30 réponses à ce sujet

[Abraham_uk]

How do you rationalise Shepard changing classes?

 

So let's say in ME 1 Shepard is a Soldier, then in ME 2 Shepard is an Engineer, then in ME 3 Shepard is an Adept.

 

Umm. Completely different abilities in three games. Huh.

 

 

How do you rationalise non Biotic Shepard with a biotic bonus power?

 

So Soldier/Engineer/Infiltrator Shepard has a biotic bonus power in all three games.

How come Shepard can perform that one biotic ability and no other?

If Shepard changes biotic bonus powers across game, how come Shepard suddenly forgets previous biotic bonus power in exchange for a different biotic bonus power?

 

 

How do you explain these away?

 

[congokong]

Nano-machines!  ...Wrong game series? Sorry.

 

Um, I don't rationalize it really. ME1-ME2 put a band-aid on the logic by mentioning how you were "rebuilt" and thus can somehow be biotic, or not one now. Of course, considering Cerberus wanted the real Shepard a change this great would be rather bad for their plans. There's no real explanation from ME2-ME3 unless biotics can be manipulated/removed/added on more easily than we thought.

 

It would just be easier to pick a class and stick with it through all three games to allieve head-canon headaches.

[FOZ289]

Kaidan in ME1 mentions Shepard having implants even if you don't play a biotic character.  Even if that's a script error, I was Soldier my first playthrough, so I've always thought of Shepard as just being a biotic who for some reason does not always use biotics.

[congokong]

Kaidan in ME1 mentions Shepard having implants even if you don't play a biotic character.  Even if that's a script error, I was Soldier my first playthrough, so I've always thought of Shepard as just being a biotic who for some reason does not always use biotics.

When does Kaidan mention that?

[Abraham_uk]

Kaidan in ME1 mentions Shepard having implants even if you don't play a biotic character.  Even if that's a script error, I was Soldier my first playthrough, so I've always thought of Shepard as just being a biotic who for some reason does not always use biotics.

 

It takes a lot of intense biotic training to become proficient in biotics.

Even with the implants Kaidan needed biotic training.

Heck even Asari need to train in biotics to be good at it. Many Asari aren't very good with biotic abilities.

[AlanC9]

If you don't change classes, you don't have this problem.

[FOZ289]

When does Kaidan mention that?

 

When he talks about his migraines he says something about how he has "L2 implants" and Shepard has more-stable L3.  I think it's pretty easy to get that conversation, it's probably just an Investigate option.

[Sylvius the Mad]

If you don't change classes, you don't have this problem.

But the abilities available to specific classes change between games, too.

 

An Engineer in ME is very different from an Engineer in ME2.

[FOZ289]

Yeah, but people who have been stranded on a planet for 10+ years are using guns with thermal clips.  Can't really expect technological consistency.

[Jukaga]

I don't switch classes and I don't use biotic powers on non-biotic Shepards, simple.

[MichaelN7]

Lazarus Project.

 

Think about it, Shepard is KILLED in action, and subsequently revived/rebuilt.  We know that biotics revolve around brain implants, tech abilities involve omni-tools, combat abilities involve weapons, and whatever your class there are capabilities brought about by gene therapy/engineering as an N7.

 

Who's to say that the Lazarus Project didn't effectively make Shepard EVERY class?  We know that Shepard's resurrection involved cybernetics and brain restoration, so it's completely possible that Cerberus thought: "Since we're in here, we might as well provide the implants needed to use biotics."  I get the feeling that since Shepard can be any class in ME2, it's not that Shepard can use ALL the abilites from ALL the classes, but rather he can only be one at a time.

 

My personal headcanon of my Shepard is that he's a Vanguard/Sentinel hybrid, i.e. I use a Gibbed save editor to switch between the two classes.

They are both half-biotic, with one using weapons and ammo, the other tech powers.  The Vanguard is offensive in biotics: raw power and force.  The Sentinel is support in biotics: combo's and DOT.  Biotics, regardless of type and application, use amps, so I don't see it as too far a stretch to think that my Shepard can "tune" his amp to suit the mission at hand.

