[Megathread] Mass Effect Andromeda

[Adam Jensen]

Oh man, just played an ME3 MP. Forgot how to play entirely. There are so many more mobs in ME:A's waves than ME:3's.

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To be fair, when they first introduced Krogan for ME3 multiplayer, some couldn't use Cover as a trade off for being designed to take the hits instead. But the animation difficulties I can certainly agree with.

It's why I didn't like any of the Volus. I felt like a fat target wherever I went. Geth Jugg on the other hand . . . who needs cover when you can splatter everything within five miles?

[Derah]

Oh man, just played an ME3 MP. Forgot how to play entirely. There are so many more mobs in ME:A's waves than ME:3's.

Probably compensation because Andromeda has less waves per match than ME3.

[Mirishka]

Man, playing through the story again made me realize how easy Bioware could've made other races playable.

You could make an asari and then your mom could be asari and die another way . I wouldn't have a problem with an asari Pathfinder leading humans, since your dad is human and one of the most important people in the whole initiative.

Playing a turian might be trickier story-wise, but I wouldn't mind if Alec adopted one or whatever.

Other than that, they'd adjust couple of angarans to say asari/turian instead of human, and that's basically it.

We are meant to represent humanity's progress in the universe. While it would be neat to play as other races, thematically it makes sense that we can't.

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I really like the profile system, rather than being locked into one "class" and trying to make it work.

For example, I just respecced my Ryder to be a Vanguard. Backlash/Charge/[Depends on what I'm fighting.] But against an Architect, being a Vanguard isn't very useful. So I can change. Went with a Soldier profile, picking up Backlash (to protect myself from the gatling laser if I was caught in the open,) Incinerate and Overload, the last two being for the Remnant waves (I kept getting Nullifiers so I made Incinerate a last minute pick.) I thought about picking up Turbocharge to burn the conduits down a bit faster, but I didn't know if it would work with a beam rifle like the PAW (which is AMAZING against Architects.)

Point is though, I love being able to switch things up for different fights.

Of course it helps being high enough level to max out a few extra abilities.

I agree with this. Every few days I try new builds or new mixes of abilities. Vanguard using Charge + Nova + Incinerate was a fun combo, and I also like using the Remnant VI.

[Sunseeker]

And you're right, humans are perhaps the most unremarkable species out of tyhe bunch except for being the "The Wildcard" species. And yet humans found a way to live longer...

We've been living longer in IRL too. Better healthcare, better food, less dangerous lifestyle, fewer daily threats. Continued onward, the trend is likely to continue.

The same could apply to Salarians too, a thousand years ago they may have only lived for 30 years.

[May90]

I noticed something. Almost all the APEX squads are called names from Earth. For example, one of my squads is called Yankee. What are the odds Turian commandment would give such a name to a squad? All 4 squads I have have similar name.

Anthropocentric bags of dicks!

Angara can't interface with Remnant tech. No living Angara has propably ever seen the Remnant Sudoku.


That said, the whole Sudoku thing is just a simplified presentation of a complex decryption process. Better to slap a simple minigame there, one of which an average gamer could solve, instead of really complicated stuff something like that would really require.

I understand it, but these things still crack me up every now and then. I remember the Hanoi Tower puzzle in KotoR required to open a door in an ancient Sith tomb... Then again the same Hanoi puzzle to crack into the station's VI on Noveria.

I don't know how they could make the process more realistic though, so this is probably the best we can get!

Valid criticism: Game gets a bit repetitive, kinda like WoW questing. If you like a grind, this is not a deterrent for you. If you don't like grinds, rest assured, at the end of the road is the reward. No matter how bullshit you think all the travelling is.

MEA is actually one of the very few open world games in which I never get tired of exploration (other ones being Fallout: New Vegas and Witcher 3). I'm not sure what they got right this time, perhaps the endless chatter of the squadmates making the experience feel more "alive", or the awesome combat, or everything being to an extent tied to the main story - but, really, I've done everything I could on Eos and Havarl, and am probably 90% done with Voedl, and there wasn't a single second when I would think, "Gosh, this is so repetitive".

Man, playing through the story again made me realize how easy Bioware could've made other races playable.

You could make an asari and then your mom could be asari and die another way . I wouldn't have a problem with an asari Pathfinder leading humans, since your dad is human and one of the most important people in the whole initiative.

Playing a turian might be trickier story-wise, but I wouldn't mind if Alec adopted one or whatever.

Other than that, they'd adjust couple of angarans to say asari/turian instead of human, and that's basically it.

