Mass Effect 3 & DLC Trophy Guide and Road Map

[olsen77]

Overview
Estimated trophy difficulty: 5.9/10
Offline: 50 (1, 2, 6, 41) *Multiple trophies can be done either online or offline. Defender is the only one that must be done online.*
Online: 1 (1)
Downloadable Content: 2 (2)
Approximate amount of time to 100%: 50-60 hours with a Mass Effect 2 save, 75-100 hours without
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1+ (2+ without a Mass Effect 2 save)
Number of missable trophies: 8; Paramour, Master and Commander, Liberator, Tunnel Rat, Saboteur, Problem Solver, Fact Finder, Hijacker
Number of missable DLC trophies: 1; Freedom Fighter
Glitched trophies: None
Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No cheats
Does difficulty affect trophies?: Yes, two Insanity trophies.
Is an Online Pass required? Yes

“This is the end…of our elaborate plans, the end; of everything that stands, the end.” The Doors, especially a song titled “The End,” seemed appropriate considering that this is the end of the main Mass Effect trilogy. There will no doubt be more games, but what started with Shepard and the Reapers ends here.

Because of importing of characters from Mass Effect 2, this is really two road maps. The destination is the same, but your starting point is different. Without a Mass Effect 2 save, the platinum time doubles. In my opinion, the only way to play this game is having the knowledge and experience from Mass Effect 2. You will get the most out of the game and enjoy it that much more. If you also have the means to do so, please play the first Mass Effect game on PC or Xbox, if you have it. You won’t be able to import your character, but you can import the main decisions from Mass Effect: Genesis.

I can’t stress this enough, this game is very, very heavily story based and there is a lot that occurs in the first two games. You will still enjoy Mass Effect 3 without the past games, but your experience will be different and enriched having played at least Mass Effect 2 beforehand.

With all of that being said, if you do not have a Mass Effect 2 save, skip to section [2.1] in the road map. Best of luck and enjoy the game.

Note: Be sure to back up your Settings file regularly, especially if you're going to be playing online. Freezes in multiplayer have been known to wipe out all of your trophy stats.

[1.0] Missable Trophies

Unfortunately, there are missable trophies. Fortunately, they aren't too hard to miss. Most of them fall under the category of side missions (Liberator, Tunnel Rat, Saboteur, Problem Solver, and Fact Finder). While these can be missed easily, if you pay attention to the list of missions with Unwavering and don't progress too far through the story, you'll be ok. Just remember, Priority: Tuchanka, Priority: Rannoch, and Priority: Cerberus Headquarters are the story missions that lock out other missions. Complete everything else before beginning those.

Paramour is one that you'll have to try to miss, but it is possible. If you don't interact with your squadmates at all, you may not get the opportunity for the love scene. Hijacker is luck based. It is available with every appearance of the Atlas (except for on Sur'Kesh). If you don't get it, the earliest opportunities to get it in another playthrough will be in Grissom Academy or Priority: Eden Prime.

Master and Commander is less of a concern. You will most likely not get it in your first run through. Once you do complete the game though, you will be taken back to the just before Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. Simply complete Defender at that point and then begin the mission again to get the trophy.

Of course, the DLC has one missable trophy as well, Freedom Fighter. The good thing about it is that once you have full control over the Normandy, you can start the mission. There are only three computers that you need to find and their locations are listed with the trophy. Fully explore the area to find all three.

[1.1] Import Playthrough 1

With your Mass Effect 2 game save, import your character into ME3. You'll be able to change your class if you wish, but you can also stick with the class that you know. The best trophy wise would be Sentinel since you can use Lift Grenades for Sky High and Overload for Overload Specialist. Those trophies can also be unlocked in multiplayer though and shouldn't concern you too much. Once the game starts and you have full control of Shepard, you will automatically level up to where you left off in Mass Effect 2. If that's level 30, then you're halfway to 60 minutes into the game.

By the end of the prologue, you'll have to decide which difficulty that you want to play on. You can set it to Casual or Story if you just want to enjoy the ride or set it to Insanity if you want to get that trophy out of the way. Keep in mind, that if you are going for Insanity on your first playthrough, you will also want to do Unwavering since that has to be done in one playthrough. Whichever you decide, you must set the difficulty to Insanity by the time you leave Earth if you want that trophy. Adjusting the difficulty after Earth is fine, but if you lower it from Insanity, you will lose that trophy.

Simply play through the game and complete the missions. Follow along with the lists accompanying Unwavering for the more detailed quests and Master and Commander for the smaller fetch missions that increase your Overall Military Readiness. Most of the trophies should naturally unlock along the way. You'll have to keep in mind that certain story missions will lock you out of the side missions and smaller fetch missions if you progress too far. The best thing to do is to complete as many active quests as possible before taking on any missions labeled "Priority." Completing the main story missions will make available new side missions. Again, complete those first in case your progression through the story locks you out of them.

I need to make a quick mention of the first DLC, From Ashes. You will get the mission in your email box after leaving the Citadel and can complete it at any time before Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. While you're on the mission, be sure to fully explore the buildings to ensure that you get Freedom Fighter.

Depending on who you chose to romance in Mass Effect 2 or in Mass Effect: Genesis, then the time when you can romance him or her will come at different times. In the case of Ashley/Kaiden or the new characters, it won't be until you cross the point of no return and begin Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. If it is someone like Tali, you will be able to continue the romance shortly after she comes aboard the Normandy.

As with the other Mass Effect games, there is a point of no return and that is Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. Once you start this mission, there is no turning back until the game ends. Before starting this mission, check your overall military readiness (OMR) and your effective military readiness (EMR). If your EMR is over 4000, then you will unlock Master and Commander without any trouble. The easiest way to increase the EMR is by playing the online multiplayer. Each mission that you either complete or reach a later wave will add to your galactic readiness rating (GRR). The EMR is calculated by a simple formula (OMR * GRR% = EMR). If your OMR is 6000 and your GRR is 50%, then your EMR will be 3000. Playing random missions with random enemies on Bronze difficulty is the quickest and easiest way to increase your GRR.

If you don't happen to have to an EMR over 4000 when you start Priority: Cerberus Headquarters, then don't worry. When you complete the game, you will be sent back to just before the point of no return. Go online and work on Defender. By the time you get to 100% GRR, then you will be well over 4000. Simply start Priority: Cerberus Headquarters again and the trophy will unlock right away.

One last thing to consider with your first playthrough is what level you will reach. If you started with an imported character at level 30, you should end up between level 55 and 58 by the end of your first playthrough. Your choice at this point is to either import your ME3 character into a New Game or play online. Skip to the appropriate section (1.2 for importing or 3.1 for Multiplayer) depending on which you want to do. You will need to play a bit with an imported character to fully upgrade a gun to level 10 though.

[olsen77]

[1.2] Import Clean up Run

With an imported character, you will keep basically everything, including your weapons, weapon upgrades, mods, powers, credits, and current experience points. You will unlock Battle Scarred shortly after you take control of Shepard.

If you didn't play through on Insanity the first time, then you will want to set the difficulty to Insanity during the Prologue. With Insanity as your choice of difficulty on this playthrough, then you will need to complete all 27 of the missions listed with Unwavering. Remember, progressing too far in the story locks certain missions out.

While you are doing Priority: Mars, be sure to find the four weapons that are in this mission (M-92 Mantis, M-4 Shuriken, M-23 Katana, and M-15 Vindicator). If you don't have to play all the way through Insanity, then you will need one of those to unlock Gunsmith as quickly as possible. Finding the gun a second time will automatically increase it three levels. Since you can only purchase upgrades up to level 7 without finding the gun a second time, you will need to fully upgrade one of those to reach level 10 as soon as possible.

