19 réponses à ce sujet

[lazuli]

Kasumi is widely regarded as a useful squadmate, arguably on par with Miranda for higher difficulty levels.  This thread is intended to serve as a discussion of Kasumi in terms of gameplay.  

Some points to consider:
On what difficulty do you play, and on what system?
How do you set up her build?
With what class of Shepard do you find her most effective?  
What are your experiences of Kasumi in combat?
What weapons do you give her?
What missions do you use her on?
With which squadmates does she perform best?
If you use Shadow Strike, how do you use it?  What foes do you target?  Where are they on the battlefield?

I'll begin.  I play xbox 360 insanity.  My typical Kasumi setup is Rapid Shadow Strike, Master Infiltrator, and Improved Flash Grenade, and she almost always uses the Shuriken.  I'm not sure what Shepard class puts her to the best use.  My experiences with Kasumi in combat are largely negative (hence the creation of this thread- so that I might put her to better use).  Shadow Strike fails a lot, even at close range.  And when she is willing to cloak and attack her target, she'll often get hit by a staggering effect as she appears, triggering all manner of bugs thereafter.

So I'm curious.  How do you get the most out of Kasumi in terms of gameplay?  Feel free to answer as few or as many of the questions as you like.

[rumination888]

You'll get the most out of Kasumi by not giving her the weakest SMG in the game.

[curly haired boy]

kasumi gets aimed at tough targets as a universal defense stripper.



she's also useful against that one guy who's trying to flank you.

[lazuli]

rumination888 wrote...

You'll get the most out of Kasumi by not giving her the weakest SMG in the game.

A fair point.  I prefer the Locust on Shepard and the Shuriken on squadmates.  They're going to burst-fire SMG's no matter what they're wielding, and accuracy isn't a concern for them.

And I'm not using her for her weapon damage.  At best, her weapons are just a vehicle for Squad Cryo Ammo.

[Gravbh]

rumination888 wrote...

You'll get the most out of Kasumi by not giving her the weakest SMG in the game.

Shuriken is actualy the highest dps smg in the game if you fan the trigger quick. That's only in the hands of the player of course. I much prefer the tempest for squadmates. They're not effected by the tempest's recoil.

Modifié par Gravbh, 12 septembre 2010 - 09:10 .

[lazuli]

curly haired boy wrote...

kasumi gets aimed at tough targets as a universal defense stripper.

she's also useful against that one guy who's trying to flank you.

So do you spec her into Deadly Shadow Strike then?  I find Shadow Strike too slow to be used defensively, unless I'm really reading the battlefield.

[rumination888]

Gravbh wrote...

rumination888 wrote...

You'll get the most out of Kasumi by not giving her the weakest SMG in the game.

Shuriken is actualy the highest dps smg in the game if you fan the trigger quick. That's only in the hands of the player of course. I much prefer the tempest for squadmates. They're not effected by the tempest's recoil.

Tempest still beats the shuriken in the hands of a human player, even if you tap the trigger. Tapping the trigger just makes the difference less noticible.

[PrinceLionheart]

On what difficulty do you play, and on what system?
Xbox 360 Hardcore

How do you set up her build?
Shadow Strike: XXXX
Overload: X
Passive: XXXX
Flashbang: XXX

With what class of Shepard do you find her most effective?  
Any class that uses CQC

What are your experiences of Kasumi in combat?
I know from experience that her Shadow Strike has saved my butt on several occasions when i played as a Vanguard because she would disable an enemy I hadn't accounted for. 

What weapons do you give her?
Tempest and Phalanx/Carnifex

What missions do you use her on?
Missions involving Collectors or Eclipse

With which squadmates does she perform best?
Thane

If you use Shadow Strike, how do you use it?  What foes do you target?  Where are they on the battlefield?
I tend to target the likes of Vanguards to take them out of the equation while I'll deal with the lesser mooks. Shadow Strike is more the ability for disabling the stronger enemies much like stasis.

[PsyrenY]

I find SMG squaddies work best with the Shuriken. They have perfect accuracy so the recoil isn't an issue, higher base damage than Tempest, and the burst-fire keeps them in cover more often.

For Kasumi, you want to put her in cover just in front of you. When she uses SS, her default AI kicks in after striking the enemy, and she will advance on them. This will get her mowed down on Insanity. Whenever you have her SS (You do have "squad power usage" turned off, right?) immediately order her back to the cover she just teleported from and she will stay there upon returning. By putting her in front of you, you can issue that order without turning away from the enemy, and your dps will stay up.

As for her loadout, I ignore Overload with her; Shadow Strike does double damage to any defense. Since I send her after protected targets, she doesn't land enough killing blows to make RSS worth it. So I end up with:

10 Deadly Shadow Strike
10 Master Infiltrator
10 Improved Flashbang Grenade (Radius)

Missions - Any. Like Miranda, she works well against any opponent - she just needs micromanaging.

Modifié par Optimystic_X, 12 septembre 2010 - 09:24 .

[swk3000]

I can't give a full list, but don't discount her Flashbang Grenade. Shadow Strike is a very useful ability, but so is Flashbang. I still remember the time I was doing the Platform fight on the Disabled Collector Vessel, and had Harbinger less than three feet from me, with a Collector Particle Beam nearly touching my head. He stood there until he died, not firing at all the entire time, because Kasumi had hit him with a Flashbang.



Here's how I do things with her:



1. Pick her up as soon as possible.



2. Do her Loyalty Mission.



3. Divide her points about evenly between her Passive (evolve to Master Infiltrator) and Flashbang Grenade (Improved Flashbang Grenade).



4. Max out Shadow Strike. Most people like Rapid Shadow Strike, but it doesn't see as much use with me. I therefore go with Deadly Shadow Strike. However, this is entirely a playstyle issue; Rapid Shadow Strike is still a viable option.



Also, one thing I've noticed is that Shadow Strike kills Waypoint Commands. Once Kasumi cloaks, she forgets that you told her to stay at spot X, and will start wandering the battlefield just like any other person. You may want to keep an eye on her as she does Shadow Strike, and re-waypoint her to keep her alive.



Finally, I generally set her quick-command to Flashbang Grenade, and manually do Shadow Strike. I prefer the incapacitation to the damage, and both Kasumi and Zaeed are obscenely accurate with their grenades. Shadow Strike is mainly used against tougher targets as a distraction so I can get in free damage.



Oh, and I generally play a Soldier.

[rumination888]

Optimystic_X wrote...

I find SMG squaddies work best with the Shuriken. They have perfect accuracy so the recoil isn't an issue, higher base damage than Tempest, and the burst-fire keeps them in cover more often.

Tempest also fires in bursts. Most people don't seem to notice it.
Shuriken fires in bursts of 3 for 20 damage each. Tempest fires in
bursts of 5 for 14 damage each.

This is a case of mistaking how something feels with how something performs.

[lazuli]

Optimystic_X wrote...

I find SMG squaddies work best with the Shuriken. They have perfect accuracy so the recoil isn't an issue, higher base damage than Tempest, and the burst-fire keeps them in cover more often.

...

As for her loadout, I ignore Overload with her; Shadow Strike does double damage to any defense. Since I send her after protected targets, she doesn't land enough killing blows to make RSS worth it. So I end up with:

10 Deadly Shadow Strike
10 Master Infiltrator
10 Improved Flashbang Grenade (Radius)

Missions - Any. Like Miranda, she works well against any opponent - she just needs micromanaging.

I think my problem is Rapid Shadow Strike.  I'm using one of the highest damage powers in the game as a finisher, something to clean up undefended enemies, just to get the quick recharge.  And the recharge for Deadly Shadow Strike isn't terrible.  According to the wiki, Shadow Strike's recharge is affected by the Tech Cooldown Upgrade.

And yes, I do disable squad power usage.

[PsyrenY]

rumination888 wrote...

Tempest also fires in bursts. Most people don't seem to notice it.
Shuriken fires in bursts of 3 for 20 damage each. Tempest fires in
bursts of 5 for 14 damage each.

This is a case of mistaking how something feels with how something performs.

The bursts are still shorter, putting them in cover more often, which was my point.

lazuli wrote...

I think my problem is Rapid Shadow Strike.  I'm using one of the highest damage powers in the game as a finisher, something to clean up undefended enemies, just to get the quick recharge.  And the recharge for Deadly Shadow Strike isn't terrible.  According to the wiki, Shadow Strike's recharge is affected by the Tech Cooldown Upgrade.

