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

[Oblarg]

I play infiltrator, even though I really dislike the class mechanics, because I love the idea behind it (tech-savvy sniper, **** yeah). The sniping is so ****ing dumb in ME that it doesn't work too well, and tech powers went from generic explosions in ME1 to colored missiles in ME2.

 

I also play a vanguard with an assault rifle, but as biotics were nerfed to hell in ME2 it lost a lot of the satisfaction that it had in ME1.

[I want teh kotor 3]

You're all mad; vanguard FTW.

[Nepenthe]

. Of course, this was before it turned out everybody played Soldier, the class designed for neanderthals.

 

They already knew it was the most popular class.

 

Also, I had hopped on to see if there were any good class suggestions for the second play-through, but I'm now inspired to play a soldier again.

 

Sigh.

 

I've played the game now twice as sentinel and once as infiltrator, vanguard and soldier. The order of 'fun' in my books would be Sentinel > Infiltrator > Soldier > Vanguard. And that's mostly because to me it seems like there's a critical design fault in vanguard, and whoever thought that Charge would be a good idea clearly doesn't have all their synapses firing (It's like soldier- with an optional suicide/get stuck in geometry button).

 

The only thing I enjoyed when playing the soldier was the 'dumb fun' Revenant, which has an innate therapeutic quality none of the other weapons (well, apart from the Cain) has. Especially with the Locust, sentinels and infiltrators actually have some medium range teeth as well, and their ability set does add an occasional element of thinking into the game.

 

I'm pretty sure that, had my first playthrough been on a soldier, I most definitely would not have finished the game five times in this time frame.

[HoonDing]

Popping heads from behind bricks or throwing magic missiles from behind bricks, which is better and why?

[Raithe]

Popping heads from behind bricks or throwing magic missiles from behind bricks, which is better and why?

 

magic missiles from behind bricks that won't actually work on a lot of enemies if they have shields/armour.. so basically everyone if you slide into insane difficulty..

 

I enjoyed Vanguard in ME1.. then ME2 just..nerfed up biotics. I mean, if I squint a little, I can kind of see what they were aiming for by changing biotics and tech that way..but it really doesn't feel like it worked. Although I have to admit, I'll still try importing my save on to ME3 to see how they change Vanguards for that...

[Deraldin]

Vanguard takes some getting used to the thought process that goes into playing one well. You want to ignore charge until you have it at least at level 3, preferably 4 with a couple levels of your class passive. Charge is not a suicide button. Charge is a "SAVE ME JEBUS!" button that you use when you are about to die. Shields are down and health is soon to follow, so you charge someone on the far side of the battle. You get out of the way and shields are fully charged. With a few levels in the class passive to minimize the power recharge time it becomes a lot less suicidal as you can chain them together closer.

[Orogun01]

Vanguard takes some getting used to the thought process that goes into playing one well. You want to ignore charge until you have it at least at level 3, preferably 4 with a couple levels of your class passive. Charge is not a suicide button. Charge is a "SAVE ME JEBUS!" button that you use when you are about to die. Shields are down and health is soon to follow, so you charge someone on the far side of the battle. You get out of the way and shields are fully charged. With a few levels in the class passive to minimize the power recharge time it becomes a lot less suicidal as you can chain them together closer.

That's not how it was advertised.

[Labadal]

I used charge to barge in head first. I used Miranda and Mordin most of the time, so they backed my up in a good way. Let them destroy shields/barriers, and then you go to work. This is however not recommended on the highest difficulties. In fact, playing a Vanguard on higher difficulties was torture.

[I want teh kotor 3]

Vanguard takes some getting used to the thought process that goes into playing one well. You want to ignore charge until you have it at least at level 3, preferably 4 with a couple levels of your class passive. Charge is not a suicide button. Charge is a "SAVE ME JEBUS!" button that you use when you are about to die. Shields are down and health is soon to follow, so you charge someone on the far side of the battle. You get out of the way and shields are fully charged. With a few levels in the class passive to minimize the power recharge time it becomes a lot less suicidal as you can chain them together closer.

 

For me, its the exact opposite. Its the "I'm too far away to use my shotty, and **** is gonna get real ugly real fast so I might as well speed it up" button.

 

I used charge to barge in head first. I used Miranda and Mordin most of the time, so they backed my up in a good way. Let them destroy shields/barriers, and then you go to work. This is however not recommended on the highest difficulties. In fact, playing a Vanguard on higher difficulties was torture.

 

This is more how I used it. And yes, vanguard on hardcore/insanity is pretty brutal, but Samara and Mordin make up for a good chunk of it.