Playing through with an imported ME3 character a second time also greatly increases your EMR necessary for Master and Commander. It increases it so much so that you won't need to play online at all. You will still need to go online for Defender however, but there are alternate choices.

As with the first playthrough, the final thing to mention is what level you should end up at. Because you're going for a second playthrough, you will reach level 60 without any trouble, earning you Peak Condition.

With basically everything completed, you'll only need 5000 kills and Defender. One playthrough should get you between 1500 and 2000 kills. If you want to tackle the online component, then you can get your remaining kills there. If not, then you can continue playing through the game by importing your character a second time.

[2.1] New Character Playthrough 1

If you're starting the road map from here, then this is probably your first Mass Effect experience (that or you deleted your Mass Effect 2 save). For the purposes of this road map, I'll be assuming that this is the first time that you've played Mass Effect.

Your first choice is in regards to how you want to play the game. New to Mass Effect 3 are different game modes that affect how the game plays. Role Playing mode is the full experience and is what I would recommend. Action mode places an emphasis on the combat and less of an emphasis on the story telling and your ability to shape the narrative. You will also have fewer customization options in Action mode and the default choices will be made for you. Story mode is the opposite of Action mode and allows to you dive into the narrative without having to worry so much about the combat. Whichever you choose though, your trophies won't be affected in any way.

Now, it's time to make your Shepard. You'll need to decide which character class you want to play as. There are three basic character classes, Soldier, Adept, and Engineer, and three combination classes, Infiltrator (Soldier-Engineer), Sentinel (Engineer-Adept), and Vanguard (Adept-Soldier). There aren't any weapon differences between the classes, but there are ability differences.

The powers are broken down into five classes, Combat, Ammo, Grenade, Biotic, and Tech. Soldiers focus in on Combat (Adrenaline Rush and Concussive Shot) and Ammo (Cryo Ammo, Incendiary Ammo, and Disruptor Ammo) to go along with Frag Grenades. Engineers are exclusive to Tech abilities with Combat Drone, Cryo Blast, Overload, Incinerate, Sabotage, and Sentry Turret. Aside from their Cluster Grenades, Adepts are focused on Biotic powers with Pull, Shockwave, Singularity, Throw, and Warp.

The combination classes are similar and have combinations of the powers that you'll see in other classes, but also a few that you won't. The Vanguard has Ammo abilities (Cryo Ammo and Incendiary Ammo) to go with their Biotic powers (Nova, Biotic Charge, Pull, and Shockwave). Infiltrators combine Ammo (Cryo Ammo and Disruptor Ammo) with Tech abilities (Incinerate, Sabotage, and Tactical Cloak). Infiltrators also have use of the Sticky Grenade. Sentinels may be the best overall class with the combination of Tech abilities (Cryo Blast, Overload, and Tech Armor) and Biotic powers (Throw and Warp). Combined with the Lift Grenade, the Sentinel is probably the best class to use to maximize your trophies. All of the "Do ___ X times" trophies can be done in multiplayer though, so the trophies shouldn't be a huge concern to you.

Your final choice is which difficulty you want to play on. As it's likely your first time with Mass Effect and you need two playthroughs anyway for Long Service Medal, stick to another difficulty than Insanity. All of your progress including weapons, weapon mods, powers, credits, etc. will carry over if you import your character to a new game. That would be my recommendation since your progress carries over and you will know the game.

At this point, you should be pretty well set to play through the game as you want. Since you shouldn't be playing through on Insanity, you won't have to worry about Unwavering and can just complete the game (however, follow along with the list that is accompanying the trophy to maximize the trophies you get). Make your first game as complete as possible so that you can learn the game and get as many trophies out of the way as possible. In addition to doing the side quests, do as many of the fetch missions as you can. They will greatly increase the war assets that you carry over into your second playthrough. There really isn't that much more to say other than complete the game. Most of the trophies will come naturally.

While you're making your way through the game, take the time to get to know your companions on the Normandy. If you intend on going for Paramour, then you will need to explore a relationship with one of them. Who you choose is up to you, but there is a list provided with the trophy. Just continue to talk to them in between missions and visit them while you're on the Citadel. When you cross the point of no return, that is when the scene that unlocks the trophy will begin.

As with most role-playing games, there is a point of no return, and that is the mission Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. Normally, this is when you would unlock Master and Commander. However, since your war assets carry over when you import your ME3 character, your second playthrough will end up well over the required 4000 effective military readiness.

From this point on, finish off your first playthrough. You should end up between 1500 and 2000 kills and somewhere between level 30-35.

[2.2] New Character Playthrough 2

After your first playthrough is over, choose to start up a new game and choose to import your ME3 character. Your level, XP, weapons, weapon mods, powers, and credits will carry over to the second playthrough. You can either choose to speed run this playthrough to get Long Service Medal or play on Insanity. Increasing the difficulty is probably the best choice as it's the most efficient.

Make sure that before the end of the prologue, you switch the difficulty to Insanity. You cannot change the difficulty after you leave Earth. Again, be sure to follow the list with Unwavering to make sure that you complete each mission on Insanity.

Your goal for this playthrough is to continue increasing your stats, racking up kills, and leaving as few trophies as possible to clean up. Continue to grind away both at your kills and your level. By the time that you complete your second playthrough, you should be approaching 4000 kills and close to level 60.

Just make sure that when you begin Priority: Cerberus Headquarters, that your effective military readiness is over 4000. If it is not, then you can take the game online and complete Defender. When you have your galactic readiness rating at 100%, you can come back and your effective readiness rating will be well over 4000 and you'll get Master and Commander.

[2.3] New Character Clean Up Run Offline or Online

What you choose to do from this point on is up to you. You should have the vast majority of the trophies. Anything that is left can be completed online or in yet another playthrough. You can start a new character as well if you want to test out a different class. The kills and powers trophies count over all playthroughs, so you won't lose any progress.

If you didn't do Defender during your Insanity playthrough, then now is the time to do it. You can easily get any remaining kills as well as what's left of melee kills, Pyromaniac, Sky High, or Overload Specialist can be done in online play. Also, if you need Peak Condition, ranking up to level 20 takes about 10 hours whereas getting everything up to 100% takes about 4. Section 3.1 has an outline for the multiplayer.

[olsen77]

[3.1] Multiplayer

Online co-op requires an online pass. If you rented the game or you bought it used, then you will need to spend $9.99 on an online pass. This is the easiest way to get your kills done as the matches last 20 minutes and there is very little down time.

If you've chosen to rank up to level 20 in multiplayer as opposed to going up to level 60 with an imported character, then it will take you roughly 10 hours of playing matches. You'll need 2.5 million experience points to rank all the way up to 20. You'll get Defender on the way.

The best class to use is Vanguard as the Biotic Charge-Nova combination is pretty overpowering, especially on higher levels. The problem with Vanguard is that you have to be close to use those powers and you can get yourself swarmed easily. Play whichever as whichever class that you feel the most comfortable with though. Every class is more limited in what powers you will have in multiplayer though. You'll only have three powers available instead of the full wheel.

The online is actually fun if you have a group that communicates and works together. If you play with a group of randoms, you may finish fairly easily or your squad may get killed long before you finish all 11 waves.

Yes, there are 11 waves in all and completing all 11 will get you the maximum addition to your GRR. You will need to get each area to 100% in order to unlock Defender. The easiest way to do this is by searching for random maps with random enemies. This will increase all areas at once instead of just one, like if you searched for a specific map.

