224 réponses à ce sujet

[Soja57]

capn233,

Good to see you providing some input. Some very interesting points that you bring up.

Protections should be a mix between ME2 and 3. I felt that ME2 Insanity somewhat limited the use of certain crowd control abilities, especially biotics. However, ME3 pushed it too far into the other spectrum, with biotic detonations easily piercing through protections.

When testing Disruptor Ammo, I ran into that issue. My tests were quite frustrating as I couldn't figure out why shield bonus was "bugged" until I found it only has a 4x multiplier of health bonus. Its unfortunate that the shield bonus is handled that way, but Disruptor Ammo is the still best way to test protection multipliers (at least against shields).

@RedCaesar97

Rank 1: Overkill
- Animation: weapon-fiddling animation, same as ammo power activation animations
- +50% weapon damage
- -25% ammo capacity (spare thermal clips)
- Can be deactivated; already-used

I don't understand what you mean by "already-used". Although because you are still working on the Soldier, I'll reserve judgement for now. Interesting how it incorporates Marksman's attributes, I might do something somewhat similar.

Modifié par Soja57, 12 février 2014 - 04:58 .

[Abraham_uk]

 @Soja 57I have a lot of food for thought.Hmm. Lots of valid points.
__________________________________________________________________________


Supply Pylon


I'm going to change the supply pylon to a supply drone, which will have similar evolution but follow the squad.
__________________________________________________________________________


Tech Armour

I'll reduce the cooldown on auto-purge. To be honest I wasn't the biggest fan of ME 2 style tech armour, but given the amount of threads on BSN dedicated to people's love of ME 2 style tech armour, I thought it was nice to provide this option. The whole evolution is literally fan service. However I can find a way to make this power more viable with shorter cooldowns.

__________________________________________________________________________


Stasis

It's duration need to be reduced. Agreed.

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Shockwave's

Rank 4 needs to change. Don't worry, I'll come up with something more biotic orientated for rank 4.
Also melee synergy makes no sense. I'll do something about this.

__________________________________________________________________________


Biotic Sphere:

I do want this power to be casted more often in combat rather than a camp at the conveniently placed sphere.
So reduced cooldowns and durations of this power will hopefully keep this power useful without slowing down the pace of battle.

Also the sphere's might be luring the player into choosing more defensive evolutions and completely disregarding offensive evolutions.

This is supposed to be a tactical option, not a camping option.


__________________________________________________________________________

Defensive Mastery

You know what?
I can remove the squad based evolutions.
It's easy to do.

Headshot evolutions is more of lazy design.
I was going to put headshot evolutions in all 6 classes.
Perhaps this makes less sense in Adepts, Engineers and Sentinels.

__________________________________________________________________________

Introduction of Rank 0

I will be including a Rank 0. At this rank, the power will be a lot less powerful. Think of it as a base rank.
The purpose of this rank is just to get players used to that power. When they are choosing between two different versions of the same power in ranks 1-4, they will hopefully feel more comfortable with such a choice.

Giving players choices they don't understand is in some ways worse than giving them no choice at all.


To unlock each power: The first mission in the game will give the player an introduction to the specific class they are playing. As the player progresses through the mission they will automatically unlock a new power at rank 0 one by one. By the end of each mission, the player will have access to all 6 powers (5 active powers and 1 passive). 

From then onwards the player will then have to spend skill points earnt each level. They will earn 1 point which they can spend in any of their 6 powers. Every rank costs 1 point.
There are 20 levels in total, so at the end of the game, the player will only have 20 points to play around with.


__________________________________________________________________________


To Unlock A Bonus Power

There are 8 squadmates you can have. Each of them will have 2 regular powers (shared with other classes) and 2 bonus powers that you can unlock.

To unlock a bonus power you must complete a mission specific to that squadmate (a recuitment mission and loyalty mission) similar to Mass Effect 2.

Once you've unlocked a bonus power, you can add it to your player character's arsenal by going to a terminal in the "Armory" of your ship. You can only have 1 bonus power in your player character's arsenal at any time.



__________________________________________________________________________


The Format

This really isn't all that different to my current system. Just an "Opening Rank" or "Rank 0".

Rank 0: 

Rank 1a
Rank 1b

Rank 2a
Rank 2b

Rank 3a
Rank 3b

Rank 4a
Rank 4b

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 12 février 2014 - 11:19 .

[RedCaesar97]

Soja57 wrote...
Auto-purge makes Tech Armor limited in terms of usage, and may also anger players. If Auto-Tech Armor undergoes a cooldown when shields deplete, it may override the current cooldown or force players into a cooldown that they didn't want to. This makes the evolution clunky, and thus Manual is more consistent and reliable.

That depends on where you place your cooldown: do you want the cooldown after activation like ME2, or after purge like in ME3?

[RedCaesar97]

Soja57 wrote...

@RedCaesar97

Rank 1: Overkill
- Animation: weapon-fiddling animation, same as ammo power activation animations
- +50% weapon damage
- -25% ammo capacity (spare thermal clips)
- Can be deactivated; already-used

I don't understand what you mean by "already-used". Although because you are still working on the Soldier,

Gosh darn-it, I thought I had deleted that whole last sentence. 

Sorry, I was struggling with wording when writing that last sentence. What I want to say was something like "spare thermal clips that were already used when activating the power will not be automatically returned if you deactivate the power." or something to that effect.

For a more practical example, let's say you are using a gun with 20 ammo in the current clip and 100 spare ammo. Activating the power will reduce your spare ammo to 75. Deactivating the power will leave the spare ammo at 75, but you can now pick up clips and get 100 spare ammo again.

I thought about making it -50% spare ammo, but that could really hurt some sniper rifles. Maybe -50% would still be better though? I wanted to make this a Soldier-only skill by default since it can improve all weapons, and when activated would ecourage switching weapons a lot more.

[RedCaesar97]

capn233 wrote...

One other thought is regarding protections. You would need to decide if they are really there to "protect" enemies from CC, or if it is there to be just more HP. In ME3 it is nearly the latter. I mention this because it has to do with granting powers ability to affect / CC targets through protections. If practically every power can pierce protections, then you move into the "more hp" camp. ME2 dealt with this issue by only allowing a handful of powers to affect protected targets, although the alternative would be to incur a pretty hefty cooldown penalty for taking such an evolution.

