Mass Effect III

[Ghost Train]

...she stinks of a last minute DLC more than Javik...

Agreed with everything, but I think Javik is a good character. Definitely has the best one-liners second to Wrex.

The lizard people evolved? ... They used to eat flies

On another topic - who else thinks we'll see this at the end of the next DLC:

...To Be Continued in Mass Effect Online

[Lynx7725]

Stories like that make me want to hook up the ol' 360 to the internet and give it a shot. Kinda. Maybe. Sorta.

If you do, stick with Bronze-level games unless you are looking for challenges. I personally only run on Bronze unless it's for events. These games have way more pick-up gamers and doesn't really need a mic for coordination, so you can get by without it. It's reasonably fun, 20~30 minutes a match, and most people aren't so ass-like as on PvP games. Coop does tone those things down a lot.

Don't try Gold unless you are very familiar, the difficulty is basically Insanity level, and the Goldilocks people are kind of particular about who they play with (for a good reason). Official forums are full of Gold-people who does sort of look down upon Bronze players like me, but there are good tips there.

[Benson13]

I just wrapped up my final achievement last night for the game. I am enjoying the multiplayer though. Anyone that wants to play on Xbox is more than welcome to join me, gamertag is in my profile.

As for the game itself, I had a lot of fun. The Insanity Run wasn't to bad, only had problems with the Cerberus tweaker ninja. I'm not all bent out of shape about the ending because I viewed ME3 as a whole as the ending. As for the choices and the way they played out, it didn't bother me any. I made lots of decisions in ME 1 and 2 and saw some of the effects in ME3. For me, ME3 was all about wrapping things up and wrecking some shop. I didn't need any really pivotal plot choices in this one. I was happy just seeing all those clowns from ME2 die.

See you guys in the MP.

[David Hingtgen]

So, someone ordered 400 cupcakes to be delivered to Bioware's offices. 1/3 blue, 1/3 red, and 1/3 green. Though it doesn't matter which color you pick, they all taste the same. But you've got choice!

Anyways--

[Benson13]

So, someone ordered 400 cupcakes to be delivered Bioware's offices. 1/3 blue, 1/3 red, and 1/3 green. Though it doesn't matter which color you pick, they all taste the same.

Anyways--

Classic.

[Freiflug88]

Look at their track record of how they treat other properties they have bought from developers that no longer exist.

Excellent point. I just re-watched EA's ending to Command and Conquer 4 recently and I got to say its PRACTICALLY IDENTICAL to ME3's ending.

The protagonist Commander Parker, a black colonel, and Kane converge on alien triple-tower portal ->Kane kills Black colonel and commander Parker suffers a fatal gunshot wound-> in his dying moments Parker activates the alien portal and the TIberium nod network (C&C equalvanlent to Cruicable project) allowing Kane, NOD, and all the all the Tiberium to dissapear forever in a beam of light.

[Knight26]

Agreed with everything, but I think Javik is a good character. Definitely has the best one-liners second to Wrex.

The lizard people evolved? ... They used to eat flies

On another topic - who else thinks we'll see this at the end of the next DLC:

...To Be Continued in Mass Effect Online

Don't get me wrong I like Javik, but he seems much more like he should have been in the main game not a DLC based on his interactions with other crew members beyond Shephard, whereas Allers is only ever seen interacting with Shephard and over the comms with Traynor. That is more consistent with the early DLC characters of Kasumi and Zaeed, who only refer to other characters and never interact with them. Then again most characters in ME2 were only seen outside of their quarters on rare occasions.

[Freiflug88]

New DLC Patch is out for free with new weapons and goodies for multiplayer. Still no sign of a rumored DLC ending.

[Lynx7725]

Do note you still have to unlock the new stuff through in-game purchases. Only the maps are immediately available.

[eugimon]

The extended DLC ending is not a rumor. It's been confirmed by Bioware.

Anyone else find that ME3 is the easiest of the ME games? I just finished my insanity run with a freshly imported me2 character and it was a breeze.

[Benson13]

Insanity runs are typically easiest with a fresh character. Since the enemies are leveled to you it gives the player the advantage. If you're max level the enemies tend to be extra hateful. ME3 differs from this "rule" though. You can do an Insanity run at max level because it feels to me like the enemies quit getting harder after a certain level giving the player an advantage. ME1 and 2 were not t so user friendly and its recommended that you play a fresh level 1 character on your run.

