Bioware General (Mass Effect/Dragon Age/Other)

[TheodoricFriede]

Is there an upgrade for the M-3 Predator? Or are we stuck with just the level one pistol? What heavy pistols do you use for a high powers class?

For single player or mulitiplayer?

I dont know anything about multiplayer, but there are plenty of options for a single player pistol build. The carnifex seems to be the most popular.

Theres an angaren pistol thats basically a sniper rifle.

[SciFlyBoy]

For single player or mulitiplayer?

I dont know anything about multiplayer, but there are plenty of options for a single player pistol build. The carnifex seems to be the most popular.

Theres an angaren pistol thats basically a sniper rifle.

SP. I know there are certain pistols where the right damage and scope mods can be small sniper rifles. Just can't find any research on upgrading the M-3. Already finished the second vault and I'm still using the M-8 and M-3 because of the weight benefits.

[MeaslyBinkie]

Man, does Gold feel a lot better when making use of the double consumable ammo bug. Actually being able to kill an Observer with 3 hits from the Falcon does wonder for Soldier characters that want to use something other than a sniper rifle for a change.

I also wouldn't count on singleplayer weapons being worth as much in the multiplayer. Got the Carnifex in SP. It kicks ass. Got in MP. It can't even kill the basic grunt in three shots.

Yeah, they tend to "balance" weapons quite differently for SP and MP. What's good in one, might be total crap in other.

I think the best example of that is probably the Sidewinder and Carnifex, the latter does something like 3x the damage of the former but has a capped firing rate whereas the Sidewinder does less damage but doesn't have a capped firing rate.

Then in Nu-Bioware's infinite wisdom had the Carnifex's damage reduced in the MP without even a weakpoint multiplier but left the Sidewinder as is. I mean I get that it's so us sorry lot will cough up money to buy packs but did they think people wouldn't notice?

SP. I know there are certain pistols where the right damage and scope mods can be small sniper rifles. Just can't find any research on upgrading the M-3. Already finished the second vault and I'm still using the M-8 and M-3 because of the weight benefits.

The Equalizer and Talon are great pistols if you're wanting to be fighting up close. For something similar to the Predator but better you could probably go for the Phalanx or if you just want pure damage the Carnifex is a good option too. My personal favourite so far is the Eagle. It's full auto whilst still letting you hit those weakpoints at mid range if you fire in bursts and it's fairly light.

[TheodoricFriede]

SP. I know there are certain pistols where the right damage and scope mods can be small sniper rifles. Just can't find any research on upgrading the M-3. Already finished the second vault and I'm still using the M-8 and M-3 because of the weight benefits.

Oh im sorry i understand.

The predator doesn't have research upgrades, its upgrades unlock with game progress.

[SciFlyBoy]

The Equalizer and Talon are great pistols if you're wanting to be fighting up close. For something similar to the Predator but better you could probably go for the Phalanx or if you just want pure damage the Carnifex is a good option too. My personal favourite so far is the Eagle. It's full auto whilst still letting you hit those weakpoints at mid range if you fire in bursts and it's fairly light.

Thing is, Engineer has this drone that hovers during combat and when a baddie gets near it explodes to stun them, but I loose my shields, so close combat isn't really an option. Which sucks because my entire Sentinel run in ME3 was based of the Talon pistol and I love that thing. It's just too damn heavy right now. I'll look into the Eagle, that's the Phalanx variant, right?

[TheodoricFriede]

I like Cora, but of all the "you are now friends with this person" side-missions, hers is by far the lamest.

[Azint]

The multiplayer characters actually have their own backstories, which I only just learned by accident. Female Human Inflitrator's child and husband were killed during a "botched robbery" and joined the Andromeda Initiative to escape her past. Krogan Vanguard went on a bender and accidentally missed his rite of passage, so he jumped ship. Turian soldier dodged a court martial for his part in a massacre and joined the Initiative after playing mercenary.

These are already more interesting than half of the supporting cast in the actual game. Why aren't these characters making cameos?

[TheodoricFriede]

If you are looking for a simultaneously hilarious and aggressively mediocre gun, try adding the sticky grenade augment on a Reegar Carbine.

[TTTX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH2bPLf3ekQ&list=WL&index=9

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VFG8YkGMtc

[Dragaros]

April 11. Happy Birthday, Commander Shepard.

Keep on enjoying that retirement on Rannoch. You earned it, soldier.

[Vol]

What's the deal with the aggro system in MP? If I'm doing well, it really does seem like every enemy on the field is gunning for me at all costs. Which is affirmed when a bunch of snipers that my team, as ineffective as possible, failed to kill, all have their lasers on my little Salarian Operator head.

