There has to be a weapon/mod or combination of biotics/weapons or combination of biotics someone has discovered that is aggressively devastating to units with armor. This is the first in a series of blog posts Christina on the RPG systems of Mass Effect 2.I find myself having no trouble with damaging units with shields or barriers but it seems taking out targets with a bar of Armor is a grueling and sometime deadly process (for me). This adds depth to character progression for you and your squad: It’s important to invest in both finishing-move powers like throw and cryo-freeze, and defense-killers like warp and overload.Ĭhristina Norman is the Lead Gameplay Designer for Mass Effect 2. While weaker enemies can be defeated with powers alone, strong enemies require teamwork to drop their defenses so they can be finished with powers. The best way of getting rid of a defensive barrier is the warp power, but the soldier’s concussive shot is also quite effective.ĭefenses add significant tactical depth to combat.
Like shields, barriers block most powers, but are vulnerable to rapid-fire weapons.
The best way of breaking through enemy armor is using incendiary ammo, incinerate, or warp.īarrier: Only biotic enemies like vanguards can generate defensive biotic barriers. Armor is effective at blocking most powers, but is vulnerable to hard-hitting weapons like sniper rifles and heavy pistols. The best way of getting rid of shields is using disruptor ammo, or the engineer’s overload power.Īrmor: While most enemies will wear light tactical armor, only enemies wearing the heaviest or most technologically advanced armor will have an armor defense. Shotguns are also effective as they launch many projectiles with each blast. Shields are effective at blocking most powers, but are vulnerable to rapid-fire weapons like submachine guns and assault rifles. Shields: The most common enemy defense is the kinetic barrier, or shield. Only powerful enemies have a defense bar, weaker enemies are always vulnerable. Once the defense bar is gone, he is vulnerable to all your powers. As long as the bar is visible, your target is resistant to powers, but all powers deplete his defense bar. These defenses are displayed in a bar over the enemy’s health bar. More importantly, if your enemy was resisting your powers, there was nothing you could do about it.įor Mass Effect 2 we’ve combined enemy resists with defensive shields, armor, and barriers. In ME1 enemies would sometimes resist your powers, but it wasn’t clear when they would, or why.
One area we wanted to improve in Mass Effect 2 was enemy power resists.