Mass Effect Tips & Tricks

Rat Boy wrote:

Uh, quest items aren't even listed in the inventory. Stuff like the Salarian ID tags, the keeper scanner, and the Wrex family armor are mentioned in the Journal, not the Equipment screen.

It's not DIRECTLY a quest item, but if you want to finish this mission as a Paragon, you have to be able to equip it as an upgrade to your grenades, which is probably why it shows up in your equipment rather than just being a number in your quest log counter. It still would've been smarter to make sure you could always take it.

By the way, DS, have you tried gelling EVERYTHING else first, and leaving the gas as the last item? Sometimes you can get below 150 items in that initial list and still take the remaining items once you do so. Just keep an eye out for the Take All option to appear below the Convert to Omni-Gel option on the bottom of the screen.

Anyone figure out a better way to snipe from far away without sending the crew in to spawn some of the enemies that won't pop up until you're too far up close? I had a little problem with locating enemies in say like the first mission for instance:

I KNOW the detonators are being protected by the little bastards across the catwalk but I can't shoot em' until they spawn, making the sneaky cheating long range kills I love so much a little useless. Any tips?

Zoxos wrote:

I KNOW the detonators are being protected by the little bastards across the catwalk but I can't shoot em' until they spawn, making the sneaky cheating long range kills I love so much a little useless. Any tips?

That is odd, all Geth, out side of few Husks should have been spawn in as soon as you arrived to Space Port.

With that said, I don't think there are a lot of places where long range combat comes into play. Even on UNC missions, once you clear out external defenses for a base... once inside, it's pretty much close combat.

I just want to know how you get money? I just started playing and everying costs a million bucks and I have like, a hundred. What do you do to get that kind of money?

You'll get money for doing quests, selling loot, survey planets and materials, finding artifacts, etc...

If you are early-on in the game, I would not worry about the money... actually, I would not worry about the money at all since you will find better equipment on the field.

Also, don't bother buying licenses until Tier 3 licenses are unlocked... I think they will be at Lv.36 and they cost about 30K, but they will give a better chance that RO will stock the best Armor in the game.

I wouldn't worry too much in the beginning about buying equipment. The gear you receive from quests and random encounters will more than suit your needs early in the game, and further if you would like.

My suggestion would be to save your cash until you reach one million. This unlocks an achievement that allows you to buy elite gear. This gear is pricy but better items are few and far between. Besides at that point you have a million bucks, price would not be an concern.

Other than that Nei is on the money (no pun intended).

To add to the money discussion, I've played the game through twice now. The first time, I hit the Rich achievement near the end of the game, and I never really bought anything. By the end of the second playthrough, I had maxed out on money. The game would not let me carry more. And I wasn't really selling anything, or buying anything. Now I just need to find those good licenses and buy the best armor in the game for my upped-difficulty playthroughs.

DSGamer wrote:
nsmike wrote:

Wow, another stupid element of inventory management surfaces then, quest items don't get priority. Apparently, if you don't empty out your inventory, you're a RENEGADE! MUAHAHAHA!

Yeah. In KOTOR quest items were separate. Like I don't remember being able to accidentally sell Raqgoul Serum. It's insane. And, like I said earlier, it's not a game-breaker. Just almost one.

Everything from the music, to elevators hiding loading times, to the improved dialogue system, to the non-existent tutorial feels like it was engineered to make this an almost cinematic experience. That's why this really bugs me. Because I'm playing through it and largely I feel like I'm playing a good long movie. And then it suddenly screeches to a halt and this character I've crafted has to do something evil. Not because the settlers can't be saved. Not because there is no other choice. Not because he made a hard choice. But because the game inventory management system. That's what's so awful about it. I've been quickly jerked out of the cinematic experience and straight into how to manage the "game". And that sucks.

I'm 24 hours in. That's almost unheard of for me to play a game that much. So I'm really invested in this. And now I'm being forced, apparently, to reduce an item to omni-gel that I really want to have so I can save people. All because I never met a shopkeeper on the planet and the inventory limit arbitrarily stops at 150 and doesn't allow me to omni-gel one of the many ammo upgrades I never use, but failed to sell or reduce to omni-gel earlier.

I don't know what to do. I suppose I could just plow through the colonists. But I certainly won't play the game a second time, knowing that during my first play-through I was forced to take an action completely out of character due to the game having what amounts to a bug.

I played this part for a second time and don't feel bad for you at all :). If you read the missions Journal it clearly states "you can saftley knock them out using melee attacks or grenades equipped with the anti-Thorian upgrade." They always meant for you to have the second option so there is no game breaking bug.

tattoogunman wrote:

I just want to know how you get money? I just started playing and everying costs a million bucks and I have like, a hundred. What do you do to get that kind of money?

