And they're not enough for me to survive Horizon. And I can't respec my points (even assuming that would help) since you don't get that option until after Horizon.

Think I'll wait until we get the level cap raise to 60. Or maybe just restart insanity as another class. Infiltrator is not my favorite.

Just did this section with a level 10 or so Infiltrator. My best advice would be to use cloak and move around on the map. When you cloak every target will start looking for others giving you some space, which is especially useful on husks. You can pretty much just attack, cloak, attack, repeat for this whole segment. Just be careful, move around and be sure to stay in cover when not cloaked and attacked with projectiles. Reserve you other powers to moments where you have control over the situation. I did die a few times in this section, but it really got me working on tactics and I find tactical cloak extremely powerful once you learn to fully utilize it.

 

[CAW]

:lol

That reminded me of:

 

[Confidence Man]

Got the old armor working:

Not sure if this is the right way to do it; I used this armor model as a new chestpiece, and made blank options for the other pieces. Only problem is if I try and use no helmet it glitches out and reverts to default armor.

 

[lastplayed]

Just did this section with a level 10 or so Infiltrator. My best advice would be to use cloak and move around on the map. When you cloak every target will start looking for others giving you some space, which is especially useful on husks. You can pretty much just attack, cloak, attack, repeat for this whole segment. Just be careful, move around and be sure to stay in cover when not cloaked and attacked with projectiles. Reserve you other powers to moments where you have control over the situation. I did die a few times in this section, but it really got me working on tactics and I find tactical cloak extremely powerful once you learn to fully utilize it.

Yeah, it can be done on insanity with an infiltrator and good cloak tactics. Despite the fact that my team lasted about five seconds before being wiped out, I just kept running around while cloaked, taking the odd shot at a scion, recloaking and repeat. It took a while, but I finally got there. Don't spend much time taking cover, the shockwaves will rip you to shreds.

 

[careful]

you might get a little taste earlier than that ..

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/08/ea-something-far-reaching-coming-for-mass-effect-in-early-201/

Oh god I hope it's not an MMO.
Dragon Age style expansion pack would be cool, but at the same time I'd rather they have as much resources as possible working on Mass Effect 3.
I'm replaying through a second time as a hot adept FemShep, but the wait to 3 is gonna be tough.

 

[Skilotonn]

hahahahah WHAT IS THIS


(spoilers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzoedQ_ZQ8&feature=related

I wish we had more time with this character.

Wow, yet another cool new thing I did not know about - those who aren't at the end of the game, make sure you DON'T click on this...

No joke, just through YouTube and the spoiler thread, I'm finding soooooo many things I didn't know about, it's like there's a ton of alternate stuff and Easter Eggs in this game, so much more than the first, if there were any in the first one at all that is...

 

[JayDubya]

The genophage is unflinchingly, unquestionably, morally impermissible. It is capital-"E"-vil.

It is genocide. Mordin's in-game justifications are pathetically weak. The Krogans are sapient lifeforms. The genophage kills Krogan offspring.

Frankly, the Council has historically been pretty monstrous.

I wanted to side with Wrex in preserving Saren's cure from the first game. I'm glad I was able to save the research data from this game. I hope Shepard can undo this grievous wrong next game.

 

[luxarific]

Yeah, it can be done on insanity with an infiltrator and good cloak tactics. Despite the fact that my team lasted about five seconds before being wiped out, I just kept running around while cloaked, taking the odd shot at a scion, recloaking and repeat. It took a while, but I finally got there. Don't spend much time taking cover, the shockwaves will rip you to shreds.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll give cloak a try, but I don't have it maxed (and can't respec until after Horizon). I only upgraded it to level 2, since I barely used it during my first playthrough and foolishly thought it would be similarly useless on my insanity playthrough. I have Reave set as my special (level 1), and then Agent, Improved AI Hacking, Cryo Ammo (3), Heavy Incinerate, Squad Disruptor. And I picked training in assault rifles the first time around.

 

[AniHawk]

The two moments of the game that got me to really think about scenarios.

1. Realizing what you said... this shit really traumatizes the Krogan. It's not just something these warriors have no feeling toward. I hear many of them wishing to have kids. One of them is practically in a state of depression over the idea he'll never have a son!

The Krogan

Spoiler

reciting poetry was hilarious. I had the Asari break it off just to see the girl-age thread.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

dp

 

[Samara]

:lol :lol :lol

How do you get Legion to dance?

