Mass Effect BioWare Montreal's Mass Effect: Andromeda - where element zero meets trisomy 21

[Average Manatee]

So is Bioware actually adding more gay romance options because SJWs were freaking out?

 

[cvv]

Dunno, NWN proper was pretty damn bad already.

Dumbest thing they could have done was kill the old series in ME3......now went and gave people the replacement lame-oes no one cares about.

Shit I forgot about NWN, yeah I couldn't get into the game. Never pushed through the first hour.

But disagree about original characters. Good ridance afaik, nothing that interesting about them in the first place and they couldn't go on with them forever anyway. Plus the reason nobody gives a fuck about the new cast is because the game was written by janitors and interns who didn't have the slightest idea what they were doing.

**********

Btw if anyone's tempted to try out the pirated version - it's only worth it if you blast through the main plot on a powerful rig. Crank everything to at least High and enjoy romping through awesome sceneries. Stay the fuck away from the Tasks and don't bother with loyalty missions either. They're all stupid and boring plus also pointess as they have zero impact on the ending.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

So is Bioware actually adding more gay romance options because SJWs were freaking out?

I doubt they could add anything as complex as romances in such short notice, they probably had it almost done but had to release the game. It would explain a lot of things, really.

 

[J1M]

General advice for those trying to enjoy this game. Since online 'guides' are full of bad information and people playing the game on 'normal':

1) Use the bio-converter when crafting your guns. Unlimited ammo and no reload time for minimal trade-off. Will speed up the gameplay considerably.
2) Mods on melee weapons apply all the time, so craft something with several kinetic coils (+weapon damage) on it.
3) All three trees have useful passive skills. Once you've settled on the powers you will use, look to purchase these. For example, barrier is great even if you don't use biotics.
4) The profile system is largely a lie. If powers didn't require a cooldown after swap this might see use. It's too slow in combat.
5) The fusion mod of adrenaline is worth grabbing early. It resets your powers when you kill an enemy.
6) Deconstructing items will give you the augs back.

To play this as a cover shooter, there are a bunch of different mediocre options. Especially out exploring the world, a sniper build is probably the most effective. It's also pretty easy to figure out. Take the cloak skill, swap to infiltrator profile so you can see enemies behind cover, and put a receiver on your sniper rifle to shoot through walls. Pick your other skills depending on play style, but some to consider would be energy drain, turbocharge, incinerate, or a robot summon.


If you want to play this without using cover, consider my 'charged' build.

-Explorer or Soldier profile (based on your opinion of Biotic Blink vs. Marksman's Focus)

-Turbocharge skill with duration, damage, and firing rate upgrades. This basically doubles your gun's damage output.
-Energy Drain skill with effectiveness and extended drain upgrades. This is your opener. It instantly primes an enemy for a combo and acts as a self-heal. (After passives this should set your shields to full).
-Biotic Charge skill with radius, weapon boost, and bastion upgrades. This will detonate energy drain, set your shields to full, and boost your weapon damage. The skill is about mobility, not damage.

-Piranha Shotgun with bio-converter. This will give you a shotgun that never runs out of ammo or needs a reload.

-Heleus helmet, Maverick chest, Kett arms, Kett legs. The focus is on stacking weapon damage. Armor augs are generally lackluster, but consider shield oscillator (shields on kill, may be redundant) or electrical conduits (stun melee attacker). Put kinetic coils where you can for damage resistance, and shield boosters elsewhere. These will extend your effective health by making your constantly recharging shield absorb more damage.

-Fusion mod of adrenaline armor mod. This is very important, because it will recharge your abilities every time you kill something. It can be found while exploring Havarl after activating the vault. Hug the south wall and move east away from your ship to find the starting point for this 'exploration' reward.

-Drack and Cora are good companions because they will join you melee, soaking some damage. Compared to yourself, they aren't going to be contributing many kills. Build them for longevity and useful effects such as cryo ammo.

-Some important passive skills in no particular order: shotguns (clip size, damage), combat fitness (regeneration, heavy lifting, hold the line), barrier (unyielding, alacrity, saving), offensive biotics (detonation, warrior), auxiliary systems (mass reduction, shield feedback)
-Passives that increase clip size will reduce the health drain from your bioconverter
-Weight reductions might be useful at a lower level, or if you have a backup sniper rifle, but lose value over time
-My understanding is that damage resistance works for health and shields. Also that 100 damage resist implies 50% less damage taken, and that 200 damage resist would imply 75% less damage taken.