Not even Spectre equipment costs a million. Sure you might need to have a million to gain the achievement to access the equipment, but they're no more than 200-400k

Nei wrote:
Zoxos wrote:

I KNOW the detonators are being protected by the little bastards across the catwalk but I can't shoot em' until they spawn, making the sneaky cheating long range kills I love so much a little useless. Any tips?

That is odd, all Geth, out side of few Husks should have been spawn in as soon as you arrived to Space Port.

With that said, I don't think there are a lot of places where long range combat comes into play. Even on UNC missions, once you clear out external defenses for a base... once inside, it's pretty much close combat.

I agree, the geth should have spawned right away. What you're seeing is them taking cover. You might need to go up to the catwalk above the train and just cover there and ping them off from a distance. They'll show their heads, just give it a few seconds. The geth use cover nearly as effectively as you would in their location; it takes some getting used to.

And I don't know about there not being a lot of long range shots. It's all a matter of how you go about the fight. Take the first mission on Eden Prime. Other than the husks I managed to kill every geth except the two that spawn right around the corner after you find Neilus (sp?) with a sniper shot. The two guarding Neilus's body? Taken out when they got near the explosive charge by the steps. The first two down on the walkway going to the train? Pinged with a tight shot through the scaffolding under the catwalk. The leading to the train? Every single one with a sniper round. All of the detonator and beacon spots? You get the point.

You can do it; you just have to be patient and sit back a bit.

EvilDead wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
nsmike wrote:

Wow, another stupid element of inventory management surfaces then, quest items don't get priority. Apparently, if you don't empty out your inventory, you're a RENEGADE! MUAHAHAHA!

Yeah. In KOTOR quest items were separate. Like I don't remember being able to accidentally sell Raqgoul Serum. It's insane. And, like I said earlier, it's not a game-breaker. Just almost one.

Everything from the music, to elevators hiding loading times, to the improved dialogue system, to the non-existent tutorial feels like it was engineered to make this an almost cinematic experience. That's why this really bugs me. Because I'm playing through it and largely I feel like I'm playing a good long movie. And then it suddenly screeches to a halt and this character I've crafted has to do something evil. Not because the settlers can't be saved. Not because there is no other choice. Not because he made a hard choice. But because the game inventory management system. That's what's so awful about it. I've been quickly jerked out of the cinematic experience and straight into how to manage the "game". And that sucks.

I'm 24 hours in. That's almost unheard of for me to play a game that much. So I'm really invested in this. And now I'm being forced, apparently, to reduce an item to omni-gel that I really want to have so I can save people. All because I never met a shopkeeper on the planet and the inventory limit arbitrarily stops at 150 and doesn't allow me to omni-gel one of the many ammo upgrades I never use, but failed to sell or reduce to omni-gel earlier.

I don't know what to do. I suppose I could just plow through the colonists. But I certainly won't play the game a second time, knowing that during my first play-through I was forced to take an action completely out of character due to the game having what amounts to a bug.

I played this part for a second time and don't feel bad for you at all :). If you read the missions Journal it clearly states "you can saftley knock them out using melee attacks or grenades equipped with the anti-Thorian upgrade." They always meant for you to have the second option so there is no game breaking bug.

Lol, when I played this section I ended up having to melee every one of the colonists because I blew all my grenades on the creepers right away (didn't notice the part about them saying "these things definitely aren't human" until it was too late). It's not a bug at all, you just didn't pay attention.

Also about your squad killing colonists... there's a dialog tree in the beginning between you and your squad where you have the choice to tell them to kill the colonists or not return fire. Want to save the colonists? Don't tell your squad to shoot. Pretty easy.

If you play Paragon right you don't need to make a single "evil" decision the entire game.

Hey dudes (and dudettes). I came across this little armor nugget off a board (can't remember which one now) that I'd like to pass along to you all. When I first read it, I was like "no way". But then I sat down and did it, and I've got to tell you, it's one of THE best hits I've come across. It's really not a cheat item, it's more or less a glitch in the game. Here's how it works.

If you've tried creating a character to go to war with in ME, you'd know that other than the soldier class, every other character type is limited to either medium or light armor. Well, no longer with this glitch. Here's how it works.

