I didn't have the guts to buy that. N7 Weapons are hella expansive, but going for a 2nd playthrough on a more casual difficulty to just complete some achievements. I completed game 2 and 3 on Insanity and boy o' boy was it nerve wreaking. Especially the final push for the beam, before the beam those Cannibals, Marauders and pain in the butt Banshees were driving me insane like literally lmao. But still my fav franchise overall
Always bring Garrus and James. Equip both with fully upgraded N7 Typhoons. Upgrade them both with all the Weapon Damage+ or Assault Rifle+ you can get your hands on. The Banshees won't even finish screaming before they die. It's not easy mode. It's Cinematic Mode.
I love that ME3 combat can actually be cinematic again!! Thank God. After sheppard's beautifully EPIC CINEMATIC fight running UP THE CITADEL WALL in ME1, the combat of Mass Efffect 2's constant start/stop pause, hide for 10 seconds and do nothing to recharge your shield or heal was a horrible experience to watch through.
Another tip since ME1: When casting abilities from your allies, have them off screen to cast it instantly. When on screen they go through the whole animation (reloading -> getting out of cover -> throwing their hand out -> cast). It's literally instant when they are off screen.
Is Garrus still able to ascend to godhood? Because if so, just look up “Garrus ascends to godhood” and let your favorite Turian homeboy do all the work.
Particle rifle with incindiary explosive evolution does more damage. It appears James can ascend higher. It turns out you don't even need to focus all that much into damage as main source is busted on hit effect.
@@unamericano Nah, Nova is too big of a liability on Insanity as it drains your shield whenever you use it. Too easy to get killed in an intense fight before you get the cooldown for Charge, and that is if Charge doesn't decide to bug out and not work on viable targets for some reason (a common bug with Charge when spamming powers with fast cooldowns).
@@thehavoccompany-a3 you should try taking double nova instead of increased damage nova. Cuz difference between full shields and half of them is negligible. If you're under fire without cover, they will go down in less than a second anyway. And if i'm following your logic, charge is a liability too, because it puts you out of cover, and doesn't always work properly . And then what do we have left? Pull? Shockwave? Please. Using these two more than charge and nova is not a way to play vanguard. In that case you're better off choosing literally any other class
@@thehavoccompany-a3 I don't claim to be the best at gideo vames but I have done a full insanity run with this playstyle and it's perfectly viable. I think I may have died once? Or gotten close to death? The recharge times are insane and the amount of damage you output, (as @ducking duck said with double nova) is sufficient to down almost any enemy with the combo and charge straight into the next one to regain shields. And don't forget melee! ME3s melee feels so good as biotic and vanguard has the best buffs to melee damage.
Naw Shepard is basic as hell, every screenshot or ad or in game movie event what does shepard always use or pulls out of nowhere? Rifle or pistol. Shepard default is a soldier 100%. He is the best of the best but the most basic.
My go-to for years was soldier, but played ME and ME2 on infiltrator before finally giving Sentinel a try on my insanity ME3 playthrough and HOLY HELL this rocks. This is so much better now that I understand power detonations.
A little tip most people learn from playing the multiplayer in mass effect 3. If you’re already at 200% cool down speed, putting on lightweight materials doesn’t speed up power cooldown more. You can’t go faster than 200%. Unless in the legendary edition they changed it
Started ME3 yesterday and was getting pissed off that i was one shotting enemies. It wasn't until Serkesh that i discovered that the game defaulted to Casual! Wtf?
First thing you gotta do when booting up any ME is going to options and put it on Insanity. Due to the hilariously busted builds available in all 3 games any difficulty below Insanity is insulting.
@@drakkenmensch it always defaults to default settings when you boot the game for the first time. Difficulty settings aren't saved in your save files, they're saved in the global game options.
It isn't the damage that makes it so good. It's that the game design and AI heavily favors that playstyle. Instead of instantly targeting you the second you leave cover, even switching targets from your allies, they ignore you because you're invisible. Instead of dancing around like hamsters on speed while you try to line up a headshot, they ignore you until you pull the trigger.
My biggest problem with infiltrator is that the class is super squishy and I'll cloak and still get shot at sometimes. To get a good sniper you have to sacrifice cooldown for powers and when you're getting charged by banshees and brutes the sniper doesn't cut it.
Sentinels are, indeed, overpowered. I’m just finishing up ME3 on my Sentinel run and I’m gonna have a tough time adjusting to playing as an Engineer on my second playthrough!
@@ExaltedMarch Max cooldown infiltrator with N7 Valiant was the best infiltrator, IMO. I went from having a hard time with 2 insanity to breezing through 3 (back in the day. I am now doing an engineer insanity run and just started on ME3 LE). The key is the damage boost from cloak lasts a couple seconds and you can actually toss a power while it's going on. So my go-to combo was cloak, headshot, incinerate, headshot headshot, reload. And they all get the damage buff. Not possible with black window due to low rate of fire and high recoil (even though mag size is the same). And the one-shot reload snipers have much lower DPS due to only being able to get off a single shot under cloak bonus. Spec everything for headshot damage and take shield drain. Looking back, you could probably do better using cryo ammo and the 100% increase on incinerate. I think I always used disruptor ammo. That combo would burn armor fast.
I’m one of the “already on their second playthrough” people after playing the trilogy for the first time when Legendary came out. Only a little obsessed with everything Mass Effect now. I’ve been a Dragon Age fan for a long while but never tried ME. (Hilariously, I actually got interested in playing it from listening to you and Catie on Split the Veil.) I’m excited to incorporate these tips into this playthrough and look forward to seeing what videos you put out next! Your content is great Jordan!!!
Wow! That’s awesome. I’m maybe midway through ME3. Do you have a favorite squad mate yet? Glad to hear I’ve helped create a new Mass Effect fan. Thanks for watching/listening.
@@ExaltedMarch Garrus was pretty dang awesome the whole time! And Kaidan was a constant during ME3 since I played as an infiltrator. They’re all pretty awesome in their own right though. It’s hard to choose an absolute favorite.
Im a 32 year old guys who played mass effect and dragon age series to death when they were out, and over a few years of re running.. since legendary im playing it again, i was talking to a guy at work who only played DA series. I've introduced him to legendary edition now its all we talk about :D
And even if you don´t abuse it, you can just get the Black Widow and wipe out your enemies with no issues. I am more of a combo player myself, but honestly, Infiltrator is just easy mode.
Javlin Rifle (hashtag wall hacks), Armor Piercing (enemy lives are target practice), work on all sniper rifle upgrades (get the attachment to slow enemies for a brief moment), Tactical Cloak (invisibility increases damage too), and Skorpion handgun (very powerful grenade pistol). As an Infiltrator I approve this loadout
By this logic all classes are OP in some way. Sentinel can achieve 90% DR with Tech Armor+Fortification and never die for 100% cooldown penalty, and even 40% DR for 20% CD penalty is very good. Soldier can also stack Aldrenaline Rush's DR with Fortification for great gun damage and DR. Engineer has insanely consistent chain explosions with chain overload. Vanguard and Adept have easy mode early game by CCing everyone and late game just let Garrus and James handle everything with Typhoon.
Benefits of playing Infiltrator 1) Cerberus turrets can be hacked to mow the bad guys down for you while you enjoy some popcorn. 2) Mechanics of Tactical Cloak make cooldown times a non-issue so carry whichever OP weapon you want. 3) Head shots!!! Will kill all enemies instantly except for the spongy bosses. 4) You can cloak and maneuver yourself into a superior tactical position and catch enemies in a crossfire.
I think the hardest thing about insanity really is the first few missions, before you get all your people and some effective weapons and powers. I died about 30-40 times on the first mission before I decided to abandon the insanity run I had going from ME1-ME2. I'll probably try again sometime in the future, thanks for the tips, they are helpful.
I remember doing a playthrough of Mass effect a couple years ago. I had played the same classes and play style so many times. I decided to try the other classes on insanity after years of not playing them. I was on my Sentinel class and I went pure shield bonuses. It made the game feel so easy I double checked the difficulty.
Soldier with incendiary ammo with explosive burst, M-7 Lancer/Particle Rifle (Phaeston works well to) with 200% cooldown. Concussive Shot with amplification. Shoot a couple of shots, use concussive shot, shoot again until you have concussive shot ready and use it. Rinse and repeat. Brutes dies within seconds on Insanity. Harversters are a breeze aswell.
Personally my favorite is Adept with Energy Drain as the bonus power. Love trapping multiple enemies with singularity and detonating them with either warp or double throw
I appreciate that this video isn't like most of the other "Mass Effect Tips" videos that are all like 'Did you know taking cover makes it easier to avoid damage' or 'Power combos exist.' Personally the M-7 Lancer from the citadel is one of my favorite lighter assault rifles for high power cd builds, very light and the cooldown ammo system pairs amazingly imo with power builds. The frequent breaks in firing to launch powers basically keeps you from every running out of ammo and the fact you never need to manually reload saves you time in the middle of long fights that can be used to launch more powers, increasing effective dps. It is also light enough at level 5 to use without ultralight materials.
I've been reading up on different types of power combos. It seems fire/tech/cryo can prime and trigger each other but this does not always work for biotic. Would it not be better to go Engineer then so you can spec purely into tech combos? I've never played much with the drone/sentry turret but it seems like they could generally be around to supplement your damage, stagger your enemies and divert some aggro. What do you think?