 

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To answer the question of why a non-biotic Shepard can use a biotic bonus power, my best educated guess is the fact that biotics are different for each biotic individual.  I believe that Shepard is a biotic, or at least biotic-capable, and the class/bonus power you choose determines just how much they've tapped into their biotics.

 

My Vanguard uses Barrier in ME2 (Suicide mission, I am going to survive) and Flare in ME3 (Raw power, to tell the Reapers to get off my lawn!)

 - weapons are a supplement, i.e. biotics "break down the door" and weapons clear the room.

My Sentinel uses Warp Ammo in both ME2 and ME3 (tech-minded precision applied to my biotic power to improve my ammunition)

 - tech abilities remove any advantage my enemies have, and then biotics deal the damage supplemented by weapons fire.

 

So for example, a Shepard who is a Soldier who focuses entirely on weapon use, but has a biotic bonus power, would only have that one power because they are entirely devoted and committed to using conventional weaponry.  The mental discipline and focus is present, but is simply applied onto something non-biotic.

 

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Long story short, Shepard can be any class, with any bonus power, because the potential is there.  We, the player, simply choose where to tap into it and how much.

ME1 because N7

ME2 because Lazarus Project (immediate)

ME3 because Lazarus Project (the cybernetics and enhancements are still there)

[Satele-Shan87]

My Elisha Shepard was a soldier at first but then became an infiltrator, realizing that the best way to overpower her adversaries was to strike from the shadows

[Belial]

You simply can't rationalize gameplay mechanics. If you try you'll end up with a bunch of questions like that: How do you rationalize Shepard getting a new face between ME2 and ME3? How do you rationalize Shepard being able to use Charge/Tactical Cloak/Drone etc right after waking up without learning how to do it? How do you rationalize squadmates forgetting how to use powers between games? etc etc

[Dantriges]

Or the medbay where you can retool them or you. Chakwas must be really hot with the knives or in case of ammo has a hidden stash of special ammunition which she just gives you.  

[KotorEffect3]

I never change classes when it comes to my Shepards.  I try to keep them as consitant as possible when it comes to their combat style from game to game.  Admittedly it gets tricky with some classes due to the overhall of the class and combat system between ME 1 and ME 2 since stuff like biotic charge, tactical cloak, and tech armor didn't exist in ME 1.  I found the transition from ME 2 to ME 3 to be much more constant since ME 3 still used the system ME 2 put in place and just added to it.

[Eleonora]

My canon Shepard is a soldier with a biotic power in every game (lift, reave, lash). It's just for fun, but I headcanon that she's a mediocre biotic who didn't receive biotic training but developed some biotic talents on her own.

She was recognised as a biotic and received an implant when she started military training (around 18 y/o), but didn't get the proper training because her powers weren't strong enough. She slowly developed biotic talents on her own, but due to her limitations, can only use one power at a time. She's still mostly committed to weaponry, though.

[CYRAX470]

With biotics, it could be feasible that the armor he wears has some sort of...biotic generator? The TV-5 battlesuit has biotic actuators to make it stronger. Could be possible that armor has offensive biotic abilities? 

[aoibhealfae]

Its merely a gameplay addition since people would get extremely pissed if they have to roll a new character just to change classes. I don't change class, my Shepard has always been a non-biotic Sniper. She just got better in subsequent sequels. 

 

At Noveria, you get a short quest about an Asari asking you to talk to a Binary Helix spokesman where you talk about military implants and enhancements. This in part explains how FemShep and Ashley seem to be physically stronger than everyone... even if they doesn't look like it.... like seriously, a small girl like her fighting a Yahg.

It made a lot of sense to me why she doesn't look buff. The N7 armor itself could have build-in strength enhancement and because of the reconstructive project, Shepard was technically half machine. Being a biotic seems overkill and hardly affect the narrative anyway since Biotic Shepard never had a cutscene that justify her awesomeness. 

[ThomasBlaine]

Its merely a gameplay addition since people would get extremely pissed if they have to roll a new character just to change classes.

 

This, especially considering how much individual classes change between the first and the second game, each one getting a radically different ability that really changes the gameplay. I actually have a sneaking suspicion that the option to change your class came about mostly because they thought everybody would want to be able to Charge with their imported non-Vanguard characters.

