40% internet slang, 40% sarcasm, 40% useful information
There was a request for another guide-ish thing, sooo... here we go. :P Standard disclaimer that this post is purely my own take on these weapons, classes, and maps. I understand everyone has their own nuances and playstyle; I get that. With all it strengths and weaknesses, this is mine:
Weapons:
The Good:
-The Acolyte no longer has a charge-up before it fires, instead being balanced around a very slow rate of fire. When it was first released, I hated it; dear god, it was terrible. Now, it's a fricking powerhouse. Go check it out for your casters, it's worth your time.
-Collector rifle: I love the thing. It doesn't really have enough oomph to play on Gold without some serious amps/classes with buffs, but I enjoy throwing it on my soldier types for silver. For those of you out there who, like me, are languishing in the RNG wasteland of still not having a Harrier, this weapon fills that gap pretty nicely.
-N7 Valkyrie: In my mind, it seems like yet another take on the Harrier. Slightly lower damage, better accuracy, higher clip size, all make this weapon comparable. Fires in bursts rather than full-auto, but is still solid all around. Recommended for those classes that are comfortable with the weight; not a friend of adepts, vangaurds, or power-based engineers.
-Argus: Higher damage, lower accuracy assault rifle. For it to really be viable, I recommend the recoil reduction weapon mod and then throwing it on either a turian or a destroyer. On those classes, it'll be solid. On anything else, I've had issues making it work, just because the accuracy is such an issue. Gonna go ahead and recommend the barrage equipment for it as well; the damage is such that, if you can hit with all three of its burst shots, its worthwhile. Just gotta stack the accuracy and recoil buffs until that's a certainty.
-Raider: Not a lot to put into this space. It's a two-shot Claymore, with lower damage per shot, but grossing higher damage per clip. Not bad.
-With the buffs to several of the sniper rifles (check the last balance update for more), I've taken another look at most of them. Heard from a friend that stacking the sniper rifle high velocity barrel with the piercing mod meant uber deathsticks of boss demolishment, so checked that out: Save you some playtesting time, it's pretty legit. If bosses are what's giving you trouble, pick up a javelin/widow/whatev and stack both HVB and piercing mod. Interesting, if not super useful, sidenote: Stacking HVB, piercing mod, and drill ammo allows you to shoot through almost every wall in the game. :)
-Collector Sniper Rifle: Haven't gotten one yet, and don't have any friends who have acquired one either. Does anyone have any news on this weapon? is it good? great? terribad? WTB news.
The Bad:
Collector SMG: It's a trap. Stay the fuck away.
Classes:
The Good:
Turian Ghost: It's a god. Go forth, comrades, and own the face with it. In an idealized powerbuild, people have worked overload into it. Overload is a stupidly powerful ability that hands down increases the classes power. I don't really use it; I've a bunch of other classes with overload, I wanted this guy to stand out a little from the rest of them. Several of his racial/power passives increase the damage of assault rifles, so I recommend giving that a shot. You can throw a shotgun or sniper rifle on pretty much any infiltrator and get good results, but this is the only infil I know of that gives bonuses to AR's; take it for a spin. Use cloak for maneuverability and as an adrenaline rush.
Turian Havoc: Let's be honest, people. Who doesn't think Ironman's a badass? :P I suggest specing jetpack roflstomp for area of effect, so that when you swoosh your way into a pack of enemies, it'll stumble them. It increases your survivability somewhat, without putting too much of a strain on your other class feature: health packs of flawless victory and epic triumph. I spec'd mine out defensively, following the reasoning that the longer I can remain on my feet, I'll prolly net more damage than a short buff to my pure damage output. Just because I was kinda in the mood to PLAYTEST ALL THE THINGS, I currently have a Raider on mine, and that's worked out pretty well. Weight can be an issue, but not a dealbreaker.
Volus Adept: I laugh pretty much the whole time I play this class. While I'm told that technically you can use his powers to do damage, I have mine spec'd out for pure recharge speed so I can blast shield boost nine thousand times. It works beautifully when you're on voice with your teammates; coordinate with your friends, run in a pack, and turn your teammates into unstoppable killing machines. It's not glamorous, and your score will be utter garbage, but it's fun. :) You will be insanely useful on all escort, defend this ground, and pizza delivery missions.
