92 réponses à ce sujet

[ZipZap2000]

Turning the difficulty level on mass effect 3 feels like it's not doing anything other than telling the AI to throw more grenades at you.

[Vazgen]

ME2 Insanity is the hardest. ME3 comes second and ME1 is the easiest

However, when I think about how many times I have died in each game, ME3 seems to have the highest number. Grenade deaths were quite common, a lot of situations in my first playthough when Shepard vaulted over a cover next to an enemy, new tough enemies that took some time to adjust.

In ME2 there were, like, 3-4 dangerous missions that really had me working to finish. ME1 - I can play Dead is Dead in that game quite easily. 

[themikefest]

ME1 - Easy

ME2 - hard

ME3 - easy

[Vegeta 77]

ME1 Easy

ME2 hard

ME3 Cake walk

[Quarian Master Race]

And if you are Soldier or Infiltrator, do not invest or use Immunity either.

I rarely use it as is. I think I will try this next time through.

 

ME1 insanity can be extremely difficult, if you do the following:

Don't use Liara, ever.

Don't pick Vanguard, Sentinel or Adept as class for Shepard.

 

If you reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally wanna push it, don't use Kaidan as well.

Infiltrator is probably easier than adept and sentinel if you are a half decent shot. Soldier is a bullet sponge. Only engineer actually requires some finesse and only early in the game, though played properly it can still trivialize most enemies.

Also, I get Garrus,Tali and Wrex as early as the story allows and then never use the other 3, and it still isn't hard.

[joe6pak]

I always thought that ME1 was the hardest of the 3 games.  I must be doing something wrong.

 

The thing for me that sets ME2 from ME3 is that in ME2 on Insanity there is a lot of layering of different forms of defenses.  A lot of enemies have shield or barrier and then armor and health.  You spend a lot of time peeling the layers in order to get the kill.  A lot of missions require that you can take down multiple forms of defense.  Most of the tough enemies in ME3 just require that you can take down armor fast and then either be able to take out shields or barriers depending on who you are fighting.

 

To me ME1 on Veteran = ME2 on Hardcore = ME3 on Insanity

[Pee Jae]

I'm going with

 

Me1 = Bad

Me2 = Ugly

Me3 = Good

 

I won't tell you that Insanity was easy for me in ME3, but it's the easiest out of the 3. I had the most trouble in any mission that had an Atlas. Can't remember what class I played, but I just wasn't well equipped to deal with those bastids. Now, it'd probably be a cakewalk. My big trouble spot was Grissom Academy. The final segment of the game, I played coward and sat way back at the beginning of the area sniping, while having my squadmates do most of the work in the middle. Marauder Shields was a pain in the arse because he gets to one shot you. And he did, lots of times.

ME2's trouble spots for me were the Collector missions; Horizon, the ship and the base.

ME1... well, let's just say I restarted as a Soldier when I died a lot from a certain Krogan Battlemaster and his Geth buddies whilst trying to rescue a certain Prothean expert. I then learned to abuse the **** out of immunity.

[Brickyracer8655]

I always thought that ME1 was the hardest of the 3 games.  I must be doing something wrong.

 

The thing for me that sets ME2 from ME3 is that in ME2 on Insanity there is a lot of layering of different forms of defenses.  A lot of enemies have shield or barrier and then armor and health.  You spend a lot of time peeling the layers in order to get the kill.  A lot of missions require that you can take down multiple forms of defense.  Most of the tough enemies in ME3 just require that you can take down armor fast and then either be able to take out shields or barriers depending on who you are fighting.

 

To me ME1 on Veteran = ME2 on Hardcore = ME3 on Insanity

I also think ME1 was the hardest on insanity as a brand new character, at least until level 30. I don't think I even made it past Eden Prime. I got the insanity achievement on NG+

[capn233]

I also think ME1 was the hardest on insanity as a brand new character, at least until level 30. I don't think I even made it past Eden Prime. I got the insanity achievement on NG+

 

ME1 punishes non-ideal builds (Shep and squad) and squad selection more than the other games at early levels, IMO.  Usually you can get away with one or the other if you are pretty experienced in the game.  For instance, I started a new Engineer the other day and did Therum with Ash and Tali so no biotics.  But I had two trump cards at Level 11, namely 1 pt Neural Shock and I screwed around on the Citadel until I could get the Spectre VII pistol.  If I would have done that fight w/o Neural Shock with that squad I would not have passed it most likely, or it would have been an exercise in frustration with many attempts.

