Imagine you play a character that's focus is mainly on buffing your squads damage and keeping them alive, perhaps distracting enemies with drones, sabotaging turrets etc.
Would that work? Would that be fun to play?
Would a Healer class work in ME SP?
Débuté par
Nitrocuban
, déc. 13 2013 09:06
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#2
Posté 13 décembre 2013 - 09:45
capn233
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Sort of. It would be a little like Sentinel or Engineer in ME1 with Medicine (which was also Neural Shock).
#3
Posté 14 décembre 2013 - 01:13
Abraham_uk
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Mass Effect 2 & 3 had a healer: Commander Shepard.
Mass Effect 2 & 3 had a hacker: Commander Shepard.
Now that Commander Shepard can do everything we can ditch classes or we could introduce some sensible restrictions like in ME 1.
That said, I did enjoy Mass Effect 3's crazy do everything and equip every weapon game play.
A healer would be awesome. Your idea would work and would be fun to play.
The reason is, your kit isn't restricted to healing. There is buffing, distraction, sabotage etc. So it really is the Mass Effect 1 Engineer + turrets and drones minus incinerate and cryo blast.
Mass Effect 2 & 3 had a hacker: Commander Shepard.
Now that Commander Shepard can do everything we can ditch classes or we could introduce some sensible restrictions like in ME 1.
That said, I did enjoy Mass Effect 3's crazy do everything and equip every weapon game play.
A healer would be awesome. Your idea would work and would be fun to play.
The reason is, your kit isn't restricted to healing. There is buffing, distraction, sabotage etc. So it really is the Mass Effect 1 Engineer + turrets and drones minus incinerate and cryo blast.
#4
Posté 14 décembre 2013 - 08:59
Vicious Mello
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I, for one, would just like to thank you for posting a new and interesting thread in the strategy and gameplay forums. Thank you!
That said, I think a healer class could be interesting in future Mass Effect games. There sort of was one in the first game; as an Engineer, when you completed the Luna quest, you could change into your specialization class and choose being a medic which improved medi-gel capacity, medi-gel recharge time, neural shock potency, and allowed your medi-gel to revive downed squadmates. I think those abilities, coupled with powers that work as distractions or enemy sabotage, could be a really great addition to Mass Effect.
That said, I think a healer class could be interesting in future Mass Effect games. There sort of was one in the first game; as an Engineer, when you completed the Luna quest, you could change into your specialization class and choose being a medic which improved medi-gel capacity, medi-gel recharge time, neural shock potency, and allowed your medi-gel to revive downed squadmates. I think those abilities, coupled with powers that work as distractions or enemy sabotage, could be a really great addition to Mass Effect.
#5
Posté 29 décembre 2013 - 04:19
Everyone Is Someone
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Hmm... I personally don't think so with the current mechanics of the game. But I just don't like managing my squad in general, so I guess that's my personal bias. 
(I think playing volus and other more support characters is fun in MP for sure, though.)
(I think playing volus and other more support characters is fun in MP for sure, though.)
#6
Posté 29 décembre 2013 - 12:57
Nitrocuban
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Everyone Is Someone wrote...
(I think playing volus and other more support characters is fun in MP for sure, though.)
Yes, that's where my idea came from.
I like supporting others and reviving in MP and in SP my team does only pitiful damage. Would be more like a commanding role instead of the heroic front grunt.
#7
Posté 31 décembre 2013 - 08:08
CapnCruuunch
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I think it could work, but the squad mechanics would have to be overhauled a bit.
In Dragon Age, you have complete control over every squad member, freeing you up to make your main a healer if you so desire. In ME, I think you would need more control over squadmates, make them more interesting/intuitive to control, and give them better AI. I think they are designed to augment Shepard, rather than control the battlefield on their own. Although, admittedly some of them probably could currently.
Assuming we could just tack on some healing/buffing abilities for Shepard, I don't think it would be terribly satisfying. Obviously medigel, and passives are ME's answer to healing/buffing, but they aren't currently interesting enough to build a character around (not that I think that is what OP is implying).
