Poll: Mass Effect 2 Insanity- Morinth or Samara?

[IrrelevantTangent]

Hello Escapists. Recently I've taken another stab at trying to beat Mass Effect 2 on Insanity difficulty, as the title indicates, and I've had a major breakthrough- I beat the Collector ship mission, but just barely.

Now, since I've been trying to recruit Morinth on a bunch of my save files and using a bunch of different characters for a while, I really wanted to get her in my party; so I immediately headed on Samara's loyalty mission once I upgraded my gear and stuff.

As luck would have it, I made it through the mission with ease, and managed to get to the point where I can choose- either I can recruit Morinth, or kill Morinth.

I've been studying Morinth's Dominate ability for a while and I'm sure it'd really help, but on the other hand, Samara's been in my party ever since she saved my ass several times on the Collector ship and her Reave ability could help me.

At the moment, I have two save files- one where I recruited Morinth and immediately saved upon getting back to the Normandy, and the other where I helped Samara and immediately saved upon getting back to the Normandy. I can choose either one.

What I want to know is, if I'm playing an Infiltrator on insanity, which choice is the most optimal, Morinth or Samara? Which can help more in my long, long, long fight against the Collectors, in your opinion?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as ever.


[hr]


P.S., Amnestic, if you're reading this, I eventually picked up the Widow sniper rifle as my bonus weapon on the Collector ship. You were right, it works wonders on enemies! It's the ideal weapon for dealing with That Guy That Won't EVER Fucking Shut Up Harbinger.


P.P.S., As for Samara's abilities, she has maxed-out Heavy Throw, one point in Pull, one point in Reave, and four points in Caedo Justicar (the passive weapons enhancing ability thingy). She has these abilities on the save file that takes place after I slaughtered Morinth. Hope that helps.

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

Samara. Dominate for me, was not as cool as I thought it would be. I picked it once as a bonus talent and every time I fought the Collectors fucking Harbinger would "ASSUME CONTROL" of the one I "ASSUMED CONTROL" of. Also, Area Reave is awesome when I had that as a bonus talent. So Samara wins for me, every time.

 

[WaywardHaymaker]

I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable on the topic, so I'll help you out.

I think that the main redeeming quality to Morinth was that Dominate and Warp worked together the same way Warp and Singularity/Pull did, meaning producing a big boom. I'm fairly sure that Bioware did away with that, but I don't know, I'd test it. If it does work, it's a huge plus, because Collectors are HIGHLY susceptible to Warp damage, caused by being hit with Warp or by the explosion.

It's also good for taking over bosses, but only after you've stripped them down and they're really easy to be killed by their former friends, and if you like that sort of thing, then great. But you're an Infiltrator with a Widow, so I think it's not for you.

Samara's Reave, on the other hand, is basically like a DoT with a Stun on unshielded organics, like the Collectors. I found it remarkably useful on the suicide mission. It does double damage to armor, so it basically kills Harbinger outright once his laughable barriers are out, and it even heals Samara past her max HP, so she's basically a super-tank with 800 HP and an Assault Rifle. And you gave her the Weapons passive.

But wait! You can't max out her Reave! That makes it really bad, because it's not able to heal much past max HP without at least level 3. Unless you can still add points into it, in which case, go for Samara. If not, go with Morinth, unless Dominate won't detonate. Then go with Samara.

And probably make your bonus power Reave, and make it Heavy Reave if possible. You'll thank me when you can insta-heal.

 

[clzark]

Garrus. Never leave home without him.

I chose Samara, just cause I like her more. And Reave can be a life saver

 

[Knight Templar]

I found Samara's Area Reave to be extremely useful as it is effective against everything with only shields putting up resistance. In fact I use Heavy Reave as my bonus talent. From a story perspective I can see no reason for taking the crazy serial killer along, but it seems you want advice from a gameplay perspective.

I would pick Samara. Collectors use Barriers and armour to a greater degree than shields, bringing them down can be hard when Harbinger is closing in or there are multiple targets, Reave is more effective against Barriers than anything else and can prevent the target from attacking for a few seconds, even forcing them to pop out of cover. It allows you to remove one attacker from the fight, even if only for a few seconds that is a welcome relief during the end-game.

