Hello! Thank you for this mod, I love it! Jack and Jacob finaly became usefull. Unfortunately, there is a conflict with this mod https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect2/mods/376?tab=description. Can you do something about it please?
In order to make compatibility patches, there is no need to ask permission, since you create primarily for your game, and secondly, the author of another mod should also be grateful for it, since most would prefer to install both.
Awesome mod. I don't have a super long modlist but I've not run into any compatibility issues so far. I will leave some caveats for anyone interested in playing it though.
Powers not originally on a character WILL have to travel to their target instead of instantly affecting them. Of course, powers like Overload which are always instant do not change, but if for example Tali tries to cast Incinerate or Jack tries to cast Warp they need clear line of sight to their target or they won't be able to start. And even once they do, cover can more easily block their powers.
While squadmates have more powers to choose from, they still don't have that many points to allocate and so you can more easily stretch them thin. Just bear this in mind especially on the engineer or sentinel characters - you will at best be able to max out two of their powers to plan carefully.
Hi! I love the idea behind this mod and I'm impressed at how much work you've put into it, well done. One issue: I can't level up Miranda's Reave power at all. It's just greyed out and completely unavailable in combat. Jacob seems fine (I just started the game so I don't have any other squadmates to compare it to). I installed right after getting the Normandy and I first noticed this issue when I landed on Illium (Early Recruitment mod, plus my Shepard doesn't follow directions well). Is this because I installed this mod after I did freedom's progress? Do I need to start over to get it to work properly, or is there a workaround?
I'm running the following mods: Combolutions, Project Variety, No More Butt Shots, Trigger Buttons, Optional Flirting, Risky Suicide Mission, Casual Hubs, and Early Recruitment.
EDIT: I tried using Gibbed to "reset henchmen powers." While it reset most of their points (except the ones you mentioned), Miranda's Reave power is still greyed out and I can't put any points into it.
EDIT 2: I just tried starting over, played through the whole tutorial again (Normandy destruction + the rude awakening), and Miranda still had the same problem once I got her into my squad on Freedom's Progress. So I don't think the issue was not having a fresh save. I'm guessing it's either another mod conflict or I screwed up the installation somehow. Gonna wait for your reply before I attempt any further troubleshooting.
Can you try getting through Freedom's Progress with only this mod installed? If Miranda still doesn't have access to her Reave power then, let me know - if she does, then it's definitely a mod conflict.
Ok, I removed all the other mods and ran through the tutorial to get to Freedom's Progress again. You're right, Miranda's reave is available, so the issue is definitely a mod conflict. Are any of the mods I'm using known to conflict with your mod? The only one that also edits squadmate powers is Combolutions, but you recommended it here so I doubt that's the issue. I'll try to add each mod back in one at a time and see if I can isolate the problem. This might take a while though because I've been busy at work, but I'll get back to you once I figure out what the conflict is so you're aware of it.
Ok, I removed all the other mods and ran through the tutorial to get to Freedom's Progress again. You're right, Miranda's reave is available, so the issue is definitely a mod conflict. Are any of the mods I'm using known to conflict with your mod? The only one that also edits squadmate powers is Combolutions, but you recommended it here so I doubt that's the issue. I'll try to add each mod back in one at a time and see if I can isolate the problem. This might take a while though because I've been busy at work, but I'll get back to you once I figure out what the conflict is so you're aware of it.
EDIT: Aha! Combolutions is the culprit after all! I was able to reproduce the issue with only Combolutions and Squadmates Revamped installed. Also sorry about the double post, I can't figure out how to delete the other one.
EDIT 2: Unfortunately, I think Combolutions might be baked into my other save, because the issue returned after loading it up with your mod and my previous modlist, minus Combolutions. So, at least in my game, having Combolutions installed at any point breaks this mod.
That's strange that Combolutions is an issue. Maybe because it touches Shepard's powers or the powers in the game to allow for those combos to exist that it somehow conflicts with the squadmate's having powers. It's very strange though that it is only Miranda's Reave affected, you think it would influence her Tech Armor, and Jacob's Disruptor Ammo/Warp.
