Mass Effect 2

[Ryan]

Are you regularly using your tech/biotics/special ammo? You can run-and-gun your way through ME1. You can't in ME2. They really force you to make use of your powers.

 

[ATimson]

Are you regularly using your tech/biotics/special ammo? You can run-and-gun your way through ME1. You can't in ME2. They really force you to make use of your powers.

Yes, I'm using the special ammo. Tech/biotics are on autocast for my teammates, and I don't have any to use personally.

 

[Jax]

Loved it on the ghost ship mission I was able to pick up and train to use the Assault despite being Vanguard .

 

[The Evil Dead]

^
I did too, though I've still been favoring my sub-machine gun. I thought about getting the Sniper Rifle but since I seemed to always have one of the three Legion, Garrus or Thane in my party I decided to let them be my sniper.

Playing as a Vanguard on Veteran, I haven't had any ammo issues. If I use my "Hand Cannon", Shotgun or Heavy Weapon I might run out of those, but I always have enough in my SMG to finish a fight.

Thinking about upping the difficulty and trying Infiltrator or Sentinel for next playthrough.

 

[TheBrew]

Loved it on the ghost ship mission I was able to pick up and train to use the Assault despite being Vanguard .

Is that where you can grab an extra weapon? I picked Shotguns since as a Vanguard, I couldn't use the other two. I'll remember that for next time.

My 2nd playthrough has been as an infiltrator and it is a lot fun, but very different from Vanguard.

 

[Ryan]

Yes, I'm using the special ammo. Tech/biotics are on autocast for my teammates, and I don't have any to use personally.

You should. Soldiers (I'm assuming that's what you are) have access to concussive shot plus you can train in biotic powers at the research station in Mordin's area.

Squad mates aren't aggressive in power use with autocast. You'll get much better results directing it yourself, especially when using combinations against specific enemy weaknesses.

Other tips:

• Don't split your points. Completely max out select powers so you can get their bonuses.
• Choose the right squad for the mission. A tech squad will burn through the Geth but leave you shooting a lot against everyone else. When in doubt Miranda-Garrus is a good choice.
• Make use of all your available firearms: heavy weapons on tough units, sniper rifle at distance, assault at mid- to close range, and shotgun when things get up close and personal.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

The only weird thing I did was have Thane as an initial squad leader.

Spoiler: Ending

Jacob was another squad leader, Samara was the biotic, and Legion was the infiltrator. I realized after I'd made it that Thane probably wasn't the best choice but he didn't strike me as a bad choice either (he never seemed to have any problems with what he came up against).

And I really don't see why that means Legion would die. It should have meant some of Thane's squad died.

Spoiler: ending

Thane is an assassin that spends his time alone in the shadows. Not exactly the best choice to lead a team, is he?

 

[Ryan]

^

Spoiler: ending

That still doesn't explain why Legion would die but Thane's team would survive.

You could fine issues with most the characters. Miranda has people/alien skill issues and even that late in the game I wasn't sure about her Cerberus loyalties (would she consider the rest of her team cannon fodder?). Garrus got his entire squad killed.

Thane is good at tactics, infiltration, and had no prejudice or loyalty issues I could discern plus it allowed me to keep more powerful squad mates to ensure the mission got completed no matter what.

 

[ATimson]

Yes, I'm using the special ammo. Tech/biotics are on autocast for my teammates, and I don't have any to use personally.

You should. Soldiers (I'm assuming that's what you are) have access to concussive shot plus you can train in biotic powers at the research station in Mordin's area.

Yes, that's what I am, per my last post on the previous page.

I haven't put points into concussive shot yet, under the assumption that it too requires ammo - I'm sorry, heat clips. If I can use it with a weapon that's bone-dry, that might actually be useful.

• Choose the right squad for the mission. A tech squad will burn through the Geth but leave you shooting a lot against everyone else. When in doubt Miranda-Garrus is a good choice.

Miranda-Garrus may be a good choice (though if you're a soldier, a different tech person might be better?), but I'm using Tali whenever possible. <3 her.

• Make use of all your available firearms: heavy weapons on tough units, sniper rifle at distance, assault at mid- to close range, and shotgun when things get up close and personal.

