Mass Alex: Mass Effect 3 - Part 02

Money growing like grass with the Mass Alex, MaMaMass Alex.

Great series and glad to see it’s return. Something worth noting that much like ME2 this game has a point of no return that isn’t really flagged as such. Vinny, whenever you can spare the time, you should check out this link for details:

https://uk.ign.com/wikis/mass-effect-3/Point_of_No_Return

Also worth noting that many side missions are multipart missions. So once you complete part 1 of certain side missions I believe you’ll have to go do other stuff before you can move onto part 2 of that side mission.

you love to see it

New favorite day of the week. It took almost as long to get back to Mass Alex as it took to make the game but boy am I glad it’s here!

You may want to check back down in the basement area of Engineering again. Your hamster skitters across the floor once every time you go down there so you can grab it and have it as a pet again!

Also, I never noticed before that Jenkins is on that board. That's great.

Lets not backseat drive this entire feature!

Slate Slabrock

This is the best content on the site atm by a long way. Episode 3 can't come quick enough.

When is Giantbomb's Coronavirus stream?

You can take tech armor off of Y and use another quick cast ability in that slot. Unless you want to actively use the tech armor explosion, but it seemed in the last video like Alex was just hitting it on accident.

Inside the BioWare writers room, while designing Vega:

Head Writer: "Alright people, listen up! The companions from the last two games simply aren't good enough! Newcomers to the series will be confused. They can't possibly love a bunch of quirky aliens with a pre-established emotional connection to the main character! We need something new, something bold and fresh, something for people to latch onto!"

Writer 1: "What if it were Jacob . . .

Head Writer: "No! No! No! People hated Jacob. Jacob was boring! He had no distinguishing characteristics! No personality! No chutzpah!"

Writer 1: . . . but he did steroids?"

Head Writer: "Brilliant! I love it! Do it!"

Are Vinnys and Alexs microphones a bit loud to anyone else? Might also be that the game is a bit quiet.

I think that, unless you're a soldier, you probably don't wanna carry more than 3 guns early on? I think 2 was what *I* generally did, but the weight talents I think makes 3+ more viable (unless you take REALLY heavy guns). It's been a minute since I've played, however.

EDIT: Wait a sec, did he lose Daniels and Donnelly? I'm gonna have to double check the old stuff. He didn't lose Chakwas. Hmm.

@therealturk:

Writer 2: How do we convey that this guy is a lifer?

Writer 1: I know! He's always wearing his dog tags hanging out of his shirt! That's how you know he's serious about the military!

Writer 2: This is in movies, so I know it's true!

That N7 Valiant Sniper is pretty awesome. I think Alex would really like it

This is a good show.

Can you bone a Prothean? Bone a Prothean.

Haha, I remember the directionality being really confusing on Eden Prime, too.

Thats Javik in the bag. Looking forward to the next epsiode.

You didn't even say Hi to Joker and EDI

So, funny thing about the weight/power speed system. I was playing Vanguard, and the powers were so much more useful than the weaponry that I almost immediately stripped down to a single shotgun and jettisoned everything else. Then later I switched to an Asari shotgun that was super-light, for even less weight. I rolled with +100% power regen for the entire game. I think even later, after upgrades, I might have added a sniper rifle for the rare cases when I didn't want to get close. (Like those Banshees that absolutely murder you if you get too close!) Even then, the shotgun was pretty useless, since melee attacks were almost always better at the same range.

Vinny, I think Alex was a little confused with the powers in this one. The incindiary bullets are a toggle that power up your weapons. He was hitting the button and expecting Vega to perform an attack. Might want to remap the button to an attack. (Or it won't matter, since I doubt Vega is going to see much action now that we've got other crewmembers)

As far as I remember, they did survive, but you have to do something first, before they return to the ship. Now that Shepshep has Specter status again, she can clear them of the whole 'Worked for Cerberus' thing that's keeping them for working for the Alliance Military.

I beat this game and I think this is the first time I’ve seen that upgrade menu. Wow.

