I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite thread on Obsidian

[jaguars4ever]

On Insanity, does: Widowmaker + Assassination Cloak + Tungsten/Heavy Warp Ammo = 1 hit kill ?

 

If so, that's my next build.

[Nepenthe]

I played MS1 through first as a mage and, yes, it had alot redundant skills. I had more fun as mage/tech guy hybrid. So, maybe I try that first.

Sentinel is a good choice. Having both Warp and Overload allows for greater flexibility in squad makeup than any other class, and tech armor is nice. On the other hand... it lacks teeth.

 

The only Sentinel I've played so far was on Normal, but I definitely did not feel like I was lacking 'teeth', certainly not in the later phases of the game when I had the Vindicator and AP ammo.

[213374U]

I played MS1 through first as a mage and, yes, it had alot redundant skills. I had more fun as mage/tech guy hybrid. So, maybe I try that first.

Sentinel is a good choice. Having both Warp and Overload allows for greater flexibility in squad makeup than any other class, and tech armor is nice. On the other hand... it lacks teeth.

 

The only Sentinel I've played so far was on Normal, but I definitely did not feel like I was lacking 'teeth', certainly not in the later phases of the game when I had the Vindicator and AP ammo.

YMMV

 

But compare it to the damage bonuses the Infiltrator gets from the get go, for instance. Sentinel may get decent damage output after getting the extra weapons training and a bonus talent, but at that point some of the other classes get pretty crazy. Infiltrator/Widow, Vanguard/Claymore, and even Soldier/Revenant are in another league entirely... without any significant drawbacks since, as I said, tech guys no longer have non-combat advantage.

 

Not saying you can't kill stuff as a Sentinel... just that it's much more tedious than other classes, except for Adept.

[Orogun01]

I was killing them just fine without the cloak. Widowmaker FTW!

The cloak works better for gaining ground or getting away from trouble. Just hide and get your enemies caught between your cross fire or disengage and get away.

PS:the widowmaker broke my arm!!

[Enoch]

Thinking back-- one thing that disappointed me was that there was never any explanation of the introduction. (Minor Spoilers follow)

 

Just after running through the whole robot uprising on the Lazarus station, it occured to me how contrived the whole situation was. It happens to come when Shep is ready to wake up; there happens to be a weapon stored 20 feet away from Shep's hospital bed (!); we're led to believe that it was initiated by a Doctor and that he did so not with something subtle and within his expertise like mis-dosing Shep's medication, but by hacking weak combat robots to go nuts (why were there so many security bots on the station, anyway?); and it is never explained to whom or what this Doctor was reporting.

 

That's either a case of narrative reasonableness taking a backseat to gameplay demands (lame), or it was deliberate sabotage initiated by TIM for the express purpose of testing whether he could trust in the competence of the newly-rebuilt Shepard. It would've been very cool if the latter option were the case, and if Shep had somehow gotten clued in to this and been able to rant a little bit at Miranda and TIM about it. But that moment never came, and instead we're left wondering if Bio had simply blown their credible-introduction-writing wad on Dragon Age.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Enoch

[Raithe]

Yes, I mean you had some of the logs you could find suggested that the Doctor had become increasingly disalusioned, mostly because he kept striking out on hitting on Miranda... and he saw all this money pouring into the project but didn't consider that he was getting enough..

 

But nothing to really say who he sold out to, or much of a reason except being spurned by Miranda...

[I want teh kotor 3]

Vanguard FTW. Heavy Charge its epic.

[Hurlshort]

I actually spent the entire game thinking Miranda arranged the whole initial robot intro thing. She pulled the trigger on that doctor guy pretty quick. It makes sense that she wanted to test Sheppard. She didn't strike me as the type to have a problem sacrificing the entire team for a training exercise.

[213374U]

Would you like to know who staged Shep's daring escape from the Cerberus facility?

 

Find out in the next DLC!

