Alright I don't understand it. I'm playing hardcore mode & when I
go into combat, I find myself being shot at from all sides & some
asshole always throws a grenade. How the hell do you flank
anybody? Every fucking battle I have, I'm completely pinned
down. Even the cover sucks! I get behind pieces of wall &
unlike how I could peak over the cover in ME1/2, I cannot see
a goddamn thing. I have to stand up, get shot to near death,
just to aim & fire, & maybe hit something.
I thought Shepherd & his team were supposed to be bad
asses, but it's definitely not reflected in the combat. Seems
more like he's a day late & a dollar short, always being picked
off & one step behind Cerberus. It's making me dread the
combat system because the cover-based system doesn't
seem to have any goddamn cover I can shoot from at all.
And when I'm pinned trying to figure out what to do, some
asshole throws a grenade. Shep does this great trick, where
he rolls to cover, trying to evade the grenade, only to stand up
where he can get shot to shit after his patented trademark
role. The Illusive Man must be laughing his ass off.
They should have left the combat system as is or gave an
option to turn off enemy grenades so it would be sort of like
the first two games. This game doesn't lend itself to doing
a lot of close combat either, not without a lot of instant death
options.

Mass Effect 3
Game » consists of 19 releases. Released Mar 06, 2012
When Earth begins to fall in an ancient cycle of destruction, Commander Shepard must unite the forces of the galaxy to stop the Reapers in the final chapter of the original Mass Effect trilogy.
What's with the crummy combat system?
@Lind_L_Taylor said:
Alright I don't understand it. I'm playing hardcore mode & when I go into combat, I find myself being shot at from all sides & some asshole always throws a grenade. How the hell do you flank anybody? Every fucking battle I have, I'm completely pinned down. Even the cover sucks! I get behind pieces of wall & unlike how I could peak over the cover in ME1/2, I cannot see a goddamn thing. I have to stand up, get shot to near death, just to aim & fire, & maybe hit something. I thought Shepherd & his team were supposed to be bad asses, but it's definitely not reflected in the combat. Seems more like he's a day late & a dollar short, always being picked off & one step behind Cerberus. It's making me dread the combat system because the cover-based system doesn't seem to have any goddamn cover I can shoot from at all. And when I'm pinned trying to figure out what to do, some asshole throws a grenade. Shep does this great trick, where he rolls to cover, trying to evade the grenade, only to stand up where he can get shot to shit after his patented trademark role. The Illusive Man must be laughing his ass off. They should have left the combat system as is or gave an option to turn off enemy grenades so it would be sort of like the first two games. This game doesn't lend itself to doing a lot of close combat either, not without a lot of instant death options.
So you're mad that Shepard gets his ass beaten on occasion on Hardcore mode by many Cerberus goons? Sounds like what it should be like.
Use biotics and tech powers at all times and take down enemy shields from a distance before engaging close quarters. Also you don't always have to dodge grenades when they fall nearby. If they fall in front of cover they will do no damage. If they do hurt you, just stay in cover until your shields recharge.
Also, does the word 'hardcore' explain anything to you? It's supposed to be hard.
Shoot them in the head.
Use more skill.
Or you could admit you are bad at the game and turn down the difficulty...
hey dumbass, if you're going to include spoilers (i.e. one step ahead of cerberus), SAY SOlol...'spoilers'..what the fuck are you talking about? The Demo had you attacking cerberus.
@Village_Guy:
@easthill:
FYI, I played the last two in Insanity mode & I didn't complain. The movement wasn't
as shitty as it is in ME 3. I lowered the game to hardcore for the simple matter that
insanity in the demo was really tough. However, I think normal mode would be too
easy for me. The only thing is: I'm an infiltrator & I kill from a distance. Now I did bring
the Prothean & another non-standard NPC on the mission. Maybe they just suck as
I didn't have this much problem with Liara & the Mexican dude. It certainly sucked
being shot at from all sides, there wasn't any real way to deal with it...run in up close,
get killed; hunker down to fight, get shot in the back. Tactical cloak is at maximum &
the mother fuckers can still see & shoot me when I'm in the cloak...which is unlike
ME2..what's the point of having it if it doesn't work?
They need to cater this game to people that play RPGs, not all of us care about
shitty FPS.
The combat system is more of an RPG than ME2 was, I finished the game on Insanity without ever needing to fire a gun, ME2 forced me into using shitty weapons to lower defences, on ME3 I can just spam Biotics without ever having to fire a weapon and it's great.
Maybe try a different class if you're struggling as an infiltrator.
Um the combat works really well. You need to maneuver your squad around so you can go around and flank. As for grenades they do suck but just roll backwards and you should be ok.
But as for your complaint about Shepard and his team being a badass, you could say that for any game. In fact your basically saying you shouldn't be able to die in games at all. Also if it's too hard turn it down some
hey dumbass, if you're going to include spoilers (i.e. one step ahead of cerberus), SAY SOI see where your coming from but in all honesty its not a big spoiler.
"@Lind_L_Taylor said:
They need to cater this game to people that play RPGs, not all of us care about shitty FPS.