Vanguard with Incendiary and cryo ammo, charge, nova and (bonus) Reave or lash works pretty damn well with this strategy too. With the weapon weight level up and light materials you should still also be able to carry either a shotgun or assault rifle, an smg and pistol and still have the 200% cool down. Sentinel is definitely more op though. They thicc and don’t need the bonus power to round them out.. 😂
I'm gonna try Sentinel for the first time because there were some parts that were so unbalanced for a Vanguard - the Citadel DLC especially took me so long in parts where there were a ton of shielded enemies and you only have the pistol, for instance.
@@SamEmilio2 energy drain lets you hit shields, barriers and synthetics better, lets you recover your own barrier easily(l (after Nova or just being shot), even if you have no target for charge, can stun enemies, and is a primer ability. All in all really good. Also would recommend it as a bonus power for a soldier. Only issue I have is how long it takes for you to obtain it, becaus have to recruit Tali to get it. So it's reasonable in a first Playthrough, but much better in NG+, where you have access to it right away.
@@aarlavaan energy drain is also a very good bonus power for a Vanguard I should have mentioned it. I just personally prefer Lash or Reave because they hit more of the reaper ground forces and I normally have at least one of Garrus, EDI or Tali with me anyways for shields. I’m also to lazy to change my bonus power when fighting Cerberus where energy drain really shines 😂
Bit of a hot take, but I took the "-200% Cooldown" approach on my Sentinel. Tech Armor and Fortification set for 90% damage reduction and increased power damage. I take Lift Grenades (No cooldown) and Throw with the rank 5 perk that instantly resets on a detonation (Combined with double throw on rank 6 for more consistency) as my main go to powers. I use my squad to set up most of my combos for me. I then proceed to equip as many heavy guns as I can without the need for ultra light materials. You get to be tanky as hell, still have access to powerful detonations, and you get to play around with whatever weapons you want.
You know, I've never been big on sentinel, but I'll have to give it a try now. I've already beaten ME3 on insanity once, but I did it with a bunch of mods that make Shepard even more OP so it'll be interesting to see how tough it can be in vanilla. I don't have many tips myself to share, but perhaps the best one is to watch the "Garrus ascends to godhood" video and follow their build to just destroy the game. I hope it still works in MELE.
Sentinel used to be my least favorite class. I would never make it my go-to on 1 or 2 but it has just the right amount of powers and since you can take any weapon load out and use tech armor it’s super well rounded.
@@ducky36F they're useful in a fight against organics or synthetics, as well as croud control and hack containers.. with any other class, they'd need to rely on their teammates' for what they're lacking..
What...no? Canonically Shepard is a basic bitch. She is the top notch best human there is...which makes them 100% a soldier. You're a human leading a group of aliens into war, you're the best humanity has to offer which....is really just a good shot and tough as shit...100% the "canon" or DEFAULT shepard is - Female/Soldier that picks the "Destroy the Reapers" End. I THINK the default romance is Kaidan? But yeah Shep is 100% a Soldier every cutsene he/she pulls out a rifle or a pistol and just shoots, no biotics or flare just shoots. Its pretty obvious.
@@ornado4773 maybe YOUR Shepard... mine is a Biotic and Tech specialist warhero who grew up in the colonies.. they should have a chip on their shoulder for wha the slavers did, but they don't. They chose to rise above it and it's why they chose Synthesis and created a virtual utopia for all.. genocide isn't something they'd ever do, neither are they a fascist..
That moment when you're playing as a sentinel and become completely immune to damage while in cover because of tech armor, barrier and the passive tree. Chiefs kiss
I don't think lash can prime and detonate at the same time. Could be wrong but I think it has two phases. One primes and the other detonates, but they can't both happen because you have to detonate the first phase for it to prime anything.
Yes and no. It depends on the primer and detonator types (Biotic, Fire, Cryo and Electricity). A target isn't primed after a combo, if the primer and detonator types are the same. However, if primer and detonator are different types then they are layered, so a power first primes and then detonates simultaneously. As an example. Reave + Lash + Throw doesn't produce two Biotic Explosions, because of the rule preventing duplicate Biotic priming. However, Overload + Lash + Throw will result first Tech Burst (or Electric Explosion) with Lash detonating Overload and then simultaneously priming the target for Biotic Explosion, which is then detonated with Throw. All powers have certain time-window for Combo Explosions. Like, when you prime something for Biotic you like 5 seconds to detonate it (even if the effect is longer, like with Dark Channel). I don't remember how long they were exactly, but different types had different times. So, if you have really complex stacking you probably won't have enough time to detonate them all (like in theory one target could be primed for all four types at the same time, so you could set them off with four consecutive Throws producing 4 different explosions, if you meet all four different time windows). Biotic Sphere with Warp upgrade is the only exception, and setting up the sphere can trigger BE and then prime that same target for another BE at the same time. Overall, there's a lot of nuances and details about powers, like Lash can only detonate Biotic and Tech Bursts (aka Electric Explosions), but not Fire or Cryo Explosions. Overload even with the area effect will prime only one target for Tech Burst. One Dark Channel can set up multiple BEs, but only for multiple targets (it cannot set up two BEs in the same target, however if a target is killed, then it moves to a next target, which will be primed for a new BE).
Generally no, but I would take the recharge upgrade. But knocking out three enemies at once is cool and worth mentioning. But generally, always take cool down bonuses.
I did a comment on this same stuff about sentinel on a vanguard video and there people probably were tilted. Seriously, sentinel IS by far the easiest class to play if you properly build the character (survivability and combos wise), since there is nothing you can't face using solely your powers for any situation. One way or another, the other classes will have difficulties to their playstyle depending on the level and enemies they are facing, such as bosses and specific events. I never felt that as a sentinel, plenty of times as Vanguard and Infiltrator. Comming back to ME just now and needed a reminder of the game. Great tips.
Regarding the 4-layer power combo suggested here, "Cryo+Overload+Warp+Throw" - who would this work on? The shieldgate must be removed in order to start the cryo combo by freezing the enemy, no? Shielded enemeies will merely by slowed by cryo blast and not available to be primed. Or is there something I'm missing?
It's very impractical for the reason you mentioned (only works against Health, and cannot be utilized it against Shields / Barriers / Armor). Technically it would work, if you are using level 1 Powers (least amount of DMG) against couple higher health units like Cannibals, Marauders, Guardians, Geth Hunters, and Collectors (all have about 2000 Health at Insanity / Gold). If all powers are at lvl 1, then Cryo + Tech + Biotic Explosion would do 1012 DMG against Health. Including basic DMG from Overload and Warp it would be 1482 DMG in total. DPS is pretty atrocious however (if you want to do actual DMG with Combos, you really need to those upgrades). Practically multilayered combo-chains (more than 2 explosions) work mainly against Atlases, Brutes, Ravagers, Primes, Scions. With some caveats also against Banshees, Praetorians and Phantoms (though usually not, because Power negation defense they all have). Sometimes also against Pyros, Hunters, Centurions, Marauders, etc. However,, Cryo Blast is almost totally useless for combos, because it doesn't prime against anything but health and it detonates nothing. Only Power that reliably primes and detonates Cryo Explosions, and works against other than just health is Snap Freeze, and it's MP only.
How to tear through insanity difficulty? Ascend Garrus to godhood... manipulate the battlefield with engineer... gear up with assault rifle and smg with ultralight, from here you're geared up to funnel all enemies into your now-unkillable Garrus. Each fight becomes a walk as Garrus destroys EVERYONE.
I did my first playthrough as an adept since I've tended gravitate towards caster classes, but got frustrated with the low hp/shielding as I'm a somewhat aggressive player. Just finished a hardcore run as a sentinel (using tech/fort for double DR) and absolutely love the versatility of this class.
A power cooldown bonus of +200-100% from weight capacity is acceptable imo (no need to always be at 200%). This gives you enough of a buffer to let you bring heavier and more interesting guns or even more than 1 (like a sniper and a talon pistol for close-range encounters).
honestly adept felt easy on insanity too, i brought Tali and EDI for shield/armor punch respectively and once defenses were down, my CDs were low enough with double pull/double throw to destroy eeeeeverything
Sentinel is the way to go in Andromeda, but I don't think it's necessary here since you can control your party member's abilities. You just have to not get sick of bringing the same team members. I am tempted to try using tech armor offensively after listening to a Citadel DLC NPC talk about how he kills everything with tech armor.
ME3 Insanity difficulty wasn't that hard imo. I always felt Shepard and any of his squadmates were OP once you the player was really good. But I do credit the multiplayer in the original ME3 game for being fun and way more difficult that it made playing the SP campaign feel easier by comparison.
Agreed! If you’re a fan of the games and do as many playthroughs as I do… try challenge yourself further and play on insanity with no power upgrades (just rank 1) and early game weapons. Now that was painful. But when you’ve played the game dozens of times and want a new challenge? That’s a dark souls route if insanity was easy for you
I adapted a super overpowered build from the multiplayer days. Vanguard, Reegar Carbine, rank 6 Incendiary Ammo and rank 6 double debuff Warp on Liara. Charge and spray destroys most low tier enemies because of your insane fire rate and AOE from Incendiary Ammo explosion evolution. For any boss units, this is super counter-intuitive, but it works - Charge target, Let Liara Warp the target, then spray Incendiary Ammo Reegar in their face. The combined damage is absolutely insane. You can destroy all boss enemies maybe except possessed praetorian in the arena in at most two clips of Reegar.
