67 réponses à ce sujet

[Whatever42]

The best power (although some think its cheating) is stasis. The only real vulnerablity an adept has is being rushed by something that's hard to cc. Stasis just takes care of that problem. With that hole plugged, even though you're underpowered, it just means things are a little longer to kill. Just play it safe until you have the powers and cooldowns to slaughter everything.

The truth is that when you get enough upgrades and cooldowns, your bonus power doesn't matter and you'll steamroll everything (except those damn varrens on that Quarian rescue).

[UsagiVindaloo]

Thank you again for all the excellent advice! I attempted Jack's recruitment mission today and... well, I did *somewhat* better, although I died many many times on the long causeway just before Warden Kuril (the one with the second YMIR mech) and Warden Kuril himself. Would I be considered a whiner if I admitted I wished the game auto-saved between waves? I always seem to die almost at the end and then have to do the whole thing again. XD Still, I felt like some progress, no matter how small, was being made, and that things will be much better once both me and my squadmates have more XP to spend on stuff.

A few responses to some specific points raised in the thread:

- re squad death/placement... I have concluded that Mordin secretly wants me to fail or is broken up about the genophage thing and wishes to die. After instructing him, in no uncertain terms, to hide behind a crate in Kuril's room and take cover, I returned to my blissful rounds of Locust shooting, waiting for Miranda's Overload to cool down, Warping or Pulling unshielded mobs... only to suddenly notice that Mordin was dying/dead. I looked around to find the maniac salarian standing *in front of the crate* in full view of at least five different soldiers. I have no idea why he was there as I certainly didn't tell him to stand there. I'm just frustrated because I know there are limited medi-gels and I always seem to burn through them like nothing when I go on missions.

- I wish I'd known that about upping Miranda's Warp and ignoring her Overload! Unfortunately I went the other route and buffed her Overload quickly so I'd have an anti-shield squadmate (also have Kasumi now, but did not at the beginning). My bad. Guess I'll have to go do LotSB as soon as it's available so I can respec.

- Heavy vs. Wide Singularity... I get why Heavy is better, but I confess I'm having some trouble with the proper use of Singularity. Specifically, I'm having trouble getting it to properly hit people. Whenever enemies are under cover, no matter when I shoot it (e.g. when they're popping out to shoot), it always seems like the projectile impacts on the cover wall and just floats there not affecting anyone. I was wondering if Wide Singularity would be better for me just in the sense that I apparently cannot aim the damn things properly and the wider range would be better for pulling guys in. Also, it would help me do the choke point thing better as opposed to three Blue Sun mercs wandering blissfully by the floating blue ball of death to examine the inside of my bullet-ridden skull.

- re: Insanity playthrough... LOL, I admit that I put it to Insanity so I could get that last XBox achievement and then set all my subsequent playthroughs to Casual for quick completion (still need to finish three more games to get set for ME3!) Having said that, am beginning to wish I'd tried for the insanity achievement on a Sentinel or something.

- re Barrier: so far I've been using Barrier a lot in two particular situations. One is when I am moving from one position to another, as I find that even when I'm sprinting at full speed, I always seem to eat a plateful of bullets before I get there; the barrier at least insures I won't die from it. The second time is if, for example, both my squadmates are on cooldown and I decide to pop out and shoot down an enemy the old fashioned way, with good old bullets; then at least I can duck my head out and fire without having to worry as much about the damage I take. However, I will definitely consider Stasis, as things like YMIR mechs do seem to ruin my day (particularly because I keep running out of ammo... can't wait for the beam rifle again). I'm also considering Energy Drain both as a way to deal with shields (other than bringing along some Overload peons) and as a boost to my own shields. I also keep hearing mixed messages on Reave; some people say it's the most awesome thing ever and that no Adept should be without it, while others seem to figure it's redundant. I haven't seen too much talk about it in this thread (most of it seems to be for Stasis, Barrier/Geth Shield/Fortification, occasionally Warp Ammo, etc). Maybe I missed the discussion on it... it's very late here and I'm tired. ;-) Also, I did pick Barrier due to the reduction in biotic cooldowns etc, so don't worry... though I still find the cooldown awfully long!

[Hunter-Wolf]

Ok guys .. i'll try an Insane Adapt playthrough soon and try both Wide/Heavy Singularity to get a feel if there is really that much disadvantage regarding Wide Singularity .. cause Wide Singularity was very effecive with me during my Hardcore playthrough.

As for Fortification .. statistically you guys are right .. i always had the impression it "acts" differently from Barrier and Geth Shield (more like "Immunity" from ME1) .. i don't get what was Bioware thinking when they made Fortification identical to barrier in functionality and inferior to upgraded Barrier statistics wise (upgraded barrier through Mordin Upgrades like you guys pointed out) .. weird .. but at least i didn't feel the inferiority was significant when i used it.

Still thanks for the advice.

Modifié par Hunter-Wolf, 19 mars 2011 - 09:40 .

[Influ]

I used Wide Singularity on my insanity adept run and it's still useful. I don't think that I've used the Heavy version though so I can't really compare them. If your going with Wide I'd still recommend speccing it to Heavy if/when you get Pull Field.

I do recommend Stasis as a bonus power especially if you don't mind it's massive damage boost when the enemies drop from it's effects being ridiculously cheap. I mean, with a charged shot from the Geth Plasma Shotgun, headshot and proper timing you can pretty much one shot anything. Not YMIRs I think, but still it's ridiculous. Note that it does not work on larger bosses (except the Reaper Larva, which is weird, bugged, totally useless, but quite funny), Shadow Broker and Harbinger. Even with one point it's useful for the damage boost and somewhat in CC. If evolved to Enhanced Stasis it's a fantastic CC ability and especially helpful against YMIR Mechs ie. Garrus' loyalty mission where you have that YMIR and mercs shooting at you and the later part with two YMIRs.

