"I always let the Vanguard die."

[Right Hook]

Has anyone else noticed this trend in ME3's multiplayer? When the vanguard goes down, they seem to be substantially less likely to be picked up. It's not because of bad teammates or because they're in a troublesome area (though that can often be true), it's because vanguards are annoying as all hell.

Usually a vanguard player is the standard human and they'll spam charge and nova until everything around them is dead. The issue is they'll charge any enemy - so that sniper you've been slowly picking the shields at and are ready to start doing some serious damage? The team vanguard is more than happy to help you out with that. Finally kick the barriers off of that Banshee? Here comes the vanguard. They'll usually lead the team by around 20k points on a bronze challenge.

I don't generally subscribe to the "let the vanguard die" meta game, but I just got out of a match where I gave it a go. I felt terrible about it, but I ended up doing a mark better than him. Plus, I actually had fun playing while he was down, without the constant killsteals from him (though the infiltrator on the team got in quite a few himself, the sneaky bastard). It's not something that I'll make a habit of, but it was made quite clear that the vanguard class is a broken, overpowered character.

So, Escapists, my question is this: Do you let the vanguard die? If not, what tactics do you adopt to stay competitive with one?

The human vanguard? Hell yes, let him die. I'm not sure if they realize but everyone who plays him is fucking annoying and goes down at the worst times. They probably think they are super good since they have the most points but most of it is through kill stealing. I like Drell Vanguards, they are actually useful and if you are good with them you can handle actual fights, unlike the stupid human vanguard.

 

[Keava]

Nope. I play Infiltrator, tactical cloak let's me rez anyone in any situation as long I have vague idea of where they died. It's also the only class I enjoy playing and it's pretty damn effective, when you get to decent level of time dilatation you can pretty much headshot everything (especially against cerberus guardians because of how easy it is to snipe them through the visor in shields).

Then again I also never play with randoms.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

I understand the sentiment, honestly. Every Vanguard I've encountered thrives on being a kill stealing asshole. I'll set up a Singularity for a Biotic Explosion, then out of nowhere Captain Killjoy zooms out of nowhere to steal the kill. I absolutely hate playing with Vanguards. They dominate Bronze level but are always terrible above that.

That being said, I'll pick the fucker off the ground. Having him around means fewer shots are fired at me.

 

[CAMDAWG]

I have to admit it's tempting to let an idiot vanguard die, but I like to play as an infiltrator, which means I spend most of my time doing my own thing from a distance, and reviving people, so it's hard to tell whether it's an idiot vanguard, or a good one that got unlucky. But as for the ones who charge into a completely fresh atlas? No fucking way am I risking my arse for that. That's just stupid.

On another note, if you want to stick it to a vanguard, play a quarian infiltrator against geth on silver/gold. The vanguard gets nothing but the basic troops, because everything else is shielded, and if you sabotage them, either they'll kill each other for you, or explode when someone else does. Either way, you rack up the kills so fast, there is almost no way someone else will outscore you.

 

[ACM_Shadow]

there's time dilation in MP keava???? never seemed to notice it.
usually i switch from infiltrator, engy, vanguard. if someone goes down i res them. if i go down i often get rezed (only time i didnt was when me and a mate charged two banshees for luls at wave 11 with 10 secs left).
Its a team based game, if the vanguard keeps staggering gaurdians while you have a bead on them, let them know.

While i agree some Van's can be dicks, and i die every now and again, 90% of the time i die when i charge a lone enemy and something one hits me from around the corner that i didn't see after my nova.
What is annoying is when people rage about how decoy sucks, and i should go another engy class because they are better, and drones do dmg.
Or that {edit}biotic{edit} that steals all non-shielded enemies with singularity+explosion

 

[Nikolaz72]

Has anyone else noticed this trend in ME3's multiplayer? When the vanguard goes down, they seem to be substantially less likely to be picked up. It's not because of bad teammates or because they're in a troublesome area (though that can often be true), it's because vanguards are annoying as all hell.

