Achievement Guide and Road Map

[Sirius]

- Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10
- Approximate time: 35-80 Hours
- Offline: 1000 

- Online: 15 (DLC)

- Missable Achievements: 16 – Loyalty and Suicide Mission survival Achievements, Big Game Hunter, Friend or Foe, Master at Arms
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 (2 if you haven’t played Mass Effect 1)
- Avatar Awards: 0

- Glitched achievements: 0

- Cheats: 0
- Does difficulty affect achievements?: Only 'Insanity'

Introduction:
Carrying on the previous story of Mass Effect and Shepard’s mission to prevent the return of the Reapers, you will encounter a vast, immersive world of new environments and characters.

If you have played through Mass Effect and completed the game at a respectable level and have a good amount of completed quests, be sure to import your character into Mass Effect 2 to enjoy the rewards.

Breakdown:
There are several achievements, which are very easy to miss out on, based around the ally (loyalty) missions. There are also several weapon and biotic achievements which are easy to miss. It is possible to get all the achievements in one playthrough by starting with an imported Shepard and playing on insanity, but that would be making things very difficult for yourself. For the sake of this walkthrough, it is suggested you start on casual, normal, or veteran. The achievements are a bit easier this time around, and you can expect to get 600-925(max if you import) gamerscore your first time through if you don’t play on insanity.

Loyalty Missions:
Once you recruit a new squad member you will find out each one will need help at some point through out the story. You can ignore these missions if you like but you will be better off if you complete them. You can either talk to Kelly Chambers (located to the right of the galaxy map) or the crew as you wander around the ship. Make sure to talk to all squad members after each main or side mission.

Importing Your Save:
When you first start up a new playthrough, there will be an option to import a Mass Effect 1 save. Make sure you have one on your hard drive or memory unit in order for this to work. It will take into consideration: your major plot decisions, certain side mission decisions, and depending on your level, you will start out with more resources and a higher level (max level 5 if you were a 60 in ME1.) You will also get the achievement ‘Long Service Medal’ in only one playthrough using an imported character.

Playthrough 1: Normal
The bulk of your achievement will be earned through playing on Normal. By the time you finish the game you should be around level 26 which will carry over into your second playthrough.

All weapon and biotic achievements can be done within this playthrough, you don't need to directly use the biotics. If you keep two biotic squad members you can use their powers to earn the achievements.

You will want make sure you enter the Omega 4 Relay with the majority of your squad loyal by completing their respective loyalty missions. Please read the guide for more information on these missions. Finding minerals and researching specific upgrades is also a key part of surviving the finale. You will also want to build a relationship with either male or female characters depending on your own Shepard’s gender.

Most achievements will come naturally while playing through the story missions.

Playthrough 2: Insanity
Before you start playing through on insanity you should have completed at least one playthrough of the game to level up. Starting on this skill won't benefit you in any way, as you won't be strong enough to take on most tasks, and it can get quite frustrating. Doing a second playthrough is also useful, as you will start with 200,000 credits and 50,000 of each resource, which will help you get upgrades quicker.

At this point you shouldn't have to do much apart from continue the story and collect your last few achievements if you missed any on your first playthrough.

Clean-up:
Assuming you survived the suicide mission, you can play after the credits. If you missed any weapon/power/side-mission achievements, you might be able to get them by exploring planets and doing any N7 missions you may have missed. Partial playthroughs may be required if you are unsuccessful with this.

Conclusion:
Depending on how you have played the game you should find most of the achievements fairly straightforward but will require careful decisions to avoid several playthroughs. You shouldn’t have too much difficulty, aside from your insanity playthrough, which is quite challenging compared to last time. Good luck on your suicide mission!

[Sirius]

Missing in Action - 5
Save your crew from an overwhelming attack

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

Complete the intro sequence on the Normandy and this will unlock.


Very Elusive - 10
Return to active duty

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

This will unlock after your first meeting with the Illusive Man.


