So how can BioWare improve/innovate upon the core combat experience of the game?

Addressing the specific point(s) you brought up, I think having elements similar to the ME2 Suicide Mission like you suggest would be interesting. Having to choose squadmates for specific tasks would be interesting from a gameplay perspective, but it would require downsides for doing it "wrong" -- deaths of squadmates, or deaths of NPCs that could affect future missions. Otherwise it would be kind of a pointless mechanic.

In terms of other combat mechanics... most of what I want is a return to ME2-style combat, which would be seen as a step back for many players.

What I would like:
1. All enemies at Normal or higher difficulty to have at least one protection layer: shields or armor. Could also add Barrier as a third type of protection layer. On easier difficulties, only elite+ enemies have protection layers.

I know a lot of players would not like the idea of all enemies having protection layers starting on Normal. As a compromise, maybe add it starting on a harder difficulty.

2. All weapons (and some powers of course) have damage modifiers versus protection layers.
I think everyone would be okay with this returning. Give players a reason to actually use multiple weapons. You can do damage modifiers in the following ways:
- "Positive" damage (greater than 100%) versus certain protection layers. Mass Effect 2 did this for all weapon damage modifiers. For example, Pistols deal 150% or 200% damage versus armor.
- "Negative" damage (less than 100%) versus certain protection layers. For example, Pistols deal 50% damage versus shields.

3. This would be highly controversial and would be considered a big downgrade by a majority or players: Only biotic powers can create power combos. Only certain biotics can prime or detonate. Combos may be explosions or increased physics.

I know only me and a few other players would actually like this change back from ME2. Mass Effect 3 went overboard on the combos; Mass Effect Andromeda scaled it back a bit while expanding some of the combo potential by allowing more mix-and-matching of primers and detonators.

In my opinion, power combos work better in multiplayer where you have a restricted toolsets (kits/characters) combined with cooperative gameplay, but it homogenizes the gameplay in single player. Mass Effect 3 was especially egregious in this regard.

ME2's insanity combat wasn't that bad once you got a few upgrades above the pea shooter starter pistol the writers insist on shepard using. Squadmate choices didn't really matter all that much, though I ended up spamming 3 destruction drones with Legion and Tali near the end for every encounter while any other combination sat out in the open or was usually Dead within seconds (Miranda). Zaeed was great with his inferno grenades and not dying constantly (Miranda). A Slower enemy rate of fire and less hit-scanning would have made it feel more fair. Surviving Object Rho on Insanity was far harder to do than soloing a platinum match. Was funny how Miranda died so much that the game started giving a "missing character" debug icon for her place in the UI and crashed my game once during the Human Reaper fight.

Also the hidden ME1 cover and sprinting mechanics need to stay gone forever. The AI gets too many free potshots on the smaller maps like most of the Arrival DLC because of that stupid antiquated system disarming players who get too close to cover while aiming and punishing them for using cover, in a cover shooter. Seriously it was the most asinine thing I have ever encountered in a video game. It was also really stupid how in game shepard could only sprint a meter or so until he got winded for 5 minutes even in non combat zones. Meanwhile, in the cutscenes he can sprint freely like its ME3.

Layers of protection were in ME3, but operated differently and most enemies did not have any protection layer. Partially this was due to most weapons no longer having damage modifiers versus specific protection layers. But also armor worked vastly different and barrier was pretty rare and exclusive to tougher enemies.



Disagreement is fine. I love playing ME2 on Insanity. All battles are battles of attrition; the difference is in how long battles can take. I think you mean that battles on ME2 Insanity can take longer than other difficulties, even Hardcore (which also had all enemies with protection layers).

We also clearly play ME2 Insanity completely differently, as I rarely bring Zaeed. I also tend to not bring squadmates for their anti-defense abilities, as I prefer squadmates with crowd-control abilities or warp-bomb abilities depending on how I play.

Zaeed destroys armor, which is a lot of my Insanity problem - too much damned armor.

