Mass Effect Andromeda romance guide: from casual banging to winning hearts

Mass Effect Andromeda: who, what, where and how to get to banging your new space girlfriend, boyfriend, or monogendered alien pal. Spoilers ahead.

Mass Effect Andromeda romance guide contents

Male Ryder romances
– Cora
– Gil
– Avela Kjar

Female Ryder romances
– Liam
– Jaal
– Suvi

Bisexual romances
– Peebee
– Vetra
– Reyes Vidal
– Keri

Dead end flirtations
– Lexi

We’ve been playing Mass Effect Andromeda for a week now, and we’re pretty confident we’ve tracked down most of the banging options BioWare offers this time around.

While this guide is still a work in progress – who knows when we’ll find a new alien who’s down for a quick space pash, or discover one of our squaddies is open to polyamatory? – we’ve outlined who’s available and their relationship preferences to the best of our current knowledge.

We’ve also indicated what each of your potential objects of affection are looking for in a relationship, be that something casual or a more permanent arrangement.

You can juggle multiple fling and FWB (friends with benefits) relationships with no consequences, so if you’re out to bang as many Mass Effect Andromeda characters as possible, be sure to check in with these romances as you go.

On the other hand, if you decide to pursue a full relationship you may lock yourself out of other full relationship lines, as these characters don’t seem to like to share – so make sure you’re ready to commit before the decision points we describe below.

While we’ve divided the information below by the character’s own sexual preference, here’s a handy summary of the options available to each Ryder twin. Note that flings and casual relationships do not lock you out of other flings and casual relationships, or from committed relationships.

• Male Ryder
• Casual relationships and flings
  • Gil
  • Avela Kjar
  • Peebee
  • Reyes Vidal
  • Keri
• Committed relationships
  • Cora
  • Gil
  • Peebee
  • Vetra
  • Reyes Vidal

• Female Ryder
• Casual relationships and flings
  • Peebee
  • Reyes Vidal
  • Keri
• Committed relationships
  • Liam
  • Jaal
  • Suvi
  • Peebee
  • Vetra
  • Reyes Vidal

Read on to discover how to initiate Mass Effect Andromeda’s romances, how to advance them, when you’ll reach the point of no return, and how they cancel each other out.

Male Ryder exclusive romance options

Cora (full relationship)

Breaking the hearts of lesbians everywhere, Cora is straight as an arrow; she even turned down an Asari once, even though they’re not technically female. This good news for dude Ryders, though, as she’s all about that … whatever it is people see in him. Begin your assault on Cora’s heart once you have access to the Tempest and leave the Nexus for the first time; you can find her in the tech lab or the cargo bay.

To win Cora’s heart, you’ll need to flirt with her regularly throughout the game, until her loyalty mission unlocks. This is a multi-step quest that takes place over several missions and requires critical path progress to complete. It comes to a head when you track down the lost Asari ark.

Keep on flirting and you’ll cement the relationship with a kiss, and enjoy a couple of other exclusive romance scenes before Ryder and Cora make a very steamy first contact.

Gil (FWB and/or full relationship)

Image coming soon. Gil is open about his interest in a male Ryder, and also open about what he wants. Flirt with him regularly and you’ll soon find yourself with the option to pursue a casual relationship. You can get the ball rolling as soon as you have access to the Tempest and have left the Nexus for the first time; talk to him in the engineering section.

Unlike Peebee, Gil’s friends with benefits arrangement doesn’t lock you out of a full romance with the loveable engineer. Continue to pursue the affair and eventually Gil will invite you to spend some time together on Prodromos, and discuss whether your casual banging has the potential to be something more.

If you go exclusive with Gil, you’ll lock yourself out of other full relationship options. On the other hand, you’ll always have a willing poker buddy.

Avela Kjar (fling)

An Angaran historian Ryder meets on Aya, Avela enjoys flirting and will even mash space faces with you on two occasions if you determinedly turn on the charm every time you complete one of her side quests. This isn’t a full romance, so it won’t lock you out of other options. Think of it as a one night stand, sans the actual banging. Look for Avela near the docks the first time you arrive on Aya; she moves to the museum once you have access to the city.

Female Ryder exclusive romance options

Liam (full relationship)

Liam is kind of the “default” romance option for a female Ryder, as he’s the first of the squad mates to offer flirting opportunities. His loyalty mission is available relatively early on, and provides plenty more opportunities to indicate your interest. You can even miss a few and still maintain his interest. Begin your flirtation after you gain access to the Tempest and leave the Nexus for the first time; he generally hangs out in a room off the cargo bay.

You can pursue Liam without fear of closing off other romance options right up until after his loyalty mission, so if you’d care to have a quick pash onboard the Tempest, go for it.

Once Liam’s loyalty mission is done, you have the option to lock in a full relationship or let him down gently; when the dust settles on that adventure, the cheerful crisis specialist is yours for the taking. Continue to enjoy his company over several scenes and cement the deal after you visit Eos together in response to an attack.