Personally, I prefer protections protecting against crowd-control (CC). That way, you have to use powers or weapons to strip enemies first before you can CC them. It makes powers  little more focused, at least in my opinion.

As for ME2, only two powers worked "through" protections: Flashbang and Stasis. Both powers were DLC powers incidently. 

I agree that if a power works through a defense, then it needs to incur some sort of penalty to compensate.

I am also in the camp that is against the proliferation of combos, whether they be biotic or tech. Especially tech though. For biotics, I like the idea of Warp being nearly the only detonator, although evos of Singularity that detonate biotics are compelling. For tech, I think any "combo" should be more akin to increased damage due to chaining a couple together, like "Freeze Combo" from Cryo - > Incinerate, or the more simple sabotage tech vulnerability type. This also differentiates combos a bit in that biotics become more AOE oriented (and depending on damage v force CC), while tech combos are designed to do more to single target defenses.

I figure if you treat tech combos the same way as biotics--namely you can only prime and detonate on unprotected enemies--then you coutld do some interesting things with them:
 - Cyro explosion: can damage enemies and freeze unprotected enemies in a radius
 - Tech burst/electrical explosion: can stun synthetics for short duration in a radius, and gain a damage bonus to shields
 - Fire explosion: can set enemies on fire in a radius and panic organics, and gain a damage bonus to armor

[capn233]

Soja57 wrote...

When testing Disruptor Ammo, I ran into that issue. My tests were quite frustrating as I couldn't figure out why
shield bonus was "bugged" until I found it only has a 4x multiplier of health bonus. Its unfortunate that the shield bonus is handled that way, but Disruptor Ammo is the still best way to test protection multipliers (at least against shields).

Cool.  I brought it up only because I had never seen anything written on the subject when I was rebalancing some powers, and that was in fact annoying when I was trying to fix DA and ultimately shieldgate.

RedCaesar97 wrote...

As for ME2, only two powers worked "through" protections: Flashbang and Stasis. Both powers were DLC powers incidently.

I was sort of counting Singularity (it at least sticks them), but it is also signature/DLC.

I figure if you treat tech combos the same way as biotics--namely you can only prime and detonate on unprotected enemies--then you coutld do some interesting things with them:
 - Cyro explosion: can damage enemies and freeze unprotected enemies in a radius
 - Tech burst/electrical explosion: can stun synthetics for short duration in a radius, and gain a damage bonus to shields
 - Fire explosion: can set enemies on fire in a radius and panic organics, and gain a damage bonus to armor.

The thing I don't like about combos is that it seems like it is at least partially responsible for turning squad composition on its head from the earlier games.  It largely made more sense to take all biotic or all tech teams, which wasn't the case in ME1, and usually wasn't the case in ME2.  Probably only priming and detonating unprotected enemies would help.  Maybe confusingly, I also don't like that tech combos are detonated by any direct damage power in ME3, although that was probably put in to try and make squad composition more flexible.

Combo damage in and of itself is also another issue.  Too powerful, and you either have to cut back the damage of the powers themselves, or just live with enemies that are dying too fast.  In the current game I didn't want to spend the time it would take to sort all of this out.  I did test combos with greatly reduced damage though, but it always seemed strange having these loud, bright explosions that would only take a bar or two off the mooks.

Probably 'bonlyondeath=true' would be something worth considering revisiting, maybe even for biotics.

Anyway just my 2 cents again.  I will be looking at the classes some more later, I don't think I can offer much in intelligent critiques on the specific classes with only a read and a half through this thread.

Modifié par capn233, 12 février 2014 - 06:43 .

[Soja57]

 @Abraham_uk.
Supply Drone is a great idea. Rather than drop ammo, I'd say just make it give ammo automatically to the player and squadmates in the radius. However, don't make it affect enemies. Imagine going for the awesome Claymore one shot kill, only to find that the Supply Drone has suddenly restored the enemy's shield, effectively self-trolled.
- - - - - - - - -  -

ME2 Sentinel Assault Armor was very fun, though overpowered, for the Sentinel. However, ME3 Tech Armor is now used purely for defense due to its highly situational detonation, which drops the power down to the other defense powers. Not saying that defense powers are bad, but for being a Sentinel-exclusive, Tech Armor needs something more.
I feel that your Tech Armor has the potential to satisfy both parties with a few minor tweaks. The cooldown duration itself is not the issue; reducing the cooldown duration will not fix the issues that I mentioned, it will only make the issues more bearable. Again, your Tech Armor uses a cooldown upon purge. This is good for manual Tech Armor, but really bad for auto-Tech Armor, as it purges when shields are down, which will force the player under a cooldown that they didn't anticipate.

I'd say make Tech Armor undergo a cooldown only upon activation, which is similar to ME2. This improves both auto and manual purge. With manual purge, the player can detonate their Tech Armor at any time they want after the initial activation cooldown. So after Tech Armor finishes its cooldown, and the player casts another power like Stasis, Tech Armor can be manually purged while Stasis is cooling down since purging does not use a cooldown. This improves the power synergy of your Sentinel (something that your Sentinel was lacking).

Auto-purging is slightly more difficult to handle, but at least the cooldown is consistent and reliable with cooldown upon activation. However, this still presents an issue of players Tech Armor spamming and neglecting their other powers. I'll admit that you are in a somewhat difficult position in terms of handling Tech Armor. I've got my own personal idea for Tech Armor, but I'll reserve it for when I finish the class.

- - - - - - - - -  -

You don't have to remove all of the squad evolutions. Just reduce the amount. Just because RedCaesar97 doesn't particularly like squad evolutions, doesn't mean you have to remove them. But the opposing evolution to a squad evolution should be centered towards the player; this was how I handled my squad evolutions. Basically, try to support many different playstyles; some people may like a squad-focus, others may prefer being the sole badass of the squad.

- - - - - - - - - - 

Rank 0 is kind of odd. It forces the user to unlock powers that may not fit their playstyle, ex. Charging Vanguard, Drone Engineer, etc. I personally prefer a system you suggested before:

Rank 1: Unlock

Rank 2a:
Rank 2b:

Rank 3a:
Rank 3b:

Rank 4a:
Rank 4b:

Rank 5a:
Rank 5b:

[Soja57]

@capn233

bonlyondeath = true or false

Perhaps one of the most powerful single lines of code in Mass Effect 3. It turned cryo and fire explosions from situational use, almost purely for aesthetics, to one of the primary sources of damage in the MP. Also, LOL at Concussive Shot amplified by Incendiary Ammo in SP.

