Mass Effect Andromeda guide: clear the vault and the Eos radiation, and found your first Outpost – scientific or military?

We’re going deeper underground. Welcome to Mass Effect Andromeda’s first vault.

Inside the Eos Remnant Vault – A Better Beginning

After meeting Krogan grandpa Drack and activating the remaining Remnant Monoliths scattered around Eos, something big happens: the monoliths appear to power up one final ancient building. A new navpoint will be marked on your map: a bunker that’s out in the middle of the large lake that dominates the currently exploration friendly section of the map. We really have no choice, right? Something that obvious simply has to be explored.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

This is the vault – the planet’s major dungeon. You can find one of these on each landable planet, and they’re always worth taking a look, even when they’re not tied up in the main storyline as in this instance. You can reach the vault either by fast travelling to a nearby forward station (you should’ve dropped a few by now) or by driving there using the Nomad. If you just got done with meeting Drack and powering up the last monolith it really isn’t very far, and along the way you might discover some small combat encounters with Kett or Remnant that’ll offer up a little extra EXP and loot boxes.

When you get there it looks hopeless – there’s a big gap between you and the newly-opened bunker-type structure. But… approach the edge, as if you’re ready to drive into the lake.

A bridge forms up in front of you as you drive. An invitation, of sorts. Head on over. Here you’ll meet up with Peebee and see some cutscenes – if you want to perform the narrative action with RT/R2 here you can, it has no ill effects – you just look like a slightly reckless badass.

Exploring the Vault

You’ll now find yourself down in the vault, a dark, mysterious labyrinth of corridors and neon lighting. This clearly isn’t something the Kett built, if there was any doubt remaining. First thing’s first: in your starting room after getting into the vault proper you’ll discover another remnant console which you’ll need to scan – then keep your scanner out and use it to follow the cabling towards another console. Scan the console where the cable leads to get the password, then head back up to the first console and use it.

As an aside, don’t forget to scan liberally down here in general, as there’s lots of remnant tech that rewards remnant research points. Some of the best gear in the game is Remnant in origin.

After a cutscene, Peebee splits off from the group leaving you with a party of three once more. Take a look around – note the room to the West you can’t access right now. If you try to access Ryder will make a note of it – this is worth doing for later – later on when you’re leaving the vault you’ll be able to get in here and open a container, and the game will add this as an optional objective if you interact with the door when it’s locked. This is a regular feature of Remnant vaults.

From here on in the vault is a fairly linear set of passages and open rooms, and it’s not really worth us explaining everything beat-for-beat – we’ll just ruin the thrill of exploration. You can easily make it through here on your own. As a rule, however, you should be looking, scanning and climbing everywhere you can, as there are a few containers littered around here with decent loot. This loot is welcome but not be-all end-all, so if you just want to get out of here you can forge ahead without it, but keep in mind vaults are a one-time deal: once you’re done here, there’s no coming back.

As you go you’ll encounter remnant guard units. Some of these can actually be bypassed with stealth if you wish – vocal cues will clue you in as to when. If you sneak or not is your choice, but remember that unlike Mass Effect 2 and 3 Andromeda actually rewards you EXP for every single encounter in the game, so if you take the time to fight these remnant you’ll get a decent EXP reward for your trouble. These encounters add up, so if you want to level up fast take every chance you can to fight. Don’t feel obliged if you’d rather not; Mass Effect Andromeda uses scaling levels, so you’ll never find yourself under-powered. Still, it’s nice to have more skills at your disposal, isn’t it?

After you cross paths with Peebee again your next destination is a door on the right, but if you continue past that door and do a little bit of climbing you’ll discover a container with some fairly decent loot.

Clearing the Eos Radiation

Once you head through the previously mentioned door, prepare yourself for actual combat. (As a note, I hit a bug here where a door wouldn’t open and had to reload – this is not a dead end if that happens to you, reload a save!) At the end of the hallway you’ll be fighting Assemblers and Observers plus a turret that you can either fight or hack.

In this encounter and in general Observers should be your top priority – they have a powerful laser beam that can rip through your shields plus a shield of their own, but they also have a very obvious glowing eye that is an irresistible weak point. Hit them there and hit them hard with a rapid-fire weapon like an assault rifle or SMG, then mop up the assemblers and any other units they’ve assembled while you took on the observer.

Don’t forget that you can order your squadmates to focus on particular enemies; they can keep the heat off you while you take down an Observer, or pile on to get those shields down faster.There are also consoles you can hack in this room – one turns a turret to your side, the other creates cover you can use to protect yourself.

Once combat is over and done with, sweep this area for loot as there will inevitably be some drops from enemies plus some chests, then use the gravity well in the middle. You end up in a new room – but there’s a water leak. The console you need doesn’t work. For a moment it looks like you’re trapped, but then Peebee arrives and has an idea of her own. At her suggestion scan to fix the leak then use the previously broken console. That opens a door. Search to the north before you leave to find a chest with some loot inside – a new melee weapon – this is a static drop of a fairly good weapon that doesn’t change.

The next room is a large chamber with various terminals you must interface with in order to raise and lower platforms. White glowing lines indicate what each terminal will impact, with the currently active section lit up brighter in a glowing white. This room might seem complicated at first glance but it really isn’t: the waypoint shows you where you need to go, and you simply need to wind your way through the area activating terminals in order to build the necessary platforms to get there.

As you go you’ll face off against enemies – mostly Observers and Assemblers. As before, prioritise the Observers as they can tear through your shields very rapidly indeed. Don’t forget as you explore this area to go off the beaten path – most often, there’s a chest. To the south of the area there’s one chest with some static loot – an armor mod that vastly powers up one aspect of your skills while vastly damaging another aspect. You’ll know when you hit this one as it requires solving a Decryption Puzzle.

When you pass the giant plants, scan them for some research data. Keep pushing on through combat. When Liam remarks how cool the plants and self-building bridges are, you’re close. When you enter a room with a giant glowing laser light of bright white in the middle of the room, you’re at the end of this vault-slash-dungeon.

You’ll want to take a moment here: once you activate the vault, you can never come back in here again. If you want to head back and sweep for optional chests, this is your one and only opportunity to do so short of starting a New Game+. (As a note, the door from earlier still won’t be open… more on that in a second.) Once you’re ready, activate the vault.

Escape from the Vault

As soon as the vault is active, run! As you approach the entrance of the dungeon again you’ll pass by that room you couldn’t get into from very early on – it’s now open. Duck inside and grab the items inside, but be damn quick about it!

Once you escape the vault fully, the vault’s purpose will be revealed: it’s a terraforming facility, and over time is going to make Eos much more habitable. The viability of Eos will raise by 50% – but if you leave the planet and return later you’ll see a serious improvement over time, which in turn will open up other areas of the planet that couldn’t be explored before due to radiation, thus unlocking more sidequests.

Settling Prodromos: your first outpost

Once you’re out of the vault, hop back into the Nomad and head to your latest waypoint: a suitable site for a new settlement, away from the mess of Site 1 and Site 2. You can either abuse fast travel or not to get there – your choice.

Once you arrive you’ll find Drack is present and causing a ruckus – fighting a bunch of Chosen and a few Anointed Kett. Anointed have shields and big guns, so abuse shield-restoring powers such as charge and cover in order to defeat them. Remember for tougher enemies you can use the D-Pad to instruct your allies to target specific enemies – you should have everyone focus fire on the anointed.

Once the kett are cleared out, you can now settle Eos with a new outpost that’ll be called Prodromos. This will give you +10 viability but also once the settlement is down offer up a bunch of new quests from the new settlers. But… you’re also faced with a question. Science or Military?

First outpost: Scientific or Military?

As with every Mass Effect game, Andromeda features some big choices. This is arguably the first big choice you face in Andromeda: If you should make the Prodromos outpost into a science-focused settlement or a military base style settlement. You might find this choice difficult to make.