Given that all races have unique voice patterns, they would have to voice all Scott's, Sara's and dad's lines separately, probably by different voice actors. This is the issue every game with a large variety of choices encounters: to make all choices meaningful, you need to work on each individually, and that simply isn't realistic from the financial and timewise perspective.

It was much easier to implement in, say, Dragon Age: Inquisition (where all races have similar voices), and Neverwinter Nights games (where the main character isn't voiced at all).

That said, I share your sentiment: kind of tired of human-centrist themes in games. Given than Mass Effect specifically is focused on promoting the equality and friendship among all races, they could have found a way to make the stories less humanity-focused and more intergalactic society-focused.

[mickybrighteyes]

I don't think I've seen or found a Mantis model sniper rifle... seems... odd...

That one has been the first sniper rifle you can find normally (at least since ME2)

[Derah]

I noticed something. Almost all the APEX squads are called names from Earth. For example, one of my squads is called Yankee. What are the odds Turian commandment would give such a name to a squad? All 4 squads I have have similar name.

I have a very simple interpretation of why this is the case.

APEX squads work primarily for the Nexus, however, your earlier conversation with Kandros, says he can "loan" you some agents for you to dispatch on critical missions you deem important.

I can totally see Scott/Sara deciding to assign human nicknames to the squads s/he forms out of these agents to keep track of them. Back in APEX HQ, they can be known as Asari Goddess Squad-something-something, but when they work for me, I address them as Blue Space Babe squad.

Because I'm their boss :P

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I don't think I've seen or found a Mantis model sniper rifle... seems... odd...

That one has been the first sniper rifle you can find normally (at least since ME2)

It didn't make it to Andromeda.

Not all the weapons from previous games made a return. For example, much to my dismay, the Claymore Shotgun didn't come back either =(

Neither did the Shurinken SMG, or the Eviscerator shotgun, or the Vindicator Assault Rifle, or several other weapons from ME3 like the Spike-Thrower, etc. Considering the game adds a plethora of new weapons into the mix (Both Milky Way, and the new categories) its not surprising not all the guns from previous games could make it back.

[Tenjen]

teleporting fiend sync kills. ffs

doing really well with my insurgent build. Now i just need to proc him on cards more often for X

[Slant]

MEA is actually one of the very few open world games in which I never get tired of exploration (other ones being Fallout: New Vegas and Witcher 3). I'm not sure what they got right this time, perhaps the endless chatter of the squadmates making the experience feel more "alive", or the awesome combat, or everything being to an extent tied to the main story - but, really, I've done everything I could on Eos and Havarl, and am probably 90% done with Voedl, and there wasn't a single second when I would think, "Gosh, this is so repetitive".

It is the Chatter. Absolutely. I enjoyed myself, too. But I can see the ADS generation being bored out of their minds by this. However, they're also bored out of their minds by having to sit still on the shitter, I guess. :P

[mickybrighteyes]

wish the multiplayer boxes wouldn't get loaded up with so many boosts...

like give me mods and weapons at least before another boost.

edit: really frustrating to open up a pack and get all boosters and a single mod. If I had already maxed most stuff it'd be one thing, but I've still got most the shit to get.

[Adam Jensen]

wish the multiplayer boxes wouldn't get loaded up with so many boosts...

like give me mods and weapons at least before another boost.

edit: really frustrating to open up a pack and get all boosters and a single mod. If I had already maxed most stuff it'd be one thing, but I've still got most the shit to get.

*After an hour of playing my Male Engineer*

Here! Have Female Engineer II!

>.<

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teleporting fiend sync kills. ffs

doing really well with my insurgent build. Now i just need to proc him on cards more often for X

Getting my Kinectist or Duelist leveled will be hell . . . There'll be what, ten people in the world with Duelist X?

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teleporting fiend sync kills. ffs

doing really well with my insurgent build. Now i just need to proc him on cards more often for X

Yeah, Fiends have worse magnet hands than Banshees. Banshees sometimes got bad, but Fiends are obscene.

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It didn't make it to Andromeda.

Not all the weapons from previous games made a return. For example, much to my dismay, the Claymore Shotgun didn't come back either =(

Neither did the Shurinken SMG, or the Eviscerator shotgun, or the Vindicator Assault Rifle, or several other weapons from ME3 like the Spike-Thrower, etc. Considering the game adds a plethora of new weapons into the mix (Both Milky Way, and the new categories) its not surprising not all the guns from previous games could make it back.

I miss my Cerberus Harrier. Damn gun ran out of ammo fast, but it was accurate and deadly, with little recoil.

[Sixnalia]

Getting my Kinectist or Duelist leveled will be hell . . . There'll be what, ten people in the world with Duelist X?

