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  • Subject: Who's the most powerful "ancient" alien race?
Subject: Who's the most powerful "ancient" alien race?

Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Case in point: a missile cut clean through Sovereign's gut. I can understand his shields were down, but there is no way in hell he could have survived a supernova.

And yes, one Reaper. Yet in Mass Effect 3, a Reaper gets tackled by a Thresher Maw and almost loses (Gameinformer). if that giant plant thing can go toe to toe with a Reaper, I'm sure a Forerunner planet cracker could. Or a Covenant CCS


I just read about that, and while it sounds ridiculous at first, who knows how big that motherf ucker actually is? Gears of War 2 did it, so I don't see why ME shouldn't; the worm is probably several kilometers in length. I don't see why the Reaper should have no trouble with it just because it's organic, and it did kill it.

Plus, the Forerunners also almost lost to an organic enemy.

  • 04.27.2011 10:44 AM PDT
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Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: spurkis
Posted by: otterboyz
when is it ever stated his main gun is a planet cracker?


I'm not sure if it's directly stated, but one of the Reapers' victims fought back around 37 million years ago and shot a MA round that cut through a Reaper and continued through space until eventually hitting a planet and making a considerably long and deep cut in the planets southern hemisphere, probably around the same size as the huge valley on Mars.

Since the Reapers always start their extermination procedures way before their victims are even close to their own technologic levels, it is logic to assume that since these aliens had such a powerful planet cracker, the Reapers have something even better in their own arsenal (unless the unknown species who shot the round was extra-galactic. but that would be ridiculous considering how everything in ME is based on travel between relays, and "manuel" travel takes several million years)


The reapers come when life reaches a certain point throughout the galaxy not just one certain race, along with the fact they must wait a certain amount of time for life to return.

So you can't assume the reapers have an imaginary gun because the person they were fighting had a real one. for all we know that shot was a last ditch attempt, just like the protheans building their own mass relay was.

So by this "logic" i can "assume" that the protheans were as advanced as the reapers because they could build a relay.

Which would be true if it wasn't under the pressure of going extinct.

  • 04.27.2011 10:47 AM PDT

I know that. I always liked to think that the word "Prothean" was a collective term (no pun intended) that referred to all the species in the last "period". I was disappointed when it was revealed that the Protheans were a single species and that they were the only ones to be eradicated by the Reapers in that period.

But due to how thorough the Reapers are long before each invasion, with observation, espionage, calculating, using agents etc. I believe they would have reacted eariler when such an insanely powerful gun was under development. And even if they didn't have a planet cracking weapon themselves, they definitely did after exterminating this species, if what Vigil said about their organic and technologic harvesting is true. And you'd think the Reapers are infinitely more advanced after 37 million years of experience.

No, that's not the same thing. They were at the doorstep of fully understanding the relay technology, but the prototype, miniature relays were not as advanced as the other ones, the main reason being how it can't be used to travel back both ways.

[Edited on 04.27.2011 11:06 AM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 11:05 AM PDT


Posted by: spurkis
Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Case in point: a missile cut clean through Sovereign's gut. I can understand his shields were down, but there is no way in hell he could have survived a supernova.

And yes, one Reaper. Yet in Mass Effect 3, a Reaper gets tackled by a Thresher Maw and almost loses (Gameinformer). if that giant plant thing can go toe to toe with a Reaper, I'm sure a Forerunner planet cracker could. Or a Covenant CCS


I just read about that, and while it sounds ridiculous at first, who knows how big that motherf ucker actually is? Gears of War 2 did it, so I don't see why ME shouldn't; the worm is probably several kilometers in length. I don't see why the Reaper should have no trouble with it just because it's organic, and it did kill it.

Plus, the Forerunners also almost lost to an organic enemy.


Because the Flood's biology is perfect; A Thresher Maw vs the Flood, the Maw loses.

But it was one Maw vs one Reaper (likely a smaller one of course). In the Forerunners case, it was a transsentient demi-god/god vs a race of beings who's tactics, weapons and technology ended up falling into that demi-gods' arsenal.

A biological entity CAN pose a threat to anything; difference is, I killed a Thresher Maw in ME2 during Grunt's mission as a footsoldier, so I know their limitations. They are apparently not afraid of fighting Reapers. I'm merely trying to point out that Reaper armor is no more impressive then maybe the Covenant's.

