Power combos and explosion combinations list

Power Combos are a gameplay element introduced in Mass Effect 3, expanding on the Warp detonations of Mass Effect 2. By attacking an enemy with two powers in sequence, the combined effects of each power can result in an explosion. All power combos require two different varieties of powers be used: a source and a detonator. The source power determines which of the four power combos will be triggered, and the detonator triggers the combo and causes the explosion. The damage a power combo causes is based off the combo's effective level, which is the sum of the ranks of the source and detonator powers. It is not affected by any sort of buff to the force and damage of powers, however, it scales with the victim's base health or armor, making them equally useful on higher difficulties.
Some powers can be both sources and detonators for different combos, but in that case, the source power must be a different power than the detonator - for example, you cannot detonate Warp with another Warp, but Reave and Warp will detonate each other. Area-of-effect powers can set up multiple combos (one on each affected target), but can only detonate one combo per use, or per projectile launched if more than one (e.g. single-player Throw or Cluster Grenade). Powers that detonate tech explosions are not overridden themselves, as is the case with biotic explosions. Tech explosion chains can be triggered by alternating source and detonator powers, like Overload and Incinerate. If a biotic power detonates a tech explosion, the target is now primed for a biotic explosion.

Note: Powers marked with an asterisk (*) have rank evolutions that can increase biotic explosion, tech burst, fire explosion, or cryo explosion damage. This increases the effective level of the power by at least 50%, whether used as source or detonator, with damage bonuses stacking if both powers have the applicable combo damage-increasing evolutions.

Biotic Explosion
Biotic explosions cause a wave of biotic force that damages and knocks back enemies. These combos do twice as much damage against biotic barriers and armor, and can be triggered without killing an enemy. Biotic explosions can also instantly kill lesser enemies.

Source Powers
Annihilation Field
Barrier (when detonated)
Biotic Sphere (with "Warp Effect" evolution)
Dark Channel
Lash* (except armored targets)
Lift Grenade
Pull* (increase combo damage evolution in multiplayer only)
Reave
Shockwave* (with "Lifting Shockwave" evolution)
Singularity
Smash (with "Biotic Combo" evolution)
Stasis
Warp*
Detonator Powers Edit
Annihilation Field (when detonated)
Biotic Charge
Biotic Orbs
Biotic Slash*
Biotic Sphere
Cluster Grenade
Concussive Shot (with "Amplification" evolution and Warp Ammo equipped, single-player only)
Flare*
Lash* (except armored targets)
Lift Grenade (only on enemies without protection)
Nova
Reave
Shockwave*
Singularity (upon self-detonation with "Detonate" evolution)
Slam*
Smash
Throw*
Warp*

Cryo Explosion
Cryo explosions create a blast of ice that has a chance of freezing nearby enemies. Cryo explosions can be triggered in multiplayer without killing an enemy, although, in most cases, the enemy must be frozen solid in order to do so. Single-player cryo explosions can only be triggered through killing an enemy.

Source Powers
Cryo Ammo or Cryo Rounds
Cryo Blast
N7 Paladin melee attack (with Shield Mastery "Cryo Shield" evolution)
Sentry Turret (with "Cryo Ammo" evolution)
Snap Freeze* (primes cryo explosions on all targets, even if not frozen solid)

Detonator Powers
Biotic Charge
Biotic Orbs
Biotic Slash
Carnage
Cluster Grenade
Combat Drone (on destruction with "Detonate" evolution)
Concussive Shot
Decoy (on destruction with "Exploding Decoy" evolution)
Electric Slash*
Energy Drain (on shielded or synthetic enemies only)
Frag Grenade
Havoc Strike
Incinerate
Lift Grenade
Nova
Overload
Phase Disruptor
Proximity Mine
Shockwave
Slam
Sticky Grenade
Throw
Warp

Tech Burst
Tech bursts create a blast of electricity that inflicts severe damage on the shields of nearby enemies and has a chance of stunning them. Tech bursts can be triggered without being a killing blow.
Tech bursts do two times normal damage against shields.

