When the tasks mission log started filling up I just remembered what the Witcher 3 dev team said about their game and side quests: "Don't get bogged down with them and ignore the main story or you'll get burned out". I followed this advice with ME and didn't have an issue. After hating DA:I and never finishing it, I really like ME:A. While I think (like many ) it should have gone through an additional 3 months of QA, the overall experience was positive and I'm enjoying playthrough 2 (although I'm not sure about changing many of my choices).
EDIT: plus multiplayer is fun.
This. There's a portion of tasks that is absolutely needless, and a portion of tasks that is pretty good, but as gamers we are trained to do everything. Even if the content is ludicrously good, burn out is not just possible, but probable.
If you take it out, then "world's so empty, why even go with open world" is a valid criticism.
But then linear corridor shooter is kinda shit at world building, especially in a sci fi setting.
It's a catch 22. Imagine Ilium from ME2, with the ability to explore not just the density of specific mission areas, but a ridiculously content rich chunk of space metropolis. Explore every room in every building in this district, people going about their lives, etc.
SUPER immersive, super good world building, you can learn so much by showing and not telling.
And yet, if you give me that, narratively I am FROTHING to explore it all. So much to see, so much to dive into!
In terms of gameplay, i am terrified to the point of near panic just thinking about trying to plan an approach for covering so much content. Where do I go first? How do I ensure I'm not missing anything? If the devs add a system for marking content, like icons on a map.... I feel compelled to chew through it all, even though BY DESIGN it's marginally relevant content at best.
I think you're on to something here. The side stuff in Witcher 3 didn't bother me at all, in large part because I simply enjoyed being both in that world and being Geralt. There's an Extra Credit that talks about that game as a detective piece, and it's spot on. I didn't mind the extra content because it helped create a real world feeling that, like Skyrim, always had something interesting to do "over there".
ME:A doesn't have that, its extra content is a chore and doesn't (to me) create the sense of a larger world so much as it creates a to-do list. So why does one game with a ton of content feel like a treasure and the other feel like it has no respect for my time? I think a LOT of this is not the amount of content so much as how it's presented. We all would LOVE tons of great content, but, saying this as someone who doesn't design games, I think the challenge is to present the character and the gamespace differently.
Bioware keeps dancing close to this with games like ME:A and DA2, games that play with variations on standard RPG storytelling but fail because the story crafting doesn't come together well enough for me to forgive the jank. For all the extra content and huge open world, Witcher 3 was a very focused story about Geralt and Ciri, and side quests showed glimpses into that story. I'm wondering if it's not about so much content as it is about being limited in how much that content can mean when your character can be "anyone" as opposed to "this one person."
They limit Ryder's ability to alter the plot, but don't really develop them as a person with an arc (there is one, I know, but it's not emphasized much and you don't see the transition much).
TL:DR I don't think it's content, I think it's context of the character and the player.
Witcher 3 was also really good at differentiating between what you could expect from a quest.
Main storyline stuff is clearly marked
Secondary quests usually have story rewards, but aren't strictly necessary to progress.
Witcher Contracts have some content, but aren't related to the main story at all, and are usually pretty straightforward
And then your random map markers, which reward you with items and occasionally a skill point, but are otherwise content-less, don't impact the story, and you definitely don't need to 100% them.
By contrast ME:A feels kinda all over the map with its quests. And there's really very few main storyline quests, and the planet quests are structured oddly, sometimes they're a little more progressive, sometimes it's just wandering around the wilderness ticking off map markers until you hit 100%.
I don't really think Andromeda is a game that knows what it's about. It's got some broad thematic shifts from the ME trilogy - less militaristic (but still kill everyone), less of a blank slate MC, lighter tone. But is it about exploration? Because after the first couple of planets we don't really do that anymore. The kett quickly go from weird aliens to pretty routine, monologuing villains.
Like, one example of lack of focus with Meridian
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I think ME:As implementation of open world is about 1000 times better than DA:Is, for a few very simple reasons:
-5 maps, not 17 or however many you were up to by the end of DA:I, and they all feel sufficiently varied.
-JETPACK. DEAR CHRIST.
-The Nomad is about eight trillion times better than the shit ass horse.
Getting around the maps doesn't feel like a chore.
Two of those don't really seem to have anything to do with open world implementation, and are more about player movement.
And the first is an odd thing to say about an "open world game", that you'd like a less open world/less of it.
You seem to be assuming I think "open world" is a positive thing.
I do not.
And player movement is absolutely part of an open world implementation, in that if you're going to make players spend a lot of time running around in your world and navigating huge open-ended environments, movement needs to be fun and efficient.
... if you don't like open world games, critiquing MEA's implementation of an open world versus another open world game is utterly bizarre. That's like saying that Pizza A is is bad because it's more pizza-like than Pizza B, and you don't like pizza. ?????
Also, eh. You're not talking about, say, fast-travel or game-world transport mechanisms, like griffons/blimps from WoW. You're talking specifically about how the character moves while in direct player control. That's not part of the open-world design of the game; hell, we're probably talking about at least two entirely different sub-teams and decision-making processes in the game's development. Someone early on in the process decided that there'd be jump packs and the Nomad, and way after that were the actual world environments laid out and filled in. You're conflating core game functionality and environmental design.
This is, of course, not to say that your enjoyment of MEA's open world can't be affected by core game functionality, obviously, and that open worlds are, generally, shaped around what core game functionality there is, but to take advances in core game functionality and say that this makes the open-world implementation better is again ????. That'd be like saying Witcher 3's open world implementation would be better if Geralt didn't take a billion fall damage from 3 feet, or <any open world game>'s open world implementation would be better if you had a jetpack. They're not really the same thing. (That being said, you could definitely argue that DAI's open world implementation would be better if they fucking acknowledged the limitations on player movement and stopped sticking shards and shit in crazy ass places.)
I don't have a problem with the planets each having a specific theme, but I agree with each planet having the same exact 3 forms of wildlife as a lazy/bad decision.
Environments:
It's a completely terraformed cluster with an artificial life form as the primary inhabitant, I wonder why there's the same wildlife everywhere... Seriously though, they cover that; your own science types were wondering about it too.
+1
NEO|PhyteThey follow the stars, bound together.Strands in a braid till the end.Registered Userregular
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
1) Meridian is the key to making the entire cluster habitable.
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
NEO|Phyte on
It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
Warframe/Steam: NFyt
-5 maps, not 17 or however many you were up to by the end of DA:I, and they all feel sufficiently varied.
Eh...
Varied, in the sense that they're different from one another, sure. Varied as in interesting? Hell no.