As with most everything else in this game, there is another way to increase your GRR. There are two iOS apps that you can download onto your iPhone or iPad, Mass Effect: Infiltrator (requires iOS 3.1 or later) and Mass Effect: Datapad (requires iOS 4.0 or later). You have to pay for $6.99 for Infiltrator but Datapad is free. If you don't have an online pass, this is a good way to increase your GRR.

Since Mass Effect is all about your choices, it's only fitting that much of the trophy list is the same way. At this point, you should have the platinum trophy or be damn close. Mass Effect has been a hell of a ride. Best of luck with the trophies. Enjoy the end to an amazing trilogy. There better be more games in this rich galaxy in the future.

[4.0 Downloadable Content]

All post release DLC, beginning with Leviathan, will have it's own mini-road map. Skip down to that section of the guide for the details on the DLC trophies.

[olsen77]

Trophy Guide

Note: For the accumulation trophies, you can check your progress in the main menu. Go to Extras, and then Accomplishments.

N7 Elite
Acquire all trophies.

Driven
Return to active duty.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Prologue: Earth
Acquisition - Automatic

This will occur at the end of the invasion of Earth. Once you fight through the Reaper invasion that includes fighting husks (indoctrinated humans) and cannibals (indoctrinated batarians), you’ll make it to the Normandy. Once you’re on board, Anderson will give you back your dog tags. This trophy will unlock after a short conversation with Admiral Hackett.

Insanity Tips:

• The cannibals will be your biggest problem in this level, but even they aren’t bad. They’re tough bastards, but using combinations of your powers will bring them down quick enough.

Bringer of War
Chase down an assassin.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Mars
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Earth.

At the end of the Mars mission, you’ll have to chase down a Cerberus agent. Even on Insanity, you shouldn’t take too much damage. Keep up by holding to sprint almost the entire time. When the shuttles appear, the chase is over.

Insanity Tips:

• Safely back away when grenades appear.
• With the guardians, pick them off with the sniper rifle when they appear. If you don’t have a sniper rifle, use Ashley’s or Concussive Shot or Liara's Singularity.

Mobilizer
Bring a veteran officer aboard.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Palaven
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving the Citadel.

This will unlock after the third mission of the game, rescuing the turian Primarch on one of Palaven’s moons, Menae. The mission is mostly combat, but you will be introduced to brutes and marauders, as well as adding Garrus to your crew.

Insanity Tips:

• When the husks are present, move. If you have no other enemies to worry about, move away from the husks.
• In the fight with the husks and the marauders, there’s a small platform on the right where you can plant down in cover and stay reasonably protected.
• When manning the turret, tapping doesn’t help you much. Hold it down in bursts, but reload like normal using when you get a chance. Pick off as many as possible before the husks start climbing the walls. If they do get over, let Garrus and James do their thing, but support them when you can. Watch both sides. If you’re only paying attention to one side, the husks will pile around you and if you leave the turret for any reason, you won’t last long.
• Think of the brute like a giant husk. It can really only damage you when it charges. Ignore the husks for the most part. Stay on the move. I didn’t go into cover once here and made it out without any problems. Meanwhile, Garrus and James went into cover and I had to revive both of them. When one of the brute’s arms is raised over it’s head, it’s getting ready to charge. Step to the side or roll out of the way.
• When you’re making the rush to General Victus, there’s a heavy weapon (Reaper Blackstar) on the right side of the main pathway. Save it for the part when there are two brutes and a bunch of marauders. Since there’s only one way for the brutes to get to you, they will have to pass near each other. When they’re close together, fire the Blackstar to take them both out at the same time. This will leave you free to focus on the marauders.

World Shaker
Destroy an Atlas dropped from orbit.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Sur’Kesh
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Menae.

After finishing the mission on Menae, it’s time to start enlisting the help of the krogan. You’ll have to help ensure that a fertile krogan female survives an attack by Cerberus.

Insanity Tips:

• The turrets are easy if you have the right strategy. A direct assault is suicide. Move around to the walkway on the right side so that you can flank the turrets. Watch out for the assault troopers flanking you. Be sure to take out the combat engineers first since whatever damage you do to the turrets will be repaired by them.
• If you are an Infiltrator or an Engineer, you can hack the turrets to temporarily turn them against the Cerberus troops.
• In each part of the quarantine sequence, push forward as fast as possible. There are just a handful of troops and centurions.
• The Atlas mech is brutal, not because of the mech, but because of the Cerberus troops running around the same area. You can distract him enough so that he doesn’t go for the pod. The troops will ignore the pod as well. I ended up hiding next to the little stairs that you came up to get to that area. The Atlas can’t get close to you and the troops will stay far away. You’ll have to deal with the occasional grenade, but that’s about it. You’ll stay relatively protected in that area.

Pathfinder
Explore a lost city.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Tuchanka
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Sur'Kesh.

This mission will find you making your first big decision of the game. Whatever you decide, the trophy will unlock. This will become available after rescuing Eve from Sur’kesh and then searching for a lost turian squad on Tuchanka.

This mission and the aftermath are among the most epic moments in the entire trilogy. Enjoy it.

Insanity Tips:

• Meet the ravagers. They are indoctrinated rachni and are basically walking turrets. They also have egg sacs that release tiny enemies called swarmers. Don’t worry so much about the cannibals. Take out the ravagers first from a distance. They’ll be by far your biggest problem the first time that you encounter them.
• When the brute, husks, and cannibals arrive, run back and jump across the bridge that jumped over before. You’ll be too far away from most enemies and the husks and brute won’t be able to get to you. You can sit back and pick them off with ease.
• If you find yourself getting swarmed by the reaper enemies, there is plenty of room to back off in this mission. Get some space between you and them and pick them off while they try to make up ground. This works in every situation in the lost city.
• In the arena when you’re going for the hammers, you’ll start with one brute to deal with. Then two more will drop in front of both hammer. Because of my running around, I had four brutes at once that I was dodging and shooting at. And if that wasn’t enough, you also have reaper footsteps to worry about. The footstes are easy to avoid when there aren’t any brutes. If you see a shadow around you, run.

Tunnel Rat
Survive the swarm.

(Missable)

Mission – Attican Traverse: Krogan Team
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Sur'Kesh.

This is the other mission that will become available after Sur’kesh. Wrex (or Wreave, depending upon your previous Mass Effect choices) will ask you to investigate a krogan squad that has gone missing. No matter what choice you made in Mass Effect: Genesis, this will be available. You will be faced with a similar choice at the end of this mission.

Insanity Tips:

• The combination of enemies won’t be very fun. The mission doesn’t deviate from this combination though. It is always: husks, cannibals, and ravagers. Always worry about the husks first since they will rush you.
• When you see enemies with barrier up, find the barrier node and destroy it immediately (one well placed sniper round should do the trick).
• Once the husks are gone, stay in cover and pop out after the ravagers have fired their three shots. The ravagers pattern is always the same, fire three times and then recharge. Exploit it.

[olsen77]

Party Crasher
Sabotage a dreadnought.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Geth Dreadnought
Acquisition - Automatic after traveling to the Perseus Veil.

This is the first part of the quarian set of missions. Tali will join on the geth ship. Her sabotage power will be incredibly useful as she can hack AI enemies. Since you’re fighting geth, she can hack every enemy you face.