[DarkStorm]

What's the deal with the aggro system in MP? If I'm doing well, it really does seem like every enemy on the field is gunning for me at all costs. Which is affirmed when a bunch of snipers that my team, as ineffective as possible, failed to kill, all have their lasers on my little Salarian Operator head.

stop playing with the scrubs and play with me son.

[magnuskn]

April 11. Happy Birthday, Commander Shepard.

Keep on enjoying that retirement on Rannoch. You earned it, soldier.

We'll never forget you, even if BioWare wished we did.

[Vol]

Well, Kett on Gold sure is something. Round 6, get Upload. My Turian Soldier could not carry them hard enough to pull it out. Just a stream of Fiends and minigunners and invisibitches to soak up damage that needed to be put into Ascendants.

[Alienmorph]

We'll never forget you, even if BioWare wished we did.

Amen to that. You shall always be our big guddamn hero, Shepard.

[TheodoricFriede]

We'll never forget you, even if BioWare wished we did.

Amen to that. You shall always be our big guddamn hero, Shepard.

You're right, I would have much rather this be a game about commander Shepard working as a construction foreman post Mass Effect 3.

Still so many stories to tell!

[Alienmorph]

Uhh, how about no? When I've ever said that? I never said "I want more games with Shepard as the main character!" literally N-E-V-E-R.

I did say alot that I wish we could remain on the Milky Way after all the trouble Shep went through to save it, but that's another can of worms.

[Riptide]

I did say alot that I wish we could remain on the Milky Way after all the trouble Shep went through to save it, but that's another can of worms.

I agree.

"Oh but they were never going to do that after ME3's ending so people just need to accept it!"

I'm so tired of that response. As far as I'm concerned, it's no excuse. I don't care about Heleus and I don't care about Andromeda or anyone in it. This isn't the galaxy I fought to save, and as the next step for the franchise, it's banal and doesn't even do anything new.

...except for maybe Sid, because she's precious and needs to be protected.

[magnuskn]

We'll never forget you, even if BioWare wished we did.

Amen to that. You shall always be our big guddamn hero, Shepard.

You're right, I would have much rather this be a game about commander Shepard working as a construction foreman post Mass Effect 3.

Still so many stories to tell!

I could do with another game where he and the team get to go on a last big mission, Citadel DLC style, including a lighter tone than the main trilogy. Anything but the shitty Andromeda franchise and setting.

[Vol]

More Sid and protecting her smile, less barbs.

Also the Remnant guns seem to be on a binary in MP. Either super useful or complete trash.

[Vol]

Operator = Squishy
Silver = Tougher than most guns are balanced around
Lanat = Good gun, very powerful, needs to charge up shots
Kett = Toughest faction, good variety

Random latency + all of the above = I am a sinner in the hands of an angry god. Getting the Lanat to charge was literally a random chance on a given click. The Wraiths were up my ass literally every time I fell back or spent more than 10 seconds not checking my flank. Had to run and dash and run and basically use Shield Boost on cooldown to not get mulched. Then the teleporting Fiends appeared, and that was scary as fuck. It wasn't enough to keep midrange distance, because they'd skip their charge animation and _be_ there in an instant. Oh and reload animations need the old cancel back.

[Riptide]

I could do with another game where he and the team get to go on a last big mission, Citadel DLC style, including a lighter tone than the main trilogy. Anything but the shitty Andromeda franchise and setting.

I'm fine with Shepard's story being done. Andromeda isn't the continuation of Mass Effect, however, it's just a spinoff of it. And the overall consensus seems to be lukewarm about it. Bioware had to sell people on this idea of Andromeda, and I think it's fairly evident they didn't.

[TheodoricFriede]

Bioware had to sell people on this idea of Andromeda, and I think it's fairly evident they didn't.

Says you.

Im 100% sold on Andromeda.

[Azint]

I laugh at the notion that people have trouble on Silver.

[MeaslyBinkie]

Wow, the Naladen is a real dumpster of a gun. The fact it releases a cloud of black smoke wherever you land a shot is just icing on the cake and when the netcode shits the bed and never despawns the cloud for other players in my lobby I feel like a red headed step child. At least today's gold APEX mission is good for credit farming I suppose.

Well, Kett on Gold sure is something. Round 6, get Upload. My Turian Soldier could not carry them hard enough to pull it out. Just a stream of Fiends and minigunners and invisibitches to soak up damage that needed to be put into Ascendants.

If I'm in a lobby full of players that never use consumables and that happens on wave 6 with Kett I just give up honestly, if the tug of war mechanic instead happened with Hack it wouldn't be so bad.

[Alienmorph]

I agree.

"Oh but they were never going to do that after ME3's ending so people just need to accept it!"

