Mass Effect 2 Discussion - Fight for the Lost

[quote name='Ryuukishi']Mass Effect Genesis

We're getting this as DLC on the 360 version, right?[/QUOTE]

If we do get it then the 24 plus hours I've put in the last month getting a male Shepard through ME 1 to take him into 2 and get the achievements I'm missing outside of Insanity mode would have been for nothing except getting a few missing achievements from ME 1.
 
Awesome that video brought back fond memories and I'm glad Bioware did that for PS3 gamers. I think it's a nice way to allow a player to choose important decisions than just picking from a list. Also I tip my hat to Bioware for even having an interactive comic. New players will miss out on the importance on Paragon or Renegade actions since you can't do certain Paragon or Renegade decisions without having the right amount needed (that whole Rex scene for example). You don't quite feel that with an interactive comic. I had one playthrough where I believe I couldn't pick to save him if I remember correctly.
 
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[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']Saving this video for the next time I see a "Mark Meer is a flat/terrible VA" comment.


Here's Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRUTDRb0jbI[/QUOTE]

Funny thing if you watch those he also capped the FemShep version and he made all opposite choices with FemShep, except for being with Liara. Though he chose to save Kaiden instead of Ashley.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Funny thing if you watch those he also capped the FemShep version and he made all opposite choices with FemShep, except for being with Liara. Though he chose to save Kaiden instead of Ashley.[/QUOTE]
And once again femShep sounds dull and boring (and very forced) while Meer steals the show with his usual dry humor and other subtle emotions that resonate throughout both clips. Sheploo4life.

:cool:
 
[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']And once again femShep sounds dull and boring (and very forced) while Meer steals the show with his usual dry humor and other subtle emotions that resonate throughout both clips. Sheploo4life.

:cool:[/QUOTE]

We'll agree to disagree as I don't think Meer is crap but I think Hale is better. My Wainwright vs. random Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher analogy maintains.

I will say that motion comic is the best ME VO I've heard from Meer as I'm just about to go to Ilos in ME 1 (first time ever playing male Shepard.) His work does improve as the game goes on in ME 1.
 
Great video!

I hope that now that the PS3 version is out, we can all get back on the DLC train. Even if they've confirmed only one more mission pack, I'd like to see some more weapons and costumes for the rest of the squad.
 
so im playing mass effect 1 because i erased my saves (all games) (accident)


i already know the story but, something bugs me, everyone says ME1 has a fabulous story and "shocker" near/at the end.

the first 10 seconds i got off feros, the story was already done, geth, saren, sovereign, reapers kill prothean, reapers returning......
.....
..
so the whole gaming world oooeing at ME1's ending seems unjust to me..
 
Y'know, if you have the PC version (How many fucking times have I said that in this thread?), you can just download an ME1 save with the stuff you want...
 
After reading the first issue of Mass Effect: Evolution, I can safely say that it is leaps and bounds better than Redemption. Redemption's art was a baffling mess. John Jackson Miller does an amazing job of penciling Evolution. The script is what you would expect from a Mass Effect item. Pretty good read.
 
So I'm just about done with my first playthrough of ME2, regrettably before playing ME1. I've got a copy of ME1 on order and intend to play it mostly on the Paragon side of morality, but will use that save file on my second playthrough of ME2, which I intend to go Renegade through and through. Will this make my experience funky?
 
[quote name='bsmiff']So I'm just about done with my first playthrough of ME2, regrettably before playing ME1. I've got a copy of ME1 on order and intend to play it mostly on the Paragon side of morality, but will use that save file on my second playthrough of ME2, which I intend to go Renegade through and through. Will this make my experience funky?[/QUOTE]
Just RP that Shepard's death changed his outlook on life. Kind of makes sense actually. :)
 
Replaying ME1 right now as a sentry sentinel. Never tried that class in the original, but it's probably my favourite in ME2.

1. A bit uglier than I recall, but that's how she always goes.
2. What's-his-name has improved as a voice actor. Seems shakier in ME1 than 2. In fact, I think half the times I had problems with the characterization of Shepherd in ME2 came from animation more than voice.
3. Holy shit Ashley's an asshole. You'd let your dog die, Ashley? Really? fuck you. fuck that. I'm the biggest fucking coward I know, and even I wouldn't do that.
You are so getting nuked
.
4. Sabotage! Overload! Damping! Repeat!
5. Jesus Christ not having melee on its own button is annoying.
 