And yes, I do disable squad power usage.

Not just the wiki

[lazuli]

Optimystic_X wrote...
The bursts are still shorter, putting them in cover more often, which was my point.

And that's reason enough for me.  I don't expect much weapon damage out of my SMG squadmates.  They've got other strengths.

[Adhin]

360, Insanity.

I give her the Locust just cause she seems so damn happy we found it. It also has the highest damage per shot, and they don't seem to blast away like mad with it like they do the Tempest.

That said I use Deadly Strike, its more damage and it can strip an entire bar and into the next on a good number of mobs on Insanity. Like ya pointed out Lazuli the cooldown is effected by Tech - damage isn't. But its 550 or something dmg for Deadly. That's pretty damn huge. To give you an idea with out a warp explosion, heavy warp does 320 with 60% upgrade, 360 with 80% due to a Passive. So that's pretty big for a teleport ninja punch that works on ALL bars equally.

Plus if it gets them into there HP they automatically just flop to the ground and stay down for awhile. Just a few minutes ago a Concussive blast + Deadly Strike combo (Garrus + Kasumi) saved my ass after I charged 1 guy and didn't notice the other till it was to late. Concussive or other like abilities auto-stagger then she pops out and nails em to the floor.

Due to how effective Flashbang is I tend to max Passive, Deadly, 3 ranks into Overload (weapon overheat) and 2 into Flashbang. I find that overall gives me the best performance and I use all of her abilities rather often. Though I keep Deadly SS to the Directional Pad for in combat use.

-edit-
Another fun thing about SS, or well 2 fun things. It can be used to save her. I think story wise shes supposed to be cloaking and charging/flipping/all around spider-womanly making her way to the target. Gameplay wise she cloaks and freaking teleports to the person. So it can make a good escape ability for her if shes in the open.

It also functions kinda like a Drone but not to the same extent. When she uncloaks next to whatever they more often then not stop what there doing and turn to her just before she gut-punchs em. I use it on the big mechs CONSTANTLY, as its a good way to not only strip there defenses but keep the fire off you while you unload a sync into there back sides.

Also, she always returns to where she was previusly so its a good idea to make sure shes behind cover before using it, though in the save her senario thats less of a concern. They often ignore her once she comes back out of stealth once shes made her attack and is back to her original position for a little bit, giving her time to get into cover.

Modifié par Adhin, 12 septembre 2010 - 10:53 .

[OniGanon]

Platform: PC, Insanity.



Build:

10 Deadly Shadow Strike

6 Overload

10 Passive, cooldown reduction

3 Flashbang



Reasoning: Honestly I don't get why people go crazy over Flashbang's effect through defenses. I find it unreliable and it rarely saves me. I simply use it for the stagger and stun these days (on protected and unprotected enemies, respectively). Deadly over Rapid because I use it as a defense stripper anyway. Overload because it's aoe and sometimes SS isn't the best option, or even an option at all.



Weapon: Locust for RP reasons, though Tempest seems most effective.



class, teammates and missions: any class, usually paired with Miranda to take on any threat, used in missions where the enemies are unknown or very diverse, or where I'd normally take Miranda but don't for RP reasons (because the other teammate hates Cerberus).



Experience: Kasumi is an excellent teammate, a very powerful single target universal defense stripper and great paired with or replacement for Miranda. SS is most reliable used on a protected enemy, as other forms of CC interferes with it. I usually send her either after the Heavies or the most heaily protected enemies on the field, taking the opportunity of her appearance to lay down fire. Sometimes she dies for the cause, but for the most part she's surprisingly survivable and is more likely to die when she RETURNS from SS than she is when in the middle of it surrounded by enemies.

[RGFrog]

Yeah, but the 105% (80 + 25 passive) cooldown she gets with a kill means you can spam her strike more often. That's why i go with it instead, but pretty much everything else the same as OniGanon.

However, I dont' seem to spam her strike, so I'll give the other a try this time.

[godlike13]

On what difficulty do you play, and on what system?
Xbox 360 Hardcore

How do you set up her build?
Shadow Strike: Max to Deadly
Passive: Max
Flashbang: Max to Area

With what class of Shepard do you find her most effective?  
Vanguard. Its nice to have some company when i Charge, makes for a devastating one-two punch.

