MASS EFFECT FRANCHISE CATCH-ALL THREAD

[Casey]

@J.T. I’ve moved onto Mass Effect 2, and I’m pretty sure my last save in the first game (I only keep one) is MAYBE before the final battle on the Citadel. Which is fine, plenty of geth there too. But I’m not really sure where my final save is, in-game. I’ll probably end up doing another play through eventually if the save isn’t somewhere where I can get those trophies.

Also I forgot how many things ME2 introduces that could have made the first game just a little more enjoyable. Like customizing your armor, casual clothes, colors, etc. Not to mention the gameplay just feels so much better. I do hate that you can run out of ammo in this game, though. But I also hated overheating weapons in the first so I’m a hard man to please. Also - already regretting the character class I chose for this version of FemShep, since my weapons are limited to the shitty machine gun pistol, a shotgun, an actual pistol, and (admittedly) a pretty badass electric canon type weapon.

Never played the DLC stuff for the second or third games so I’m looking forward to that. Already picked up Zaeed, so that’s a completely new character to me. 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Casey

[Ace]

16 hours ago, Craig H said:

So, I need to know. Is Conrad just a good dude, but a weirdo fan, or is he trying to steal your identity somehow by getting your autograph, then your picture, etc.?

If you want the whole story...

Spoiler

Conrad Verner is an obsessed fan.  The wife he mentions in ME1 and ME2 doesn't exist. When we see him in ME2, he's at Illium in N7 cosplay claiming he was in Commander Shepard's unit and is trying to take over a bar, believing it to be a red sand selling front. He's actually doing it because a weapons merchant is claiming to be an undercover cop. You can bust her on his behalf, if you want him to survive.)

In ME3 he's in the refugee camps tailing a Cerberus spy. When he points it out to Shepard, the spy shoots at Conrad. If you got Jenna out of Chora's Den in ME1, Conrad survives as she jams the assassin's gun, and they walk off together.

 

Conrad still appears later. If you have Matriarch Dillnaga's writing, Gavin Hossle's information from Feros, and the Elkoss Combine armory license,  Conrad will mention that he can analyse the schematics, as he does have a doctorate and did a dissertation on Dark Energy. You'll pick him up as an asset then.

 

His sister also appears in Andromeda and mocks him, despite not being much better.

 

[J.T.]

8 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I forgot about the fate of the dude who first greets you when you get to Zhu's Hope and I can't stop giggling

I am a horrible person

Yes, you are.

There is a woman that gets kacked in the stairwell that is a source of gallows humor for me.

We are both horrible people.

 

[J.T.]

32 minutes ago, Casey said:

Also I forgot how many things ME2 introduces that could have made the first game just a little more enjoyable. Like customizing your armor, casual clothes, colors, etc.

I am a customization nerd, so I was also very happy with the conversion from loot armor to customizable skins.  The science nerd in me still hates ME2 and ME3 characters not wearing hardsuits on inhospitable planets, but Bioware kept armor skins and got that part right in Andromeda before selling it down the river.

[RIPPA]

Finished Feros

Meleed like 90% of the Colonists because I forgot how entertaining that was

Irritated at myself because I meant to run back to the Normandy to grab Liara so I would have her in my squad for the Thorian stuff.

Oh well. Will do that for playthrough #2.

My plan did work in that I got all the Tech achievements except Neural Shock

[Casey]

You just reminded me that there's an overall achievement for defeating 100 enemies with a melee attack and I guess that's my reason for a second playthrough, since I never do that shit. I did get the second tier of the Kill X amount of enemies across all games trophy as soon as I hit Freedom's Progress in ME2, though. So I'm probably on track to get all the trophies for that set by the time I finish the third game, surely.

[odessasteps]

39 minutes ago, J.T. said:

I am a customization nerd, so I was also very happy with the conversion from loot armor to customizable skins.  The science nerd in me still hates ME2 and ME3 characters not wearing hardsuits on inhospitable planets, but Bioware kept armor skins and got that part right in Andromeda before selling it down the river.

Its funny how sparse Sheperd’s quarters are in ME1. No ship models. No space hamster. 