I'm so tired of that response. As far as I'm concerned, it's no excuse. I don't care about Heleus and I don't care about Andromeda or anyone in it. This isn't the galaxy I fought to save, and as the next step for the franchise, it's banal and doesn't even do anything new.

Yeah, that just shows how little backbone they had. "Oh we can't invalidate the fan's vision if they choose a different outcome than the one we make canon!"

So let's do a half-reboot half-spin-off and...

► Show Spoiler

... pretend everything and everyone in the Milky Way is gone, because the people in Andromeda don't have any mean to know otherwise. That's so much fucking better!

Because doing like almost literally EVERY OTHER multiple choice game, and pick one outcome as canon to build upon would have been too hard. I've once played a JRPG that has a literal "everyone dies!" possible ending. Guess what? It has 2 sequels and a shitton of of spin-offs because dead-end narratives usually are not taken in account as possible canonic outcomes and when making new games in the same series should be ignored. But nooo "power to the players... so let's take everything away from them!"

There are things and characters I like in ME:A, probably more than I gave away with my, admidettly, rather sceptic and bitchy attitude about it, but you're not going to convince me it was the right way to move the franchise forward, period. It'll always smell to me of cowardness and poor planning on the devs' side of things.

[TTTX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f825yKsOsk0&index=10&list=WL

[Someone With Mass]

I have to say, I'm curious as to where Mac Walters' obsession with space Nazis came from. Star Wars being the cheap answer.

Cerberus = Hates/works against everything that isn't human. For a while, at least.

Kett = Aryan Master Ubermench-wannabes.

[Alienmorph]

That was another wasted opportunity. What if the Kett weren't actually space Nazi, but just a "normal" race that thought was being invaded by the Milky Way people? Basically doing a First Contact War 2.0. except more interesting and on a bigger scale.

But gotta have your disgustingly black and white "good vs evil" thing going, I suppose. We're talking of the guy that thought Cerberus was a good way to blurr the line, after all. And then spent an whole gaming undoing whatever little shade of grey he built up previously.

[TTTX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cOP7qEv9Lo&list=WL&index=9

[TheodoricFriede]

So, I was listening to some of the squadmate banter involving Liam...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFSQUB8PltA&t=634s

Liam is kind of a judgmental prick.

[Alienmorph]

Jesus, he's like ME1 Garrus crossed with Jacob. Except worse!

[Vol]

Today's Gold mission is +50% sniper rifle damage with Outlaws.

Muahahahah.

[TheodoricFriede]

Personally I dont have much of a problem with him, but man. He really needs to tone it down.

[Someone With Mass]

So, I was listening to some of the squadmate banter involving Liam...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFSQUB8PltA&t=634s

Liam is kind of a judgmental prick.

Drack: You're what, like two? Come back when you have hair on whatever it is that you have.

As much as I like that shot down comment, Ryder isn't that much different and Drack just opens up for him. Then again, I don't really like Liam's tone.

[TTTX]

Liam is kind of a judgmental prick.

yeah, he stayed on the ship rather permanently after he was a dick to Vetra during one of my playthroughs.

[Someone With Mass]

yeah, he stayed on the ship rather permanently after he was a dick to Vetra during one of my playthroughs.

Same. Someone who jumped the Milky Way for shits and giggles doesn't get a say in family business.

[TheodoricFriede]

I ended up taking him more to see how that whole scenario worked out.

Basically ends with mutual respect for one another skill, but mutual agreement that they really dont like one another.

[Vol]

https://twitter.com/bioware/status/852243729578475520

Beat Drag by 30 seconds.

[magnuskn]

Because doing like almost literally EVERY OTHER multiple choice game, and pick one outcome as canon to build upon would have been too hard. I've once played a JRPG that has a literal "everyone dies!" possible ending. Guess what? It has 2 sequels and a shitton of of spin-offs because dead-end narratives usually are not taken in account as possible canonic outcomes and when making new games in the same series should be ignored. But nooo "power to the players... so let's take everything away from them!"

Given how the team at BioWare had no problem ignoring the "Everyone dies!" ending you could conceivably get for ME2, it's definitely their choice to try to make the ME3 endings sacrosanct. It's probably a psychological consequence of getting their asses reamed for the shit endings to the trilogy. Artistic integrity and all that.

[Raga]

That was another wasted opportunity. What if the Kett weren't actually space Nazi, but just a "normal" race that thought was being invaded by the Milky Way people? Basically doing a First Contact War 2.0. except more interesting and on a bigger scale.

But gotta have your disgustingly black and white "good vs evil" thing going, I suppose. We're talking of the guy that thought Cerberus was a good way to blurr the line, after all. And then spent an whole gaming undoing whatever little shade of grey he built up previously.