The Not So Good:
Krogan Shaman and Asari Valkyrie: Haven't been super impressed with either class. I didn't go so far as to label the two of them bad 'cause I've seen people make 'em work, and a close friend of mine loves him some krogan shaman, they just ... don't work for me. The classes that I try to recommend in these guides are powerful classes that I believe almost anyone can take to silver/gold and make work. I don't believe these two classes fit that profile; can amazing players with over nine thousand hours of playtime make them work? Sure. I don't recommend it, but sure. Ninja!tip: If you're deadset on playing you some krogan shaman, take a look at the Crusader for your weapon. It's not soulcrushingly heavy, falls into the krogan stereotypical repetoire of shotguns, and is insanely accurate over long distances.
Maps:
Personally, I really enjoy the new hazard maps. I know they aren't technically as exciting as new maps, but I loved the rain on Ghost and the thunder on Dagger. I understand there's definitely a camp that's angry about all this atmosphere in their action game, but I thought it was fantastic. The way the lighting and everything was handled was really nice.
From a gameplay/guide/I'mreadingthisfortipsasshole perspective, I've already posted elsewhere about how exploitable the hazard on glacier is. If you want to get in some easy solo runs, take a look at glacier right now. The traveling thunderstorm of uberdeath will at least weaken, if not outright destroy, a solid portion of the map's enemies. While the blizzard on White is technically a pain in the ass, I like that it drives the party into the building. I like that you have this kind of survivor-esque situation where all of you camp inside and the enemies flood in from the howling wastes. It stirs the RP parts of mah brain. :P Going hand in hand with that, don't be that asshole that stays outside, dies, and expects the now blind and useless snipers to go into the blizzard and save you.
Collectors
-Abominations: Took me a long time to break away from the 'Husk' mentality here. They aren't husks. They look like husks, we're onto you devs, but they aren't. Make that mental change; husks don't really matter, whereas these are a real threat. While playing today, watched a vanguard charge a pack of abominations attacking a teammate. Go him! Super helpful teammate is super helpful! Charges in to rescue his comrade, novas, kills the abominations... which then blow up, downing him and his buddy. Treat these as real threats; in my eyes, moreso than troopers.
-Scions: WTF. That's about all I have to say there. Over nine thousand hitpoints, have a sync kill, have a cannon-esque attack, have a grenade-carpet-bomb-thing, and can be buffed to have a weak barrier. Threat these as a top-level threat when you see 'em; these aren't stand-and-fight guys, these are hide-and-potshot guys.
-Swarms: Don't be Scumbag Steve, be Goodguy Greg: Even if your class has zero fucks to give about cooldown, pop these for your teammates. The volus adept that's keeping you up loves you for it. Spawned via Captains, I believe, so if you backtrace the path of a swarm you can usually find the Captain and put an end to those shenanigans.
-Praetorians: Pretty standard boss treatment here; seem like a merger of banshee and atlas tactics. It has a huge purple barrier it throws up that makes it immune to power affects for a short time, but it's still susceptible to weapon damage. If anyone knows of a critical location on them, please post it in the comments and I'll edit it in.
-Not collectors, but on the topic of new enemies: WTF Dragoons. They run around like they're on crack, and their little pew-pew guns actually do pretty significant damage. Biggest problem I have with them is that they move so damned quickly; it seems like all of them are running the sprint equipment. If you plan to fight Cerberus, I suggest bringing cryo ammo; it'll make taking them down a lot easier. If you have powers that slow/stumble (stasis, warp, throw, lash, flash freeze, cryo grenades, etc) please drop them on these as they're advancing. Treat them like they're pyros; fighting them at range = flawless victory, fighting them close up = chance of death.
Edit: does anyone have the responder or assault loadouts? What do those do?
I think that pretty much covers it, for now. I didn't touch a whole lot on the Earth DLC stuff, 'cause it seems like people have a pretty solid handle on it by now. If there's enough interest in the comments, I'll doubleback and hit that one.