But yeah, it absolutely seems possible to me. I'm no game designer though, so I don't really have anything unique to contribute. I'm really just thinking of bringing more DA in. You know, maybe if you could jump into Garrus and control him directly, and then Shep continues fighting using the AI. Could be pretty fun.
In Dragon Age, you have complete control over every squad member, freeing you up to make your main a healer if you so desire. In ME, I think you would need more control over squadmates, make them more interesting/intuitive to control, and give them better AI. I think they are designed to augment Shepard, rather than control the battlefield on their own. Although, admittedly some of them probably could currently.
Assuming we could just tack on some healing/buffing abilities for Shepard, I don't think it would be terribly satisfying. Obviously medigel, and passives are ME's answer to healing/buffing, but they aren't currently interesting enough to build a character around (not that I think that is what OP is implying).
But yeah, it absolutely seems possible to me. I'm no game designer though, so I don't really have anything unique to contribute. I'm really just thinking of bringing more DA in. You know, maybe if you could jump into Garrus and control him directly, and then Shep continues fighting using the AI. Could be pretty fun.
Modifié par CapnCruuunch, 31 décembre 2013 - 08:14 .
#8
Posté 01 janvier 2014 - 04:03
Abraham_uk
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How about Healer as a specialisation? Each of the 6 classes will have 4 specialisations to choose from.
The Healer or "medic" specialisation would be one of the "engineer" specialisations.
____________________________________________________________________
Soldier:
Commando: Mid ranged soldier who can use SMG's and Assault rifles effectively. Commandos are also effective in the use of grenades.
Shocktrooper: Close ranged soldier who is trained in the use of shotguns and melee attacks. Has the highest amount of shields to make up for that fact that their attacks are close ranged.
Marksman: Never wastes a single munition. These soldiers use both pistols and sniper rifles, to take out targets at long range.
Heavy: This soldier can use heavy weapons in combat. Their specialist training gives them access to area blasters to take out multiple enemies, launchers to punch holes in vehicles and chain guns to take out heavily armoured infantry.
____________________________________________________________________
Engineer:
Elementalist: Elementalists are masters of taking out all forms of protection: shields and barriers with overload, and armour with incinerate. In addtion, elementalists can slow down enemies with cryo blast and weaken them for headshots.
Medic: Medics are about keeping the team alive. They use their medi-gel to heal allies. They can use shield boost to restore ally shields. They can setup supply pylons to restore shields and ammo.
Saboteur: Saboteurs are good at weakening foes. They can make foe's weapons backfire, make foes temporarily unable to use their powers, paralyze foes with neural shock and make foes more susceptible to damage with recon mines.
Puppeteer: Can summon turrets and combat drones into battle. In addition they can turn synthetic foes against each other, and have their own personal Loki Mech that can deal additional punishment.
____________________________________________________________________
Adept:
Telekinetic: Lift foes into the air, pull foes, throw foes, summon a singularity field to trap foes or hold foes in a stasis field. Telekinetic's don't deal much damage, they merely make it easier for allies to kill enemies.
Bastion: Bastions use their biotics to defend the team. They can cast biotic spheres to boost the defence and offence of allies, whilst weakening any foe within the sphere. They can cast biotic barriers around themselves and allies. They can also imbue allies weapons and grenades with biotics.
Nemesis: Nemesis is a type of adept that uses their biotics to deal damage. They have abilities like dark channel, warp, flare and annihilation field to take out large groups of enemies.
Dominator: Specialised adepts who can use biotics for mind control on single targets, and reduce the quality of enemy AI with illusion type biotic abilities. They can place groups into a "frenzy", resulting in reduced accuracy, they can lower enemy damage output with "fear" and they can slow enemies down with "calm."
