2834 réponses à ce sujet

[Zachriel]

They're armored on Veteran. So you can't just Biotic Cannon them >_<

Are they? I didn't think they were armored until Hardcore. Regardless, biotics are the fastest way to kill them once their armor is down. Reave or Warp to take their armor out, then Pull, Throw, or Shockwave for instant kills. This is why I like Area Reave. Other than Zaeed's inferno grenade, it's the only AoE power that eats through armor. On Insanity, I'll usually hit husks with area Reave until their armor is gone, then cast a quick shockwave if I'm a vanguard. If not, it's nice to have someone else who can use shockwave or throw. Unfortunately, in the battle you're talking about, your companions aren't likely to suvive for long.



This particular encounter is the most brutal in the game, in my opinion, because you don't yet have all the really cool upgrades that make you all but unstoppable later. Ammo is the biggest problem in this fight, but there are certain key spots on the ground where it will continue to respawn. The easiest time I ever had with it was when I was playing my sentinel. He had both Warp and Throw, which allowed him to conserve a lot of ammo.



For every other character, I end up running backwards laps around the area firing the best rapid fire weapon I have (usually the Tempest smg unless I'm a soldier) into the husks with fire ammo. Once the husks are down, rez party members and spam scions with warp, reave, fire ammo, or anything else that destroys armor. Distance and mobility are the best defenses against their shockwave. It moves in a straight line, so if you're far away and able to move you can avoid it.



That first wave of husks is the hardest part of the fight due to the scions. Once you take them down, the alternating waves of husks and collectors are fairly easy by comparison.

[mysticforce42]

sagevallant wrote...

Zachriel wrote...

Edit: Ok, maybe I spoke too soon. The waves of Husks with Armor and a duo of Scions would've had me pulling my hair out... except I shave my head. Hope I didn't put any nail marks in my scalp...

Yes, husks on the higher difficulties are the most irritating enemies, in my opinion. Heavy weapons are the easiest way to deal with them, if you have ammo to spare. Otherwise, just remember that husks are insantly killed by pretty much any biotic attack.

My favorite method of dealing with the Scions is the Viper sniper rifle with flame ammo. Having multiple characters with Heavy Warp helps too.

Anyway.....

Looks like the first impressions of Awakenings are coming in on the forum. I haven't seen anything resoundingly positive yet. I won't be home to download and try it out myself until this weekend, but now I'm thinking I might just play GoW3 a couple of times first.

For the record, I'm of the opinion that husks / scions are the most annoying enemies on every level, with every class. Scions in particular with their shockwave spam. I almost murdered my computer bc it kept yelling "DUCK BEHIND COVER TO HEAL!" while I was ALREADY BEHIND COVER GETTING MAULED BY SHOCKWAVES. As for Heavy Weapons, I usually pack the particle cannon for really tough bosses. A few Husks have been killed by it. By the end of the encounter in question, I'd run out of: Sniper Ammo, Pistol Ammo, and burned over half my Heavy Ammo. With the knowledge that a frickin Praetorian was about to come after me, and that I would badly need that Heavy Ammo.

What's frustrating is that I had just BLOWN through the previous fight, the original encounter with collectors being possessed by Harbinger. Hardly took a hit. Just headshot, headshot, faceshot, headshot... Like it was nothing. Difficulty levels vary dramatically by encounter >_<

They're armored on Veteran. So you can't just Biotic Cannon them >_<

Inferno Blast or w/e is a great way to stun them, and I'll definitely be getting the aoe version later.

I'm unloading with Armor Piercing Ammo, I think. The one that does additional damage to armor and health. No one has Imp Flame Ammo yet, and Infiltrator only gets Cryo & Disruptor. And I've made good use of Disruptor on Shielded foes.