Usually a vanguard player is the standard human and they'll spam charge and nova until everything around them is dead. The issue is they'll charge any enemy - so that sniper you've been slowly picking the shields at and are ready to start doing some serious damage? The team vanguard is more than happy to help you out with that. Finally kick the barriers off of that Banshee? Here comes the vanguard. They'll usually lead the team by around 20k points on a bronze challenge.

I don't generally subscribe to the "let the vanguard die" meta game, but I just got out of a match where I gave it a go. I felt terrible about it, but I ended up doing a mark better than him. Plus, I actually had fun playing while he was down, without the constant killsteals from him (though the infiltrator on the team got in quite a few himself, the sneaky bastard). It's not something that I'll make a habit of, but it was made quite clear that the vanguard class is a broken, overpowered character.

So, Escapists, my question is this: Do you let the vanguard die? If not, what tactics do you adopt to stay competitive with one?

Lets see, I play a Drell Vanguard with a Geth Plasma Shotgun, I have improved accuracy/damage and use it as sort of an all-purpose-weapon. I have a charge upgraded to restore 100% barrier but I prefer to stay at a range using my charge to restore barrier against nearby targets and/or raising far-away teammates getting to objectives... You know what sucks? People who dont get a Vanguard up on principle, I've charged straight across the map to raise an adept who was taking an objective and doing so I fell to a turret, nobody gave me a hand. They just let me bleed out on the ground, it sucked ass.

Dont leave Vanguards hanging.

 

[Neonit]

wow. kill stealing? in team based game? me thinks you came into multiplayer with wrong mindset.
i play asari vanguard (stasis can be a life saver) and you never gonna believe it, some other classes tend to steal my kills! omg my penis has suddenly shrunk! i feel like im not manly enough! ok, i will calm down.....

ffs, the only things that matter are:
- are you winning the wave
- are you winning the game
- full extraction (some extra points? yes please!)

as a vanguard i have easy time reviving people who are surrounded by enemies. i tend to do that a lot. i never let anyone "die" because of petty bs like "kill stealing". you shouldnt either.

 

[Layzor]

I find they often get themselves killed but I usually do my best to get them back on their feet again. I don't find them overpowered in the slightest, as an Quarian infiltrator I can one shot kill almost anything and hack enemy synthetics. Playing against the Geth on any difficulty I top the scoreboard by a mile and usually top it anyway as the sniper rifles are awesome. You just have to go for head shots and not suck balls at it.

 

[TheAmazingHobo]

I believe the great Sir Jackson said it best:
YES THEY DESERVED TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!

I only revive "that" kind of Vanguard if it is an entirely risk-free situation and I feel like it.
You want to zip around the map, spamming your attacks and annoying the shit out of everyone because your playstyle significantly clashes with what the rest of the team is trying to do ?
Fine, you get to do that.
And if you die doing it, we get to laugh at your corpse.
So everybody wins.

ffs, the only things that matter are:
- are you winning the wave
- are you winning the game
- full extraction (some extra points? yes please!)

Except, you know, that´s wrong.
The only thing that matters is "Am I having fun ?".
And if a certain type of Vanguard played in a certain way detracts from my enjoyment of the game, I let him die.
And if the entire team feels he detracts from our enjoyment of the game, we all let him die.

 

[CowboyfromHell666]

I just started a Vanguard in MP even though I play one in SP. They are a fun as hell class, but there is no reason to just let them die or what not. I actually try to help my teammates and do the objectives at any time. But hey, some people like to lolcharge at everything that is Cerberus, Geth, or Reaper.

Also, Turian Sentinels ftw.

 

[AD-Stu]

I'll revive anyone that I can get to - I think the issue tends to be that bad Vanguards have a habit of charging off and dyinging on places that are almost impossible to get to in time.

Other than that, is it a little demoralising that Vanguards tend to crush the scoreboard? Sure, but as has been mentioned above, it's a team game and we all get the same XP and credits in the end, so who cares?

 

[Steel_crab]

Vanguards are a High-risk, High-reward class is what seems to always be spouted by the people who play them. And I agree.