Your post makes me think about my last Insanity run, it was quite a while ago for ME2. ME3 SP is actually boring on any other difficulty IMO, but I digress.

I played Adept, ED as bonus power. Did the final battle several ways, one team was Tali/Jack, the other was Zaeed/Kasumi. Tali/Jack was a micromanagement game, but went smoothly. Zaeed/Kasumi was a murder festival, actually felt powerful which is nice. I don't use squad ammo powers, choosing instead to emphasize the individual.

Nice to reflect, hehe

My main problem with the ME2 protection mechanics is that some characters get hosed by them at higher levels. Jack, for instance. Pre-loyalty mission she just sits around and waits for other characters to strip defenses, and then does a finishing move. After that, she's OK unless you're fighting people with shields. But a lot of people have shields.

I don't have a good solution to this. Jack shouldn't have a solution to shields in her skillset. But letting her Shockwave people to bits even if their shields are up isn't a great idea either. I'm OK with squadmates being situational, though. Maybe Jack just isn't your girl if you're fighting mercs or some such.

I am not sure what you mean by power combos. Those tech/combat powers you list will combo in ME3 but have no combos in ME2. Are you talking about ME2 or ME3, since I was mostly talking about ME2.

Also I tend to avoid using Legion and Tali's drones since they have a 30-second cooldown. Their AI Hacking is much more useful on synthetic-heavy missions, and I sideline them in favor of other squadmates for organic-heavy missions.

Combat Drones are just underwhelming or flat-out bad in ME3, both single player and multiplayer. The enemy AI changed in ME3; some ME3 enemies will outright ignore the drones, and other enemies will not always be distracted by the drones. The movement speed of the drone in ME3 is also very slow; the Rockets evolution will also cause the drone to move away from enemies and attack at a distance, meaning it can actually not hit enemies since it may move behind cover and end up not hitting anything. And the stun and chain lightning evolutions make it only average. The drone's biggest failing is that it cannot prime and does not detonate, making it extremely niche for some less-effective single player builds.

Easy.

1. No pausing whilst in combat. This speeds up things, and greatly improves flow.

2. Individually programmable squaddie tactics a la DA2. This makes your otherwise worthless peeps somewhat gud.

End.

In the end, make it mostly like ME3MP combat, with the addition of you being able to program what you want your mates to prioritize, like the OP suggested. Want Widow Legion on overwatch? Tell him via his tactics, and once combat starts, you do your thang whilst toaster looks for the best spot and then sets up shop.

Requires a good game AI though, which is probably a "bridge too far" for Biower.

I can hope however...

As I imagine the Milky Way timeline is going to catch up with Andromeda one (600 years), I'm hoping they'll take the opportunity to freshen up the ME tech.

It would be nice to see them innovate on the weapons, gear, and biotics front. Maybe even introduce some truly "alien" tech? Organic-tech?

Space (ship) combat?
Zero-G (personal) combat?
Jetpack combat in the violent upper atmosphere of a gas giant?
Stealth mission involving being dropped from space, through the atmosphere, then diving into an ocean to find a hidden undersea base...

Shake it up a bit!

Jetpack from MEA, pause from the trilogy. Have biotics have some effect even on armor and shields. Have squaddies exit cover for shooting instead of having them shoot at rocks and crates and walls.

I just did Rannoch with Tali and James and had James hack the controls for lulz. I'd like it if choices like that made the game harder or easier. e.g., James takes more time to kick the machine into submission, so I need to hold off enemies for longer. Tali does it faster, so I only have to hold off one wave.

I also did the start of Mordin's recruitment in ME2 and didn't use a paragon or renegade line to get into the quarantine zone, so the mercs didn't let me past the first checkpoint without a fight. I'd like more combat consequences for dialog choices as well. "Of you surrender, I'll let you go" leads to fewer combatants, or more combatants later if it turns out you're lying.

I'd also like the option of nonlethal methods of taking out foes like the gas grenades on Feros.