So we're finally here, Mass effect 3 is soon out, and with it comes the multiplayer that will be swarmed by new and old players as well as the demo "veterans"...and I think it can only be a good thing if we exchanged various tips on how to survive and make a meaningful contribution to the team.
I mean we are all playing the singleplayer too, right? And as such we all want the match to be a success to add to our own result in the singleplayer? Besides, it's co-op, we're supposed to help each other.
Anyway, my experience comes from roughly 100 successful N7 missions, mostly silver, where I usually (9/10 times) end up at the top in points among my team...which doesn't matter one jot, why? Because in the end the experience we all made is mashed together and we all get to share it. This means that it's not a competition and that there's no such thing as "killstealing", if you end up killing a guy I've nearly slain I won't begrudge you, I'll happily take my +200 assist and continue, the aim is to get to the end of the match after all, right?
Anyway, I mostly just shift between engineer, sentinel, infiltrator and soldier, so my tips and tricks might not be the ultimate thing for vanguard or adept, but I feel most classes share some general traits, as well as the fact that working together is a vital part of surviving to the extraction.
And since I'm no tactical mastermind I'm sure some of you will impart greater wisdom on everything I touch upon as well as what I've missed.
With that said, I'll go into some general tips, on weapon and powers, then enemy specific (which of course is only Cerberus, who knows how we will have to adapt versus other foes...though I can already advice you to stay at an arm's reach from hordes of husks unless you know what you're doing)
General tips:
Stay together: as in keep at least within a reasonable range of one another so you can revive one another if one gets downed or assist by catching enemies in a crossfire. Infiltrators can be a bit more loose with this, they don't have to be on the other side of the map, but it doesn't hurt to stay further away, due to their cloak infiltrators are almost better off at a place where friendlies won't get the enemy distracted, instead s/he can lead them around with clever flanking shots and moving cloaked, drawing off contingements of enemies from the main battle line.
Don't be afraid to move: The enemy are more numerous, more powerful(if they get to put all their weight into it) and sluggish. You are special forces, you can move faster then they simply due to a willingness to move, hit them with powers and shoot them all you want, but if it's getting dangerous there's no shame in relocating and taking them on from a different direction and let them get spread out during their pursuit.
So if you're being boxed in, don't fight, run! There's no reason for you to give your life for little return when there's only four of you, instead you flee, regroup and take the enemy on fresh, reloaded and with full shields. When escaping powers like tech armour, adrenaline rush and cloak are useful powers to activate, since they will make you tougher or simply difficult to hit, survival is vital.
Watch the flanks! Okay, so you and your team is together and wreaking havoc on the enemy army advancing into the open, but wait, why did two teammates just die? And why is a phantom's sword descending on your neck? Really, when in a firefight, even more so if you didn't stay together, it doesn't hurt to check left and right, say while reloading. That way you can stay aware of where your teammates are, what they're doing, and if any enemy is creeping up on you.
Keep options. The white level is the best example of what I mean here, most players seem to congregate around the centre, mostly because they that way can get quick kills on the enemy when they appear. Some argue this is wrong, that you might instead move to a corner or a small room up north for better protection, I disagree. I'm not so much concerned about getting early kills (though slaying those appearing on the platform before they can even deploy is a good way to ease the pressure early on) but by the fact that you from there have four different directions to move in. You can therefore retreat or advance at any direction to avoid or put pressure on the enemy forces, so the central location is good for this very reason, not as a fortress, but as a place to better react to the enemy.
Objectives and revives: The best objective grabbers and medics are without a doubt the infiltrators, simply because if they've cloaked enemies almost never target them, meaning you can run up at even a friend surrounded by enemies and revive him or her without issue. But if you're not an infiltrator you should be more careful and ensure that the area is at least somewhat bereft of enemies before you decide to start hacking an objective or reviving friend. (Watch for turrets! If a friend is killed by a turret you should go after it first, not sit down next to your friend and get turned to swiss cheese as well!)
Rockets: Your rockets that you love using against Atlases? Hold on to them, treasure them! You have 2 each mission, and killing the first atlas appearing is a waste, the last 2-3 waves is where it gets really hectic and you then WANT these rockets to take out those monsters along with any supportive infantry.
