Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Well I just checked out ALOT's static lighting update and there are still many, many lightmaps that fell through the cracks. I would say at least over two thirds haven't been touched, just at a cursory glance. The only way this is going to get fixed is if lighting is recalculated on every map, not just selectively touched up. I have no modding skills but I have a PC, a decent internet connection, and time and would like to help but I'm not sure where to start.

I've also tweeted at Bioware about this and made a post on the EA forums. EDIT: Here's the link to the post on EA: Link and the tweet. Hopefully it's not ignored.
 
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Armenius said:
I don't know how you'd be able to target such a relatively small population of AI by comparison to the rest of the inorganic life in the galaxy with such a powerful weapon. In my opinion, if Starbrat created the Reapers he should know how to disable or destroy them specifically. We also see that the Leviathans are clearly able to disable the Reapers, yet after over a billion years in isolation they were not able to reproduce and deploy enough artifacts to take them all out?
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It should be quite easy. Reapers are different from anything else in the galaxy and will have a different "signature". There's no reason the technology of the Reapers would not be able to make use of this. There is also self destruct, although it shouldn't need the Crucible to do it. It would be difficult to imagine that Reapers wouldn't have a built in self destruct of some kind and that there wouldn't be a way to remote activate it. The Starbrat would have made sure to have both just in case one or more Reapers ever went rogue somehow which would like destroy it's "solution".

The fact that the crucible/Citadel combo would have to destroy all AI doesn't make any sense. How would it know and be able to discern between AI and any other sort of machine in the first place? That would be a hell of a lot more difficult than only destroying Reapers.

The fact of the matter is the different endings of ME3 are trash. They make no sense. For the most part the series is grounded in a logical reality, a reality created for the series but a reality nonetheless. Every single ending/choice throws that out the window and replaces it with what amounts to space magic.

To fix it the company needs to admit fucking up and redo the whole ending. Sad to say, that's never going to happen.
 
Rank your ME 1-3 Squad members by Storyline
Members that appears from ME1

Tali'Zorah:
Interesting storyline and a lot of character growth in all 3 and your main source for background on the Quarian culture.

Garrus:
Pretty much the same as Tali along with some of the best dialog. Loyalty mission was a bit short and simple though.

Liara:
Would rank higher except for her absence as a squad member in most of ME2 until the Shadow Broker DLC.

Wrex:
Not available as a squad member after ME1 but still have major story presence in ME2/3

Kaiden/Ashley:
I should not say anyway just to be kind :) but Kaiden has an edge as at least his world view changed quite a bit through all 3 while Ashley remains pretty one dimension.

OK, lets move on to characters that were introduced in ME2

Mordin:
How can anyone not get completely charmed by this crazy singing doctor, scientist, commando. Should rank up there with the original ME1 squad and maybe even be ahead of Wrex.

Legion:
Very interesting story for someone you didn't even get to till near the end of ME2 and a major player in the Geth Quarian conflict.

Thane:
Very good background story and even his minimal appearance in ME3 is deeply felt.

Jack, Miranda, Samara, Grunt: good intro stories in ME2 and still have interesting story in ME3 without being available as squad member.

Jacob:
Just not as well written as the four above.

Kasumi:
Interesting intro and loyalty but just didn't get enough attention, seems rushed as a DLC.

Zaeed:
Weak story even compared to Kasumi.

Finally onto the ones in ME3

EDI:
Although not available as a squad member till ME3. The story has a great start in ME2 and only gets better. Would easily outrank some of members with weaker story in ME2

Javik:
Provide good historical insight, wish they would have time to completely integrate him into the main story instead of a day one DLC

James:
Weak, weak, weak, Seem just so Fem Shep can have a new boy toy.
 
Wiz33 said:
Rank your ME 1-3 Squad members by Storyline
Members that appears from ME1

Tali'Zorah:
Interesting storyline and a lot of character growth in all 3 and your main source for background on the Quarian culture.

Garrus:
Pretty much the same as Tali along with some of the best dialog. Loyalty mission was a bit short and simple though.

Liara:
Would rank higher except for her absence as a squad member in most of ME2 until the Shadow Broker DLC.

Wrex:
Not available as a squad member after ME1 but still have major story presence in ME2/3

Kaiden/Ashley:
I should not say anyway just to be kind :) but Kaiden has an edge as at least his world view changed quite a bit through all 3 while Ashley remains pretty one dimension.

OK, lets move on to characters that were introduced in ME2

Mordin:
How can anyone not get completely charmed by this crazy singing doctor, scientist, commando. Should rank up there with the original ME1 squad and maybe even be ahead of Wrex.

Legion:
Very interesting story for someone you didn't even get to till near the end of ME2 and a major player in the Geth Quarian conflict.

Thane:
Very good background story and even his minimal appearance in ME3 is deeply felt.

Jack, Miranda, Samara, Grunt: good intro stories in ME2 and still have interesting story in ME3 without being available as squad member.

Jacob:
Just not as well written as the four above.

Kasumi:
Interesting intro and loyalty but just didn't get enough attention, seems rushed as a DLC.

Zaeed:
Weak story even compared to Kasumi.

Finally onto the ones in ME3

EDI:
Although not available as a squad member till ME3. The story has a great start in ME2 and only gets better. Would easily outrank some of members with weaker story in ME2

Javik:
Provide good historical insight, wish they would have time to completely integrate him into the main story instead of a day one DLC

James:
Weak, weak, weak, Seem just so Fem Shep can have a new boy toy.
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Javik
I think you are a bit off base with some of this. Javik is very much integral into the story of ME3. His being turned into a DLC character was an example of content cut from the base game and locked behind a paywall to get more money. Javik's dialog and appearance on the Citadel and throughout certain sections of the game make it clear he was no afterthought.

Jacob McUseless
Jacob's story with his father is among the more interesting loyalty missions. However, Jacob himself is virtually useless. As a squad mate he doesn't bring anything to the table as other squad mates do what he does but better. He also lacks the charm and the wit of other characters so his banter and general dialog usually bring nothing to the mission. The only time this changes it's when you have both Jacob and Miranda in your squad as they have an off screen history.

The funny thing is, Jacob is basically a walking stereo type. His father abandoned him. It's implied in the game's story that he used to date Miranda and cheated on her. He also cheats on a romanced FemShep and knocks up another woman. His romance with FemShep in ME2 is beyond cringeworthy and is an example of some of the worst if not the worst character writing / dialog in the entire series, including Andromeda. In ME3, the fallout of romancing him is fucking hilarious and extends to the Citadel DLC. Aside from that, he's so useless that if he dies in ME2, he's not replaced by a stand in character in ME3 like most of them are. He literally doesn't contribute anything of value. As a war asset he's worth a miniscule amount of points too.

James Vega
James has more story than you give him credit for.

Garrus
Garrus has a lot going for him as a squad mate and companion throughout all three games. You aren't wrong about him but I thought I'd elaborate a bit. Shepard's choices impact his personality and dialog in the games in a way not seen with any other companion. He has some of the best dialog in the game and frankly, he's the guy you can trust to lead others when the need arises. He's similar to Shepard in a lot of ways as well. In a way, he's almost a reflection of Shepard which creates an interesting dynamic between the two. I dare say he might be the best video game companion character ever created.

Zyeed
Zyeed actually has some pretty interesting dialog and story. Sure, his loyalty mission on its surface is pretty basic but there is more to it if you talk to him on the Normandy. Unfortunately, much of what you can learn from him is bugged out in ME3 and LE3, where a lot of his dialog and conversations can't ever be heard. The EGM restores this but it's not available for LE3.

Legion
Legion is a missed opportunity. You can see this if you mod the game (ME2) to allow his recruitment earlier on or if you add him via save file editing. My issue with him in ME3 is we don't get a lot of time with him and can't ever use him as a squadmate. His death is also a bit contrived as far as I am concerned. However, if you go full renegade and betray him, it's pretty fucking awful to watch.
 