(and to say Reapers>Ancients is just wrong).

[Edited on 04.27.2011 11:54 AM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 11:51 AM PDT
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Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: spurkis
I know that. I always liked to think that the word "Prothean" was a collective term (no pun intended) that referred to all the species in the last "period". I was disappointed when it was revealed that the Protheans were a single species and that they were the only ones to be eradicated by the Reapers in that period.

But due to how thorough the Reapers are long before each invasion, with observation, espionage, calculating, using agents etc. I believe they would have reacted eariler when such an insanely powerful gun was under development. And even if they didn't have a planet cracking weapon themselves, they definitely did after exterminating this species, if what Vigil said about their organic and technologic harvesting is true. And you'd think the Reapers are infinitely more advanced after 37 million years of experience.

No, that's not the same thing. They were at the doorstep of fully understanding the relay technology, but the prototype, miniature relays were not as advanced as the other ones, the main reason being how it can't be used to travel back both ways.


I see the reapers the same way the gravemind sees the forerunners.

Not adapting, staying the exact same over a extreme period of time.

the only reason the reapers seem so big is because they pretty much kill cattle. They don't have any reason for advancing their own technology because they themselves assume they are at the top.

This was the exact same case for the forerunners; which is why if you pit the reapers against other advance races from other media they lose so quickly.

  • 04.27.2011 12:18 PM PDT

Maybe, maybe not. As far as I know we don't know much about their armor except it's of the same material as the insanely tough relays, which makes me highly doubt that it's on the same level as the Covenant's armor.

Not really into Stargate.

Btw, Haestrom's sun was being manipulated by an external power, which most likely wasn't Geth. It could be something else, but the Reapers are for the moment the most suspectible. And if they can screw with stars like that, then they can be considered toe to toe with the Forerunners in that matter. Not sure if this star manipulation is linked with shielding or weapon technology, or something else.

  • 04.27.2011 12:21 PM PDT

Posted by: grey101



I see the reapers the same way the gravemind sees the forerunners.

Not adapting, staying the exact same over a extreme period of time.

the only reason the reapers seem so big is because they pretty much kill cattle. They don't have any reason for advancing their own technology because they themselves assume they are at the top.

This was the exact same case for the forerunners; which is why if you pit the reapers against other advance races from other media they lose so quickly.


I thought they were arrogant in the "you are utterly doomed and irrelevant"-way they speak to Shepard, but if they refuse to significantly upgrade their weapons, shields and armor after that encounter then they are just idiots. This time the cattle annihilated one of their own, you'd think they went ballistic and upgraded everything just to be sure for the next time.

  • 04.27.2011 12:27 PM PDT
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"Time was your ally human. But now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners....have returned. And this tomb... is now yours". - The Didact


Posted by: spurkis
Maybe, maybe not. As far as I know we don't know much about their armor except it's of the same material as the insanely tough relays, which makes me highly doubt that it's on the same level as the Covenant's armor.

Not really into Stargate.

Btw, Haestrom's sun was being manipulated by an external power, which most likely wasn't Geth. It could be something else, but the Reapers are for the moment the most suspectible. And if they can screw with stars like that, then they can be considered toe to toe with the Forerunners in that matter. Not sure if this star manipulation is linked with shielding or weapon technology, or something else.


I don't know why you think the reapers can fight the Forerunners.Their shields can't even stop energy weapons,this puts them at a high disadvantage.

Then the Forerunner tech is also better then the Reapers:
-Massive Industrial capacity
-Low end starship weapons are in teraton(their weapons did better then the POA's reactor detonation)
-Ground forces can sweep continents
-They have explored other realities
-They can build stars and planets
...
..

  • 04.27.2011 12:30 PM PDT
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Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: spurkis
Posted by: grey101



I see the reapers the same way the gravemind sees the forerunners.

Not adapting, staying the exact same over a extreme period of time.

the only reason the reapers seem so big is because they pretty much kill cattle. They don't have any reason for advancing their own technology because they themselves assume they are at the top.

This was the exact same case for the forerunners; which is why if you pit the reapers against other advance races from other media they lose so quickly.