Unless you take Reave as your bonus power I would pick Samara. If you do take Reave then I still suggest using Samara because I never liked Dominate and unlike Morinth she won't try to kill you. Even a limited Reave is useful.
I play as Vanguard however so my playstyle would be very different from yours.

 

[kurupt87]

Is your other squaddie Miranda? I'm gonna assume it is, just because it normally is.

Personally, I'd have gone with a Samara with max cooldown passive, max reave and the other points in throw where you can assign them. Even with your ability choices I'd pick Samara over Morinth, just never found dominate that useful as a squaddie ability. For a bonus shep power it's great though.

Other than that, alternating between Samara and Garrus depending on the mission (so whether you're mainly vs shielded[Garrus] or armoured/barrier'd[Samara] foes) is a winner. Also, Grunt is a nice squaddie for an infi.

 

[MadeinHell]

Samara. Mainly because you can actually talk with her after finishing the mission

Oh and she won't kill you with her vagina.

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

What on earth would be the point of ever choosing Morinth?

 

[Misterian]

I haven't played Mass Effect 2, but I know about the 2 asari, and I'd have to go with Samara.

As far as I'm concerned, recruiting Morinth makes as much sense as having a serial killer on your side, which might be alright if you're a renegade type.

 

[slowpoke999]

What on earth would be the point of ever choosing Morinth?

If you learn her ability you can have 2 humanoids controlled at once, it's like a good version of ai hacking

 

[ultrachicken]

Samara, because reave is great.

[sub]Garrus is better[/sub]

 

[Aethren]

I chose Samara.

And Garrus was the only one who died during the suicide mission. ;_;

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

What on earth would be the point of ever choosing Morinth?

If you learn her ability you can have 2 humanoids controlled at once, it's like a good version of ai hacking

Yeah, but nothing really lasts long enough for that to really matter.

[sub] I love the widow. [/sub]

 

[Shock and Awe]

Samara, because thats the right thing to do..............and shes better in combat.

 

[Yassen]

I really don't think it matters. I got through Mass Effect 2 on insanity easily enough. Just make your bonus ability either fortification, barrier or geth shield boost and you can get your shields back whenever you run low and almost die. It really is that simple.

As for choosing between Samara and Morinth, as I said I really don't think it'll make that much of a difference so just choose whoever you like more.

 

[Internet Kraken]

The Collector Ship is probably one of the hardest parts of Insanity. In my opinnion it only gets easier from there. So I don't think you need Morinth at all. Vesides, Isanity isn't so hard that you should be killing off characters just to do better. I managed to get by bringing along the characters I wanted. I didn't need to use specific characters just to make it easier, and I don't imagine most players need to either.

So if you, like most sensible people, hate Morinth's character, do not trade her for Samara. If you haven't gotten her dominate ability get Morinth, but then quickly reload and choose Samara. Shepard will still be able to select dominate as his loyalty power if you do so.

What on earth would be the point of ever choosing Morinth?

If you learn her ability you can have 2 humanoids controlled at once, it's like a good version of ai hacking

Dominate is indeed entertaining and I really liked it on my Engineer since he could assume direct control of almost anything. However, like I said earlier you don't need Morinth to get dominate. You can just reload after getting her and it will still be available as a loyalty power.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

What on earth would be the point of ever choosing Morinth?

Well, she's basically Samara, except she has Dominate, not Reave, which can help. It also means I can keep my Geth Shield Boost talent instead of retraining to Dominate.

Is your other squaddie Miranda? I'm gonna assume it is, just because it normally is.

Personally, I'd have gone with a Samara with max cooldown passive, max reave and the other points in throw where you can assign them. Even with your ability choices I'd pick Samara over Morinth, just never found dominate that useful as a squaddie ability. For a bonus shep power it's great though.

Other than that, alternating between Samara and Garrus depending on the mission (so whether you're mainly vs shielded[Garrus] or armoured/barrier'd[Samara] foes) is a winner. Also, Grunt is a nice squaddie for an infi.

