What did you do today in ME?

It'll never be possible to make a custom femshep who is very close to the default ME3 one, just as it isn't possible to make a custom broshep who looks like Sheploo. Your attempt isn't half bad, though. I can see the resemblance.

My eyes fly over the written words like in trance, memories flooding back into my mind. Those were times of hardship. Dealing with the loss of my family, my best friend and first love. Grieving for two years. Depression, alcohol, red sand. Finally getting my shit together and enlisting with the Alliance, just like he and I had promised. Always giving it all, pushing on and on, surviving a thresher maw attack during a recon mission, and my training to become an N7 throughout these years... I remember crying when I made it, not being able to share it with the person whose idea it was to join the Alliance in the first place. Well, not the real person anyway.
But I'm not that sad young man from back then anymore. In a twisted way, I can appreciate that it led me to my current life.
I put down letter after letter, reliving all these chapters in my life that left an impact on me, that shaped me into the person I became. It's like hopping into a time machine.
I pick up the letter that marks the start of the most incredible journey of all. A journey of life and death, loss and love, tears, joy, succsesses and setbacks... and ultimately victory. The journey that was responsible for how I ended up here, in this lovely house with my husband and two kids.
It was 13 years after I had lost my family and Alec, and time had healed most of my wounds. I had just recently been assigned to the SSV Normandy as Anderson's XO and had gotten to know the crew a little better, when we were about to start what looked like an easy mission. Little did I know back then what life would hold for me from there on out...

"Hey Alec,
you won't believe what just happened. The shakedown run we were supposed to do turned into the biggest mess. I met up with Captain Anderson and Nihlus, when they told me that I was to secure a Prothean beacon a research team had dug out on Eden Prime. And that Nihlus was to monitor me as a possible candidate for the Spectres. I couldn't believe this was about to happen, that they had even considered me as a Spectre candidate! And then it actually didn't happen at all. Joker forwarded a transmission from Eden Prime, soldiers under attack of an unknown enemy. The vid showed a giant alien ship, I've never seen anything like it.
Alenko, Jenkins and I got ready and touched down on Eden Prime. Nihlus too, but we split up. Man, seeing what had happened to the colony, it sure brought back some memories. The smell of burned flesh and bodies everywhere... just like back then. And when we weren't even 10 minutes in, we lost Jenkins to some hostile drones. Such a shame. I liked him. He was hot-headed and eager for some action, which always reminded me of a certain someone, but he was a good soldier.
The drones that killed him were of geth origin, as we quickly found out. Can you imagine? Geth outside the Veil?! We fought off a few of them to help a soldier they were attacking, Ashley Williams. She was from the unit I saw in the vid, but no one else had survived. And it just got messier as we went along. The Prothean beacon had been moved, and when we headed further in towards the research camp, we stumbled upon some of the researchers... they were impaled on spikes. They were still alive, but definitely not human anymore and came after us. After we killed them I knelt down to take a closer look at them. They were all integrated with some strange tech I haven't seen before. They looked terrifying. At least we found some of the other researchers still alive.
Then we pushed on to the spaceport, and we saw this giant ship from the vid leaving. It was really, really huge. In this area there were more of the geth and these creatures, and we found Nihlus. Shot in the back. A dock worker that had hidden behind crates saw everything and told us what happened. Another turian shot Nihlus. Nihlus had called him Saren and they seemed to know each other. The worker told us that Saren was interested in the beacon, and had it moved. This mission couldn't have gotten worse, but of course it did. We headed towards the other side of the spaceport to find the beacon, only to find out that the whole place had been rigged with explosives. I could disable them all, and we finally found the beacon. Williams went to take a closer look, and suddenly the beacon reacted to her, drawing her closer. I jumped in and pushed her away from it, but then I couldn't move anymore. I don't really know what happened, but I was raised into the air, and I saw random images... a vision of sorts, just that it didn't make any sense to me at all. I passed out. Took 15 hours to get back on my feet, but I'm okay.
But the mission was a failure, as I was told the beacon got destroyed after I accessed it. Now we're headed for the Citadel to explain what happened to the Council. And maybe we can do something about this Saren. Anderson told me he is a Spectre, too. This is some really weird shit, man... I wish my first time on the Citadel would be more pleasant, but I'm excited to finally go there at all.
And no worries, I'll tell you everything about it.