And no matter what, I can't get my Shepard to be Terminator. Fill up the bar already!

 

[EatChildren]

The Krogan

Spoiler

reciting poetry was hilarious. I had the Asari break it off just to see the girl-age thread.

The best part is

Spoiler

returning to Tuchanka after getting them back together and finding he has taken her there.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I wanted to side with Wrex in preserving Saren's cure from the first game. I'm glad I was able to save the research data from this game. I hope Shepard can undo this grievous wrong next game.

The writers said later that, while it was poorly conveyed in ME1, that it was not a cure. Saren was cloning ready-made Krogans for battle.

The Krogan

Spoiler

reciting poetry was hilarious. I had the Asari break it off just to see the girl-age thread.

You really shouldn't have.

Spoiler

They turn up later on Tuchanka.

 

[Red]

The Krogan

Spoiler

reciting poetry was hilarious. I had the Asari break it off just to see the girl-age thread.

When are you given this choice?

 

[PBalfredo]

I'm a bit confused about how the genophage works. In ME1 it sounds like 999/1000 krogen babies are stillborn, but in ME2 Mordin says the genophage doesn't kill, it just reduces fertility rates.

 

[Red Blaster]

The Krogan

Spoiler

reciting poetry was hilarious. I had the Asari break it off just to see the girl-age thread.

This reminded me, BioWare missed an opportunity with the e-mail system. I was hoping you'd be able to do sidequests from it (such as that one message from Emily Wong asking you to come to the Citadel for an interview, I actually thought that was a real sidequest) but all it does for the most part is cameos for ME1 characters and other random shit that I didn't even bother to check in my 2nd playthrough.

 

[JayDubya]

I'm a bit confused about how the genophage works. In ME1 it sounds like 999/1000 krogen babies are stillborn, but in ME2 Mordin says the genophage doesn't kill, it just reduces fertility rates.

A Krogan in ME2 tells you about the piles of Krogan infants that are born without nervous systems...

Mordin's being "artful" in his justifications.

The writers said later that, while it was poorly conveyed in ME1, that it was not a cure. Saren was cloning ready-made Krogans for battle.

Poorly? I don't think it was conveyed at all in that game. :lol

 

[Samara]

When are you given this choice?

On Illium. The asari who is selling the fishes.

This reminded me, BioWare missed an opportunity with the e-mail system. I was hoping you'd be able to do sidequests from it (such as that one message from Emily Wong asking you to come to the Citadel for an interview, I actually thought that was a real sidequest) but all it does for the most part is cameos for ME1 characters and other random shit that I didn't even bother to check in my 2nd playthrough.

Haha, me too. Kept looking for Dr Clohe and Emily, but they werent there. Fucking tease.

 

[Red]

On Illium. The asari who is selling the fishes.

I don't remember seeing a Krogan there. Must have just went through the conversation without thinking.

 

[Zeliard]

Mordin was strangely compelling and logical in his attempts at justifying the genophage.

But he did not sway me! <3 Wrex

I like how Mordin later on begins to doubt himself when it comes to the subject, which slowly happens throughout your conversations with him. The character is fantastic.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I feel really bad for the krogan. The explanation in ME1's codex about how they were essentially living in a Fallout-esque nuclear wasteland for 2000 years when the salarians gave them space-age technology explains so much, and going to Tuchanka and seeing the ruins they've huddled into shows a lot as well.

There are skyscrapers and causeways and bridges. There was obviously a real krogan civilization beforehand, complete with architects and scientists and artists, but once the bombs fell (and who are humans to judge for tempers flaring with nuclear weapons?) that all fell apart.

The salarians essentially gave rocket ships to a bunch of Mad Max/Fist of the North Star spike-studded mutant warlords and raiders and expected everything to work out. Then they developed the genophage as a deterrent to convince the krogan to change their cultural attitudes about reproduction to fit their newfound population capacity, and the turians deployed it in a scorched earth policy to ensure the krogan never had a chance to choose. Finally, people like Mordin claim that it's not their fault when the totally upturned krogan society splinters, turns fatalistic, decides that there's no point in cultural advancement, and to just work as soldiers for hire. "We can't predict stress reactions" or some bullshit like that.

 

[PBalfredo]

A Krogan in ME2 tells you about the piles of Krogan infants that are born without nervous systems...