The Convict - 10
Successfully recruit the biotic Convict

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

See “The Assassin”


The Krogan - 10
Successfully recruit the krogan

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

See “The Assassin”


The Archangel - 10
Successfully recruit Archangel

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

See “The Assassin”


The Professor - 10
Successfully recruit the Professor

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

See “The Assassin”


The Quarian - 10
Successfully recruit the quarian

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

See “The Assassin”


The Justicar - 10
Successfully recruit the Justicar

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

See “The Assassin”


The Assassin - 10
Successfully recruit the Assassin

These achievements are story related. You will be given two dossiers, which contain all the locations of each crewmember.

Meeting the Illusive Man Part 1:
After your first meeting with the Illusive Man, he will give you dossiers on recruitable squad members. The game recommends you go to Omega first for Mordin Solus and Garrus, but you can do them in whatever order you wish. When you reach the planet with a squad member and land, you will get a mission. You will recruit the squad member upon its completion and the achievement will unlock.

Note: The Krogan achievement will not unlock at the end of the mission like the others. It will unlock when you go into the cargo hold and free Grunt from the tank.

Meeting the Illusive Man Part 2
After meeting the Illusive Man for the second time (after completing Horizon), you will receive the dossiers for the last group of recruitable squad members. You can recruit them in any order you wish.


Friend or Foe - 10
Obtain geth technology

At the end of the mission on the Reaper to collect the IFF, you will meet Legion and will have the option of giving him to Cerberus or taking him back onto the Normandy. Take him back to the Normandy and the achievement will unlock. He will be in the A.I. Core behind the Medical Bay.

[Sirius]

Colony Defense - 25
Defend a human colony from attack

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

You will receive this mission from The Illusive Man after recruiting the first four squad members (excluding Jacob and Miranda). Complete the mission and the achievement will unlock.


The Prodigal - 10
Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Officer

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”


Ghost of the Father - 10
Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Operative

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”


Catharsis - 10
Gain the loyalty of the biotic Convict

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”


Battlemaster - 10
Gain the loyalty of the krogan

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”


Fade Away - 10
Gain the loyalty of Archangel

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”

Note: If you don’t let Garrus shoot Sidonis and you don’t have sufficient alignment to rectify the situation, he will not become loyal to you and you will not get the achievement.

The Cure - 10
Gain the loyalty of the Professor

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”


Treason - 10
Gain the loyalty of the quarian

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”

Note: If you turn in the evidence and expose Tali’s father, she will not become loyal to you and you will not get the achievement.

Doppelganger - 10
Help the Justicar resolve her mission

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”

Note: This is actually quite a frustrating mission if you don’t know how to do it correctly. If you fail to catch Morinth or you kill Samara instead of Morinth (requires sufficient alignment to have the option for this), Samara will not become loyal and you will not get the achievement.

Morinth:
The part that most people find challenging is actually getting Morinth to take you back to her apartment. To do this, you must select the correct dialogue options. Most of them are located on the bottom left of the dialogue wheel. Once you enter the VIP area, talk to the guy directly on your left. He will give you some info that you will use while talking with Morinth.

Correct Dialogue Options:
Art – Vaenia
Music – Expel 10
Drugs – Like Hallex?
Travel – I like danger.
Power – Power is its own reward.


Cat's in the Cradle - 10
Gain the loyalty of the Assassin

By repeated conversations with your squad members on the Normandy (in-between missions), they will eventually come to you for help about a certain situation. Agree and offer to give them help, and you will be given their loyalty mission. Next time you visit the galaxy map, it will show you where to go for each loyalty mission you have (a little note will pop up, EX: “Help Thane”).

Thane’s loyalty mission is another many seem to have difficulty with. There are two key factors in failing:
• If you lose sight of the Turian diplomat, you lose your lead, and you will fail.
• At the end, if you don’t disarm Kolyat and stop the assassination, you will fail.
You can also assassinate the target yourself (Renegade) and still get Thane's loyalty.


A House Divided - 10
Hack a geth collective

See “Cat’s in the Cradle”

Note: You can get Legion’s loyalty mission almost immediately after recruiting him, rather than multiple discussions in between missions.

[Sirius]

Ghost Ship - 25
Complete the investigation of a derelict alien vessel

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.


Suicide Mission - 50
Use the Omega 4 Relay

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

Discover and collect the IFF to gain access to the Omega 4 Relay. You will be prompted with a mission from the Illusive Man to find and collect this item.