[Nepenthe]

Vanguard takes some getting used to the thought process that goes into playing one well. You want to ignore charge until you have it at least at level 3, preferably 4 with a couple levels of your class passive. Charge is not a suicide button. Charge is a "SAVE ME JEBUS!" button that you use when you are about to die. Shields are down and health is soon to follow, so you charge someone on the far side of the battle. You get out of the way and shields are fully charged. With a few levels in the class passive to minimize the power recharge time it becomes a lot less suicidal as you can chain them together closer.

 

Well, it should be Withdraw then, shouldn't it?

 

More seriously, though, I never felt that particular ability was worth the points. I found myself much better off engaging enemies at medium distances with the Locust and Inferno ammo, than closing in with the charge for shotgun kills.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Nepenthe

[HoonDing]

Vanguard was fun in ME1 at least. Just cast Stoneskin Barrier and run around unloading your shotgun up-close-and-personal. This was also the reason why enemy vanguards were particularly dangerous if your team was low-level and unprepared.

Edited September 21, 2010 by virumor

[Nepenthe]

Vanguard was fun in ME1 at least. Just cast Stoneskin Barrier and run around unloading your shotgun up-close-and-personal. This was also the reason why enemy vanguards were particularly dangerous if your team was low-level and unprepared.

 

Yep. Sentinel is the new Vanguard, really. - shotgun, but I prefer the SMGs anyway.

 

In fact, I think that the Battlemaster on Therum has killed me more times than any other encounter in the ME games.

 

Collector platforms pt. 1 on ME2 has the record for most deaths on a single playthrough (on insanity)

[Maria Caliban]

I just discovered the Hammer Head. For a second time, BioWare can't get their onscreen prompts right. It tells me [L SHIFT] to jump and [R MOUSE] to mine. It's actually [E] and [V].

 

I went through Firewalker and it was fine. At the first planet, I wished there was the ability to save, but after that, the missions were so easy there was no reason to bother. I'd say the Hammer Head is a good replacement for the Mako, but the missions available were rather lame.

[HoonDing]

It tells me [L SHIFT] to jump and [R MOUSE] to mine.

*Gets horrible Alpha Protocol flashback*

[Tale]

When the controls said mine I thought "oh cool, we can lay landmines. But that seems useless unless I'm being chased by other vehicles or something."

Edited September 21, 2010 by Tale

[Nepenthe]

I'd say the Hammer Head is a good replacement for the Mako

 

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

 

It's (even) worse.

[Gorth]

Hammerhead beats the crap out of Planet Scanning.

 

Edit: I've been sorely tempted to get Overlord and Lair of the Shadowbroker, but my resentment of paid DLC's will probably keep them off my PC. Hopefully there will be a big box set of ME2 + all addons some day.

[Deraldin]

Well, it should be Withdraw then, shouldn't it?

 

More seriously, though, I never felt that particular ability was worth the points. I found myself much better off engaging enemies at medium distances with the Locust and Inferno ammo, than closing in with the charge for shotgun kills.

 

But there shouldn't be anyone behind you to "withdraw" with. You really need to chain charge enemies to get the most out of it. Charge one, kill him and as soon as you can, charge another. I've seen people take out the colossus with repeated charges. Charge, shoot, shoot, charge, repeat. As long as you keep charging, you'll keep getting your shields back and the effect of enemy fire will be minimized.

[Nepenthe]

Well, it should be Withdraw then, shouldn't it?

 

More seriously, though, I never felt that particular ability was worth the points. I found myself much better off engaging enemies at medium distances with the Locust and Inferno ammo, than closing in with the charge for shotgun kills.

 

But there shouldn't be anyone behind you to "withdraw" with. You really need to chain charge enemies to get the most out of it. Charge one, kill him and as soon as you can, charge another. I've seen people take out the colossus with repeated charges. Charge, shoot, shoot, charge, repeat. As long as you keep charging, you'll keep getting your shields back and the effect of enemy fire will be minimized.

 

True, true. I assume it's just a total playstyle incompatibility - as I seem to have hit on my niche on the first time with the Sentinel.

 

Too bad that particular mission has the extra incentive to play on Hardcore+. Because the Colossus encounter has always called for the 'Indiana Jones' approach of slamming it with the Cain instead of starting to jump through all the extra hoops.

 

'You have these three routes, the first one has a lot of cover, but...' [renegade interrupt - Shepard pulls out the Cain and nukes the Colossus]... 'I don't have time for this!'

