Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Catch-All – Shepards with Jobs

I need more Origin buddies for games! CertisGWJ.

Hey guys, I'd like to update the OP with some useful hints and pointers for people jumping into multiplayer fresh or looking to try out a new class. Any input welcome.

Here's what I came up with over breakfast:

Levels and skill points
  • The maximum level in multiplayer is 20.
  • You'll gain more skill points per level, leaving you with a maximum of 84 at level 20 and half of that at level 13.
  • This gives you several options to build your character, e.g. 4 skills on upgraded to 6 or 1 skill at 6 and the remaining ones at 5.
  • All your characters of the same class share an experience bar, meaning if your Human Soldier levels up, so will your Krogan or Turian one.
  • Even races unlocked a later point will start at the level of the other characters of the same class.
  • You can reset the talents of a character by either using a rare item from the Spectre packs or promoting it once it reaches level 20. (Confirmation needed: does this reset all characters of that class to one or how does it work?)

Other points of interest would be:
- Using the store as a new or experienced player to get ready for Silver/Gold
- Enemies to look out for on Bronze, Silver and Gold and how to deal with them
- Class-specific hints

I'm playing way more of this than the regular game.

Unless i'm raiding this weekend i'll be trying to get more loots and trying out new characters when they pop up.

Stele wrote:

I did some Asari Vanguard in the demo. Stasis was very nice. I still got picked up off the floor a lot by you guys though. :(

That's Asari Adept, but yes, Stasis is awesome. Between Warp and Stasis, an Asari Adept's equipment no longer matters (but mine carries an arc pistol anyway).

Luggage wrote:

Solicitations for Advice

Packs:

- Do not buy Recruit Packs. Ever.
- Buy Veteran Packs until you have a decent selection of mods and weapons, or at least the ones you see yourself using. That way you'll be able to adequately equip any class, and you're likely to still get one or two rare items just by chance.
- Buy Spectre Packs when you can handle Silver difficulty well enough that you reliably complete the third and final objective (whether you can survive to extraction after that isn't as important).

Enemies:

- Cerberus Guardians: The most common way to take out a Guardian is by shooting them through their shield's eyeslot or by flanking them. Some skills like Concussive Shot will cause them to stagger, but others like Pull and Stasis will cause them to drop their shield entirely. Alternatively, the uncommon "penetration" mod will allow you to damage them through their shields, but this tactic is generally impractical until you've upgraded the mod a few times as it greatly reduces damage to all targets.
- Phantoms: Never let an unrestrained Phantom get close as they have a one-hit kill with sufficient range to hit you through cover. An Asari Adept's Stasis skill can freeze them in place, and cold-based skills can slow them down significantly. If they can't find a nearby target they will often take cover for long periods, especially when they've lost their barrier: easy pickings for a sniper, provided they have an angle.

Skills:

- The Sabotage skill temporarily converts enemies to your side, after which you can either let them fight for you or get in a few free shots. It works on ALL Geth, Cerberus Atlus mechs, and Cerberus engineer turrets. Each successive use against the same enemy wears off faster, until the skill no longer works against that target.
- The Stasis skill will freeze any enemy that doesn't have armor, including Cerberus Phantoms. It does a small amount of damage as well, which is sufficient to kill swarmers instantly. When faced with an armored enemy, an Asari Adept should use Warp instead, and follow it up with Throw to trigger a biotic explosion.

Weapons:

- Charging weapons interact oddly with the Infiltrator's Tactical Cloak, in that they register a "shot" when you start charging but not when you actually fire. That means if you start charging while cloaked you will uncloak, but if you cloak while you're already charging you can fire your shot without losing stealth. I have no idea how Tactical Cloak damage bonuses play into that.

Tenebrous wrote:
That's Asari Adept, but yes, Stasis is awesome. Between Warp and Stasis, an Asari Adept's equipment no longer matters (but mine carries an arc pistol anyway).

Curse you and your Asari Flaunting ways! I have yet to unlock one!

On a brighter note I did get my Claymore last night.

I can't help it that I look so damn good. ;D

If it makes you feel better, I'm still trying to get an M-76 Revenant, which is by far the best weapon to use with the Turian Soldier's Marksman ability (increases firing rate, damage and accuracy). I want to throw a penetration mod and an extended barrel on that baby.

Dyni wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:
Stele wrote:

I did some Asari Vanguard in the demo. Stasis was very nice. I still got picked up off the floor a lot by you guys though. :(

That's Asari Adept, but yes, Stasis is awesome. Between Warp and Stasis, an Asari Adept's equipment no longer matters (but mine carries an arc pistol anyway).

