Mass Effect Trophy Guide and Road Map

[olsen77]

Road Map

Overview:
-Estimated trophy difficulty: 4.73/10 (Personal estimate: 5.5/10)
-Offline: 47 (1, 2, 13, 31)
-Online: No online
-Approximate amount of time to platinum: 80 - 100+ hours (My Time: ~65 hours)
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 3+
-Number of missable trophies: Colonial Savior, Scholar, Completionist, All Ally Trophies, Tactician, and Charismatic
-Glitched trophies: None
-Do cheat codes disable trophies? No cheats
-Does difficulty affect trophies? Yes, Hardcore and Insanity

Finally, the first Mass Effect is on PS3. Sure it's about five years after it came out on Xbox, but that doesn't make it any less welcome. If you've played it before, then it'll be just as you remember. If you've played Mass Effect 2 or 3 and are finally playing this one, then get ready for something fairly different. The game is more of a deeper RPG than Shooter like the other two.

What follows in this road map is my way of going through the game. I feel that this is the most efficient way of getting the trophies. You can swap Engineer for Adept and get everything just as easily. The only difference is that the Engineer has an ability (AI Hacking) that requires a target while the Adept class does not. There are other ways to do it as well with combinations of speed runs on the harder difficulties and doing casual runs to get the majority of the trophies, but I still feel that this is the most efficient way to go about the trophies.

[1.0] Engineer Playthrough #1 - Casual, Tali and Liara

You can play Mass Effect however you want. Most of the trophies will come your way eventually. However, for the sake of efficiency, this plan will be the quickest and easiest (in my opinion) way to do it. When it comes to character classes, only two matter for trophies, Adept and Engineer. The Engineer is the only one of the two that needs actual enemies for one of the power trophies to work. Go with Engineer. You can create an Adept later on and get those trophies on a new character.

There won't be an option to change the difficulty until you gain control of Shepard on the Normandy. Keep it on Normal or preferably Casual. Hardcore and Insanity aren't unlocked yet. Hardcore needs one full playthrough on any difficulty and Insanity needs a full playthrough on Hardcore. Make things easier on yourself and go with Casual.

Your remaining trophy goals will be pretty straightforward, do as much as you possibly can. You can do all of the Engineer ability trophies here. Start working on the weapons trophies as well. Focus on one at a time until you get the trophy, then move onto the next gun. You should also easily get the trophies for killing the organics and synthetics.

When it comes to allies for the Casual playthrough, I recommend Tali and Liara for two reasons. One, they're the hardest to get because they are the last two characters that you'll recruit. Be sure to pay attention to the outline in Soldier Ally for how to maximize the number of missions that they can be a part of. The second reason is that they aren't the best in combat. Taking them into the harder difficulties may only make things unnecessarily difficult on yourself. You'll want to do as many missions as possible before going to Ilos though. That is the point of no return.

Trophies that you should unlock:

Distinguished Service Medal
Spectre Initiate
Search and Rescue
Medal of Heroism
Honorarium of Corporate Service
Council Legion of Merit
Colonial Savior
Charismatic
Completionist
Quarian Ally
Asari Ally
Medal of Honor
One or two weapons trophies
Dog of War
Geth Hunter
Damping Specialist
AI Hacking Specialist
Overload Specialist
Sabotage Specialist
Neural Shock Specialist
Scholar
Tactician
Medal of Exploration
Rich
Renegade or Paragon (Both if using the glitch)
Paramour

[2.0] Engineer Playthrough #2 - Hardcore

Hardcore will be a huge step up in difficulty from Casual, but since you'll be importing your character from the previous playthrough, the adjustment period won't be too bad. You will need to switch the difficulty while on the Normandy. When you change the difficulty, be sure to save the changes.

Your main goals on this playthrough will be to complete any accumulative trophies (kills and/or powers) from the previous playthrough and to take a new pair of squadmates through the majority of the game. The combination that you choose is up to you. I went with Kaiden/Ashley (be warned that if you do use this combination, you shoukd do as many side quests as possible and have both of their Ally trophies before you start Virmire), but the combination shouldn't be your strongest. Leave those two for Insanity.

You probably won't level up completely to level 60 since the amount of XP needed is about 540,000. It's easy enough to complete the last few levels on Insanity anyway.

