MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA (Here be Spoilers)

[jstout]

Really just an overwhelming bunch of changes. The Revive Pack Transmitter got tweaked to also work with First Aid and Ammo, and increases the RPG blast radius by 50 percent. That may be huge. Two daily challenges a day. Bunch of weapon variants (concussive, siphon and bulwark variants).

[jstout]

Here she blows:

http://blog.bioware.com/2017/07/04/mass-effect-andromeda-combat-balance-updates/

More things covered in the stream but not the patch notes:

1. The Remnant bunker is back, as a Silver APEX mission. WHEN BIOWARE FIXES IT (yep), completing it will earn you a gigantic Apex Elite Pack (value 600,000 credits) with a lot of really, really cool stuff in it through the weekend. Multiplayer players will want to find time to do this.

2. Two new maps this month, both of which will enter rotation by the end of the month.

3. Eleven-wave missions are coming, not here yet.

4. From the way they're talking, Platinum pays 100,000 for extraction.

5. This is completely anecdotal personal gameplay: They seem to have toughened things up across the board. A Bronze APEX wasn't the cakewalk it usually is, and I just got done playing a Silver with Remnant that could best be described as psychotic. I have played easier Golds. I dunno if it was lousy teammates (one of them definitely was), or what. The big thing I noticed is that Observers on Silver travel in twos - while you're busy dealing with one, the other's beating you into submission. I also THINK (have no hard data to prove it) that they've reduced the Observer's laser's "spin-up" time (it takes less time for the Observer to go from not shooting a laser to absolutely wrecking you).

 

[RIPPA]

Quote

Based on popular feedback, enemies can now disrupt Hacks, and we’ve reduced Upload’s depletion rate when it’s not controlled by players. Assassination has been replaced with a Boss objective featuring stronger enemies that have special nameplates, more hit points, and are resistant to Cobra RPGs.

HOW IS THAT POPULAR?!?!?!?!?!

I fucking hate gamers

[jstout]

Dragon brought up the point that they should have interrupted hacks, but non-interrupted uploads, since there are three of them. I'd agree with that, but apparently they're going in a different direction. I haven't played one yet, but the new Devices sounds intense. It definitely will put the emphasis on getting the devices first and dealing with enemies later. It seems like a lot of the tweaks, and the Platinum mode, are trying to get players together to work on team strategies more.

The Apex Elite Pack (the one I mentioned earlier) mission should be up and running.

[J.T.]

Nothing should interrupt a hack or an upload nor should anything be resistant to fucking rockets, especially bosses.

How the fuck is taking down a Destroyer or an Ascendant on Gold without Cobras "popular"? 

Anyone who thinks that it would be fun to try to kill a Boss enemy with standard firepower bug bites with a death timer ticking down while its minions are blowing the crap out of you is out of their fucking mind.

If they want to make things tougher, either add Elemental Hazards and have your shield strength tick down the longer you stand out in the open or simply go to the eleven wave format and make players manage their consumables smarter.

[odessasteps]

5 hours ago, J.T. said:

We're evaluating new software that will potentially be used in the upcoming annual joint US / ROK training in August so yeah, Kim Jong-Un is fucking with my game time.

Right before I quit for the night, I landed on Voeld and went to chat with the Resistance peeps to collect my new side missions.  The head medic sure is a grumpy fucker.

So, this shit is going to be like Eos and I won't really be able to get anything else done until I deal with the Vault and restore the climate.

This Level 2 Cold can kiss my ass. 

Why do I keep getting the feeling that Environmental Hazards in Campaign Mode would've been a part of Multiplayer for APEX mission with a Harsh Weather Conditions stip if the devs had gotten a chance to work on it? 

I'd much rather see a Higher Difficulty setting incorporate Hazards and a challenging number of normal enemies rather than coming up against an overwhelming horde of bullet sponges.

I knocked out the Bronze APEX mission this morning and hopefully the MP servers will be up so that I can sort out my Strike Team crap and see what new equipment mod is for sale before guiding Scott Ryder to victory in Campaign Mode.

The game insists on giving me Eezo for my Gold Material Pathfinder Reward boxes when I really need Platinum.

I would definitely recommend opening the vault on each planet before doing anything else. Especially good on Elaaden (heat) and Kadara (acid water). 

[RIPPA]

Holy Shit are there a lot of changes

Thank God I had over 1200 Mission Funds since there are 4 things to buy in the shop

I cant tell if some of these masteries are new or if they just reset the indicator on them

I like that you can now access the APEX missions via the Custom Match field

Also - strike team mission are now listed in difficulty order

[RIPPA]

God - what the hell is the Veteran Bonus stuff

Apparently MP characters go beyond X

[Robert C]

80 new barrels?  Motherfuckers

[jstout]

I got an 11 character. It gave me a 4 percent bonus on three things.

[Robert C]

3 minutes ago, jstout said:

I got an 11 character. It gave me a 4 percent bonus on three things.

Do you get any additional skill points?

[odessasteps]

I prob won't play until Sunday, so I hope you all have things figured out by then. 

[jstout]

I don't think I got any skill points. I don't know because it was for a character that got re-speced, so I had to start from scratch. I could do some math when I get home.

This game has given me a crazy case of right thumb tendonitis. I'm suing EA.

[Robert C]

We tried a Platinum, once.  Once.

 

[jstout]

I encourage everyone to try it. You gotta see it. It's a hoot.

[odessasteps]

Did the update and bought the new stuff in the store before bed.

will maybe have respec time tomorrow before work. 

