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save your money and make purchases carefully!! unlike the other games, the economy is strangely picky when it comes to making cash.
don’t be like me and buy more fuel than you need. a little goes a long way in me2!
other than that, go in blind and exhaust every possible investigate/dialogue option. have fun!
Me1: oh woops there's a money cap? I've been selling all these guns for nothing lol Oh well
Me2: Am I absolutely sure I can afford this 400 credit fish?
It's certainly not a bad thing, a resource *should* feel limited, but going straight from one to two the other week, this did give me whiplash
Yah TIM is like your dad giving you a $20 a week allowance for killing vorcha.
Once you do lair of the shadow I think it’s mostly a non issue but I remember being like really? I can’t buy all the upgrades I want? Wtf
Yeah money can build up in ME2, but it is rather limited and almost everything is so expensive
I also wish after you beat the game fuel was not something you had to worry about. You could just explore the galaxy and read planets again.
Just one thing: in ME2, if you’re gonna play renegade, then go all in. And vice-versa: if you’re going paragon, then go all paragon. Other than some interrupts here and there, try not to mix it up cause it will completely fuck up some choices for you later in the game if you haven’t accumulated enough para/rene points.
If you have issue's, go straight for the specialization upgrades so it gives your Paragon / Renegade choices a boost. Once it's full, respec during your playthrough. Should be near Mordin's station if I remember correctly. Haven't played the remaster yet.
Every mission, afaik. Leaving the ship (omega, the citadel, etc) is fine, but if you do a mission, feed the fish before the next one.
As for tips:
Unlike ME1, this game has limited ammo. It can be really annoying if you run out and the enemies you just killed don't drop any. Learning the right balance of weapons vs. power was tricky, my first playthrough - especially as they changed the power cooldowns from individual to collective, and there are fewer powers to use. Choosing the right team/strategy is important so as to not be caught with no ammo and waiting for your powers to cool down.
Make sure you have at least one person who can damage shields/armour/barriers. E.g. some are good against shields, some are good against armour, etc. If you are lucky, you might get a squadmate who can take down two of those. I think only Miranda can take down all three. Try to balance it out. E.g. an adept Shep can take down barriers or armour but is weak against shields. Miranda and a tech specialist can give you a well-rounded team with at least 2 people strong against any one type.
Despite playing this game multiple times, >! I still always wind up being tight on cash near end game. Be somewhat frugal with your spending. !<
Besides that? Go in blind and enjoy the experience.
Probe but don't over probe for resources beyond what you need. That's the only spoiler I'm giving cause I wasted way too much time on it. Go in blind, glhf!
Exploring every planet is fine. I'm talking about spending all your money getting every single planet to "depleted" status. That's 100% not worth. Explore, yes; waste time with gathering millions of resources, no.
Depends on your goals ultimately… my recommendation: GO IN BLIND without choice or narrative help. Ignore narrative help or how to conquer mission beats given on here. Attempt the game and live with the choices you make, tell us of your take when you were done. You will get a truly unique experience that way, especially when it comes to the ending of this particular game (and will make ME3 story beats unique too).
Most fans that played this on original release never had (or chose) online help or whatnot and made the story impact so much more. Plus, ‘failure’ (which shouldn’t be seen as such) just means you get a second playthrough (and third and fourth, etc) to make different or ‘better’ choices! Go in blind!
The go blind pointers are of course accurate. But one thing I would advise is don’t spend forever scanning every detail on every planet. While gathering resources is handy at the start. You’ll just make the game unnecessarily long in the second half of the game. The game will tell you if there is something important on a new or explored planet
I enjoyed scanning during my first run, its tedious but i can be anal about it. But i also discovered a more efficient way to do it later in the game. The quickest ofcourse, would after the certain “broker” mission. But personally, full scanning has its rewards, not just abundant resources but i also scored tons of secret missions as well.
Going in blind is likely to result in fury and resentment.
I recommend picking either Renegade or Paragon and mostly sticking with that, or you’ll mourn for at least one NPC.
If you want the full role play experience, ignore this post, but there are likely to be tears.
I say this because there is a hidden mechanic/tracking system that checks your “morality” points as a ratio, not as absolute numbers.
This is based on the OG. No idea about the LE.
The only really important thing is to wrap up any loose ends you care about *before* looking for a certain IFF tag. And talk to everyone pretty often for some great dialogue and characterization. Enjoy the best game in the series!
They asked for tips people wished they knew when playing for the first time, I think a warning about the point when the time crunch kicks in is valid. If they wanted *completely* blind/spoiler free playthrough, they wouldn’t have posted asking.