Source Powers
Arc Grenade (with "Electrical Damage" evolution)
Disruptor Ammo or Disruptor Rounds
Energy Drain
Overload
Sabotage
Shadow Strike (with "Electrical Damage" evolution)
Smash (with "Electrical Damage" evolution)
Submission Net
Detonator Powers Edit
Biotic Charge
Biotic Slash
Carnage
Cluster Grenade
Combat Drone (on destruction with "Detonate" evolution)
Concussive Shot
Decoy (on destruction with "Exploding Decoy" evolution)
Electric Slash*
Energy Drain (on shielded or synthetic enemies only)
Frag Grenade
Homing Grenade
Incinerate
Lift Grenade
Nova
Overload
Phase Disruptor
Proximity Mine
Shockwave
Slam
Snap Freeze*
Sticky Grenade
Throw
Warp

Fire Explosion
Fire explosions create a blast of flames that inflicts severe damage against the armor of nearby enemies and will also set them on fire, causing them to panic and inflicting additional damage over time. Fire explosions can be triggered without killing the enemy in both the single-player and multiplayer versions of the game. Lesser enemies used as a source for fire explosions are instantly vaporized without leaving a corpse.
Fire explosions do two times normal damage against armor.

Source Powers
Carnage
Flamer
Geth Turret (with "Flamethrower" evolution)
Homing Grenade (with "Fire Damage" evolution)
Incendiary Ammo or Incendiary Rounds
Incinerate
Inferno Grenade
N7 Paladin melee attack (with Shield Mastery "Fire Shield" evolution)
Sentry Turret (with "Flamethrower" evolution)
Detonator Powers Edit
Arc Grenade
Biotic Charge
Biotic Slash
Carnage
Cluster Grenade
Combat Drone (on destruction with "Detonate" evolution)
Concussive Shot
Decoy (on destruction with "Exploding Decoy" evolution)
Electric Slash*
Energy Drain (on shielded or synthetic enemies only)
Frag Grenade
Homing Grenade
Incinerate
Lift Grenade
Nova
Overload
Phase Disruptor
Proximity Mine
Shockwave
Slam
Snap Freeze*
Sticky Grenade
Throw
Warp

Health and Shield Gates

We have two damage gates in the game. When your shields hit zero, for a small duration you become invulnerable to damage preventing any health damage from taking place. Similarly, when your health gets below 5% you become invulnerable to damage for a short time. The duration of these gates change based on difficulty and they are listed below:

Multiplayer
- Bronze 0.5 seconds
- Silver 0.25 seconds
- Gold 0.1 seconds
- Platinum 0.01 seconds

Singleplayer
- Narrative 1.0 second
- Casual 0.75 seconds
- Normal 0.5 seconds
- Hardcore 0.25 seconds
- Insanity 0.1 seconds

There
is also a cooldown on both gate mechanics, preventing you from becoming invulnerable too often. You can only get the benefits of the shield gate once every 4 seconds, and once every 3 seconds for the health gate. This means that if your shields hit zero on Bronze, for example, you become invulnerable for 0.5 seconds, but if your shields get restored through a Geth Turret, a Volus Shield Boost, Stim Pack, or some other means, and your shields go down again after the 0.5 second window and within 4 seconds you will not get a second window of invulnerability.

None of the health and shield gate values or mechanics have changed since we shipped the game.

The following enemy attacks ignore the player health and shield gate mechanics, which means they can instantly kill you.
- Any sync kill
- Enemy grenades
- Possessed Abomination explosions

Some of our new multiplayer abilities, like the Volus Shield Boost (on the caster only), and Stim Pack, make the player invulnerable for a short duration after the cast, but this is separate from the shield gate mechanic.