Let us make it a little easier: don’t sweat it too much. While this does have an impact on dialogue and the way some NPCs will react to you, the overall outcome for this particular choice is the same. This is more intended to introduce you to big choices.

Coming up next

Our next stop is Priority Op: A Trail of Hope: Aya, Hvarl and Voeld.

Here are a few new quests you can grab on Eos post-vault:

• Shock Treatment
  Access the audio terminal inside the research building. You’ll find entries that lead to this quest on this terminal.
• The Secret Project
  Head back to Site 1 (Promise) and find the datapad inside the ground floor of the two-floor building.
• Pathfinder Armor Crafting
  This quest is gathered from Jacob Mittney, a settler in Prodromos.
• Waking up to the Future
  Found on a terminal at Prodromos after it’s founded.

Drack will join you, too – but for now, we recommend not taking on these quests. Save it all for later.

The radiation will take some time to clear – the smart move is to leave Eos and head to another planet. When you return to Eos later, the radiation will be gone. Take the Tempest towards space and back to the Nexus for a return visit to catch up with Nexus brass and to pick up some new side quests.

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Mass Effect Andromeda guide: Elaaden, 100% viability and The Journey to Meridian

Mass Effect Andromeda is building to a climax – and we don’t just mean in the romance system.

The Journey to Meridian contents

Objectives and mission flow

Boss: Destroyer

Boss: The Archon’s Sword

Elaaven secondary quests

Endgame secondary quests

Arriving at this chapter of Mass Effect Andromeda progresses any “on hold” secondary quests to the point of completion. Of particular note is Know Your Enemy, which updates with a last email as you begin The Journey to Meridian. This quest leads into another called Dissension in the Ranks, which can decrease the difficulty of the final priority op, as well as being narratively satisfying. Be sure to grab the email and proceed to Voeld to complete the quest chain before you kick off the main mission.

You won’t have many more chances to clear out side content once you get properly started with The Journey to Meridian, so if you want to be as prepared as possible for the very final battle, there’s a lot you should get done. Hopefully you smashed through a bunch of side content in the previous chapter after unlocking the final planet, but if not, well, dive in – you’ll have passed most of the gating that can slow down progress, and you’ll want to do whatever you can now to ensure you get the best possible ending sequence, right?

Hitting full viability on all planets is a good target, and can be achieved without ticking off every single quest. We’ve also included a list of all the content on optional planet Elaaden on this page to help you with that; you won’t be driven to Elaaden by critical path quests, which makes it easy to miss. If you love Drack you’ll definitely want to check it out.

The priority op itself, The Journey to Meridian, is pretty straightforward, although it does involve some great battles, including two major bosses. You’ll know when you’ve hit the mission’s little point of no return (not the final one); you’ll get one of Mass Effect Andromeda’s rare “embark on mission” prompts. Up until then you can wander off to do side questing whenever you like.

The Journey to Meridian objectives and suggested missions flow

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

As mentioned above, this mission is something of a point of no return for Mass Effect Andromeda. Although you will still be able to play after the final priority op, some secondary content will close or alter to reflect the end of the main narrative. Additionally, you won’t have a chance to increase your Andromeda viability once you get moving.

We’re stressing this a lot now because we want to be sure you don’t miss the message: get everything done. Check your email. Talk to everyone. Go everywhere. Look at everything. Sure, you can do it later, and it’s not like the galaxy’s gonna blow up if you don’t, but since you have the chance to make a perfect run on it now, why not do it?

Alright then, here’s how we suggest you tackle The Journey to Meridian. The only tricky bit in this mission is a branching path where you need to visit each destination – a pair of towers, one in the north and one in the south. Each includes a boss battle, and one of these is with a Destroyer, a new enemy type you won’t have seen before if you haven’t been checking out side content as you progressed.

The mission culminates in a major boss battle with The Archon’s Sword, a souped-up Cardinal, and transitions immediately to Meridian: The Journey Home.

• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Optional: collect Elaaden side quests (see list below)
• Optional: clear all available side quests and planet scanning
• Optional: Achieve 100% viability on all outpost planets
• Meet with Nexus Leaders
• Speak with your sibling
• Interact with the terminal in the Tempest Research Centre
• Call a crew meeting on the Vidcon
• Travel to Meridian in the Civki system
• Explore the Remnant City
  • Use the console
  • Cross the bridge and use a second console
  • Use gravity well and fight through Kett and Remnant
  • Investigate the North Tower
    • – Battle through the Remnant
    • – Activate the console to open the door
    • – Enter Exploration Systems
    • – Activate the four consoles: NW, NE, SW, SE
    • – Activate the final console
    • – Kill the Destroyer mini-boss
  • Investigate the South Tower
    • – Battle through the Kett and Remnant
    • – Optional: solve the Remnant Decryption to loot a treasure room
    • – Activate the console to open the door
    • – Enter Research Sector
    • – Battle through the Kett and Remnant
    • – Kill the Ascendant mini-boss
  • Return to Core 17
  • Battle the Remnant and Kett on the bridge
  • Use the gravity well
  • Activate the central command console
• Kill The Archon’s Sword boss

The Journey to Meridian mini-boss: the Destroyer

Encountered in the North Tower as a mini-boss, the Destroyer unit actually turns up a second time during this mission, so get used to it now – assuming you haven’t found one in side content or multiplayer already.

The key to a Destroyer encounter is to use the environment to your advantage and stay mobile; distance will keep you out of its annoying area of effect attacks, but you’ll need to evade its main cannon, and hunkering down behind cover is a bad idea – it has an explosive response to that tactic.

You must control the adds. Your first priority should be to take down all the Assemblers, to stop them building more units, and then the Nullifiers. We found it easiest to point our squaddies at the Nullifiers while we whipped around clearing up the smaller mobs.

When you’re ready to face the Destroyer itself, go for its most obvious weak spot – the two turrets. Although dropping the turrets makes the Destroyer more mobile, it also prevents it unleashing one of its attacks, and significantly eats into its shields. Critical damage bonuses help a lot here.

Once you’ve dropped both turrets, just keep your distance and dodge when the main cannon fires, and you’ll win the war of attrition, As ever, consumables will help you hit it harder and faster.

The Journey to Merdian boss: The Archon’s Sword

The proper boss of The Road to Meridian is sort of like a Destined on steroids, except that Destined rarely call in so many adds you want to throw your controller at the screen.

Add control is so, so important here and it’s the constant spawns that really make this encounter challenging. Since there’s so much going on it’s very difficult to order your squaddies about efficiently, so if you are good at clearing large numbers of adds quickly, you might want to leave Drack and Cora at home and bring those more at home with distance battles, like Vetra and Jaal, and point them both at the Archon’s Sword while you do mob duty.

High ground is very important in this encounter, and you can really help yourself out by using the environment to funnel enemies into chokepoints. You will have to face Anointed and a Fiend as well as the squishier Wraiths and Chosen, so you definitely need to think about something to smack down shields as well as punch through armour. Ability wise, anything you’ve got for controlling groups is great, and if you’ve specced your powers to detonate with radius damage you can really benefit from combos here.

If you only have limited disruptor ammo consumables, save them for the Archon’s Sword himself, as his shields are a bother. Whenever the Archon’s Sword gets a bit sore he’ll cloak and wander off, usually calling in a bunch more adds. Keep track of him by watching for that weird swirly cloud Destined generate, and make sure you don’t let him flank you while you’re coping with the mess.

Elaaden secondary quests

Elaaden is a dry and dusty planet, and home to New Tuchanka, the outpost established by the Krogan after they were kicked off the Nexus. This planet is entirely optional, but there’s heaps to do. You can set up a new outpost, even.