Heh, Scions and Husks don't seem so bad when you face off against those heavy mechs on the Jack missions at the beginning of the game, on Insanity.  At least running away works vs Husks and Scions... trying to take down a fully shielded/armored heavy mech that early in the game on Insanity is pure masochism.  It took me no less than a combined 8-9 hours of replaying to win that one fight (without using the Nuke, of course).  An enemy who is constantly advancing, indestructable unless under constant fire for 90+ seconds, and alternating between a missle that can 1 shot you or a machine gun that kills you in 1.5 seconds when exposed.... it was not a fun day >.>

On a related note, I can't believe this thread is still here!

Here's a moment from DAO: Awakening on my Female Noble 2H-Warrior.

Me: I...I...I'm naked.  Where's my armor, where's my sword?
Mehairi:  Commander! I...uh... did you travel all the way from Denerim wearing...wearing...
Me: Nothing.  Yes.  I admit it, I'm a streaker.  Say, do you happen to have a two-handed weapon of any kind that I can borrow so I can, you know, squash these advancing Darkspawn.
Mehairi: Sorry, too busy fighting!
Me: *Desperately hoping to find some way to defend myself against the onslaught of the Darkspawn.  Or, failing that, maybe just something to cover myself*
Darkspawn: YAAAAARG
Me: STOP!
Darkspawn: Hur?
Me: Do you know who I am?
Darkspawn: *nods* Hur.
Me: So you know that I single handedly slew the Arch Demon in Denerim?
Darkspawn: *nods* ...hur.
Me: So you know that it wou...hey! My eyes are up here!
Darkspawn: hur hur hur
Me: Look, have you got any idea how many anonymous Darkspawn I've killed over the years?
Darkspawn: ... ... ... hurm
Me: I mean, look at you. You aren't even an Alpha. You've got no chance. Why don't you just fall down?
Darkspawn: *falls down*
Mehairi: *runs over* Commander!  How did you defeat the foul creature unarmed?  I didn't even see you touch him!
Me: Maxxed out Persuasion, baby!  Now get me some cloths before we meet up with Oghren, I don't ever want to imagin what would come out of his mouth, and how long I'd have to hear him say it, if he sees me like this.

Modifié par mysticforce42, 17 mars 2010 - 07:16 .

[Zachriel]

Heh, Scions and Husks don't seem so bad when you face off against those heavy mechs on the Jack missions at the beginning of the game, on Insanity. At least running away works vs Husks and Scions... trying to take down a fully shielded/armored heavy mech that early in the game on Insanity is pure masochism. It took me no less than a combined 8-9 hours of replaying to win that one fight (without using the Nuke, of course). An enemy who is constantly advancing, indestructable unless under constant fire for 90+ seconds, and alternating between a missle that can 1 shot you or a machine gun that kills you in 1.5 seconds when exposed.... it was not a fun day >.>

Hehe. Jack's mission on Insanity is pretty challenging. I love it. There is an AI exploit that can be used to take the giant mechs down easily, but I don't like using it. Instead I stick to the tried and true pattern: Rapid fire weapons + overload to take down their shield followed by fire/ap weapons + warp to take down their armor, then focus all fire power. Or just nuke them if you've got the Cain. They nuke themselves if you kill them with a headshot, which is really ****ing cool.



So you really start Awakenings completely naked? Is there any gear in your inventory at all, or do they start you out with nothing? Seems like kind of an odd choice. When they released the expansion for BG2, you always started with a decent assortment of gear, even with a brand new character.

[mysticforce42]

Zachriel wrote...