Power Bonuses

Most of our power bonuses apply to the base value. The formula is:

Base value * (1 + Total Bonus) = Final Value

For example, Incinerate at rank 3 (20% damage bonus at rank 3) with a power damage bonus of 10% from your passive power will give:

325 * (1 + 0.2 + 0.1) = 422.5

For power recharge speed, we have a different formula:

Base value / (1 + Total Bonus) = Final Value

So for Incinerate at rank 3 (25% cooldown bonus at rank 2) with a cooldown bonus of +150% from your weapon loadout would be:

8 / (1 + 0.25 + 1.5) = 2.9 seconds

Resistance Damage Multipliers

Every weapon and power has a hidden damage multiplier on the 3 resistance types (Armor, Barriers, and Shields). Most of these are 100%, meaning they do normal damage to that resistance type. A value of 50% means half damage to that resistance type, and a value of 200% means double damage. Below are the multipliers for some of our weapons and powers.

Weapons

Acolyte Pistol (Armor=100%, Barrier=500%, Shields=500%)
Krysae Sniper Rifle  (Armor=150%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)
M-358 Talon Pistol (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=150%)
N7 Typhoon Assault Rifle (Armor=150%, Barrier=150%, Shields=150%)
Reegar Carbine Shotgun (Armor=50%, Barrier=200%, Shields=200%)
Collector SMG (Armor=150%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)

All other weapons not listed here have a value of (Armor=100%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)

Powers

Annihilation Field (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Arc Grenade (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=200%, Shields=200%)
Barrier Detonation (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Biotic Charge (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Biotic Orbs (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Biotic Slash (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Carnage (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=50%, Shields=50%)
Cluster Grenade (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Concussive Shot (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=400%, Shields=100%)
Dark Channel (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=200%, Shields=50%)
Electric Slash (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=150%)
Energy Drain (Base against organics) (Armor=50%, Barrier=300%, Shields=300%)
Energy Drain (Base against robots) (Armor=100%, Barrier=300%, Shields=300%)
Flamer (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)
Incinerate (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=50%, Shields=50%)
Inferno Grenade (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)
Lift Grenade (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Nova (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Overload (Base against organics) (Armor=50%, Barrier=300%, Shields=300%)
Overload (Base against robots) (Armor=100%, Barrier=300%, Shields=300%)
Reave (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=200%, Shields=50%)
Sabotage (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=100%, Shields=150%)
Shockwave (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=150%, Shields=100%)
Smash (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=150%, Shields=150%)
Tech Armor Detonation (Base) (Armor=100%, Barrier=100%, Shields=150%)
Warp (Base) (Armor=150%, Barrier=200%, Shields=50%)

All other weapons not listed here have a value of (Armor=100%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)

Power Combos

Biotic Explosion (Armor=200%, Barrier=200%, Shields=100%)
Cryo Explosion (Armor=100%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)
Fire Explosion (Armor=200%, Barrier=100%, Shields=100%)
Tech Burst (Armor=100%, Barrier=100%, Shields=200%)

Shield/Barrier Damage Gates

There is a new mechanic for shields and barriers in ME3, which we call the shield gate. Whenever an enemy shield/barrier is destroyed (last point taken off), the rest of the damage that passes through to the health/armor is cut by X%, where X is:

Single Player: 

• 50% on Normal


• 75% on Hardcore


• 100% on Insanity

Multi Player:

• 50% on Bronze


• 75% on Silver


• 75% on Gold


• 75% on Platinum

This means that if an enemy has a single sliver of shields on Insanity/Gold, any weapon bullet will only take the remaining point off, and then a second bullet is required to start damaging the health/armor. This means that even the most powerful sniper rifle will take 2 shots to kill any shielded enemy on Insanity/Gold. For shotguns, keep in mind that most fire multiple pellets, so even if some of the damage gets cut off on one of the pellets, the remaining pellets should pass through to the health/armor.

Weapon Penetration and Armor Piercing

The penetration mechanic (going through walls) has no impact by itself on the amount of damage a weapon does against armored enemies (the yellow health bar). The Javelin, for example, has a penetration value of 100 = 1 meter so it can penetrate through a total of 1 meter of solid objects but it doesn't do extra damage to the yellow armor health bar. The Javelin will, however, penetrate through other solid objects like the detachable armor plating on the Brutes, Husks, and Cannibals, and the Guardian shield. Whenever a weapon hits a target after going through a solid object, the amount of damage done is reduced by a flat amount.