This reminds me of my old playthroughs of KoTOR where I'd apply all kinds of stuns and debuffs to my enemies before finally attacking with feats like Flurry and Rapid Fire.
thanks for this amazing sum-up video !! and thanks the comment section for letting me know how to let garrus ascend to godhood XD had a lot of fun in my first playthrough. although, i got a serious doubt about fire and cryo combos: per ME wiki, in order to pull off fire /cryo combos, the primed target needs to be KILLED by the detonating power; if the target still got HP left after the detonating power hit, then the primed effect won't be detonated. i tested this theory intensively, turns out...... they were correct (sad). Thus leaving the "chaining fire/cryo explosion with bio/tech burst" thing invalid, since successfully triggering pyro/cryo detonation will most definitely result in target's death, leaving you no room for further combo chaining (if my understanding is correct)
Just listening to this confirms i want nothing to do with insanity difficulty. No clue and don't care about chaining or layerig detonators, primers and all that technical crap. I want to 'play' not try to pass a physics of chemistry test. But it's probably just me. Just finished all 3 on normal, moving to Andromeda now...
I think you are under estimating the value of small arms, especially SMGs. The Blood Pack Punisher hits like a rock, harder than most ARs, and can be made very light. Squadmates with the N7 Typhoon melts boss level enemies, long before you can prime bosses, let alone detonate them. Infiltrators can 1-2 shot lower enemies, thinning out the crowd easily.
I just beat it on insanity a few days and the start was the hardest but from tuchanka onwards it started to get a lot easier with hard moments sprinkled in. I was playing as a soldier and my bonus power was armour piercing ammo. I only used the particle rifle which recharges to never worry about ammo and regenerate my powers quickly as possible, it also has very little sway and almost felt like the heavy weapon collector rifle from me2. I used edi and liara for most coverage of abilities and garrus as 3rd choice on occasion. The difference I found with me2 and 3 was that in 3 I thought my teammates rarely ever fired their guns even when in cover and during the cooldown of me manually controlling their powers. It probably wasn't the best class to choose and the party to take with me but choosing only the particle rifle was a good choice for me. The hard moments I definitely recall were palaven, clone shepard on the normandy, cloaked hunters on geth dreadnought, kai leng in cerberus hq and banshees at missile battery on earth. The cerberus phantoms were also very tricky but using stasis saved my life too many occasions and singularity when enemies behind hard to reach cover. Good luck to anyone beating it but if you beat me2 which I thought had more consistent high difficulty and harder sections then you should be able to beat this without too much hassle.
I've played the game dozens of times and I can never get into the power detonations. It seems too slow....it always feels like I'm playing a Fallout game with VATS. I always play by using powers to strip or debuff defensive layers then you ammo powers against health. Mainly heavy Overload on shields and barriers, warp on armor, and then Warp ammo on health. It makes the game nore simple and your not in your powers tab every 3 seconds . For me detornations are only needed for engineers and adepts which I never play.
having done an insanity run, i'd say that power combos are super necessary. i wouldn't do them exclusively. obviously you can still shoot adds. and even use weapon fire to supplement power usage. but the combos themselves do chunks of damage. and some of them are actually rather satisfying. iirc biotic combos come with a super satisfying like whip crack sound (and throw is just...generally a satisfying power anyway). and the firey explosion you get from burny combos (especially when they kill the enemy) are appropriately...well, explosive. they're a lot of fun. granted i don't think i stuck to the mantra of 200% cooldown rate. (cdr has diminishing returns). edit: im assuming you play on a console, so it may not be applicable to you. but, just in case, on pc you can map 'spells' to hotkeys. i think you can even do it with squad spells. saves you needing to open the power wheel.
Spamguard with Piranha makes it so easy, fire ammo on, charge 'til you can't , nova, shoot 'til charge comes back, repeat . Amazed I never got sync killed, I only really had trouble with Primes. Continuous charges on banshees is really fun.
I am currently thinking about starting my insanity run for the legendary edition and I gotta say: Either there's a really steep difficulty spike from Hardcore/Extreme to Insanity or this game isn't that hard in the first place...
Playing as infiltrator, using cryo ammo for Shepard and squadmates + Kaidan equipped with the N7 Typhoon and Javik with the Particle Rifle made the game feel like i was playing on easy mode. Whatever problem I had i could just use cloak and make Kaidan and Javik use Reave or Slam, these can make combos with Infiltrator Shepard’s Incinerate and Cryo Ammo. Most fun playthrough I had.
Seeing that banshee fight and knowing the roster of enemies with armor and hardened shields, that's the exact opposite of what you should do. I am currently playing as a Vanguard with javelin heavy sniper rifle and antisynthetic heavy assault rifle with EDI + Garrus/Tali on my team, and pierced through all enemies like knife through butter. The only 3 times I've struggled were: 1. When I brought useless Liara ti the Azari temple 2. When I faced Shepard Clone in combat 3. When I faced Kai Leng in the Cerberus base. The core problem of the combo damage stacking is the fact it just doesn't work against Armored targets - see the Banshee fight around 11:05. With EDI's overload capable of destroying any but boss shields in one hit and Javelin oneshoting almost any enemy in the game (without even headshooting), and the other late-game weapons being as broken, you don't need to adjust your fight vs. regular enemies - the only real opponents are ones who ignore the rules - the Armored ones. How exactly do they ignore the rules? 3 points: 1. The are tougher (obviously) 2. They ignore almost any control effects, with a few exceptions (Tali can stun mechs), and biotic skills don't work on them at all 3. The last, but as important is the fact they reduce any incoming damage by 50. Not 50%, 50 damage flat. That means they are basically immune to the light ammo and periodical damage - however, high-impact payload, especially with AP ammo can deal almost full damage to them. The Shepard Clone I mentioned above, i.e., DIES in 3 or 4 Javelin headshots despite being super-armored, basically same for banshees. And in your footage, it took 40 seconds to the exact same i can do in about 5 seconds (2 Overloads, followed by snipe).
With a lightweight assault rifle, you can stack tech armor and fortification and still have a good recharge time. Your cooldowns are still fast, and you have that extra bit of durability.
Great video, great tips. I just finished ME2 Insanity and really love that i switched to sentinel class. Still thinking about what to choose for ME3 Insanity. I like sentinel, but want to try smth else. Most likely gonna try adept...
Easiest Insanity build: Soilder, M7 Avenger from the Citadel DLC and the Silent Pistol from its beginning. Avenger is your workhorse, and pistol is your delete weapon.
give garrus and ashley both N7 Typhoon and be humbled, i never give them this gun when i'm playing adept or engineer, can't prime power detonation if the target dies during cooldown
I need a list of primers and detonators. Alls I know is my engineer freezes, then Garrus concussive shots ( or James carnage) and the enemy shatters into ice cubes. Use these to put in your Coca Cola
here's another tip play as infiltrator get the black widow upgrade to max and get max head shot and weapon dmg through gear and use wrap ammo with head shot and armor dmg bonus, use cloak and shoot :)
1 tip: play a mage with every point into cool down speed and use the lightest weapons. I could toss a pull and be ready for a throw before the pull even hit the enemy. Cool down was like a second or so. Take Liara with fast cool down on singularity and I do a pull while Liara casts a singularity, two throws and minimum three down in about 2 or 3 sec, rinse repeat. Nothing like that "WHOOMP!" as a combo detonates. I took energy drain as my extra power because Garrus, et. al., take too long for Overload to recharge. Guns were for entertainment or that last bit of shield or armor.
I've just been spamming energy drain with incinerate on 200% cool downs. Not a big enemy killer but you can chip away and face tank damage while also agro juggling with the turret and drone
I played with the soldier's options to make a dps gunman, and it's beautiful...truly easy mode, even on insanity. I had to repeatedly check I hadn't accidentally switched without realizing. First, you get 50 weight to start, and the alternative to the weight bonus on the soldier is a 10% weapon damage bonus plus a 40% boost of all ammo powers (total boost for tree is +25% weapon damage). The ammo power boost it seems applies to the strength of your explosive ammo, making kills in clusters super easy. Then, use Garrus and James as your main support. Garrus for obvious reasons and James for grenades as well as huge squad boosts to health and shields. Put every power towards dealing damage, even on concussive shot, since you should upgrade it to have the effect of your ammo power, which I think is ALSO boosted by the other ammo buff. I keep energy drain on L1 and concussive shot on R1, because the cooldown is only 3 seconds, it's practically a second firing mode for every gun. I stick with the M8 until I can get the Lancer, then I only need that and an smg the rest of the game, keeping almost a full 200% boost on ability cooldown. The Punisher or Geth smg are great until you can get the Hurricane. SMGs are a great secondary weapon, because it will keep you ligh and with the ap mod plus huge capacity and fire rate means they utterly destroy armored enemies up close. Slap the typhoon on my two other soldiers, and with their own ammo powers (James gets explosive ammo too) anything that's left I can clean up with a few shots or flank em. I also use the Ajax armor, but if I didn't have the option, I might get the Cerberus gear anyway for extra ammo. Once the pieces are collected though, I switched all my gear to weapon damage boosts, it nearly maxes the bar on the stat screen (you can add some extra ammo or Kestrel helm etc for a bonus to damage AND headshots (easy with Lancer and burst fire technique). I thought it would be a glass cannon, but it isn't. You get great survivability bonuses from allies and your own fitness skill etc. *I nearly forgot adding adrenaline rush to the mix for MASSIVE damage bonuses. Always take damage, never melee/defense boosters. Just don't get out of position. I went up against the banshee squad near the end of Leviathan, and I was actually killing banshees without realizing. Everything just drops like a fly in front if you, and just control your fire and you NEVER need to reload even. I'm constantly hitting reload out of reflex. If you REALLY want to do some damage, equip the Typhoon with this setup and watch armies drop before you on insanity. Have played through every class multiple tines, and this is the most damage I've ever done, and fights are over before the dialogue can keep up half the time lol. Seriously, try it out, I know biotics and combos aren't everyone's favorite, and now I know it's farthest from the most powerful/highest dps.