Trophies that you should unlock:

Two ally trophies
Long Service Medal
Distinguished Combat Medal
Remaining weapons trophies
First Aid Specialist
Power Gamer
Renegade or Paragon (If you didn't use the glitch on the previous playthrough)

[3.0] Engineer Playthrough #3 - Insanity

This will be your final full playthrough. Insanity isn't much greater in difficulty than Hardcore, but the enemies will be stronger and do more damage. Other than completing the game, your goal will be to finish up what, if any, accumulation trophies are left and to use the last pair of squadmates. I used Wrex/Garrus, but any combination of the other four that aren't named Liara or Tali.

Upon completing, you should have just the remaining power trophies that you couldn't get because of the chosen class.

Trophies that you should unlock:

Last two ally trophies
Medal of Valor
Extreme Power Gamer

[4.0] Adept Clean Up

This will be rather easy to clean up the remaining trophies and shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. I played until the point when you become a Spectre. I was able to level up enough by that point to unlock all of the necessary powers. Once I had them all, I just found a Citadel Rapid Transit point and repeatedly cast the powers on that. Reloading doesn't make things go any faster. Once you cast the powers, you'll have to wait for them to recharge.

After all of that, congrats on the platinum!!

[olsen77]

Trophy Guide

N7 Elite
Acquire all trophies

Story Related Trophies

Distinguished Service Medal
Complete Eden Prime

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

This is the first mission. Make your way through the Eden Prime colony. After you ride the train to the beacon, there will be four bombs that you will have to deactivate. This is on a timer (5 minutes), so you can’t really take your sweet time. Once all of the bombs have been shut down, this will unlock.

Insanity tips:

• The only hard part of the mission is the bombs. The first bomb is right as you get off the train. Run to the second and shoot your way to the third. You should have the first three disabled in about a minute. Then it's just a matter of picking off the last few geth to reach the last bomb.

Spectre Inductee
Become a Spectre

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

Immediately after leaving Eden Prime, the Normandy will head for the Citadel. Upon arriving, you’ll meet Ambassador Udina and the council. You’ll have to find proof of Saren’s involvement in the Eden Prime massacre. In doing so, you’ll meet and recruit Garrus, Wrex, and Tali. Once you hunt down the crime boss that betrayed Tali, you’ll only have a couple of minutes to reach her before she is killed. After she’s rescued, you will return to the council and become a Spectre.

Insanity tips:

• Take your time storming Chora's Den. The set up of this room is awkward in the sense that you don't have a lot of cover and you'll have enemies coming at you from behind. Back out through the front door if needed and slowly pick them off one at a time.
• Exiting Chora's Den is a different story. You'll need to move quicker. The timer will stop once you reach Tali though, not when you finally rescue her. You may have end up with more time than you think since she's not too far away.

Search and Rescue
Locate Dr. T'soni in the Artemis Tau cluster

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

Once you become a Spectre, the game opens up and you can choose where you want to go next: to Liara, Feros, or Noveria. The first mission that I’d recommend going for is to Therum and rescuing Liara for this trophy (especially if you want to complete the majority of the game with her).

The mission is in two parts. The first is a drive on Therum in the Mako. After you get through the geth and reach a point which forces you to get out of the Mako, you’ll proceed on foot the rest of the way to Liara. She will be trapped and you’ll have to enter a code into a mining laser to free her. The code is below.



Insanity tips:

• The most important thing with the Mako is jumping (). This will be useful in all of the long Mako drives. You can jump over the rockets and energy blasts that the geth fire at you. If you time it right, you might not ever get hit.
• Also remember that you have your own rockets () available along with the machine guns.
• There aren't any checkpoints between the beginning of the mission and the dig site. Save at the points when you're forced to get out of the Mako.
• At the dig site's entrance, go up the ramp to the right and pick off the snipers and other geth first before going after the colossus.

Medal of Heroism
Complete Feros

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

Feros is dealing with an invasion from the geth. They’re looking for something on the planet that Saren needs. Of course, you’ll have plenty of geth to deal with. Be sure to do all of the side missions in Zhu’s Hope before getting on the elevator to the Skywalk. Your goal will be to go through ExoGeni HQ to stop the geth invasion and find out what Saren is after.

After your time in ExoGeni is complete, you will return to Zhu’s Hope. What you do from here is your decision.