BioWare could have gone hog wild with environments. This is a new galaxy, after all, so I would think an emphasis on the alien in order to really push that "we're not in Kansas anymore" feeling would be the rule of the day. Instead, they went the lazy, unimaginative, soulless route:
Eos = Tatooine + radiation
Elaaden = Arrakis (complete with giant worm(s))
Havarl = any post-apocalyptic setting where nature overtakes buildings
Voeld = Hoth
Kadara = space Flint, Michigan
I am utterly unimpressed by the options, especially when each planet, inexplicably, has the same three native life forms - not-varren, not-T-rex, giant lizard-gorilla. Our own solar system has more exotic options (Enceladus' plumes, Titan's methane seas, etc.).
Why not have a planet in a binary star system? Why not one that has one side always facing its sun, leaving a narrow strip of habitable space? Or maybe one with a lot less mass/gravity, but still teeming with life? Or multiple moons affecting tides in weird ways? There are a ton of things they could've done, things that would still fit the science side of science fiction, that would've been far more interesting than simply rolling out the same tired locales that plague the genre.
It's just one of a number of huge disappointments for me in the game.
They pretty much distilled the enemy types down to the basic ones that one encounters in a shooter. I would say that it's odd that they didn't bring back the hopper/sniper type guys. Or flamethrower area suppression. The mix is otherwise there.
But what other enemy types were you visually expecting*?
Gravity being a constant across all the planets was a pretty big miss, especially given the added verticality. The "gravity wells" maybe could have been used more to reflect that?
Day/Night cycle would have been another immersion improving element.
Consistent gravity makes sense given the plot. But I agree that more variation would have been fun.
Re:the last spoiler. That isn't actually true and should be obvious once you find it
They pretty much distilled the enemy types down to the basic ones that one encounters in a shooter. I would say that it's odd that they didn't bring back the hopper/sniper type guys. Or flamethrower area suppression. The mix is otherwise there.
But what other enemy types were you visually expecting?
Gravity being a constant across all the planets was a pretty big miss, especially given the added verticality. The "gravity wells" maybe could have been used more to reflect that?
Day/Night cycle would have been another immersion improving element.
Anything but the same three?
I play Final Fantasy XIV. The enemies all fit into standard roles. Yet, they're able to vary their appearances (sometimes the flying enemy is a bird! or bat! or dragon! or some weird combination thereof!).
Put another way - I'm not complaining about enemy types, but enemy aesthetics. And it's just another thing that points to an unfinished game.
Ah, I certainly agree that this game should have spent a little bit more time in the oven. Certainly could have allowed them the time to make more diverse assets across the planets. I think would have been neat, but not what I would have wanted personally over getting more of/refined versions of other things. Having a bunch of different silhouettes that are doing the same things doesn't really add much in terms of gameplay.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
I don't have a problem with the planets each having a specific theme, but I agree with each planet having the same exact 3 forms of wildlife as a lazy/bad decision.
Environments:
It's a completely terraformed cluster with an artificial life form as the primary inhabitant, I wonder why there's the same wildlife everywhere... Seriously though, they cover that; your own science types were wondering about it too.
There were only 3 enemy types because it's less development work. They then explained it narratively with terraforming. Explaining it doesn't make it good or not low-effort. One of the most exciting prospects of exploring andromeda to me was getting to see a bunch of cool alien life, not the same weaponized invisidog on every planet.
I finally ventured into silver last night, which was fine (other than staying up until 1am instead of 11pm as planned....) First two games though I had 10 times as much ammo as I should have, like 1000 pistol rounds instead of 100. Not sure if the host was hacking or what but ended up bailing on the second game in first wave just in case (didn't really notice until late in first game and didn't want to lose dem credits)
Don't know if anyone else has dealt with that, and if it's someone cheating or just a bug.
Likely an APEX modifier. There's one that gives +800% ammo, but boxes have nothing.
Even if you quick match, you will frequently get APEX's as other people are doing them and they are in the quick match pool.
You'll know if you've got a cheat if when you reload the clip ammo goes up to 99 (regardless of weapon), never goes down, and you never need to reload.
Yep, likely a strike lobby.
Pellaeon, you can tell that a mission has modifiers attached by looking on the right hand side of the screen near the bottom in the lobby. They used to just give a number, but now it actually lists them. If it's a strike mission, it will say the name of the mission instead of "Mission: Custom" or w/e too.
I forget the name of the ammo modifier though. Probably somewhere out there.
Makes sense, thanks all. I've checked the mission a few times but it's almost always random random random so didn't even think about it, especially at 12:30 am.
-5 maps, not 17 or however many you were up to by the end of DA:I, and they all feel sufficiently varied.
Eh...
Varied, in the sense that they're different from one another, sure. Varied as in interesting? Hell no.
BioWare could have gone hog wild with environments. This is a new galaxy, after all, so I would think an emphasis on the alien in order to really push that "we're not in Kansas anymore" feeling would be the rule of the day. Instead, they went the lazy, unimaginative, soulless route:
Eos = Tatooine + radiation
Elaaden = Arrakis (complete with giant worm(s))
Havarl = any post-apocalyptic setting where nature overtakes buildings
Voeld = Hoth
Kadara = space Flint, Michigan
I am utterly unimpressed by the options, especially when each planet, inexplicably, has the same three native life forms - not-varren, not-T-rex, giant lizard-gorilla. Our own solar system has more exotic options (Enceladus' plumes, Titan's methane seas, etc.).
Why not have a planet in a binary star system? Why not one that has one side always facing its sun, leaving a narrow strip of habitable space? Or maybe one with a lot less mass/gravity, but still teeming with life? Or multiple moons affecting tides in weird ways? There are a ton of things they could've done, things that would still fit the science side of science fiction, that would've been far more interesting than simply rolling out the same tired locales that plague the genre.
It's just one of a number of huge disappointments for me in the game.
The planets you visit were specifically chosen because they were "golden words", i.e., already fully suitable to un-aided human habitation. And that means a narrow range of conditions. That they are as varied as they are is only a result of narrative reasons. All the "weird" locations you are asking for wouldn't be suitable for colonization and so would only be worth a scan from space.
As for the animals, (end game spoilers),
with the Angara being a created species seeded through the cluster, and all the planets being specifically terraformed for them, why couldn't the creators have put the same creatures on multiple worlds for the same reason.
Or perhaps they were even transplanted by the angara to those worlds, even accidentally like rabbits in Australia.
SiliconStew on
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
I don't have a problem with the planets each having a specific theme, but I agree with each planet having the same exact 3 forms of wildlife as a lazy/bad decision.
Environments:
It's a completely terraformed cluster with an artificial life form as the primary inhabitant, I wonder why there's the same wildlife everywhere... Seriously though, they cover that; your own science types were wondering about it too.