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Hey guys big question. I played ME2 thoroughly on 360 and now I'm replaying on PS3. I chose in the interactive comic to romance Liara and save Kaidan.

About three hours into the game I went to my cabin and noticed Kaidan was in my picture frame. I want to keep my romance with Liara and see what can happen in LotSB. Is it messed up that Kaidan is in my picture frame instead of Liara? I can't remember too well what it was like on 360 since I played it at launch last year.
 
[quote name='jacobeid']Hey guys big question. I played ME2 thoroughly on 360 and now I'm replaying on PS3. I chose in the interactive comic to romance Liara and save Kaidan.

About three hours into the game I went to my cabin and noticed Kaidan was in my picture frame. I want to keep my romance with Liara and see what can happen in LotSB. Is it messed up that Kaidan is in my picture frame instead of Liara? I can't remember too well what it was like on 360 since I played it at launch last year.[/QUOTE]Since I'm assuming you're a female Shepard, the picture frame would be who you had a romance with in ME1, which should be Liara if you romanced her. That sounds like a bug if Kaiden is in the picture frame, so that would be that you romanced him.
 
I'm sure someone has mentioned this before, possibly in this thread, but can I just take a moment to vent on how irritating it is when people insist the Illusive Man is called that because "he's hard to track down and/or catch and it is difficult to discern his motivations", as someone painstakingly explained to me recently? While that description is accurate, he's the ILLUSIVE Man, not the ELUSIVE Man. All his name indicates is that he is illusory, aka a hologram; not solid. You can obviously attribute all sorts of embedded meaning to that, but only if you first prove to me you know the difference between "illusive" and "elusive", since clearly many people don't.
 
In fairness, while elusive and illusive are indeed different words, the meanings are at least in the same ballpark. It's not like "desert" and "dessert" or something.
 
I think it is finally time for me to finish this game. I'm 13 hours in and I kind of just stopped playing.... not sure why. I liked ME1 but didn't love it and I kind of felt the same way about ME2 but after picking it up again last night I think I'm hooked. I'm not that far into it - I don't have the entire crew yet or anything and only one character is loyal so I think there are a ton of missions left. I'm having trouble with the combat I think or maybe I'm not getting that much out of it but I just take cover, pop up and shoot and then unleash a fireball-type biotic - rinse and repeat until enemies are killed. There doesn't seem to be too much strategy - I am playing on Normal though. I don't know...
 
[quote name='javeryh']I think it is finally time for me to finish this game. I'm 13 hours in and I kind of just stopped playing.... not sure why. I liked ME1 but didn't love it and I kind of felt the same way about ME2 but after picking it up again last night I think I'm hooked. I'm not that far into it - I don't have the entire crew yet or anything and only one character is loyal so I think there are a ton of missions left. I'm having trouble with the combat I think or maybe I'm not getting that much out of it but I just take cover, pop up and shoot and then unleash a fireball-type biotic - rinse and repeat until enemies are killed. There doesn't seem to be too much strategy - I am playing on Normal though. I don't know...[/QUOTE]I think we need a little more info on where you're at. ;)

Ideally, you want all the crew members on-board and loyal and that alone should get you to 20+ hours worth of time before going to the endgame.

Since you're tossing around something that looks like a fireball, that could be multiple different classes, since that sounds like it could be Warp, Singularity or numerous other powers.

I know my first "complete" playthrough of ME2 was over 55 hours, though that includes all three of the paid DLC packs. Removing those, that would be 50 hours of time into the game.

I know that Normal was still somewhat challenging for me, though moving up to Hardcore picks it up a notch because everyone has shields and that's an issue for biotics use. I'm certainly enjoying Hardcore more than Normal, though it's still frustrating sometimes when I get gang killed for one reason or another in the same spot over and over again.
 