1. Go to the equipment screen and to the armor section
2. Decide what armor you wish to equip on your character. Then count UP from the LAST armor to the one you chose. e.g. Start at the bottom and go up 4 and there's the Colossus X armor.
3. Press X to enter the upgrades screen. Position the cursor over one of the upgrades. Now the trick is to press Y, wait a 1/2 second, then press A, as if you're trying to convert it to omni-gel. If done right, the screen will exit out of the Upgrades screen and back to the Armors screen, *but* the dialog box asking you if you want to convert the selection to omni-gel will still be displayed.
4. Press B to not convert to omni-gel.
5. Now you will see that instead of listing armors, the screen lists all of your armor upgrades. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list.
6. Count UP the number of times you decided upon in step #2.
7. Select that armor, and viola.

Just try messing around with it but eventually, you'll get it to work and I've got to say, it's made life much easier for my Sentinel Shepard in that she can now equip Heavy Colossus X armor rather than that silly looking Medium type. Also, the stats carry over so that's a huge plus. Hope you guys find this as fascinating as I did.

My squad keeps getting wiped out going into Fist, I guess I should read the instruction manual! The game is really good, and I have a severe disdain for RPG games. The Eternal Sonata demo made me think twice about that feeling, Mass Effect may make me like certain RPG styles.

DS I've run into this before and what I ended up doing was issuing an order for my squad to hold some where away from the colonists and then I took them out with melee. It was difficult, but I'd suggest putting it on easy if you need to get past it without gelling or renegade points.

MaxShrek wrote:

My squad keeps getting wiped out going into Fist, I guess I should read the instruction manual! The game is really good, and I have a severe disdain for RPG games. The Eternal Sonata demo made me think twice about that feeling, Mass Effect may make me like certain RPG styles.

I'd suggest telling them to take cover and doing that yourself. Take out the turrets and hope Fist doesn't come up close. For me, I never shot Fist and his health didn't go down much but when the turrets died, it entered a cut scene with him cowering on the ground.

Maybe this has been asked, and I know I read earlier in the forum about this, but how and where in the PC version do you set your team mates to automatically use their abilities. I just started playing the game a few days ago, so I'm only 4 hours in. I looked through the options menu but I can't seem to find this. Any help?

Thanks

This was an option set when you first create a new game and are customizing settings. Where you also set if you want them or you to auto-level up. Not sure if you can change it once you start the game.

misterglass wrote:

This was an option set when you first create a new game and are customizing settings. Where you also set if you want them or you to auto-level up. Not sure if you can change it once you start the game.

No, he it talking about the squad mates using their tech and biotic abilities automatically in a fight. By default they are set to only use defensive powers.

Unfortunately I played the 360 version, and so long ago, that I can't give any advice except to look carefully, it's there somewhere.

Kirshy wrote:

Maybe this has been asked, and I know I read earlier in the forum about this, but how and where in the PC version do you set your team mates to automatically use their abilities. I just started playing the game a few days ago, so I'm only 4 hours in. I looked through the options menu but I can't seem to find this. Any help?

It should be under "Options" and then "Gameplay". As far as I know you can change it during a game.

When I figured out you could jump over any incoming projectile with the MAKO in Mass Effect, suddenly the game because really, really, really easy.

You guys all know that, right?

This is old hat?

I always loved hiding behind a hill in the mako, popping up, firing off a rocket, and dropping back down behind the hill while all the enemy fire exploded against the rocks. I think the easy part is that missiles in this game seem to travel through molasses to get to you so you just have to shuffle to the side to get out of their way.

Kehama wrote:

I always loved hiding behind a hill in the mako, popping up, firing off a rocket, and dropping back down behind the hill while all the enemy fire exploded against the rocks. I think the easy part is that missiles in this game seem to travel through molasses to get to you so you just have to shuffle to the side to get out of their way.

Yep. I would just turn my Mako sideways and would rock back and forth avoiding all the enemy fire.

kaostheory wrote:
Kehama wrote:

I always loved hiding behind a hill in the mako, popping up, firing off a rocket, and dropping back down behind the hill while all the enemy fire exploded against the rocks. I think the easy part is that missiles in this game seem to travel through molasses to get to you so you just have to shuffle to the side to get out of their way.

Yep. I would just turn my Mako sideways and would rock back and forth avoiding all the enemy fire.

Ug, I would just try and destroy everything as quick as possible. I hated the Mako, and everytime i was in it I just wanted to get out of it

JohnnyBarnstorm wrote:

When I figured out you could jump over any incoming projectile with the MAKO in Mass Effect, suddenly the game because really, really, really easy.

You guys all know that, right?

This is old hat?

Yup, the benefits of bunny-hopping show themselves in the strangest places.

Arise chicken, chicken arise!