Dan_D said:
Javik
I think you are a bit off base with some of this. Javik is very much integral into the story of ME3. His being turned into a DLC character was an example of content cut from the base game and locked behind a paywall to get more money. Javik's dialog and appearance on the Citadel and throughout certain sections of the game make it clear he was no afterthought.

Jacob McUseless
Jacob's story with his father is among the more interesting loyalty missions. However, Jacob himself is virtually useless. As a squad mate he doesn't bring anything to the table as other squad mates do what he does but better. He also lacks the charm and the wit of other characters so his banter and general dialog usually bring nothing to the mission. The only time this changes it's when you have both Jacob and Miranda in your squad as they have an off screen history.

The funny thing is, Jacob is basically a walking stereo type. His father abandoned him. It's implied in the game's story that he used to date Miranda and cheated on her. He also cheats on a romanced FemShep and knocks up another woman. His romance with FemShep in ME2 is beyond cringeworthy and is an example of some of the worst if not the worst character writing / dialog in the entire series, including Andromeda. In ME3, the fallout of romancing him is fucking hilarious and extends to the Citadel DLC. Aside from that, he's so useless that if he dies in ME2, he's not replaced by a stand in character in ME3 like most of them are. He literally doesn't contribute anything of value. As a war asset he's worth a miniscule amount of points too.

James Vega
James has more story than you give him credit for.

Garrus
Garrus has a lot going for him as a squad mate and companion throughout all three games. You aren't wrong about him but I thought I'd elaborate a bit. Shepard's choices impact his personality and dialog in the games in a way not seen with any other companion. He has some of the best dialog in the game and frankly, he's the guy you can trust to lead others when the need arises. He's similar to Shepard in a lot of ways as well. In a way, he's almost a reflection of Shepard which creates an interesting dynamic between the two. I dare say he might be the best video game companion character ever created.

Zyeed
Zyeed actually has some pretty interesting dialog and story. Sure, his loyalty mission on its surface is pretty basic but there is more to it if you talk to him on the Normandy. Unfortunately, much of what you can learn from him is bugged out in ME3 and LE3, where a lot of his dialog and conversations can't ever be heard. The EGM restores this but it's not available for LE3.

Legion
Legion is a missed opportunity. You can see this if you mod the game (ME2) to allow his recruitment earlier on or if you add him via save file editing. My issue with him in ME3 is we don't get a lot of time with him and can't ever use him as a squadmate. His death is also a bit contrived as far as I am concerned. However, if you go full renegade and betray him, it's pretty fucking awful to watch.
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Yea, everyone probably reacts differently on a lot of the stories. This is why I posted this so I can see what others thinks.

Yes, wish we can get Legion sooner in ME2 but at least you can catch up on most of his early recruitment dialogs on Youtube. But even as a late recruit, he would still ranks just behind Mordin story impact wise.

All three ME3 squad member suffers from a lack of story mission. EDI at least have the advantage of having some interesting dialog in ME2. Javik is interesting as he turns out totally not to be what most people are expecting. James's story while OK, kinda pales a bit compart to the other two. Would have been much better if they're at least mission centric on some side missions.

Zyeed is you basic dethroned and revenge story and to me the Kasumi's loyalty mission is more interesting as it's a nice change of pace using a non brute force approach till the end.
 
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Without a doubt. Kasumi's DLC is the better of the two, but Zyeed entertained me more as a character.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
random question but what's your favorite bonus power (from a loyal squadmate) to use in mass effect 2?
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Geth Shield Boost.

This is one of the best powers in the game as far as I am concerned. To be clear, my preference for this power has a lot to do with my playstyle which can only be described as Doom style. I'm excessively aggressive and the shield boost allows me to fight longer outside of cover. It was very helpful while playing the game on insanity.
 
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Dan_D said:
Geth Shield Boost.

This is one of the best powers in the game as far as I am concerned. To be clear, my preference for this power has a lot to do with my playstyle which can only be described as Doom style. I'm excessively aggressive and the shield boost allows me to fight longer outside of cover. It was very helpful while playing the game on insanity.
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I'm starting my insanity run of 2, and I'm already noticing the game is a little less forgiving than 1. Especially as far as "ammo" is concerned. Any tips for a first time insanity run?
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
I'm starting my insanity run of 2, and I'm already noticing the game is a little less forgiving than 1. Especially as far as "ammo" is concerned. Any tips for a first time insanity run?
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Sure. This isn't the end all be all guide for this game, but I'll tell you what I've learned and what gets me through it. Keep in mind I primarily play soldier's or infiltrators, but I do have experience with all the classes to some extent. Some via multiplayer, and some through partial playthroughs of the game as I often won't finish playing the game with anything other than Soldiers or Infiltrators. It's just the playstyle that I like. ME2 and ME3 are very similar in terms of combat so what I'm about to say really can be applied to both games. Albeit ME3 is far more nuanced as you have a lot more choices for weapons and more choice over the skills of your companions. I will also address certain AI related issues and how you can use them to your advantage or what to avoid.

I will make some assumptions for the sake of brevity. I will assume you understand the basic combat concepts and gameplay elements of ME2 and ME3 and not bother covering things like combo detonations, ammo powers and the like. This is really meant to advise people on how to deal with the Insanity difficulty in particular with no focus on anything else.

Make it Easy on Yourself

So, there are some things you can do on your first Insanity playthrough to make the game a little easier. Beat the game on normal and then reimport your completed save for a new game plus playthrough. This will give you immediate access to bonus powers, all the armor and weapons as they'll carry over from your first playthrough. You will also have some idea what each of the missions are and what to bring with you. Of course, you may not have the game memorized like I do, but I have an almost unhealthy amount of hours in the series. That being said, it should go without saying that you need to save your progress on the Normandy before ever starting a mission. This allows you to go back if you go to do a mission and really aren't equipped to handle it yet because you tried a harder mission close to the beginning of the game. Tali's recruitment on Haestrom in ME2 is a good example of that. If you are trying to make it easier on yourself, you would want to do this mission later in the game as it will give you access to some things that can make this mission trivial on any difficulty. (If you do your part right anyway.)

Armor Selection - Stop trying to look cool.

On normal difficulty, I tend to prioritize looking cool over specific armor bonuses. At that difficulty, the bonuses aren't a big deal as the combat is relatively easy. On Insanity, you need to prioritize armor bonuses that compliment your class and playstyle. For example: Soldiers will want health and shield bonuses along with weapon damage bonuses. Whether or not you want to go for overall damage or headshot damage bonuses are up to you. I recommend the former for soldiers and the latter for Infiltrators. Biotics will want power cool down and damage bonuses, etc.

Squadmate Selection - Mission should dictate squadmate choice, not story.

Depending on what class your Shepard is, you'll need squadmates that compliment Shepard by overcoming your Shepard's weaknesses. For soldiers, you need crowd control abilities. Whether you choose to use a biotic or tech specialist is really up to you. The two work very differently, but ultimately achieve the same goal depending on how you spec each squadmate in regards to their powers. Now, you can make the argument that Geth heavy encounters will be a better fit for Tali while normal human / alien enemies are more easily managed with a biotic. I do not recommend bringing both or bringing two damage dealers under normal circumstances. There are some specific mission exceptions though.

Regardless of your Shepard's class, you'll want at least one damage dealer for almost every mission. Obviously, there are cases where that won't be an option such as loyalty missions where you are forced to bring a specific squadmate. If you are a biotic Shepard you may normally bring two damage dealers on all your missions, but you can't do that on Miranda's or Tali's loyalty missions. It's easier for a Soldier Shepard as you really don't need two squadmates for crowd control although there are cases where you may want to have a tech and a biotic squadmate. Now, to mitigate this you can tackle certain missions later in the game as you'll have access to more weapons and both Shepard and your squad will be higher level and you'll have full access to their powers and skills.

