Mass Effect 3 (Multiplayer) - Bioware YouTube Clip: "ME3 Multiplayer: Asar Justicars and Drell Adepts - Reaper Gold"

Geek Speak is where we delve into explanations of the sometimes obscure terminology used at Healthy Geek.

Bubbles of Pain!

bub-bles of pain [buhbuh ls] [uhv] [peyn]

Origin: Healthy Geek

Meaning: An exclamation used to motivate oneself prior to a physical and/or mental challenge, or to indicate that one is currently experiencing short-term muscle fatigue during an exercise that is of a beneficial nature. The Bubble of Pain can be seen as both a defensive and offensive statement since it provides aid to you and your allies, while undermining the activities of your enemies. In this context, an “enemy” can be an opposing player/NPC in a game, or a more metaphorical enemy such as “lethargy” or “failure”. 

Use: Largely consists of yelling “Bubbles of Pain!” repeatedly.

In real life situations it can be used as a rallying cry prior or during an activity. If playing Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer it can be used after using the Biotic Sphere power in an offensive maneuver against a slow-moving opponent such as a Brute, Atlas or Scion. It can be used descriptively after the fact e.g. “I was casting bubbles of pain all over the place!”, or used to describe a previous physical or mental challenge faced e.g. “he was being such a wanker, it really cast a Bubble of Pain on the whole room”.

Repeatedly saying “Bubbles of Pain!” in real life situations can also indicate to other players that you wish to play Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer.

Etymology: Bubbles of Pain was originally in reference to the use of the Biotic Sphere power in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer by Healthy Geek associated players.

The Biotic Sphere power is usually seen as a defensive power since it creates a protective sphere around a fixed point that provides a defensive bonus to you and your team members who stand inside it. However, at higher skill levels, enemies that enter the sphere area also take damage and have a Warp effect applied to them, thereby setting up those targets up for combination attacks for the rest of your team.

Use of the Biotic Sphere in this manner effectively turned a defensive power into a hit-and-run offensive one, as a player with a high Biotic Sphere skill level could run up to a large, slow-moving target, cast a Biotic Sphere, retreat and allow their team mates to trigger a series of combination biotic attacks. The use of this tactic included the caster of the Biotic Sphere exclaiming “Bubbles of Pain!” prior to the maneuver. To see some hard core players use of the Biotic Sphere in action, click here (can’t claim any credit for these ones though – these are players that are much better than anyone at Healthy Geek!).  

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