I might be repeating things already said in this thread (maybe even myself, sleepless night and all), but here's some general gameplay tips that worked out for me on insanity. Always try to slap Singularity on the most threatening enemy to keep him out of combat. Neat trick on the Shadow Brokers ship is to attach the Singularity on those lightning capacitors so they go off automatically. Actively make use of squad powers. You can setup combos really fast when utilizing both squaddies. Spam pull a lot. You can then either detonate with Warp or use Throw if there's no one near the ragdolled bugger. Heavy Throw instakills most of the time when you send them upwards with it. I highly recommend getting the Firepower Pack. The Geth Plasma Shotgun is extremely effective with adept and all the guns are quite fun in my opinion.

Also here's the build I used:

10 Heavy Warp
10 Heavy Throw
10 Wide Singularity
10 Pull Field
0 Shockwave
10 Biotic Mastery (Nemesis)
1 Stasis

That worked quite well for me. First I maxed out the passive and Singularity, then worked on Warp. I left Pull for last, but I recommend having it at level two early. Still, the playstyle is a large factor for the effectiveness of each build so this might not be the best one for you. But I hope you find some of my ramblings helpful.

[Lee337]

I heard Adepts are a hard class to start off with on Insanity,(reason being the adept are pretty useless against the extra layers of armor that insanity gives enemies)  I haven't tried, and the best class is soldier. If you're struggling with insanity, maybe try a different class and save adept for an easier setting.

Modifié par Lee337, 19 mars 2011 - 01:25 .

[Bozorgmehr]

Whatever666343431431654324 wrote...

The truth is that when you get enough upgrades and cooldowns, your bonus power doesn't matter and you'll steamroll everything (except those damn varrens on that Quarian rescue).

Check how jwalker's Adept handles those Varren: Adept & Quarian Crash Site - no problem for an Adept at all

Barrier

'Offensive is the best defense', or was it 'the best defense is a good offense' Point being; Barrier is technically a defensive power, but it can also be used offensively. The Adept's passive and research upgrade bring cooldown under control (12 s become 6-7 seconds, which is quite good) and, when playing aggressively, (Heavy) Barrier allows ME1 Vanguard-style Adept gameplay (in ME2): Barrier Adept - Dantius Towers ; add a decent gun: Claymore Adept on Collector Ship

UsagiVindaloo wrote...

Heavy vs. Wide Singularity... I get why Heavy is better, but I confess I'm having some trouble with the proper use of Singularity. Specifically, I'm having trouble getting it to properly hit people. Whenever enemies are under cover, no matter when I shoot it (e.g. when they're popping out to shoot), it always seems like the projectile impacts on the cover wall and just floats there not affecting anyone. I was wondering if Wide Singularity would be better for me just in the sense that I apparently cannot aim the damn things properly and the wider range would be better for pulling guys in. Also, it would help me do the choke point thing better as opposed to three Blue Sun mercs wandering blissfully by the floating blue ball of death to examine the inside of my bullet-ridden skull.

Try to arc Shepard's powers. Singularity (and all the other biotic powers) will travel towards their target in a straight line when you press the button with the crosshair pointed on enemy/target. When target sits behind cover, the biotic projectile will likely hit cover instead of the enemy. Arcing powers can reach almost all enemies, regardless of cover.

Example: Enemy hides behind a crate, target the enemy with the crosshair, (slowly) move crosshair towards the top of your screen but make sure your target stays highlighted, fire away. Singularity will now travel to target in an arc and since it strikes down, it's very difficult for the target to dodge it. With some practice you can hit enemies anywhere.

Lee337 wrote...

I heard Adepts are a hard class to start off with on Insanity,(reason being the adept are pretty useless against the extra layers of armor that insanity gives enemies) I haven't tried, and the best class is soldier. If you're struggling with insanity, maybe try a different class and save adept for an easier setting.

Adepts indeed are a hard class to start with, but the extra defensive layers enemies have will become pretty useless very soon. RP wise, Adepts are the most rewarding class. But if the achievement is what you want, you're probably better off playing a Soldier or Sentinel. They're easier to play, but not nearly as much fun IMHO.

[XCPTNL]

UsagiVindaloo wrote...
I'm also considering Energy Drain both as a way to deal with shields (other than bringing along some Overload peons) and as a boost to my own shields. I also keep hearing mixed messages on Reave; some people say it's the most awesome thing ever and that no Adept should be without it, while others seem to figure it's redundant.

A few notes on this from my point of view: both powers are awesome! BUT
1) I don't like using a tech power on the Adept which I consider to be a pure biotic warrior. I use it on my tech combatant (Infiltrator) as Area Drain though and it's great. Besides raping your Adept when giving him a tech power you also should know that later on in the game it might not be that usefull, especially if you use the Geth Shotgun. Why? Because the Geth Shotgun oneshots most shields so if you are killing the shields with this weapon you can instantly follow up with a biotic power and don't have to wait for the cooldown from Energy Drain. You might consider using ED early in the game and change it to something else.
2) When people say that Reave is redundant they usually refer to its ability to do damage against barriers and armor. You have Warp for this as an Adept so it might be redundant. The healing effect however is not. Still there are better ways to spend your points as an Adept in my opinion. But Reave is a great power and I used it for my Claymore Vanguards and I'm trying to justify giving a biotic power to my Revenant soldier who I now consider some kind of Tech-Biotic combatant (yes I know, AR is technically (no pun intended) not a Tech-Power but it feels like one to me). Switching between AR and Reave is actually working very good for me with the Soldier. So it's a great (and a bit overpowered) skill but I wouldn't necessarily use it on the Adept because of the overlaps with Warp (and you usually want Warp to set up warp bombs yourself and not solely rely on your squadmates).

[UsagiVindaloo]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

Try to arc Shepard's powers. Singularity (and all the other biotic powers) will travel towards their target in a straight line when you press the button with the crosshair pointed on enemy/target. When target sits behind cover, the biotic projectile will likely hit cover instead of the enemy. Arcing powers can reach almost all enemies, regardless of cover.

