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Ok.. so way back when Mass Effect first started I was one of the first to get all hyped cause Knights of the Old Republic is probably one of my all-time favorite games.

When I finally got Mass Effect a couple of months after it's release, I dove right in.... but then, about, oh, 40% in... just stopped playing. It was a combination of life getting into my game-playing time and just plain not being in the mood.

Now it's been.. what, a year and a half? And I haven't played Mass Effect again since. I've even finished quite a few other games afterwards.

But I really want to get into it again... I just can't get myself to pick it up where I left off... so I'm thinking I should just say "screw it", erase my last save and just start again from the beginning..... but I can't get myself to do that yet either.

I think part of the reason it didn't quite capture me like, say, KotoR did, is that I chose a sort of boring class or something. I don't even remember WHAT class I chose, but I don't remember it being very fun...

So I turn to you, Halforums, what's the best initial combination of gender/class/whatever to first get into the game, the most fun one that will make me a fan of the game again? Or what else can I do so I can get back into the game and not just have the game disc rotting in my shelf?

I played through as a soldier (boring) and as an infiltrator (awesome). I have yet to try playing through as a biotic centered character, that may be fun too.

Just keep in mind that ME2 will allow you to use your existing savegames and the story will change based on how you played through ME1, so it's a good time to replay it and make a character that you really want to play.

I just recently finished the Infiltrator/Renegade run through and I really poked around the corners instead of rushing through the main storyline and it added probably 75% more to the game than the first time I ran it through as a soldier/paragon.

So Infiltrator/Renegade is a better way to go at it?

Also.. good or evil path? In the hooking-you-to-the-game factor.

By renegade, I was referring to the "evil" path. Infiltrator is the class.

It was much fun, but I love sniping.

GAMES. FORUM.

I use the new post button, so I never know what subforum these threads are in.

Keep in mind that every ally you gain is a different class too, featuring a combination of the three fields (Combat/Biotics/Electronics). The female characters are all specialized whereas the male characters have a half-and-half mix of two of these.

It might help to know who you eventually wanna party with and complement their abilities.

but... I don't remember much about the game... let's say it's my first playthrough ever.. what's the best class/alignment combo for a ME newbie?

It's an RPG made by Bioware. That should be enough.

Edit: best combo I found was to be a straight soldier and keep Liara with you for the biotics and Tali for the tech. After you unlock certain achievements for using powers a certain number of times, you can choose them as part of your character build regardless of what class you start with. So, start a biotic and simply sit somewhere and spam the biotic powers until you get the achievemnt. Then, you can be a straight soldier w/ access to singularity or one of the others as well.

Bowielee said:

By renegade, I was referring to the "evil" path. Infiltrator is the class.

It was much fun, but I love sniping.

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That's pretty much the route I took the first playthough.

Oh, and Shego, You should be happy to know that I used Wrex all the way through this time instead of getting him killed off.

My first playthrough, I didn't add any points to my intimidation or charm skills, so there was no way for me to save him the first time around.

So...soldier is more fun than, say, an adept?

It depends on your playstyle, really. I'm a shoot first and ask questions only when I get a game over screen type player, so soldier was fun for me.

Thinking back, I think I chose the class that's a mix of Soldier and Adept, forgot the actual name. I usually like these sort of fighter/magic user mixes.. I had the same sort of character in KotoR, usually... but I think that particularly in Mass Effect I found the "force" powers (biotics, I think) to not be... as fun. Especially contrasted with the Force powers in KotoR.

Was that cause I just didn't give it enough time to gain the cooler powers, or is that the case with ME, just... boring powers?

Calleja said:

Thinking back, I think I chose the class that's a mix of Soldier and Adept, forgot the actual name. I usually like these sort of fighter/magic user mixes.. I had the same sort of character in KotoR, usually... but I think that particularly in Mass Effect I found the "force" powers (biotics, I think) to not be... as fun. Especially contrasted with the Force powers in KotoR.

Was that cause I just didn't give it enough time to gain the cooler powers, or is that the case with ME, just... boring powers?

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Actually, if you do at least half the side quests, you can get all the powers available and have them mostly upgraded to max.

I went with pure guns, I think the only "powers" I had were barrier and some kind of self-heal.

