Can someone tell me the full roster of party members? I'm only 10 hours in and i've been stuck with EDI James Garrus and Liara and it's starting to get old. No spoilers please, i just would like character names

plus ash and tali and that's it.

@drag said:

plus ash and tali and that's it.

wow, that blows

You get one more if you have the day 1 dlc.

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

@MildMolasses said:

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

If im ten hours in, would you say it's too late to buy the DLC and get him?

@The_Drizzle said:

@MildMolasses said:

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

If im ten hours in, would you say it's too late to buy the DLC and get him?

not at all. i'd recommend getting it. provides some neat story stuff.

@MildMolasses said:

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

If im ten hours in, would you say it's too late to buy the DLC and get him?

Yup, just the six; Ashley/Kaiden, Garrus, Liara, Tali, James and EDI. There's of course the prothean party member, but you have to pay extra for him if you didn't buy the special edition...

Plus if Garrus and/or Tali died during your ME2 playthrough, you don't get a replacement. Which I think sucks considering how every other party member seemingly had some backup laying in wait for just such an occasion should they die. Garrus and Tali's death are about one of the few decisions that actually have some weight to the happenings in ME3, considering you'll then be stuck with a squad of 4, or at most 5.

On one hand, I really love how the smaller roster helped BioWare expand the overall interactivity with your squad, including a surprising amount of conversations to be had (well, with Garrus, Liara and Kaiden/Ash anyway), the in-game dialogue (and conversations which can be had dependant on which duo you take with you) and how they're also no longer saddled to their little bubble on the normandy and can often be found elsewhere interacting with other people. But then of course we're also still left with a distinctly smaller squad. A lot of the ME2 cast (and Wrex) who survive are well justified for not being able to join you, though (Thane, Jack, Mordin), but there's also characters like Grunt, Samara and Jacob who look like they should be more than able to join up (especially Grunt). It also sucks that we still haven't received a Batarian squad member; given the circumstances in ME3 surrounding the Batarians, he would make for a brilliant addition.

It is a smaller roster but there is a reason for it. Like you asked I won't spoil it by there are more personal things you do with people than just random conversations. There is an amazing and hilarious scene with Garrus. It just seems like they wanted you to connect a lot more with these characters

@Abyssfull said:

Yup, just the six; Ashley/Kaiden, Garrus, Liara, Tali, James and EDI. There's of course the prothean party member, but you have to pay extra for him if you didn't buy the special edition...

Plus if Garrus and/or Tali died during your ME2 playthrough, you don't get a replacement. Which I think sucks considering how every other party member seemingly had some backup laying in wait for just such an occasion should they die. Garrus and Tali's death are about one of the few decisions that actually have some weight to the happenings in ME3, considering you'll then be stuck with a squad of 4, or at most 5.

On one hand, I really love how the smaller roster helped BioWare expand the overall interactivity with your squad, including a surprising amount of conversations to be had (well, with Garrus, Liara and Kaiden/Ash anyway), the in-game dialogue (and conversations which can be had dependant on which duo you take with you) and how they're also no longer saddled to their little bubble on the normandy and can often be found elsewhere interacting with other people. But then of course we're also still left with a distinctly shorter squad. A lot of the ME2 cast (and Wrex) who survive are well justified for not being able to join you, though (Thane, Jack, Mordin), but there's also characters like Grunt, Samara and Jacob who look like they should be more than able to join up (especially Grunt). It also sucks that we still haven't received a Batarian squad member; given the circumstances in ME3 surrounding the Batarians, he would make for a brilliant addition.

Ya i wanted Grunt to join more than anything, considering the badassness that he showcases early on then his lol-worthy e-mail that he sends later

@Sackmanjones said:

It is a smaller roster but there is a reason for it. Like you asked I won't spoil it by there are more personal things you do with people than just random conversations. There is an amazing and hilarious scene with Garrus. It just seems like they wanted you to connect a lot more with these characters

There was plenty of connecting with the crew in ME2, I didn't notice any more of it in 3, though the fact the crew hang around the Citadel is cool but there's no reason that couldn't have been done with the squad from 2.

and let's face it Edi and James are both a waste of character slots. I really don't know why they bothered adding Edi, you could just listen to her on comms instead. As for James then I don't really care for a new character with little backstory being shoehorned into your squad in the third and final entry in the story.