• Elaaden: A New World
  Enter the Tempest after visiting Kadara to view a cutscene unlocking this mission and the planet Elaaden.
• Settling Elaaden
  Land on Elaaden to unlock.
• Conflict in the Colony
  This is the main Elaaden mission chain and unlocks after you visit the planet and enter Paradise.
  • Parlay with the Krogan
  • Investigate the Remnant Derelict
  • Search for the Stolen Remnant Drive Core
    • If you give the Drive Core to Morda the Krogan and Nexus resume friendly relations and you can build an Outpost on Elaaden.
    • If you keep the Drive Core for the Initiative you’ll receive 1,000 Remnant research points and 2,000 Credits in addition to standard mission rewards.
• The Flophouse
  This is the main base mission of Elaaden, and is tackled during the quest chain above.
• Architect on Elaaden

• This battle becomes available if you establish an outpost on Elaaden.

• Taming a Desert/Making This Dust Bowl Livable
  Approach any of the three Elaaden monoliths.
• Water Supply
  Use the console in the Flophouse.
• The Mind of an Exile
  Unlocks with a comm from Lexi after you enter Paradise.
• Gray Matter
  Unlocks sometime after completion of The Mind of an Exile.
• Hard Luck
  Speak to Nora Tallis in Paradise Sands.
• The Rebel
  Speak to Kent Halsey in Paradise Sands.
• Save Dr. Okeer’s Krogan Research
  Speak to the Krogan geneticist at New Tuchanka.
• Rising Tensions
  Speak to Shaman Kortik in New Tuchanka; must have unlocked Parlay with the Krogan.
• The Search for Ljeta
  Speak to Rorik in New Tuchanka. Unlocks after resolving the main Elaaden mission chain.
• Crisis Response
  Acquired from a datapad in the Flophouse.
• Aspirations
  This sidequest marker is in the southeast of the map. The door won’t open until you’ve interrogated Vehn Terev in Hunting the Archon.
• Task: A Flower for Kesh
  Unlocks after completing Drack’s loyalty mission. Speak to Vorn to begin.
• Out of Gas
  Drive around the north of the Elaaden map until the Nomad breaks down.
• Dismantled
  Acquired by approaching map icon Remnant ruins.
• Task: Cache Flow
  Scan a Remnant device at any Remnant site.
• Task: Little Mouse
  Collect a Little Mouse datapad in a random encounter.
• Task: Volatile
  Destroy a volatile container in a random encounter.
• Task: Infection
  Scan an infected outlaw corpse in a random encounter.

Other endgame secondary quests

There are several secondary quests that open up during the final few priority ops of Mass Effect Andromeda, or when you touch down on planets and systems you won’t have visted unless you’re pursuing other secondary quests. Here are some that are easy to miss if you’re not checking in regularly:

• Life on the Frontier
  You’ll receive an email from Sid sometime after reaching Aya.
• Contagion
  You’ll receive an email from Captain Dunn when you return to the Nexus after Kadara first becomes available.
• Task: Investigating Embezzlement
  Speak to the dock manager in the Docking Bay area of the Nexus after opening Kadara.
• Task: Beer Run
  Speak to Wilma just outside Kesh’s office on the Nexus after visiting Kadara.

• Taks: Outpost Supplies on Elaaden
  Talk to Merixus at the docks on Aya after building an outpost on Elaaden.

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Mass Effect Andromeda guide: First Murderer secondary quest – exile or release?

Mass Effect Andromeda presents you with a difficult choice in the First Murderer secondary quest. Spoilers for choice consequences.

First Murderer is a secondary quest found early in Mass Effect Andromeda, just after you first arrive on the Nexus.

The quest itself is not so tough – just follow the waypoint, innit – but there’s a decision point. Naturally you don’t want to make the “wrong” choice and come back in 40 hours to find the Nexus on fire or whatever, so you have sensibly Googled the quest for some pertinent advice – and here we are.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

You’ll need to visit the Operations area of the Nexus to collect the quest. The questgiver for First Murderer is a weeping Turian woman named Mariette, who can be found close to Kandros.

Speak with mariette and agree to investigate the case against her husband. Cross Operations to the holding cells on the other side of the room to speak with Nilken, the accused. Mine him for information.

Thanks, Alienware!

Brenna is playing Mass Effect Andromeda on an Alienware 17 with a GX 1070, kindly loaned, at her request, by Alienware Australia’s PR representative.

Your next port of call is Kandros, back on the other side of the Operations area, who will agree to give you access to records pertaining to the investigation. Optionally, access the marked terminal nearby to view this information.

When you’re done, head up to the area of Operations past the tram station and climb up the stairs to the raised dais, where Addison is. The witness, Shaw, is in this area.

After looking at the available evidence you can speak to Tann about re-opening the case. He’ll give you the co-ordinates you need to continue the search for the truth.

Investigating the crime

Return to the Tempest and then to Eos. Travel to forward station near Resilience for easiest access to the crime scene.

Your waypoint will guide you to the general location of pieces of armour. Once you’re close by, you may be able to see them sticking out of the sand. In either case, exit the Nomad once you get close and use your scanner on the object.

Repeat this process several times and SAM will guide you to a cave filled with kaekyrn. Put them down then search the cave for the omni-tool; it’s easiest to se by going all the way in, then turning around to look out, as the lighting is a bit buggy. With that done, you can leave Eos.

Back on the Nexus, return to Operations and speak to Nilken in his cell. It doesn’t matter what you say to him.

Speak with Tann: exile or release?

Spoilers for choice consequences. Your final objective for this mission is to discuss the case with Tann and decide on Nilken’s fate. There are no significant gameplay or story consequences to this choice, but you feel anxious about it – we understand. Let’s lay it out:

Here are your choices and the consequences:

• Release Nilken. You can optionally speak to Mariette again, and tell her the truth of the case. If you do, you’ll find a miserable Nilken in the Cryobay asking to be put back in stasis.
• Exile Nilken. You can chat with Kandros about the matter, and bump into Nilken on Kadara later in the game.

In either case, your decision sends chockwaves through the Nexus commun- nah, we’re just kidding. It is never mentioned again and nobody gives a single toss. Oh, Mass Effect Andromeda!

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Mass Effect Andromeda guide: Meridian – The Way Home, Khi Tasira

It’s time to take Meridian.

Now that you’ve settled the Krogan paradise of Elaaden and taken The Journey to Meridian, Mass Effect Andromeda‘s main quest priority operations are drawing to a rapid conclusion: the time has come to try to take Meridian and, if necessary, take out the Archon.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

The Point of No Return

Unlike most other priority ops, The Way Home won’t unlock a stack of new side quests, or progress any you’ve got on hold. that’s because we’re on the downhill slope now; the final credits are in your sights.

This is the point of no return, for really reals this time, and as a result you’ll want to try to tidy up any quests. While it’s not necessary to do everything now – there’s plenty of time for fetch quests after this last critical path mission – some sidequests, and planetary viability, effect the sequence of events and battles in the very final stages here.

As a general guide, you’re pretty safe ignoring any Task-tier quests that involve tracking down three signals, bodies, transmitters or whatever from random encounters on planet surfaces; these don’t have any effect on ending sequences. On the other hand, loyalty quests, the Ark missions and planetary viability quest chains are worth doing before you proceed.

Most importantly, make sure you finish anything involving the Hyperion. These quests will not be available later. Tidy off any quests marked as coming from the Hyperion in your quest log, for they won’t be available post-credits although everything else will.

We’ve listed all the side missions and tasks that unlock alongside each major mission on their walkthrough pages – you can use this as a checklist of sorts. You can check out all of the available quests via our guide hub, and you’ll find the most recent quests that unlocked on the pages for Hunting the Archon and The Journey to Meridian.

Optional Extras before hitting Meridian

Before you head to Meridian, there are some quests you should consider doing. These quests will have a significant impact on the finale of the game – so if you don’t do them things will be different and quite possibly a little worse.

Below, we explain the missions in question and why:

• Missing Arks – Turian Ark: Lost but not Forgotten

  Tracking down the Turian Ark in this sub-quest will lead to you finally having a Turian Pathfinder on your side. The more pathfinders the better for this final assault.

• Missing Arks – Cora Harper: Asari Ark

  Much as with the Turian Ark, following Cora’s loyalty mission won’t just make her loyal and unlock her rank six skills but will also one way or another mean you end up with an Asari pathfinder. Be sure to either hide the dirty secret or appoint a new pathfinder entirely if you want their help.