Very strange indeed. I'll update the mod page to put the Combolutions conflicts with it. It's also very odd because Reave is a bonus power and it doesn't appear that the Combolutions mod touches the Reave power in any way (well accept for probably adding biotic combos to it, but it probably did that for all the powers - and Jacob still has access to Warp, so it's super strange). Thanks for letting me know though!
You'd have to edit every single file for each costume, including compatibility with Casual Hubs, Project Variety, MEUITM, and whatever other mods you wanted that edit the same files (and get permission from said mod authors to do so if intending to release a similar mod). There are ways to do so, but in my opinion - it's a lot of tedious work and probably not worth the effort unless you had a specific goal in mind (for example, this mod was designed to make bad squadmates on Insanity a lot more useful while trying to retain some diversity/unique powers).
You'd also have to edit each of the files to remove restrictions of their powers (i.e. unlock requirements, etc.) You'd also have to edit the LOTSB files as well. Realistically it is possible, but speaking from experience - it takes a lot of tedious work and I wouldn't recommend it.
Is there a specific power you wanted on a squadmate? I'm always willing to hear feedback or suggestions - however, I can't provide permission to edit this mod or customize it since so many mod authors had to be asked permission to even make patches for their mods so you would have to edit the vanilla files from scratch (which would take hours alone just to edit them how you want - if making a lot of edits...)
I wish there were a mod to simply give Disruptor or Incendiary ammo to multiple compaions if not all of them, so that my Sentinel could always rely on himself instead of having been forced to constantly drag Jacob or Grunt as one of squad mates to use Incendiary ammo in missions with lots of armored enemies, while only having Zaeed to use his Disruptor Ammo for missions with targets, that have kinetic barrier! With more companions having either of those powers my squad mate choices for missions would be so much more versatile! In my opinion every non-biotic in the game needs to have either Disruptor or Incendiary ammo as one of his/her skills! (save for Jacob, who is biotic but still has Incendiary Ammo) Tali, Legion and Garrus all need Disruptor ammo, while Mordin and Kasumi need incendiary ammo!
I mean with this mod you have 7/12 characters in your squad with an ammo power, with 3 of them having Incendiary Ammo (and 1 of those having Disruptor Ammo).
Garrus - Armor Piercing Ammo Grunt - Incendiary Ammo Jack - Warp Ammo Samara - Warp Ammo Thane - Incendiary Ammo Kasumi - Cryo Ammo Zaeed - Incendiary Ammo/Disruptor Ammo
As much as I love the Sentinel class (it's the class I always pick), if you gave almost everyone Disruptor/Incendiary Ammo, then it would make it unfair for Soldier/Infiltrator/Vanguard Shepard's. Soldier Shepard's would basically lose two of their powers or have overlapping powers with squadmates (which is fine if you only do the non-squad upgrade, but some people would want to use their squad ammo version and not waste points in their squadmate's ammo powers). Vanguards/Infiltrators would also be at a disadvantage since so many of the characters would have a similar ammo power to theirs. Statistically, Soldiers (if I recall correctly) are also the most played class in ME2 and ME3 since a lot of casual players pick it.
Plus, Sentinel's and Engineer's actually have an advantage of having Kasumi with Cryo Ammo which is technically one of the best ammo powers on Insanity:
No other ammo power in the game is as powerful when evolved to squad form.
Lets look at some numbers.
The Shuriken machine pistol is a good base to work with, because so many squad members can use it.
Shuriken: 20.5 damage per shot, "squad mod" of .55
That means that each shot from a Shuriken fired by a companion will instead do 11.2 damage. Because all bonuses (but two) are calculated based on the weapons BASE DAMAGE as opposed to the upgraded damage, that "squad mod" has a severe impact on the final damage numbers. For the sake of argument, let's use Disruptor Ammo. With the squad evolution, it add an extra 40% damage to synthetics and shields. Our squadmate with the Shuriken will now do 15.7 damage per shot to synthetics and shielded enemies. not impressive at all.
Now, lets look at that same Shuriken with Squad Cryo.
It has no damage bonus, but as we've seen, the powers that do will offer you minimal improvement in killing power. What does Cryo offer instead? Five seconds of crowd control. That's five seconds where an enemy, no matter how powerful, IS NOT SHOOTING AT YOU. That's simply amazing, no matter what difficulty level you're on.
But wait, there's more! Cryo also has several interesting effects.
