50 réponses à ce sujet

[I2edShift]

With the goal of dropping targets as efficiently as possible while adding as much utility/versatility as possible & maximising the effectiveness of your squad.. Here  is what I've come up with. For the higher difficulty settings where optimization is actually somewhat neccessary.

Weapons:
Mattock
Geth Plasma Shotgun or Eviscerator
Widow
Phalanx or Carnifex
Heavy Weapon = Situataional. Cain for skipping fights, Collector Beam & M-100 overall most useful. Arc Projector for some CC.

For squadmates.. GPR shotgun for it's range & Tempest SMG for its larger clip.

Reasonings:
Given the choices between the Revenant. Claymore, or Widow.. The Revenant seems to be a high RoF side-grade to the Revenant and not a "Upgrade" per-say.. So I skipped it. To me, the Eviscerator & GPS seems much more user-friendly than the Claymore due the 3-round clip and still high damage. Also not as optimal for Soldiers as it's limited by range. The Widow seems like a REAL sniper rifle, can be used in any situation with good aim, and can easily substitute as a "Heavy Weapon" in just about every situation. The Phalanx is a solid handgun, but slow RoF makes the Carnifex a more friendly alternative while not sacrificing DPS. Phalanx gets points for being an impromptu sniper rifle.

Not to sure about heavy weapons.. Grenade Launcher & Collector Beam weapons seem to be the best over-all.. The "Nukebox" is too situational and not worth carrying unless you want to skip Pretorian fights alltogether.. Other weapons don't really seem to do enough damage to be worth carrying. Wish I had the "Blackstorm" as thats the only weapon/DLC I don't have.

Powers:

Heightened Adrenaline
Cuncussive shot -1
Squad Disruptor
Inferno Ammo
Commando
Flashbangs/Slam/Stasis/Reave

Alt. build

Heightened Adrenaline
Squad Disruptor
Inferno Ammo
Squd Cryo
Commando
Flashbangs/Slam/Stasis/Reave - 1 point wonder here

Bonus Power: Toss ups & varrying opinions between these four.. Flashbangs for crowd control, Slam for further killing power, Stasis for temporary target removal.. and Reave for DoT & Barrier removal.

Squadmates: Usually I end up taking Maranda & either Jack or Samara.. Tali & Legion seem to be over specialized for mech's/geth.. And I don't need more soldiers on my squad since I end up doing +70% of the damage myself. I'm thinking Jack w/ Squad Warp ammo would probably be one of the best options, as it would give the squadmates some more damage... Also Barriers for myself if I dont chosse Heavy Warp ammo for myself.

Thoughts? Input? Suggestions? Any & all are welcome.

Modifié par I2edShift, 14 juin 2011 - 07:34 .

[Kronner]

Weapons: Mattock + Widow + GPS
Powers: Max Adrenaline Rush, Max Passive, Inferno Ammo + whatever you want
Squadmates: irrelevant

Mattock Soldier pretty much breaks the game, it's imbalanced, and super easy to play. The choice of the Adrenaline Rush evolution and the passive evolution does not actually matter, because you can spam GodMode aka Adrenaline Rush every 3s (or so) and with the Mattock, you won't believe it's actually on Insanity.

For me, the best (=most fun) Soldier is Revenant + Viper combination.

Modifié par Kronner, 11 juin 2011 - 09:14 .

[termokanden]

My perfect soldier would have the Revenant and the Widow.

Since you ask, here is what I think.

Concussive Shot is not worth it. For fun maybe, but if you want to optimize, no way.

I would probably go with Heightened AR for the Widow/Mattock combo. For general use, mainly it is just a matter of preference. For the Widow, there really is no doubt that Heightened is better.

I am also unsure why you are considering an ammo power as a bonus power. Inferno Ammo is much better than Tungsten and Warp ammo. By the way, I would choose Inferno and Squad Disruptor every single time. A common mistake is to underestimate Inferno Ammo. It does good damage, it stops regeneration. But the Inferno part of it adds some pretty good CC that can be very helpful on higher difficulties.