• Know Your Enemy

  This quest line is all about a bit of dissent within the Kett hierarchy – not every Kett agrees with what the Archon is up to. Completing this quest might mean you have some inside help…

Gather Scourge Data from the Galaxy Map

In order to track down Meridian, there’s a bit of busy work too. First off, chat to Suvi on the bridge of the Tempest. After some exposition you’re to use the Galaxy Map and collect data on the Scourge. Since you’ll be travelling around anyway this is an ideal time to tidy up missions, as mentioned above.

Once you’ve gathered the data you’re pointed to, use the terminal on the Tempest Bridge to analyse it. You’ll then be pointed back to Khi Tasira, the place we visited in the previous main mission, The Journey to Meridian.

This is where the true point of no return is, and the game will alert you of this fact. When you’re ready, head to Khi Tasira to kick off Mass Effect Andromeda’s finale.

Back on Khi Tasira – and the Hyperion

On Khi Tasira you’ll face a number of Remnant enemies – remember that these guys are synthetic, and so they’re vulnerable to electricity-based attacks such as Overload and other tech powers. Remember, however, that the load-out you pick will carry through with you right to the end of the game – and that’s going to involve a big boss encounter and some further encounters with the Kett. Pick a load-out and build that you think can handle both sides of things.

Battle your way through Khi Tasira – then you’re in for a bit of a surprise. We won’t spoil it.

Now you have to battle your way through the Ark Hyperion – the difference being that you don’t have much in the way of weaponry. Use your pistol and grenades carefully to take down the Kett – it’s only the Chosen, so you don’t have to worry too much about this compared to other encounters. As you progress, you’ll soon find much deadlier Kett, but the story gives you a way around it.

Get to the console indicated and use it. Some story unfolds… and then you’ll find yourself back aboard the Tempest.

The Final Battle for Meridian

On the Tempest things don’t stop for a breather, not really. This is a last chance to talk to your squad before the finale – in case, you know, anyone doesn’t make it. Or just to give them a pep talk – either way, consider taking the time to have a chat with each of them. While you’re back on the Tempest, this still counts as part of the mission, so you can’t save or fly anywhere else.

This is now a final assault. Here, your choices from throughout the game will come back to help or haunt you in the form of which friendly faces show up to help you – or which ones don’t. The Pathfinders, the Angaran Resistance – lots of people can help you depending on your decisions throughout the game, as detailed in the rest of our guide.

Fight your way through the waves of Kett enemies. Everybody is at this party – there’s Ascendant, Chosen, Anointed, Destined, the works. You’ll even face the occasional rare Exalted Krogan. We’ve published strategies on how to take down several of these tougher enemy types on our other pages.

You know how to take all these down from hours of battling Kett right across the Heleus Cluster – just employ everything you already learned here. Remember that you can order your squad to focus fire and ability use on a particular enemy if you need to take them down fast, and keep moving from cover to cover to keep yourself safe.

Don’t forget the basic combat setup either: slow-firing guns are better against armor, rapid fire is better against shields.

The fate of Captain Dunn

At a point in this final push Captain Dunn of the Hyperion will throw herself in harm’s way for the greater good. She will die unless you made some prescient decisions throughout the game: if there is a helpful Asari Pathfinder and if Avitus is the Turian Pathfinder, Captain Dunn will be saved.

The Final Boss – The Archon and the Architect

After Captain Dunn’s fate is decided you’ll have a series of more difficult battles including an Exalted Krogan and a Fiend at the same time(!), but again, your basic combat smarts will see you through this one. Clear out the Kett and push on, and then you’re going to be given a more specific task.

What you need to do is get to the position pointed out to you by your helpful ally and then hold your position there until the console you need becomes active. You’ll have to repeat this three times. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? Well… there’s a catch.

The catch is an architect. The good news is that if you’ve been fastidious about your side mission completion you will have already battled a few of these bad boys, though this battle is a little different since you have an additional objective to worry about. Still, our original architect strategies still very much apply.

Here are some basic tips:

• Focus on the small remnant first – the smaller remnant such as assemblers and observers should be your initial priority, and once they’re down then turn your attention on the architect.
• Make good use of cover – while much of Andromeda’s combat allows you to tackle things in a more mobile manner, you’ll want to make good use of cover against the architect – its guns are devastating.
• Be ready to move away from grenade spam – the architect will use sticky grenades to flush you out of cover, but the UI marks them clearly. When it spits grenades out, make a move.
• Be aware of your position – this is a simple one, but watch where you step – you need to be inside the markings the UI leaves on the floor in order for the hacking to progress. Hold the line!
• When the head is exposed, attack! – attacking the head when your allies tell you to can leave the architect temporarily out of action, giving you vital time to regroup.

Once you interface with all three consoles you’ll be able to fully defeat the Architect and with it the Archon. Meridian is yours! We’ll leave what happens next for the game to explain. Or you could watch the video below.

Don’t worry, Mass Effect Andromeda continues after these scenes play out. You can explore the Heleus cluster at your leisure.

Mass Effect Andromeda guide: Meridian – The Way Home, Khi Tasira posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Mass Effect Andromeda guide – A Better Beginning and Activating the Remnant Monoliths

It’s time for some alien sudoku, some fighting, and a bad-ass Krogan. Are you looking for Drack? You’ve found him.

A Better Beginning: Activate Remnant Monoliths

Now you’ve activated the first monolith and met Peebee in the process, you now have an idea of what to do on the planet: these big alien monoliths are doing something, and you are unique in that you’re able to interface with them and use them. It’d be rude not to make use of this, wouldn’t it? Besides, getting this done will make Eos less of a hellhole, which we can all agree is an admirable goal.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

If you look at your map you’ll have waypoints to guide you to the next monolith, which is handy, but it’s worth noting that each of the monoliths also fires a bright white laser across the sky of the planet. These lasers converge on one point that seems to lead to a whole lot of nothing right now, but you can trace the lasers back to the monoliths you need to find if you want to track them down in a more organic way.

We’re going to focus on the main quest here, and while in the last part of this guide we did tell you to mostly stay in the Nomad and make your way very specifically from story point to story point it might be worth hopping out if you pass anything of interest along the way – you might find some Remnant robots to fight, or some Kett, and many of these places also hold containers that have loot for you to grab. Unfortunately you’ll also find yourself butting up against the radiation a lot; don’t worry about it, it goes away later. Don’t bother trying to push through it.

When you reach the next monolith you’ll have to fight to clear it of enemies – easy enough, just remember to take cover as needed and don’t forget to spend your skill points from levelling up to enhance your powers. When you’re done, you’ll be faced with a console and another little puzzle.

Reactivating the second Remnant Monolith and solving its glyph puzzle

The first thing you’ll need to do is attempt to decrypt the Remnant Monolith sitting in the middle of this area. When you do it’ll toss up a puzzle screen: it’s immediately clear that this one isn’t as simple as waving a hand and activating it as with the last. You can’t complete the puzzle, however, since you’re missing some of the glyphs.

To get the glyph, pop open your scanner and look at the console. Follow the cabling that comes out of the console underground and watch where it goes: you’ll see it goes up high, but in the same direction as the cable you’ll see another console. Interact with this – platforms will rise, allowing you to use your jump-jets to boost your way up to where the cable leads.

Once you’re high up, activate your scanner again and look around – just as at the last remnant site you’ll find a glyph. From this vantage point you’ll be able to see a second glyph too, so scan them both. Now we’re talking!

Jump down and hit the main console again. The puzzle flashes up: and this time it’s doable! We’ve got a dedicated page that explains to you just how this monolith decryption mini-game works, so if it confuses you and you want to do it legitimately head on over there and read those tips. Basically it’s sudoku, though: each grid and line can’t contain the same icon more than once.

• Mass Effect Andromeda monolith, glyphs and Remnant decryption guide

If you want to cheat, well, here’s the answer:

After you activate the monolith some concerned Kett soldiers will show up – take care of them.