But isn't going to pure guns just make the game a sort of intellectual Gears of War?

To me, Mass Effect was everything Gears wasn't. It was enjoyable with characters I liked. The character side-plot lines were a nice backstory for each one (if you chose to find them) and the fact that my team-mates were TECH and BIOTICS, it really made us a well rounded and strong team.

Ok, I see what you mean. My hesitance from just going soldier, though, stems from the idea that it would just simplify the whole combat system into a straight up third person shooter. Is it not the case?

That and Wrex very rarely bust into



in Mass Effect.

Calleja said:

Ok, I see what you mean. My hesitance from just going soldier, though, stems from the idea that it would just simplify the whole combat system into a straight up third person shooter. Is it not the case?

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It does, in some aspects, but there are TECH and BIOTICS to back you up. I think the fact that I don't normally play third person shooters that I had no problems doing it in ME.

With a soldier, it's pretty much direct yourself towards the bad guys and shoot, use abilities as necessary.

I focused on my Tech abilities with my infiltrators. Being able to fry their shields and overload their weapons made most fights too easy.

Yeah, once I leveled up to 60 and got the best guns possible and the best heat sinks possible put in it, I could fire my assault rifle for several minutes straight without over heating.

I played around with a few different classes, before going with pure Soldier for my first run through the game. I highly recommend this.

Soldier gives you the firepower needed to make you a confident badass saving the galaxy. Being a pure soldier doesn't mean you won't be using skills, because soldiers have their own skills, and you'll still need to use the tech and biotic skills of your teammates (which you use as if they're your own, just they perform the action instead of you).

Soldier/Liara/Tali is pretty much the most badass (and best looking) team around.

Fuck Ashley.

As for renegade/paragon... I went with the war-hero backstory, and started trying to be renegade. But... everyone looked up to me man... I was peer pressured into being the boyscout they expected. I felt awesome doing it.

Save Wrex for your second playthrough, when you can fully appreciate how much he rocks.

I ran it as Infiltrator every playthrough, as it's just such a useful class and good use of cover makes pistols, grenades and sniping amazing for clearing a room. Using Liara and Ashley for some backup power made it pretty simple, and being able to open pretty much every locked chest meant lots and lots of great equipment.

I went Paragon as well, and I think colonist for my background.

Last playthrough I was a colonist, I believe. Ended up with just a few paragon points, but almost completely renegade. I kept Wrex and Garrus with me most of the time.

Also, if you have the Bring Down the Sky DLC and you're going with Infiltrator, Do the Bring Down the Sky mission ASAP. I got the best omni tool in the game as soon as I got control of the Normandy to fly to other planets. I had such a shortened cooldown on my tech abilities, I was able to take out most baddies with just Overload and Sabotage.

I usually play as an Adept. Once you get a decent biotic implant and a few of those armour modules which decrease cooldown times, you become virtually unstoppable. You can juggle Lift and Singularity, Throw people across the room, and generally stop anyone doing anything. That's not even counting going Bastion and using the upgraded Stasis to basically kill anything without even trying.

Adept/Bastion is the stronget class out there. Mix it with the shotgun or the AR and you're godlike.

Infiltrator is fun (was also my 1st playthrough) but it really can't compare to an adept or a vanguard.

Biotics rule.

I've played:

Infiltrator
Vanguard
Adept
Soldier (MEH)
Sentinel with AR

Calleja said:

Thinking back, I think I chose the class that's a mix of Soldier and Adept, forgot the actual name. I usually like these sort of fighter/magic user mixes.. I had the same sort of character in KotoR, usually... but I think that particularly in Mass Effect I found the \"force\" powers (biotics, I think) to not be... as fun. Especially contrasted with the Force powers in KotoR.

Was that cause I just didn't give it enough time to gain the cooler powers, or is that the case with ME, just... boring powers?

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If you like fighter/magic users, go for the Vanguard class (looks like that's what you chose, though). The powers in the game aren't really spectacular (certainly not as extensive as Force powers in KOTOR), but I still got a kick out of them: Singularity was awesome (lifts up one target), the "Force Push" really helped out, Marksman turns you into a wrecking machine until it runs out, I liked using shotguns/Barrier to charge into battle.