[J.T.]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

You just reminded me that there's an overall achievement for defeating 100 enemies with a melee attack and I guess that's my reason for a second playthrough, since I never do that shit. I did get the second tier of the Kill X amount of enemies across all games trophy as soon as I hit Freedom's Progress in ME2, though. So I'm probably on track to get all the trophies for that set by the time I finish the third game, surely.

I don't really start melee attacking until ME2 as ME1 enemies like to spew toxins or use AoE suicide attacks.  Husks in ME2 and ME3 are much easier to punch or Omni-Tool murder to death.

Edited May 23, 2021 by J.T.

[odessasteps]

Ive been doing more melee tahn usual because of the deal of enemies staying in cover or hiding. 

[RIPPA]

I can get 100 grabs in ME3 alone

[J.T.]

2 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I can get 100 grabs in ME3 alone

Me too.  That is probably how I will practice up for the new release of multiplayer.  It would be like game not to count Grabs towards your melee kill achievement.

Edited May 23, 2021 by J.T.

[J.T.]

52 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Its funny how sparse Sheperd’s quarters are in ME1. No ship models. No space hamster. 

The SR1 was a smaller ship and it was strictly a military vessel.  The SR2 is larger and as the convo between Shep, Joker, and EDI showed, it was built with some civillain comforts in mind like Joker's pilot's chair with at the helm complete with leather seats.

Edited May 23, 2021 by J.T.

[Casey]

I’ve died more in the first two “form your team” missions than I did in the entirety of ME1. Jesus Christ.

[odessasteps]

Just doing XP building  missions and stuff today rather than anything impotant. 

[J.T.]

38 minutes ago, Casey said:

I’ve died more in the first two “form your team” missions than I did in the entirety of ME1. Jesus Christ.

Yeah, your shields are made of tissue for most of Act I and your damage resistance is next to none.  Getting a good grasp of the Cover system and buying / locating shield and damage resistance upgrades is really important.  Survival depends on finding all available upgrades and having enough resources to craft stuff in between missions.

I am not crazy about how ME2 and ME3 reconfigured how Unity works.  I hate it that Unity and Medi-Gel are no longer separate things, so I have to choose whether to use my limited charges to heal or revive teammates and it's still on a cooldown timer.

Enemies that stagger you can prevent you from using Unity to help your teammates and the subdued HUD makes it difficult to tell just how badly your teammates are injured.  I preferred the big honking health and shield bars of ME1.

The one good thing about playing an Infiltrator in ME2 is that you can use Tac Cloak to reposition your squad mates.   The game likes to stick your team in the worst positions possible, so it pays to go invis and place your folks in better locations.   

When you have your showdown with the Blue Suns during Archangel's recruitment mission, your teammates start behind a fucking couch in the middle of the killzone.  I always take the time to hit my cloak and reposition them to the rear of the room behind cover objects so that they are better able to avoid enemy fire.  Then I nose forward a bit so that I can better target the Suns with Squad powers.  

I usually roll with Zaeed and Mordin during the Archangel mission, so it's all about Incinerating armor and using Concussive Shot to stagger enemies.

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by J.T.

[odessasteps]

Had my first “mako stuck in the bottom of a canyon and cant get out” moment. Not made for being 10 or so hours in. 

[Casey]

I must have just blasted through ME2 when it originally came out and (I know for a fact) ignored all the DLC. For example - have no memory of the rogue VI mission, and that they replaced ground travel on planets with a ship that has better traversal controls than the Mako ever did. That’s where I stopped for the night, however.

I really dug the Kasumi loyalty mission - I still died a few times, but not near as many times as I did when I went to recruit my favorite character in ME2, Jack. Also picked up an SMG that’s pretty sweet, so that’ll replace that garbage machine gun pistol.

[J.T.]

The Hammerhead is pretty good control wise, but it has the armor of a soft boiled egg.  Nowhere near as durable as the Mako. 

The happy medium is somewhere in between and it's definitely NOT the Nomad from Andromeda.  

[Gonzo]

Well, not going to be able to get a complete playthrough of 1 this time because I did things out of order on Feros and now can't get back to the elevator to drive back to ExoGeni and retrieve Gavin Hossler's data. Damn it.

