What did you do today in ME?

Audio stuff and muxing.

Need to get around to posting ME1 Vanguard, Sentinel and Infiltrator leveling to complete the six classes and also maybe port over the original 3 class threads here.

I'd be really interested in the ME1 Sentinel Guide.

Not true

1. I'm playing a broShep, so in order to romance him in ME1, I had to use a mod (hence the mod part).
2. I romanced 2 people in ME2 - started with Miranda, then switched to Kelly (because Assari dance in cabin! Oh my...).

Still got that shot

John Shepard:

Mars Archives: Landed on Mars with and put boots down with Kaidan and Vega. We saw a dead Alliance soldier pretty quickly and then watched Cerberus troopers executing another one. It was weird that the soldiers put up no fight. I don't know what that was about but we made short work of them. Kaidan...doesn't trust me. I'm not happy about that and not all that interested in repeatedly defending myself. In any case, inside we found Liara being attacked by Cerberus but she was able to take them out. I sent Vega back to the shuttle to prepare for a potentially hasty exit.

We fought our way through the Archives. Kaidan had come up with the idea of using a dead trooper's radio to fool Cerberus into thinking we were with them. When the helmet came off we saw something that had elements of a husk. Cerberus was already making husks three years ago so it shouldn't have come as a surprise that they had continued to perfect the process to create this hybrid. I was actually offended when Kaidan asked if this was what was done to bring me back to life a year ago. My feelings don't get hurt easily but this...I didn't care for the accusation. Because even if it had been the case it wasn't like I had a choice in the situation. That aside, his idea worked, allowing us to transfer over to the main part of the Archives to get the plans for some kind of super weapon the protheans created to destroy the Reapers - a weapon that was incomplete when they died. Problem: The Illusive Man (or a hologram of him) was there and said he wanted these plans because he wanted to CONTROL the Reapers rather than destroy them. Hence, he was working against me. And we discovered that someone was downloading and deleting said plans.

Kaidan found Dr. Eva Core behind it (the same person who was seen on earlier video killing Alliance soldiers). She was stronger than she looked, able to take him down. I chased after her because she had those plans. She made it to a shuttle and took off. I radioed for help and that came in the form of Vega slamming her shuttle with ours and knocking it out of the sky. Despite the shuttle being on fire, Liara was prepared to go into it to get those plans. That's when Dr. Core, whose human features had been wiped away, was revealed to be a mech. She attacked Kaidan and, under orders from the Illusive Man, nearly killed him. I was able to shoot her down. Kaidan was barely alive. We took him and Dr. Core aboard the Normandy.

Normandy SR-2: I was in shock and hovering over Kaidan's badly injured body. I remember making that choice years ago to save his life over that of Ash. Despite the rough patch we were going through I couldn't imagine losing him. Liara had to snap me out of it and remind me that Kaidan needed medical attention and we would only get that at the Citadel. I reported to Hackett on our findings and we were off.

The Citadel: Medics arrived a rushed Kaidan off to Huerta Memorial. Commander Bailey (promoted from captain to head of C-Sec) showed up to escort us to see the Council. He said I'd have time to see Kaidan first if I wanted and I opted to do just that. Ran into Dr. Chakwas and convinced her to rejoin the Normandy. Then I went to see the Council. Damned if Udina was humanity's Councilor after I went out of my way to make sure that backstabber did not get that position in 2183. Predictably, despite telling the Council about the threat, that we had a possible way to win, and that Earth needed help, they opted to do nothing. This from assholes who a year ago said they had "dismissed" the Reaper claim I had made. Kind of makes me wish I hadn't gone out of my way to save them though I'm not sure slotting in one politician over another would make much of a difference. Plus side was the my Spectre status was reinstated. It's not that I exactly lost it but the Council took the same position as the Alliance and suspended it while I was locked up on Earth. Anyway, Councilor "We have dismissed that claim" Sparatus told me that if I rescued the turian primarch from Palaven's moon Menae that I could probably bypass the Council and get help directly from the turian leaders. It was all I had at this point so I decided it was the best course of action.

Interviewed with Khalisah al-Jilani. For the first time in years, I got her to trust me. Her reports will be beneficial. Speaking of reporters, I recruited military Battlespace reporter Diana Allers. Or, well, she came to me. She told me she could sway public opinion our way to help rally people to our side. I agreed to bring her on board. Still, wondering whatever happened to Emily Wong. She's the only reporter I've come across whose had a genuine interest in helping others with her reports. I miss her.