Insanity Tips:

• Make good use of Tali’s sabotage power. It will come in handy in so many situations, especially towards the end with the geth primes.
• The geth have planted mines everywhere in their ship. One good shot should take care of them. They won’t do enough damage to kill you even on Insanity, but they will take down some of your health and your shields.
• Conserve ammo as much as you can. There is very little towards the end and while you can survive the two geth primes utilizing your powers, it’s not fun to do it that way.
• When you are in the operations center and the geth attack, take care of the hunters immediately. The other geth will go into cover. The hunters will go straight for you and on top of that, they are cloaked. There should be one hunter on each side of the room coming down the outmost corridors.
• In the main battery, stay in cover whenever you hear the gun firing. Unless you want your shields wiped out in an instant, don’t leave cover when the shockwaves are coming.
• Find a spot where no geth can get behind you. There are hunters everywhere and they will go straight for you and your squad. Find the most protected place and stay there.
• The primes aren’t too bad, aside from the fact that there is very, very little ammo in this section. If you’re low going in, you’ll run out of ammo long before you can leave this room. Make good use of your powers and squad’s powers.

Hard Target
Call down an orbital strike.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Rannoch
Acquisition - Automatic after rescuing Admiral Koris or disabling the geth fighters.

You can do it before the fighter squadron, but I recommend that you save this mission for the last of the quarian-geth series. Overall, this mission isn’t too difficult, at least until the end when the difficulty spikes.

Insanity Tips:

• For most of this mission, the usual general tips apply.
• When you get to the point where you have to get into the facility, I killed the geth troopers and rocket troopers until Tali said that we had to get inside. Then I ran for it. There should only be a couple of geth on the lower level anyway.
• When you go on the elevator, there are three primes waiting for you. There will be one each coming from the left and right and one straight ahead of you. I moved around to one side to get all of them coming from the same direction and focused all of my fire on one. As soon as one was gone, I started to pull the other two away from the elevator. There’s a heavy weapon sitting right there where you first come in. You can use it when you get all three together, but I saved it until one was gone since there wasn’t enough ammo to destroy all three. Do what works best for you.
• You may think that you’re done, but you’re not. Now you get to fight a reaper. The reaper itself isn’t hard once you get it’s pattern down. When it fires it’s main laser, it will of course be targeting you. When the laser gets to the edge of the cliff that you’re standing on, roll to either side and start to aim the laser. The reaper will fire again and you’ll have to roll away again, but the targeting progress will be saved. You’ll have to repeat this three more times before you can finally destroy the reaper.

Saboteur
Disable a group of fighter squadrons.

(Missable)

Mission – Rannoch: Geth Fighter Squadrons
Acquisition - Automatic after disabling the geth dreadnought.

This is the easiest mission that you will find. There is no combat and you’ll have no trouble getting through it. It is an important mission story wise, though. All that you have to do is destroy the glowing sections of the reaper virus and free data clusters.

Note: Be sure to finish this mission before starting Priority: Rannoch.

Arbiter
Win a political stand-off.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: The Citadel II
Acquisition - Automatic after completing Priority: Tuchanka.

This mission becomes available after completing the missions on Tuchanka and the mission investigating the missing krogan team. The salarian ambassador, Valern, will contact you, believing that Udina is up to something. When you arrive at the Citadel, it is under siege by Cerberus.

Insanity Tips:

• You’ll deal with the usual Cerberus troops, but with one addition, the phantom. They are not fun to deal with. If you ever wondered what a 22nd century ninja would be like, you will have your answer. They strike quickly and sometimes from behind. Your best bet is to keep moving around when they are present. Staying in cover means probably death since they come up behind you and melee attack you. They need to get close to you to do the most damage, so keep away and wear down their barrier and health from a distance.
• The hardest part of this is the elevator. I know I just said to not stay in cover when phantoms are present, but stay in cover and take out the assault troops. Let your squadmates occupy the phantom while you take down the troops or take out the power conduits on the other elevator.

Last Witness
Extract ancient technology.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission: Priority: Thessia
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Rannoch.

After completing the quarian-geth missions, the asari councilor will contact you and tell you about an artifact on Thessia.

Insanity Tips:

• The reapers will have barrier generators set up in almost every fight. Be sure to destroy them first or you’ll have a hell of a time defeating even the most basic enemies.
• Where the turret is pointed at the beginning of the mission, ignore the enemies that come from that direction until they get close. Turn the turret to the left to focus on the area right in front of the barrier.
• After you reach the snipers and fight the banshee, quickly take out the barrier generator and then use the missile launcher on the banshee. Most of her health will be wiped out immediately. Back off down the steps you came up and lure her to you and away from the other enemies.
• Kai Leng isn’t a terrible boss battle, but the fact is that you can’t win. Once you get his shields all the way down once, the fight will end.

Executioner
Defeat an old adversary.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Cerberus Headquarters
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Horizon.

Point of No Return Warning

This mission is the point of no return. Once you begin the mission, there’s no turning back or further exploration. This mission will be available immediately following Horizon. Other than the boss battle, it’s not too hard.

Insanity Tips:

• You are required to take EDI on this mission. Unless you are an infiltrator and have sabotage, take Tali. The hacking ability will be invaluable when it comes time to deal with the turrets.
• Worry about the atlas first. The nemesis will stay in it’s perch for as long as the fight goes on. Kill her last. With EDI, you’ll have incinerate to help take down the atlases.
• In the tunnels is where the hacking becomes vital. Combat engineers will set up numerous turrets to slow you down. Destroy the shield pylons and then hack the turrets.
• Kai Leng is an awful, awful boss battle. When you get his shields down halfway, he’ll run away to recharge them and then call down four assault troops. Get his health three quarters down and he’ll call in four assault troops and a nemesis. Again, you get his shields down to one bar and he’ll call in two phantoms. Oh, and there are no checkpoints for this part. His tactics include jumping around for no apparent reason, running away, and using a biotic sweep that wipes out your shields. Once you get his shields down, his health goes down quickly. Use when the renegade prompt pops up to finish the job.

[olsen77]

Well Connected
Send a warning across the galaxy.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Horizon
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Thessia.

This mission opens up after the mission on Thessia. Traynor will reveal that she tracked Kei Leng to Horizon. Don’t worry, for the most part, this will be easier than your last trip to Horizon.

Insanity Tips:

• Don’t move too far forward at the start. When you get the prompt to push , stop and take cover. Kill the sniper first and let your squad take on the phantoms.
• Lure the banshee away from the ravager and marauders. You want it isolated so that you can move around out of cover effectively and take it down. Once the banshee is dead, kill the ravager, and then pick off the marauders.
• After you climb up the ladder, take out the three barrier engines the first chance that you get. Marauders will run up and try to flank you while you’re picking apart the ravagers. Save the cannibals for last, but you’ll have to continually dodge their grenades.
• The brutes and banshee fight may seem hard, but it’s not if you take care of the brutes first. When they’re gone, run around and stay away from the banshee.

Fact Finder
Discover an enemy’s monstrous origin.

(Missable)

Mission – Kallini: Ardat-Yashi Monastery
Acquisition - Automatic after completing Priority: The Citadel II.

Insanity Tips:

• Meet the banshee. Here’s your strategy, run. The banshee uses a combination of attacks. If she gets near you and grabs you, you’re dead. It will also teleport in your general direction. The other main attack that banshee’s have is a biotic attack that will wipe out your shields and slowly wear down your health.
• The first meeting with a banshee is one on one. When it teleports your way, run in the other direction. When the teleporting stops, turn and fire. Use warp ammo or disruptor ammo and Liara’s warp power to wear down the banshee’s barrier and then whatever armor piercing powers you have on the armor. When the biotic power is fired at you, roll out of the way and behind some cover.
• The next banshee fight sees some cannibals added to the mix. Stay on the upper floor and the cannibals won’t go up there and will pretty much ignore you. Focus on the banshee and let your squadmates worry about the cannibals. Use the same tactics as before. The main difference is that sometimes you will have to run at the banshee if she has you cornered.
• The last fight is a combination of two banshees and husks. Never, ever go into cover here. Always keep moving. Fortunately, the husks go down quickly. Focus your attention on one banshee at a time. From my experience, the banshees always seemed to be right next to each other. That will make things easier since they only come from one direction. Always move and run away often.

