What did you do today in ME?

I loaded up an old ME2 sentinel save and had a go at the Reaper IFF mission on Insanity.

I was at L27 and used this build:

• Tech Armour: four ranks (Assault)
• Throw: two ranks
• Warp: four ranks (Heavy)
• Overload: two ranks
• Cryo Blast: four ranks (Full)
• Passive: four ranks (Guardian)
• Warp Ammo: one rank

Loadout was the Carnifex pistol, Tempest SMG, Viper SR and Cain. Squadmates were Grunt and Mordin.

I favour a three-power playstyle with minimal use of the power wheel. I think that a bonus ammo power is a good choice for this playstyle because sentinels already have a good selection of active powers. That said, speccing Grunt into Squad Incendiary Ammo might have been better for this mission.

With four ranks in Cryo Blast and only two in Overload, my build is minmaxed for the Reaper IFF mission. I have Warp on the left trigger, Cryo Blast on the right trigger and Tech Armour on the triangle button. If I were to attempt a complete Insanity run, I think I'd level Overload and Cryo Blast roughly evenly and map either Overload or Cryo Blast to the right trigger depending on the mission.

Video behind the cut. My play is really bad to start with, having not played ME2 for a while (well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). It does get a bit better as I find my rhythm.

Karen Shepard, Soldier, ME3 cont'd:

Normandy

Following her adventure with Aria on Omega, Commander Shepard checked in with the crew of the Normandy. Evidently nothing exiting had happened while she was gone, as none of them had much to say, other than Javik who complained that “your Liara asari” asked too many questions, as if “she'd never met a prothean before”. Hmm.

Citadel

Aria had returned to the Citadel, claiming that for the time being it was easier to coordinate from there. She gave the Commander an update on the rebuilding efforts on Omega.

Citadel: Silversun Strip - Anderson's Apartment

Admiral Hackett wanted the Normandy crew to take some shore leave, so that the ship could get some long overdue repair work done. It sounded like a good idea to Shepard; she could use a break, and felt the crew probably needed one as well.

Hackett asked Shepard to go to an apartment owned by Admiral Anderson, in the Wards on the Silversun Strip. When she arrived, Samantha notified her that Anderson was waiting to speak to her on vidcom. Anderson informed her that he wanted her to have the apartment, since he obviously couldn't get much use out of it anymore. Shepard thanked him for his generosity – the apartment would make a good place for the crew to unwind during their all too rare downtimes.

She toured the apartment, finding various audio logs made by Anderson – evidently someone had been in the middle of writing his biography when the war broke out, so notes containing his replies to the biographer's questions were scattered all over.

An email came in from Joker asking to meet for dinner and discuss something, so Shepard left the apartment and headed for the Ryuusei sushi restaurant. Shortly after sitting down at Joker's table, however, it became clear that they'd both been lured there under false pretenses.

A woman in an Alliance uniform ran up to the table, introducing herself as Staff Analyst Maya Brooks. She worked for Alliance Intelligence and had discovered attempts to hack into Shepard's comm channels and personal records. She didn't know who or why, but it was obviously whoever faked the emails to lure Shepard and Joker to the restaurant.

The discussion was interrupted when a group of mercenaries busted in, looking for Shepard. Shepard sent Joker to get the crew, but the mercs grabbed Brooks before the Commander could take them out.

She was able to reach Brooks and free her, but more mercs arrived and started shooting. Brooks was wounded, but the rest of their shots missed, hitting only the floor. Unfortunately, the floor was a glass display with a bunch of fish in it, so Shepard fell through when in shattered and ended up falling down multiple levels, ending up in some commercial district of the Wards. She was safe for the time being, but she'd have to try and find her way back, while dealing with the mercs who were still after her.

To be continued...

Karen Shepard, Soldier, ME3 cont'd:

Citadel: Silversun Strip – Cision Motors

Shepard survived her fall through the glass floor at the Ryuusei sushi restaurant, and was contacted on the radio by Brooks, who evidently survived her gunshot wound as well. Shepard checked the area, and decided the landing pad at the Cision Motors skycar lot was her best bet to get out of there.

She encountered more mercs on the way to the dealership, but dealt with them without too much trouble. Joker had apparently found the crew and filled them in, as she was contacted over the comm by Liara and then Tali, who both let the commander know that help was on the way.

Shepard made it to the skycar lot, where she was joined by Liara. Liara complimented Shepard on her outfit, even though it was the same dress blues she'd been wearing since rejoining the Alliance. Still, it felt nice to be appreciated.

They went out to the landing pad to wait for the C-Sec shuttle that was coming to extract them. The shuttle arrived, but inside were more mercs rather than C-Sec officers.

Yet another firefight broke out, but this time an old friend joined the fun. Urdnot Wrex, on the Citadel for meetings with the Council, had heard about the commotion and wanted to come and help Shepard kick butt.

The three old friends were able to hold off the mercs long enough to be picked up in a shuttle by Joker and Brooks, and they returned to the apartment on the Silversun Strip to try and figure out what was going on.

Brooks explained how she had learned of the attempts to access Shepard's classified security codes and other information. Liara was able to come up with a lead to pursue, while Joker returned after having fetched the rest of the team - “folks who actually like being shot at.”

Shepard checked in with each member of the squad, while they waited for Liara and Brooks to dig up some intel on who was after them.

To be continued...

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. But there is one thing in your video I do not understand. I noticed you threw warp at a lot of unarmored Husks/Abominations. Is there something I'm missing in regards to this? I generally only use it on barriers and armored enemies. And obviously on pulls. I am not a fan of the Tempest in ME2. It seems like it spits a lot of bullets but doesn't do much damage unless you are point blank. I can see it being good for a Vanguard. I'd rather use a shotgun or the Mattock on the Sentinel myself. 

