GWJ APEX HQ—Mass Effect: Andromeda Co-op Multiplayer

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There's a new Mass Effect in town, goodjers, and this here's the place to talk up the co-op multiplayer.

I plan on adding details to this OP about the multiplayer after doing a bit more research. Until then, enjoy the trial!

And here are some lovely videos to enjoy, first from Bioware and second from IGN, who appear to be Bioware's "inside scoop" people for this game.

 

Yessssssssssssssss.

EDIT: For an actual tip. Be sure to go to the in-game store and over to the Rewards tab. You should have a lot of free boxes to open to get you started. ME3 and DA:I loyalty, as well as tutorial completion, etc. Get free stuff and get started.

Stele wrote:

Yessssssssssssssss.

EDIT: For an actual tip. Be sure to go to the in-game store and over to the Rewards tab. You should have a lot of free boxes to open to get you started. ME3 and DA:I loyalty, as well as tutorial completion, etc. Get free stuff and get started.

Yeah, I had some pretty good luck from those packs -- I got a decent number of rare characters and weapons.

Of course, I'm sure that burned all my good luck in one go, and I'll spend the next month waiting for the one specific adept or vanguard loadout I really want, while having four or five upgrades to some silly Angaran soldier build or whatever that I'll never want to play.

Yeah I was having trouble restraining myself from buying the 20k packs and saving up for the 100k ones like I know I should. But a couple new characters from the free reward packs helped. Now I can save up since I've got something new to try.

My plan is to actually buy a decent number of basic and medium packs while I'm starting up. In addition to it being nice to have a few of the basic weapons ranked up a few times, I also want to build up a decent stock of consumables so that I don't have so much anxiety deciding whether a given match is worth burning them on.

But once I have at least a few characters that can reliable do silver difficulty at least, yeah, it's hard to argue against going for the highest tier of box.

I bought some 20k packs, and shouldn't have; the Katana and Viper seem perfectly viable as starter weapons (but GOD screw the Avenger), and basic packs will give you a decent set of starter mods, which really make a big difference. I'm going to buy a load of cheap packs until I get at least a Katana V or VI for Vanguarding.

I have family in town last night and tonight so it looks like I'll have time left on my trial for Saturday night Xboxing.

I got an Asari Adept and another... hm, Engineer or something last night. But I'm so lost on the maps still. Just basic things like finding where ammo is.

I assume a lot of ME3 advice will apply. Get to level 10 or so before trying silver, and so on.

I still can't figure out the gear slot. On one menu it says they don't drop from packs anymore and you have to buy them in the item shop. But on the item shop menu I only see more consumables.

Do I need to start those away missions, strike teams or whatever? I haven't touched that menu at all yet. But I assume it will earn some rewards.

I tried the Krogan Mercenary, and he was awful. Because he's an entirely weapons-based class, and my weapons suck.

I've played mostly human Vanguard, just because jetpack + Biotic Charge is a hilariously good time.

There's a tutorial prestige mission you can complete which nets you a free battle pack. I think it does a good job of pointing out differences from ME3 multi. For example, one thing you have to do is by an item from the store. Just an item, not a battle pack. Apparently now you can spend $50 or whatever for a medpack, cobra rocket, etc. I need to remember to check whether you can buy more than one at a time, because if you can, buying up to the cap (presumably it's still 256) of these consumables directly should increase the likelihood of good stuff in the Bronze battle pack.

I remember the optimal way to unlock everything in ME3 multi was to get Bronze packs until you had everything, then move to Silver, etc. I'm trying to stick to that here too, but it's hard.

They've revamped the skills for a lot of the classes. The Human Adept, for example, still has Singularity and Shockwave, but trades Warp for Pull. So you lose your long-range detonator. Having skills on individual cooldowns rather than a global cooldown changes the cadence of attacks as well, though I'm starting to warm up to this. It makes for some combo attacks that weren't possible before, which is really fun.

Of the cool stuff I've tried so far, I have a Turian Havoc something that's designed to attack while hovering (he gets DR and a damage bonus while doing so). Incinerate, the skill that boosts your weapon fire rate, and a cluster grenade. He's an absolute monster so far, particularly with the SMG I'm using.

