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The Mass Effect Community Thread

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diaspora

Member
And Mass Effect is already weirdly anime in the first place. At least the first one was- I almost thought Liara was going to call Shepard "senpai" at points.
 

OneUh8

Member
Really having an itch to play through these again. I just have so many other games I have not played on my backlog, but I love me some ME.
 

Yeul

Member
It'd sure be nice if we got another Andromeda Initiative video this week. I feel like it's been forever since the last one.

Yeah I really hope we get another one soon, they are great. It's not even about the item that you get, I just like the technical details of the arks lol.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
And Mass Effect is already weirdly anime in the first place. At least the first one was- I almost thought Liara was going to call Shepard "senpai" at points.

"You're so special Shepard. I don't know what it is, but there is something about you that make you so intriguing. I wa-"
"Woah, slow down here Liara. This is like our 2nd discussion ever."
 

diaspora

Member
"You're so special Shepard. I don't know what it is, but there is something about you that make you so intriguing. I wa-"
"Woah, slow down here Liara. This is like our 2nd discussion ever."
It's like how iirc if you don't flirt with Anders in your first conversation with him in DA2 you earn rivalry points.
 

DevilDog

Member
You guys forget:

"Good night little Wing, I will see you again with the dawn"

I don't understand how that line made it through, Noveria had outstanding writing except that part. Maybe it was the animations that made it rubbish like that. Or the voice acting.

DevilDog pls. StarCraft is just a not-particularly-inspired WH40k ripoff. Speaking of which, where's my big budget 40k RPG, GW?

It has lore, I didn't say it was good though :)

ALTHOUGH, I liked starcraft 1.
 
"You're so special Shepard. I don't know what it is, but there is something about you that make you so intriguing. I wa-"
"Woah, slow down here Liara. This is like our 2nd discussion ever."
Playing through the series for the first time, and I just rescued Garrus in ME2. Get back on the ship and Kelly Chambers is flirting with me (I'm staying loyal to Liara) while simultaneously telling me she wants Garrus.
 

Big Nikus

Member
I think what annoys me the most about Mass Effect 2 (and puts it down a peg under Mass Effect 3 personally) is the wasted potential of Kaidan/Ashley.

They completely dumped them to the sidelines and told us to expect payoff for staying loyal until 3.

Replaying through 1 right now and all I can think about is how I'll have to wait until 3 to see any substantial content out of Ashley again. I would've totally liked a DLC equivalent of what Lair of the Shadow Broker did for Liara in 2 but instead for the Virmire survivor.

From a dev standpoint that would be an astonishing waste of ressources. Characters that can die are usually pushed to the sidelines to save ressources. The devs have to create two different scenes each time a character should or should not appear... it's easier for NPCs than for squadmates.
I'm not upset about it because I think what they achieved is still an impressive feat. And the Citadel DLC gave me everything I wanted and more.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
From a dev standpoint that would be an astonishing waste of ressources. Characters that can die are usually pushed to the sidelines to save ressources. The devs have to create two different scenes each time a character should or should not appear... it's easier for NPCs than for squadmates.
I'm not upset about it because I think what they achieved is still an impressive feat. And the Citadel DLC gave me everything I wanted and more.

I like what they did with Wrex on ME3.

I mean, the whole Tuchanka mission more or less plays out the same way depending on if Wrex is alive or not, but whether you have Wrex or Wreav as the Krogan leader can make people have a different view on the Genophage and if it should be cured or not.

I'm pretty sure most people who had to deal with Wreav would rather not cure it if they have this dangerous guy as their leader. At least Wrex is reasonable and a friend, so you can trust him.
 

Ralemont

not me
Man, I forgot how cool that outro with Soldier Shepard appearing out of the shadows with his badass Omni blade was. I fucking loved playing as Soldier, biotics are cool and all, but DPS is king in the Mass Effect series, both in SP and MP (N7 Destroyer Soldier is my most used class in MP for a reason, dat Devastator Mode), where Soldier + Explosive Burst + Cerberus Harrier =

iSpxXFnwJh21z.gif


Not to mention those unlimited tech combos you could spam with Concussive Shot + Amplification, the Soldier class was basically a mini-Engineer in that game, with the added bonus of being able to do damn good damage with weapons due to the passive power and AR.