Medigel: You don't have to use it the instant you're down, wait, try to keep yourself alive but not up, and hope someone comes to help you out. Heck, if it's just at the end of the wave and your team is doing well you can even allow yourself to bleed out instead of wasting a medigel pack that migth be vital in a later wave.
Weapons and powers:
Now, with the weight system in ME3 we have the issue that the more weapons you carry, the heavier the load, the slower the recovery of your powers, and all classes need their powers at some point.
With that in mind many of those playing nowadays pick one weapon and use it all the time, instead of the allowed two, this to increase the recovery time, that at max can be at 200%.
As such the submachineguns might look like a poor man's assault rifle, but bear in mind that sometimes a well timed overload is far more useful then a slightly heavier shot. I for one try to keep near or higher then the 150% mark with my sentinel, engineer and infiltrator (with the soldier I'm more generous, simply because concussive shot recharges so fast, and the Krogan manages quite well with fortification on along with a big gun) so I can swiftly regain the ability to use my powers, and therefore better handle the enemy.
In fact, thinking about keeping a synergy between weapons and powers can really help. Take the Quarian Engineer, she has no overload, but both incinerate and cryo blast are powers best used on unshielded enemies, as such my quarian uses the tempest SMG (not an assault rifle, remember, recharge of your powers is vital, especially for a power-heavy character like the engineer) that has a fast firing rate, meaning you can shave the enemy shield off pretty swiftly.
Mixing what powers you use with those of your teammates is also a great way to gain a greater efficiency, which is why a mixed team does better then a team of four soldiers or the like Overload is a great way to send the enemy shields down, mix that with a singularity and an adept and engineer can really clean house together, add a Sentinel with throw and you can send entire enemy squads flying.
And a final thing about weapons (I have more, but really, can't make this longer or I'll go crazy with myself), don't be afraid to experiment with them. Before I used to loathe the tempest I mentioned above, it was painfully innaccurate for me...then I tried shooting with it while 'in' cover...and it was suddenly as accurate as the shuriken, so test them thouroughly before you discard a weapon as useless.
Enemies:
Assault troopers: Okay, so they're not the toughest bunch out there, nor do they pack all that much of a punch. But there's many of them and each one is able to toss those annoying grenades you do NOT want to be near when they blow. All I can say is that their numbers can sometimes be a bit of a problem, especially in the first waves since they are in the majority, kill as many as you can as they deploy and it's less of a hassle dealing with them.
They also have a stunstick close combat attack that they use when up close, when they do, don't be afraid to give them a light (tap) close combat attack, it will make them stagger backwards and interrupt their attack.
Centurions: Now here's an annoying enemy, basically an assault trooper with a better gun and shields, but they can also toss smoke grenades, which annoy the crap out of us who are so eager to shoot them. You CAN see through the smoke at spots, somewhat, but it's little comfort since the enemy seems to see right through it, and will punish you severely if you think you're safe behind the smoke. Instead try to move a bit to the side and you can probably get a proper line of sight at the enemies.
As with the assault troopers, the centurions have stunsticks, but while their shields are up my above advice is fairly useless, they will shrug it off and then proceed to knock your shield down with that baton of theirs, then probably try to probe you with it, those evil bastards...
Nemesis: A sniper with a shield, takes your shield in one shot. However, they take a few moments to line their shots up, and you're warned by the sound as well as the light, so duck into cover, or if you're running in the open (As a rule I'd say: Don't get caught in the open like that, against anything.) then you can often dodge it by a quick roll or the like. You can also, if you know where they are, simply shoot them when they pop up to take a shot at you, if you knock their shields out you can stagger them, interrupting their shot, alternatively a power like overload or energy drain will also stagger them.
The nemesis does have a personal space issue, so she (it? They sound mechanical) will start running away if you get close to them, which can be very annoying since they're supprisingly swift when they get going. Taping it with a light attack can stagger her, which sets you up for a heavy close combat attack, alternatively to unload a lot of shots into her, either way, get close, make her stagger, then kill her, it's a formula that seems to work for me, at least.