Liberator
Stop a Cerberus kidnapping.

(Missable)

Mission – Grissom Academy: Emergency Evacuation
Acquisition - Automatic after leaving Menae.

This is for the mission at Grissom Academy. If you’ve read the Mass Effect books, the setting and some characters will be familiar. Once you escape with the biotics, the mission ends.

Insanity Tips:

• This mission is a bitch. The atrium is the hardest part of this mission. You will have enemies coming from almost every direction as well as an Atlas mech. I struggled through many attempts until I figured out an easy way to get through this. Open the door and let the Cerberus troops spawn in. Back up into the tunnel that you came in through. Duck behind some chairs and pick off the enemies as they approach the door. The only ones that might come through are the guardians, but a well placed sniper round takes care of them.
• In the atrium, save the mech for last. The mech won’t move away from it’s spot, but the troops will be coming for you.
• The second part of the atrium also isn’t fun. Again though, there’s a simple way. Go through and trigger the Cerberus troops. Then, retreat back and take cover where the mech was. Grenades won’t hit you and you will have the shield pylons nearby to recharge your shields. Pick off the enemies as quickly as possible. Start with the combat engineers since they can construct turrets.
• When you see the open Atlas, run straight for it. This next sequence you can do without really getting hit at all. Keep your back to Jack and the students and pick off the Cerberus troops as you see them. When the enemy Atlas spawns in, alternate between rockets and the guns to take it down fast.

Problem Solver
Evacuate a scientific facility.

(Missable)

Mission – Arrae: Ex-Cerberus Scientists
Acquisition - Automatic after completing Priority: The Citadel II.

You will acquire this mission after ending the Cerberus assault on the Citadel. Traynor will tell you about some Cerberus scientists and trigger the mission.

Insanity Tips:

• Take out the shield pylons or generators when you have a shot. Destroying the shield pylons will make this mission easier as the enemy’s shields won’t constantly recharge.
• The main trouble with this mission is the phantoms. The first time, you’ll be pretty much exposed and can’t do much other than focusing on the other Cerberus troops. Let one of your squadmates take care of the phantom.
• The second phantom comes during the evacuation. I stayed inside the hangar doors and picked off enemies from far away. The phantom I handled the same as the previous one, let my squadmates wear it down while I killed everyone else. It worked fairly well. It was only when I went through the hangar doors that the phantom could easily kill me.

Patriot
Make the final assault.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

Mission – Priority: Earth
Acquisition - Automatic after completing Priority: Cerberus Headquarters.

Here it is, the final mission. And yes, it’s damn hard on Insanity.

Insanity Tips:

• In the mission before, after you destroy the reaper cannon, you will be swarmed by cannibals, marauders, and a banshee. Behind you, there will be another CAIN heavy weapon. Grab it, hide behind a pillar, and fire it at the banshee. It will clean the roof off pretty quickly.
• Everything until you get to the missiles is pretty basic. If you’ve made it this far, you can get to the missiles without too much trouble.
• Once you’re at the missiles, you’ll get through the first wave fairly easily. It’s the next three that cause hell. In one of the buildings (to the left of the missiles as you approach them), there is a missile launcher. I didn’t know about it until the last wave, but it would have made things so much easier. The first of these is two banshees, cannibals, and marauders. As soon as one banshee appears, start chipping away at it with the sniper rifle. Once it is down, start running. I ran from one end of the map to the other. When I’d stop and take cover, I’d pick off as many marauders and cannibals as I could and then started moving again. The second banshee I saved for last.
• The next wave is full of brutes…lots and lots of brutes. I didn’t bother counting, I was too busy staying alive. The only thing that you have to pay attention to is not getting trapped between them. Isolate them to work on them one at a time.
• The final wave is timed. You don’t have to kill a certain number to advance. I basically ran a lap around the map and ended up near the second missile launcher. I camped out near it and picked off as many marauders as I could. Once I heard the audio that I could fire the missiles, I ran for the console. When the missiles are away, you’re basically home free.
• Make your way down the ramp and dodge as many reaper beams as you can. You will get hit by one towards the bottom, but it’s unavoidable. Once you’re up, take out the husks and the marauder. The game plays itself out from there.
• Some people have been having trouble with the final marauder on Insanity. You won't be able to zoom, but aim for the head. It's the quickest way to get down it's shields and kill it in time.

Legend
Mission accomplished.

Story related. If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story.

This will unlock after whichever ending you decide on.

[olsen77]

Shopaholic
Visit a store in the single-player campaign.

The Citadel will have the most shopping options for this trophy. There are stores on four of the five levels. When you arrive at the Citadel, either take the elevator up to Huerta Hospital or to the embassies. In the hospital, there will be a store on your left side as you pass by the main desk in the first room. In the embassies, directly across from Udina’s office is the Spectre outpost. There are two panels in this room. The one on the right is the store and the one that you want for this trophy.

If you don’t find the stores on the Citadel, then you will also find a store on the lowest level (Shuttle Bay) of the Normandy. There is a store for upgrades and another for new weapons.

Master and Commander
Deliver most of the Galaxy at War assets to the final conflict.

(Missable) This is best done in conjunction with Defender. You can get the trophy without doing any of the co-op missions, but you will have to complete every side mission, carry over specific choices from ME2 (saving the Collector Base, for instance), and make specific storyline choices (deceiving the krogan and making peace between the quarians and geth). What you want is that by the time you launch the assault on Cerberus headquarters, your effective military readiness (the green bar) is at or above 4000. To make it easier, use the method in Defender and you'll get 3-4% after each mission that you play. Completing about two thirds of the side missions and playing three co-op missions got me over 4000.

The way that your effective military readiness is calculated is by taking your overall readiness and multiplying it by your galactic readiness rating (Galaxy at War percentage) (OMR * GRR% = EMR). Basically, whatever your galactic readiness rating is, then your effective military readiness will be that percentage of the your overall readiness. If you reach Cerberus HQ with an overall readiness of 6000, but your Galaxy at War percentage is still at 50%, then your effective military readiness will be 50% of that, or 3000.

If you reach the Cerberus HQ mission and you are not at 4000, I would recommend making an extra save (just in case), completing Defender, and then continuing on with the story. Reaching maximum readiness will dramatically increase your overall asset total.

One thing to be aware of is that progressing through the story missions will lock out the side missions. The way that you should handle the missions is to do all of the side missions first before completing the story missions (marked Priority).

If you go into the final battle and do not get this, don't worry. Complete the game anyway. Once you beat it, you will be returned to the point of no return. Go online and start working on Defender. Once you're at 100%, go back and reload your saved game. Start up Priority: Cerberus Headquarters and the trophy will unlock soon after.

