Mass Effect!

[Arkan]

So I finally bought Mass Effect. It was my second downloaded game purchase (HL: Ep 1 and 2 being the first). I kind of like the digital distribution service, although it's only been because I have nowhere else to get "older" games from.

 

Anyway, after fixing some SERIOUS performance issues, I've got the game running with most of the bells and whistles and it's running pretty smoothly right now.

 

I started as an infiltrator, but I was wondering if anybody had any opinions on the different "classes" in the game. Is there one that's underpowered or overpowered? Which one lets you get the most out of the game?

 

Does anybody else like the film grain filter? I'm not sure if I do. It looks great for cutscenes and dialog, but it looks...off...during regular gameplay. Thoughts?

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Engineers are useless against later enemies that don't use guns or aren't mechanical, Adepts (with an additional weapon skill) kick a LOT of ass and soldiers are underrated.

[Pop]

Engineers are pretty okay in my estimate. Their abilities are basically custom grenades so even if the intended effect doesn't happen you should still do some damage.

 

I can't remember what the name of the biotic / soldier class is (sentinel?), but I think it's the most powerful of the classes. Good weapon capabilities (the shotgun is 9x more useful than the infiltrator's sniper rifle, because of how small the levels tend to be) and their abilities, specifically barrier, augment your fighting power pretty well.

[Deraldin]

I can't remember what the name of the biotic / soldier class is (sentinel?), but I think it's the most powerful of the classes. Good weapon capabilities (the shotgun is 9x more useful than the infiltrator's sniper rifle, because of how small the levels tend to be) and their abilities, specifically barrier, augment your fighting power pretty well.

 

Soldier/Biotic is Vanguard. Sentinel was Biotic/Tech and my personal favourite class. Played that run with Tali+Liara and the ability to just repeatedly spam abilities was nuts.

[Zoraptor]

Does anybody else like the film grain filter? I'm not sure if I do. It looks great for cutscenes and dialog, but it looks...off...during regular gameplay. Thoughts?

If you're having performance problems then turn it off- it has a far larger effect on frame rate than is really justified, especially on lower end systems.

[Enoch]

My first ME character was an infiltrator. Enjoyable run. Pop is right about the Sniper being only occasionally useful (and not really of much benefit until you've put significant points in it), but I really didn't find any of the secondary weapon skills to be all that useful-- one of pistol/AR handles everything well enough that you're better off spending the points elsewhere instead of picking up another gun. It was nice to have Shepard take care of unlocking and decrypting, which means that you don't have to take along a techie companion if you don't want to. But Tali and the Birdman are two of the better companions, anyway, so it's no big deal to be tied to having one of them around.

 

The game is easy enough to be forgiving about character builds, though, and it gives you pretty good information about what the effects are of adding points to each of your skills. Just read what the effects are and conclude for yourself which thresholds are worth aiming for first.

 

Oh, and play as a female. The VO is infinitely better.

[Arkan]

My first ME character was an infiltrator. Enjoyable run. Pop is right about the Sniper being only occasionally useful (and not really of much benefit until you've put significant points in it), but I really didn't find any of the secondary weapon skills to be all that useful-- one of pistol/AR handles everything well enough that you're better off spending the points elsewhere instead of picking up another gun. It was nice to have Shepard take care of unlocking and decrypting, which means that you don't have to take along a techie companion if you don't want to. But Tali and the Birdman are two of the better companions, anyway, so it's no big deal to be tied to having one of them around.

 

The game is easy enough to be forgiving about character builds, though, and it gives you pretty good information about what the effects are of adding points to each of your skills. Just read what the effects are and conclude for yourself which thresholds are worth aiming for first.

 

Oh, and play as a female. The VO is infinitely better.

 

I might just restart as something that uses abilities instead of guns. I just got through a re-run of Half-Life 2, and first run through Episodes 1 and 2 (Very enjoyable, btw), and I've had my fill of gunning around.

 

Maybe I'll up the difficulty to add some challenge, if it's so easy.

[Calax]

Thing about mass effect is that no matter what you'll use guns, it's just the type of guns that's big.

 

I LOVE my infiltrators, the sniper isn't that powerful because of the level size but I stil love it for the effect of "I shoot you once and you die" instead of the pistols "empty a clip" and I don't like the shotguns lack of range.

[alanschu]

I liked the sniper for my first playthrough too

[Morgoth]

When I play the first time, I always go the no-nonsense route. Meaning I play the standard soldier/human/fighter.

 

At my current playthrough I'm playing an Adept, and lifting dudes into the air makes fun.

[Rosbjerg]

I played a Soldier on my first play through, which unlocked the assualt rifle for every other class, and then I played as a pure Biotic character.. It's pretty much a win combination to be able to throw everyone up in the air and then shot them down with your assault rifle

[ramza]

Which one is better? Vanguard/Shock trooper or Vanguard/Nemesis? I cannot decide...