Mission Accomplished - 125
Save humanity throughout the galaxy from certain annihilation

This is a story related achievement, which will unlock with natural progression through the game.

Complete the game on any difficulty and this will unlock. If you aren’t to concerned about the side missions on your playthrough keep completing the Illusive Man’s missions.


Against All Odds - 15
Survive suicide mission

See “No One Left Behind” for complete information.

For this achievement, only Commander Shepard has to survive (you will have 2 squad members as well), so the requirements are less strict. But if you’re going to get that achievement, you will get this one as well.


Insanity - 75
Complete the game on the "Insanity" difficulty level without changing the setting

You need to complete the game on Insanity difficulty setting, this may seem fairly straightforward if you have played through the first game but be prepared. This time around you will be tested. It will require planning and patience.

• Level up your character. Make sure to do the side-missions.
• Make good use of cover and all abilities, if you run around in the open you won’t last long. Make sure to use your armor and shield destroying powers.
• Make sure you also upgrade your weapons and armor
• Balance your team; make sure you have a long range and short-range crewmember with you.
• Know your enemy. Learn the attack patterns and weaknesses of your foes, and exploit them to your advantage.

Squad Members:
Miranda is possibly the best squad member to use, as she has both overload and warp to take out barriers and armor, as well as overload to combat shields. Cerberus Operative (passive power) will also boost your squads damage output.

Grunt is another good member to use. He is a damage sponge; packing strong shields and a good amount of health. When you unlock fortification (loyalty power), he gets even better. He also has a good damage output.

Legion has some great synergy with Miranda. When you unlock the researchable sniper rifle for him, he does some great damage. Partnered with Miranda's Cerberus Operative power, he's lethal at long ranges and can rip through armor.

Classes:
The Sentinel and Soldier are the strongest classes to tackle Insanity.

The sentinel is very durable and versatile. It packs both biotic and tech powers, and can take down armor, shields, and barriers. It's tech armor power is an extremely strong shield boost that lasts until destroyed, which will result in an AoE explosion, damaging everything around you, and it also boosts the damage of your other powers. When you hit the higher ranks, you can take a real beating before it breaks. The Defender passive power provides even more survivability by boosting health and it also gives you other bonuses like damage. Overall, it's a very strong class.

Tip: Reave is a good bonus ability for a sentinel. (unlockable or research advanced training). It's like a super-powered warp. It gives you a health boost and does double damage to armor and shields. Another great option is warp ammo, which can really boost your damage output and help take down those pesky barriers and armored enemies.

The soldier is a pure combat focused class. It possesses a high damage output and good survivability. It also has strong combat abilities to boost it's damage and effectiveness; incendiary ammo helps to take down armor, and disruptor ammo is very effective against shields. Concussive shot knocks down enemies and gives you a little breathing room, and adrenaline rush will cause you to go into slow-mo, allowing you to do some real damage unpressured.

Tip: Warp ammo is devastating on a soldier. With the Revenant LMG, you can tear through armor and barriers with it turned on. Research it if you can with advanced training, or use it if you unlocked it and are starting a new playthrough. Another option is to take a defensive power like shield boost, barrier, or fortification, which will greatly improve your survivability.

Should I just blow through the game without doing side-missions?
No, it is suggested that you do the side-missions and mineral grinding. You don't have to do every single quest or survive the suicide mission for the achievement, but you need to keep your weapons and armor upgraded or the enemies will become too difficult for you to take down as the game progresses.

Should I make a new character or import a high level?
You are better off starting a new character imported from a ME1 save, AFTER completing one playthrough of Mass Effect 2. You will get the best of both worlds; ME1 bonus levels, credits, and resources, and for completing ME2 you will get 200,000 credits, plus 50,000 of each resource and a 25% experience bonus.

Importing a high level character will pit the enemies difficulty curve against you. You won't have as many upgrades, and it will be a struggle. Starting a new character will give you some breathing room at the beginning of the game to pick up some upgrades and level up before the curve kicks into high gear.


