Geth Juggernaut: First Impressions

Welcome everyone to another first impression guide. Today we will be looking at the Geth Juggernaut. I'm just going to start by saying that the Juggernaut is a support character. I know everyone was looking forward to playing as a Geth Prime and laying waste to the battlefield with your Siege Pulse and Geth Spitfire, but it doesn't work that way.

For one, the Pissfire is garbage compared to the Geth Spitfire of the singleplayer. Take a look at the Mass Effect Wiki and compare the two. As you can see, the multiplayer version is vastly inferior to the singleplayer version in virtually every way except for the ability to refill ammo. Recently there was a small buff, but it only lives up to its ultra-rare status on a few characters with massive weapon buffs. In other words, not the Juggernaut.

Then, consider the Juggernaut's lack of mobility. Even with an Adrenaline Module III, you're not very mobile. You can't take cover and your massive shield strength only goes so far when you're a walking hitbox. As a result, this character is most effective in (or at least is forced into) a defensive support role, such as during objective waves.

Onto powers! Siege Pulse can be specced passively as damage reduction or as an active power for dealing damage. You can also choose between a crowd control approach or direct damage. I don't know if evolution 6a is additive or multiplicative. If it's the latter, then it's a good choice. But right now I'm using evolution 6a because it means more damage reduction, greater chance of knockdown, and an extra shot in the chamber. Siege Pulse has a chance to knock down any unarmored enemy, even if they have their shields up (hint: that means Phantoms lie down). This is a great power for suppressing aggressive enemies like Phantoms and Dragoons. But just like all Biotic Orb-like powers, its performance is affected by network speed. Off host, you will likely experience an added delay between shots.

A reincarnation of the Geth Shields from the first Mass Effect, the Hex Shield can be specced as an area of effect power or as a defensive power. The top row in particular works well in close quarters, which you will often be forced into because of your lack of mobility. However, I find that on higher difficulties, the damage evolutions become more and more insignificant and the defensive evolutions become more and more useful. Nevertheless, it stuns humanoid enemies that pass through it and the pulse it emits when cast offers some crowd control.

Mostly, it is great as portable cover, giving you and your teammates a right-hand advantage anywhere. Also, it's great for blocking Atlas missiles, Banshee warps, Geth Prime pulse blasts, etc.. You see a projectile streaking toward your face? Pop up your Hex Shield and you're good. Note that your shield blocks your teammates' shots as well as your own, so be considerate when you place it.

The Geth Turret is most useful for keeping up your shield gate, since you are a walking hitbox and constantly having your shields chipped away. Depending on how many points you have available, you can put in a lot of points or just skip it, since your heavy melee restores shields as well. I find rank 5b restore range to be useful for restoring teammates' shields in a wide area, while rank 6b is not as essential. If you're not on cooldown take a second to pop up a Geth Turret near you and your teammates, preferably in a place where it won't get shot down. Your team will thank you.

The Juggernaut has excellent weapon passives (added stability and ammo capacity) that are tailored to weapons like the Spitfire and Typhoon. Great if you're using a weapons build. However, it's nothing special for a caster build, except for the weight capacity. Even then, that's more of a weapon-related perk than a power-related one. So if you're not planning on using weapons very often, it may not even be worth spending points here; it would be better to max out your powers. Either way, the Juggernaut is not exactly an offensive powerhouse.

Finally, your Fitness power can make you a walking tank, but at the cost of reducing the damage you deal. You can recharge your shields by using your heavy melee to drain the energy from your enemies. However, enemies are not always within melee range. I recommend taking shield recharge to jump-start your shields -- durability is basically the only strength of this character. That and being immune to sync-kills. In fact, you're the one doing the sync-killing this time. Phantoms are particularly fun to grab.

Now, I've seen a lot of Juggernaut users running around sync-killing everything. What these young bloods need to understand is that it's not an efficient or effective way to play. Your heavy melee is not an offensive power, it is another support capability. When your team gets swarmed by a group of Phantoms, don't just grab one and zap her while your teammates get sliced up. Pick one up and drop her, then pick up another. Incapacitate them first and make it easier for you and your teammates to finish them off. Draw aggressive enemies such as Banshees and Phantoms away from your teammates. You have the durability and sync-kill immunity to keep them off your teammates backs.

To be continued...

-Grun7mas7er

Check out Megabeast's thread on BSN: How to play the Juggernaut effectively (by megabeast37215)

Also check out this video guide by Caineghis with commentary by Megabeast.