[quote name='Tybee']I'm sure someone has mentioned this before, possibly in this thread, but can I just take a moment to vent on how irritating it is when people insist the Illusive Man is called that because "he's hard to track down and/or catch and it is difficult to discern his motivations", as someone painstakingly explained to me recently? While that description is accurate, he's the ILLUSIVE Man, not the ELUSIVE Man. All his name indicates is that he is illusory, aka a hologram; not solid. You can obviously attribute all sorts of embedded meaning to that, but only if you first prove to me you know the difference between "illusive" and "elusive", since clearly many people don't.[/QUOTE]
I've heard everything from the Illusion Man to the Abusive Man, so I know what you mean about preferring the correct version of his name :lol:

He got the name after Shanxi when he sent an email that circulated the extranet, calling for people to rise up to Cerberus' cause of ensuring humanity's place amongst the alien civilizations. The Alliance wanted to pass these ideals off as something that was imaginary, deceptive, and not genuine; thus they branded him the title of the "illusive man". This was long before he built his reputation on being the elusive leader of Cerberus that we meet in Mass Effect 2.

:cool:
 
[quote name='javeryh']I think it is finally time for me to finish this game. I'm 13 hours in and I kind of just stopped playing.... not sure why. I liked ME1 but didn't love it and I kind of felt the same way about ME2 but after picking it up again last night I think I'm hooked. I'm not that far into it - I don't have the entire crew yet or anything and only one character is loyal so I think there are a ton of missions left. I'm having trouble with the combat I think or maybe I'm not getting that much out of it but I just take cover, pop up and shoot and then unleash a fireball-type biotic - rinse and repeat until enemies are killed. There doesn't seem to be too much strategy - I am playing on Normal though. I don't know...[/QUOTE]

[quote name='shrike4242']I think we need a little more info on where you're at. ;)[/QUOTE]+1

I'd at least need to know what class you are and where you're at in the game, in order to get an idea of how to help you out (since the classes play way differently, and each level has its own strategies).
 
OK...
I have Miranda, Jack, Garrus, Grunt, Jacob, Mordin and Zaeed so far. I just completed my 5th side mission (unlocking the achievement) for finding a mission by scanning. It was the one where the VI computer or something went nuts and there were a couple of puzzles you have to solve to get out of the space station. Right before that I did the mission where the terminator-looking robots attacked you after you find a crashed spaceship that they were on as cargo. Once you turn off the beacon the robots come out as you fight your way back to the ship. I'm not sure exactly where I am in terms of the main story - I'm pretty sure I just beat the Horizon mission.

I can't remember what the name of the biotic is that I'm using. It leaves an orange trail wherever it goes. I also NEVER tell my squadmates what to do. Other than positioning them with the d-pad I don't even know how to control them!

EDIT: I'm playing as an Infiltrator.
 
Aah my specialty.

You're about 1/3 of the way through the game if you just did Horizon. You still have to recruit 4 team members, do another collector scentric mission, then the game opens up a bit ... But we would all HIGHLY suggest you do the loyalty missions for each character. Not only does it help you survive and be able to take more people into ME 3, the loyalty missions are the best missions in the game. Just remember on the loyalty missions one squadmate choice is locked in and you only get to choose 1 extra. Also we would highly suggest doing all of the defensive/offensive ship upgrades. The find Reaper IFF mission should be the start of the end game for you, everything else (loyalty/upgrade wise) should be done before then. The side quests will still be there after the end of the game. I think there were something like 17 N7 missions in ME 2.

When you get to the collector ship and have a choice of training for a new weapon class, get the shotgun.

My main team for FemShep was myself as an Infiltrator, Miranda, and Jacob. Jacob can be swapped out for different people but you and Miranda should be the main two. You can burn armor and she can overload shields and warp barriers (and warp also damages armor.)

I would have the third be some rotation of Garrus, Jacob, Thane, and Kasumi (if you bought her DLC.) Garrus helps you in missions with a lot of mechs/geth since he has overload also, Jacob or Thane help you with biotics (Thane also has warp,) and Kasumi's flashbang grenades help against the collectors or anyone with a lot of powers you want to shut off.
 
And, since nobody else said it: you're not using a biotic. Infiltrators don't come with biotics. You're using the tech ability "Incinerate". Mordin also has it. Good ability to have since it stops krogan and vorcha from regenerating health.
 
Thanks for the tips... are there any "missable" missions? Also, is it possible to make all of your team members loyal on one playthrough? I'm going to try and do a couple of loyalty missions tonight before trying to recruit anyone else. I've bought every available upgrades so far (I think - I can't buy anything else at the terminal in Mordin's office).