Of course...
The AI that terraformed the cluster had been offline for, what, about a thousand years? Long enough for Havarl to evolve various forms of poisonous/noxious forms of life, but not long enough for the other lifeforms to either die or evolve into something else as well? Plus, I mean, earth has a ton of different species within the same families of life, some that are noticeably different in look, temperament, ability, etc. I mean, a lion is noticeably different than a cheetah, a wolf is different than a coyote, etc.
It's a dumb, hand-wavey way of trying to excuse having the same three lifeforms on every planet. It makes modern Star Trek's view of evolution look nuanced.
PSN/XBL/Nintendo/Origin/Steam: Nightslyr 3DS: 1607-1682-2948 Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
The planets you visit were specifically chosen because they were "golden words", i.e., already fully suitable to un-aided human habitation. And that means a narrow range of conditions. That they are as varied as they are is only a result of narrative reasons. All the "weird" locations you are asking for wouldn't be suitable for colonization and so would only be worth a scan from space.
True.
Still boring and utterly unimaginative, though.
PSN/XBL/Nintendo/Origin/Steam: Nightslyr 3DS: 1607-1682-2948 Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
+1
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
I haven't got the Kineticist yet, so YMMV, but I'll give you my educated and based-on-secondhand-info thoughts. From what I read and hear, the build can/should largely revolve around being in biotic ascension as much as possible, so you can spam powers, especially Lance. Seems reasonable, but maybe you have a different approach. Spoilered for text-wall.
Pull
R6 - Some argue for Anti-Shields instead of Biotic Drain, because BD requires you to hold the Pulled target to get any benefit. If you were a Pull/Throw caster, BD is obviously better since that's the basic mechanic of the class at that point, but the flat 600 damage to shields from Pull is instantaneous and gives Pull much more utility for the Lance/Pull combo because you can then use Pull to finish a target's shield and Pull them at the same time instead of having to fully wipe their shield to Pull. I can see that aspect coming in handy for getting into Pull quicker.
More importantly than that edge case, Anti-Shields synergizes well with Biotic Link (R5 in Barrier), because Pull then puts a biotic effect on the enemy even if they are shielded (I think), triggering the 40% shield healing when you damage their shields. Otherwise you get nothing from Biotic Link by Pulling shielded enemies.
Lance
R5 - You could go with Anti-Shields instead of Focused Blast, but Focused Blast will be the anti-boss evo, because everything else is much less likely to get headshot in the heat of the moment. Anti-Shield is better if you intend to hunt mooks and ignore armored targets with big weakpoint targets.
Biotic Ascension
R5 - Biotic explosions are not the bread-and-butter of this class, and debuffs are multiplicative so they magnify all your additive bonuses from other skills and consummables. That's why the recommendation tends to be towards taking Exposure in Rank 5 instead of Combo Detonation. You will almost certainly have better individual DPS from Exposure than Combo Detonation, especially since you can't prime very many enemies for biotic explosions with the Kineticist's powers and biotic explosions only add a paltry few hundred damage if you fully spec. You'll still be able to 'spode shit, but the points are better spent on Exposure, apparently.
R6 - Take Efficient Ascension in Rank 6 if you have trouble maintaining biotic ascension, otherwise Devastating Ascension is the way to go.
Barrier
R4 - Biotic Ascension is lost when you lose your shields, so you might think about UB in rank 4 instead of RB because the DR is probably more helpful in maintaining BA.
R5 - Biotic Link evo on Barrier Rank 5 is the way to go, because when you use a power on an enemy not only does your max shields go up by 40%, but you get shields restored by that same amount and the shield restoration does not go away when the effect wears off. Basically anytime you need to heal (which will be a lot if you want to maintain BA), hit something with Throw, Lance, or Pull against unshielded normal sized enemies (shielded as well if you took Anti-Shields in Pull). This evo is critical to maintaining BA, since you'll be getting more shields from using powers than what they cost in shields (I think).
BA maintenance comes primarily from Biotic Link. Anti-Shield Pull, Unyielding Barrier and Efficient Ascension provide further duration and ease of maintaining BA for very little trade-off.
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
1) Meridian is the key to making the entire cluster habitable.
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
But see that's the problem.
First, the environment was already uninhabitable, which the kett had nothing to do with right up until the very last mission, so it's kind of a weird storytelling decision to have him get all "haha, take that terraforming!" now. The Kett have been searching Remnant shit the whole game on already-shit worlds without knowing wtf they do, and yet now it's terraforming that they care about.
Besides that, we're supposedly searching for Meridian not just because the Kett are trying to get there, but because independent of them, it'll make the planets we're settling habitable. But... We already made them habitable.
And the game's dialogue treats it as a big deal that Meridian is habitable. Holy shit, we've finally found a golden world, we can't let the kett have it! But... we already have livable worlds! We don't need more!
So we don't need Meridian as a magic terraforming switch, the kett never cared about meridian as a magical terraforming switch, and we don't need another habitable planet. If all the kett had just headed over to Eos instead, the showdown would've been just as meaningful. Meridian is completely unnecessary.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
+2
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
1) Meridian is the key to making the entire cluster habitable.
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
Also regarding Meridian,
The manufactured planet is lush where the other worlds are not. If you talk to the governor of Eos at any point after you make the planet livable, he still considers it a harsh environment where you have to work for every inch of progress, and Eos is maybe the best of the colonies that you're able to get. Throughout the game colonists and leadership are hoping for spaces on Aya or even wild Havaral, and as the Pathfinder you know those are basically off limits for colonists.
It's the difference between "well you can survive in the Sahara" vs "It sure is nice in the Bahamas this time of year (and every time of year)"
The planets you visit were specifically chosen because they were "golden words", i.e., already fully suitable to un-aided human habitation. And that means a narrow range of conditions. That they are as varied as they are is only a result of narrative reasons. All the "weird" locations you are asking for wouldn't be suitable for colonization and so would only be worth a scan from space.
True.
Still boring and utterly unimaginative, though.
To expand on this a bit, the devs clearly felt that solving the vaults should be the primary method of making planets habitable. For me, I would've much rather seen a few instances where that wasn't possible, forcing the colonists to make due in more varied/interesting places. I mean, the asteroid has domes... a hybrid approach (domes for living, the wild/crazy/weird/sky's-the-limit outdoors for hazardous working in order to live) would've made a ton of sense.
PSN/XBL/Nintendo/Origin/Steam: Nightslyr 3DS: 1607-1682-2948 Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
1) Meridian is the key to making the entire cluster habitable.