The missions that you will have to complete (in addition to the main story missions) are:

• Apien Crest: Banner of the First Regiment
• Aria: Eclipse
• Aria: Blood Pack
• Aria: Blue Suns
• Arrae: Ex-Cerberus Scientists
• Athena Nebula: Hesperia-Period Statue
• Attican Traverse: Krogan Team
• Benning: Evidence
• Citadel: Alien Medi-Gel Formula
• Citadel: Asari Widow
• Citadel: Barla Von
• Citadel: Batarian Codes
• Citadel: Biotic Amp Interfaces
• Citadel: Cerberus Automated Turret Schematics
• Citadel: Cerberus Ciphers
• Citadel: Cerberus Retribution
• Citadel: Cerberus Turian Poison
• Citadel: Chemical Treatment
• Citadel: GX12 Thermal Pipe
• Citadel: Hanar Diplomat
• Citadel: Heating Unit Stabilizers
• Citadel: Improved Power Grid
• Citadel: Inspirational Stories
• Citadel: Kaliosaur Fossil
• Citadel: Krogan Dying Message
• Citadel: Medi-Gel Sabotage
• Citadel: Medical Supplies
• Citadel: Reaper Code Fragments
• Citadel: Target Jamming Technology
• Citadel: Volus Ambassador
• Citadel: Wounded Batarian
• Dekuuna: Code of the Ancients
• Dekuuna: Elcor Extraction
• Grissom Academy: Emergency Evacuation
• Hades Nexus: Obelisk of Karza
• Hades Nexus: Prothean Sphere
• Irune: Book of Plenix
• Ismar Frontier: Prototype Components
• Kallini: Ardat-Yakshi Monastery
• Kite’s Nest: Pillars of Strength
• N7: Cerberus Abductions
• N7: Cerberus Attack
• N7: Cerberus Fighter Base
• N7: Cerberus Lab
• N7: Communication Hub
• N7: Fuel Reactor
• Nimbus Cluster: Library of Asha
• Rannoch: Admiral Koris
• Rannoch: Geth Figher Squadrons
• Shrike Abyssal: Prothean Obelisk
• Silean Nebula: Rings of Alune
• Tuchanka: Bomb
• Tuchanka: Turian Platoon
• Valhallan Threshold: Prothean Data Drives

[olsen77]

Lost and Found
Dispatch 10 probes to retrieve people or resources in Reaper territory.

This works similarly to planet scanning in Mass Effect 2. On the galaxy map, you will see that certain star clusters have a reaper icon over them. Those are systems under the control of the reapers. Like with Mass Effect 2, each cluster has multiple planetary systems that you can explore and scan the planets of. Scan a planet with and EDI will tell you if there is something worth searching for on the planet. If there is, send a probe down there to find it. What you find may help towards your galactic readiness and in the ultimate fight against the reapers.

It is worth noting that by scanning planets, the reapers will take notice of you and eventually, go after the Normandy. If this happens, you will have to leave, complete a mission, and then return. Some systems also have multiple items that will require multiple scans and therefore bring the attention of the reapers.

You will first be able to scan planets before the mission on Palaven’s moon. Simply scan 10 of the following planets and obtain whatever resources that they hold.

Aethon Cluster
Aru – Irune (Book of Plenix)
Aru – Cherk Sab (Volus Fabrication Units)
Esori – Solu Polus (Volus Dreadnought Kwonu)
Satu Arrd – Nalisin (Volus Engineering Team)
Nura – Oma Ker (Volus Intelligence Archives)

Apien Crest
Gemmae – Pheiros (Turian 79th Flotilla)
Castellus – Digeris (Banner of the 1st Turian Regiment)

Arcturus Stream
Arcturus – Arcturus Station (Intel From the Battle of Arcturus)

Argus Rho
Hydra – Canrum (Haptic Optics Array)
Phoenix – Pinnacle Station (Turian Spec Ops Team)
Phoenix – Inta’sei (Fossilzed Kakliosaur)
Gorgon – Camaron (Advanced Power Relays)

Athena Nebula
Parnitha – Tervura (Asari Cruiser Cybaen)
Orisoni – Egalic (Asari Research Ships)
Tomaros – Pronoia (Asari Cruiser Nefrane)
Vernio – Polissa (Hesperia Period Statue)
Ialessa – Trikalon (Asari Engineers)

Attican Beta
Hercules – Eletania (Interferometric Array)
Theseus – Feros (ExoGeni Scientists)

Exodus Cluster
Utopia – Zion (Prothean Data Files)
Asgard – Terra Nova (Alliance Cruiser Shanghai)
Asgard – Borr (Remains of a Reaper Destroyer)
Asgard – Tyr (Alliance Naval Exploration Flotilla)
Asgard – Loki (Alliance Spec Ops Team Delta)

Gemini Sigma
Han – Mavigon (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)
Ming – Parag (Alliance Cruiser Nairobi)

Hades Gamma
Antaeus – Trebin (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)
Plutus – Nonuel (Special Ops Team Zeta)
Dis – Klensal (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)
Farinata – Juntauma (Alliance Frigate Agincourt)
Cacus – Chohe (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)

Hades Nexus
Hekate – Asteria (Alliance Frigate Hong Kong)
Hoplos – Kopis (Moon of Makhaira) (Obelisk of Karza)
Pamyat – Dobrovski (Alliance Frigate Leipzig)
Sheol – Gei Hinnom (Prothean Sphere)

Hourglass Nebula
Osun – Erinle (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)
Ploitari – Zanethu (Terminus Freighters)
Sowilo – Hagalaz (Shadow Broker Support Team)
Faryar – Alington (Shadow Broker Starship Tech)

Ismar Frontier
Aquila - Metaponto (Advanced Biotic Implants)

Kite’s Nest
Harsha – Verush (Weapon Upgrade kit)
Harsha – Khar’shan (Artifact: Pillars of Strength)
Untrel – Adek (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)

Minos Wasteland
Fortis – Pietas (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)

Nimbus Cluster
Pelion – Tragegos (Intact Reaper Weapon)
Agaiou – Carcosa (Library of Asha)

Nubian Expanse
Dakka – Pragia (Research Data from Pragia)
Qertassi – Norehsa (Alliance Frigate Trafalgar)
Kalabsha – Yamm (Alliance Marine Recon Unit)

Sigurd’s Cradle
Skepsis – Watson (Javelin Missile Launchers)
Decoris – Laena (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)

Silean Nebula
Kypaladon – Hanalei (Dr. Jelize)
Teyolia – Nevos (Rings of Alune)
Teyolia – Quirezia (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)
Phontes – Dekuuna (Code of the Ancients)
Phontes – Oltan (Moon of Dekuuna) (Elcor Flotilla)
Nahuala – Hyetiana (Serrice Guard)
Loropi – Yasilium (Upper end of the asteroid belt) (Armali Sniper Unit)

The Shrike Abyssal
Xe Cha – Zada Ban (Salvage, 10,000 Credits)
Urla Rast – Talis Fal (Prothean Obelisk)

Valhallan Threshold
Paz – Garvug (Prothean Data Drives)
Micah – Elohi (Emergency Fuel Pods)
Micah – Farlis (Right side of asteroid belt) (Element Zero Convertor)

Long Service Medal
Complete Mass Effect 3 twice, or once with a Mass Effect 2 import.

Self-explanatory. If you have a Mass Effect 2 save (and again, I very highly recommend that you do), you only need to complete the game once. Without it, you’ll be starting a new game and need to play through it twice.

Insanity
Finish the game on Insanity without changing difficulty after leaving Earth.

Insanity is the highest difficulty. The enemies will be tougher and do more damage to you. The game starts at a default difficulty. As soon as you have control of Shepard, pause it, go to Options and then Gameplay to set it on Insanity. You can set it to Insanity at any point during the prologue on Earth, but be sure to do it first thing so that you don’t accidentally forget.