No One Left Behind - 75
Keep your team alive through the suicide mission

To get this achievement, no one on your squad can die during the final mission.
Here are the general guidelines:

• Get max loyalty with everyone you can by doing their loyalty missions. This will ensure maximum performance from your squad members and they will have their special powers.
• Note: If you lose loyalty with a crewmember due to a conflict, you will need 80-100% alignment to get the dialogue options to make them loyal again.
• Get the following ship upgrades: Hull, Shields & Thanix Cannon. If you don’t so this, you WILL lose squad members.
• Upgrading your teams weapons and shields makes a difference. Upgrade what you can, but you don’t need to get every single one.
• Assign specialists for each job during the final mission. Using the hybrid characters will usually result in the deaths of squad members.
• Don't take anyone not loyal to you into the final battle, as there is a high chance of them dying in the final cutscene.

Jobs and top character choices (you pick one for each):

Tubes - Tali, Legion
1st Squad Leader - Garrus, Miranda
2nd Squad Leader - Garrus, Miranda
Shields - Samara, Jack
Escort - Jacob, Mordin, Grunt

Note: If you don't open the valves in time for whoever is in the tubes, they will die from the heat (they will say how they're doing over the comm, just pay attention).


Long Service Medal - 75
Complete Mass Effect 2 twice, or complete it once with a character imported from Mass Effect 1

This is a story related achievement.

You will have two options with this achievement, either play the game through twice and complete it, or import a previous profile. If you are new to the Mass Effect game series you may be missing out on some back-story but this won’t affect your gameplay.

If you have played Mass Effect previously you will be able to import your old character into your current game. Once you start a new game select Import from the bottom of the ID screen and select your profile.

Note: You must have finished the game, if you are in the middle of a playthrough with a high-level character and do not finish you will only be displayed with the first playthrough information.


Paramour - 50
Successfully pursue a relationship with a teammate

This achievement requires you to take your relationship with one crewmember further than just loyalty. After each mission talk to all the crew and see who is willing to open up to you and become less formal. Once you start to go through the Omega 4 Relay, the romance scene will occur.

Depending on if you are playing as a male or female character you can interact and start a romance with the following characters:

Female Character
• Jacob Taylor
• Thane Krios
• Garrus Vakarian

Male Character
• Miranda Lawson
• Subject Zero
• Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

[Sirius]

Head Hunter - 10
Perform 30 headshot kills with any weapon on humanoid targets

You can do this at the very start of the game when you first meet Jacob. He will explain that he is a biotic and can use his pull ability on enemies. The robots will keep coming through the door until you request his ability so you can keep pulling off headshots until the achievement unlocks or you run out of ammo.

If you miss this infinite loop use the sniper rifle or heavy pistol and pick off enemies from a distance. This is easiest to do on LOKI mechs, as they have low health and lack sufficient protection.


Brawler - 10
Shoot and kill 20 enemies while they're knocked back by a punch

This is easiest done with Husks. You can find a lot of husks on the ‘Horizon’ colony (which is story related) as well as the Reaper while you’re looking for the IFF. Simply run up to them with a shotgun or SMG and melee them with and shoot them as fast as you can. You should see an achievement tracker after each kill.


Big Game Hunter - 10
Thresher Maw defeated

This is missable. On the third part of Grunt’s loyalty mission, you’ll be asked to survive a thresher maw attack for 5 minutes. You must kill it within the timeframe to unlock the achievement. It only has an armor bar, so use heavy weapons and anti-armor powers.


Tactician - 10
Hit 20 different targets with multiple biotic powers to combine the effects

I found the easiest method to obtain this achievement is to hit an enemy with pull. Then, while the enemy is floating, hit it with a warp. An explosion will occur (the combined effect) and the tracker should pop up, saying you added one to the tally. You can use both your own biotic powers and your squad’s biotic powers towards this achievement.


Master at Arms - 15
Kill enemies with 5 different heavy weapons during the game

You need to get a kill with 5 different heavy weapons throughout your playthrough. There are 7 heavy weapons total.

