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[fraggle]

Long version

Spoiler

Died here at the end, so cut it is

 

 

Short(er ) version

We discovered very quickly that Cerberus has made it to Mars when we had to fight a few of their forces. Kaidan still thinks I know their every move, and telling him again that it was only a temporary alliance to take down the Collectors fell on deaf ears. Such a stubborn man.

Inside the facility we met Liara, who was on the run from Cerberus through the ducts and told us about plans of a Prothean weapon against the Reapers. More Cerberus forces arrived and I sent a reluctant James back to the shuttle in case we need it ready. What is it with him and the objection? I know he only wants to help, but orders are orders.

Liara, Kaidan and I proceeded until we reached the tram. We needed a way to get across, so Kaidan went looking for a short-range communicator to trick Cerberus. We found a husk-like Cerberus soldier and Kaidan once again mentioned my connection to Cerberus. When he asked me if the person he once loved is still there, I told him that both Cerberus and he are in the past. Seems he didn't expect that, from the looks on his face. I was surprised about myself I had the guts to go through with this, especially since he basically just told me he was... or is... in love with me. But that felt good. It's done, finally out of the way. I need to focus on the war, and he better will be, too.

We finally arrived at the Archives and I had a chat with the Illusive Man via hologram. Same bastard as always. Liara informed me the data was being erased! Kaidan discovered the culprit, and Dr. Eva Coré, also responsible for massacring the personnel here, ran off with the data and we chased her. I frantically tried to reach James so he could call in the Normandy, and I already thought we had lost when Dr. Coré boarded a shuttle, but James arrived and rammed it, almost hitting us, too. I appreciate he took her down, but that was reckless! To my surprise the synthetic body of Dr. Coré stepped out of the wreckage and targeted Kaidan, smashing him hard against the shuttle remains. I shot her and ran over to Kaidan, Sh*t! We need to get out. I carried him to the shuttle while James picked up the synthetic body, and finally the Normandy picked us up. No minute too soon as the Reapers also arrived at that moment.

Kaidan was hurt badly and I'm worried and distracted, Liara keeping a level head and waking me up to tell Joker we need to get to the Citadel right away.

Upon arrival Kaidan was rushed to the hospital and we met Bailey, who told me the Council would soon be ready to see me, but I could check up on Kaidan first if I wanted to. So I made my way to the hospital and met Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Michel there.

Then I entered Kaidan's room. He looked awful. Please hang in there. Deep down I wonder if it's my fault... if maybe I got him too distracted because of what I said to him...

I shook off my thoughts and went to see the Council. Liara presented the plans for the Prothean device, but just like the old Council, they are everything but helpful.

I had a talk with Udina in his office and the turian Councillor joined us, providing a possible solution to our problem. We only need to rescue the turian Primarch for it in return in order to hold a war summit. I just hate politics. On the plus side, my Spectre status was reinstated.

After that I visited Bailey and we caught up a bit, then I talked to Al-Jilani and I really almost lost my patience with her, but decided it might be good to use her to put pressure on the Council.

A few meters away James stood there looking pensively over the Citadel. We talked about the useless Council, and the Citadel, and how everyone thinks it's safe here when that's just an illusion. He's really right about that. I asked him if he still wanted to get back to Earth, and he wanted of course, but admitted Anderson and I were right. He asked me to come see him down the lower levels at some point later. I might just do that, Vega.

Before returning to the Normandy, I was called by yet another reporter, but one that wants to actually board the Normandy. I don't like reporters, but in this situation, I take all the help I can get. I can still throw her out.

 

 

That last part on the Citadel will be uploaded tomorrow, I have to sleep now, and it takes forever to process this!

[Excella Gionne]

I think it's the screen resolution 1270x600 that gives the game widescreen bars(can only be accessed from the ME3 Configure Application). It's not an optimized resolution setting which really, really sucks. It gives it a cinematic feel to it. 

