Mass Effect 2: Beserker Vanguard guide - The best cover is no cover (by AreleX)
Oct 21, 2016 1:30:52 GMT
DeckSavage likes this
Post by RedCaesar97 on Oct 21, 2016 1:30:52 GMT
ATTENTION: This guide was originally posted by AreleX on the old BioWare Social Network (BSN) forums. I am copying it here so it does not disappear when the old BSN forums shut down.
I've spent a good while reading and learning from other people's builds and playstyles, and I got my hands on some capture equipment, so I thought I'd share my own. This isn't a 'How to play Vanguard' guide, there are plenty of very good ones already made. This is a 'How to play Vanguard with your balls permanently pressed to the wall while you shotgun 20 Red Bulls' guide. This guide is written mostly for NG+ play, but I'm going to mess around with this playstyle on a new Vanguard and see how it goes.
Berserker Vanguard in Action: The Videos:
All gameplay is on Insanity. I suggest watching the videos in 720p.
YouTube playlist of videos.
Berserker Vanguard - The Best Cover is No Cover:
Before I get into builds and squadmates and tactics, I'd just like to answer some of the more obvious things in advance.
What's the point of this thread?
Mass Effect 2 is, by today's standards, a fairly 'old' game. We've all played it and completed it and then some, so I aim to offer you a way to challenge yourself and prolong your enjoyment of the game. Playing this way is pretty damn intense, and it always keeps me excited and paying attention.
You're an idiot! You can only play like that on lower difficulties!
This is patently false. Outside of a few exceptions I will readily and happily admit to, it is very possible to play Vanguard while staying out in the open, and using cover as little as possible. I made this guide to show you how to do just that.
Anybody can be lucky and get away with stupid charges.
This is true, no doubt about it. Luck isn't going to get you through the game on Insanity NG+, though. My goal here is to get you from 'stupid charges' to 'monster that decimates groups of enemies in seconds'.
You must die all the time playing this way.
I die sometimes, just like everyone else does. However, with practice, and learning the best ways to shut enemies down, I don't die any more than I did when I was using cover a good amount.
I play on 360, I can't do this.
I play on 360 too, and while it does require a bit of finger acrobatics, it most certainly isn't impossible. Give it a shot!
Now, on to the guide!
Staggers and Crowd Control - Your 2 New Best Friends:
This playstyle relies HEAVILY on the use of staggers and crowd controlling powers to allow you to move through the battlefield unimpeded. A quick stumble is all it takes to get an enemy from dropping your shields and raping your health to you running up to him and shoving the Claymore down his throat. When I say this build and playstyle are for no cover, it's a bit of a misnomer; you aren't using it in the traditional sense of getting behind a wall, you are letting well-timed staggers and CC protect you. You can do some pretty good CC on your own with Inferno Ammo, but that's not enough. If you want to not just survive, but dominate, you're going to need help. Bringing me to my next point...
Squadmates - Your (other) 2 New Best Friends:
You can't do this without help. Plain and simple. Success with this playstyle depends on 3 things: your knowledge of enemy spawns, your ability to execute when presented an opening, and your ability to use your squadmates' powers in synergy with your offense to give you that opening. What you're looking for in a squadmate is someone who can stagger enemies over a wide radius to protect you. Abilities like Concussive Blast, Inferno Blast Grenade, etc. are what you need. Unstable Warp is great for detonating the barriers on Collectors/Vanguards, and Warp bombs are a godsend for those enemies you can't charge.
Be very mindful of squadmate cooldowns and your own, because getting yourself into a situation with everyone's powers on recharge is almost certain death. Ideally, you want to charge in, kill an enemy, throw out a squadmate power while your charge is on CD, kill the staggered enemies, and charge again. There's a certain flow to it that you just have to get a feel for to understand, but once you do, you'll do great.
I'll expand more on the squadmates section when I have time later on, but for now, all I will say is that KASUMI IS THE BEST SQUADMATE IN THE GAME AND I WANT TO HAVE LITTLE SPACE SHRAPNEL CHILDREN WITH IMPROVED FLASHBANG GRENADE. Ahem.
The Build:
This build aims to do 3 things for you:
- Maximize your damage
- Maximize your survivability
- Maximize your crowd control.
