Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Been playing the remastered Mass Effect trilogy lately – the Legendary Edition – and it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve played the trilogy once before, but that was ages ago, and I didn’t have any of the DLCs (all included in the LE).
I’m not that far into the game, just picked up Liara and that was the second mission I did after leaving the Citadel, so there is a long journey ahead. Very cool.
I was planning on playing on insanity, but since I know I will do more playthroughs, I figured I might as well save that for later, so I went with veteran instead, one level above normal.
Also made a last-minute change about class – I guess premeditating didn’t go too well this time – and decided to go with adept. Was infiltrator last time, and thought I might try sentinel this time, but something about adept captured my imagination.
One thing that’s enhancing my enjoyment this time around is that I’m listening to the official Mass Effect books in parallel to playing. Learning more about Anderson and Saren, or even just seeing the Citadel through the eyes of Anderson, and so on, is so much fun and makes the whole experience richer and more meaningful. And knowing in more detail what a bastard Saren is will make it all the more satisfying ending his miserable life later on.
Mass Effect: Andromeda, the build
Damn. I was supposed to write this post a long time ago, while still remembering the details. Now it’s all a bit hazy. But I remember some of it, and back then I made some notes and a rough draft, so I’ll create a post out of those. It’ll be less comprehensive than I had intended, but no one will care because no one plays this game anymore.
I’m talking about Mass Effect: Andromeda, and the build I used to play through the game on insanity (the highest difficulty) without much trouble and without having to play like an action hero (which I neither enjoy nor master). It allows for a relatively relaxed and chilled playing style despite the recurring chaos on the battlefield, letting the team (squad + constructs) do much of the heavy lifting. I don’t even engage in active use of combos, though my team made them happen with increasing frequency as they get more upgrades.
The short version is this: it’s a tech-based build using as active powers the two tech constructs (the turret and the remnant) and the cloak, with the engineer profile. For weapon, a sniper rifle with unlimited ammo, which goes well with being relatively stationary and far away from the epicenter of the action.
Initially and for a good long while I concentrate on developing the tech section, but eventually one runs out of useful tech skills/upgrades to develop, at which point I start investing elsewhere, into improving sniping and other passive non-tech skills. All of those skill points go into the combat section actually, but I would definitely get Barrier from the biotics section if it was available without any previous points into that section (might actually be worth it anyway — there are some wiggle room in this build, some things are set in stone and others are not, and you have to use your own judgement to decide which is which).
Skill upgrades and division of labor
As for skill upgrades, whenever there’s a mutually exclusive choice, I (nearly?) always prioritize improving the team over improving myself, and when I do improve myself I prioritize defense and survival over offense. (That’s not to say that I always pick improving the team first if there’s a non-mutually exclusive choice — that would depend on the current needs, as based on experience from the field. E.g. maybe I really need a better cloak right now, and then that would come first).
With good reason — there is a synergy going on between the these particular skills, skill upgrades, the playing style, and choice of squad members.
All the team do is directly attacking, but I have a couple of additional responsibilities.
There’s the attacking of course, using the sniper rifle, but there’s also the constantly managing and coordinating the others, assessing the situation on the battlefield and making decisions about where they should go and who to attack. That often means having them attack the same target (often the weakest), but not always.
They’re allowed to die or get destroyed; I’m not, so I also need to prioritize survival for myself. In part, I do that through the playing style, hanging around in the background and on the edges of the battle, but also through upgrading my defense and ability to survive. That’s not just improving armor, but also things like making the cloak last longer, and being able to recharge the shield while being cloaked. That’s way more important than, say, getting an upgrade to do more melee damage while cloaked, which would be nearly useless.
Lastly, it’s my job to revive fallen comrades and re-employing destroyed constructs. This happens pretty regularly early on, but less so as the team gets better. In doing so, the cloak is very useful, esp since I often prefer squad members that go into close contact with the enemy, such as the Krogan and Cora, which means that when they die, they end up right in the middle of the action — good luck reviving them on insanity without having a cloak. But in addition the cloak is useful for getting into good vantage points, and escaping if the enemy gets too close. Can’t overestimate how useful and necessary the cloak is for this build and this playing style.
