Having played Soldier first, Infiltrator second and then Vanguard on third playthrough all on Hardcore difficulty... no, I don't think they ruined Vanguards. I also played Vanguards in ME1, and while effective they felt too... cookie cutter to me. It's pretty much a Soldier with biotics, which wasn't bad, but not terribly interesting to me either.
Vanguards on ME2 on the other hand are truly the definition of "high-risk high-reward" that's been touted since its reveal. It's true that you may die a lot when using the Vanguard, but as with all of ME2's classes most times one dies as a Vanguard because of mistakes they make, rather than anything particularly wrong with the class. If you attempt to Charge a group of 3 or more attackers in an open space with no nearby cover of course you're going to get killed.If you use Shockwave on a group of people with defenses then obviously it's not going to do much. But use Charge on a lone enemy behind cover on the rear lines and you can outflank enemy forces much easier, and in conjunction with using anti-armor abilities like Incendiary Ammo, Shockwave is pretty good against hordes, like Husks, which I have difficulty dealing with as other classes.
Vanguards in ME2 are most effective when played with tactical thinking in mind, and once someone does get a hang of the Vanguard playstyle you can actually clear out alot of battles much, much faster than with a Soldier or Infiltrator due to the combination of speed using biotic Charge with the high damage from its abilities + shotguns - I was rather shocked myself when I discovered I could finish battles in a quarter of the time with the proper tactics compared to Soldiers or Infiltrators. For example, for Archangel's recruitment mission I actually managed to close the right door shutter simply by using charge on the Vorcha at the very rear, killing him with a shotgun blast and running for the shutter, which took me less than a minute. As with everything a Vanguard does, it's a risky move, and would've killed me had I hit a snag from an enemy or something else, but the immense satisfaction from pulling off such a move is something I hardly feel from Soldiers or Infiltrators. And you can't simply use your guns and biotics as a Vanguard: you have to basically use every single advantage you have, like melee. In fact, melee is one of the Vanguard's best friends, since you'll be spending a lot of time up close and personal with your enemy, and it allows you to offset the reload/firing time of the shotgun (no, I am not talking about the reload trick mentioned many times here, which I have never successfully done in any of my playthroughs). The combination of Charge, then shoot, then melee, followed up by either another shot or another melee bash is a very powerful combination that kills alot of enemies fast (it's fun killing Krogans up close with that particular combo).
Of course there are situations that Vanguards are bad at: like enemies located in places that Biotic charge can't reach, like verandas or perches where they can simply rain down fire on you. However, that's why you adapt your tactics to match: I haven't found an enemy that was unreachable by charge that couldn't be reached by my Heavy Pistol or my squadmate's abilities. It's not like all the other classes don't have their deficiencies either (for example getting flanked in melee as an Infiltrator).
Hence the essence of the Vanguard: It's a bit harder to play than the other classes, but once you get the hang of it the initial frustration is rewarded many times over by the sheer power you dish out on your enemies and how fast you can kill them. It's also fun being able to zip around the battlefield like Superman using biotic charge, something you can't really replicate with the other classes.
Modifié par LoweGear, 23 février 2010 - 04:00 .
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