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
Also regarding Meridian,
The manufactured planet is lush where the other worlds are not. If you talk to the governor of Eos at any point after you make the planet livable, he still considers it a harsh environment where you have to work for every inch of progress, and Eos is maybe the best of the colonies that you're able to get. Throughout the game colonists and leadership are hoping for spaces on Aya or even wild Havaral, and as the Pathfinder you know those are basically off limits for colonists.
It's the difference between "well you can survive in the Sahara" vs "It sure is nice in the Bahamas this time of year (and every time of year)"
Yeah, those planets are always going to be shitty. Eos and Elaaden will always be trackless deserts, Voeld will always be cold as hell, and Kadara will always be chock full of assholes. Meridian's a goddamned Dyson sphere or something, which is super cool.
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
1) Meridian is the key to making the entire cluster habitable.
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
But see that's the problem.
First, the environment was already uninhabitable, which the kett had nothing to do with right up until the very last mission, so it's kind of a weird storytelling decision to have him get all "haha, take that terraforming!" now. The Kett have been searching Remnant shit the whole game on already-shit worlds without knowing wtf they do, and yet now it's terraforming that they care about.
Besides that, we're supposedly searching for Meridian not just because the Kett are trying to get there, but because independent of them, it'll make the planets we're settling habitable. But... We already made them habitable.
And the game's dialogue treats it as a big deal that Meridian is habitable. Holy shit, we've finally found a golden world, we can't let the kett have it! But... we already have livable worlds! We don't need more!
So we don't need Meridian as a magic terraforming switch, the kett never cared about meridian as a magical terraforming switch, and we don't need another habitable planet. If all the kett had just headed over to Eos instead, the showdown would've been just as meaningful. Meridian is completely unnecessary.
It is a big deal because there's a big difference between a real golden world and a merely viable world.
Eos may no longer have constant low-level radiation so you can actually survive outside the colony walls, but it's still a desert with virtually no vegetation. Who knows how many years, decades, or centuries it's going to take to get to the same level as Meridian. Establishing a colony on Meridian will be significantly easier and done in a significantly shorter time period than on Eos.
The kett aren't trying to get to Meridian specifically for terraforming, it's to control the remnant tech. That such control would also allow them to destroy every colony world via the terraforming tech is what makes stopping them important.
SiliconStew on
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
+5
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2017
So .. Incendiary ammo ... does no DOT to shields, damage is NOT based on weapon damage but a flat amount per tick (DOT will tick 10 times every 0.5 seconds), DOT does stack (thankfully), maybe infinitely.
Oh hey. It looks like there may be a correlation between using XP booster consumables and losing sessions.
So .. Incendiary ammo ... does no DOT to shields, damage is NOT based on weapon damage but a flat amount per tick (DOT will tick 10 times every 0.5 seconds), DOT does stack (thankfully), maybe infinitely.
Oh hey. It looks like there may be a correlation between using XP booster consumables and losing sessions.
Oh? Which platform? Haven't encountered any issues with them personally.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
0
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2017
PC I think. Never found it to be a problem myself.
GatorAn alligator in ScotlandRegistered Userregular
I for one often visit this thread and the tone is almost always negative
Though the same could be said for any Bioware game
Mention DA:I in these boards and you will think Bioware put out ads saying they were going to make you their bitch and to suck it down
I really have no clue why that is
I would forward the hypothesis that people who don't like Bioware games still tend to gravitate towards threads about them, while people who disliked Destiny or League of Legends just don't bother to post in the threads about these games
+1
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2017
Just speculating here, but LoL is F2P, so very little incentive for those who don't enjoy them to do anything other than not play, unlike a hybrid monetization, like Bioware, where you are out X money no matter what.
Frankly, MMOBA games are rather repetitive and have very little content going on by design, so there's also much lower expectations = less disappoint. Not really comparable, IMO.
When the tasks mission log started filling up I just remembered what the Witcher 3 dev team said about their game and side quests: "Don't get bogged down with them and ignore the main story or you'll get burned out". I followed this advice with ME and didn't have an issue. After hating DA:I and never finishing it, I really like ME:A. While I think (like many ) it should have gone through an additional 3 months of QA, the overall experience was positive and I'm enjoying playthrough 2 (although I'm not sure about changing many of my choices).
EDIT: plus multiplayer is fun.
This. There's a portion of tasks that is absolutely needless, and a portion of tasks that is pretty good, but as gamers we are trained to do everything. Even if the content is ludicrously good, burn out is not just possible, but probable.
If you take it out, then "world's so empty, why even go with open world" is a valid criticism.
But then linear corridor shooter is kinda shit at world building, especially in a sci fi setting.
It's a catch 22. Imagine Ilium from ME2, with the ability to explore not just the density of specific mission areas, but a ridiculously content rich chunk of space metropolis. Explore every room in every building in this district, people going about their lives, etc.
SUPER immersive, super good world building, you can learn so much by showing and not telling.
And yet, if you give me that, narratively I am FROTHING to explore it all. So much to see, so much to dive into!
In terms of gameplay, i am terrified to the point of near panic just thinking about trying to plan an approach for covering so much content. Where do I go first? How do I ensure I'm not missing anything? If the devs add a system for marking content, like icons on a map.... I feel compelled to chew through it all, even though BY DESIGN it's marginally relevant content at best.
I think you're on to something here. The side stuff in Witcher 3 didn't bother me at all, in large part because I simply enjoyed being both in that world and being Geralt. There's an Extra Credit that talks about that game as a detective piece, and it's spot on. I didn't mind the extra content because it helped create a real world feeling that, like Skyrim, always had something interesting to do "over there".
ME:A doesn't have that, its extra content is a chore and doesn't (to me) create the sense of a larger world so much as it creates a to-do list. So why does one game with a ton of content feel like a treasure and the other feel like it has no respect for my time? I think a LOT of this is not the amount of content so much as how it's presented. We all would LOVE tons of great content, but, saying this as someone who doesn't design games, I think the challenge is to present the character and the gamespace differently.
Bioware keeps dancing close to this with games like ME:A and DA2, games that play with variations on standard RPG storytelling but fail because the story crafting doesn't come together well enough for me to forgive the jank. For all the extra content and huge open world, Witcher 3 was a very focused story about Geralt and Ciri, and side quests showed glimpses into that story. I'm wondering if it's not about so much content as it is about being limited in how much that content can mean when your character can be "anyone" as opposed to "this one person."
They limit Ryder's ability to alter the plot, but don't really develop them as a person with an arc (there is one, I know, but it's not emphasized much and you don't see the transition much).
TL:DR I don't think it's content, I think it's context of the character and the player.
Witcher 3 was also really good at differentiating between what you could expect from a quest.