-Dee"

Pics:


Using the Sniper Rifle early on was more fun than I had expected. I only have a crappy 5% Accuracy upgrade so far, so it's not that great with aiming. But I was patient and it was quite neat up until now.
And noooow it's Citadel time, I look really forward to it every time

Thanks, I guess this explains the 'grey' area, the whole bar is the total, the grey portion is what you miss because you are not at 100%.

Jeph Shepard:

- I died in space. I mean, I had to have. All the emergency pods had been fired and I wasn't on any of them. The alien ship took a second shot at the Normandy and shrapnel punctured my suit. I distinctly remember a world of pain before everything went black. Then, for a moment, I remember voices and more point. Finally, some chick named Miranda was yelling at me over an intercom to get up because some mechs were attacking whatever hospital I was in. She directed me to my N7 armor and a pistol. Then I followed the yellow brick road to the sound of Miranda's voice. I had no idea where I was and didn't recognize the logo plastered all over everything in sight, including the clothing of the dead scattered all over the floors. Not on the attacking mechs, though, which seemed to clear the space hospital. (The view suggested I was aboard a space station.)
- Saw little signs of life, or if so, it was quickly extinguished by the mechs. I could help but wonder if this was a Reaper plot, activating mechs to do their bidding, maybe asking them to exterminate organics in exchange for a boost to AI. Or just a virus. I suppose it could be that.
- Logs talked of neurological activity (mine?) and four billion credits. Wherever I was, a shit ton of money had been dropped to make it all happen. Whatever "it" turned out to be.
- Found some dude who was asking me what I was doing there. WTF, dude! Then he's like, oh, right, you just woke up out of a two year coma after having been DEAD. He wouldn't tell me where I was but said it wasn't an Alliance facility. Four billion credits says no shit. [to be continued]

I finished preparing Patch v1.1 for my Respawn mod (that alters almost all the combat in the game to be tougher, more strategic and to give each faction a theme). The patch makes it so the Collector Base decision (save or destroy) will affect the enemy spawn waves you fight on N7: Cerberus Labs, and that whether Garrus is dead or alive affects how Priority: Palaven plays out, with a couple of brand new waves of enemies.

So what did I do today in ME? I play tested it over and over and over again. Not as much fun as you might think, but damn am I proud

Jeph Shepard: (probably going to be very short because I should be asleep)

- I checked out the ship. Leather seats were to Joker's liking. A pretty girl with a degree in psychology was stationed next to me. Two engineers were present who had left the Alliance due to the dismissal of my talk of Reapers after my death. Dr. Chakwas was on board. There was a chef. And then there was my cabin. It had a king-sized bed, a wall-sized aquarium (not stocked), a display for model ships (a hobby of mine), a stereo system and a leather couch. Most curious of all, a picture of Kaidan Alenko was on my desk. What did all this tell me? Cerberus was putting up a very polished front. It made me trust them even less.
- Though it had been recommended I track down Professor Mordin Solus first, a message from Councilor Anderson caught my attention. He had heard I was back. (Tali?) He wanted to talk to me. That was my first priority. If I could convince the Council to put my old crew back together we could eject the Cerberus types and make this a Spectre assignment. However, a message from Hackett about the crash site of the SR1 made me think that recovering the dog tags of the dead and placing a memorial statue would help show I wasn't a traitor.
- Headed to Alchera and it was difficult. I'm familiar with sacrifice. They don't call me the Butcher of Torfan for nothing. But this was something else. We were attacked by unknown parties and killed. No defenses, no chance to fight, just cut down.

- Found a data pad of Pressly's. It was a journal, documenting his journey from anti-alien to his willingness to die for the ones I'd brought on board. Also found my old N7 helmet and it was not in great shape. [Found 8 dog tags but have to sleep.]

In one playthrough I did, the game crashed at the point where I was supposed to unlock my class specialization. So I had the pleasure of doing the last wave of rocket drones again. BioWare, plz.

After a very long time, I have concluded my second longplay of the trilogy in my six-part planned collection of runs of all the six classes (without switching between games).