Example: Enemy hides behind a crate, target the enemy with the crosshair, (slowly) move crosshair towards the top of your screen but make sure your target stays highlighted, fire away. Singularity will now travel to target in an arc and since it strikes down, it's very difficult for the target to dodge it. With some practice you can hit enemies anywhere.

I have been trying to do this for the most part, with mixed success. I have been getting more of an arc, but it still seems to smack into the wall, just a bit "closer" to the target. This, however, may just be me sucking, so go fig.

Stasis is sounding more and more tempting, but does it work on shielded/armored/barriered enemies? That seems to be a big part of the problem. Once shields etc are down it's not as much of a problem (Blue Sun Troopers seem to die quickly if I combo them with a level 3 Overload from Miranda and a Heavy Incinerate from Mordin). But things like the YMIR mech have a lot of shields and armor that take multiple cooldowns to burn through. Can I still use Stasis on the mech while its defenses are up, or do I have to burn them down then use Stasis? (which seems counterproductive, by that point I may as well kill the thing ) Never mind, checked the wiki and saw it was useful for shielded etc enemies. that's good!

Shielded enemies definitely seem to be my weakpoint at the moment, although I did struggle with the armored enemies during Mordin's mission (only had Miranda's/my warp, Zaeed was pretty much useless). On Blue Sun missions, is it worth it to go in with a double Overload party (Miranda + Kasumi)? I did like having access to Mordin's Incinerate in tandem with Miranda's Overload, but wondering if Kasumi might be more useful.

Also, silly question: what do you think of Cryo Blast or Cryo Ammo? I never bothered with it on Normal, but after using it once or twice from Mordin in Jack's recruitment, was actually pleasantly surprised with both its CC and its U DIE NAO shatter. Worth it to level/use, or better to save his cooldowns for Heavy Incinerate?

Also, general question about speccing my characters... with Mordin, Miranda and Kasumi, I tried to give them decently high levels in their important abilities so that they'd do more damage... but I seem to spend ridiculously long amounts of time waiting for cooldowns. For the other characters as I get them, would it be best to continue boosting their abilities, or would it be better to give them 1 or 2 in each ability then power level their "class" stat so as to reduce cooldowns?

Lastly, I hear a lot of recommendations for "Heavy XXX" versus "Area XXX" or "XXX Field" (with the exception of Pull Field). This is a bit of a change for me as, in my Normal playthroughs, I've always gone for the AoE versions (mostly because a. I have crap aim and b. I liked getting multiple enemies in one blast of Incinerate/Overload/Warp. Is that probably not powerful enough for Insanity? The debate upthread about Heavy vs Wide Singularity is interesting and I'm wondering how it expands in general to other Adept or squad powers.

Damnit, I wish I had access to the Shadow Broker's lair already, then I could mess with people's specs to my heart's content.

Modifié par UsagiVindaloo, 19 mars 2011 - 06:00 .

[kstarler]

UsagiVindaloo wrote...

- re: Insanity playthrough... LOL, I admit that I put it to Insanity so I could get that last XBox achievement and then set all my subsequent playthroughs to Casual for quick completion (still need to finish three more games to get set for ME3!) Having said that, am beginning to wish I'd tried for the insanity achievement on a Sentinel or something.

I know what you mean about getting that last acheivement. If you've gone ahead and gotten the FirePower Pack, and just want to get through Insanity with the least amount of trouble possible, you might consider scrapping the Adept run and switching to a Mattock Soldier with Heightened Adrenaline Rush. The Mattock with Adrenaline Rush is incredibly powerful, and you get it as soon as you get to the Normandy. If you don't have the FirePower Pack, then the next best thing is an Assault Armor Sentinel. I don't want to muddy up what is turning into a fairly constructive thread regarding Adept strategies, so here are some links in case you're interested in Soldier or Sentinel tips instead:

Sentinel

Soldier

[lazuli]

UsagiVindaloo wrote...


Also, silly question: what do you think of Cryo Blast or Cryo Ammo? I never bothered with it on Normal, but after using it once or twice from Mordin in Jack's recruitment, was actually pleasantly surprised with both its CC and its U DIE NAO shatter. Worth it to level/use, or better to save his cooldowns for Heavy Incinerate?

Cryo Blast saw a surge of popularity on the forums a few months ago.  It's decent enough, but I wouldn't bother using it on an Adept playthrough.  Cryo effects clash with Biotics.  As enemies start to freeze, they ignore Biotic effects.  It's an unfortunate glitch.

Lastly, I hear a lot of recommendations for "Heavy XXX" versus "Area XXX" or "XXX Field" (with the exception of Pull Field). This is a bit of a change for me as, in my Normal playthroughs, I've always gone for the AoE versions (mostly because a. I have crap aim and b. I liked getting multiple enemies in one blast of Incinerate/Overload/Warp. Is that probably not powerful enough for Insanity? The debate upthread about Heavy vs Wide Singularity is interesting and I'm wondering how it expands in general to other Adept or squad powers.

I prefer field versions of almost every power.  Exceptions include (Heavy) Singularity, (Heavy) Charge, and (Heavy) Warp on Shepard (Unstable on squadmates).

[UsagiVindaloo]

The temptation of the Firepower pack is getting greater and greater. Too bad my XBox hard drive is full to bursting... time to go shopping, methinks. >.>

I know I've heard a lot about the Geth shotgun from the DLC (I've never really been hot on shotguns before, at least not in ME2 compared to ME1). What about the Geth Pulse assault rifle from Tali's recruitment? Never actually gotten it before (first Insanity playthrough and all that), is it a good weapon?

kstarler - I admit I probably wouldn't *rush* to do a Soldier Insanity playthrough just because I have already done a Soldier... though I suppose I could always reimport that character at max level and have at it (I heard that can get messy though?) I'm very tempted to resurrect my Sentinel though (I only did the very first level on him before getting distracted by other games, ME1 being one of them :3) As silly as it sounds, I'm still waiting on the Sentinel partly because I'm figuring out what sort of "plot" I'm going to do with him (as I indicated before, once I have my Insanity achievement the rest of it is all just setting up various Shepards with various plots for ME3). Plus I now sort of have the bit between my teeth *plotwise* for this Adept Shepard (She's growing as a character! She's getting less Renegade and more Paragon! She snarked at Jack but is probably going to think she's kind of cool in a crazy way! Hooray! If only she could actually get to the talky plotty bits faster without having to die fifteen times to crazed Insanity Blue Suns, this would all be very exciting!)

