Poll: Rank ME3 Multiplayer Enemies

[RJ 17]

Pretty straight forward, which enemy force do you hate the most? Which do you think is the easiest? Feel free to list your reasoning as well. For the sake of this discussion, assume that you're playing on Gold difficulty.

For me it goes Reaper > Geth > Cerberus.

Cerberus is pretty straightforward. Really the only thing you have to worry about are the Phantoms and sometimes the Engineers can be pretty sneaky with their turret placements...i.e. placing them at random spots on the map that you and your team aren't even near but when you find yourself having to go down there (i.e. to get an object) WHOOOOOOOOA! there's a frickin' turret.

Geth are the hardy middle-of-the-ground troopers. They only have 1 "true" heavy unit, that being the Prime which I'd say is a lot more dangerous than an Atlas. But they've got a ton of specialized units. The Hunters, in particular, are a HUGE pain in the ass. Their pyros can be pretty sneaky when they flank you, and the rocket-troopers are essentially their snipers but still, not that dangerous if you're paying attention and have a good team.

Which brings us to the Reapers, those god damn bastards. As representatives of the singleplayer's primary antagonists, I think they were designed to be the most difficult. Their banshees are frickin' nuts, their marauders are frickin nuts, and the Reaper equivalent of a sniper class is the Ravager...something that comes equipped with semi-automatic rocket launcher that can easily fuck you up if you don't see the Ravager first. All in all there's nothing that isn't a complete pain in the ass for the Reapers. Cannibals chuck grenades, husks apparently glitch through attacks and grab you anyways, and both of them get those armored barnacles that make it so you HAVE to get a headshot to kill'em.

Which is why I say the difficulty goes Reaper > Geth > Cerberus.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Reapers are easily the worst. Between the Banshees and the Ravagers you're stuck. Throw in a Brute or two, which are actually pretty much jokes by themselves, and you are royally screwed. Even the base units can be troublesome at times.

I find it a toss up between Cerberus and Geth after that. I don't find the Geth too troublesome but they have a tendency to overrun you if you don't maintain good situational awareness. Cerberus isn't too bad either, though the Phantoms are a major nighhtmare if you don't have an aware team with the right abilities to stop them. I don't think even a Banshee has ripped through a poorly prepared team as fast as I've seen a Phantom do it.

Basically, I'd rank it Reaper > Cerberus > Geth based purely on the power of an unchecked Phantom (and that I find the Geth rather fun to fight hehe )

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Definitely going to agree with Reaper > Geth > Cerberus.

I typically play as a Salarian Infiltrator (M-98 Widow/M-3 Predator).

Cerberus is a joke to me. I can one-shot all of their mobs (except Atlas - which only takes like three or four shots) with body shots on Bronze. On Silver I can still one-shot everything except for the Atlas, I just have to aim for headshots more often, which is easy enough since I've been headshotting humanoid targets with sniper rifles in games for years. On Gold I can't one-shot any of the mobs with shields or barriers, but as a Salarian my Energy Drain works wonders. Hit the target with Energy Drain, then one-shot it while it staggers from the power effect. No real challenge, unless swarmed by Phantoms on Gold, and even then, usually manageable.

Geth isn't particularly hard either, but they have the potential to be hard. Especially on hacking or transmitter objective waves. What makes Geth harder than Cerberus, in my opinion, is their more specialized troops, which actually compliment each other quite well. Try to take out the Rocket Troopers in the rear of their forces, and you allow their Pyros to gain ground. Try to stop their Pyros from gaining ground instead, and now the Rocket Troopers are pinning you down. Regardless of which you choose to prioritize, you've probably now got half a dozen Hunters sneaking around to flank you while you're distracted. Turn around to deal with the Hunters, and now you're getting pelted by rockets and being engulfed by napalm. Again though, being a Salarian Infiltrator helps. Energy Drain is incredibly effective against Geth, and it makes sniping them pretty easy.