Soldier build. Lancer X. Concussive Shot specced for Damage, Impact, and Amplification. Max out your ammo powers. _Completely ignore_ Adrenaline rush because its fucking nerfed and useless. Wear armor that lowers power cooldown time and boosts power damage. Fire explosion every two shots, it recharges faster than the fastest biotic or tech power combo. You can kill a Harvester on insanity in under five seconds. Brutes die in two explosions. GG.
Even as an Engineer with the Lancer, James, and later Ashley. I still tore up enemys. The only issue I had were biotic barriers, but Warp ammo helped ALOT. PS: The Turret, and Drone Engi gets in ME3 early feel underpowered, but by the end they were very helpful. The drone would chain stun most shielded enemys, and rocket sentry would freeze them. Also my cool down jumped around quite a bit, but ended around +30% with an AR, Shotgun, and Pistol.
New Game Plus Sentinel Shepard with Fortification, and Armor protection from his armor class ability make it feel like you're playing on lesser difficulties on insanity. I didn't even bring out Typhoon Garrus until late game.
I don’t see an option to make the difficulty insanity so I switched to insanity on ME1 as soon as I landed on eden prime. Is this good or will it not work? Is there some way to switch the difficulty before starting?
I took your advice to play as Sentinel. Insanity mode. Fantastic. I was in love with Throw ten minutes into game. Thanks! Best bonus power? I played Omega DLC.
This is what i did, as a soldier on insanity; concussive shot rank 6, upgrade it so it can carrie ammo power. Incendiary ammo rank 6. Done. Incendiary ammo can prime and detonate. Burning enemy? Concussive shot and boom! Techsplosion! How about two concussive shots in row? Boom!
How do you compensate for James and Kaidan already having the first rank of Fortification/Barrier locked in with their resulting cool-down penalties? Thanks!
You can reset squadmate powers in the med-bay. You can reset the skill points of each character (including shepherd) once for free and then for 5000 credits each time after that
I notice for Warp, you didnt choose Expose. I believe Expose is a better option for tanky enemies like Brutes, Banshee and Atlas. The debuff is beneficial to squadmates as well.
Nice vid. I actually was doing pretty good on ME3 insanity with my vanguard till starting the citadel dlc. Only having the pistol with limited ammo made the beginning so hard had to take a break lol
Play a level 1 character and develop a partner with one ability + ammo, if he has any. Partners have a long cooldown and extra abilities only get in their way. The control wheel game is for those who like to play turn-based games. Play only with the weapons and modifications of the original game that you found. Ignore the content, weapons, and weapon modifications from the DLC. Do not touch the first aid kits that give you tons of experience for nothing. At the end of the game, you will get level 41, that is, 84 skill points like in multiplayer + 10 points for ammo. You will understand that this was an unforgettable experience and that the original game without DLC is very well balanced for starting with a level 1 character and finishing without add-ons. I reset my character to level 1 in ME2 and always start from scratch when transferring to ME3. You feel the progression of the character. Each weapon module found or bought becomes important. Each weapon you find becomes a stage. You start with the M-8 Avenger and end up with the M-15 Vindicator, M-96 Mattock, M-99 Saber or M-37 Falcon, which was specially prepared for you so that you can defeat the phantoms. You feel every skill point invested. The weapons and modifications from the DLC are made for multiplayer. A simple example, I tried to play with the Harrier Assault Rifle and in the Citadel 2 mission I simply did not have enough ammo, and this is taking into account the evolution in ammo +30% and 10% N7 Defender Armor. I finished the mission almost empty. The second extreme is that the Harrier is an extremely powerful weapon and it is simply not interesting to play with it, you do not feel the battlefield. I would like the M-8 Avenger or Phaeston to be at least a little improved, because their entire ammo supply is not enough to kill even one banshee. I think they need 15 or 20% more power for the weapon to be interesting to fight on Insanity. The best rifle in the game is the M-15 Vindicator with a stability module and a regular pierce mod, even the Valkyrie loses to the vanilla gun in shooting range tests.
Play vanguard -> get the 100% shield on biotic charge -> get 200% bonus on weapon loadout -> build full damage -> Biotic charge, nova, repeat -> profit xD It really is that easy to beat insanity =P sometime you gotta roll out of the way once after nova to not get grabbed by a brute, banshee or atlas, but the damage of the vanguard is insane... I take down brutes in like 2 seconds and if I add Liara's warp I can combo detonate once, to take a banshee in 3-4 seconds. Even the harvesters in the last map only takes a few seconds to kill =)
A few points. This strategy makes a lot less sense with a soldier or infiltrator. He kind of glossed over this point, but it's worth underlining. You can't get the +200% power speed with squad mates, so you need Shepard to do a lot of your priming and detonating. Those two classes just don't have enough versatility to rely completely on powers for your attacks, even with a bonus power. You can do it, but it isn't as efficient as just shooting things in the face. Perhaps the fact that only one class excels at this strategy should be a hint that this tactic isn't as reliable as he makes it out to be. Husks also aren't the best proof of concept. If you really want to impress me, show me how fast you can take down a group of Banshees. As a side note, if you're playing an Adept or Sentinel, you only need an SMG as your weapon. Something like the Locust weighs practically nothing with upgrades and will last you the entire game. You'll rarely use it anyways. If you have Liara with Stasis Bubble, Shepard doesn't really need any powers at all. Half the enemies in the game are fish in a barrel at that point. Really, the best advice you can give new players is "stay in cover and watch out for flanks. Kill charging enemies first." If you do that consistently, you can win with anything.
![[TFD] アプデで超絶強化！スミザリーンズ、実質DPS300万ビルド[The First Descendant]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z-X3AksGG54/mqdefault.jpg)
Equip garrus with N7 typhoon and AP ammo. Sit back and watch
GARRUS ASCENDS TO GODHOOD
@@BOSHKOB Just like old times.
I didn't have the guts to buy that. N7 Weapons are hella expansive, but going for a 2nd playthrough on a more casual difficulty to just complete some achievements. I completed game 2 and 3 on Insanity and boy o' boy was it nerve wreaking. Especially the final push for the beam, before the beam those Cannibals, Marauders and pain in the butt Banshees were driving me insane like literally lmao. But still my fav franchise overall
Absolutely love the N7 Typhoon!!!! Also a cheeky one I discovered I like a lot is the M7.
Both are devastating with Ince diary ammo
This is the only tip anyone will ever need
Always bring Garrus and James. Equip both with fully upgraded N7 Typhoons. Upgrade them both with all the Weapon Damage+ or Assault Rifle+ you can get your hands on.
The Banshees won't even finish screaming before they die. It's not easy mode. It's Cinematic Mode.
I love that ME3 combat can actually be cinematic again!! Thank God.
After sheppard's beautifully EPIC CINEMATIC fight running UP THE CITADEL WALL in ME1, the combat of Mass Efffect 2's constant start/stop pause, hide for 10 seconds and do nothing to recharge your shield or heal was a horrible experience to watch through.
Another tip since ME1: When casting abilities from your allies, have them off screen to cast it instantly. When on screen they go through the whole animation (reloading -> getting out of cover -> throwing their hand out -> cast). It's literally instant when they are off screen.
Good to know. Thanks!
I thought it only felt that way in the heat of battle, haha
I've been playing ME for at least 10 years...and I noticed this very same tip just a couple days ago.
Had to start the game all over again.
@@Ponte.serio.payaso I could tell that sometimes it was instantaneous and other times it wasn't - now I know why!
Is Garrus still able to ascend to godhood? Because if so, just look up “Garrus ascends to godhood” and let your favorite Turian homeboy do all the work.
He’s still op yh
Particle rifle with incindiary explosive evolution does more damage. It appears James can ascend higher. It turns out you don't even need to focus all that much into damage as main source is busted on hit effect.
@@antanaskiselis7919 flaw in the plan though that means bringing James to a single mission after you aren't required to.
Step 1: buy the typhoon. Step 2: give it to garrus and james. step 3: just sit back while the whole world gets killed in two seconds.
@@blakecurry3880 Don't hate on James. The dude was doing suicide missions before it was cool. Paragon Lost animated movie.
I went with vanguard. The hilarity of just repeatedly charging everything to death is just too good.
Charge, dual nova, melee, repeat. Nothing survives.
@@unamericano Nah, Nova is too big of a liability on Insanity as it drains your shield whenever you use it. Too easy to get killed in an intense fight before you get the cooldown for Charge, and that is if Charge doesn't decide to bug out and not work on viable targets for some reason (a common bug with Charge when spamming powers with fast cooldowns).
@@thehavoccompany-a3 you should try taking double nova instead of increased damage nova. Cuz difference between full shields and half of them is negligible. If you're under fire without cover, they will go down in less than a second anyway. And if i'm following your logic, charge is a liability too, because it puts you out of cover, and doesn't always work properly . And then what do we have left? Pull? Shockwave? Please. Using these two more than charge and nova is not a way to play vanguard. In that case you're better off choosing literally any other class
@@thehavoccompany-a3 I don't claim to be the best at gideo vames but I have done a full insanity run with this playstyle and it's perfectly viable. I think I may have died once? Or gotten close to death? The recharge times are insane and the amount of damage you output, (as @ducking duck said with double nova) is sufficient to down almost any enemy with the combo and charge straight into the next one to regain shields. And don't forget melee! ME3s melee feels so good as biotic and vanguard has the best buffs to melee damage.