A Better Beginning: The final Monolith & the Kett Base

Once the second monolith is activated our job is to head to the third, obviously. This one is a little bit more complicated still – it’s surrounded by a force field that you can’t penetrate and is surrounded by a Kett base. You’ll need to storm this base and kill the Kett inside in order to deactivate the force fields and reach the monolith. Head south-east following your waypoint to reach the base.

The base is symmetrical, with one entrance that splits into left and right pathways that are more or less identical. Park up the Nomad and begin your siege. This is your first major combat challenge, so use cover properly, don’t forget to keep moving using your jump jets and don’t rush – be patient and take out the Kett in small waves rather than by rushing too deep into the base.

Don’t forget to scan absolutely everything new that you can for research points. Sometimes you’ll find interactive object – power generators scattered along the pathways will deactivate cover that enemies use, making them more vulnerable.

Once all the Kett are dead you’ll need to scan for one last power generator – it’s at the far end of the base, right near the force-field that prevents you from getting inside. Deactivate it and you’ll be treated to a cutscene and meet a new character. That old grandpa is cool.

Activating the final Remnant Monolith

Next: Part 6: Into the Vault, clearing the Eos radiation and founding Prodromos

With this done, head to the final monolith. The score is the same here as before: whip out your scanner, scan the console, then follow the cables to find the two glyphs. They’re both on the roof of nearby pillars. Once scanned you can interact with the main console.

This time there’s no puzzle – you’ll mercifully just be given immediate access to the monolith and activate it. Once this monolith is active, major changes are afoot here on Eos. It’s time to check out whatever it is the monolith activated. Prepare yourself… we’re heading for our first vault.

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Mass Effect Andromeda Naming the Dead visual guide – screenshots and map locations for colonist bodies

Naming the Dead is an early Mass Effect Andromeda quest that everyone hates. Screenshots and map images help you get rid of it ASAP.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

Mass Effect Andromeda has some great content – some of the loyalty missions are absolutely choice – but Naming the Dead is definitely not one of its peak moments. It’s a real shame you come across it so early in proceedings, and also that it’s very hard not to pick up accidentally.

While Naming the Dead is probably one of the most emotionally interesting of the many (many, many) quests you’ll add to the Task section of your journal as you play Mass Effect Andromeda, it’s a bit buggy, it keeps shouting at you as you explore Eos, and it has no map references to guide you. It’s just not fun to do, and you’ll almost certainly need a guide to complete it.

Thanks, Alienware!

Brenna is playing Mass Effect Andromeda on an Alienware 17 with a GX 1070, kindly loaned, at her request, by Alienware Australia’s PR representative.

The good news is: this is that guide. Screenshots, text descriptions, and map images show exactly where all the dead colonist bodies are on Eos. With this, you can put Naming the Dead behind you – forever.

Do yourself a favour and finish Naming the Dead as soon as possible. It’s still best to do it after you’ve cleared the Eos vault and advanced the main Mass Effect Andromeda plot a little, to clear the radiation on Eos (that makes exploration much less of a chore) but when you’re ready to kick off your Eos adventures, this is a great first priority.

Use our screenshots, text descriptions and map images to track down the dead colonists who mark one of the Andromeda Initiatives less successful attempts to live alongside the Kett.

Naming the Dead colonist body locations

1. Promise: Theo J. Harwell
Visit the Eos settlement ruin called Promise and search behind the buildings near the big circular structure for this body. If you’re back on Eos later in the game, there’s a merchant right nearby. Sorry the map cursor is off here; the spot you want is the little arrow where Ryder is standing.

2. Resilience: Gordanus Trenitus
Head directly south from Theo J. Hartwell’s body until you reach Resilience, the second Eos settlement ruin. Go down to the lower level. The body is in an area with Kett mobile cover barriers. For some reason, it tends to bug out and vanish after scanning, so our screenshot shows the location, but not the body itself. Trenitus, your troublesome Turian!

3. Resilience: Thysa Ylar
Move further south from Gordanus Trenitus’s body and search along the balconies and stairs around the cluster of buildings to find this body. As you’ll see from the map, this body is very close to the last one.

4. Resilience: Porter M. West
Search the gully east of the lower Resilience site for this body. Again, it’s really close to the last two.

5. Northern monolith: Tegan C. Avante
This body is by a big rock by the road that goes past the monolith where you meet Peebee.

6. Central monolith: Amira S. Pavlov
There are several bodies at the second monolith. Pavlov is on her back with one arm stretched out.

7. Kett Research Centre: Darin T. Anton
Head to the Kett facility at the southernmost monolith and look for the autopsy room on the north side of the central complex; the body is on one of the tables.

Note that you can always return to scan a body a second time to check the name, if you’re not sure which ones you’ve done so far. Except for that damned Turian in Resilience who vanishes! Truly, he is the final boss of Naming the Dead.

Naming the Dead is probably the only quest in Mass Effect Andromeda you’ll need this sort of assistance for; almost everything else has map icons, or is completed via random encounters. Don’t let it get you down.

We wish we could say none of the characters ever mention Naming the Dead again, but like many quests in Mass Effect Andromeda, the world state largely refuses to acknowledge its completion and you’ll still hear about it as you plod around.

Mass Effect Andromeda Naming the Dead visual guide – screenshots and map locations for colonist bodies posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Mass Effect Andromeda guide – The Tempest and the strange signal on Eos

Get a ship, get a car, track a signal – not a bad start to Mass Effect Andromeda.

Getting to know your new ship – The Tempest

After a few cutscenes as you leave The Nexus and an inspiring speech for your crew (which, sorry Ryder, has nothing on Shepard’s motivational declamations) you’ll have access to The Tempest, your main base for the game and also your transport throughout the Heleus Cluster. It’s a lovely ship.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

You’ll also gain a new squadmate, Vetra, in for the bargain. Vetra has powerful armor that allows her to tank enemies effectively and basically fills the same sort of soldier with tech expertise skill set that defined much-loved Turian Garrus back in the Mass Effect trilogy. Those two probably would’ve got along like a house on fire. She and Ryder will also get along pretty well, if you’re patient.

Before you fly: Explore the Tempest and your crew

You’ve obviously met Liam and Cora before in the course of your Nexus and Habitat 7 exploring, but there’s more to the Tempest than that. One thing you should do as soon as you get it is explore – go and chat to all of the crew. There’s Gil, the engineer, science officer Suvi, Salarian pilot Kallo and Asari doctor Lexi. Get to know them – several of them are romance plot interests for Ryder – but they also have their own sidequests you’ll unlock as you build relationships with them over the course of the game.

You’re going to be here a lot, so learn the layout now. Throughout the ship you’ll find some key places. Most important are the following:

• Email Terminals: There’s one of these on the bridge and one in your quarters. Some quests or quest consequences will be delivered via email, so check often. You can archive read emails.
• Repsec station: If you want to respec your character, the means to do so is found down in the medbay. Spend credits to reset your skill points and spend over again. Note that the cost goes up each time.
• Shop Terminal: Marked as ‘Buy/Sell’, this lets you access a basic shop right from the Tempest. The stock won’t be the same as the shops on the ground in hubs, so be sure to still shop around when on the ground.
• Research & Development: This terminal lets you spend research points (which are obtained by scanning, so keep scanning) for new weapon, armor and augment blueprints – then develop those blueprints into gear you can use. Don’t go wild here; research points are a limited resource, and you will not find enough to unlock everything.
• Strike Missions: A terminal related to missions carried out by AI on your orders – and multiplayer missions.
• AVP Status Control: This will unlock later, and is part of story progression and completion-related perks.

Note that your squadmates and other crew members can be found in different locations, so if you can’t find a favourite pal, keep searching. They’re around somewhere.