As for the bonus power, it can be a good idea to pick something with a short cooldown. Like Slam or Neural Shock. But really you do not need a bonus power at all. Mostly they get in the way for a soldier (at least one that attempts to optimize).

Modifié par termokanden, 11 juin 2011 - 09:40 .

[I2edShift]

I'm not sure if I want to go with Squad Disruptor.. Or just have Jack go with me everywhere & use Squad Warp ammo.. And I'll be going with Inferno ammo. Tungsten rounds with discarding sabots is awesome from a RP'ing perspective.. But thats optimization. . And I'm leaning towards Inferno due to its utility & CC.. I've decided it's either Improved Flashbangs for Crowd Control or Reave (barrear stripping & health sap) for a bonus power.. Tested out the others and it's either of these two.. Nueral Shock seems "meh".

Also, I agree, Concussive shot is not worth it. Only if you have points to dump and nothing else to put them into. I prefer the Mattock to the Revenant, though I only spent a few minutes with the Revvy.

Heightened AR seems a bit buggy on the PC.. That or the increased time dialation just really throws me off.. I don't need time to be slowed down even more to land headshots with the Matty or Widow.

Modifié par I2edShift, 11 juin 2011 - 09:59 .

[termokanden]

I have not had any problems with Heightened AR on the PC. On the xbox however, the aim assist ruins my aim. I forgot if there even is aim assist on the PC, but if there is you might want to turn it off. It does NOT work well in this game. By the way, AR does not just provide extra time dilation, it also increases damage. Not that it is very well-documented or anything, but Heightened AR increases your damage by 140%, and Hardened by 100%. It gives you the most damage per shot. For a Widow user Heightened is a must IMO.

I suggested Squad Disruptor because Heavy Disruptor makes synthetics blow up and staggers you if you are close. That alone makes it undesirable. Squad Disruptor on the other hand gives you something for your squad and then you can avoid wasting their points of ammo powers as well.

I am also personally a fan of just leaving 1 point in the bonus power and grabbing Squad Cryo for things like husk/collector missions.

I forgot to mention something important before: Stasis. This has to be the best bonus power for a soldier, even with 1 point.

Modifié par termokanden, 11 juin 2011 - 12:44 .

[Praetor Knight]

Here's what I'd recommend:

Weapons:
Mattock
GPS
Widow
Phalanx (or Predator)
Arc Projector

Powers: (The link is for a Power calculator)
Heightened Adrenaline Rush
Heavy Disruptor
Inferno
Squad Cryo
Commando (or Shock Trooper)
Bonus Power: One point - Slam, Neural Shock or Stasis

Armor:
Recon Hood or Kestrel Helmet
Kestrel Torso Sheath
Amplifier Plates or N7 Shoulder Guards or Kestrel Shoulder Pieces
Stabilization Gauntlets or Kestrel Arm Sheathing
Ordinance Packs

Reasoning:
The Core idea is to do as much damage as possible and to be as efficient with your shots as possible.

So Shepard will be alternating between Disruptor and Inferno with the Squad using Cryo (although, you'd likely be sticking with Inferno most of the time, I know I do).

Disruptor is the last power I fully upgrade. The order I go with is Passive, AR, Inferno, Cryo, Disruptor.

Since Concussive Shot only gets in the way most of the time, you are best served with a One-point, 3-second power like Slam (that has the nice hidden bonus of being able to pull off Warp Bombs!) or a strong one-point situational power like Stasis to lockdown a troublesome enemy. And if you want to avoid biotics, Neural Shock works great too.

Also, Heightened AR works a little better with the Mattock, Widow, Phalanx and GPS than Hardened to maximize each shot as a result of the 140% damage increase, but if you don't like the extra time dilation effect than Hardened is fine and Hardened helps a little more if you are taking damage to health with the damage reduction effect it has.

And for Heavy Weapons, the Arc Projector works out well, and I like to bring the Cain for a few missions that I personally find annoying like the Reaper IFF mission, I prefer one-shoting that Core with the Cain.