[geth47]

I´ve been sick at home the past few days. Had enough time to do a full ME2 Infiltrator run with Vanessa Shepard. Now the only remaining elements are DLCs and side-missions. Just did Arrival and LOTSB. Tomorrow I´ll do  part of the rest. It should take me 2 or 3 days to be able to import her to ME3.Liara, Shepard´s love interest, just left the normandy. 

 

I´ve used an Infiltrator that relied on Snipers and smgs. Since I had the evolution that allows time to go slowly (kinda like adrenaline rush) when you enter sniper vision I did not require cryo and spend my points in other talents like dominate. Had to run around cloaked a lot in Arrival in order to survive the waves, but was able to do it. 

[themikefest]

Kate Shepard

 

me: Jack? You and Miranda will come with me to Cerberus headquarters. The goal is to get the information about the catalyst.  If anyone stops you, do what you have to get them out of your way

Jack: Excellent. 

me: Colonel Traynor? I want you to update your upgrades, if possible, to be ready for when we face the reapers.

Jack: You are so whipped aren't you. I can't believe you call her that. And look. Both of you are blushing.

me: Enough already. Lets head to the shuttle

 

Miranda: You need to get to that terminal to stop the doors from opening

me: Ok. What's the password?

Miranda: PASSWORD. Upper case letters.

me: Seriously?

Miranda: Yes. Seriously

 

Jack: I will crush you a**holes. Look at that Shepard. Bowling for idiots. You better promote your girlfriend Shepard. These upgrades are excellent

Miranda: Ha. One less. Activating overload....YES. I have to agree with Jack Shepard. Your girlfriend's upgrades really help

me: Yes I know. See what happens. I got the fade touched gold. It gives a 10% chance for hidden bullets, adds 5 shots. Ok. The area is clear. Lets move

 

TIM: You can't do that? You'll dirty my chair.

me: Ahh you poor baby. Why don't you come here and do something about it? Wait a minute? You can't. Haha. You're a hologram.

TIM: Don't test me Shepard

me: How'd you do it? Get the asari councilor to give you the information from the beacon?

TIM: Credits. That was her weak point. She was greedy and that eventually would be her downfall and with you destroying her compnay and eventually killing her, you proved my point. 

me: That's fine. I will do the same to Cerberus

TIM: Ha. Have you thought about becoming a comedian Shepard? And you Miranda. I'm surprised you left

Miranda: I had too. You smoke too much. I was always coughing. I got tired of seeing the doctor all the time to make sure I was ok

TIM: Maybe you can join Shepard as a comedian as well. Kai Leng! Kill Shepard and her companions.

 

me: Kai Leng? Hold up. Didn't Warner Bros hire you to chase the road runner?

Leng: What? How do yo...Nevermind. Warner Bros released me since I failed to catch the road runner, so Cerberus hired me a short time ago to kill you. But now I'm having second thoughts and just want to join the Russian Ballet

me: Really? I like the ballet. Its a worthy goal. When the reapers are dealt with, I could put in a good word for you

Leng: I would like that Shepard. Let me know when you can.

 

VI: The catalyst is the Citadel. The reapers moved it to Earth. Your planet is doomed

me: Hahaha. That's where you're wrong thing. The reapers are exactly where I want them to be.

Jack: What are you talking about Shepard?

me: You'll see. I have to talk with Petrovsky about attacking the reapers. Lets go

[Excella Gionne]

EA's E3 Press Conference is in an hour. I'm pretty excited to see if BioWare will actually show us a demo since ME: Next is goin' to be released next year(I believe). 

[fraggle]

EA's E3 Press Conference is in an hour. I'm pretty excited to see if BioWare will actually show us a demo since ME: Next is goin' to be released next year(I believe). 

 

The Twitter thread is already exploding!

Just a little bit more waiting

[Excella Gionne]

http://www.twitch.tv/ea

 

I found their twitch to be the most reliable place to watch. I will be watching Ubisoft's later too.

