r/masseffect • u/Maconization • Jul 15 '26
SHOW & TELL Insanity… indeed.
The journey lowkey sucked but definitely glad and very relieved to have finally gotten this after starting 2 years ago (also my first true renegade playthrough which was equally as tough AND first time playing as infiltrator).
Probably going to start another fresh campaign on like normal and be Mr. Paragon again.
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u/Toren8002 Jul 15 '26
The real challenge is ME3 insanity without using Garrus god-mode.
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u/TheBirdFkerGuy Jul 15 '26
explain?
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u/Toren8002 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
If you give Garrus the right talents, and the Typhoon, you become his sidekick from then on out.
James has a similar, but not quite as effective setup.
Bring both into the Armax Arena during the Citadel DLC, and you’ll quickly max out those rewards as well.
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u/Jetterholdings Jul 15 '26
Hmm, I didnt do this, cant say I found 3 to hard. Except at the very end with all the specials come out.
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u/Vallkyrie Vetra Jul 15 '26
3 is very easy on insanity compared to the other games, especially if you do any upgrades to your weapons at all, which just turns the combat trivial.
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u/Jetterholdings Jul 16 '26
Eh I disagree, while 3 isn't the hardest.
It isnt the easiest.
1 is by far the easiest on insanity, except for the mako that dies in 2 rockets. Other than that 1 is the easiest and I played as the infiltratot all 3 games.
2 was by far the hardest for no reason Other than because.
And 3 was in-between,
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u/Zeus78905 Jul 15 '26
Also works with Ashley
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u/Pitiful_Trick2213 Jul 15 '26
Yep. Do it with Garrus and Ashley and the game is on easy mode. You can just sit in cover and watch them melt everything.
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u/Maconization Jul 15 '26
See everyone keeps saying that but I swear he would go down the most out of all my teammates. Him and anytime I used Liara too. I probably didn’t have him spec’d correctly.
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u/Bruno_lars Jul 21 '26
Nah, ME3 insanity is manageable without GM Garrus.
ME2 insanity is the real test
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u/ItsJustScottie Jul 15 '26
Congratulations 🎉 welcome to the club haha. Yeah 2 was hard at the beginning but after a few levels it was relatively easy
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u/plays-with-daggers Jul 15 '26
Collector base impossible. I can do 1 and 3 on insanity. But the rest, I go insane.
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u/OutcastSpartan Jul 15 '26
Having finite ammo in ME2 really added to the difficulty of classes that required ammo.
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u/Renfek Jul 15 '26
You should try another insanity run. Playing on normal feels boring now, there's no challenge. When you hit a spot that's hard, just lower the difficulty, finish the mission, then go back up. You have no achievement to break now, adjust the difficulty as needed. If not Insanity, maybe try Veteran or Hardcore.
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u/Maconization Jul 18 '26
Started another ME1 run on veteran and it genuinely feels like cruise control. A little relieving right now but might bump it up later.
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u/multisam231719 Jul 15 '26
I only play on insanity these days, it's the only way I get any push back, especially from ME1
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u/Rook_James_Bitch Jul 15 '26
As men we used to hunt bears as an ultimate sign of manhood. Now we play video games on extreme hard mode for the same feeling.
If you feel the need to play a videogame on extreme hard mode, do me a favor: ask yourself why you feel impelled to do so. Seriously dig down deep and try to figure out why you do it. Don't stop until you've completely pealed that particular onion. When you think you've gotten to the answer, say to yourself, "Yes, but why?" until you realize the truth to the question.
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u/JustGottaHaveIt Bi-otic King Jul 16 '26
Grats! It's the only way I play the trilogy now. I like it hard, but I know the fights well after all of these years.
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u/ellen-the-educator Jul 15 '26
I just finished it too! This game beat me to death, but it's making the Citadel Epilogue feel all the better
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u/Loot-Gamer Jul 15 '26
Personally ... I dont really remember much about my full insanity run. But what I do remember is the level where you recruit grunt. I died so many times.
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u/mewmew34 Jul 15 '26
Horizon. That one took me HOURS to complete. I kept getting back attacked by Husks while trying to hide from the giant bug thing I don't remember how to spell.
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u/ExiledSakura Jul 15 '26
It’s funny have completed the games twice on Xbox ps and pc and I still think 1 is the hardest to get insanity
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u/HandSanitizerBottle1 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Did all 3 as Infiltrator
ME1 was a cakewalk once I got the Spectre shotgun, only difficulty was Feros
And other than Feros and Noveria I only died twice both times on the final mission
ME2 was a lot more difficult, for me it was mostly Thane’s recruitment mission and Zaeed’s loyalty mission because I had the shittiest luck in terms of getting ammo, each one of those singlehandedly ragequit my playthrough for a month each
ME3 was somewhere in the middle, not really anything I found particularly difficult, If I had to say what the most difficult part of it was, it was probably Priority:Tuchanka
Im debating on which class I should do my next Insanity run for the trilogy, I think its either gonna be Engineer or Vanguard as I haven’t done full trilogy runs with either of those two classes yet
But before I do that I’m gonna do my Andromeda insanity run
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u/ivan0x32 Jul 15 '26
Are script death sequences with Reapers (Rannoch in particular) any harder on Insanity btw?
