It has been asked if RPGs are a dying breed or simply evolving with the gaming community, and though a simple answer cannot be given, one thing is for sure: Mass Effect 3 is striking a unique balance of action as well as getting back to its RPG roots from the original game.

The Mass Effect 3 squad screen will display all statistics on powers, including power bonuses, dynamic bonuses, and cool down times. BioWare is doing this to allow the hardcore RPG player to maximize their potential and know what is happening at all times. But information is a double-edged sword, and after playing the demo, many players flooded the BioWare forums, claiming the numbers weren’t correct and their bonuses were not calculating properly. BioWare Senior Gameplay Designer Manveer Heir took to the forums to set the record straight and let the fans know how the power upgrades were actually calculating.

Normal Power Upgrades

New Value = Base Value at Rank 1 * (1.0 + Sum of all rank bonuses + Dynamic Bonuses)

Normal power upgrades are not including cooldown timers, but instead they focus on such powers like damage, force, and impact radius.

If the upgrade modifies the current value, the upgrade is more useful for players who have a higher value from things like passives and all that. This means powers can quickly become overpowered or an upgrade is useless for some players and ridiculously powerful for others."

Recharge Speed Upgrades (Cooldown)

New Value = Base Value at Rank 1 * (1.0 / (1.0 + Sum of all rank bonuses + Dynamic Bonuses))

Hard Value Bonuses

New Value = (Base Value at Rank 1 + Sum of Rank all rank bonuses) * (1.0 + Dynamic Bonuses)

Just think: many of you had the audacity to ask your high school math teacher “when will we ever use this?!?” Here you go. At the end of the day, however, only the most ardent RPG enthusiasts are going to pay attention to the detailed statistics. Heck, choosing to play the game in “Action Mode,” all of this data is done behind the scenes, allowing the player to spend their time fully devoted to blasting the Reapers back to dark space.

So Rank 1 Weapon Damage Bonus may be 10%. If we say at rank 2 the Weapon Damage Bonus increases by 50% what is the correct result for total weapon damage bonus now. If you used formula 1, it would be 15%. But that goes against what people expect, because you are increasing a percent by a percent. Instead, you expect the numbers to add together. So a 50% increase to 10% should be 60%."

Mass Effect 3 will be released March 6, 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The demo is currently available for all platforms.

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Source: BioWare