The last thing I'd add is that the armor you go with doesn't exactly matter, but if you want to max damage then the suggestions I'm giving work pretty well.

Happy hunting!

[Locutus_of_BORG]

Concussive shot is useless for an optimal build. It's such a dead horse, and it seems like the OP understands that well enough already.

Squad Disruptor is important imo, as is maxing your other innate ammo powers (Inferno, Squad Cryo), b/c then you can bring caster and support squaddies with maxed cc powers instead of more soldier characters like Zaeed or Grunt. IMO, your ammo powers make up for the casters' weaker weapons, while you benefit from stronger active powers.*

Your weapon choice is more or less there. Mattock+Widow+GPS+Heightened ARush will generate the highest DPS possible in the game. It also gives you the most tactical options, so it really is a broken combo.

Stasis should be your bonus power here, again b/c it's an overpowered cc power, but also b/c it lets you 1 shot YMIR mechs. Just 1 point is enough. Put any spare points you might have here - it'll actually slow you down, but it's better than putting it in CS.

*Squad Cryo (along with squad powers) is very important for fast killing in certain parts of the game, such as the mass Husk sequences. Just the same, Squad Disruptor lets you kill Geth and other synthetics the fastest. Inferno Ammo gives you some splash damage to go with your anti-armor, again speeding up your killing.

EDIT: Oooh, ninja'd by Praetor... That's pretty much the build everyone's been talking about. I'd still take Squad Disruptor over Heavy Disruptor though, but not by much. Also, Pistols and Heavy Weapons are mostly chosen by taste.

Modifié par Locutus_of_BORG, 11 juin 2011 - 08:21 .

[Praetor Knight]

I forgot to comment on the Squad and squad powers.

Since the Soldier has the bases covered with ammo powers, I prefer to ignore ammo powers on the squad.

And as a general note with Insanity at least, you might be better off going with the Heavy variants of most power evolutions like Reave.

One exception I can think of right now is Warp, where the 9 second Unstable Warp is better to go with. Also I try to ignore evolving Throw if I can.

And with evolving powers Tali and Kasumi do not really need to evolve there passives at all. (Here is a thread on some squad suggestions: http://social.biowar...index/2780480/1, there are few more out there too)

Also I like to give the squad DLC weapons like the GPS, Mattock (mostly for ammo power activation), and Incisor. I tend to ignore having the squad use pistols now and for SMG's it's a toss up between the Tempest and Shuriken.

For example I like giving Mordin the Tempest with his increased shields from his passive, but for the others I've preferred how the AI fires the Shuriken to improve squad survivability.

At any rate, the Soldier Shepard does not need to rely on the squad at all, and therefore is able to bring along any combination with no real issues.

Edit: adding links.

Here's another thread with suggestions that are more recent: http://social.biowar...index/5768169/1

Modifié par Praetor Shepard, 11 juin 2011 - 08:53 .

[Tony Gunslinger]

IMO, 1 pt in concussive shot isn't completely useless. They're good for throwing people off ledges and stopping flanking enemies in a hurry. NS, Slam, Stasis can stop enemies like pyros from attacking, but can't knock people off ledges. NS doesn't affect synthetics, and all of these bonus powers are insta-cast, so you can't arch around obstacles. These bonus powers are more specialized, so choosing them really comes down to what kind of enemies you really don't want to deal with, for all the reasons already stated. CS isn't the best at any of these situations, but it does cover all of them, so I regard it as an all-purpose power.

[mcsupersport]

Mattock--isn't effected by the slowdown most rapid fire weapons are in AR, so it is broken in the amount of damage it can do. Heightened does 140% damage and gives greater slow down allowing you to either come close or actually reach the maximum rounds per second the Mattock has, making it the best to use.

Widow---well it is the Widow, what else do you need, and it too does best with Heightened AR for the better accuracy and the 140% damage boost.