If you want you can also take your ship to other systems and planets other than your objective, Eos. You won’t be able to land anywhere, but by scanning planets you’ll discover resources you can use for crafting and world-explaining flavour text. This also helps fill out your game completion statistics and begin chipping away at a side quest. Unlike most side content, which you should leave till endgame, scanning planets is definitely best done in small doses as new systems unlock rather than all at once as one long boring chore.

When you’re done exploring, take yourself to Eos to continue your critical path adventure.

A Better Beginning: Arriving at Site 1 on Eos

After some more cutscenes and story you’ll find yourself in control in the middle of ‘site 1’ in Eos. Things didn’t go too well at Site 1 – that much is clear. Follow the navpoint to find a locked building, then follow the navpoint again to obtain the access code to unlock the door.

Along the way you may find human bodies – if you scan one, you’ll kick off a sidequest – Task: Naming the Dead. Don’t pursue this now; most Eos quests are better left for after you clear this annoying radiation hazard. If you insist, we have a Naming the Dead visual guide.

The story steps here are pretty simple. Enter the locked building and head through reading logs on computers and generally investigating the situation. Soon enough you’ll need to head to the power relay indicated on your map in order to restore power to Site 1. When you reach there you’ll learn one human yet lives – and by turning the power on you’ll attract the attention of the Kett, the alien race you met back on Habitat 7. Activate the power anyway by telling the survivor you’ll take care of the kett.

Activate the two power generators. You’ll need to scan one and then hack it in order to get it working. Once both are active, the Kett will arrive. Take them down with the same skills you practised back on Habitat 7. If you haven’t yet spent your skill points, now’s the time to get to it.

Meet the Nomad

Before you can really proceed you’re going to need a vehicle. In the north-east of site 1 you’ll find a big cargo container. Scan it to find there’s a Nomad vehicle inside. This state-of-the-art bad boy is your transport. You need a code to unlock it – these colonists sure love their password security.

To get the code head to the waypoint indicated to lower a forward station. This is really a tutorial in disguise: forward stations are dropped into the world and act as places you can replenish health and consumables, plus they act as fast travel points. Note what they look like and their symbol on the map – if you see a holographic outline of one of these or a white icon of one on the map you should head there to deploy that station so it can be used as a fast travel point.

The forward station gives you the code you need. Now go get the Nomad. The nomad gives you freedom! Time to use it.

Dealing with Eos Radiation

So here’s the thing: you now have the Nomad as a means of exploration and a bunch of icons on your map, but it’s not advisable to get out of the Nomad between destinations right now – Eos is soaked in radiation, and you don’t want to eat that up.

Our strong advice is to simply keep moving through the main quest objectives as we describe below. Without getting too deep into the world of spoilers, the main quest will help make exploring Eos more viable without being killed by the radiation, especially in the areas of the planet that can kill you in a matter of moments. Keep playing the story – you can return to Eos and clean up these icons later.

Investigate the Strange Signal

There’s a signal on Eos that’s of interest – and now it’s time to go find it. From the forward station, hop into the Nomad and head east. Remember that the Nomad has two-wheel and six-wheel drive – you’ll want to swap to six-wheel drive to climb steep slopes then switch back to two-wheel drive when you want to get your speed up.

You can’t really miss your objective – it’s a big, black alien monolith that dominates the skyline near Site 1. It also has a lovely shiny waypoint.

When you get there, hop out. Shields put up around the monolith mean it’s safe for you to exit the Nomad without it draining your life support here. Use your scanner liberally to pick up lots of research points. Interact with the alien console and then head – as Liam suggests – up the scaffolding to get high on the monolith. Up there you’ll find a strange symbol. Scan it. You might also notice in scanner view that a cable is going from this glyph down to the alien console. Get used to this: you’re going to track glyphs through these cables often in the coming hours.

Next: Part 5: A Better Beginning and Activating the Remnant Monoliths

Once the glyph has been scanned, drop down and use the alien interface. A cutscene ensues, and you meet a new ally.

After this you’ll face some combat against some new robotic enemies. If you have access to any tech skills, remember that they’re more useful against enemies of the synthetic variety. When these foes are killed it’s well worth you taking the time to scan them – while you can only scan each type of enemy once, the first time you encounter and scan them nets you quite a lot of research data. We can’t emphasise enough how important it is to grab as many research points as you can if you have any interest in crafting.

We now have a new objective – to activate more of these strange monoliths to see what they do.

Mass Effect Andromeda guide – The Tempest and the strange signal on Eos posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Mass Effect Andromeda guide: A Trail of Hope – Havarl, Voeld, the Moshae and the fate of the exaltation facility

Meet the Angara – and prove yourself to them by staging a daring rescue. Hell, resolve all their problems while you’re doing chores.

A Trail of Hope: Contents

Objectives and mission flow

Boss: Cardinal

Key choice and story branch

Aya secondary quests

Hvarl secondary quests

Voeld secondary quests

Loyalty and crew missions

Now that you’ve activated the vault on Eos and kicked off the process of clearing its radiation, you should be heading to the skies from Eos in the Tempest and looking for your next challenge in the Heleus Cluster. Thankfully you have one with your next major mission: A Trail of Hope.

We’re changing our guide structure here; Mass Effect Andromeda becomes far less linear now, and so we won’t be handholding you so much as pointing out key stop-ins you should make on your way through whichever content you choose to pursue. Consider this a checklist for this section of the game.

The critical mission path is heating up, but this latest quest is a multi-stage, multi-planet doozy. Before you dive into it, we recommend checking back in with your squadmates on the Tempest as well as taking a tour of the Nexus. In both places you’ll find new side content, new conversations and new side quests that can be triggered. It’s also a great chance to offload any junk in your inventory in exchange for credits that you can use to pick up consumables and new gear. Shops on the Nexus also change their stock up in tune with your main story mission progress, so you might find new, better stuff there now. It’s a good idea to do this between each of the major priority ops, although we recommend not pursuing and but local side quests just yet; you can save a lot of bracktracking by knocking all of these over towards the end of the game.

Shortly after beginning A Trail of Hope you’ll unlock many new systems to explore on the Galaxy Map view. Be sure to check in with each, scanning each system in full, if you’re aiming for full completion.

A Trail of Hope has an unusual structure. Shortly after making first contact with the Angara you’ll be given two main quests, Helping Havarl’s Scientists and Meet the Resistance. You only have to do one of these to gain the trust of the Angara and fulfil the mission’s primary objective, but you can do both if you like, and the suggested mission flow below reflects this.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

A large number of secondary quests are available during A Trail of Hope, and we’ve listed them all by location below. It’s an exhaustive, long list, but it’s worth noting that some sidequests on both Hvarl and Voeld won’t become available until you have spoken to Addison on the vidcon in the Tempest after completing one or both of the two Angara trust missions that Efvra and Jaal give you. Making this call does not close off any mission threads, so we suggest getting that out of the way as soon as possible to open yourself up to as many quests as possible.

A Trail of Hope objectives and suggested missions flow

Eos Radiation

Note: Completing either of the missions to gain the trust of the Angara will clear the Eos radiation, if you want to go back and tick off content there. We’ve got a full list of the new sidequests on Eos on our Eos guide page.

This is our suggested path through A Trail of Hope. It includes multiple optional tips to go around hoovering up side quests after specific milestones, and should allow you to get absolutely everything available done before you proceed to the fourth priority op.

As discussed above, this quest branches and you can complete either of two quests to gain the trust of the Angara, or go for them both. Our suggested path takes in both, which means you get to visit two new planets rather than just one. In a game all about exploration that seems like the right choice, we reckon.

In either case, the mission joins back together after you contact Evfra for the second time and begin a mission to rescue the Moshae. Feel free to do just one objective and crack on with the main quest if you prefer.

• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Travel to the Onaon system and land on Aya
• Meet with Evfra
• Optional: Collect Aya sidequests (see list below)
• Complete Helping Havarl’s Scientists
  • Travel to Havarl
  • Speak to Kiiran Dals
  • Solve the monolith to free the Angaran prisoners
  • Return to Kiiran Dals
• Optional: collect Havarl side quests (see list below)
• Return to the Tempest and speak with Addison on the vidcon
• Complete the Meet the Resistance mission chain
  • Travel to Voeld
  • Follow the heat lamps to the rebel camp
  • Speak to Anjik Do Xeel and Beniska to begin Eyes on the Ground/On the Frontlines
  • Place a forward station and summon the Nomad, then follow the paths to Hjara Station
  • Speak to Skeot to begin Stage a Rescue
  • Travel to the Kett base to rescue Nilij
• Meet with Evfra at Resistance HQ
• Optional: collect Voeld side quests (see list below)
• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Optional: scan all new planets and systems
• Talk to Commander Heckt at the docks on Aya
• Rescue the Moshae
  • Infiltrate the Kett Base
  • Speak to Commander Heckt
  • Fight through the Kett base
  • Scan the stasis pods
  • Use the console
  • Fight through the Kett
  • Speak to Jaal
  • Defeat the Cardinal
  • Speak to the Moshae [decision point]
  • Protect the Moshae
  • Board the shuttle
• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Return to Aya
• Optional: collect Aya sidequests (see list below)
• Meet with the Moshae and Evfra at Resistence HQ

A Trail of Hope Boss: Defeating the Cardinal

Towards the end of the ‘A Trail of Hope’ mission to rescue the Moshae you’ll face off against the Cardinal – a new enemy type that you’re going to meet a few times during your adventure. This is a tougher and more resilient class of Kett who ominously floats off the ground and has an orb that protects him.

In order to take down the Cardinal you need to attack the orb that floats around him; when it explodes, the cardinal himself will be vulnerable. That’s the time to pile on the damage. Because the orb floats around in and out of your line of fire area of effect attacks such as singularity or flamethrower are particularly useful here.

The orb will eventually regenerate, so you’ll want to lay on as much damage as you can while the Cardinal is exposed. To this end be sure to equip some good consumable ammo such as inferno or cryo ammo to up the damage dealt in a short degree of time and direct your squadmates to attack directly.

The Cardinal spawns with a number of allies, but it’s best to take them down first and focus on the Cardinal last. If you see the cardinal charging up a large ball of orange energy be ready to use your boost jets to dodge out of the way – even cover won’t save you from this shield-busting attack.

Vanguards and other in-your-face players should beware of the Cardinal’s grab attack; it’s an instant-kill unless a squadmate manages a powerful enough attack to interrupt it, and that’s … unlikely.

A Trail of Hope story branch: Save the Angara or Destroy the Facility

At the end of the mission to rescue the Moshae you’ll get a major choice: you can either destroy the exultation facility or leave it standing and give the Cardinal, the character who runs it, a chance. This is a gut-wrenching, no-win decision – leaving the facility standing means there’s a chance it could be used again, but destroying it dooms many Angara to death.

Destroying it will kill many Angara currently scheduled for exultation, but the Moshae, whose help you require, begs you to destroy it nevertheless. Jaal is less keen on the idea of the facility’s destruction. Thus this choice branches the story somewhat:

• If you destroy the facility, the Angara will die but the Moshae will be happiest with you. She’ll thank you, and be more forthcoming with her help – though you’ll get her help either way. Jaal will initially be upset but also will come to understand – this doesn’t damage your relationship (or friendship) chances with him.
• If you allow the facility to stay standing the Moshae will be angry and the facility survives. In return you get some additional support from the Angaran Resistance during a late-game mission thanks to the fact you rescue their people from the facility by saving it, but who knows if the act of leaving the facility standing will have repercussions in a future game.

Aya secondary quests

The following sidequests become available on Aya during A Trail of Hope, after you speak with Evfra for the first time, or upon your return after rescuing the Moshae. Pick them up as you go, but don’t feel obliged to do these now; as ever, we recommend saving side content for close to endgame to save time running back and forth.

• Trading Favors
  Speak to Sohkaa Esof at the docks on Aya on your first visit.
• Recovering the Past
  Speak to Avela Kjar at the docks on Aya on your first visit. This can lead to a romance subplot with Avela.
• Task: Laws and Customs
  Speak to any of the Arbiters while exploring Aya after rescuing the Moshae.
• Task: Local Cuisine
  Scan any fruit you see in Aya after rescuing the Moshae.
• Task: Messages to the Nexus
  Speak to the staff in the Governor’s office after rescuing the Moshae.
• Task: Test Subject
  Walk through the markets of Aya until your are notified that you are being scanned after rescuing the Moshae.
• Liam Kosta: Day Out on Aya
  Speak to Liam on the Tempest after rescuing the Moshae and viewing the Aya Vault scene.
• Forgotten History
  Speak to Avela Kjar at the museum after completing Recovering the Past and rescuing the Moshae.

Hvarl secondary quests

The following sidequests are available on Hvarl during A Trail of Hope. Many sidequests branch from or are dependent on A Dying Planet, Hvarl’s major secondary quest. Pick them up as you go, but don’t feel obliged to do these now; as ever, we recommend saving side content for close to endgame to save time running back and forth.

• A Dying Planet
  Speak to Kiiran Dals in the research station near the spawn point.
• A Lost Sister
  Speak to Sage Amurd at the top of Mithrava during A Dying Planet.
• Unearthed
  Speak to Fleera at the top of Mithrava during A Dying Planet.
• Task: Roekaar Manifestos
  Collect the datapad at the camp across the bridge, which becomes available partway through A Dying Planet.
• Overgrown
  Speak to Dr. Tassana Rilar at the research station near the spawn point after completing A Dying Planet.
• Cross-Cultural Alliances
  Check your email after completing A Dying Planet.
• Forgotten Stars
  Speak to Raashel Vier in the research station near the spawn point.
• Turian Ark: Not Dead Yet
  Speak to Kiiran Dals in the research station near the spawn point, after completing Helping Havarl’s Scientists – or simply find the encmapment.
• Task: Turian Salvage
  Speak to Drusa after completing both Helping Havarl’s Scientists and Turian Ark: Not Dead Yet.

Voeld secondary quests

The following sidequests are available on Voeld during A Trail of Hope. Pick them up as you go, but don’t feel obliged to do these now; as ever, we recommend saving side content for close to endgame to save time running back and forth.

• Intercepted
  Access a terminal at the Resistance Base.
• Medical Caches
  Speak to Dr Harihn at the Resistance Base.
• Task: Nomad Shield Crafting
  Talk to the mechanic at the Resistance Base.
• The Lost Scout
  Talk to Haana at the Resistance Base.
• Reformation
  Speak to the Angaran Priestess at the Resistance base.
• Meet The Family
  Unlocks after completion of Stage a Rescue.
• Remove the Heart
  Unlocks after completion of Meet the Family.
• Uncovering the Past
  Unlocks after completion of Remove the Hearts.
• Frequency
  Find a strange meteorite, or speak to the irritated researcher at Hjara station.
• Brought to Light
  Speak to Rjoek in Techiix.
• Fact or Fiction
  Speak to Ari Vesjek at Techiix, or access a console in the Kett base.
• Bridge Sabotage
  Locate the broken bridge southwest of Techiix.
• The Lost Song
  Speak to the biologist standing on the lake outside Techiix.
• White Death
  Look for a lone sniper outside Techiix.
• Restoring a World
  Reactivate a monolith on Voeld.
• Missing Science Crew
  Speak to Priya Blake after placing an outpost on Voeld.
• End of Watch
  Find one of three datapads at battle sites around Voeld.
• Subjugation
  Destroy a Kett device in a random encounter.
• Task: Catch and Release
  Scan an Angaran corpse in a random encounter.
• Task: Clearing the Air
  Hack a Kett terminal in a random encounter.
• Task: Gone Dark
  Scan an Angaran console in a random encounter.
• The Vanished
  Search for an audio recording in a cave in the north of the map.

Crew and loyalty missions

The following side quests become available once you begin A Trail of Hope, or at various milestones throughout. Check in regularly at your email terminal, as well as in conversations on the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest, to ensure you get them all. Pick them up as you go, but don’t feel obliged to do these now; as ever, we recommend saving side content for close to endgame to save time running back and forth.