____________________________________________________________________
Vanguard:
Havok: Most people think half biotic/half combat when they think of vanguards. These vanguards have no biotic abilities, but rely on tech powers instead. Charge into enemies with havok strike. Use of stim packs to restore shields, ballistic blades for ranged damage and submission net to trap foes.
Battalion: Battalions are a different breed of vanguard. Instead of charging into groups of enemies alone (often without backup), Battalions believe in strength in numbers. With no active powers to use, Battalions have passive abilities that greatly buff the damage output and defence of any ally that is within 5 metres of the Battalion.
Wraith: When people think of vanguards, they think of the half biotic/half combat type that charge into enemies and follow up with a shotgun to the face. Wraiths are those kinds of vanguards. They balance high risk, high reward type fighting. They can lift foes into the air or throw enemies away. They also have a passive ability where, when their barriers are completely down, all attacks deal extra damage.
Monk: Nick named "Monk", this breed of Vanguard favours melee weapons over guns. For ranged damage, they have palm blasters that expend their barriers. They use biotic charge to rush straight into the action or they can engage in stealth to overwhelm foes.
____________________________________________________________________
Infiltrator:
Assassin: Trained snipers who use tech powers to enhance their aim and a laser guided targeting system called "assassinate". They can send out decoys to distract enemies, turn pseudo invisible and send out smoke screens.
Shadow: Shadows are the melee version of the Assassin. They have an ability called shadow strike that deals lots of damage to enemies and can be a one hit kill on certain enemy types. When in trouble they can chuck a flash bang to stun and temporarily blind multiple enemies.
Operative: Operatives are a hybrid of soldier and engineer. They can use some of the abilities of the saboteur and elementalist as well use shotguns along with tactical cloak.
Hunter: When people think of infiltrators, they think of tech powers and sniper rifles. Hunters use biotic powers to lift foes into the air and weaken them against attack. They then follow up with sniper rifles. They can also use a biotic stasis field to setup the perfect headshot.
____________________________________________________________________
Sentinel:
Guardian: Guardians have lots of hit points but can't deal much damage. They excel at drawing all of the attention, whilst their squadmates deal all of the damage. Guardians have some of the bastion's buffing abilities along with some of the medic's healing abilities to boot.
Paladin: Paladin's are the sentinel version of the elementalists. However instead of performing long ranged fire, ice and lightning attacks, they perform close ranged versions of these attacks. Flamer, snap freeze and arc lightning, along with a close ranged biotic shockwave attack called nova.
Raider: Raiders are what people normally think of regarding sentinels. Warp, throw, overload and cryo blast along with tech armour. They are not specialised in any particular area, but they have an answer to every situation.
Warlord: Wields melee weapons to deal elemental based damage. They have more hit points than Paladins, but also have slower attacks.
The Healer or "medic" specialisation would be one of the "engineer" specialisations.
____________________________________________________________________
Soldier:
Commando: Mid ranged soldier who can use SMG's and Assault rifles effectively. Commandos are also effective in the use of grenades.
Shocktrooper: Close ranged soldier who is trained in the use of shotguns and melee attacks. Has the highest amount of shields to make up for that fact that their attacks are close ranged.
Marksman: Never wastes a single munition. These soldiers use both pistols and sniper rifles, to take out targets at long range.
Heavy: This soldier can use heavy weapons in combat. Their specialist training gives them access to area blasters to take out multiple enemies, launchers to punch holes in vehicles and chain guns to take out heavily armoured infantry.
____________________________________________________________________
Engineer:
Elementalist: Elementalists are masters of taking out all forms of protection: shields and barriers with overload, and armour with incinerate. In addtion, elementalists can slow down enemies with cryo blast and weaken them for headshots.
Medic: Medics are about keeping the team alive. They use their medi-gel to heal allies. They can use shield boost to restore ally shields. They can setup supply pylons to restore shields and ammo.
Saboteur: Saboteurs are good at weakening foes. They can make foe's weapons backfire, make foes temporarily unable to use their powers, paralyze foes with neural shock and make foes more susceptible to damage with recon mines.