[Nepenthe]

I played MS1 through first as a mage and, yes, it had alot redundant skills. I had more fun as mage/tech guy hybrid. So, maybe I try that first.

Sentinel is a good choice. Having both Warp and Overload allows for greater flexibility in squad makeup than any other class, and tech armor is nice. On the other hand... it lacks teeth.

 

The only Sentinel I've played so far was on Normal, but I definitely did not feel like I was lacking 'teeth', certainly not in the later phases of the game when I had the Vindicator and AP ammo.

YMMV

 

But compare it to the damage bonuses the Infiltrator gets from the get go, for instance. Sentinel may get decent damage output after getting the extra weapons training and a bonus talent, but at that point some of the other classes get pretty crazy. Infiltrator/Widow, Vanguard/Claymore, and even Soldier/Revenant are in another league entirely... without any significant drawbacks since, as I said, tech guys no longer have non-combat advantage.

 

Not saying you can't kill stuff as a Sentinel... just that it's much more tedious than other classes, except for Adept.

 

Valid points - I probably should have clarified, that at no point did I feel like I was lacking in damage output, and the upgrades I got during the game kept me going - but I did have to focus both my optional upgrades on stuff that precisely did give me some 'teeth'. A combo of, say, widowmaker+reave would probably have had me bored to tears when facing mooks...

[Volourn]

"the extra damage from cloak is pretty much a necessity..."

 

Huh? Please define 'pretty much a necessity' to me as I played the entire game without using it once. Doesn't sound like 'pretty much a necessity' to me unless the defintion has changed since the last time I checked. *shrug*

[213374U]

"the extra damage from cloak is pretty much a necessity..."

 

Huh? Please define 'pretty much a necessity' to me as I played the entire game without using it once. Doesn't sound like 'pretty much a necessity' to me unless the defintion has changed since the last time I checked. *shrug*

Whoa, whoa! Stop the presses, Volo is being anally retentive again!

 

Ammunition for the Mantis is 10. 12 for the Widow. Some encounters throw far more enemies than that at the player, so you have to maximize damage per shot AND move around to get more ammo, which is risky.

 

The whole point of an Infiltrator is to use the sniper rifle. It's not "necessary" to do so, but then again saving, mining for resources, changing weapons, and using abilities aren't "necessary". Life is full of things that aren't a "necessity", but make it less painful, easier or otherwise more bearable. Case in point, you are living proof that thinking isn't really necessary... but it's generally an advisable habit.

 

edit: also, try Insanity.

Edited February 23, 2010 by 213374U

[Volourn]

"Ammunition for the Mantis is 10. 12 for the Widow. Some encounters throw far more enemies than that at the player, so you have to maximize damage per shot AND move around to get more ammo, which is risky."

 

Huh? Just change weapons.*shrug* No need to stiuck with one gun. Cloak is the very defintion of unneeded crap.

And, flaming me like a crybaby doesn't change the fact that cloak is a useless talent that only wussies use.

 

 

"The whole point of an Infiltrator is to use the sniper rifle."

 

Nah. It isn't.

[mr insomniac]

Thinking back-- one thing that disappointed me was that there was never any explanation of the introduction. (Minor Spoilers follow)

 

Just after running through the whole robot uprising on the Lazarus station, it occured to me how contrived the whole situation was. It happens to come when Shep is ready to wake up; there happens to be a weapon stored 20 feet away from Shep's hospital bed (!); we're led to believe that it was initiated by a Doctor and that he did so not with something subtle and within his expertise like mis-dosing Shep's medication, but by hacking weak combat robots to go nuts (why were there so many security bots on the station, anyway?); and it is never explained to whom or what this Doctor was reporting.

 

That's either a case of narrative reasonableness taking a backseat to gameplay demands (lame), or it was deliberate sabotage initiated by TIM for the express purpose of testing whether he could trust in the competence of the newly-rebuilt Shepard. It would've been very cool if the latter option were the case, and if Shep had somehow gotten clued in to this and been able to rant a little bit at Miranda and TIM about it. But that moment never came, and instead we're left wondering if Bio had simply blown their credible-introduction-writing wad on Dragon Age.