Main storyline stuff is clearly marked
Secondary quests usually have story rewards, but aren't strictly necessary to progress.
Witcher Contracts have some content, but aren't related to the main story at all, and are usually pretty straightforward
And then your random map markers, which reward you with items and occasionally a skill point, but are otherwise content-less, don't impact the story, and you definitely don't need to 100% them.
By contrast ME:A feels kinda all over the map with its quests. And there's really very few main storyline quests, and the planet quests are structured oddly, sometimes they're a little more progressive, sometimes it's just wandering around the wilderness ticking off map markers until you hit 100%.
I don't really think Andromeda is a game that knows what it's about. It's got some broad thematic shifts from the ME trilogy - less militaristic (but still kill everyone), less of a blank slate MC, lighter tone. But is it about exploration? Because after the first couple of planets we don't really do that anymore. The kett quickly go from weird aliens to pretty routine, monologuing villains.
Like, one example of lack of focus with Meridian
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
Once you get meridian it boosts the bonuses you previously did to planets. They show in the cut scene plants suddenly growing around podromos on eos. Meridian was the actual main control node all the vaults hooked up to having it active and engaged amplifies the vaults current effects and also to other vaults we have not yet found. Also it is basically a small dyson sphere so the inner living surface area is a pretty big fully terraformed controlled greenhouse basically. That is a stunning find alone and then the working tech they have access to there should be a pretty huge boost.
Meridian immediately just for the living area along is more valuable than pretty much all of the other colony worlds we worked so hard on combined. Over time though meridian should make all those other worlds equally good coloniziation wise but even with the greatly accelerated pace that is happening at its not instant. Having meridian basically means all 20k humans from ark hyperion that had not already been released from cryo can get released as fast as they can cycle them through and setup some basic shelters for them. Given it is a dyson sphere it is unlikely there is any sever weather to worry about so simple tents would be enough initially to get everybody up and active.
Just speculating here, but those are F2P, so very little incentive for those who don't enjoy them to do anything other than not play, unlike a hybrid monetization, like Bioware, where you are out X money no matter what.
Frankly, MMOBA games are rather repetitive and have very little content going on by design, so there's also much lower expectations = less disappoint. Not really comparable, IMO.
Destiny isn't F2P? ...Unless there's a F2P game named Destiny that's presently out that I'm not aware of.
People are saying bad things about the game because there are enough bad/mediocre things about the game to outweigh the good things about the game. People say bad things about Destiny in its thread too. I don't do League of Legends so IDK what goes on in there. Pretty sure most of the people who are criticizing the game are also playing it. Mediocre things get lukewarm responses.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
I for one often visit this thread and the tone is almost always negative
Though the same could be said for any Bioware game
Mention DA:I in these boards and you will think Bioware put out ads saying they were going to make you their bitch and to suck it down
I really have no clue why that is
I would forward the hypothesis that people who don't like Bioware games still tend to gravitate towards threads about them, while people who disliked Destiny or League of Legends just don't bother to post in the threads about these games
I think it's that Bioware-like games are pretty rare, so people that like them get invested and when disappointed will dwell on their limited supply of this good kind of game. Whereas if someone thought Destiny was a bad shooter, they would just go play/talk about the shooter that they like.
So we get to Meridian, and oh hey, this is a totally habitable place, this is a big deal, we have to get it from the kett! But... Didn't I just spend like 50 our of my last 80 gameplay hours making other worlds 100% habitable? Why does that matter when we've already terraformed entire planets to be suitable for settlement?
1) Meridian is the key to making the entire cluster habitable.
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
Also regarding Meridian,
The manufactured planet is lush where the other worlds are not. If you talk to the governor of Eos at any point after you make the planet livable, he still considers it a harsh environment where you have to work for every inch of progress, and Eos is maybe the best of the colonies that you're able to get. Throughout the game colonists and leadership are hoping for spaces on Aya or even wild Havaral, and as the Pathfinder you know those are basically off limits for colonists.
It's the difference between "well you can survive in the Sahara" vs "It sure is nice in the Bahamas this time of year (and every time of year)"
Yeah, those planets are always going to be shitty. Eos and Elaaden will always be trackless deserts, Voeld will always be cold as hell, and Kadara will always be chock full of assholes. Meridian's a goddamned Dyson sphere or something, which is super cool.
ending spoiler
As shown in the last cut scenes once you have meridian that may no longer be the case that those other planets are going to be crappy for very long. You see flowers growing rapidly on eos and some other scenes. meridian was the main control system and once that is in full effect it looks like it will greatly increase the quality of the vault worlds and cluster in general.
+1
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
Just speculating here, but those are F2P, so very little incentive for those who don't enjoy them to do anything other than not play, unlike a hybrid monetization, like Bioware, where you are out X money no matter what.
Frankly, MMOBA games are rather repetitive and have very little content going on by design, so there's also much lower expectations = less disappoint. Not really comparable, IMO.
Destiny isn't F2P? ...Unless there's a F2P game named Destiny that's presently out that I'm not aware of.
People are saying bad things about the game because there are enough bad/mediocre things about the game to outweigh the good things about the game. People say bad things about Destiny in its thread too. I don't do League of Legends so IDK what goes on in there. Pretty sure most of the people who are criticizing the game are also playing it. Mediocre things get lukewarm responses.
Whoops. Fixed. I just assumed that Destiny (which I haven't heard of) was in the same category as LoL.
Personally I think the monetization model matters a lot for player investment and complaints, IDK. Nothing like science on this, just guesswork/whatever.
its not a magical terraforming switch. It's a world creator. All the golden worlds were created by the meridian dyson which then goes on to make a new golden world.
Barrier Low 4 is for those situations when you're hunkered under cover and can't effectively pull. The bonus shields on UP 4 are nice but... Because the Ascension cost is a %of your shield use the UP 4 bonus is small for the majority of the game as you're going to be hovering around 70%-30% due to power use. So if you're in a situation where you lancex3 (or 2 without Ascension Low 6) and then regen. The bonus regen speed and delay should be super nice.
Barrier UP5 is a definite: I did not realize that that had worked like that.
Ascension UP5 I think is weak. You've no way of applying a lasting debuff to non-redbar enemies (unlike say, the adept). So the only enemies you're going to apply the debuff to will be almost always already pulled. And well pulled enemies are basically dead enemies with the 30% debuff already. So while it's hard to get effects on non-redbar enemies it's super easy to prime enemies with lift or ammo and then get bonus damage from the explosion.
Ascension Low 6 might actually be more DPS with lance. Not actually sure but it should let you Lance an extra time before having to pull or wait for regen.