I'm almost there. Though I consider it terrible "luck". I had -everything- at IV or higher except for an Asari Adept I had yet to unlock. All my ultra-rares kept being Duelist, then kineticist before Duelist could cap. Finally got my Asari Adept, after almost everything else was an X.

RNG is a strange and cruel creature.

Currently in love my my Salarian Operator. Though I wish more players would recognize to focus Invasion'd targets. xD I wouldn't mind a tiny icon showing targets afflicted by a damage taken debuff.

[Nerraw]

I miss my Cerberus Harrier. Damn gun ran out of ammo fast, but it was accurate and deadly, with little recoil.

I never got that in 5 years of playing MP...

[Archon14]

That said, I share your sentiment: kind of tired of human-centrist themes in games. Given than Mass Effect specifically is focused on promoting the equality and friendship among all races, they could have found a way to make the stories less humanity-focused and more intergalactic society-focused.

The only way that we play anything other than Ryder for the next two games would be if they took the Dragon Age approach, where you play different character every time. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening, since in Dragon Age there were all kinds of possibilities and different endings, and in Andromeda there are no consequences (at least not immediate ones).

Maybe if DLCs for Andromeda end up being as big as the game itself, then I'd be satisfied with the journey Ryder and the companions had. The characters in DA:Origins evolved much further by the end of the game than the companions in Andromeda (and many of them could die, including yourself), so I was fine with a different group of people in DA:2.

[Adam Jensen]

The only way that we play anything other than Ryder for the next two games would be if they took the Dragon Age approach, where you play different character every time. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening, since in Dragon Age there were all kinds of possibilities and different endings, and in Andromeda there are no consequences (at least not immediate ones).

Maybe if DLCs for Andromeda end up being as big as the game itself, then I'd be satisfied with the journey Ryder and the companions had. The characters in DA:Origins evolved much further by the end of the game than the companions in Andromeda (and many of them could die, including yourself), so I was fine with a different group of people in DA:2.

Part of me wants Mass Effect Online, where you could play any race.

Part of me really hopes BW doesn't make an "ME:O" and focuses on SP games. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In truth, while I'd love to play a Turian or an Asari protagonist, right now I'd rather they not go the Dragon Age route and keep us with Ryder for the next few games. Unless they make some concurrent game outside of the new series, I don't think we'll be seeing non-human protagonists for a while.

[Archon14]

Part of me wants Mass Effect Online, where you could play any race.

Part of me really hopes BW doesn't make an "ME:O" and focuses on SP games. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Honestly, I'm happy right now with them still focusing on SP, and MP is there to scratch my itch of playing other races.

Something realistic that I'd like to see in Andromeda is if we get more opportunities to play as the other twin, or if the twin eventually (Andromeda 2 or 3) ends up being another companion.

[Sunseeker]

Part of me wants Mass Effect Online, where you could play any race.

Andromeda would be a great setting for it too, considering they could basically ignore "real science" about our known galaxy, and make a lot of shit up about an unknown galaxy.

Though, I'd be curious how they'd do factions.

[Frozenbeef]

Who would win Reapers or Remnant?

I'm hoping some reapers followed them to Andromida as Kett don't really scream end of the galaxy like a reaper does :S

[Tenjen]

The most overpowered thing I’ve tried is Explorer with a Piranha (Bio Compensator + Seeking Plasma) using Charge, Tactical Cloak and Turbocharge. Insane damage, no reload, infinite ammo, full barrier for every charge…

Especially if you go with the talent that makes cloak last a while after the first shot i assume.

Btw. on Havarl. When you unlock the monolith in the valley below, did anyone notice theres an angaran at the top of the horizontal gravity well? On the [I]other[/I] side? He's only there for a few seconds after you activate the console before walking out of view.

[frogger237]

Part of me wants Mass Effect Online, where you could play any race.

Part of me really hopes BW doesn't make an "ME:O" and focuses on SP games. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In truth, while I'd love to play a Turian or an Asari protagonist, right now I'd rather they not go the Dragon Age route and keep us with Ryder for the next few games. Unless they make some concurrent game outside of the new series, I don't think we'll be seeing non-human protagonists for a while.

Honestly if they had dedicated servers and let you change the skin tone of multiplayer characters they could probably sell a multiplayer only game pretty well. Sure its kinda barebones with one mode but more could be added later as content. I wonder if they could do something like a free version of Andromeda that only contains the multiplayer (still gotta pay for boxes if you want em faster) that let let you upgrade to the full version for 60 bucks or what ever the price is at the time. Would get more people playing and keep multiplayer full.