Talon Mercenary: First Impressions

Hello everyone, welcome to another installment of my Reckoning DLC character first impressions. Since he got a major buff today, let's talk about the Talon Mercenary Engineer. I tested him out today on Platinum and the damage wasn't bad, considering that your bow is essentially a melee attack. He passed on plat, so he gets my stamp of approval.

Quick rundown of his powers, which are all pooled into your grenade count. The Cain Trip Mine is a very good power. It deals massive damage, especially to armored targets. However, only three can be active at a time, and placement is key. This isn't Proximity Mine, you have to place it in a position such that an enemy will trip the laser.

Note that you can indirectly trigger your mines without the trip laser. If you have three mines already active, casting another mine will detonate and replace the first mine. The detonation of the first mine actually causes the same damage within the same radius as if it had been tripped. Think of it as a convoluted C4 trigger. This technique is great for nuking spawns, but not so great in other situations as it rapidly expends your grenade pool. For more efficient direct attacks, you have your omni-bow.

Your omni-bow replaces the traditional melee attack, and can be loaded with one of two special types of arrows. Concussive Arrows can knock down any unarmored targets, including Phantoms. However, arrows can be difficult to hit on target and they can be blocked. It used to be ridiculously slow to draw your bow all the way, basically restricting the potential as a panic-button. Drawing your bow is quicker now, but still not quite fast enough for a panic button. I recommend the light melee in close quarters encounters, though it is inaccurate.

Armor Piercing Arrows are most useful on a pure melee build, as the bow counts as your melee attack. Since the buff, it does respectable damage to armor. In other words, one direct hit can kill a Dragoon, 2 direct hits to kill a Ravager, 3 direct hits to kill a Brute (on Gold, with the appropriate gear). Not bad.

I prefer to take the power damage evolutions for the passive. The last evolution is up to you, and can be skipped for a pure melee build, though the regenerating charges are quite useful.

Fitness, of course, depends on what type of build you are using. For the most part, the melee damage is essential on this character. Unfortunately, he cannot do an over-cover grab.

To be continued...

-Grun7mas7er

For an in-depth look at how to make the most of your Omni-Bow, check out Eric Fagnan's Talon Engineer Omni-Bow Tips on BSN.

Important: March 12 Balance Changes

This was a big week. Check it out here: Multiplayer Balance Changes

Here's a quick rundown of significant changes:
- Promotional weapons now available in the store.
- Talon Mercenary received numerous buffs to the omni-bow.
- Collector's ascension stance buffed.
- AIU's repair matrix and melee nerfed.
- Cabal's biotic focus and poison strike buffed.
- Adas rifle buffed.
- Geth Spitfire buffed.
- Venom Shotgun buffed.
- Blood Pack Punisher buffed.

The Fagnan buffeth, and the Fagnan nerfeth away.

Awakened Collector: First Impressions

Greetings everyone, welcome to the first installment of my Reckoning DLC character guides. I've  browsed BSN for tips and tricks for the Collector adept, talked strategy with fellow ME3 players, and played a few games. I've learned a few things (only a few) which I will share with you here.

Dark Sphere is an awesome biotic power with two behavioral stages: the sphere and the detonation. When cast, the sphere primes enemies within its radius for biotic explosions -- you can tell by the green glow. In this stage, it does some pretty good damage per second to enemies within its radius. This damage over time persists even after detonation. Think of it as an ultra-Singularity. Also, it does not trigger a cooldown until you detonate it. Thus, you can cast Dark Sphere without ever triggering a cooldown.

However, there are many benefits to detonating, hence the long cooldown. The detonation deals massive damage, but does not trigger biotic explosions. Also, the explosion does not prime targets, only the sphere phase does. Needless to say, the Collector is extremely powerful with biotic teammates. However, it should be noted that Dark Sphere is buggy off-host and sometimes fires blanks. It's not entirely host-dependent, but it is noticeably better.

When you're fighting Collectors, bees are bad. When you are a Collector, bees are good. Seeker Swarm is similar to Biotic Orbs. When you first cast them, the swarms float around you and then can be thrown one after another, doing slight damage and slowing enemy movement speed. They also trigger biotic explosions, though since they have no detonate evolution, the explosions are rather weak. You can use them passively to create a barrier of bees around you and gain up to 40% damage reduction, which I recommend. Be warned: as with Biotic Orbs, throwing Seeker Swarms off-host is not as responsive as on-host and there is a huge delay between throws.

The last power is Dark Channel, which deals damage over time with a 1.5x bonus against armor, 2x bonus against barriers, and 0.5x penalty against shields. Dark Channel jumps to a nearby target after you trigger it with a BE. Using Seeker Swarms, you can potentially chain up to four BEs in quick succession (if you're host).