Which krogen says that?

 

[ColonelColon]

The genophage is unflinchingly, unquestionably, morally impermissible. It is capital-"E"-vil.

It is genocide. Mordin's in-game justifications are pathetically weak. The Krogans are sapient lifeforms. The genophage kills Krogan offspring.

Frankly, the Council has historically been pretty monstrous.

I wanted to side with Wrex in preserving Saren's cure from the first game. I'm glad I was able to save the research data from this game. I hope Shepard can undo this grievous wrong next game.

I still don't know what to believe about the genophage. Mordin claims that the genophage is meant only to compensate for exceptionally high birth rates and long life spans of the Krogan, but in Mass Effect, didn't Wrex say that the Krogan would soon be extinct? Even after Mass Effect 2, it doesn't seem very clear to me. Surely, the genophage could be modified to raise the birth rate significantly... or to lower fertility rates rather than inducing stillborn births (actually, at some point, i thought it did lower fertility)... but then I guess it wouldn't be a dumb moral dilemma.

 

[Zeliard]

I still don't know what to believe about the genophage. Mordin claims that the genophage is meant only to compensate for exceptionally high birth rates and long life spans of the Krogan, but in Mass Effect, didn't Wrex say that the Krogan would soon be extinct? Even after Mass Effect 2, it doesn't seem very clear to me. Surely, the genophage could be modified to raise the birth rate significantly... or to lower fertility rates rather than inducing stillborn births (actually, at some point, i thought it did lower fertility)... but then I guess it wouldn't be a dumb moral dilemma.

There were

Spoiler

two different strains of genophage developed, as I understand it. The second is the one Mordin himself worked on, and that's the one that concentrated solely on lowering Krogan fertility rates to "match them up with other civilizations", per Mordin's reasoning. The first genophage didn't affect fertility itself, I don't believe - it messed with the actual embryos/fetuses after conception.

I kept the data in Mordin's loyalty quest. Mass Effect 3, bring on that fucking cure!

 

[Sir Garbageman]

From what I understood about the genophage, there was the first one during the krogan rebellions that lowered their birthrates exponentially. Later

Spoiler

certain krogans started developing a resistance to it and reproducing more rapidly, so they sent in Mordin and his team to study what was going on and adjust the old strain to drop their birth rates back to the original genophage levels.

 

[MWS Natural]

I am for the genophage.....it would only be a matter of time before the Krogan overran the galaxy starting wars everywhere. They are too aggressive and reproduce entirely too fast. You guys don't even know how fast Krogan reproduce..what if it was like rabits? You could have like 4-6 Krogan all in one litter LOL. IMO the genophage just maintains the balance of life/death cycles in the universe.

 

[Brandon F]

God damnit. 30 hours in and I ONLY JUST NOW got the '5 optional missions' achievement. What a bunch of bullshit. I have scanned seemingly 100 planets over the course of the game and it took this long to get 5 land missions.

I think I would rather just have more warehouse pallette swaps. I just want to keep shooting shit! What an empty galaxy.

Great game otherwise!

 

[EatChildren]

God damnit. 30 hours in and I ONLY JUST NOW got the '5 optional missions' achievement. What a bunch of bullshit. I have scanned seemingly 100 planets over the course of the game and it took this long to get 5 land missions.

I think I would rather just have more warehouse pallette swaps. I just want to keep shooting shit! What an empty galaxy.

Great game otherwise!

You do know if EDI doesnt immediately say "Anomoly Detected" when you simply click on the planet that there's nowhere to land, right?

 

[Zeliard]

From what I understood about the genophage, there was the first one during the krogan rebellions that lowered their birthrates exponentially. Later

Spoiler

certain krogans started developing a resistance to it and reproducing more rapidly, so they sent in Mordin and his team to study what was going on and adjust the old strain to drop their birth rates back to the original genophage levels.

Hmmm.... I was under the impression that the genophage

Spoiler

Mordin worked on also functioned differently than the first one, by affecting the possibility for fertility rather than mutating the offspring as the first did.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Hmmm.... I was under the impression

Spoiler

that the genophage Mordin worked on also functioned differently than the first one, by affecting the possibility for fertility rather than mutating the offspring as the first did.

No, it was

Spoiler

a modified version of the old one.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Hmmm.... I was under the impression that the genophage Mordin worked on also functioned differently than the first one, by affecting the possibility for fertility rather than mutating the offspring as the first did.