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Adept with an additional shotgun or assault rifle skill is the best.

[entrerix]

i always thought that the highest dps in the game was actually pistols?

 

there was a whole massive thread on some other board with calculations and all that jazz which proved in the end that pistols were better than any other weapon once you got the spectre weapons.

[Maria Caliban]

i always thought that the highest dps in the game was actually pistols?

 

there was a whole massive thread on some other board with calculations and all that jazz which proved in the end that pistols were better than any other weapon once you got the spectre weapons.

 

With specter weapons, a pistol with max pistol skill is better than assault rifle with max assault rifle skill.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I vaguely remember the shotgun being more effective, mostly because you once you take down the shields the enemy gets a massive knockback and is incapacitated long enough to fire another shot, which usually rams him/her/it into the closest wall.

[Humodour]

Which one is better? Vanguard/Shock trooper or Vanguard/Nemesis? I cannot decide...

 

That'd unquestionably be the Shock Trooper, since they can have their shields up permanently during a fight. All a Nemesis offers is a bigger lift AoE.

 

Shock Trooper gets: 28 second Barrier at 1250 HP. When it runs out, cast, Adrenaline Rush, then cast Barrier. When Adrenaline rush runs out, wait 12 seconds and cast Barrier again. Repeat the cycle as long as needed, although this gives you over a minute of shields and I doubt the fight lasts that long.

 

Along with that shield boost, they still have their Lift ability, which is as strong as ever, and their Adrenaline Rush can be used to refresh it.

 

In terms of straight shield strength, Sentinel turned Bastion is strongest, since they get the shield boost from both improved Barrier and their tech talent (Electricity?). And the sentinel really does get a permanently on Barrier. Sentinel is also powerful beside that, because they get super Stasis and Lift. I doubt you'd notice the lack of weapon training since you get a pistol bonus and the pistol is inherently accurate anyway.

 

As for weapons: they all do comparable damage. But in terms of straight DPS, yeah it's the pistol. WILL has a good point about the shotgun, though.

 

Right, I'm off to restart since doing the Liara mission first thing off the citadel and being unable to defeat the final encounter of that mission (Krogan + Geth) I've discovered just how powerful biotics are (if I could lift, singularity, or stasis it'd be a piece of cake).

 

Time to decide between building a Sentinel, a Vanguard, or an Adept. Leaning Sentinel for the tankiness and pure spammability of abilities. A maybe I should go kill a bunch of things with a shotgun so I can take a Sentinel with shotguns. Good combo with his tankiness and all. Yeah, I'll do that. Liara can whip up singularities while run in and blast away blindly.

[ramza]

Mmm, actually (if I buy the game), I intend to play my character just like I played my jedis in KOTOR. Use the special powers and the rush to battle. I guess Vanguard/Shock trooper is more appropriate to my style of playing.

[Humodour]

So I got the stupid shotguns achievement and can now use shotguns on a Sentinel. With that, I created one this afternoon and am having fun casting Barrier and then running into combat blasting away.

 

I find that the shotgun is pretty accurate even at medium range, as long as you zoom. Certainly, I'm losing less health than I did playing with a pistol. I am locking forward to gaining the rocket launcher ability for my shotgun as, aside from the large AOE damage, it's long-range and perfectly accurate so I can use it for sniping. Pity the cool down is so damn long.

 

I tried throw on a Geth Shock Trooper and to my surprise it killed him in one hit as he was next to a wall. Cool.

[Humodour]

Aw man, I'm struggling to enjoy this game now I'm doing missions. It's all exploration/shooting and no plot.

 

Edit: and the exploration is boring. I mean the game's certainly better than Oblivion, but it's quickly lost its charm I think. I'll push on.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Krezack

[alanschu]

Once you grow weary of the bonus missions, just do the main quest.

Edited September 21, 2009 by alanschu

[Maria Caliban]

Aw man, I'm struggling to enjoy this game now I'm doing missions. It's all exploration/shooting and no plot.

 

Edit: and the exploration is boring. I mean the game's certainly better than Oblivion, but it's quickly lost its charm I think. I'll push on.

 

Make sure to rescue the asari's sister from the pirates.

[mkreku]

Right! I bought this like a year ago. I should probably get around to playing it soon.

 

But why does it feel like playing it will be like a chore before I've even installed it? I blame it on the snore-fest Jade Empire!

[Nepenthe]

Right! I bought this like a year ago. I should probably get around to playing it soon.

 

But why does it feel like playing it will be like a chore before I've even installed it? I blame it on the snore-fest Jade Empire!

 

The game's fun enough, but the 'achievements unlock skills' treadmill really irks me. As does the fact that I've been unable to play it for a month due to the buggy DLC.

 

I quite like it, though, I love the soundtrack, probably the best one I've heard in a game.

[Purkake]

Lies!

 

Beyond Good and Evil has the best soundtrack ever.