Drell Assassin - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Drell Assassin

So here it is Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun...with the final three new character releases by Bioware. That's right you read correctly, in a surprise move the developers have decided to release all of the remaining new characters for the holiday season, which I guess makes sense because like most places their offices will be closed. Just before I get started I want to wish all you guys and gals a very Happy Christmas/Holiday, here's hoping Santa brought you what you wanted and you all enjoyed a great meal or two. Now speaking of gifts and food, let's see if Bioware handed out some early presents or served us a bunch of turkeys. If you've been reading my previous articles, you'll know how much waffling I can do about a single character, so for the sake of everyone's family time, I will limit this article to one character only and will write up the other two reviews separately. I was debating which of the characters I should review first and in the end decided to go with the order in which I unlocked them, so this article will be about the Drell Assassin (Infiltrator) with the following being the Volus Protector (Vanguard) and then the last being the Batarian Slasher (Adept). 

So without further ado let's get cracking. The Drell Assassin Infiltrator was one of the most eagerly anticipated characters when the list was first announced all those weeks ago and the main reason for this was because of his powers, which consist of Homing Grenades, Recon Mine and the Infiltrator standard of Tactical Cloak. I really like the Infiltrator class in general because I think the character kits are so varied and flexible, you can be brutally offensive with some, while using others to provide support from a safe distance. You can use the Tactical Cloak to carry out stealth attacks on unsuspecting enemies, complete objectives, escape from danger and even revive downed team-mates that are deep behind enemy lines. The best thing about TC though is the damage bonus you can get when initiating an attack from it, when used in conjunction with things that go boom, in this case the Homing Grenades and Recon mine, you can turn something that is already pretty deadly into something extra darn lethal. It just so happens that last weeks character (the Turian Saboteur) also had Homing Grenades as a power, so to save me the effort of using copy and paste, you can go there for more information.

Turian Saboteur - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Turian Saboteur

It's that time of the week again, when another new Mass Effect 3 multiplayer character is released and I give it a review. So without further delay, this weeks new kit is the Turian Saboteur, classified as an Engineer and brings to the fight Homing Grenades, Sabotage and a Sentry Turret. An interesting choice of release if you ask me, given that last weeks character (the Quarian Marksman Soldier) also had Sabotage as a power but I assume Homing Grenades and Sentry Turret are the main draws for using this guy. Anyway as I mentioned last week, I felt that the last few character releases were tailored more (but not exclusively) to those who enjoy using support classes i.e. those that don't rush the front lines but rather bring up the rear and assist from the middle ranks. This weeks character however, at first glance anyway, appears to be capable taking a role on the front lines but as ever, we'll get to that final analysis in due course.

As per usual, we'll start off with the powers. At the risk of repeating part of last weeks article, I think it's best if you refer to that review if you wish to know a bit more about Sabotage [see the link above], I will however continue to go into detail about the other two powers. Before this weeks release, Homing Grenades were exclusive to the N7 Demolisher and if you have this character, you'll know they're pretty devastating to the enemy. One of the better powers in the game, fantastic for dealing with armoured units; when utilised the player fires a grenade that flies towards its target (even if they're moving) and smashes them with a hefty amount of damage. Specced correctly, your Homing Grenades will literally 'track and whack' [Mafia terminology] basic troops but they can seriously injure bosses too. I particularly like the Fire Damage evolution, which creates a damage over time effect on the target, doing a further 50% of the grenades base damage over a period of a few seconds. The lingering fire damage allows you to set off and prime power combos, something that you should definitely take advantage of, especially when playing with other power users. The other benefit of using grenades as your main form of attack is that they have no cool down time, which means you can fire off a string of them, with practically no delay between each launch, excellent for taking out multiple enemies and/or a single boss fairly quickly.

Quarian Marksman (vs. Turian Soldier) - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Qurian Marksman

So it seems that Bioware have finally got their house in order and are once again knocking out new characters and updates on time, let's just hope it stays that way. Anyway, this weeks new kit is the Quarian (male) Marksman, classified as a Soldier and he brings to the fight; Marksman, Tactical Scan and Sabotage. Following last weeks new character release of the Asari Huntress and the Volus Mercenary before her, it seems to me that we're experiencing something of a trend in these new kits and by this i mean they appear to be more support based characters. Of course it depends on how you actually choose to play them but with the powers they have, my initial thoughts would be that they're suited to middle and rear fighting roles. However it's not really fair to pass judgement on the Quarian Marksman Soldier until I've tested him in the field, which I've now done, so let's see what verdict is.