Puppeteer: Can summon turrets and combat drones into battle. In addition they can turn synthetic foes against each other, and have their own personal Loki Mech that can deal additional punishment.
____________________________________________________________________
Adept:
Telekinetic: Lift foes into the air, pull foes, throw foes, summon a singularity field to trap foes or hold foes in a stasis field. Telekinetic's don't deal much damage, they merely make it easier for allies to kill enemies.
Bastion: Bastions use their biotics to defend the team. They can cast biotic spheres to boost the defence and offence of allies, whilst weakening any foe within the sphere. They can cast biotic barriers around themselves and allies. They can also imbue allies weapons and grenades with biotics.
Nemesis: Nemesis is a type of adept that uses their biotics to deal damage. They have abilities like dark channel, warp, flare and annihilation field to take out large groups of enemies.
Dominator: Specialised adepts who can use biotics for mind control on single targets, and reduce the quality of enemy AI with illusion type biotic abilities. They can place groups into a "frenzy", resulting in reduced accuracy, they can lower enemy damage output with "fear" and they can slow enemies down with "calm."
____________________________________________________________________
Vanguard:
Havok: Most people think half biotic/half combat when they think of vanguards. These vanguards have no biotic abilities, but rely on tech powers instead. Charge into enemies with havok strike. Use of stim packs to restore shields, ballistic blades for ranged damage and submission net to trap foes.
Battalion: Battalions are a different breed of vanguard. Instead of charging into groups of enemies alone (often without backup), Battalions believe in strength in numbers. With no active powers to use, Battalions have passive abilities that greatly buff the damage output and defence of any ally that is within 5 metres of the Battalion.
Wraith: When people think of vanguards, they think of the half biotic/half combat type that charge into enemies and follow up with a shotgun to the face. Wraiths are those kinds of vanguards. They balance high risk, high reward type fighting. They can lift foes into the air or throw enemies away. They also have a passive ability where, when their barriers are completely down, all attacks deal extra damage.
Monk: Nick named "Monk", this breed of Vanguard favours melee weapons over guns. For ranged damage, they have palm blasters that expend their barriers. They use biotic charge to rush straight into the action or they can engage in stealth to overwhelm foes.
____________________________________________________________________
Infiltrator:
Assassin: Trained snipers who use tech powers to enhance their aim and a laser guided targeting system called "assassinate". They can send out decoys to distract enemies, turn pseudo invisible and send out smoke screens.
Shadow: Shadows are the melee version of the Assassin. They have an ability called shadow strike that deals lots of damage to enemies and can be a one hit kill on certain enemy types. When in trouble they can chuck a flash bang to stun and temporarily blind multiple enemies.
Operative: Operatives are a hybrid of soldier and engineer. They can use some of the abilities of the saboteur and elementalist as well use shotguns along with tactical cloak.
Hunter: When people think of infiltrators, they think of tech powers and sniper rifles. Hunters use biotic powers to lift foes into the air and weaken them against attack. They then follow up with sniper rifles. They can also use a biotic stasis field to setup the perfect headshot.
____________________________________________________________________
Sentinel:
Guardian: Guardians have lots of hit points but can't deal much damage. They excel at drawing all of the attention, whilst their squadmates deal all of the damage. Guardians have some of the bastion's buffing abilities along with some of the medic's healing abilities to boot.
Paladin: Paladin's are the sentinel version of the elementalists. However instead of performing long ranged fire, ice and lightning attacks, they perform close ranged versions of these attacks. Flamer, snap freeze and arc lightning, along with a close ranged biotic shockwave attack called nova.
Raider: Raiders are what people normally think of regarding sentinels. Warp, throw, overload and cryo blast along with tech armour. They are not specialised in any particular area, but they have an answer to every situation.
Warlord: Wields melee weapons to deal elemental based damage. They have more hit points than Paladins, but also have slower attacks.
Modifié par Abraham_uk, 01 janvier 2014 - 04:34 .