Guardians: Oh how I loathe them. They have a semi-powerful gun and that shield makes them annoyingly good at avoiding damage if you don't have a steady aim (which most do, but sometimes stuff just goes wrong, don't deny it, and since dying is bad for the team, I'd say these guys are more dangerous then some give them credit for) or something like the widow or armour piercing bullets. (Or so I've heard, I've yet to test it.)
Shockwave, frag grenade and the like knocks the shield away for enough time for you to kill them though, and you can kill them from the front both by shooting their arm, feet or simply nailing their head through the slit in the shield. Due to their guns being a bit more dangerous up close (and that shield bash is just annoying) I'd advice most to kill them at a distance though.
You can also deploy a combat drone, defense turrett or similar behind them, this will cause the Guardians to turn to attack it, opening their backs to you. Stasis makes them drop the shield, and pull pulls it out of their grasp, which is another way to make the shield a non-issue.
And there's also teamwork, if one squadmate is running around them while the other stays put the Guardian will be open to being shot at the back whoever he turns to face.
In fact, I make it a rule to always shoot at Guardians facing away from me, no matter how far away they are. Why? Because if they're facing away from me it means they're facing someone else, and I bet that someone would appreciate that those advancing towers would disappear...
Engineer: Basically an assault trooper with a shield, and also the hated turret strapped to his back. The engineer is a top priority before he's deployed his turret, you want those things gone, and destroying them before they're deployed is the easiest way. If you've shot down the shield of the engineer you can actually shoot the turret strapped to his back and make it explode, nearly killing him in the process. I've also noted that it's vulnerable during his deployment animation, you can shoot it and make it explode in his face, killing both.
Once the Turrett is deployed though, it's a different issue. It will carve you up the moment it starts firing, so take cover, knock its shields out with overload or shooting, then start attacking its armour. Now a turret will fire at you when you appear, and then keep firing when you're in cover, at a point it stops though, perhaps to reload, this is when you appear to start tearing its shields and armour up, but don't stray too far from cover since the turret will soon start firing once more.
Atlas: It's a walking tank, shooting rockets, and cannon-shots that all rip shields and flesh apart. Yes, it's slow, and yes you can run rings around it and wear it down, but it's not there to actually kill you, for Cerberus it's a bonus when it does, but what it IS there for is to make you keep your head down, for you to concentrate your attention and firepower on it.
That way that horde of ants around it will appear next to you, now the size of some gleefull assault troopers willing to shoot and beat you to death. So unless you're being cornered by an Atlas (didn't I say we should stay mobile and with options how to escape!? ) your shots are usually better spent on the infantry the Atlas is covering, once they are dealt with you can run your rings around the Atlas and wear it down.
Phantoms: We all hate them. Now a phantom's 'gun' (they shoot with their free hand.) is great at taking out your shields, and not only is her gun powerful, but that sword can really carve you up. If your shields are down she can even kill your outright with that 'finisher' animation so you can't be revived.
She also has a barrier, which I've found concussive shot and overload to work the best against. (not warp, surprisingly, not sure if it's a bug...) But the without doubt best power against her is stasis. If an Asari is in your team count your blessings, she will lock down the phantom and then you should unload all hell on her, kill her fast because phantoms are annoyingly swift at shaking off such effects, it seems.
If you do not have an asari the above concussive shot and overload still works well, as does concentrated firepower, though beware her wheeling animation, it's surprisingly good at throwing my aim off, at least.
Now the thing with the phantom is that once the barrier is down and she starts taking damage, she will cloak and hide, replenishing her barrier before coming back for another go...do not let this happen. I've had surprising amount of luck versus phantoms with my soldier as of late, not just because of a spam of concussive shots, but because he's using a rapid firing gun. Let me explain, every time the cloaked phantom is hit, her cloak wavers and she becomes easier to track, you can even use powers on her if she's hit well enough. So don't let up, push the advantage and kill her off before she comes back with a vengeance.
Whew, this got longer then I planned...and I even cut some parts since I just don't have the energy to write more, (or rather, I have other things to do) so sorry. Anyway, I hope it was to some help and that others can add to what I've written, perhaps together we can make a compendium of hints and tips that will help the new players, as well as reveal things even those who've played a lot didn't know about.