The basic gameplay is to pick an enemy, energy drain them, charge them to detonate, and then obliterate them with your turbocharged automatic shotgun. The kill will reset your cooldowns, allowing you to repeat. If you get into trouble, dash out, then back in. Actual 'running around' in combat will be minimal thanks to charge. Push for a kill instead of falling back to cover. That will reset energy drain and give you 25% shields instantly if you are using the shield oscillator armor aug.

Why the piranha? Isn't that the one with the big rotating drum (which blocks the sights, nice bioware)? Like 400dmg or something and still fairly slow rof?
Why not the Dhan, too much health to reload?

You are correct that the Dhan does about twice the damage, although at about half the rate of fire when you factor in human clicking, and that becomes a bigger problem under the effects of turbocharge.

I don't like the Dhan for a few reasons:
-It fires a slow moving projectile.
-Damage is all or nothing, unlike most shotguns that have a spread.
-Piranha is fully automatic, so you don't have to rapidly click.
-The higher health drain is noticeable, but not really a factor.

Try both, see what you prefer.

With this build, I don't use the sights.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

I've honestly enjoyed every BioWare game ever, in some form, but I'm still not interested in Andromeda and I will never play it, and I think I know exactly why that is.

I think you're in serious shit when you go from the second most manliest man on the planet, Mark Vanderloo, to Zac Efron's budget replacement. That's just my take on this thing. I honestly might have played this and enjoyed it thoroughly, it really looks like an okay shooter with some wonky animations and dialogue, but it just doesn't have a good Shepard replacement. I can't be the chosen one as budget Zac Efron. I can't inspire hope as budget Zac Efron. I can't lead people into battle as budget Zac Efron. I can't meet and fuck cool aliens as budget Zac Efron. There's no way I can save the galaxy as budget Zac Efron. There's no way I can suspend my disbelief that much. It's a real shame they couldn't get the real Zac Efron.



"I don't wanna win this game unless I can play it my way!"
You're damn right, Zac Efron! Damn right!

And of course I refuse to play female protagonists since I'm gravely misogynistic and also her face looks like

 

[Ezeekiel]

Dunno, NWN proper was pretty damn bad already.

Dumbest thing they could have done was kill the old series in ME3......now went and gave people the replacement lame-oes no one cares about.

Shit I forgot about NWN, yeah I couldn't get into the game. Never pushed through the first hour.

But disagree about original characters. Good ridance afaik, nothing that interesting about them in the first place and they couldn't go on with them forever anyway. Plus the reason nobody gives a fuck about the new cast is because the game was written by janitors and interns who didn't have the slightest idea what they were doing.

I played all the way through nwn (after multiple tries... funny, it was a situation just like today, had nothing else to play for whatever reason). Feels like I should have gotten an achievement for it. "masochist" or maybe "no-standards addict".
But man was that already a sign of things to come.

As for the original chars, I just meant the biodrones love them (And I thought garrus was mostly ok? Then again it's been a while). Taking that away from them only to replace with these obvious thirdrates can't have helped the reception once the game was actually out... Biodrones hyped themselves up for new chars and sesame-street aliens but then reality hit even many of them to some degree. It's an established series these days, messing with established stuff is always risky... Especially if you're just gonna replace it with an even worse version of the same.

 

[Average Manatee]

So is Bioware actually adding more gay romance options because SJWs were freaking out?

I doubt they could add anything as complex as romances in such short notice, they probably had it almost done but had to release the game. It would explain a lot of things, really.

I'd have thought the same, but its possible that they took a hetero girl romance and merely recorded a few dozen new lines or something.

 

[Kirkpatrick]

https://www.masseffect.com/news/the-journey-ahead?sf53509859=1

Over the next two months we’ll be rolling out additional patches which will go even deeper and look to improve several areas of the game:

• More options and variety in the character creator
• Improvements to hair and general appearance for characters
• Ongoing improvements to cinematic scenes and animations
• Improvements to male romance options for Scott Ryder
• Adjustments to conversations with Hainly Abrams

 

[Ezeekiel]

You are correct that the Dhan does about twice the damage, although at about half the rate of fire when you factor in human clicking, and that becomes a bigger problem under the effects of turbocharge.

I don't like the Dhan for a few reasons:
-It fires a slow moving projectile.
-Damage is all or nothing, unlike most shotguns that have a spread.
-Piranha is fully automatic, so you don't have to rapidly click.
-The higher health drain is noticeable, but not really a factor.

Try both, see what you prefer.

With this build, I don't use the sights.

I just meant the model of the gun makes no sense and would be un-aimable in reality. No big deal, just kind of a weird design.

