Mass Effect 2: Armament Conundrum

[Riddle78]

Ladies and gentlemen,I'lldeliver upon you some context.

I'm playing through Mass Effect 2 on Veteran difficulty. I've survived the first game on insanity as an Engie BroShep with only about...Ten deaths. So,as you can assume,my ME2 playthrough,on a MUCH lower difficulty,is going very well. As a Soldier to boot.

I'm utilizing the Firepower Pack DLC,and,quite frankly,I'm in love with the Mattock (semi-auto,16 round mag,freight-train power). It's my primary weapon,with my preffered sidearm being the Phalanx,which is a 6 round,laser sighted handgun of extinction. When things get hairy,I use the Geth Plasma Shotgun,which is absolutely devestating on anything that doesn't have an armour bar. Finally,I use the,believe it or not,sniper rifle you start with,because I find it hits harder than the rifle you pick up on the Dantius Towers.

I've been sorta role-playing how my Shep fights. He's an accurate man,never sinking a round below the pectorals. And so,my question arises. I'm about to go to the Collector Cruiser. I know that,as a Soldier,I'll be able to chose between one of three superpowerful specialist weapons. However,I want it to be worth my while. All three weapons seem either worse than what I've got,or just aren't worth it. The Revenant's too innacurate;it's a machine gun. The Claymore's crippled by it's two and a half second reload at it's effective range. And the Widow is,although powerful,I don't see it getting much use,since I usually advance to medium range and go to town with my sixteen rounds,often using and abusing Adreanaline Rush with either Incineary or Disruptor ammo,depending on my opponents.

So,I'm asking you. What do you think will be the least wasteful choice?

Party at all times:

"Archangel": Viper Sniper Rifle,Vindicator.
The Quarian: Geth Plasma Shotgun (Oh,the irony!),Phalanx.

As you can tell,I'm trying to be as light as possible on spoilers.

 

[Nooners]

For you, it sounds like the Widow has the least drawbacks. And if by chance you DO need to engage enemies at long range, it dishes out the most damage. Yes, even more than the starting sniper rifle.

 

[Robert632]

Well I'd say the Widow, just because you seem to have the least reasonable(Not saying it isn't, but compared to the other two...) objections to it. Also, I love the Widow, so I'd be completely biased in it's favour anyway.

 

[Gitty101]

I'd still go for the Revenant assault rifle if I were you. Even though it doesn't sound like it'll fit your Shep fighting rp - it's one of the best weapons in the game. Couple it with a soldier's adrenaline ability and you can do a tonne of damage. Plus, it's not THAT inaccurate with all the assault rifle upgrades, and the clip size more than makes up for the missed shots anyway. Far and away the most useful weapon for a soldier imo.

If you want to rigidly stick to your rp fighting style, go for the Widow, simply because it's the most accurate.

 

[JochemDude]

Don't think it's that hard of a choice. You've already got a beast rifle and shotgun, so why not take the Widow? It comes in handy for killing those harder enemies down in a (sometimes) single Adrenaline/Spec Ammo shot.

 

[Agayek]

I'd go with the Claymore, but I'm a shotgun junky who uses nothing else (save for a pistol in very specific situations, namely the big collector mega-husk-spider ...things).

As for fitting the criteria you listed, the Widow is really the only option. And besides, there's nothing stopping you from using a sniper rifle at medium range.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Get the Widow! Max adrenaline, maximum armor piercing rounds with the Tungsten upgrade. A headshot will drop any enemy with one blast.

 

[Princess Rose]

"Archangel": Viper Sniper Rifle,Vindicator.
The Quarian: Geth Plasma Shotgun (Oh,the irony!),Phalanx.
As you can tell,I'm trying to be as light as possible on spoilers.

Sounds like you were in the same situation I was.

The Geth Plasma Shotgun is better than the Claymore.
The Viper Sniper rifle is my favorite sniper rifle in the game.

So basically, thanks to the DLC, you already have all of the best guns in the game. So... yeah, it doesn't really matter.

I'd say get the assualt rifle. Even if you never use it, it's still nice to have. The Claymroe is a waste (nothing beats the Geth Plasma shotgun) and my Infiltrator never uses anything but the Viper. Your mileage may vary (some people like the Widow, and it does to more damage per hit), but that's where I stand on it.

 

[Agayek]

I'd say get the assualt rifle. Even if you never use it, it's still nice to have. The Claymroe is a waste (nothing beats the Geth Plasma shotgun) and my Infiltrator never uses anything but the Viper. Your mileage may vary (some people like the Widow, and it does to more damage per hit), but that's where I stand on it.

I vastly prefer the Claymore to the GPS, as a Vanguard. For one thing, one shots everything save YMIR mechs. For another, it's a goddamn Krogan shotgun.

Without Biotic Charge, GPS is definitely better, as you can actually do effective damage from farther than 3 feet away, but the Claymore is definitely not a waste.

 

[Princess Rose]

I'd say get the assualt rifle. Even if you never use it, it's still nice to have. The Claymroe is a waste (nothing beats the Geth Plasma shotgun) and my Infiltrator never uses anything but the Viper. Your mileage may vary (some people like the Widow, and it does to more damage per hit), but that's where I stand on it.

I vastly prefer the Claymore to the GPS, as a Vanguard. For one thing, one shots everything save YMIR mechs. For another, it's a goddamn Krogan shotgun.

Without Biotic Charge, GPS is definitely better, as you can actually do effective damage from farther than 3 feet away, but the Claymore is definitely not a waste.

Yeah, but OP said he was a Soldier. No Vanguard Charge = Claymore not so good.