I just sort of want to get through 1 at this point so I can get onto the next one. Just getting ready to go down to Noveria after getting Wrex's family armor, catching that rogue doctor for Garrus and the rest of the side missions that you can do before you have to go there.

[Craig H]

I had cleared out my entire backlog of assignments before moving on to Feros. I already did Noveria and I got Liara almost immediately. And then every time I tried making it to Feros, I kept getting sidetracked by another assignment from another call to comms. Anyway, I've been on Feros for a little bit now and got to ExoGeni. I brought Tali and Garrus with me and this entire mission has been good for AI hacking. I have to be close to completing that trophy. 

After this, I'll probably clear out every single system and scan every single planet just to make sure I have everything even though I just want to move onto ME2 at this point.

So far, I generally have zero patience for humans that are assholes or try project their authority onto others, I hate Batarians and anything involved with this Cerberus stuff, and I lean towards having a generally good feeling that the Shadow Broker isn't a bad guy. As for folks in my crew, I like everyone except for Ashley. Kaidan is also kind of useless. This playthrough also reminded me of my love for Garrus and Wrex. Those are my dudes. Since you guys told me about Tali's hacking abilities, I have used those more and she's pretty cool too. Liara is also kind of whatever. There's not many fun conversations I have with her.

[J.T.]

I unlocked my first kill count achievement yesterday after restarting the Archangel mission because I forgot to pick up the SMG damage boost scan.

So not only can I confirm that the update took, the achievements also count do-overs and restarts towards kill counts so don't worry about that 100 melee kills thing .  Just start the derelict Collector ship mission in ME2 a few times until you punched enough Husks to feel comfortable about moving on, and finish the achievement in ME3 with your Omni-Blade.

Husks in ME2 don't have the annoying self-destruct power that they had in ME1.  They just come at you in zombie waves for easy fisticuffs.

[Craig H]

Speaking of husks in ME1, I have only come across them twice now and I feel like I'm missing more missions with them. There was the opening mission and the assignment with the missing scientists that all turned into husks. Aside from that, I can't recall any other interactions with them.

[J.T.]

17 minutes ago, Craig H said:

Speaking of husks in ME1, I have only come across them twice now and I feel like I'm missing more missions with them. There was the opening mission and the assignment with the missing scientists that all turned into husks. Aside from that, I can't recall any other interactions with them.

The UNC:  Missing Survey Team mission in the Hades Gamma cluster involves Husks as does the UNC:  Derelict Freighter mission in the Caspian System of the Maroon Sea cluster.

You can get the Missing Survey Team mission by listening to the extranet news blurbs while riding the elevators on the Citadel, but Derelict Freighter unlocks after Feros and I think you have to find it by exploration.  It is a mission you can miss if you don't investigate all available planetary systems as you unlock more clusters to patrol.

Edited May 24, 2021 by J.T.

[RIPPA]

I forgot that if you don't tell Ashley to go fuck herself for being a Xenophobe she still thinks you are dating.

So thanks to that I literally got in rapid sucession

• Full Squad debrief about Feros
• Council debrief about Feros
• Ashley and Liara demanding to know which one I wanted to bone.

All before I took one step out of the comm room. And boy does Ashley not make a good showing of herself if you were on the fence between the two.

[J.T.]

Neither one of them takes rejection well.  Ashley is especially vile if you cheated on her with Jack or Miranda in ME2 and don't apologize for it in ME3.   

Ashley approves of you hooking up with Tali in ME2 if Ashley was your love interest in ME1 and she survives to ME3 to talk about it.   I think this is one of the pathways to unlocking the Paramour III achievement without having to deal with any in-game friction between squadmates (ME1 Hook up with Ashley -> ME2 Hook up with Tali -> ME3 Rekindle with Tali).

Jade Empire did it best.   If you show equal concern for both of your romantic options and don't pick one over the other, you get to sleep with both of them at the same time before the endgame battle. 

Yes, you get a threesome even if your main character is a female, however one of your partners is the obligatory bisexual female character.  She doesn't get to bang two dudes.

Edited May 24, 2021 by J.T.