I've also gotten the Krogan Vanguard Berserker, which is kind of funny since that's the one class I never got in ME3. He has the charge, perma-shield, and the nova attack ME3 human vanguards had. Plus the berserking ability. Did I say how much fun it is to headbutt giant mechs to death? This guy's a keeper.

There's a tutorial prestige mission you can complete which nets you a free battle pack. I think it does a good job of pointing out differences from ME3 multi. For example, one thing you have to do is by an item from the store. Just an item, not a battle pack. Apparently now you can spend $50 or whatever for a medpack, cobra rocket, etc. I need to remember to check whether you can buy more than one at a time, because if you can, buying up to the cap (presumably it's still 256) of these consumables directly should increase the likelihood of good stuff in the Bronze battle pack.

This isn't exactly correct.

While certainly anything might change, those two tabs are for now very different.

The first tab has RNG boxes that can be bought with credits (earned from normal missions) or Andromeda points (micro transactions). The second tab, labeled items, lets you buy specific items directly, but you are NOT using either of those currencies. You are using a new third currency, which you earn when you do "Apex" missions -- EITHER as a specially selected multiplayer mode, or by sending your strike teams. So, if you only ever play single player, you could in theory bank up a ton of that currency for whenever you come over to try out multiplayer. Or, you can do multiplayer missions, earn a bunch of that currency, and use it to recruit more single player strike teams so that you can have passive income from running missions in addition to actively playing multiplayer.

Also worth noting:

The items tab is now where you buy respecs. Maybe they come from RNG boxes too, but it's a pretty reasonable cost -- you'll earn it in two to three bronze tier Apex missions. So, you no longer have to reset your leveling progress (or pray for RNG) to get another shot at rearranging your skills.

What I'm not sure of is whether there's any "reset your level" mechanic at all. Bonus stats now just seem to be earned simply by playing, and are tracked as separate experience bars for each stat type, earned based on what class you are playing as.

I also don't know if there is a Promote feature like ME3.

I don't like that your characters come with 1 skill point in all 3 skills already. Wonder if you get that point back when you promote and/or respec?

I know a lot of ME3 builds were better skipping one power entirely.

I remember watching a YouTube video with the multiplayer designers, and the level reset was one thing from ME3 they did away with. Once you reach max level, you gain stats. Since it's not competitive multiplayer, there's no danger of someone playing so much that they are unkillable by other players. It may lead to some frequent players utterly dominating matches, though.

Ah ok so you have to buy respecs then to change. Good thing they are reasonably priced and available then.

I remember watching a YouTube video with the multiplayer designers, and the level reset was one thing from ME3 they did away with.

Yeah, I thought I read/heard that as well, but I wasn't certain.

In any case, good riddance -- this new approach is WAY better. Honestly, there were literally only ever two things I disliked about ME3 coop. RNG boxes (especially with no mechanic to buy the item you want in any other way), and the need to reset your levels to respec your skills.

I suppose fixing one of the two isn't bad, though, especially since the other is the core way the continued support and development of the game is funded, eh?

I believe they also said those bonus stats post-20 go to 10th level, so 10% bonus on most things. Not game-breaking, but a nice little bump.

So far I'm loving the Asari Sentinel. Her shield reflects damage, and as long as I remember to put it down before it expires, means she can also defend anyone disarming an objective, reviving a teammate, etc. Plus, I just like Shield Drain.

Oh, and if we aren't Origin friends: aeazel here (though I am at the end of my Trial hours). Is there a compiled list for ME Origin names?

Was it mentioned if Curse was going to be the primary spot for voice chat on this?

b12n11w00t wrote:

Was it mentioned if Curse was going to be the primary spot for voice chat on this?

There's a room in GWJ, under co-op.

I think it might be. Especially with all the extra buttons they separated, I'm not sure I want to push-to-talk, but Curse voice activation is very good.

Was this posted here yet?

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/Sxi2Zw1.gif)

Vanguard OP?

Wow that looks fun. I haven't tried playing Vanguard yet.

Rykin wrote:

Wow that looks fun. I haven't tried playing Vanguard yet.