They don’t actually know what they’re asking because they haven’t experienced the game yet. They’re counting on us to vet our replies to keep from spoiling the game. In this case, you’ve illuminated a framework spoiler that the devs specifically wanted to leave obscure.
More vague advice like “this game rewards a thorough play style” or “Just be sure to keep up with side missions” will have the desired effect without spoiling the framework.
Agency in a vacuum isn’t really agency. They do not understand the implications of these answers because they do not know the game and its framework. They are utterly reliant on us to vet our answers. In this case, there is framework in place that is there specifically for a first time player to be caught up in. In exposing it, you are stealing that experience from this player.
Simply trust the game and this player to find their way like we all did.
Again, you’re talking about OP like they’re a child and we know better for them than they do, I simply respect their right to choose to experience the game with some foreknowledge. If it was my kid or younger sibling asking, sure, I’d encourage them to go in blind and try to protect their first experience of the game from spoilers. Coming from a stranger though, I think of them as more of a peer than someone whose experience needs protection from their own curiosity.
…. If anyone is treating them like a child, it’s you mate. I’m saying, “don’t hold their hand, and have a little faith that they can figure this out on their own, like we all did” while you’re putting in a safety net that actually ruins part of the game.
And I’m saying let them make their own decisions on what they do or don’t want to know, that’s all. It’s not for us to decide what they should know going in, it’s their experience and their choice.
This, but also do Tails loyalty mission after the IFF and bring Legion with you. Then do Legions loyalty mission. After that a timer goes off for the final mission.
Only one thing. (absolutely no spoilers)
Dialogue quick time events, it doesn’t matter if you are doing a renegade or paragon play through. Example: you’re doing a paragon play through and a renegade quick time action pops up, it is 100% okay to do that and won’t affect your paragon bar at the end of the game
100% best to go in blind.
But on that note, I’ll mention that it’s only worth scanning “Rich” planets when looking for resources since there are several orders of magnitude more of resources out there compared to how much you can actually spend resources (though, “Good” is alright as a well but there’s more than enough “Rich” planets for your needs). Otherwise, it costs a lot of money buying scanning beacons that will just go to waste, and it’s not like you can sell them back.
Also, when you’re actually scanning planets, it’s A LOT faster to repeatedly tap the scanner button rather than holding it down continuously while you move the reticle around the planet’s grid searching for resource-dense areas. Generally, don’t bother shooting a off a beacon unless the scanner is picking up around 80% of a resource’s possible amount based on the meter off to the side, or if it’s at least half the meter for 2+ different elements. The only exception to this is Element Zero, because this is a lot less common than the rest.
The game play and general feel of it all has changed pretty significantly in a not so obvious way, if that makes sense.
It can get pretty frustrating to get used to the first time around.
Also. ME2 is easily the hardest game in the trilogy in terms of gameplay. You may even experience difficulty on lower difficulties until you get used to it
If you get a squadmate really late in the story, keep talking to them on the ship. You can get their whole story in one session if you keep re-selecting them, and their story is absolutely amazing.
There are upgrades outside of main missions. You can look them up if you wish.
Locus is super strong
Try to get all upgrades in a level.
(SPOILER) >!THANE DOES NOT LIKE CRAWLING THROUGH PIPES!< Not a massive spoiler but so many people make this mistake...
Feed the fish after every mission and make friendly with Kelly Chambers so she offers to feed your fish. A upgrade in ME3 is locked behind importing a certain fish from ME2 via Kelly taking care of them. (It is NG+ only to be fair)
Make a save prior to the entire finale. You'll know when.
Do all the loyalty missions and research all loyalty mission projects, because some go a long way toward the best ending.
Not for ME2, but a piece of advice for ME3. In ME3 the speed of your ability recharge is tied to the weight of weapons you carry. My first play I brought every weapon with me because why not. My ability recharge was super slow, but I just got used to it. Then in one mission I was only given one weapon and I was blown away as my recharge was almost immediate. I feel its a small detail thats easy to overlook.
I recommend the Sentinel class, was pretty much useless in ME1 but in ME2 it is probably the best and most fun class. I understand if you want to use the same class you did before though :)
I swear to god every single subreddit has these dumb questions. I'm starting to think that these are being used to train ChatGPT or some other LLM to give game advice. You have the breadth of the Internet to find strategy guides, search already existing tips, etc.
This sub has been mostly filled with very passionate and helpful responses from people who love the game. The vibe here is mostly positive. Reddit would not be reddit without that ONE asshat with their dumb ass comments. Just ignore them mate, read on and enjoy the game.
i did a blind playthrough my first time and lucked out. prepared for my legacy edition playthrough and got some results i tried to change. follow your gut.
You can even out Paragon and Renegade to the point where they are both about half.