A few additional notes about skills
The three active powers are all so good and essential to this build that I never use anything else, so all other skill points go into getting and upgrading passive powers. I don’t think it’s that hard to determine which of those powers to get (in time I think you get pretty much all passive powers, upgraded all the way, in the tech section.). In some cases it might be somewhat tricky deciding what specific upgrades to get when you have to choose among the mutually exclusive ones. Just use your judgement to the best of your ability and upgrade in accordance with the guidelines I’ve given above. Some choices are obvious, but some are not, in which case it might not even matter that much which way you go. Remember that it’s always possible to regret your decision and redistribute all skill points.
Here’s an additional example of synergy, from memory: there is an upgrade where one can make the assault turret slowly repair itself if it’s in proximity to me. That’s a superb one, esp since I’m relatively immobile during combat anyway. But as mentioned, I am usually far away from the action, so the turret needs to be as well. That in turn means that as it’s time to decide whether to equip it with ice or fire, it needs to be ice, since that’s a long distance weapon, and fire (a flame thrower really) is not.
There are synergies like that all over the place, both obvious and less obvious ones, including finding a nice balance between having the team priming and detonating combos. Having them all do one and not the other would obviously be suboptimal, as far as combos go (which is just one consideration — it’s like a puzzle where you want all pieces to fit). Done right, combos will in time go off regularly without you lifting a finger. I don’t do combos myself, but it’s great having a team that does.
Obviously the Team Support skill has many good upgrades, but you can find team-related upgrades scattered across the other skills and upgrades as well.
You don’t need to be too dogmatic about the details. Maybe I wasn’t, I don’t remember, could very well be that I put a few points i to e.g. sniping before getting a certain team-related upgrade. But in general, team comes first, and then defense/survival over offense for myself, then the rest. That applies not only to skills, but also to armor, which to pick and what bonuses to add, and maybe in other areas as well, I don’t remember all the systems.
A different beginning
Please note that none of those three active powers are available at the start. For the cloak and turret, you first you need to add nine points into the tech section. That means levelling up a few times. Don’t worry, that happens early, but if you run into the wrong enemies before that point, it could actually get really difficult. If so, maybe go elsewhere to get those points, and come back later. I have no advice on what initial interim powers to choose.
The remnant will take a tad bit longer to get, as it requires you to find PeeBee and finish one of her early quests, but do prioritize that though, at least after having the other two powers. Shouldn’t take too long or be too hard.
When you do get the specified powers, don’t forget to respec the build (done in the medical bay) so that no skill points are wasted.
Final thoughts
I’ve heard of people getting stuck on insanity level, overwhelmed by enemies. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve also seen it claimed that actively using combos is necessary at this difficulty. Not true. With the right skills and right playing style it is pretty smooth sailing. I’m sure there are many viable builds (even for insanity), especially for action heroes who don’t mind intense and explosive action, but I’ve found a convenient and fun build that suits me perfectly. This is the ”let someone else do the hard work” build. I’m sure it’s boring to some people, but I for one prefer it this way. Among other things, it makes it more of an RPG experience where you rely a little more on making thoughtful decisions and a little less on being good at fast-paced combat.
But anyway, that’s that.
Mass Effect: Andromeda on insanity
Decided to return to Andromeda for a second run, but this time on the hardest difficulty, insanity.
Perhaps the simplest thing in the world for some people, but I’m not an action hero, so I wasn’t sure how it would go.
On my last run (on normal), after starting out trying various things, I eventually converged on using cloak and the two tech constructs as my three active powers, plus sniping as my main weapon. That makes for a playing style that suits me fine. Figured I might use the same setup this time, but I wasn’t sure — that setup doesn’t allow for taking advantage of power combos, and many say they’re indispensable on insanity. And maybe I would want to play around with other powers anyway, for fun? In any case, cloak and tech constructs aren’t available at the start, so I could at least play around with power combos for a while.
And so I did. At first it went well; noticeably harder than last time, but not to the point of hitting a wall. Then I came up against some remnants guarding a monolith, and I hit that wall. I tried again and again, using different tactics and vantage points etc, but I just couldn’t win. My squad mates died, and it was difficult to revive them without dying myself, and it seemed like an endless stream of remnants coming at us (1). Eventually, it felt like a complete exercise in futility.