I've tested the Engineer by setting bonlyondeath = true, and setting combo damage and radius to zero. It feels great and is a breath of fresh air. Each power now feels like it fits for different situations rather than for every situation. Though the giant explosion upon death still somewhat bothers me. Nevertheless, this allows for great controlled testing.

Also, after re-watching Kronner1's epic ME2 Vanguard videos, especially on the Collector Base

I hope to, and am trying my best, to resurrect the ME2 Vanguard with my redesign, rather than the cheesy ME3 Vanguard. One question: I'm planning on giving the Vanguard Nova, but removing Half-Blast (which essentially reduces invulnerability frames). Any thoughts?

Modifié par Soja57, 12 février 2014 - 04:43 .

[Abraham_uk]

A drone that kisses enemies to death with a flame thrower.
Now a drone that heals enemy targets you just shot with a claymore.

Soja. You are a very funny guy!


Don't worry. I'll fix these issues. That's what editing is for.

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 12 février 2014 - 05:28 .

[capn233]

Soja57 wrote...

I hope to, and am trying my best, to resurrect the ME2 Vanguard with my redesign, rather than the cheesy ME3 Vanguard. One question: I'm planning on giving the Vanguard Nova, but removing Half-Blast (which essentially reduces invulnerability frames). Any thoughts?

I do not like Nova whatsoever, but I wouldn't blame it all on Half Blast, the I-frame time of 1.5s is too long.  You can set it directly in coalesced. 0.5s is a good number.  The combo mechanics are a large part of why this power appears half baked, too.  Nova should probably be cooldown based, possibly even an evolution of Shockwave.  Vanguards could take a bonus power or no CD evo in Charge if they wanted to use it right afterwards.

Manipulating DR value and duration post charge, tweaking AI speed, and dropping shield and health gate a bit makes Vanguard a good deal more difficult in ME3.

And I should have looked up the syntax, I haven't messed with modding combos in a while.  Changed that.

Modifié par capn233, 12 février 2014 - 06:47 .

[Abraham_uk]

It's great to finally have a 4th contributor.
Capn233 no less.

You've given some good advice on pages 5-6.

[Soja57]

I think Nova has the potential to become a great power when balanced correctly. In its current state, it has so many balancing issues that it is difficult to appreciate a Novaguard build. Totally went against what Bioware advertised as a high-risk, high-reward power.
However, through in-game testing, I think I'm getting really close to making Nova what it was advertised to be. My tests is as follows:

-Solo Vanguard, Armax Arena vs Elite Cerberus Wave 1
--Player Health = 500 base (850 with 20% from modded Fitness and 50% from N7 Armor)
--Player Shields = 500 base (600 with 20% from modded Fitness)
--Player shield and health gate duration set to 0 seconds (though is strangely still in effect)

--Removed enemy health scaling based on player level
--Shield gate and armor reduction for weapons completely removed
--Centurion: Health 750, Shields 450 (Simulates Hardcore difficulty, Insanity?)
--Combat Engineer: 750 Health, 450 Shields (Simulates Hardcore difficulty, Insanity?)
--Cerberus Turret: 900 Armor, 600 Shields (Simulates Hardcore difficulty, Insanity?)

-All power combos only occur on death, and deal zero damage and force
-Damage values are work in progress

1. Biotic Charge Rank 6: Damage, Weapon Synergy, Barrier
-Base Damage = 150 (Total with passive and evolutions = 255)
-Biotic Charge Damage Reduction duration reduced from 4 seconds to 0.5 seconds, but grants full invulnerability. This is so that the player has consistent shields after Charge (I kept ending up with no shields post-Charge when duration was set to zero). At the same time, this makes Biotic Charge more risky as there isn't damage reduction post-charge.
-Biotic Charge has a base cooldown of 6 seconds, and weapon encumbrance has been removed (basically ME2 cooldown).
-Time dilation post-charge has been removed

2. Nova Rank 4: Damage & Force
-Base Damage = 300 (Total with passive and evolutions = 540)
-Nova invulnerability frames reduced from 1.5 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
-Completely ignored Half-Blast evolution (essentially ranking Nova up to only Rank 4)

3. Assault Mastery Rank 4: Damage & Force
-Power Damage = 20%
-Weapon Damage = 10%

4. Claymore Shotgun only (damage now remains the same for all levels)
-Headshot Mod = 2x
-Health Damage = 60 base per pellet, 480 base for full blast (637.2? total damage with 6.25% Disruptor Ammo, 10% Assault Mastery, 15% Charge Weapon Synergy)
-Shield Damage = 60 base per pellet, 480 base for full blast (727.2? total damage with 25% Disruptor Ammo, 10% Assault Mastery, 15% Charge Weapon Synergy)
-Unsure how Charge Weapon Synergy and Ammo Powers are applied
-Can one shot enemies with full health and shields post-charge if headshots are performed (needs help from Biotic Charge to damage enemies)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So far, feels pretty good. The changes to Biotic Charge and Nova make the combo more challenging to perform, particularly because of Biotic Charge's cooldown. The player is now more susceptible to damage due to the reduced invulnerability frames and changes to Charge damage protection.

Also, enemies fire in longer bursts and have faster rate of fire, which overall also ups the challenge (this basically counters the player's shield and health gates). More results to come as I perform more tests, particular of enemy damage output.

Modifié par Soja57, 13 février 2014 - 12:24 .

[RedCaesar97]

capn233 wrote...

I do not like Nova whatsoever, but I wouldn't blame it all on Half Blast, the I-frame time of 1.5s is too long.  You can set it directly in coalesced. 0.5s is a good number.  The combo mechanics are a large part of why this power appears half baked, too.  Nova should probably be cooldown based, possibly even an evolution of Shockwave.  Vanguards could take a bonus power or no CD evo in Charge if they wanted to use it right afterwards.

I am not entirely sure if Nova should be a cooldown-based power or not. I have split feelings on the subject.

And giving Nova a set duration on invincibility frames was a bad idea. It needs invincibility frames for sure, but giving it a set duration of 1.5 allowed you to cancel out of it and still be invincible.  It should have only been invincible for as long as you are performing the power itself.