GPS--A charged shot does the same or IIRC slightly more damage than the Claymore, and still leaves 3 more shots that act more like the scimitar making it incredibly versatile. Add in the fact that it strips barriers and shields incredibly well, at short and medium ranges make it a dream come true. When you add Heightened AR to the mix you get a Claymore burst weapon with more in the chamber for insane damage.

Predator HP--does less burst damage, but will fire more times than the others in AR and with the bonuses of criticals will overalll do more damage than the other HPs.

Bonus power--Slam or Stasis--
Slam gives you the option to warp bomb and kill some husks instantly. Quick cooldown will limit the interference of AR.
Stasis--Well it is an overpowered, bugged damage modifying, power. What more can you ask for, if you want optimum damage.

Squad Cryo and Disrutor should be swapped out depending on the mission, each having bonuses and advantages based on the mission.

Inferno Ammo, this is your personal goto ammo. Gives good damage boost against armor, and health, but most important gives close combat bonus with the firedance. Ammo powers will do between 10-25% of the total weapon damage and the difference between the 70 of AP and the 50 of Warp will only be 5% of total weapon damage due to how they work, making the secondary effects way more important than the primary especially on a DPS machine like a Mattock Soldier.

Concussive shot, don't waste any more points on it than you have too, it just isn't worth the CD time out of Arush under most situations. You can outright kill most things in the same time it takes to knock them off their feet.

Heavy weapons....take what you like, the Widow and Mattock are both heavy weapons in the hand of a Soldier. As an odd note, the Widow is the only "standard" weapon that can blow the tank on the wall in Kasumi's mission, while most heavy weapons(grenade launcher) will and of course the "tank vehicle" always will. Personally I tote the Cain, doesn't get used much but looks impressive for a soldier to be toting a nuclear bomb launcher on his back......hehehehehehe.

[I2edShift]

Will be back later tonight to discuss & read everyones posts..

But I agree that concussive shot is pretty useless. ONE point in it is not a waste though by any means. Even if you only use it a few times through the entire game, it's just one point that would (in most cases) not be spent.

So far though, I've got this.. For reasons discussed already.

Heightened Adren
Squad DIsruptor
Inferno Ammo
Commando
Improved Flashbang

Flashbang is mainly for CC & husks.. Even though It was on VeteranI don't think I ever came close to needing Stasis except MAYBE 2 YMIR mechs. That may change drastically on Hardcore/Insanity but i'd rather have something I can use regularly than something for a couple instances in the game.. Even then I only ran into minor problems. Other options I'm looking into are Reave for its utility & to strip Biotic barriers.. Though the bonus power in general is where im most conflicted.

P.S. In a hurry so havent read posts. BBL tonight.

PPS. I'm playing on PC as well.

Modifié par I2edShift, 12 juin 2011 - 12:05 .

[Locutus_of_BORG]

The biggest problem with Shep's CS is that it's slow. Slow projectile, slow cooldown. Much better to use the obligatory lvl2 CS/Throw from squadmates. 1pt is acceptable, if you really have nothing else, but anymore is a major waste imo.

Flashbangs are good. Very fun, very powerful. They won't let you kill as fast as one of the 1pt.Wonders (NS, Slam, Stasis) though. Stasis still allows the *fastest* kills for skilled players - just b/c of its "Fall of Death" effect.

I'm approaching this thread solely on the basis of what will let you clear a level the fastest with a Soldier. This very much includes using ARush & Cain to skip sequences outright (Stasis speeds this up even more).

EDIT: Almost forgot. The Stimlegs/Collector Armor + ARush = Speed Demon Shep.

Modifié par Locutus_of_BORG, 12 juin 2011 - 04:02 .

[ryoldschool]

I'd just like to add about the bonus ammo power. If you use AP ammo as bonus you can evolve it before Incendary ammo because you have to spend 3 points in disruptor ammo just to get Incendary on soldier. So early in the game it has its uses. Once you can get incendary, it is superior.

[termokanden]

You are right, but for the first part of the game I always let Jacob get Squad Incendiary. Solves that problem, AND it´s awesome for the first couple of missions with regenerating Blood Pack mercs.