So, it's important to note what squad mates do what and in all honesty, I don't want to go through them all as there are too many between the two games. So, I'll group them instead by what they are and I'll note specific exceptions where necessary.

Damage Dealers:
Ashley Williams - ME3
Zyeed Masani - ME2 / ME3 Armax Arena
Garrus Vakarian - ME2 / ME3
Legion - ME2 (Must upgrade to the M98 Widow to leverage this.)

The thing to note here, is that damage dealers do not do as much damage as Shepard does, but they do far more damage than other squad mates. For example, in ME2 Zyeed does 50% of Shepard's damage. The way the game works is rather than having an unrealistic hit rate that makes your squad less effective, the game simply assigns lower damage to squadmates. This generally leaves you the player doing most of the killing and damage work. However, damage dealing squad mates can drastically reduce that bullet sponge feeling at higher difficulties as they can provide constant damage to enemies and will even kill far more than other squad mates can. Now, Garrus doesn't deal near the damage to enemies Zyeed does but he does better than other squad mates in ME2.

In Mass Effect 3, you have far more control over the skills and abilities of your squad. What you'll want to do is spec Ashley and Garrus for maximum damage. Do not concern yourself with health or shield bonuses and or power bonuses where they might take away from raw DPS. Specifically, in ME3 you will want to take Garrus on almost every mission possible as he can specifically be spec'ed to do a crap ton of damage. To the point where experienced soldiers will have to be on their game to match or beat Garrus on kill count. Also, squad mate AI isn't the best so you'll see things like squad members shooting at cover excessively. We'll get to weapons in a bit, but you'll want to give Ashley and Garrus as much damage as you can coupled with the right weapons to make their shooting through cover effective. Soldiers can use squad armor piercing in their skill tree to help with this.

When it comes to squad mate selection, you will also want to make sure you can achieve combo detonations in cases where you might not be rocking Ashley or Garrus. This will make you more effective at dealing damage. ME3 has sync kills, so controlling Brutes, Banshee's and Phantom's is key to your survival. They can do sync kills at lower difficulties but do them far less frequently.

Weird Powersets / Hybrid Roles
Jacob
Thane

In this section, we'll cover odd ball squad mates and why they are of little value on Insanity. The fact is, characters like Thane and Jacob try and split the middle between damage dealers and biotics. This sounds like it gives you flexibility, but it really doesn't. On lower difficulties you can use whatever squad mates you want, but I wouldn't recommend that on Insanity. Thane is far more useful than Jacob as he can use sniper rifles. Jacob is limited to shotguns and pistols, so he's not very useful. Thane's damage isn't very high either, so his usefulness with a sniper rifle isn't the same as Zyeed or Garrus. That being said, there is a way to work around that somewhat, but you are still always better taking a real damage dealer and a real biotic. Garrus + Samara will beat out taking Thane and Jacob every time. To some extent, Wrex falls into this trap as well but you can only use him during the Citadel DLC in ME3 so he's not really worth a whole lot of discussion.

Tanky Companions
Grunt
James Vega

This is where squadmates like Grunt and Vega factor in. They do damage via melee a lot or are tankier than other squad members. As a result, they do have their uses. Essentially they can tank in a similar fashion to what you'd see in an MMO. It's not generally needed but on some specific missions they can soak up damage and take the heat off Shepard. I classify them as useful, but I think of them as being niche characters for some missions. For example: Vega is very good for Priority Earth in ME3 as you'll be fighting lots of Brutes and Banshee's. You can sacrifice Vega to get sync killed rather than getting killed yourself.

Weapon Selection

For Mass Effect 2, this is relatively easy to layout. For ME3, it's far more complicated than you'd think. I don't want to go over each weapon, but I will give you general tips on weapon selection. I will call out specific weapons to avoid.

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 forces you to carry the maximum number of weapons your Shepard can carry based on his or her class. As a result, you will almost always have a well rounded loadout. Conceptually, weapons come in two types aside from their classifications. ME2 also has a defense mechanic you can leverage to your advantage. Weapons typically come in two flavors, regardless of class. Those are low damage, low risk and high damage, high risk. By that I mean there are guns like the M300 Claymore which can nearly one shot most enemies but they only hold a limited number of shots or having extremely high recoil or very low spare ammunition. Thus, every shot has the potential for great reward of an easier kill, but quickly leave you at a disadvantage if you make a mistake. Either you've wasted shots or you've left yourself vulnerable by forcing you to reload at an inopportune time.

Weapons like the M8 Avenger and M15 Vindicator may not do a lot of damage, but they can provide consistent fire and have short reloads. In contrast, the M96 Mattock deals a lot of damage but has a small magazine and you'll be reloading a lot. Similarly, the M300 Claymore does more damage than any non-heavy weapon in the game but only has a single shot. Making sure your loadout is balanced is key. For example, you wouldn't wan't to carry an M5 Phalanx, M300, M96 Mattock and a M92 Mantis together. Yes, you certainly can but it will leave you at a disadvantage if you have to face husks or other fast moving enemies that tend to swarm you. If you carry something like the M300 Claymore or M98 Widow, you'll want something like the M8 Avenger or Locust with a fast fire rate to cover for the weaknesses of those harder hitting, slower firing weapons.

In ME2, your Shepard gets to pick a single upgraded class of weapon during the collector ship mission. Soldier's should pick the M76 Revenant. Biotics should potentially go for the M300 and Infiltrators could go either way. The M98 Widow isn't a terrible choice for soldiers, but I think the M76 Revenant is the way to go. The Infiltrator obviously can go for the Widow as well.

Defense Mechanic

So there is a defense mechanic in Mass Effect 2. It's important to note this on Insanity as knowing what you need in a given mission allows you to plan for that mission. If you are fighting Geth, you will be dealing with shields and occasionally with armor. However, if you are fighting Collectors then you will deal with barriers and armor. Harder hitting, slower firing weapons tend to penetrate armor while sub-machine guns and some assault rifles have benefits vs. shields. What you really have to understand is that weapons have damage multipliers vs. specific types of defenses. Certain weapons like the M29 Incisor are an example of this. It has a damage multiplier vs. shields and barriers. Knowing the weapons can also make your life easier.

The M29 Incisor is trash on lower difficulties where barriers and shields are encountered less often. The three round burst also often has the second and third shots miss their target, especially when aiming for the head. Infiltrators and Soldiers have a time dilation ability which can help you land all three shots on target. Still, the weapon is inefficient in terms of damage and ammunition. However, on insanity it's not a bad choice as you will encounter lots of barriers and shields. With a soldier or infiltrator this weapon definitely has its uses.

Weapon Selection for Squad Mates vs. Shepard.

You have to understand that weapons you might want to use for Commander Shepard may either be unavailable to squad mates or are better or worse for them given certain AI related issues.

Going back to the M29 Incisor, we have a great example of this. While it has a niche use case for Shepard, it's really not a good weapon for Shepard. Where it's not a good weapon for Shepard it is a great weapon for squad mates. Shepard is generally better served with a higher damage weapon like the Mantis or M98 Widow. However, squad mates do not suffer damage reductions with the M29 Incisor at all on higher difficulty settings and have an unusually high hit rate with the weapon. Meaning, they score headshots far more than they do with any other weapon. It's the choice for squad members. There are other weapons that have special properties vs. certain defenses but the Incisor is one of the best examples. It both has a damage multiplier that's really good against specific defenses and it has a bug with the game's squad mate AI, making it a good choice to illustrate how you can leverage specific weapons in certain missions for your benefit.