I thought they were arrogant in the "you are utterly doomed and irrelevant"-way they speak to Shepard, but if they refuse to significantly upgrade their weapons, shields and armor after that encounter then they are just idiots. This time the cattle annihilated one of their own, you'd think they went ballistic and upgraded everything just to be sure for the next time.


they are machines they see it as an error, something due to miscalculation. They don't take factors that we biologicals consider all the time.

Such as Luck,will power, fate,etc

  • 04.27.2011 12:33 PM PDT


Posted by: spurkis
Maybe, maybe not. As far as I know we don't know much about their armor except it's of the same material as the insanely tough relays, which makes me highly doubt that it's on the same level as the Covenant's armor.

Not really into Stargate.

Btw, Haestrom's sun was being manipulated by an external power, which most likely wasn't Geth. It could be something else, but the Reapers are for the moment the most suspectible. And if they can screw with stars like that, then they can be considered toe to toe with the Forerunners in that matter. Not sure if this star manipulation is linked with shielding or weapon technology, or something else.


My main concern is that the only way for the missile that killed Sovereign to make sense (if what you're saying about the supernova is true) is for that missile to have been more powerful then a supernova.

But it was just a missile.

So this is what I'm hearing.

Reapers can tank supernovas..........but not sub kiloton missiles.

See, it just makes no sense to me.

And as this is a technology discussion mainly, when the Reapers learn how to travel to alternate universes, then I'll say they could compete with the Forerunners. As it stands, for what we know of the Reapers, the Covenant could take them. As far as sci-fi bad guys go, Reapers are pretty damn weak.

  • 04.27.2011 12:35 PM PDT
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Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Posted by: spurkis
Maybe, maybe not. As far as I know we don't know much about their armor except it's of the same material as the insanely tough relays, which makes me highly doubt that it's on the same level as the Covenant's armor.

Not really into Stargate.

Btw, Haestrom's sun was being manipulated by an external power, which most likely wasn't Geth. It could be something else, but the Reapers are for the moment the most suspectible. And if they can screw with stars like that, then they can be considered toe to toe with the Forerunners in that matter. Not sure if this star manipulation is linked with shielding or weapon technology, or something else.


My main concern is that the only way for the missile that killed Sovereign to make sense (if what you're saying about the supernova is true) is for that missile to have been more powerful then a supernova.

But it was just a missile.

So this is what I'm hearing.

Reapers can tank supernovas..........but not sub kiloton missiles.

See, it just makes no sense to me.

And as this is a technology discussion mainly, when the Reapers learn how to travel to alternate universes, then I'll say they could compete with the Forerunners. As it stands, for what we know of the Reapers, the Covenant could take them. As far as sci-fi bad guys go, Reapers are pretty damn weak.


which is my whole point, they are only strong to those weaker than them, but fail to hold up against something even on their level by comparability.

  • 04.27.2011 12:40 PM PDT

Okay I'm going to try and break this down.

Forerunners: High level of technology, not reliant on Stargates for FTL, vast fleets. But, they are most likely either all dead, or to far away from the Milky Way to matter. And I know someone will say "no there not". The Forerunner Slipspace travel was thousands of time faster than ours, they could have been at an Halo in hours if they wanted. They were wiped out by the Halos, there might be afew in sheild worlds but that is it.

Ancient: Powerful, but most of their tech is reliant on the Stargates, also they have advanced technology, but it seems not nearly as advanced as the Forerunners or Reapers. They are all ascended, and ascended aren't supposed to interfere with non-ascended ever.

Reapers: A massive fleet of living machines. They have wiped out advanced civilizations possibly hundreds of times in the Milky Way, they made the Citadel and Relays, which can survive a super nova, and thus its assumed they can too. Sovereign didn't need to be heavily armored, when he got to the Citadel all the Relay's were supposed to be down (i think). It's never said how long they have existed, so there could totally be a 20 kilometer long one that could plunge into VY Canis Majoris when it went Hyper Nova without flinching.

As much as I honestly want the Forerunners to win, the Reapers are gonna make a Forerunner-Reaper with all those dead bodies.

  • 04.27.2011 12:48 PM PDT
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Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: Black Hole 000
Okay I'm going to try and break this down.