One way to utilize the Collector's biotics is to cast Dark Sphere, cast Dark Channel, let your enemies stew in the damage over time for a brief duration, then detonate Dark Sphere (boom). Then throw your bees at the survivors (boom boom boom boom). This combo is excellent for crowd control.

The Collector's passive abilities are extremely good for both power damage and weapon damage. There are a lot of ways to build this character. The best way? We're still figuring that out. I like to take damage & capacity, power damage, and then weapon damage + Collector/Prothean weapon damage bonus.

This character is interesting in part because your heavy melee is replaced by Ascension Stance, which offers up some damage and cooldown bonuses but at the cost of reducing your resistance to damage. I can see a build focusing on this ability, but I'm not experienced enough to recommend it or not. It received a minor buff recently.

The Collector works really well with Warp ammo, since virtually all of his biotic powers prime enemies with a lasting biotic effect, and your powers work in such a way that biotic explosions aren't constantly interfering with your Warp ammo. Needless to say, he is also great with Collector and Prothean weapons.

To be continued...

Thanks for reading. Stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er

Reckoning: First Impressions

Just a quick post I want to get out before I do any actual guides. I know I could easily boost my blog views by over 9000 if I posted guides for the new characters, but I'm going to actually learn how to use them before I post anything conclusive.

But first, I'm going to just go ahead and say it: next to the Earth characters, Reckoning's characters are some of the greatest kits that Bioware has created. I mean come on, the powers and the concepts are awesome. The community asked for a playable Geth Prime, Bioware gave us the Juggernaut. We wanted a true melee Krogan with Blood Pack armor and regenerating health, we got it. We wanted gender equality among Turians and poisonous weapons, and we got the Cabal. We wanted EDI bots, and we got that too. I assume that the Talon Mercenary is a tribute to the late Robin Sachs, who voiced Zaeed Massani. Bioware even met the Prothean requests halfway and gave us freaking Awakened Collectors justified by the lore. I mean come on guys, if you're not grateful for this DLC just because you didn't get a new Salarian or female Geth adept or whatever -- Bioware came up with some convoluted story behind the Awakened Collectors just so you could have a chance to play as one.

Retaliation was all about quantity. Reckoning was all about quality. If Bioware wanted to go out with a bang, they did it right.


Characters:
Awakened Collector (ultra rare)
Geth Juggernaut
Talon Mercenary
Krogan Warlord
Alliance Infiltration Unit
Turian Cabal

Weapons:
Geth Spitfire (UR)
ADAS assault rifle
Venom shotgun (UR)
Blood Pack Punisher SMG (UR)
Executioner Pistol
M-7 Lancer assault rifle (UR)
M-11 Suppressor pistol

Gear:
Geth Scanner
Batarian Gauntlets

Weapon Mods:
Assault Rifle ULM
Sniper Rifle ULM
Shotgun ULM
Pistol Power Magnifier
SMG Power Magnifier

P.S. Here are some notable tips about the new content:

The ADAS anti-synthetic rifle does 200% damage to shields and barriers.
The Geth Spitfire does 175% damage to shields and barriers.
The Cain Trip Mine does 150% damage to armor, shields, and barriers.
Siege Pulse does 135% damage to armor, shields, and barriers.
source: Eric Fagnan

I hope to have builds up soon. Until then, stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er

Reckoning DLC Livestream (finished) + Trailer

In case you missed Bioware's livestream preview of the Reckoning DLC, check out Bioware Dev Bryan Johnson's recording of the livestream here.

Here is the official trailer.

ME3 Character Guide: Salarian Infiltrator

Greetings everyone. Excited for the upcoming Reckoning DLC? I know I am. But for now, let's take it back to the early days of Mass Effect 3 multiplayer with one of the original characters: the Salarian Infiltrator. Ah, the nostalgia. For the record, one of the classics is the Claymore Salarian Infiltrator. It's a good build, but it seems to me that Salarians are more suited for sniping. That would be my assumption based on lore. Ah yes, "lore"...

Salarian Infiltrator
Tactical Cloak: 4-damage, 5-recharge speed, 6-sniper damage
Proximity Mine: 4-radius, 5-damage taken
Energy Drain: 4-damage, 5-drain, 6-armor boost
Salarian Operative: 4-weapon damage, 5-headshots, 6-weapon damage
Fitness: 3

I really like the Black Widow out of all the sniper rifles. It can shoot three rounds per mag, but still packs a punch. The Valiant and Indra are good, but not particularly great on him. And the Javelin is far greater on the Geth Infiltrator. In my opinion, the Black Widow is the best overall bar none. However, I can see the M-98 Widow, Mantis, or even Viper as effective alternatives.