Insanity tips:

• Take your time moving across the sky bridge. There are quite a few geth armatures and rocket troopers around.
• Dealing with the creepers is the hardest part of the mission, especially when paired with the asari clones that like to knock you down. Try to kill the asari (there will be only one at any given time) as quickly as possible. The creepers call for a shotgun to deal with them quickly.
• The limbs that you have to shoot trigger more creepers, so shoot until creepers appear, then stop, and target the limb again. The only exception is the last one. The mission ends when that limb is shot enough.

Honorarium of Corporate Service
Complete Noveria

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

Saren has sent Matriarch Benezia to Noveria to find a key piece of information. Your first goal is to find a way out of the port that you’re stuck in. Once you manage to get out, you’ll have a drive up to the Peak 15 research facility. On the drive are quite a few geth and turrets to deal with.

When you arrive at the tram, you’ll find that the entire facility is on lockdown. You’ll have to restart the systems in order to travel to the Peak 15 station. Of course, the facility there is under attack and dealing with a quarantine. In the Hot Labs (either before or after fighting Benezia), you’ll have to deal with some dangerous aliens. Once they’re gone, it’s time to fight Benezia. The important thing with her is never attack her directly. There’s no point. The only way to damage her is to kill the asari and geth that she calls in. After the fight, you’ll have another decision to make.

Insanity tips:

• Do not go into the Hot Labs until after the Benezia fight. Deal with the rachni down there after. That way, your path to Benezia will be easier.
• When you’re in the Hot Labs to kill the damaged rachni, after inputting the code, there will be a lot of them between you and the elevator. You can fight them, but you only have two minutes. One way to do this is to kill the nearest rachni when you open the door and then sprint across the room to the elevator. Any squadmates that fall will be revived in the elevator.
• Benezia is one of the tougher fights in the game. There isn’t much cover to use and most of the cover that’s there can be moved by the enemy asari. The geth have a tendency to stay in the same corners that they enter. The asari move around quite a bit though. Be on your guard for them to come up behind you and knock you down with their biotics. Once the asari are down, pick off the geth from a distance and move on to the next batch of geth.

Council Legion of Merit
Complete Virmire

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

Virmire is the last main storyline mission before hitting the point of no return. While most of the mission takes place on foot, the mission begins with a long drive in the Mako. Once you reach the salarian camp, you have to destroy Saren’s cloning facility where he’s cloning krogans. After making your way through Saren’s facility, you’ll confront Sovereign for the first time and find out the truth about what Saren’s ship is. The mission concludes with you making a very difficult decision and then facing off against Saren.

Insanity tips:

• Take your time in the river. Recharge the Mako's shields if needed. Again, jump over the rockets and energy blasts.
• The three krogans that you face after planting the bomb can be a real pain. Back out through the door that you entered and try to lure them out to face them one at a time.

[olsen77]

Colonial Savior
Complete the Bring Down the Sky mission.

(Potentially Missable) Story related (sort of). If you want more info, continue reading. Otherwise, know that this will unlock through the natural progression of the story. However, Bring Down the Sky is not required to complete the main story as it was originally DLC. It is potentially missable, but you have to ignore the existence of the mission to miss it.

This mission involves going around and disabling three different torches on an asteroid. All of the facilities are basically the same, except for the second one which has a proximity minefield in front of it. Once all of the torches are disabled, you will have to fight the batarians in the main facility. You will have a choice between letting the batarians go or saving the hostages. Choosing whichever will complete the mission.

Insanity Tips:

• Outside of each facility are a set of turrets. Fortunately, they will be lowered back down if you back off a little bit. Creep up until the turrets appear, fire, and then back off after the turrets take damage.
• The minefield sucks since the batarians will charge you and you won’t be able to back off. Try to hold your ground and if you can’t, try to circle around them and push them back into the minefield.

Charismatic
Use Charm or Intimidate to resolve an impossible situation

(Missable) There are two impossible situations that you can resolve using Charm or Intimidate. To do this, you will need a high enough Charm or Intimidate rating (at least eight points) so that you have a red or blue conversation option. In either situation, use whichever colored conversation option is there to resolve things. Neither situation occurs early in the game. There are potential spoilers here, so stop reading if you don’t want to know what the situations are. Just know that neither can be missed.

Situation #1: Wrex on Virmire. Because of what Saren is doing on Virmire, Wrex will question his loyalty to you.

Situation #2: Saren on the Citadel. Convince him that he’s been indoctrinated and that he needs to assume control.