No, the Asari Vanguard gets stasis too. I got one from a Veteran pack after our first Silver round last night. That's what I was playing during our last match. You didn't think you were the only one throwing Stasis oh on those Phantoms, did you? ;)

Really? That's awesome. To be honest I didn't notice since I was whipping stasis bubbles all over the place. I did notice people occasionally floating away, though. Your lift grenades, I presume?

I wound up buying three Recruit packs last night, because I had zero mods; I wound up with usable mods in all three packs. It was getting frustrating. Oddly enough, there seems to be a Mantis of some sort in almost every pack I buy; I'm up to the Mantis VIII already.

Had an utterly epic match last night with nel e nel, Glanton, and another friend of mine vs. Reapers. Glanton got face-grabbed by a Banshee and utterly stomped, nel went down, and my friend and I spent at least 10 minutes running around the map dodging and shooting and barely staying alive. If my buddy hadn't been an Infilitrator, we'd have been meat, but he kept cloaking and getting me up again.

And yes, I'm playing far more of this than I am the single-player, and I love the single player.

LobsterMobster wrote:
Stele wrote:

I did some Asari Vanguard in the demo. Stasis was very nice. I still got picked up off the floor a lot by you guys though. :(

That's Asari Adept, but yes, Stasis is awesome. Between Warp and Stasis, an Asari Adept's equipment no longer matters (but mine carries an arc pistol anyway).

No, the Asari Vanguard gets stasis too. I got one from a Veteran pack after our first Silver round last night. That's what I was playing during our last match. You didn't think you were the only one throwing Stasis on those Phantoms, did you?

I am curious how the packs actually work. I bought 3 Veteran and got a total of 1 weapon, no mods and unlocked 1 rare character (Asari Vanguard). Then I bought 3 Recruit and got 3 weapons (incidentally the same shotgun 3x, leading to it being the Mk. III version now), 2 weapon mods and unlocked 2 human character customization options.
I'd really like to know:
a) Which pack yields you more weapons and basic items like medi-gels per 5k credits spend?
b) Do the weapons unlocked relate to your most played class in some way (e.g. higher chance for sniper as an infiltrator) or are they completely random?

Just so I'm clear, on Origins there isn't a group like in Steam? So we have to manually add people on the google docs as friends?

Also, I don't do FPS's but for some strange reason I really really love ME3's multiplayer. I love that despite being a terrible shot I can at least get XP from assists and getting better weapons from the packs really really help out.

Singularity in SP is awesome, but Singularity in MP, not so great. I think Shockwave is much better.
Lift Grenade is awesome!!! Of course I'm constantly going back to refill it. Its a fun crutch for FPS the FPS challenged.

Luggage wrote:

I am curious how the packs actually work. I bought 3 Veteran and got a total of 1 weapon, no mods and unlocked 1 rare character (Asari Vanguard). Then I bought 3 Recruit and got 3 weapons (incidentally the same shotgun 3x, leading to it being the Mk. III version now), 2 weapon mods and unlocked 2 human character customization options.
I'd really like to know:
a) Which pack yields you more weapons and basic items like medi-gels per 5k credits spend?
b) Do the weapons unlocked relate to your most played class in some way (e.g. higher chance for sniper as an infiltrator) or are they completely random?

Luggage wrote:

I am curious how the packs actually work. I bought 3 Veteran and got a total of 1 weapon, no mods and unlocked 1 rare character (Asari Vanguard). Then I bought 3 Recruit and got 3 weapons (incidentally the same shotgun 3x, leading to it being the Mk. III version now), 2 weapon mods and unlocked 2 human character customization options.
I'd really like to know:
a) Which pack yields you more weapons and basic items like medi-gels per 5k credits spend?
b) Do the weapons unlocked relate to your most played class in some way (e.g. higher chance for sniper as an infiltrator) or are they completely random?

A) Recruit. Though if you are running out, you might want to think about being more stingy whith how you use them.
B) No. They are opened for all characters you have.

PS, I do not know why the quote is repeated.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Really? That's awesome. To be honest I didn't notice since I was whipping stasis bubbles all over the place. I did notice people occasionally floating away, though. Your lift grenades, I presume?

Yep, lift grenades are pretty sweet, but I was terrible with them. I kept lobbing them past groups of enemies.

I assume it was because I was tired, but I was utterly unable to decode the spreadsheet last night and find Origin IDs of people playing ME3 on the PC.

So I'll beg for friend requests to MNGwinn. Anyone?

Dumb question. 'F' is to melee on your character right? So what's a Heavy Melee and how do you use it?

emyln wrote:

I think Shockwave is much better.

I found shockwave to be kind of meh. It doesn't even stagger a lot of shielded/armored enemies.

I really used it a lot in ME2, but so for in MP, it's a waste for me.