This layout certainly isn't revolutionary or new in any way, but I'm going to explain why it works with this playstyle so well.
Inferno Ammo:
I can't say enough good things about Inferno Ammo. It's great against armor, and provides excellent crowd control with the area panic radius. Awesome for locking bunched-up enemies down, even more awesome for getting them to stop goddamn shooting at you.
Squad Cryo Ammo:
Giving your buddies Squad Cryo while you rock out the Inferno Ammo is a great way to to control the fight. Every enemy that gets frozen is one less enemy that you have to worry about pointing their gun at you, leaving you freed up to do what you do best: wreck shop with the Claymore.
Heavy Charge:
This one isn't as much of a no-brainer as you may think. You could make a case for Area Charge due to the larger impact radius, but I think good squadmate synergy makes it kind of redundant. I also feel like the time dilation and extra shield strength give you more bang for your buck, as far as charging like a madman goes.
Champion:
This one is user preference, I believe. Besides Charge and Slam, you won't be using any active powers in this build, and I feel like you'll notice improved cooldowns more over a meager damage boost.
Heavy Slam (Thank you Kronner!):
As much as it pains me to say it, you can't charge everything. However, when you bring a buddy with Warp, the loser mercs taunting you with their 'ledges' and 'gaps' are easily made quick work of. I choose Slam over Pull to set up Warp bombs because it's effect is instantaneous, which means I can move on to the next enemy that much quicker. I like the Heavy evolution over Crippling due to the increased lift duration giving you more time to call on your squadmate for the Warp.
The Armor:
You want your armor to compliment the way you play the game. This armor setup is laid out to bring your close range damage potential to its highest, and help you live to tell about it. If you don't have the Kestrel armor, you're free to go with what you think looks best, just make sure you throw on your Strength Boost Pads (Harrot on Omega, post-Horizon) and get Heavy Muscle Weave (unlocks after 3 health upgrades).
Berserker Vanguard - Kestrel Edition:
Helmet - Kuwashii Visor
Chest - Kestrel Torso Sheath
Shoulders - Strength Boost Pads
Arms - Kestrel Arm Sheathing
Legs - Kestrel Power Pack
Man, the Kestrel Armor was just MADE for Vanguard. All total, you're looking at a 45% melee damage boost here. Throw in the Heavy Muscle Weave upgrade, and you're sitting pretty with a nasty 70% increase. This is great for when you get enemies down to relatively low health, and another Claymore shot would be a waste. Throw a few elbows, job done. Legs, I go for the Kestrel Power Pack for the shield increase. Your heavy weapons won't see much use in this build, because you're pretty much a walking Cain nuke yourself, but it's there if you want it. I choose the Kuwashii Visor because I'm always cool with extra headshot damage, also because I'm incredibly vain and an ugly helmet obscures my character's pretty face. Don't judge me, bro!
Weapons:
Claymore:
You all know how dirty it is, so I won't waste much time here. This is your weapon, your workhorse, your golden gun. Perfect the reload trick and getting staggers from your squadmates, and you are nigh unstoppable.
Locust:
If you're switching off of your Claymore, odds are that it's to get at something you can't charge, and that's where the Locust comes in. Scary accurate over distance, it'll make quick work of unchargeable targets (throw in a Slam Bomb when their shields drop to make things go even faster) so you can get back to doing what you love; mashing charge like a goober.
Phalanx/Carnifex/Predator (your choice):
A nice backup weapon for pre-Horizon Vanguards, since you won't have Shotgun Extra Rounds unlocked yet. Between this and your Locust, you should be able to take care of yourself just fine until you get your hands on an ammo pack. The Predator has the highest ROF, largest clip size, and is generally more forgiving than the others. The Phalanx has the highest damage per shot, is deadly accurate, but has the slowest rate of fire (some people might not jive with the laser sight, as well). The Carnifex is accurate, has the second highest damage per shot and rate of fire, but also has the lowest clip size. Choose whichever one is most comfortable for you to use.
A special thank you to my friend Lisa. If it weren't for you, not only would I not have bought the Mass Effect games, I probably wouldn'tve seen how awesome Vanguard is!
