Questions and experiences from a new ME2 player that decided against all compiled wisdom to play a Vanguard, on
INSANITY, as my
FIRST ME2 playthrough...
I've been reading about and watching vids of the classes in ME2 for a while now. I finally purchased the game off of Amazon when they had the 360 version on sale for $40 (yes, i wish i was playing on PC but my ME1 save files for transfer are already on my 360). As eager as I was to play it, I set it aside to finish up my ME1 Vanguard's 3 playthroughs first (and i did get him to lvl 60). While finishing that ME1 Vanguard in whatever little free time I had, I read and watched tons of info on ME2 classes during down-time at work. Including in that study was reading this thread, the linked Tactical Vanguard thread, and watching almost all linked videos.
Finally it was time to import my character and start ME2. The ME2 Vanguard certainly looked the most fun to play, but I also read that it was unwise to play said class on a first playthrough, especially on Insanity. Well I had already decided that my first playthrough was going to be on Insanity because hell, I wanted the challenge, and have seen plenty of videos of people charging through it successfully (though dangerously) with smart tactics.
Whoa, I can certainly see why people say it's best to play an Insanity Vanguard on subsequent playthroughs, so one would already have knowledge of the battles and their locations. Still I like the challenge, and don't mind saving often and repeating most battle instances a couple times before proceeding. The first battle I got stuck for a bit too long was on the way to Mordin, the room with all the Vorcha and a couple Krogan spawns. I always got through most of them fine, but I would always end up thinking that there was only a couple left, charging a straggler only to he was near a damn Pyro that was hiding behind the center structure for the entire damn fight (and some how, numerous nearby Warp Explosions through the fight never damaged them). Though I reloaded that more than I like, I was still learning a bit of the feel of the game so it was fine.
Anyway, I recruited Zaaed, recruited Mordin, and recruited Garrus. My Shepard at this point has 1 Incendiary Ammo, 4 Heavy Charge, and 3 Champion. My upgrades are Damage Proctection, Skin Weave, Shotgun, and 2 Heavy Weapon Ammo. I'm carrying the Evi.
Next I decided, lets go to Purgatory and get Jack... My first mistake was bring Mordin and Garrus instead of Miranda and Garrus. I knew that going in but I like Mordin and his skills. I figured Garrus's Area Overload would be enough for the shields, Mordin's Incinerate Blast for armor or to just put the hurt on a group after removing their shields, and I like using Cyro Blast. In particular, I like using Area Overload on two clumped Mercs (which brings their shields down to a sliver), putting a bullet into one of them, then using Cryo Blast on him while charging the other Merc near him (keeps me safe). Cyro Blast is also good when I want to Heavy Charge a Merc but he has just half his health left (shatters the Merc instead of just sending him flying away to safety).
What I don't like is having a few hours to play last night figuring I'd recuit Jack and then some but end up so stuck that I still have to finish it tonight! That second room, the one with no prisoners, just lots of Blue Suns Troopers, Legionaires, and a YMIR. I was stuck on it for hours! Now a lot of the times it was me getting halfway through the fight, getting impatient at how slow of a pace I had been going, and getting to aggressive. I did finally get through it, with liberal use of the Arc Projector, but there are still some things I just don't get after having watched numerous Insanity Vanguard vids.
First; how is it that I see in so many vids, a Vanguard on Insanity charging into a guy with two or more of his buddies standing there, and yet still killing all of them before dying (though I admit the player is usually close to death afterward)? Even though that group is usually already softened up a little to only need one shot each, still when I try to do the same, I'm dead before I can get the third shot off usually. I'll get one, maybe two, but usually killed by the third. Maybe it because of late-game upgrades in some of those vids, but in the Nexolek's Jacking up Purgatory part 1, he does that very thing into a group of four in the hallway before getting to the room where you release Jack, on NEW GAME+ Insanity (so he had the same upgrades as me at the point, but better skills though supposed to be much tougher enemies).
Second; how do you all handle your squad-mates positioning on Insanity? There are lots of vids were I don't see placement arrows nearly as often as I need to use them. My squad-mates love to get themselves killed something ridiculous. Even when I place them behind a piece of cover, they will pop-out and stay shooting while multiple enemies shoot them to death half the time. It's gotten to the point where I stick them in cover somewhere in the beginning of the room and leave them there so they don't get killed. That way I had access to their powers, but they weren't drawing any enemy fire or shooting anyway. It's almost impossible to constantly tell them each piece of cover they should be moving to while I'm charging all over the place into flanking positions. Of course, some of it may be because I can't seem to successfully play aggressively enough to draw enemy attention away from them, which brings me to my next point...
Am I supposed to be hiding in cover shooting with my Pistol/SMG more often than charging? Most of the time I'm stuck behind cover, whittling away at a cluster of Mercs because there are too many of them together to charge without getting killed (read: 3 or more). Don't get me wrong, I know that's why I have those weapons and I'm not looking to charge only, but damn it takes me 15 mins to get through a battle you guys get through in your vids in 3-5 mins.
Modifié par Simbacca, 07 avril 2010 - 07:02 .
Retour en haut
. Don't worry, I'll keep my head up. I'm getting all the challenge I bargained for and more by selecting Vanguard Insanity as my first playthrough. I'm definitely having fun and will be playing this game numerous times. 