 

Anyway I also agree with you about the curve, once you get to Level 30 you are in a zone where the game isn't too bad at all, at least if you are on top of your builds.  You have enough powers to be dangerous, and slightly better equipment starts to drop.

[Farangbaa]

Does non-ideal build include maximizing charm and intimitade as fast as possible?

Cause that's what I do all the time
 

[capn233]

Probably yes if you put points in both of them. 

[Farangbaa]

Probably yes if you put points in both of them. 

Only on my very first run I didn't.

I tend to skip on skills though. Armor, first aid being the prime one (have never specced into neural shock)

[Brickyracer8655]

ME1 punishes non-ideal builds (Shep and squad) and squad selection more than the other games at early levels, IMO.  Usually you can get away with one or the other if you are pretty experienced in the game.  For instance, I started a new Engineer the other day and did Therum with Ash and Tali so no biotics.  But I had two trump cards at Level 11, namely 1 pt Neural Shock and I screwed around on the Citadel until I could get the Spectre VII pistol.  If I would have done that fight w/o Neural Shock with that squad I would not have passed it most likely, or it would have been an exercise in frustration with many attempts.

 

Anyway I also agree with you about the curve, once you get to Level 30 you are in a zone where the game isn't too bad at all, at least if you are on top of your builds.  You have enough powers to be dangerous, and slightly better equipment starts to drop.

 

Interesting, as many times as I've played ME I never thought to use neural shock since Therum has mostly Geth enemies. Are you starting your new engineer on insanity? I'm playing Vanguard for the first time in ME, so Engineer is actually the only class I have not played in ME1 (liked it in ME2, liked it even more in ME3).

Always a good idea to hang around the Citadel and complete the assignments before heading out to Therum. I once made the mistake of going for Liara right after becoming a Spectre (with no side quests completed), and it did not work out for me.

[capn233]

Interesting, as many times as I've played ME I never thought to use neural shock since Therum has mostly Geth enemies. Are you starting your new engineer on insanity? I'm playing Vanguard for the first time in ME, so Engineer is actually the only class I have not played in ME1 (liked it in ME2, liked it even more in ME3).

Always a good idea to hang around the Citadel and complete the assignments before heading out to Therum. I once made the mistake of going for Liara right after becoming a Spectre (with no side quests completed), and it did not work out for me.

 

Yes I basically only play new characters in ME1.  The game is most interesting to me as you level up the character, which is why I haven't done NG+ in a long time.

 

Dr Michel is also very nice you on the Citadel (since she buys equipment from you for more than the buyback cost...).

[Darius M.]

I always thought the reason ME2 felt so much more difficult on insanity didn't have to do so much with the enemies, but rather the amount of handicaps you are shackled with. Mind you, I love the game, and think the shackles build character, but my opinions are thus: 

 

First and foremost, I always thought ME2 was hardest because it was in a very awkward growing phase in terms of mobility rules for the series. You get about 5 steps of sprint before Shepard is tired, and the game felt so... static in terms of movement. It felt like World War 1 type tactics. (I'm in my trench, and he's in his... insert long, attrition based firefight until one of us is dead.)That was really difficult and I was screwed when a varren, Krogan, hunter, or flame enemy got close enough, bc there's no way to evade + almost guaranteed stagger.

 

Second, the weapons. My goodness, if you're anything other than a soldier, you got SHAFTED on the weapons for the first third of the game. The Carnifex was ok, but 24 rounds that are only good against armor didn't cut it for me. Shotguns were ok if you were a vanguard, but by and large I found that a tough offense to sustain. I couldn't stand shotguns for the mobility reasons stated before (no one but a vanguard can close the distance) For THREE classes, you have a pistol, and a shuriken For a THIRD of the game!!! That was tough to manage.

 

Third, and tied into weapons and movement was how they made defenses so tough AND widespread. For instance, look at how pathetic they made biotics vs. shields. When you say biotics can't affect shields, then give every basic yet crack shot mook a shield, (not to mention putting defenses on charging enemies like husks and varren) it's just.... *facepalm*. It was a good challenge but jeez I raged a lot at this game, especially as power classes early on. 

 

ME1 I overlooked because this was the first step... Yeah, it was difficult, but it didn't take long to get good weapons or gear (at least in my experience)

ME3 basically fixed all my gripes with the game. Made combat dynamic enough that insanity is much more manageable. 

 

On a final note, imo, ME1 and ME3 never had an enemy that was as difficult for me to deal with as the YMIR mechs. Seriously, ++++ those things.

