MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA (Here be Spoilers)

[odessasteps]

The person i'm wondering about is the seemingly drunk chick in the Eos colony that is just bobbing and weaving and you can't talk to her. 

[Gonzo]

8 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I am wondering if it was a "custom character creation only" thing

It is. It asks you to do that when you're making your character and selecting class and stuff.

[RIPPA]

2 hours ago, odessasteps said:

The person i'm wondering about is the seemingly drunk chick in the Eos colony that is just bobbing and weaving and you can't talk to her. 

There has to be a side quest with her - otherwise that is a really piss poor job of screening people to be amongst those setting up an outpost

THE BOOZE TASTES THE SAME HERE!!! I'M QUALITY CONTROL!!!

[J.T.]

10 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I am wondering if it was a "custom character creation only" thing

I think so.  When I made my Ryder, I had the option to chose the sex of Shepard. 

You can still keep the defaults for Scott and Sarah and change Shepard's gender when you make a "custom" Pathfinder.

I should be online this evening so shoot me an invite if we're getting any multiplayer squads together.  I will be shit because I haven't leveled up anyone yet, so apologies in advance.

I still need to run the multiplayer tutorial, so I'll probably knock that out tonight.

[AxB]

I was doing stuff on Voeld, but I took a break because I couldn't find enough Glyphs. So I went back to Eos to activate some more quest-lines... and the first one I spoke to said "I think it's somewhere on Voeld". So glad I didn't do everything on there before I left.

Although apparently, once you've 100% viabilitied a planet (which would take a long time) that's still only 3/4 of the content on it.

[Cyanide]

On 3/24/2017 at 8:18 AM, J.T. said:

• I have having to be "proficient" with guns again.  This is a step back from ME2 and ME3 when you had simple builds that favored some weapons, but you were equally good with any firearm.  Your only problem was balancing the weight of your load-out and making sure that the class of weapon you got bonus damage with was in your arsenal.  This new system allows me to be really good with certain guns, which means I'll be complete shit with others and we're back to ME1 in a not so good way.

This is something that has been bothering me, for similar OCD reasons and the fact there are SO MANY GUNS to try.  I started out emphasizing sniper rifles as an infiltrator, and now I'm wanting to be able to mix it up more so I re-spec'd with assault rifles and pistols... but am I really going to deprive myself of the joys of shotgun rushing?  I probably just need to commit to whatever is most versatile (again, ARs and pistols), and save weapon experimentation for multiplayer.

Likewise, you have access to SO MANY POWERS, and it's intimidating to just manage my skill point distribution at this point, let alone actually maximize stuff by swapping them out and selecting appropriate profiles.  Again, should probably just commit to something, like two profiles with three powers each, and save the testing for multiplayer.

I get what they were going for with the ability to tailor Ryder to your specific play-style, but boy can it be an overwhelming process at times.

 

Also (and now I am just bitching), delving deeper in R&D: I noticed there are level caps on the blueprints that you need to expend research points on in order to acquire the ability to use your resources to craft weapons.

At that point... why not just fucking level cap gear, and excise all the tedious crafting bullshit entirely?  I'll admit that it's general crafting fatigue in gaming for me, but man would I just like a system where you only had to sell your salvage/resources for credits and be able to buy whatever and mod as necessary. (And, of course, you could probably play the game without crafting one single thing, but the merchant stock is definitely lacking, and necessitates a hell of a lot of leg work to survey your options.)

[J.T.]

I'm not going to like crafting, am I. 

Sad since Mark is right and I am a huge DARPA mark, so R&D should be one of the best things in the game for me.

Since I am going the Infiltrator / Scout route, I know that I'm pretty much going to go the Sniper Rifle / Pistol route and that should work since can either go with a high DPS SMG for my sidearm or a Heavy Pistol for short to medium range and stick with sniping as my primary tactic.

I'm kinda bummed because I was a pretty good cloaked shotgun rusher in ME3 multiplayer.

I'm not crazy about weapon specialization, but that should free up XP that I can dump into Tech powers that I'll need to debuff shields and leave enemies vulnerable to headshots from my Sniper Rifle.  I also want the Tech powers I pick to be able to either detonate other characters Tech primers or to detonate my own.

This shit will require pencil and paper.

[RIPPA]

I think my exact quote to Mark and Dan was "JT is going to loathe crafting"

And FYI - you need to unlock the "attribute" that allows you to carry a third (and fourth) weapon

[J.T.]

4 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I think my exact quote to Mark and Dan was "JT is going to loathe crafting"

And FYI - you need to unlock the "attribute" that allows you to carry a third (and fourth) weapon

You guys were on the money.

And yeah, I noticed that I need to put points in Combat Fitness in order to unlock extra holster slots.

[RIPPA]

I really wish grenades wasn't a power but it is what it is

[J.T.]

9 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I really wish grenades wasn't a power but it is what it is

Yeah, the grenades are calling my name, but I have to be way smarter with my build than I was with ME2 and ME3.