Closing Notes:
That's it for the guide! Check back frequently, as I'll be adding more info and videos when I can. Feel free to ask questions and post your own vids as well, I'll add them to the OP. Feedback, criticism, and discussion are also welcomed. Happy charging!
I've spent a good while reading and learning from other people's builds and playstyles, and I got my hands on some capture equipment, so I thought I'd share my own. This isn't a 'How to play Vanguard' guide, there are plenty of very good ones already made. This is a 'How to play Vanguard with your balls permanently pressed to the wall while you shotgun 20 Red Bulls' guide. This guide is written mostly for NG+ play, but I'm going to mess around with this playstyle on a new Vanguard and see how it goes.
Berserker Vanguard in Action: The Videos:
All gameplay is on Insanity. I suggest watching the videos in 720p.
YouTube playlist of videos.
Berserker Vanguard - The Best Cover is No Cover:
Before I get into builds and squadmates and tactics, I'd just like to answer some of the more obvious things in advance.
What's the point of this thread?
Mass Effect 2 is, by today's standards, a fairly 'old' game. We've all played it and completed it and then some, so I aim to offer you a way to challenge yourself and prolong your enjoyment of the game. Playing this way is pretty damn intense, and it always keeps me excited and paying attention.
You're an idiot! You can only play like that on lower difficulties!
This is patently false. Outside of a few exceptions I will readily and happily admit to, it is very possible to play Vanguard while staying out in the open, and using cover as little as possible. I made this guide to show you how to do just that.
Anybody can be lucky and get away with stupid charges.
This is true, no doubt about it. Luck isn't going to get you through the game on Insanity NG+, though. My goal here is to get you from 'stupid charges' to 'monster that decimates groups of enemies in seconds'.
You must die all the time playing this way.
I die sometimes, just like everyone else does. However, with practice, and learning the best ways to shut enemies down, I don't die any more than I did when I was using cover a good amount.
I play on 360, I can't do this.
I play on 360 too, and while it does require a bit of finger acrobatics, it most certainly isn't impossible. Give it a shot!
Now, on to the guide!
Staggers and Crowd Control - Your 2 New Best Friends:
This playstyle relies HEAVILY on the use of staggers and crowd controlling powers to allow you to move through the battlefield unimpeded. A quick stumble is all it takes to get an enemy from dropping your shields and raping your health to you running up to him and shoving the Claymore down his throat. When I say this build and playstyle are for no cover, it's a bit of a misnomer; you aren't using it in the traditional sense of getting behind a wall, you are letting well-timed staggers and CC protect you. You can do some pretty good CC on your own with Inferno Ammo, but that's not enough. If you want to not just survive, but dominate, you're going to need help. Bringing me to my next point...
Squadmates - Your (other) 2 New Best Friends:
You can't do this without help. Plain and simple. Success with this playstyle depends on 3 things: your knowledge of enemy spawns, your ability to execute when presented an opening, and your ability to use your squadmates' powers in synergy with your offense to give you that opening. What you're looking for in a squadmate is someone who can stagger enemies over a wide radius to protect you. Abilities like Concussive Blast, Inferno Blast Grenade, etc. are what you need. Unstable Warp is great for detonating the barriers on Collectors/Vanguards, and Warp bombs are a godsend for those enemies you can't charge.
Be very mindful of squadmate cooldowns and your own, because getting yourself into a situation with everyone's powers on recharge is almost certain death. Ideally, you want to charge in, kill an enemy, throw out a squadmate power while your charge is on CD, kill the staggered enemies, and charge again. There's a certain flow to it that you just have to get a feel for to understand, but once you do, you'll do great.
I'll expand more on the squadmates section when I have time later on, but for now, all I will say is that KASUMI IS THE BEST SQUADMATE IN THE GAME AND I WANT TO HAVE LITTLE SPACE SHRAPNEL CHILDREN WITH IMPROVED FLASHBANG GRENADE. Ahem.
The Build:
This build aims to do 3 things for you:
- Maximize your damage
- Maximize your survivability
- Maximize your crowd control.
This layout certainly isn't revolutionary or new in any way, but I'm going to explain why it works with this playstyle so well.
