[PC/PS3/360/WiiU] Mass Effect 3

[Key Board]

I played Vanguard in both games

I could no get used to Vanguard in ME2

I was playing nightmare so everytime I charged into someone I would get swiss cheesed

shotguns were considerably less accurate too

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by -Sho-

ME 1 = Soldier , honestly , it was boring to play just shoot.....
ME 2 = Vanguard , so fun to play , Charge , Shockwave , Pull....
If we can change class in ME3 with imported save , i'll try the infiltrator next.

Well, the satisfaction of the Vanguard class really was about the skills.

I went throught ME2 as an infiltrator, the fun was in taking out things with sniper+slowdown and stealth before they even had a chance to shoot back or reach you.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Key Board

I played Vanguard in both games

I could no get used to Vanguard in ME2

I was playing nightmare so everytime I charged into someone I would get swiss cheesed

shotguns were considerably less accurate too

All videgames are balanced on Medium difficulty. It is a fact of life that the more difficult you raise it, the less balanced the skills get. Some play styles just aren't meant to survive harder modes.

[Darkbeat]

ME2 Vanguard was so vastly different from ME1 Vanguard it took the shine off it for me. I know Biotic Charging is fun, especially on Insanity, but ME1 Vanguard played more like an ME2 Shotgun Adept (with Barrier), which was a nice blend. Also I really missed Carnage, what an awesome, awesome skill.

The combat in ME2 was so much more refined and improved, but sometimes I can't help but think it had to trade it's soul to be that way. Gone are the days of wide-open Planetary exploration, in favor of tighter confines with plenty of conveniently placed waist-high boxes. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they improve things further in ME3, hopefully without having to compensate in other ways.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by Darkbeat

The combat in ME2 was so much more refined and improved, but sometimes I can't help but think it had to trade it's soul to be that way. Gone are the days of wide-open Planetary exploration, in favor of tighter confines with plenty of conveniently placed waist-high boxes. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they improve things further in ME3, hopefully without having to compensate in other ways.

On the other hand, the planetary exploration kind of sucked . It kinda sucked in ME2 as well (planet scanning...), but not as egregiously. It's one of the things the devs still haven't gotten right yet.

I only though ME1 was so so, but ME2 is one of my favourite recent RPGs, loved the whole "gathering the team" feel, and there was a real variety in all the missions. It was a much tighter experience then ME1, no incomplete loose ends.

I see no reason how ME3 could turn out badly, unless there was a major screw up. They only really need to tweak the combat a little (I like how there'll be more weapon customisation, but still a relatively limited roster), and produce some good missions. Good missions is always hard, and ME2 will be a tough act to follow. Still, I have faith. I'll be buying the game within a month of release.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Darkbeat

Ah Infiltrator, I've always wanted to try. Did you use the Widow?

Am I the only Infiltrator who forgoes the Widow in favor of the Assault Rifle specialization? IMO it was fun to have enemies one-shot killed by its awesome power, but the ammo was so few (even with all the ammo upgrades and armor kits) that the majority of my kills tends to be due to SMG or Incinerate. In the end Viper + AR specialization were more practical

I'm really looking forward for the Omni-Blade, BTW, just to make my Infiltrator's name, Desmond Shepard, more appropriate

[Who]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Am I the only Infiltrator who forgoes the Widow in favor of the Assault Rifle specialization? IMO it was fun to have enemies one-shot killed by its awesome power, but the ammo was so few (even with all the ammo upgrades and armor kits) that the majority of my kills tends to be due to SMG or Incinerate. In the end Viper + AR specialization were more practical

I'm really looking forward for the Omni-Blade, BTW, just to make my Infiltrator's name, Desmond Shepard, more appropriate

You're not. I have an Infiltrator who utilized Cryo and the Mattock for CQC, along with the fireball skill (god, it's been so long since I played). Mattock was so OP in ME2.