Since the N7 armor is also stored in the locker with the pistol, it's reasonable to assume the gear belonged to Shepard. With all the money Cerberus pouured into the Lazarus project, I'd say Miranda didn't let anything happen to Shepard unless she was there, so a misdose or an OD was highly unlikely. I'm also guessing that Miranda was just as much a target as Shepard, and Wilson would have been perfectly content if Shepard had never woken up at all. TIM had no problem with Miranda killing Wilson without hesitation. She was in charge. It's like putting Shepard in charge of the Normandy and all those Cerberus people. Yes he/she was given direction from time to time, but was given free rein as to how the goal was accomplished. Other examples, such as activating Legion or letting Grunt out of the tank were also Shepard's choice.

 

I wondered about who, if anyone, hired Wilson as well. My money's on Udina.

[213374U]

Huh? Just change weapons.*shrug* No need to stiuck with one gun. Cloak is the very defintion of unneeded crap.

And, flaming me like a crybaby doesn't change the fact that cloak is a useless talent that only wussies use.

HAVE you played on Insanity to put put your nonsense to the test?

 

Ah, I forget. Changing difficulty "isn't necessary".

 

 

Nah. It isn't.

It's clear enough that Volo has been playing a bit too much Bizarro Effect.

 

Yeah, because it's not like the Infiltrator specializations revolve around maximizing sniping efficiency. Nope, not necessary. It's not necessary to use biotics as an Adept either. Nope, that ain't the point.

 

Because this is Volologic we're using, here.

Edited February 23, 2010 by 213374U

[Volourn]

If Infiltrator was all about the sniping ability and cloaking, you would need to sue them all the time. I never used usec loak, and when I ran out of shutgun bullets, I just switch weapons no worries whatsoever.

 

 

"I wondered about who, if anyone, hired Wilson as well. My money's on Udina."

 

Udina is many things but a cold blooded murderer isn't one of them. Plus, I don't think he'd want to kill Shepard even out of anger over not being picked for the council.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Volourn

[mr insomniac]

I just finished an infiltrator game, and I never used the cloak, but then I'm not interested in the insanity difficulty either. I can definitely see where it'd have advantages. But I did snipe every chance I got. As someone said earlier in the thread, the bullet-time effect infiltrators get is pretty cool. I also preferred the rapid-fire sniper rifle (viper?) over the widow.

 

Also, infiltrators get shotguns?

[mr insomniac]

"I wondered about who, if anyone, hired Wilson as well. My money's on Udina."

 

Udina is many things but a cold blooded murderer isn't one of them. Plus, I don't think he'd want to kill Shepard even out of anger over not being picked for the council.

He's getting rid of Shepard to weaken Anderson's position on the council and eventually return to power himelf. With Shepard gone Anderson loses a powerful and influential ally.

[213374U]

If Infiltrator was all about the sniping ability and cloaking, you would need to sue them all the time. I never used usec loak, and when I ran out of shutgun bullets, I just switch weapons no worries whatsoever.

Hahaha. Priceless. A shotgun-focused Infiltrator.

 

So, what is, according to you, the point of picking an Infiltrator over another class?

Edited February 23, 2010 by 213374U

[Oner]

Also, infiltrators get shotguns?

Probably picked the shotgun training on the Collector ship.

 

Or, y'know, Bizzarro World.

[Volourn]

"So, what is, according to you, the point of picking an Infiltrator over another class?"

 

Nothing. Class is irrelevant in ME2. It all comes down to the same thing - play hide n seek with the enemy and shoot them to death with your gun. *shrug*

 

 

"He's getting rid of Shepard to weaken Anderson's position on the council and eventually return to power himelf. With Shepard gone Anderson loses a powerful and influential ally."