 

Hammerhead beats the crap out of Planet Scanning.

 

Edit: I've been sorely tempted to get Overlord and Lair of the Shadowbroker, but my resentment of paid DLC's will probably keep them off my PC. Hopefully there will be a big box set of ME2 + all addons some day.

 

Well, the planet scanning isn't that bad post-patch. It's still a useless time sink, but the time it takes to scan a planet is pretty trivial now. Doesn't feel so much of a chore, especially when you start with the replay bonuses

 

The Overlord is decent, but I'd say LotSB is worth breaking all kinds of principles over. I'm pretty sure there will be a 'complete' set at some point (there's apparently one coming for DAO), but pretty sure it won't be until after ALL the DLC has been released. And that might be for a year, at least. :/

Edited September 22, 2010 by Nepenthe

[Gorth]

Too bad that particular mission has the extra incentive to play on Hardcore+. Because the Colossus encounter has always called for the 'Indiana Jones' approach of slamming it with the Cain instead of starting to jump through all the extra hoops.

I find myself going through 95% of the game without ever touching my heavy weapon. Then I unleash most of my heavy ammo on the thresher maw. It almost kills it in one shot if timed correctly at the start of the combat.

 

Edit:

 

Well, the planet scanning isn't that bad post-patch. It's still a useless time sink, but the time it takes to scan a planet is pretty trivial now. Doesn't feel so much of a chore, especially when you start with the replay bonuses >_

That website with the save games is a blessing for us that lack the patience for ME1

 

As for DLC, I've no hurry. I have like 30 games that I've purchased recently from Gamersgate that I haven't played yet

[Nepenthe]

Too bad that particular mission has the extra incentive to play on Hardcore+. Because the Colossus encounter has always called for the 'Indiana Jones' approach of slamming it with the Cain instead of starting to jump through all the extra hoops.

I find myself going through 95% of the game without ever touching my heavy weapon. Then I unleash most of my heavy ammo on the thresher maw. It almost kills it in one shot if timed correctly at the start of the combat.

 

Edit:

 

Well, the planet scanning isn't that bad post-patch. It's still a useless time sink, but the time it takes to scan a planet is pretty trivial now. Doesn't feel so much of a chore, especially when you start with the replay bonuses

That website with the save games is a blessing for us that lack the patience for ME1

 

As for DLC, I've no hurry. I have like 30 games that I've purchased recently from Gamersgate that I haven't played yet

 

Mmh, they've been polling people about the heavy weapon system, so I think even Bio sees that it wasn't a complete success. The only place in the game where I routinely use a heavy weapon is the derelict Reaper, where I take off the 'boss' with a shot from Cain. I think Bio really messed up by making the Blackstorm Gamestop exclusive, as it's IMHO by far the best and most fun heavy weapon in the game. It's the one I carry on most missions and use it for fun, not so much for effect.

 

Also, it's always entertaining to see the different approaches people have to gaming. I probably have purchased about 30 games in my whole life (and no, that doesn't mean I've played 'preview copies' of others, it just means I buy few games but have a tendency to get kind of passionate about them. Strangely, this seems to be somewhat reflective of my attitude towards women, as well).

[Deraldin]

True, true. I assume it's just a total playstyle incompatibility - as I seem to have hit on my niche on the first time with the Sentinel.

 

Too bad that particular mission has the extra incentive to play on Hardcore+. Because the Colossus encounter has always called for the 'Indiana Jones' approach of slamming it with the Cain instead of starting to jump through all the extra hoops.

 

'You have these three routes, the first one has a lot of cover, but...' [renegade interrupt - Shepard pulls out the Cain and nukes the Colossus]... 'I don't have time for this!'

 

A good vanguard works on much the same principle.

[Nepenthe]

A good vanguard works on much the same principle.

 

The second part of my comment wasn't really vanguard related...

 

Of course, the fact that he has to try it like five times before it actually works like it's supposed to (vs. cheesing at hand-to-hand distance) isn't exactly that complimentary to the functionality of said ability.

 

Edit: Oh wait, it's probably not supposed to work from that distance, with the cutscene and all.

Edited September 22, 2010 by Nepenthe

[HoonDing]

Vanguard seems way too stress-inducing to me. I'd rather hide behind my brick all day and play Duck Hunt.

[mr insomniac]

I find myself going through 95% of the game without ever touching my heavy weapon. Then I unleash most of my heavy ammo on the thresher maw. It almost kills it in one shot if timed correctly at the start of the combat.

Same here... unless Infiltrator + Widow counts as a heavy weapon.