[Excella Gionne]

MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA 

 

 

 

 

HYPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

[fraggle]

It looks gorgeous, and while that isn't everything, I am madly excited! New places, new characters, new enemies (I guess and hope )! Mako looks fun, too.

Now back to some more Trilogy playing until 2016

[dragonflight288]

Today I went to the Ardak-Yakshi monastary and started Leviathan.

 

I planned out the DLC's. I did Omega after Cerberus attacked the Citadel. I'm doing Leviathan now that Rannoch is saved, and I'll do Citadel after Sanctuary. 

[geth47]

Did all the DLCs for ME2 in my Infiltrator trilogy campaign.

 

Now the only thing missing are the N7 quests. 2 more days and Vanessa Shepard ME2 journey will end and ME3 will begin. 

[birefringent]

A whole new galaxy shining, shimmering, splendid 

Over, sideways and under on a magic Mako ride 

Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling, don't you dare close your eyes 

[RedCaesar97]

Mass Effect: Andromeda is still about a year-and-a-half way. I remain nonplussed on the matter. We got a cinematic trailer. We are still about six months to a year before we see anything more about gameplay.

 

But on to the topic at hand...

 

I decided to play Mass Effect 3 single player again today. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Picked up Jen Shepard (Biotic/Lash Soldier) where I left off. 

 

I did the usual post-Menae stuff:

1. EDI gets new body, talk to crew.

2. Go to Bryson's office. Watch him get shot, then narrow down Dr. Garneau's location.

3. Spend a stupid amount of time running around eavesdropping and helping out Aria and Jondum Bau. Talk to a few people.

4. Go back to the Normandy and scan a bunch of systems for stuff.

5. Go back to the Citadel, drop off a few things, and talk to Aria at Dock 42.

 

With that crap out of the way, I decided to have a little fun and went to Sanctum to raid a Cerberus Lab.

Then it was back to the Citadel for more drop-offs and some chatty time with a couple more people.

 

I will probably go to Grissom Academy next, then go speak with the Diplomats. Or maybe I will complete Leviathan before meeting with the diplomats. I will decide that later.

[dragonflight288]

Once I beat ME3, I'll start a brand new shepard on the one single class I have never before played as Shepard, but remains one of my favorite on ME3 multiplayer.

 

The Engineer. 

 

And he'll also be one of my more ruthless Shepards. Not Pure Renegade, but more like Paragade. 

 

He'll be spacer and War Hero, but he won't take unnecessary risks. He won't spare the Rachni Queen, he won't give Legion a chance due to the risk of geth infiltrating the Normandy's systems like they did on the Alorei in Tali's mission, he won't hesitate to sacrifice innocents if it means stopping the bad guy like Balik on Terra Nova, but otherwise if he can both stop the bad guy while also saving the innocents, he'll do so, like on Feros with the nerve toxin grenades. 

 

Haven't quite decided if he'll sacrifice the council to stop Sovereign, or save them to preserve order on the Galactic stage. 

[aoibhealfae]

Even with a biotic mage and a biotic tank, Revka barely made it through the wrath of the arachnid. Why would anyone want to breed an army of crazed arthropods anyway? Especially when they have no idea how to control them and they get themselves killed trying to quarantine everything. Rich company and nobody use their brains. But for some reason, the survivors barricade themselves when Rev tried to persuade them that its okay to come out. Urgh, Rev had it enough with corporate science for the day.

 

Back at the Normandy, Ashley and Liara nearly started a catfight right in the middle of the conference room until Rev yelled "Calm yer t*ts!" which effectively settle everyone down. After that, Rev check up on Liara first and apparently she's dealing with her grief in her own way by randomly talking about Asari reproduction and an absentee dad. Ashley talking about her family, Wrex with his dad and family armor, Tali dealing with her familial expectation and pilgrimage, Garrus with his C-Sec regrets and she assumed this is another daddy issue... sigh, everyone is being awfully oversharing with their family issues to the tragic orphan except for.... Oh, hello Alenko. Do you want to share about your family issues with me? No? Oh, you have a tragic background story? Right.... wait, did you say I was important to you? Aww...Ashley's sis was right. He is cute.