Standard:
• M-100 Grenade Launcher – Picked up as part of the story during the intro mission
• M-77 Missile Launcher – Researchable prototype
• M-622 Avalanche – Researchable prototype
• Collector Particle Beam – Can be picked up during the ‘Horizon’ mission
• M-920 CAIN – Researchable prototype

DLC:
• M-451 Firestorm – Can be picked up during the Zaeed loyalty mission
• M-490 Blackstorm Projector – GameStop preorder reward


Merciless - 10
Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire

The best way to earn this achievement is to use incendiary ammo/incinerate as well as biotic powers that lift people into the air or knock them off ledges, such as pull, throw, and slam. Your teammates actions will also contribute to this, so you shouldn’t have too much difficulty.


Overload Specialist - 15
Disrupt the shields of 25 enemies

Shields are a type of protection often used by mechanical enemies and engineers. You, or a squad member, must deal the finishing blow to the shield bar with the Overload power 25 times to earn the achievement. Blue Suns mercenaries have the most engineers with shields, and YMIR mechs also have shields. I found a good amount of Blue Suns engineers on Garrus’ loyalty mission.

Note: Find a group of enemies with shields and destroy them all using overload. Then reload your checkpoint. It will keep your progress and you can repeat the process until you get the achievement.


Warp Specialist - 15
Warp the barriers of 25 enemies

Barrier is a type of shield, but only biotics use them. The blue bar will specifically say barrier instead of shields. You, or a squad member, have to deal the finishing blow to the barrier bar with the Warp power 25 times to earn the achievement. Asari (Eclipse mercenaries) and occasionally krogan will have them. The Collector’s, assassins and harbingers specifically, also use them quite often. Thane and Samara’s recruiting missions both have a good amount of biotics that will use barriers for you to remove.

Note: Find a group of enemies using barriers and destroy them all using warp. Then reload your checkpoint. It will keep your progress and you can repeat the process until you get the achievement.


Incineration Specialist - 15
Incinerate the armor of 25 enemies

Armor is a type of protection, characterized by a yellow bar on top of the enemy’s health bar. To get the achievement, you, or a party member, must use the Incinerate power to deal the finishing blow to an enemy’s armor bar. Krogans, YMIR mechs, Harbingers, and Scions are the enemies that most commonly have armor. Blood Pack Vorcha warriors will also occasionally have them, and a good way to boost the achievement up, as their armor is a lot weaker in proportion to the other enemies. I found that Mordin’s loyalty mission was a great place to earn this achievement due to the high amount of krogan and Blood Pack members you will face.

Note: Find a group of enemies with armor and destroy them all using incinerate. Then reload your checkpoint. It will keep your progress and you can repeat the process until you get the achievement.


Operative - 15
Complete a mission discovered by scanning an unexplored world

See “Agent”


Agent - 50
Complete 5 missions discovered by scanning unexplored worlds

Go to a world and when EDI says: "Anomaly detected" find the point on the planet holding down the to use the scanner and when you find the anomaly, by following the white line on the scanner circle, press to send in a probe, it will mine some minerals also getting you "Prospector" and land on the planet and complete the respective mission. Rinse and repeat 5 times.

Located in: Omega Nebula
System: Fathar
Planet: Lorek

Located in: Caleston Rift
System: Talava
Planet: Taitus

Located in: Caleston Rift
System: Solveig
Planet: Sinmara

Located in: Crescent Nebula
System: Zelene
Planet: Helyme

Located in: Crescent Nebula
System: Lusarn
Planet: Tarith

Note: Neither the Normandy crash site or Jacob's loyalty mission will count for this achievement.

Here is a list of the rest of the planets with these missions.


Prospector - 5
Retrieve mineral resources by scanning and probing a planet in the galaxy map

Run your scanner over an unexplored planet holding . When you find some activity on your scanner, drop a probe with .


Explorer - 10
Visit 100% of the planets in an unexplored cluster

This sounds complicated and drawn out but it shouldn’t take too long. You can do this at any point when you have control of the Normandy. Enter any of the system clusters using the Relay station, once you enter a cluster you can go to the edge of your current cluster and explore the rest of the system. You will notice a percentage next to the names of each cluster. Make sure you have enough fuel and make your way to each cluster.

Once you enter an unexplored cluster fly around the planets and enter their orbit by pressing . Back out and repeat this for each planet within each cluster. Once you have visited all the planets within a single system the achievement will unlock.