A Frozen enemy will take +100% damage from ALL sources.
A frozen enemy is effectively "weightless", so your powers that deal blast damage measured in Newtons will send frozen enemies blasting into the stratosphere.
A frozen enemy has a chance to shatter and be instantly killed by attacks.
-----
My point being, giving everyone an ammo power (especially either Inferno Ammo or Disruptor Ammo) would cause a lot of overlap between squadmates themselves and Shepard (especially for people who like taking the squad evolution). With half of your squad having an ammo power, and most Shepard's having an ammo power - you have a ton of options to choose from (especially since 3 characters have Incendiary Ammo). The characters who don't have an ammo power are Miranda (warp/incinerate/overload allows her to take down any type of protection), Jacob (Warp/Inferno Grenade allows him to take down any type of protection), Mordin (Incinerate/Combat Drone/Overload allows him to take down any type of protection), Tali (Energy Drain/Combat Drone/Incinerate allows her to take down any type of protection), Legion (Combat Drone/Incinerate allows him to deal with any type of protection). Technically Morinth would be the only one who could probably use an ammo power and have it replace Pull/Throw. However, giving everyone either Inferno Ammo or Disruptor Ammo? It would make it very annoying for 1. Shepard's who have those ammo powers 2. It would make it feel bland as everyone would have one of these ammo powers (thus limiting what powers you would choose on x squadmates for most people)
The ammo powers squadmates do have (7/12 of your squadmates , 6/12 if you're using Morinth) are all useful in some way on Insanity and can go alongside a Sentinel quite well. That's half your squad having an ammo power with 3/12 having Incendiary Ammo (1/12 having Disruptor). Not to mention that LOTSB is annoying to edit as it tends to crash a lot for no apparent reason (seemingly when I give Miranda tech armor) so I'd like to avoid changing/adding powers unless it would make a character much better. The only two I'd really think about is giving Jacob back Incendiary Ammo (but then this makes him a clone of Zaeed/Grunt who are much better picks instead of a companion to pick alongside them with his unique Warp ability) or Morinth (who could be a bit better I suppose).
Heya, so with the latest update (2.0) - I provided more options for squadmates with ammo powers (specifically Incendiary Ammo/Disruptor Ammo):
Jacob - Disruptor Ammo Garrus - AP Ammo Jack - Incendiary Ammo Grunt - Incendiary Ammo Samara/Morinth - Warp Ammo Thane - Cryo Ammo Kasumi - Incendiary Ammo Zaeed - Disruptor Ammo Legion - Disruptor Ammo
That makes 9/12 of your squadmates have an ammo power, with 3 of them having Incendiary Ammo and 3 of them having Disruptor Ammo (for a total of 6). That's really the most I could do without having a repeat of powers or too much overlap. Hopefully it makes you a bit happier when using the mod! :3
AKA, half of your squad now has one of the two ammo powers you want.
Hopefully it works, I tested it on someone's save who was experiencing the crash on the steps after freeing Feron, and it doesn't seem to crash. Let me know if the fix doesn't work, but I believe it should be fine now.
Nice touch up for insanity diff. Just have some minor problem here, Jacob is still using SG instead of AR and Wilson don't have overload as mentioned before.
Mod manager using ME3Tweaks Mod Manager 7.0.7 (Build 125), Win7 Ultimate SP1 64. Install order as above. Tried fresh install only using your mod Jacob still using SG in Freedom Progress and no problem with Wilson Overload. Any pointer to track down the issue? Thanks
For Jacob, it seems the way I tried to change it didn't take affect so he should have shotguns/heavy pistols.
As for Wilson lacking Overload, it's the patches for MEITUM and Casual Hubs, I took the files from the original authors and it seems Wilson lost his Overload from them. (The Project Variety patch on it's own + no patches installed for MEUITM/CH/PV keeps his overload also). I'll see if I can look into fixing it. (Just give me a bit of time, I'm a bit busy)
Try the latest 1.5 version, the Wilson Overload issue should now be fixed. As for Jacob, I'll look into trying to give him an AR but it's more of a backburner thing atm.