Completionist
Complete the majority of the game

“Majority” isn’t really defined at a specific percentage. There are 88 total missions. You will need to complete between 45-50 to count for the majority. Below is a list of all main story and side missions. Keep track and complete as many of these as possible. If you don’t have this trophy by the time you reach Ilos, chances are that you’ve missed something.

Posting links to each mission is too much given the character limit. If you’re having trouble finding or completing a specific mission, Google the mission name. The first result should be the Mass Effect Wiki and will help you complete the mission in question. The only one with a direct link is Valuable Minerals since posting a list of the locations would be too long.

Main Story Missions

• Prologue: Find the Beacon
• Citadel: Expose Saren
• Citadel: Garrus
• Citadel: Shadow Broker
• Citadel: Wrex
• Find Liara T’Soni
• Feros: Geth Attack
• Feros: The Thorian
• Feros: Colony Saved
• Noveria: Leave Port Hanshan
• Noveria Lorik Qui’in
• Noveria: Peak 15
• Noveria: Reactor Repair
• Noveria: Reconnect Landlines
• Noveria: Contamination
• Noveria: Rift Station
• Noveria: Quarantine
• Noveria: The Hot Labs
• Virmire: Saren’s Plan
• Virmire: Assault
• Ilos: Find the Conduit
• Ilos: Trench Run
• Race Against Time
• Race Against Time: Sovereign
• Race Against Time: Conduit
• Race Against Time: Final Battle

Shepard Background Side Missions

• Citadel: Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things (Spacer)
• Citadel: Old Friends (Earthbound)
• Citadel: I Remember Me (Colonist)

Squad Side Misisons

• Garrus: Dr. Saleon
• Tali’s Pilgrimage
• Wrex: Family Armor

Citadel Side Missions

• (The following are available during and after your first visit to the Citadel.)
• Citadel: Asari Consort
• Citadel: Doctor Michel
• Citadel: Homecoming
• Citadel: Jahleed’s Fears
• Citadel: Presidium Prophet
• Citadel: Reporter’s Request
• Citadel: Rita’s Sister
• Citadel: Scan the Keepers
• Citadel: Schells the Gambler
• Citadel: Signal Tracking
• Citadel: The Fan
• Citadel: Xeltan’s Complaint
• Missing Person
• (The following are available after completing your first main story mission.)
• Citadel: Family Matter
• Citadel: Planting a Bug
• Citadel: Snap Inspection
• Citadel: The Fourth Estate
• (The following are available after completing Virmire.)
• Citadel: Our Own Worst Enemy
• Citadel: Negotiator’s Request

Story Planet Side Missions

• Feros: Data Recovery
• Feros: Geth in the Tunnels
• Feros: Power Cells
• Feros: Varren Meat
• Feros: Water Restoration
• Noveria: Espionage
• Noveria: Smuggling
• Virmire: Assisting Kirrahe’s Team
• Virmire: Wrex and the Genophage
• X57: Bring Down the Sky
• X57: Avoid the Blasting Caps
• X57: Missing Engineers

