Mass Effect first play through

I just don't understand the big deal. The missions last no more than 15-20 minutes each and I've never been hampered because I chose a certain team member over someone else. In some areas you can walk back to the Normandy, but in some you take a shuttle down to the mission. To get a new player you would have to run all the way back to the beginning and then take the shuttle back to the Normandy. IMO they did it this way so it wouldn't break the immersion. Swapping members in and out on a whim would kill it for me.

Scotty doesn't know

Garrus is a pimp

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

I just don't understand the big deal. The missions last no more than 15-20 minutes each and I've never been hampered because I chose a certain team member over someone else. In some areas you can walk back to the Normandy, but in some you take a shuttle down to the mission. To get a new player you would have to run all the way back to the beginning and then take the shuttle back to the Normandy. IMO they did it this way so it wouldn't break the immersion. Swapping members in and out on a whim would kill it for me.

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Breaks the immersion? If your that sensitive then don't change your party. I on the other hand would like the option to drop a team member that can't pull their wait.

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Originally Posted by taggart6

Breaks the immersion? If your that sensitive then don't change your party. I on the other hand would like the option to drop a team member that can't pull their wait.

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Lol, like different team members matter or have made a mission impossible.

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

Lol, like different team members matter or have made a mission impossible.

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If they didn't, why offer more then 2? I'm assuming you've played the game and know they have different specializations right? I mean that's the point of most rpgs where you can select among various party members.

I think it would make sense if you could trade out party members at the ship when you want. That seems more realistic to me. I know some people just have their party members hang back as they Rambo through alone, but I'm trying to use them as much as possible. Currently, I got one focusing on taking out synthetics, one at controlling mobs, another at raw assault, and one on healing.

If I'm struggling with one combo and have the option to switch them out, that would be nice.

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Originally Posted by DJBeanPole17

Garrus is a pimp

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Yeah , I found out that having certain members at certain missions will result in additional dialgoue. Like having Garrius when ever you talk to c-Sec.

Wrex's side comments are pretty awesome.

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Originally Posted by taggart6

If they didn't, why offer more then 2? I'm assuming you've played the game and know they have different specializations right? I mean that's the point of most rpgs where you can select among various party members.

I think it would make sense if you could trade out party members at the ship when you want. That seems more realistic to me. I know some people just have their party members hang back as they Rambo through alone, but I'm trying to use them as much as possible. Currently, I got one focusing on taking out synthetics, one at controlling mobs, another at raw assault, and one on healing.

If I'm struggling with one combo and have the option to switch them out, that would be nice.

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I assumed they added more people because that gives more people on the dossier to go and find, therefore making the game longer and more involved. Plus it adds more character to the game knowing each person's plight and trying to help them through out the game.

I know they each add their own abilities, but I have never actually needed that. I am playing on normal difficulty and have not had a moment where I said to myself, "damn I wish I had so-and-so here, because this is impossible." Actually, I don't think the different classes matter much in the game, its mostly run and gun through cover.

I'm not attacking, I'm just stating my experience in the game. I mostly use Miranda (damn, I keep wanting to call her Morrigan lol) and the Justicar. Pretty good combo.

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Originally Posted by taggart6

Yeah , I found out that having certain members at certain missions will result in additional dialgoue. Like having Garrius when ever you talk to c-Sec.

Wrex's side comments are pretty awesome.

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I've also heard that if you up the difficulty right before certain missions then it gives you better drops, as in unique weapon finds and stuff. The recruit tali mission gives a Plasma Assualt rifle if you up it to Hardcore right before, then you can set it back after the zone loads. I missed that one. :(

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

I assumed they added more people because that gives more people on the dossier to go and find, therefore making the game longer and more involved. Plus it adds more character to the game knowing each person's plight and trying to help them through out the game.

I know they each add their own abilities, but I have never actually needed that. I am playing on normal difficulty and have not had a moment where I said to myself, "damn I wish I had so-and-so here, because this is impossible." Actually, I don't think the different classes matter much in the game, its mostly run and gun through cover.