The weapon mods, equipment (MP), and Armor Piercing Ammo can all increase the distance that weapons can penetrate through solid objects. So if you add a penetration mod on the Javelin, the penetration distance gets even larger, but that won't increase the damage done to enemies after penetrating through objects.

The penetration mods and Armor Piercing Ammo have another mechanic called 'piercing' which affects the damage done to armored targets. By default, enemies with the yellow armor bar will chop off a set amount of damage done to them from weapons. This makes low damage weapons less effective against armor and high damage weapons very effective against them. So even if a weapon has a really fast fire rate but each bullet does a low amount of damage it will get penalized for hitting armor since a big chunk of every bullet's damage is ignored. When equipping penetration mods and using Armor Piercing Ammo, the weapon's "armor piercing" goes up, which means a lot less damage is cut off. For example, equipping rank 1 Armor Piercing Ammo will reduce the amount of damage that armor cuts off by 50%. By default, weapons do not have any base armor "piercing."

Armor can never negate weapon damage completely. There is a minimum damage value that weapons will always do to armor.

Power Combos Basic's

The damage of power combo explosions depends on the rank of the source and detonator power, not the stats of the power. So if you combine a rank 6 Pull with a rank 6 Throw, you will get maximum combo damage. Whether you use Throw or Warp to detonate doesn't really matter, except when that power has special upgrades to increase the damage of combos. Even if Warp, by default, does more damage than Throw on a regular impact, this does not affect how much damage is done on power combos - only the rank of the power matters.

This applies for the other combos as well. Using a rank 6 Incinerate to set up a fire combo and detonating with a rank 6 Throw will cause maximum damage. Using a rank 1 Incinerate with a rank 6 Throw does the same damage as using a rank 6 Incinerate followed by a rank 1 Throw, which is less than having max rank in both powers.

The power upgrades for increasing combo damage (ex: Warp rank 4 bottom choice) applies to both setting up and detonating the power, but only some powers can set up combos. So for Warp, that upgrade will increase the damage when setting up and when detonating. Throw doesn't set up combos so its combo upgrade only applies to detonating. These upgrades do stack, so if you have both the Warp and Throw upgrades, setting up with Warp and detonating with Throw will apply both bonuses.

All 4 combos (Biotic, Fire, Cryo, Electric) have different radius, damage, force, and other effects. The Fire combo, for example, does the most damage, while Cryo is fairly low damage but has the added benefit of freezing nearby enemies. Biotic and Electric are in the middle for damage, but are easier to do because the target doesn't have to die when detonated.

The combo damage is done after the normal power impact. So if you detonate with Warp, Warp will do its normal damage and then the combo damage is added.

Power bonuses from gear and passive powers (like +10% power damage) do not affect power combos; however, power combos do what we call "normalized" damage, meaning they scale with enemy health. So even on the hardest difficulty where enemies have more health, the power combos still do the same % damage to the enemy. 

This makes them scale really well with difficulty, which makes up for them not scaling in other ways like getting power upgrades from other sources.

Power combos do not cause other power combos. So if you create a biotic detonation near an enemy in Stasis, the detonation won't cause another power combo.

A power can only detonate a single combo every time it is cast. So if you have AoE Throw and you hit 2 targets both in a singularity, only one of them will get detonated.

Henchmen do the same amount of damage as the player when it comes to power combos, so it doesn't matter who set up or detonated the combo. The only thing that matters is what rank the powers were.

Mass Effect Paragon Lost movie review

" The hardest thing a hero will ever do is live with the choices he makes"

That the best line that sums up this great movie, I give this movie the highest rating, must have for fans of the mass effect universe. When my copy of Mass Effect Paragon Lost came in the mail yesterday and watch the movie later that night, I was amazed at the story & animation.

