Intergalactic Guide to Success as a Spectre

Mass Effect™ is a sweeping, epic game that spans dozens of unique hours of role-playing action. What's an unseasoned Commander Shepard to do when tasked with unraveling the mystery surrounding the insidious rogue agent Saren and his nefarious plans to exterminate humanity? Read the following tips. They should put you on the path to Spectre-hood and help father success through all of the game.

Wrex is no nonsense, and he's not afraid to use that shotgun.

Party Balance
There are three basic power categories in Mass Effect: Combat, Tech, and Biotics. A balanced party is usually a victorious party, as you have access to abilities all across the power spectrum. Avoid stacking too many characters with the same skill sets. For example, if you play a Soldier, the Combat-only Ashley Williams may not be the best choice to accompany you on missions. Likewise, if you're an Adept, the Biotics-focused Liara will overlap your own specialized abilities.

Total Control
The variety of tactical choices during combat in Mass Effect is simply staggering, and taking control of your combat choices can be effective. Head into the Gameplay menu under Options, and set Squad Power Usage to Disabled or Defensive Only. This way, your allies won't use any offensive abilities without your say-so, allowing you to mix and match special abilities, such as which enemy to place in Stasis and where to place Singularity, at your own discretion.

Charm or Intimidate
Keep your wits about you throughout Mass Effect to resolve disputes, extract information from sources, and even earn discounts at the various intergalactic vendors. Accomplish this through either the diplomatic solution of the Charm skill, or Intimidate. Make sure you stack points into either skill from the early going, but not both.

Unless you really want to have all manner of dialogue options, the Charm and Intimidate skills largely accomplish the same goals. Putting points in both is just wasting skill points that could otherwise be put to better use.

It's worth your time to explore obscure systems and planets.

Vital Skills
Every skill and power in Mass Effect has its place, but like Charm or Intimidate, there are some skills that deserve higher priority. Consider spending extra points on the following skills, especially early in the game:

• First Aid: There's nothing quite as demoralizing as using a med-kit, only to replenish just a fraction of your health. It may not be glamorous, but a top notch First Aid skill will save you from countless defeats.
• Decryption: Scattered throughout nearly every area are locked crates, lockers, canisters and boxes, but without a high enough Decryption skill, their bountiful gifts will never be known. Whether it's your main character, or the tech-savvy Garrus, Tali'Zorah or Kaidan, keep at least one decryption skill well stacked.
• Electronics: Similar to Decryption, Electronics allows you to salvage parts from wrecked spacecraft or equipment, so make sure at least one character maintains a consistently high rank in the skill.
• Stasis: This ability allows you to essentially paralyze an enemy for a period of time determined by your rank in the skill, eliminating them from combat for the duration of the ability. This is especially essential during "boss" encounters, with a single powerful enemy surrounded by lower-level opponents. Use Stasis on the boss to clear away the bodyguards, and you can ease the challenge of an encounter in a hurry.

Avoid overlapping skill specialization when possible. If you have two weapon-oriented characters for example, consider specializing in the Assault Rifle with one and the Shotgun with the other.

Hope your aim is good. These Geth fly all over the place.

Exploding Barrels
Everyone loves exploding barrels, a traditional shooter cliché. But these exploding canisters offer a bit more depth than your typical game. Shoot one canister and it may just explode, but shoot a cryo-based canister and it will do damage, and maybe even freeze your opponent. Likewise, a toxin-filled canister will infect the target, damaging them over time.

Whatever the case, if you spot an exploding canister, try to lure the enemies near, and then blast away to unleash the contents of the barrel.

Upgrade Swap
Each unique area usually boasts a consistent enemy type. Eden Prime for example is filled with synthetic Geth, while Noveria is teeming with the toxic Rachni. Make sure to utilize weapon upgrades that best suit your enemies at the time. It's easy to forget, but slotting in Tungsten rounds (+30% damage to synthetics) when fighting Geth makes an enormous difference. To that end, don't sell off too many upgrades. You should always have your bases covered.

Use logic also when considering which non-ammunition upgrades to use. For example, using the Kinetic Stabilizer (+18% weapon stability) can go a long, long way towards solving an assault rifle's recoil, whereas using it on the single-shot sniper rifle makes no sense at all.

Deep Exploration
Exploring out-of-the-way planets is a large part of Mass Effect as you survey rare minerals, uncover lost artifacts and unearth unique side-plots and storylines. Just because there are only a few map markers highlighted when you land, don't stint on exploration.

These initial markers represent just an initial scan, and often don't spot everything. Take the time to roam around, especially to sections of map with no markers at all. You might be surprised at what you find.

Dialogue Flow
While it will not affect the outcome of the game or your success within the game in the slightest, it's worth suggesting that you use the dialogue wheel within just a second or two of its popping up. So much of Mass Effect's drama and tension comes from believable, naturally flowing conversations, and you can help these along by selecting a response before a character has finished speaking. It may be a small thing, but it goes a long way towards creating a more believable dramatic experience. It also has the benefit of making you trust your gut reaction and having to live, rightly so, with the consequences.

That's it for the basics. You're ready to save the fate of humanity from the designs of Saren. See you in space.

Article by Ryan Treit