#Adept is not just the more skilled and precise biotic; it's the more *powerful* biotic as well

[husband-steve-cortez]

Like the adept profile in Andromeda is more unquestionably the ultimate biotic - on top of the incredible damage potential of the biotic echoes, you get bonuses to the radius and force of all your biotics, so even if you're playing with charge and nova you might be better off using the adept profile.

Conversely my typical backlash - annihilation - lance loadout would be much less brittle with the vanguard profile.

#I think vanguard profile does get better recharge speed #max shield bonus; melee bonus; biotic recharge bonus; shield regen with melee attacks; and power shield cost reduction #which is only relevant if you use shield-powered lance or nova #so very much geared towards biotics as supplementary #but yeah I could trade some of my damage and cc potential for extra survivability #this is actually helping to fix something in my mind about how I view Noah vs his vanguard sister #Adept is not just the more skilled and precise biotic; it's the more *powerful* biotic as well #or could be; Noah is still applying his powers in a very controlled and precise manner #but he also has really letting loose potential that his sister actually doesn't now that I think on it #idk I'll think on it #he's not an overwhelming charge-nova vanguard. But Andromeda's version of charge-nova isn't that overwhelming to me #annihilation is a highly specialized biotic field he makes around himself. Lance sharpens biotic energy into a...lance. That's thrown #pinpoint accuracy #it's all highly adept in personality. #and of course he can make singularities and nuke from afar and she can't.

[swaps55]

Wich biotic class do you think is more powerful?

From a gameplay standpoint, I don't know if one is more powerful than another, per se. It's more about what playstyle fits you best. I'm speaking mostly in regards to ME3 mechanics here, because that's where the trilogy really found itself when it comes to combat.

Sentinels are a better fit for people who prefer to be a little tankier, want more flexibility to deal with things like shields and don't mind being a little slower when it comes to cooldowns (depending how you spec tech armor).

Adepts are fast and fragile, and can play more from range if needed. Every single biotic skill you have gives you a means to make things explode, so who needs a gun?

Vanguards let you be recklessly CQC and in someone's face in such a delightful way. There aren't many problems you can't solve with charge, nova, and a shotgun round to the face. They suck at range, though, unless you're using charge to put yourself in range. And flinging yourself into an enemy spawn isn't necessarily a winning strategy.

Though, as far as Mass Effect 1 goes, why would you want to be anything that doesn't have singularity.

From a meta standpoint, I actually don't use the classes in fic. I don't think it makes sense from a military standpoint, especially when there are so few human biotics. That doesn't mean I don't allude to those classes pretty heavily - Sam is most definitely a vanguard - but I don't call him that.

I also think as far as lore goes, your power comes from your innate abilities, training, implant limitations, etc. If you were to use the classes, I don't think an adept is more powerful than a vanguard or vice versa just because they are classified as such. The individual's skills and how they use them determine how formidable they are.

Sam and Kaidan, for example, have very different skillsets that are not due to military training, but simply their individual acuities. Sam is a brute with biotic energy. It's all about big, powerful displays that overwhelm opponents. Kaidan, on the other hand, is much more deft. His strength is in precision and control. Both are very powerful in very different ways, and which one you want helping you out is going to change depending on what you need.

#anonymous #swaps replies #biotics #mass effect meta #mass effect musings

[swaps55]

@nightingaleseeking commented on this post: 

I definitely thought he was an adept, but vanguard makes so much sense!! If you’re up for it, could you expand sometime more on what you mean by not using the class system in fic?

Sure! Apologies for this very long and drawn-out answer.

Video game fanfic sits in a weird place, because you have two competing systems: the world and the game mechanics. Mass Effect gets even weirder because it’s sci-fi. The codex very much tries to root itself in hard science, but the experience itself, for gameplay and narrative reasons, often strays towards soft sci-fi, especially post-ME1.

Easy example: medi-gel. As far as game mechanics go, it’s a universal cure-all for your health bar. In the real world, though, people don’t have health bars. Therefore, the codex explains medi-gel as a topical salve for wounds and lacerations. It’s a clotting agent with antiseptic to promote healing and protect against infection, and it seals the wound against liquids, gas, etc. Therefore, according to the “real world” application, you can’t cure internal bleeding by injecting someone with medi-gel because that’s not what it’s for. It’s a really fucking cool band-aid. But game mechanics dictate it can fix anything.

So when writing in this fandom, in order to have a consistent world, you essentially have to choose how you want to approach these competing systems, and there’s no right or wrong answer. I decided to go with the hard sci-fi/real world approach wherever possible because a) that’s the kind of storytelling that appeals to me, b) my Real Life Romance Option is really smart and understands physics a hell of a lot better than I do, so I have a fantastic built-in resource to help me tackle questions like, “wait, how would biotic charge actually work?” (This exact question in fact lead to me writing an entire fic about the impracticalities of charge, haha.)

That means I toss out game mechanics entirely. “Powers” like Pull and Throw, and the notion of “cool downs” between uses are game mechanics – so I don’t use them when I write. Instead I spend a lot of time thinking about how biotics work within the rules of physics (with the understanding that they only work because the universe breaks a very important rule of physics), what the effect of using biotic abilities has on the body, etc., and make those the guidelines I use when I write about them.

The same goes for the military classes. Those classes, though they sort of have an in-game codex explanation, are essentially game mechanics. And good ones! But the “real” world military doesn’t use these kinds of designations, and I think in a sense they have the potential to be limiting when it comes to storytelling. If you’re a trained infiltrator/marksman, are you really not trained to use an assault rifle? People can specialize, sure, but I didn’t see a good reason to create a “class” around it that was a good fit for my take on the universe.

Therefore, rather than call Kaidan a Sentinel, I write him as a biotic soldier who specializes in electronic countermeasures. Sam, on the other hand, is a biotic soldier who specializes in close-quarters combat. They each have very distinct styles and tactics when it comes to using biotics, because they were taught differently, have different implants, and employ different methods, rather than having anything to do with a “class.” Kaidan focused on precision and control and has a lot of endurance, whereas Sam tends to go scorched-earth and burn himself out with intense, powerful but very draining displays.

This is also why you won’t see me referring to characters using “overload” on an enemy, but you might see Kaidan toss an ECM grenade that’s designed to short out shield emitters. Instead of “warp,” Sam might create a shifting and shearing mass effect field that can incapacitate an enemy. I don’t really pay attention to class skill trees – I care about a set of skills that fit the character and make sense within the “world.” Which is why you’ll never see my characters use “reave,” because reave as a biotic ability makes no fucking sense if you try and think about how it works within the laws of physics.

This is just my approach, and I think I’m a little unusual compared to most of fandom. There is no right or wrong way to do it. You can lean 100% into game mechanics, lean 100% away from it, or come up with a hybrid that works for you. I think the most important thing is to be aware of your choices so you can keep your world consistent. But hell, even if you aren’t consistent in your own universe…that’s okay, too. Fanfic is a happy place, so do what makes you happy!

#mass effect musings #thank you for asking!!!!