The Geth Plasma shotgun is another weapon that has squad mate benefits. While it's good for Shepard, it has a caveat of being able to miss at close range under certain circumstances. There are other issues with it forcing Shepard out of cover when charged and entering cover as well. Squad mates tend to use shotguns from further away than a human who knows how to play the game would or should. The Geth Plasma shotgun has far greater range than other shotguns and as a result, it's fantastic for those who can equip it. Squad mates can't use the charge shot feature but it hits harder than other shotguns save for the M300 Claymore, so it still gives them more DPS than other shotguns do. It is also another weapon with a larger damage multiplier vs. shields and barriers.

Next, understand that there are some AI issues that persist with the game to this day. Essentially, the DLC weapons do not work properly with squad mates. They'll either not fire the weapon very often or in some cases, not at all. The only real exceptions are the Geth Plasma Shotgun and the M29 Incisor. The former works well because of the AI behavior meshing well with it and the M29 Incisor is effectively bugged but in a way that benefits the player. The M5 Phalanx and M96 Mattock are good examples of weapons that squad mates can't use effectively or really at all in ME2.

Mass Effect 3

This is where things get complicated. Despite the games many faults, none of the weapons are what I'd call straight up trash. They all either work as well as another weapon leaving it up to personal preference or they work well for certain niches and therefore can be useful on specific missions. ME3 also has considerably more weapons. I won't talk about all of them but I'll give you some general tips. On Insanity, you will find that the weapons you might like on lower difficulties are ineffective or otherwise problematic on insanity. For example: The M8 Avenger feels like a starter gun on normal as there are other weapons which hit considerably harder. The Cerberus Harrier for example outclasses it in every way except overall capacity. However, on normal you rarely run into supply problems. On Insanity, ammunition management is key.

When I first tried to run the game on Insanity, I got as far as Grissom Academy where I noticed some really big issues. Namely, I tried limiting my carried weapons to make powers more available. I ran out of ammunition. When I tried carrying all five weapons, I did better but ran into fights on multiple occasions where I ran completely out of ammunition. This forces you to hunt for ammunition and that's hard to do with certain enemies on Insanity. The Cerberus snipers for example make short work of you when outside of cover. You don't want to be hunting for ammunition and I've even used up all the dropped ammunition and had to restart the mission because I had no real way of killing everything. Power damage in that configuration with those squad mates basically meant I couldn't take anyone out.

So, weapons like the Cerberus Harrier seem like a must because of their high damage but their total sustained DPS numbers are actually quite shit. You don't have enough spare ammunition to run those weapons as you'll run out of all your ammunition in a routine fight with handful of enemies. This also means you'll have to switch to other weapons which may not be ideal for the enemy types and conditions you have to face at the time. Weapons like the M8 Avenger start to pull ahead in performance as they are more accurate, have less recoil and far greater ammunition capacity. Pickups of ammunition also give you more shots in a gun like that.

Guns like the M76 Revenant are also viable, but the accuracy penalties on that make it a hard weapon to use. If you are going to use something like that you'll need to combine it with Adrenaline Rush or Ashley's Marksman power to make it effective and land your shots. Really, the M8 Avenger became a staple of my loadout on Insanity and I found a new respect for it as its a gun with no significant strengths that stand out, but it also has no significant weaknesses. On insanity, you learn why its the M4A1 of the Mass Effect universe. It can do a little bit of everything but it's not necessarily the best at anything.

For squad mates there are different considerations. You can equip them with harder hitting weapons like the Cerberus Harrier because they never have to worry about running out of ammunition. The Harrier in Ashley's hands is a devastating weapon. For them, you want to equip harder hitting weapons or weapons that have intrinsic properties that work around their AI. For example, the N7 Typhoon has native armor penetration capability which allows squad mates to shoot through cover. You can mod the weapons to further leverage this. When fully leveled up and spec'ed exclusively for damage, Garrus is an absolute monster. Ashley and Zyeed can also be spec'ed this way although Zyeed can only be used in the Armax Arena. Ashley and Zyeed do not have the "Turian Rebel" skill which makes them less effective than he is, but far more powerful in terms of damage than all other squad mates.

In the time it takes you to reload a lot of weapons Garrus can drop a Brute on his own. He's best paired with weapons like the N7 Typhoon and the M98 Widow. Again, he has no ammunition concerns and he has a tendency to shoot through cover. These weapons have the ability to penetrate cover without modifications and you can extend this capability with it. As important as weapon selection is on insanity, weapon mods are also key. For Shepard, you want ammunition capacity and damage. Although, some weapons like the Revenant benefit from stability mods although there are simply better weapons in that class. Accuracy, stability and magazine mods don't do anything for squad mates so it's important to keep that in mind when setting up their weapons.

Another thing on mods to be aware of are optics. Optics that give you magnification are great as it makes shooting at range easier but puts you in a vulnerable position when faced with enemies in melee range. For this reason, you'll want a hard hitting backup to a scoped primary for taking out close enemies. SMG's make good backup weapons to assault rifles that have scopes as you can leave the SMG unmagnified and use it for husks and other enemies that swarm you. You can also use ultra-light materials on them making their addition to your loadout almost free in terms of penalties.

Power Cooldown vs. Carrying more Weapons

In Mass Effect 3, most people will tell you to carry fewer weapons and increase your power cooldown bonuses to 200%. This will allow powers to be used almost constantly. For power based classes like the Sentinel, Vanguard and Engineer, this makes all the sense in the world. Infiltrator's and Soldier's are a different matter, though many people still recommend carrying fewer weapons and leveraging abilities. To be clear, this can be viable with the right weapon selection. Using the M7 Lancer makes this work really well since it uses the traditional ME1 heat sinks rather than thermal clips. It's also better than other weapons in its class in most respects. However, I'd advise a backup weapon with it in case you overheat the gun as this will take it out of action for quite some time. The M11 Suppressor is probably your best option as it's OP as fuck. Give it a thermal clip mod and another mod to increase its damage and you can drop a brute or banshee with it super fast. Save your M11 ammo for the big targets and use the M7 Lancer for everything else.

Alternatively, you can carry all the guns and then set each gun up with specific ammo powers and choose an appropriate weapon for specific threats. Your ammo powers are essentially your powers here as are the guns themselves. Use an assault rifle with incendiary ammo to deal with rank and file while keeping an M11 suppressor with armor piercing ammunition for bosses. Also, you can setup an SMG with disruptor ammo to stun enemies and to work shields and barriers. With shotguns it becomes more convoluted as weapons in this class vary wildly, but I think you get the point.

Choose Dialog Options Wisely

The last thing you can do to make things easier is pick dialog and interrupt options that allow you to either reduce the number of enemies you have to fight or give yourself an advantage. This way you either thin the enemy ranks before combat starts or in contrast, you can often choose dialog that avoids a fight altogether.

Tying it all Together

So, I will give you a rundown on how to take what I've said and put it into practice. We will use Tali's recruitment mission on Haestrom as an example of how to do that.

We will want to take on this mission a little later in the game as it will allow you to be leveled up. If you started with a new game plus, you'll want to be relatively close to level 50 or so. This will also give you time to acquire the M920 Cain and all the armor if not running this on a new game plus. It also allows you to get power and skill upgrades. This includes items like assault rifle or sniper rifle damage bonuses. Now, the loadout I'll suggest isn't meant to be an indication of the only way to do it but I'll tell you what I use and why.

Armor Selection
Recon Hood or Kuwashi Visor - This gives us bonuses to weapon damage and headshot damage respectively.
Torso - Shield Harness - Shield bonuses. This can be nice as Haestrom's sunlight kills your shields. This gives us extra protection in the environment.
Arms - Off hand ammo pack. - Gives us additional ammunition. You will need it.
Legs - Whatever the one is with the ammo pack on it. This gives us additional heavy weapon ammunition. You will need this as well.