[mcsupersport]

IF Stasis is going to work on an enemy it will work no matter what defense he has. It doesn't work on Harbinger, Shadow Broker, Colossus, or the Gun Ships, but then Heavy Singularity will lock down both Harbinger, Shadow Broker(staggers him allowing you to shoot his lower body making this fight really easy with both Liara and yourself using them), and Scions for you, lasting a decent time giving you plenty of time to blast them. Heavy singularity will also eat away the shields and armor of most enemies(except Varren, Fenris mech, Ymir mechs, Klixen, and Geth Primes which all ignore it) allowing you to stop them, take down their defenses and warp bomb them if you want.

Please remember also that Throw does do damage to defenses and has a quick cooldown, so if you are facing shields and your cooldowns are ready, use throw on them in addition to shooting to lower their defenses. Also remember enemies are effected by the direction your powers are traveling when they are hit(except for warp and singularity). This means if you arc a pull high and to the right, the guy hit will float up and in the direction the pull came at him in this case right. You can use this with both throw and pull to direct enemies in the direction to do the most damage, off ledges, high into ceilings, into other groups for explosions and what not.

In Veteran, Normal and Casual levels area effects of throw, pull, Overload, incinerate, cryo blast and even singularity all make pretty good sense(i still prefer Heavy Singularity but hey), because without the interfering defenses you can effect mass amounts of enemies with them. On Insanity this is offset a good deal by the defenses, but they can still have their place. I like Area pull because if you hit a group of mooks and one of the group is without defenses then he will float, if you hit with heavy then you have to hit the defenseless and not anyone else. Throw on insanity I like to go heavy, because of the extra damage it does, to defenses and defenseless guys, area will probably not work well because rarely will you have a bunch of guys floating or walking around defenseless to be hit by throw. Heavy Wide Singularity well it is debated, but since I like to lock down a boss or a really dangerous guy, then Heavy all the way. On Insanity, Heavy Singularity just doesn't last any time at all for me. Area overload vs heavy, well I generally go area, to hit a broader area with the hopes of dropping one guys shields and hurting a bunch others so they take more damage from warp bombs or float quicker from a singularity.

Early most of your fighting will be throwing singularity and capturing a single guy, letting it destroy his defenses and then bombing him to hurt others. Early this will make for slow tedious play, but later you will come into your own.

And yes, go get the firepower pack you will kiss the floor of it's overpowered godliness.

[lazuli]

mcsupersport wrote...

In Veteran, Normal and Casual levels area effects of throw, pull, Overload, incinerate, cryo blast and even singularity all make pretty good sense(i still prefer Heavy Singularity but hey), because without the interfering defenses you can effect mass amounts of enemies with them. On Insanity this is offset a good deal by the defenses, but they can still have their place.

Area versions of Incinerate and Overload will drop the defenses of standard enemies in a single shot with proper upgrades.  Neither area nor heavy versions will drop advanced enemy defenses with a single shot.  Heavy versions might work better against bosses, but against the vast majority of opponents in the game area versions will suffice, and often be more efficient.

[UsagiVindaloo]

mcsupersport wrote...

IF Stasis is going to work on an enemy it will work no matter what defense he has. It doesn't work on Harbinger, Shadow Broker, Colossus, or the Gun Ships, but then Heavy Singularity will lock down both Harbinger, Shadow Broker(staggers him allowing you to shoot his lower body making this fight really easy with both Liara and yourself using them), and Scions for you, lasting a decent time giving you plenty of time to blast them. Heavy singularity will also eat away the shields and armor of most enemies(except Varren, Fenris mech, Ymir mechs, Klixen, and Geth Primes which all ignore it) allowing you to stop them, take down their defenses and warp bomb them if you want.

Please remember also that Throw does do damage to defenses and has a quick cooldown, so if you are facing shields and your cooldowns are ready, use throw on them in addition to shooting to lower their defenses. Also remember enemies are effected by the direction your powers are traveling when they are hit(except for warp and singularity). This means if you arc a pull high and to the right, the guy hit will float up and in the direction the pull came at him in this case right. You can use this with both throw and pull to direct enemies in the direction to do the most damage, off ledges, high into ceilings, into other groups for explosions and what not.

In Veteran, Normal and Casual levels area effects of throw, pull, Overload, incinerate, cryo blast and even singularity all make pretty good sense(i still prefer Heavy Singularity but hey), because without the interfering defenses you can effect mass amounts of enemies with them. On Insanity this is offset a good deal by the defenses, but they can still have their place. I like Area pull because if you hit a group of mooks and one of the group is without defenses then he will float, if you hit with heavy then you have to hit the defenseless and not anyone else. Throw on insanity I like to go heavy, because of the extra damage it does, to defenses and defenseless guys, area will probably not work well because rarely will you have a bunch of guys floating or walking around defenseless to be hit by throw. Heavy Wide Singularity well it is debated, but since I like to lock down a boss or a really dangerous guy, then Heavy all the way. On Insanity, Heavy Singularity just doesn't last any time at all for me. Area overload vs heavy, well I generally go area, to hit a broader area with the hopes of dropping one guys shields and hurting a bunch others so they take more damage from warp bombs or float quicker from a singularity.

Early most of your fighting will be throwing singularity and capturing a single guy, letting it destroy his defenses and then bombing him to hurt others. Early this will make for slow tedious play, but later you will come into your own.

And yes, go get the firepower pack you will kiss the floor of it's overpowered godliness.