Ah, the classic nova guard
My headcanon Shepard is always a Sentinel. It makes more sense to me that he can master all 3 schools of combat. I do this with Ryder too.
Naw Shepard is basic as hell, every screenshot or ad or in game movie event what does shepard always use or pulls out of nowhere? Rifle or pistol. Shepard default is a soldier 100%. He is the best of the best but the most basic.
@@ornado4773 Good thing he said "my headcanon Shepard is..." instead of "The default Shepard is..."
Get your reading comprehension game up lol.
My go-to for years was soldier, but played ME and ME2 on infiltrator before finally giving Sentinel a try on my insanity ME3 playthrough and HOLY HELL this rocks. This is so much better now that I understand power detonations.
A little tip most people learn from playing the multiplayer in mass effect 3. If you’re already at 200% cool down speed, putting on lightweight materials doesn’t speed up power cooldown more. You can’t go faster than 200%. Unless in the legendary edition they changed it
Mods, or just change it yourself.
Started ME3 yesterday and was getting pissed off that i was one shotting enemies. It wasn't until Serkesh that i discovered that the game defaulted to Casual! Wtf?
Yeah it got me with the default casual too. It was insulting honestly
First thing you gotta do when booting up any ME is going to options and put it on Insanity. Due to the hilariously busted builds available in all 3 games any difficulty below Insanity is insulting.
This happened to me but because I'd upgraded favourite weapons and skills early in I thought I was just melting people. I felt quite stupid.
That's weird, I imported my insanity run Shepard and ME3 defaulted me to the same setting.
@@drakkenmensch it always defaults to default settings when you boot the game for the first time. Difficulty settings aren't saved in your save files, they're saved in the global game options.
Man that’s too much micromanaging. I just roll infiltrator and one-two shot anything.
Yes its super OP you will never die
It isn't the damage that makes it so good. It's that the game design and AI heavily favors that playstyle. Instead of instantly targeting you the second you leave cover, even switching targets from your allies, they ignore you because you're invisible. Instead of dancing around like hamsters on speed while you try to line up a headshot, they ignore you until you pull the trigger.
@@FreakazoidRobots you can still kill any enemy with a shield in two shots dont matter what teammates you bring or other powers you have
@@jakebaca264 If you take Energy Drain as bonus power, you can easily do it in one shot. Just aim, use ED, and headshot that Centurion or Marauder.
Or
Vanguard go smaesh
Infiltrator is a great class in my opinion, if things go to hell, i can just run away, for the detonations i choose my squadmates correctly
My biggest problem with infiltrator is that the class is super squishy and I'll cloak and still get shot at sometimes. To get a good sniper you have to sacrifice cooldown for powers and when you're getting charged by banshees and brutes the sniper doesn't cut it.
Sentinels are, indeed, overpowered. I’m just finishing up ME3 on my Sentinel run and I’m gonna have a tough time adjusting to playing as an Engineer on my second playthrough!
The drone is insanely good for pulling aggressive off you and keeping you alive.
Honestly Sentinel for ME3 is like Vanguard for ME1 or Infiltrator for ME2. (Ok maybe Infiltrator for any of the games with the right sniper rifle lol)
@@ExaltedMarch Max cooldown infiltrator with N7 Valiant was the best infiltrator, IMO. I went from having a hard time with 2 insanity to breezing through 3 (back in the day. I am now doing an engineer insanity run and just started on ME3 LE). The key is the damage boost from cloak lasts a couple seconds and you can actually toss a power while it's going on. So my go-to combo was cloak, headshot, incinerate, headshot headshot, reload. And they all get the damage buff. Not possible with black window due to low rate of fire and high recoil (even though mag size is the same). And the one-shot reload snipers have much lower DPS due to only being able to get off a single shot under cloak bonus.
Spec everything for headshot damage and take shield drain. Looking back, you could probably do better using cryo ammo and the 100% increase on incinerate. I think I always used disruptor ammo. That combo would burn armor fast.
Any class is overpowered because there's so many completely busted builds in the game.
Drones are so cool
I’m one of the “already on their second playthrough” people after playing the trilogy for the first time when Legendary came out. Only a little obsessed with everything Mass Effect now. I’ve been a Dragon Age fan for a long while but never tried ME. (Hilariously, I actually got interested in playing it from listening to you and Catie on Split the Veil.)
I’m excited to incorporate these tips into this playthrough and look forward to seeing what videos you put out next! Your content is great Jordan!!!
Wow! That’s awesome. I’m maybe midway through ME3. Do you have a favorite squad mate yet? Glad to hear I’ve helped create a new Mass Effect fan. Thanks for watching/listening.
@@ExaltedMarch Garrus was pretty dang awesome the whole time! And Kaidan was a constant during ME3 since I played as an infiltrator. They’re all pretty awesome in their own right though. It’s hard to choose an absolute favorite.
Im a 32 year old guys who played mass effect and dragon age series to death when they were out, and over a few years of re running.. since legendary im playing it again, i was talking to a guy at work who only played DA series.
I've introduced him to legendary edition now its all we talk about :D
Best Game ever .. dragon age is great too .. but I got a N7 armor sleeve tattoed on my arm ..
@@Browncoat-gc6nc lol
The most broken class is infiltrator, where you can just turn invisible and scuttle past entire waves of combat
And even if you don´t abuse it, you can just get the Black Widow and wipe out your enemies with no issues. I am more of a combo player myself, but honestly, Infiltrator is just easy mode.
Javlin Rifle (hashtag wall hacks), Armor Piercing (enemy lives are target practice), work on all sniper rifle upgrades (get the attachment to slow enemies for a brief moment), Tactical Cloak (invisibility increases damage too), and Skorpion handgun (very powerful grenade pistol).
As an Infiltrator I approve this loadout
By this logic all classes are OP in some way.
Sentinel can achieve 90% DR with Tech Armor+Fortification and never die for 100% cooldown penalty, and even 40% DR for 20% CD penalty is very good.
Soldier can also stack Aldrenaline Rush's DR with Fortification for great gun damage and DR.
Engineer has insanely consistent chain explosions with chain overload.
Vanguard and Adept have easy mode early game by CCing everyone and late game just let Garrus and James handle everything with Typhoon.
I don't like not one shotting an enemy just cause they had 1% of a shield or barrier that didn't get stripped though.
Benefits of playing Infiltrator
1) Cerberus turrets can be hacked to mow the bad guys down for you while you enjoy some popcorn.
2) Mechanics of Tactical Cloak make cooldown times a non-issue so carry whichever OP weapon you want.
3) Head shots!!! Will kill all enemies instantly except for the spongy bosses.
4) You can cloak and maneuver yourself into a superior tactical position and catch enemies in a crossfire.
Can you do Mass Effect build videos?
Reave, warp, biotic charge, nova then repeat step 3 and 4 until clear
I think the hardest thing about insanity really is the first few missions, before you get all your people and some effective weapons and powers. I died about 30-40 times on the first mission before I decided to abandon the insanity run I had going from ME1-ME2. I'll probably try again sometime in the future, thanks for the tips, they are helpful.
I remember doing a playthrough of Mass effect a couple years ago. I had played the same classes and play style so many times.
I decided to try the other classes on insanity after years of not playing them. I was on my Sentinel class and I went pure shield bonuses. It made the game feel so easy I double checked the difficulty.
Just completed ME2 with sentinel and now playing imported save as Sentinel in ME3. This is very useful video to help me understand combos.
Glad it helped and thanks for watching!
Soldier with incendiary ammo with explosive burst, M-7 Lancer/Particle Rifle (Phaeston works well to) with 200% cooldown. Concussive Shot with amplification. Shoot a couple of shots, use concussive shot, shoot again until you have concussive shot ready and use it. Rinse and repeat. Brutes dies within seconds on Insanity. Harversters are a breeze aswell.
I want you to know, I subbed just for the “dropped to the ground like a sack of Cerberus potatoes” bit you had in the video.
Personally my favorite is Adept with Energy Drain as the bonus power. Love trapping multiple enemies with singularity and detonating them with either warp or double throw
I appreciate that this video isn't like most of the other "Mass Effect Tips" videos that are all like 'Did you know taking cover makes it easier to avoid damage' or 'Power combos exist.'
Personally the M-7 Lancer from the citadel is one of my favorite lighter assault rifles for high power cd builds, very light and the cooldown ammo system pairs amazingly imo with power builds. The frequent breaks in firing to launch powers basically keeps you from every running out of ammo and the fact you never need to manually reload saves you time in the middle of long fights that can be used to launch more powers, increasing effective dps. It is also light enough at level 5 to use without ultralight materials.
I think you forgot to just say at the end just bring the venom shotgun cuz u know it can bring down any enemy in the game with ease.
You mean the Venom "Harvester Eraser" Shotgun. Scrubbing the battle field faster than a mister clean magic sponge. That thing is fucking busted
Thanks for this video, managed to beat the game on Insanity/platinum difficulty as Sentinel using your tips.
Because I can't afford it I've been replaying Andromeda on insanity. And oddly that's made me enjoy the game more.
I've been reading up on different types of power combos. It seems fire/tech/cryo can prime and trigger each other but this does not always work for biotic. Would it not be better to go Engineer then so you can spec purely into tech combos? I've never played much with the drone/sentry turret but it seems like they could generally be around to supplement your damage, stagger your enemies and divert some aggro. What do you think?