Thank you for watching my excessively-long video

The reasons for my use of Warp on unarmoured foes are twofold:

1. I was intending to target an armoured thing, but missed.
2. I was intending to hit the unarmoured thing with Cryo Blast, but pressed the wrong button.

Under ideal circumstances, I prefer the Locust to the Tempest in ME2. However, for me, close-quarters combat against hordes of Husks is not an ideal circumstance. I know that I'm going to be shooting a lot and will miss more than I hit. For that reason, I chose the Tempest for this mission due to its larger clip size and spare ammo reserve. I think it would have been a bit more effective if I had specced Grunt into Squad Incendiary Ammo; the few bullets that actually connected would have done more damage that way.

I finally finished the archangel mission - and without much trouble this time. Switching Janei from vanguard to Sentinel after importing her was a good idea. I have much less trouble with the fighting now.
But the Archangel mission, I did yesterday. Today, Janei was busy with the following:

- searching the Normandy crash side for signs of the dead crewmen and enduring some very boring flashbacks (I'm not much into spaceships, the only ones, that interests me are the Tardis, Moya and Serenity, I couldn't even remember, how the Normandy looked like). The destroyed Mako brought a smile on my face
- finding some Cerberus agent, who was killed during interrogation
- freeing Jack, a girl with talents and issues, obviously. Of course the prison commander betrayed us and of course the whole prison was after us, I think in that universe, Shepard is a synonym for trouble, a bit like dwraf, but instead of the adorable dwarf, she has the adorable turian  . Well I think, my Shepard will get along with Jack, both hate Cerberus, like breaking rules and are bitchy to Miranda - perfect.

What I like is the relatively uncomplicated upgrade system. What I don't like is the planetary survey and the constant search for a fuel station.

We might visit the Citadel station soon - sound like a fun thing to do. But before that, Janei will help Zaeed with a mission.

That was a nice scene: getting drunk with the doc






The dream team


please imagine here some badass music

Miriam Shepard, Paragon Floldier, ME3 Insanity:

Omega: assisted Aria T'Loak in recapturing her fiefdom from Cerberus. Straight Paragon run: powered down the forcefields safely to avoid civilian casualties; took Petrovsky into Alliance custody where he sang like a canary.

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Ashley and Liara sat at a table in the mess hall opposite each other. A few metres away, Javik leaned against a bulkhead, half-listening to their conversation but mostly keeping to himself.

"Sure wish we could have gone to Omega with Miriam," said Ashley.

"Aria T'Loak is an extremely powerful biotic. I'm sure that the two of them will be fine," said Liara, as much for her own benefit as for Ashley's.

"Yeah, I know," said Ashley. "Still, I think I'm gonna find somewhere quiet and say a prayer for her."

Javik turned to face the two women.

"A prayer?" he said. "The turians with their spirits, the hanar with their absurd myths, you humans with your gods and devils... this cycle has barely progressed in fifty thousand years."

"Is there nothing you believe in?" asked Liara, neither shocked nor surprised by Javik's rudeness.

"Look at the galaxy around you," said Javik. "The Reapers swarm like locusts. They devour planets, systems, whole races. When I witness such devastation, such suffering, such meaninglessness... how can I believe in any higher goodness?"

"I don't see it that way," said Ashley. "For centuries, my people exploited and abused our world, and each other. It was awful, sure; but that doesn't detract from the beauty of the galaxy. Now, the galaxy lies in ruins; but that doesn't detract from the beauty of the universe, or the goodness of the Creator. I do see the hand of Someone in it all."

"Perhaps the universe was created by some higher power," said Javik, "but I deny that They are any kind of good god. Any god that permits the Reapers to exist is either powerless to stop them, or simply does not care. In which case, They are either too pitiful or too malign to worship. They are not any god worthy of the description."

Liara stared at the table. Ashley's eyes narrowed very slightly. A tiny smile played across her lips.

"You're wrong," said Ashley. "I don't know why the Reapers are here, I don't know what purpose they serve, and I don't know who created them; they could even be the devil. But every day, I thank God for giving us desire to be free, and the will to fight, and the minds to design weapons to kick the Reapers back into dark space, and the hands to pull the trigger. And I thank Them for blessing us with Miriam. With her leadership, we might even win."

Javik made a noise that sounded a little like a snort. "The Commander's ability, I do not deny. But to give thanks to a supposed deity for it? I am not so naïve, nor so foolish. I will leave you with your delusion." He turned around and left the mess hall.

Liara looked up. "That was awful, even by his standards. But, I'm impressed. You kept remarkably calm while he mocked your beliefs."

Ashley chuckled. "That was mocking? Compared with the trolls on the extranet, the guy's an amateur." She stood up. "Okay, I really am going to go and say that prayer now. You coming?"

Liara smiled at her friend and rose to her feet. "Thank you, I'd like that."

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Media:

To all the Liara haters: I might finally get it.

My renegade Alex was rude to Liara in ME1, and still ended up getting ninjamanced and screwing up the desired romance with Ashley. I had to redo one of the planets to fix that, but all ended well.

Now I'm taking him through Shadowbroker, and it's all, "Don't worry, Liara," and "That's what friends do, Liara." No, Shepard. She is not your friend. You think she's a liability. You're helping her with the Shadowbroker because you plan to use her to defeat your enemies.

I suppose Liara herself isn't actually the problem, but rather the lack of non-friendship responses to whatever crap she says.

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masseffectfanforlife: About that space cow. There's a reason my Renegade Shepard's mow all those cows down. Clearly they're not trustworthy.