Weapon Loadout - Shepard
M76 Revenant or M96 Mattock
Pistol - M5 Phalanx or M6 Carnifex
Sniper Rifle - M98 Widow or M29 Incisor (I'd actually advise the latter, even for Shepard on this one mission.)
Shotgun - Doesn't matter, as you won't be using it. However, the Geth Plasma shotgun is always a good pick and it's the best against the Geth.
Heavy - M920 Cain

Squad Mate Selection
Zyeed
Garrus

Weapon Loadout - Squad Mates
Primary - M15 Vindicator - We choose this as it does more damage and has greater accuracy than the M8 Avenger. The Mattock is essentially bugged for squad mates. They'll fire it infrequently or even never.
Secondary - M29 Incisor - Again, we select this because of its damage multiplier versus shields and because of the squad mate AI being overly accurate with it. The weapon also has no damage penalties on Insanity.

Strategy -
Effectively, you will just manage your squad placing them into cover. It's best if you can spec Shepard or Garrus for squad armor piercing ammo. Or, you can use Disruptor Ammo for both, or for Zyeed and AP for Garrus. Select the M29 Incisor and make them use that for the entire mission. You will just systematically move through the environment taking out all the Geth you see. Remember to leverage your squad mate powers on bosses. Garrus' overload skill works well here. Zyeed's grenade damages armor. Use each where applicable. You will have a lot to manage so you will want to be in good cover and even stay back from your squad so you don't get flanked or swarmed.

When you get to the end of the mission, you will have to fight a Geth Colossus. The easiest thing to do is hit it with the M920 Cain. If you do not land a direct hit, you will need a second shot which is why we went with the extra heavy weapon ammunition. If you don't have the heavy weapon skill that gives you maximum ammo for each mission, you will want to hoard heavy ammo for two to three missions prior to taking this on. It's that easy and this is a strategy that works well for any Shepard class in this specific mission. It's also a rare example where you won't need any crowd control.

Summary

Know your missions, know your squad and for the most part use one biotic or tech specialist and one damage dealer except where specific missions may be optimal for different squad configurations. Understand limitations of the squad AI (which are much more prevalent in ME2) and leverage certain weapons and their properties with squad or yourself to your advantage. Again, this isn't the only way to play the game on insanity and many people may use different strategies. This is just what I found that works for me. The last piece of advice I'd give you is to take it slow. Stick to cover, manage your squad mate's powers and deal with units that can sync kill you first. If those enemies are far enough away, thin the rank and file out first and deal with the brute, banshee, or atlas by itself.
 
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Dan_D said:
Sure. This isn't the end all be all guide for this game, but I'll tell you what I've learned and what gets me through it. Keep in mind I primarily play soldier's or infiltrators, but I do have experience with all the classes to some extent. Some via multiplayer, and some through partial playthroughs of the game as I often won't finish playing the game with anything other than Soldiers or Infiltrators. It's just the playstyle that I like. ME2 and ME3 are very similar in terms of combat so what I'm about to say really can be applied to both games. Albeit ME3 is far more nuanced as you have a lot more choices for weapons and more choice over the skills of your companions. I will also address certain AI related issues and how you can use them to your advantage or what to avoid.

I will make some assumptions for the sake of brevity. I will assume you understand the basic combat concepts and gameplay elements of ME2 and ME3 and not bother covering things like combo detonations, ammo powers and the like. This is really meant to advise people on how to deal with the Insanity difficulty in particular with no focus on anything else.

Make it Easy on Yourself

So, there are some things you can do on your first Insanity playthrough to make the game a little easier. Beat the game on normal and then reimport your completed save for a new game plus playthrough. This will give you immediate access to bonus powers, all the armor and weapons as they'll carry over from your first playthrough. You will also have some idea what each of the missions are and what to bring with you. Of course, you may not have the game memorized like I do, but I have an almost unhealthy amount of hours in the series. That being said, it should go without saying that you need to save your progress on the Normandy before ever starting a mission. This allows you to go back if you go to do a mission and really aren't equipped to handle it yet because you tried a harder mission close to the beginning of the game. Tali's recruitment on Haestrom in ME2 is a good example of that. If you are trying to make it easier on yourself, you would want to do this mission later in the game as it will give you access to some things that can make this mission trivial on any difficulty. (If you do your part right anyway.)

Armor Selection - Stop trying to look cool.

On normal difficulty, I tend to prioritize looking cool over specific armor bonuses. At that difficulty, the bonuses aren't a big deal as the combat is relatively easy. On Insanity, you need to prioritize armor bonuses that compliment your class and playstyle. For example: Soldiers will want health and shield bonuses along with weapon damage bonuses. Whether or not you want to go for overall damage or headshot damage bonuses are up to you. I recommend the former for soldiers and the latter for Infiltrators. Biotics will want power cool down and damage bonuses, etc.

Squadmate Selection - Mission should dictate squadmate choice, not story.

Depending on what class your Shepard is, you'll need squadmates that compliment Shepard by overcoming your Shepard's weaknesses. For soldiers, you need crowd control abilities. Whether you choose to use a biotic or tech specialist is really up to you. The two work very differently, but ultimately achieve the same goal depending on how you spec each squadmate in regards to their powers. Now, you can make the argument that Geth heavy encounters will be a better fit for Tali while normal human / alien enemies are more easily managed with a biotic. I do not recommend bringing both or bringing two damage dealers under normal circumstances. There are some specific mission exceptions though.

Regardless of your Shepard's class, you'll want at least one damage dealer for almost every mission. Obviously, there are cases where that won't be an option such as loyalty missions where you are forced to bring a specific squadmate. If you are a biotic Shepard you may normally bring two damage dealers on all your missions, but you can't do that on Miranda's or Tali's loyalty missions. It's easier for a Soldier Shepard as you really don't need two squadmates for crowd control although there are cases where you may want to have a tech and a biotic squadmate. Now, to mitigate this you can tackle certain missions later in the game as you'll have access to more weapons and both Shepard and your squad will be higher level and you'll have full access to their powers and skills.

So, it's important to note what squad mates do what and in all honesty, I don't want to go through them all as there are too many between the two games. So, I'll group them instead by what they are and I'll note specific exceptions where necessary.

Damage Dealers:
Ashley Williams - ME3
Zyeed Masani - ME2 / ME3 Armax Arena
Garrus Vakarian - ME2 / ME3
Legion - ME2 (Must upgrade to the M98 Widow to leverage this.)

The thing to note here, is that damage dealers do not do as much damage as Shepard does, but they do far more damage than other squad mates. For example, in ME2 Zyeed does 50% of Shepard's damage. The way the game works is rather than having an unrealistic hit rate that makes your squad less effective, the game simply assigns lower damage to squadmates. This generally leaves you the player doing most of the killing and damage work. However, damage dealing squad mates can drastically reduce that bullet sponge feeling at higher difficulties as they can provide constant damage to enemies and will even kill far more than other squad mates can. Now, Garrus doesn't deal near the damage to enemies Zyeed does but he does better than other squad mates in ME2.

In Mass Effect 3, you have far more control over the skills and abilities of your squad. What you'll want to do is spec Ashley and Garrus for maximum damage. Do not concern yourself with health or shield bonuses and or power bonuses where they might take away from raw DPS. Specifically, in ME3 you will want to take Garrus on almost every mission possible as he can specifically be spec'ed to do a crap ton of damage. To the point where experienced soldiers will have to be on their game to match or beat Garrus on kill count. Also, squad mate AI isn't the best so you'll see things like squad members shooting at cover excessively. We'll get to weapons in a bit, but you'll want to give Ashley and Garrus as much damage as you can coupled with the right weapons to make their shooting through cover effective. Soldiers can use squad armor piercing in their skill tree to help with this.

When it comes to squad mate selection, you will also want to make sure you can achieve combo detonations in cases where you might not be rocking Ashley or Garrus. This will make you more effective at dealing damage. ME3 has sync kills, so controlling Brutes, Banshee's and Phantom's is key to your survival. They can do sync kills at lower difficulties but do them far less frequently.