Plus, Half Blast giving you essentially 3 seconds of invincibility plus Charge can get close to or less than 3s cooldown.... Ugh.


Now that being said, I was thinking of possible evolutions for Nova, and Half Blast was still an idea, but I was thinking that it could add 1 second to any active cooldown. Not something you could do with basic modding, but just an idea I want to throw out there.

[capn233]

The PRS thing was indeed another problem with Novaguard, since max cooldown bonuses were way too high, and there were guns like the Talon that could do everything while weighing nearly nothing.

I think the reason they gave Nova such a long immunity portion was because of the long animation they just had to use. They wanted to protect players who Nova while under direct fire from losing their barrier before it actually fires, instead of punishing them for using Nova when under fire.

Anyway, with no combos, Nova isn't nearly as good, it will be ok for some stagger. Messing with I frames and DR means that it becomes more practical to think in terms of Nova-Charge instead of Charge-Nova.

The reason I mentioned giving it a cooldown was probably because I figure it is better to come up with your mechanics and rules for the game and basically adhere to them. When you start creating powers that are exceptions, then it becomes much more difficult to balance the game. Most of the classes have to make due with incurring a cooldown when they use an offensive power, but Vanguard gets a pass. This is also an issue with Cloak. For the protection powers and Sentinel, it is the other way around. I don't get to detonate Tech Armor, then immediately throw, or use cryo, overload or whatever.

Unsure how Charge Weapon Synergy and Ammo Powers are applied

I am 99.9% sure that Weapon Synergy is a standard weapon damage bonus that is added in with all the other standard bonuses, and as such should not affect ammo power damage (ie. not a base weapon damage modifier). Shotgun Damage in Vanguard passive may very well be a base damage modifier (like the Infiltrator's Sniper Damage evo).

Modifié par capn233, 13 février 2014 - 02:47 .

[Soja57]

I don't really see how Nova-Charge with reduced invincibility frames and damage protection becomes a more practical combo than its reverse combo, though I think its a good thing if Nova-Charge starts to look more practical. The reason is becase with this playstyle, the player has to be close to enemies in order to initiate that "combo" effectively, whereas Charge-Nova combo can start from long range to initiate the combo. This also places emphasis on the high-risk, high-reward gameplay we are all seeking of the Vanguard.

Judging from my tests, Nova is still a very powerful power even with its changes, as it should be, but way riskier than in vanilla ME3. In fact, I may have hit the spot for the optimal Vanguard with Biotic Charge and Nova. Though I still have to test with squadmates, which could totally break that balance.

I don't like the idea of Half-Blast; it encourages too much Nova spamming, especially when Biotic Charge obtains some cooldown bonuses (4 seconds with 50% cooldown bonus). Nova should be a tactical-use power; not too situational but also not too easily spammed. Though I think if I am putting Stim Packs (albeit more akin to Repair Matrix), the player could still essentially perform Nova spam.

Also, after thinking about Nova with a cooldown instead of barrier drain, I'm on the same boat as RedCaesar97. Mixed feelings about the manner, because one could argue it somewhat becomes a situational power, but there could be some potential build possibilities.

Though with the way I'm handling the Sentinel, Nova is good as a barrier drain power, otherwise the powers are a bit too similar.

Modifié par Soja57, 13 février 2014 - 04:28 .

[capn233]

Thinking in terms of Nova then Charge is more practical because you are minimizing the time your shields are down. I am not saying you can't Charge without a preceding Nova to close. Strictly speaking this is purely a consideration for when to use Nova. If you were to watch 99% of Novaguard players, I would guess that they automatically Nova immediately after charge, the better ones might decided to cancel or not cancel. I agree that Half Blast, short Charge cooldowns, and too much invulnerability is all to blame.

Half Blast itself though should still be tenable with fixed I-frames and modifying the efficiency (increasing the damage penalty to 50%+). The fact that you can cancel Nova at all is at least as large a factor, and you can see people use full strength Nova w/ Power Recharge perform basically the same amount of miracles as people who choose Half Blast. The amount of I-frames you can get in between Charges is the same regardless of rank or evolutions of Nova, as long as you are willing to cancel.

I imagine your Nova probably still is relatively strong, even if it isn't as safe as before, even without seeing the gameplay. At least if your enemy HP is what you posted. A Level 60 Centurion or Engineer on Insanity has around 3300 total HP (1687.5 / 1687.5), so relative damage is probably still good even sans combos if you are comparing it to a standard insanity game.

I am predominantly against Nova's barrier use system within the framework of existing ME3 mechanics. If you are completely re-imagining the game, it may be different. I must have missed what you are doing with Sentinel, I would need to look back through the thread. If it is working in your framework, that is fine. There are a lot of different ways to balance the game.

[Soja57]

EDIT: Finished my Vanguard, check out the post below or simply click on the Vanguard icon in my signature. Was originally a question about how to handle Vanguard specializations.

Modifié par Soja57, 14 février 2014 - 04:44 .

[Abraham_uk]

List of possible specializations for your vanguard:


Melee focused
Weapon focused
Power focused

Overall damage focused
Overall survivability focused

[Soja57]

Prepare for awesome. Before getting started, some Vanguard Guidelines, mostly concerning weapons.

1. Weapons have been reduced from max level X (10) to max level V (5), making each upgrade more significant. Each level would grant +5% damage, for a total of +20% damage. Upgrades also reduce weapon encumbrance by a flat 5% (x4 level upgrades = 20% encumbrance reduction), regardless of weapon. So a Predator Pistol I would have a base encumbrance of 30%, and at max level would have an encumbrance of 10%. An Avenger would have base encumbrance of 50%, and max level would be 30%.

2. All weapons have a base multiplier vs protections. Assault Rifles have a 1.25x vs armor, shields, and barriers. Pistols and Sniper Rifles have 1.5x vs armor, but none vs shields, and vice versa for Shotguns and SMGs.

3. Biotic Charge and Nova have invulnerability frames comparable to my tests (both 0.5 seconds). Invulnerability frames are there so that the two powers can work consistently as intended. Without slight invulnerability, Charge may give no barriers post-charge, or Nova could possibly deal no damage. Overall though, the frames are shorter than ME3's for balance reasons.