"I bumped up the difficulty so the shooting would be more challenging... why is the shooting so challenging? I blame an unrelated genre with a similar base mechanic for making me choose to have the game play more like an unrelated genre with a similar base mechanic!"
Yeah, having just gone from ME2 to ME3 (3rd time for 2, 2nd time for 3) I can say yeah, they fucked up the combat something fierce. For a start it's sort of nice that they wanted to introduce enemies that need to be dealt with by magic, only that introduction makes my tried and true "Just use different Ammo Types and shoot dudes" strategy null and void since guys with shields are straight up invulnerable to ammo types unless you use your extra power on Armor Penetrating, which you totally should. I think that's a mistake. It's one thing to make a weapon or strategy ineffective against a certain approach, it's another thing to main them straight up invulnerable. Additionally I think the new Roll and Move Between Cover stuff is completely terrible. Yes, the roll move can be good for evading grenades, but that's not why it's an issue, it's an issue because they stuck it on an already crowded A button which already has too many functions to list. How many times in ME3 did I accidentally roll instead of vaulting cover, opening a door, interacting with an object or reviving a dude? Too many times.
I think they improved it overall, however I think there are a ton of issues.
Yeah, having just gone from ME2 to ME3 (3rd time for 2, 2nd time for 3) I can say yeah, they fucked up the combat something fierce. For a start it's sort of nice that they wanted to introduce enemies that need to be dealt with by magic, only that introduction makes my tried and true "Just use different Ammo Types and shoot dudes" strategy null and void since guys with shields are straight up invulnerable to ammo types unless you use your extra power on Armor Penetrating, which you totally should. I think that's a mistake. It's one thing to make a weapon or strategy ineffective against a certain approach, it's another thing to main them straight up invulnerable. Additionally I think the new Roll and Move Between Cover stuff is completely terrible. Yes, the roll move can be good for evading grenades, but that's not why it's an issue, it's an issue because they stuck it on an already crowded A button which already has too many functions to list. How many times in ME3 did I accidentally roll instead of vaulting cover, opening a door, interacting with an object or reviving a dude? Too many times. I think they improved it overall, however I think there are a ton of issues.Yeah, it seems they broke the combat system by making it so Biotics can
beat the game, but everything else has more trouble.
@big_jon: @Liam_mk: @big_jon: @UlquioKani:
Yep. As long as I bring Liara & James along, I don't seem to have any
issues. It's just when I brought the Prothean (Day1 DLC) + another
non-biotic is when I found that I couldn't get through Cerberus. After
all that pain, I stuck with Liara & James & it's all worked out. Sometimes
an ambush kills me quick, but I'm usually able to get cover real quick,
regroup, & launch an assault. I'll probably play a biotic for insanity &
go without firing a gun the second go-round.
@Spoonman671 said:
Trashcan Man!MY LIFE FOR YOU!
@ShaggE said:
I say this because I had read in a report that Bioware was targeting the MW/CoD"@Lind_L_Taylor said:
They need to cater this game to people that play RPGs, not all of us care about shitty FPS."I bumped up the difficulty so the shooting would be more challenging... why is the shooting so challenging? I blame an unrelated genre with a similar base mechanic for making me choose to have the game play more like an unrelated genre with a similar base mechanic!"
crowd for their ME 3 release, just last year or so; so it's totally related; relevant.
Actually the higher the difficulty goes the more it converts to an RPG, in which you need your holy trinity type group almost. Played through it twice already ( once on hardcore with my Vanguard and just finished insanity with an Infiltrator a couple of hours ago). As an infiltrator you need someone who is going to be your controller of the cannon fodder and someone who is going to be a distraction. Ashley and Freddy Prince Jr do very good jobs soaking damage. Liara is great for control. You will be forced to take out the bigger targets. This game really wants you to have a stacked team that will fulfill roles and not really like 1 or 2 where you could kind of take who you wanted for story purposed. Javik is a decent complement to most classes but doesn't have a real role for infiltrators.
Also regarding the cloak, you really need to pay attention to whether or not your team mates are near you or dead. Sometimes their pictures wont change color and you get to find out the hard way when you try to use their skills. If you are the only one alive or in your area the enemies will pretty much always find you regardless of being cloaked. It happens in multiplayer occasionally when im the last one left and all of a sudden a ravager magically locks on to me. Just find who you are comfortable with in a team. It might not be who you want for lore and it sucks when you are forced to bring someone who wont be of that much use to you for lockdown or damage in higher difficulties, but you will get used to it.
If you think the grenade spam is bad on hardcore...wait til insanity :(.
I tried Grissom Academy on Insanity with my Adept. Shit was too hard for me, I admit I suck, already beat the game on Normal so I just sent it back. I suggest maybe doing the same? You don't get bonus footage of a Miranda-Ashley sandwich or anything, so who cares?
Haikus are funny.
And sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator.