Squad mates are another reason why 2 is much better. >:)

@Napalm said:

@The_Drizzle said:

@MildMolasses said:

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

If im ten hours in, would you say it's too late to buy the DLC and get him?

If you haven't gone to Thessia yet, you should get the DLC and immediately talk to him after you "recover" him. Amazing insight from that guy. Be sure you take him to Thessia as well. I won't divlulge spoilers as to why, but you should. As for the characters, yeah, I wish I had a couple more choices, but my roster is always switching between James, Garrus, Javik and EDI. James' carnage skill is fucking brutal.

I don't think i've gone to Thessia yet i just did the business at the Shroud ( sorry i don't know how to spoiler tag stuff, but I'm sure you know where I'm at in the game)

I was quite disappointed that none of your party members that were introduced in 2 weren't in this game's roster.

@Napalm said:

@The_Drizzle said:

@MildMolasses said:

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

If im ten hours in, would you say it's too late to buy the DLC and get him?

If you haven't gone to Thessia yet, you should get the DLC and immediately talk to him after you "recover" him. Amazing insight from that guy. Be sure you take him to Thessia as well. I won't divlulge spoilers as to why, but you should. As for the characters, yeah, I wish I had a couple more choices, but my roster is always switching between James, Garrus, Javik and EDI. James' carnage skill is fucking brutal.

I don't think i've gone to Thessia yet i just did the business at the Shroud ( sorry i don't know how to spoiler tag stuff, but I'm sure you know where I'm at in the game)

@Napalm said:

@The_Drizzle said:

@MildMolasses said:

I told Kaiden to fuck off and Tali was dead, so my pickings were slim.

But prothean guy is pretty awesome. I couldn't imagine the game without the stuff he brought to the story

If im ten hours in, would you say it's too late to buy the DLC and get him?

If you haven't gone to Thessia yet, you should get the DLC and immediately talk to him after you "recover" him. Amazing insight from that guy. Be sure you take him to Thessia as well. I won't divlulge spoilers as to why, but you should. As for the characters, yeah, I wish I had a couple more choices, but my roster is always switching between James, Garrus, Javik and EDI. James' carnage skill is fucking brutal.

I don't think i've gone to Thessia yet i just did the business at the Shroud ( sorry i don't know how to spoiler tag stuff, but I'm sure you know where I'm at in the game)

@Sooty said:

@Sackmanjones said:

It is a smaller roster but there is a reason for it. Like you asked I won't spoil it by there are more personal things you do with people than just random conversations. There is an amazing and hilarious scene with Garrus. It just seems like they wanted you to connect a lot more with these characters

There was plenty of connecting with the crew in ME2, I didn't notice any more of it in 3, though the fact the crew hang around the Citadel is cool but there's no reason that couldn't have been done with the squad from 2.

and let's face it Edi and James are both a waste of character slots. I really don't know why they bothered adding Edi, you could just listen to her on comms instead. As for James then I don't really care for a new character with little backstory being shoehorned into your squad in the third and final entry in the story.

Squad mates are another reason why 2 is much better. >:)

I'm thinking EDI is to make sure you have an Engineer in case Tali ate it. Since Liara is a given you don't need a spare Adept for her, and since Ash can also eat it, you have James. The combo classed characters can be partially replicated by combining the solo classed.