God the memories. I'm 10 hours into ME2 with a Vangaurd and I'm seriously considering just restarting the game again and using my main Soldier class, just so that can experience the glorious sensation again in ME3.

EDIT:Fuck it, I've restarted. 10 hours is nothing. No fucking regrets. Soldier for life.

Can't you change your class going ME2 >3?
 

Luxorek

Member
And Mass Effect is already weirdly anime in the first place. At least the first one was- I almost thought Liara was going to call Shepard "senpai" at points.

There is this security guard on Noveria that uses Japanese honorifics. I always laugh whenever I talk to her.
 

DevilDog

Member
There is this security guard on Noveria that uses Japanese honorifics. I always laugh whenever I talk to her.

They tried to show that there were people from different countries in space, I don't know where the anime comparison is coming from anyways.

If anything, ME2 was the most animu of them all, what with their human reapers and Kasumi Goto. Eugh.
And her fucking loyalty mission where she connected with her love once more in the fucking virtual box. Absolutely disgusting.


Fuck, or is the worst offender ME3? Ninjas and samurais and Kai Leng.


EDIT: Too many F words yo
 

Daemul

Member
Can't you change your class going ME2 >3?

You can, but I was still early enough into ME2 that I could easily restart without losing much. If I had already started probing for resources for example I wouldn't have restarted, the less time I spend doing that shit the better.

Fuck, or is the worst offender ME3? Ninjas and samurais and Kai Leng.



EDIT: Too many F words yo

The Phantoms were the best waifus tho, so good that the Alliance copied their design and made waifus of their own in the shape of N7 Shadow.

 

Ralemont

not me
So the first few times I went through ME3 I didn't really look at the combo system. It was only in the last year when I replayed my Sentinel and Vanguard that I went deep into it. What Infiltrator and Soldier builds/squad comp would you guys recommend for SP Insanity? I know the game's easy so it doesn't require specific shit but I like min-maxing.
 

Luxorek

Member
They tried to show that there were people from different countries in space

Oh, they did a fine job showcasing all the different nationalites. Anyone will notice that by paying attention to the surnames or various accents.

That character I mentioned has a clearly Japanese name and surname, yet for some reason they made her use Japanese honorifics when she speaks perfect, unaccented English. It sounds freakin' ridiculous and like something straight out of a weaboo playbook.

However... I do agree that ME1 has the least to do with 'anime'. ME3 is where they went bonkers with the stuff.
 

DevilDog

Member
Oh, they did a fine job showcasing all the different nationalites. Anyone will notice that by paying attention to the surnames or various accents.

That character I mentioned has a clearly Japanese name and surname, yet for some reason they made her use Japanese honorifics when she speaks perfect, unaccented English. It sounds freakin' ridiculous and like something straight out of a weaboo playbook.

However... I do agree that ME1 has the least to do with 'anime'. ME3 is where they went bonkers with the stuff.

Ok so what happened there was that she was speaking japanese, and the translator turned it into english, so accent and weird language stayed. Translators in ME yo.
 

Mindlog

Member
So the first few times I went through ME3 I didn't really look at the combo system. It was only in the last year when I replayed my Sentinel and Vanguard that I went deep into it. What Infiltrator and Soldier builds/squad comp would you guys recommend for SP Insanity? I know the game's easy so it doesn't require specific shit but I like min-maxing.
A soldier's concussion shot can pop tech combos so stuff involving lightning, frost and fire can be used then a concussion shot follow up will get a damage spike. The same goes for all ammo of the same types (disruptor, incendiary and cryo.) Faster firing and grenade weapons are typically best for applying ammo properties. Shotguns can also apply quickly. The Talon pistol is the best of both worlds.

I actually don't remember most of the single player setup, but a lot of MP experience carries over iirc. Soldiers have a lot of powers.

Frag grenades and proximity mines are also very powerful. I'd probably level proximity mine first for the damage boost to large targets. Concussion shot and Proximity Mine are very complimentary low cooldown powers. Frags don't use any cooldown.

I'm going to miss unified power pools.
 
I like playing as soldier but damn did they ruin the class in 2 and 3. It became less about the interesting survival and heavy combat abilities in 1 and more about how many different ammo powers you can cram into the skill list.

In most situations you only need to use one ammo power and that was usually armor piercing. So far for the rest of the game you'd be going around putting skillpoints into 3-4 other ammo powers you'll never use because there's no other actual "real" abilities on your skill list.
 