Reapers. Ugh. Their standard infantry are no big deal. Husks are pretty flimsy and not particularly dangerous. Cannibals are pretty easy kills since all you really have to do is kill one of them, then all the other nearby Cannibals will instantly give up the fight to go grab some armor from the dead one, which makes them incredibly easy sniping and/or AoE targets. Marauders can be kind of a pain in the ass if they start buffing everyone around them, but they themselves aren't really that dangerous. Single shot to the skull takes them out on Bronze/Silver, and on Gold I just have to hit them with Energy Drain first. It's when Ravagers, Brutes, and Banshees hit the field that things start getting rough. Especially since they always seem to hit the field simultaneously. Ravagers force you into cover, making you an easy target for Brutes. Brutes force you out of cover, making you an easy target for Ravagers. Banshees fuck you up regardless of where you happen to be, because they're badasses and they know it. I typically just try my best to eliminate all of the Ravagers ASAP, so that the team doesn't get picked off as they try to evade the Brutes and Banshees. After that I try to take out the Brutes next since they tend to be far more aggressive and I've seen sooo many people walk right into the waiting arms of a Banshee while trying to dodge a charging Brute. Once the Ravagers and Brutes are down, everyone can just kite the Banshee to death. Still pretty tricky, though.

 

[Erttheking]

I feel the same, Cerberus is a cakewalk once you deal with the Phantoms, the geth can be on the tricky side, and the Reapers are a goddamn nightmare. A Ravenger, Brute, Banshee combination is all it takes to ruin your day.

 

[DustyDrB]

I still have the most problems with the Geth.

The biggest danger from the Reapers I find is when a Banshee has you on the run, and then an unseen Ravager pummels you with artillery from across the map. A lone Banshee isn't much of a worry since her attacks are pretty limited. Just attack her while backing up and take cover when she sends a Warp at you and you'll be completely unscathed. Brutes are big easy targets that rarely even have a chance to get close.

Cerberus Phantoms are problematic, but their forces are easy other than that. I wish the game was a bit more forgiving with their insta-kill animation. It's rather infuriating when you round a corner just as she is rounding it from the other direction and you get offed automatically. And it's even more infuriating when they do it after you revive yourself (there should really be a second or two of invulnerability after you revive yourself).

The Geth just seem to use great tactics. They have a knack for flanking. They don't overwhelm you with superpowered units (though Primes do pack a punch), they just flank you and chip away.

So I go Geth > Reapers > Cerberus

 

[RJ 17]

I find it a toss up between Cerberus and Geth after that. I don't find the Geth too troublesome but they have a tendency to overrun you if you don't maintain good situational awareness. Cerberus isn't too bad either, though the Phantoms are a major nighhtmare if you don't have an aware team with the right abilities to stop them. I don't think even a Banshee has ripped through a poorly prepared team as fast as I've seen a Phantom do it.

Yeah, I fully respect a Phantom's destructive power. If you let even on slip in behind you and your group, at least 2 people are going down, that's almost a guarentee. However they're not too numerous, you might get 5 or 6 of'em on the latter waves even in gold. What makes me say that the Hunters are a bigger pain in the ass is

1: They start out cloaked while Phantoms only cloak once their health-bar takes damage, and even then more times then not they cloak to run away and heal their barrier rather than press the attack which would make them the deadliest unit in the game.

2: Hunters attack in swarms. You'll be focus-firing with your team on a Prime and all of a sudden BOOM! there go your shields. You turn around and there's a Hunter uncloaking to elbow you in the face while he's got 4 or 5 buddies standing in line behind him waiting their turn. Since they're ALWAYS cloaked (and actually with one of the recent updates, the patch notes described how they've been buffed in the speed and agression department) it really makes it easy for them to get lost in the chaos of an intense fight when you're trying to take down 3 pyros marching on your position while avoiding the 5 rocket trooper's behind them.

Really all it takes to take care of Phantoms is a good spot for your team to be holding out and good team awareness. Call out a Phantom to your teammates and between powers and focused-fire they tend to die pretty easily. Hunters, on the other hand...yeah, the whole swarm mentality thing just makes them a lot harder if you ask me.

But again, I do agree that an unchecked/uncalled Phantom is probably the deadliest enemy unit in Multiplayer....

...that or the Banshees that insta-kill grab you the while you're standing up after being revived. xP

 

[twistedheat15]

While reapers can throw big guns at you I find I lose more to Geth just cuz they swarm the hell outta you. Rocket troops hurt and pyros can rape you when your behind cover leaving you open to hunters in the shadows. At least reapers you can keep tabs on where everyone is and dodge around.