Liked the single projectile of the dhan tbh, but yeah, if enemies move side-to-side relative to you then you have to lead a bizarre amount. Same with the fast-firing kett carbine as well. Projectile speed is comically slow on that one.
Have you tried using the beam mod on a shotgun? I've never bothered with those projectile mods, but that might be interesting if it fixes all the inaccuracy and maybe even adds some range.

 

[Excidium II]

I've honestly enjoyed every BioWare game ever, in some form, but I'm still not interested in Andromeda and I will never play it, and I think I know exactly why that is.

I think you're in serious shit when you go from the second most manliest man on the planet, Mark Vanderloo, to Zac Efron's budget replacement. That's just my take on this thing. I honestly might have played this and enjoyed it thoroughly, it really looks like an okay shooter with some wonky animations and dialogue, but it just doesn't have a good Shepard replacement. I can't be the chosen one as budget Zac Efron. I can't inspire hope as budget Zac Efron. I can't lead people into battle as budget Zac Efron. I can't meet and fuck cool aliens as budget Zac Efron. There's no way I can save the galaxy as budget Zac Efron. There's no way I can suspend my disbelief that much. It's a real shame they couldn't get the real Zac Efron.



"I don't wanna win this game unless I can play it my way!"
You're damn right, Zac Efron! Damn right!

And of course I refuse to play female protagonists since I'm gravely misogynistic and also her face looks like

Everyone also treats the protag like a loser too. The AI bosses him around and the companions don't really defer to his authority. Also no instances of collar grabbing but lots of awkwardness. Typical Ryder:

 

[J1M]

You are correct that the Dhan does about twice the damage, although at about half the rate of fire when you factor in human clicking, and that becomes a bigger problem under the effects of turbocharge.

I don't like the Dhan for a few reasons:
-It fires a slow moving projectile.
-Damage is all or nothing, unlike most shotguns that have a spread.
-Piranha is fully automatic, so you don't have to rapidly click.
-The higher health drain is noticeable, but not really a factor.

Try both, see what you prefer.

With this build, I don't use the sights.

I just meant the model of the gun makes no sense and would be un-aimable in reality. No big deal, just kind of a weird design.

Liked the single projectile of the dhan tbh, but yeah, if enemies move side-to-side relative to you then you have to lead a bizarre amount. Same with the fast-firing kett carbine as well. Projectile speed is comically slow on that one.
Have you tried using the beam mod on a shotgun? I've never bothered with those projectile mods, but that might be interesting if it fixes all the inaccuracy and maybe even adds some range.

Never had much luck with the projectile mods. Seemed like most of them were made to be 'cool' instead of effective. Would have paid more attention to them if they worked like cryo ammo or something.

Example: heat seeking projectile makes sniper rifle projectile take 5 seconds to travel to enemy, lightning mod on PAW doesn't prime enemies for tech detonation

 

[Ezeekiel]

I've honestly enjoyed every BioWare game ever, in some form, but I'm still not interested in Andromeda and I will never play it, and I think I know exactly why that is.

I honestly might have played this and enjoyed it thoroughly, it really looks like an okay shooter with some wonky animations and dialogue, but it just doesn't have a good Shepard replacement.

It's not an ok shooter unfortunately. The map size, a.i., encounter design, semi-auto fire rate and weapons damage on higher difficulties (esp. "assault rifles"), camera perspectives (zoomed in gears of war in an open world game with huge maps but also close-in fighting arena areas where you can be attacked from all sides) and so on and so forth just are not designed to work with each other at all. ME3 actually did the shooting and also the actual impact/damage of the abilities better imo.

They really fucked everything up in one way or another... I also thought it couldn't be that bad (expected some huge dialogue issues, animations, sjw crap etc of course), but it needs several more passes in all areas and the team that worked on this clearly don't have a good handle on the engine as well as game design with these parameters (huge maps/distances, open world design)... Or even on ME as a whole.

 

[Excidium II]

The most amazing thing about the combat is how you can just snipe enemies from far away and they will just stand still while you kill them, not even try to get to cover or anything.

Well-thought open world combat.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Everyone also treats the protag like a loser too. The AI bosses him around and the companions don't really defer to his authority. Also no instances of collar grabbing but lots of awkwardness. Typical Ryder:

Half the crew would be dead if space Jesus was in charge... He doesn't take any shit from this civilian way of half assing things.