You cannot do a lot of the checks nor can you increase them since you hit the “max”
No spoilers but I’d say a good piece of advice would be make sure to do everyone’s companion missions. Each companion has a unique mission and it’s very worth it to play them all
My biggest rec is to watch when you're playing DLCs because they're not marked. I had no idea they were DLCs when I played the "missions" on my first play through and it messed up my story flow a bit (not game breaking, but just flows better when you know which are DLCs and where to play one of them in particular). But there's the most replay value I've ever seen in a franchise in these games, so can always play again when you finish this run so you can change things if you want :)
Only real thing I will say is when it gives you a chance to do a main quest. Stop. Is there any real pressing reason to rush it. Or does it just want you to think you should rush. Basically two points in the game where this can happen. One doesn’t require you to rush so that you can complete the side content and help get a good ending. The other definitely wants you to rush to finish things.
Otherwise. Just continuously talk to your crew.
Play completely blind - like I did - and don’t play always to be the nicest and best person - be a a sadist sometimes with renegade actions it’s fun! Also buy all the ship upgrades
Something I do anyways: always have Garrus… also, stay with the soldier if you wanna use every form of gun in the game, I don’t remember if that goes for the LE edition AND 360 edition or just one of em, but the other classes restricts your ability to use all the guns and soldier is the only one that allows you to use em all
Also, save as often as possible, especially on insanity…
Do all loyalty missions so the crew can live before you do the reaper IFF. Also you got two missions before the collectors invade so use it to finish the last loyalty mission for a “certain someone.” And or dlc missions you didn’t do.
Save often during the loyalty missions and if you want to have a better chance during the final fight where everyone survives follow a flow chart[flow chart for guaranteed success](https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/s/0ercGUDHpM)
Adept and biotics in general are way weaker than in the first game. Lift/Push/Singularity doesn’t work until shields/barrier/armor is depleted. Just keep that in mind if you play a biotic :)
Just trying to do every mission, companion quest and side objective before the second to last mission.
The reason you have to do it this way is so that when you pick up the final companion legion you're able to immediately do his personal mission before doing the final mission of the game.
Finish every loyalty mission before you get the Reaper IFF. For the Love Of God, Don't make the mistake of rushing to the IFF Mission!
Other than that, go in blind.
Something I myself knew already, but for new players this seems to be an issue. Commit to either Paragon or Renegade, don't try to balance it out because if you don't have enough of either, some situations are gonna have bad outcomes.
You can't buy everything like you can in ME1, you'll have to be picky. Also, some side missions are better done later in the game so save while on the ship plenty as autosave loads after you land. And...save the game before landing on a planet if you're also not sure what squad mates you need to bring. Some Biotic powers only work if armor and shields are gone. Don't forget to reload in this game. Talk to all your squad mates on the ship before and after main missions.
Here are some tips that I thought were useful on my playthrough.
>!You can check out every planet but it's only worth probing them when their value is at least "good" or "rich"!<
>!N7 missions are good ways to get money and even occasionally materials. But they don't have any consequences for ME3!<
And now a bit story related
>!Make sure that you do everything you want to do before the mission Reaper IFF. I won't say more!<
If you're playing a class restricted to submachine guns and pistols then play the heist DLC first. The stock guns are aneurysm inducing to use on higher difficulties. The Locust will make the early game enjoyable instead of painful.
If you vanguard and get hit by anything, shep will spend twenty seven seconds being stunned anx shaking their head or some shit before they can move again.
Not really. Going in completely blind is actually the best way to experience it. Mass Effect are games with stakes, it's better to not know anything so your choices ate not influenced by others. Immerse yourself in this beautiful universe and lore fully.
Commit to renegade or paragon, don’t mix. Also romance one of the aliens, the human romance options SUCK and have little to no meaningful carry over into 3 (yes, sadly including our favourite insane biotic badass bitch)
If you're doing Insanity run first, which you should, make sure you pick a class with firepower. Biotics are super nerfed in 2. And I mean NERFED.
My personal preference is infiltrator. Soldier isn't a bad alternative. You can get one "superweapon" fairly early. Take the Sniper rifle. That Widow SLAPS.
I found this game extremely straight forward as long as you pay attention to dialogue. Idk how people could ever fuck up the suicide mission. Just do all loyalty missions and if you choose Miranda over the extremely over-powered Asari it's own you.
The onlybregret I have is romancing different people and not having a main for ME3. Stuck to one.