As per usual, we'll start off by covering the powers. Currently both of the other existing male Quarian characters have Tactical Scan, so i guess it makes sense that this guy also has it. It's a power that i think is incredibly useful, especially when you're playing with players who aren't the most skilled. For starters, the base purpose of it is to offer a de-buff on the enemy targeted, which is always nice to have when dealing bosses or other hardened enemies. The secondary purpose is that it highlights enemies (even those behind cover), so for example if your team have failed to notice some troops trying to flank, you can just activate the scan and hopefully they'll realise what's happening. The best thing about TS in my opinion however, is the Area Scan evolution, which momentarily reveals all enemies within a certain distance of the enemy you targeted specifically with TS (or from you if you didn't target an enemy). On smallish maps, i generally spam TS and just provide my teammates with a constant stream of intel on enemy movements, couple this with the de-buffing bonuses and you've got one of the best support powers in the game.

How To Rank Up Fast In Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Multiplayer

It seems like this question is asked for every Call of Duty title released and while for most of us the answer is probably pretty obvious, there are still plenty of players out there who don't quite know the best ways to earn that all important XP. Even as a seasoned CoD player, I'm still very much interested in the quickest ways to rank up because as you all know, most of the good weapons/equipment/perks are only available once you reach the very top of the rank tree. If you happen to be one of those players who wants to know the most time efficient ways to climb the ranks, hopefully after reading this article you'll pick up some tips that I've learnt during my many hours of CoD multiplayer. 

OK, well for the most part ranking up in any CoD title is exactly the same, you earn set amount of XP for kills and attacking/defending objectives, how much you get depends on the game type you're playing. However it's not just kills and objectives that will earn you XP, many other actions can also earn you XP including: assisting in a kill, calling in a kill/score streak and earning one of the other various in game medals, such as getting headshots, multi-kills etc etc. It might seem like a really silly thing for me to say but basically the most important thing to remember when you're trying to rank up is fast, is to be as active in games as possible because the more you do the more XP you're likely to earn. Having said this, there is a difference between being active and constantly rushing head first into a quick death, the latter will not help you rank up faster.

Asari Huntress - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Asari Huntress

Two weeks running now that Bioware have actually released their new character on time *gasp*, albeit this weeks balance changes were cancelled altogether *rolls eyes*. Apologies again for the delay in this weeks character review, if you read last weeks review of the Volus Mercenary, you'll know that I'm very much in Call Of Duty mode at the moment. This means that I'll generally write up my review at the weekend, once I've completed the Challenge Operation and of course had a bit of a play around with the new character. Anyway, this weeks new character kit is the Asari Huntress, classified as an Infiltrator and comes to battle equipped with Dark Channel and Warp, along with Tactical Cloak as standard. For those who've read some of my earlier character reviews, you'll know that I'm a big fan of Biotics, there's just something about blowing enemies away with that resounding BOOM, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :P Couple this with the fact that i think the Infiltrator class is probably the most versatile and it's needless to say that i was very much looking forward to trying out this new character.

In previous weeks we were introduced to some pretty lack luster kits, boring and recycled, might be a fair assessment of most of them, so would this week bring anything new or be just yet another disappointment? Well my first thoughts were this is definitely an interesting character, i mean Biotics are generally best when they're rushing enemies head on, hitting them hard with Biotic Explosions and then mopping up any survivors. In contrast the general tactic for Infiltrators, at least for my characters anyway, is to keep a relatively safe distance and drop enemies with long ranged weapons when popping out of Tactical Cloak, taking advantage of both the damage bonus and the element of surprise. It's because of this conflict in ideas that i was initially struggling to spec to my Asari Huntress, however in the end i decided to go for the damage bonus and bonus power in Tactical Cloak and then maxing out both Warp and Dark Channel, while leaving my Fitness and Passive at mid level. I'll explain a bit more about my play style and tactics for this choice of speccing later on but first I'll just an overview of the powers at hand, just in case you're not too familiar with them.