#9
Posté 01 janvier 2014 - 07:06
Soja57
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@Abraham_uk
It's great to see you still speculating on new gameplay ideas as always
Loving the specializations, though some of the titles sound too much like Dragon Age-style specs. I agree that a Medic specialization would fit the game moreso than an entire Healer class.
It's great to see you still speculating on new gameplay ideas as always
Loving the specializations, though some of the titles sound too much like Dragon Age-style specs. I agree that a Medic specialization would fit the game moreso than an entire Healer class.
Modifié par Soja57, 01 janvier 2014 - 07:08 .
#10
Posté 01 janvier 2014 - 07:41
Abraham_uk
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Soja57 wrote...
@Abraham_uk
It's great to see you still speculating on new gameplay ideas as always
Loving the specializations, though some of the titles sound too much like Dragon Age-style specs. I agree that a Medic specialization would fit the game moreso than an entire Healer class.
I actually love what the opening post suggested a lot.
Basically what I like to call a Cleric.
Clerics are not just about healing. The whole ethos of this class is about praying to the devines to obtain their blessings. These blessings enable buffing, debuffing abilities along with some crowd control. Healing is actually a small part of what a Cleric does. Whilst a Cleric spec catered towards healing is viable, it is merely one of many available specs in Dungeons & Dragons.
Regarding Dragon Age-style specs. Yeah, though I realise that the 6 classes can loosely fit the classic D&D type classes, what I proposed was a blatantly obvious. With Soldier, Sentinel, Engineer, Infiltrator, Adept and Vanguard, the connections are quite subtle. But when you have specialisations like "Elementalist", "Shadow" and "Paladin" then all efforts to hide the D&D roots have been pushed aside.
I do see what you're saying. Dragon Age type names for classes and some of the Drage Age type concepts make the classes feel a little out of place. The ideas have to sound and look futuristic as opposed to D&D fantasy. It would be like Commander Shepard having medieval music playing in personal quarters, or Miranda Lawson dressed in Morrigan outfit (which is an amazing concept for fan art). Shame I can't find that epic thread...
Modifié par Abraham_uk, 01 janvier 2014 - 07:49 .
#11
Posté 01 janvier 2014 - 07:58
capn233
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Interesting.
I don't know about giving an Infiltrator biotics though. Maybe Hunter could be a spec for the Sentinel that trades survivability for damage in some way.
I don't know about giving an Infiltrator biotics though. Maybe Hunter could be a spec for the Sentinel that trades survivability for damage in some way.
#12
Posté 01 janvier 2014 - 08:57
Abraham_uk
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Buffing and debuffing abilities tend to be boring. I agree. However that doesn't have to be the case.CapnCruuunch wrote...
I think it could work, but the squad mechanics would have to be overhauled a bit.
In Dragon Age, you have complete control over every squad member, freeing you up to make your main a healer if you so desire. In ME, I think you would need more control over squadmates, make them more interesting/intuitive to control, and give them better AI. I think they are designed to augment Shepard, rather than control the battlefield on their own. Although, admittedly some of them probably could currently.
Assuming we could just tack on some healing/buffing abilities for Shepard, I don't think it would be terribly satisfying. Obviously medigel, and passives are ME's answer to healing/buffing, but they aren't currently interesting enough to build a character around (not that I think that is what OP is implying).
But yeah, it absolutely seems possible to me. I'm no game designer though, so I don't really have anything unique to contribute. I'm really just thinking of bringing more DA in. You know, maybe if you could jump into Garrus and control him directly, and then Shep continues fighting using the AI. Could be pretty fun.
Mass Effect 3's sabotage is a swiss army knife of functions.
It makes a foe weaker against tech based attacks.
It sets up tech bursts
It turns synthetic foes against one another.
It can make a weapon overheat, if said weapon is wielded by an organic target.
Stagger a foe, in order to line them up for a headshot.
There is a reason why sabotage is considered the bread and butter of engineer and infiltrator builds.