Thing is, Bioware has structured a whole game around an intentionally grey moral debate before: DA2. It got rightfully panned. I think you can make an argument that the ME3 ending was a bad attempt to grey the quite black and white Reapers. It also deservedly got panned. Meanwhile, 2 of their 3 most highly rated games: BG2 and KotoR are explicitly aligned along a black/white metric. There are very few things as laughably evil as the Bhaalspawn essence or the Sith.

It is exceedingly hard to make stories about "grey" subject matter that don't degenerate into trite banality or irritating didacticism. And frequently many things going around calling themselves "grey" (Game of Thrones, House of Cards, et al) aren't really grey but are just Grimdark Disney, ultimately no more grounded in reality than stories where the princess always lives happily ever after in the end.

[Riptide]

https://twitter.com/bioware/status/852243729578475520

Beat Drag by 30 seconds.

Oh yay! A multiplayer objective from the last game! What a feature!

God...

[Someone With Mass]

I have no problem with experiencing a story that's black and white with the obvious hero and the obvious villain as long as it's told well and not treating me as if I'm tone-deaf. Worked for the Zelda games most of the times and that franchise is older than I am. Hey, it worked for ME1 to a certain extent.

Some people seem to make the assumption that a story needs to be complex and morally grey in order to be good. In that case, make the antagonist NOT do a horrible and irredeemable act (like harvesting people for their genes/memories) if they're supposed to be viewed than anything other than the scum of the earth. For BioWare, a morally grey story doesn't seem to go further than a plot twist that's supposed to make you think and come up with your own scenarios. Which clearly doesn't work all of the time, as seen with ME3 where they were completely content with explaining almost everything else.

[magnuskn]

I have no problem with experiencing a story that's black and white with the obvious hero and the obvious villain as long as it's told well and not treating me as if I'm tone-deaf. Worked for the Zelda games most of the times and that franchise is older than I am. Hey, it worked for ME1 to a certain extent.

Some people seem to make the assumption that a story needs to be complex and morally grey in order to be good. In that case, make the antagonist NOT do a horrible and irredeemable act (like harvesting people for their genes/memories) if they're supposed to be viewed than anything other than the scum of the earth. For BioWare, a morally grey story doesn't seem to go further than a plot twist that's supposed to make you think and come up with your own scenarios. Which clearly doesn't work all of the time, as seen with ME3 where they were completely content with explaining almost everything else.

BioWare choosing to make the Kett into "ISIS in spaaaace!" sure didn't help with any grey tones they may have tried to introduce into the story.

[Vol]

Golly, progressive lag on a Gold/Kett is interesting. Made it to wave 6, got sync killed by a Fiend from literally half the map away. Packets of data!

Seems like there's new shaders, makes the maps look a lot nicer, has an evening aura. The objective is easy as could be though, straight up CTF, and with Vanguard, you can charge right to the point.

Edit: New equipment is on store, they forgot to give it a description though. 120 points, 10% damage on pistols/AR.

[SciFlyBoy]

How long do consumables last in combat? At least in SP. I'll equip inferno ammo on my rifle, then 5 mins later it's gone. Do they last for one clip?

[Raga]

It says on the inventory wheel. I don't remember the exact time, but it does give a time there. I do remember it wasn't a temporal measure but one measured in clips or actions or something.

[Someone With Mass]

I think they should add firebase Paradox to the map rotation instead of letting it be APEX mission exclusive.

Got the Scorpion and it does about as much damage if not even more as it does in the singleplayer. Yet the Carnifex gets its damage halved. That bothers me greatly. Same with the Hornet. I'd much rather take fun over balanced. If they increased the damage of that krogan shotgun up to about 800, then it'd be much more fun to use and actually be worth its painfully slow reload speed and rate of fire.

The new equipment is hardly worth its price, in my opinion. 10% is barely noticeable on most assault rifles. On the Cyclone, for example, that adds about 5 more damage per shot. Big whoop. Meanwhile, the Juggernaut boosts the melee by 75% and is of the same rarity.

Got the Angaran Avenger, who is pretty much Andromeda's N7 Shadow, minus that cool sword. I do like how I can make enemies go ragdoll by targeting them with Avenger Strike while they're airborne, though.

[SciFlyBoy]

It says on the inventory wheel. I don't remember the exact time, but it does give a time there. I do remember it wasn't a temporal measure but one measured in clips or actions or something.

Hmmm, no idea there was a limit. One problem I'm having with the game is that the font is so small, I might have to get up and walk towards the TV a couples of times during game play to read what these descriptions are. Guess I should be less lazy.