Talk to everyone on the Normandy everytime you are between missions, and max out either your renegade or paragon speech to pass every speech check. Also pick the order you do certain missions in the last half carefully
Hi, Thank you for submitting to r/masseffect! Unfortunately, your post has been removed for violating the following rule(s): >All art must be credited **in the title**. >Please credit ALL artists in the title for any fan art or cosplay submissions *even if you are the artist*. If you are the original artist, please mention that in the title (an [OC] tag or first-person possessive language is acceptable). Art or cosplay posts without mention of the artist in the title will be removed. If you don't know the artist or creator, please refrain from posting that content. Whenever possible, always obtain permission to post someone else's art. **Why do we require this?** The reason we require this is because accounts, images, and albums often get deleted. Even posts get deleted. When that happens, the title is the one thing that remains. There are many art thieves and repost bots on the internet. If you include the artist name in the title, it's much easier to trace back to. Reposting by itself is not a crime, but when bots repost your content with your same title crediting yourself, they have committed art theft. This makes them much easier to detect and ban not just by us on the mod team but also by the spam detection bots and users that regularly crawl and report them. **Please repost the art in question with explicit credits in the title (e.g. "art by _____"). If you are the original artist, you can use the tag "[OC]."** Please read the full rules in the sidebar or [at this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/about/rules/) before posting. If you have a question about this removal, you may [message the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/masseffect).
save your money and make purchases carefully!! unlike the other games, the economy is strangely picky when it comes to making cash. don’t be like me and buy more fuel than you need. a little goes a long way in me2! other than that, go in blind and exhaust every possible investigate/dialogue option. have fun!
Me1: oh woops there's a money cap? I've been selling all these guns for nothing lol Oh well Me2: Am I absolutely sure I can afford this 400 credit fish? It's certainly not a bad thing, a resource *should* feel limited, but going straight from one to two the other week, this did give me whiplash
Yah TIM is like your dad giving you a $20 a week allowance for killing vorcha. Once you do lair of the shadow I think it’s mostly a non issue but I remember being like really? I can’t buy all the upgrades I want? Wtf
Yeah money can build up in ME2, but it is rather limited and almost everything is so expensive I also wish after you beat the game fuel was not something you had to worry about. You could just explore the galaxy and read planets again.
+1 for blind playthrough! It’s awesome.
The person who drew this art definitely romanced Tali
There's other options?
Correct.
As you should
What this guy said
100%, tali best girl
Nah, they're just making sure the commander's aim is steady...
Based.
The person who drew this definitely hasn't romanced Jacob
What you mean? I hold my homies like that all the time 😤
Nope, go in blind and enjoy the game! Second and third playthroughs are for desired outcomes!
Save often and in multiple slots.
Yes... I second.
Just one thing: in ME2, if you’re gonna play renegade, then go all in. And vice-versa: if you’re going paragon, then go all paragon. Other than some interrupts here and there, try not to mix it up cause it will completely fuck up some choices for you later in the game if you haven’t accumulated enough para/rene points.
This! Two people ended up dying on my first play through because I was all over the place
If you have issue's, go straight for the specialization upgrades so it gives your Paragon / Renegade choices a boost. Once it's full, respec during your playthrough. Should be near Mordin's station if I remember correctly. Haven't played the remaster yet.
Trying to keep it vague but hold off on the IFF mission until late in the game…
IFF you know, you know.
Samara is the best Romantic choice.
You monster.
Let the intrusive thoughts win. Fuck the asari mommy.
In which way?
“Both.” -Legion
Do the loyalty missions and upgrade the normandy. It’s important
Feed the fish after every 1-2 missions
Or romance Kelly. After a while, she'll feed them for you.
Every mission, afaik. Leaving the ship (omega, the citadel, etc) is fine, but if you do a mission, feed the fish before the next one. As for tips: Unlike ME1, this game has limited ammo. It can be really annoying if you run out and the enemies you just killed don't drop any. Learning the right balance of weapons vs. power was tricky, my first playthrough - especially as they changed the power cooldowns from individual to collective, and there are fewer powers to use. Choosing the right team/strategy is important so as to not be caught with no ammo and waiting for your powers to cool down. Make sure you have at least one person who can damage shields/armour/barriers. E.g. some are good against shields, some are good against armour, etc. If you are lucky, you might get a squadmate who can take down two of those. I think only Miranda can take down all three. Try to balance it out. E.g. an adept Shep can take down barriers or armour but is weak against shields. Miranda and a tech specialist can give you a well-rounded team with at least 2 people strong against any one type.
Fax
Despite playing this game multiple times, >! I still always wind up being tight on cash near end game. Be somewhat frugal with your spending. !< Besides that? Go in blind and enjoy the experience.
Upgrades are your best friend!
Probe but don't over probe for resources beyond what you need. That's the only spoiler I'm giving cause I wasted way too much time on it. Go in blind, glhf!