Another interesting ability from Mass Effect 3 was the biotic sphere.
Allies within the sphere take less damage from all sources.
Foes within the sphere take more damage from all sources.
The sphere itself sets up biotic explosions as long as targets are within the sphere.
The setting up of the sphere itself can detonate fire explosions, cryo explosions, tech bursts and biotic explosions.
Heck even tech armour was made interesting in Mass Effect 2 & 3
The sentinel takes less damage from all sources.
The amour provides bonuses to powers, guns and melee damage output.
If the armour is purged (either manually in Mass Effect 3 or by being gunned down in Mass Effect 2) it sends out a shockwave that deals damage to nearby targets.
There is a reason why a certain Turian won't stop bragging about the uses of Tech Armour.
Buffing/debuffing abilities don't have to be versatile. However if they are limited to 1 stat bonus, or 1 stat penality, then the ability is boring.
capn233 wrote...
Interesting.
I don't know about giving an Infiltrator biotics though. Maybe Hunter could be a spec for the Sentinel that trades survivability for damage in some way.
Hmm. Food for thought. I can always rely on you for bright ideas.
Just another point. (Going back to the title of this thread).
I would like a return to the medicine power. Or perhaps different powers for different medical abilities.
Unity is like revive.
Medi-gel is like group heal.
Shield boost is like area of effect healing but for shields instead of health.
Modifié par Abraham_uk, 01 janvier 2014 - 09:02 .
#13
Posté 02 janvier 2014 - 06:34
Bendigoe
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My ideal kind of healer would probably have taken aspects from 2 & 3, with a little bit of tweaking.
In ME3 I'd have liked an Engineer with the Drone powers, a Reave which was trait-able to transfer health to your allies (as a bonus power) and kept Neural shock (mainly for role-playing purposes).
This way I'd have been a CC support healer, although I suppose this is possible with Overload, I still prefer the Neural shock, even if it was garbage in 2.
Being able to provide teammates with different kinds of shielding depending on the situation would have been awesome.
In ME3 I'd have liked an Engineer with the Drone powers, a Reave which was trait-able to transfer health to your allies (as a bonus power) and kept Neural shock (mainly for role-playing purposes).
This way I'd have been a CC support healer, although I suppose this is possible with Overload, I still prefer the Neural shock, even if it was garbage in 2.
Being able to provide teammates with different kinds of shielding depending on the situation would have been awesome.
#14
Posté 02 janvier 2014 - 08:25
Abraham_uk
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Seems like a fun versatile class.Bendigoe wrote...
My ideal kind of healer would probably have taken aspects from 2 & 3, with a little bit of tweaking.
In ME3 I'd have liked an Engineer with the Drone powers, a Reave which was trait-able to transfer health to your allies (as a bonus power) and kept Neural shock (mainly for role-playing purposes).
This way I'd have been a CC support healer, although I suppose this is possible with Overload, I still prefer the Neural shock, even if it was garbage in 2.
Being able to provide teammates with different kinds of shielding depending on the situation would have been awesome.
#15
Posté 02 janvier 2014 - 11:26
Soja57
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I like the idea of combat classes being able to buff the squad through the Squad evolution for ammo powers such as Cryo Ammo, Incendiary Ammo, etc. at reduced effectiveness for squadmembers. I think something similar can be implemented for Engineers, particularly for the Energy Drain power.
Energy Drain could have an evolution that restores ally shields at 50% effectiveness. This would make Tali a strong support character, having drones and sabotage for CC, and energy drain to restore squad shields. Of course, it is balanced by having to pick an evolution, working only on shields/barriers and synthetics, and squadmembers having a long cooldown.
Energy Drain could have an evolution that restores ally shields at 50% effectiveness. This would make Tali a strong support character, having drones and sabotage for CC, and energy drain to restore squad shields. Of course, it is balanced by having to pick an evolution, working only on shields/barriers and synthetics, and squadmembers having a long cooldown.