John Shepard:

Hell: I'm in a dark forest. I see the little boy I couldn't save on Earth. He's running around, playing with his model ship. I try to reach him. I know what's coming. Just as I get to him I hear the sound of Reapers arriving. The boy runs off again. I chase after him. When I finally catch up he becomes engulfed in flames. The freakiest part is that he has my eyes.

Normandy SR-2: I woke up with a start. Someone was knocking on the door of my cabin. It was Liara and we had a brief chat before being interrupted. Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor was reporting for duty. She had been retrofitting the Normandy when the Reapers invaded. EDI said that she would be useful and requested she remain. She's now part of the crew. Met Lt. Steve Cortez is the shuttle bay. He's my new shuttle pilot and, apparently, requisitions officer. He also has a history with Vega. Vega and I had a little dance where he learned that his bulk and youth weren't a match for my skills and experience. And I found a model of the Normandy SR-1. Checked in with Allers and Chief Engineer Greg Adams, who had served on the Normandy SR-1. He apologized for not joining Cerberus when I worked with them. It wouldn't have made much sense for him to abandon his career for this. Hard to believe Chakwas and Joker got away with it.

The Memorial Wall was still intact from when I'd had it installed. Everyone there was a deceased crew member. They all stood out but some meant more to me than others: Ashley Williams, Richard Jenkins and Charles Pressly. It hurt a little to see those names but I'm rather remember them as reminders of what we've lost to the Reapers and what we could still lose. A little surprised that the bar, of all things from when Cerberus made this ship, survived the retrofits. Chakwas gave me a checkup. My implants are doing fine. Liara has replaced one entire wall of the XO quarters with screens for intel - part of her being the Shadow Broker. She also brought her info drone Glyph along to provide me with upgrades.

Not sure I want to know how or why, but all of my ship models, my aquarium full of exotic fish, and my space hamster were in the captain's quarters. Could Anderson have somehow wanted this stuff from when it was planned to be his ship?

I've decided that my renegade's ME2 team is going to be Jack and Mordin, so I recruited them first (and, yeah, got Garrus too in the bargain). I think there is a couple of sidequests on the logs that I can do to test the team out. I also got space hamster this time round! Sooooo cute! And, I decided to go with the "chicks dig scars" attitude, and not waste any resources on the skin treatment. Mark looks so very roguish, sheesh. The Renegade options so far were pretty good, can't complain.

Hope to catch a few MP games too, to try out a different build on a Turian Sentinel & finish leveling the Sala Engineer. I just toyed around for a couple of games with my Vorcha sentinel so far on solo, he lived through Wave 5/6 on level 11/12. Not bad for the puppy, but I am tired of the FB Giant...

Miriam Shepard met the bugs...

Contacted by the Illusive Man with news of a Collector attack in progress on the human colony Horizon. Ordered the Normandy to the Iera system immediately; took Garrus and Miranda planetside to investigate.

Encountered Collector resistance almost immediately; insect-like humanoid bipeds, large heads, two pairs of eyes, apparently innate biotic abilities projecting barriers in lieu of shields. Occasionally encountered individuals with stronger armour, more powerful weaponry, more intelligent behaviour, capable of speech limited to a few phrases, apparent interest in Normandy SR-2 team specifically.

Encountered Husks, apparently of human origin. No evidence of "dragon's teeth" implying Husks brought in by Collectors as cannon-fodder; strong implication of Collector link to Reapers.

Colony initially appeared deserted. Subsequently discovered human colonists in stasis, victims of Seeker bites. Mordin's countermeasure proved effective; landing party unharmed by Seeker attacks.

Miranda's Warp ability proved effective against Collector barriers and armour. Shockwave and Pull abilities conferred by L5n implants highly effective at neutralizing Husks; clear advantage over Lift ability from L3 implants.

Made contact with Delan, a colonist. Learned of Alliance defence towers intended to protect colony, but malfunctioning. Located targeting computer, secured area, repaired system. Collector attack repulsed; estimate one-third to one-half of colonists taken by Collectors for reasons unknown.

Encountered Chief Ashley Williams of the Alliance, formerly a member of Normandy SR-1 team. Had been among the colonists stung by Seekers but left behind by Collectors. Officially dispatched by the Alliance to Horizon as a liaison and to deploy the defence system; unofficially investigating Normandy SR-2 team's links with Cerberus. Attempt to renew friendship was unsuccessful due to Cerberus connection.