 

[Zhukov]

The geth are relatively easy and a cakewalk if you have the right classes in your squad. Engineers and quarians make short work of them.

Cerberus are perfectly manageable, so long as you keep phantoms at range and focus fire on atlases. Once again, the right classes can do wonders, specifically krogan soldiers and asari adepts.

Reapers are the tough ones. Between ravagers pounding you from range, brutes getting in your face and banshees forcing you from your positions they can make a mess of you in short order. Also, they have no specific weaknesses.

 

[RJ 17]

I still have the most problems with the Geth.

The biggest danger from the Reapers I find is when a Banshee has you on the run, and then an unseen Ravager pummels you with artillery from across the map. A lone Banshee isn't much of a worry since her attacks are pretty limited. Just attack her while backing up and take cover when she sends a Warp at you and you'll be completely unscathed. Brutes are big easy targets that rarely even have a chance to get close.

Cerberus Phantoms are problematic, but their forces are easy other than that. I wish the game was a bit more forgiving with their insta-kill animation. It's rather infuriating when you round a corner just as she is rounding it from the other direction and you get offed automatically. And it's even more infuriating when they do it after you revive yourself (there should really be a second or two of invulnerability after you revive yourself).

The Geth just seem to use great tactics. They have a knack for flanking. They don't overwhelm you with superpowered units (though Primes do pack a punch), they just flank you and chip away.

So I go Geth > Reapers > Cerberus

As for the insta-kills, yeah, some of them are controller-throwingly infuriating. The worst are the tractor-beam insta-kills, of which Banshee's are particullarly fond of. She bends over and lets out a scream so you think you've got time to run past her and out of the corner you were backed into while she's just screaming....nope, you run by her and then watch as your character just kinda drifts backwards about 30 feet and gets impaled by the Banshee.

What makes the Banshees really annoying is the fact that yes, everyone knows that kiting them is the best tactic...problem is, they FORCE you to kite, and they force you to kite far. You're running into rooms you haven't cleared yet while trying to avoid the warp and shockwaves and insta-kills only to find yourself getting pelted from the side by a ravager and the pissed off Marauder Shields Bros.

However I do agree, tactics wise I think the Geth are the most strategic. I really think it comes from their unit diversity. Cerberus is pretty straight forward: guns. Guys gonna be shooting at you from behind cover, we get it. Reapers mix it up a bit with Melee and Ranged, but it's the Geth that have the biggest weapon spread. They've got flame throwers that wear armor, they've got rocket launchers for snipers, and they've got cloaked and shielded shotgun shocktroopers. Your entire team has to be on their toes the whole game if you're going to battle the Geth effectively.

Still, though, I think the Reapers are tougher. For one: they have the most heavy units - Brute, Banshee, Ravager - while Cerberus really only has the Atlas and the Geth only have the Pyros and Primes.

The one thing to keep in mind about the Geth: sabotage works on all of them, even Primes. I once hacked a Prime that was walking with 4 pyros. The pyros melted it down to a puddle of molten metal before the Sabotage even wore off. I was both impressed and terrified.... >.>

 

[DustyDrB]

kiting

I've never heard this word until recently. Does that mean "run backwards and shoot"? Because it's a lot easier to say than "run backwards and shoot"...

I can't remember how I specced Sabotage on my Quarian Infiltrator, but it only seems to work for about five seconds on Primes. Then maybe 3 seconds the next time. Then not at all. I'll got the odd kill with it. I don't like to rely on Sabotage, though. Teammates usually take the sabotage field as a signal to kill that target immediately.

 

[tendaji]

Geth>Reaper>Cerberus
Geth mainly because of Hunters and Pyros galore. Only time they are easy for me is when I'm playing engineer, but as Asari Adapt, they are all a pain seeing how they always have shields or armor up that I have to take down before I can use most of my powers.

Reapers are annoying in the later levels with Banshees and Brutes. They disrupt the group but nothing too serious.

The demo made Cerberus a cakewalk for me. So easy to roll through their forces now that I have no problems with them.