I mean we are all playing the singleplayer too, right? And as such we all want the match to be a success to add to our own result in the singleplayer? Besides, it's co-op, we're supposed to help each other.
Anyway, my experience comes from roughly 100 successful N7 missions, mostly silver, where I usually (9/10 times) end up at the top in points among my team...which doesn't matter one jot, why? Because in the end the experience we all made is mashed together and we all get to share it. This means that it's not a competition and that there's no such thing as "killstealing", if you end up killing a guy I've nearly slain I won't begrudge you, I'll happily take my +200 assist and continue, the aim is to get to the end of the match after all, right?
Anyway, I mostly just shift between engineer, sentinel, infiltrator and soldier, so my tips and tricks might not be the ultimate thing for vanguard or adept, but I feel most classes share some general traits, as well as the fact that working together is a vital part of surviving to the extraction.
And since I'm no tactical mastermind I'm sure some of you will impart greater wisdom on everything I touch upon as well as what I've missed.
With that said, I'll go into some general tips, on weapon and powers, then enemy specific (which of course is only Cerberus, who knows how we will have to adapt versus other foes...though I can already advice you to stay at an arm's reach from hordes of husks unless you know what you're doing)
General tips:
Stay together: as in keep at least within a reasonable range of one another so you can revive one another if one gets downed or assist by catching enemies in a crossfire. Infiltrators can be a bit more loose with this, they don't have to be on the other side of the map, but it doesn't hurt to stay further away, due to their cloak infiltrators are almost better off at a place where friendlies won't get the enemy distracted, instead s/he can lead them around with clever flanking shots and moving cloaked, drawing off contingements of enemies from the main battle line.
Don't be afraid to move: The enemy are more numerous, more powerful(if they get to put all their weight into it) and sluggish. You are special forces, you can move faster then they simply due to a willingness to move, hit them with powers and shoot them all you want, but if it's getting dangerous there's no shame in relocating and taking them on from a different direction and let them get spread out during their pursuit.
So if you're being boxed in, don't fight, run! There's no reason for you to give your life for little return when there's only four of you, instead you flee, regroup and take the enemy on fresh, reloaded and with full shields. When escaping powers like tech armour, adrenaline rush and cloak are useful powers to activate, since they will make you tougher or simply difficult to hit, survival is vital.
Watch the flanks! Okay, so you and your team is together and wreaking havoc on the enemy army advancing into the open, but wait, why did two teammates just die? And why is a phantom's sword descending on your neck? Really, when in a firefight, even more so if you didn't stay together, it doesn't hurt to check left and right, say while reloading. That way you can stay aware of where your teammates are, what they're doing, and if any enemy is creeping up on you.
Keep options. The white level is the best example of what I mean here, most players seem to congregate around the centre, mostly because they that way can get quick kills on the enemy when they appear. Some argue this is wrong, that you might instead move to a corner or a small room up north for better protection, I disagree. I'm not so much concerned about getting early kills (though slaying those appearing on the platform before they can even deploy is a good way to ease the pressure early on) but by the fact that you from there have four different directions to move in. You can therefore retreat or advance at any direction to avoid or put pressure on the enemy forces, so the central location is good for this very reason, not as a fortress, but as a place to better react to the enemy.
Objectives and revives: The best objective grabbers and medics are without a doubt the infiltrators, simply because if they've cloaked enemies almost never target them, meaning you can run up at even a friend surrounded by enemies and revive him or her without issue. But if you're not an infiltrator you should be more careful and ensure that the area is at least somewhat bereft of enemies before you decide to start hacking an objective or reviving friend. (Watch for turrets! If a friend is killed by a turret you should go after it first, not sit down next to your friend and get turned to swiss cheese as well!)
Rockets: Your rockets that you love using against Atlases? Hold on to them, treasure them! You have 2 each mission, and killing the first atlas appearing is a waste, the last 2-3 waves is where it gets really hectic and you then WANT these rockets to take out those monsters along with any supportive infantry.
