Mass Effect - Gen. Discussion & Info - Pinnacle Station DLC Now Available 400pts

[quote name='pittpizza']Yeah Jedi, what the hell are you talkin about???

Why would anybody want to read the guide the entire way through before playing? Wouldnt it spoil everythnig? Put it in spoilers if you have to but I have no idea what you're saying. I'm level 15 and almost done with Noveria so dont spoil anything for me either.[/quote]

I don't think the guide that COMES with the game is going to contain any major spoilers. I agree with Jedi that it is a good idea to read it first because Mass Effect does the worst job of any game in recent history of instructing you on the controls/gameplay while playing.
 
[quote name='SpecTrE3353']I don't think the guide that COMES with the game is going to contain any major spoilers. I agree with Jedi that it is a good idea to read it first because Mass Effect does the worst job of any game in recent history of instructing you on the controls/gameplay while playing.[/quote]


OOOOOhhhh okay. I thought he meant a walkthrough not the MANUAL. The Manual that comes with the game is not a GUIDE like you would find in a FAQ walkthrough. I misunderstood.

I borrowed it from a freind and he didnt give me the manual and it sucked because ME's tutorials are nonexistent. I am 11 hrs in though and think I pretty much have it down pat.

TIP: Combat is the only time where this is really a problem, hold down RB to pause the action, you can still look around and aim though with RB held down. Just point at the enemy and select what power you want to use and zap em. If you're a soldier (or not) make effective use of cover and you should be good.
 
Anybody else thinking they should have put the content from the manual into the Codex? Even though the game does a terrible job of showing you how to play the game, I couldn't bring myself to read the manual (I never read Xbox 360 manuals).

Kind of weird to put several hours into the game but still have that "... am I doing this right? What's that thing for? Why is this happening?" feeling.
 
[quote name='looploop']Don't worry about that. Before you know it you'll be rich beyond need and have so much armor and equipment you'll dread having to slowly wade through the menu to clear it so you can pick up new stuff.

Halfbent doesn't have it quite right.
You're missing tech points in your charm and intimidate skill lines. However, you can only upgrade those skill lines by accumulating more paragon points and renegade points. So, yes, you need more paragon/renegade points and more xp points as well.

Once you have the skills you can choose red and blue whenever you like.[/quote]

That's strange, I'm almost 100% positive that I've had them become ungreyed in the same conversation after going back through and doing a different order of questions I've asked. Without putting anything else into charm/intimidate.
 
[quote name='halfbent']That's strange, I'm almost 100% positive that I've had them become ungreyed in the same conversation after going back through and doing a different order of questions I've asked. Without putting anything else into charm/intimidate.[/quote]

I had my charm maxed in a couple situations, and I had the charm option grayed out -- so I think you're right.
 
thats more likely a bug...
the way the Charm/Intimidate speech options work is actualy described in the skills screen, if you highlight Charm or Intimidate you will see it says each point gives you access to NEW convo options

its not what path you choose in the conversation it relys on your tech points
 
I finished my second playthrough the other day with maxed charm/intimidate from the get-go and didn't see any grayed out options the whole time. curious =/
 
[quote name='Cmd Zoidberg']thats more likely a bug...
the way the Charm/Intimidate speech options work is actualy described in the skills screen, if you highlight Charm or Intimidate you will see it says each point gives you access to NEW convo options

its not what path you choose in the conversation it relys on your tech points[/quote]

This was my understanding of it as well. Basically I am just going to keep putting the maximum amount in charm. If you're playing paragon its useless to put pts in intimidate, though it did once for me when I leveled up and Im kinda pissed about it.

Wouldnt it be cool if you could rearrange the points you already used. Like you could remove em, and maybe tey wouldnt be available throughout the next level (as punishment) but you can get them back the next time you level up? just an idea.

BTW, I am still looking for opinions for the best way to level up an engineer.

What skills did you guys focus on, what skills did you ignore?
WHat class are you guys?
What ammo types hurt the Geth the most? what ammo types hurt the Rachni the most?
 
well, the only problem with getting points back later is that you can only level up to 60.. so eventually you wouldn't be able to get them back at all, unless they just decide to be nice and release all removed points at 60.