Whoa, I didn't know that Throw worked on enemies with defenses! It was always "redded out" for me so I figured it didn't work. I will definitely take that into consideration, thanks!

Re the Area vs Heavy, I was almost considering getting Area Overload on someone just because I have been doing lots of Blue Sun heavy missions lately (or, at least, shield heavy missions) and it would be lovely just to destroy everyone's shields at once (course, I could make Miranda Area and Kasumi Heavy or something).

I have been trying the "capture a guy" thing but with limited success (I suck!). Either it doesn't seem to capture him properly (it whacks into the cover wall or isn't close enough or something), or it doesn't seem to lock him down permanently. I used to save it for defenseless enemies so I could ragdoll them, but I'm actually finding that can have some pretty nasty downsides (like Pull), like when the half dead enemy sails over my head... behind my cover lines, where he can shoot me to his heart's delight and when I turn to shoot him, I pop out of cover. I miss toggled crouching. Do you then, in general, recommend targetting a single enemy with Singularity rather than trying to throw it into a large group of enemies?

Also, to repeat a question  I asked earlier, for squadmates is it better to powerlevel a single "good" ability to max (e.g. Heavy Incinerate, Area Overload, whatever) or is it better to just stick one or two points in so the ability is available, then max out the class stat to increase damage and reduce cooldowns? And also, should I go for the Shadow Broker's lair as soon as it's available so I'll have access to squad respeccing early and often?

I definitely appreciate all this help, guys. I just wish I didn't suck so badly! I do agree that I probably should have gone with another class or stepped up to Veteran or Hardcore, but silly me, I wanted the dang achievement. 

[lazuli]

UsagiVindaloo wrote...
Do you then, in general, recommend targetting a single enemy with Singularity rather than trying to throw it into a large group of enemies?

Groups are nice to hit, but just remember that the Singularity will run out of staggers much faster if it's hitting multiple opponents as opposed to just one.  Aim for enemies that are out of cover.  You can't really arc powers reliably over cover.

Also, to repeat a question  I asked earlier, for squadmates is it better to powerlevel a single "good" ability to max (e.g. Heavy Incinerate, Area Overload, whatever) or is it better to just stick one or two points in so the ability is available, then max out the class stat to increase damage and reduce cooldowns? And also, should I go for the Shadow Broker's lair as soon as it's available so I'll have access to squad respeccing early and often?

It depends on the squadmate, and it really isn't that big of a deal for most of them.  With Miranda, I master Unstable Warp, then Area Overload, then her passive.  For other characters that I use to strip defenses, their defense stripping power takes precedence over their other abilities.  To make it simple, focus on the power you want that squadmate to use.  Squadmate passives can wait.

For a detailed analysis of how to level Jacob, see this thread.

[UsagiVindaloo]

lazuli wrote...

UsagiVindaloo wrote...
Do you then, in general, recommend targetting a single enemy with Singularity rather than trying to throw it into a large group of enemies?

Groups are nice to hit, but just remember that the Singularity will run out of staggers much faster if it's hitting multiple opponents as opposed to just one.  Aim for enemies that are out of cover.  You can't really arc powers reliably over cover.

Also, to repeat a question  I asked earlier, for squadmates is it better to powerlevel a single "good" ability to max (e.g. Heavy Incinerate, Area Overload, whatever) or is it better to just stick one or two points in so the ability is available, then max out the class stat to increase damage and reduce cooldowns? And also, should I go for the Shadow Broker's lair as soon as it's available so I'll have access to squad respeccing early and often?

It depends on the squadmate, and it really isn't that big of a deal for most of them.  With Miranda, I master Unstable Warp, then Area Overload, then her passive.  For other characters that I use to strip defenses, their defense stripping power takes precedence over their other abilities.  To make it simple, focus on the power you want that squadmate to use.  Squadmate passives can wait.

For a detailed analysis of how to level Jacob, see this thread.

Ha, oddly enough I was thinking of bringing along Jacob for once... I never used him much in my first two playthroughs (and admittedly am a bit meh on his character) but I was thinking that his Pull for Warp Bombs and his ammo for armor might be a nice combo. Your link has got me thinking even harder about it. Admittedly, all of the characters have pretty good plus sides at this point, depending on what I'm going up against. Still am considering tackling the next Blue Suns mission with a double Overload team.

[Bozorgmehr]

UsagiVindaloo wrote...

Whoa, I didn't know that Throw worked on enemies with defenses! It was always "redded out" for me so I figured it didn't work. I will definitely take that into consideration, thanks!

Throw's physical effect doesn't work (knocking enemies down), but it will do decent damage versus shields and barriers, it will stagger the enemy (Pull and Shockwave idem) which will buy precious time for Shep & Co to shoot and/or use powers with less/no enemy fire. Staggering is an important game mechanic!

Re the Area vs Heavy, I was almost considering getting Area Overload on someone just because I have been doing lots of Blue Sun heavy missions lately (or, at least, shield heavy missions) and it would be lovely just to destroy everyone's shields at once (course, I could make Miranda Area and Kasumi Heavy or something).

Always go for the Area version for the damage dealing powers (Overload, Reave, Energy Drain etc). The Heavy / Improved versions are usually better off with extra duration (Cryo Blast, Dominate, AI Hacking etc). When you're not playing NG+ (imported ME2 level 30 character), the Area version will be able to strip shields of normal enemies in one go. The Heavy version cannot strip shields of elites and bosses, thus becomes a lot less useful.

Also, to repeat a question  I asked earlier, for squadmates is it better to powerlevel a single "good" ability to max (e.g. Heavy Incinerate, Area Overload, whatever) or is it better to just stick one or two points in so the ability is available, then max out the class stat to increase damage and reduce cooldowns? And also, should I go for the Shadow Broker's lair as soon as it's available so I'll have access to squad respeccing early and often?

