I'm sure I'm late to the party, but I just finished my Mass Effect 2 Insanity play-through and here's my take on it.
Mass Effect 2
Game » consists of 21 releases. Released Jan 26, 2010
After a violent death by an unknown force and a timely reanimation by the human supremacist organization Cerberus, Commander Shepard must assemble a new squad in the seedier side of the galaxy for a suicide mission in the second installment of the "Mass Effect" trilogy.
Fait's Thoughts on Insanity
I'm sure I'm late to the party, but I just finished my Mass Effect 2 Insanity play-through and here's my take on it.
Cool. Currently playing my insanity run with an Adept. Maybe not the best class choice, but I like a challenge. I picked geth shield boost, but may switch to warp ammo, as you make it sound very enticing.
Yeah, I went in with a soldier and spammed maxed out adrenaline rush. It's pretty easy that way. The only quest that was difficult was the one where you simultaneously fight three large mechs, though that one is optional.
I tried it with an infiltrator and that did not work out well. I did soldier and its been going pretty ok.
" @SethPhotopoulos: For my money Soldier Shepard is the only Shepard "Well he is the default.
" @SethPhotopoulos: For my money Soldier Shepard is the only Shepard "This.
ME2 is one of the easiest games on highest difficulties I've ever played.
Completed my insanity run this evening with my adept renegade. It wasn't easy going at first, and probably would have been even crazier without the trusty Geth shield boost. For me, the most difficult encounter was the one on the Collector ship with the platforms, after that it was cake. Like Fait622 said, this game has a reverse difficulty curve. Also, S-ranked this bitch!
DLC weapons generally made the weapons found in game obsolete. I don't think the Mattock is the best assault rifle (though it is definitely my favorite) but all three weapons in the firepower pack are very good. On my soldier I run with the three guns from that pack and go get Kasumi asap for the locust smg.
I imported a ME1 vanguard for a play through and then new game +'d that character for insanity. Losing your upgrades is a bit painful at the start but over all I found insanity a lot more fun starting at level 30 (I've done it both ways).
On the bonus power…
Defensive powers on insanity are useless in my opinion. Some folks swear by them but for a soldier/infiltrator/vanguard you're better off with something more offensively oriented. I used warp ammo on my first insanity run and was disappointed by it. I found Tungsten ammo (armor piercing) to be superior because nearly every enemy in insanity has both armor and life bars.
Biotic barriers are somewhat rarer than health and armor and even when a biotic barrier is up it usually isn't very powerful. I think losing 50% damage vs biotic barriers is worth an extra 20% damage vs armor and life (heavy warp is +50%, tungsten is +70%). The side bonus on warp ammo that does double damage on enemies effected by biotics is a near worthless gimmick as well.
On tactics…
Insanity doesn't really change much over hardcore. Enemy behavior becomes more aggressive but their hp and damage totals are basically the same. I don't know that I'd say there's a reverse learning curve but to a degree you are right in that some elements of the game get easier once you get a few of the weapon upgrades.
It's possible without patching ME2 to glitch your characters so you can max their skill set's. I would assume that in theory, it should give you a slight edge.
I just wished Insanity had less difficulty choke-points. It's actually quite balanced, but there are too many instances like the Collectors Ship where the difficulty spikes in unnatural situations.
" I tried it with an infiltrator and that did not work out well. I did soldier and its been going pretty ok. "
I thought Infiltrator is the easiest possible class - his cloak makes fights like the Praetorian impossibly easy. It's also the greatest remedy for the dumbass AI of your squadmates in open-space missions like Purgatory.
@vidiot said:
" It's possible without patching ME2 to glitch your characters so you can max their skill set's. I would assume that in theory, it should give you a slight edge. I just wished Insanity had less difficulty choke-points. It's actually quite balanced, but there are too many instances like the Collectors Ship where the difficulty spikes in unnatural situations. "
The worst part for me was the bit with two scions and the husk rush on Horizon. The Collector swarm after that and the Praetorian are difficult, but extremely methodical, the husk rush got on my nerve because it's chaotic and the battle consist mostly of running like hell and shooting behind you. Also, Grunt's recruitment and the lady at the end. While she's piss easy, I could do without six Goddamn krogans. I finally relented and cheesed it with the door trick.
Closing the shutters on Garrus' recruitment could was also crazy, though that might be my fault for taking Miranda instead of Zaeed. Concussive Shot is a miracle when fighting against krogan.
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