181 réponses à ce sujet

[numotsbane]

I haven't played around much with the new weapons (and this isn't perhaps the place to talk about it, but meh) but I would say that I think early game on a non-soldier class the mattock is only good-average. GPS has done exceptionally well on my flash CQC infiltrator (seriously, and I didn't think that particular sub-class could get better...)

hate the phalanx because I naturally prefer the predator to the carnifex, and the phalanx is a more extreme carnifex (and hence less in the direction I want to go).

I keep getting votes in the old polls so I should update the OP. but I'm a bit tired and cbf at the moment.

Good to see lots of sentinel discussion and love, definitely one of the best classes. if you're interested in My thoughts on the energy drain v flash debate then I've posted them in my flash guide and it pretty much says it all. I have done both an ED and a Flash run, and to be honest both were fantastic but as usual I would sell my soul for flashbang so that wins out.

I will say that ED makes it much easier to manage assault armor, and early NG+ insanity it can help to up low survivability. When you get all the cooldown reductions that make frequently losing assault armor an actually viable win-the-game strategy, (which it absolutely is lategame) I'd be less inclined to take ED.



quick Q, what are you guys taking when using widow infiltrators versus using CQC infiltrators? different playstyles require different active powers, so unless you're using an ammo power I'd think maybe you'd be switching it up a bit. thoughts?

[Kronner]

IMNWME wrote...

All true.  However, I just wanted to point out that the GPS definitely gives the Sentinel a unique play-style (super-soldier), especially if you take Energy Drain.  Before the GPS came out, the Sentinel was just a very durable caster, but you couldn't really leverage Tech Armor because it still got shot off long before you got into Shotgun range if you ran out in the open.  Because the GPS lets you one-shot defenses from a distance, though, you can start running at enemy waves blasting it and using ED to keep your shields up until you're in close range, at which point one or two enemies are usually already dead, drastically reducing the amount of incoming fire.

Definitely got ridiculous sometimes.  During Haestrom, I rushed down the Colossus and it definitely felt like Immunity from ME1 (except when you get stunlocked by a pyro).

Kronner, think you could post some vids of your Assault Sentinel run with the GPS?  There's a lot of hyperbole on these boards, but honestly, the Assault Sentinel w/ GPS is EASILY the most munchkin class in the game.  I think if a couple vids showcasing it came out, there'd be a lot more love for the Sentinel.  It used to have a class weakness in terms of killing speed, but the new Firepower Pack definitely changed that.

OK I made quick Haestorm run (unnecessary parts are cut - it has 7 minutes now including the cool Colossus intro cutscene - I love that one), played as stupidly as possible (no cover, just Armor spam and a few Energy Drains - not many though). I took some health damage from one of the geth primes - I could have used medigel, but that would have made it even easier. FRAPS is killing my CPU when recording, so when I play I get like 25 FPS on average, it is playable, but when I get steady 60FPS like usual, it is much easier to play and shoot. Assault Sentinel with GPS simply has no weakness.

Modifié par Kronner, 20 août 2010 - 10:21 .

[Bozorgmehr]

Kronner wrote...

OK I made quick Haestorm run (unnecessary parts are cut - it has 7 minutes now including the cool Colossus intro cutscene - I love that one), played as stupidly as possible (no cover, just Armor spam and a few Energy Drains - not many though). I took some health damage from one of the geth primes - I could have used medigel, but that would have made it even easier. FRAPS is killing my CPU when recording, so when I play I get like 25 FPS on average, it is playable, but when I get steady 60FPS like usual, it is much easier to play and shoot. Assault Sentinel with GPS simply has no weakness.

Nice vid lol, I use ED to run around with my Adept on Geth missions, though Sentinels don't need it. Weird the Hunter and 2 Troopers didn't show after first part. Is that because you ran down there fast? Love the way you wanted to move on, but got shot in the back by some dumb troopers - so you had to turn and finish them (they might have lived if they stayed quite ) - you dealt with Colussus nicely.

GPS would be better balanced without its effectiveness at range, it's simply too powerful as it is now. I have same issue running FRAPS (around 30 fps at 1280 x 720 - windowed plus lousy mouse control, but playable (just)). I have Intel X6850 @ 3.8 GHz dual core CPU, what do you use? CPU has no problem running games, but fraps kills it. Does a quadcore fix this problem?

[Kronner]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

Kronner wrote...

OK I made quick Haestorm run (unnecessary parts are cut - it has 7 minutes now including the cool Colossus intro cutscene - I love that one), played as stupidly as possible (no cover, just Armor spam and a few Energy Drains - not many though). I took some health damage from one of the geth primes - I could have used medigel, but that would have made it even easier. FRAPS is killing my CPU when recording, so when I play I get like 25 FPS on average, it is playable, but when I get steady 60FPS like usual, it is much easier to play and shoot. Assault Sentinel with GPS simply has no weakness.

