I play Mass Effect for the story, the character development, and the fantastic dialogue found in the trilogy’s every crevice. It’s making my playthrough a bit easier, but then I’m only playing on Normal and I’m not too bothered about the challenge. It is designed for your Thane player, not for a chaotic Biotic run-and-gun player like me. But is this actually a good change? I’m not quite sure.Ĭertainly, I’m not using the sniper rifle as intended. The gun is an absolute beast, keeping its firepower and range without the drawbacks of its shaky sights. M-96 Mattock: For our money, we'd go for the M-96 Mattock above all other assault rifles in Mass Effect 2 - though it also functions quite differently to many other rifles. Even playing as an Adept, I can whip my sniper rifle out, line things up quickly and painlessly, then shoot my enemies in the face - quickly and painfully. In the Legendary Edition though, it was made for me. I’m sure for players of a Garrus or Thane mindset, it was workable, but I play more like Jack or Grunt - total carnage. Once you got far enough through the game, you’d eventually unlock better rifles - and your arms would heal from carrying that shopping - and the sniper rifle would become usable, but even then, that was as good as it got. When Shepard lugged the sniper rifle out, it swayed from side to side, it wobbled whenever you tried to aim, and would generally dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge at every opportunity. In ME2, there are occasions where you may use your SMG (to drop shields but charging in is too dangerous) or pistols (to take out high armor targets you cant charge, like the helicopter fight or the final fight).

Shotguns are the way to go for vanguards. The Geth Pulse Rifle is a secret Assault Rifle which can be obtained during the mission on Haestrom if the game difficulty is set to Hardcore or above before landing on the planet. Vanguards should stay away from assault rifles. It felt like Shepard had just finished carrying her granny’s shopping all the way home, then had been handed a gun which weighed as much as a krogan’s lunch. In Mass Effect 2, the Geth Armory manufactures two known weapons. Related: PSA: You Need To Play The Mass Effect Games In Order That’s part of the reason why I have previously avoided the sniper rifle, but also, it used to be garbage - especially in the first Mass Effect. I am not a particularly tactical player - it’s why I detest the boring Soldier build and prefer something like an Adept, rushing in with a blur of Biotic blue. It’s why an expert marksman like Garrus wields one, or a measured assassin like Thane. The sniper rifle is a very tactical weapon. Playing through the Legendary Edition, I’ve only just rescued Liara, and I’ve already surpassed that total - and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. I have played through the Mass Effect trilogy several times, and across each of those playthroughs I have fired about seven bullets from a sniper rifle.

Mass effect 2 assault rifle