[Sirius]

Power Gamer - 10
Reach Level 30 with one character

You will earn a new level once you complete each mission; you will also gain 40xp for completing various conversations, alignment actions and hacking. You don’t earn experience for killing enemies so just make sure you complete as many free-roam missions as possible. You shouldn’t have any issues with leveling up unless you try to rush through the main story. It is possible to attain this in one playthrough if you do all the side missions.

Avoid talking to the Illusive Man as much as possible until you level up; he will normally give you a mission to do which you have no choice in doing. The mission will start and there only way to end your mission will be to complete it.

It takes 1000 experience to level up. Here are the values for each kind of mission:

EXP Values:
Story Mission: 1000 EXP
Loyalty Mission: 750 EXP
Anomaly Mission: 125 EXP
Miscellaneous Side-mission: 40 EXP

Note: Once you have completed Mass Effect 2, you will earn a 25% experience bonus on all subsequent characters, making this easier to attain.

Scholar - 15
Unlock 15 new Mass Effect 2 codex entries

The Codex is the database of information about the Mass Effect universe. You can find it in the start menu. To unlock new entries, examine things in the environment when prompted and use the ‘investigate’ tab during conversations.

As long as you investigate everything you see within the first few mission you shouldn’t have any issues finding the codex. You may unlock this without paying attention, as you will earn most codex entries from conversations.


Technician - 15
Obtain 10 technology upgrades

Once you have recruited Mordin, you can complete Research Projects at the station in the Tech Lab. Go to the weapons and it will show you what upgrades you can make. You will find these upgrades during missions, which will then be available to create.

You will find upgrades lying around missions, and you can purchase upgrades on Omega, The Citadel, Illium and Tuchanka. Obtain any assortment of 10 tech upgrades to unlock the achievement.

Note: Purchased upgrades will directly count; you don’t need to research them, unlike the ones you pick up.

Purchasable Upgrades:
Harrot’s Emporium - Omega - Predictive Display

Saronis Applications - The Citadel - Microcore Amplifier, Ablative VI
Cirta Foundation - The Citadel - Microscanner

Serrice Technology - Illium - Hyper Amp, Quantum Threading, Microscanner
Gateway Personal Defense - Illium - Lattice Shuntting

Fortack’s Database - Tuchanka - Hyper Amp

See "Weapon Special" for a list of purchasable weapon upgrades, which also count towards this achievement.


Weapon Special - 15
Fully upgrade a weapon

Once you have recruited Mordin, you can complete Research Projects at the station in the Tech Lab. Go to the weapons and it will show you what upgrades you can make. You will find these upgrades during missions, which will then be available to create.

Along with finding upgrades throughout missions, you can purchase upgrades on Omega, The Citadel, Illium and Tuchanka. The in-game achievement tracker as well as the ‘check upgrades’ station next to the research station will let you know how many you have left on a specific weapon after upgrading it. Each weapon has 5 damage upgrades and various miscellaneous ones. In order to research certain upgrades, you will need to have a certain amount of damage upgrades completed.

Note: Purchased upgrades will directly count; you don’t need to research them, unlike the ones you pick up.

Purchasable Weapon Upgrades:
Kenn’s Salvage - Omega - Shotgun damage upgrade
Omega Market - Omega - Sniper rifle damage upgrade

Rodam Expeditions - The Citadel - Heavy pistol damage upgrade, Sniper rifle damage upgrade, Submachine gun upgrade

Gateway Personal Defense - Illium - Assault rifle damage upgrade, Submachine gun damage upgrade

Fortack’s Database - Tuchanka - Assault rifle damage upgrade, Heavy pistol damage upgrade, Shotgun damage upgrade


Scientist - 10
Complete any research project in the Normandy's laboratory

Once you have recruited Mordin, you can complete Research Projects in the Tech Lab. You can pick up plans for these projects around the environment on missions and such.

See "Technician"

Fashionista - 5
Personalize your armor in your quarters on the Normandy

You will be able to do this for the first time once you escape from the Cerberus facility. You will be standing in a room with Jacob and Miranda, you will be told to talk to the Illusive Man. As you make your way to the conversation you will pass a customization panel on the wall. Access the panel and change a piece of your armor or clothing.
You can also do this at any time from your quarters on the Normandy.