Nice vid lol, I use ED to run around with my Adept on Geth missions, though Sentinels don't need it. Weird the Hunter and 2 Troopers didn't show after first part. Is that because you ran down there fast? Love the way you wanted to move on, but got shot in the back by some dumb troopers - so you had to turn and finish them (they might have lived if they stayed quite ) - you dealt with Colussus nicely.

GPS would be better balanced without its effectiveness at range, it's simply too powerful as it is now. I have same issue running FRAPS (around 30 fps at 1280 x 720 - windowed plus lousy mouse control, but playable (just)). I have Intel X6850 @ 3.8 GHz dual core CPU, what do you use? CPU has no problem running games, but fraps kills it. Does a quadcore fix this problem?

What hunter? From my experience if you get past certain points enemies no longer spawn (this is especially apparent when playing Vanguard).
Yeah, the GPS is just ridiculous for mid range combat, the least they could do is completly nerf it for close range.

I have AMD Phenom II X2 550, I usually play at 1680x1050 but for recording I have to go down to 1280x800, otherwise it is unplayable. I also save the video on separate hard-drive, though it does not seem to help much.
Funny thing is I had no such problems with my old AMD Athlon X2 CPU. Must be FRAPS glitch or something.

Modifié par Kronner, 20 août 2010 - 12:02 .

[Bozorgmehr]

Kronner wrote...

What hunter? From my experience if you get past certain points enemies no longer spawn (this is especially apparent when playing Vanguard).
Yeah, the GPS is just ridiculous for mid range combat, the least they could do is completly nerf it for close range.

I have AMD Phenom II X2 550, I usually play at 1680x1050 but for recording I have to go down to 1280x800, otherwise it is unplayable. I also save the video on separate hard-drive, though it does not seem to help much.
Funny thing is I had no such problems with my old AMD Athlon X2 CPU. Must be FRAPS glitch or something.

Immediately after getting the Tempest there's one Hunter and two Troopers down the ramp. As far as I know they're there the moment you show up (at 2.15 vid )

Strange that your old X2 CPU performed better while running fraps. I'm pretty sure CPU is bottleneck. I use Intel X-25 SSD (Win 7 + FRAPS), WD Raptor running ME2 and Samsung HD to save video files - don't think harddisk cause fps drop. I have ATI HD5870 GPU and it doesn't matter if I disable AF and AA, fps remain the same (recording). I wish it was possible to run FRAPS when I'm playing without consessions. Now I have to play handicapped while recording.

[Kronner]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

Immediately after getting the Tempest there's one Hunter and two Troopers down the ramp. As far as I know they're there the moment you show up (at 2.15 vid )

Strange that your old X2 CPU performed better while running fraps. I'm pretty sure CPU is bottleneck. I use Intel X-25 SSD (Win 7 + FRAPS), WD Raptor running ME2 and Samsung HD to save video files - don't think harddisk cause fps drop. I have ATI HD5870 GPU and it doesn't matter if I disable AF and AA, fps remain the same (recording). I wish it was possible to run FRAPS when I'm playing without consessions. Now I have to play handicapped while recording.

Oh those, I rarely ever encounter them there. Basically never happens for me.

Yes, very strange, FRAPS is CPU power hungry, but I don't think it uses the CPU power efficiently.

[PsyrenY]

IMNWME wrote...

Sentinels should always use Energy Drain. Always. The synergy with Tech Armor is crazy.

EDIT: Except against Collectors.  There, Reave/Flashbang is acceptable.  Any other time, you're gimping your killing speed.

There are other missions where shields/synthetics are in short supply, e.g. Samara's recruitment (lots of vanguards) and the Reaper IFF (husks/aboms/scions.)

The reason I prefer Reave over ED is because it gives caster Sentinels two instant-cast-zero-travel bombs (the other being Overload.) Whereas if you take ED, sure it repairs your shield, but you are then stuck with Warp which has travel time and must be arced to catch movers and hiders.

Reave also works amazingly vs. unarmored enemies - both preventing healing and lifting out of cover. This is dead useful against regenerators like Krogan/Vorcha.

[Kronner]

Optimystic_X wrote...

There are other missions where shields/synthetics are in short supply, e.g. Samara's recruitment (lots of vanguards) and the Reaper IFF (husks/aboms/scions.)

The reason I prefer Reave over ED is because it gives caster Sentinels two instant-cast-zero-travel bombs (the other being Overload.) Whereas if you take ED, sure it repairs your shield, but you are then stuck with Warp which has travel time and must be arced to catch movers and hiders.

Reave also works amazingly vs. unarmored enemies - both preventing healing and lifting out of cover. This is dead useful against regenerators like Krogan/Vorcha.