@Sooty said:

@Sackmanjones said:

It is a smaller roster but there is a reason for it. Like you asked I won't spoil it by there are more personal things you do with people than just random conversations. There is an amazing and hilarious scene with Garrus. It just seems like they wanted you to connect a lot more with these characters

There was plenty of connecting with the crew in ME2, I didn't notice any more of it in 3, though the fact the crew hang around the Citadel is cool but there's no reason that couldn't have been done with the squad from 2.

and let's face it Edi and James are both a waste of character slots. I really don't know why they bothered adding Edi, you could just listen to her on comms instead. As for James then I don't really care for a new character with little backstory being shoehorned into your squad in the third and final entry in the story.

Squad mates are another reason why 2 is much better. >:)

The difference between ME2 and ME3 regarding the conversations with party members is in ME2, you get to know a lot of characters and dive into some of their backstory; for ME3, you instead to get to delve a lot deeper and talk a lot more with these few characters--especially Kaiden/Ash, Liara and Garrus considering you have so much history with them and there's some sort of reminiscing to be had. ME2 spread the actual conversations with independent characters thin (Garrus in particular), but it probably feels the same because there's so many party members in that game.

Frankly I prefer the way it was handled in ME3. I got to genuinely care for a lot of the cast in ME3 more so than anyone in ME2 because of how much more time you're given with them. Sucks how Tali is basically cordoned off until the final act, though.

As for EDI and James, I agree to some extent. EDI, sure, she's pretty much useless and she could been given a body and been available for all the human/AI comparison dialogue and stayed as a non-party member. James I suppose he was primarily there to fill up the mandatory ''human slot'' to go along with Kaiden/Ash, considering each ME game has to have the two so as to not peeve off all the xenophobes here (including Jeff ;P... I remember him saying how he always just rolled with the human characters. Fucking bore). Though it was strange that they locked out Ash/Kaiden for like half of the game. Plus James is meant to be the vanguard for new players... kinda. The guy who has little experience with flight travel, and is much more down to earth, with all of his classic phrases and sayings that's supposed to resonate with us. But of course ME3 is also not kind to new players in the slightest anyway so he's largely a waste. It's also ironic that he's the character that you spend the least amount of time with. With that said, I can still understand why BioWare wanted to put in him, though I would of preferred they just give us Jacob if they wanted to fill in the human slot, or again a damn Batarian party member!

Mass Effect 2 is my favorite and I love that crew, but I really like the focus on fewer characters, but more depth. 2 felt very mechanical that it was recruitment, conversation, second conversation that gives you the loyalty quest, loyalty quest, conversation about what happened, optional romance. 3 the characters will actually mentioned things that happened, sequences will change depending on when you do them (James' exercise has different dialogue depending on how far you've got in the game), and what's most important, they interact with each other. It feels like a family on that ship, in 2 it felt like a boarding house.

@Brodehouse said:

Mass Effect 2 is my favorite and I love that crew, but I really like the focus on fewer characters, but more depth. 2 felt very mechanical that it was recruitment, conversation, second conversation that gives you the loyalty quest, loyalty quest, conversation about what happened, optional romance. 3 the characters will actually mentioned things that happened, sequences will change depending on when you do them (James' exercise has different dialogue depending on how far you've got in the game), and what's most important, they interact with each other. It feels like a family on that ship, in 2 it felt like a boarding house.

Oh yeah, that's another good point. There was a very particular formula to how you interacted with everyone in ME2. In ME3 it's much more so unpredictable and I got excited everytime I headed to Liara and Garrus' quarters to see who they're talking to, if there's anything new we can talk about, or to see if they're even in there. Some of the best moments are when they're specifically interacting with one another, like Kaiden and James gambling, or Garrus and Joker making space-racist jokes.

And of course being allowed to chat with your party on the Citadel brought forth that fantastic moment you can share with Garrus shooting the bottles.

Fuck you guys! James and EDI are awesome.

@Napalm said:

Fuck you guys! James and EDI are awesome.

I got nuttin' against James (he's a pretty great character speaking for his combat skills alone), but he's just kinda plain. He's basically just another Kaiden/Ashley without the established history we've got through prior games. EDI's also hilarious, but I'd of much rather been given a Batarian squad member... maybe if I say Batarian squad member in every post from now on I'll be given one!!!...