Always specialize your squadmates. ME2 uses a global cooldown system so you can only use one ability at the time. Assign squadmates to a specific role to execute power combos - combined with Shep and the second squadmate - and you'll be using one power 90% of the time. The second (and third - loyalty) power(s) are nice backup when the primary power isn't effective. Garrus is the best shield stripper in the game - for example. I use his Overload all day long, but when a Krogan (without armor) is charging you, his Concussive Shot can save your ass (knocking down the Krogan).

I definitely appreciate all this help, guys. I just wish I didn't suck so badly! I do agree that I probably should have gone with another class or stepped up to Veteran or Hardcore, but silly me, I wanted the dang achievement. 

Just get to the Collector Ship asap. With bonus weapon and biotic upgrades your Adept will be badass. Leave the other missions alone until you're ready. Recruit Mordin, Jack, Garrus and Grunt > Horizon > pick up Kasumi and Zaeed plus complete Firewalker Assignments and buy biotic upgrade(s) (you'll need 3) > Collector Ship > bonus weapon = an unstoppable biotic warrior with 80% of the game left for some serious biotic mayhem.

Oh, and don't forget Heavy Weapons. The Avalanche and Grenade Launcher are great - the Arc Projector is magnificent (best HW for Adepts). They all have a decent ammo capacity so whenever you're having trouble, fire a couple rounds. It will make any fight very easy. The GPS is basically a single target Arc Projector, but with almost unlimited ammo. Definitely a good investment.

[UsagiVindaloo]

Bozorgmehr wrote...

Throw's physical effect doesn't work (knocking enemies down), but it will do decent damage versus shields and barriers, it will stagger the enemy (Pull and Shockwave idem) which will buy precious time for Shep & Co to shoot and/or use powers with less/no enemy fire. Staggering is an important game mechanic!

See, I'm glad I came here now, because I honestly didn't realize staggering was so important... I thought it was either knockdowns (e.g. Throw) or ragdolling (e.g. Pull), neither of which affect enemies with defense. The fact that using these biotic abilities DOES have an affect and that staggering is handy will probably help immensely, and certainly inspire me to use biotic abilities more often (vs. waiting for the shields to come down). Thank you muchly!

Always go for the Area version for the damage dealing powers (Overload, Reave, Energy Drain etc). The Heavy / Improved versions are usually better off with extra duration (Cryo Blast, Dominate, AI Hacking etc). When you're not playing NG+ (imported ME2 level 30 character), the Area version will be able to strip shields of normal enemies in one go. The Heavy version cannot strip shields of elites and bosses, thus becomes a lot less useful.

Hmm, I may have goofed up and given Mordin Heavy Incinerate (unless that counts more towards extra duration vs. range). My thought there was that I wanted to be sure his Incinerate would either completely burn through something's armor or that, after de-shielding a mook, I could fire Incinerate onto him then forget about him as he burninated the countryside. Other than that, I will look into the Area versions for more stuff.

Always specialize your squadmates. ME2 uses a global cooldown system so you can only use one ability at the time. Assign squadmates to a specific role to execute power combos - combined with Shep and the second squadmate - and you'll be using one power 90% of the time. The second (and third - loyalty) power(s) are nice backup when the primary power isn't effective. Garrus is the best shield stripper in the game - for example. I use his Overload all day long, but when a Krogan (without armor) is charging you, his Concussive Shot can save your ass (knocking down the Krogan).

Thanks for the recommendation. I know that there is a global cooldown system, but as I mentioned before, part of the problem has been that I've been waiting so long for those cooldowns on my squadmates (versus Shepard who cools down almost immediately except for Barrier). It's like "BOOM OVERLOAD TO THE FACE! ... and now I have to wait a long time before I can deal with the next shielded dude, because Miranda is off taking a nap somewhere while her stuff cools down." Hence why I was wondering if leveling their class would help with that. But it definitely sounds like I should just bust out the powers.

Just get to the Collector Ship asap. With bonus weapon and biotic upgrades your Adept will be badass. Leave the other missions alone until you're ready. Recruit Mordin, Jack, Garrus and Grunt > Horizon > pick up Kasumi and Zaeed plus complete Firewalker Assignments and buy biotic upgrade(s) (you'll need 3) > Collector Ship > bonus weapon = an unstoppable biotic warrior with 80% of the game left for some serious biotic mayhem.

Oh, and don't forget Heavy Weapons. The Avalanche and Grenade Launcher are great - the Arc Projector is magnificent (best HW for Adepts). They all have a decent ammo capacity so whenever you're having trouble, fire a couple rounds. It will make any fight very easy. The GPS is basically a single target Arc Projector, but with almost unlimited ammo. Definitely a good investment.

Will definitely take the Collector Ship thing into account. Had planned to do the usual recruiting before the CS as well as some Firewalker missions before Horizon (to get the biotic upgrade), but now may save that. Have already gotten Kasumi loyal but will save Zaeed for pre CS (added bonus; gives me more time to build up my Paragon so I have a chance of getting him loyal after saving the workers). At the CS, do you recommend taking Shotguns or Assault Rifles? (Let me guess, shotguns if I have the Firepower DLC pack? )

Also, at the risk of sounding even MORE of an idiot than I've already proven myself to be, how on earth do you use the Arc Projector? I heard it was supposed to be more awesome than candy coated Disneyland so I took it on a few missions... pointed it in the direction of Those Who Are About To Die, pressed the trigger, held it down, and.... FZZT. Just this FZZT of electricity and nothing. The ammo got depleted, it definitely fired, I was definitely aiming it at the targets, but there was just a bolt of electricity with no connection to anything. Am I doing it wrong? Is it a short range weapon or something?

[XCPTNL]

Cryo Blast/Cryo Ammo: love it, but it's no good for an adept. But they can be awesome powers. Yesterday I ran through the IFF mission again with an Infiltrator, using Incineration Blast to strip Husk Armor and then a Cryo Blast from Mordin (he only has 4,5s cooldown when it's fully evolved). Also used Squad Cryo Ammo. It was total mayhem, in the end I actually wished there would have been double the amount of Husks because Grunt, Mording and my Infiltrator owned them so hard.