Volus Mercenary - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Volus Mercenary

It's typical isn't it, the one week when I couldn't careless whether Bioware release their weekly update and new character on time or not (because I'm busy with Black Ops 2), that they decide to finally get their act together *rolls eyes*. Anyways, this weeks character was the Volus Mercenary (see last weeks article for my review of the Vorcha Hunter), he's classified as a Sentinel and comes stocked with Decoy and Combat Drone, as well as the Volus standard of Shield Boost. There was mixed feelings when Bioware first announced the Volus race as new playable characters in multiplayer but i think that most people warmed to the new characters once they actually unlocked them. I was personally indifferent about the situation but will admit that i was pleasantly surprised at how much i enjoyed playing as the Volus characters, once i got lucky enough to unlock them. When i first heard that the new character was going to be a Volus, my interest peaked slightly but my biggest question was, would it fill a role that already exists or bring an entirely different playstyle via a new power?

I think that generally Volus characters are considered as "support" characters, while i don't disagree with this idea, i don't think it's entirely accurate all the time. How you choose to spec the powers and then how you actually play the character is what i believe, determines the role you take in a match. I for one, could not spend an entire match just shadowing teammates and spamming Shield Boost (though i do if i'm not using my other powers), true it can be a pretty effective tactic but it's not the only thing the Volus characters can do. I play very offensively (my prefered gameplay style) with my Volus Engineer, using the Recon Mine to provide enemy locations and then hitting them with a Proximity Mine for debuffing, before putting them down with a storm of bullets from my Hurricane. The Volus Adept on the other hand, i tend to play a bit more reservedly because i can't seem to kill as fast; my usual tactic is to use Stasis Bubble to take care of crowds of basic troops and then weakening bosses with the Biotic Orbs.

Vorcha Hunter (vs. Batarian Sentinel) - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Vorcha Hunter

After a fourth consecutive week in delays to the balance changes coming into effect, Bioware finally released the Vorcha Engineer. Anyway, I didn't think I'd get around to unlocking this new character until at least the weekend because as you may be aware, there was a much bigger release happening this week, in the form of Black Ops 2. Ironically however, my copy of Blops 2 has as of this moment, still to arrive (which I'm not happy about) thus I had time to play ME3 after all but as you'll soon discover, I didn't find this new character much of a consolation prize. So let's get started, first off, if it wasn't brutally obvious already this weeks new character is classed as an Engineer (XD) and his powers are Incinerate and Submission Net, along with the Vorcha staple of Blood Lust.

If you read my review of the Geth Soldier from last week you'll know that I'm a big fan of the two existing Vorcha characters, mainly because of their Flamer but also because they can regenerate health via Blood Lust. So would this new Vorcha join those two or will i be disappointed with yet another of the new characters? Well let's begin with Submission Net, while i don't love the power I don't think it's bad, it's pretty similar to the Asaris Stasis but it can only ever snare one enemy at a time and has to travel to it's target. In contrast the Asari Stasis appears more or less instantly on the targeted enemy and can be evolved to the 'bubble' form, which can trap multiple enemies. This is my biggest issue with the SN, it's travel time is pretty long and when you're playing off host in a laggy-ish game, the chances are enemies will dodge the SN more often than they are caught by it and that's assuming the SN travels correctly towards the enemy you targeted in the first place.

Black Ops 2 Cheapest Launch Day Prices, Special Offers & Promotions [UK Summary]

UK Launch is Tuesday 13th Nov 2012

People of the UK, it's that time of the year again, when gamers up and down the country make like a daytime television program and go bargain hunting! But it's not antiques we're searching for, nor will the item we want be found at car boot sales, at least not this week anyway :P That's right fellow first person shooter fans, it's the launch week of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 and if you haven't pre-ordered a copy, it probably cus you're hoping to snag a bargain come Tuesday (13th Nov).