Vanguard with Incendiary and cryo ammo, charge, nova and (bonus) Reave or lash works pretty damn well with this strategy too. With the weapon weight level up and light materials you should still also be able to carry either a shotgun or assault rifle, an smg and pistol and still have the 200% cool down.
Sentinel is definitely more op though. They thicc and don’t need the bonus power to round them out.. 😂
I'm gonna try Sentinel for the first time because there were some parts that were so unbalanced for a Vanguard - the Citadel DLC especially took me so long in parts where there were a ton of shielded enemies and you only have the pistol, for instance.
I have always thought energy drain was a good way to compliment vanguard, as a bonus power.
@@aarlavaan Never thought to try this. Great tip!
@@SamEmilio2 energy drain lets you hit shields, barriers and synthetics better, lets you recover your own barrier easily(l (after Nova or just being shot), even if you have no target for charge, can stun enemies, and is a primer ability. All in all really good. Also would recommend it as a bonus power for a soldier. Only issue I have is how long it takes for you to obtain it, becaus have to recruit Tali to get it. So it's reasonable in a first Playthrough, but much better in NG+, where you have access to it right away.
@@aarlavaan energy drain is also a very good bonus power for a Vanguard I should have mentioned it. I just personally prefer Lash or Reave because they hit more of the reaper ground forces and I normally have at least one of Garrus, EDI or Tali with me anyways for shields. I’m also to lazy to change my bonus power when fighting Cerberus where energy drain really shines 😂
Bit of a hot take, but I took the "-200% Cooldown" approach on my Sentinel.
Tech Armor and Fortification set for 90% damage reduction and increased power damage. I take Lift Grenades (No cooldown) and Throw with the rank 5 perk that instantly resets on a detonation (Combined with double throw on rank 6 for more consistency) as my main go to powers.
I use my squad to set up most of my combos for me. I then proceed to equip as many heavy guns as I can without the need for ultra light materials.
You get to be tanky as hell, still have access to powerful detonations, and you get to play around with whatever weapons you want.
You know, I've never been big on sentinel, but I'll have to give it a try now. I've already beaten ME3 on insanity once, but I did it with a bunch of mods that make Shepard even more OP so it'll be interesting to see how tough it can be in vanilla. I don't have many tips myself to share, but perhaps the best one is to watch the "Garrus ascends to godhood" video and follow their build to just destroy the game. I hope it still works in MELE.
Sentinel used to be my least favorite class. I would never make it my go-to on 1 or 2 but it has just the right amount of powers and since you can take any weapon load out and use tech armor it’s super well rounded.
Get the Venom shotgun. Win.
Pretty much, and just throw the Cerberus harrier, lancer, or typhoon on your teammates that can use AR'd
Venom shotgun goes brrrr
Sentinel is the most logical class for Shepard, narratively speaking too..
Have to admit I’m curious, why?
@@ducky36F they're useful in a fight against organics or synthetics, as well as croud control and hack containers.. with any other class, they'd need to rely on their teammates' for what they're lacking..
A true Jack of All Trades. My favorite class
What...no? Canonically Shepard is a basic bitch. She is the top notch best human there is...which makes them 100% a soldier. You're a human leading a group of aliens into war, you're the best humanity has to offer which....is really just a good shot and tough as shit...100% the "canon" or DEFAULT shepard is - Female/Soldier that picks the "Destroy the Reapers" End. I THINK the default romance is Kaidan? But yeah Shep is 100% a Soldier every cutsene he/she pulls out a rifle or a pistol and just shoots, no biotics or flare just shoots. Its pretty obvious.
@@ornado4773 maybe YOUR Shepard... mine is a Biotic and Tech specialist warhero who grew up in the colonies.. they should have a chip on their shoulder for wha the slavers did, but they don't. They chose to rise above it and it's why they chose Synthesis and created a virtual utopia for all.. genocide isn't something they'd ever do, neither are they a fascist..
That moment when you're playing as a sentinel and become completely immune to damage while in cover because of tech armor, barrier and the passive tree. Chiefs kiss
I don't think lash can prime and detonate at the same time. Could be wrong but I think it has two phases. One primes and the other detonates, but they can't both happen because you have to detonate the first phase for it to prime anything.
Yes and no. It depends on the primer and detonator types (Biotic, Fire, Cryo and Electricity). A target isn't primed after a combo, if the primer and detonator types are the same. However, if primer and detonator are different types then they are layered, so a power first primes and then detonates simultaneously.
As an example. Reave + Lash + Throw doesn't produce two Biotic Explosions, because of the rule preventing duplicate Biotic priming.
However, Overload + Lash + Throw will result first Tech Burst (or Electric Explosion) with Lash detonating Overload and then simultaneously priming the target for Biotic Explosion, which is then detonated with Throw.
All powers have certain time-window for Combo Explosions. Like, when you prime something for Biotic you like 5 seconds to detonate it (even if the effect is longer, like with Dark Channel). I don't remember how long they were exactly, but different types had different times. So, if you have really complex stacking you probably won't have enough time to detonate them all (like in theory one target could be primed for all four types at the same time, so you could set them off with four consecutive Throws producing 4 different explosions, if you meet all four different time windows).
Biotic Sphere with Warp upgrade is the only exception, and setting up the sphere can trigger BE and then prime that same target for another BE at the same time. Overall, there's a lot of nuances and details about powers, like Lash can only detonate Biotic and Tech Bursts (aka Electric Explosions), but not Fire or Cryo Explosions. Overload even with the area effect will prime only one target for Tech Burst. One Dark Channel can set up multiple BEs, but only for multiple targets (it cannot set up two BEs in the same target, however if a target is killed, then it moves to a next target, which will be primed for a new BE).
Counterpoint: play vanguard and press the same two buttons to unga bunga your way to victory.
Nah you just need Garus with all the AR damage bonuses and the N7 Typhoon and let him be the main character
Great. What do you do for the first dozen missions where you cant afford the n7 typhoon? Give up?
So for Overload you recommend Neural Shock instead of the Recharge upgrade?
Generally no, but I would take the recharge upgrade. But knocking out three enemies at once is cool and worth mentioning. But generally, always take cool down bonuses.
I did a comment on this same stuff about sentinel on a vanguard video and there people probably were tilted. Seriously, sentinel IS by far the easiest class to play if you properly build the character (survivability and combos wise), since there is nothing you can't face using solely your powers for any situation. One way or another, the other classes will have difficulties to their playstyle depending on the level and enemies they are facing, such as bosses and specific events. I never felt that as a sentinel, plenty of times as Vanguard and Infiltrator.
Comming back to ME just now and needed a reminder of the game. Great tips.
Regarding the 4-layer power combo suggested here, "Cryo+Overload+Warp+Throw" - who would this work on? The shieldgate must be removed in order to start the cryo combo by freezing the enemy, no? Shielded enemeies will merely by slowed by cryo blast and not available to be primed. Or is there something I'm missing?
It's very impractical for the reason you mentioned (only works against Health, and cannot be utilized it against Shields / Barriers / Armor). Technically it would work, if you are using level 1 Powers (least amount of DMG) against couple higher health units like Cannibals, Marauders, Guardians, Geth Hunters, and Collectors (all have about 2000 Health at Insanity / Gold). If all powers are at lvl 1, then Cryo + Tech + Biotic Explosion would do 1012 DMG against Health. Including basic DMG from Overload and Warp it would be 1482 DMG in total. DPS is pretty atrocious however (if you want to do actual DMG with Combos, you really need to those upgrades).
Practically multilayered combo-chains (more than 2 explosions) work mainly against Atlases, Brutes, Ravagers, Primes, Scions. With some caveats also against Banshees, Praetorians and Phantoms (though usually not, because Power negation defense they all have). Sometimes also against Pyros, Hunters, Centurions, Marauders, etc. However,, Cryo Blast is almost totally useless for combos, because it doesn't prime against anything but health and it detonates nothing. Only Power that reliably primes and detonates Cryo Explosions, and works against other than just health is Snap Freeze, and it's MP only.
How to tear through insanity difficulty? Ascend Garrus to godhood... manipulate the battlefield with engineer... gear up with assault rifle and smg with ultralight, from here you're geared up to funnel all enemies into your now-unkillable Garrus. Each fight becomes a walk as Garrus destroys EVERYONE.
I did my first playthrough as an adept since I've tended gravitate towards caster classes, but got frustrated with the low hp/shielding as I'm a somewhat aggressive player. Just finished a hardcore run as a sentinel (using tech/fort for double DR) and absolutely love the versatility of this class.
A power cooldown bonus of +200-100% from weight capacity is acceptable imo (no need to always be at 200%). This gives you enough of a buffer to let you bring heavier and more interesting guns or even more than 1 (like a sniper and a talon pistol for close-range encounters).
Well made. Thank you
Thank you!
honestly adept felt easy on insanity too, i brought Tali and EDI for shield/armor punch respectively and once defenses were down, my CDs were low enough with double pull/double throw to destroy eeeeeverything
Sentinel is the way to go in Andromeda, but I don't think it's necessary here since you can control your party member's abilities. You just have to not get sick of bringing the same team members. I am tempted to try using tech armor offensively after listening to a Citadel DLC NPC talk about how he kills everything with tech armor.
Great tips, man! Keep up! xDDD
ME3 Insanity difficulty wasn't that hard imo. I always felt Shepard and any of his squadmates were OP once you the player was really good. But I do credit the multiplayer in the original ME3 game for being fun and way more difficult that it made playing the SP campaign feel easier by comparison.