Geth Shotgun: just get the Firepower Pack. It's 160 points well spent. Not just for the Shotgun also for the other weapons and other classes. And don't be afraid of the Shotgun - it doesn't feel or even sound like a shotgun at all and can be used quite well even at longer distances. Your Adept will be forever grateful if you get him this thing.

Modifié par Korjyan, 19 mars 2011 - 08:30 .

[Bozorgmehr]

[quote]UsagiVindaloo wrote...

Hmm, I may have goofed up and given Mordin Heavy Incinerate (unless that counts more towards extra duration vs. range). My thought there was that I wanted to be sure his Incinerate would either completely burn through something's armor or that, after de-shielding a mook, I could fire Incinerate onto him then forget about him as he burninated the countryside. Other than that, I will look into the Area versions for more stuff.[/quote]

Incinerate has an AoE by default (1.2 m I recall), the area version only increases radius up to 3 m. The Heavy version is an equally good alternative since most armored enemies are elites and bosses - the extra damage is nice and you can still hit multiple enemies when they're within range.[/quote]

[quote]
Thanks for the recommendation. I know that there is a global cooldown system, but as I mentioned before, part of the problem has been that I've been waiting so long for those cooldowns on my squadmates (versus Shepard who cools down almost immediately except for Barrier). It's like "BOOM OVERLOAD TO THE FACE! ... and now I have to wait a long time before I can deal with the next shielded dude, because Miranda is off taking a nap somewhere while her stuff cools down." Hence why I was wondering if leveling their class would help with that. But it definitely sounds like I should just bust out the powers.[/quote]

The good thing with Adepts is their powers are great when combined with squadmates. When their powers are on cooldown use whatever power you want/need and setup a combo when squadmate powers are available again. Miranda's Unstable Warp is on a 9 s cooldown (just like Jacob's Pull - for example). This means you can detonate someone every 9 seconds (7 s after the biotic cd research upgrade) which is quite powerful. Meanwhile, the only thing you have to do is stripping defenses of the guy that's going BOOM soon (and kill more mooks if possible).

But you can also play it differently by setting up a Singularity, when enemy is ragdolled (and Miranda's Warp is available), detonate the target. The explosion will likely remove defense of nearby enemies who can be Pulled immediately using Jacobs Pull. Shepard hasn't used powers him/herself yet so you can target any other enemy still standing. When they have defenses > lock em down with Singularity. Without defenses you can play with your prey before the kill (any biotic power is effective).

[quote]
Will definitely take the Collector Ship thing into account. Had planned to do the usual recruiting before the CS as well as some Firewalker missions before Horizon (to get the biotic upgrade), but now may save that. Have already gotten Kasumi loyal but will save Zaeed for pre CS (added bonus; gives me more time to build up my Paragon so I have a chance of getting him loyal after saving the workers). At the CS, do you recommend taking Shotguns or Assault Rifles? (Let me guess, shotguns if I have the Firepower DLC pack? )[/quote]

If you have played Vanguard you should be familiar with the shotgun which makes it easier to use them effectively on an Adept. Shotguns are harder to use because you've to get close enough to get the most out of em. Without the Firepower DLC I recommend AR. The Vindicator and GPR are great anti-defenses weapons and perform well at any range.

Save before selecting bonus weapon and test a SG and an AR against the Collectors - should give a good idea which one you prefer. It's a hard choice but you can't really go wrong, both weapon types are great.

[quote]
Also, at the risk of sounding even MORE of an idiot than I've already proven myself to be, how on earth do you use the Arc Projector? I heard it was supposed to be more awesome than candy coated Disneyland so I took it on a few missions... pointed it in the direction of Those Who Are About To Die, pressed the trigger, held it down, and.... FZZT. Just this FZZT of electricity and nothing. The ammo got depleted, it definitely fired, I was definitely aiming it at the targets, but there was just a bolt of electricity with no connection to anything. Am I doing it wrong? Is it a short range weapon or something?
[/quote]

You have to charge the Arc Projector a couple of seconds, but if it does FZZZ you've fired a shot. The shot has to hit a target so make sure you hit someone and not a wall or something. The shock effect will jump from one enemy to the next (up to 6 m away) and one shot can trigger a chain reaction which strips shields of all enemies in a room. Hitting someone who's part of a group will almost eliminate them all. One shot that connects (which shouldn't be hard at all) trivializes most fights - ammo shouldn't be an issue at all.

For all I know you're not doing anything wrong, give it another go I'll say. This weapon is worth the effort.

[mcsupersport]

As one more quick note on Kasumi, her class.passive power is borked and doesn't do anything(unless they have patched it without me hearing). This means if you add points to it, you get no benefit in power time reduction. So the general consensus is to ignore her passive and max her 3 active powers.

My general principal of powers is Shepard gets the heavy version, and squad gets the area versions. For things like warp this means squad gets 3 second quicker cooldowns. There will always be exceptions, but this is my general rule for my play. Now Pull, and Reave are definitely area versions, with Energy Drain usually area too, but then I don't use Reave and Energy drain much anymore either.......Stasis....drool...drool......looks around, grabs cloth and cleans up quickly.

[mcsupersport]

Before you go to the Collector ship try to recruit Thane. You will find Thane with sniper rifle and unstable warp paired up with Miranda with unstable warp and you as an adept will tear through collectors like a hot knife. You have 3 warps to tear through barriers and armor, all you will face, add this to the pulling ability of an adept on a 3 second or so timer plus the benefits of Singularity and things will die in a hurry.

To repeat if you see a mook without defense don't waste the longer cooldown of Singularity to explode him, use pull instead because it cools down quicker and has a faster projectile than singularity. Singularity is for capture, defense stripping and long term holds, pull is for launching and exploding. You mentioned earlier about mooks winding up behind you when pulled, then it probably means you hit them straight on instead of arcing. Pull and throw both act in relation to the direction the projectile is going when it hits an enemy. This means if Pull is moving from right to left and going down, then the guy will go up and left to right in the air. If you hit a guy straight on he will float fairly low to the ground and straight at you. Throw simply reverses the direction of travel making the guy go in the direction the projectile was going, so if you launch one close to the floor at a high pulled guy it will arc up and propel him almost straight up.