Medigel: You don't have to use it the instant you're down, wait, try to keep yourself alive but not up, and hope someone comes to help you out. Heck, if it's just at the end of the wave and your team is doing well you can even allow yourself to bleed out instead of wasting a medigel pack that migth be vital in a later wave.
Weapons and powers:
Now, with the weight system in ME3 we have the issue that the more weapons you carry, the heavier the load, the slower the recovery of your powers, and all classes need their powers at some point.
With that in mind many of those playing nowadays pick one weapon and use it all the time, instead of the allowed two, this to increase the recovery time, that at max can be at 200%.
As such the submachineguns might look like a poor man's assault rifle, but bear in mind that sometimes a well timed overload is far more useful then a slightly heavier shot. I for one try to keep near or higher then the 150% mark with my sentinel, engineer and infiltrator (with the soldier I'm more generous, simply because concussive shot recharges so fast, and the Krogan manages quite well with fortification on along with a big gun) so I can swiftly regain the ability to use my powers, and therefore better handle the enemy.
In fact, thinking about keeping a synergy between weapons and powers can really help. Take the Quarian Engineer, she has no overload, but both incinerate and cryo blast are powers best used on unshielded enemies, as such my quarian uses the tempest SMG (not an assault rifle, remember, recharge of your powers is vital, especially for a power-heavy character like the engineer) that has a fast firing rate, meaning you can shave the enemy shield off pretty swiftly.
Mixing what powers you use with those of your teammates is also a great way to gain a greater efficiency, which is why a mixed team does better then a team of four soldiers or the like Overload is a great way to send the enemy shields down, mix that with a singularity and an adept and engineer can really clean house together, add a Sentinel with throw and you can send entire enemy squads flying.
And a final thing about weapons (I have more, but really, can't make this longer or I'll go crazy with myself), don't be afraid to experiment with them. Before I used to loathe the tempest I mentioned above, it was painfully innaccurate for me...then I tried shooting with it while 'in' cover...and it was suddenly as accurate as the shuriken, so test them thouroughly before you discard a weapon as useless.
Enemies:
Assault troopers: Okay, so they're not the toughest bunch out there, nor do they pack all that much of a punch. But there's many of them and each one is able to toss those annoying grenades you do NOT want to be near when they blow. All I can say is that their numbers can sometimes be a bit of a problem, especially in the first waves since they are in the majority, kill as many as you can as they deploy and it's less of a hassle dealing with them.
They also have a stunstick close combat attack that they use when up close, when they do, don't be afraid to give them a light (tap) close combat attack, it will make them stagger backwards and interrupt their attack.
Centurions: Now here's an annoying enemy, basically an assault trooper with a better gun and shields, but they can also toss smoke grenades, which annoy the crap out of us who are so eager to shoot them. You CAN see through the smoke at spots, somewhat, but it's little comfort since the enemy seems to see right through it, and will punish you severely if you think you're safe behind the smoke. Instead try to move a bit to the side and you can probably get a proper line of sight at the enemies.
As with the assault troopers, the centurions have stunsticks, but while their shields are up my above advice is fairly useless, they will shrug it off and then proceed to knock your shield down with that baton of theirs, then probably try to probe you with it, those evil bastards...
Nemesis: A sniper with a shield, takes your shield in one shot. However, they take a few moments to line their shots up, and you're warned by the sound as well as the light, so duck into cover, or if you're running in the open (As a rule I'd say: Don't get caught in the open like that, against anything.) then you can often dodge it by a quick roll or the like. You can also, if you know where they are, simply shoot them when they pop up to take a shot at you, if you knock their shields out you can stagger them, interrupting their shot, alternatively a power like overload or energy drain will also stagger them.
The nemesis does have a personal space issue, so she (it? They sound mechanical) will start running away if you get close to them, which can be very annoying since they're supprisingly swift when they get going. Taping it with a light attack can stagger her, which sets you up for a heavy close combat attack, alternatively to unload a lot of shots into her, either way, get close, make her stagger, then kill her, it's a formula that seems to work for me, at least.