Collection Side Missions

• UNC: Prothean Data Discs (Only seven discs needed.)
  • Argus Rho - Phoenix - Carbonaceous Asteroid
  • Armstrong Nebula - Tereshkova - Antibaar
  • Artemis Tau - Sparta - Asteroid Cluster
  • Attican Beta - Theseus - Sharring
  • Hades Gamma - Farinata - Juntauma
  • Maroon Sea - Matano - Chasca
  • Maroon Sea - Matano - Rocky Asteroid
  • Styx Theta - Erebus - Wermani
  • Voyager - Yangtze - Alrumter
  • Voyager - Yangtze - Binthu
• UNC: Turian Insignias (Only 13 needed.)
  • Argos Rho - Hydra - Metgos
  • Argos Rho - Hydra - Canrum
  • Armstrong Nebula - Vamashi - Maji
  • Armstrong Nebula - Vamashi - Pregel
  • Artemis Tau - Athens - Pharos
  • Hades Gamma - Antaeus - Trebin
  • Hades Gamma - Dis - Raysha
  • Hawking Eta - Century - Presrop
  • Horse Head Nebula - Fortuna - Amaranthine
  • Horse Head Nebula - Fortuna - Maganlis
  • Horse Head Nebula - Xawin
  • Kepler Verge - Newton - Ontarom
  • Maroon Sea - Caspian - Antida
  • Maroon Sea - Vostok - Nodacrux
  • Styx Theta - Acheron - Carbonaceous Asteroid
  • Voyager Cluster - Amazon - Agebinium
  • Voyager Cluster - Amazon - Sybin
• UNC: Valuable Minerals
• UNC: Locate Signs of Battle (Only 10 League of One medallions and three salarian ID tags needed.)
  • Armstrong Nebula - Gagarin - Rayingri
  • Armstrong Nebula - Grissom - Benda
  • Armstrong Nebula - Tereshkova - Carbonaceous Asteroid
  • Artemis Tau - Knossos - Carbonaceous Asteroid
  • Attican Beta - Hercules - Syided
  • Gemini Sigma - Ming - Altanorch
  • Hades Gamma - Dis - Klensal
  • Hades Gamma - Plutus - Nonuel
  • Hawking Eta - Century - Tharopto
  • Horse Head Nebula - Strenuus - Yunthrol
  • Styx Theta - Erebus - Nepmos
  • Voyager - Columbia - Gromar
• UNC: Asari Writings (Only 10 asari writings are needed.)
  • Argos Rho - Phoenix - Tuntau
  • Armstrong Nebula - Gagarin - Junthor
  • Armstrong Nebula - Grissom - Solcrum
  • Armstrong Nebula - Hong - Matar
  • Artemis Tau - Macedon - Porolan
  • Artemis Tau - Macedon - Sharjila
  • Gemini Sigma - Han - Paravin
  • Hades Gamma - Antaeus - Ploba
  • Hades Gamma - Cacus - Chohe (Three writings)
  • Hades Gamma - Plutus - Nonuel
  • Horse Head Nebula - Pax - Veles
  • Kepler Verge - Newton - Klencory
  • Maroon Sea - Vostok - Pataiton
  • Styx Theta - Acheron - Altahe

Paragon/Renegade Dependant Side Missions

• UNC: Besieged Base (Requires 80% Paragon)
• UNC: The Renegade (Requires 80% Renegade)

Miscellaneous Side Missions

• UNC: Hostile Takeover
• UNC: Dead Scientists
• UNC: Geth Incrusions
• UNC: Privateers
• UNC: ExoGeni Facility
• UNC: Asari Diplomacy
• UNC: Colony of the Dead
• UNC: Espionage Probe
• UNC: Major Kyle
• UNC: Listening Post Alpha
• UNC: Listening Post Theta
• UNC: Depot Sigma-23
• UNC: Derelict Freighter
• UNC: Distress Call
• UNC: Missing Marines
• UNC: Cerberus
• UNC: Hades’ Dogs
• UNC: Hostage
• UNC: Hostile Takeover
• UNC: Lost Freighter
• UNC: Lost Module
• UNC: Missing Survey Team
• UNC: Rogue VI

[olsen77]

Soldier Ally
Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance soldier squad member

This squad member is Ashley. You’ll get her on Eden Prime and will need to take her with you into every mission from that point on for the trophy. With Ashley, be sure that you have this trophy before going to Virmire, just to be safe.

For the quickest way to get to the end of the Citadel and still have plenty of missions available for your other squadmates, follow this outline.

• After the conversation with Udina, go straight to the Citadel Tower.
• Finish the conversation with the council and then Udina and Anderson. Go to Chora’s Den and find Harkin.
• Talk to Harkin and then go to the Medical Clinic to find Garrus.
• Head to C-Sec and recruit Wrex.
• Return to Chora’s Den and kill Fist, but don’t pick up his OSD.
• Rescue Tali in the Wards.
• Return to the Council and become a Spectre.
• Go to Therum (Artemis Tau, Knossos) and find Liara.

Once you have those steps completed, you should return to the Citadel and start working on the little side missions. They will all still be waiting for you. Keep the same two squad members with you at all times and for every mission. If this doesn’t unlock by the time you reach Ilos, then you’ve done something wrong and will need to start another run. See Completionist for a list of missions.

Sentinel Ally
Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance sentinel squad member

This squad member is Kaiden. He’ll be a part of your squad from the beginning of the game and you will have to keep in your party from the beginning of the game. With Kaiden, be sure that you have this trophy before going to Virmire, just to be safe.