 

Yeah, I guess that's a possibility but Udina doesn't seem that cold blooded. Even when he was berating Sheaprd in ME1, it never came across as 'do as I want or I'll find a way to kill you'. Plus, don't forget, Udina might be on the Council...

Edited February 23, 2010 by Volourn

[mr insomniac]

"He's getting rid of Shepard to weaken Anderson's position on the council and eventually return to power himelf. With Shepard gone Anderson loses a powerful and influential ally."

 

Yeah, I guess that's a possibility but Udina doesn't seem that cold blooded. Even when he was berating Sheaprd in ME1, it never came across as 'do as I want or I'll find a way to kill you'. Plus, don't forget, Udina might be on the Council...

Alot can happen in two years to change people. Look at the rest of Shepard's crew. Liara's an extreme example; she underwent a personality rewrite. But Alenko/Williams basically say !^#$ you Shepard. Garrus became a vigilante, Wrex became a politician. Tali's the only who pretty much remained true to character. Udina's an opportunist, probably paid the shadow broker to find anything on Shepard that could be found. When it happened, he gave the shadowbroker some money and said, make shepard go away.

 

If Udina's on the council then he's killing Shepard to get rid of the last genuine threat to expose what really happened during the 'geth attack' on the citadel.

[Raithe]

Hm, I wouldn't say things were that out of character for them.

 

Wrex used to be a leader of sorts within his clan, and he originally was a lot more..upbeat about things (at least if you listen to his stories it seems that way) it was only when his father betrayed him that he went off into the ultra-cynical, who gives a flying-crap-about-the-krogans... and depending how you played through ME1.. you could see how Shep brings Wrex back into less cynical way of thinking.. and Wrex goes back in an attempt to provide a "better" way of life for Krogans then just the "mercenary blow **** up".

 

Garrus was always close to the edge of vigilante behaviour.. the constant complaining of red tape, the admiring of Spectres ability to act out side the law.. nothing really shouts out against him becoming a vigilante even if you encouraged a less "shoot 'em on sight" attitude.

 

Lliara - Well, think how much people can change from their late teens/early twenties to having quite different world views by the time they hit the 30's. We meet her at a time she's still considered by most Asari as fairly childish, and she's the quiet type who's spent a lot of her time alone on archaeological digs (although, she has experience in stopping pirates/raiders at those dig sites). She has a close friend (Shep) , and she develops a friendship with someone else (the drell informant) and the Shadow Broker does some stuff involving them that hits the "I want Bloody Vengeance!!" buttons .. that's going to change someones attitude a bit.. but again, it can make sense...

 

Ashely / Kaiden - That's the least likely out of it all. Sure, they tend towards the whole "Cerberus is Evil" viewpoint, and to them it might look like Shephard faked his death and didn't tell them..and now has turned up working arm in arm with the Evil Organisation . But you'd think they'd have more trust for Shep then to blow up and not really listen. Especially after the events at Horizon..

[mr insomniac]

Hm, I wouldn't say things were that out of character for them.

 

Wrex used to be a leader of sorts within his clan, and he originally was a lot more..upbeat about things (at least if you listen to his stories it seems that way) it was only when his father betrayed him that he went off into the ultra-cynical, who gives a flying-crap-about-the-krogans... and depending how you played through ME1.. you could see how Shep brings Wrex back into less cynical way of thinking.. and Wrex goes back in an attempt to provide a "better" way of life for Krogans then just the "mercenary blow **** up".

 

Garrus was always close to the edge of vigilante behaviour.. the constant complaining of red tape, the admiring of Spectres ability to act out side the law.. nothing really shouts out against him becoming a vigilante even if you encouraged a less "shoot 'em on sight" attitude.

 

Lliara - Well, think how much people can change from their late teens/early twenties to having quite different world views by the time they hit the 30's. We meet her at a time she's still considered by most Asari as fairly childish, and she's the quiet type who's spent a lot of her time alone on archaeological digs (although, she has experience in stopping pirates/raiders at those dig sites). She has a close friend (Shep) , and she develops a friendship with someone else (the drell informant) and the Shadow Broker does some stuff involving them that hits the "I want Bloody Vengeance!!" buttons .. that's going to change someones attitude a bit.. but again, it can make sense...