____________________________________________________________________________




Health
-Capacity = 600 health (3 segments, 200 health per segment)
-Regeneration = 6 seconds (4 second delay, 2 seconds per segment)

Barriers
-Capacity = 600 barriers
-Regeneration = 8 seconds (4 second delay, 25% restored per second)

Heavy Melee: Biotic Punch
Utilize a quick and heavy biotic punch that launches enemies away.
-Instant Damage = 350 damage
-Force = 900 N

____________________________________________________________________________


Biotic Charge

Encase yourself in a biotic barrier and charge across the battlefield to collide against the enemy target. The resulting collision launches unprotected targets away while staggering protected targets. Partially restores the user's barrier, and grants a short window of invulnerability while this power is in effect.

Rank 1: Biotic Charge
-Damage = 150 damage
-Force = 600 N
-Impact Radius = 1 meter
-Barrier Restore = 50%
-Cooldown = 6 seconds
-Invulnerability Duration = 0.5 seconds (unaffected by duration upgrades)

Rank 2: Cooldown
-Cooldown +20%

Rank 3: Damage & Force
-Damage & Force +20%

Rank 4:

a. Focused Charge
Heighten your focus during a Charge, temporarily increasing your reaction speed while granting a bonus to weapons and melee attacks.
-Time Dilation +25%
-Weapon & Melee Damage +25%
-Duration = 3 seconds

b. Heavy Charge
-Damage & Force +30%
-Impact Radius +1.5 meters

Rank 5:

a. Barrier Charge
-Barrier Restore +50%

b. Power Synergy
Utilize the biotic barrier to bolster your biotic powers while allowing the charge collision to detonate biotic effects for a Charge Detonation.
-Biotic Power Damage +20% (Does not affect the current Biotic Charge, but can affect successive Biotic Charges)
-Duration = 6 seconds
-Charge Detonation Damage & Force = 1.5x
-Charge Detonation Radius = +1.5 meters


- - - - - - - - - -


Nova

Expend your biotic barrier to create this powerful biotic blast. Barrier strength determines blast intensity, with 100% barriers granting maximum damage and force. Grants a short window of invulnerability while this power is in effect.

Rank 1: Nova
-Maximum Damage = 300
-Maximum Force = 600 N
-Impact Radius = 4 meters
-Barrier Use = 100%
-Invulnerability Duration = 0.5 seconds (unaffected by duration upgrades)

Rank 2: Radius
-Impact Radius +25%

Rank 3: Damage & Force
-Max Damage & Force +20%

Rank 4:

a. Area Nova
-Impact Radius +40%

b. Heavy Nova
-Max Damage & Force +30%

Rank 5:

a. Nova Detonation
-When Nova is used within the vicinity of a biotically-primed enemy, Nova can detonate the effect to gain significantly increased effectiveness. Detonation can ragdoll through shields and barriers but at 0.5x force effectiveness.
-Detonation Damage = 1.5x
-Detonation Radius = 1.5x

b. Half-Blast
-Nova now drains only 50% of barriers, allowing for two Nova blasts in a row, but damage and force have 0.5x effectiveness.


- - - - - - - - - -


Lasso

Pull and damage an unprotected enemy into melee range, ragdolling them and priming them for a biotic detonation for a short duration. Staggers protected targets. Limited by range.

Rank 1: Lasso
-Damage = 150 damage
-Duration = 3 seconds
-Max Range = 12 meters
-Cooldown = 4.5 seconds

Rank 2: Cooldown
-Cooldown +20%

Rank 3: Damage & Duration
-Damage & Duration +20%

Rank 4:

a. Heavy Lasso
-Damage & Duration +30%
-Max Range +50%

b. Dual Lasso
-Lasso can pull an additional target within 3 meters. If the only other target is a protected target, the protected target is only damaged and staggered.

Rank 5:

a. Piercing Lasso
-Can work through shields and barriers but the specified enemies are pulled at 0.5x of pull range and 0.5x duration. All combos and detonations can also pierce, but have a global effectiveness reduction as well. Can allow other biotic powers with piercing evolutions to deal full effectiveness.

b. Damaging Lasso
-Affected target is weaker against all sources of damage.
-Enemy Damage Taken = +25% (Does not affect the currently-casted Lasso, but can affect successive Lassos)
-Damage +25%


- - - - - - - - - -


Stimulant Pack

Utilize a specialized ops survival pack that increases overall survivability. Partially restores shields while granting damage protection and movement speed bonus for a short duration.

Rank 1: Stimulant Pack
-Shields Restored = 50%
-Damage Protection = +15%
-Movement Speed Bonus = +20%
-Duration = 4 seconds
-Pack Capacity = 2 packs

Rank 2: Capacity
-Pack Capacity +1

Rank 3: Duration
-Duration +25%

Rank 4:

a. Damage Protection
-Damage Protection +10%

b. Enhanced Stims
-Movement Speed +10%
-Melee Damage +25%
-Duration +25%

Rank 5:

a. Capacity
-Pack Capacity +1

b. Shields Restored
-Shields Restored +50%


- - - - - - - - - -


Warp Ammo

Empower your weapon to generate shifting mass effect fields for every shot, dealing bonus damage vs armor, barriers, and enemies lifted by biotics. Increases the chance of weapons to stagger any target, including protections; stagger animation depends on weapon, stagger chance, and enemy.

Rank 1: Warp Ammo
-Health & Armor Damage = +10% Weapon Damage
-Barrier Damage = +20% Weapon Damage
-Lifted Target Damage = +40% Weapon Damage
-Weapon Stagger Chance Bonus = ?

Rank 2: Lifted Damage
-Lifted Target Damage +20%

Rank 3: Warp Damage
-Health & Armor Damage +5%
-Barrier Damage +10%

Rank 4:

a. Exposing Warp Ammo
-Temporarily grants a damage and force bonus to any biotic power against enemies hit by Warp Ammo.
-Biotic Damage & Force Bonus +20%
-Biotic Power Bonus Duration = 3 seconds

b. Squad Warp Ammo
-Squadmates gain the effects of Warp Ammo but at 0.5x effectiveness.