[DonQuigleone]

It's true the Widow had limited ammo, I just always made all my shots connected. I also tended to leave the small fry to the NPCs I brought along. I'd only occasionally have to switch to SMG or fireball.

[LoweGear]

So apparently, if the video from this Gamesradar link is to be believed, it looks like the demo will be released on Valentine's Day.

[MeoTwister5]

Ha! Looks like no one's going on a date this Valentine's Day!

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by Darkbeat

Also I really missed Carnage

Funny you say that. In the Gamesradar vid I linked, one of the abilities activated by the Kinect is Carnage, used by the character James Vega (with many of the players saying it's an awesome ability).

[Key Board]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

All videgames are balanced on Medium difficulty. It is a fact of life that the more difficult you raise it, the less balanced the skills get. Some play styles just aren't meant to survive harder modes.

I still managed to beat the game on nightmare w/ vanguard

it's just.. I never understood the logic behind charging.

This is mostly designed to be a cover shooter. Charging means you are abandoning your cover, leaving your team mates, and putting yourself into the enemy killzone.

whenever you charge, you're being leeroy jenkins.

It's frustrating. maybe my reaction time isn't just good enough. I'm more of a turn based player. For comparison, I performed very well using Infiltrator even on nightmare

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by Key Board

I still managed to beat the game on nightmare w/ vanguard

it's just.. I never understood the logic behind charging.

This is mostly designed to be a cover shooter. Charging means you are abandoning your cover, leaving your team mates, and putting yourself into the enemy killzone.

You whenever you charge, you're being leeroy jenkins.

You're thinking of Charge in the wrong way. Charge, like all your other abilities has its time and place. I mostly use Charge as an enhanced mobility tool: you can cross enormous distances easily using it, allowing you to reposition yourself for flanking maneuvers. Granted it requires that there is an enemy to charge to, but that's why you need to perform target prioritization:

- Is the enemy alone?
- Are there other enemies guarding his flanks or back?
- If he's not alone, how many are there, and if need be can I take them down fast enough?
- Will there be nearby cover available after I charge?
- Will it give me a tactical advantage?

If the answer to all these is yes, then hit CHARGE and wreck havoc. Given the density of enemies in proportion to combat area in Mass Effect 2, it's not like there aren't many situations where you can't satisfy all the above requirements, ex. most enemies take cover themselves afterall, and once you charge you can use their cover.

I also managed to complete Insane difficulty as a Vanguard, and while I did die alot the first few times, eventually I found the pace needed to effectively use Charge, and even shorten engagements that would take me twice as long to complete with a Soldier or Infiltrator. I actually managed to complete the last few levels up to the Collector Base without dying once post-Charge.

[Key Board]

I think it's my lack of skill.

If it's several enemies vs Shepard, I don't think I have the necessary hand eye coordination to take them out quickly myself. Especially if it's a moving target.

I'm bad at modern shooters. I'm used to taking my time to aim. And taking your time means death on higher difficulties.

I had no problem running and gunning in the first game, but ME2 has a different game engine and well.. I've been sucking horribly with their reinterpretation of shotguns

[killer3000ad]

Originally Posted by Key Board

I think it's my lack of skill.

If it's several enemies vs Shepard, I don't think I have the necessary hand eye coordination to take them out quickly myself. Especially if it's a moving target.

I'm bad at modern shooters. I'm used to taking my time to aim. And taking your time means death on higher difficulties.

I had no problem running and gunning in the first game, but ME2 has a different game engine and well.. I've been sucking horribly with their reinterpretation of shotguns

Plenty of video guides on the tube about how and when to use charge.

[Flying Dagger]

I think the problem with vanguard is the lack of a real damage reduction line. When charging is too dangerous (which is ~85% of the fights), the vanguard is just a soldier w/o AR, a sentinel without tech armor or biotics... In insanity it "doesn't feel like playing a vanguard" anymore. "Use charge when there are only 2 enemies remaining" isn't really how I image the skill would be used...

