User blog:An Arcanine/The Evolution of Classes.

Okay, so, here's something I've noticed, having recently completed my Infiltrator playthrough through all three Mass Effect games and starting a Sentinel. Be warned... it is a bit long, and since I'm terrible with fonts, lines, and other neat-looking formatting stuff on Wikia sites... it'll be an eyesore. Just bear with me.

Take a class like the Infiltrator, for example. In Mass Effect, it was specifically made as a "tech-savvy warrior". Sure, long-range combat came as part of the deal, but, using a pistol and sniper rifle as more of a support tool, rather than a dedicated sniper/marksman role, you COULD play as a tech-savvy 'soldier', and not just a sheer distance marksman. You could get a little closer to the enemy, weaken them with tech abilities, and retreat to a more comfortable range if things got a little too hairy for you.

In Mass Effect 2, this seems to be thrown out of the window entirely. With less tech powers and abilities, and the addition of ammo powers, the Infiltrator seems to have been shoehorned into a marksman-only role. Your now very limited tech abilities are useful in only a handful of situations, and it didn't feel as 'tech-savvy' when your skills didn't really mean as much for the amount of stuff you get.

Mass Effect 3 kindof negated this, though the ammo powers still gave it more of a 'soldier with benefits' feel. The tech abilities of the class still felt.... vastly underwhelming. I understand the Infiltrator is supposed to play like a 'hybrid' class of Soldier and Engineer, but, it just doesn't feel that way in 2 and 3, no where NEAR as much as it did in Mass Effect.

Another notable mention is the Sentinel. Yet another hybrid class of Adept and Engineer, in Mass Effect it is absolutely brilliant to play. Almost no actual combat skill (pistol skill only came from the class passive talent) but your tech and biotic attacks are more efficient, and can support the squad immensely.

Que Mass Effect 2. The Sentinel gets Tech Armor in lieu of Barrier (which is still a bonus power) and the support notion is just thrown right out of the window, in favor of the 'jack-of-all-trades' approach. Sure, being skilled at taking down every enemy, but not absolutely devastating against them is great and all, but... that's nor very supportive of your team. Sentinels are supposed to BACK UP your other squadmates, from either disabling troublesome enemies or wading in to soak up bullets to cover a retreat. Tech Armor in Mass Effect 2 woefully fails at the latter, only able to reset team cooldowns for abilities. However...

Mass Effect 3 completely changed this. In both Fitness and the Sentinel's Offensive Mastery, the Squad Shield and Squad Damage bonuses put the Sentinel back where they belong, as a support class in lieu of squadmates. On top of that, Tech Armor now works wonders in soaking up bullets, even more so if combined with Barrier (Maximum 70% damage reduction? Hell yes.)

The other classes in the Mass Effect trilogy really don't seem to have changed too much in comparison. Soldier's are soldiers. They shoot things with guns and occasionally throw grenades. Vanguards are close-combat, and the addition of Biotic Charge in Mass Effect 2, and Nova in 3 makes them brutally deadly at that range. Engineers just screw over the enemy with tech abilites, and the Combat Drone in 2 and 3 makes great work of it, knocking an enemy out of cover so he can be cheese-grated with gunfire. Adepts are... well, adepts. While in 2 and 3 the amount of enviromental kills are toned down significantly (floating boxes, anyone?), the sheer amount of biotic damage they do it just incredible, more than making up for the fact that I can't squish troublesome enemies with a crate, or fling them into a wall with enough force to paint it.

This is just my two-cents, though, feel free to comment with your own input in the comments below.