Obtained particle beam weapon of Collector origin, proved essential for controlling mobs of Husks and for disabling barrier of "Praetorian" gestalt entity. Now with Mordin for further analysis.

Mr Illusive confessed to engineering the Horizon incident, leaking information about Normandy SR-2's mission and Cerberus links in order to lure Ashley to Horizon, using her as bait for Collectors. Further evidence of his untrustworthiness. Ashley's assessment is uncomfortably accurate.

[The hardest part of this replay was the first battle near the targeting computer, with two Scions and a horde of Husks. It took a few do-overs because I kept getting mobbed. Lift and Shockwave are fantastic against one or two Husks, but I wasn't able to control a crowd with them. Determined to win without reducing the difficulty level from Hardcore, I eventually resorted to aiming the particle beam like a hosepipe.

By contrast, the Praetorian battle only took one attempt; in my first playthrough, it took two or three. I used the particle beam for its barrier and incendiary Phalanx for its armour, having Miranda cast Warp regularly. Not using any of Shepard's offensive powers meant that my Fortification bonus power was available if I made a mistake and needed an instant shield boost.

The Collector drone battles provided lots of opportunities for fun with Charge once their numbers had been thinned a little. Yes, I did bum-rush Harbinger when the situation permitted ]

John Shepard:

Palaven: General Corinthus informed me that in order to find out who the new turian primarch is he'd have to have a comm tower repaired. Currently, it was being swarmed by husks. Liara, James and I went off to take care of it. I set Liara up to the top of the tower to make repairs while James and I held our ground. Once done, we went back to Corinthus. He told us Adrien Victus was our man. It was about that the Garrus Vakarian showed up, one of two who had been with me every step of the way, from fighting Saren and Sovereign to going on a suicide run against the Collectors while on board a Cerberus ship. Hell of a marksman. Hell of a friend. He was now an adviser on all things Reaper since he was the closest thing the turians had to an expert.

We had received a distress call from Joker saying the Normandy was going haywire. Liara went back to the ship to see if she could help while Garrus joined me and James. We had to deal with an incoming harvester before anything else. First thing James noticed was a new type of Reaper that looked a lot like the turians. These were the turian equivalent of husks and we started calling them marauders. Then we had to stop the Reapers from breaching the main barricade. We were successful, but not before a Brute - something that looked like a Reaper hybrid of krogan and turian - knocked me down next to it. It was starting to look like the Reapers were transforming every sentient species it could find.

I switched over to Jackie Shepard, who decided to help Aria retake Omega from Cerberus. Despite her original intentions, Aria left Petrovsky alive and had him sent off to the Alliance as a prisoner of war.

Then Jackie headed off back to Tuchanka and rescued some Turians that had crashed there. They had been trying to deal with a situation with a Turian bomb (long story short: it was actually a Turian bomb), and they requested her help to finish the job. Jackie gladly assisted and stopped Cerberus from detonating the bomb.

I remember my first ever time doing that side quest. Taking Wrex made it especially creepy, as his voice in the "Hear that? We're not alone" line was delivered perfectly. And I jumped about six feet in the air when the first cannister exploded. Fun times.

Miriam Shepard flew a hovercraft and met some more bugs...

Admiral Hackett seems not to be fussed that the former Alliance Cdr Shepard is now in command of a Cerberus frigate. At his request, visited the planet Alchera, a snowy wasteland and the final resting place of the Normandy SR-1. Found wreckage strewn over a wide area. Recovered canisters of eezo and the identity tags of twenty lost crew members. Found Charles Pressly's journal. Before the Saren crisis, the man was so pro-human that he'd have fit well within Cerberus. By the end, he'd done a one-eighty; a real shame that he died so soon after humanity was welcomed onto the Citadel council.

Placed a monument to the fallen near the SR-1's bridge.

Went shopping; obtained provisions requested by Mess Sgt Gardner, and a bottle of brandy for Dr Chakwas. She cracked the bottle open immediately. With the previous mission still so fresh, drank a toast to the lost Normandy SR-1 crew.

Discovered the wreck of an Alliance freighter, the Estevanico, while exploring the planet Zanethu in the Hourglass Nebula. Freighter's hulk was unstable and collapsing. Computer core still active; recovered logs from mainframe terminal.