To be honest, though, I found the combat to be the weakest part of Mass Effect. The firefights (though there were some notable exceptions) tended to feel either really easy or frustratingly difficult. Stick with it, though, and do the side missions. The game's storyline is AMAZING, and the side mission for my origin (I chose sole survivor/colonist, I think) is the only time a game has actually made me cry.

Yeah, I played that origin exactly once for that same reason. Wasn't expecting something like that to pop up.

Ok, I'm playing again, I went with Infiltrator.

I just got made a Specter... what's the best squad combo for an infiltrator? Wrex is a wrecking ball, so he sounds like a good tank while I snipe.. and then maybe Garrus for the balance of first aid but still holding himself? I tend to forget to protect my squishies when I'm sniping.

I was mostly in my "finished" game

Infiltrator/Liara (biotichs)/Tali (tech)

We tended to kill anything before it got within 30yrds outside and 10ft indoors.

Calleja said:

Ok, I'm playing again, I went with Infiltrator.

I just got made a Specter... what's the best squad combo for an infiltrator? Wrex is a wrecking ball, so he sounds like a good tank while I snipe.. and then maybe Garrus for the balance of first aid but still holding himself? I tend to forget to protect my squishies when I'm sniping.

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You don't really -need- garrus, since you have most tech abilities yourself, though there's certainly no harm in having more. Unless you're playing on super hard, first aid isn't needed. What you should do, however, is max out garrus's sniping skill, and give him your second best sniper rifle (while you use the best, of course).

Your only complaints will be that now you're fighting garrus for killshots. Everything within 30 miles of you will be dead. And anything that magically manages to get closer will have to deal with Wrex's shotgun.

That said... your other option is simply to use the characters you like best. As an infiltrator, you've got the unlocking of shit already covered, so the rest of your team is very flexible.

Are you sure NPC squad members actually use the sniper rifle? I remember giving Ashley a sniper rifle and lots of talent points in it, and she still wouldn't shoot anything unless she could see the whites of their eyes.

And I had tears in my eyes on Virmire. Several times.

Garrus is an extremely efficient sniper with a spectre rifle equipped. Dunno about ashley but i can't see why it would be any different

I'm getting my ass handed over to me by Benezia and her commandos. It's so weird, up until now all fights had been pretty much a breeze... and then, bam, they killed us the first time in seconds. Next time I was a bit more careful, got rid of the first wave and then BAM the second one obliterated Wrex in 10 seconds and me and Garrus soon followed.

I had to go play poker so I've onyl tried about 4 times, but man, I'm definitely doing something wrong, aren't I?

I just picked this up earlier this week and am playing through as a soldier (paragon) with Tali and Liara.

I just finished the Bring Down the Sky DLC last night and it was absolutely excellent.

Calleja said:

I'm getting my ass handed over to me by Benezia and her commandos. It's so weird, up until now all fights had been pretty much a breeze... and then, bam, they killed us the first time in seconds. Next time I was a bit more careful, got rid of the first wave and then BAM the second one obliterated Wrex in 10 seconds and me and Garrus soon followed.

I had to go play poker so I've onyl tried about 4 times, but man, I'm definitely doing something wrong, aren't I?

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I recall that fight being pretty easy. Just make sure that you use Overload and Sabotage as much as possible and take up a good sniping position.

Yeah, I got past it a couple of tries after I posted that. I didn't really use much sniping, though, everytime I thought I found a good position to snipe, I got thrown to hell by someone's biotic attack and then got my ass kicked pretty quickly after.

I just took cover and used my trusty pistol, techs and grenades. I think I need sniping tips, though, cause I find myself having to use the pistol more often than not on most battles.

I mixed up the pistol and the rifle a lot. Any time I'd usually pick off as many as I could at a distance, but if it fell into really close quarters, I switched to the pistol and popped Marksman.

A very strong pistol is a sniper's best friend next to their rifle.

I went Female/Soldier/Paragon/Liara/Tali/pistols during my favourite playthrough.

I called us Shephard's Angels.

I played a Vanguard Nemesis. Took a while to build up, but by the time I'd collected all the peeps and was continuing the plot, I was tossing whole groups up into the air at once and shotgunning them to death while they floated to the ground slowly.

Was pretty frackin' awesome and well worth the time it took to build him up.