 

Then Joker said he received some weird transmission from the nearby Exodus Cluster and wondered if they should investigate it. Since its another relay jump away.. we might as well take a look...

Spoiler

crap... we need to save a planet from mass extinction...

Oh wait, what do we have here?

Spoiler

In another word, it's christmas~~~

 

Had to save the engineers because Balak kept getting stuck behind the wall. Sigh... btw, the auto-censor add extra characters... you naughty thing

[fraggle]

Didn't do much yesterday because E3, but now that is over I can post... and then catch up with the multiple threads popping up over on the Andromeda forum

 

I awoke with a start, out of a nightmare, what the... I dreamt of that kid, the one back on Earth. The one playing with a toy shuttle, the one that I had seen in the ducts, the one that was able to board a shuttle to evacuate, just to be shot down by a Reaper seconds later. I tried to shake it off as Liara stopped by. She updated me on the turian Councillor and noticed something was wrong, but I had absolutely no interest to share this with anyone. I've always dealt with crap like this on my own, I'll be alright.

We were interrupted by Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor, who told me about the retrofitted areas of the Normandy. EDI's in favour of keeping Traynor around, so I trust her decision.

I updated Hackett on the meeting with the Council and my task is to rally the galaxy, whoever I can get for our cause. I'm on it.

Then I had a chat with Joker, making fun of the Council, so nothing's changed there. Even though he's right of course. I learned more about Traynor's duties and where she's from. She's also a Colony girl and asked about Mindoir, but I quickly changed the topic.

Dr. Chakwas insisted on examining me and I reluctantly let her, it's good to have her back here after all. Liara had settled down in Miranda's old office, using it as her new Shadow Broker base.

Also had a quick chat with Adams about his thoughts on the new Normandy and then went to check out the shuttle bay, where I met shuttle pilot Steve Cortez. We talked about his duties and a bit about his background. It's nice to get to know the new crew. 

James was working out, so l left him to it for now, it's also about time we headed for Menae. The sooner we get this done, the better.

(Well, my reason was more that James asks about the Council again just after he already asked on the Citadel. Short-term memory So we will spar the next time!)

 

Hamster is also back, and my ship models!

[Xetykins]

Today I managed to get my arse to Grissome Academy ( after letting it burn accidentally last time) and got a right hook from Jack as a thank you. Ungrateful biiatch :-(

Her changes was very cute though :-)

[themikefest]

Kate Shepard

 

me: Ok everyone. Grunt, Zaeed will be with me when we get to London to clear out any resistance. Sidonis will have a cain to take care of the Hades Canon. The rest of you will use the other shuttle to get to the forward operating base. Colonel Traynor has given you all new upgrades. She has also developed something that may stop the reaper laser and use it against them. If it works, the reapers are already defeated without knowing it. Kasumi you can remain on the ship if you like or if you feel up to it....

Kasumi: I'll remain here. I might help by relying any information that will help

me: Good enough. If everyone heads down to the mess hall, I believe Chef Boyardee has grilled some steaks and has baked potatoes

 

me: Are you scared Sam?

Traynor: Look princess, I've been with you since the start. Why would I be scared now?

me: Princess huh? You've done well Sam. I got to head to the shuttle bay. I'll see you shortly

 

me: Grunt! Take care of that brute

Grunt: Hahaha. My turn.

Zaeed: These bastards never stop. 

me: How's it going Sidonis?

Sidonis: I'm almost there. Just need another minute

me:  Move forward. Damn Grunt. Are you alright?

Grunt: Stop being a mother. The blood belongs to the uglies. You sho-------

Sidonis: Target destroyed Commander. 