Rank 5:

a. Enhanced Warp Ammo
-Health & Armor Damage +5%
-Barrier Damage +10%
-Lifted Target Damage +20%

b. Unstable Warp Ammo
-Shooting at enemies affected by biotics now damages nearby enemies by generating large rapidly-shifting mass effect fields upon bullet impact. Damage to nearby enemies is the same as Lifted Target Damage. Lifted Target Damage now applies to any biotically-affected enemy.
-Biotic Effect Damage = Same as Lifted Target Damage
-Biotic Effect Radius = 3 meters


- - - - - - - - - -


Assault Mastery

Improve the Vanguard's abilities in combat.

Rank 1: Assault Mastery
-Power Damage Bonus = +5%
-Weapon Damage Bonus = +2.5%
-Weight Capacity Bonus = +15%

Rank 2: Damage
-Power Damage +5%
-Weapon Damage +2.5%

Rank 3: Weight Capacity
-Weight Capacity +15%

Rank 4:

a. Power Damage & Force
-Power Damage & Force +10%

b. Weapon Bonus
-Weapon Damage +5%
-Weight Capacity +10%

Rank 5:

a. Unlock Destroyer Specialization
-Specialize in advanced biotics to enhance survivability and combat performance.

b. Unlock Champion Specialization
-Specialize in advanced combat and weapon training to enhance survivability and combat performance.

____________________________________________________________________________


Specializations:

- - - - - - - - - -

Destroyer Specialization (Unlock via Assault Mastery)
Specialize in advanced biotics to enhance survivability and combat performance.

Rank 1: Destroyer Specialization
-Melee Damage +25%
-Power Cooldown Bonus +10%
-Power Damage & Force +5%

Rank 2: Health & Barriers
-Health & Barriers Bonus +20%

Rank 3: Power Cooldown
-Power Cooldown +10%

Rank 4:

a. Damage
-Power Damage & Force +25%
-Melee Damage +25%

b. Health & Barriers
-Health & Barriers Bonus +25%

Rank 5:

a. Barrier Mastery
-Health & Barriers Bonus +30%
-Barrier Regeneration Rate +25%.
-Barrier Delay Reduction +25%.

b. Power Mastery
-Power Cooldown +10%
-Biotic Powers now have a 1.5x damage multiplier vs Barriers and Armor


- - - - - - - - - -


Champion Specialization (Unlock via Assault Mastery)
Specialize in advanced combat and weapon training to enhance survivability and combat performance.

Rank 1: Champion Specialization
-Melee Damage +25%
-Weight Capacity Bonus +20%
-Weapon Damage +5%

Rank 2: Health & Barriers
-Health & Barriers Bonus +20%

Rank 3: Weapon Damage
-Weapon Damage +7.5%

Rank 4:

a. Health & Barriers
-Health & Barriers Bonus +25%

b. Damage
-Weapon Damage +10%
-Melee Damage +25%

Rank 5:

a. Barrier Mastery
-Health & Barriers Bonus +30%
-Barrier Regeneration Rate +25%.
-Barrier Delay Reduction +25%.

b. Weapon Mastery
-Weapon Damage +12.5%
-Headshot Damage +25%

Modifié par Soja57, 15 février 2014 - 06:03 .

[Abraham_uk]

Soja 57's Vanguard:







Okay. I am doing something with my reviews.

I am going for a build and review format.
I'm starting off with Soja 57's redesign of the single player Vanguard class.


____________________________________________________________________________


Parameters:

Since Soja 57 hasn't given me any parameters to work with, I've decided to come up with a few of my own.

Parameter 1: Each rank costs as follows

Rank 1: 1 point
Rank 2: 2 points (running total 3 points)
Rank 3: 3 points (running total 6 points)
Rank 4: 4 points (running total 10 points)
Rank 5: 5 points (running total 15 points)


Parameter 2: By the time you reach the level cap you'll only have 75 points to spend.
Parameter 3: No bonus powers have been unlocked.


____________________________________________________________________________


My Destroyer Build:

I want to make the most destructive Vanguard possible. So my focus is on Charge, Lasso and Nova.


Charge [Rank 5]: Heavy Charge, Power Synergy
Lasso [Rank 1]:
Nova: [Rank 5]: Heavy Nova, Detonation
Warp Ammo [Rank 3]:
Stimulant Pack [Rank 3]:


Assault Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage & Force,  Unlock Destroyer
Destroyer [Rank 5]: Power Damage & Force, Power Mastery

Points Spent: 75
Spare Points: None



About the Specialisation: This is an amazing specialisation. You can go full on defence with lots of hitpoints with stimulant packs and biotic charge, or deal lots of damage with lasso and nova.

Nova is back and as awesome as ever. So bring on the charge nova or nova charge synergy!


____________________________________________________________________________


My Champion Build: 

Charge [Rank 4]: Focused Charge
Nova [Rank 2]:
Lasso [Rank 1]:
Stimulant Pack [Rank 5]: Enhanced Stims, Shields Restored
Warp Ammo [Rank 5]: Squad, enhanced

Assault Mastery [Rank 5]: Weapon Bonus, Unlock Champion
Champion [Rank 5]: Damage, Weapon Mastery

Points Spent: 74
Spare: 1 (Probably spent on a bonus power when unlocked).

Thoughts on the Champion: I am heavily biased towards an epic name. Sure I prefer the biotic focused builds, but "Champion" sounds so much better to me than "Destroyer". Well this does live up to it's name.

Grab a decent ammo power and charge at your enemies, only to follow up with a shotgun blast to the face. The focus is more on weapon damage here, though once again you can focus on increasing your hit points. The evolution I'm struggling with is Warp ammo. Don't know whether to go for the expose or just regular damage bonus at rank 5.

I do like the fact you can finish off foes with a melee attack as a champion.

Nova and lasso are great situational powers with this specialisation, but are better suited to the destroyer. That's not a criticism, this is actually good class design.


____________________________________________________________________________

The Review:

Another amazing class.
The stats are very well balanced and take into account various different playstyles.

There is quite a lot of variety of playstyles, from adept, to soldier, to a melee specialist to a gun tooting soldier.
Of course you can mix it up by doing a combination of the above. Whatever you have in mind, the vanguard can excel.

Edit: The 15 extra points make this class even better in my opinion. 60 points was too restrictive and rulled out the possibility of a bonus power.


I am looking forward to giving the rest of Soja 57 classes this treatment.
Red Ceasar is also getting this treatment too (as long as I don't get any more error messages).