The Cerebrus Harrier is the analogue of The Mattock rifle that was the best one in ME2, just sayin'.

It's good to be back. And great that you did this quest first! It'll be a lot more interesting later.

Huh! The Mass Effect wiki says that in 3, unlike 2, what armor you choose for your squadmates actually matters, giving them different stat boosts.

Everytime Alex doesn't use Overload on shielded enemies I die a little inside

Huh. It has been a bit, but I coulda sworn they were with you off the jump. Good to know.

This is fantastic content! Thanks for bringing it back.

The layout of the ME3 Normandy always confused me, never understood why the Alliance decided to shove that War Room in there and ruin the symmetry.

Ah, From Ashes, ME3's Day One DLC.

Very much enjoying this feature but these first two episodes have been a good reminder that this game is not good at all.

I think i have posted this before, but most the DLCs for ME3 (well all the major ones) have important/vital information (Javik level of lore and such). So they should do them as soon as they can.

I'm Commander Sheppard and this is my favorite show on Giant Bomb.

James should know that dinosaurs aren’t real.

Was this installment live as well? Because I dug the last live segment.

cool cool, thank you

@spikespeigel: No, this episode was pre-recorded.

Javik is such a cool addition to this thing. He was in my party for most of the game.

can you guys just record the rest of the series this week in case we get quarantined? thanks

> Encumbrance mechanics are literally the only thing making them even think about their loadout

> "I hate encumbrance mechanics!"

I think one really cool detail that’s revealed in this episode is that the dominant species in this cycle (humans, asari, turian etc) all existed in the previous cycle but were too “primitive” for the reapers to harvest. So often in this series the reapers are couched as a threat that’s “going to wipe out all organic life” when the reality is a little more complicated than that. Javik adds so much to this game, it’s a shame he was dlc.

@therealturk: I like Vega infinitely more than Jacob, because he clears the low bar of not being a romanceable option who not only ghosts the player between the events of 2 and 3 but hooks up with someone else and has a child with them while the player is incarcerated.

Jacob is a fucking dog, and I say this as someone who's never even bothered having a romance playthrough with him

Shepard horny, Michael

All of Vega's Spanish lines felt so forced that I kind of hated him by the end of 3

I remember Javik was DLC. Still can't believe they put a character that important behind a secondary pay wall.

Goddamn I love Javik, he's such a fascinating take on a practical "precursor race" character.

They're usually too ethereal or too austere to the point you can't relate to them, like some magical orb being that went thru a singularity thing or whatever. Or they are a joke character (like in Jak & Daxter, though that was well done at the time) or just some half-dead husk, who dies in your arms or something. Here Javik is very capable and mature, but is not some paragon with every last answer Liara wants. She's upset by him because he's not her ideal, but the same time his existence is nothing short of a miracle.

While you definitely made the right choice having him and the the entire DLC suite for this game, some of the key scenes in this game (like the one on the Asari home world) are shockingly different without him.

You're doin it Alex, you're finally getting it! You are Mass Effecting!

Using those powers to exploit weaknesses and knowing when to use them. Overload on shields, fire-based abilities (and Carnage) absolutely melts Armor, and setting up singularity/warp explosive combos!

Also, good to know that some powers like warp are ineffective against shields.

There's also some really interesting (and very odd) weapons in the game, I hope you have the time to experiment with them.

Alex, Vinny, it's been a blast watching you guys play though the series. Looking forward to the next episode!

I'm far from an advocate for ME3 but I feel like there's a bit too much Vega hate. Yeah there are a few bumpy bits with his writing but he's not bad.

i hope they do all the dlc before endgame because ME3 doesn't have a postgame mode like ME2 did.

Engineers deploy the turrets. If you kill them first you'll fight less turrets.

Kinda crazy how much I remember about ME1 and ME2 but I remember almost nothing about ME3

Javik is probably the furthest Renegade companion out of the whole lot in the trilogy (barring maybe Zaeed). I personally think people could still play Mass Effect 3 without him but he's a wonderful foil to Shepard in that his experiences are almost like a cautionary tale for Shepard's decision-making.