What are your experiences of Kasumi in combat?
So for ive had some very nice experiences with Kasumi in combat. Like i said above, with a Vanguard she

What weapons do you give her?
Tempest and Phalanx

What missions do you use her on?
Right now, most of them.

With which squad mates does she perform best?
Works nice with most of them IMO

If you use Shadow Strike, how do you use it?  
The Ai for it is not bad, i like to use it to compliment my charge.

What foes do you target?
Shielded/armored ones

Where are they on the battlefield?
In font.

Modifié par godlike13, 13 septembre 2010 - 01:12 .

[khevan]

On what difficulty do you play, and on what system?

Depending on class, Hardcore or Insanity, PC

How do you set up her build?

Rank 4 Rapid Shadow Strike
Rank 4 Passive (Cooldown reduction)
Rank 4 Flashbang (Radius)

With what class of Shepard do you find her most effective?  

Every class I've played with.  She's great with an Infiltrator, the stun effect of Flashbang helps set up an easy headshot.  Plus, I use Rapid Shadow Strike, I'll strip one enemy with a power, order her to SS, and I'm already working on the next enemy.  On paper, it looks like Deadly strike is better, but I find that the cooldown reduction inherent in RSS is damned useful.  It lets me set up an enemy, order SS, strip another enemy, order SS, strip the next, etc.  I've never cleared Kasumi's loyalty faster than when I do this.  Rapid Shadow Strike simply fits my playstyle much better than Deadly Shadow Strike.

What are your experiences of Kasumi in combat?

I love her flashbang grenade.  It's got great CC ability, even thru defenses.  I've had issues with her bugging while SS, though.  She'll appear behind the target, crouched, and freeze.  Her cooldown meter is activated, but won't "cool down," and she won't move until she dies.  I tend to use her as a finisher with SS because of this, I don't want her glitching and freezing, leaving a fully protected enemy to mow her down.  I'd rather use her Flashbang to CC, use my own stripping powers, and RSS when her cooldown is up. 

What weapons do you give her?

I use the Locust and the Predator for her.  Yes, it's probably not the most ideal setup, but they fit more with her character, as far as I'm concerned.  A stealthy SMG, and a lower-powered, but smaller, more concealable heavy pistol.  Yeah, that works for a thief.

What missions do you use her on?

Absolutely every mission once I get her.  She's almost always in my squad.  Her Flashbang is just too good, and her RSS is killer when used right.

With which squadmates does she perform best?

I like her paired with Zaeed.  There seems to be just a great synergy between her flashbang and his flammable grenades.  Yeah, they don't do extra damage, but they're just great together, for some reason I can't really define.  Otherwise, Kasumi is great paired with pretty much every other squadmate out there.

If you use Shadow Strike, how do you use it?  

I use it as a finisher while I'm setting up the next target.  Because of that, I go with Rapid Shadow Strike.  It still works decently as a defense stripper in a pinch, but I'm mostly using my own defense stripping power, and sending her to kill that enemy while I'm working on the next.

What foes do you target? 

I target the "pain in the ass" enemies, the Vanguards and Engineers first.  I'll strip their protections, shoot 'em once or twice to make sure RSS kills 'em, and send Kasumi on her way while I work on the mooks.  Once Kasumi's back, I send her to RSS another big bad, if there's one around, or I'll Flashbang the now defenseless mooks that I've been working on.  They're now disabled and very quickly, they're dead.  It's a deadly combination.  I love it.

 Where are they on the battlefield?

No specifics, unless I'm using Flashbang to set up a flank or whatnot.  If that's the case, I either pick the location I'm going to flank at, and disable the enemies closest to it, or I'll pick the largest group of enemies and disable them, dropping enemy fire by a considerable amount, making flanking attacks much easier to pull off.

[PsyrenY]

The nice thing about Flashbang and DSS is that they both render defenses meaningless. DSS is already one of the highest-damage abilities in the game, and she does double damage to every defense.



Flashbang ignores them completely of course, and the radius Flashbang also has the longest duration. Stunning a wide cluster of enemies for 9 seconds gives Shepard plenty of time to get out of dodge in a pitched moment.



I only recently tried her without Overload, mistakenly considering her a Miranda clone. I never looked back. She simply does not need Overload to strip shields, especially if you have it yourself, or disruptor ammo, or ED.