Tips and Tricks: Mass Effect Beginner Tips

Master Mass Effect: Legendary Edition with our beginner tips! Learn about bonus talents, earning credits, essential licenses, and unlocking Spectre weapons for a powerful start.

This guide provides essential tips and tricks for beginners playing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (ME1), covering how to unlock bonus talents, earn credits efficiently, choose the best licenses, and acquire powerful Spectre weapons.

How to Unlock Bonus Talents?

Bonus Talents are unlocked by repeatedly using talents and their related abilities. One Bonus Talent can be assigned to Shepard during character creation, but you must unlock them first. To create the most powerful Shepard, it's recommended to grind out the requirements for Bonus Talents and then start a new character. The Legendary Edition makes farming these easier, as commanding companions to use their abilities now counts towards unlocking Bonus Talents (uncommanded uses do not count). Weapon talents are now unlocked by completing the game once and are less necessary due to improved base weapon proficiency in the Legendary Edition.

How to Earn Credits - Fast!

The best approach to earning credits is to not actively worry about it, as credits scale with your level. Higher levels yield better drops and quest rewards. Since most items scale with your level, purchased gear quickly becomes obsolete. It's advised to spend as little as possible, sell unwanted gear instead of dismantling it (except for low-tier items), and save up a few hundred thousand credits to purchase your desired Spectre weapon. Frugality will allow you to acquire the best weapons sooner, and you'll find sufficient gear while waiting.

Which Licences to Buy?

While generally saving money is recommended, licenses are a key exception. Purchasing licenses expands merchant inventory with new weapons, armor, biotic amps, and omni-tools. However, some licenses are detrimental, leading to more junk items in shops. To optimize your shopping experience, purchase only the following licenses:

To buy licenses from Commander Rentola, you must first rescue Captain Kirrahe on Virmire.

How to Unlock Spectre Weapons?

After becoming a Spectre (near the end of your first Citadel visit), Spectre weapons can be purchased from the C-Sec Requisitions Officer in the C-Sec Academy (Citadel) or the Normandy Requisitions Officer on the Normandy. Initially, only VII-tier weapons are available, with X-tier weapons unlocking as you progress through the main story. Spectre weapons are significantly more powerful than most other gear, making it worthwhile to save credits for them.

Getting Merchants to Sell You the Gear You Want

The easiest way to acquire the best gear is often by purchasing it, with the Normandy Requisitions Officer being a prime source (provided you have the necessary licenses). After obtaining desired licenses, save your game near the Normandy Requisitions Officer and check his stock. If the desired items are not available, reload your save and try again. Saving after checking his stock will lock it, so ensure you save before interacting with him. If save/loading doesn't yield results, you may need to travel to another planet and return to the Citadel, then board the Normandy again to refresh his stock. Repeat the save/load process until you find what you need.