Ok, so now I'm doing LOTSB, bring Thane and he lost 6 skill points (lvl 3 incendiary ammo lost). Also after talking to Feron after opening the door to the next room I always crashed to desktop ver 1.4. After removing your mod I can proceed with the game. After done with all loyalty missions (except Legion) I noticed some squadmates lost their skill points (5 points). Ex : Garrus, Zaeed. Jack got 1 extra point if I'm not mistaken. Will try 1.5 after done with LOTSB, currently removing your mod to finish LOTSB.
Update: Finished LOTSB without your mod, so after finishing it I retrain squadmates skill without and with your mod (1.5). Weird result there : Thane 17 points Jack 21 points Garrus 24 points Grunt 24 points Jacob 16 points Samara 23 points Mordin 23 points Tali 23 points Kasumi 24 points Zaeed 24 points Miranda 23 points
The new file I uploaded should fix the Thane losing points issue (I hope), if not - let me know. I assume the door to the next room after talking to Feron is the Shadow Broker boss fight? When I only had the mod installed (alone), I could not reproduce the crash. Maybe the fixes I applied to Thane somehow fixed the issue? However if you provided your save file - it would be easier to test.
I didn't test the respec points - but from your description, it seems only Thane/Jacob have loss a huge amount of points? Hopefully the new update I did fixes Thane missing a lot of his points, albeit I'm not sure why Jacob is missing so many. With a save file, it'd be easier to figure out why that is. Perhaps the Shadow Broker Respec option acts weirdly for modified powers? (Wouldn't be all too surprising considering BioWare forgot to add a respec button for Javik in ME3 and ME3LE).
For 'after done with all loyalty missions (except Legion) I noticed some squadmates lost their skill points (5 points). Ex : Garrus, Zaeed. Jack got 1 extra point if I'm not mistaken.' I'm not sure I understand? I assume that people like Miranda, and Thane don't get an extra point that they 'normally' would after finishing their loyalty mission? That's likely because I removed their 'loyalty' power and the game is programmed to distribute 1 point into said loyalty power. For squadmates who kept their loyalty power in this mod (Garrus, Zaeed, Jack = AP Ammo, Warp Ammo, etc.) - they likely keep that extra 1 point distribution.
Sorry already deleted the save game that always crashing. So I started new game with all the mods above minus combolutions and your mod, finished just fine. Will try separate new game save file with your mod added, hopefully the squadmate skillpoints inconsistency already solved. This time will keep the save game if any problem occured. Thanks
*Update Wilson Overload fixed but unfortunately with 1.5 causing random crash mostly in ship when moving from one floor to the other. Will try to strip some mods off later on, I'm on ME3 PT right now. I'm guessing because of some conflict with other mods
54 comments
Insanity?
Comment below and let me know, I always appreciate feedback on what works or doesn't work.
This is the link, I just opened it and it works
I'm running the following mods: Combolutions, Project Variety, No More Butt Shots, Trigger Buttons, Optional Flirting, Risky Suicide Mission, Casual Hubs, and Early Recruitment.
EDIT: I tried using Gibbed to "reset henchmen powers." While it reset most of their points (except the ones you mentioned), Miranda's Reave power is still greyed out and I can't put any points into it.
EDIT 2: I just tried starting over, played through the whole tutorial again (Normandy destruction + the rude awakening), and Miranda still had the same problem once I got her into my squad on Freedom's Progress. So I don't think the issue was not having a fresh save. I'm guessing it's either another mod conflict or I screwed up the installation somehow. Gonna wait for your reply before I attempt any further troubleshooting.
EDIT: Aha! Combolutions is the culprit after all! I was able to reproduce the issue with only Combolutions and Squadmates Revamped installed. Also sorry about the double post, I can't figure out how to delete the other one.
EDIT 2: Unfortunately, I think Combolutions might be baked into my other save, because the issue returned after loading it up with your mod and my previous modlist, minus Combolutions. So, at least in my game, having Combolutions installed at any point breaks this mod.
Very strange indeed. I'll update the mod page to put the Combolutions conflicts with it. It's also very odd because Reave is a bonus power and it doesn't appear that the Combolutions mod touches the Reave power in any way (well accept for probably adding biotic combos to it, but it probably did that for all the powers - and Jacob still has access to Warp, so it's super strange). Thanks for letting me know though!