Pulling charge away from global cooldown would help a lot: you can charge in and shockwave/put up barrier as your first layer of shields go down. Alternatively allow blind charge/charge at squadmates to provide a mean of escape.

[Darkbeat]

I think that's what they were aiming for with Biotic Charge though. In ME1, Vanguard was more of a Soldier/Adept hybrid. You could get up close and personal, but you didn't have to. If you did though, you had Barrier, which was pretty OP in and of itself.

Now it's more same'ish. Charge > Melee > Shotgun in face > Repeat. It would be easy to get bored of the formula if it weren't so dangerous. It's the ultimate Glass Cannon class and I give Bioware credit for seeking to diversify, even if it doesn't necessarily suit my tastes and effectively nerfs some skills (Pull and Shockwave).

----

On another topic, anyone else thinking of doing some ME1 or ME2 replays before ME3? Get stuff you missed for the transfer? Kill time before March 6th (March 9th here in PAL-land )?

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by Flying Dagger

I think the problem with vanguard is the lack of a real damage reduction line. When charging is too dangerous (which is ~85% of the fights), the vanguard is just a soldier w/o AR, a sentinel without tech armor or biotics... In insanity it "doesn't feel like playing a vanguard" anymore. "Use charge when there are only 2 enemies remaining" isn't really how I image the skill would be used...

Pulling charge away from global cooldown would help a lot: you can charge in and shockwave/put up barrier as your first layer of shields go down. Alternatively allow blind charge/charge at squadmates to provide a mean of escape.

Charge is dangerous to use alright, however just because it's dangerous to use 85% of the time in Insanity doesn't mean it's useless by a similar proportion. I used Charge ALOT during missions and many times even open up combat engagements with them. I certainly don't use them "when there are only 2 enemies remaining" even on Insanity difficulty: enemies actually tend to split up alot in ME2 instead of bunching at a single location, which often gives lots of openings to charge.

It just takes a few seconds of observing the battlefield and planning to get Charge to work in Insanity, but if you can pull it off you can pretty much slash your mission time in half without dying even on Insanity.

I do agree that the global cooldown hurts Charge (and a lot of other abilities) alot, and that removing Global Cooldown would allow for lots of combo possibilities.

[SoldierOfDarkness]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Infiltrator is also surprisingly fun to melee. With stealth you can sneak behind the lines and cause absolute chaos.

Hmmm how do you play infiltrator? I decided to give it a try and I always run out of bullets despite getting headshots.

The rest of the abilities doesn't help either.

So far the only class that worked for me was the Sentinel as I seem to be more of a jack of all trades person.

I use throw which has a short cooldown and love watching guys go flying. Then warp for heavier opponents if needed. Tech armor with assault mode so if I get surrounded my pulse will disable most of them. I also pick up assault rifle training as well.

Charge is dangerous to use alright, however just because it's dangerous to use 85% of the time in Insanity doesn't mean it's useless by a similar proportion. I used Charge ALOT during missions and many times even open up combat engagements with them. I certainly don't use them "when there are only 2 enemies remaining" even on Insanity difficulty: enemies actually tend to split up alot in ME2 instead of bunching at a single location, which often gives lots of openings to charge.

Vanguard was the only other class I enjoyed playing but you really need to be aggressive with that one.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by SoldierOfDarkness

Hmmm how do you play infiltrator? I decided to give it a try and I always run out of bullets despite getting headshots.

The rest of the abilities doesn't help either.

The Infiltrator Ammo problem gets easier when you get either the Widow or the Viper. The Widow, because it reliably gives 1 shot kills, while the Viper just has no ammo problems period, but you rarely get 1 shot kills, usually it's 2 or 3 shots to kill, but you have 57 (I think) with a full pack.


Otherwise, you need to cultivate the use of your NPCs, Always leave the weak enemies to be picked off by the NPCs.

Also, max out Incendiary grenade (or whatever it's called). It can be used as a gun substitute in a pinch.

Frankly, if it wasn't for the ammo limitation, being an Infiltrator would be way to easy.