Inferno Ammo:
I can't say enough good things about Inferno Ammo. It's great against armor, and provides excellent crowd control with the area panic radius. Awesome for locking bunched-up enemies down, even more awesome for getting them to stop goddamn shooting at you.
Squad Cryo Ammo:
Giving your buddies Squad Cryo while you rock out the Inferno Ammo is a great way to to control the fight. Every enemy that gets frozen is one less enemy that you have to worry about pointing their gun at you, leaving you freed up to do what you do best: wreck shop with the Claymore.
Heavy Charge:
This one isn't as much of a no-brainer as you may think. You could make a case for Area Charge due to the larger impact radius, but I think good squadmate synergy makes it kind of redundant. I also feel like the time dilation and extra shield strength give you more bang for your buck, as far as charging like a madman goes.
Champion:
This one is user preference, I believe. Besides Charge and Slam, you won't be using any active powers in this build, and I feel like you'll notice improved cooldowns more over a meager damage boost.
Heavy Slam (Thank you Kronner!):
As much as it pains me to say it, you can't charge everything. However, when you bring a buddy with Warp, the loser mercs taunting you with their 'ledges' and 'gaps' are easily made quick work of. I choose Slam over Pull to set up Warp bombs because it's effect is instantaneous, which means I can move on to the next enemy that much quicker. I like the Heavy evolution over Crippling due to the increased lift duration giving you more time to call on your squadmate for the Warp.
The Armor:
You want your armor to compliment the way you play the game. This armor setup is laid out to bring your close range damage potential to its highest, and help you live to tell about it. If you don't have the Kestrel armor, you're free to go with what you think looks best, just make sure you throw on your Strength Boost Pads (Harrot on Omega, post-Horizon) and get Heavy Muscle Weave (unlocks after 3 health upgrades).
Berserker Vanguard - Kestrel Edition:
Helmet - Kuwashii Visor
Chest - Kestrel Torso Sheath
Shoulders - Strength Boost Pads
Arms - Kestrel Arm Sheathing
Legs - Kestrel Power Pack
Man, the Kestrel Armor was just MADE for Vanguard. All total, you're looking at a 45% melee damage boost here. Throw in the Heavy Muscle Weave upgrade, and you're sitting pretty with a nasty 70% increase. This is great for when you get enemies down to relatively low health, and another Claymore shot would be a waste. Throw a few elbows, job done. Legs, I go for the Kestrel Power Pack for the shield increase. Your heavy weapons won't see much use in this build, because you're pretty much a walking Cain nuke yourself, but it's there if you want it. I choose the Kuwashii Visor because I'm always cool with extra headshot damage, also because I'm incredibly vain and an ugly helmet obscures my character's pretty face. Don't judge me, bro!
Weapons:
Claymore:
You all know how dirty it is, so I won't waste much time here. This is your weapon, your workhorse, your golden gun. Perfect the reload trick and getting staggers from your squadmates, and you are nigh unstoppable.
Locust:
If you're switching off of your Claymore, odds are that it's to get at something you can't charge, and that's where the Locust comes in. Scary accurate over distance, it'll make quick work of unchargeable targets (throw in a Slam Bomb when their shields drop to make things go even faster) so you can get back to doing what you love; mashing charge like a goober.
Phalanx/Carnifex/Predator (your choice):
A nice backup weapon for pre-Horizon Vanguards, since you won't have Shotgun Extra Rounds unlocked yet. Between this and your Locust, you should be able to take care of yourself just fine until you get your hands on an ammo pack. The Predator has the highest ROF, largest clip size, and is generally more forgiving than the others. The Phalanx has the highest damage per shot, is deadly accurate, but has the slowest rate of fire (some people might not jive with the laser sight, as well). The Carnifex is accurate, has the second highest damage per shot and rate of fire, but also has the lowest clip size. Choose whichever one is most comfortable for you to use.
A special thank you to my friend Lisa. If it weren't for you, not only would I not have bought the Mass Effect games, I probably wouldn'tve seen how awesome Vanguard is!
Closing Notes:
That's it for the guide! Check back frequently, as I'll be adding more info and videos when I can. Feel free to ask questions and post your own vids as well, I'll add them to the OP. Feedback, criticism, and discussion are also welcomed. Happy charging!