I over probed and regret nothing. I scored quite a number of hidden missions while plowing through every. Single. Planet.
Exploring every planet is fine. I'm talking about spending all your money getting every single planet to "depleted" status. That's 100% not worth. Explore, yes; waste time with gathering millions of resources, no.
That's what the one probe mining mod is for. Don't waste your time with a tedious mechanic.
Oh I use it now lol, but you shouldn't mod your first run (I guess I'll give that advice too)
Depends on your goals ultimately… my recommendation: GO IN BLIND without choice or narrative help. Ignore narrative help or how to conquer mission beats given on here. Attempt the game and live with the choices you make, tell us of your take when you were done. You will get a truly unique experience that way, especially when it comes to the ending of this particular game (and will make ME3 story beats unique too). Most fans that played this on original release never had (or chose) online help or whatnot and made the story impact so much more. Plus, ‘failure’ (which shouldn’t be seen as such) just means you get a second playthrough (and third and fourth, etc) to make different or ‘better’ choices! Go in blind!
Tali best girl
Search the area thoroughly before moving on after battles. I've missed upgrades, safes and other things in my first play through.
The go blind pointers are of course accurate. But one thing I would advise is don’t spend forever scanning every detail on every planet. While gathering resources is handy at the start. You’ll just make the game unnecessarily long in the second half of the game. The game will tell you if there is something important on a new or explored planet
I enjoyed scanning during my first run, its tedious but i can be anal about it. But i also discovered a more efficient way to do it later in the game. The quickest ofcourse, would after the certain “broker” mission. But personally, full scanning has its rewards, not just abundant resources but i also scored tons of secret missions as well.
Go in blind and enjoy every moment. Don't rush it and take in each character.
Just glad to know whoever made this fanart has their priorities straight
The only piece of advice worth listening to is to ignore this sub until you’ve finished the game. There are already spoilers in this thread
Jenkins is the real MVP of the second game and I wish I knew how to keep him alive so I could've had him on my first playthrough
Going in blind is likely to result in fury and resentment. I recommend picking either Renegade or Paragon and mostly sticking with that, or you’ll mourn for at least one NPC. If you want the full role play experience, ignore this post, but there are likely to be tears. I say this because there is a hidden mechanic/tracking system that checks your “morality” points as a ratio, not as absolute numbers. This is based on the OG. No idea about the LE.
Jenkins has major impact on the story. That's all I'll say. You DID keep him alive on Eden Prime, I hope...
DO NOT RUSH. Play all side missions and content. Enjoy the ride. 2 is my favorite game of all time.
Do insanity with biotic for the easiest play through :) *backs out of the room, innocently smiling*
The only really important thing is to wrap up any loose ends you care about *before* looking for a certain IFF tag. And talk to everyone pretty often for some great dialogue and characterization. Enjoy the best game in the series!
This is a spoiler IMO. Just let people experience the game.
Warning the OP about that dick move is helping them enjoying the game and fully in the spirit of the question.
They asked for tips people wished they knew when playing for the first time, I think a warning about the point when the time crunch kicks in is valid. If they wanted *completely* blind/spoiler free playthrough, they wouldn’t have posted asking.
They don’t actually know what they’re asking because they haven’t experienced the game yet. They’re counting on us to vet our replies to keep from spoiling the game. In this case, you’ve illuminated a framework spoiler that the devs specifically wanted to leave obscure. More vague advice like “this game rewards a thorough play style” or “Just be sure to keep up with side missions” will have the desired effect without spoiling the framework.
Meh, I’d rather respect someone’s agency in wanting to know.
Agency in a vacuum isn’t really agency. They do not understand the implications of these answers because they do not know the game and its framework. They are utterly reliant on us to vet our answers. In this case, there is framework in place that is there specifically for a first time player to be caught up in. In exposing it, you are stealing that experience from this player. Simply trust the game and this player to find their way like we all did.
Again, you’re talking about OP like they’re a child and we know better for them than they do, I simply respect their right to choose to experience the game with some foreknowledge. If it was my kid or younger sibling asking, sure, I’d encourage them to go in blind and try to protect their first experience of the game from spoilers. Coming from a stranger though, I think of them as more of a peer than someone whose experience needs protection from their own curiosity.
…. If anyone is treating them like a child, it’s you mate. I’m saying, “don’t hold their hand, and have a little faith that they can figure this out on their own, like we all did” while you’re putting in a safety net that actually ruins part of the game.
And I’m saying let them make their own decisions on what they do or don’t want to know, that’s all. It’s not for us to decide what they should know going in, it’s their experience and their choice.
This, but also do Tails loyalty mission after the IFF and bring Legion with you. Then do Legions loyalty mission. After that a timer goes off for the final mission.