Their High reward is ridiculous barrier recharge, overpowered damage and the ability to take a full turret salvo at point blank.

Their High risk is that if they go down, I will reserve the right to line dance straight over their moronic corpse and have some actual fun in the game.

Though this only really becomes a tempting option if they are deploying that delightful Charge/Nova combo that makes it completely impossible for anyone else to get a decent shot.

P.S. To be fair, as an overpowered, kill-stealing Infiltrator, I completely take responsibility if my point-hoarding causes my team to abandon me. Classes in multiplayer structured like this should NOT be as self-sufficient as Charge and Tactical cloak make the current two most-played classes.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

I've never understood the point of the class myself. It was the first class I tried out in ME2 because it seemed like the smartest choice- in a kingdom of cover-based shooting, surely the charging lunatic is king?

And then I died over and over again and had to use an assault rifle and shockwave for the rest of the game
I can't imagine why someone would do this to themselves willingly but I will definitely show them the mercy of not giving them a revive.

I haven't played the new game yet, but I wasn't sure what to make of it at first in ME2 either. I stuck with it because I'd been one in the first game, and it played pretty differently. Once you get used to it, it actually works pretty well. The idea is that you have to charge not like a lunatic and use it tactically. You never, ever just launch yourself into the middle of a big clusterfuck, because you will get instantly killed by everyone.

It's all about using your mobility to flank them, hit them from behind, or split them into smaller groups. If you can look at the positioning of the enemies and use it to your advantage, you can rush groups of three or so enemies from across the room before they know what hit them. Between charge and melee attacks you can fairly reliably keep at least one or two guys incapacitated while you take them or their friends out with your shotgun, then charge again to instantly refill your shields for free.

It takes some getting used to because you're deliberately launching yourself out of cover and into danger in a cover-based game, and without any extra damage protection to save you. You have to learn to use your mobility and your damage output as defensive abilities, not just offensive ones. The shield regen doesn't hurt either.

 

[kommando367]

Charge and Nova spam is fun until you charge into a brute, banshee, atlas, phantom, or geth prime. If one is selective about what their berserking at and they have at least 1 med kit, then they don't need any one to revive them in the first place.

Every class is powerful in in their own way, but they also have weaknesses.

A vanguard's weakness is their heavily diminished effectiveness against the elite enemies mentioned above.

 

[Nikolaz72]

I'll revive anyone that I can get to - I think the issue tends to be that bad Vanguards have a habit of charging off and dyinging on places that are almost impossible to get to in time.

Other than that, is it a little demoralising that Vanguards tend to crush the scoreboard? Sure, but as has been mentioned above, it's a team game and we all get the same XP and credits in the end, so who cares?

Actually, Credits the same, XP is a direct copy of your points x2. (as far as I know)

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

How on earth do you "kill steal" in a co-op game? I was under the impression ME3 multiplayer was coop, not vs? Is it competitive, or just a scoreboard?

If all the players on a team acted like it, I would expect it sould be a fun co-op experience with a good chance of succeeding. The ones complaining here sound more like they're playing as a bunch of individuals with little interest in teamwork or actually co-operating.

 

[Kahunaburger]

They jelly because they can't teleport.

 

[mental_looney]

I play vanguard and honestly thinking of swapping im not a biotic charge user mostly stay in the back shoot and shockwave (i know charge is a good way to get killed) but there seems to be a lot of bad rep about them at the moment so considering swapping to engineer or something, tired of joining matches and getting kicked

 

[maddawg IAJI]

The game gives every cumulatively. Experience and credits are given equally to everyone, there is no reason to fight over being on the top of the leaderboard and the Vanguard has its own role to play just like everyone else.

Ditching the Vanguard because he's getting kills is just immature and silly.

 

[Smithburg]

I think that this happens because of the vanguards charge. It puts them away from the safety of the group, then when they get downed they're in the middle of the enemies and it's too dangerous to retrieve them. Every other time I see them get revived.