You can always respec for the few Collector missions. IMHO you will encounter far more blue shields than armor and barriers combined.

[numotsbane]

I don't like having multiple powers with large cooldowns, especially on a caster sentinel where tech armour takes up such a huge chunk of your casting. I think direct damage powers like reave and ED decrease in effectiveness late game, where your SMG becomes powerul enough to quickly strip defences. at that point, biotic and tech crowd control becomes a much more potent alternative.

[PrinceLionheart]

When it comes to Infiltrators I'm partial to AP Ammo. Although Barriers are the Infiltrators one big weakness, my thought process with this along with the soldier, is to use the Collector Particle Beam to deal with barriers and using Disrupter/AP powered Widow to deal with the rest.

[Athenau]

Is it just me, or can energy drain push your shields above their max? That's what shows up in the character screen at least, and it does seem like my shields take longer to go down.

[Bozorgmehr]

numotsbane wrote...

I don't like having multiple powers with large cooldowns, especially on a caster sentinel where tech armour takes up such a huge chunk of your casting. I think direct damage powers like reave and ED decrease in effectiveness late game, where your SMG becomes powerul enough to quickly strip defences. at that point, biotic and tech crowd control becomes a much more potent alternative.

ED is the ultimate anti-Geth power. It's ridiculously powerful. You cannot die as long as there're active Geth around. It's main power isn't defense stripping - but Shep's shield regen. It has lot of synergy with Charge only you don't have to wait for (Charge) animation to start shooting again + it will regenerate half of Shep's shield when used on one enemy, but shields will be up completely, hitting multiple enemies (always go for Area Drain).

ED's power doesn't decrease late game. With 4 (maybe 3) Tech Upgrades it will strip shields of Geth Troopers instantly (lvl 30), but again, I would still use it against Geth if it didn't damage them at all - just to stay alive. To get some idea what I mean; check my latest Adept vid (Overlord - lvl 27 with mattock)

[IMNWME]

I think you need at least 4 Tech Damage upgrades to one-shot shields (less if you have power damage boosts). I'm running NG+ Insanity Sentinel right now, and ED will take down shields to a sliver of blue with 3 Tech Damage upgrades (no power damage boosts).



And yes, ED not only regens shields, it pushes your max shield amount up by around 200 points. The effect stays for a while, just like Reave, at least judging by the Squad screen (which isn't always wholly reliable, I know). On Haestrom, I was running around with 845 shields, when 6-something is the maximum you can get with Tech Armor.



ED is a monster on Geth and synthetic heavy missions (such as the Infected VI chain). Bring Mordin to strip mechs' armor, and then go to town with ED. The Infected VI facility on Capek was a breeze with Zaeed (Squad Disruptor), Mordin (Incineration Blast), and Energy Drain + Shotty. The mechs spawn in waves depending on your position, so the quicker you dispatch them and push forward, the less you'll actually have to fight.



As a Shotgun Sentinel, your Assault Armor will get blown off FAST. In the middle of a heated firefight, I sometimes use Energy Drain to boost shields after that happens. ED cools down in ~3 secs (timed) with the Guardian spec and Tech Cool-downs, meaning by the time my new shield gets popped, another enemy or three is dead and I can reapply Tech Armor. If there's a sub-boss in the group though, or it's raining missiles like on Korlus, I'd recommend just spamming Assault Armor as much as you can though. ED allowed me to hold the bridge against incoming enemy waves during Archangel's mission, instead of waiting for them to breach the inside of the base. Definitely one of the best tech powers out there.

[Athenau]

Holy **** energy drain is amazing. Not only do the extra shields last a long time, but the buff doesn't wear off when your shield goes down. So when they recharge you're back at the new buffed e-drain value. My soldier's running down in Overlord with, like, a continuous +350 to his shields.
It's like a non crappy barrier power combined with a 4.8 second recharge, 700 damage anti-shield nuke (6/6 tech damage, +15% power damage from commando).

Modifié par Athenau, 21 août 2010 - 10:58 .

[fegede]

Kronner wrote...

OK I made quick Haestorm run (unnecessary parts are cut - it has 7 minutes now including the cool Colossus intro cutscene - I love that one), played as stupidly as possible (no cover, just Armor spam and a few Energy Drains - not many though). I took some health damage from one of the geth primes - I could have used medigel, but that would have made it even easier. FRAPS is killing my CPU when recording, so when I play I get like 25 FPS on average, it is playable, but when I get steady 60FPS like usual, it is much easier to play and shoot. Assault Sentinel with GPS simply has no weakness.

Wow.

That's an assault sentinel in its purest, bestest most awesome way. Before the firepower pack, I used to roam with the scimitar and I tought I was kicking asses.... this obviously requires more calibrations.