My class is an infiltrator. I powered up Sabotage and Overload, so I could paralyze most enemies and take them out quickly. I mostly ignored Damping because Biotics encounters were so rare compared to gun battles.
I also put a lot of points into Unity, which was something of a waste in hindsight, because my partners never died very often.
I put more points into Sniper Rifle my second play through. I must say, it was much more satisfying putting down suckers with one shot and seeing their bodies fly than it was wailing on them with pistol pellets.

As for damaging Geth, Tungsten Shells work well. They're specially made to damage synthetic lifeforms. And for Rachni, Shredder Shells, since they're made for organic life.
Aside from that, as far as I can tell, the other ammo types just reflect personal preference. I used toxic ammo most of the time, since it seemed equally effective on everything.

EDIT:
Since you have it, I'd recommend leveling up AI Hacking. It's a beautiful thing to see discord in the robot family.
 
Thanks loopx2, this is exactly the info I was looking for.

Yeah the synthetic and organic is what confused me for a bit. i wasnt sure which was chich but I guess Geth is synth and Krogan, spiders, anything animalish is organic.

So many options to choose from that i can kind of understand how it is a pain to figure out who to equip with what armor/ammo/weapons/skillpts etc. This is the fun of an RPG i guess so i don't mind that at the end of the game, several full hours will be spent navigating the pause screen.

And the CODEX!? WTF!? I think all of the writers on strike went over to work on ME or some shit b/c there is sooooooooo much info in there.
 
One ammo type I MUST implore you NEVER to use is the High Explosive mod (not for grenades, for the actual weapons)

they over heat your weapons too easily and dont even make an impressive explosion

Personaly my weapons run up is

Assault Rifle: Cryo Rounds, so that I can just hold the trigger without fear of over heating....ever

Shotgun: Inferno Rounds, with the shotgun you cant really achieve rapid fire, so over heating isnt too much of an issue, and the continuous damage caused by inferno rounds will ensure death to any enemy who trys to seek cover

Sniper Rifle: Phasic Rounds, The actual power of a sniper is enough as is, but adding phasic rounds allows them to cut through literaly any shield with little problem (very useful for higher difficulty play throughs, when enemies get hugh shield boosts)

Pistol: Tungsten Shells, I rarely use my pistol being as Im a soldier, but when I do Im usualy ambushed by geth, and the pistol is the fastest weapon you can draw so I can fire off a few shots while I seek cover (I tried a variation with High Explosive Rounds, -if- youre a dead eye shot youre good for 3 shots with those, but I dont reccomend it)

Grenades: High Explosive X, every other type of grenade mod is purely for show, this puppy is the badest of the bad
 
Can anyone help me out with the achievement where you have to get all the information about the races. I read and talked to everyone in the Citadel and I did not get the achievement, am I missing something?
 
You have to get some information from aliens in other places besides the citadel. I am pretty sure speaking with a few people on the other planets is necessary.
 
[quote name='Cmd Zoidberg']One ammo type I MUST implore you NEVER to use is the High Explosive mod (not for grenades, for the actual weapons)

they over heat your weapons too easily and dont even make an impressive explosion[/quote]

I disagree. The high explosive mod on the pistol is pretty fun if you want to simulate having a shotgun but don't have the skills required.
 
I havent gotten the high explosives yet. Right now I only have phasic rounds, radioactive rounds, toxic rounds, armor piercing rounds, and maybe one or two others.

What armor upgrades did you use? I have an upgrade on Liara that makes her abilities recharge alot faster and I think thats best for her. On shepard I have somethign that give +10 shields, 10% faster cooldown and +10 mobility (WTF is mobility, i dont seem to be moving faster?).
 
i cant remember the name of the mod but its the shield X one, i wore two on shepards armour

Mobility affects the characters ability to move in their armour, more mobility = more accuracy whilst running with a weapon
 
[quote name='mrelusive']Slapping on High Explosive on a sniper rifle is tons of fun though. :>[/quote]

yep, my Garrus uses that I love watching enemys fly across the room.
 
[quote name='jkircos']Can anyone help me out with the achievement where you have to get all the information about the races. I read and talked to everyone in the Citadel and I did not get the achievement, am I missing something?[/quote]

You need to get the Prothean entry during the convo with Nilus and Anderson before Eden Prime. Elcor and Volus you can get by talking to the respective races in the Embassies on the Citadal. Rachni and something else come from two seperate computer terminals on the Citadel (the ones with the VI unit). Krogan, Quarian, and Turian come from Wrex, Tali, and Garrus. The others shoudl pop up when you meet the council.
 