Pull UP6 does that count as an active biotic effect when you don't break the shields? UP 6 and full damage is not enough to pop gold shields on their own I don't think and if it procs biotic link on damage only then so will Lance. And well at that point just spam Lance to knock the shields down
Just speculating here, but those are F2P, so very little incentive for those who don't enjoy them to do anything other than not play, unlike a hybrid monetization, like Bioware, where you are out X money no matter what.
Frankly, MMOBA games are rather repetitive and have very little content going on by design, so there's also much lower expectations = less disappoint. Not really comparable, IMO.
Destiny isn't F2P? ...Unless there's a F2P game named Destiny that's presently out that I'm not aware of.
People are saying bad things about the game because there are enough bad/mediocre things about the game to outweigh the good things about the game. People say bad things about Destiny in its thread too. I don't do League of Legends so IDK what goes on in there. Pretty sure most of the people who are criticizing the game are also playing it. Mediocre things get lukewarm responses.
Whoops. Fixed. I just assumed that Destiny (which I haven't heard of) was in the same category as LoL.
You've never heard of Destiny? How is tha--
*Scanners head explosion gif here*
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
+4
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2017
Meh. FPS, blah. FPS may be the genre I give the least fucks about. (Not quite when I think about it, but that's in future posts no one will read).
I tend to post critical posts of games even when I like them, because I think the best way to make my favorite games better is usually to make them suck less (compared to trying to make the good portions better, if that makes any sense), and because I think the critical discussion is more interesting and worthwhile than the positive discussion most of the time. I can see how that can come off as negative in totality though.
Bioware games get extra discussion on this front because there is invariably a significant amount of suck to talk about. Nothing is ever perfect the first time it's attempted/created, and Bioware is always experimenting. That means there's always some cruft systems to talk about. We also hold bioware to a pretty high bar when it comes to the things they are good at (a much higher bar than we hold most other developers to) and they can't deliver their peak quality 100% of the time. I think it's still good and meaningful to talk about those things though, and discuss why they don't work.
+4
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
its not a magical terraforming switch. It's a world creator. All the golden worlds were created by the meridian dyson which then goes on to make a new golden world.
Barrier Low 4 is for those situations when you're hunkered under cover and can't effectively pull. The bonus shields on UP 4 are nice but... Because the Ascension cost is a %of your shield use the UP 4 bonus is small for the majority of the game as you're going to be hovering around 70%-30% due to power use. So if you're in a situation where you lancex3 (or 2 without Ascension Low 6) and then regen. The bonus regen speed and delay should be super nice.
Barrier UP5 is a definite: I did not realize that that had worked like that.
Ascension UP5 I think is weak. You've no way of applying a lasting debuff to non-redbar enemies (unlike say, the adept). So the only enemies you're going to apply the debuff to will be almost always already pulled. And well pulled enemies are basically dead enemies with the 30% debuff already. So while it's hard to get effects on non-redbar enemies it's super easy to prime enemies with lift or ammo and then get bonus damage from the explosion.
Ascension Low 6 might actually be more DPS with lance. Not actually sure but it should let you Lance an extra time before having to pull or wait for regen.
Pull UP6 does that count as an active biotic effect when you don't break the shields? UP 6 and full damage is not enough to pop gold shields on their own I don't think and if it procs biotic link on damage only then so will Lance. And well at that point just spam Lance to knock the shields down
Edit: but yes that helped
Actually it's not clear that Pull UP6 counts as a biotic effect if it doesn't break the shields, though the video I saw with a build similar to yours didn't have that evolution because they were lvl 14 and not maxxed out, so I have literally no way to know for sure.
Your build analysis is compelling and I think it will be fun regardless!!!!
Eventually I'll have one too and try it out! Right now, I'm mostly working on Human soldier (female) and Human Vanguard (female), and I have 0 UR characters.
I for one often visit this thread and the tone is almost always negative
Though the same could be said for any Bioware game
Mention DA:I in these boards and you will think Bioware put out ads saying they were going to make you their bitch and to suck it down
I really have no clue why that is
I would forward the hypothesis that people who don't like Bioware games still tend to gravitate towards threads about them, while people who disliked Destiny or League of Legends just don't bother to post in the threads about these games
I think it's that Bioware-like games are pretty rare, so people that like them get invested and when disappointed will dwell on their limited supply of this good kind of game. Whereas if someone thought Destiny was a bad shooter, they would just go play/talk about the shooter that they like.
Good points
Like, if the lore behind a LoL champion is terrible someone might just go "Champion X is terrible lol"
There were 3,000 words screeds against the character of Ryder in Mass Effect threads here - after the release of a teaser trailer for Andromeda!
0
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2017
@Goumindong - I am wondering about BA UP5 debuff. Doesn't that just mean you get a debuff for all power damage when you are Ascended? I mean Ascension is the long lasting power that triggers the debuff, right??
I don't have a problem with the planets each having a specific theme, but I agree with each planet having the same exact 3 forms of wildlife as a lazy/bad decision.
Environments:
It's a completely terraformed cluster with an artificial life form as the primary inhabitant, I wonder why there's the same wildlife everywhere... Seriously though, they cover that; your own science types were wondering about it too.
There were only 3 enemy types because it's less development work. They then explained it narratively with terraforming. Explaining it doesn't make it good or not low-effort. One of the most exciting prospects of exploring andromeda to me was getting to see a bunch of cool alien life, not the same weaponized invisidog on every planet.
I don't care how much work a thing was or wasn't, as long as the plot covers it adequately. The models and NPCs and enemies exist in service of the plot/universe, and while I'll cheerfully make fun of plot elements for being silly, if the plot says X and you build X and the environment shows X, X is not "wrong" or "right" based on how much work it was or wasn't.
It's like superheroes. Superman and kryptonite? There's ever so many ways Superman could fix this problem, but in service of the story, that's not what happens, even though we all know it's a plot device.
0
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2017
Hey
hardcoresalmon tested distuptor 1 for a bit.
2.5% additive damage vs everything and extra *1.25 multiplier vs shields that is separate from the weapon's built in multiplier vs shields ...
That's better than I thought. Guess I'll have to use Disrupter every one in a while then.
Goumindong - I am wondering about BA UP5 debuff. Doesn't that just mean you get a debuff for all power damage when you are Ascended?
No it's the same as the biotic offense UP5 debuff. When under an "active biotic effect" like being lifted or being thrown or in a singularity or in an anhillation field. So the only way for the kineticist to proc it is by lifting/pulling. I suppose it might also proc on thrown enemies (if you don't pull them first) but the same caveats apply as with pull. They're already red bar and getting rag dolled and so are easy to shoot and combo.