*runs off to start NG+ shotgun sentinel*

[numotsbane]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

numotsbane wrote...

I don't like having multiple powers with large cooldowns, especially on a caster sentinel where tech armour takes up such a huge chunk of your casting. I think direct damage powers like reave and ED decrease in effectiveness late game, where your SMG becomes powerul enough to quickly strip defences. at that point, biotic and tech crowd control becomes a much more potent alternative.

ED's power doesn't decrease late game. With 4 (maybe 3) Tech Upgrades it will strip shields of Geth Troopers instantly (lvl 30), but again, I would still use it against Geth if it didn't damage them at all - just to stay alive. To get some idea what I mean; check my latest Adept vid (Overlord - lvl 27 with mattock)

yeah sorry I didn't mean that ED or reave actually gets worse. I guess what I'm saying is that in comparison, powers that work against defenceless enemies will become more effective later on when your weapons can quickly strip defences.
early game it takes several clips to drop enemy shields, so the 5s cooldown of ED isn't really 'lost time' - you can't strip defences quickly anyway. later on, a single locust clip can drop a shield, allowing you to use throw/ slam/ neural shock etc to incapacitate an enemy with only a 2.5s cooldown.
do you sorta see what I'm saying?

[Athenau]

It's true that weapons become more effective than powers at stripping enemies (and killing things in general), but an instant hit, quickly casting nuke is always useful--on top of the burst damage there are always lulls in combat where taking aim isn't practical.

Take energy drain on a soldier, pretty much the worst case on paper since it has to compete with almighty adrenaline rush, yet I can find plenty of times when I'd want to use it. For example, while moving from one firing position to another, I use energy drain and bam, I stripped an enemy, recharged my shields, and the opportunity cost is pretty much zero since I wouldn't be firing during the cooldown anyway.

Modifié par Athenau, 23 août 2010 - 01:28 .

[Bozorgmehr]

numotsbane wrote...

yeah sorry I didn't mean that ED or reave actually gets worse. I guess what I'm saying is that in comparison, powers that work against defenceless enemies will become more effective later on when your weapons can quickly strip defences.
early game it takes several clips to drop enemy shields, so the 5s cooldown of ED isn't really 'lost time' - you can't strip defences quickly anyway. later on, a single locust clip can drop a shield, allowing you to use throw/ slam/ neural shock etc to incapacitate an enemy with only a 2.5s cooldown.
do you sorta see what I'm saying?

I see what you mean Numotsbane, but best thing about ED (and to a lesser extend Reave) are their shield and health regen. When used primarily for defense stripping than yes both powers will lose some of their usefulness late game, but ED vs Geth is awesome always

[Super ._. Shepard]

i like barrier

[Bozorgmehr]

If I have to chose between ED and Barrier, there's no doubt; Barrier all the way. It's a biotic power plus it just looks amazing. The perfect bonus power for the Adept.

[Super ._. Shepard]

and good in times when you are up close and nearly dead

[numotsbane]

I do advise the use of barrier as a panic button, but only on classes that don't already have a good 'panic button' power.
eg, adrenaline rush, cloak, tech armour - these things can all save you, so barrier is less necessary. Also, my defensive bonus power poll has showed lots of people using other stuff instead of denfenses.
though they may just be the misinformed majority

also, updated OP with some new threads, new polls, and changed sentinel to recommend ED and Flash as the two 'go to' powers.

[Bozorgmehr]

I checked the OP but I cannot vote anymore I'm directed straight to the results page. Which poll did you add?



The OP is getting better and better Numotsbane, well done. Easy to look for info, but with lots of cool links for indepth information. Keep it up!

[numotsbane]

Ah yes you and a few of the other regulars won't pick up that they're 'new' polls, they're the mkII ones I did a page or two back that I finally got around to putting in the OP. they still lag behind the original ones, which got up to 130 odd votes each.

Thanks, all this discussion keeps me motivated for this thread, the flash guide is languishing a bit comparitively (admittedly theres not to much more to be said on flash). I'll have to add some of the ED vids that have popped up in the last page to the OP now that I think about it, I'm still waiting on flashbang videos people... hint hint.

[IMNWME]

I don't know. I like Flashbang Grenade, but when I was playing around with it on my Assault Sentinel, it saw limited use. It's great for neutering Harbinger, but any other time my cool-down was available, it was generally a better option to use either Tech Armor or Warp/Energy Drain. I think it's better for the Engineer (I loved it but eventually went back to AP Ammo) or the Soldier. The Sentinel already has CC down with Assault Armor (a 18 m radius knock-down!) or Throw Field (3s cool-down) or even Cryo Blast, if you bother to put points in it (only when I'm running a Heavy Throw/Deep Cryo Blast build for lulz). Flashbang doesn't add much to the class.