 

Coates: Commander. This is Colonel Klink and his assistant Sgt Shultz

Klink: As you see Commander, the destroyer is blocking our path to get to the beam.  I have 50 M1A2 Abrams at the ready to take that thing out. There's a lot of resistance that needs to be taken of. I also have 2 Infantry Battalions at the ready to help deal with them. Also a few of my men have been putting that device your Colonel Traynor has in place. I'm not sure what that will do Commander

me: If Colonel Traynor says it can destroy the destroyer, I believe her. I don't want anyone dying for no reason. If it doesn't work, we'll send in your tanks. Give me a moment to talk with my squad.

 

me: Ok. Sam will be perched up high in that building over there. She will be providing cover fire for us when any forces sneak up on the rest of us. There will 3 groups. me with Samara and Miranda, Jack with her students and Kathlee along with Grunt will move up on my right. Zaeed, Sidonis and Aria on my left.

Ashley: What about me Commander?

me: You look very nice in your cheerleader uniform with you pom poms. You will stay here and cheer as we move towards the beam. You've been a good sport about this Ashley. Thank you

me: Alright everyone. Lets move out

[Will-o'-wisp]

Here’s the next part of Reyes Shepard’s story.

After completing Miranda’s loyalty mission Shepard ran into an enslaved quarian whose owner wasn’t able to sell her contract as easily as she imagined and Reyes agreed to look into the matter. The SynIQ representative’s reasoning for not wanting to buy were sound though, so Shepard went back and convinced the slave broker to let the quarian go if she couldn’t take care of her health properly. She had to face that she made the wrong investment and eventually agreed to annul the contract and let her go.
Shepard’s next step was to locate Thane Krios who turned out to currently be after Nassana Dantius – another one of Shepard’s old acquaintances. Finally the last one… on Illium at least. It doesn’t necessarily bother me, but it kinda makes the galaxy feel smaller to have this many cameos in just one place. Those were five people who lived in completely different places in ME1 afterall.

Before actually encountering her again, Nassana’s mercs put up quite the fight though. Reyes, Garrus and Miranda still managed to get through (with some minor incidents of dying due to my unwillingness to use medigel eventhough I could’ve perfectly afforded it) and saved all trapped salarian workers on their way up the tower. One was completely hysterical and pointed a gun at Shepard, but she managed to refrain from doing anything brash and calmed him down by pointing out that Garrus and Miranda would immediately open fire if he actually shot her. Reyes didn’t hesitate to push the uncooperative Mercenary on the top floor through the window however. He had one chance to save his life, that was already more than the others got… or some of those salarian workers. Garrus still found it a little extreme but added that the guy probably deserved it. Reyes didn’t spend much time pondering about whether she should’ve let him walk away or not, they were still searching for Thane afterall. In the end, they reached Nassana shortly before Thane got there himself. She was completely convinced that Shepard was the one coming to get her and Reyes didn’t try to change her mind for a second. Thane had it pretty easy taking out Nassana and her guards thanks to the distraction provided by Shepard and her team. He was also surprisingly easy to convince to join the mission against the collectors eventhough there seemed to be one problem: He’s apparently dying from some kind of disease.

Back on the ship it turned out that he’s suffering from Kepral syndrome, a terminal disease that only Drell are affected by. Reyes spent some time listening to Thane’s explanations about his disease, his beliefs and the Drell’s living conditions among the Hanar on Kahje.
When talking to Kelly it turned out that the Illusive Man had important information for Shepard… and also that Kelly was unsure whether she should consider Thane dangerous or sexy. When Shepard answered that many women find dangerous men attractive, Kelly got a little nosy and wanted to know if Shepard was one of those women. Her cop-out answer was “Let’s keep this professional, Yeoman”, she didn’t feel like answering that question honestly, mainly because she didn’t want weird ideas about her spreading among the crew. She may sometimes feel overburdened with everyone’s enormous expectations towards her, but in the end it’s better for morale to keep them up and appear as the superhuman everyone considers her to be.