Power Full – 15
Evolve any power

When you reach level 4 of a power and you have 4 squad points, purchase that power and it will give you options of evolving your basic power into something more specialized. Pick one and it will unlock.


Highly Trained - 15
View all advanced combat training videos at Shepard's private terminal.

When you first get into the Normandy SR2 after meeting Joker, you will have to go to your private terminal. There are two locations; one in the private cabin and one next to the galaxy map. Watch all 3 videos and the achievement will pop


Other Contributors: Fizzmatix, Gamefreak47

[Sirius]

DLC ACHIEVEMENTS:


Revenge! - 15
Gain the loyalty of the mercenary

[DLC Required: Zaeed]

This is a missable achievement.
First time you talk to Zaeed, you will get his loyalty mission. In order to get the achievement, choose to go after Vido instead of saving the refinery workers. However, if your Paragon/Renegade is high enough, you have access to the dialogue options which would allow you can save the workers (paragon route) and still have Zaeed become loyal to you.

[Jumnious]

Originally Posted by Tastey Cake

Seriously... how many guides do we need on this game...

qft

[Tailz]

There have been alot of Guides put up but to be honest they dont help you and just suck overall. This one lays everything out for people who are struggling with this game. Good job.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tailz

There have been alot of Guides put up but to be honest they dont help you and just suck overall. This one lays everything out for people who are struggling with this game. Good job.

Thanks man. Appreciate the compliment. Put a good amount of work into this, as it's my first guide

[Elm]

You should use the achievement emblems. Makes it look all fancy.

[Fizzmatix]

Originally Posted by Jumnious

qft

Congratulations on the most pointless post of the day.

Originally Posted by Tastey Cake

Seriously... how many guides do we need on this game...

Anyone can write a guide, at any point. I have seen games with 8 or so guides.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Elm

You should use the achievement emblems. Makes it look all fancy.

Working on it. It's hard to do it correctly in MS Word. The formatting will be 100% soon.

[Asian47]

Originally Posted by Tastey Cake

Seriously... how many guides do we need on this game...

Originally Posted by Jumnious

qft

You can never have too many good guides for a game. Many people try to write achievement guides for the site, but only the best one is accepted. Judging by your posts, you two have no idea how the guide writing process on this site works.

Seriously, I don't get it. Why are you going to complain about someone writing a guide for the site? They've obviously worked many hours to get it into this shape, and all you have to say is there are too many guides for the site? At least have the decency to say it's a good guide, not just completely bash it as you guys are.

Next time you idiots go and complain about something, make sure it's something actually worth complaining over.

[pieohmy90]

Hey Sirius, do you know if having Zaeed not loyal will matter in the suicide mission? Like if I choose him to do something or not? Thank you for the guide!

[Tailz]

Several of the loyalty missions ARE miss-able BTW. I know Thane can be missed if you don't update him while following the target and Somara's is a pain in the ass and miss-able too.

[Hot Juicy Pie]

Originally Posted by GameFreak47

You can never have too many good guides for a game. Many people try to write achievement guides for the site, but only the best one is accepted. Judging by your posts, you two have no idea how the guide writing process on this site works.

Seriously, I don't get it. Why are you going to complain about someone writing a guide for the site? They've obviously worked many hours to get it into this shape, and all you have to say is there are too many guides for the site? At least have the decency to say it's a good guide, not just completely bash it as you guys are.

Next time you idiots go and complain about something, make sure it's something actually worth complaining over.

Well at the time I wrote that, it was only half posted... and looked pretty sloppy still. And as you stated, there are quite a few sub-par ones that really all are just the same putrid filth regurgitated.

That being said, this one is coming into it's own. Kudos. As stated, Achievement emblems should be added, also some font work to distinguish the achievement name, requirements, and guided part from each other for easy navigation.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tailz

Several of the loyalty missions ARE miss-able BTW. I know Thane can be missed if you don't update him while following the target and Somara's is a pain in the ass and miss-able too.

I added which ones are missable and provided explanations on how to avoid it from happening

Originally Posted by pieohmy90

Hey Sirius, do you know if having Zaeed not loyal will matter in the suicide mission? Like if I choose him to do something or not? Thank you for the guide!