As for ammo mods, you can't go wrong with Armor Piercing. You can use Phasic rounds, but the beauty of the SI is that he has Energy Drain, so Phasic rounds are not necessary. Disruptor rounds are great for Geth. Warp rounds are great for Reapers/Collectors, but I tend to save them for my biotic characters.

We all know and love/hate Tactical Cloak, so no need to explain why I take all damage evolutions, right?

Proximity Mine is used for boss-level enemies so that they can be taken down quicker. I almost always take the radius and damage taken evolution to debuff clusters of enemies. It makes for a great support power. For the SI, recharge speed is completely unnecessary when cast under TC because the TC recharge overrides Proxy Mine's recharge. Also, the damage evolution is negligible compared to 3 ranks in Fitness, so I skip evolution 6 of Proxy Mine altogether. For enemies that are hard to pin down like Phantoms and Banshees, use TC and Proxy Mine from a distance and they will engage their shields, forcing them to stand still for a moment. Free headshots.

As demonstrated by Caineghis.


What makes the SI a great sniper is Energy Drain, which helps to bypass enemy shield gate, which is a great hindrance to snipers. The damage and drain evolutions are there to restore your shields. The more damage you do with Energy Drain, the greater percentage of your shields are restored. However, I found the armor boost evolution to be more useful than the extra damage. Overall, I think 40% damage reduction for 10 seconds is going to keep you alive better than 40% extra damage. That's my experience, anyway.

In addition, it stuns lesser enemies (including Dragoons!) for a short time, letting you line up an easy headshot. It's also very useful as a survival tool against bosses and damage over time effects. Always keep an eye open for shields/barriers that can be leached.

For the passives, all weapon damage since your sniper rifle is your main focus. Then 3 ranks in Fitness for slightly better durability. I found this build to be much more durable than a pure damage build with no Fitness, and honestly the mediocre power damage bonuses are pretty negligible compared to added survivability.

The real key to this build is mastery of your sniper rifle. They require more aim than your other weapons, but they are very rewarding especially on Infiltrators. Practice practice practice. And use your sniper rifle rail amps!

That's about it for the guide. Wish I could put up a sniper rifle guide, but I'm not that good at sniping. Plus I'm a lowly console scrub, I couldn't possibly aim with those clunky thumbsticks. =)
Cheers, enjoy the build, stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er

Bioware Announces Reckoning DLC

Details here.

Prepare for the Reckoning! Newfound allies join the multiplayer war for survival in Mass Effect 3: Reckoning. The Geth Juggernaut, Female Turian Raptor, Talon Mercenary, Alliance Infiltration Unit, and more take up arms to stop the Reaper threat. Smash your enemies with the Biotic Hammer as you lay waste to the battlefield as the Krogan Warlord.

Wield 7 new weapons for multiplayer, including the Geth Spitfire Assault Rifle, Venom Shotgun, Lancer Assault Rifle, and amplify your arsenal with new equipment and weapon mods featuring the Geth Scanner and Assault Rifle Ultralight Materials.

Mass Effect 3: Reckoning launches on February 27th worldwide on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, at no additional cost.

Pics!!! (Click to biggify)

Asari Justicar Adept: 200 Waves Edition

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I put a guide up. Recently I've been going for some challenges, doing Platinum runs, and saving up credits for the upcoming DLC. During this time I've had a chance to try out an offensive Asari Justicar build, and I have to say, I was pretty impressed by how well it worked out.

Asari Justicar
Biotic Sphere: 4-radius, 5-enemy weakness, 6-warp effect
Reave: 4-radius, 5-damage reduction, 6-damage & duration
Pull: N/A
Asari Justicar: 4-duration & capacity*, 5-headshots, 6-weapon damage
Fitness: 4-durability, 5-shield recharge, 6-fitness expert

Obviously, Warp ammo is excellent for this build, since it has synergy with biotic characters.

For your weapon, I recommend the Harrier because it's a great all-around weapon. It has damage, accuracy, and range. Not something you can say for most other weapons. I take the magazine upgrade for sustained fire against bosses, then I have the piercing mod for better armor damage and limited cover-piercing. While it is reasonable to take the high-velocity barrel, I find that it adds too much weight to be worth it.

I also take the Acolyte for shield-stripping duty. Your Harrier can take care of armor and barriers just fine with warp ammo. Regular shields are another story. The Acolyte is a great sidearm for Primes and Atlases. I use the heavy barrel for better damage, then the ultra-light materials to counter the additional weight.