• Nakmor Drack: Krogan Betrayal
  Speak to Drack on the Tempest.
• Cora Harper: Asari Ark
  Read an email from Cora and speak to her on the Tempest, after landing on Aya. Completion of this mission is vital to getting the game’s best ending.
• Liam Kosta: Armor Diplomacy
  Visit Aya, exhaust Liam’s dialogue on the Tempest, exit the Tempest and return to speak to Liam again.
• Jaal Ama Darva: Friend or Foe?
  Speak to Jaal after you chat with Evfra via Vidcon.
• Peebee: Secret Project
  Check your email.
• Gill Brodie:A Game of Poker
  Check your email.
• Excess Baggage
  Exhaust Suvi’s dialogue, after landing on Aya.
• Know your Enemy
  Read your email, after speaking with Evfra.
• Movie Night: Getting started
  Exhaust all Liam’s dialogue after landing on Aya, then speak to him again.

With Trail of Hope behind you and a stack of sidequests in your journal, it’s off to the next major multi-stage mission – Hunting the Archon.

Mass Effect Andromeda guide: A Trail of Hope – Havarl, Voeld, the Moshae and the fate of the exaltation facility posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Mass Effect Andromeda guide: AVP, planetary viability and the best cryo pod perks to upgrade

Mass Effect Andromeda players can unlock some sweet perks and passive bonuses by racking up AVP. Here’s what you need to know.

While you’ll spent a lot of Mass Effect Andromeda very busily chasing after evil aliens, shooting things, chatting endlessly and getting romantically entangled, the core of the Pathfinder’s mission is colonisation.

It’s pretty easy to forget this, but knuckle under to some side content and exploit a couple of poorly advertised systems, and you can score yourself some very tasty perks as a result of your efforts to settle the Heleus Cluster. On that note, let’s talk about the AVP system.

AVP (which stands for Andromeda Viability Points) is a measure of your colonial progress in the galaxy. You gain AVP for activities that make the Andromeda Initiative more secure and sustainable, and by totting up a high enough total you can unlock various passive bonuses.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

There are a total of five planets you can settle in the game, and if you manage to settle each successfully (which is in no way guaranteed and is based on your in-game choices) you’ll have a planetary viability measurement out of 100% for each. Each time you add to that number increases your AVP across the board. You can continue to increase your AVP even after you’ve raised all five planets to 100% viability if you so wish – there are plenty of extra quests to do beyond that cap.

Your AVP is displayed in the top-right of the main menu and is counted separately from your main EXP counter for your character. It levels up at its own unique rate too, raising the Nexus Level – or how proficient the Nexus, your galactic hub for Andromeda, is. As the Nexus levels up new areas of the station will become available. You can check your progress from a dedicated menu in the pause screen.

How to earn AVP, increase planet viability and level up the Nexus quickly

There are a number of ways to increase your AVP and boost planetary viability – and doing both of these things will in turn raise your Nexus level. We’ll talk about why you’ll want to do that in a moment, but first, here are the most reliable methods to boost your viability and gain AVP:

• Exploring and activating a Remnant Vault will net you 40% viability right away.
  This happens as part of the main quest on some planets, but on others you’ll have to seek the monoliths and vaults out. As well as the huge uptick in viability, activating vaults will make some of the more difficult to travel planets far easier to explore, by making the climate more agreeable. More importantly, SAM yells at you less about the weather.
• Establishing outposts will give you 20% viability
  Establishing an outpost requires high viability to begin with, but it will reward you with 20% viability for doing so.
• Dropping Forward Stations adds 2% viability
  You’ll want to drop forward stations as a priority anyway since they act as fast travel points, but when you do it’ll give you 2% extra viability
• Planet main plot completion adds 10%-20% viability
  Each planet has some sort of quest that is its ‘main quest’ away from the Priority Ops of the main story of Andromeda, such as brokering terms with the Krogan or solving the turf war on Kagara. Completing this quest will add a significant chunk of viability.
• Architect Defeat and/or Enemy Base Clear will add 10% viability
  Architects are nasty, gigantic boss enemies found on several of the colonist worlds. Defeating them will add around 10% viability, and the same is true for the large enemy bases found on some worlds. Some worlds have both.
• Priority Ops will add between 5% and 10% to the related planet’s viability
  Some planets are deeply associated with priority ops, and in those cases you’ll gain 5-10% viability.
• Side Quest completion adds 2% to 5% to viability
  Side quests all contribute to viability, and are a great way to grind for viability and AVP quickly in small increments.

Getting all planets to 100% viability isn’t that difficult and actually carries an in-game reward. Once planets are at 100% viability you can keep pushing on with quests – viability won’t rise past 100%, but your AVP will continue to be added to your overall Nexus Level. Your Nexus Level is vital because it can be spent on…

Spending your AVP and Nexus Points on Cryo Pods

As for why you’d want to increase your AVP total: every time your Nexus levels up you not only see the Nexus grow a little busier and sometimes expand, you also unlock a new Cyro Pod Perk. When you hear SAM alert you that ‘you have AVP outstanding’, that’s what he’s getting at. You can spend your AVP at a terminal on the Tempest or on the Nexus itself in the Operations area.

The Nexus upgrades are split into three main sections: Science, Military and Commerce. This is a little bit like Dragon Age Inquisitions advisor perks, except there’s a lore explanation this time: AVP represents your ability to support more colonists, so when you add to that capacity significantly you get to decide who to wake up next. The colonists you choose to awaken provide unique perks to you, so you have to pick carefully.

Most important to note is at a point AVP and Nexus points max out, so it’s impossible to get all of the perks. Be careful and choose wisely.

Here are some of our favourites that we think you should prioritise picking up early:

The best Military Pod Perks to get early

• Advanced Training: You’ll have to unlock one other lower-level skill before this one (we recommend Reconnaissance), but this then gives you 10% bonus EXP from all encounters. Get this one early!
• Always Prepared: This pod requires the Munitions Pod be unlocked first, but this then gives you an extra consumables slot, used to equip items that give you a major boost in battle such as elemental ammo or defence buffs.
• Versatility: This pod is an upgrade of Always Prepared, adding one fourth and final slot. Having all four slots will give you a lot of options.
• Reconnaissance: Recommended above, this perk reveals hidden chests near forward stations on the open world maps. These chests contain great loot that you can use, sell, or break down for raw materials for use in crafting.

The best Science Cryo Pods to get early

• Improved Development: This upgrade will give you 10% more research data from all sources – vital if you plan to research new gear, especially as research is finite in the game.
• Improved Development II: As above, but this adds another 10%. If you’re crafting this stuff is a big deal.
• Innovation: If you get into crafting, this adds one more augmentation slot to all your research & development projects, meaning a chance to make things even more powerful.

The best Commerce Cryo Pods to get early

• Trade Capacity: This is an absolute no-brainer – it ups your inventory size. At a certain point in the game this becomes absolutely vital.
• Trade Capacity II: See above! Once you have the upgrade you can do this again – it’s still not big enough, mind. (Brenna disagrees with me, and just junks everything for parts immediately.)
• Fusion Mod Support: This is a bit of a late-game upgrade, but it halves the penalty for all fusion mods. Fusion mods are hugely powerful armor mods that also carry a hefty negative hit to offset their huge bonuses in their area of expertise. This halves those penalties, making the mods much more viable.
• Market Dominance: If you’re more interested in crafting than buying, pick this up – it’ll expand shop inventories right across the Heleus Cluster a fair bit with rarer stuff.

When you get closer to endgame you may want to think about the perks that regularly cough up research points; there’s a finite source of research available in the single-player campaign, and if you’re not keen on sending your AI crews on missions, this is your best way to keep it rolling in so you can unlock top tier gear.

Mass Effect Andromeda guide: AVP, planetary viability and the best cryo pod perks to upgrade posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW