14 réponses à ce sujet

[Matthias King]

So today I went to play a couple of MP matches and found the servers down, so I loaded up single player and ran a few matches in the Armax Arsenal.

 

I still play MP fairly regularly, but it was the first time I played SP in a long time. I had forgotten how absolutely godawful the squadmates are. I spent the majority of each match with both squadmates dead. And if I did revive them, they would usually die again within seconds, and this was on normal difficulty.

 

ME2 was the same way. Even on normal. On Insanity I basically solo'd every section because my squadmates would be dead within seconds of the start of every engagement.

 

And now I was reminded that ME3 was no better. I sincerely hope that the next game gives us better partner AI, and perhaps enhanced squadmate health and shield stats, just so they're not constantly dead.

 

I'll be surprised if Bioware actually does anything about it when it comes down to it, but one can still hope.

[Ahglock]

I want to solo things so crappy AI works. I kind of wish that was in the options with party power usage. Party incompetent-super soldier slider.

[N7Jamaican]

I would love for solo missions. I mean in ME1, there were times I had to clear a room by myself because if I don't micromanage my squadmates, they are too inept to do anything. In ME2, I didn't even bother. As I watched squadmates charge into a firefight with no regard for their lives.  Then in ME3, watching Garrus take on a Cerberus Turret and refusing to retreat to cover when I ordered him to make it so.

[Dalakaar]

My Winfiltrator took the solo approach and it worked.

 

My Adept took a different route though. Went through primarily with Javik and Garrus, using their squad powers was a pretty hefty increase to my biotic explosions/Tech Bursts (Garrus-Overload was handy). Typically I played on Hardcore/Veteran but after some time in MP on Platinum and with that set up Insanity even felt a bit underwhelming. One trick I used to see who my squadmates were targeting with their weapons was to equip both of them with the PPR. Two large green beams acted as a dead giveaway for what my squad was doing.

 

The AI wasn't great, but I did find by keeping them a bit behind and in good cover let them last a while. Having those green beams to help keep my eye on their positioning helped out a lot too.

[Matthias King]

When I try to keep them in cover, on the rare occasions where they actually go where I told them to go to begin with, they get into cover, then immediately get right back out and start suicidally charging the enemy again like complete and utter morons.

 

Then there's the stagger effect, where they get staggered by something and they don't know what to do, and end up dead within seconds.

 

I personally don't like soloing. I would prefer that if the squadmates are there, they actually stay alive and help.

[DaemionMoadrin]

I never had problems with my squadmates because 90% of the time I ignored them. I usually killed everything before they had a chance to get hurt. Very easy as Vanguard but any class can do it. If they do die though... well, that's what medigel is for. Rarely directed their powers but I made sure they were using the proper weapon for the situation and I usually upgraded their defenses first.

 

Personally I'd run most missions solo if I could, I just keep the squad around for banter and additional dialogue options.

[Xen]

I never had problems with my squadmates because 90% of the time I ignored them. I usually killed everything before they had a chance to get hurt. Very easy as Vanguard but any class can do it. If they do die though... well, that's what medigel is for. Rarely directed their powers but I made sure they were using the proper weapon for the situation and I usually upgraded their defenses first.

 

Personally I'd run most missions solo if I could, I just keep the squad around for banter and additional dialogue options.

Don't ignore them entirely because they are useful for some things. Hotkety their best multiprimer/detonator and use them to steal ammo powers your class doesn't have. You'll be able to kill everything even faster when you can have detonations in the middle of your own combos literally ever 2 seconds, and you needn't slow down the game by bringing up that silly power wheel to do it. One of my favourites (Tali+Ashley) gives you a tech primer and detonator every 5-6 seconds in ED and CS respectively (ED also detonates on shields/toasters obviously), along with an ammo power and brokenly overpowered singleplayer Sabotage (rank 6 is 100% more tech damage rather than only 50%).

Playing any bioitic kit with Liara (other squadmate doesn't really matter) also makes the game into a complete joke due to being able to spam a hitscan singularity (and thus an extremely powerful BE) every 2 seconds. 

[von uber]

I have never given a single order to a squad mate - apart from getting them to stand somewhere for a screenshot.
There's 1) no need to as the game isn't that hard on pc 2) the a.I. is moronic 3) I headcanon that they are independant people doing their own thing, good or bad.
That usually means I end up soloing an area and they get up off the floor afterwards, but it's no real issue. They are only along for the dialogue anyway.