Jaal (full relationship)

Although the Angaran people display their emotions openly, they don’t necessarily act on them, and Jaal’s romance takes time to lock in. Keep flirting wqth him, but look out for the “couple” option that replaces the usual heart-shaped “flirt” one. Remember Angarans value honesty and emotional openness, so don’t be shy in declaring your intentions. You can start flirting once Jaal joins the squad; look for him in a room off the central research station area.

Jaal’s loyalty mission is required to commit to the relationship, and like Cora’s, it plays out over several missions and is reliant on main quest progress. Once that’s done, you’ll need to keep flirting until the main quest ramps up to its conclusion in order to fully seal the deal on a later visit to Aya.

Before you make your mind up on romancing Jaal, we recommend completing a small quest Liam sets you to craft a special requisition. Complete the crafting assignment and then visit Liam in the cargo hold to witness a conversation between Liam and Jaal offering, uh, revelations on them both. It’s always good to window shop before you get out your credit card.

Suvi (full relationship)

Image coming soon. Scottish accents, amirite? Suvi is a full romance option and pretty easy to complete as long as you’ve turned up in the correct gender. Of all the romance options, she’s the one a female Ryder finds the most intimidating, regularly babbling like a fool. It’s good fun. Suvi sits opposite Kallo on the bridge, so she’s always handy when you’re in the mood to flirt.

To romance Suvi, just flirt with her whenever the option arises: you don’t need to agree with her opinions in order to hold her interest, since she has a mature attitude to debate.

Keep an eye on your email and eventually you’ll receive a missive which invites you to kick off the full romance. You know what to do – or we certainly hope you do.

Male or Female Ryder romance options

Peebee (FWB or full relationship)

Peebee is an Asari, and since Asari are mono-gendered and reproduce via a slightly scary form of mind meld, they don’t seem to care what you’ve got in your pants. The most enlightened race in the galaxy, indeed. After you recruit Peebee on Eos, she sets up camp out in the escape pod room off the bridge, but after your first conversation she is usually found in the cargo hold.

Coming out of what seems to have been a pretty bad relationship, Peebee is initially reluctant to commit to anything beyond flirting – which she indulges in freely. If you show interest, the turning point comes after you complete a couple of her personal missions – retrieving some rem-tech, and visiting her apartment on the Nexus.

When Peebee opens negotiations, you have two options: you can opt for a casual, NSA arrangement allowing you to discreetly indulge in friends-with-benefits whenever you fancy it. If you’d like more from the carefree Asari, you’ll need to hit the brakes, and let her know you want more than a quick bang. Casual sex with Peebee locks you out of a complete relationship with her.

Assuming you forego that NSA bang, the full relationship option culminates after completing Peebee’s loyalty mission. You’ll need to chat with her, then travel somewhere else and speak with her again, if you want to put a ring on it.

Vetra (full relationship)

Vetra is a slow burn romance option, as the drifter takes a long time to open up to you. You’ll have only very limited opportunities to flirt with her prior to her loyalty mission – and you must seize every opportunity to lock in her interest. Don’t be discouraged if she doesn’t seem that receptive; although Vetra is more interested in male Ryders than female, she can be won over. Seems aliens have heard of the Kinsey scale. Look for Vetra in a storage room off the Cargo bay, although after her initial chat with you, she tends to spend her time in the crew quarters with Drack.

To kick things off with Vetra, you need to advance the main plot far enough to unlock her loyalty mission. In the aftermath, she’ll invite you to visit Kadara with her. Take her up on this offer and smash that flirt button for some space face action, and you’ll be in.

There are several cute scenes in Vetra’s romance after this, so go ahead and commit to the full relationship if you’re ready to forsake all others.

Reyes Vidal (FWB and/or full relationship

Image coming soon. There’s been a lot of confusion about whether Reyes is available to both Ryder twins, but we’re pretty sure the cause of this befuddlement is that it’s possible to miss meeting this character altogether. Reyes is only available in Mass Effect Andromeda if you refuse to accept Sloane Kelly’s deal.

Assuming you made the correct choice here, look for Reyes on Kadara. You’ll meet him several times as you work through the content on this planet, and have so, so many opportunities to flirt as you do so.

Like Gil, Reyes is open to either a friends-with-benefits arrangement or something more exclusive and permanent, so if this well-groomed outlaw strikes your fancy, you can choose him above all others.

Keri (fling)

Image coming soon. A journalist who interviews Ryder on multiple occasions over the course of the game, Keri breaks with series tradition by not being someone you want to punch. She won’t be willing to start a relationship with you while the interviews are ongoing, but if you keep up the charm you can enjoy a one night stand with Keri when ethical considerations are no longer an issue. This is available even if you’re involved with someone else. Look for Keri on the Nexus, in the docking bay or operations, depending on how far you’ve advanced Task: Path of a Hero. She’ll email you when a new interview slot is available.

People who won’t bang you, even if you really try

Lexi

The Tempest’s resident doctor maintains a strictly professional relationship to the crew – mostly. While male and female Ryders can both attempt a flirtation, Lexi knocks that on the head right out of the gate. You’ll have to settle for pining from afar. Drack, on the other hand, might have a chance – despite also being a patient of Lexi’s. Guess Ryder’s just not her type.

More coming soon.

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