Heh, Scions and Husks don't seem so bad when you face off against those heavy mechs on the Jack missions at the beginning of the game, on Insanity. At least running away works vs Husks and Scions... trying to take down a fully shielded/armored heavy mech that early in the game on Insanity is pure masochism. It took me no less than a combined 8-9 hours of replaying to win that one fight (without using the Nuke, of course). An enemy who is constantly advancing, indestructable unless under constant fire for 90+ seconds, and alternating between a missle that can 1 shot you or a machine gun that kills you in 1.5 seconds when exposed.... it was not a fun day >.>

Hehe. Jack's mission on Insanity is pretty challenging. I love it. There is an AI exploit that can be used to take the giant mechs down easily, but I don't like using it. Instead I stick to the tried and true pattern: Rapid fire weapons + overload to take down their shield followed by fire/ap weapons + warp to take down their armor, then focus all fire power. Or just nuke them if you've got the Cain. They nuke themselves if you kill them with a headshot, which is really ****ing cool.

So you really start Awakenings completely naked? Is there any gear in your inventory at all, or do they start you out with nothing? Seems like kind of an odd choice. When they released the expansion for BG2, you always started with a decent assortment of gear, even with a brand new character.

The problem was that my warrior was using the Red Dragon Plate and Starfang, and they fall under the "DLC content we don't feel like you should keep" category.  I still had my rings/necklaces/belts...etc.  I think my problem was further compounded by the fact that I loaded from the Epilogue save from DA:O where I made some very questionable choices in the events leading up to the fight with the Archdaemon.  These include:

-Dousing Andraste's Ashes after getting a pinch, so I can unlock both Champion and Reaver specializations .  This made Wynne a bit annoyed so she left me.
-Making Alistair King, but letting Loghain live.  This made Alistair throw a hissy fit and leave with my uber set of plate.
-Did not allow Morrigan to sleep with Loghain (I'd have needed brainbleach after that), so she left.
-So, I was going into the Last Battle - on Nightmare no less - with no mages.  My fight party was my 2H warrior, Stenn, Loghain and Oghren.  3 2H warriors + 1 tank, which basically meant I used up all the plate and weapons I gathered up to that point to gear them.  Btw, it took over 100 major health potions to beat the game.

This all lead me back to Awakening, where I had not a single set of armor in my inventory, no weapons... and a ton of gold.  A lot of good all that gold did me during cleasning of Vigil...

[sagevallant]

I did have some fun with the big mechs, but as an Infiltrator I get to occasionally vanish and plant a sniper round right in their faces. I had Garrus & Miranda, so they ate through the shield for me with overloads. And made for handy-dandy distractions. But then, it wasn't Insanity, and really I don't think I'll ever try it.



For Awakening, they do apparently let you bring Cailan's Armor if you went ahead and did Ostagar. I was wondering why my post-Ostagar warrior was the only one not naked... No weapon, though, that was a bit frustrating. Also, this was the only playthrough on which I let Alistair throw his hissy fit and run away. I was most disappointed when Anora showed up >.>

[sagevallant]

So far, I think that Awakenings is a bit of a disappointment. They took out a lot of the socializing elements, and the characters don't have the depth of the ones from Origins. I mean, it is an expac, but Bioware's effectively skimping on what makes their games great in the first place. I don't hardly even feel like trying to get their approval up.



And, out of all the choices, they gave me OGHREN back. I mean, I spent the first hour of gameplay muttering "God I hate you, Oghren." Funny or not, I just can't help but hate him and I don't know why... And I'm stuck with him for my tanking warrior. >_<

[Keldon Northwind]

So I'm currently doing fairly well on Insanity, playing a Soldier made all the difference despite it not being my fav class to play. Guess all I needed was an Assault Rifle. :/

[sagevallant]

Keldon Northwind wrote...

So I'm currently doing fairly well on Insanity, playing a Soldier made all the difference despite it not being my fav class to play. Guess all I needed was an Assault Rifle. :/

Soldier is the tactless class. With a lot of health. The assault rifle you get from the Collector ship is GLORIOUS.

[Keldon Northwind]

sagevallant wrote...

Keldon Northwind wrote...

So I'm currently doing fairly well on Insanity, playing a Soldier made all the difference despite it not being my fav class to play. Guess all I needed was an Assault Rifle. :/

Soldier is the tactless class. With a lot of health. The assault rifle you get from the Collector ship is GLORIOUS.