Guardians: Oh how I loathe them. They have a semi-powerful gun and that shield makes them annoyingly good at avoiding damage if you don't have a steady aim (which most do, but sometimes stuff just goes wrong, don't deny it, and since dying is bad for the team, I'd say these guys are more dangerous then some give them credit for) or something like the widow or armour piercing bullets. (Or so I've heard, I've yet to test it.)
Shockwave, frag grenade and the like knocks the shield away for enough time for you to kill them though, and you can kill them from the front both by shooting their arm, feet or simply nailing their head through the slit in the shield. Due to their guns being a bit more dangerous up close (and that shield bash is just annoying) I'd advice most to kill them at a distance though.
You can also deploy a combat drone, defense turrett or similar behind them, this will cause the Guardians to turn to attack it, opening their backs to you. Stasis makes them drop the shield, and pull pulls it out of their grasp, which is another way to make the shield a non-issue.
And there's also teamwork, if one squadmate is running around them while the other stays put the Guardian will be open to being shot at the back whoever he turns to face.
In fact, I make it a rule to always shoot at Guardians facing away from me, no matter how far away they are. Why? Because if they're facing away from me it means they're facing someone else, and I bet that someone would appreciate that those advancing towers would disappear...
Engineer: Basically an assault trooper with a shield, and also the hated turret strapped to his back. The engineer is a top priority before he's deployed his turret, you want those things gone, and destroying them before they're deployed is the easiest way. If you've shot down the shield of the engineer you can actually shoot the turret strapped to his back and make it explode, nearly killing him in the process. I've also noted that it's vulnerable during his deployment animation, you can shoot it and make it explode in his face, killing both.
Once the Turrett is deployed though, it's a different issue. It will carve you up the moment it starts firing, so take cover, knock its shields out with overload or shooting, then start attacking its armour. Now a turret will fire at you when you appear, and then keep firing when you're in cover, at a point it stops though, perhaps to reload, this is when you appear to start tearing its shields and armour up, but don't stray too far from cover since the turret will soon start firing once more.
Atlas: It's a walking tank, shooting rockets, and cannon-shots that all rip shields and flesh apart. Yes, it's slow, and yes you can run rings around it and wear it down, but it's not there to actually kill you, for Cerberus it's a bonus when it does, but what it IS there for is to make you keep your head down, for you to concentrate your attention and firepower on it.
That way that horde of ants around it will appear next to you, now the size of some gleefull assault troopers willing to shoot and beat you to death. So unless you're being cornered by an Atlas (didn't I say we should stay mobile and with options how to escape!? ) your shots are usually better spent on the infantry the Atlas is covering, once they are dealt with you can run your rings around the Atlas and wear it down.
Phantoms: We all hate them. Now a phantom's 'gun' (they shoot with their free hand.) is great at taking out your shields, and not only is her gun powerful, but that sword can really carve you up. If your shields are down she can even kill your outright with that 'finisher' animation so you can't be revived.
She also has a barrier, which I've found concussive shot and overload to work the best against. (not warp, surprisingly, not sure if it's a bug...) But the without doubt best power against her is stasis. If an Asari is in your team count your blessings, she will lock down the phantom and then you should unload all hell on her, kill her fast because phantoms are annoyingly swift at shaking off such effects, it seems.
If you do not have an asari the above concussive shot and overload still works well, as does concentrated firepower, though beware her wheeling animation, it's surprisingly good at throwing my aim off, at least.
Now the thing with the phantom is that once the barrier is down and she starts taking damage, she will cloak and hide, replenishing her barrier before coming back for another go...do not let this happen. I've had surprising amount of luck versus phantoms with my soldier as of late, not just because of a spam of concussive shots, but because he's using a rapid firing gun. Let me explain, every time the cloaked phantom is hit, her cloak wavers and she becomes easier to track, you can even use powers on her if she's hit well enough. So don't let up, push the advantage and kill her off before she comes back with a vengeance.
Whew, this got longer then I planned...and I even cut some parts since I just don't have the energy to write more, (or rather, I have other things to do) so sorry. Anyway, I hope it was to some help and that others can add to what I've written, perhaps together we can make a compendium of hints and tips that will help the new players, as well as reveal things even those who've played a lot didn't know about.
