I don't usually post Mass Effect 3's weekly balance changes but I think today's set of changes definitely warrant a mention because for one, there's a lot of them and two, it confirms my prediction that last weeks special week-long operation was indeed probably the last ever :( Most of the changes revolve around buffing various components of the new Reckoning DLC kits bar one character. No prizes for guessing correctly who got the nerf sledgehammer; if you're a fan of the Alliance Infiltration Unit (AIU) be prepared for a tough read because she took a major beat down. After the list I'll discuss some of the bigger changes and provide my own personal opinions in general, on what has come to pass in today's "balancing". (Full list after the break)
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March 12, 2013
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Commendation Pack Weapons
- The following weapons have been added to the ultra rare pool of cards:
- N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle
- N7 Eagle Pistol
- N7 Crusader Shotgun
- N7 Hurricane SMG
- N7 Valiant Sniper Rifle
Spectre Mastery
- Fixed an issue where medals earned could become stuck on completion
Squad Elite
- Added a new challenge to complete 25 matches on 'unknown enemy'
- Added a new challenge to complete 25 matches on 'unknown map'
Talon Omni-Bow Mechanics
- Base number of arrows fired increased from 3 to 5
- Omni-Bow max charge length decreased from 3 seconds to 0.35 seconds, so holding the heavy melee
button will cause the attack to release almost instantly
Elite Mercenary Passive Power
- Base charge regeneration cooldown decreased from 90 to 60 seconds
- Evolution 5 charge regeneration bonus increased from 50% to 100%
Omni-Bow Mastery Passive Power
- Base Omni-Bow damage bonus increased from 10% to 15%
- Rank 3 Omni-Bow damage bonus increased from 20% to 25%
- Evolution 1 Omni-Bow damage bonus increased from 30% to 35%
- Evolution 3 Omni-Bow killing spree damage bonus decreased from 50% to 25% but duration increased
from 8 seconds to 30 seconds
- Evolution 5 Omni-Bow damage bonus increased from 40% to 50%
Concussive Arrows Power
- Base number of arrows fired increased from 4 to 5 when you have this power active
Armor-Piercing Arrows Power
- Number of charges loaded per grenade increased from 2 to 3, so for each grenade used
you can fire 3 charges of Armor-Piercing arrows before going back to normal arrows
- Base damage reduced from 100 to 75
- Base number of arrows fired increased from 4 to 5 when you have this power active
Ancient Warrior Passive Power (Collector)
- Base Ascension Stance duration increased from 30 to 45 seconds
- Base Ascension Stance damage taken penalty reduced from 20% to 15%
- Evolution 5 Ascension Stance damage taken penalty reduced from 20% to 10%
Repair Matrix Power
- Base duration decreased from 15 to 8 seconds
- Base number of shields restored per second reduced from 150 to 75
- Evolution 1 damage reduction bonus decreased from 10% to 5%
- Evolution 6 damage reduction bonus decreased from 15% to 10%
Alliance Infiltration Unit
- Base melee damage reduced from 400 to 350
- Base heavy melee damage reduced from 750 to 650
Biotic Focus Power
- Evolution 6 damage reduction bonus increased from 15% to 20%
- Evolution 6 melee damage bonus increased from 20% to 30%
Poison Strike Power
- Base poison damage per second increased from 60 to 75
Adas Anti-Synthetic Assault Rifle
- Base damage increased from [161.9-202.4] to [178.1-222.6]
Geth Spitfire Assault Rifle
- Base damage increased from [56.5-70.6] to [62.2-77.8]
Venom Shotgun
- Damage multiplier when fully charged increased from 10% to 25%
Blood Pack Punisher SMG
- Base damage increased from [38.2-47.75] to [40.1-50.1]
Hex Shield Power
- Fixed a bug where enemy Geth Prime siege pulse projectiles could pass through the shield
Firsts things first then, the addition of the Promotional Ultra-Rare weapons to the normal Ultra-Rare pool and the new challenges added to Squad Elite, clearly suggests that weekend operations are now finished altogether. It's quite sad that there won't be a larger presence of players at any given time during the week, the main reason why I largely played at the weekend. In my eyes the addition of these weapons is both good and bad, it's good because you will no longer be restricted to one unlock per week but at the same time, it's now very bad because you won't be guaranteed at least one unlock every week.
The general view on the ME3 MP forums is that the chances of unlocking an Ultra-Rare in any of the 99,000 packs is roughly 10%, though some people have been luckier than others (not me). Taking this percentage into account, you're likely to get one UR in every 10 packs that you buy, there are 21 UR weapons each with 10 levels, that's 210 unlocks that you need to accrue before maxing them all out. If you didn't have a few UR weapons unlocked at a level 1 before these new items were added, the chances of you getting it now have just decreased significantly. The amount of time and credits you would have to play and then spend is mind blowing, if you think I'm exaggerating, do the maths and see for yourself.
I haven't really played a lot with the Talon Mercenary, so I can't really judge the changes to his abilities but from what little I do remember from my limited time playing with him, all buffs are warmly welcomed. I've spent a bit more time playing with the Awakened Collector but again not enough to comment on the buffs that were applied to him. I spent a good deal of time playing with the Cabal Vanguard when I was writing up her character review and I said in that write up that I thought Poison Strike was too weak for higher difficulties. It'll be interesting to see how much of a change, if any, this makes to the power but I have a sneaking suspicion it'll still kill too slowly. I didn't think Biotic Focus needed any changes but the extra melee damage is a welcome buff for any players rocking her as a melee character and who would say no to additional damage reduction?