That's pretty much my approach, yeah (though I try not to let things get to up close and personal, except when I'm working on the Brawler achievement!). And pistol when you run out of heat clips for any of the above.

 

[Ryan]

I haven't put points into concussive shot yet, under the assumption that it too requires ammo - I'm sorry, heat clips. If I can use it with a weapon that's bone-dry, that might actually be useful.

I don't know to tell you the truth. I imagine at worst you would use one round. Either way its ability to knock an enemy to the ground and thin out groups is very useful. The only thing I would rate above it for a soldier is maxed out incendiary rounds.

Miranda-Garrus may be a good choice (though if you're a soldier, a different tech person might be better?), but I'm using Tali whenever possible. <3 her.

I like Tali (she has a pragmatic approach that tends to mirror mine). She was a mainstay in my ME1 squads. But removing hacking requirements has made her a lot less useful in ME2. The mayhem of AI hacking Geth heavy units is tons of fun but she's not much use beyond that.

And pistol when you run out of heat clips for any of the above.

It's like a little mini shotgun after upgrades.

 

[Blamo]

That ending is fantastic, especially if everyone survives.

Spoiler

A paragon Shepard with that ending feels like a sci-fi hero of Kirk proportions.

Hell, the whole game has an epic quality to it.

Not going to spoil it, but who else loved that last conversation wheel?

 

[firehawk12]

You mean the absolutely final one? What's ironic is that the same choice in ME1 is the Renegade choice.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I did feel that

Spoiler: paragon ending

essentially telling the Illusive man to get bent was incredibly satisfying

 

[BigFoot]

^ Agreed.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Thinking of taking a Sentinel through Insanity difficulty and could use some advice of which Loyalty ability to tag.

 

[TheBrew]

I hear that Warp Ammo is pretty good as well as one of the shield powers.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Yeah, Warp Ammo seems like a great all purpose ability, and it'd be handy to have an extra offensive capability since the Sentinel already has great survivability.

 

[firehawk12]

REAVE! Sentinels should get Reave. Everyone should get Reave. I got the Justicar's ability last in my playthrough and I wish I didn't do that.

I thought about Warp ammo, but the ability to deal damage and stop regeneration is invaluable and it's much more powerful than the Sentinel's Warp default ability.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

As long as you keep moving during combat and don't just hunker down/spray fire randomly, you constantly get new heat sinks from dead enemies.

The viability of that depends on the fight. There's been several fights where the only cover's at one end of the room, and the enemies keep coming in through doors on the other end. There's nowhere to move to. (Tali's loyalty mission springs to mind.)

Now, admittedly, I've only played through about 3/4 of the game so far, but I have yet to encounter a firefight where I actually had to resort to elbowing the badguys to death.

I haven't had to elbow them, but I have had to use a sniper rifle at point-blank range. (Or I could've used my heavy weapon on husks, I suppose, but that seemed like overkill that was liable to bite me on the butt when I met the boss...)

I believe everything about the combat in ME2 is 100% better than that of ME1. I no longer dread getting in a shootout and pray for a dialogue resolution.

Out of curiosity: what class are you playing? I'm playing as a soldier - which means no powers - which might have something to do with our approach differences...

I'm an Infiltrator, Miranda is always in my squad and I rotate the second slot (usually someone equipped with a Collector assault rifle). I headshot most badguys before they even get into proper firing position and with the Widow anti-materiel rifle I picked up in Ghost Ship, only armored Krogan and the heavier Geth/Collector units actually manage to get within pistol range occassionally now.

Spamming squadmates tech/biotics (they react quickly on auto-fire, but not necessarily with the best targeting or combination attack as already mentioned) and my cloaking assassination shots of special ammo pretty much pwns the baddies on hardcore. My next run will be on Insanity, which is hopefully not as tedious as it was in ME1.

hree-four head shots to take down baddies whose tactics don't improve instead of 1-2 is more a boring slog than a challenge. Some day someone will develop a game where the difficulty slider also makes the badguys smarter, not just more heavily armed and armored.

 

[firehawk12]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=944907&topic=53333818

There's a way to get the Dr. Pepper DLC if you missed that XBL screw up when the game launched.