Forerunners: High level of technology, not reliant on Stargates for FTL, vast fleets. But, they are most likely either all dead, or to far away from the Milky Way to matter. And I know someone will say "no there not". The Forerunner Slipspace travel was thousands of time faster than ours, they could have been at an Halo in hours if they wanted. They were wiped out by the Halos, there might be afew in sheild worlds but that is it.

Ancient: Powerful, but most of their tech is reliant on the Stargates, also they have advanced technology, but it seems not nearly as advanced as the Forerunners or Reapers. They are all ascended, and ascended aren't supposed to interfere with non-ascended ever.

Reapers: A massive fleet of living machines. They have wiped out advanced civilizations possibly hundreds of times in the Milky Way, they made the Citadel and Relays, which can survive a super nova, and thus its assumed they can too. Sovereign didn't need to be heavily armored, when he got to the Citadel all the Relay's were supposed to be down (i think). It's never said how long they have existed, so there could totally be a 20 kilometer long one that could plunge into VY Canis Majoris when it went Hyper Nova without flinching.

As much as I honestly want the Forerunners to win, the Reapers are gonna make a Forerunner-Reaper with all those dead bodies.



First off the forerunners are exiled somewhere in the milky way or the clouds.


second, i am saying this with logic in mind purely. the reapers have what a fleet of hundreds of ships?

The forerunners could amass thousands and thousands of ships and majority of their ships are far bigger than any reaper. Hell, they ships can GROW in the middle of combat to adapt.

The only thing mass effect really has that would be an type of issue is these kinetic barriers.

  • 04.27.2011 12:53 PM PDT

Posted by: grey101



they are machines they see it as an error, something due to miscalculation. They don't take factors that we biologicals consider all the time.

Such as Luck,will power, fate,etc


They are not that robotic. Harbinger for example, REEKS of arrogance. Sovereign too, for that matter. Especially when you fight him when he has taken full control of Saren. Sovereign understood how the geth viewed him and his kind as gods, and saw the value in that.
One thing is for sure, the Reapers wouldn't take the destruction of one of their own as a miscalculation in that matter, they would upgrade their specs, harvest enemy technology and be more careful next time, even if "careful" sounds too organic.

  • 04.27.2011 1:00 PM PDT

Wake me when the jews are gone.


Posted by: Black Hole 000
Okay I'm going to try and break this down.

Forerunners: High level of technology, not reliant on Stargates for FTL, vast fleets. But, they are most likely either all dead, or to far away from the Milky Way to matter. And I know someone will say "no there not". The Forerunner Slipspace travel was thousands of time faster than ours, they could have been at an Halo in hours if they wanted. They were wiped out by the Halos, there might be afew in sheild worlds but that is it.

Ancient: Powerful, but most of their tech is reliant on the Stargates, also they have advanced technology, but it seems not nearly as advanced as the Forerunners or Reapers. They are all ascended, and ascended aren't supposed to interfere with non-ascended ever.

Reapers: A massive fleet of living machines. They have wiped out advanced civilizations possibly hundreds of times in the Milky Way, they made the Citadel and Relays, which can survive a super nova, and thus its assumed they can too. Sovereign didn't need to be heavily armored, when he got to the Citadel all the Relay's were supposed to be down (i think). It's never said how long they have existed, so there could totally be a 20 kilometer long one that could plunge into VY Canis Majoris when it went Hyper Nova without flinching.

As much as I honestly want the Forerunners to win, the Reapers are gonna make a Forerunner-Reaper with all those dead bodies.
no theyre not if you read cryptum or onxy you would know why

  • 04.27.2011 1:01 PM PDT

Posted by: hotshot revan II

Posted by: spurkis
Maybe, maybe not. As far as I know we don't know much about their armor except it's of the same material as the insanely tough relays, which makes me highly doubt that it's on the same level as the Covenant's armor.

Not really into Stargate.

Btw, Haestrom's sun was being manipulated by an external power, which most likely wasn't Geth. It could be something else, but the Reapers are for the moment the most suspectible. And if they can screw with stars like that, then they can be considered toe to toe with the Forerunners in that matter. Not sure if this star manipulation is linked with shielding or weapon technology, or something else.