LobsterMobster wrote:

It doesn't sound possible to buy 3 veteran packs and only get one weapon and one class. They're guaranteed to have one uncommon (or better) item each, and all uncommon items are permanent (a mod, a weapon or a class).

I may have missed getting a weapon mod then, but it was definitely just a sniper and the Asari Vanguard.

Tenebrous wrote:
Luggage wrote:

I am curious how the packs actually work. I bought 3 Veteran and got a total of 1 weapon, no mods and unlocked 1 rare character (Asari Vanguard). Then I bought 3 Recruit and got 3 weapons (incidentally the same shotgun 3x, leading to it being the Mk. III version now), 2 weapon mods and unlocked 2 human character customization options.
I'd really like to know:
a) Which pack yields you more weapons and basic items like medi-gels per 5k credits spend?
b) Do the weapons unlocked relate to your most played class in some way (e.g. higher chance for sniper as an infiltrator) or are they completely random?

A) Recruit. Though if you are running out, you might want to think about being more stingy whith how you use them.
B) No. They are opened for all characters you have.

PS, I do not know why the quote is repeated.

It doesn't sound possible to buy 3 veteran packs and only get one weapon and one class. They're guaranteed to have one uncommon (or better) item each, and all uncommon items are permanent (a mod, a weapon or a class).

I haven't done the math on the best way to get consumable equipment but keep in mind that when a Veteran Pack (or Spectre Pack) gives you a consumable, it gives you more than you'd get from a lower-level pack. So, a Recruit Pack might give you 1 Medi-Gel but a Veteran Pack might give you 3. I disagree that Recruit Packs are ever the best choice for getting weapons, though. They'll just give you upgrades to the basic starting weapons. If that's what you're after, I've opened Spectre Packs that granted not one, but two levels to a basic weapon, plus an uncommon mod, plus a rare weapon.

emyln wrote:

Dumb question. 'F' is to melee on your character right? So what's a Heavy Melee and how do you use it?

Hold down F.

Regarding Recruit packs:

While it is generally true that you are better off spending money on Vet packs, there are a few reasons to buy recruit packs (NOTE: this is mostly based on my experience in the demo, but preliminary experience with the full game indicates it's still true).

- First and most obliviously (given the name) when you are still too low level to reliably finish bronze matches. Nothing interesting to say here, but it does do a disservice to someone with very low credit income to warn them off from getting some potentially helpful upgrades.
- Second, if you want upgrades to the five starter weapons or some of the more basic (but still useful!) mods, the recruit pack has better odds of dropping those items. For me personally, the draw is the Mantis -- while the more rare sniper rifles (or hand cannons like the Carnifex and Paladin) eventually are better options in a lot of scenarios, you can very quickly get a powerful sniper weapon by buying recruit packs.
- Third, if you want to unlock appearance options for your human characters, they are more likely to drop from the Recruit packs (or at least they were in the demo).

Outside of those three reasons, though, it's definitely worth saving most of your money for the bigger ticket purchases.

I'm loving my BF3 Soldier so far. I'm digging Carnage.

Anyway, how do I equip my Cobra launcher now (on PC)? In the demo it would be there as I cycled through my weapons using the mouse wheel, but now it just goes between my two guns and that's it.

Any ideas?

Nevin73 wrote:

I'm loving my BF3 Soldier so far. I'm digging Carnage.

Anyway, how do I equip my Cobra launcher now (on PC)? In the demo it would be there as I cycled through my weapons using the mouse wheel, but now it just goes between my two guns and that's it.

Any ideas?

You press the up buttion on the pad. It is a piece of equipment like the medijel packs.

BTW has anyone tried the Salarian Engineer? How is it?

Tenebrous wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

I'm loving my BF3 Soldier so far. I'm digging Carnage.

Anyway, how do I equip my Cobra launcher now (on PC)? In the demo it would be there as I cycled through my weapons using the mouse wheel, but now it just goes between my two guns and that's it.

Any ideas?

You press the up buttion on the pad. It is a piece of equipment like the medijel packs.

BTW has anyone tried the Salarian Engineer? How is it?

He's on PC.

There are arrows beside the circles in the weapons screen. Just click the arrows right or left to scroll through the available weapons for a particular gun type. All the way to the left means you aren't equipping any of those type guns.

The missile launcher should be in your fifth hotbar slot. By default the hotkey will be 5, but I recommend rebinding it.

MannishBoy wrote:
Tenebrous wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

I'm loving my BF3 Soldier so far. I'm digging Carnage.

Anyway, how do I equip my Cobra launcher now (on PC)? In the demo it would be there as I cycled through my weapons using the mouse wheel, but now it just goes between my two guns and that's it.

Any ideas?

You press the up buttion on the pad. It is a piece of equipment like the medijel packs.

BTW has anyone tried the Salarian Engineer? How is it?