Weird Powersets / Hybrid Roles
Jacob
Thane

In this section, we'll cover odd ball squad mates and why they are of little value on Insanity. The fact is, characters like Thane and Jacob try and split the middle between damage dealers and biotics. This sounds like it gives you flexibility, but it really doesn't. On lower difficulties you can use whatever squad mates you want, but I wouldn't recommend that on Insanity. Thane is far more useful than Jacob as he can use sniper rifles. Jacob is limited to shotguns and pistols, so he's not very useful. Thane's damage isn't very high either, so his usefulness with a sniper rifle isn't the same as Zyeed or Garrus. That being said, there is a way to work around that somewhat, but you are still always better taking a real damage dealer and a real biotic. Garrus + Samara will beat out taking Thane and Jacob every time. To some extent, Wrex falls into this trap as well but you can only use him during the Citadel DLC in ME3 so he's not really worth a whole lot of discussion.

Tanky Companions
Grunt
James Vega

This is where squadmates like Grunt and Vega factor in. They do damage via melee a lot or are tankier than other squad members. As a result, they do have their uses. Essentially they can tank in a similar fashion to what you'd see in an MMO. It's not generally needed but on some specific missions they can soak up damage and take the heat off Shepard. I classify them as useful, but I think of them as being niche characters for some missions. For example: Vega is very good for Priority Earth in ME3 as you'll be fighting lots of Brutes and Banshee's. You can sacrifice Vega to get sync killed rather than getting killed yourself.

Weapon Selection

For Mass Effect 2, this is relatively easy to layout. For ME3, it's far more complicated than you'd think. I don't want to go over each weapon, but I will give you general tips on weapon selection. I will call out specific weapons to avoid.

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 forces you to carry the maximum number of weapons your Shepard can carry based on his or her class. As a result, you will almost always have a well rounded loadout. Conceptually, weapons come in two types aside from their classifications. ME2 also has a defense mechanic you can leverage to your advantage. Weapons typically come in two flavors, regardless of class. Those are low damage, low risk and high damage, high risk. By that I mean there are guns like the M300 Claymore which can nearly one shot most enemies but they only hold a limited number of shots or having extremely high recoil or very low spare ammunition. Thus, every shot has the potential for great reward of an easier kill, but quickly leave you at a disadvantage if you make a mistake. Either you've wasted shots or you've left yourself vulnerable by forcing you to reload at an inopportune time.

Weapons like the M8 Avenger and M15 Vindicator may not do a lot of damage, but they can provide consistent fire and have short reloads. In contrast, the M96 Mattock deals a lot of damage but has a small magazine and you'll be reloading a lot. Similarly, the M300 Claymore does more damage than any non-heavy weapon in the game but only has a single shot. Making sure your loadout is balanced is key. For example, you wouldn't wan't to carry an M5 Phalanx, M300, M96 Mattock and a M92 Mantis together. Yes, you certainly can but it will leave you at a disadvantage if you have to face husks or other fast moving enemies that tend to swarm you. If you carry something like the M300 Claymore or M98 Widow, you'll want something like the M8 Avenger or Locust with a fast fire rate to cover for the weaknesses of those harder hitting, slower firing weapons.

In ME2, your Shepard gets to pick a single upgraded class of weapon during the collector ship mission. Soldier's should pick the M76 Revenant. Biotics should potentially go for the M300 and Infiltrators could go either way. The M98 Widow isn't a terrible choice for soldiers, but I think the M76 Revenant is the way to go. The Infiltrator obviously can go for the Widow as well.

Defense Mechanic

So there is a defense mechanic in Mass Effect 2. It's important to note this on Insanity as knowing what you need in a given mission allows you to plan for that mission. If you are fighting Geth, you will be dealing with shields and occasionally with armor. However, if you are fighting Collectors then you will deal with barriers and armor. Harder hitting, slower firing weapons tend to penetrate armor while sub-machine guns and some assault rifles have benefits vs. shields. What you really have to understand is that weapons have damage multipliers vs. specific types of defenses. Certain weapons like the M29 Incisor are an example of this. It has a damage multiplier vs. shields and barriers. Knowing the weapons can also make your life easier.

The M29 Incisor is trash on lower difficulties where barriers and shields are encountered less often. The three round burst also often has the second and third shots miss their target, especially when aiming for the head. Infiltrators and Soldiers have a time dilation ability which can help you land all three shots on target. Still, the weapon is inefficient in terms of damage and ammunition. However, on insanity it's not a bad choice as you will encounter lots of barriers and shields. With a soldier or infiltrator this weapon definitely has its uses.

Weapon Selection for Squad Mates vs. Shepard.

You have to understand that weapons you might want to use for Commander Shepard may either be unavailable to squad mates or are better or worse for them given certain AI related issues.

Going back to the M29 Incisor, we have a great example of this. While it has a niche use case for Shepard, it's really not a good weapon for Shepard. Where it's not a good weapon for Shepard it is a great weapon for squad mates. Shepard is generally better served with a higher damage weapon like the Mantis or M98 Widow. However, squad mates do not suffer damage reductions with the M29 Incisor at all on higher difficulty settings and have an unusually high hit rate with the weapon. Meaning, they score headshots far more than they do with any other weapon. It's the choice for squad members. There are other weapons that have special properties vs. certain defenses but the Incisor is one of the best examples. It both has a damage multiplier that's really good against specific defenses and it has a bug with the game's squad mate AI, making it a good choice to illustrate how you can leverage specific weapons in certain missions for your benefit.

The Geth Plasma shotgun is another weapon that has squad mate benefits. While it's good for Shepard, it has a caveat of being able to miss at close range under certain circumstances. There are other issues with it forcing Shepard out of cover when charged and entering cover as well. Squad mates tend to use shotguns from further away than a human who knows how to play the game would or should. The Geth Plasma shotgun has far greater range than other shotguns and as a result, it's fantastic for those who can equip it. Squad mates can't use the charge shot feature but it hits harder than other shotguns save for the M300 Claymore, so it still gives them more DPS than other shotguns do. It is also another weapon with a larger damage multiplier vs. shields and barriers.

Next, understand that there are some AI issues that persist with the game to this day. Essentially, the DLC weapons do not work properly with squad mates. They'll either not fire the weapon very often or in some cases, not at all. The only real exceptions are the Geth Plasma Shotgun and the M29 Incisor. The former works well because of the AI behavior meshing well with it and the M29 Incisor is effectively bugged but in a way that benefits the player. The M5 Phalanx and M96 Mattock are good examples of weapons that squad mates can't use effectively or really at all in ME2.

Mass Effect 3

This is where things get complicated. Despite the games many faults, none of the weapons are what I'd call straight up trash. They all either work as well as another weapon leaving it up to personal preference or they work well for certain niches and therefore can be useful on specific missions. ME3 also has considerably more weapons. I won't talk about all of them but I'll give you some general tips. On Insanity, you will find that the weapons you might like on lower difficulties are ineffective or otherwise problematic on insanity. For example: The M8 Avenger feels like a starter gun on normal as there are other weapons which hit considerably harder. The Cerberus Harrier for example outclasses it in every way except overall capacity. However, on normal you rarely run into supply problems. On Insanity, ammunition management is key.

When I first tried to run the game on Insanity, I got as far as Grissom Academy where I noticed some really big issues. Namely, I tried limiting my carried weapons to make powers more available. I ran out of ammunition. When I tried carrying all five weapons, I did better but ran into fights on multiple occasions where I ran completely out of ammunition. This forces you to hunt for ammunition and that's hard to do with certain enemies on Insanity. The Cerberus snipers for example make short work of you when outside of cover. You don't want to be hunting for ammunition and I've even used up all the dropped ammunition and had to restart the mission because I had no real way of killing everything. Power damage in that configuration with those squad mates basically meant I couldn't take anyone out.