Primarily you need damage buffs on bosses and semi-bosses. Not that they're bad on red-bar enemies...but not nearly as powerful
Goumindong on
0
TerribleMisathrope23rd Degree IntiateAt The Right Hand Of The Seven HornsRegistered Userregular
Posts
Witcher 3 was also really good at differentiating between what you could expect from a quest.
Main storyline stuff is clearly marked
Secondary quests usually have story rewards, but aren't strictly necessary to progress.
Witcher Contracts have some content, but aren't related to the main story at all, and are usually pretty straightforward
And then your random map markers, which reward you with items and occasionally a skill point, but are otherwise content-less, don't impact the story, and you definitely don't need to 100% them.
By contrast ME:A feels kinda all over the map with its quests. And there's really very few main storyline quests, and the planet quests are structured oddly, sometimes they're a little more progressive, sometimes it's just wandering around the wilderness ticking off map markers until you hit 100%.
I don't really think Andromeda is a game that knows what it's about. It's got some broad thematic shifts from the ME trilogy - less militaristic (but still kill everyone), less of a blank slate MC, lighter tone. But is it about exploration? Because after the first couple of planets we don't really do that anymore. The kett quickly go from weird aliens to pretty routine, monologuing villains.
Like, one example of lack of focus with Meridian
... if you don't like open world games, critiquing MEA's implementation of an open world versus another open world game is utterly bizarre. That's like saying that Pizza A is is bad because it's more pizza-like than Pizza B, and you don't like pizza. ?????
Also, eh. You're not talking about, say, fast-travel or game-world transport mechanisms, like griffons/blimps from WoW. You're talking specifically about how the character moves while in direct player control. That's not part of the open-world design of the game; hell, we're probably talking about at least two entirely different sub-teams and decision-making processes in the game's development. Someone early on in the process decided that there'd be jump packs and the Nomad, and way after that were the actual world environments laid out and filled in. You're conflating core game functionality and environmental design.
This is, of course, not to say that your enjoyment of MEA's open world can't be affected by core game functionality, obviously, and that open worlds are, generally, shaped around what core game functionality there is, but to take advances in core game functionality and say that this makes the open-world implementation better is again ????. That'd be like saying Witcher 3's open world implementation would be better if Geralt didn't take a billion fall damage from 3 feet, or <any open world game>'s open world implementation would be better if you had a jetpack. They're not really the same thing. (That being said, you could definitely argue that DAI's open world implementation would be better if they fucking acknowledged the limitations on player movement and stopped sticking shards and shit in crazy ass places.)
Environments:
2) It is also the key to making the entire cluster unhabitable, which is what the kett wanted to use it for to force us to join them or die.
It wasn't just a habitable space, it was the central component to all the remtech laying around.
Warframe/Steam: NFyt
Consistent gravity makes sense given the plot. But I agree that more variation would have been fun.
Re:the last spoiler. That isn't actually true and should be obvious once you find it
Ah, I certainly agree that this game should have spent a little bit more time in the oven. Certainly could have allowed them the time to make more diverse assets across the planets. I think would have been neat, but not what I would have wanted personally over getting more of/refined versions of other things. Having a bunch of different silhouettes that are doing the same things doesn't really add much in terms of gameplay.
Makes sense, thanks all. I've checked the mission a few times but it's almost always random random random so didn't even think about it, especially at 12:30 am.
The planets you visit were specifically chosen because they were "golden words", i.e., already fully suitable to un-aided human habitation. And that means a narrow range of conditions. That they are as varied as they are is only a result of narrative reasons. All the "weird" locations you are asking for wouldn't be suitable for colonization and so would only be worth a scan from space.
As for the animals, (end game spoilers),
Of course...
It's a dumb, hand-wavey way of trying to excuse having the same three lifeforms on every planet. It makes modern Star Trek's view of evolution look nuanced.
Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
True.
Still boring and utterly unimaginative, though.
Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
R6 - Some argue for Anti-Shields instead of Biotic Drain, because BD requires you to hold the Pulled target to get any benefit. If you were a Pull/Throw caster, BD is obviously better since that's the basic mechanic of the class at that point, but the flat 600 damage to shields from Pull is instantaneous and gives Pull much more utility for the Lance/Pull combo because you can then use Pull to finish a target's shield and Pull them at the same time instead of having to fully wipe their shield to Pull. I can see that aspect coming in handy for getting into Pull quicker.
More importantly than that edge case, Anti-Shields synergizes well with Biotic Link (R5 in Barrier), because Pull then puts a biotic effect on the enemy even if they are shielded (I think), triggering the 40% shield healing when you damage their shields. Otherwise you get nothing from Biotic Link by Pulling shielded enemies.
Lance
R5 - You could go with Anti-Shields instead of Focused Blast, but Focused Blast will be the anti-boss evo, because everything else is much less likely to get headshot in the heat of the moment. Anti-Shield is better if you intend to hunt mooks and ignore armored targets with big weakpoint targets.
Biotic Ascension
R5 - Biotic explosions are not the bread-and-butter of this class, and debuffs are multiplicative so they magnify all your additive bonuses from other skills and consummables. That's why the recommendation tends to be towards taking Exposure in Rank 5 instead of Combo Detonation. You will almost certainly have better individual DPS from Exposure than Combo Detonation, especially since you can't prime very many enemies for biotic explosions with the Kineticist's powers and biotic explosions only add a paltry few hundred damage if you fully spec. You'll still be able to 'spode shit, but the points are better spent on Exposure, apparently.
R6 - Take Efficient Ascension in Rank 6 if you have trouble maintaining biotic ascension, otherwise Devastating Ascension is the way to go.
Barrier
R4 - Biotic Ascension is lost when you lose your shields, so you might think about UB in rank 4 instead of RB because the DR is probably more helpful in maintaining BA.
R5 - Biotic Link evo on Barrier Rank 5 is the way to go, because when you use a power on an enemy not only does your max shields go up by 40%, but you get shields restored by that same amount and the shield restoration does not go away when the effect wears off. Basically anytime you need to heal (which will be a lot if you want to maintain BA), hit something with Throw, Lance, or Pull against unshielded normal sized enemies (shielded as well if you took Anti-Shields in Pull). This evo is critical to maintaining BA, since you'll be getting more shields from using powers than what they cost in shields (I think).
BA maintenance comes primarily from Biotic Link. Anti-Shield Pull, Unyielding Barrier and Efficient Ascension provide further duration and ease of maintaining BA for very little trade-off.
try this
But see that's the problem.
Besides that, we're supposedly searching for Meridian not just because the Kett are trying to get there, but because independent of them, it'll make the planets we're settling habitable. But... We already made them habitable.
And the game's dialogue treats it as a big deal that Meridian is habitable. Holy shit, we've finally found a golden world, we can't let the kett have it! But... we already have livable worlds! We don't need more!