Mass Effect Paragon Lost. This amazing prequel of the best selling game ever Mass Effect 3, this story follows the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega, ( voice by the actor Freddie Prize Jr.) As Alliance Marine Name Vega leads an elite team of Special Forces squad into battle after battle against a mysterious alien race threat know as the Collectors. As the Alliance Marines stationed at a colony (Fehl Prime) in an remote start system ( terminus system), as Vega and his team of marine troops must protect the colonist from the collectors from there invaders bend on there abduction on human for some unknown purposes. when the situation goose from SHTF to FUBAR, out manned and outgunned, Vega must count and rely on his squad to rally and defend off this invading force, to protect the colony at all cost, even if its means making the ultimate sacrifice!.....

FOREVER NORMANDY

I give this movie a 5 out of 5.

This weekend bounty operation: Alamo

Watch "OPERATION: ALAMO" on YouTube

Operation: PROPHECY Challenge Goal Completion

Watch "Operation: PROPHECY Challenge Goal Completion" on YouTube

Operation: PROPHECY London

Watch "Operation: PROPHECY London" on YouTube

OPERATION: PROPHECY SUCCESS

From: Admiral Steven Hackett
Re: Operation PROPHECY
Confidentiality Classification: XB-PRIME
Distribution: N7 Forces Only

Soldiers of the Milky Way –

As operation PROPHECY comes to a close, I want you to know you have succeeded. This is not only important for our human soldiers who are seeing the devastation on our homeworld but also for our allies. Earth remains the symbol of what we can accomplish and what we cannot accomplish – yet.

PROPHECY managed to give the resistance a necessary shot in the arm. We improved communications between the disparate forces; we delivered ships and armored vehicles to help even the odds; and most importantly, we kept hope alive where there would otherwise be none.

The loss of life on our homeworlds makes it easy to believe that this moment is the end of the world or the end of the galaxy, but I cannot believe that. Since time was first recorded, there have been thousands of supposed prophets telling myths about when the end will come, and they have all been proven wrong. We will make it through this, too… but it will be a fight to get there.

Good work.

–Admiral Hackett

Operation: PROPHECY Vancouver

Operation: PROPHECY Rio

Operation: PROPHECY (December 21st-23rd)

Bioware WINTER BREAK

With an increase of homemade cookies, crayon-colored cards, and cartons of Eggnog making their way into the office, it means that the holidays are almost here! It’s been a fantastic year, and there is much rejoicing to partake in, but for now, we’re tired. The time has come to cash in our paid time off and break for a winter vacation.

So, beginning December 21^st the BioWare offices will be closed for the holidays. Multiplayer fans, please be aware that there will be no N7 Bounty Weekends for the weekends of December 28^th or January 4^th. Now before you go replacing the candy in our stockings with coal, we’ve prepared a little something for you as our way of wishing you a happy holiday season!

• 3 Kits Unlocked (Drell Assassin, Batarian Slasher, and Volus Protector)
• All Hazard Maps Available
• Two new card packs to help fill out your collections

Thank you for all of your amazing support this year, and especially for playing. We’ll see you in 2013!

Multiplayer Balance Changes Dec 18,2012

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December 18, 2012
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There will be no balance updates for the next 3 weeks due to the Christmas holidays

Two new packs added to the store:
- Reserves Pack - for players who want character unlocks and upgrades
- Arsenal Pack - for players who want weapon unlocks and upgrades

Unlocking Volus Protector Vanguard and challenge
Unlocking Batarian Slasher Adept and challenge
Unlocking Drell Assassin Infiltrator and challenge

All hazard maps are now unlocked for the Christmas holidays

Acolyte Pistol
- Reverting pistol to original state before the attempted rocket glitch fix since the change
did not curb the use of the glitch

Sabotage Power
- Base cooldown decreased from 14 to 10 seconds
- Base backfire damage decreased 300 to 250

This is the start of a new blog

I figured to start a blog with all the information and updates on all need on Mass Effect 3 single player story and the awesome multiplayer with my tips, characters build, up to date news update, and my YouTube video.