So, weapons like the Cerberus Harrier seem like a must because of their high damage but their total sustained DPS numbers are actually quite shit. You don't have enough spare ammunition to run those weapons as you'll run out of all your ammunition in a routine fight with handful of enemies. This also means you'll have to switch to other weapons which may not be ideal for the enemy types and conditions you have to face at the time. Weapons like the M8 Avenger start to pull ahead in performance as they are more accurate, have less recoil and far greater ammunition capacity. Pickups of ammunition also give you more shots in a gun like that.

Guns like the M76 Revenant are also viable, but the accuracy penalties on that make it a hard weapon to use. If you are going to use something like that you'll need to combine it with Adrenaline Rush or Ashley's Marksman power to make it effective and land your shots. Really, the M8 Avenger became a staple of my loadout on Insanity and I found a new respect for it as its a gun with no significant strengths that stand out, but it also has no significant weaknesses. On insanity, you learn why its the M4A1 of the Mass Effect universe. It can do a little bit of everything but it's not necessarily the best at anything.

For squad mates there are different considerations. You can equip them with harder hitting weapons like the Cerberus Harrier because they never have to worry about running out of ammunition. The Harrier in Ashley's hands is a devastating weapon. For them, you want to equip harder hitting weapons or weapons that have intrinsic properties that work around their AI. For example, the N7 Typhoon has native armor penetration capability which allows squad mates to shoot through cover. You can mod the weapons to further leverage this. When fully leveled up and spec'ed exclusively for damage, Garrus is an absolute monster. Ashley and Zyeed can also be spec'ed this way although Zyeed can only be used in the Armax Arena. Ashley and Zyeed do not have the "Turian Rebel" skill which makes them less effective than he is, but far more powerful in terms of damage than all other squad mates.

In the time it takes you to reload a lot of weapons Garrus can drop a Brute on his own. He's best paired with weapons like the N7 Typhoon and the M98 Widow. Again, he has no ammunition concerns and he has a tendency to shoot through cover. These weapons have the ability to penetrate cover without modifications and you can extend this capability with it. As important as weapon selection is on insanity, weapon mods are also key. For Shepard, you want ammunition capacity and damage. Although, some weapons like the Revenant benefit from stability mods although there are simply better weapons in that class. Accuracy, stability and magazine mods don't do anything for squad mates so it's important to keep that in mind when setting up their weapons.

Another thing on mods to be aware of are optics. Optics that give you magnification are great as it makes shooting at range easier but puts you in a vulnerable position when faced with enemies in melee range. For this reason, you'll want a hard hitting backup to a scoped primary for taking out close enemies. SMG's make good backup weapons to assault rifles that have scopes as you can leave the SMG unmagnified and use it for husks and other enemies that swarm you. You can also use ultra-light materials on them making their addition to your loadout almost free in terms of penalties.

Power Cooldown vs. Carrying more Weapons

In Mass Effect 3, most people will tell you to carry fewer weapons and increase your power cooldown bonuses to 200%. This will allow powers to be used almost constantly. For power based classes like the Sentinel, Vanguard and Engineer, this makes all the sense in the world. Infiltrator's and Soldier's are a different matter, though many people still recommend carrying fewer weapons and leveraging abilities. To be clear, this can be viable with the right weapon selection. Using the M7 Lancer makes this work really well since it uses the traditional ME1 heat sinks rather than thermal clips. It's also better than other weapons in its class in most respects. However, I'd advise a backup weapon with it in case you overheat the gun as this will take it out of action for quite some time. The M11 Suppressor is probably your best option as it's OP as fuck. Give it a thermal clip mod and another mod to increase its damage and you can drop a brute or banshee with it super fast. Save your M11 ammo for the big targets and use the M7 Lancer for everything else.

Alternatively, you can carry all the guns and then set each gun up with specific ammo powers and choose an appropriate weapon for specific threats. Your ammo powers are essentially your powers here as are the guns themselves. Use an assault rifle with incendiary ammo to deal with rank and file while keeping an M11 suppressor with armor piercing ammunition for bosses. Also, you can setup an SMG with disruptor ammo to stun enemies and to work shields and barriers. With shotguns it becomes more convoluted as weapons in this class vary wildly, but I think you get the point.

Choose Dialog Options Wisely

The last thing you can do to make things easier is pick dialog and interrupt options that allow you to either reduce the number of enemies you have to fight or give yourself an advantage. This way you either thin the enemy ranks before combat starts or in contrast, you can often choose dialog that avoids a fight altogether.

Again, this isn't the only way to play the game on insanity and many people may use different strategies. This is just what I found that works for me. The last piece of advice I'd give you is to take it slow. Stick to cover, manage your squad mate's powers and deal with units that can sync kill you first. If those enemies are far enough away, thin the rank and file out first and deal with the brute, banshee, or atlas by itself.
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Holy shit, I didn't expect such a lengthy, in depth post. This will definitely make me rethink my strategies going forward. I personally only played as a Soldier myself (like you it suits my playstyle as well). I'm going to get proficient at no-death runs on hardcore first before resuming my insanity run in earnest.
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
Holy shit, I didn't expect such a lengthy, in depth post. This will definitely make me rethink my strategies going forward. I personally only played as a Soldier myself (like you it suits my playstyle as well). I'm going to get proficient at no-death runs on hardcore first before resuming my insanity run in earnest.
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I updated the post at the end with a sample mission strategy for Tali's recruitment mission in ME2. You can see how we apply some of what I laid out to complete the mission. It's also worth noting that you have to play the game on hardcore or insanity to get the Geth Pulse Rifle. Frankly, it's a weapon you should generally ignore but that's how you get it. Ironically, the mission where you acquire the weapon is about the only mission I'd ever recommend potentially using it and Zyeed is the only one who does enough damage to overcome its low DPS compared to other rifles.
 
Armenius said:
Just need a mod to bring back the Benezia cleavage shot at the queen rachni tank in the first game.
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It just goes to show one how long it's been since I played the first game, I don't remember that shot from the OT. EDIT: It's been about 6 years up until now, so yeah. In terms of gameplay the pecking order is 3>2>1. Static lighting quality without question it's 2>1>3.

LOL no I'm not going to shut up about the static lights. They're pretty awful in 1 and 3. Dan_D, didn't you work with the guy that does ALOT? Who did the lightmap packages for the OT? I'd like to contribute and help fix the problem for LE as I have the time and energy to invest, even if it means learning as I go. Literally it's the weakest part of the games graphically. Strangely 2 is not affected by this poor quality.
 
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Mr. Bluntman said:
It just goes to show one how long it's been since I played the first game, I don't remember that shot from the OT. EDIT: It's been about 6 years up until now, so yeah. In terms of gameplay the pecking order is 3>2>1. Static lighting quality without question it's 2>1>3.

LOL no I'm not going to shut up about the static lights. They're pretty awful in 1 and 3. Dan_D, didn't you work with the guy that does ALOT? Who did the lightmap packages for the OT? I'd like to contribute and help fix the problem for LE as I have the time and energy to invest, even if it means learning as I go. Literally it's the weakest part of the games graphically. Strangely 2 is not affected by this poor quality.
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Original (5:20 if timestamp doesn't take you there):



LE (1:06:20 if timestamp doesn't take you there):



They just zoom the camera in so it's focused on her face instead of the dialog subtitles underlining her cleavage. Interestingly, the closeup of her cleavage when she stands up after the fight before dying is clearer than ever.
 
termite said:
On the last mission of ME1. First time playing through for several years. Damn I forgot how recycled many of the locations were, even worse than DA2 was.
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yeah not only are they recycled, but they're fucking cubes with other assorted smaller cubes inside them. lol. really pathetic how bad that was and i noticed it when i just played it through again.
 
termite said:
On the last mission of ME1. First time playing through for several years. Damn I forgot how recycled many of the locations were, even worse than DA2 was.
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Colonel Sanders said:
yeah not only are they recycled, but they're fucking cubes with other assorted smaller cubes inside them. lol. really pathetic how bad that was and i noticed it when i just played it through again.
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It's pretty egregious. I'm not sure how long the original Mass Effect was in development, but I do remember noticing the cookie-cutter locations for the sidequests even when the game was new to me. Still had fun with it though.
 