I don't know why you think the reapers can fight the Forerunners.Their shields can't even stop energy weapons,this puts them at a high disadvantage.

Then the Forerunner tech is also better then the Reapers:
-Massive Industrial capacity
-Low end starship weapons are in teraton(their weapons did better then the POA's reactor detonation)
-Ground forces can sweep continents
-They have explored other realities
-They can build stars and planets
...
..


When was a Reaper destroyed by an energy weapon that passed through its shields?

What do we know about the Reapers' industrial capabilities except for how they are able to construct gigantic space stations that defy the gravitational forces of a black hole, and like the Forerunners, build enormous artificial worlds with fictional gravity and friendly atmospheres? I'm not even gonna mention the Mass Relays.

Physics isn't my field, but standard Reaper weaponry are guns that beam streams of molten metal at like 1/5 lightspeed. The Collectors, which can be described as the "low end" of the Reapers, use some sort of energy beam that cuts clean through every ship in the ME universe.

I'm not trying to turn this into a Halo vs. Mass Effect thread, but the Reapers could basically just indoctrinate the Forerunners and turn them into their own ground forces. In addition to that they have tons of agents and minions, like corrupt Turians, Geth, Collectors etc.

I haven't read Cryptum, so that "reality" stuff sounds a little too Harry Potter for me right now. What use would that be in an open war anyway? Also, the Reapers' indoctrination skills is most likely the answer to this alternate universe-stuff, seeing how it affects sub-consciousness.

The Collector Base is the closest thing to a planet they have, and it defies gravity, but I don't see why that is relevant anyway. Why would the Reapers need planets? Stars? They can pre-maturely destroy stars, that's for sure, but build? For what use?

...
...






[Edited on 04.27.2011 1:26 PM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 1:15 PM PDT


Posted by: Black Hole 000
Okay I'm going to try and break this down.

Forerunners: High level of technology, not reliant on Stargates for FTL, vast fleets. But, they are most likely either all dead, or to far away from the Milky Way to matter. And I know someone will say "no there not". The Forerunner Slipspace travel was thousands of time faster than ours, they could have been at an Halo in hours if they wanted. They were wiped out by the Halos, there might be afew in sheild worlds but that is it.

Ancient: Powerful, but most of their tech is reliant on the Stargates, also they have advanced technology, but it seems not nearly as advanced as the Forerunners or Reapers. They are all ascended, and ascended aren't supposed to interfere with non-ascended ever.

Reapers: A massive fleet of living machines. They have wiped out advanced civilizations possibly hundreds of times in the Milky Way, they made the Citadel and Relays, which can survive a super nova, and thus its assumed they can too. Sovereign didn't need to be heavily armored, when he got to the Citadel all the Relay's were supposed to be down (i think). It's never said how long they have existed, so there could totally be a 20 kilometer long one that could plunge into VY Canis Majoris when it went Hyper Nova without flinching.

As much as I honestly want the Forerunners to win, the Reapers are gonna make a Forerunner-Reaper with all those dead bodies.


If you've ever eead Cryptum, you'd never have said that. For one, Forerunners can travel between universes.

If it comes to a fight, the Forerunners weaponry has been calculated/estimated at gigs, terras, maybe petas. Why? Well, for one, they destroyed a planet with turrets and artillery, no ships were mentioned, just "weapon platforms"

Second, they destroyed a Halo Ring with a couple of shots, Rings that can look like the surface of the moon from thousands of heavy kilo/mega/gigatonnage impact craters and remain perfectly intact.

The Reapers shielding would be completely useless in the face of Forerunner weaponry. I wouldn't put it past a Forerunner Fortress (100 kilometer behemoth) to be fully capable of taking on the entire Reaper fleet that attacks Earth. It would sure as hell be able to destroy the Alliance Fleet. single handed.

And to say Reapers>Ancients is blind fanboyism.

  • 04.27.2011 1:22 PM PDT

No reaper was ever destroyed by an energy weapons, because practically none exist in the ME universe. Therefore they would have no defenses against them.

The Collector base is a toy compared to the works of the Forerunners. The Mass Relays are a primitive alternative to what all forerunner vessels already possess.

And while it might be possible to indoctrinate a Forerunner, the majority of Forerunner weapons are automated, trillions and trillions of them.