It will matter because if he's not loyal his chance of survival is lower. Picking a non-loyal character for a task during the mission is a recipe for disaster. Usually, you get the achievement, you wouldn't pick him for anything anyway Check out the guide

[Hot Juicy Pie]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Thane’s loyalty mission is another many seem to have difficulty with. There are two key factors in failing.
1. If you lose sight of the Turian diplomat, you lose your lead, and you will fail.
2. At the end, if you don’t disarm Kolyat and stop the assassination, you will fail.

If you play renegade you can also assassinate the target yourself and still gain loyalty from thane.

[Asian47]

Originally Posted by Tastey Cake

Well at the time I wrote that, it was only half posted... and looked pretty sloppy still. And as you stated, there are quite a few sub-par ones that really all are just the same putrid filth regurgitated.

That being said, this one is coming into it's own. Kudos. As stated, Achievement emblems should be added, also some font work to distinguish the achievement name, requirements, and guided part from each other for easy navigation.

You have to understand though, you can't expect a guide to be perfect the moment it's posted on the forums. Posting two minutes after he finished getting the guide on the forums and expecting it in tip-top shape is crazy.

Don't be so quick to judge a guide just posted, you'll make an ass out of yourself if go around shooting everyone down.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tastey Cake

If you play renegade you can also assassinate the target yourself and still gain loyalty from thane.

Added. Thank you.

[Hot Juicy Pie]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Power Gamer - 10
Reach Level 30 with one character

You will earn a new level once you complete each mission; you will also gain 40xp for completing various conversations, Paragon actions and hacking. You don’t earn experience for killing enemies so just make sure you complete as many free-roam missions as possible. You shouldn’t have any issues with leveling up unless you try to rush through the main story.

Avoid talking to the Illusive Man as much as possible until you level up; he will normally give you a mission to do which you have no choice in doing. The mission will start and there only way to end your mission will be to complete it.

Should be added that each small based mission is 40 exp. Each anomoly mission is 125 exp. Each loyalty mission is 750 exp, and each main mission is 1000 exp. It takes 1000 exp to level up each time regardless of what level you are. Also once you've completed the game once, starting a new game will net you a +25% exp bonus for each mission making it alot easier.

Originally Posted by GameFreak47

You have to understand though, you can't expect a guide to be perfect the moment it's posted on the forums. Posting two minutes after he finished getting the guide on the forums and expecting it in tip-top shape is crazy.

Don't be so quick to judge a guide just posted, you'll make an ass out of yourself if go around shooting everyone down.

I have a reputation to uphold around here, no offense to you or anyone I shoot off at.

[GhOsT SLaYeR]

Question: importing characters.. my ME1 character is 100% paragon will I loose all of that or will some/all carry over?(paragon level that is.) ?????

[Hot Juicy Pie]

Originally Posted by GhOsT SLaYeR

Question: importing characters.. my ME1 character is 100% paragon will I loose all of that or will some/all carry over?(paragon level that is.) ?????

It doesnt all xfer over, only a small portion, you still have to make decisions for yourself

[GhOsT SLaYeR]

well yea, I understand that you make the decisions. But what I meant is do you start from scratch (0 paragon) or do you get some of it.. like start at 10% or something...

[Hot Juicy Pie]

Originally Posted by GhOsT SLaYeR

well yea, I understand that you make the decisions. But what I meant is do you start from scratch (0 paragon) or do you get some of it.. like start at 10% or something...

You get a small bit, not a whole lot. Enough to unlock some of the early actions though

[GhOsT SLaYeR]

ok, thanks for clearing that up.. well a small amount is better than nothing.

[JuSt BLaZe]

Wow Sirius

Very good job on this one.

I've just finished all achievements on Mass Effect 1. Now I'm gonna use your awesome guide for the second game.

Keep up the nice work.

[Lewi]

wow
this is exactly what everyone needs
all the other guides have been really minimal but this one caters for noobs and veterans in the mass effect universe
well done (and about time )

[specVjavi]

Looks good Mr. Sirius. I didnt read it all to avoid spoilers as ive yet to play the game. =). But ill be sure to check this guide out if i run into problems.