[DecCylonus]

A few random recommendations...

Use the Predator as your heavy pistol. With the Carnifex or Phalanx, you will only get two shots per Adrenaline Rush. The Predator will give you 6+, which adds up to more total damage than either hand cannon's two.

The grenade launcher and Collector Particle Beam are the best all around heavy weapons. Personally I take the grenade launcher unless I know I will face a Praetorian, in which case I take the particle beam. The missile launcher is best if you know you will face a gunship.

Geth Shield Boost can be a fun bonus power for soldiers. It can give you an instant restore and let you get back to shooting instead of hiding. One evolution also gives a damage bonus, which can be insane for soldiers. Stack it with Heightened AR and the Widow... you get the idea.

[Alamar2078]

I agree mostly with Kronner if you want to be "effective" vs. other factors.

With a Mattock / Geth Shotty / Widow / Phalanx my sniper soldier is really effective. Widow one shoot goons just fine. Mattock is "broken" in the hands of a Soldier ... Phalanx is good when a guy is in cover but has a few pixels sticking out of cover. The Geth Shotty has a whisker more range but really is a situational weapon more than a main weapon for this build.

In terms of heavy weapons you don't need them. Mattock + Adrenalin Rush IS a heavy weapon When I know I face Praetorians or similar I take the Caine. The Arc Projector also has usefulness for the area effect, shield stripping, CC, etc. [Instakills a shield based Pyro!!]

As for powers I like Heightened AR on the XBox. I'm not a good player so need the extra slowdown to snipe and get fast/reliable headshots with the Mattock. I like the Heavy / Inferno ammo for the tiny bit of extra CC it gives. I take Heavy Disruptor often but for RP reasons only. I don't put any points that I don't have to in CS. Situationally Cryo ammo is quite useful [even though I only use it in rare situations]. Max passive is always good. Sometimes storm speed or other buffs are handy.

Note: The above is often more effective esp. for first timers. A Revvy + GPS + Viper + Carnifex / Predator is much more challenging and most folks think it's a much more visceral build.

[Locutus_of_BORG]

DecCylonus wrote...

A few random recommendations...

Use the Predator as your heavy pistol. With the Carnifex or Phalanx, you will only get two shots per Adrenaline Rush. The Predator will give you 6+, which adds up to more total damage than either hand cannon's two.

The grenade launcher and Collector Particle Beam are the best all around heavy weapons. Personally I take the grenade launcher unless I know I will face a Praetorian, in which case I take the particle beam. The missile launcher is best if you know you will face a gunship.

Geth Shield Boost can be a fun bonus power for soldiers. It can give you an instant restore and let you get back to shooting instead of hiding. One evolution also gives a damage bonus, which can be insane for soldiers. Stack it with Heightened AR and the Widow... you get the idea.

For the purposes of "optimizing", I have to mostly disagree with these points.

GSB doesn't help Shep kill, unless you evolve it to Enhanced. That's 9 pts. more than something that will let you 1 shot something like 99% of the enemies in the game (Stasis).

Heavy weapons don't matter. For the most part, they are all good and they all have a purpose. Cain will let you practically skip certain fights altogether. The Grenade Launcher is good, but the Avalanche is similar in handling and has certain other quirks. Against gunships, use Mattock+ARush, not Missile Launcher - the ML is for LoS shenanigans (ie: the save-the-crates mission).

Pistols don't matter - IIRC their DPS with and w/o ARush are actually almost identical. Use whichever you like more. Your Mattock/Widow/GPS will crush all enemies faster than any pistol anyway.

Modifié par Locutus_of_BORG, 13 juin 2011 - 09:42 .

[ezrafetch]

Shield powers are dumb. I don't know why people keep suggesting them. Shield powers don't "optimize," first and foremost, they ensure survivability. Not only that, if you're in a situation where you need it, Adrenaline Rush is tactically almost always the better solution given time dilation and movement speed. Third, if you are in a situation where you need a shield boost, you probably made a tactically poor decision. If you tactically make the correct decisions, no problems.