When she met the Illusive Men it turned out that he had just gotten news about a disabled Collector ship drifting in space. The whole thing smelled fishy from the start, especially the part about the turian patrol ship being capable of stopping a collector ship after one of those took down the original Normandy with ease. Shepard didn’t have much of a choice however and followed the Illusive Man’s lead, eventually boarding the Collector Ship with Mordin and Grunt. Mordin due to his Incinerate ability, sharp mind and scientific knowledge about the Collectors that could come in handy when studying the tech inside the ship and Grunt for his general durability, fire power and the Concussive shot ability against the collectors’ barriers. Aboard the ship they quickly discovered the enemy’s origin: the collectors are Protheans, genetically modified beyond recognition by the Reapers in order to do their bidding. It stayed unclear what exactly they were planning to do with the captured colonists but she sheer number of pods on the ship was alarming. When offered a special weapon, I chose the Revenant for Reyes – I wanted that thing since I saw director Kuril use it on Purgatory and in terms of shotguns I prefer a mid-ranged one like the Eviscerator. Don’t like sniper rifles much, so that one wasn’t an option anyway.

Shortly after that, Shepard and team reached a console in the centre of the ship and started uploading the data to the Normandy, so EDI could take a closer look. Something went wrong however, as the ship’s systems started to reactivate. Shepard and crew all went:



Of course it was, Reyes had been skeptical about this whole thing from the beginning, so she told her team to stay calm and spare the blame for later. Whether the Illusive Man knew about this or not wasn’t important at the moment. Suddenly the platform they were standing on was raised into the air and the hardest fight in the entire game began. I don’t know if this is generally considered a hard part, but before starting the playthrough on insanity, I was worried about two parts of the game: Haestrom and that one fight on the Collector Ship. Other than Haestrom the ship kept its promise, although my first try was nearly successful. I had killed everything except one sentinel and one of the scions. My team members were dead and – idiot that I am – I didn’t want to spend any medigel for reviving them. The sentinel kept spamming its shield long enough to be possessed by Harbinger and because I couldn’t move due to the scion and Harbinger’s own attacks, he managed to get close and kill me.

From then on, everything went downhill quick. I died about twenty times, sometimes on the very first wave of collectors, Mordin and Grunt died in the most stupid and quickest ways possible and Harbinger kept running straight for me whenever he had taken control of a collector, kicking me out of cover and then frying me. Also Shepard suddenly got out of cover for things like using ammo powers or changing weapons although that shouldn’t require her to stand up at all and on top of that Fortification didn’t always properly activate even if there was no cooldown on it (happens on other missions as well but never bothered me this much). God, that part was annoying and I started swearing until my brother came in and told me to shut up. At least he agreed with me that it was a hard fight, though… and he played the game on Veteran I think. Not that I’m trying to excuse my idiocy of course, I probably could’ve made it on that very first try.

In the end I somehow made it through and the rest of the ship was just nothing in comparison. Shepard and team got out without any further problem, thanks to EDI who led them on a different path through the ship just in time to escape on the Normandy. Of course the first thing Reyes did was to yell at the Illusive Men once again for not properly informing her about what she was getting herself into, eventhough he knew perfectly well that it was a trap. It may have been obvious from the beginning that something wasn't right with that ship but it simply wasn’t the best sign that even when working with her, Cerberus constantly seemed to be backstabbing or misleading her in some unnecessary way. Didn’t help much to win her trust, quite the contrary, but Reyes had to admit that other than Cerberus, EDI had proven to be way more useful and reliable than she initially thought. Saving Shepard’s ass on that ship earned her some respect, something that Reyes didn’t expect to ever give to an AI like her. Especially one built by Cerberus, we all know how those things usually turn out.