 

[skywolfblue]

kiting

I've never heard this word until recently. Does that mean "run backwards and shoot"? Because it's a lot easier to say than "run backwards and shoot"...

I can't remember how I specced Sabotage on my Quarian Infiltrator, but it only seems to work for about five seconds on Primes. Then maybe 3 seconds the next time. Then not at all. I'll got the odd kill with it. I don't like to rely on Sabotage, though. Teammates usually take the sabotage field as a signal to kill that target immediately.

Kiting is a term primarily encountered in MMORPGs referring to a popular method of killing mobs (monsters) or other players by staying at a distance, using ranged attacks, and running whenever the enemy comes near.

The more you know!

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

The thing that makes Reapers so difficult is their large units (Brutes/Banshees) force you out of cover, which makes you a sitting duck for Ravagers, Marauders, and Cannibals to pick you off. None of their units are particularly threatening on their own... hell, I think Banshees are the easiest of the big units by themselves. It's the combo of melee guys rushing you to get you out of cover along with the Ravagers sniping you.

The other enemies don't really have that combination attack. Geth have Hunters, but they're much less threatening from Range, so it's not a huge deal.

 

[MiloP]

Reapers are definitely the hardest, IMO. Mainly because the Banshees creep me the fuck out.

Past that, Cerberus and Geth are a bit of a toss up. Geth Hunters always catch me off guard, now that they actually turn quite invisible this time around. On the flip side, Guardians can be tricky if you don't have a sniper rifle and are several hundred feet away.

 

[RJ 17]

kiting

I've never heard this word until recently. Does that mean "run backwards and shoot"? Because it's a lot easier to say than "run backwards and shoot"...

I can't remember how I specced Sabotage on my Quarian Infiltrator, but it only seems to work for about five seconds on Primes. Then maybe 3 seconds the next time. Then not at all. I'll got the odd kill with it. I don't like to rely on Sabotage, though. Teammates usually take the sabotage field as a signal to kill that target immediately.

Pretty much exactly what Skywolf quoted you. The idea is that if you're getting swarmed and you run off along the perimeter of the map, you can essentially funnel them so that they're all coming from the same direction. You put a good bit of distance between you and the enemies before turning around and trying to pick one or two off. When they start closing the distance you make a break for it to another spot and pick another one or two off. Rinse and repeat until the wave is done.

>.> except with Ravagers...they tend to always be right where you're trying to run to...

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I find it a toss up between Cerberus and Geth after that. I don't find the Geth too troublesome but they have a tendency to overrun you if you don't maintain good situational awareness. Cerberus isn't too bad either, though the Phantoms are a major nighhtmare if you don't have an aware team with the right abilities to stop them. I don't think even a Banshee has ripped through a poorly prepared team as fast as I've seen a Phantom do it.

Yeah, I fully respect a Phantom's destructive power. If you let even on slip in behind you and your group, at least 2 people are going down, that's almost a guarentee. However they're not too numerous, you might get 5 or 6 of'em on the latter waves even in gold. What makes me say that the Hunters are a bigger pain in the ass is

1: They start out cloaked while Phantoms only cloak once their health-bar takes damage, and even then more times then not they cloak to run away and heal their barrier rather than press the attack which would make them the deadliest unit in the game.

2: Hunters attack in swarms. You'll be focus-firing with your team on a Prime and all of a sudden BOOM! there go your shields. You turn around and there's a Hunter uncloaking to elbow you in the face while he's got 4 or 5 buddies standing in line behind him waiting their turn. Since they're ALWAYS cloaked (and actually with one of the recent updates, the patch notes described how they've been buffed in the speed and agression department) it really makes it easy for them to get lost in the chaos of an intense fight when you're trying to take down 3 pyros marching on your position while avoiding the 5 rocket trooper's behind them.

Really all it takes to take care of Phantoms is a good spot for your team to be holding out and good team awareness. Call out a Phantom to your teammates and between powers and focused-fire they tend to die pretty easily. Hunters, on the other hand...yeah, the whole swarm mentality thing just makes them a lot harder if you ask me.

But again, I do agree that an unchecked/uncalled Phantom is probably the deadliest enemy unit in Multiplayer....

