3 skills but 4 profiles = horrible

Basically, ME3 was actually a deep RPG, compared to Andromeda. (and if my past 2012-self could hear me saying this, he would probably travel in time to this moment, and bitch-slap me across mah blasphemous face). But that's the rule of "ball dropping". Each time it gets so much worse, that the previous feels actually good. That said, andromeda totally hit rock bottom.

Maybe i'm misunderstanding, but i'm getting the impression that it's more akin to a split-class/prestige system from a table-top RPG.

You put points into various categories to unlock additional class bonuses via the "profile", but only having access to 3 abilities at a time is a means of balancing.

Were they to allow you 5-6 abilities from all the categories you've spent points in, I think it'd quickly ruin the balance of the game. Unless they of course tied cooldowns to all abilities instead of each at a time.

This is why I feel they restrict you to 3 at a time, to allow flexibility, but minimize the "my char is OP so this game is too easy".

Yep switching profiles is pretty worthless when you could just mow down the issue.

I'm not sure who thought that long ass cd was a good idea. Can't wait for the mod that removes it.

See, if there was no cooldown, then just imagine the banality of switching for the sake of switching.  In other words ...  just give us the 12 skills and be done with it.  But I do find 12 skills it just too much to have at your desposal since you'll have an answer for EVERYTHING and possibly be way too strong in the process.  

My solution would be to just have 4-5 skills,  but only 2 profiles.  Doesn't give you everything,  doesn't overly limit you and the 2nd profile could simply be a style option WITH the cooldown for the sake of having a flavor option BEFORE you begin combat.  Like switching between an engineer or switching to a melee vanguard.   

I have all these maxed out skills - great,  can't use any of it.

Honestly, I feel like 3 powers with individual cooldowns = more power uses per battle than I had the other ME games.

My battle strategy is to use tech-only favorite and sniper stuff for ranged takeouts, switch to the biotic/soldier favorite while I run about the battlefield to get in closer, then use those powers to mop up. Ie, defensive/ranged, switch, offensive/close. It is working well so far...though I think trying to use all 4 favorites would just be tedious to me. Plus, the combats get a little chaotic, so I don't want to have to think about it too much!

It would be sweet if there were 4 powers tho! I prolly would never switch favorites mid battle if I had 4.

I'm leaning towards the 'streamline' theory a bit.

But there's two things that stand out for me.

Montreal did a lot better than I expected on ME3's multi-player, since I was only interested in the SP part of the ME series. So they were used to a console focused 'dumbed down' version (and no facial animation). As it turned out for me, the MP was the redeeming part of ME 3, since initially, I didn't like the 3 color ending. But the Citadel DLC and the MEHEM mods brought me back to several more ME 3 runs.

I wonder if the 3 power limit in SP was deliberate decision, along with the MP Strike Team to 'encourage' SP oriented people into the RNG base reward system in MP - which makes big bucks for EA. And I don't think the way they linked MP to SP is very well done.

You'll also happen to notice when he switches...   it didn't appear to have any cooldown drawback for him.  

Another solution would be 'fine, add the cooldown, but make it 50% of what it would have been per individual skill'.   If it was normally 20 seconds,  make it 10.  

I was disappointed there's no cryo perk that reduces the immediate CD when switching profiles.

For the combat powers though...does the Khett Fusion chest armor give additional power cells to anyone else? In my game, on PS4 it has an odd stat that says +0 to all combat power cell capacities, all the way to rank 10 of the armor. All the other extra bonuses on the other chest pieces from other sets work fine. Wondering if it's a bug or miscoded.

I'd actually use that armor and go soldier if you could get more cells besides what the skill trees give.

Please read the sentence carefully. I said "can", not "is". This means that you have to invest in your character to be able to do that. If you invest only in Biotics, you can reach that point fairly quickly. 

Even then, you're the one constraining yourself to a pure Biotic caster. You're more than capable of using more abilities, and you should. 

The Vanguard profile is actually a good complement for Adept because it reduces Biotic cooldowns, so your cooldowns will decrease faster in Vanguard than they would in Adept. This is ideal for uses of Pull/Throw as they benefit the least from the Adept damage increases (only the combo damage is increased), and you can throw environmental explosives more quickly.

You can leave Lance, Singularity, and Shockwave in the Adept class.

Alternatively, you can actually use Vangaurd and go for a Charge/Nova/Shockwave melee build for picking up stragglers for a change of pace rather than just hug behind cover the whole time.

Another option is using the Vanguard abilities to strip defensives (using abilities talented for anti-shield) then going to Adept for the ones that deal the actual damage to unarmored and unshielded enemies.

A third option is actually breaking from the pure Biotic use and using Tech abilities. In fact this is the ideal caster build in MEA as Tech complements Biotics. Tech is strong at stripping defensives and Biotic is strong against weakened enemies.

Or you could actually fire your gun. 

MEA allows for a whole breadth of hybridization and adaptation but you choose to constrain yourself, while claiming limitation because you can't cast 1 more ability for reasons.

Abilities are stronger and don't have a GCD making them stronger than previous games. Asking to have a wide array of them available per unit time is nothing short of breaking the game. They would have simply implemented GCD or longer cooldowns, and those are far more likely to "break the flow of the game".

Another small issue I have is not having a profile that fits the playstyle I really wanted- old school sentinel who sat in the back and launched both tech and biotic powers with abandon. The new version is a bit limiting with it's focus on powers that eat shields instead of a cooldown, so I feel almost forced to use lance or nova. Guess that's why I switched to explorer... Only profile that buffs both tech and biotics while not forcing me into a certain skill set. And I think the extra weapon damage and defense will make up for the lack of extra combo damage. Plus, Biotic Blink is a lot of fun.

I think this is the main issue right now. Not enough skill points to max out 4+ skills with relevant passives. That's why I think no cooldown when Profile switching is fair. It gives you a reason to use more skills, even when they are less powerful than your maxed ones.

There's still a benefit to the Profile switch since Profiles themselves give passive bonuses. So you could for example Start combat with as Engineer, strip enemy defenses, switch to Adept to damage and CC the unshielded foes.

Even if you only want to play as Adept it would give you a reason to pick more skills and situational skills like Backlash to shield in a pinch, Charge to reposition and restore shields, or a Nova when surrounded - even with a low point investment.

So in my view they could easily make Profiles relevant and fun. And if they don't I guess the modding community will on PC.

I would be a lot more accepting of 3, if they let me use my squad's abilities.

You did not have 'just 4' in ME2/3. You had 4x3 at your fingertips.