@Sooty said:

@Sackmanjones said:

It is a smaller roster but there is a reason for it. Like you asked I won't spoil it by there are more personal things you do with people than just random conversations. There is an amazing and hilarious scene with Garrus. It just seems like they wanted you to connect a lot more with these characters

There was plenty of connecting with the crew in ME2, I didn't notice any more of it in 3, though the fact the crew hang around the Citadel is cool but there's no reason that couldn't have been done with the squad from 2.

and let's face it Edi and James are both a waste of character slots. I really don't know why they bothered adding Edi, you could just listen to her on comms instead. As for James then I don't really care for a new character with little backstory being shoehorned into your squad in the third and final entry in the story.

Squad mates are another reason why 2 is much better. >:)

The difference between ME2 and ME3 regarding the conversations with party members is in ME2, you get to know a lot of characters and dive into some of their backstory; for ME3, you instead to get to delve a lot deeper and talk a lot more with these few characters--especially Kaiden/Ash, Liara and Garrus considering you have so much history with them and there's some sort of reminiscing to be had. ME2 spread the actual conversations with independent characters thin (Garrus in particular), but it probably feels the same because there's so many party members in that game.

Frankly I prefer the way it was handled in ME3. I got to genuinely care for a lot of the cast in ME3 more so than anyone in ME2 because of how much more time you're given with them. Sucks how Tali is basically cordoned off until the final act, though.

As for EDI and James, I agree to some extent. EDI, sure, she's pretty much useless and she could been given a body and been available for all the human/AI comparison dialogue and stayed as a non-party member. James I suppose he was primarily there to fill up the mandatory ''human slot'' to go along with Kaiden/Ash, considering each ME game has to have the two so as to not peeve off all the xenophobes here (including Jeff ;P... I remember him saying how he always just rolled with the human characters. Fucking bore). Though it was strange that they locked out Ash/Kaiden for like half of the game. Plus James is meant to be the vanguard for new players... kinda. The guy who has little experience with flight travel, and is much more down to earth, with all of his classic phrases and sayings that's supposed to resonate with us. But of course ME3 is also not kind to new players in the slightest anyway so he's largely a waste. It's also ironic that he's the character that you spend the least amount of time with. With that said, I can still understand why BioWare wanted to put in him, though I would of preferred they just give us Jacob if they wanted to fill in the human slot, or again a damn Batarian party member!

The crew in ME2 were great, but having the smaller roster definitely works to the games advantage.  There's a lot more interaction between the different party members, that they just really couldn't do with the amount of people you recruited in the 2nd. 
You should definitely get Javik though, he should have been in the game by standard.

@Napalm said:

@Abyssfull: I never liked the original characters. Ashley is a space-racist and she has a stupid voice. Kaiden is just a flimsy fucking pansy with a shitty haircut. James, well, he looks like a gorilla, but he has infinitely more personality than Ashley or Kaiden ever did. He actually has some emotion, and you know he's been through some shit after he sparred with the commander. Now that you mention it, a Batarian might be cool.

I really don't understand this whole Space-Racist thing with Ashley. I honestly think it was mostly spurned with all the accusations made by Vinny, Brad and Jeff and how they've casually carried on that assertion for years as some recurring gag. Which is silly, considering that she's about as much of a space-racist as Wrex is with his initial distrust of Salarians and Turians. Plus Ashley's prejudice is justified because of her family's history with the First Contact War. The ''stupid voice'' thing... well I don't even how to respond to that =S

As for Kaiden, I didn't particularly like him much in the original ME either and I thought he was an annoyingly boring and self-indulgent drip. But there's something about him in ME3, he just comes across as much more capable and in control, a lot less whining about his headaches and more so making jokes with Liara and exclaiming my Shepard is like a sister to him. His (and Ashley's) original distrust for Shepard back on Horizon in ME2 is also explored to give a better perspective. Plus I thought it was brilliant how Kaiden even ''acknowledges'' that he's well aware that the majority of ME fans have found him to be annoying -- ''no, really!''. Loved that conversation. Oh, and his new armour is so much cooler than that pile of grey he used to wear.