Insanity Tips:

• Save often.
• Always stay in cover. If you’re hurt, use first aid or stay down in cover to restore your shields.
• A sniper rifle can be your best friend. You can hang back and get head shots. Running and gunning with assault rifles and pistols got me into trouble. The sniper rifle would get me out of trouble. I ended up using it more often than all of the other weapons combined.
• Utilize your powers and your squadmate’s powers effectively. You’re not going to shoot your way through. Use the biotic and tech powers to your advantage.
• Watch out for grenades. They do get a little spammy at times. When you see an indicator, back away from the grenade as safely as possible. Cerberus use the grenades the most. The geth don’t use them at all. With the reapers, it depends on which enemies you get. Cannibals do, banshees and marauders generally don’t.
• Pay attention to the movements of your enemies. They will try to flank you.
• Husks are not your friends. Don’t get swarmed. If they’re the only enemies, don’t stay in cover. Move around so that you don’t get yourself trapped.
• Hotkeying is your friend. Make sure that first aid is one of three shortcuts that you can assign. You will save precious seconds. Also, if one of your squadmates can be revived while you’re in cover, be careful. Once he/she is revived, you will be out of cover and vulnerable.
• Know your enemy. The different types all have different strengths and weaknesses and they will test you in multiple ways.
• Be on the lookout for barrier engines (usually on the ceilings) and shield pylons (always on the ground). If you see enemies that don’t normally have shields or barriers, then one or more of those are around. Destroy them the first chance that you get. One well placed sniper round always does the trick.

A Personal Touch
Modify a weapon.

You will first find weapon benches and upgrades on Mars. Of course, the easiest place to access a weapon’s bench is on the shuttle bay of the Normandy (lowest level). Once you obtain a weapon upgrade, get to a bench. Whichever weapon class has an upgrade will be indicated with the option to Modify. Add on your weapon mods and push to finalize them.

[olsen77]

Paramour
Establish or rekindle a romantic relationship.

(Missable) Your choices in Mass Effect: Genesis and Mass Effect 2 will heavily come into play here. Depending on who you romanced previously, they will need to be alive in Mass Effect 3. Talk to them between each mission. Talk to them when you visit the Citadel. Eventually, they will ask to go up to your cabin. Invite them up and complete the scene.

If you go for rekindling a romance with a character that is not a permanent squadmate, then this will not take very long to get. Once they are on the Normandy, they will want to go up to your cabin, so invite them and say that you want to be with them.

If you chose to romance Ashley, Liara, or Kaiden in Mass Effect: Genesis and then went for another character in Mass Effect 2, you will have the opportunity to restart the relationship with Ashley, Liara, or Kaiden. Just apologize when given the opportunity.

Male Romantic Options:
Liara
Ashley (Only if she survived Virmire in Mass Effect: Genesis)
Kaiden (Only if he survived Virmire in Mass Effect: Genesis)
Tali (Only if you romanced her in Mass Effect 2)
Miranda (Only if you romanced her in Mass Effect 2)
Diana Allers
Steven Cortez

Female Romantic Options:
Liara
Kaiden (Only if he survived Virmire in Mass Effect: Genesis)
Garrus (Only if you romanced him in Mass Effect 2)
Thane (Only if you romanced him in Mass Effect 2)
Diana Allers
Samantha Traynor

Combined Arms
Perform any combination of 50 biotic combos or tech bursts.

Like Mass Effect 2, there are certain powers that when combined with another can have a devastating effect. For some, the enemy that you target must be killed by the combination. Unlike ME2, there are also combinations with tech powers. Below is a list of biotic and tech combinations. The list comes from Relix on the Bioware forums.

BIOTIC COMBOS
We all know the drill, cast a biotic power on an enemy, and once an enemy is affected by it, finish it off with another biotic power for a damaging AoE explosion.

Notes:
-Not all biotic powers are compatible with each other (E.G. Singularity --> Pull will not cause a biotic combo).
-Stasis is unique, because it can bypass defenses (such as shields and barriers), and enemies can be detonated while their defenses are still present. It is, however, completely ineffective vs. armored targets such as Atlas mechs and Turrets.
-Warp & Reave are unique because they can either set up or set off biotic combos. They can also set up combos on enemies with defenses (shields/barriers), so they functions similar to Stasis in this regard. And they are the only two biotic powers in the game, able to set up combos on armored targets, such as Turrets and Atlas mechs.

List of biotic combos below.

-Sigularity --> Warp/Throw/Shockwave/Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade/Reave
-Stasis --> Warp/Throw/Shockwave/Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade/Reave
-Pull --> Warp/Throw/Shockwave/Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade/Reave
-Warp --> Throw/Shockwave/Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade/Reave
-Lift Grenade --> Warp/Throw/Shockwave/Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade/Reave
-Shockwave (only with Rank 6 Lifting Shockwave evolution) --> Warp/Throw//Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade/Reave
-Reave - Warp/Throw/Shockwave/Charge/Nova/Cluster Grenade

ELEMENTAL (aka tech) COMBOS
There are also some new combos in ME3, that involve Tech or Combat elemental based powers. It's the same principal as with biotic combos, but they function in a slightly different manner.

FIRE EXPLOSION
-Can be set up by: Incinerate, Carnage, Inferno Grenade, Incendiary Ammo
-Can be detonated with any Biotic/Tech/Combat powers that can deal direct damage (except for the powers that are used to set up the combo).
-Effect: Enemies effected by any of the fire based powers, cause an AoE fire explosion, once they are killed by a direct damage power. The effect is similar to blowing up Pyros with Overload in ME2.
-Note: Enemy MUST be killed by the second power, in order to cause a Fire Explosion. E.G. it will not work, if an enemy is hit by Incinerate --> Overload, and still has HP left after that. So, in this case, Overload would have to do sufficient damage to outright kill a burning enemy, in order to cause a Fire Explosion.

CRYO EXPLOSION
-Can be set up by: Cryo Blast, Cryo Ammo
-Can be detonated with any Biotic/Tech/Combat powers that can deal direct damage.
-Effect: Frozen enemies killed by damage based powers, cause an AoE cryo explosion, freezing any enemy that is nearby.
-Note: Same as Fire Explosion, frozen enemies MUST be killed by the second power in order to trigger Cryo Explosion.

TECH BURST
-Can be set up by: Overload, Energy Drain, Disruptor Ammo, Sabotage
-Can be detonated by any Biotic/Tech/Combat powers that can deal direct damage (except for the powers that are used to set up the combo).
-Effect: Enemies effected by electricity based powers, discharge multiple electricity bolts to nearby enemies, when hit with direct damage powers. Effect is similar to Overload's Chain Overload upgrade.
-Note: Unlike Fire & Cryo Explosion combos, this one doesn't require an enemy to be killed by the second power. E.G. enemy hit by Overload --> Incinerate will produce Tech Burst, whether he is killed by Incinerate or not.

Source: Choose Language | BioWare Social Network

Focused
Evolve any of your powers to rank 6.

Each class has different powers to upgrade. Taking any of them to rank 6 means maxing that power out. With each level that you rank up, you will earn more points to put to upgrades. Maxing out a power requires 21 upgrade points (1 point for rank 1, 2 for rank 2, etc.).

If you import a level 30 character from Mass Effect 2, you will begin with 59 upgrade points since you start at level 30, so at your first opportunity, rank up any of Shepard’s powers to 6.

Recruit
Kill 250 enemies.

Pretty self-explanatory. The good thing here is that the kills that count towards this trophy are the totals over all playthroughs and in online play. You’ll easily get this over the course of the game. Also, any kills that you had before you died are not reset, they will count to your total.

