A Beginners Guide To Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer [Part 1/2]

- Introduction

I've been playing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer for a little over half a year now and as with any game where there is an MP that I enjoy playing, I've spent many an hour on the title. Until ME3 I wasn't really aware of what the Mass Effect franchise was about nor did I have any reason to learn more about it, that however all changed when a friend of mine (who I played a crap ton of Uncharted 3 Co-Op with), recommended the game to me. I started off by downloading the demo and if I'm being honest, my first impressions were more or less "meh, can't see what all the fuss is about" but I decided to stick at it and play around with the various classes, while also testing out the different powers. It took a pretty long time for me to get to grips with the demo and when I eventually bought the retail version, I realised that this was merely the tip of the iceberg, despite this I decided to forgo the single player and dive straight into MP (in hindsight, even I think this was a crazy move!). 

Being an absolute noob to the whole ME franchise there was soo much that I had to wrap my head around, never before did I have to build entire character kits via skills points as well as selecting and modding weapons. These weapons would then create an additional "cooldown" time for my powers and could be further enhanced via equipment. Don't even get me started on all the classes, I mean what the heck is an "Adept"? "Vanguards" can do what now? The powers themselves had alternative evolutions and each one had odd names (what is "Reave"?!) and provided equally bizarre benefits ("Weaken Armour"?!), I mean my mind was literally reeling from the data overload (speaking of which, "Effective against barriers"?!).

Batarian Slasher (vs. Drell Adept) - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Batarian Slasher

Time's a funny old thing isn't? It doesn't feel like months have past since Bioware launched the Retaliation DLC for Mass Effect 3 multiplayer and now I'm about to write up my final character review! I just realised that my first character review was for a Biotic kit in the form of the Asari Valkyrie and now I'm going to be ending on another Biotic kit, feels a bit like I've gone full circle (well I thought that was interesting lol). Anyway enough reminiscing about the past (speaking of which, here you can find my previous character review of the Volus Protector) and let's get started, well the final new character kit is the Batarian Slasher, classified as an Adept and brings to the fight; Lash, Warp and Cluster Grenades. I should point out at this stage that up until this character I wasn't the biggest fan of Batarian characters, not because I think their signature powers are rubbish (though they aren't amazing) but rather because like Krogans and the original Turians, they suffer from a serious lack of mobility. Being a player who likes to attack with speed and aggression, this trait is something that I struggle to deal with and thus I rarely pick up any of them, bar the Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard who I'll turn to when I'm in need of a tanky character. So what was soo good about this Batarian that can make me live with the fact that he can't roll or dodge an incoming enemy attack?

As always we begin with the powers, now for those of you who have read my previous character reviews you'll know that i don't really like Warp, at least not when I'm planning on doing Biotic Explosions all game long. So it may surprise you to hear that with the game plan I devised (more on this later on), it actually wasn't soo bad to use, just in case you don't know my views on Warp you can read more in my review of the Asari Huntress. A quick re-cap is that it can prime and detonate power combinations, it has a moderate cool down time that isn't particularly suited to setting of a chain of Biotic Explosions in quick succession and it has a lengthy travel time that means it is quite often easily dodged by the enemy (assuming lag doesn't make it miss first). Warp does a nice chunk of damage to an enemy upon making contact but the thing that makes the power better is that it can be specced to weaken enemy units, exposing them to take more damage from your weapon fire or another power. If I'm planning on putting the maximum amount of points into Warp, I always go this route because on the higher difficulties, being able to soften enemies up that little bit more is always nice.

Call of Duty Create-A-Class Setups That Everyone Should Have

One of the best things about multiplayer in the past few Call of Duty titles is the ability to customise your own loadouts via the in game create-a-class system. I've been playing the multiplayer component of CoD games since the first Modern Warfare title and creating the best and most efficient classes has always been something that I've considered a priority. As the fan base of the franchise has increased over the years, I've often wondered how everyone else approaches their create-a-class options because from what I've witnessed, there are many times when players simply don't know how to counter a certain players/teams playstyle/tactic.

So now I've decided to write up this article because I feel that there might be quite a large number of players out there who aren't building one or two essential classes that might stop them from having those horrific games where they're continually being steam rolled. I'm fairly certain it's not just beginners that aren't utilising their custom classes to their full potential, so before you seasoned vets stop reading, my question for you is this, with your classes are you prepared for every eventuality in a match? If you're not sure, then I think it might be quite beneficial for you to carry on reading...

Volus Protector - Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Character Discussion and Review

Volus Protector

Is it just me or did Christmas of 2012 come and go ever soo quickly? Now just before i begin my first article of 2013, i want to wish all you guys and gals a very Happy New Year, here's hoping this year's a good one! :D Anyway as I said in last years [ ;P ] review of the Drell Assassin, Bioware released all of the three remaining new character kits and so this week I'm going to be reviewing the Volus Protector. Classified as a Vanguard, he comes equipped with Biotic Charge as standard, Shield Boost and Biotic Orbs. I don't know about you but when I think about Volus kits, the first things that spring to mind are small and squishy, not exactly something you generally associate with Vanguards (who are normally front line rushers, at least for my set-ups anyway). So when I first heard about this particular Volus kit, I was slightly more sceptical than usual however as past releases have taught me, it's best to reserve judgement until you actually try out the character. I have since played a few games with the little guy [on Gold] but was he a delight like a firework in the night sky or does Bioware need to add yet another new years resolution to their list?

As always we begin with the powers, well Biotic Charge is the same as it is for any Vanguard, so i think we can skip that. Shield Boost is also the same for any of the Volus characters but just in case you have yet to unlock a Volus character, when activated it basically refills a portion of your shields and those of your team mates, provided they are within range of course. Additionally it can be specced to provide a damage reduction from all incoming fire for a limited amount of time, a feature that i think turns a great power into a fantastic power for you and your team. The third and final power is Biotic Orbs, basically once you activate the power you create three orbs that will float around your character, when you use the power again it will fire one of the orbs at your chosen target, this can be done up to three times (once for each orb). A simple way of explaining the way these orbs work is that they're basically a slightly altered version of the Warp power. Like Warp, the orbs take time to travel towards a target and thus can be dodged, as well as suffer from misses when lag is present in game. Again like Warp, the orbs can be specced so that targets that are hit, are exposed to take more damage from you and your team, with the added bonus of the de-buff being able to stack from each orb. The main differences between Warp and Biotic Orbs however, are that Warp can both prime and detonate power combinations while Biotic Orbs can only act as a detonator and Warp does a little bit of damage over time after making contact with the target, whereas the orbs do all their damage in the initial hit [Biotic Orbs do slightly more damage than Warp].