[Ahglock]

^. This. I've even turn off squad powers so they really do nothing in a futile attempt to artificially up the challenge. But on a more RP run I just let them go as they see fit. They are individuals, NPCs, I only control the PC

[Xen]

^. This. I've even turn off squad powers so they really do nothing in a futile attempt to artificially up the challenge. But on a more RP run I just let them go as they see fit. They are individuals, NPCs, I only control the PC

That works up until the point when you conclude that they must all be retarded people because Tali is pulverizing a wall with buckshot, Ashley is doing nothing but sitting behind cover mesmerized by her omnitool because she tried to use Marksman, James is dead because he tried to melee a banshee and got an unwanted hug in return, Kaidan is cryo blasting swarmers, Javik is attempting to pull/slam an Atlas and Garrus is overloading a Brute. Then it breaks the immersion (these being supposedly not only competent but exceptional soldiers according to characterization) even more than simply ordering them around in a semi competent fashion would.

Liara being an incomptent spaz due to zero combat training would sort of make sense in character, so she's the only one who gets a free pass there.

[Ahglock]

Hey I'm an equal opportunity employer. Even people with special needs can fight for me.

[PresidentVorchaMasterBaits]

SHOULD MAKE SP CO-OP SO OTHER FRIENDS CAN PLAY AS SQUADMATES WITH YOU!! MIGHT BE FUN!! GRRAAAAAAAGHH!!!!

[DaemionMoadrin]

That works up until the point when you conclude that they must all be retarded people because Tali is pulverizing a wall with buckshot, Ashley is doing nothing but sitting behind cover mesmerized by her omnitool because she tried to use Marksman, James is dead because he tried to melee a banshee and got an unwanted hug in return, Kaidan is cryo blasting swarmers, Javik is attempting to pull/slam an Atlas and Garrus is overloading a Brute. Then it breaks the immersion (these being supposedly not only competent but exceptional soldiers according to characterization) even more than simply ordering them around in a semi competent fashion would.

Liara being an incomptent spaz due to zero combat training would sort of make sense in character, so she's the only one who gets a free pass there.

 

See, they are never that bad in my games. Maybe that's a PC thing?

 

If I do stay back and let them at the enemy, then they aren't doing all that bad. Kasumi actually does really great as long as you don't leave her alone with some boss. Sure, they'd never win most of the fights on their own but once they have a reasonable level/gear, they can take care of 75% of the mooks. That's in line with their supposed skills.

[Lyrandori]

Don't hold your breath for "good A.I.".

 

If there's one 'branch' of video gaming development that barely evolved since the early 2000s it's definitely A.I. (especially in action games, be it first or third person). There's always a few exceptions here and there of course. But the majority of games suffering from awful A.I. is unfortunately the industry standard. I'm not sure as to why exactly, of course, I'm no A.I. coder, but I do experience and observe horrible A.I. as a gamer. Perhaps A.I. coders cost too much? Perhaps past generation consoles' CPUs weren't fast enough for "good A.I."? (although that one doesn't make much sense, since there ARE some exceptions that date back to early 2000s back when the best we had was the PS2 and the first XBOX). Perhaps A.I. coders need too much time during development (I.E. it's too time-consuming to program A.I.), therefor games are always released before the coders have actual time to do something good? Maybe there's a touch of laziness thrown in there somewhere?

 

Regardless of the reasons though, all I know is I won't actually expect it. I do wish for good A.I. but really, I just don't expect it (it's just not the norm in the industry to expect it, but it's definitely a good surprise when we do have it from time to time).

[afgncaap7]

Every now and then Grunt was able to soak up just enough damage to draw some attention away from me, but yeah, squadmates were pretty much just extra power slots.

​Another thing I hate about the squadmates is how they're represented in gameplay. Jack is supposed to be this super awesome biotic wrecking ball but instead she pews things with a pistol and occasionally uses pull and shockwave. Thane and Kasumi are supposed to be masters of stealth and sabotage yet they just do the same run and gun routine as everybody else. I don't mind the shooter mechanics we use as the playable character but I don't think squadmates with such unique in-universe skill sets should be restricted to the same rules as us.

​I'd like to see a Mass Effect where our squadmates contribution isn't determined by what powers they have to choose from but rather what KIND of unit they are. Imagine if Jack didn't even bother bringing a weapon into gameplay and instead fought exclusively as a biotic powerhouse who would charge straight into a crowd of mooks and send them flying across the map. Imagine if Thane didn't even follow you around but instead lurked in the shadows or in places you couldn't even reach yourself and delivered crushing and crippling blows to elite targets that could otherwise soak up tons of damage. Sure this would be a lot harder to program and balance, but imagine the potential if squadmates could actually fight in gameplay the same way they're presented as fighting in any cutscene made specifically for them.