Thanks for reading through it, hoped you enjoyed it. :)
Weapons:
The Good:
-The Acolyte no longer has a charge-up before it fires, instead being balanced around a very slow rate of fire. When it was first released, I hated it; dear god, it was terrible. Now, it's a fricking powerhouse. Go check it out for your casters, it's worth your time.
-Collector rifle: I love the thing. It doesn't really have enough oomph to play on Gold without some serious amps/classes with buffs, but I enjoy throwing it on my soldier types for silver. For those of you out there who, like me, are languishing in the RNG wasteland of still not having a Harrier, this weapon fills that gap pretty nicely.
-N7 Valkyrie: In my mind, it seems like yet another take on the Harrier. Slightly lower damage, better accuracy, higher clip size, all make this weapon comparable. Fires in bursts rather than full-auto, but is still solid all around. Recommended for those classes that are comfortable with the weight; not a friend of adepts, vangaurds, or power-based engineers.
-Argus: Higher damage, lower accuracy assault rifle. For it to really be viable, I recommend the recoil reduction weapon mod and then throwing it on either a turian or a destroyer. On those classes, it'll be solid. On anything else, I've had issues making it work, just because the accuracy is such an issue. Gonna go ahead and recommend the barrage equipment for it as well; the damage is such that, if you can hit with all three of its burst shots, its worthwhile. Just gotta stack the accuracy and recoil buffs until that's a certainty.
-Raider: Not a lot to put into this space. It's a two-shot Claymore, with lower damage per shot, but grossing higher damage per clip. Not bad.
-With the buffs to several of the sniper rifles (check the last balance update for more), I've taken another look at most of them. Heard from a friend that stacking the sniper rifle high velocity barrel with the piercing mod meant uber deathsticks of boss demolishment, so checked that out: Save you some playtesting time, it's pretty legit. If bosses are what's giving you trouble, pick up a javelin/widow/whatev and stack both HVB and piercing mod. Interesting, if not super useful, sidenote: Stacking HVB, piercing mod, and drill ammo allows you to shoot through almost every wall in the game. :)
-Collector Sniper Rifle: Haven't gotten one yet, and don't have any friends who have acquired one either. Does anyone have any news on this weapon? is it good? great? terribad? WTB news.
The Bad:
Collector SMG: It's a trap. Stay the fuck away.
Classes:
The Good:
Turian Ghost: It's a god. Go forth, comrades, and own the face with it. In an idealized powerbuild, people have worked overload into it. Overload is a stupidly powerful ability that hands down increases the classes power. I don't really use it; I've a bunch of other classes with overload, I wanted this guy to stand out a little from the rest of them. Several of his racial/power passives increase the damage of assault rifles, so I recommend giving that a shot. You can throw a shotgun or sniper rifle on pretty much any infiltrator and get good results, but this is the only infil I know of that gives bonuses to AR's; take it for a spin. Use cloak for maneuverability and as an adrenaline rush.
Turian Havoc: Let's be honest, people. Who doesn't think Ironman's a badass? :P I suggest specing jetpack roflstomp for area of effect, so that when you swoosh your way into a pack of enemies, it'll stumble them. It increases your survivability somewhat, without putting too much of a strain on your other class feature: health packs of flawless victory and epic triumph. I spec'd mine out defensively, following the reasoning that the longer I can remain on my feet, I'll prolly net more damage than a short buff to my pure damage output. Just because I was kinda in the mood to PLAYTEST ALL THE THINGS, I currently have a Raider on mine, and that's worked out pretty well. Weight can be an issue, but not a dealbreaker.
Volus Adept: I laugh pretty much the whole time I play this class. While I'm told that technically you can use his powers to do damage, I have mine spec'd out for pure recharge speed so I can blast shield boost nine thousand times. It works beautifully when you're on voice with your teammates; coordinate with your friends, run in a pack, and turn your teammates into unstoppable killing machines. It's not glamorous, and your score will be utter garbage, but it's fun. :) You will be insanely useful on all escort, defend this ground, and pizza delivery missions.