[eugimon]

that may be... but ME3 insanity is definitely easier than ME2's insanity. Fired up ME2 and started a second tour with my Shep... I think I died more times in that first real mission where you run into Tali than I did in my entire ME3 play through.

[Freiflug88]

Do note you still have to unlock the new stuff through in-game purchases. Only the maps are immediately available.

What new maps I have been playing around with random location games and the galaxy map, and all I get are the same old maps.

that may be... but ME3 insanity is definitely easier than ME2's insanity. Fired up ME2 and started a second tour with my Shep... I think I died more times in that first real mission where you run into Tali than I did in my entire ME3 play through.

I think its cause ME3 has:

- faster recharge times if you pack light

- customizable weapons

- More abundant ammo

- ducking and diving to cover is easier

- Better squad AI that can duck for cover without micromanagement

[Lynx7725]

What new maps I have been playing around with random location games and the galaxy map, and all I get are the same old maps.

2 new maps. Hydra, which is a map based on a hydro dam on the same planet as Dagger. Condor, which is based on Palaven's moon. You are using random so may not have hit them. I got into 1 fight out of 3 randoms I ran on one night.

I've fought on Hydra already. It's quite open, quite good for snipers. Conder not yet, but by repute the hacking objective in one particular spot is quite messy.

Anyone else find that ME3 is the easiest of the ME games? I just finished my insanity run with a freshly imported me2 character and it was a breeze.

I think the main thing is the gun-leveling. I was doing a normal run (I think), and once I leveled up my gun to Level 5 and mods up as high as it can go, I didn't even bother with any other gun. It didn't helped that I was running with the Valiant V as an Infiltrator. The Cerberus troops are mostly push over, and it was only at the very end, on Earth, that I started to have problems with the Reapers... and by then I've took the precautious of upgrading to a Black Widow with a Carnifex as a backup.

Gun upgrades made a mockery of a lot of enemies that might otherwise make your life difficult. Actually I still had some 20+ points left over unassigned, IIRC. Never had the need.

[j_wong00]

Sorry if I'm late to the party, but did the patch also fix the face import bug?

Thanks in advance.

[eugimon]

2 new maps. Hydra, which is a map based on a hydro dam on the same planet as Dagger. Condor, which is based on Palaven's moon. You are using random so may not have hit them. I got into 1 fight out of 3 randoms I ran on one night.

I've fought on Hydra already. It's quite open, quite good for snipers. Conder not yet, but by repute the hacking objective in one particular spot is quite messy.

I think the main thing is the gun-leveling. I was doing a normal run (I think), and once I leveled up my gun to Level 5 and mods up as high as it can go, I didn't even bother with any other gun. It didn't helped that I was running with the Valiant V as an Infiltrator. The Cerberus troops are mostly push over, and it was only at the very end, on Earth, that I started to have problems with the Reapers... and by then I've took the precautious of upgrading to a Black Widow with a Carnifex as a backup.

Gun upgrades made a mockery of a lot of enemies that might otherwise make your life difficult. Actually I still had some 20+ points left over unassigned, IIRC. Never had the need.

I guess, but when I started my insanity run, it was a fresh import so i started off with lvl 1 guns and no mods. I really did like the weapons mix this time. My insanity run Shep is a vanguard and I used Vindicator and a carnifax (seeing as how it does almost as much damage as a shotgun but has better range, accuracy and capacity) and I found I was still recharging at a fast enough rate where I had my biotic charge to get me out of trouble whenever I needed it. I do agree about the new power recharge rates helping out though... I found that it was very easy for me to do power combos where in ME2 it took a bit of micro-managing.

Edited April 12, 2012 by eugimon

[Benson13]

Sorry if I'm late to the party, but did the patch also fix the face import bug?

Thanks in advance.

That's what it was supposed to do. I never had any issues because I imported my characters through 1 and 2.

[Freiflug88]

Whoops turns out I forget to actually install the DLC in the first place...

I've fought on Hydra already. It's quite open, quite good for snipers. Conder not yet, but by repute the hacking objective in one particular spot is quite messy.

I'll have to try them out it with my crazy new infiltrator build: Revenant machine gun + Black widow. Recharge rate is slow, but it gives me enough flying lead to pulverize anything near or far.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Freiflug88

[Ghost Train]

It's so great staring at the readiness map and see 99% across the board ... why are we loosing the war against the Reapers again? I haven't had time to bother with multiplayer too much, but just spamming GAW from the ME3 iPad/iPhone app during coffee breaks gave me full readiness in all sectors in about a week's time. Best ending, here I come !