You'd also have to edit each of the files to remove restrictions of their powers (i.e. unlock requirements, etc.) You'd also have to edit the LOTSB files as well. Realistically it is possible, but speaking from experience - it takes a lot of tedious work and I wouldn't recommend it.
Is there a specific power you wanted on a squadmate? I'm always willing to hear feedback or suggestions - however, I can't provide permission to edit this mod or customize it since so many mod authors had to be asked permission to even make patches for their mods so you would have to edit the vanilla files from scratch (which would take hours alone just to edit them how you want - if making a lot of edits...)
Garrus - Armor Piercing Ammo
Grunt - Incendiary Ammo
Jack - Warp Ammo
Samara - Warp Ammo
Thane - Incendiary Ammo
Kasumi - Cryo Ammo
Zaeed - Incendiary Ammo/Disruptor Ammo
As much as I love the Sentinel class (it's the class I always pick), if you gave almost everyone Disruptor/Incendiary Ammo, then it would make it unfair for Soldier/Infiltrator/Vanguard Shepard's. Soldier Shepard's would basically lose two of their powers or have overlapping powers with squadmates (which is fine if you only do the non-squad upgrade, but some people would want to use their squad ammo version and not waste points in their squadmate's ammo powers). Vanguards/Infiltrators would also be at a disadvantage since so many of the characters would have a similar ammo power to theirs. Statistically, Soldiers (if I recall correctly) are also the most played class in ME2 and ME3 since a lot of casual players pick it.
Plus, Sentinel's and Engineer's actually have an advantage of having Kasumi with Cryo Ammo which is technically one of the best ammo powers on Insanity:
No other ammo power in the game is as powerful when evolved to squad form.
Lets look at some numbers.
The Shuriken machine pistol is a good base to work with, because so many squad members can use it.
- Shuriken: 20.5 damage per shot, "squad mod" of .55
That means that each shot from a Shuriken fired by a companion will instead do 11.2 damage. Because all bonuses (but two) are calculated based on the weapons BASE DAMAGE as opposed to the upgraded damage, that "squad mod" has a severe impact on the final damage numbers.For the sake of argument, let's use Disruptor Ammo. With the squad evolution, it add an extra 40% damage to synthetics and shields.
Our squadmate with the Shuriken will now do 15.7 damage per shot to synthetics and shielded enemies. not impressive at all.
Now, lets look at that same Shuriken with Squad Cryo.
It has no damage bonus, but as we've seen, the powers that do will offer you minimal improvement in killing power. What does Cryo offer instead?
Five seconds of crowd control. That's five seconds where an enemy, no matter how powerful, IS NOT SHOOTING AT YOU. That's simply amazing, no matter what difficulty level you're on.
But wait, there's more!
Cryo also has several interesting effects.
- A Frozen enemy will take +100% damage from ALL sources.
- A frozen enemy is effectively "weightless", so your powers that deal blast damage measured in Newtons will send frozen enemies blasting into the stratosphere.
- A frozen enemy has a chance to shatter and be instantly killed by attacks.
-----My point being, giving everyone an ammo power (especially either Inferno Ammo or Disruptor Ammo) would cause a lot of overlap between squadmates themselves and Shepard (especially for people who like taking the squad evolution). With half of your squad having an ammo power, and most Shepard's having an ammo power - you have a ton of options to choose from (especially since 3 characters have Incendiary Ammo). The characters who don't have an ammo power are Miranda (warp/incinerate/overload allows her to take down any type of protection), Jacob (Warp/Inferno Grenade allows him to take down any type of protection), Mordin (Incinerate/Combat Drone/Overload allows him to take down any type of protection), Tali (Energy Drain/Combat Drone/Incinerate allows her to take down any type of protection), Legion (Combat Drone/Incinerate allows him to deal with any type of protection). Technically Morinth would be the only one who could probably use an ammo power and have it replace Pull/Throw. However, giving everyone either Inferno Ammo or Disruptor Ammo? It would make it very annoying for 1. Shepard's who have those ammo powers 2. It would make it feel bland as everyone would have one of these ammo powers (thus limiting what powers you would choose on x squadmates for most people)
The ammo powers squadmates do have (7/12 of your squadmates , 6/12 if you're using Morinth) are all useful in some way on Insanity and can go alongside a Sentinel quite well. That's half your squad having an ammo power with 3/12 having Incendiary Ammo (1/12 having Disruptor). Not to mention that LOTSB is annoying to edit as it tends to crash a lot for no apparent reason (seemingly when I give Miranda tech armor) so I'd like to avoid changing/adding powers unless it would make a character much better. The only two I'd really think about is giving Jacob back Incendiary Ammo (but then this makes him a clone of Zaeed/Grunt who are much better picks instead of a companion to pick alongside them with his unique Warp ability) or Morinth (who could be a bit better I suppose).