Months ago (it feels like an eternity) I have used Helena Shepard, she was a female redhead vanguard/nemesis that romanced liara, rescued kaidan hung around a lot with Liara and Garrus in me1, Mordin and Kasumi in ME2 (these 2 made biotic charging very easy for her), and Liara and Javik in ME3. She used in order Singularity, Barrier and Flare as her bonus powers.

It was a very intense run. I completed the whole trilogy in just a few days -with 2 local holidays in close proximity helping a lot - devoting more time to the games than I would recommend towards a hobby. But what can I say? It did seem appropriate in order to get the feeling of playing intensely as a vanguard. I did chronicle some parts of her adventures on this board months ago.

Then I created a male shepard called Fernandes as the representative of the soldier class. I did not chronicle any of his feats on this board for reasons that will now become clear. He had no points to bonus powers in ME1, used mostly assault rifles, walked with tali and ashley in the early chapters and later with ashley and wrex, and rescued his girlfriend ashley on virmire. One funny aspect of pairing either ashley or Garrus with Wrex is that both of them will seem softer than they usually are whenever there is a dilemma. I wanted a cuter, more sympathetic version of Ashley, one that would advise against destroying the rachni (one advise I followed), and that would urge me to save the council (which I did too), and pairing her with Wrex provided me with that. My last 3 runs of the trilogy all involved Kaidan being the survivor, so this one was kinda of my way of getting back to Ash and trying to have the best possible version of her, since after all she was going to be the romanced character.

In ME2, Fernandes had armor piercing ammo as his bonus, even though there was no point invested on it once I reseted all of my powers. Incendiary is so much better. As soon as i got the ship I wasted no time in recruiting Zaed and Grunt, and paired with them for the remainder of the game aside from loyalty missions (zaed would come along most of the time). And no, despite the company Fernandes likes to keep, he is a paragon.

In ME3 it was the human with assault rifles pride parade. Vega and the return of Ashley, with Fernandes loyal to her for the whole trilogy. I used carnage as a bonus power, with devastating effects. brutes, banshees and even harvesters can easily die if you use weapons like mattock or the M7 AR after hitting carnage. I equipped the M7 with the stability item as well as the ammo expansor. The fact that I was using incendiary ammo made things even more devastating. The only mission in which I was not just using a single weapon (always the AR) was against the rachni, when I also took an smg in order to destroy webs and eggs.

I know that it's the oldest trick on the book, but using just one weapon and firing concussive shot twice with incendiary is very effective. Even though to this day it strikes me as strange to see the same power being used twice by the same character in order to trigger an explosion (yes, the very same power as primer and detonator).

So why none of it got reported and I am only doing a digest version of it after concluding it? Because even though it was explosive and intense, at the same time I could not help but thinking it was also dull, boring, repetitive. The same strategies, over and over again. You see, the soldier class characters, they like to shoot. They are good at it, and nothing else. So they shoot. A lot. And they shoot, and then they shoot some more. And that's it.

Yes, I know, I could have used a biotic power or some tech power in order to shake things a little, but I have this self-imposed blockade in my mind in trying to avoid things like biotic-derived powers in characters who are not biotic-oriented. Engineers and Infiltrators with dominate are an exception because they are way too fun.

Besides, my intention was to get the feeling of each class, and I think I did it so far.

It's strange how my perspective changed. When I first played ME1 and 2, Soldier did seem great. I used to love the class. But now, after so many runs with different characters, while I still regard soldiers as resistant, strong and powerful, they also seem limited in scope and strategy. It is official: What used to be my favorite class (in ME1) is my least favorite class in ME3. Yes, they do have access to powers like adrenaline rush and concussive shot, but it's just another way of shooting with the gun. Instead of rejecting this notion and trying to mitigate it with another power, I decided instead to totally embrace it with carnage and shoot with more intensity than ever.

Based on statistics revealed by the developers, I do know that Soldier class is the most played one. I wonder how many people only played it once and using this class, without ever experiencing the diversity the game offers. Same thing goes for having a run in which some crewmembers like mordin and tali perished and were replaced. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of this entire trilogy of games is precisely the diversity, the way you can combine elements and experience events in a different manner because this or that variable. I know, Soldier is the "ryu" class, the default character, the main most basic class and it could very well be the best starting place for a total newcomer. But you will lose a lot if you just stick with it. If you did complete your first run and plan to do another, I urge you to try a different class. You may be surprised on how things can change... and for the better. I know that andromeda took a lot of flack (most of it deservedly so), but one thing they may have done right - perhaps as a way to prevent this problem I just mentioned, of nearly all shepards being soldiers - is the fact that they will give you access to all kinds of powers and you can customize your class as if it was a route. You are not born in a single class, but your character works his/her way towards it. Or not, by becoming totally versatile.

But getting back on point: Oh yes, aside from weapons I did have a few grenades too. Almost forgot about them. Only had 3 points (the last ones) spent on them. Barely used them. Just used them against cerberus heavy mechs and on priority earth because it was the very end. Did not need them at all and mostly forgot they were even available.

Even though I totally dislike the destroy ending (Edi was my friend and I think you can tell that I do like the geth) I seriously considered picking it this time. I mean, one last shooting and going down with a bang with one more enormous explosion? What could be better and more fitting, right? But then I thought: Wait a second, the soldier can handle any gun. No weapon was beyond his ability to master it (smgs in me2 except of course) and the reapers are just that: Enormous weapons than can be controlled, which he is doing right about now. He is also looking over his friends from on high. Yes, it was sad that he could not be reunited with Ash, but if someone knew the nature, importance, value and necessity of sacrifice, it was definitely her. Now more than ever.

Ahmed Shepard went to Virmire to see what all the fuss was about.

1. Normandy scans showed some AA towers near the Salarian camp, so they had to drop down in the Mako far back so they could shut them off on foot. They ran into lots of Geth along the way. No wonder the message was unclear, the Geth were probably jamming it.

2. Ahmed took out all the Geth along the way and shut off the AA towers on the way to the camp.

3. At the camp, he met the leader of the Salarians, a Captain Kirrahe. He told them the large facility they were at was Saren's base of operations. Ahmed's ear picked up at that little tidbit of information. Kirrahe told them they would have to stay put until the Council sent the reinforcements they requested. Kirrahe was none-too-pleased however to learn that Shepard's crew was the reinforcements.

4. Another revelation: Saren seemed to have discovered a cure for the genophage. Kirrahe wanted it destroyed and Ahmed agreed. Wrex did not agree and stormed off.

5. Ahmed went to go talk to Wrex. Wrex wanted the cure for his people, but Ahmed argued that it was not a cure, but a weapon. Wrex got heated and pulled out his gun, forcing Ahmed to pull out his gun. For a brief, tense moment, it appeared the standoff would lead to gunfire. In a show of good faith (or stupidity), Ahmed lowered his weapon and asked if Wrex wanted the Krogan to be tools for Saren. Wrex thought about for what seemed way too long, then said "No. Were were tools for the Council once, and to thank us for wiping out the Rachni they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be as generous." Then he lowered his weapon and agreed to help Shepard continue the mission.

To be continued at a later date...

Jeph Shepard:

- I searched for the remainder of the dog tags and the perfect spot for the monument. Then I came upon the storage area and all the weapons and armor lockers. It made me think of Ash. She wasn't around when the SR-1 went down but I wanted her to be remembered. Then I got the hell off of that graveyard world, keeping my old N7 helmet as a memento of the past. I couriered the 20 dog tags to Hackett so he could pass them along to surviving family. Funny how he hasn't said a damn thing about me being with Cerberus, just continuing to give me random missions like he did after I'd become a Spectre.
- When I got to the Citadel, Kasumi Goto was there in hiding. Cerberus had wanted her and, I learned, offered her help on a mission. She's a master thief. Not entirely sure what her role will be. Hacking alien technology and sneaking into places she shouldn't be? Let's hope she was worth the effort. She's not Cerberus so that's a plus in my book already. I think a thief isn't as bad as a terrorist.
- Met with Anderson and the Council. As my engineers had said, the non-human Councilors had entirely dismissed the Reapers as real, believing Saren had been capable of sweet-talking the geth into serving him. Possibly among the most ridiculous things I'd ever heard in my life. Geth didn't deal in emotion so there would be no appeal from that perspective. Guess my reports from things I'd been told my Shiala, Benezia and the VI on Ilos were all meaningless. Never mind Sovereign itself, who was capable of destruction via a hologram and turning Saren's bones into a conduit for its power. No, that tech was beyond anything the geth could do. These guys are simply idiots. Anderson believed me.
- The other side was me working with Cerberus. That was considered treason (and I wondered why my entire ship and crew weren't immediately seized). However, they agreed to reinstate my Spectre status if I agreed to restrict my investigations to the Terminus Systems. That gave the implication that they supported my mission but were not behind it. I'd tell anyone who asked that working with Cerberus was an undercover Spectre mission. As far as I'm concerned, this is still the greater part of my mission to take down Saren - only we've gone up a level to go after his bosses. The Council is as expected. What did piss me off was that Anderson refused me any information on Kaidan. I suspect he knew what was going on between us. Fuck them all.
- Saw a quarian being accused of stealing from a volus. The C-Sec officer clearly distrusted her for racial reasons alone. I solved the problem. I admit to having a soft spot for quarians because of Tali but this was clearly an exercise in assholery.
- Got myself discounts in every damn shop on the Citadel. I also got a space hamster and some fish for the giant fish tank in my cabin. Also, a couple of model ships, including one of the SR-1.
- Interesting news items: My mother refused a promotion to rear admiral because she thought being a captain better honored my memory, Chairman Burns came through on reparations for those with L2 implants and the Turian Hierarchy was giving further reparations for the First Contact War because humanity saved their asses from Sovereign.
- Never a bad time to go dancing. Miranda mentioned Chora's Den never reopened. Wrex would be sad about that.

- That bitchy reporter came for me again. Her feeble attempts to disrespect the marines who'd given their lives to save the Citadel only made her look even worse than last time. Really wanted to slap her but I think smearing her works out better.
- New stuff for my cabin!

Jeph Shepard:

- Landed on Bekenstein with Kasumi. We had to rob the asshole in charge, a guy named Donovan Hock. I'm using the equally pretentious name of Solomon Gunn, complete with a verifiable background. She wants to steal a graybox containing the memories of her dead lover, a man who had been killed by Hock. I guess if it came to killing Hock I wouldn't be upset about it. Of course, she was smuggling our weapons and armor in through a golden statue of Saren. She seemed to be equating Saren and Hock but they're not the same. Both criminals but one almost destroyed the galaxy. Strangely, Kasumi was turned away by Hock. He was obviously suspicious of her.
- Party was host to the biggest assholes humanity had to offer. I overheard them talking about me, as well as Archangel. Sounded like he was in trouble so I was going to have to hightail it to Omega as soon as we left. I felt like a secret agent the way we were sneaking in, like some of the vids of Spectres on secret missions. It was fun.
-Hmm...what's this? Prothean statue? Does kind of look like what I saw in my visions and on Ilos.

- Looking at this, I feel like I'm in some strange alternate universe.

- Got to admit, it was satisfying watching Hock's gunship explode into shrapnel. Hope I get to do something like that again. Kasumi wanted to keep the graybox and memories, despite the danger the information inside posed. I convinced her to let me destroy it for her, just as Keiji asked her to do. He knew she'd be trapped with those memories otherwise.
- Picked up a merc named Zaeed Massani who had been hired by Cerberus to fight for me. He also wanted my help with something. I sent him along to the SR-2 while I went to Afterlife with Kasumi and Jacob. Technically, I needed Mordin Solus sooner but I wanted to make sure Archangel survived. So he became my priority. So we signed up as freelancers looking to help the gangs of Omega take him out. Sabotaged everything we could before heading over. Then turned on the other mercs once we got there. Once we got close, Archangel removed his helmet. Son of a bitch was none other than Garrus Vakarian! Well, that's one more of my allies accounted for, and this one hopefully coming with me. In the end, we defeated all three merc groups: Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse, as well as their leaders. Downside is that Garrus was seriously injured. We brought him aboard the Normandy for medical treatment.
- Garrus was up and running almost immediately after surgery. He wasn't thrilled with the Cerberus alliance but he stuck with me, like I knew he would. Then he decided to calibrate our cannons. Weird.