You may be right, don't remember exactly how it was described. I really dug

Spoiler

Shepard and Mordin's discussion of the issue, and Mordin dealing with the guilt but at the same time not apologizing for it.

 

[Mohonky]

Why does the pull power not work against armour? Are you shitting me? Barely any powers work against a character that has any sort of barrier or armour and now that I'm on Insane I am being raped during the moving platform section of the collectors. FFS.

 

[JayDubya]

Powers are much more generally viable on lower difficulty levels, as enemies have smaller lifebars and weaker enemies will only have one bar, as opposed to Shields on top of Armor on top of Health, or whatever.

It's a real problem on Insanity, but hey - it's Insanity.

 

[urk]

I like how Mordin later on begins to doubt himself when it comes to the subject, which slowly happens throughout your conversations with him. The character is fantastic.

Hands down my favorite bit of narrative from Mass Effect. Great character. Great story.

 

[EatChildren]

The genophage was a necessary evil.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Samara loyalty mission question:

Spoiler

How high of a renegade score do I need to recruit Morinth? I assume I need to pass all three paragon/renegade checks, but I don't have a high enough score to pass the last one.

 

[SlickVic]

Samara loyalty mission question:

Spoiler

How high of a renegade score do I need to recruit Morinth? I assume I need to pass all three paragon/renegade checks, but I don't have a high enough score to pass the last one.

Spoiler

I was not very renegade and didn't pick those choices (had maybe the first bar full) and still had the option to recruit her. I took whatever paragon choices there were in that conversation so not sure if it mattered.

 

[Red]

Why does the pull power not work against armour? Are you shitting me? Barely any powers work against a character that has any sort of barrier or armour and now that I'm on Insane I am being raped during the moving platform section of the collectors. FFS.

I liked the increased resistance to biotics. Actually made playing as an adept challenging. In the first game I was virtually unopposed, which was more than a little boring. I agree that some parts are made unnecessarily frustrating because of it, however.

 

[SlickVic]

God damnit. 30 hours in and I ONLY JUST NOW got the '5 optional missions' achievement. What a bunch of bullshit. I have scanned seemingly 100 planets over the course of the game and it took this long to get 5 land missions.

I think I would rather just have more warehouse pallette swaps. I just want to keep shooting shit! What an empty galaxy.

Great game otherwise!

Yeah that's why I just looked up the N7 mission locations online. Didn't feel like wasting my time (and ship fuel) going to every single planet to look for them. Much more enjoyable experience for me.

I'd take these missions over ME1's generic planet x with warehouse y any day of the week.

 

[Olivero]

Well, I think I'll be picking up DA: Origins, an added bonus? Dragon armor! Sweeeeet.

 

[deim0s]

I'd take these missions over ME1's generic planet x with warehouse y any day of the week.

Agreed.

 

[AniHawk]

The writers said later that, while it was poorly conveyed in ME1, that it was not a cure. Saren was cloning ready-made Krogans for battle.



You really shouldn't have.

Spoiler

They turn up later on Tuchanka.

I know. I had a paragon run before my renegade run. I was hoping

Spoiler

the renegade option would show him all depressed or something

 

[Wiggum2007]

Spoiler

I was not very renegade and didn't pick those choices (had maybe the first bar full) and still had the option to recruit her. I took whatever paragon choices there were in that conversation so not sure if it mattered.

Heh, problem solved. Just went to the tech lab and retrained my powers to the class specialization that offered a 100% paragon/renegade bonus rather then the 70% one that I had.

 

[GhostRidah]

Well, I think I'll be picking up DA: Origins, an added bonus? Dragon armor! Sweeeeet.

thinking about doing the same thing lol, but im just not into dungeon and dragons.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Heh, problem solved. Just went to the tech lab and retrained my powers to the class specialization that offered a 100% paragon/renegade bonus rather then the 70% one that I had.

Argh never mind, my renegade meter is at 80% now but apparently that's still not enough. I'll just have to keep playing and go back to it later I suppose.

 

[Nert]

I agree with the overall sentiment that, although the main storyline and revelations about the Reapers were weaker in this game than the first, the characters in this game are fantastic. Mordin in particular was a gem; I kept him in my party at all times, even when it would have been beneficial to roll with a different set of partners. Excellent situational dialogue from him, and his personal story arc was emotionally involving.