[RIPPA]

Random thoughts on the stuff I saw

- I am 99% sure you don't get more points to spend on your character when you get a XI character. It just unlocks the Veteran Bonus. The wording on screen certainly makes it seem like characters go past XI since XI gets you Tier 1 so you would assume there are Tier 2, Tier 3, etc...

- I got about 4 XI characters so far as the drop like all other characters so just buying basics where shoring up my Common characters

- I really hope they tweak the notifications because I really don't want to keep getting exclamation points every time I get like another First Aid Kid

- Some of these new equipment thingys are really good. Like the one that increased gun AND biotic damage went right on my Kroguard

- The new Assassinations aren't too too terrible. You only have to do three but it seems like the time they give you is less than before. Granted - the only time I got them was on an APEX where two of the people died quickly and refused to use their own consumables so fuck them. You can still kill folks with Cobras - it just takes more than one. I had to use three to clear out a fiend and 2 Ascendants. It might have only required two on a normal map but since this had Hand to Hand on it - all weapon damage and such was down.

- I couldn't tell if enemies in a hack completely stopped it or just slowed it down. The circle is green when empty. Turns orange when one enemy shows up. We never had more than that but I feel like it turns red if it isn't working. But that could just be me using logic when it shouldn't be

[odessasteps]

That would suck given how often dogs run into the hack or upload. 

[J.T.]

The Platinum mission was a fucking trial.  I'm assuming that the different colored names mean that enemy defenses are boosted to the moon.

I was blessed and got matched up with a really good team and even that didn't keep me from using nearly all of my consumable save one Revive Pack that I was saving for desperate measures.

I played my Angaran Insurgent and the other members of my squad were smart enough to bunker down in rooms that I would booby trap and then move locations to another part of Firebase Magma when it looked like we might be overrun.

Every other wave being a Challenge Wave is a pain in the ass.

We lucked out and pulled Boss first and then got Devices, Upload, and Recovery.  Upload was the worst of the lot since the key to Survival on Platinum is knowing when to stand your ground and when to run and Upload does not give you the option of tactical egress aka running for your fucking life.

It's funny.  You don't use Cobras so much to kill a Boss now as you do to clear the rabble to give you some breathing room to target a Boss and murder the crap out of him.

This shit is going to change a lot of Character Builds because you'll need players who are good with both support as well as offense or defense.  I'm probably going to spec both of my Soldiers with Focused Fire for the Team Damage buff.

My gameplay last night on Platinum earned me a spot on the Friends Lists of a couple of guys with 18K+ APEX ratings so now I am in the middle of my Friend's List leaderboard with my 8K APEX rating. 

One of the 18K guys used a Revenant (Siphon) on the Platinum mission which apparently heals you as you do damage.  I need to get me one of those.

My APEX gift box for completing the Silver mission on the Vault map gave me the Salarian Operator.  The game will now torment me by gifting me weapon mods and I won't unlock the new Batarian or the Angaran I'm missing from my roster until the next special event.

I am up to the part of the main mission on Voeld where I have seen The Cardinal and now my greatest desire is to put a bullet in his head.  I'll finish up the Primary Op over the weekend (maybe) and move on to side missions and establishing a military base on Voeld after I deal with the Vault.

[RIPPA]

Again it wasn't the best map to judge because the same two assholes who wouldn't use consumables also wouldn't do the hack - so it was just me and the other dude so speed wasn't optimal to begin with

[RIPPA]

I am a little irritated because one of my two dailys was Gold Extractions but with the storms my connection wasn't up to it

[J.T.]

5 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I am a little irritated because one of my two dailys was Gold Extractions but with the storms my connection wasn't up to it

Extractions or Waves? I've completed challenges for surviving 14 Gold waves, but I've never encountered an extraction requirement.

Some players will do multiple Gold missions and tank them on purpose.  They know they can spread out the Waves they need to survive over several missions and still complete the challenge.

I'd rather just get two extractions and be done with it.

The new Warfighter Package is the tits!  My Turian Havoc loves it!

[RIPPA]

Daily is waves

I confused it with the extraction necessary as part of one the masteries (and also for that one achievement)

[J.T.]

I wish there was a Passive Class perk that allowed Salarian Architects to do a little more bonus damage when they are using Remnant weapons. 

I am probably going to swap out his primary from the PAW to the Sweeper until I get the PAW leveled up. 

Right now my PAW is a Tier I and my Sweeper now a Tier III thanks to this morning's Disappointment Pack that leveled up my Turian Havoc and Turian Agent and tossed me a couple of Tier III consumables.

I also chose to gimp Incinerate in favor of Remnant VI and a more defensive specced Barricade, but am now wondering if I should've rolled with Remnant VI and Incinerate instead and kept Barricade as my gimped Oh Shit power.

That way I can spec Incinerate so that it becomes a detonator that I can use in conjunction with the EMP Beam from the VI that acts as a Primer and does bonus damage to Remnant.

[Robert C]

We ran into Mass Effect basement dwelling royalty last night.  I ran one match with 3 randoms.  One was the #3 guy.  He was running an XX-20 Angaran Insurgent.

There were 3 of us running a bronze strike team later.  We got a fourth, and I figured the game must be bugging out when I saw his Apex rating.  It was right, though  He turned out to be #1.  He knew he couldn't hang with us, though, so he he bailed out before we started.

I had ridiculous luck with ultra rare drops last night.  I got 4 premium packs, plus the special pack for running that vault mission.  The premium packs netted me 4 ultra-rares:  Rozerad 1, Kineticist 2 & 3, and a fourth that I can't remember.  The vault mission pack apparently netted me 2 Krogan Gladiators, as he went straight from 0 to 2.