Mindlog

Member
I like playing as soldier but damn did they ruin the class in 2 and 3. It became less about the interesting survival and heavy combat abilities in 1 and more about how many different ammo powers you can cram into the skill list.

In most situations you only need to use one ammo power and that was usually armor piercing. So far for the rest of the game you'd be going around putting skillpoints into 3-4 other ammo powers you'll never use because there's no other actual "real" abilities on your skill list.
Didn't really feel like ME1's soldier was all the interesting.
AP is really powerful, but you can easily get enough of that from mods and use something else for mass techsplosions.

Shepard has way too many powers I'll agree with that. The game needs more interesting passives and fewer actives.
 
Didn't really feel like ME1's soldier was all the interesting.
AP is really powerful, but you can easily get enough of that from mods and use something else for mass techsplosions.

Shepard has way too many powers I'll agree with that. The game needs more interesting passives and fewer actives.

I never said the player had too many powers, I meant they gave soldiers too many ammo powers.

In mass effect 1 you had special survival abilities like Immunity, Carnage, Overkill, and Assassination in tandem with unique heavy armour and complete weapon usage.

In 2 you have Adrenaline rush, concussion shot, and then ammo power 1,2, 3 and bonus power, no armour specializations, and complete weapon control (but in reality all you need is one of the vastly superior assault rifles).

The disparity in variety and interesting stuff is staggering.
 

Mindlog

Member
I never said the player had too many powers, I meant they gave soldiers too many ammo powers.

In mass effect 1 you had special survival abilities like Immunity, Carnage, Overkill, and Assassination in tandem with unique heavy armour and complete weapon usage.
Most of those are in the sequels though.

We're going to disagree hard on the variety and interesting stuff though. I'll just say what I've always said in that regard. I can name more weapons from a single class in ME2 and ME3 than I can from the entire lineup in the original Mass Effect.

I mean you can use the Mattock in ME2.
But you have a Claymore.
Or a Carnifex.

ME3 was another level entirely. I remember having so much fun with the ADAS just because of how loud that thing was especially combined with Marksman.
 

Daemul

Member
So the first few times I went through ME3 I didn't really look at the combo system. It was only in the last year when I replayed my Sentinel and Vanguard that I went deep into it. What Infiltrator and Soldier builds/squad comp would you guys recommend for SP Insanity? I know the game's easy so it doesn't require specific shit but I like min-maxing.


For best combo use on Soldier you need to spec into Concussive Shot since once you unlock the Amplification node you can perform all the three Tech combos like the Engineer. You also need to spec AR into Power use so that you can throw off a CS to detonate a combo whilst you're still in the middle of an Adrenaline Rush. The build for Soldier which I use is

Adrenaline Rush: Damage / Duration / Power Use
Concussive Shot: Radius / Recharge Speed / Amplification
Frag Grenade: Damage / Max Grenades / Shield Overload
Cryo Ammo: Squad Bonus
Disruptor Ammo: Damage / Headshots / Damage
Incendiary Ammo: Damage / Headshots / Explosive Burst
Combat Mastery: Damage / Headshots / Weapon Master
Fitness: Durability / Shield Recharge / Fitness Expert
Inferno Grenade (Bonus Power): Radius / Max Grenades / Radius and Shrapnel

I take another grenade as a bonus power because the extra grenades nodes you can unlock in both of them stack, so you can have 9 grenades at your disposal. Frag Grenades aren't really used unless I'm up against an Atlas or something, most of them time I just spam Inferno Grenades to set up easy group fire explosions since they're a primer.

If you feel like you won't use Frag Grenades much and that you can afford to lose 2 extra grenades since you'll also use Ashley(she's one of the best squadmates for Soldier, I'll explain why soon) for more Inferno Grenade madness, then you can just spec it up to the 4th node and then spec the 5th and 6th nodes of Cryo Ammo for your squad instead, for something like:

Frag Grenade: Max Damage
Cryo Ammo: Squad Bonus / Headshots / Freeze Chance

Normal build for Infiltrators is

Tactical Cloak: Damage / Recharge Speed / Sniper Damage
Cryo Ammo: Squad Bonus / Headshots / Freeze Chance
Disruptor Ammo: Damage / Headshots / Damage
Sticky Grenade: Damage
Incinerate: Damage / Recharge Speed / Armor Damage
Sabotage: Duration / Recharge Speed / Tech Vulnerability(this power is fucking awesome btw)
Fitness: Durability / Shield Recharge / Durability
Operational Mastery: Weapon Damage / Weight Capacity / Sniper Damage
Energy Drain (Bonus Power): Radius / Drain / Damage

If you want to join the ranks of the Yolo squad and use Shotguns/Talon with your infiltrator, then just swap the sniper rifle options for the opposing nodes.