 

-> Is currently playing through ME2 as a Vanguard, albeit one that downplays Charge

 

As for rationale, Shepard is never stated in the first game not to have any biotic potential all, and the characteristical features of the L5x and L5n implants for post-Lazarus Adepts and Vanguards respectively are kept incredibly vague, so they might include some kind of compensation for not being properly trained. 

 

A not-particularly-technologically-inclined-though-still-trained Soldier might adopt a more tactical and careful fighting style after his "near-death" experience, an Engineer could conceivably wake up with a lot of excess aggression and take advantage of his/her new augmented physique to act as a more physical combatant, or go halfway and simply adopt stealth tactics instead of advancing his specialty, or abandon technological attacks to go on a power trip with the new biotic abilities. An Adept/Vanguard/Sentinel might have lost his/her biotic abilities as a glitch in the rebuilding process and had to rely on more traditional military training in whatever form.

 

Ultimately, all Shepards graduated the Interplanetary Combatives Training program with highest proficiency, as did Kaiden who is notably versatile and also changed his fighting style radically between games, so we can assume that every Shepard has at least fundamental training in all forms of combat including the broad strokes of how biotics work for purposes of combatting them and recognizing the capabilities and restrictions of biotic comrades.

 

No Engineer could possibly earn N7 rank without knowing how to fire guns properly, no Soldier would have passed up courses in the use of military tech, if those aren't mandatory, during training, and every class is canonically capable of shooting a bottle out of the air with a sniper rifle. Your class is just your chosen combat specialty, giving you a little leeway to adapt Shepard's approach between games.

[KotorEffect3]

funny thing is I always deliberately choose to miss the bottle if I am playing as something other than an infiltrator or soldier.  Also the reaction from Garrus is pretty funny.

[Iakus]

Well, there's always the "It's science fiction, just go with it" excuse 

[ThomasBlaine]

Well, there's always the "It's science fiction, just go with it" excuse 

 

For once that excuse is actually semi-valid. Every single one of the new class abilities in ME2 comes from some kind of technology or upgrade that Shepard just didn't have in the first game, from biotic prototype implants to the "ocular synaptic processors" that Soldiers are outfitted with during the Lazarus project.

[Neverwinter_Knight77]

I rationalize my ME1 infiltrator becoming an ME2 vanguard by the people of the Lazarus project finding about Shepard's inherent but unused telekinetic ability, enhancing it, and giving him an implant. Now, why didn't Shep become a sentinel instead of a vanguard? Because I figure his tech skills involve... knowing a few DOS commands at best.

I try to keep my bonus powers believable. My vanguard has Barrier. My soldier has fortification. Adept has Flare. Infiltrator has Defense Matrix (or Geth Shield Boost). The latter is rationalized by her having very advanced armor, which also has a built-in tactical cloak. I like to believe that my vanguard Shep uses Barrier more than any other biotic power, because he's based on me, and I'd be more focused on creating a bullet shield than say, creating those weak biotic shockwaves.

[ThomasBlaine]

I try to keep my bonus powers believable. My vanguard has Barrier. My soldier has fortification. Adept has Flare. Infiltrator has Defense Matrix (or Geth Shield Boost). The latter is rationalized by her having very advanced armor, which also has a built-in tactical cloak. I like to believe that my vanguard Shep uses Barrier more than any other biotic power, because he's based on me, and I'd be more focused on creating a bullet shield than say, creating those weak biotic shockwaves.

 

Agreed. The Vanguard class is all about using biotics to enhance what is essentially a front-line soldier, rather than relying on them for long-range tactical advantage like the Adept and Sentinel do. Heavily reinforcing your shield would be a very practical use. Any soldier, stealth-specialist or tech expert with biotic potential might even develop it towards just one particular "trick" that would synergize well with their normal fighting style rather than train their biotics to the point of becoming their main approach to combat at the cost of conventional military training. That would especially make sense for soldiers who have discovered and developed their biotic abilities late in life, like Shepard did.

[The Real Pearl #2]

*It's a game...lol