[quote name='Jesus_S_Preston']You need to get the Prothean entry during the convo with Nilus and Anderson before Eden Prime. Elcor and Volus you can get by talking to the respective races in the Embassies on the Citadal. Rachni and something else come from two seperate computer terminals on the Citadel (the ones with the VI unit). Krogan, Quarian, and Turian come from Wrex, Tali, and Garrus. The others shoudl pop up when you meet the council.[/quote]

you forgot the Geth, theyre classed as a race also, and I believe the race you couldnt name was the Batarians, its the only race that you dont actualy meet in the game itself
 
I'm dying to know where Mass Effect 2 will go. I'm hoping (spoilers if you haven't finished it)
that you play as the Prothians towards the end of their civilization as they're trying to hold off the Reapers. It could even end with a 50,000 year fast forward that shows galactic civilization rebuilding and concluding with Shepard as a kid looking out into space or something.
 
[quote name='Halo05']
that you play as the Prothians towards the end of their civilization as they're trying to hold off the Reapers. It could even end with a 50,000 year fast forward that shows galactic civilization rebuilding and concluding with Shepard as a kid looking out into space or something.
[/quote]

Hmm, an interesting idea,
but I don't think Bioware will go as far as to have you play as the Protheans, especially since it seems like they were completely massacred without much of an actual fight/resistence. The Reapers quickly gained control of the Citadel, destroying their leaders and cutting off communication with the rest of the galaxy, leaving the majority of the population unaware of what was even going on.

The fast forward thing sounds feasible though, and I think it would look awesome. :)

I really can't wait for Mass Effect 2...Bioware already has the foundation of the game completely set up, now they just have to tweak the gameplay, add new dialouge, and generally fix up any weak points of the game. The sequel should be a huge step forward, and I expect to be blown away as I was with the first. For some reason, my expectations weren't as high as everyone else, but the game completely exceeded mine in every way possible. Sure, some of the sidequests are repetitive, but other than that, I love the gameplay and the speaking has completely spoiled me. Now everytime I play a different game I feel like I have no control over what is going on :lol:. I just hope the Citadel is fully open/fixed/functional by the time ME2 starts, though. It is an amazing place to walk around, and I loved all of the sidequests there.
 
Man i just finished the game and this damn game was fucking Epic....I want more.

This is the first RPG and probably the only RPG im willing to play, it was just too much kickass.

By the time i got to the end, I was killing Geth and Mercs with one shot, had so much sheild protection that i barely even needed to use any of my Biotics, Just running and gunning with the Shotgun and blowing up everything i saw.
The trench run in the upside down citadel was the fucken shit.
I cant wait for a sequal, Or at least im gonna be picking up the book everyone was talking about.
 
my theory on the sequel is:

that the Geth, who those who have played through the game will know revere the Reapers as gods, try to build their own relay to link into dark space

you will play as a new hero or maybe Shepard again and travel past the Veil into Geth teritory on a full scale war path, blowing up shit as you go

however this plan could also be used as an expansion pack also so ME2 could be something completely different, maybe Mass Effect 2 will actualy be based on the book, Revelation, which gives you a link into Andersons past before joining the Normandy, before the First Contact War (I wont spoil it anymore :p)

anyway...with Mass Effect the possibilities for the sequel are endless, being as there is so much left unexplained that they can fill in, Im sure I remeber reading in the codex somewhere something like only under 10% of the galaxy has been explored, so think how much they can do with that extra 90%
 
I just spoke with Liara and Ashley last night after finishing Art Tau and Noveria (fight with Benezia was challenging but fun). Liara and I had some romance going but all Ashley takled about was her stupid family.

Sometimes when I'm holding I really like the story and listenign to teh conversatiosn and taking my time to carefully choose responses but other times when its dry I just get bored and don't have the patience.

You know how you can hit X to skip some of the dialogue, well this doesnt affect any XP or paragon pts you get right? What about when you go into teh same conversation and choose different responses, does it just count what you chose last, what you chose first? How does this work?
 
[quote name='joe2187']
The trench run in the upside down citadel was the fucken shit.
[/quote]

The best part about that area is how when you use Lift on people, they just float away into space. Hilarious.
 