[David Hingtgen]

Best ending, here I come !

You mean, same ending as otherwise, with a 1.5 sec clip added on to the end if you choose "red" for your ending color-scheme.

[Lynx7725]

Whoops turns out I forget to actually install the DLC in the first place... I'll have to try them out it with my crazy new infiltrator build: Revenant machine gun + Black widow. Recharge rate is slow, but it gives me enough flying lead to pulverize anything near or far.

Sorry, was a little busy lately to reply. Basically, my feel is that if you have a Black Widow unlocked, you don't really need a Revenant backup. While sniping CD is not a big issue, CD from objective capping/ medic work is substantial if you pack two heavies.

Was tooling around with the new Batarian Soldier. Quite an interesting build, Melee specialist that's not a Krogan. Nasty Blades, if evolved right.

It's so great staring at the readiness map and see 99% across the board ... why are we loosing the war against the Reapers again? I haven't had time to bother with multiplayer too much, but just spamming GAW from the ME3 iPad/iPhone app during coffee breaks gave me full readiness in all sectors in about a week's time. Best ending, here I come !

To be honest..

I finished the SP over Easter. I was never really convinced that there was a Reaper war, but definitely a Human Civil War between the Alliance and Cerberus. Honestly, I think the storytelling missed a bit there. Spent more time shooting at Cerbies than Reapers... go figure. Went to Earth with over 7000 EMS, so it was never really in doubt.

And when the Geth showed up the difficulty of combat took a significant jump. Doable, but jarring. And that stupid Reaper fight on Rannoah.. height of stupid level design.

Hurmph. My FemShep had a fairly rough ride. Start one day seeing Mordin die, end the day seeing Thane go. Zaeed next. Then a couple of days later, Legion went that way. And finally, presuming that the teammates you take into Hammer died at the final assault, Garrus and Vega bite it, followed by Anderson.

I was actually quite pleased that I got TIM to commit suicide. Wasn't trying to follow any guide, was just sticking to Paragon choices throughout my interactions with him. Found out after finishing that the suicide was a result of being consistent throughout.

As for the ending, I was prepared to see Shepard die. Really, it was either to see Shepard die a hero or live to see herself become the villian. I was ok with the story up to where Anderson kicked the bucket.. the "ending" wasn't really necessary, and badly handled.

The non-spoiler part. Vega grew on me over the game and his squad ability complimented Garrus quite well. Well Revenant V would chew through most things, AP ammo and Incinderies helps.

Oh and the patch they released to fix the face import seems to be working, but still looks off. TBH, they messed with a fairly decent model from ME2, and ME3 faces doesn't quite cut it for me.

[eugimon]

wait...

how does zaeed die?

[Lynx7725]

Well...

Technically, gut-shot and bled out.

More descriptively, Citadel mission. He got involved in the somewhat blackmailed/ turned Volus ambassador. Was part of a merc team hired to "extract" him for Cerberus, but had a change of heart when Shepard got involved. Worked out for Shepard, but not for Zaeed.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Lynx7725

[eugimon]

Well...

Technically, gut-shot and bled out.

More descriptively, Citadel mission. He got involved in the somewhat blackmailed/ turned Volus ambassador. Was part of a merc team hired to "extract" him for Cerberus, but had a change of heart when Shepard got involved. Worked out for Shepard, but not for Zaeed.

huh

my zaeed killed the rest of the merc squad and joined the fight as a war asset.

[Lynx7725]

Huh ok.

Checked the guide, turns out that if Zaeed was not loyal in ME2, he dies. I didn't work very hard for Zaeed's loyalty as I was playing a Paragon, so that was.. unfortunate. For Zaeed.

[Chowser]

gave up trying to import my ME2 saves (it was on a different computer, but that shouldn't matter!!!!! Darn you EA and Bioware and Origin! Darn you to heck!).

Downloaded the resurgence pack, installed it, got busy. finally found time today and cannot connect to EA servers! What a bunch of hooey!

Let me play single player without an internet connection!

At least Skyrim allows me to play without an internet connection.

[Freiflug88]

... why are we loosing the war against the Reapers again?

Cause Shepard never says things like...

"We will win if we just nuke all the Reapers, in their laser eyes, from orbit"

"Gee the Crucible looks like it fits onto the Citadel. I wonder if the two are related..."