Actually, my other squadmate's Grunt, meaning I've got Grunt and Samara. I used to have Grunt and Miranda, but I was having some trouble with the Collector mission and Miranda wasn't helping, so on a whim, I chose Samara and she really helped.

I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable on the topic, so I'll help you out.

I think that the main redeeming quality to Morinth was that Dominate and Warp worked together the same way Warp and Singularity/Pull did, meaning producing a big boom. I'm fairly sure that Bioware did away with that, but I don't know, I'd test it. If it does work, it's a huge plus, because Collectors are HIGHLY susceptible to Warp damage, caused by being hit with Warp or by the explosion.

It's also good for taking over bosses, but only after you've stripped them down and they're really easy to be killed by their former friends, and if you like that sort of thing, then great. But you're an Infiltrator with a Widow, so I think it's not for you.

Samara's Reave, on the other hand, is basically like a DoT with a Stun on unshielded organics, like the Collectors. I found it remarkably useful on the suicide mission. It does double damage to armor, so it basically kills Harbinger outright once his laughable barriers are out, and it even heals Samara past her max HP, so she's basically a super-tank with 800 HP and an Assault Rifle. And you gave her the Weapons passive.

But wait! You can't max out her Reave! That makes it really bad, because it's not able to heal much past max HP without at least level 3. Unless you can still add points into it, in which case, go for Samara. If not, go with Morinth, unless Dominate won't detonate. Then go with Samara.

And probably make your bonus power Reave, and make it Heavy Reave if possible. You'll thank me when you can insta-heal.

Well, as I said, I really just want to beat Insanity as smoothly as possible, so it looks like Samara'll help me out more. I'll just choose Dominate as a bonus talent if the urge strikes me.

Why shouldn't I max out Reave, though? I'm just confused- I figured putting as many points into it as possible would help Samara in combat.

And as for what I'll eventually do, I'll just reload to the save where I chose Samara and see how things go for a while. Maybe on a whim I'll reload to the Morinth file if Samara isn't doing well, but probably not.

Thanks a lot for all the help and insight, everyone- I think I've got a clearer picture of what my gameplan will be when I head off for the Derelict Old Machine.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Honestly, it doesn't make much of a difference if you've passed the collector ship.

You're past the hardest part of the game and there's nothing that should be too tough from now on, so either one will do fine.

 

[kurupt87]

Snip

Well, she's basically Samara, except she has Dominate, not Reave, which can help. It also means I can keep my Geth Shield Boost talent instead of retraining to Dominate.

Snip

Actually, my other squadmate's Grunt, meaning I've got Grunt and Samara. I used to have Grunt and Miranda, but I was having some trouble with the Collector mission and Miranda wasn't helping, so on a whim, I chose Samara and she really helped.

Snip

Well, as I said, I really just want to beat Insanity as smoothly as possible, so it looks like Samara'll help me out more. I'll just choose Dominate as a bonus talent if the urge strikes me.

Why shouldn't I max out Reave, though? I'm just confused- I figured putting as many points into it as possible would help Samara in combat.

And as for what I'll eventually do, I'll just reload to the save where I chose Samara and see how things go for a while. Maybe on a whim I'll reload to the Morinth file if Samara isn't doing well, but probably not.

Thanks a lot for all the help and insight, everyone- I think I've got a clearer picture of what my gameplan will be when I head off for the Derelict Old Machine.

Bold part first, he's not saying you shouldn't but with how you've put your points there aren't enough left to max out reave.

As for beating insanity going smoothly, there is only one hard part left; the mass husks at the end of the IFF mission.

Spoiler: A handy hint or two

For that I'd reroll to AP ammo and get happy using the SMG and/or Viper.
Alternately, getting squad warp ammo from Jack combined with her shockwave and Samaras area throw plus liberal SMG/Viper use would work well.
Anything that'd knock over or cc a husk insta kills it.
Things like area reave and inferno grenade (aoe armour strippers), coupled with using guns to take off armour and cloak to run-the-fark-away, all followed by an aoe cc wins.
Hell, if you don't fancy any of that and wanna stroll it:- take the avalanche heavy weapon, it lols its way through husks.