[quote name='Jesus_S_Preston']You need to get the Prothean entry during the convo with Nilus and Anderson before Eden Prime. Elcor and Volus you can get by talking to the respective races in the Embassies on the Citadal. Rachni and something else come from two seperate computer terminals on the Citadel (the ones with the VI unit). Krogan, Quarian, and Turian come from Wrex, Tali, and Garrus. The others shoudl pop up when you meet the council.[/QUOTE]

So if I missed that already, I can not get the achievement...grrr...
 
Finally bought this game after renting it once from my local B&M store from Gamestop. I went to a Gamestop in another town to look for a Digital Devil Saga they had in stock then "mysteriously" lost on my way to the store and saw for some reason this store had the limited edition on sale for some reason so I decided to buy it. Now I can go for all the achievements.
 
Just finished the game, wow really good story! I also got the game for $33
It was $53 on newegg and when it arrived the case was damaged but the game was in perfect shape, 5 mins after contacting newegg they refunded me with $20 just because the case was damaged, good deal:)
 
if you enjoy the story then i HIGHLY reccomend that you guys also seek out the prequel book, Mass Effect: Revelation

if you dont like books, well....
 
The seemingly endless side missions are starting to wear on me, I'm contemplating skippin em and just finishing up Feros then Virmire. I'm almost scared to go back to the citadel b/c so many people will ask me for shit and I just can't say no (paragon and all).
 
[quote name='Cmd Zoidberg']if you enjoy the story then i HIGHLY reccomend that you guys also seek out the prequel book, Mass Effect: Revelation

if you dont like books, well....[/quote]

Probably a pretty easy assumption that someone would like both, Drew wrote both. ;)
 
I heard that you had up until the end of Eden Prime to set the game to hardcore difficulty in order to get the achievement. I started the game, realized that it was set to normal after landing on Eden Prime, and then changed the difficulty. Am I ok or do I need to start over?
 
[quote name='Sockey']I heard that you had up until the end of Eden Prime to set the game to hardcore difficulty in order to get the achievement. I started the game, realized that it was set to normal after landing on Eden Prime, and then changed the difficulty. Am I ok or do I need to start over?[/quote]

You're fine as long as you changed the setting BEFORE leaving Eden Prime.
 
[quote name='doraemonkerpal']You're fine as long as you changed the setting BEFORE leaving Eden Prime.[/quote]

I did and it still didn't register that I finished the game on Hardcore. :/ Glitch I suppose.
 
Thats a bummer looploop, did you re access the difficulty setting at any tiem past eden prime? If so that may have done it.

So am I the only one who thinks the side missions and assignments are a wear? I havent thrown ME in for 2 days but I ahve to get back to it tonight. Do i have to do the sidemissions now or can I wait until I've finished Feros? (I already beat Noveria and the Artemus Tau missions).
 
yeah the side missions do tend to drag, its preety much the main complaint youll get about ME
the graphics arent great and nor is the gameplay but both of those factors are made up for by an intense and elaborate world created by the BioWare team

lets hope that future sidemissions (if any are released on XBOX Live) are as intense, detailed and enjoyable as the main plot missions :D
 
I am very disappointed with the cookie cutter sidequests. Shoot, even the boxes in the buildings the badguys are hiding in are in the same places! Oh well. This game is good, but my expectations were too high.
 
In ME's defense: some were good, Im still early in but the side mission on Luna (earth's moon) looked really great and was pretty fun. Its just kind of a pain to go here, scan this mineral, go there, kill 3 baddies, go there decrypt the satellite, go back to the ship, spend the next hour talking......

Good game to play when you're nice and, umm....relaxed.
 
The sidequests definitely were very repetitive and weak except for a few. There were tons of areas in the game that felt like they simply did not have enough time to be properly developed and this was definitely one of them. I would think that ME2 will probably do a better job with this.
 
[quote name='pittpizza']In ME's defense: some were good, Im still early in but the side mission on Luna (earth's moon) looked really great and was pretty fun. Its just kind of a pain to go here, scan this mineral, go there, kill 3 baddies, go there decrypt the satellite, go back to the ship, spend the next hour talking......