You may also consider using the Hurricane instead of the Harrier. Most SMG attachments are useful on the Hurricane. However, for this build you should restrict your choices to magazine and barrel mods. Personally, I recommend using the high-velocity barrel for armor-piercing since you will never use AP ammo. Then I would take a magazine upgrade or heat sink, either one. Being able to fire for longer is extremely useful against tougher enemies. Practice using the Hurricane without the stability dampener. You're restricted to close range, but it's an SMG, it's built for close range. Learn when to hip fire and when to aim. If you would really really feel more comfortable with extra stability, use a Stabilization Module III instead of a Cyclonic Modulator and/or the Barrage Upgrade instead of the Expert Package/SMG Amp. Then slowly wean yourself off the stability training wheels and you'll do more damage.

Now of course this is more of a soldier than an adept, so you might say that it's the Harrier or Hurricane with Warp ammo IV doing all the work, and not the build itself. And I wouldn't really deny that. But in my experience, I've never played a more effective Justicar build than this. Take it how you will.

I used an offensive Biotic Sphere on this character. The most important parts are the enemy weakness and warp effect. Radius is just to expand these effects further -- 30% may not seem like much but if you've taken any math classes then you should know that even a small boost in radius increases the volume significantly. The 25% debuff is very powerful, especially when you set it in a choke point. The Warp effect is mainly to prime enemies with Warp, giving you the Warp ammo bonus. You can also trigger BEs on enemies in the bubble with Reave. But for the most part, you'll be using your gun to melt enemies within the bubble.

Reave offers a little bit of damage reduction when used against organic targets, and it also primes enemies for a Warp ammo damage bonus. The damage over time is also pretty useful for Phantoms, and it stacks on itself (up to three times, I've heard). You can use it to stun lesser enemies while you line up a shot or take cover. Other than that, you can use it for biotic combos. However, note that detonating a BE will remove the Warp effect, which in turn negates your Warp ammo bonus. You're better off letting the biotic effects persist while you shoot them with Warp ammo.

However, the Justicar is capable of one of the coolest combos in the game, in my opinion. I'm talking about the Reave-Biotic Sphere-Reave combo. First you prime the enemy with Reave, then run up and cast the bubble on them. After you have cast the bubble on them, they will be primed by the Warp effect, which can be detonated with another Reave. (Note that for Biotic Sphere, only your initial cast can trigger a tech or biotic combo. It will not work if you Reave them and then they walk into the bubble).

Pull can be used effectively with this character, but I don't bother with it because you end up relying on the Acolyte and that's not very fun.

For passives, I take all weapon bonuses except for duration & capacity, which gives you slightly better cooldown. I like having that because it reduces my cooldown to what I consider an 'acceptable' range, and the duration is pretty nice as well. Overall, I think the extra weapon damage would be better. I will probably switch between the two depending on what weapons I'm using. Lastly, bottom row for Fitness goes without saying.

That's about it for the build, everyone. Hope this was helpful, hope you enjoy it. Stay classy.

-Grun7mas7er

31 January 2013 Patch Datamined

Greetings everyone. There have long been rumors of a so-called 'Reckoning DLC' coming to ME3 multiplayer, and with the patch yesterday, those rumors have been more or less confirmed. Dataminers peeked into the patch files and found some details that would make an elcor giddy with excitement.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/343/index/15753257/1#15753257.

http://www.clevernoob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/2703-datamining-todays-patch-dlc-info-incoming/

The details so far:

• assault rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle ultralight materials.
• "judging by the number of races in this DLC, there is a very high chance that this will have about the same number of characters as Retaliation if not more"
• "most of the recent single player DLC weapons are getting added to multiplayer"
• Co-op mode: "a multiplayer game mode that pulls your paragon/renegade values, reputation points and updates your plot progress from the single player campaign"
• Challenges for Blood Pack Punisher SMG, Venom Shotgun, ADAS rifle, and Executioner Pistol have been found. 
• A file for Biotic Protector has been found (not known if it's for SP or MP).
• Chakram Launcher found.

My own speculation is that this is Bioware's last DLC, or last major DLC anyway. The game is nearly a year old, so I imagine that they need to move on to ME4. Retaliation was a big DLC, so I would think that this one will be even greater if Bioware wants ME3 to go out with a bang. 

I also suspect that some of the new weapons will be nerfed based on some of the things I've heard, either right out of the gate or soon after. However, as Bioware is now doing balance changes less frequently, who knows what they will or will not balance. 

The description of the co-op mode is a little sketchy, but it sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing how it plays out. And 'Biotic Protector' sounds like the Phantom/Banshee hand of denial. I don't know if it's a power, character, or something else, but that's what it makes me think of.

Finally, I suggest that everyone start saving up credits for the new DLC. 

Thanks for reading. Stay classy.