[quote name='The Crotch']And, since nobody else said it: you're not using a biotic. Infiltrators don't come with biotics. You're using the tech ability "Incinerate". Mordin also has it. Good ability to have since it stops krogan and vorcha from regenerating health.[/QUOTE]

LOL - shows you what I know! I think you are right - Incinerate rings a bell to me. It comes in quite handy because you can lock on to an enemy, fire it and start aiming somewhere else with the gun.
 
Missable missions: No, though the order you do things in can change the ending you get.

Loyalty: yes, though (minor spoiler)
it's also possible to permanently lose a squadmate's loyalty after you've gained it. You'll know the situations when you see 'em.

Abilities: Most abilities work like that, and that's the main reason for wanting to micromanage your teammates. You can have them unload their abilities on a target instantly. Remember, so long as you can hit it, your squadmates can hit it. Doubly good for setting up biotic combos.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']
When you get to the collector ship and have a choice of training for a new weapon class, get the shotgun.
[/QUOTE]

Uh... what? No. No no no. This is wrong. Take the sniper rifle. Why would you pass over the Widow, one of the strongest weapons in the game, for a shotgun of all things? A cloaked headshot with that monster of a sniper rifle will one shot enemies, even on Insanity. SMGs can more than handle any close quarters combat an Infiltrator may get into, especially the Locust which you grab in Kasumi's loyalty mission.

As for squad makeup, Miranda can handle any type of defense. On top of that, she gives your squad a boost to weapon damage. She's always a great choice to bring along. Other solid choices include Mordin (for Incinerate against armor), Zaeed (for squad disruptor ammo if your Infiltrator isn't spec'd into it), Kasumi (for both her backstab and flashbang), and to a lesser extent, Tali (for her combat drone to draw fire away from you and let you line up shots, although the cooldown is long).
Later in the game, you'll also get a squadmate with a combat drone as well.
 
Yes you can make all of your squadmates loyal in a playthrough, it's necessary to get the no one left behind achievement. There are two instances after particular loyalty missions where crew members will argue and unless you're 100% paragon or renegade, then 1 of the 2 will no longer be loyal. If you get 100% either way, you can soothe them over after the fact. If you didn't max out the stat that gives you bonus to health/shields/moralty bonuses, then retrain and do that, as the bonuses may make you 100% since it's a multiplier for all of your past decisions. Just make sure when you get to level 4 you do the choice that gives larger paragon/renegade bonus.

One of the loyalty missions where a rift can develop is
Jack
and the other ... well it's a MAJOR spoiler so I won't post it but it's MUCH later into the game.
 
[quote name='Arikado']
Uh... what? No. No no no. This is wrong. Take the sniper rifle. Why would you pass over the Widow, one of the strongest weapons in the game, for a shotgun of all things? A cloaked headshot with that monster of a sniper rifle will one shot enemies, even on Insanity. SMGs can more than handle any close quarters combat an Infiltrator may get into, especially the Locust which you grab in Kasumi's loyalty mission.
[/QUOTE]

Well I found having the shotgun to be VERY useful when enemies got REALLY close, especially Krogan or Husks/Abominations for its power and ability to knock enemies off their feet. If you don't take the shotgun, then take the Widow Sniper Rifle. I REALLY hate it's low ammo capacity though.

Plus I bought the Firepower Pack so I have the Geth Shotgun which is one of the best weapons in the game so I guess that affected my decision also.
 
Should I be varying who I take on missions with me? So far I've only taken Jacob and Miranda on all of the missions except the one loyalty mission I did (for Garrus, I think). I've been playing as a Paragon the entire time although I've had a couple of instances where I got some Renegade points unintentionally...
 
I'd echo the idea of taking Miranda on a number of missions, as I've found bringing Miranda and Garrus on missions a useful combination because of having Overload x2 with that pairing. Plus, Garrus has an assault rifle and sniper rifle for long-range damage. Any squad member that provides squad ammo types is useful because everyone has it available to them.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Yes you can make all of your squadmates loyal in a playthrough, it's necessary to get the no one left behind achievement.[/QUOTE]
Actually, you can do that without an all-loyal squad. You still need a lot of loyal people, though, and you have to do things right.