Krogan Ally
Complete the majority of the game with the krogan squad member

This is Wrex. You’ll find him pretty quickly on the Citadel, before going after Fist. Try to minimize the number of side missions that you do beforehand. If you don't have this trophy by the time you start Ilos, then you've missed a bunch of missions. See Soldier Ally for a good method of how to handle the side missions.

Turian Ally
Complete the majority of the game with the turian squad member

This is Garrus. You’ll find him pretty quickly on the Citadel, after rescuing Dr. Michel. Try to minimize the number of side missions that you do beforehand. If you don't have this trophy by the time you start Ilos, then you've missed a bunch of missions. See Soldier Ally for a good method of how to handle the side missions.

Quarian Ally
Complete the majority of the game with the quarian squad member

This is Tali’Zorah. You’ll find her at the end of the first set of story missions on the Citadel. Try to minimize the number of side missions that you do beforehand. If you don't have this trophy by the time you start Ilos, then you've missed a bunch of missions. See Soldier Ally for a good method of how to handle the side missions.

Asari Ally
Complete the majority of the game with the asari squad member

This is Liara. She’s the hardest of this bunch of trophies to get since you need to complete the story missions on the Citadel first. She is on Therum. With Liara, it is especially important to minimize the number of side missions that you do before meeting Tali. If you don't have this trophy by the time you start Ilos, then you've missed a bunch of missions. See Soldier Ally for a good method of how to handle the side missions.

To be safe, try to do as many missions as possible before starting Virmire. There is the unconfirmed possibility that the trophy may glitch if you finish up the missions between Virmire and Ilos.

Medal of Honor
Complete 1 Mass Effect Playthrough on any setting

Self-explanatory. Complete one playthrough. If you follow the road map, this will unlock after you complete the game on Casual.

Long Service Medal
Complete 2 Mass Effect Playthroughs on any setting

Self-explanatory. Complete two playthroughs. If you follow the road map, this will unlock after you complete the game on Hardcore.

Distinguished Combat Medal
Complete 1 Mass Effect playthrough on the Hardcore difficulty setting. Do not change the setting.

Hardcore is unlocked after you complete a full playthrough on Casual, Normal, or Veteran. As a result, this trophy will unlock after your second playthrough. Just be sure that you change the difficulty before you leave the Normandy, just to be safe. You also have to save the changes or else they won't stick.

Hardcore is a big step up from Casual, but since you're importing a high leveled character in, the adjustment period won't last for too long. The tips with Medal of Valor can also apply to Hardcore as well as the specific tips within the missions to make things easier.

Medal of Valor
Complete 1 Mass Effect playthrough on the Insanity difficulty setting. Do not change the setting.

Insanity is unlocked after you complete a full playthrough on Hardcore. As a result, this trophy will unlock after your third playthrough. Just be sure that you change the difficulty before you leave the Normandy, just to be safe. You also have to save the changes or else they won't stick.

Insanity isn't too much harder than Hardcore. The enemies are tougher and do more damage though. You will be a pretty high level coming in, so Insanity won't be too bad.

General Insanity tips:

• Save often. The autosave checkpoints can be frustrating to deal with. You can't make manual saves during battles, but if you find an area without enemies, you should be able to save.
• In the Mako, jump to dodge. If you time it right, you'll be able to survive every encounter.
• Use your cover wisely. Most cover is destructible though, so be careful.
• Use your and your squadmate's powers wisely. The combinations of enemies will rarely mix organics and synthetic enemies. The most common combination that you'll face are geth and krogans. The hardest enemies to deal with in Mass Effect are the krogans, specifically because after you kill them once, their health will usually recharge and you'll have to kill them again. If you have access to tech powers, Neural Shock combined with Sabotage and using Marksman can quickly wear them down.
• Experiment with different upgrades for your weapons and armor. Find the best combination that works for you. The best weapons that you can buy are available from the C-Sec store on the Citadel and can be bought after unlocking Rich. The best pistol upgrade combination that I have found is Frictionless Materials-Combat Optics-Armor Piercing Rounds.
• Save the Armor Piercing Rounds and Anti-Personnel Rounds upgrades. There won't be many upgraded versions past I. Even on Insanity, they are effective against even the tougher enemies.

[olsen77]

Kills Trophies

Pistol Expert
Register 150 Pistol Kills

The pistol is available to all classes. This will come over time. Your stats carry over across all playthroughs and characters, so reaching 150 won’t be very hard at all.