He's on PC.

There are arrows beside the circles in the weapons screen. Just click the arrows right or left to scroll through the available weapons for a particular gun type. All the way to the left means you aren't equipping any of those type guns.

So the cobra missile launcher is on the weapons loadout screen now as opposed to equipment you carry with you like medigel?

Edit: Ah, thanks...I'll have to look into that.

LobsterMobster wrote:
Dyni wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:
Stele wrote:

I did some Asari Vanguard in the demo. Stasis was very nice. I still got picked up off the floor a lot by you guys though. :(

That's Asari Adept, but yes, Stasis is awesome. Between Warp and Stasis, an Asari Adept's equipment no longer matters (but mine carries an arc pistol anyway).

No, the Asari Vanguard gets stasis too. I got one from a Veteran pack after our first Silver round last night. That's what I was playing during our last match. You didn't think you were the only one throwing Stasis oh on those Phantoms, did you? ;)

Really? That's awesome. To be honest I didn't notice since I was whipping stasis bubbles all over the place. I did notice people occasionally floating away, though. Your lift grenades, I presume?

Thank you Dnyi.

And why do you argue with me Lobster? I got Asari Adept to 20 in the demo and the Vanguard to 16 or so. I knew what I was talking about.

Or you can just look at the class screens, even if you don't have that class, and see a list of all their powers.

Nevin73 wrote:

So the cobra missile launcher is on the weapons loadout screen now as opposed to equipment you carry with you like medigel?

Edit: Ah, thanks...I'll have to look into that.

Oh, sorry, didn't catch you were talking about rockets. Rockets seem to automatically equip. I think they are hot keyed to 5, and you get a couple per game if I'm not mistaken.

So once you get them, they're automatically there.

Dumb question. I started out my MP campaign with a Human Infiltrator. Can I switch classes, or start out another character without fully levelling my Infiltrator and importing him to the Galaxy at War?

Jonman wrote:

Dumb question. I started out my MP campaign with a Human Infiltrator. Can I switch classes, or start out another character without fully levelling my Infiltrator and importing him to the Galaxy at War?

Yes, just click on "Character" or "Change character".

Jonman wrote:

Dumb question. I started out my MP campaign with a Human Infiltrator. Can I switch classes, or start out another character without fully levelling my Infiltrator and importing him to the Galaxy at War?

MP? Sure, you can change up as much as you want. I've got a Turian Sentinel, Human Adept, and Salarian Engineer all ~15 or so.

That's Asari Adept, but yes, Stasis is awesome. Between Warp and Stasis, an Asari Adept's equipment no longer matters (but mine carries an arc pistol anyway).

Curse you and your Asari Flaunting ways! I have yet to unlock one!

On a brighter note I did get my Claymore last night.

On the Helpful Hints:

- Krogran have a powerful melee attack that charges forward, It is a one shot kill for most regular enemies.

- With Stasis for the Asari, Max it out in its AOE/Bubble form. It is infinetly more useful that way. It will trap people that walk into it. You can put it on a cornor to trap Enemies taking cover on the other side, etc. It also helps with getting groups together for Biotic Explosions.

- When dealing with Brutes and Banshees, try to move perpendicularly to the direction they are pointed (Strafe) and keep your distance, that tends to be the basis for keeping yourself alive in those encounters.

- (Agreed) Don't buy Recruit packs. The Uncommon and rare weapons are the ones that will carry you forward faster and those are in Vet. and Spectre packs.

- Save your special Equipment for Silver and gold Runs. You will really need them there.

- Engineers and Adepts trend to perform better when they can access their powers quicker. Many only Equip a Pistol because of this.

- "Stun and Gun" Seems to be a particularly effective tatic in MP. Stasis, Overload, Shield Drain, and Cyroblast all Stun to some extent.

- If a mob is going to melee you, use a quick melee attack to disrupt their wind up, following up with a heavy melee or other attack.

- Keep your eyes open for turrets when fighting Cerberus! They can take characters down very quickly (I am looking at you Vanguards) and sit low to the ground. BTW they can see through Infiltrator stealth Field.

Are there different racial benefits? Why choose one race over the other, other than for aesthetics?

zeroKFE wrote:

The missile launcher should be in your fifth hotbar slot. By default the hotkey will be 5, but I recommend rebinding it.

How exactly do you rebind keys in multiplayer?

And you're right, for people who can't reliably finish Bronze, Recruit Packs aren't a bad idea, but unless you're soloing or only have one co-op partner, Bronze shouldn't be too big of a challenge even if you're just starting out. If it is, there are plenty of Goodjers on PC and 360 willing to carry you.

Heretk wrote:

Are there different racial benefits? Why choose one race over the other, other than for aesthetics?

They have different power sets, dodges and melee attacks.