EDIT: As far as squadmates... Miranda is good. Always good. Anyone with a sniper rifle (Garrus, Zaeed, etc.) is good, because there's a bug with the incisor rifle (if you have it) that makes them far better with it than with any other gun. On normal difficulty, Jack would probably be pretty good, 'cause shockwave will ruin the day of all those non-armoured, non-shielded enemies.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Actually, you can do that without an all-loyal squad. You still need a lot of loyal people, though, and you have to do things just right.[/QUOTE]Depends if you want the achievements for it on the first playthrough or not.

I always go for a completely loyal squad, mainly since I don't know how it'll play out in ME3 if they're not loyal by the endgame.

If you're going for that level of fine-tuning to pull out the no one left behind without an all-loyal squad, I'd reserve that for another playthrough.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Should I be varying who I take on missions with me? So far I've only taken Jacob and Miranda on all of the missions except the one loyalty mission I did (for Garrus, I think). I've been playing as a Paragon the entire time although I've had a couple of instances where I got some Renegade points unintentionally...[/QUOTE]

If you have just a few people you like that's fine. I would suggest when you get to a port to at least get the people you don't use to go with you at first, arrange their powers, then immediately turn around to the shelter, request new party members, and repeat until everyone has used up all the level up points they can.

Don't worry about getting some renegade, 75% of the interrupts are renegade so that's where I got most of mine (my FemShep was 100% paragon and about 40% renegade.) Just do ALL of the paragon interrupts and do the major choices paragon and if you fill up that power I mentioned, all the accumulated choices with the 25% bonus should get you 100% paragon.
 
What class are you javeryh?

My general tactic is I want one solider type, one biotic and one tech specialist.

My main playthrough was as a male soldier, so I usually had either Samara/Jack/Miranda around for biotics, and Tali for the tech slot.

Second play through was a female adept, so I'd keep Tali or Legion and have Garrus/Jacob/Grunt with me as the soldier type.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Actually, you can do that without an all-loyal squad. You still need a lot of loyal people, though, and you have to do things right.

EDIT: As far as squadmates... Miranda is good. Always good. Anyone with a sniper rifle (Garrus, Zaeed, etc.) is good, because there's a bug with the incisor rifle (if you have it) that makes them far better with it than with any other gun. On normal difficulty, Jack would probably be pretty good, 'cause shockwave will ruin the day of all those non-armoured, non-shielded enemies.[/QUOTE]

Really? I may end up buying that weapon pack then. What about Shepard using the Incisor?
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']What class are you javeryh?

My general tactic is I want one solider type, one biotic and one tech specialist.

My main playthrough was as a male soldier, so I usually had either Samara/Jack/Miranda around for biotics, and Tali for the tech slot.

Second play through was a female adept, so I'd keep Tali or Legion and have Garrus/Jacob/Grunt with me as the soldier type.[/QUOTE]

He said he was an infiltrator, that's also why I said it was my specialty (FemShep is infiltrator, my male Shepard is vanguard.) :)
 
Speaking of rifles, is there any reason not to be using the Mattock as your assault rifle? I picked up assault rifle skill for my femShep Adept, and it's been a heck of a rifle, save a low ammo capacity. It's done well on armored/hardened enemies like krogan, larger geth and YMIR mechs, especially when coupled with Warp, Singularity and Energy Drain.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Just do ALL of the paragon interrupts and do the major choices paragon and if you fill up that power I mentioned, all the accumulated choices with the 25% bonus should get you 100% paragon.[/QUOTE]
Eh... not quite. Bioware was being pretty deceptive with the renegade/paragon system. You're not actually gaining paragon and renegade points when it says you are. What you're doing is not losing them.

Rather than starting at empty and building up, it's more accurate to say that you start at full and gradually lose points as you do missions. There was a chance to do a paragon action and you didn't do it? You lose five paragon points. You did it? You keep those five points.

What this means is that it's damn near impossible to truly max out, even once that little bar hits the end. What this also means is that if you fall behind - go on a renegade streak with an otherwise paragon character, say - and can't get a major conversation option because of it, no amount of alignment grinding will save you.

If I could change anything about the series, it'd be how paragon/renegade pigeon-hole you. In order to get more conversation options, you have to make your character more one-dimensional. I mean, yes, sticking with one side "flows" together well, but if you see something interesting or "in-character" for your Shepherd from the opposite aisle, then picking it comes at the risk of fucking up your character's interactions five hours down the line.
And if I could change a second thing, I'd make the "speed up dialogue" key and the "choose next line of dialogue" key different fucking keys. I have a whole fucking keyboard, Bioware. What the fuck, y'all?
fucking Albertans. More money than brains...

