DLC weapons represent an interesting dilemma for game designers. On the one hand, they need to be useful enough to be enticing. On the other, if they’re too powerful,they make the game effectively pay-to-win. Some DLC weapons, such as a few fromMass Effect 3,are so overpowered that they render almost everything else useless by comparison.
Mass Effectis no stranger to overpowered DLC guns, such as Mass Effect 2’s M12-Locust submachine gun and the N7 Typhoon light machinegun fromMass Effect 3. However, some considerMass Effect 3’sSilenced Pistol, officially called the M-11 Suppressor, to be one of the most overpowered guns in the trilogy.
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Reddit user YourSpookyStudent demonstrated this fact in a recent clip uploaded to the Mass Effect subreddit. The clip shows a few seconds of gameplay fromMass Effect 3’sclimax. Armed with the Suppressor, Commander Shepard manages to take down two of the game’s most dangerous enemies in a few seconds. The first, a hulking Brute, goes down after less than three seconds, long before it can even inconvenience the player’s squad. Shepard then spins around and kills one of the dragon-like Harvesters so quickly that it causes the animations to glitch.
Mass Effect 3’sBrutes and Harvesters are both introduced as boss enemies and act as recurring mini-bosses throughout the rest of the game. However, neither are a match for the Silenced Pistol introduced in theCitadel DLCforMass Effect 3. It’s easy to see why the gun is so powerful by looking at its stats. Each shot from the Silenced Pistol does about half the damage ofMass Effect 3’spowerful Carnifex Hand Cannon but with several times its rate of fire. The weapon also deals four times the typical headshot damage, making it even more lethal in the right hands. Combined with a high-level character’s Armor-Piercing Ammo ability, The Suppressor can tear through Reaper enemies with ease.
While it’s not used this way in the clip, one popular strategy is to equip the M-11 with a scope usingMass Effect 3’sweapon modification system. The pistol is accurate enough that some players use it as a miniature sniper rifle. The weapon’s silencer also means many enemies will not even hear Shepard coming. If anything, one could argue that YourSpookyStudent’s clip undersells just how overpowered the M-11 Suppressor is inMass Effect 3.
Players unlock the Silenced Pistol for free near the beginning ofMass Effect 3’s CitadelDLC, which is included in theMass Effect LegendaryEdition. While it’s debatable whether the Suppressor is overpowered or just powerful, many consider it the best pistol in the game. Legendary players swear by it, and it wouldn’t be surprising if more than a few make a beeline forCitadeljust to get their hands on the Silenced Pistol.
Mass Effect 3is available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U.
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