[RedCaesar97]

Second, the weapons. My goodness, if you're anything other than a soldier, you got SHAFTED on the weapons for the first third of the game. The Carnifex was ok, but 24 rounds that are only good against armor didn't cut it for me. Shotguns were ok if you were a vanguard, but by and large I found that a tough offense to sustain. I couldn't stand shotguns for the mobility reasons stated before (no one but a vanguard can close the distance) For THREE classes, you have a pistol, and a shuriken For a THIRD of the game!!! That was tough to manage.

 

Third, and tied into weapons and movement was how they made defenses so tough AND widespread. For instance, look at how pathetic they made biotics vs. shields. When you say biotics can't affect shields, then give every basic yet crack shot mook a shield, (not to mention putting defenses on charging enemies like husks and varren) it's just.... *facepalm*. It was a good challenge but jeez I raged a lot at this game, especially as power classes early on. 

 

The Shuriken is just fine in ME2. And if you really hate the Shuriken, you can get the Locust very early if you have the Stolen Memory (Kasumi) DLC. And Predator holds more ammo than the Carnifex and so it actually does more damage to armor long-term than the Carnifex. I usually ditch the Carnifex as soon as i get it and go back to the Predator.

 

Defenses are not as nearly as tough as some players make them out to be. As for biotics versus shields? You have SMGs which can have +50% damage to shields to start, then +100% damage to shields after the Shield Piercing upgrade (which you can get about three missions into the game). Allows you to strip shields very quickly.

[Farangbaa]

The Locust

[capn233]

Some more thoughts regarding ME2, classes, and weapons...

 

The first thing is that they do try to punish the player for extended periods out of cover. The AI is very accurate and is usually accurate at the start of an engagement (unlike ME3), and the reduced Storm ability from absurd in ME1 was to discourage trying to take too much ground at once.  Granted, a couple classes have power evolutions or abilities to get around this, but that is all part of class differentiation.  They also gave a big bonus to shield regen if you are docked in cover as opposed to standing out of cover, which is a big hindrance to playing with a lot of "right hand advantage," like in ME3.  The one nice thing is that AFAIK there isn't a damage taken penalty for being out of cover like ME3, but it may be moot since the AI is overall more accurate (also does not completely respect any rules about where the enemy is actually facing for the firing cone, but most of the time you can't tell...).

 

They also want you to use the right tool for the right job, and when you start deviating from that maxim you need to put in more effort.  For instance, casters starting with two weapons and even the Infiltrator starting with two plus the Mantis... you mainly run into ammo problems early if you do some combination of three things: miss the target too often, use the wrong weapon type against a certain defense layer, or do not mix in a healthy dose of Shepard and the squad's powers.  Actually point 3 is why I don't find I have as much issue with ammo playing an early game Adept or Engineer relative to something like an Infiltrator who tries to level deep into Cloak and passive early.

 

As far as advanced weapon training goes, the first 1/3 of the game is generous estimate.  In fact it is possible for it to be a smaller fraction if you have some DLC.  Here is the example of how to get it the "earliest."

 

Freedom's Progress -> Pickup Kasumi and Zaeed by talking to them -> Professor -> Archangel -> Convict -> Warlord -> Horizon

 

After Horizon since you already have 6 squadmates, all you need is 5 missions... which you can get inside the Hammerhead if you do the Firewalker DLC, which involves zero foot based combat.

 

So at this point you have done Freedom's Progress, 4RMs, Horizon, Firewalker, and DCC.  What is left is:

 

3 RMs (Assassin, Justicar, Tali)

12 LMs, 10 of which have ground combat

Overlord

LOTSB

Arrival

All N7 missions (something like 15 of which have ground combat)

Derelict Reaper

Suicide Mission

 

That's about 30 missions remaining.  Some have different lengths obviously, although you can count a few of them as multiple missions if you want.

 

There are also a couple of somewhat obscured mechanics in ME2 that require an experienced eye, or reading on the forum, to figure out.  Ragdolled and frozen targets take double damage.  Targets actually have more health than shields or armor.  Then there is the vague fact that weapons do more damage to the appropriate protection layer (but they don't list the multipliers in game).  Taken together though, you realize that CC improves ammo efficiency.  When you read old threads there was a sentiment that CC had no value since targets on health were "nearly dead anyway," although that wasn't an accurate statement.  People did play the game with the notion that this was the case though, and this leads into the last bit.

 

Insanity was supposed to be for people who were familiar with ME2 combat and mechanics.  I am also confident the intention was for players to play NG+ when turning up the difficulty to Insanity.  If I remember correctly they stated this about ME1, not sure if they said it specifically about ME2.  On NG+ you already have your heavy weapons and your advanced weapon training, so most of any weapon complaints should disappear.