Good game to play when you're nice and, umm....relaxed.[/quote]


Mass Effect isnt a shoot 'em up, its an RPG
most people who play Mass Effect should have some patience that most RPG players have.
you dont play RPG games for mass amounts of action, I mean look back at FF VII, turn based bashing? not the most exciting but the story was legendary, and not many people will dare ever speak slander of FF VII

Mass Effect may not have the same magic...but Im just trying to make the point that the people who enjoy RPG's tend to be the calm and relaxed ones
 
[quote name='SpecTrE3353']The sidequests definitely were very repetitive and weak except for a few. There were tons of areas in the game that felt like they simply did not have enough time to be properly developed and this was definitely one of them. I would think that ME2 will probably do a better job with this.[/quote]

I would also hope, but I am pretty sure that most planet in the game will still be undeveloped. Mostly because I think they tried to fit everything they could into the game and there just isn't enough time or room on the disc to make most of the planet into devloped worlds. With the success of ME they will really want to put out a sequel and the demand is very high so they won't use as much time as they did for ME to develop ME2 which renforces my beliefs that it will be a very similiar game to the first. I really think that they should make a better use of the downloadable content ablity of the 360 and add to the game that way, thus not adding to the amount of space used on the disc, I wouldn't even care if ME2 wasn't sold in a disc form and just came in smaller installments over XBL (it is working for the HL series).
 
[quote name='Cmd Zoidberg']Mass Effect isnt a shoot 'em up, its an RPG
most people who play Mass Effect should have some patience that most RPG players have.
you dont play RPG games for mass amounts of action, I mean look back at FF VII, turn based bashing? not the most exciting but the story was legendary, and not many people will dare ever speak slander of FF VII

Mass Effect may not have the same magic...but Im just trying to make the point that the people who enjoy RPG's tend to be the calm and relaxed ones[/quote]

Agreed, I have never played any FF, and pretty much take every opportunity I get to say "Turn based RPG games are not for me." If I hit a button, I want that button to make my character shoot/swing/cast/whatever, not hit a button to choose which option which my character will then execute when its his/her turn.

That being said, ME is approachable for even us (hate to use labels but it conveys my meaning) "fringe RPG fans." In some discussions with buddies I've always talked about how amorphous the term RPG is because in essence, aren't you playing the role of someone/thing in every videogame? Don't you level up in almost every videogame (even if its just upgraded skills?) Hell even bioshock which is more correctly labeled a FPS has alot of RPG elements. Oblivion is an RPG yet it has alot of similarities to a lot of other games.

ME does require more patience than an action packed game and I like that. It takes A WHILE to do some missons and there is simply no rushing through it, not if you listen to the story/dialogue, do the side missions, carefully equip and level up your squad, survey planets, explore landable planets, etc... There is simply no getting around the time consumptive plethora of assignments in ME so if you beat it in 7 hrs you really missed alot.

I have settled into my squad and feel like I'm cheating myself by only using the same two squadmates but it is just so perfectly balanced. I call my squad setup "My Bitches", you can guess I use Ashley and Liara. I'm an engineer so its a perfectly equal balance of Tech, Biotic, and Combat capabilities. I'm only level 25 or 30 (completed Noveria, Art. Tau, and halfway through Feros) and in every encoutner, in the first 3 seconds I have everyone's weapons overloaded, their sheilds debuffed, and if I'm good, everybody is spinning in the air or floating. It's sick.

Should I feel bad that I'm not really using anybody else? Its conveneint to not ahve to worry about equipping more than two squadmatest though, saves a lot of time on teh equipment/squad screens.
 
just a little tip for you engineers...if you first complete the achievement for the Assault Rifle, then when you go to create a new character you can choose an extra skill, in this case the Assault Rifle proficiency

this applys to ALL abilities for ALL classes...(i think)

so if you can get all the achievements for all the techs, biotics and weapons, youve got some preety wild combination choices there
 
[quote name='Cmd Zoidberg']just a little tip for you engineers...if you first complete the achievement for the Assault Rifle, then when you go to create a new character you can choose an extra skill, in this case the Assault Rifle proficiency

this applys to ALL abilities for ALL classes...(i think)

so if you can get all the achievements for all the techs, biotics and weapons, youve got some preety wild combination choices there[/quote]

Sorry Zoidberg but I don't follow you. I'm an engineer and can't even aim with the AR so don't use it. WHat do you mean comlete the acheivment (like the gamerscore ach?) And if so how the hell am I supposed to do this when teh AR is completely wortheless to me as an enginneer?

What is this choose an extra skill business? Basically i don't see what you mean.
 
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