Agreed! If you’re a fan of the games and do as many playthroughs as I do… try challenge yourself further and play on insanity with no power upgrades (just rank 1) and early game weapons. Now that was painful. But when you’ve played the game dozens of times and want a new challenge? That’s a dark souls route if insanity was easy for you
I adapted a super overpowered build from the multiplayer days. Vanguard, Reegar Carbine, rank 6 Incendiary Ammo and rank 6 double debuff Warp on Liara. Charge and spray destroys most low tier enemies because of your insane fire rate and AOE from Incendiary Ammo explosion evolution. For any boss units, this is super counter-intuitive, but it works - Charge target, Let Liara Warp the target, then spray Incendiary Ammo Reegar in their face. The combined damage is absolutely insane. You can destroy all boss enemies maybe except possessed praetorian in the arena in at most two clips of Reegar.
This reminds me of my old playthroughs of KoTOR where I'd apply all kinds of stuns and debuffs to my enemies before finally attacking with feats like Flurry and Rapid Fire.
If you like stuns & debuffs followed by quick *Stab-in-the-Back...* then you will love SWTOR combat.
thanks for this amazing sum-up video !! and thanks the comment section for letting me know how to let garrus ascend to godhood XD had a lot of fun in my first playthrough. although, i got a serious doubt about fire and cryo combos: per ME wiki, in order to pull off fire /cryo combos, the primed target needs to be KILLED by the detonating power; if the target still got HP left after the detonating power hit, then the primed effect won't be detonated. i tested this theory intensively, turns out...... they were correct (sad). Thus leaving the "chaining fire/cryo explosion with bio/tech burst" thing invalid, since successfully triggering pyro/cryo detonation will most definitely result in target's death, leaving you no room for further combo chaining (if my understanding is correct)
Just listening to this confirms i want nothing to do with insanity difficulty. No clue and don't care about chaining or layerig detonators, primers and all that technical crap. I want to 'play' not try to pass a physics of chemistry test. But it's probably just me. Just finished all 3 on normal, moving to Andromeda now...
I think you are under estimating the value of small arms, especially SMGs. The Blood Pack Punisher hits like a rock, harder than most ARs, and can be made very light. Squadmates with the N7 Typhoon melts boss level enemies, long before you can prime bosses, let alone detonate them. Infiltrators can 1-2 shot lower enemies, thinning out the crowd easily.
I just beat it on insanity a few days and the start was the hardest but from tuchanka onwards it started to get a lot easier with hard moments sprinkled in. I was playing as a soldier and my bonus power was armour piercing ammo. I only used the particle rifle which recharges to never worry about ammo and regenerate my powers quickly as possible, it also has very little sway and almost felt like the heavy weapon collector rifle from me2. I used edi and liara for most coverage of abilities and garrus as 3rd choice on occasion. The difference I found with me2 and 3 was that in 3 I thought my teammates rarely ever fired their guns even when in cover and during the cooldown of me manually controlling their powers. It probably wasn't the best class to choose and the party to take with me but choosing only the particle rifle was a good choice for me.
The hard moments I definitely recall were palaven, clone shepard on the normandy, cloaked hunters on geth dreadnought, kai leng in cerberus hq and banshees at missile battery on earth. The cerberus phantoms were also very tricky but using stasis saved my life too many occasions and singularity when enemies behind hard to reach cover.
Good luck to anyone beating it but if you beat me2 which I thought had more consistent high difficulty and harder sections then you should be able to beat this without too much hassle.
How to make Insanity easy: Garrus. That is all.
Took your advice on the chum weapon and recharge skills big help on insanity
I've played the game dozens of times and I can never get into the power detonations. It seems too slow....it always feels like I'm playing a Fallout game with VATS. I always play by using powers to strip or debuff defensive layers then you ammo powers against health. Mainly heavy Overload on shields and barriers, warp on armor, and then Warp ammo on health. It makes the game nore simple and your not in your powers tab every 3 seconds . For me detornations are only needed for engineers and adepts which I never play.
having done an insanity run, i'd say that power combos are super necessary. i wouldn't do them exclusively. obviously you can still shoot adds. and even use weapon fire to supplement power usage. but the combos themselves do chunks of damage. and some of them are actually rather satisfying. iirc biotic combos come with a super satisfying like whip crack sound (and throw is just...generally a satisfying power anyway). and the firey explosion you get from burny combos (especially when they kill the enemy) are appropriately...well, explosive. they're a lot of fun. granted i don't think i stuck to the mantra of 200% cooldown rate. (cdr has diminishing returns).
edit: im assuming you play on a console, so it may not be applicable to you. but, just in case, on pc you can map 'spells' to hotkeys. i think you can even do it with squad spells. saves you needing to open the power wheel.
Spamguard with Piranha makes it so easy, fire ammo on, charge 'til you can't , nova, shoot 'til charge comes back, repeat . Amazed I never got sync killed, I only really had trouble with Primes. Continuous charges on banshees is really fun.
I like shooting. I use powers to set up my slaying by ammunition. ''I don't need luck, I have ammo.' is a motto I live (and die ) by.
I am currently thinking about starting my insanity run for the legendary edition and I gotta say: Either there's a really steep difficulty spike from Hardcore/Extreme to Insanity or this game isn't that hard in the first place...
Only 2 has challenging insanity the rest are pretty easy.
Playing as infiltrator, using cryo ammo for Shepard and squadmates + Kaidan equipped with the N7 Typhoon and Javik with the Particle Rifle made the game feel like i was playing on easy mode.
Whatever problem I had i could just use cloak and make Kaidan and Javik use Reave or Slam, these can make combos with Infiltrator Shepard’s Incinerate and Cryo Ammo. Most fun playthrough I had.
Seeing that banshee fight and knowing the roster of enemies with armor and hardened shields, that's the exact opposite of what you should do. I am currently playing as a Vanguard with javelin heavy sniper rifle and antisynthetic heavy assault rifle with EDI + Garrus/Tali on my team, and pierced through all enemies like knife through butter. The only 3 times I've struggled were:
1. When I brought useless Liara ti the Azari temple
2. When I faced Shepard Clone in combat
3. When I faced Kai Leng in the Cerberus base.
The core problem of the combo damage stacking is the fact it just doesn't work against Armored targets - see the Banshee fight around 11:05. With EDI's overload capable of destroying any but boss shields in one hit and Javelin oneshoting almost any enemy in the game (without even headshooting), and the other late-game weapons being as broken, you don't need to adjust your fight vs. regular enemies - the only real opponents are ones who ignore the rules - the Armored ones. How exactly do they ignore the rules? 3 points:
1. The are tougher (obviously)
2. They ignore almost any control effects, with a few exceptions (Tali can stun mechs), and biotic skills don't work on them at all
3. The last, but as important is the fact they reduce any incoming damage by 50. Not 50%, 50 damage flat. That means they are basically immune to the light ammo and periodical damage - however, high-impact payload, especially with AP ammo can deal almost full damage to them. The Shepard Clone I mentioned above, i.e., DIES in 3 or 4 Javelin headshots despite being super-armored, basically same for banshees. And in your footage, it took 40 seconds to the exact same i can do in about 5 seconds (2 Overloads, followed by snipe).
With a lightweight assault rifle, you can stack tech armor and fortification and still have a good recharge time. Your cooldowns are still fast, and you have that extra bit of durability.
Great video, great tips. I just finished ME2 Insanity and really love that i switched to sentinel class.
Still thinking about what to choose for ME3 Insanity. I like sentinel, but want to try smth else. Most likely gonna try adept...
Easiest Insanity build: Soilder, M7 Avenger from the Citadel DLC and the Silent Pistol from its beginning. Avenger is your workhorse, and pistol is your delete weapon.
give garrus and ashley both N7 Typhoon and be humbled, i never give them this gun when i'm playing adept or engineer, can't prime power detonation if the target dies during cooldown
"Try to avoid sniper rifles" me : **laughs in Black Widow Infiltrator**
I need a list of primers and detonators. Alls I know is my engineer freezes, then Garrus concussive shots ( or James carnage) and the enemy shatters into ice cubes. Use these to put in your Coca Cola
here's another tip play as infiltrator get the black widow upgrade to max and get max head shot and weapon dmg through gear and use wrap ammo with head shot and armor dmg bonus, use cloak and shoot :)
Y are u doin this to me?! I just finished MELE recently, and now you making me want to play it again. I’ve got a life and a job y’know.
Hear that. I tell people I'd only recommend BioWare's SWTOR games if they are already retired.
To anyone under sixty-five I say, "Choose Life"
Does anyone know that one glitch I'm the beginning week of launch that gives you a million credits in mass effect 2
Best Strategies they said....
Make insanity mode easy they said.....
Maaaaaate, who needs any of this if you got Garrus on your side?
This is just Garrus+James with extra steps lmao
1 tip: play a mage with every point into cool down speed and use the lightest weapons. I could toss a pull and be ready for a throw before the pull even hit the enemy. Cool down was like a second or so. Take Liara with fast cool down on singularity and I do a pull while Liara casts a singularity, two throws and minimum three down in about 2 or 3 sec, rinse repeat. Nothing like that "WHOOMP!" as a combo detonates.
I took energy drain as my extra power because Garrus, et. al., take too long for Overload to recharge.
Guns were for entertainment or that last bit of shield or armor.