[Edited on 04.27.2011 1:25 PM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 1:23 PM PDT

Posted by: ROBERTO jh


And as this is a technology discussion mainly, when the Reapers learn how to travel to alternate universes, then I'll say they could compete with the Forerunners. As it stands, for what we know of the Reapers, the Covenant could take them. As far as sci-fi bad guys go, Reapers are pretty damn weak.


Personally I think the Reapers are insanely strong, something the main battle in ME proved.
That alternate universe-stuff doesn't really give me anything since I haven't read Cryptum. The most impressing thing about the Reapers is how they are able to communicate directly with people inside the Milky Way when they themselves are probably a 150,000 lightyears away, in dark space (rough number only calculated from how the whole galaxy and its arms are visible from their whereabouts at the end of ME2).

  • 04.27.2011 1:24 PM PDT

Posted by: Omanisat

The Collector base is a toy compared to the works of the Forerunners. The Mass Relays are a primitive alternative to what all forerunner vessels already possess.

And while it might be possible to indoctrinate a Forerunner, the majority of Forerunner weapons are automated, trillions and trillions of them.


The Collector Base may not have the fancy schwang of constructions like Onyx, but it is capable of resting in the accretion disc of a black hole. Toy?
Personally I consider the relays a much better way of interstellar travel than slipspace. Why carry expensive slipspace drives when you can just sail to the nearest Mass Relay? ME obviously don't have the same problems as Halo with things like the reason behind the Cole Protocol. Quick escape in ME is achieved with a simple burst of lightspeed towards a suitable destination, as seen when the Collector Cruiser ambushes the Normandy.

An Engineer could hack a Forerunner Sentinel with no problems. The Reapers themselves have a history with controlling automated weapon platforms with no problem.

  • 04.27.2011 1:35 PM PDT


Posted by: spurkis
Posted by: ROBERTO jh


And as this is a technology discussion mainly, when the Reapers learn how to travel to alternate universes, then I'll say they could compete with the Forerunners. As it stands, for what we know of the Reapers, the Covenant could take them. As far as sci-fi bad guys go, Reapers are pretty damn weak.


Personally I think the Reapers are insanely strong, something the main battle in ME proved.
That alternate universe-stuff doesn't really give me anything since I haven't read Cryptum. The most impressing thing about the Reapers is how they are able to communicate directly with people inside the Milky Way when they themselves are probably a 150,000 lightyears away, in dark space (rough number only calculated from how the whole galaxy and its arms are visible from their whereabouts at the end of ME2).


Which is child's play to the Forerunners. The Gravemind did something similar to that in Halo 3, sending the cryptic Cortana messages to you from half a galaxy away.

The main reason I say that the Reapers are weak is that its pretty obvious you beat them in ME3. The thought that Reapers could indoctrinate the Forerunners is rediculous; did it ever occur to you that indoctrination takes a very long time? Mutch too long for it to matter. Any Reaper the Forerunners see will be obliterated.

Now try this: the Forerunners had a fleet of "Trillions of vigalants that constantly wove in and out of space time, sometimes so rapidly they seemed to shape a solid sphere"

One Fleet, composed of trillions of ships, most likely automated, all of which weild weapons far and above beyond what the Reapers can possibly defend against or rival.

^^^^And Medicant Bias--a single Forerunner AI--controlled a fleet of millions single handedly in the final battle in the Flood War.

Reapers are small ship Ancillas to the Forerunners. A ship Ancilla is basically a ship run by an AI, an AI much like Cortana in power. Reaper kinetic weapons are laughably weak compared to the power houses Forerunner bring to play.

"The atmosphere below was a swirling soup of smoke and fire. Warrior craft and automated weapon systems were mostly too small to be visible, but I saw their effect--darting beams of needle light, glowing arcs cutting across continents, gigantic stamp-like divots punched into the crust, then lifted up, spun about, over-turned."

This is an example of Forerunner artillery and starfighters (warrior craft). So small, they can't be seen a his distance, but sificient enough to tear apart a planet. And this isn't even counting the big stuff.

I'd like to see the Reapers--who we know can be killed by sub kilo missiles--fight that.

[Edited on 04.27.2011 1:48 PM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 1:40 PM PDT

The Forerunners would simply move the black hole rather then build a station that can survive one.