It's not the Collector Assault Rifle, is it?  Because  I'm running around with that now and pretty much murder stuff in my path. Or, well, at least maim horribly.

[mysticforce42]

Keldon Northwind wrote...

sagevallant wrote...

Keldon Northwind wrote...

So I'm currently doing fairly well on Insanity, playing a Soldier made all the difference despite it not being my fav class to play. Guess all I needed was an Assault Rifle. :/

Soldier is the tactless class. With a lot of health. The assault rifle you get from the Collector ship is GLORIOUS.

It's not the Collector Assault Rifle, is it?  Because  I'm running around with that now and pretty much murder stuff in my path. Or, well, at least maim horribly.

You get an upgraded Assult Rifle as one of the choices on the Collector's ship - it is not the same as the DLC rifle.

Right now I'm playing an Infiltrator, so I'll pick up the Sniper Rifle again.  That thing is awesome even on Insanity.

I played a bit more of Awakening and, much like the original, I find that with enough 2H warriors (at least 2), there's no need for a tank.  Between all the knockdowns, focused damage and Mage CC even large groups are rarely in a position to do any damage.  Enemies also seem to have more problems getting through armor... so I might actually start walking around naked by design.  >.>

[Danijou]

I used to wonder why no one referred to your Warden by name or title. RP-wise, not game mechanics wise. I found after many, many hours of research that it is not because of your world-renowned prowess, branding you by your heroic title - no, it is quite a different reason.



Noble: What shall we call you?

Me: I am Elissa of the Noble House Cousland, Teyrna of Highever, Queen of Ferelden and Shadow Assassin Duelist Commander of the Grey Wardens, Slayer of the Archdemon.

Noble: ... Commander it is.

[sagevallant]

Danijou wrote...

I used to wonder why no one referred to your Warden by name or title. RP-wise, not game mechanics wise. I found after many, many hours of research that it is not because of your world-renowned prowess, branding you by your heroic title - no, it is quite a different reason.

Noble: What shall we call you?
Me: I am Elissa of the Noble House Cousland, Teyrna of Highever, Queen of Ferelden and Shadow Assassin Duelist Commander of the Grey Wardens, Slayer of the Archdemon.
Noble: ... Commander it is.

I have to admit, I had a hard time finding pity on Howe Junior when my character is the human noble. 

[sagevallant]

Keldon Northwind wrote...

It's not the Collector Assault Rifle, is it?  Because  I'm running around with that now and pretty much murder stuff in my path. Or, well, at least maim horribly.

http://masseffect.wi...i/M-76_Revenant

That's my baby, right there. BUT, if you're playing on Hardcore or Insanity for the mission to Haestrom (that is, if the difficulty is set to that when you land, or something like that) then you can pick up this baby somewhere, apparently.

http://masseffect.wi...eth_Pulse_Rifle

No comment on which one is better, because I just found this out while looking up the Revenant. So, at the very least, it's a bonus to people who want to train Assault Rifles on the Collector ship? I might be having to make one... more... playthrough... >.>

[Sarah1281]

I have to admit, I had a hard time finding pity on Howe Junior when my character is the human noble.

You didn't think crushing his idealistic image of his father was a decent vengeance? Killing him for something he wasn't even in the country during and obviously knows nothing about might have been a bit too much, but watching him slowly realize his father was a complete monster was fun. I especially liked the apology.

[Zachriel]

The Geth pulse rifle looks cool, but it's basically identical to the assault rifle you get in Garrus' recruitment mission. The Revenant is way better.

[sagevallant]

Sarah1281 wrote...

I have to admit, I had a hard time finding pity on Howe Junior when my character is the human noble.

You didn't think crushing his idealistic image of his father was a decent vengeance? Killing him for something he wasn't even in the country during and obviously knows nothing about might have been a bit too much, but watching him slowly realize his father was a complete monster was fun. I especially liked the apology.