That’s it for today, I think next time I’ll finally catch up to what I’m currently doing in the game.


And next time, when I finally get to the things I did in the last few days:

Even less pressure on Shepard,

Daddy issues,

Law and Order, brought to you by Shepard, Grunt and Jack,

Mommy issues

And Zaeed effing up his own loyalty mission.

[cap and gown]

 boarding the Collector Ship with Mordin and Grunt. Mordin due to his Incinerate ability, sharp mind and scientific knowledge about the Collectors that could come in handy when studying the tech inside the ship and Grunt for his general durability, fire power and the Concussive shot ability against the collectors’ barriers.

. . .

. I had killed everything except one sentinel and one of the scions. My team members were dead and – idiot that I am – I didn’t want to spend any medigel for reviving them. The sentinel kept spamming its shield long enough to be possessed by Harbinger and because I couldn’t move due to the scion and Harbinger’s own attacks, he managed to get close and kill me.

From then on, everything went downhill quick. I died about twenty times, sometimes on the very first wave of collectors, Mordin and Grunt died in the most stupid and quickest ways possible and Harbinger kept running straight for me whenever he had taken control of a collector, kicking me out of cover and then frying me.

 

I continue to be puzzled by the number of people that are under the impression that Grunt is actually durable. My experience has been, as has yours apparently, that Grunt will fall down flat at the first sight of Scion. Plus, Concussive Shot is a rather pitiful power and as a Soldier you already have incendiary ammo. As far as firepower is concerned, only Thane and Zaeed can come close to dealing as much damage as Shepard. Team mate weapons do only 30% of the damage they would do on Shepard. (The one exception to this seems to be team mates using the Incisor which apparently is bugged and lets them do normal, rather than reduced damage.)

 

Kasumi and her flashbang can work wonders on this mission since it will turn off Harbinger's powers for 50 seconds. Thane and Miranda's Warp can be specced for a 9 second cool down which is 3 seconds faster than Concussive Shot and does more damage to barriers than Concussive Shot. Samara with Area Reave is also good, but it requires that you time things just right in order to get her loyalty mission before the Collector Ship. (Mordin is always a good team mate.)

[BraveVesperia]

I finally got back on ME3 after my Xbox went wiffy last week, and decided to do Jacob's mission rescue Cerberus scientists. There was no Jacob this time, so Dr Brynn Cole was a little more reluctant to let Shep inside. Apparently she doesn't care that much about poor old Dr Something bleeding out on the floor. 

 

Shepard encountered Gavin Archer among the scientists. Clearly it was too much to ask that he'd quit Cerberus and tried to live a decent life. He asked what had become of David, but Shep offered nothing. Archer decided to kill himself. Shepard has no sympathy at all.  Archer could have made amends with what was left of his life, but instead he wanted to bother his poor brother to satisfy his own conscience.

 

Brynn Cole and her very shiny lips updated them on the situation. Very, very shiny lips. Like she's been eating melted chocolate before talking to him. It's certainly one way to deal with a crisis. I'm not a fan of her. She's nice enough to Shepard, unless Shep previously romanced Jacob. Then she turns all snooty. She looks a little like one of my least favourite Hawkes too... 

 

Shepard battled through Cerberus mooks to the sound of Overlord's soundtrack (ah, nostalgia!). He's glad to see they're still training at the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksman Academy. Shep was out of cover for a full five minutes as I tried to get a decent shot on a shield pylon, and not a single trooper shot him. Clearly having LED eyes does nothing for their vision. 

 

Tali was selected to fix the AA guns, given her expertise with tech, while Shep and Ashley dealt with Cerberus. He manned a big gun while she just bullrushed everyone. Phantoms didn't stand a chance! Is Ash's Marksman ability still bugged? I didn't put any points in it, just in case.

 

All the scientists were rushed to escape shuttles, and that one random Doctor guy showed his impressed marksmanship skills. Wow, who needs Jacob? Let's get this guy on the team!  To Shepard's great suprise, the doc didn't get shot in the back, and everyone made it out!

