Mass Effect 3 multiplayer

[Super Buu]

I think I'm the only other dude playing on 360. I haven't played the game in a few weeks though so if you do wanna play just hit me up on steam or something.

[Pinky]

New MP DLC tomorrow with Vorcha, male Quarians, and ex-Cerberus biotic characters. A few new weapons and maps, too.

Also, later this week there's a patch to fix a laundry list of bugs. Would have been nice to get some of the more important items sooner than three months post retail, but at least it's happening.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/...x/12276459

[Dehan]

That DLC going to be free?

[Pinky]

yep. i got the cerberus harrier in my first PSP after rebellion went online. pretty sweet

[Kaden]

I got the Vorcha Soldier. A lot of fun. Being able to regen tank two pyros is pretty damn funny.

[Pinky]

I've only gotten the Quarian Male Engineer character. And he sucks. Would have been a lot better to get the Infiltrator version instead.

My favorite new content is the gear slot. Unlike consumeable items, gear is permanent and it can be upgraded to level 5. Hope sometime soon I get the one that adds bonus damage to assult rifles and raises max grenade capacity, it'd be perfect for my human soldiers.

[Kaden]

The gear slot is also my favorite addition. Awesome idea.

I have the Quarian Male Infiltrator. He's pretty cool. Maxed his Tac Scan and Arc Grenade and am regretting the latter. Tac Scan and maxed Cloak is going to be just obscene amounts of damage. Unlocked the new sniper rifle, too, and it's pretty awesome.

[Pinky]

Arc Grenades are good in theory. Like Overload and Energy Drain, they do triple damage to shields/barriers. Hope you maxed them for Shield Overload not Armor Piercing.

And yeah, Scan+Cloak is what I wanted to play with. I noticed that Scan is an offensive power that you don't have to pop out of cover to use. You just put your cursor over the target and turn it on. QMI might be the best infiltrator now.

[Pinky]

I've been sort of miffed by the items that I've unlocked over the last month or so. I've managed to finish upgrading the Claymore, Carnifex, Graal, Arc Pistol, and Geth SMG in short order, but there's still a number of rare weapons I have not gotten past level 2 and still haven't unlocked the new super sniper rifle. Hm.

After reading up on the BSN forum, I saw people talking about "pseudo random number generator" mechanics. Instead of real randomization, the Recruit, Veteran, Spectre and Premium Spectre packs weight the rarity tier that's chosen, and then the system further weights the result to favor items that you already have. So, if you're getting a lot of the same stuff it's not just a coincidence.

Made sense to me since my first two ultra rare weapons, the Black Widow and Wraith, got to level 2 and 3 respectively before I was able to get another ultra rare. And my rare items tend to upgrade whatever I have at higher levels before getting lower level upgrades or entirely new items... I unlocked the Quarian Male Engineer three times before finally getting the Vorcha Soldier. My Geth SMG and Claymore reached level 10 in the same pack, and in the next pack my equal level Revenant and Disciple upgraded at the same time.

But now that I do have a Vorcha I have to say they are pretty fun. Gone is my fear of being knocked down to low health, and having to play it safe for several waves to get myself back in fighting shape. With max HP and healing, I just hop around like a lunatic and spray Revenant and Carnage at whatever ails me.

[Kaden]

That was my suspicion about unlocks. I never took the time to go look it up, but it seemed more than coincidental.

I'm miffed that the only ultra rare weapon I've unlocked is the Javelin, which I am loathe to use.

[Pinky]

Most of them are shit, tbh. Of the ones that I have, only the Harrier and Talon are worth using. But even they are crippled by low ammo capacity, so you have to squat on an ammo box. That's why I tend to just use rare or uncommon stuff.

[Kaden]

I always see people with the Valiant rocking face. Maybe it's just them being awesome more than the gun being good.

[Pinky]

That's not just UR, it's a promotional. I dont have it myself but it certainly looks good.

[Maruset]

The Valiant is amazing. Also, as for that weighting thing, I figured it out after getting lvl 6 Disciple before any other golds. RNG all you want, but no.

[Pinky]

So, I started buying Vet packs today in an attempt to collect more Gear equipment. In the second Vet pack I unlocked the Ex-Cerberus Phoenix Adept. More than a dozen Premium Spectre packs since the DLC went online, god only knows how many Spectre packs, and I get it easily in Vet pack.

I'm really starting to hate this random store system. e_e

Anyway, now I have one of each new character. The Pheonix is boss. His regular melee is the stun-baton that Cerberus soldiers use and his heavy melee is a wide-arc flail with twin biotic whips. (had a melee showdown with a Phantom that was pretty sweet)

His two unique powers are not intuitive at all. The "Smash" power is the one that uses the twin whips to pound the ground -- it doesn't go through walls although the animation does and seems to be stopped by low cover. I'm not sure how many enemies it hits (my guess is 2) or what the maximum distance is. But, when I do time it right they cartwheel away into the air like Team Rocket. Knocked a lot of people off the map on Jade.

The "Lash" power pulls targets more or less toward you. Too often they're thrown in a random direction. The unpredictability kinda ruins it, since it's the setup for a Biotic Combo with Smash. It also yanks Guardian shields down like Pull, so that's nice.

All three of the new characters were fun to play with. Now I just need to get the Phoenix Vanguard and Quarian Male Infiltrator, since their skill set seems superior to the ones I have.

[Dehan]

Getting pissed off with the multiplayer on PS3, maybe I just have horrible luck but when I search for silver or gold level matches it takes a long time or it tosses me into match that's already in progress....or a bunch of level 5's or 10's are trying to join up.

GAAAAH!

Is this a problem for anyone else?

[Pinky]

BioWare changed the matchmaking system to seek out a squad based on N7 level. This has caused a lot of problems, including the ones you're talking about. They said that they'll probably go back to the previous method but no date on when to expect that.

In other news, thermal clips were patched so that when you use one it auto reloads your weapon and gives you bonus damage for a little bit.

[Dehan]

That's such bullshit. I've only got an N7 level of 150 or 175 or some shit; not that I even pay attention to that. I hope they go back to the previous method, fuck. I think I'll skip multiplayer for a bit until they fix it. I'll just take my time going through the campaign.

[Kaden]

In other news, thermal clips were patched so that when you use one it auto reloads your weapon and gives you bonus damage for a little bit.

Auto re-loading a weapon is pretty damn sexy. I like to see soldiers (and snipers, to a lesser extent) getting some love.

[Pinky]

my matchmaking experience has been okay. (n7 700ish)

bioware has added N7 promotional weapons to victory packs. suhweet

phoenix smash was buffed for better range and faster cooldown. good week for me3mp