6 réponses à ce sujet

[spockjedi]

After playing the trilogy six times, each one with a different class, I wanted to play it again, but again with the experience of trying something new. As I run out of new classes, I came across Kronner's tank sentinel. So I had to "translate" into ME and ME2 the principles of Kronner's sentinel: focus on weapon damage, damage protection, throw as "concussive shot" and sacrifice of the other powers.

ME:

- Since the sentinel doesn't even have the Pistols talent, in order to stay true to the principles of the tank sentinel and to have good weapon damage and accuracy, the chosen bonus power was Assault Rifles.
- Damage protection came from Barrier and Electronics, and medical armor upgrades did the job of First Aid and Medicine, so they were not needed.
- The priority purchase should be the HMWA VII, and with enough spending discipline it can be acquired early. It was replaced by the HMWA X, which is the best AR in the game. With Frictionless Materials, this is the only weapon you'll ever need.
- Predator L X was the best armor used in this build, but the Colossus X could've been used too.
- Since the cooldown was not global in ME, skills like overload, sabotage, stasis and lift could be used without affecting the principles of the build.
- If you want, you can add Shotgun and Sniper Rifle training via console commands. I didn't, but it's an option.


ME2:

- Here the idea was to sacrifice Warp, Overload and Cryo Blast and use all the cooldown in order to have Tech Armor active at all times.
- Since weapons are used to do most of the killing, having good weapons is essential. My kit was the Locust, the Phalanx and the Collector Assault Rifle, which is now available to everyone. The Mattock is perhaps the best choice.
- Assault Armor was the chosen evolution because since no other powers except throw were competing with tech armor for cooldown, I could afford having the tech armor being destroyed and reactivated all the time. In fact, the more the enemies breached the armor, the better. Power Armor is a better choice for casters, Assault Armor, for tanks.
- Since I didn't want a bonus power that would compete with Tech Armor and throw, it had to be an ammo power. I used AP in another sentinel build, so now it was the time for Warp Ammo.
- Heavy throw was a homage to Kronner's sentinel. It worked as the soldier's concussive shot.
- This build will appeal to console players, since only two powers are regularly used.
- In this build, you need to be a bit more careful when choosing the squadmates. Other than that, I found it to be much more resilient than ANY other class or build.
- For those so inclined, there is a mod that unlocks soldier loadouts for any class. Again, I didn't use it myself, but it can make the build even more similar to the one from ME3.
- Before importing the save into ME3, complete all missions and use 2500 Eezo to retrain your powers. This will allow you to rearrange them in ME3 more easily.


ME3:

- My build was a tad different form Kronner's:

• Throw: Force, Recharge, Double.
• Lift Grenade: Damage, Max Grenades, Damage & Radius.
• Tech Armor: Durability, Power, Durability.
• Fitness: Durability, Squad Bonus, Durability.
• Defense Matrix: Durability, Shield Recharge, Durability.
• Offensive Mastery: Force & Damage, Squad Bonus,Force & Damage.

- Passive bonuses to Force & Damage increase the effectiveness of Lift Grenade and Throw, so they are welcome.
- With the Groundside Resistance Pack, this build is even better than before. It is also the best build to use weapon mods that increase the weapon weight, like the various high-velocity/heavy barrels.
- Weapons: N7 Typhoon (Stability + Magazine), N7 Piranha (Choke + High-Velocity), Black Widow (Concentration + High Velocity), N7 Hurricane (Magazine + Stability), Executioner (Piercing + Heavy Barrel).
- Fortification evolved for maximum protection is a solid choice as the bonus power, but the purge function of Defense Matrix saved my life a lot of times. In turn, Fortification provides more damage protection. It's a personal choice.
- Go for an armor that improves your shields. Shade, Kassa, Ajax, Collector and Terminus are good options.
- I didn't find Liara so necessary, Javik can do the job of priming biotic explosions alone. However, if the other squadmate can't provide an ammo power to the squad, Liara is a better choice. Too bad Kaidan died on Virmire, so I couldn't experiment this build with him as the biotic primer.