We're going back to ME1 levels of obsessing over skill progression.  I need to make a decision about firearms and I also need to pick some Tech debuffs that will compliment long range murdering.

I also need to not be so good at it that I neutralize the benefits of another squaddie, as I am certain that the token Garrus replacement or the Salarian ex-STG dude I may get will a fucking sharpshooter.

[AxB]

47 minutes ago, J.T. said:

I'm not crazy about weapon specialization, but that should free up XP that I can dump into Tech powers that I'll need to debuff shields and leave enemies vulnerable to headshots from my Sniper Rifle.  I also want the Tech powers I pick to be able to either detonate other characters Tech primers or to detonate my own.

This shit will require pencil and paper.

Incinerate and Overload. One works on Armour, one works on shields. One Primes, the other Detonates. Although a level five or six upgrade to Incinerate makes it a detonator as well/ instead of (don't know) a primer.

[J.T.]

1 minute ago, AxB said:

Incinerate and Overload. One works on Armour, one works on shields. One Primes, the other Detonates. Although a level five or six upgrade to Incinerate makes it a detonator as well/ instead of (don't know) a primer.

Yes, but Energy Drain should also detonate and should debuff shields and restore my own shield power.  It should also work well against the ancient robots I found on Habitat 7 that I know that I will encounter on some other planet in the cluster.

[RIPPA]

Energy Drain/Overload is working just mine for me right now

Of course I haven't been beyond Eos so who knows if that will change

 

[J.T.]

14 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

Energy Drain/Overload is working just mine for me right now

Of course I haven't been beyond Eos so who knows if that will change

Bioware being Bioware, I know I am going to eventually run up against armored enemies, so in my angst the question I ask myself is do I need to invest in Incinerate or will Liam's Thermal Grenade power and Incendiary Ammo consumables get the job done? 

My first inclination is to slum it as far as fire tech goes, since I'm liable to encounter more shielded enemies than armored ones so like you, my choices would be Overload / Energy Drain to make for effective shield neutralization and detonate tech primers.

[The Man Known as Dan]

I might need to go into detail on my builds at level 35 when I'm not at work. I will say, if you aren't using any biotic abilities, you aren't playing this game to it's best potential.

Try to come up with 4 builds was my thing. One for high numbers of low level enemies, one for bosses, one for close range, one for long. Thats the best way to play it imo.

[RIPPA]

Or you just want to play all the various styles over multiple playthroughs....

[J.T.]

I'm perfectly content to have my support characters supply the Biotic firepower for now.  I can either get my fill of Biotics in multiplayer or build myself a Biotic-heavy Sentinel / Leader or something later on.

I can't wait for Liam to use something better than an Avenger.  I will shit myself when he gets his hands on a Mattock.

[Robert C]

Finally made it to Voeld.  Had my first renegade interrupt that really felt like one.

Spoiler

That Cardinal wasn't just gonna walk out of there alive, after all that shit went down.

 

[The Man Known as Dan]

48 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

Or you just want to play all the various styles over multiple playthroughs....

I mean you could do that, but you are gonna be maxxed out at all your main skills by level 30. I'm at 35 and haven't even wrapped up my 3rd planet yet.

[J.T.]

Holy shit, the Deluxe Edition Scavenger armor has ridiculous benefits.   That may be my go to armor for the entire game.

The weapons, however, will probably be abandoned as I either purchase or develop better firearms.

[jstout]

I'm still teetering around on 40 percent of the armor I had at the start of the game. Better armor is a priority.

[Eivion]

Seeing you talk of armor reminded dumb me that I technically have the pre-order armor and should really download it.

[J.T.]

3 minutes ago, Eivion said:

Seeing you talk of armor reminded dumb me that I technically have the pre-order armor and should really download it.

If you are talking about the armor that gives you an XP Bonus, I wonder about the prolonged usefulness of it. 

Andromeda has no max level caps.  The XP Bonus will definitely come in handy in the early stages of the game and help you burn through your painful early levels, but it will come to a point where XB Bonus will be a diminishing return.

As the game goes on, you'll probably be better off with armor that grants bonuses to things like weapon weight or cooldown time that apply directly to combat.

[Eivion]

I have no idea how strong said armor is or what bonuses it gives since I haven't picked it up yet. I only just downloaded it now. I do know that so far I haven't felt the need to remove the Andromeda helmet you get form the Initiate training vids. The extra shields and xp is nice and the helmet looks better than a lot of the other choices. I'm definitely trying to get better armor so if it sucks, I won't wear it. I still want to have it though.

EDIT: Well, you were right. All its good for is extra xp. Even the Andromeda elite helmet I got is better in both shielding and looks. Its still nice to have though I really wish I had remembered this much earlier. This does bring me to a question does Ryder have low shields for anyone else? Mine is always 200+ lower than my squad mates. Its annoying.

So has anyone tried any fusions mods for armor? So far they just seem to suck as the benefits don't really outweigh the penalties.