Jacob - Disruptor Ammo
Garrus - AP Ammo
Jack - Incendiary Ammo
Grunt - Incendiary Ammo
Samara/Morinth - Warp Ammo
Thane - Cryo Ammo
Kasumi - Incendiary Ammo
Zaeed - Disruptor Ammo
Legion - Disruptor Ammo
That makes 9/12 of your squadmates have an ammo power, with 3 of them having Incendiary Ammo and 3 of them having Disruptor Ammo (for a total of 6). That's really the most I could do without having a repeat of powers or too much overlap. Hopefully it makes you a bit happier when using the mod! :3
AKA, half of your squad now has one of the two ammo powers you want.
My mod list :
1. Expanded Shepard Armory
2. Modern Weapon Pack
3. Recovered Powers
4. Hud Icon Fix
5. ME2 Relay Jump Remaster (1080p)
6. No Mini Games
7. Vignette Remover
8. Combolutions
9. Aria MEUITM2 Mesh Fixes
10. Miranda MEUITM2 Mesh Fixes
11. Thane MEUITM2 Eyes Fixes
12. Grunt Blur Studio
13. Jack Blur Studio
14. Mordin Blur Studio
15. TIM Blur Studio
16. Casual Hubs ME2
17. Project Variety ME2
18. Optional Flirting ME2
19. Squadmates Revamped
20. EGM Fix Weapons in Cutscenes ME2
21. ME2 4x Faster Loading Screens (using 2x speed)
Mod manager using ME3Tweaks Mod Manager 7.0.7 (Build 125), Win7 Ultimate SP1 64. Install order as above. Tried fresh install only using your mod Jacob still using SG in Freedom Progress and no problem with Wilson Overload. Any pointer to track down the issue? Thanks
As for Wilson lacking Overload, it's the patches for MEITUM and Casual Hubs, I took the files from the original authors and it seems Wilson lost his Overload from them. (The Project Variety patch on it's own + no patches installed for MEUITM/CH/PV keeps his overload also). I'll see if I can look into fixing it. (Just give me a bit of time, I'm a bit busy)
Update:
Finished LOTSB without your mod, so after finishing it I retrain squadmates skill without and with your mod (1.5). Weird result there :
Thane 17 points
Jack 21 points
Garrus 24 points
Grunt 24 points
Jacob 16 points
Samara 23 points
Mordin 23 points
Tali 23 points
Kasumi 24 points
Zaeed 24 points
Miranda 23 points
Update:
Still crash at the same spot (ver 1.5)
I didn't test the respec points - but from your description, it seems only Thane/Jacob have loss a huge amount of points? Hopefully the new update I did fixes Thane missing a lot of his points, albeit I'm not sure why Jacob is missing so many. With a save file, it'd be easier to figure out why that is. Perhaps the Shadow Broker Respec option acts weirdly for modified powers? (Wouldn't be all too surprising considering BioWare forgot to add a respec button for Javik in ME3 and ME3LE).
For 'after done with all loyalty missions (except Legion) I noticed some squadmates lost their skill points (5 points). Ex : Garrus, Zaeed. Jack
got 1 extra point if I'm not mistaken.' I'm not sure I understand? I assume that people like Miranda, and Thane don't get an extra point that they 'normally' would after finishing their loyalty mission? That's likely because I removed their 'loyalty' power and the game is programmed to distribute 1 point into said loyalty power. For squadmates who kept their loyalty power in this mod (Garrus, Zaeed, Jack = AP Ammo, Warp Ammo, etc.) - they likely keep that extra 1 point distribution.
*Update Wilson Overload fixed but unfortunately with 1.5 causing random crash mostly in ship when moving from one floor to the other.
Will try to strip some mods off later on, I'm on ME3 PT right now.
I'm guessing because of some conflict with other mods