I'm not attacking, I'm just stating my experience in the game. I mostly use Miranda (damn, I keep wanting to call her Morrigan lol) and the Justicar. Pretty good combo.

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I'm playing on whatever the hardest mode is so I'm trying to tune my group depending on the situation. As such, some have other abilities others don't have and I'm noticing differences in who works well with who.

At the start of a fight, I make it a point to assign cover and micro management their talents. Its worked pretty well so far.

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Originally Posted by taggart6

I'm playing on whatever the hardest mode is so I'm trying to tune my group depending on the situation. As such, some have other abilities others don't have and I'm noticing differences in who works well with who.

At the start of a fight, I make it a point to assign cover and micro management their talents. Its worked pretty well so far.

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I just run and gun. The only fight I had to use some tactics on was the Geth Colossus mission. Hardcore might be a lot harder though, I don't know.

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

I know they each add their own abilities, but I have never actually needed that. I am playing on normal difficulty and have not had a moment where I said to myself, "damn I wish I had so-and-so here, because this is impossible." Actually, I don't think the different classes matter much in the game, its mostly run and gun through cover.

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In ME 1 it didn't matter much as the skills and powers were quite spread around, the ME 2 sidekicks are a lot more specialized, not to mention Shepard.

My guess is that in ME 2 the blue/violet/yellow/red types of damages forces you to have a well balanced party. Having a good variety of weapons and power attack types probably goes a long way to help get rid of enemies the fastest and more efficient way possible when playing at the highest difficulty settings.

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Originally Posted by Lee_T

In ME 1 it didn't matter much as the skills and powers were quite spread around, the ME 2 sidekicks are a lot more specialized, not to mention Shepard.

My guess is that in ME 2 the blue/violet/yellow/red types of damages forces you to have a well balanced party. Having a good variety of weapons and power attack types probably goes a long way to help get rid of enemies the fastest and more efficient way possible when playing at the highest difficulty settings.

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In ME1, weapon mods and skills can be specialized but it requires a lot of hands on tinkering.

For example, I have one of my techs outfitted with anti-synthetics and shield penetrating rounds. It works well against the geth but crappy against organics.

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Originally Posted by taggart6

In ME1, weapon mods and skills can be specialized but it requires a lot of hands on tinkering.

For example, I have one of my techs outfitted with anti-synthetics and shield penetrating rounds. It works well against the geth but crappy against organics.

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I pretty much only used mods to give more cooling, stability or accuracy and a set of Shredder VII or Tungstene VII depending on the enemy as they're allways either all synthetics or a bunch of organics with a few bots.

That dichotomy is also why I see Neural Shock and AI Hacking as the only real specialized powers. Damping, Sabotage and Overload are almost always useful (the exception being the very low tech enemies, no weapons to sabotage no shields to overload, no powers to damp, but there are few of them in the game). Biotic powers are also always fun and effective to use.

Tali is your best friend against Synthetics but still effective against tech using ennemies.
Kaidan is good all around but better against Organics with Neural Shock.
Wrex is the close quarter god with the combination of high resilience and shotgun mastery.
Garrus and Ashley are good all around fighters but really shine when fights take place in big places for sniper support (if you can use Sniper rifle too you can clean some places in the game without starting a real fight).
Liara is my least favorite but she's good if you want biotic support for a non biotic character.

It's also always good to have either Tali, Garrus, or eventually Liara if your character is not proficient in either electronics or decryption.

But the differences aren't that noticeable, in my first playthrough I allways brought along whoever made more sense story wise and made it all the way without problems (I played an infiltrator, Garrus was my main guy and I generally completed the team with one of the biotics except when taking Tali made sense). In order to earn the sidekicks achievements I chained myself to two of them each successive playthrough and didn't really felt hindered either. However I always managed to have a bit of soldier, tech and biotics in the team.