Oh, no, I'm ALWAYS inclined to do "the right thing". It's just that, y'know, I don't really for bad him realizing his dad was Monster of the Week evil. Not even imaginitively evil, or shades of grade evil, or even affably evil. Just plain evil. Flat as a cardboard cutout.

[sagevallant]

I will say but one thing about Awakening; it presented me with a moral choice where I really wasn't sure what the right thing to do was.

Honestly, I wasn't all that impressed. Gameplay was similar, of course, the new characters weren't as well developed as the old ones were in Origins (obviously; it's only meant to be about half as long), humor was a little lacking (but then, I hate Oghren and abandoned Anders for Velanna), and there was no camp scene. At least Herren & Wade were there.

I was most alarmed to find myself slightly crushing on the dwarf chick. Not like I crushed on Lelianna, but she's... well... likeable.

Modifié par sagevallant, 19 mars 2010 - 08:14 .

[Zachriel]

That opinion seems to be fairly consistent with a lot of other posts on the forum. The only reason I even want to play it anymore is so I can know exactly what everybody's talking about. But, I was only about halfway through FFXIII when I left Tuesday morning, and when I get back tomorrow my copy of GoW3 will be waiting. I'll only have Saturday and Sunday, then I fly out again..... Awakenings is going to have to sit on my backburner for a little while longer.

[sagevallant]

I must admit, after the last few Final Fantasy games, I have very little desire to play the new one. Even if I did have a game system it was released for. Though I do hear good things about it, and don't really care--or, perhaps, prefer--if it is very linear. It beats the hell out of FF12, making you walk back and forth and back forth just to maximize your playing time.



But, honestly, as long as they got rid of that awful FF11 combat style I'm likely to like it better.

[Zachriel]

But, honestly, as long as they got rid of that awful FF11 combat style I'm likely to like it better

It's very different from any FF game I've played before. For starters, it's real time rather than turn based so enemies and allies are constantly doing something and never standing around waiting for their turn to act. Then there's the whole Roles and Paradigms thing. Each character has certain Roles, like Medic (healer, duh) Commando (melee weapon damage), Ravager (elemental melee and ranged damage), Synergist (buffs), etc.



Each character can have up to 3 Roles. Each Role has 4 levels, and each level has multiple passive stat bonuses, passive abilities, and powers you can train with experience points. You always control one character and have at least one other with you.



Prior to combat you can set up Paradigms, which are combinations of roles your characters can assume. For example, if you are traveling with one other character and you have the Commando role while she has the Ravager role, you can create the Slash & Burn paradigm. You might use that paradigm to damage an enemy until it's staggered, then switch to Dual Caster (Ravager Ravager combo) to do massive damage to it, or War & Peace (Commando Medic) when you need healing.



It takes some practice and I had to read up on the various roles and what they do before I started getting the hang of it. For example, to "Stagger" an enemy, which makes it take much more damage than usual, you need to build up a chain attack gauge. The gauge goes down when you're not attacking, but Commando attacks make it go down slower. So to stagger an enemy quickly you make sure you have one character in the Commando role at first, then switch them to a more damage role like Ravager if they have it.



I find it amusing and a little sad that corporate lingo has made it's way into gaming now. Come on, team! Think outside the box! I's time to shift our paradigm!

[sagevallant]

Zachriel wrote...

But, honestly, as long as they got rid of that awful FF11 combat style I'm likely to like it better

It's very different from any FF game I've played before. For starters, it's real time rather than turn based so enemies and allies are constantly doing something and never standing around waiting for their turn to act. Then there's the whole Roles and Paradigms thing. Each character has certain Roles, like Medic (healer, duh) Commando (melee weapon damage), Ravager (elemental melee and ranged damage), Synergist (buffs), etc.