See Veteran for an enemies guide.

Soldier
Kill 1,000 enemies.

Pretty self-explanatory. The good thing here is that the kills that count towards this trophy are the totals over all playthroughs and in online play. You’ll easily get this over the course of the game. Also, any kills that you had before you died are not reset, they will count to your total.

See Veteran for an enemies guide.

[olsen77]

Veteran
Kill 5,000 enemies.

Pretty self-explanatory. The good thing here is that the kills that count towards this trophy are the totals over all playthroughs and in online play. You’ll easily get this over the course of the game. Also, any kills that you had before you died are not reset, they will count to your total. I ended up my first playthrough on Insanity with about 1800 kills, so there will be some grinding for this trophy.

Reapers

• Husk - Basic reaper enemy. Swarms you with melee attacks. Has a single health bar.
• Cannibal - The other basic reaper enemy. Hangs back, shoots, and attempts to flank from cover. Also uses grenades. Will consume fallen cannibals to restore health. Has a single health bar.
• Marauder - Frequently uses cover and shoots at you. Can restore health to husks and cannibals. Has a shield and health bar.
• Ravager - Mobile turret. Fires three shots before requiring a recharge. Releases swarmers from it's egg sac. Has a single armor bar.
• Banshee - Uses Biotic Charge to come straight at you. Will kill you instantly when it grabs you. Uses a Nova like power to stun you and drain your shields. Also uses a projectile attack that will wipeout your shields and wear down your health. Has a barrier and health bar.
• Brute - Very large enemy that charges enemies. Getting hit with a charge will wipe out your shields. Also has a powerful close range melee attack. Has a single armor bar.
• Harvester - Spawns other basic reaper enemies like husks, cannibals, and marauders. Has a powerful beam attack that will wipe out your shields. Has a single armor bar.
• Swarmers - Small insect like enemies that are released from ravagers. Extremely weak, but easy to miss on the battlefield. Will leap at you and and slowly drain your shields.

Cerberus

• Assault Trooper - The basic Cerberus enemy. Fires from range and utilizes grenades, but will use a melee attack if you get close. Has a single health bar.
• Centurion - The other most common Cerberus enemy. Uses smoke grenades to hide and move around. Will fire from cover and use grenades. Has a shield and health bar.
• Combat Engineer - Constructs turrets and can repair them. Has a shield and health bar.
• Nemesis - Cerberus sniper units. Stays in cover and fires at you. Targeting is indicated by the red laser. Has a shield and health bar.
• Phantom - Very fast moving enemy that can shoot lasers from their hands and has a powerful melee attack. Has a barrier and a health bar.
• Atlas - Extremely powerful enemy. Fires missiles and cannons at you. Has a shield and health bar that are both very strong and will take many hits to bring down.
• Guardian - Carries a shield in front and uses it as cover to shoot out from behind. Biotic powers can knock them back or take away the shields. Has a small opening in the shield to see through that can be used for a head shot. Has a single health bar.

Geth

• Trooper - The basic geth enemy. Like the Cerberus trooper and cannibal, it will shoot at you. Unlike those two, it will not use grenades. Has a single health bar.
• Rocket Trooper - Fires rockets at you from cover. A single rocket will knock you out of cover and drain your shields. Has shield and health bars.
• Hunter - Stays cloaked and attempts to flank you. Is slightly stronger than the regular troopers, but the cloaking makes them a bit tougher. Has shields and health bars.
• Prime - The toughest geth enemy. Has a powerful gun that will drop your shields quickly. Also deploys combat drones and turrets. Will continually move towards you. Has a powerful shield and strong armor bars.
• Pyro - The geth close range trooper. It will lessen the distance between you and attack with flamethrowers. Has shields and a health bar.

Bruiser
Kill 100 enemies with melee attacks.

Run up to an enemy and push to melee kill them. Melee attacks don’t do very much damage, so you will have to hit them multiple times for them to die. You can also use the heavy melee (hold ) to do more damage and kill them quicker. Repeat for 100 enemies. You’ll easily get this over the course of the game. All playthroughs add to your total number of melee kills. Also, if you die after performing a melee kill, that will count as well.

Untouchable
Escape a Reaper in the galaxy map.

When you start scanning planets or areas of star systems looking for resources, you will attract the attention of the reapers. There is a bar on the lower left side that indicates how much the reapers are paying attention to your activity in that system. When the bar fills up, reapers will appear and chase the Normandy on the galaxy map. Out run the reapers to the edge of the system or to the mass relay. If they catch you, game over.

Defender
Attain the highest level of readiness in each theater of war.

(Online) This is the only trophy that is required to be done online. You must get each theater of war up to 100% readiness. The easiest way to do it is to select a random match on bronze difficulty. If you complete the mission, all theaters will go up 3%. Doing this, you’ll need to play a random mission 17 times. Obviously, Silver and Gold difficulty will give you a greater amount of readiness per attempt, but those difficulties are much tougher than Bronze and will take more time.

It is also worth noting that your overall galactic readiness rating will drop by 1% every six hours or so. If you don't play online for a full day, then your readiness will drop by 4%. It is not how often you play the game, but how often you play the multiplayer that determines how often your rating drops. However, if you do not connect to the EA servers, meaning that you play offline, your rating will not drop.

Thanks to Tyger7 on x360a for the above method.

You can also increase your readiness through other means. If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Android, you can purchase Mass Effect: Infiltrator ($6.99, requires iOS 3.1 or later) or download Mass Effect: Datapad (Free, requires iOS 4.0 or later). Both of those can raise your galactic readiness rating by playing them. If you use the apps, get your rating to 100% and then check your status in the war room. The trophy will unlock shortly after.

Overload Specialist
Overload the shields of 100 enemies.

You will need Overload for this trophy. So, you will need to choose either Sentinel or Engineer for your class. Here’s the key part, YOU have to be the one with the ability and you have to use it. It will not count if you’re using the abilities of your squad mates.

As long as you have the power, simply use overload on 100 different enemies. Any shields that you overload in multiplayer count for this trophy towards total. Any enemy that you use Overload on, you have to wipe out their shields. On lower difficulties, this will be easy as one blast (especially after you upgrade it) will do the trick. On Insanity, you'll have to wear down their shields about a third to halfway before firing Overload.

Sky High
Lift 100 enemies off the ground with powers.

You will need to be a Vanguard or an Adept for this trophy. Singularity, Pull, and Throw are the powers that you want to use. A Sentinal's Lift Grenade and a Soldier's Concussive Shot work as well. Surprisingly, Slam does not work. I used it quite a few times and not one use counted. Here’s the key part, YOU have to be the one with the ability and you have to use it. It will not count if you’re using the abilities of your squad mates.

As long as you have any of these powers, simply use them on 100 enemies. Any enemy that you lift off the ground in multiplayer counts towards your total. This can be done on any of the smaller enemies (not brutes, banshees, atlas mechs, and geth primes). There will be an abundance of these enemies, so you can get this fairly quickly.

Pyromaniac
Set 100 enemies on fire with powers.

You will need one of two powers for this trophy, either Incinerate or Incinerate Ammo. For Incinerate, you will be to be an Infiltrator or an Engineer. For Incendiary Ammo, you will need to be a Soldier or a Vanguard. if you're an Adept, Warp may also work. Here’s the key part, YOU have to be the one with the ability and you have to use it. It will not count if you’re using the abilities of your squad mates.

As long as you have the power, simply use incinerate on 100 different enemies. Any enemies that you set on fire in multiplayer count towards your total.