Diverted to the planet Zeona in the Ismar Frontier to look for signs of the Rosalie, a lost research ship with Cerberus connections. Two notable scientists, Drs Cayce and O'Loy, had been aboard. Went planetside with Garrus and Grunt. Found no lifesigns, but recovered a Hammerhead anti-grav hovercraft. Grunt was disappointed that he didn't get to try out his new Claymore.

Data from the Hammerhead indicated that Dr Cayce had been researching Prothean artefacts on Corang in the Hawking Eta cluster. Visited the planet, found geth at the research site; first encounter with them since the Saren incident. Recovered research data; eliminated geth incursion using Hammerhead's heavy cannon.

Further data revealed that Dr Cayce had also been researching unusual weather events on the ice planet Lattesh in the Phoenix Massing cluster, suspecting links to Prothean artefacts. Visit planet, recovered nine of Cayce's ten sensor pods before the Hammerhead's engines froze. (Consider Hammerhead unsuitable for use in extreme environments; strongly recommend re-engineering of power plant). Sensor readings revealed no Prothean connection.

Final data packet recovered from the Hammerhead indicated that Cayce had established a lab within an active volcano on Karumto in the Caleston Rift, close to a suspected Prothean ruin. Took Garrus and Jacob planetside to investigate the lab. The volcano was not only active but unstable. Recovered Cayce's logs and sensor data; lab subsequently destroyed by volcanic eruption.

Investigation into Cayce's whereabouts interrupted by priority-one communication from the Illusive Man. A Collector ship had been damaged in combat with a turian patrol. Illusive Man provided coordinates and a mission plan to board the ship and obtain intelligence by linking EDI to its mainframe. Ordered the Normandy to intercept at full speed; boarded the vessel with Garrus and Jack. Trap suspected; proceeded with extreme caution.

The Collector vessel was colossal, on the scale of a space station. Interior consisted of billions of stasis pods, enough to transport every human in the galaxy. Found human bodies strewn around, apparent victims of experimentation. Recovered equipment taken from colonies including heavy weapon power cells, medical supplies and a functioning M-8a Avenger rifle.

Obtained data from Collector medical computer. Collector DNA consistent with fragments of Prothean DNA recovered from ancient ruins, although exhibiting signs of extensive modification. Collectors apparently the remnants of the Prothean race, enslaved by Reapers. The purpose of all the stasis pods now seems obvious.

Found vessel's computer core, established uplink with EDI. Vessel's systems came online without warning. Encountered heavy resistance from Collector troops, including Scion and Praetorian gestalt entities, multiple "possessed" individual, and Husks with red cybernetics and suicide attacks. Particle beam weapon proved invaluable despite low ammo supply.

Collector point of origin traced to galactic core. Collector vessel dimensions and engine signature consistent with both Horizon attack and Normandy SR-1 attack.

Analysis of Collector computer data proved that the report of a turian attack was a ruse, and that the Illusive Man would have known this. Normandy team was therefore deliberately sent into a trap, under false pretences. This will not be forgotten.

Ordered the ship to the Hades Nexus, far away from the Duplicitous Man. Received a distress call from the planet Gei Hinnom; went planetside with Garrus and Grunt to investigate. Found Lt Forzan, the lone survivor of a quarian shuttle crash, badly injured and in danger from varren. Rescued Forzan and eliminated varren. Unworthy opponents for a krogan warrior, but at least Grunt got to shoot something this time.

[I went to the Collector ship too early, really. My plan was to unlock assault rifles as soon as possible so I would be able to use them for the majority of the game. I didn't get to use them during my first playthrough, when I chose sniper rifles.

I lost count of the number of do-overs that I needed for the first battle, with the floating platforms. Attacks from all angles, constant pressure from Harbinger, and those Scions throwing shockwaves to knock me out of cover... ugh. I think I only made it through by fluke! The Praetorian battle took a few tries as well, though not as many. Here, I found Charge very useful for mobility; once all the mooks had been eliminated, it was a matter of running desperately from the eyelazors, spamming Fortification and remembering to switch weapons as its barrier went up and down. Kept trying to dodge instinctively, then remembered I wasn't playing ME3MP...

The last section, with the husk army, was a lot of fun with both Shepard and Jack spamming Shockwave constantly.

It was heavy going, but I made it all the way through without dropping the difficulty level

Yesterday, I played a few Silver games in ME3MP, including a couple of Collector matches, and was struck by how easy it is by comparison. Thank goodness that Harbinger wasn't added to ME3MP, the Possessed Troopers and Possessed Captains are nothing by comparison.]