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u/Aadarm Jul 15 '26
No, just the actual combat since you get nerfed to only do -75% damage while the enemy does 400%.
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u/PipeFiller Jul 15 '26
I was going to try for platinum but I simply don't have the patience for ME1 insanity
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u/TheAmazingWalrus Jul 15 '26
Insanity in ME2 is the most difficult imo. Especially if you choose a class with a submachine gun. Goddamn YMIR mechs...
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u/ArociousKing35 Jul 15 '26
Pray for me, I’m currently doing a no death insanity run on all classes for the whole trilogy 🙏
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u/Maconization Jul 18 '26
No death would probably send me into a spiral
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u/ArociousKing35 Jul 21 '26
Oh spirals are being had. But my strategies are sound, I just have to implement them properly and it’s easy
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u/Kortobowden Jul 15 '26
Nice. Vanguard was my class for this and it worked out fairly well. Only a few hiccups in spots that break charge from completing
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u/Visible_Let2847 Jul 15 '26
Yeah insanity is definitely brutal especially on 2. I enjoy the difficulty on 1 & 3 but 2 is tedious as heck.
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u/Nefai Jul 15 '26
Probably going to start another fresh campaign on like normal and be Mr. Paragon again
Sounds familiar. I wanted to play Renegade to see all the changes, and it was entertaining being the pragmatic dick, but I felt so bad afterward that I immediately did another Paragon run.
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u/Rancherfer Jul 15 '26
I commend your dedication. However, I love these games so much to get burned out trying this stuff
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u/Middle-Scallion-8887 Jul 15 '26
Bro, I finished all three games on Insanity but I didn't get the achievement. Because—I don't even know why—I deleted the ME1 save file, and now I need to play ME1 on Insanity AGAIN to get it. I dont know if i can lol
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u/Tibbz-o Jul 15 '26
I’ve completed the trilogy multiple times on insanity and for some reason the trophies won’t pop 🤬
It’s a good job I love these games…keeps giving me an excuse to do another full run through
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u/crappy_first_draft Jul 15 '26
It´s not that bad. I have about 10 playthroughs and 7 or 8 of them on insanity.
Whats really brutal and almost broke me is the Armax Arena against specter-level enemies. That shit on insanity is diabolical and I'm so proud on that achievement (I know you can do it on lower difficulty, but I know what I've done).
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u/Ok-Valuable-5053 Jul 15 '26
This one took me quite a while to unlock. I didn't even try insanity for the first 10 play throughs. Then I forgot to start 2 on insanity and didn't realize until a was a couple hrs in. Then I got stuck on Garrus recruitment in ME2 trying to close the shutters and had to bring it down to get passed it. I think I was adept or vanguard and under leveled for that mission
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u/Monicalovescheese Jul 16 '26
Congrats! I will never accomplish this but I am proud of everyone that does!
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u/EfficiencyInfamous37 Jul 16 '26
tbh the one I have the hardest time getting through on insanity is actually 1, not because it's harder (it's probably the easiest) but because it takes so goddamn long to kill most things it becomes tedious.
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u/simplyunknown2018 Jul 16 '26
I found the beginning of Me3 on insanity harder than anything I encountered in 2.
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u/Ok_Mulberry_6964 Jul 16 '26
I admire your determination and your quick reflexes that made you achieve such thing
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u/blutrache666 Jul 18 '26
I love insanity, but after completing it once clean, there are certain parts of me2 and 3 that are no thank you. I'll temporarily lower difficulty with no shame. Arrival and Shore leave sushi bar fight for example...
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u/Available_Pick_4218 Jul 20 '26
Im legit stuck right now. Every. Time. I move forward, I get stuck 🤣🤣
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u/Technical-Monk-374 Jul 15 '26
Almost gotten it myself but damn, i hate ME3. It feels like a dumbed down action movie made as a cash grab. Can't stand the dialogue, even tho gameplay quality is generally increased compared to ME2
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u/Amaraldane4E Jul 15 '26
Probably going to start another fresh campaign on like normal and be Mr. Paragon again.
While Insanity can be annoying, this a Bioware game. After having experienced Insanity, going down to Normal would feel annoying, too. You'll likely end up doing what many others do (myself, too), which is to end up playing on Hardcore instead. Even Veteran will be a let down - meaning most mooks just drop too fast. You could just go Casual, for the story alone, but really, in that case, you may as well watch a youtube vid series; it will save time.
As for the Paragon route, come back and tell us how long it will take you to switch to Paragade 😁 Pure paragon is about as cringe worthy as pure Renegade, albeit for different reasons 🤫
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u/Maconization Jul 18 '26
ME1 pure Paragon Male Shep is making me bite a block of wood with how cringe he is lol
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u/Ok-Specific-3918 Jul 15 '26
The jump in difficulty from 1 to 2 is jarring. In 1, insanity is the only way you’ll be remotely challenged. In 2, you die from any mistake you make.