I found this post from some kind individual who decided to make a Java program for viewing and editing achievements. I downloaded it, scanned it for virii (it came up clean) and it seems to work. The achievements show up as unlocked, along with their in-game unlock bonuses (which are helpfully described in the Java program as well). It doesn't appear to support the DLC.

Very handy if you've already played Mass Effect and just picked it up in the Steam sale.

I'm looking to play Mass Effect. Couple questions:

1) PC or 360? I have the 360 version, but can get the PC version cheapish if it is sustantially better. I just finished DA:O on the PC.

2) What class should I play?

Fedaykin98 wrote:

1) PC or 360? I have the 360 version, but can get the PC version cheapish if it is sustantially better. I just finished DA:O on the PC.

I played the PC version after reading how much stuff was improved from the pain points of the console version (load times/elevators, Mako, etc). I think when I looked around the web, this Ars Technica review was the one that pushed me over the edge for the PC version.

However, from what I've read, the ME2 360 game plays pretty well with the exception of the scanning for minerals being more obnoxious.

I guess if you think about it, if you are planning to play ME2 and ME3 and carry your same character through (as you should), do you prefer to do it in a desk chair or on the couch? 'Cause that's probably a commitment of 90 hours or so all told.

As for character type, it really depends on your play style. I played ME1 and ME2 as a Vanguard because I like a balanced, midranged character. But if you want to just shoot, there's the soldier. If you like having minions (like a necromancer or druid in a fantasy RPG), pick engineer. Magic weilder? Adept. Sniper? Infiltrator...etc.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I'm looking to play Mass Effect. Couple questions:

1) PC or 360? I have the 360 version, but can get the PC version cheapish if it is sustantially better. I just finished DA:O on the PC.

2) What class should I play?

For the first Mass Effect I'd say go with what you have. The PC version has a better inventory system (though still annoying) and better graphics, but you have to deal with bugs and it isn't worth more than the five buck Steam sale price if you've the 360 version already.

Only other thing to keep in mind is that if you want to extend your save to ME2 you should probably go with whichever system you'll play ME2 on. Moving over your save game really does make a difference, assuming you aren't just strictly picking answers based on alignment your first playthrough.

And I went soldier both times, it was more shooter-like than the other classes. They've all got their own advantages but I like being able to pull out an assault rifle and take down some baddies.

I do have to say that the 360 version has serious frame rate issues in some areas, though, especially when there's a lot of combat on screen. At least it does for me. I tried installing it to the hard drive, but that actually seems to be worse.

I'm on my first playthrough...yeah, a bit late to the game.

Mannish - All my gaming is done on the couch: laptop + TV dinner table. That's how I played Dragon Age.

I'm surprised to hear such enthusiasm for carrying over saves, because I don't value doing so very highly. It really makes a difference in these games?

With Mass Effect, carrying over a save is a pretty big deal, because you're playing the same character in at least both ME and ME2. Granted, you're hit with a reset, but still; it's the idea of it.

I'm surprised to hear such enthusiasm for carrying over saves, because I don't value doing so very highly. It really makes a difference in these games?

Yes, a thousand times yes. Mass Effect is about the personal story you build for your Shepard, so you want that story to persist.

As for PC vs Xbox:

I've played both games on both platforms.

ME1 is decidedly more refined on the PC in many ways, enough to override my personal preference for a controller in first/third person shooters.

ME2 looks slightly better if your PC can push it at a high resolution with full settings -- if it runs ME1 and Dragon Age at full settings and a good resolution, it will do the same for ME2. However, everything else is essentially a wash so it comes down to whether you prefer mouse and keyboard to a controller.

So if you prefer mouse and keyboard, play the PC version and don't ever look back. However, if like me you prefer the controller, you might just go with the Xbox version. ME1 is certainly a bit less refined from a technical standpoint, but by no means is it bad, and in the end I think you'll be happier with your preferred action controls (especially when you get to ME2).

As for class, I love the infiltrator, but that's just the way I roll. On my Xbox playthrough of ME2 though I've been playing an adept and having a hell of a good time. As others said, though, pick the class that best fits your preferred playstyle and you'll have a good time. Also, it's worth noting that even when you import a ME1 character into ME2, you still get to choose your class. (The ME1 character I imported for said Xbox playthrough was originally an infiltrator, for example.)

Mass Effect: I have both the PC and 360 version and the PC version is far superior.

Mass Effect 2: I have only the 360 version and it is great. The loading could be faster, but it is not that bad. Visually it looks great and the frame rate is solid. A massive technical improvement over Mass Effect on the 360. Also, the new design elements are very console friendly.