You can get by with a "core" (i.e. no bonus powers) Soldier:

4 Adrenaline Rush (pick evolution based on weapon loadout)
4 Squad Disruptor Ammo
4 Inferno Ammo
4 Squad Cryo Ammo
1 Concussive Blast
4 Commando

You can replace Concussive Blast for Neural Shock, Slam, or Stasis. None of them really matter since Adrenaline Rush is where it's at.

As for weapon loadouts:

HP of choice, HW of choice
If you take Widow: Mattock, GPS, roll with Heightened evolution of Adrenaline Rush
If you take Revenant: Viper, GPS, roll with Hardened evolution of Adrenaline Rush
If you take Claymore: Mattock, Viper, roll with Heightened evolution of Adrenaline Rush

Boom, "optimized" Soldier, unbeatable.

[DecCylonus]

Jeez, sorry for posting advice. I guess there's only one way to build a soldier. I'll leave it to the "experts" from now on.

[ryoldschool]

DecCylonus wrote...

Jeez, sorry for posting advice. I guess there's only one way to build a soldier. I'll leave it to the "experts" from now on.

Don't worry, its mostly opinions anyway.  A lot of people will agree with your guidance on pistols, myself included ( because a miss is not such a big deal with the faster pistol ).

[PnXMarcin1PL]

Mattoc or Vindicator or Revnant
Mantis or Widow
Geth Plasma Shotgun
Hand-Cannon

Powers: http://mass-relay.co...p=4,0,4,4,1,4,4
Armor: I always use default one as it doesn't really matter in battle.

[Locutus_of_BORG]

DecCylonus wrote...

Jeez, sorry for posting advice. I guess there's only one way to build a soldier. I'll leave it to the "experts" from now on.

Kinda missed the point of this particular thread now, haven't you? This thread is about min/maxing a Soldier for performance, not fun or roleplay. Please read the OP again before imagining that the world is against you.

[Crackseed]

My most enjoyable/lethal Soldier shep so far on Insanity is like so:

Weapons:
Revenant
Eviscerator
Viper
Phalanx
Arc-Projector/Cain for ALL OUT MUST DIE points

Skills:
Heightened AR
Filler point in Concussive - I want to love this skill but on Insanity even maxed it just doesn't do enough
Inferno Ammo
Squad Disruptor
Commando
Flashbang [Improved AoE version] - I know it conflicts with AR spamming to have this alternating, especially on a 6 sec CD but this skill has saved my butt so many times when AR would not have. Being able to CC a cluster of troops from firing while I rush into CQC/cover is just awesome and usually by the time I'm ready to make my move, AR is ready to go.

I'm planning to try having just 1 point in Flashbang for another playthrough but going full Cryo Ammo for more ammo versatility.

Armor wise I pretty much stack any % weapon damage pieces, though I sometimes play with the Kuwashii visor for fun, especially before I have the Revenant and I'm feeling evil with the Mattock.

Modifié par crackseed, 14 juin 2011 - 06:05 .

[I2edShift]

Skills:
Heightened AR
Filler point in Concussive - I want to love this skill but on Insanity even maxed it just doesn't do enough
Inferno Ammo
Squad Disruptor
Commando
Flashbang [Improved AoE version] - I know it conflicts with AR spamming to have this alternating, especially on a 6 sec CD but this skill has saved my butt so many times when AR would not have. Being able to CC a cluster of troops from firing while I rush into CQC/cover is just awesome and usually by the time I'm ready to make my move, AR is ready to go.

I'm planning to try having just 1 point in Flashbang for another playthrough but going full Cryo Ammo for more ammo versatility.

Pretty much sums up why I chose Flashbangs. More tactical Viability & I can already down enemies rediculously fast with AR + Inferno + Mattock/Widow. I've considered going 1 point into flash & the rest into Squad Cryo.. But I havent tested it out yet.

[Crackseed]

I've heard great things about Squad Cryo so I definitely want to try it, but that means Flashbangs going to 1 point *sniffle* It'll be wuss-bang at that point haha.