I’m sure part of this was just me playing badly, since the first run on normal (and without combos) didn’t provide much training, but I felt defeated enough that I didn’t want to have to seriously practice to demolish this obstacle.
A real low point, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish the game at all. But I had one last card up my sleeve: using my old build, even though I mostly would have to forfeit using power combos. I was still a low level character at this point, but I had enough skill points to be allowed to use cloak and turret, and unlike most of my last run I knew it was possible to respec my character.
And so I did, and it also became a more focused build too, since I before that had wasted a few points trying different powers.
Lo and behold, after a few tries I made it work. Phew. I was elated; the game was on.
And I kept going, clearing Eos, establishing a base and returning to the Nexus. That’s where I was at when I wrote the first draft. Then I forgot about the draft and kept playing. Now I’m nearly done with the game. After I got on track with the build, the game just became easier and easier with each new character level. Soon enough, it was easier even than my previous run on normal.
So it’s not only perfectly possible to finish the game on insanity without using combos (2); it’s also easy (3). Perhaps this build is actually the easiest way, especially for someone who doesn’t have the chops to whirl around like a ninja on steroids. I mostly just hang around in the background overlooking the battle, making certain decisions and some half-hearted sniping. In these games, action RPGs, I often look for the most relaxed playing style, but without ”cheating” like e.g. playing on easy. I want a real problem to solve, but I want the solution itself to make it relaxed, so to speak. And this is indeed pretty relaxed since my squad and my constructs do most of the heavy lifting. In any game of this kind, if there’s a choice between making myself stronger or my squad/companion/constructs etc, I always prioritize them.
Even though I use the same active powers and the same type of main weapon as last time, the build is different in other ways, and clearly better. Partly because it is a lot more focused (like I said, didn’t then know until near the end, long after the main quest was done, that I could respec, so I ended up with a lot of wasted skill points), but there are other improvements as well.
So the build has cloak, tech constructs and sniping, but there is also a matter of having the right combination of optional traits (important), and to some extent the right armor, and even the right sniping rifle and augs. But I don’t obsess over optimization; I’m happy to neglect details. So I may delay researching the next level equipment or making immediate use of a good aug I just found or whatever. I make sure to get the important things right, and then do the rest as I feel like. I never use consumables.
I’ll return to delineate the important elements of the build, as well as a post on tactics to use while engaging in a battle using this build.
1. Not an unjustified feeling, as I didn’t know at this point that Assemblers create new remnants, and so I didn’t target the Assemblers first.
2. Yes, the squad and the tech constructs do use combos, and in fact I build them to maximize that. But I don’t use combos myself.
3. I did run into one (optional) battle that initially was hard (apparently infamously hard, even on normal), but even that one became easy with the right tactic. I’m talking about the end battle in the vault on H-047C.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
My plan was to begin Andromeda at launch, but life came in-between and caused a rather substantial delay. And when I finally did get started, I didn’t finish. Not sure why, but a long mid-game hiatus followed. Then I continued, and now it’s done; I’ve completed the main story, as well as a great many sidequests — I’ve been in Andromeda for more than 100 hours.
One thing is for sure, those delays didn’t happen out of dislike of the game. On the contrary, I enjoyed the game a great deal.
And maybe the first delay wasn’t such a bad thing, considering all those wonky animations the game shipped with that got everyone riled up. I’ve seen the memes. When I finally embarked, the bad animations had mostly been patched. The game seemed polished overall.
The game, while being a standalone entry, is of course a game in the mighty Mass Effect series. That’s not an easy position to be in, as people (including the developers themselves) might have an expectation or two.
The trilogy holds a special place in my heart; I truly love it, and at some point I want to discuss it at length.
It’s true that Andromeda doesn’t really hold up in comparison, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that ruin my impression of the game. A game can be pretty damn good while still falling short of the standard set by the trilogy. And I do think Andromeda is pretty damn good.
Apparently that’s still a somewhat unpopular opinion, at least in the loudest crowd. Most who express their opinion either think the game is downright bad, even terrible, or that it’s merely decent, maybe good. *”Actually, it’s not a bad game, it’s just that…”. *
Screw that, I think it deserves better than “it’s not a bad game”.