I personally thought Ashley was a great character from the start, and now thanks to ME3 I'm even a fan of Kaiden. Vega's still alright, but there's little too him besides his generally laid-back demeanour, his awkward latino slang and his gorilla face. His conversations with Cortez are pretty great, though. There's nothing notably ''wrong'' with Vega imo, it's just he just doesn't compare against Ashley or Kaiden for me because of the history I've already built with them.

@Sooty said:

@Sackmanjones said:

It is a smaller roster but there is a reason for it. Like you asked I won't spoil it by there are more personal things you do with people than just random conversations. There is an amazing and hilarious scene with Garrus. It just seems like they wanted you to connect a lot more with these characters

There was plenty of connecting with the crew in ME2, I didn't notice any more of it in 3, though the fact the crew hang around the Citadel is cool but there's no reason that couldn't have been done with the squad from 2.

and let's face it Edi and James are both a waste of character slots. I really don't know why they bothered adding Edi, you could just listen to her on comms instead. As for James then I don't really care for a new character with little backstory being shoehorned into your squad in the third and final entry in the story.

Squad mates are another reason why 2 is much better. >:)

I replayed ME2 just before starting 3. There is a lot more dialogue and interaction with squad members in 3 than there was in 2. It just seems to even out because 2 obviously has a lot more party members with less dialogue. The biggest difference now is that the Normandy feels much more alive, since all of the characters are moving around and interacting with other crew members, rather than just sitting in their respective rooms all day long until you decide to grace them with your presence.

No Miranda at any point? That sucks.

I just got Javik, and after talking to him on the Citadel, he's probably right up there with Legion and Garrus as most badass characters in Mass Effect. Definitely worth getting.

@TheHT said:

I just got Javik, and after talking to him on the Citadel, he's probably right up there with Legion and Garrus as most badass characters in Mass Effect. Definitely worth getting.

Kinda irrelevant in the grand scheme of the pack, but how's the alternate appearance additions? Pretty much the only thing out of the download I haven't heard much of; just curious to hear whether they're just some slight colour palettes or actual alternate costumes.

8 characters total.

@Abyssfull said:

@TheHT said:

I just got Javik, and after talking to him on the Citadel, he's probably right up there with Legion and Garrus as most badass characters in Mass Effect. Definitely worth getting.

Kinda irrelevant in the grand scheme of the pack, but how's the alternate appearance additions? Pretty much the only thing out of the download I haven't heard much of; just curious to hear whether they're just some slight colour palettes or actual alternate costumes.

I got the collector's edition, so I'm not sure what's the default alts and what's the DLC alts, but I'll try and break it down for you.

Garrus: Default, default with some extra military-looking flair, and a desert camo reskin of the default costume.

EDI: Default, black leather tightsuit, white leather tightsuit (like Miranda)

Liara: Default, Brownish grey battle armor (similar to Ashley), weird black and purple armor that looks kinda dystopian (and cool), red and black reskin of the default costume with a headpiece (similar to Samara)

Javik: Default, black and yellow reskin of default costume

James: Default, lighter gear outfit, ugly looking armor with goofy goggles, and camo armor with targeting reticle (exactly like the photo of the 'revamped' vega one of the devs posted way back)

Ashley: Default, ugly looking armor with goofy goggles (just like James), blue out of combat outfit, red and white reskin of out of combat outfit.

Garrus, EDI, Liara all have awesome outfits, James' default and lighter gear look awesome, and all of Ash's besides the goofy goggle one are great.

I'm literally outside of the fancy ship where you're supposed to meet the Quarians, so I suppose I'll be getting Tali tonight. But for now I can't speak to her alternates.