Yeah I tried Insanity on the Demo. I was able to get through.Actually the higher the difficulty goes the more it converts to an RPG, in which you need your holy trinity type group almost. Played through it twice already ( once on hardcore with my Vanguard and just finished insanity with an Infiltrator a couple of hours ago). As an infiltrator you need someone who is going to be your controller of the cannon fodder and someone who is going to be a distraction. Ashley and Freddy Prince Jr do very good jobs soaking damage. Liara is great for control. You will be forced to take out the bigger targets. This game really wants you to have a stacked team that will fulfill roles and not really like 1 or 2 where you could kind of take who you wanted for story purposed. Javik is a decent complement to most classes but doesn't have a real role for infiltrators.
Also regarding the cloak, you really need to pay attention to whether or not your team mates are near you or dead. Sometimes their pictures wont change color and you get to find out the hard way when you try to use their skills. If you are the only one alive or in your area the enemies will pretty much always find you regardless of being cloaked. It happens in multiplayer occasionally when im the last one left and all of a sudden a ravager magically locks on to me. Just find who you are comfortable with in a team. It might not be who you want for lore and it sucks when you are forced to bring someone who wont be of that much use to you for lockdown or damage in higher difficulties, but you will get used to it.
If you think the grenade spam is bad on hardcore...wait til insanity :(.
However on the last battle against the Mech, all of these Cerberus
troops show up to flank you. So I ran over to where they drop from
a higher floor & attacked them first (after several retries of course).
Then I was able to take out the Mech. I'm hoping that one guy was
right & I can just use a ton of Biotic to beat the system on Insanity.
Otherwise, I should probably wait for a strategy guide to come out.
@BRich:
Maybe you should write a strategy guide?
@Lind_L_Taylor: I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes, but did you import a character or create a new one? (read: what level are you?). The difficulty may have something to do with the level scaling?
I played through the game as a Soldier on Hardcore, imported from ME2 (level 30). Mostly, I had no issues, other than a couple of areas where grenade spam (that I didn't really have much of a problem with at all) or other special factors forced my hand.
I had issues in 5 areas primarily:
- Grissom Academy: Leaving that hallway was a bit of a pain, turrets kept chewing me up, but some tactical playing (retreating into the hallway) made it a lot easier.
- Tuchanka, when you are rescuing the Turain councilor's son. As you reach the area you can kill the... second? Harvester (there's a Darkstar lying there, I believe?) I was really struggling with grenade spam.
- Monastery, dual-banshees :'( Took a while to figure out how to handle that.
- Earth, second visit: Right at the start, after getting out of the shuttle. So many grenades.
- Earth, second missile: Just got swarmed. Couldn't keep up. Wasted the Heavy Weapon early.
Using a Sniper-rifle does significantly make parts easier though, as a high-level Widow pretty much pops any head :)
Heavy enemies will always be a problem, unless you play Adept or something, though. Mmm, Biotic Explosions.
Maybe, I got through Mass Effect 2 first time through on insanity with a sentinel and it was pretty difficult.
Importing a level 30 infiltrator and rolling with Javik and Garrus I only occasionally die to a grenade that I don't notice in time. The cloak saves my life 100% of the time I am caught in a dumb position and allows me to infinitely revive my squad members if they are needed (usually they don't do too much other than overload and pull enemies).
Some quick tips that will make it easy:
Only carry a sniper rifle and nothing else, so your cooldowns are instant. (The collector's edition Valient is 1/2 the weight of the Black Widow, holds more ammo, and nearly does as much damage. I roll with that or the Widow if I want more of a challenge. The Valient is also free so I probably should have saved the 250k)
Equip the sniper focus mod (slows time for every snipe) and a sniping through smoke mod (or more ammo if you find yourself needing it).
I put some points in everything except sticky grenades. First maxed out the cloak and eventually incinerate, my shields/health, and cryo ammo (Sabotage is awesome if you are struggling with turrets. Put only a point or two into it and they just turn around and kill everyone). I almost always have on squad Cryo ammo. The number of unshielded, unarmored enemies is what makes it so much easier than ME2.
Choose all of the optional upgrades and armor to increase headshot and weapon damage. Every unshielded enemy dies in a single shot.
Almost forgot, just snipe those Cerberus shield guys right through their eyehole in the shield. Instant death without using Pull first.
ME3's combat is pretty bad, but not because its too hard. its just boring, generic cover-based shooting. It feels like im playing a more flashy version of whack-a-mole most of the time.
Use Javik's Dark Channel on an unshielded enemy and then explode him with a biotic combo. Dark Channel will then jump to a new enemy, shields or no.
If your squad mates can do this for you, you can sit back and take headshots.
I used a vanguard on insanity. Dark Channel, Singularity, and Stasis all explode on impact from Biotic Charge AND Nova.
Nice try. There have been plenty of times where I've just been bored with combat encounters, whether it's playing whack-a-mole with regular enemies or pumping bullet after tension-draining bullet into the more sponge-like "boss" enemies.@yinstarrunner said:
ME3's combat is pretty bad, but not because its too hard. its just boring, generic cover-based shooting. It feels like im playing a more flashy version of whack-a-mole most of the time.Trolololololooooooooooo
I'm playing as an Infiltrator on Hardcore, if you care. Everybody says Vanguard plays most differently from the other classes, which is undoubtedly true, but I'm just speaking from my own experiences.
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