The final character is of course the AIU, when a developer confirmed last week that there was indeed going to be a nerf to the kit, I decided that it was the right time for me to try and complete my first ever Platinum solo (I'll eventually upload that video). After a several evenings of failed attempts, I actually managed it a couple days back and if I'm being honest, I really didn't think she was overpowered. I've yet to test out the kit post nerf but seeing all the things that have changed, I'm slightly concerned that she's gone from a great character to one that is below average. No-one complained about the melee, so bugger me if I know why they decided to cut that back? The new duration period of Repair Matrix is a joke, 8 seconds means players will burn through too many 'nades in any given wave and that's just not helpful to any other grenade users in the game. I could've accepted slightly nerfing either the shield restore rate or damage reduction but both is just way over kill, combine this with the new duration and it's a truly sad affair.
The weapon buffs were definitely needed but I'm not sure they've changed any of the damage values to a level that would make me pick the guns up again. The Adas was soo terrible when I tried it out but it's a Rare weapon, so I'm not really fussed. The Spitfire and Venom on the other hand are Ultra-Rares but both sucked major ass, so even with these minor buffs I'm going to assume, they still aren't worth my time. I'll test them out again but given my original experience of the Venom shotgun was that it failed to kill basic troops in one hit on Bronze, I'm not going to hold my breath.
And finally the change to Hex Shield is very welcome, it really bugged me when Geth Prime shots could pass through, it wasn't such an issue if you're not playing against them on Gold or lower but in Platinum games it was a tad annoying because they're going to show up some time.
In light of last weeks special operation and now today's changes, the question on my mind is could this mean the end of ME3 MP will soon be upon us, will we fire up the game one evening to find that EA have pulled the server's plug? I don't think it'll happen next week but I get the feeling that day is coming, though how soon is anyone's guess I suppose. I intend to post a special article about my time on ME3 in the coming weeks, including my thoughts on what the future might hold for the franchise, so if you fancy a lengthy read be sure to check back here sometime.
The list of balance changes was taken directly and unchanged from the BioWare Forums.
The general view on the ME3 MP forums is that the chances of unlocking an Ultra-Rare in any of the 99,000 packs is roughly 10%, though some people have been luckier than others (not me). Taking this percentage into account, you're likely to get one UR in every 10 packs that you buy, there are 21 UR weapons each with 10 levels, that's 210 unlocks that you need to accrue before maxing them all out. If you didn't have a few UR weapons unlocked at a level 1 before these new items were added, the chances of you getting it now have just decreased significantly. The amount of time and credits you would have to play and then spend is mind blowing, if you think I'm exaggerating, do the maths and see for yourself.
I haven't really played a lot with the Talon Mercenary, so I can't really judge the changes to his abilities but from what little I do remember from my limited time playing with him, all buffs are warmly welcomed. I've spent a bit more time playing with the Awakened Collector but again not enough to comment on the buffs that were applied to him. I spent a good deal of time playing with the Cabal Vanguard when I was writing up her character review and I said in that write up that I thought Poison Strike was too weak for higher difficulties. It'll be interesting to see how much of a change, if any, this makes to the power but I have a sneaking suspicion it'll still kill too slowly. I didn't think Biotic Focus needed any changes but the extra melee damage is a welcome buff for any players rocking her as a melee character and who would say no to additional damage reduction?
The final character is of course the AIU, when a developer confirmed last week that there was indeed going to be a nerf to the kit, I decided that it was the right time for me to try and complete my first ever Platinum solo (I'll eventually upload that video). After a several evenings of failed attempts, I actually managed it a couple days back and if I'm being honest, I really didn't think she was overpowered. I've yet to test out the kit post nerf but seeing all the things that have changed, I'm slightly concerned that she's gone from a great character to one that is below average. No-one complained about the melee, so bugger me if I know why they decided to cut that back? The new duration period of Repair Matrix is a joke, 8 seconds means players will burn through too many 'nades in any given wave and that's just not helpful to any other grenade users in the game. I could've accepted slightly nerfing either the shield restore rate or damage reduction but both is just way over kill, combine this with the new duration and it's a truly sad affair.
The weapon buffs were definitely needed but I'm not sure they've changed any of the damage values to a level that would make me pick the guns up again. The Adas was soo terrible when I tried it out but it's a Rare weapon, so I'm not really fussed. The Spitfire and Venom on the other hand are Ultra-Rares but both sucked major ass, so even with these minor buffs I'm going to assume, they still aren't worth my time. I'll test them out again but given my original experience of the Venom shotgun was that it failed to kill basic troops in one hit on Bronze, I'm not going to hold my breath.
And finally the change to Hex Shield is very welcome, it really bugged me when Geth Prime shots could pass through, it wasn't such an issue if you're not playing against them on Gold or lower but in Platinum games it was a tad annoying because they're going to show up some time.
In light of last weeks special operation and now today's changes, the question on my mind is could this mean the end of ME3 MP will soon be upon us, will we fire up the game one evening to find that EA have pulled the server's plug? I don't think it'll happen next week but I get the feeling that day is coming, though how soon is anyone's guess I suppose. I intend to post a special article about my time on ME3 in the coming weeks, including my thoughts on what the future might hold for the franchise, so if you fancy a lengthy read be sure to check back here sometime.
The list of balance changes was taken directly and unchanged from the BioWare Forums.
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