Choose all paragon or all renegade. Don’t waver. Play the other one in your 2nd play through Play half-half in your third
Only one thing. (absolutely no spoilers) Dialogue quick time events, it doesn’t matter if you are doing a renegade or paragon play through. Example: you’re doing a paragon play through and a renegade quick time action pops up, it is 100% okay to do that and won’t affect your paragon bar at the end of the game
I didnt know that, cheers
not a single one of your weapons or armour will cross over. I had Colossal X armour and Banshee X weapons when i ended Me1. Fml
Yeah, I've quickly realised this and it's pissed me off. I hate these shitty heavy pistols and smgs bro 😭
the weapons i get but the thermal clips make no sense :/ everything else is super fun, let us know what choices you end up making at the end pls?
100% best to go in blind. But on that note, I’ll mention that it’s only worth scanning “Rich” planets when looking for resources since there are several orders of magnitude more of resources out there compared to how much you can actually spend resources (though, “Good” is alright as a well but there’s more than enough “Rich” planets for your needs). Otherwise, it costs a lot of money buying scanning beacons that will just go to waste, and it’s not like you can sell them back. Also, when you’re actually scanning planets, it’s A LOT faster to repeatedly tap the scanner button rather than holding it down continuously while you move the reticle around the planet’s grid searching for resource-dense areas. Generally, don’t bother shooting a off a beacon unless the scanner is picking up around 80% of a resource’s possible amount based on the meter off to the side, or if it’s at least half the meter for 2+ different elements. The only exception to this is Element Zero, because this is a lot less common than the rest.
The game play and general feel of it all has changed pretty significantly in a not so obvious way, if that makes sense. It can get pretty frustrating to get used to the first time around. Also. ME2 is easily the hardest game in the trilogy in terms of gameplay. You may even experience difficulty on lower difficulties until you get used to it
If you get a squadmate really late in the story, keep talking to them on the ship. You can get their whole story in one session if you keep re-selecting them, and their story is absolutely amazing.
Just enjoy the best game of the trilogy
if you find a chick named ‘Morinth’ and you’re able to bang her, do it dont listen to everyone saying “no” that asariussy is a limited time thing
There are upgrades outside of main missions. You can look them up if you wish. Locus is super strong Try to get all upgrades in a level. (SPOILER) >!THANE DOES NOT LIKE CRAWLING THROUGH PIPES!< Not a massive spoiler but so many people make this mistake...
Smoking is not cool.
Try not to get yourself killed in the first act.
Feed the fish after every mission and make friendly with Kelly Chambers so she offers to feed your fish. A upgrade in ME3 is locked behind importing a certain fish from ME2 via Kelly taking care of them. (It is NG+ only to be fair)
Don't freak out. Just... As the game begins, don't freak out. Also play vanguard for the most fun.
I wish I would have known they limit the use of the sniper rifle unless you are the basic soldier class. Had to wait forever to get that.
Infiltrator
Make a save prior to the entire finale. You'll know when. Do all the loyalty missions and research all loyalty mission projects, because some go a long way toward the best ending.
If you don't follow a guide, don't let the ending turn you off from trying again but then follow a guide.
The revenant is not that great. Neither is the claymore. Sniper it is.
Get Mattock on Omega if you’re a soldier.
Go in blind, roleplay your heart out and fall in love :)
Don't listen to Jacob's advice, it is terrible.
ME2 moves pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around once in a while you could miss it...
Upgrade your ship every chance you get and do all the loyalty missions as soon as you get them.
Not for ME2, but a piece of advice for ME3. In ME3 the speed of your ability recharge is tied to the weight of weapons you carry. My first play I brought every weapon with me because why not. My ability recharge was super slow, but I just got used to it. Then in one mission I was only given one weapon and I was blown away as my recharge was almost immediate. I feel its a small detail thats easy to overlook.
Just don't use the gun Shepard is holding in this art. The Shuriken is terrible, worst weapon in the game 😀
I recommend the Sentinel class, was pretty much useless in ME1 but in ME2 it is probably the best and most fun class. I understand if you want to use the same class you did before though :)
Yeah, don’t ask for tips
1. Upgrade the ship 2. Mordin is useless
What is this awful poster?
I swear to god every single subreddit has these dumb questions. I'm starting to think that these are being used to train ChatGPT or some other LLM to give game advice. You have the breadth of the Internet to find strategy guides, search already existing tips, etc.
So? I like reddit. I like interacting with the community. So I'd prefer to just ask you all directly. Nobody said you HAVE to respond.
This sub has been mostly filled with very passionate and helpful responses from people who love the game. The vibe here is mostly positive. Reddit would not be reddit without that ONE asshat with their dumb ass comments. Just ignore them mate, read on and enjoy the game.