Yeah, and I both hated it, and liked it. Most of the environments are legit prefab locations that have been constructed on the cheap and quiet, trying to hide. I do wish there was less reuse but at least there was some storyline to support it. That said, bring on ME5!
 
DWolvin said:
Yeah, and I both hated it, and liked it. Most of the environments are legit prefab locations that have been constructed on the cheap and quiet, trying to hide. I do wish there was less reuse but at least there was some storyline to support it. That said, bring on ME5!
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With Casey Hudson being gone to start his own new studio and Mac Walters being in charge of the writing, basically, I don't hold out a whole lot of hope of it achieving greatness. Then again, the crap ending of 3 is, from what I understand, primarily Hudson's fault as well as Walters. EA shares some of the blame as they forced a strict deadline for when the game came out, rushing everyone. You really feel how rushed it is post Priority: Rannoch. There is hope, just not a lot. I wish Drew Karpyshyn would come back to BioWare...
 
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Mr. Bluntman said:
With Casey Hudson being gone to start his own new studio and Mac Walters being in charge of the writing, basically, I don't hold out a whole lot of hope of it achieving greatness. Then again, the crap ending of 3 is, from what I understand, primarily Hudson's fault as well as Walters. EA shares some of the blame as they forced a strict deadline for when the game came out, rushing everyone. You really feel how rushed it is post Priority: Rannoch. There is hope, just not a lot. I wish Drew Karpyshyn would come back to BioWare...
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I don't think Karpyshyn would ever go back considering what they did to him and his story during the rushed development of ME3.
 
DWolvin said:
Yeah, and I both hated it, and liked it. Most of the environments are legit prefab locations that have been constructed on the cheap and quiet, trying to hide. I do wish there was less reuse but at least there was some storyline to support it. That said, bring on ME5!
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The prefab locations were never a bother to me for the exact reason you mentioned. The stacked crates with no rhyme, reason or possibility of moving anything around is what bugged me.
 
Aireoth said:
I really disliked how Hudson responded to the criticism of the ending, that alone made me write off any project he is involved in.
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Mr. Bluntman said:
With Casey Hudson being gone to start his own new studio and Mac Walters being in charge of the writing, basically, I don't hold out a whole lot of hope of it achieving greatness. Then again, the crap ending of 3 is, from what I understand, primarily Hudson's fault as well as Walters. EA shares some of the blame as they forced a strict deadline for when the game came out, rushing everyone. You really feel how rushed it is post Priority: Rannoch. There is hope, just not a lot. I wish Drew Karpyshyn would come back to BioWare...
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I couldn't agree more. Though, the Thessia mission from a writing perspective is decent enough. Shepard has to face defeat for once even though it's forced on the player. That being said, the mission itself doesn't have a great level design. This is hidden by the fact that they dump harder enemies on you in some sections which doesn't allow you to pay attention to the level design a whole lot.
Aireoth said:
I really disliked how Hudson responded to the criticism of the ending, that alone made me write off any project he is involved in.
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Again, I agree completely. The artistic integrity line is bullshit, especially when the changes they did make in the EC absolutely contradicted the meaning and context of the original endings and how they were interpreted. The original endings were rushed and I don't think Hudson and Walters had really thought everything through. It was as though they had a first draft and went with it. Then he tried to claim artistic integrity as being a valid reason not to change the endings. What really happened is that they likely couldn't get funding to change the endings and did what little they could to make them less negative as their original versions were beyond bleak. In fact, they felt pointless and nihilistic. I'm not sure that was the intent, as I said the whole thing felt like a first draft and insanely rushed.

Retaking Earth would be an epic undertaking and yet it's not much longer than Thessia when you take the conversations with your various squad mates out. But Walter's is one of those Fedora wearing, Starbucks slurping, hipster types that wears socks and sandals in public and someone who only drinks "craft beers." The exact kind of person who writes that nihilistic shit.
 
Dan_D said:
I couldn't agree more. Though, the Thessia mission from a writing perspective is decent enough. Shepard has to face defeat for once even though it's forced on the player. That being said, the mission itself doesn't have a great level design. This is hidden by the fact that they dump harder enemies on you in some sections which doesn't allow you to pay attention to the level design a whole lot.

Again, I agree completely. The artistic integrity line is bullshit, especially when the changes they did make in the EC absolutely contradicted the meaning and context of the original endings and how they were interpreted. The original endings were rushed and I don't think Hudson and Walters had really thought everything through. It was as though they had a first draft and went with it. Then he tried to claim artistic integrity as being a valid reason not to change the endings. What really happened is that they likely couldn't get funding to change the endings and did what little they could to make them less negative as their original versions were beyond bleak. In fact, they felt pointless and nihilistic. I'm not sure that was the intent, as I said the whole thing felt like a first draft and insanely rushed.

Retaking Earth would be an epic undertaking and yet it's not much longer than Thessia when you take the conversations with your various squad mates out. But Walter's is one of those Fedora wearing, Starbucks slurping, hipster types that wears socks and sandals in public and someone who only drinks "craft beers." The exact kind of person who writes that nihilistic shit.
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Agreed. Lack of budget or not, his response was arrogant, egotistical, and utimately pathetic. He has (to my knowledge) shown zero recognition or contrition for how poorly he handled the situation. As such I refuse to even touch the games again, or anything he is involved in. It is the only very small way I can attempt to hold him accountable.
 
Armenius said:
I don't think Karpyshyn would ever go back considering what they did to him and his story during the rushed development of ME3.
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He already went back to help out with Anthem, then left again.
 
M76 said:
He already went back to help out with Anthem, then left again.
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He comes back for Anthem, of all games, then leaves?

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I just had to repeat that to make sure I read it right. Anthem... Wow. I have one question for him. "Why?"
 
Armenius said:
Give them one more chance to see if they learned from their mistakes? He found out quickly that they didn't, though, as he left after only half a year. BioWare's 10-year franchise, indeed.

https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect...left-bioware-because-it-became-too-corporate/
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No doubt EA played a serious hand in the (mostly corporate-friendly) changes at BioWare. I seriously loathe them for rushing ME3 to market and killing Origin (Wing Commander), Pandemic (Battlezone II), and Visceral (Dead Space) studios off.
 
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finished a fairly thorough playthrough of ME1 and immediately dived into ME2. i forgot just how jarring the difference is.
 
Nimisys said:
finished a fairly thorough playthrough of ME1 and immediately dived into ME2. i forgot just how jarring the difference is.
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3 just refines the combat and leveling even further. Disappointed they didn't overhaul 2 and 3 more, though.
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
3 just refines the combat and leveling even further. Disappointed they didn't overhaul 2 and 3 more, though.
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I really liked the feel of LE ME1, ME2 just feels like such an over-reaction to the RPG elements. I remember playing a quite a bit of ME3 because it went back towards ME1 in terms of customizations. You lost your map, you lost weapon tuning, you lost on screen weapon comparison. You are stuck with companion hero armor. Just such a night and day differencw
 
Nimisys said:
I really liked the feel of LE ME1, ME2 just feels like such an over-reaction to the RPG elements. I remember playing a quite a bit of ME3 because it went back towards ME1 in terms of customizations. You lost your map, you lost weapon tuning, you lost on screen weapon comparison. You are stuck with companion hero armor. Just such a night and day differencw
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You see, I really didn't like the feel of it so much. 2 does take away too much and is definitely RPG lite. 3 gets it right though with the combat and leveling system. Not too over-complex, and no excess inventory juggling like there is in 1. But those are my two cents. I know quite a few people like yourself that prefer the first game, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. It just comes down to different tastes.
 
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