Each character can have up to 3 Roles. Each Role has 4 levels, and each level has multiple passive stat bonuses, passive abilities, and powers you can train with experience points. You always control one character and have at least one other with you.

Prior to combat you can set up Paradigms, which are combinations of roles your characters can assume. For example, if you are traveling with one other character and you have the Commando role while she has the Ravager role, you can create the Slash & Burn paradigm. You might use that paradigm to damage an enemy until it's staggered, then switch to Dual Caster (Ravager Ravager combo) to do massive damage to it, or War & Peace (Commando Medic) when you need healing.

It takes some practice and I had to read up on the various roles and what they do before I started getting the hang of it. For example, to "Stagger" an enemy, which makes it take much more damage than usual, you need to build up a chain attack gauge. The gauge goes down when you're not attacking, but Commando attacks make it go down slower. So to stagger an enemy quickly you make sure you have one character in the Commando role at first, then switch them to a more damage role like Ravager if they have it.

I find it amusing and a little sad that corporate lingo has made it's way into gaming now. Come on, team! Think outside the box! I's time to shift our paradigm!

Why not? Final Fantasy IS a corporation by now. It's got merchandise, R & D, consumer testing, public relations, blahblahblah...

It's still funny to think that the original FF was called "Final" because the developer was going out of business. Kinda turned things around for them, don't you think?

[sagevallant]

So I was looking over the numbers for the weapons in ME2, and it struck me that weapon damage is GEARED toward making Insanity, well, insane. Follow my logic here.

While the Assault rifles get a multiplier to all types of armor, here's the split; SMGs get the largest multipliers at short range, and to Barriers / Shields. Sniper rifles get the biggest multipliers to armor. So, for max effect, we're supposed to get in close and take down the barrier with the SMG, then unload with the sniper rifle? That's messed up, imho. No wonder I have such a god-awful time getting through shields & barriers on my infiltrator. I don't want to get close, and I don't have any skills aimed at getting through barriers at all. It's SMG or waste sniper ammo trying to pound through without multipliers. Which doesn't work that well, lemme tell you. Though this does explain why running into armored troops doesn't slow down my infiltrator at all...

Poor class design. Of course some classes will get through Insanity better than others, when Bioware stacks the deck like that. Stop me if I'm wrong here, but Warp / Singularity are the only biotic moves that work on Armored enemies, right? And Overload is the only engineering type move that works on shields, right? I like how they say they're putting new emphasis on the CD abilities, then take away your ability to use them on the really tough foes >.>

I'm getting Warp Ammo next time I play.

Modifié par sagevallant, 19 mars 2010 - 07:21 .

[Keldon Northwind]

sagevallant wrote...

So I was looking over the numbers for the weapons in ME2, and it struck me that weapon damage is GEARED toward making Insanity, well, insane. Follow my logic here.

While the Assault rifles get a multiplier to all types of armor, here's the split; SMGs get the largest multipliers at short range, and to Barriers / Shields. Sniper rifles get the biggest multipliers to armor. So, for max effect, we're supposed to get in close and take down the barrier with the SMG, then unload with the sniper rifle? That's messed up, imho. No wonder I have such a god-awful time getting through shields & barriers on my infiltrator. I don't want to get close, and I don't have any skills aimed at getting through barriers at all. It's SMG or waste sniper ammo trying to pound through without multipliers. Which doesn't work that well, lemme tell you. Though this does explain why running into armored troops doesn't slow down my infiltrator at all...

Poor class design. Of course some classes will get through Insanity better than others, when Bioware stacks the deck like that. Stop me if I'm wrong here, but Warp / Singularity are the only biotic moves that work on Armored enemies, right? And Overload is the only engineering type move that works on shields, right? I like how they say they're putting new emphasis on the CD abilities, then take away your ability to use them on the really tough foes >.>

I'm getting Warp Ammo next time I play.