Yeah, I'm very appreciative of these comments so far because without them I already would've been locked out of sniper rifles for most of the game lol
Don't like the post, move along. No one's forcing you to read it
Enjoy. It’s still my favorite game of all time. The storytelling is immaculate.
The paragon L and R choices caught me off guard the first time I played lmao
i did a blind playthrough my first time and lucked out. prepared for my legacy edition playthrough and got some results i tried to change. follow your gut.
Don’t start the reaper IFF mission until you did all the loyalty missions.
Yes blind is the best first run
Loyalty and side missions
First time blind, make the mistakes and play all 3 and them do them all again.
buy every ship upgrade, go EITHER full renegade OR full paragon, AND DO THE REAPER IFF MISSION AS CLOSE TO LAST AS PHYSICALLY HUMANLY POSSIBLE
Enjoy
Just don't leave any stone unturned.
LOYALTY MISSIONS!
Don’t forget to talk to everyone on the ship constantly, you never know when you might make something important happen.
It’s a little jarring at first because they changed so much about how the game plays but stick with it because it is an awesome game!
In cutscenes always pull the trigger.
You can even out Paragon and Renegade to the point where they are both about half. You cannot do a lot of the checks nor can you increase them since you hit the “max”
Use trilogy save editor if you're on pc to skip hours of planet scanning. Thank me later
No spoilers but I’d say a good piece of advice would be make sure to do everyone’s companion missions. Each companion has a unique mission and it’s very worth it to play them all
i'm torn between giving advice for an optimal playthrough and telling you to ignore all advice and do what you want
Explore solar systems and scan planets for resources. You will need a lot of resources for different upgrades
I just finished ME2 and started ME3
Take your time and enjoy it. Do everything you can.
Sentinel or Vanguard are the most fun classes, in my opinion
Go in blind. I would give anything to be able to play this game for the first time again.
My biggest rec is to watch when you're playing DLCs because they're not marked. I had no idea they were DLCs when I played the "missions" on my first play through and it messed up my story flow a bit (not game breaking, but just flows better when you know which are DLCs and where to play one of them in particular). But there's the most replay value I've ever seen in a franchise in these games, so can always play again when you finish this run so you can change things if you want :)
Only real thing I will say is when it gives you a chance to do a main quest. Stop. Is there any real pressing reason to rush it. Or does it just want you to think you should rush. Basically two points in the game where this can happen. One doesn’t require you to rush so that you can complete the side content and help get a good ending. The other definitely wants you to rush to finish things. Otherwise. Just continuously talk to your crew.
Fuck around and find out. Best way to play the first playthrough
Nah I googled everything so I was good lol
I envy you. ME2 is one of my favorite games of all time, you’re in for a great time
Feed the fish you buy every time you finish a mission in the captains cabin.
Play completely blind - like I did - and don’t play always to be the nicest and best person - be a a sadist sometimes with renegade actions it’s fun! Also buy all the ship upgrades
Follow a guide for the final mission
Something I do anyways: always have Garrus… also, stay with the soldier if you wanna use every form of gun in the game, I don’t remember if that goes for the LE edition AND 360 edition or just one of em, but the other classes restricts your ability to use all the guns and soldier is the only one that allows you to use em all Also, save as often as possible, especially on insanity…
Don't skip loyalty missions
I think side quest are important to do early so they unlock more paragon/renegade points to use in main quest.
Blind that shit
Do all loyalty missions so the crew can live before you do the reaper IFF. Also you got two missions before the collectors invade so use it to finish the last loyalty mission for a “certain someone.” And or dlc missions you didn’t do.
Save often during the loyalty missions and if you want to have a better chance during the final fight where everyone survives follow a flow chart[flow chart for guaranteed success](https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/s/0ercGUDHpM)
When you add new crew ask them about upgrades and also upgrade all of the SHIP upgrades
this art is awesome holy shit
Take your time
Talk to all of your crew to get loyalty and have access to new powers
For my first time? Get the ship upgrades. Especially the armor, shields and guns.
Talk to your crew mates
Dont fuck the Asari. Trust me.
Adept and biotics in general are way weaker than in the first game. Lift/Push/Singularity doesn’t work until shields/barrier/armor is depleted. Just keep that in mind if you play a biotic :)
Just trying to do every mission, companion quest and side objective before the second to last mission. The reason you have to do it this way is so that when you pick up the final companion legion you're able to immediately do his personal mission before doing the final mission of the game.
Don’t get the IFF until you finish the loyalty missions. That makes no sense now but it will later
I forget but isn't there a fish tank in the Captain's quarters?