"EDI use the Omega 4 relay protocol data and that Reaper IFF we collected to re-program all Mass Relay traffic with Reaper IFFs into that blackhole."

""Ah yes, Councilors. I have dismissed your claims of authority. I will be leading the galaxy to victory as supreme dictator."

"Illusive man, clone a few billion of me and use the salvaged collector base to make me a "Shepard Reaper"... I'll need it for a rock'em sock'em match against Harbinger.

"Garrus and a few Turian commandos will disguise themselves as Marauders use the teleportation tower behind enemy lines completely undetected and open the Citdel arms for us... In the mean time I will help Tali with calibrations in her environ-su... I mean uh engineering bay workspace"

Sorry, was a little busy lately to reply. Basically, my feel is that if you have a Black Widow unlocked, you don't really need a Revenant backup. While sniping CD is not a big issue, CD from objective capping/ medic work is substantial if you pack two heavies.

Was tooling around with the new Batarian Soldier. Quite an interesting build, Melee specialist that's not a Krogan. Nasty Blades, if evolved right.

Yeah the Revenant was too heavy to be practical. Still its fun to mow down enemies with. Especially since most foes turn helplessly paralyzed under the repeated machine gun fire.

Haven't gotten the Batarian yet, but I did get the Geth inflitator. The geth are funt "glass cannons" to play as with a Nova-like melee attack and predator vision that leaves shield strength at 50%.

I am hoping to unlock the Asari Justicar soon though because the bubble barrier ability is really handy for creating a safe zone during Objectives.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Freiflug88

[Ghost Train]

Talimancers unite ! ...

[eugimon]

play arts kai mass effect 3 toys up for pre-order

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIG-KAI-3861&page=top

[David Hingtgen]

A lot of the detail/sculpting seems to have been "softened" from the grey prototypes we saw earlier. Frankly, they look a lot cheaper than I expected.

[eugimon]

ash and shep look like they spent some time on the rack and got stretched out. I know the actual game models are similarly stretched but seeing it in toy form really highlights how wonky their proportions are

[BeyondTheGrave]

No.it's justy square enix hit and miss with human figures. B/c the Garrus one looks amazing.

[Freiflug88]

Now if only they would make a Tali figure with a detachable helmet...

[Lynx7725]

Yeah the Revenant was too heavy to be practical. Still its fun to mow down enemies with. Especially since most foes turn helplessly paralyzed under the repeated machine gun fire.

Haven't gotten the Batarian yet, but I did get the Geth inflitator. The geth are funt "glass cannons" to play as with a Nova-like melee attack and predator vision that leaves shield strength at 50%.

I am hoping to unlock the Asari Justicar soon though because the bubble barrier ability is really handy for creating a safe zone during Objectives.

Revenant just got buffed today, noticably more powerful (not overwhelming so). I don't like the buff, but not going to argue. Full rock and roll is usually good, but if you're not a Turian you sort of have to go with a stability mod.

Batarian melee build is becoming the normal. You can build a Batarian Soldier with 30% DR, Explosive Cone Blades, and pair him up with a Revenant or a shottie (Scimitar's good). He becomes quite an interesting build -- open with weapons, switch to Blades, and then punch the lights out. I ran this build during a particularly hard match on Condor, he came out quite well -- even punched an Atlas in the groin, though another player nicked the kill with a SMG.

Don't forget Geth gets 5% bonus with Geth weaponry. GPS is still top of heap there, but the Geth SMG is quite popular too, especially since the ULM works only on it. I honestly think from paper (didn't unlock it yet) the GSMG is too lightweight in damage, but the ability to couple big mags with heatsinks means almost an unlimited ammo effect. Pair it with some Cryo, and icing on the cake...

Not too keen on the Barrier Bubble, as it makes the Justicar very predictable. And what's she going to do on normal waves? Taking away Stasis and replacing with Barrier makes her more one dimensional.. I'll definitely try her out, but not very comfortable with her.

[Freiflug88]

Geth SMG is is my new favorite machine gun. As a mini reloadable Geth spitfire it has completely replaced my Revenant. With level 3 ammo and SMG upgrades I have used to mow down "gold" Atlases, Brutes, and Geth Primes on a single clip. Even without any upgrades though its perfect for "shell shocking" Phantom\Geth Hunters when they get too close to comfortably snipe.

The Jusitar bubble can also be used offensively as a trap. Enemies that walk in the bubble take 10% more damage by default. Fully upgraded it will cast warp on them and become biotic detonate-able.