EDIT:

On the incisor: the bonus damage is for squadmates only.

Or rather, I should say, squadmates don't fucking suck with it, unlike with other weapons. With all other weapons (to my knowledge), squadmates suffer a very large penalty to damage. Not so with the incisor.

I don't particularly care to use it for my main character, though.
[quote name='shrike4242']If you're going for that level of fine-tuning to pull out the no one left behind without an all-loyal squad, I'd reserve that for another playthrough.[/QUOTE]
Not terribly hard.
Just don't use disloyal people, more-or-less. If you sided with Legion, then don't use Tali as your tech specialist, don't have her accompany you in the final fight, etc.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Speaking of rifles, is there any reason not to be using the Mattock as your assault rifle? I picked up assault rifle skill for my femShep Adept, and it's been a heck of a rifle, save a low ammo capacity. It's done well on armored/hardened enemies like krogan, larger geth and YMIR mechs, especially when coupled with Warp, Singularity and Energy Drain.[/QUOTE]

Because of the Locust SMG I feel like you should always go sniper with an Adept just to open up the range of your weapons.

Also, is the claymore shotgun better than the M-22 Eviscerator?
 
[quote name='RichMeisterMan']Because of the Locust SMG I feel like you should always go sniper with an Adept just to open up the range of your weapons.

Also, is the claymore shotgun better than the M-22 Eviscerator?[/QUOTE]The Locust gives me longer range than a standard SMG, and it's been upgraded enough to give some punch to armor and criticals. That works mid-range, and the Phalanx works well in short range. The Mattock does well at mid-to-long range, and it packs a heavy punch. Ammo is better than a sniper rifle, and as I usually have Garrus with me, I already have a sniper with me. Now that I've picked up Thane, he'll probably come along for the ride as well, so again, already have a sniper rifle.

I went assault rifle because for long range, I'm usually using Warp or Singularity and the Mattock seems like the right compromise to get some sniper distance and punch.

For shotguns, it's either Eviscerator or Geth Plasma Shotgun.
 
Have any of you guys bought the ME2 soundtrack? I'm tempted, but I'm really hoping for a CD version that would include all the DLC as well.
 
Alright javeryh, step into my office and I'll guide you towards the path of Infiltrator enlightenment.

First off, let's talk about your Infiltrator build. Ideally, there's two different directions you can take the Infiltrator class - Sniper/Controller and CQC (Close-Quarter Combatant). I've really only put a good amount of time into the Sniper/Controller class, because the CQC variant just feels fundamentally wrong to me (I'll explain why in the weapon part of this post).

For a Sniper/Controller set up, your priorities should be: maxing out Operative (specialize in Assassin for greater damage output, Agent for longer Tactical Cloaks), maxing out Tactical Cloak (Assassination Cloak for greater damage output, Enhanced Cloak for longer Tactical Cloaks), maxing out Incinerate (go for Incineration Blast, as you can't upgrade its radius from research), getting Disruptor Ammo up to at least level 3 (for the enemy weapon overheating bonuses), and dumping the rest of your points into Cryo Ammo and whatever bonus ability you currently have. Under normal conditions, I'd suggest a bonus ability and give it priority over Cryo Ammo, but you don't yet have access to the main bonus abilities that the Infiltrator class benefits from.

For a CQC Infiltrator class, the same priorities apply except that you'll want to stick with the Agent specialization (for Operative) and Enhanced Cloak specialization (for Tactical Cloak), as you'll start to depend on that extra time to either move in for the kill or run away if you get in trouble.

As a recap, here's the typical Sniper/Controller build vs. the CQC Infiltrator build:

[Sniper/Controller]
Disruptor Ammo - 4 (Squad)
Cryo Ammo - 4 (Squad)
Tactical Cloak - 4 (Assassination Cloak)
Incinerate - 4 (Incineration Blast)
AI Hacking - 1
Operative - 4 (Assassin)

[CQC]
Disruptor Ammo - 4 (Squad)
Cryo Ammo - 4 (Squad)
Tactical Cloak - 4 (Enhanced Cloak)
Incinerate - 4 (Incineration Blast)
AI Hacking - 1
Operative - 4 (Agent)

I know number-wise they look rather similar but, in terms of what weapons they use and general gameplay tactics, they couldn't be more different.