Now for squadmates, due to how powerful tech combos are the best squadmates are those who can both prime and detonate them(for both the Soldier and Infiltrator since both classes rely on them), and the squaddies who can do that are Ashley, James, Garrus, EDI and Kaidan. Some bring more to the table though, and those are Ashley, James and Garrus. Lets start with Ashley.

Ashley has two primers, Disruptor Ammo and Inferno Grenades, which set up Tech Bursts and Fire Explosions respectively. She also has Concussive Shot, which means that not only can she detonate her own tech combos, due to her Inferno Grenades and Disruptor Ammo not being on a cooldown, but can also detonate Shepards and other squadmates. Not to mention that due to her being an offensive focused Soldier, she also gets those ridiculous weapon damage bonuses, making her an S class squaddie for a Soldier or Infiltrator Shepard to use.

James has two primers, Carnage and Incendiary Ammo, which both set up Fire Explosions. He can also detonate his own Fire Explosions, as well as detonate the tech combos of other teammates with the use of his Frag Grenades since they're not on cooldown, so just have him throw them at an opponent that's primed and watch the fireworks. The dude is also a fucking tank, and rarely dies, he'll 1v1 a damn Maruader in a melee battle and come out on top ffs.

Garrus is next, and he has one primer in the form of Overload, which can set up Tech Bursts, but unlike the other two unfortunately he cannot detonate his own combos, since his detonators share a cooldown with his Overload(the downside of not having a grenade power). He can still detonate other squadmates combos though, with the use of Overload, Concussive Shot and that phenomenal Proximity Mine.

The reason he's here listed with Ashley and James and Kaidan and EDI aren't, is because whilst they can fill in the same role as squaddies who can set up combos but can't detonate their own, he has multiple ways to do it and also comes with the added benefit of increased weapon damage due to being an offensive focused Soldier like Ashley, along with having Proximity Mine, which brings him out of top against EDI and Kaidan.

You may notice a name missing, Tali. I didn't forget about her, she's Tech after all, but her effectiveness is so far below the rest of squaddies I named above that she wasn't worth mentioning. If you really want to use though then spec her for Energy Drain, her passive and nothing else. The drones are not worth it.

To rank the squadmates

1. Ash
2. James/Garrus(If you pick Ash then it honestly doesn't matter which one you take)
3. EDI
4. Kaidan
5. Tali
6. Liara/Javik

EDIT: Just realised that I forgot squad builds

Ashley

Inferno Grenade: Radius / Max Grenades / Radius and Shrapnel
Disruptor Ammo: Damage or Squad(depends on you) / Headshots / Damage
Concussive Shot: Radius / Recharge Speed / Amplification
Alliance Officer: Weapon Damage / Power Damage / Assault Rifles

James

Fortification: Durability / Recharge Speed / Durability
Frag Grenade: Damage / Max Grenades / Shield Overload or Armor Piercing
Incendiary Ammo: Damage or Squad Bonus(depends on you) / Damage / Explosive Burst
Arms Master: Durability / Shield Recharge / Fortification

Garrus

Concussive Shot: Radius / Recharge Speed / Amplification
Overload: Chain Overload / Recharge Speed / Chain Overload
Proximity Mine: Radius / Damage Taken / Recharge Speed (always spam this when you can against tough enemies)
Turian Rebel: Weapon Damage / Power Damage or Assault Rifles / Sniper Rifles

EDI

Incinerate: Damage / Recharge Speed / Armor Damage
Overload: Damage / Recharge Speed / Shield Damage
Unshackled AI: Power Damage / Tech Damage / Squad Bonus

That's all she needs

Kaidan

Overload: Damage / Recharge Speed / Shield Damage
Cryo Blast: Radius / Cryo Explosion / Recharge Speed
Alliance Officer: Durability / Tech Damage / Squad Bonus (The Power damage version, no idea why they named the two nodes the exact same fucking thing)

He has no need for Biotics when playing with Soldier or Infiltrator

Also, some people might ask why I don't suggest a more balanced team with a mixture of combat, tech and biotics, and the answer is simply that despite Bioware trying to push that idea throughout the series, it's never been needed, hell, it's actually proven itself detrimental, especially in ME3, since biotic and tech powers don't mix as well as Combat and Tech powers do a lot of the time.