ME's are great, right up until some giant robot squid decided to shut them down.

An engineer uses simple technology to hack other similar, simple technology. And while the engineer was trying to understand how the first Sentinel works, thiry more have found him and turned him into ash.

Also, the Collector vessel uses the same molten metal mass accelerator the the reapers use, it's not an energy weapon.

[Edited on 04.27.2011 1:42 PM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 1:40 PM PDT

Wake me when the jews are gone.


Posted by: spurkis
Posted by: ROBERTO jh


And as this is a technology discussion mainly, when the Reapers learn how to travel to alternate universes, then I'll say they could compete with the Forerunners. As it stands, for what we know of the Reapers, the Covenant could take them. As far as sci-fi bad guys go, Reapers are pretty damn weak.

Personally I think the Reapers are insanely strong, something the main battle in ME proved.
That alternate universe-stuff doesn't really give me anything since I haven't read Cryptum. The most impressing thing about the Reapers is how they are able to communicate directly with people inside the Milky Way when they themselves are probably a 150,000 lightyears away, in dark space (rough number only calculated from how the whole galaxy and its arms are visible from their whereabouts at the end of ME2).
you aren't understanding strange is relative, yes the Reapers are extremely strong in the ME universe, but when the ME universe is compared to another universe like Halo they aren't insanely strong in reality they are prety weak

[Edited on 04.27.2011 2:00 PM PDT]

  • 04.27.2011 1:59 PM PDT

Posted by: ROBERTO jh



Which is child's play to the Forerunners. The Gravemind did something similar to that in Halo 3, sending the cryptic Cortana messages to you from half a galaxy away.

The main reason I say that the Reapers are weak is that its pretty obvious you beat them in ME3. The thought that Reapers could indoctrinate the Forerunners is rediculous; did it ever occur to you that indoctrination takes a very long time? Mutch too long for it to matter. Any Reaper the Forerunners see will be obliterated.

Now try this: the Forerunners had a fleet of "Trillions of vigalants that constantly wove in and out of space time, sometimes so rapidly they seemed to shape a solid sphere"

One Fleet, composed of trillions of ships, most likely automated, all of which weild weapons far and above beyond what the Reapers can possibly defend against or rival.


I thought those Cortana messages were just psychic visions John had, but the ones he had after High Charity touched down on The Ark were actually direct messages from Gravemind.
If the Gravemind could communicate with you from half a galaxy away then it's still infitiely inferior to the comm tech of the Reapers, seeing how it's only weak fractions and puzzle pieces, while Harbinger could do everything directly, perfectly and clear. Hell, even the Illusie Man could communicate directly with you from half a galaxy away.

No point here. Commander Shepard will crush the Reapers in the exact same way the Master Chief crushed The Covenant, The Flood and the high-tech remnants of the Forerunners with his trusty old rifles. While I personally have a deep hope inside me that several of the ME3 endings are positive for the Reapers, even pyrrhic victories, it is indeed obvious that the hero will beat the evil badguys every single time.

Reaper indoctrination doesn't takee much time at all. A Forerunner xenoarcheologist team would find a Reaper indoctrination artifact interesting and be corrupt servants of them the next day; this happened atleast three times in Mass Effect 2. And I don't think Saren was just casually approached by this 2km-long warship and asked to turn rogue and serve it. It was probably a process that happened underneath the tables, and I wouldn't doubt that Sovereign manipulated Saren with i.e. his grudge for the humans. Full manual bio-mechanical control happens in around two seconds.

Automated fleet? I'd just sling a giant-arse EMP into that mess, quickly followed up by a Field AI-hack.

  • 04.27.2011 2:02 PM PDT

Posted by: fsabran

you aren't understanding strange is relative, yes the Reapers are extremely strong in the ME universe, but when the ME universe is compared to another universe like Halo they aren't insanely strong in reality they are prety weak


I do understand that. What you don't understand is how that actually goes right around the bend, and since the Forerunners seem insanely psychotic ballistic badass in Halo doesn't mean we would know jack shyte about how they would work in ME. See how annoying that is? You can't stall my arguments by saying "everything is relative".

  • 04.27.2011 2:05 PM PDT