[UsagiVindaloo]

Thanks all for the great feedback. I went ahead and got the Firepower DLC, so I will have the shotgun. Unfortunately I've never played a Vanguard before so I have no idea of how best to use shotguns, but I'll probably take that advice and save before I pick the shotgun specialization. If nothing else, the shotgun is certainly proving good in the hands of my squad!

I just completed Grunt's mission and I am pleased to say that things seemed to go much better; I only struggled on one particular bunch of enemies (up a ramp and through a "window" of sorts) and the Jedore encounter (couldn't find a good spot to be safe from her + krogan + YMIR first few times). Mostly thanks to the help of the forums, I'm sure! Few things that I did differently:

- brought Jacob and Miranda. That teamup seems to be really good for an Adept; Miranda would strip all the shields with Overload and Jacob and Shepard would Pull/Warp bomb. Plus Jacob had the new shotgun, which was nice. I'd never given him much of a shot before, but he's good. Would want this as my "ideal" squad, but one downside... Jacob and Miranda are my least favorite characters plotwise. XD May just have to deal with it. Am about to do Garrus' recruitment with Jacob and Kasumi and see how that goes (best part, I have an RP reason; Kasumi just started blathering about Jacob so Shepard can play matchmaker ;D)
- I took Stasis as my bonus power. Only really used it once seriously (though I CCed the occasional random mook)... the YMIR mech. And then something must have gone horribly, horribly right, because even though it still had a tiny bit of shield, full armor and full health, after one round of stasis and a single bullet, it suddenly exploded. DAMN. Talk about editing mistake in my favor...
- Am using Singularity on shielded/armored mobs more for that CC ability, and finding it very handy, for plinking away at their armor/shield with the Locust if nothing else. Abused it to high heaven in that one part of Grunt's recruitment where a slow stream of armored Krogan wander among the crates; set up on a bridge, stuck a Singularity down, shot out its armor, Jacob Pull + Shepard or Miranda Warp. Like shooting krogan in a barrel.

May be less flushed with victory after rescuing poor Garrus, but am beginning to feel at least a bit more confident. I have to confess though that I am still finding battles quite slow in comparison to, well, the Soldier ( who gets to spray bullets and take stuff down quick). I spend more time in the ability wheel than actually shooting stuff. Hopefully will get better at it.

Thanks so much everyone!

[UsagiVindaloo]

mcsupersport wrote...

Before you go to the Collector ship try to recruit Thane. You will find Thane with sniper rifle and unstable warp paired up with Miranda with unstable warp and you as an adept will tear through collectors like a hot knife. You have 3 warps to tear through barriers and armor, all you will face, add this to the pulling ability of an adept on a 3 second or so timer plus the benefits of Singularity and things will die in a hurry.

To repeat if you see a mook without defense don't waste the longer cooldown of Singularity to explode him, use pull instead because it cools down quicker and has a faster projectile than singularity. Singularity is for capture, defense stripping and long term holds, pull is for launching and exploding. You mentioned earlier about mooks winding up behind you when pulled, then it probably means you hit them straight on instead of arcing. Pull and throw both act in relation to the direction the projectile is going when it hits an enemy. This means if Pull is moving from right to left and going down, then the guy will go up and left to right in the air. If you hit a guy straight on he will float fairly low to the ground and straight at you. Throw simply reverses the direction of travel making the guy go in the direction the projectile was going, so if you launch one close to the floor at a high pulled guy it will arc up and propel him almost straight up.

Thanks for this. I will quite likely go for Thane before the Collector ship (if nothing else, my Shepard is totally going to romance him so may as well grab him early ;D).

Do all the Collectors have armor and/or barriers? I know they don't have shields, so I can at least dispense with any Overload or Disruptor Ammo squadmates, but just wondering if I should stack up more on the Warp front or bring along Mordin for Incinerate (I love that ability probably far more than I should <_<)

Oh, and another silly question.. is it worth going for LotSB before the Collector Ship as well, for access to the squad respec? I only ask because I unfortunately got all this brilliant and helpful info after I'd specced out Miranda, Jacob, Zaeed and Kasumi (Mordin was pretty easy). Jacob and Kasumi should be OK, I think, but unfortunately I leveled Miranda's Overload before I leveled her Warp. In my defense, I reasoned that Shepard had Warp and could strip armor/barriers but that Miranda would be necessary for shields and thus should have high Overload. In hindsight, that was me being a dumb**** (if I hadn't been so intent on doing the plot in a certain order for RP purposes, I could have just gone to the Citadel, gotten Kasumi and made her my Overloading squadmate) Am trying to refocus on Miranda's Warp, but it's going to be two or three levels/missions before it's maxed now unless I respec. Also, forget what I did with Zaeed's ammo power, but may need to redistribute that as well.

[XCPTNL]

UsagiVindaloo wrote...

Thanks all for the great feedback. I went ahead and got the Firepower DLC, so I will have the shotgun. Unfortunately I've never played a Vanguard before so I have no idea of how best to use shotguns, but I'll probably take that advice and save before I pick the shotgun specialization. If nothing else, the shotgun is certainly proving good in the hands of my squad!

Like I said: don't worry. The GPS doesn't really feel like a shotgun. You can use it a quite some range and it can be compared to all the other shotguns in the game. And it's also quite good to give it to your squad as is the Mattock. Make sure to get the 3 shotgun upgrades (Jack Recruitment, Kenn's Shop, Shop on Tuchanka) before boarding the Collector Ship so you can a) have more damage and upgrade Shotguns in the Lab (Shield Penetration and especialy the Ammo upgrade which allows you to have double the ammount of ammo so you have 5+20 shots for the GPS).