...that or the Banshees that insta-kill grab you the while you're standing up after being revived. xP

agreed on all of this.

god damn the reapers have a frickin deep starting line up, getting 3-4 banshees with a couple of ravagers just waiting for you to run away is the absolute worst. not to mention usually a few mauraders are camping away waiting for you to run around that odd corner that you thought you'd get safety with.

idk what it is, maybe it was an update, but today i've got one hit killed by banshees 8 fricking times, 2 of them they grabbed me from AROUND corners! that used to never happen before today, hell i could sprint right by them without a single flinch, now they are grabbing me like they are frickin magneto or something. pissing me off quite a bit.

but the geth, left unchecked, are some sneaky bastards indeed, their frickin aggressiveness is the biggest pain in the ass when going to save a team mate, if you aren't within 30 feet of them i'd say they are done for, the geth go right in for the finisher, not to mention how many hunters are lurking around cloaked up as mentioned.

 

[Risingblade]

If it just me or do Geth seem to come in much larger numbers? They can overwhelm you so easily :/

 

[RJ 17]

agreed on all of this.

god damn the reapers have a frickin deep starting line up, getting 3-4 banshees with a couple of ravagers just waiting for you to run away is the absolute worst. not to mention usually a few mauraders are camping away waiting for you to run around that odd corner that you thought you'd get safety with.

idk what it is, maybe it was an update, but today i've got one hit killed by banshees 8 fricking times, 2 of them they grabbed me from AROUND corners! that used to never happen before today, hell i could sprint right by them without a single flinch, now they are grabbing me like they are frickin magneto or something. pissing me off quite a bit.

but the geth, left unchecked, are some sneaky bastards indeed, their frickin aggressiveness is the biggest pain in the ass when going to save a team mate, if you aren't within 30 feet of them i'd say they are done for, the geth go right in for the finisher, not to mention how many hunters are lurking around cloaked up as mentioned.

I made it a good 3 weeks in the game without getting insta-killed by a Banshee...then it happened pretty much as you described: you make it past them then all of a sudden your character just kinda starts drifting backwards, next thing you know you're dead. That happened to me twice in the same night, but now they just prefer to camp near my corpse and wait until a teammate has revived me so they can charge over and grab me as I stand up.

And yeah, the Geth are a bunch of psychos. In the later waves, if a rocket trooper hits you dead on and you go to try and hide to heal, it'll straight-up charge your position. They are some pissed off robots.

If it just me or do Geth seem to come in much larger numbers? They can overwhelm you so easily :/

It certainly seems that way, especially compared with Cerberus. But the Reapers have a crap-ton of guys on the board as well. I think the Geth are just better at all attacking at once. Except for the random hunter here and there, they almost all are coming for you right from the start. Marauders like to camp out in random places around the map, they rarely actually push the attack unless there's a brute or a banshee in front of them. Cerberus also has a bunch of campers and their units are pretty easy to kill so you burn through their numbers quickly.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

I don't know if it's just me, but since I've been playing Infiltrator so much, Cerberus has been a real pain in my asshole. Smokescreens and Grenades like they're going out of style. Can't tell you how many times I've lost a clean Phantom headshot kill because one of those goddamn Centurians tossed a smokescreen into my line of sight. Reapers aren't so bad if you've got the Widow, Ravagers and Brutes aren't so bad if you're an Adept spec'd for maximum damage from Biotic explosions. Geth just ain't nothang to anyone as long as you're paying attention. I've freaked some people out by sniping a cloaked Hunter that somebody didn't see right next to them, and Pyros are super fun to kill if you've got the Widow and you shoot through them into the tank on their back.

 

[Gigatoast]

Quarian infiltrator = geth's worst nightmare.

You can hack literally any enemy in their ranks and do massive damage before they even reach the front likes. Your average hacked Rocket Trooper will pick off 3 normal guys and a Pyro before they go back to normal. It's also incredibly useful for stopping enemies who are about to blow your goodies off, even if there are no other baddies for it to shoot at it'll just stand there while you fill it fulla lead.

But reapers, you can't do nothin' to them, and there's only a couple (albeit powerful) Cerberus enemies you can hack.

So overall the scale goes: Reapers > Cerberus > Geth

To me at least.