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 14 février 2014 - 08:17 .

[Soja57]

Nice review, and I like how you are creating potential builds, which also helps you get a feel for the class.

RedCaesar97 and I established that 75 points is a good amount of points to work with at max level 30. 60 points is too little, it only allows maxing of the passive, specialization, and two powers. With 75 points, the player can max out passive + specialization + 3 powers, which is enough for console players.

So with bonus power (8 total talents to invest in), the player can max 5/8, or 62.5% of the full talent arsenal at max level with 75 points. ME3 allowed 95% completion, ME2 allowed about 72% completion.

[Abraham_uk]

Red Ceasar 97's Engineer:

Same parameters as before:

1): 75 points to spend

2): Each Rank costs as follows 
Rank 1: 1 Point
Rank 2: 2 Points (3 point running total)
Rank 3: 3 points (6 point running total)
Rank 4: 4 points (10 point running total)
Rank 5: 5 points (15 points required to max out a power)

3): No bonus powers unlocked


_________________________________________________________________________

My Demolisher Build:

Overload [Rank  5]: Damage, Energy Drain
Incinerate [Rank 5]: Burning Damage, Armour Damage
Cryo Blast [Rank 5]: Chilling Blast, Duration and Damage 

Combat Drone [Rank 0]:
Sentry Turret [Rank 0]:

Tech Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage, Unlock Demolisher
Demolisher [Rank 5]: Health and Shields

Points Spent: 75
Spare Points: 0


My Thoughts on the Demolisher:

A simple but effective damage per second type build that utilitises the engineer's abilities to their full potential.
My build focused on the three elementals. Dropping the drones was a sad little sacrifice, but the damage output this engineer can obtain from cryo blast and incinerate makes it more than worth it.

Also going up to rank 5 in overload for that energy drain was too hard to resist for an "elementalist" build.

_________________________________________________________________________


My Mechanic Build:

Overload [Rank 5]: Damage, Energy Drain
Incinerate [Rank 0]:
Cryo Blast [Rank  0]:

Combat Drone [Rank  5]: Damage and Shields
Sentry Turret [Rank  5]: Attack Drone

Tech Mastery [Rank  5]: Drone and Turret Damage, Unlock Mechanic
Mechanic [Rank  5]: Drone and Turret Duration, Drone and Turret Shields


Points Spent: 75
Spare Points: 0


My Thoughts on the Mechanic:

Mechanic in my opinion is the better option for the puppet master type engineer. Sure the drone damage is nice, but the true value of these pets are for distraction. The greater their duration and durability the longer they can distract foes.

I think overload is a nice power for this build simply because keeping the engineer alive is the key to this build. So those additional shields will come in handy.

_________________________________________________________________________

Review:

My point of view is more "can I have variety in builds" as opposed to "is this class balanced". Soja 57, Capn 233 and Red Ceasar 97 are more than capable of handling the latter.

Well you can have the following builds:

A drone damage build
A drone duration and durability build
A power damage build
An incinerate & cryo blast duration build
An elemental damage build
An elemental area of effect build
A survivor build with pets, shield boosting and personal health and shield

Judging by my criteria, your class is a triumph.


Now for the negative.

On Cryo Blast
(You've made a mistake) Rank 5a then Rank 4b, then Rank 5a, then Rank 5b.

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 15 février 2014 - 12:19 .

[Abraham_uk]

Soja 57's Engineer




Parameters:

1): 75 points to spend
2): Each Rank costs as follows

Rank 1: 1 Point
Rank 2: 2 Points (3 point running total)
Rank 3: 3 points (6 point running total)
Rank 4: 4 points (10 point running total)
Rank 5: 5 points (15 points required to max out a power)

3): No bonus powers unlocked


___________________________________________________________________________


Combos: 

I really like both of them. They're great.

Shatter combo encourages interaction between incinerate and cryo blast.
Omni combo encourages interaction between combat drone and all other powers.

I was going to do 2, however there are 3 builds I want to do with this class.


___________________________________________________________________________


Shatter Engineer:

This engineer build focuses on using shatter combos you've outlined earlier.
Other squadmates will be picked to deliver damage to shields.


Combat Drone [Rank 0]:
Sabotage [Rank 5]: Lasting Sabotage, Tech Vulnerability

Overload [Rank 0]: 
Incinerate [Rank 5]: Damage, Shatter
Cryo Blast [Rank 5]: Heavy Freeze, Deep Freeze

Tech Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage, Unlock Demolisher
Demolisher [Rank 5]: Power Bonus, Power Mastery


Points Spent: 75
Points Left: 0

My Thoughts:

To me, armour was a much bigger concern than shields.
Grab a gun, borrow disruptor ammo from a squadmate and then shoot those shields down with your trusty smg.
Or get rid of those shields by grabbing a squadmate with an anti-shield power like overload.

Heck even without an ammo power the shields aren't that big a deal. It was armour that caused an issue in ME 3. So a build that focuses on dealing damage to armour is always going to beat one that doesn't.

The engineer thankfully is more than equipped to deal with this, combining cryo blast with incinerate and sabotage to create a powerful build. No foe can stand in the way of this engineer.

___________________________________________________________________________


Anti-Synthetic Engineer:

Distracting synthetics and removing them from the battle. This engineer is every synthetic's worst nightmere (assuming synthetics are capable of dreaming, that is).

Combat Drone [Rank 5]: Damage and Shields, Chain Lightning  
Sabotage [Rank 5]: Synthetic Overclock, Sabotage Link

Overload [Rank 5]: Overload, Synthetic Overload
Incinerate [Rank 0]: 
Cryo Blast [Rank 0]: 

Tech Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage, Unlock Demolisher
Demolisher [Rank 5]: Machine Mastery, Power Mastery

Points Spent: 75
Points Left: 0


My Thoughts:

You're about to go on a mission to fight geth, or mechs or whatever synthetic race Bioware dreams up.
Since you know what foe you're going to face, it's time to respec your character from an anti-armour spec to an anti synthetic spec.

Now this engineer is very well equipped to handle synthetics.

This anti-synthetic sabotage is great since it has a dark channel effect that hops from one target to the next (I saw what you did there). Then you have a combat drone for priming combos and distracting foes. Add to this overload with a counter synthetic spec and you have a very powerful combatant who is specialised in taking down synthetics with ease.