And actually, as a Vanguard, I also used the Geth Plasma cause sometimes I had to shoot things while my biotics were recharging. Not quite as powerful, but better for groups of enemies (and the ability to hit multiple targets didn't hurt either).

But yeah, as a Vanguard, they're both excellent choices, and really a matter of preference. As a Soldier, though... gotta say Geth Plasma.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

i always go with the revenant, as long as you burst fire its as accurate as any of the other rifles and it just tears stuff up, plus its massive clip means theres very little reloading which is very useful, and even when you do reload its not too long

 

[WaywardHaymaker]

If you want accuracy, the only thing you should take is the Widow. It's basically the Mantis on steroids; more ammo, more damage, better accuracy, better sound.

Compared to the Mattock's laser-like precision, the Revenant is a flashbang grenade. Loud, imprecise, effective, not as cool.

The only shotgun ever to be used by anyone is the Geth Plasma Shotgun. All glory to our robot overlords; their shotguns are la crème de la crème.

 

[MisterDyslexo]

Widow or Claymore. The Claymore is pretty useful if you use it with incendiary ammo against armoured opponents. But personally, I never liked the GPS. Mainly because when I want a shotgun, I want an actual shotgun, not a tri-beam.

 

[Jandau]

Widow.

Claymore is crap, especially compared to some of the DLC Shotguns. It's powerful but too slow.

Revenant is good, but I preffer the Mattock simply for the accuracy.

Widow is a great sniper, ruins the day of anything in its path and it's not outperformed by any DLC Snipers (Incisor is poop).

 

[rohansoldier]

Widow sniper rifle, carnifex hand cannon, geth plasma rifle, can't remember the assault rifle right now but either the avalanche or the collector particle beam for the heavy weapon.

That will pretty much take down anyone in your path. I did find me2 was much more difficult on insane than me1 though.

 

[Undead Dragon King]

My take on each of the weapons:

Absolutely agree about the relative uselessness of the Claymore shotgun, though I prefer the Eviscerator shotgun myself.

The Revanant Machine Gun is a Soldier exclusive. No other class can get it, as any other class can only get Assault Rifle training at that point. The Revanant is an amazing gun, with strong mid-range and even stronger close-range capabilities than the Mattock, especially with accuracy technology and ammo upgrades. Sure, you sacrifice the utter precision of the Mattack, but firing controlled bursts from mid range will quickly kill most enemies, and you never need to worry about running out of heat clips, as the clip on this gun carries an insane number of shots. You will have an ammo problem if you get carried away with spraying shots wildly, though that will kill any close-range enemy easily.

The Widow is the intergalactic equivalent of a Barrett .50 caliber. It will kill almost anything in a single headshot, but only carries 13 shots. It's better suited to Infiltrators than Soldiers; Infiltrators can get a bullet-time effect every time they bring the scope up- all the better to make sure that your head-exploding shot will not miss. However, it's overkill on most enemies. Since you like using the Mantis, then you wouldn't get much more out of the Widow than you do with your present sniper rifle.

 

[AzureRaven]

That Widow is absolutely godlike. Now, I can't vouch for it's soldier effectiveness...but I went infiltrator with assassination cloak. Also used the +10% headshot damage helm and had all the upgrades. Including the +50% headshot and I believe the other one is +50% armor damage. And the Widow already has a 1.5x multiplier on armor. Tack onto that my teammate's squad incendiary ammo now. Headshotting Scions, the final boss's weak points, or the multiple instances of Harbinger appearing just shrivel away at the pure strength of a cloaked full power Widow shot on armor. This is still good as soldier...but sadly you lose the "oomph" that the cloak gives. On the bright side though, you can always invest in a slightly more powerful incendiary ammo.

 

[Danceofmasks]

That Widow is absolutely godlike. Now, I can't vouch for it's soldier effectiveness...but I went infiltrator with assassination cloak. Also used the +10% headshot damage helm and had all the upgrades. Including the +50% headshot and I believe the other one is +50% armor damage. And the Widow already has a 1.5x multiplier on armor. Tack onto that my teammate's squad incendiary ammo now. Headshotting Scions, the final boss's weak points, or the multiple instances of Harbinger appearing just shrivel away at the pure strength of a cloaked full power Widow shot on armor. This is still good as soldier...but sadly you lose the "oomph" that the cloak gives. On the bright side though, you can always invest in a slightly more powerful incendiary ammo.

Well, Heightened Adrenaline Rush gives you a +140% damage boost.
Just saying .. it's somewhat more powerful than Assassination Cloak.

Infiltrator is my favourite class, btw ... I uploaded an infiltrator insanity run to youtube and everything.

 

[Ymbirtt]

I'd hate to say this since I grew a beard and took the Claymore 300-M, but the way you play, you totally want the Widow. If you prefer the Viper over the Mantis, then the Widow will just be a straight upgrade for you.

If you want to cancel your manicure and take off your skirt, though, there's no better way to start than with the 300-M.

 

[AzureRaven]

Well, Heightened Adrenaline Rush gives you a +140% damage boost.
Just saying .. it's somewhat more powerful than Assassination Cloak.

Infiltrator is my favourite class, btw ... I uploaded an infiltrator insanity run to youtube and everything.

Oh is that so? I thought it was just a time slow. Well then forget what I said, it's even BETTER for a soldier! I still like the cloak though. It's so nice not being shot at while aiming. Reeeeeaally makes it easier.

Neat about your insanity run. I may have to check that out later and pick some tips up from it for when I try. Infiltrator is my best class. My favorite class is Vanguard though. Because there is nothing more fun in that game for me than Charge.