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Commando Soldier 201 Posted: 2010-03-10 - 4 comment(s) - 0 trackback(s) Category: Soldier Guide Commando Soldier 201 Video:  When I say Commando Soldier, I'm not just talking about the choice between commando and shock trooper; I'm talking about a specific method of playing the soldier that is different from playing the soldier like a sniper or like a suppressive fire master. Commando's, in real life, are warriors that go first deep into enemy lines and use every resource they have to accomplish their objective. In the same way, that's how a Commando soldier in Mass Effect 2 should view the battle; using every weapon and ammo type she/he has available to get the job done. I'm an advocate of soldiers using shotguns more often. But as you can see from my videos, that doesn't mean using the shotgun constantly, or more than the other weapons. Don't think of the Commando Soldier as somehow the shotgun soldier. The commando soldier tries to do her/his best to use the best weapon for each circumstance. In order to use each weapon effectively, however, the soldier must create an opportunity for each weapon to be used. The Commando Soldier must make the enemy respond to her/him, not the other way around. This means being intentionally advancing towards the enemy and moving from spot to spot to create different opportunities for different weapons. The Commando must advance, and advance often, because otherwise the Commando will use the sniper ammo very quickly and then be forced to use the assault rifle at a greater than optimum range, and likely won't even use the shotgun. This is totally acceptable if a soldier wants to play like a Sniper, but this guide will be focused on playing like a Commando. Determining Range: Figuring out what range suits what weapon is one of the more challenging aspects of playing as the Commando. Here is some advice on the ranges for which weapon, as it suits Commando play: (Note, all of these ranges are with targets no larger than Krogan). Sniper Range: Any range greater than the range at which the assault rifle can be fired at full auto and miss more often than hit. Assault Rifle Range: Any range where the Avenger assault rifle has between 70% - 90% of shots fired hit while in full auto mode. Shotgun Range: Any range where Avenger Assault Rifle has greater than 95% of shots fired hit the target. Early game, when only the Avenger is available, is a good place to start figuring out how these ranges work. You will notice that there are areas unaccounted for in this advice. This is because there is some significant grey area when determining what weapon works best in that circumstance. Only the player can fill in the gaps on whether bursting the avenger is a better choice than a sniper shot, or whether to unload on the enemy with an Assault Rifle and expend lots of ammo or to take the seconds needed to switch to the shotgun. Other types of weapons also blur these lines; the Vindicator has better ranged accuracy, overlapping more with the sniper. Advancing: The Commando Soldier must advance. This is for two reasons: 1) In order to use every weapon, the soldier must create opportunities for each of those ranges to be most effective. 2) The Commando Soldier is not governed by the battle but governs the battle. This means not going to a disadvantageous position just to get more ammo. If all guns are being used, ammo will never be a problem. Things to keep in mind about choosing where and how to advance: -The speed of the soldier means that a diagonal run pattern will often result in little to no damage taken. Running perpendicular to enemies is actually very safe, as the 50-60% speed can outrun the bullets. The less perpendicular a running line of advancement is, the more damage the soldier is likely to take -Choosing the farther but safer path may result in a disproportionate number of sniper rounds used. Advancing up the middle can be very viable -With AR active, the soldier suddenly possesses almost near invincibility while running. This can be using both offensively and defensively -Try not to fall back. Instead, try falling to the side. I'll continue this next time I talk about the commando soldier. Soldier 101 Posted: 2010-03-09 - 0 comment(s) - 0 trackback(s) Category: Soldier Guide  My first video of the Soldier in action on Freedom's Progress can be found here: Freedom's Progress Let's start with the basics of the Soldier class, before we even talk about the Commando Aspect. It has no direct damage abilities other than concussive shot, which is more for crowd control than direct damage. Everything about the Soldier is gun based, as it begins the game with Snipers, Assault Rifles, and Shotguns, as well as the ability to access three different ammo types: Disruptor, then Incendiary, then Cryo. Finally it has a passive which boosts speed, health, and weapon damage, and a time-distortion, weapon-damage multiplying ability, Adrenaline Rush (AR). This means you are going to have to be a good shot, and the better shot you are, the better killer you are. While this is true with all classes, the soldier is unique in that it has nothing to save or supplement the player who doesn't have the best shooting ability. What this also means is that a soldier that takes a bonus power that is an ability, or decides to max concussive shot at the expense of the passive, AR, or Ammo Types that would be effective in that situation, is going to miss out on the strength of the soldier class. Direct Damage powers are a liability for the soldier, not an asset, because guns in combination with AR maximizes the soldiers strength. A gun for every circumstance: I'm sure you've seen this before, or perhaps played this: Enemies appear at varying distances. You pop the AR and start to unload with your assault rifle at long range. Some of your shots miss, but thats okay. With the AR gone, you begin to burst fire your assault rifle, trying to maximize the number of shots hit. The enemy moves in closer, one within a quick dash. You pop the AR again and mow the final unit down with a full auto of your assault rifle. You then pop out of cover and look for ammo, since your now running a bit low. Hopefully someone dropped some. Where you successful? No question. Was it Effective? Yes. Could this have gone better? Absolutely. Here's how I would play. I see the enemies appear. I use my AR in combination with my sniper rifle and one-shot the first enemy. I fire another shot or two as they continue to advance. The enemy has gotten closer now, so I switch to my ar and full-auto on the enemies at medium range. They are close enough that I don't miss much but they are still a bit too far for a charge, and theres 1 too many left. Another enemy goes down. I switch to my shotgun, hit adrenaline rush, and use my super speed to get in close and one shot another enemy. Finally I turn and shotgun the other to death. I don't really need to look for ammo, but I'll look for it anyway. Totally hypothetical, but my point is that a soldier should maximize the use of all three of his weapons. The Assault Rifle is only a glorified SMG, nothing more, nothing less. Its powerful, but it is not the best weapon in every circumstance. Since the soldier is a weapon based class, and given more tools than any other class to use weapon effectively, it should use them all to maximize its potential. I will supplement this section with a video to show exactly what I am talking about. Build Priority: Passive, Adrenaline rush, Ammo, concussive. This is not to say that one does not put ANY points into the other powers before maxing the others, it simply means they take a priority. Even though adrenaline rush is the greatest strength of the soldier, the soldier gets the most benefit in terms of extra points added by maxing out the passive first. A single second of less cooldown is less important than a 10% speed boost, 10% health boost, and a 3% Weapon damage boost. Both of those abilities are more important than taking an ammo early, because right from level 6, your squadmates can provide the same ammo power with no cost to shepard (Zaeed with Squad Disruptor and Jacob with Squad Incendiary). Finally, concussive shot has limited utility, and while a single point can be helpful, sacrificing another power would be wasting the Soldier's potential for maximum damage. That's it for Soldier 101. Next I'll go into the Commando Soldier, what makes it unique, and my intended build.