 

Ashely / Kaiden - That's the least likely out of it all. Sure, they tend towards the whole "Cerberus is Evil" viewpoint, and to them it might look like Shephard faked his death and didn't tell them..and now has turned up working arm in arm with the Evil Organisation . But you'd think they'd have more trust for Shep then to blow up and not really listen. Especially after the events at Horizon..

Okay, yep, Wrex and Garrus, not much of a stretch for them to become what they are in ME2.

 

Liara? Two years to an asari isn't going from early twenties to hitting the thirties. It's going from twenty to twenty and a half. I dunno, maybe all the stuff they went through in ME changed Liara's viewpoint on the galaxy. Maybe Shepard finding out more about the Protheans in a few weeks than she could in fifty years jaded her a bit... but to go from the bookworm with no social skills whatsoever (by her own admission), to badass killer bitch with knowledge of everything that's happening on Ilium -- not to mention taking on the shadowbroker in a more blatant way than anyone else dared to do -- in just two years? Nah.... but then maybe I just didn't like her anymore, heh.

[Orogun01]

Hm, I wouldn't say things were that out of character for them.

 

Wrex used to be a leader of sorts within his clan, and he originally was a lot more..upbeat about things (at least if you listen to his stories it seems that way) it was only when his father betrayed him that he went off into the ultra-cynical, who gives a flying-crap-about-the-krogans... and depending how you played through ME1.. you could see how Shep brings Wrex back into less cynical way of thinking.. and Wrex goes back in an attempt to provide a "better" way of life for Krogans then just the "mercenary blow **** up".

 

Garrus was always close to the edge of vigilante behaviour.. the constant complaining of red tape, the admiring of Spectres ability to act out side the law.. nothing really shouts out against him becoming a vigilante even if you encouraged a less "shoot 'em on sight" attitude.

 

Lliara - Well, think how much people can change from their late teens/early twenties to having quite different world views by the time they hit the 30's. We meet her at a time she's still considered by most Asari as fairly childish, and she's the quiet type who's spent a lot of her time alone on archaeological digs (although, she has experience in stopping pirates/raiders at those dig sites). She has a close friend (Shep) , and she develops a friendship with someone else (the drell informant) and the Shadow Broker does some stuff involving them that hits the "I want Bloody Vengeance!!" buttons .. that's going to change someones attitude a bit.. but again, it can make sense...

 

Ashely / Kaiden - That's the least likely out of it all. Sure, they tend towards the whole "Cerberus is Evil" viewpoint, and to them it might look like Shephard faked his death and didn't tell them..and now has turned up working arm in arm with the Evil Organisation . But you'd think they'd have more trust for Shep then to blow up and not really listen. Especially after the events at Horizon..

Okay, yep, Wrex and Garrus, not much of a stretch for them to become what they are in ME2.

 

Liara? Two years to an asari isn't going from early twenties to hitting the thirties. It's going from twenty to twenty and a half. I dunno, maybe all the stuff they went through in ME changed Liara's viewpoint on the galaxy. Maybe Shepard finding out more about the Protheans in a few weeks than she could in fifty years jaded her a bit... but to go from the bookworm with no social skills whatsoever (by her own admission), to badass killer bitch with knowledge of everything that's happening on Ilium -- not to mention taking on the shadowbroker in a more blatant way than anyone else dared to do -- in just two years? Nah.... but then maybe I just didn't like her anymore, heh.

I don't know going through a whole comic of batarians trying to rape you can mess anyone's mind.

Depending on the length of the comic and how many rape attempts happen I may agree that Liara's change is appropriate.

If it turns into one of those asari-hanar games then is perfectly understandable that she wants to kill the shadow broker.