 

Whipped round the Citadel. Aria still hasn't moved from Purgatory (go back to Omega!), Joker and EDI want to talk about Joker and EDI, Vega was getting some tattoos from a batarian. Shep wouldn't trust one near him with a needle. Speaking of, he found a sick batarian terrorist hooked up to machines. He traded barbs with the guy before leaving him to his fate. Then he shot Balak in the face (one day, I should really buy that dlc). Sure, he could convince the last of the batarians to join the fight, but he... just isn't a good enough man for such self-restraint. His trigger-finger gets too itchy. Shepard stopped by the memorial to give Ash and her surely-not-blood-related-sister moral support. Finished the day shooting bottles with Garrus. That's such a great scene, makes me happy every time. And I can't resist being sweet to him during that scene. 

[Will-o'-wisp]

I continue to be puzzled by the number of people that are under the impression that Grunt is actually durable. My experience has been, as has yours apparently, that Grunt will fall down flat at the first sight of Scion. Plus, Concussive Shot is a rather pitiful power and as a Soldier you already have incendiary ammo. As far as firepower is concerned, only Thane and Zaeed can come close to dealing as much damage as Shepard. Team mate weapons do only 30% of the damage they would do on Shepard. (The one exception to this seems to be team mates using the Incisor which apparently is bugged and lets them do normal, rather than reduced damage.)
 
Kasumi and her flashbang can work wonders on this mission since it will turn off Harbinger's powers for 50 seconds. Thane and Miranda's Warp can be specced for a 9 second cool down which is 3 seconds faster than Concussive Shot and does more damage to barriers than Concussive Shot. Samara with Area Reave is also good, but it requires that you time things just right in order to get her loyalty mission before the Collector Ship. (Mordin is always a good team mate.)

Thanks for your tipps, but I usually don't pay attention to how much damage certain teammates actually do or how useful they are in comparison to others. I just go with who I like best, might have the best dialogue or whose abilities seem roughly fitting for the mission. My reasoning up there was more roleplaying than hard facts, I didn't mean to tell anyone that Grunt is actually a good or even the best choice for that mission.

Luckily I can get away with this in ME, the series in general isn't exactly hard.

 

I will remember to bring Kasumi next time though, doing her loyalty mission early on shouldn't be a problem.

[RedCaesar97]

I continue to be puzzled by the number of people that are under the impression that Grunt is actually durable. My experience has been, as has yours apparently, that Grunt will fall down flat at the first sight of Scion. Plus, Concussive Shot is a rather pitiful power and as a Soldier you already have incendiary ammo. As far as firepower is concerned, only Thane and Zaeed can come close to dealing as much damage as Shepard. Team mate weapons do only 30% of the damage they would do on Shepard. (The one exception to this seems to be team mates using the Incisor which apparently is bugged and lets them do normal, rather than reduced damage.)

 

In terms of squadmate weapon damage, it is closer to 50% in Mass Effect 2; it's in Mass Effect 3, squadmates deal only 30% weapon damage.

 

But everything else about Grunt I agree with and have also been saying for some time. Grunt provides nothing that other squadmates do not already provide.

[Vazgen]

Grunt is awesome on lower difficulties when he runs over unprotected husks Other than that, yeah, other squadmates are more useful.

[RedCaesar97]

Just finished Grissom Academy with Jen Shepard (Biotic/Lash Soldier). I struggled a lot this time through, so I am a little pissed right now for no good reason at all. I felt that most of the deaths were cheap deaths and not my fault. 

 

I have been using the Avenger for a bit, and I don't care what you say Vazgen, it is still the worst gun in the game! I knew that going in and I still don't know why I bothered to use it other than I do not want to resort to DLC guns this early in the game, otherwise I would probably be using using the Executioner.

 

I think that is it for me for the rest of the night.