First thing I played. Being the Katana is the one starter weapon I feel like I'd really pretty effective, Vanguard + shotgun is the way to go.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Rykin wrote:

Wow that looks fun. I haven't tried playing Vanguard yet.

First thing I played. Being the Katana is the one starter weapon I feel like I'd really pretty effective, Vanguard + shotgun is the way to go.

I was worried about doing it with pubs. In ME3 I tended to save it for you guys, just in case I got in too deep.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Rykin wrote:

Wow that looks fun. I haven't tried playing Vanguard yet.

First thing I played. Being the Katana is the one starter weapon I feel like I'd really pretty effective, Vanguard + shotgun is the way to go.

Yep, that's how I'm playing the Krogan. It does mean frequent trips back to the ammo box though.

I noticed in that GIF the player is making liberal use of dodge and the melee attack from the air (which works out to be a ground-slam). I really need to find a good button for dodge. Maybe I'll move my "use" key to somewhere less accessible and drop dodge in there.

Yeah I used to use middle mouse for reload instead of R. I liked keeping all the shooting controls together.

But I'm not sure dodge there would work either. I definitely hate the Alt for camera switch.

I'm almost tempted to try... a controller...

Stele wrote:

Yeah I used to use middle mouse for reload instead of R. I liked keeping all the shooting controls together.

But I'm not sure dodge there would work either. I definitely hate the Alt for camera switch.

I'm almost tempted to try... a controller...

I recommend one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Xbox-One-Elit...

Seriously, though, the split jump/dodge behavior makes a LOT of sense when playing on a controller, particularly when you have the scuf/elite controller paddles on the back and can use all the face buttons while still keeping your thumb on the stick.

Yes, you do give up a small amount of accuracy when aiming weapons, but I'm even worse at aiming with a mouse, so for me personally the elite controller is exactly perfect for multiplayer.

--

For single player, though, I'm going to have to play around with using third party utilities to see if I can map in hotkeys for profile switching. Nothing irritates me more than when developers use gameplay pausing radial menus when a shift-mode hotkey system would work just as well or better.

(Case in point: if you ever find yourself playing/replaying Witcher 3, get set up with this controller mod. Being able to insta-cast any sign you want completely changes the combat, making it far more dynamic and fun.)

I so so so want to unlock the Krogan Murdertrain. My favorite class from ME3; I played other classes more, but nothing was more fun that than. Geth Plasma Shotgun FTW.

Human Vanguard still fun yes. Did a couple bronze, bought a 20k pack... got Salarian Infiltrator!

And I had picked up a Widow 1 out of one of those free reward packs earlier. So I think I know what I'll be playing for a while. Was always my favorite sniper. Just one round and he feels like home.

I've mapped Q since I tend to continue to use WASD for movement and the Q is right there. I keep debating if I should learn the vault over obstacles button, or just use jump. Rarely has the latter not been a good option, but sometimes I get caught.

I use ESDF so have a few more buttons available. I normally have A as "use" and swapped that to dodge. It still doesn't feel completely natural when dodging left, but I guess we'll see.

So I played with the murdertrain for a while last night. All I've gotta say is that jump jets are the coolest addition ever for the vanguard. So so good.

On classes in general, it seems like fewer classes are self-priming than in ME3. I guess they're trying to encourage teamwork. As someone who likes being a chain detonation monster, I dunno. I hope the DLC classes get back to this a bit more. Everything I've played has been a lot of fun though.

For people who are on console, is multi peer-to-peer there as well? I honestly wish they'd moved to something like Azure cloud hosting this time around. I've played a bunch of games with the familiar host-on-a-slow-connection jank so far and... guys, it's 2017. At least improve matchmaking to the point where this doesn't happen as much.

Yeah the host lag has been horrible in about a third of my matches. Almost unplayable.

And two crashes where the game just froze up for a while and I eventually ended task.

The gameplay is fun though. Just need to iron out some kinks.

Definitely.

Has anyone figured out the Kett, um, Banshee yet? I feel like I can't hurt those guys. I guess I've been focusing on classes without effective shield-stripping powers, but they're like the murdertrain's kryptonite. Think I really need to unlock the Acolyte.

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