So we don't need Meridian as a magic terraforming switch, the kett never cared about meridian as a magical terraforming switch, and we don't need another habitable planet. If all the kett had just headed over to Eos instead, the showdown would've been just as meaningful. Meridian is completely unnecessary.
Also regarding Meridian,
It's the difference between "well you can survive in the Sahara" vs "It sure is nice in the Bahamas this time of year (and every time of year)"
To expand on this a bit, the devs clearly felt that solving the vaults should be the primary method of making planets habitable. For me, I would've much rather seen a few instances where that wasn't possible, forcing the colonists to make due in more varied/interesting places. I mean, the asteroid has domes... a hybrid approach (domes for living, the wild/crazy/weird/sky's-the-limit outdoors for hazardous working in order to live) would've made a ton of sense.
Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
It is a big deal because there's a big difference between a real golden world and a merely viable world.
The kett aren't trying to get to Meridian specifically for terraforming, it's to control the remnant tech. That such control would also allow them to destroy every colony world via the terraforming tech is what makes stopping them important.
Oh hey. It looks like there may be a correlation between using XP booster consumables and losing sessions.
try this
Oh? Which platform? Haven't encountered any issues with them personally.
Edit: Weapon damage formula:
Base Weapon Damage * hipfire * vsDefence * ammoVsDefence * (1+Sum(Weapon_damage_bonuses)) * (1 + [WpnWeakMod + EnemyWeakMod] + Sum(weakspot_bonuses)) * (1 + Sum(debuffs)) - ArmorDR
try this
Though the same could be said for any Bioware game
Mention DA:I in these boards and you will think Bioware put out ads saying they were going to make you their bitch and to suck it down
I really have no clue why that is
I would forward the hypothesis that people who don't like Bioware games still tend to gravitate towards threads about them, while people who disliked Destiny or League of Legends just don't bother to post in the threads about these games
Frankly, MMOBA games are rather repetitive and have very little content going on by design, so there's also much lower expectations = less disappoint. Not really comparable, IMO.
try this
Meridian immediately just for the living area along is more valuable than pretty much all of the other colony worlds we worked so hard on combined. Over time though meridian should make all those other worlds equally good coloniziation wise but even with the greatly accelerated pace that is happening at its not instant. Having meridian basically means all 20k humans from ark hyperion that had not already been released from cryo can get released as fast as they can cycle them through and setup some basic shelters for them. Given it is a dyson sphere it is unlikely there is any sever weather to worry about so simple tents would be enough initially to get everybody up and active.
Destiny isn't F2P? ...Unless there's a F2P game named Destiny that's presently out that I'm not aware of.
People are saying bad things about the game because there are enough bad/mediocre things about the game to outweigh the good things about the game. People say bad things about Destiny in its thread too. I don't do League of Legends so IDK what goes on in there. Pretty sure most of the people who are criticizing the game are also playing it. Mediocre things get lukewarm responses.
I think it's that Bioware-like games are pretty rare, so people that like them get invested and when disappointed will dwell on their limited supply of this good kind of game. Whereas if someone thought Destiny was a bad shooter, they would just go play/talk about the shooter that they like.
ending spoiler
Personally I think the monetization model matters a lot for player investment and complaints, IDK. Nothing like science on this, just guesswork/whatever.
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@TerribleMisathrope
Barrier Low 4 is for those situations when you're hunkered under cover and can't effectively pull. The bonus shields on UP 4 are nice but... Because the Ascension cost is a %of your shield use the UP 4 bonus is small for the majority of the game as you're going to be hovering around 70%-30% due to power use. So if you're in a situation where you lancex3 (or 2 without Ascension Low 6) and then regen. The bonus regen speed and delay should be super nice.
Barrier UP5 is a definite: I did not realize that that had worked like that.
Ascension UP5 I think is weak. You've no way of applying a lasting debuff to non-redbar enemies (unlike say, the adept). So the only enemies you're going to apply the debuff to will be almost always already pulled. And well pulled enemies are basically dead enemies with the 30% debuff already. So while it's hard to get effects on non-redbar enemies it's super easy to prime enemies with lift or ammo and then get bonus damage from the explosion.
Ascension Low 6 might actually be more DPS with lance. Not actually sure but it should let you Lance an extra time before having to pull or wait for regen.
Pull UP6 does that count as an active biotic effect when you don't break the shields? UP 6 and full damage is not enough to pop gold shields on their own I don't think and if it procs biotic link on damage only then so will Lance. And well at that point just spam Lance to knock the shields down
Edit: but yes that helped
You've never heard of Destiny? How is tha--
*Scanners head explosion gif here*
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Bioware games get extra discussion on this front because there is invariably a significant amount of suck to talk about. Nothing is ever perfect the first time it's attempted/created, and Bioware is always experimenting. That means there's always some cruft systems to talk about. We also hold bioware to a pretty high bar when it comes to the things they are good at (a much higher bar than we hold most other developers to) and they can't deliver their peak quality 100% of the time. I think it's still good and meaningful to talk about those things though, and discuss why they don't work.
Your build analysis is compelling and I think it will be fun regardless!!!!
Eventually I'll have one too and try it out! Right now, I'm mostly working on Human soldier (female) and Human Vanguard (female), and I have 0 UR characters.
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Though both of those were picked up like... Yesterday
Good points
Like, if the lore behind a LoL champion is terrible someone might just go "Champion X is terrible lol"
There were 3,000 words screeds against the character of Ryder in Mass Effect threads here - after the release of a teaser trailer for Andromeda!
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I don't care how much work a thing was or wasn't, as long as the plot covers it adequately. The models and NPCs and enemies exist in service of the plot/universe, and while I'll cheerfully make fun of plot elements for being silly, if the plot says X and you build X and the environment shows X, X is not "wrong" or "right" based on how much work it was or wasn't.
It's like superheroes. Superman and kryptonite? There's ever so many ways Superman could fix this problem, but in service of the story, that's not what happens, even though we all know it's a plot device.
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No it's the same as the biotic offense UP5 debuff. When under an "active biotic effect" like being lifted or being thrown or in a singularity or in an anhillation field. So the only way for the kineticist to proc it is by lifting/pulling. I suppose it might also proc on thrown enemies (if you don't pull them first) but the same caveats apply as with pull. They're already red bar and getting rag dolled and so are easy to shoot and combo.
Primarily you need damage buffs on bosses and semi-bosses. Not that they're bad on red-bar enemies...but not nearly as powerful
Edit: Oh hey, this can be cool, though who knows for how long:
Disrupter + Cryo is actually really cool and melts faces.
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