Tech powers have priority over biotic powers, so if you cast an Incinerate and Warp on a target, and then cast a Throw in hopes of detonating a Biotic explosion, you'll actually get a Fire explosion instead, but it doesn't work the same in the opposite direction, tech powers can't detonate biotic explosions. This is why MP has become so heavily skewed towards tech, the way the combo system works means that it's more efficient to run full teams of tech users than a mixed group, and since tech powers are much more diverse than biotic powers, thats what people use.
 

Big Nikus

Member
Thought this was neat :


The Guardian of the Galaxy comics and the Infinity cross-over also took some visual cues from Mass Effect these last few years.


Pretty cool to know too, since the Valerian movie also draws some visual inspirations from ME. Like the logo...

So, it has come full circle, and I think it's great. Mass Effect was inspired by tons of classic science-fiction movies and tv shows, and now modern sci-fi movies and comics are inspired by Mass Effect.
 

Quentyn

Member
For the people in Europe (not sure if it is all of Europe or only some countries) that are interested in preordering. Origin has Mass Effect Andromeda for 30% off right now. It works for the Standard Edition and both Deluxe Editions. If you get Origin Access you get an additional 10% off the sales price which brings it down to 37,97 € for the Standard Edition and 44,09 € for the Deluxe Edition.

I am usually not someone who preorders games, but this seems like an alright deal. Especially if you are interested in the Deluxe Edition.

https://www.origin.com/store/mass-effect/mass-effect-andromeda/standard-edition
 

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
That's pretty awesome about Valerian, shaping up nicely I reckon and love the cross influencing going on, it truly has gone full circle.

In other news, this just happened due to the awesome 30% sale on Origin:



The Super Deluxe version was only $14 more than the Deluxe version here in New Zealand Origin, so thought what the hell: pumped!! Preload on March 18, let's do this :)
 

Renekton

Member
The only difference between that and the deluxe is the MP stuff... right?

And, if you have no intention of doing the MP stuff, there's no point in buying the Super Deluxe version... right?
Yeah Super Deluxe gives one premium MP lootbox every week, in case anyone was salty about not maxing out Cerberus Harrier.

EDIT: Consoles get a MP test end of this month. So you can find out if the MP is worth the Super Deluxe.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Not seeing 30% off on my store. It shows up initially, but once you place the item in the cart it's gone :(
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
The only difference between that and the deluxe is the MP stuff... right?

And, if you have no intention of doing the MP stuff, there's no point in buying the Super Deluxe version... right?

The only difference between Super Deluxe and Deluxe is that Super get a free loot box every week for 20 weeks. So yeah...

Still, I would recommend trying the MP if it's as good or better than ME3 one.
 

DevilDog

Member
Ok, so I don't understand, why did they wake up the people from cryostasis before the pathfinders found a new home? Wouldn't it be better, safer and cheaper to let them all sleep while the pathfinders and the supporting crew scoured around the galaxy?
 

diaspora

Member
Ok, so I don't understand, why did they wake up the people from cryostasis before the pathfinders found a new home? Wouldn't it be better, safer and cheaper to let them all sleep while the pathfinders and the supporting crew scoured around the galaxy?
I mean, this might be a part of the story.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
The Ark infomercial said that everyone will be woken up as soon as they reach their Andromeda.

I think what he meant is that the reason the people woke up was probably something not planned when the Arks launched. Alien attack or some unknown cosmic shit happening.
 
Nvm.



But the Ark informatial would have woken them up anyways. It was planned all right. Alien attack/uprising or no.
The plan was to have the Nexus crew lay a lot of the groundwork; by the time the majority of the crew woke up, the expectation was that any issues would have already been addressed. Clearly, that went sideways.
 

DevilDog

Member
The plan was to have the Nexus crew lay a lot of the groundwork; by the time the majority of the crew woke up, the expectation was that any issues would have already been addressed. Clearly, that went sideways.

I see.
Where was that mentioned, I completely missed it.
 
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