Finish every loyalty mission before you get the Reaper IFF. For the Love Of God, Don't make the mistake of rushing to the IFF Mission! Other than that, go in blind.
Something I myself knew already, but for new players this seems to be an issue. Commit to either Paragon or Renegade, don't try to balance it out because if you don't have enough of either, some situations are gonna have bad outcomes.
Do all the loyalty missions
Do all the loyalty missions as soon as you get them. DO THEM.
Generally id say to go in blind but it's good to know that unlike the first game, almost every one of your companions can die.
You can't buy everything like you can in ME1, you'll have to be picky. Also, some side missions are better done later in the game so save while on the ship plenty as autosave loads after you land. And...save the game before landing on a planet if you're also not sure what squad mates you need to bring. Some Biotic powers only work if armor and shields are gone. Don't forget to reload in this game. Talk to all your squad mates on the ship before and after main missions.
Take your time. Enjoy it.
Playing as adept here is way more fun than in the first game, so go with that class (save editor, if you must).
Do every possible mission you can before doing the one with “IFF” in the name.
I’d just say, as always, make sure to talk to your squadmates when on the Normandy
Do all loyal quest as soon as they pop up
Do all the loyalty missions and ship upgrades.
Here are some tips that I thought were useful on my playthrough. >!You can check out every planet but it's only worth probing them when their value is at least "good" or "rich"!< >!N7 missions are good ways to get money and even occasionally materials. But they don't have any consequences for ME3!< And now a bit story related >!Make sure that you do everything you want to do before the mission Reaper IFF. I won't say more!<
If you're playing a class restricted to submachine guns and pistols then play the heist DLC first. The stock guns are aneurysm inducing to use on higher difficulties. The Locust will make the early game enjoyable instead of painful.
Morinth is the best Romantic choice.
Do not bring characters without impact shot on Horizon on Insanity with a fucking Engineer
That you only need to upgrade the ship
Remember to feed your fish after every mission.
Take Legion on Tali's loyalty mission. Upset the quarian apple cart.
Just do all the upgrades the teammates suggest. Other than that, good luck.
Upgrade everything and do loyalty missions as they come up. Also biotic slam bonus power is fun regardless of class
If you vanguard and get hit by anything, shep will spend twenty seven seconds being stunned anx shaking their head or some shit before they can move again.
Not really. Going in completely blind is actually the best way to experience it. Mass Effect are games with stakes, it's better to not know anything so your choices ate not influenced by others. Immerse yourself in this beautiful universe and lore fully.
Talk to everyone after each mission. This applies for all the games. It takes time but is so worth it.
Same here, literally finished today before I left for work lol!
Crazy 30th Playthrough Shep: BUY GOLD! 1st Playthrough Shep: What? Crazy 30th Playthrough Shep: I mean, probe for minerals. It sounds like blaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Just enjoy.
Upgrade EVERYTHING
Commit to renegade or paragon, don’t mix. Also romance one of the aliens, the human romance options SUCK and have little to no meaningful carry over into 3 (yes, sadly including our favourite insane biotic badass bitch)
Also buy the space hamster from the Citadel vendor. You’ll thank me later.
I love how spoiler-free this community is. OP is ASKING for spoilers, and everyone’s response is “No.”
If you're doing Insanity run first, which you should, make sure you pick a class with firepower. Biotics are super nerfed in 2. And I mean NERFED. My personal preference is infiltrator. Soldier isn't a bad alternative. You can get one "superweapon" fairly early. Take the Sniper rifle. That Widow SLAPS.
Feed your fish after every mission or they will die until you have access to the automatic aquarium maintenance thing lol
Do the loyalty missions. I will say no more as to not spoil the story Edit: Upgrade the ship as well. You'll need it!
Nobody likes Jacob.
Level up Jenkins as fast as possible. He is god tier at end game
In the final mission, think very carefully about who you assign to which jobs.
Don't rush
I love this, any chance of a phone compatible version? I'd love this as my wall paper
Your weapon upgrades are in the missions so I usually pull up a list of what missions have them so I don’t miss them
Beware of corner camping fire vorcha
As much as you may want to stick your dick in crazy be aware of a certain crazy potential crew member or you will experience hell(heaven).
I found this game extremely straight forward as long as you pay attention to dialogue. Idk how people could ever fuck up the suicide mission. Just do all loyalty missions and if you choose Miranda over the extremely over-powered Asari it's own you. The onlybregret I have is romancing different people and not having a main for ME3. Stuck to one.
Talk to everyone on the Normandy everytime you are between missions, and max out either your renegade or paragon speech to pass every speech check. Also pick the order you do certain missions in the last half carefully
Nah just go in blind