Not certain about Singularity, but Warp and Reave do double damage against Armoured targets. They're the only biotic abilities that you have at your disposal against said enemies, not sure how Incinerate works in terms of damage, though.. Singularity is like a CC spell, does little to no damage but kind of pulls the enemies towards the singularity and they float around it enabling you to either hit them with warp or some other power.

But I find that running aroudn from the start with an Assault Rifle makes the whole running through  Insanity difficulty a whole world less of frustration. It's a weapon that's bloody godlike against barries/shields if you don't have access to Overload.

Currently on  Horizon, getting my ass handed to me by the Collector's... and the fact that my stupid squadmates seem to think it's a stellar idea to run head first into cross-fire even though  I specifically told them to hide behind a crate to avoid fire. Seems like  I have to pull the most obscure tactics out of my arse to get through the encounters.

[mysticforce42]

Keldon Northwind wrote...

sagevallant wrote...

So I was looking over the numbers for the weapons in ME2, and it struck me that weapon damage is GEARED toward making Insanity, well, insane. Follow my logic here.

While the Assault rifles get a multiplier to all types of armor, here's the split; SMGs get the largest multipliers at short range, and to Barriers / Shields. Sniper rifles get the biggest multipliers to armor. So, for max effect, we're supposed to get in close and take down the barrier with the SMG, then unload with the sniper rifle? That's messed up, imho. No wonder I have such a god-awful time getting through shields & barriers on my infiltrator. I don't want to get close, and I don't have any skills aimed at getting through barriers at all. It's SMG or waste sniper ammo trying to pound through without multipliers. Which doesn't work that well, lemme tell you. Though this does explain why running into armored troops doesn't slow down my infiltrator at all...

Poor class design. Of course some classes will get through Insanity better than others, when Bioware stacks the deck like that. Stop me if I'm wrong here, but Warp / Singularity are the only biotic moves that work on Armored enemies, right? And Overload is the only engineering type move that works on shields, right? I like how they say they're putting new emphasis on the CD abilities, then take away your ability to use them on the really tough foes >.>

I'm getting Warp Ammo next time I play.

Not certain about Singularity, but Warp and Reave do double damage against Armoured targets. They're the only biotic abilities that you have at your disposal against said enemies, not sure how Incinerate works in terms of damage, though.. Singularity is like a CC spell, does little to no damage but kind of pulls the enemies towards the singularity and they float around it enabling you to either hit them with warp or some other power.

But I find that running aroudn from the start with an Assault Rifle makes the whole running through  Insanity difficulty a whole world less of frustration. It's a weapon that's bloody godlike against barries/shields if you don't have access to Overload.

Currently on  Horizon, getting my ass handed to me by the Collector's... and the fact that my stupid squadmates seem to think it's a stellar idea to run head first into cross-fire even though  I specifically told them to hide behind a crate to avoid fire. Seems like  I have to pull the most obscure tactics out of my arse to get through the encounters.

I find that the only way I can get use out of my squadmates is to set them up in an ambush situation way back, then go forward and lure enemies back myself.  Of course, it helps that I'm currently playing an Infiltrator so I can get enemies off my back if necessary.  Stealth and sprint does wonders.

Since I picked Reave as my bonus talent, I found little reason to use Incinerate except when I need to shoot around corners.  Reave seems to do far more damage to armored targets than Incinerate does, and anti-armor is arguably the only reason to use Incinerate in the first place. 

The lack of the assult rifle hurts - running through Insanity on Soldier seemed like a breeze compared to the Infiltrator.  I think I might have to overhaul my play style from "Military Sniper" to "Insane Cloaked Ninja Assasin" just to see if the pure audacity of going stealth + melee would work in any meaningful way.

[Keldon Northwind]

The only problem I have with the Soldier class is that it's so effing boring. I much prefer to play an Adept or Engineer, simply for the huge diversity in skills I can use. Now; I'm pretty much a one-trick pony. Reave then blast them to pieces. Rinse and repeat.