___________________________________________________________________________


The Mechanic:

This build focuses on surviving battles and removing protections.
This isn't a very effective damage dealer however, since it doesn't take full advantage of combos.
Think of this as the jack of all trades engineer. When you have no idea what kind of foe you're going to face, this spec has you prepared for every situation.


Combat Drone [Rank 4]: Explosive Drone
Sabotage [Rank 4]: Synthetic Overclock

Overload [Rank 3]: 
Incinerate [Rank 5]: Area Incinerate, Heavy Burn
Cryo Blast [Rank 2]: 

Tech Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage, Unlock Mechanic
Mechanic [Rank 5]: Shield Bonus, Shield Mastery

Points Spent: 74
Points Left: 1


My Thoughts:

This is the does a bit of everything build. For those players who want it all.

Survivability: check
Area of effect damage from incinerate: check
Damage over time: check
AI hacking: check
Distraction from dones: check
Debuffing from cryo blast and sabotage: check.
Removing shields and armour: check

The biggest pros of this build, is going from mission to mission without having to respec.
Also you can now choose squadmates according to which squadmates you like the most as opposed to which are the most effective in battle.

In addition, there is a spare point for a bonus power. Even more versatility for a build that is already versatile.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Review:

When you think about it, the engineer has always been that nifty class that does everything. It can cover a multitude of roles very effectively. You need not worry about weapon damage, since the engineer has a tool for every job. If that seems unfocused well, maybe being unfocused isn't a bad thing.

In addition there is power synergy. The powers work very effectively together. You don't just spam one power till the end of the battle. You use each power effectively.

Of the three builds I posted, my favorite isn't the anti armour or anti synthetic builds but the jack of all trades builds. This engineer shows you can be a jack of all trades and still be very effective in combat.

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 14 février 2014 - 09:54 .

[Abraham_uk]

Before I start:


Red Ceasar 97 is probably going to edit his adept, so I'll save the build and review treatment till later.

Also check out Soja 57's Vanguard. It is epic! I mean it! Click on the link and check it out!



__________________________________________________________________________________


Soja 57's Adept:

 

Parameters:

If you have seen my other build and reviews on this thread you know what they are.

1) 75 points to spend

2) Ranks cost as follows:

Rank 1: 1 point
Rank 2: 2 points (3 point running total)
Rank 3: 3 points (6 point runnning total)
Rank 4: 4 points (10 point running total)
Rank 5: 5 points (15 points required to max power)

3) No bonus powers unlocked


__________________________________________________________________________________


My Impulsive Build:

This build is all about damage. Lots of damage.
Pull and throw are ditched to make way for singularity, warp and impulse.


Singularity [Rank 5]: Wide Singularity, Piercing Singularity
Pull [Rank 0]:
Throw [Rank 0]:
Warp [Rank 5]: Unstable Warp, Lasting Warp
Impulse [Rank 5]: Heavy Impulse, Detonation Impulse

Biotic Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage & Force, Unlock Nemesis
Nemesis [Rank 5]: Power Bonus, Combo Mastery

Points Spent: 75
Spare Points: 0


My Thoughts:

I didn't want to go for a ME 3, warp followed by throw type adept. This build is more to do with setting up with singularity and then detonating with warp. Also using the impulse grenades to trap and deal damage to foes.
Then add to this another combo that pulls enemies towards the impact zone via "Impulse Grenade" and you have a powerful adept!

What is great about this is that you can actually build a pretty good adept without the need for pull and throw.


__________________________________________________________________________________


My Warp/Throw Build:

The focus is on using both warp and throw


Singularity [Rank 4]: Heavy Singularity
Pull [Rank 1]:
Throw [Rank 5]: Damaging Throw, Throw Detonation
Warp [Rank 5]: Primer Warp, Amplifying Warp
Impulse [Rank 2]: 

Biotic Mastery [Rank 5]: Power Damage & Force, Unlock Nemesis
Nemesis [Rank 5]: Power Bonus, Combo Mastery


My Thoughts:

Another strong biotic explosion type character. This is a serious damage dealer placing the adept ahead of the competition. I love this class a lot.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Review

The adept is a great class. The impulse grenades deal some serious damage.

Though I must say that while the bastion is a very good strong choice, I feel that it the extra hit points come at a huge hit to power based dps. Bastion however is a really good build for adept commandos who use warp, pull and singularity to weaken targets and then follow up with weapon fire. Though your vanguard build is a vastly superior biotic/combat type class.

In the dps zone. Well that is where the adept shines. Be it the massive explosions left right and centre, or the duration based damage over time delivered by lifting powers and warp or lobbing grenades, the adept is just fantastic.

Soja 57. I am loving every concept you've posted on this thread. I can't wait for more!


Seriously Check out Soja 57's Vanguard.

Modifié par Abraham_uk, 15 février 2014 - 01:02 .

[Soja57]

 Yeah, I think my Vanguard is so far my best class. The specializations are balanced better in comparison to the Engineer and Adept. I might go back and change up the specializations a bit, although my priority is the Soldier and Infiltrator. Sentinel is currently gathering dust until I can come up with a good power set for the class.

Some awesome spoilers about my Soldier and Infiltrator:

1. I gotta say, ammo powers are now more awesome than ever. I didn't like how ME3 gave all of the ammo powers the same rank 5 evolutions, which felt like lazy design. My changes now makes each ammo power have unique evolutions. Of course, I need to do some research on how ammo powers proc, and how certain weapons stagger.

2. I've attempted to address several issues with Cloak, such as making duration spec more viable and preventing Cloak from severely violating the cooldown system as it currently does.

3. Soldier's power Augmentation has been scrapped in favor of something that could work better for the class. It is a unique twist on Devastator Mode. Also, Concussive Shot now actually feels like a combat power rather than a hybrid of biotic/combat.

4. (Bonus): Sentinel Tech Armor now has better synergy with other powers in an attempt to bring back the awesome ME2 Assault Sentinel without bringing in the stuff that broke the class (such as Tech Armor spam, "chEasy-Mode", etc.) Though Sentinel still has a long ways before I can officially say this.

Basically, these 4 topics are going to be up for discussion in the future, as these are some stuff that are either somewhat controversial (omg Cloak) or that I may need help fleshing out.

Modifié par Soja57, 15 février 2014 - 05:15 .