While the writing in general is good, I did find the main quest to be lackluster, in particular the main antagonist, the Kett. Not terrible, but disappointing. The Kett is boring and shallow, frankly. Other aspects of the main quest are better, but still pretty meh.
Luckily, it’s a sprawling (but not disparate) game with much to offer aside from the main quest, both important missions like finding and preparing planets to live on, and those small but memorable moments like when you just talk with a crew member.
Took a while to realize that the main quest wasn’t going to deliver; it seemed to hold promise in the beginning. Everything started out pretty good, with the vaults, the remnants, the scourge, even the Kett at that point — like multiple big mysteries to be explored and gradually revealed — but then we didn’t really get to learn much of anything. And although the Kett featured prominently, we didn’t really learn much about them either. What is their origin, why is “exalting” other species so important to them, what is their philosophy of life, their social organization and political and military structure, what are their distinguishing characteristics as a species (aside from how they are made) what do they do for fun, do they enjoy coffee. We learned a few things, but not nearly enough.
What if we had had intelligence missions to steal information about them, and learn a lot in the process.
That part about the Archon defying central command did hold some promise, a window into both their psychology and their internal political structure, but all we got was minor hints.
And then there’s the whole deal with what came to be known as the Jardaan, which I thought were going to be the main race of the main quest. Unlike the Kett they felt interesting; they felt like this game’s counterpart to the Reapers (but not as hostile.) The Kett otoh felt like the Collectors of ME2 [1], which is a fine race (storywise) when cast in a minor or maybe medium role as a semi-mindless agent of destruction, but a weak race (storywise) when cast as the main villain. Unless fleshed out a lot more.
Luckily the game did better elsewhere, like the loyalty and ark missions, the internal politics and conflicts, and finding planets to live on. Populated areas, including the Nexus, felt alive and vibrant, conversations with and between crew members were often entertaining and well written, and served to deepen the characters. I’d say that the characters and dialogs are generally well written. Finding and securing planets to live on felt important. Combat-wise, character development and gameplay is great — seriously, it’s great and worth a post on its own.
And you do get some of that *homebase* feeling when on-board the ship.
Despite the flaws, there’s simply a lot to like in this game, and I hope in time it will get a more positive and accurate reputation. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one to really enjoy this game.
Whether I did or not, I do have a desire to stress the positives of the game, to provide a contrast to the more common negative narrative. If the game would have been received as a masterpiece, I might have felt the opposite, a need to stress the flaws and shortcomings. But my final judgement is the same in either case, an… 8/10? Yeah, 8/10. (By contrast the trilogy is a 10/10, an actual masterpiece.)
All in all I definitely recommend this game.
1. Though they operate more like the Borg. But the Borg *feels* like a major villain, and the Kett doesn’t, not as presented.
In the meantime
Been hard at work on a post that isn’t coming along very well, so I’m buying myself some time by bringing you this short update instead.
Though I still have a few posts coming related to Skyrim, I‘m definitely done actually playing it. In fact, I got really tired of the game toward the end. Going for a platinum was probably a mistake, as it was far more time consuming than expected, but once you start going down that path, the Daedric prince of sunk cost will make sure you see it through.
Now I’m immersing myself in Mass Effect: Andromeda, hoping it isn’t a big letdown in the making. I mean, I‘m well aware the game wasn’t particularly well received, but it’s also a game by Bioware, and a Mass Effect game at that, the trilogy being one of my favorite games. So there has to be some kind of lower bound of quality below which Andromeda cannot fall, right. Until proven otherwise I refuse to believe it is a dud, but whatever the case may be I will know for sure soon enough. As for the critique, I won‘t even skim it, let alone carefully analyze or engage with it, until finishing at least the main quest, though I did hear there were some wonky facial animations (now patched, I believe.)
I‘m not far into the game, and my only serious complaint so far is the ridiculously small text, and in searching for a fix (there is none) I learned of many others feeling the same way, some even refusing to continue the game because of it. How curious to spend years and untold resources to develop a game, only to then noticeably undermine the playing experience and needlessly aggravating their own customers by neglecting to spend three seconds to add the option to change text size.