 

[cvv]

It's not an ok shooter unfortunately. The map size, a.i., encounter design, semi-auto fire rate and weapons damage on higher difficulties (esp. "assault rifles"), camera perspectives (zoomed in gears of war in an open world game with huge maps but also close-in fighting arena areas where you can be attacked from all sides) and so on and so forth just are not designed to work with each other at all. ME3 actually did the shooting and also the actual impact/damage of the abilities better imo.

Well the franchise is a cover shooter which worked well with the original trilogy "corridor" concept. Bioware obviously didn't figure out how to graft a cover shooter onto an open world game. I'm not even sure it can be done in a way that doesn't suck.

But when it comes to small, closed multiplayer maps it's still a ton of fun. At least would be if Bioware learned from their own fucking previous game (I think ME3MP was even done in Montreal) and released MEAMP in an usable state. Instead what we got is basically ME3MP at launch - a total mess. But I have hopes, if they manage to lift it at least to the current level of ME3MP it'd be great fun.

 

[Ezeekiel]

The most amazing thing about the combat is how you can just snipe enemies from far away and they will just stand still while you kill them, not even try to get to cover or anything.

Well-thought open world combat.

That's part of what I meant about the a.i. and large maps etc not working right with each other.

You can also have a great sniping spot, see the enemy perfectly (if they didn't glitch out during the spawning process and disappeared completely) and... Not be able to snipe them because your weapon range is actually limited.

 

[Ezeekiel]

It's not an ok shooter unfortunately. The map size, a.i., encounter design, semi-auto fire rate and weapons damage on higher difficulties (esp. "assault rifles"), camera perspectives (zoomed in gears of war in an open world game with huge maps but also close-in fighting arena areas where you can be attacked from all sides) and so on and so forth just are not designed to work with each other at all. ME3 actually did the shooting and also the actual impact/damage of the abilities better imo.

Well the franchise is a cover shooter which worked well with the original trilogy "corridor" concept. Bioware obviously didn't figure out how to graft a cover shooter onto an open world game. I'm not even sure it can be done.

But when it comes to small, closed multiplayer maps it's still a ton of fun. At least would be if Bioware learned from their own fucking previous game (I think ME3MP was even done in Montreal) and released MEAMP in a usable state. Instead what we got is basically ME3MP at launch - a total mess. But I have hopes, if they manage to lift it at least to the level of ME3MP it'd be great fun.

The multiplayer is kind of negatively affected by the lower power and gun damage though, at least until you get the high dmg guns through sheer luck and out of a rather large loot table. Also game loves to dump me in a team with people from the south pole or whatever and thus a 5 billion second ping.


The cover shooter stuff, yeah. I found the shooting in ME could feel fine (well, depends), but the combat concept in general was never great to begin with, just service-able enough by post bg2 bioware standards.

 

[oldmanpaco]

The most amazing thing about the combat is how you can just snipe enemies from far away and they will just stand still while you kill them, not even try to get to cover or anything.

Well-thought open world combat.

So you are saying you play a stealth archer but in space?

 

[RangerBoo]

• Improvements to male romance options for Scott Ryder
• Adjustments to conversations with Hainly Abrams

:incloosive:
Nice to see where BioWare and their fans priorities lie. I know that quite a bit of their fantards where pissed about the gay male romances. Jesus, if you want to get off on seeing gay dudes fuck then go watch a porno or whatever. It would probably be better acted and have a better story and dialogue then Andromeda.

 

[Raghar]

BTW it has been cracked.

 

[cvv]

You can't complete the "Date three people" achievement if you're gay right now. There are only 2 gay options.

Imagine you're gay. And you can't complete the achievement. Just imagine it.

 

[RPGMasterLvl2]

You can't complete the "Date three people" achievement if you're gay right now. There are only 2 gay options.

Imagine you're gay. And you can't complete the achievement. Just imagine it.

If I were gay I'd have more important things to worry about in life.

 

[pippin]

You can't complete the "Date three people" achievement if you're gay right now. There are only 2 gay options.

Imagine you're gay. And you can't complete the achievement. Just imagine it.

If I were gay I'd have more important things to worry about in life.

How can you worry about other things when Andromeda is the only thing in the world?

 

[Max Stats]

Imagine you're gay.

No.

 

[Max Stats]

• Improvements to male romance options for Scott Ryder
• Adjustments to conversations with Hainly Abrams

:incloosive:
Nice to see where BioWare and their fans priorities lie. I know that quite a bit of their fantards where pissed about the gay male romances. Jesus, if you want to get off on seeing gay dudes fuck then go watch a porno or whatever. It would probably be better acted and have a better story and dialogue then Andromeda.

But probably more tired faces. I can't say for sure, but I assume all that cocksucking must wear a face down.