The Not So Good:
Krogan Shaman and Asari Valkyrie: Haven't been super impressed with either class. I didn't go so far as to label the two of them bad 'cause I've seen people make 'em work, and a close friend of mine loves him some krogan shaman, they just ... don't work for me. The classes that I try to recommend in these guides are powerful classes that I believe almost anyone can take to silver/gold and make work. I don't believe these two classes fit that profile; can amazing players with over nine thousand hours of playtime make them work? Sure. I don't recommend it, but sure. Ninja!tip: If you're deadset on playing you some krogan shaman, take a look at the Crusader for your weapon. It's not soulcrushingly heavy, falls into the krogan stereotypical repetoire of shotguns, and is insanely accurate over long distances.
Maps:
Personally, I really enjoy the new hazard maps. I know they aren't technically as exciting as new maps, but I loved the rain on Ghost and the thunder on Dagger. I understand there's definitely a camp that's angry about all this atmosphere in their action game, but I thought it was fantastic. The way the lighting and everything was handled was really nice.
From a gameplay/guide/I'mreadingthisfortipsasshole perspective, I've already posted elsewhere about how exploitable the hazard on glacier is. If you want to get in some easy solo runs, take a look at glacier right now. The traveling thunderstorm of uberdeath will at least weaken, if not outright destroy, a solid portion of the map's enemies. While the blizzard on White is technically a pain in the ass, I like that it drives the party into the building. I like that you have this kind of survivor-esque situation where all of you camp inside and the enemies flood in from the howling wastes. It stirs the RP parts of mah brain. :P Going hand in hand with that, don't be that asshole that stays outside, dies, and expects the now blind and useless snipers to go into the blizzard and save you.
Collectors
-Abominations: Took me a long time to break away from the 'Husk' mentality here. They aren't husks. They look like husks, we're onto you devs, but they aren't. Make that mental change; husks don't really matter, whereas these are a real threat. While playing today, watched a vanguard charge a pack of abominations attacking a teammate. Go him! Super helpful teammate is super helpful! Charges in to rescue his comrade, novas, kills the abominations... which then blow up, downing him and his buddy. Treat these as real threats; in my eyes, moreso than troopers.
-Scions: WTF. That's about all I have to say there. Over nine thousand hitpoints, have a sync kill, have a cannon-esque attack, have a grenade-carpet-bomb-thing, and can be buffed to have a weak barrier. Threat these as a top-level threat when you see 'em; these aren't stand-and-fight guys, these are hide-and-potshot guys.
-Swarms: Don't be Scumbag Steve, be Goodguy Greg: Even if your class has zero fucks to give about cooldown, pop these for your teammates. The volus adept that's keeping you up loves you for it. Spawned via Captains, I believe, so if you backtrace the path of a swarm you can usually find the Captain and put an end to those shenanigans.
-Praetorians: Pretty standard boss treatment here; seem like a merger of banshee and atlas tactics. It has a huge purple barrier it throws up that makes it immune to power affects for a short time, but it's still susceptible to weapon damage. If anyone knows of a critical location on them, please post it in the comments and I'll edit it in.
-Not collectors, but on the topic of new enemies: WTF Dragoons. They run around like they're on crack, and their little pew-pew guns actually do pretty significant damage. Biggest problem I have with them is that they move so damned quickly; it seems like all of them are running the sprint equipment. If you plan to fight Cerberus, I suggest bringing cryo ammo; it'll make taking them down a lot easier. If you have powers that slow/stumble (stasis, warp, throw, lash, flash freeze, cryo grenades, etc) please drop them on these as they're advancing. Treat them like they're pyros; fighting them at range = flawless victory, fighting them close up = chance of death.
Edit: does anyone have the responder or assault loadouts? What do those do?
I think that pretty much covers it, for now. I didn't touch a whole lot on the Earth DLC stuff, 'cause it seems like people have a pretty solid handle on it by now. If there's enough interest in the comments, I'll doubleback and hit that one.
Thanks for reading through it, hoped you enjoyed it. :)