I've just been spamming energy drain with incinerate on 200% cool downs. Not a big enemy killer but you can chip away and face tank damage while also agro juggling with the turret and drone
These chain explosions are really the best strategy. Specially on the hardest difficulty.
I played with the soldier's options to make a dps gunman, and it's beautiful...truly easy mode, even on insanity. I had to repeatedly check I hadn't accidentally switched without realizing.
First, you get 50 weight to start, and the alternative to the weight bonus on the soldier is a 10% weapon damage bonus plus a 40% boost of all ammo powers (total boost for tree is +25% weapon damage). The ammo power boost it seems applies to the strength of your explosive ammo, making kills in clusters super easy.
Then, use Garrus and James as your main support. Garrus for obvious reasons and James for grenades as well as huge squad boosts to health and shields.
Put every power towards dealing damage, even on concussive shot, since you should upgrade it to have the effect of your ammo power, which I think is ALSO boosted by the other ammo buff.
I keep energy drain on L1 and concussive shot on R1, because the cooldown is only 3 seconds, it's practically a second firing mode for every gun.
I stick with the M8 until I can get the Lancer, then I only need that and an smg the rest of the game, keeping almost a full 200% boost on ability cooldown. The Punisher or Geth smg are great until you can get the Hurricane.
SMGs are a great secondary weapon, because it will keep you ligh and with the ap mod plus huge capacity and fire rate means they utterly destroy armored enemies up close.
Slap the typhoon on my two other soldiers, and with their own ammo powers (James gets explosive ammo too) anything that's left I can clean up with a few shots or flank em.
I also use the Ajax armor, but if I didn't have the option, I might get the Cerberus gear anyway for extra ammo.
Once the pieces are collected though, I switched all my gear to weapon damage boosts, it nearly maxes the bar on the stat screen (you can add some extra ammo or Kestrel helm etc for a bonus to damage AND headshots (easy with Lancer and burst fire technique).
I thought it would be a glass cannon, but it isn't. You get great survivability bonuses from allies and your own fitness skill etc.
*I nearly forgot adding adrenaline rush to the mix for MASSIVE damage bonuses. Always take damage, never melee/defense boosters. Just don't get out of position.
I went up against the banshee squad near the end of Leviathan, and I was actually killing banshees without realizing. Everything just drops like a fly in front if you, and just control your fire and you NEVER need to reload even. I'm constantly hitting reload out of reflex.
If you REALLY want to do some damage, equip the Typhoon with this setup and watch armies drop before you on insanity.
Have played through every class multiple tines, and this is the most damage I've ever done, and fights are over before the dialogue can keep up half the time lol.
Seriously, try it out, I know biotics and combos aren't everyone's favorite, and now I know it's farthest from the most powerful/highest dps.
I'm doing an all adept run this time around, so Sentinel isn't in the cards.
My fave insanity run will always be Vanguard + Claymore
How to break the game:
Step 1: Pick Vanguard
Step 2: Equip Venom Shotgun.
Step 3: Watch everything die in literally seconds
Soldier build.
Lancer X.
Concussive Shot specced for Damage, Impact, and Amplification.
Max out your ammo powers.
_Completely ignore_ Adrenaline rush because its fucking nerfed and useless.
Wear armor that lowers power cooldown time and boosts power damage.
Fire explosion every two shots, it recharges faster than the fastest biotic or tech power combo. You can kill a Harvester on insanity in under five seconds. Brutes die in two explosions.
GG.
Even as an Engineer with the Lancer, James, and later Ashley. I still tore up enemys. The only issue I had were biotic barriers, but Warp ammo helped ALOT.
PS: The Turret, and Drone Engi gets in ME3 early feel underpowered, but by the end they were very helpful. The drone would chain stun most shielded enemys, and rocket sentry would freeze them. Also my cool down jumped around quite a bit, but ended around +30% with an AR, Shotgun, and Pistol.
Hmm. Not sure the detonations are best. Unloading my lancer into a Banshee's head seemed to put her down faster.
New Game Plus Sentinel Shepard with Fortification, and Armor protection from his armor class ability make it feel like you're playing on lesser difficulties on insanity. I didn't even bring out Typhoon Garrus until late game.
You will almost never die as reagar carbine shotgun vanguard with fortification bonus power
Sentinel has always been my go-to class
I don’t see an option to make the difficulty insanity so I switched to insanity on ME1 as soon as I landed on eden prime. Is this good or will it not work? Is there some way to switch the difficulty before starting?
I took your advice to play as Sentinel. Insanity mode. Fantastic. I was in love with Throw ten minutes into game. Thanks! Best bonus power? I played Omega DLC.
This is what i did, as a soldier on insanity; concussive shot rank 6, upgrade it so it can carrie ammo power. Incendiary ammo rank 6.
Done. Incendiary ammo can prime and detonate. Burning enemy? Concussive shot and boom! Techsplosion! How about two concussive shots in row? Boom!
I played OG Mass Effect 2 and 3 on Insanity with a Paragon MaleShep with Soldier class...Boy...the PAIN at some places. 😁
How do you compensate for James and Kaidan already having the first rank of Fortification/Barrier locked in with their resulting cool-down penalties? Thanks!
You can reset squadmate powers in the med-bay. You can reset the skill points of each character (including shepherd) once for free and then for 5000 credits each time after that
If I import my save from both me1 and 2 but change to a sentinel can I still get long term service medal achievement?
Yes you can only penalty for changing class is your character will be lv1 instead of whatever level you got them to in ME2
I notice for Warp, you didnt choose Expose. I believe Expose is a better option for tanky enemies like Brutes, Banshee and Atlas. The debuff is beneficial to squadmates as well.
Have you ever tried Reave Sentinel? Makes you *very* tank.
Nice vid. I actually was doing pretty good on ME3 insanity with my vanguard till starting the citadel dlc. Only having the pistol with limited ammo made the beginning so hard had to take a break lol
I would call Vanguard hard mode. Even with all of that survivability you're still going to charge in at the wrong time and get mauled.
But they give u that fine ass M-11 Pistol
Bro how does any of this work? I’m so confused. At least a spreadsheet
Play a level 1 character and develop a partner with one ability + ammo, if he has any. Partners have a long cooldown and extra abilities only get in their way. The control wheel game is for those who like to play turn-based games.
Play only with the weapons and modifications of the original game that you found. Ignore the content, weapons, and weapon modifications from the DLC.
Do not touch the first aid kits that give you tons of experience for nothing. At the end of the game, you will get level 41, that is, 84 skill points like in multiplayer + 10 points for ammo. You will understand that this was an unforgettable experience and that the original game without DLC is very well balanced for starting with a level 1 character and finishing without add-ons.
I reset my character to level 1 in ME2 and always start from scratch when transferring to ME3. You feel the progression of the character. Each weapon module found or bought becomes important. Each weapon you find becomes a stage. You start with the M-8 Avenger and end up with the M-15 Vindicator, M-96 Mattock, M-99 Saber or M-37 Falcon, which was specially prepared for you so that you can defeat the phantoms. You feel every skill point invested. The weapons and modifications from the DLC are made for multiplayer. A simple example, I tried to play with the Harrier Assault Rifle and in the Citadel 2 mission I simply did not have enough ammo, and this is taking into account the evolution in ammo +30% and 10% N7 Defender Armor. I finished the mission almost empty. The second extreme is that the Harrier is an extremely powerful weapon and it is simply not interesting to play with it, you do not feel the battlefield. I would like the M-8 Avenger or Phaeston to be at least a little improved, because their entire ammo supply is not enough to kill even one banshee. I think they need 15 or 20% more power for the weapon to be interesting to fight on Insanity.
The best rifle in the game is the M-15 Vindicator with a stability module and a regular pierce mod, even the Valkyrie loses to the vanilla gun in shooting range tests.
Play vanguard -> get the 100% shield on biotic charge -> get 200% bonus on weapon loadout -> build full damage -> Biotic charge, nova, repeat -> profit xD
It really is that easy to beat insanity =P sometime you gotta roll out of the way once after nova to not get grabbed by a brute, banshee or atlas, but the damage of the vanguard is insane... I take down brutes in like 2 seconds and if I add Liara's warp I can combo detonate once, to take a banshee in 3-4 seconds. Even the harvesters in the last map only takes a few seconds to kill =)
I’ve been playing as Sentinal anyways and yeah, throw is so wonderfully OP halfway through ME2. I love it.
Perfect timing. About to finish Arrival and then I'm on to me3.
A few points. This strategy makes a lot less sense with a soldier or infiltrator. He kind of glossed over this point, but it's worth underlining. You can't get the +200% power speed with squad mates, so you need Shepard to do a lot of your priming and detonating. Those two classes just don't have enough versatility to rely completely on powers for your attacks, even with a bonus power. You can do it, but it isn't as efficient as just shooting things in the face. Perhaps the fact that only one class excels at this strategy should be a hint that this tactic isn't as reliable as he makes it out to be. Husks also aren't the best proof of concept. If you really want to impress me, show me how fast you can take down a group of Banshees. As a side note, if you're playing an Adept or Sentinel, you only need an SMG as your weapon. Something like the Locust weighs practically nothing with upgrades and will last you the entire game. You'll rarely use it anyways. If you have Liara with Stasis Bubble, Shepard doesn't really need any powers at all. Half the enemies in the game are fish in a barrel at that point. Really, the best advice you can give new players is "stay in cover and watch out for flanks. Kill charging enemies first." If you do that consistently, you can win with anything.
do the triple biotic combos count as cheesing the game? ive never tried it, is it that OP?