Final Thoughts:

This build fulfilled the proposed role as the "Seventh Class," since it offered a very different experience from the "standard" caster sentinel, especially in ME2 and ME3. This sentinel is less versatile than the caster, so little more care should be taken when choosing the weapons and especially the squad.
A god advantage is that you can fully upgrade the build at a lower level. For example, at level 20 in ME2 and at level 47 in ME3 I had fully evolved every power I needed.
It may not be most effective build, but it works quite well and is fun to play. If you've played all the six classes and wanted a 7th, this is best option.

[capn233]

Not bad.  I like AR Sentinels in ME1.  I might have dropped 2 ranks out of Intimidate for Advanced Stasis, but that is a pretty minor difference (since you can theoretically pass all Intimidate checks with 10 depending on what you do).

 

For ME3 you can stick with Kronner's use of Defense Matrix for a "pure" tech and biotic, although Fortification is now a slightly more optimal choice since it received MP balance changes (more DR, less penalty).  Doesn't regen your shields of course.

[spockjedi]

Good point about not fully evolving Intimidate, didn't know that. There is also the option of getting three morality points by free after completing a playthrough, but I wasn't inclined to do that.

I have a slightly different concept of class purity: only biotic powers on non-biotic classes are lore-breaking, since Shepards of any class wear an omni-tool and have some combat training. So a soldier with overload (ME1), a sentinel with AP ammo or any class with Fortification or Defense Matrix don't violate class purity for me.

Choosing DM or Fortification when playing the tank sentinel is tough, but I value so much the ability to restore shields with a panic button that the only classes I don't play with DM are the soldier (with AR shield boost) and the vanguard. Even my caster sentinel and adept had DM. But if someone tried DM and almost never used the shield recharge, I recommend switching to Fortification.

[Antmarch456]

Can't any of the other powers like warp or overload come into use for biotic explosions or to strip any defences?

And could you give an example of how a bonus power like fortification wouldn't work in this.

EDIT: I had in mind of how reave & throw could work together, especially in ME3 as you could easily do biotic detonations. As for ME2, its good for if you are on low health.

EDIT: Didn't fully read it. I guess I sorta understand it now. But I'm still not sure about assault armour, since I'm using this for my first insanity playthrough, I wanna stay away from all enemies if I can.

[spockjedi]

There are points left for Warp and Overload, also for Reave, but they would take 20-30 seconds to recharge. Throw and Defense Matrix would be unusable during that time, so I think it's risky to rely on them.

Fortification would certainly work in ME3. It would offer higher protection than Defense Matrix, at the expense of the shield recharge ability. The choice is yours.

Rushing into enemies with Assault Armor and leaving all the cooldown for it is more effective than you think.

[Abraham_uk]

Thanks for informing me about this thread.

Some really good ideas.

 

When I think of the word "Sentinel" I think tank.

This build actually lives up to that name quite nicely.

[Abraham_uk]

There are points left for Warp and Overload, also for Reave, but they would take 20-30 seconds to recharge. Throw and Defense Matrix would be unusable during that time, so I think it's risky to rely on them.

Fortification would certainly work in ME3. It would offer higher protection than Defense Matrix, at the expense of the shield recharge ability. The choice is yours.

Rushing into enemies with Assault Armor and leaving all the cooldown for it is more effective than you think.

 

Interesting enough in Mass Effect 2, I rarely used my other powers.

Set up assault armour. Assault armour bursts just after the cool down. Time to replenish it.

Even though I had nifty powers, the assault armour did gobble up the cool downs .

The result was that I was rushing in a lot more to capitalise on the Tech Armour shock wave.

 

 

In Mass Effect 3 I found myself being more of a caster since the Tech Armour didn't need replenishing.

 

To put it mildly, the tech armour in ME 2 is a power that acts a huge game changer making your other powers pretty redundant. Whereas in ME 3 it is passively providing a bit of protection and some other buffs, allowing the other powers room to breathe. I think it's down to preference.

 

However if you want that "ME2" style Sentinel in "ME3" you're going to be dissapointed. I might do a build for that involving the shield defence matrix and tech armour bursting. It's not as gun heavy since the play style revolves around detonating tech armour and shortly afterwards purging shield defence matrix.