Geth Trooper (vs. Vorcha Soldier) - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Geth Trooper

This week Bioware released the Geth Trooper (see last week for my review of the Batarian Brawler), classified as a Soldier this character comes with Fortification, Flamer and like the other two Geth characters, Hunter Mode. I wasn't always a fan of using either of the existing Geth characters but once i discovered specific roles for each of them, they definitely became a lot more fun to use. Like most people i use my Geth Infiltrator as a killing machine, getting close and personal with enemies, then putting them down hard and fast. The Geth Engineer i use as a support/mid-range fighter, deploying my turret to restore shields and to keep enemies occupied at a distance where i can engage safely. So when i found out the Geth Trooper was going to be one of the new characters, i was pretty curious as to what sort of role he would fill?

First off i should say, I'm a big fan of Flamer and it's because of this that the two current Vorcha characters are a couple of my favourites to play as. I also like the bonuses that come with using Hunter Mode, though again like most people i hate the visuals (talk about headache inducing!), so needless to say i was quite looking forward to trying out this new character in game. On paper it looks as though you could spec the GT to do some serious damage with Flamer, seeing as both Fortification and HM provide bonus damage to powers. The reality is that yes, you can produce a really damaging Flamer but in order to do so, you're probably going to have to sacrifice some Fitness, which means you're pretty fragile. Neither of my other Geth characters have full Fitness but the GI has Tactical Cloak and the GE has his turret, both of which helps to keep me alive, even when using HM. The GT however, doesn't have anything to offset the disadvantages of having low health/shields, especially while in HM and in my first couple game, i found this really frustrating.

Batarian Brawler (vs. Krogan Battlemaster) - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Batarian Brawler

Another week, another update and another new character released for Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. Once again, just in case you hadn't heard, Bioware are planning to release one new character every week for the next couple months, last week we got the Asari Valkyrie (my review) and this week was the turn of the Batarian Brawler Vanguard. How befitting that the day he was released, just happened to be the night of Halloween; cus let's face it, he's one person you probably wouldn't want to bump into down a dark ally, haha. Anyway, moving onto to his abilities, as with all Vanguards he has the Biotic Charge and to compliment this he also has Lash and the Batarian staple of Blade Armour. The question is, was he a trick or a treat? (See what i did there ;D)

I quite like the other Batarian characters; the Sentinel with his Submission net is like a sturdier version of my beloved Asari Adept (though less agile) and the Soldier can destroy crowds with his Ballistic Blades/Inferno grenades. So when i heard the new character was going to be the Batarian Vanguard, i was intrigued as to what his powers were going to be and then i found out it was Blade Amour and Lash. I guessed Blade Armour and that's fine but Lash, really? Anyway, i decided to reserve judgement until I'd played a couple games (on Gold) with him but unfortunately my sceptical views on Lash being the third, was merely confirmed. I don't need to say anything about the Biotic charge because it's basically the same as for any other Vanguard character and likewise for Blade Armour, there are no new evolutions here either.

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Class/Kit Builder Website Review

One of the nice things about Mass Effect 3 multiplayer is the fact that we are given the option to customise how we spend our character points, for example if you don't like a certain power, you can skip it altogether and concentrate on maxing out the other evolutions. While it is fun and interesting to create the perfect set up for your characters, it can also be quite annoying and frustrating when you're having to do it through copious amounts of trial and error. True you can promote and use respec cards to wipe the points clean but what happens if you don't have a stack of respec cards or don't enjoy having to promote, simply because you found out the points you assigned weren't that great.
   

What to pick?! Decisions, decisions...

Asari Valkyrie (vs. N7 Fury) - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Asari Valkyrie

Earlier this week Bioware released another one of the new multiplayer characters; the Asari Valkyrie. As a fan of biotic characters (who doesn't like the biotic BOOM?!), I was quite looking forward to trying out this character when the full list of new characters was released a few weeks ago. For those that don't know, she is classified as a Sentinel and her powers comprise of Tech Armour, Annihilation Field and Warp. 

At first thought I imagined her to be a sturdier version of my beloved N7 Fury and after a couple matches (on Gold) with the Valkyrie, i was proved half right. Assuming you spec into tech armour and have it turned on, she can take a little bit more punishment than the Fury before getting downed but as with all Biotics, you're not really meant to be lingering in front of enemy fire for prolonged periods anyway, so it's nice but not amazing.