When it comes down to weaponry, the Sniper/Controller build is the only variant that makes sense to me. The only bonuses you'll be gaining for the shotgun with a maxed Infiltrator is +9% damage...that's it. With the sniper, you'll gain that +9% damage as well as sniper time slowdown and sniper time duration. Obtaining the M-98 Widow should be an Infiltrator's #1 priority, in terms of weaponry. On the Normal difficulty, you should absolutely annihilate any enemy you come across.

Regarding general gameplay tips, there's a number of things you want to keep in mind for either variant of the Infiltrator. For the Sniper/Controller class, you need to live by the 4 F's (coined by someone else on the BioWare boards): Find them, "fix" them, flank them, and finish them. Simply put, you need to find your enemies (pause-and-play strategy; look around the battlefield and determine where all the enemies are), "fix" them to a certain location (using the sniper and your squadmates to pin them behind cover, clump them all preferably in one general area), use the Tactical Cloak to flank them and set up shots (starting with the strongest/most-armored enemy), and finish them off. Also, keep in mind that you want your cooldown meter open at all times (or you won't be able to use Tactical Cloak), so use Incinerate sparingly - mostly if you see 2+ enemies side-by-side. If you get caught in a close quarters fight, switch to the SMG (hopefully you have the M-12 Locust from Kasumi's DLC mission).

The main idea with the CQC Infiltrator is to take out heavily armored enemies from afar with the sniper, and then switch to the shotgun as you aggressively push forward to finish off the other enemies in the area. This build is heavily dependent on your ability to maneuver the battlefield from cover to cover while you're taking out enemies up close. This build requires a lot of experience and familiarity with the game to be super effective.

As far as squadmates go, Miranda is your best friend on any/all missions. I'd suggest having her alongside you at all times. The third slot is dependent on the mission - more specifically, the enemies you'll be fighting in each mission. For synthetic enemies, you may want Garrus or Kasumi with you (for the extra Overload). For organic enemies, Mordin, Jack, and Samara (who you may only have the dossier for, at the moment) are all good options. Against Collectors, I prefer Kasumi because of her Flashbang Grenade's ability to stun enemy (read: Harbinger-controlled enemy) weapons. Grunt's usually a solid choice for a 3rd just about any time, as he gets a lot of attention (allowing you to flank) and rarely does anyone slip past him to get to you.

You should be set, for now. If you need video tips, I suppose that I can dig a couple of them up for you.

All of that to say: Infiltrators suck. Vanguard or bust. (right, Kado?) :cool:

[quote name='erehwon']Have any of you guys bought the ME2 soundtrack? I'm tempted, but I'm really hoping for a CD version that would include all the DLC as well.[/QUOTE]All of them.
 
Wow - awesome. Thanks for the write-up. I just did Jacob's loyalty mission - it was awesome.

I'm not sure I understand how to control the development of my character though... I accumulate experience points under the various categories (Disruptor Ammo, Cryo Ammo, Tactical Cloak, Incinerate, etc.) but how do I control the subcategories like Assassin vs. Agent to control whether I go the Sniper/Controller or CQC route?

Also, I have a ton of money - what is that for?
 
[quote name='javeryh']Wow - awesome. Thanks for the write-up. I just did Jacob's loyalty mission - it was awesome.

I'm not sure I understand how to control the development of my character though... I accumulate experience points under the various categories (Disruptor Ammo, Cryo Ammo, Tactical Cloak, Incinerate, etc.) but how do I control the subcategories like Assassin vs. Agent to control whether I go the Sniper/Controller or CQC route?[/quote]The specializations are only going to come into play at level 4 of each ability. Levels 1-3 are there to further reduce cooldown times, increase the amount of damage for a particular power, and/or give you other listed bonus. Level 4 branches off into two separate fields for an ability to fully evolve - usually a decision between power duration and more Paragon/Renegade bonus or more damage output (as is the case here).

[quote name='javeryh']Also, I have a ton of money - what is that for?[/QUOTE]Each main world (Illium, Omega, Citadel Wards, etc.) has shops of some sort where you buy upgrades, equipment, accessories, etc. for you and your squad (and even your quarters on the Normandy). Check around the worlds I mentioned for various shops, there's lots of goodies to be had there.
 
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