Shotgun Expert
Register 150 Shotgun Kills

Shotgun specializations and talents are only available to Soldiers and Vanguards, but all classes can use them. Your stats carry over across all playthroughs and characters, so reaching 150 won’t be very hard at all.

Assault Rifle Expert
Register 150 Assault Rifle Kills

Only the Soldier can specialize and have talents for the assault rifle, but all classes can use it. Your stats carry over across all playthroughs and characters, so reaching 150 won’t be very hard at all.

Sniper Expert
Register 150 Sniper Rifle Kills

Sniper rifle talents and specializations are only available to Soldiers and Infiltrators, but all classes can use them. The specializations aren't a huge issue with the other classes, but with the sniper rifle it means that you cannot zoom in. or (depending on how you have your controls set up) will basically do nothing and you're essentially shooting from the hip. Your stats carry over across all playthroughs and characters, so reaching 150 won’t be very hard at all.

Dog of War
Register 150 organic enemy kills

Like the other kills trophies, this one comes over time. You’ll find no shortage of organic enemies to kill though and you should unlock this on your first playthrough. Your stats carry over across all playthroughs and characters, so reaching 150 won’t be very hard at all.

Geth Hunter
Register 250 synthetic enemy kills

Like the other kills trophies, this one comes over time. The geth are your primary enemy, so you’ll be running into them pretty much everywhere. This should unlock some time on your first playthrough. Your stats carry over across all playthroughs and characters, so reaching 250 won’t be very hard at all.

[olsen77]

Biotic/Tech Power Trophies

Lift Mastery
Use biotic Lift 75 times

You will need to be an Adept class character to use all biotic powers. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Lift, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed. Just be sure to cast it on a Citadel Rapid Transit point so that there is a target.

The issue with this trophy is unlocking the power. You will need to put six points into Throw before you can unlock Lift. You will also need to be the one to use the powers, having a squad member use Lift won’t count towards the trophy.

Throw Mastery
Use biotic Throw 75 times

You will need to be an Adept class character to use all biotic powers. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Throw, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed. Just be sure to cast it on a Citadel Rapid Transit point so that there is a target.

Throw is unlocked from the beginning of the game and you should start working on it from Eden Prime on. You will also need to be the one to use the powers, having a squad member use Throw won’t count towards the trophy.

Warp Mastery
Use biotic Warp 75 times

You will need to be an Adept class character to use all biotic powers. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Warp, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed. Just be sure to cast it on a Citadel Rapid Transit point so that there is a target.

Warp is unlocked from the beginning of the game and you should start working on it from Eden Prime on. You will also need to be the one to use the powers, having a squad member use Warp won’t count towards the trophy.

Singularity Master
Use biotic Singularity 75 times

You will need to be an Adept class character to use all biotic powers. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Singularity, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed. Just be sure to cast it on a Citadel Rapid Transit point so that there is a target.

The issue with this trophy is unlocking the power. You will need to put seven points into Warp before you can unlock Singularity. You will also need to be the one to use the powers, having a squad member use Singularity won’t count towards the trophy.

Barrier Mastery
Use biotic Barrier 75 times

You will need to be an Adept class character to use all biotic powers. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Barrier, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed. Just be sure to cast it on a Citadel Rapid Transit point so that there is a target.

Barrier is unlocked from the beginning of the game and you should start working on it from Eden Prime on. You will also need to be the one to use the powers, having a squad member use Barrier won’t count towards the trophy.

Stasis Mastery
Use biotic Stasis 75 times

You will need to be an Adept class character to use all biotic powers. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Stasis, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed. Just be sure to cast it on a Citadel Rapid Transit point so that there is a target.

The issue with this trophy is unlocking the power. You will need to put four points into Barrier before you can unlock Stasis. You will also need to be the one to use the powers, having a squad member use Stasis won’t count towards the trophy.

Damping Specialist
Use Damping Field 75 times

You will need to be an Engineer class character to use tech abilities. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Damping Field, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed.

The issue with this trophy is unlocking the ability. You will need to put four points into Electronics before you can unlock Damping Field. You will also need to be the one to use the abilities, having a squad member use Damping Field won’t count towards the trophy.

AI Hacking Specialist
Use AI Hacking 75 times

You will need to be an Engineer class character to use tech abilities. Of these power/ability trophies, this is the only one that requires an enemy. Fortunately, there are plenty of geth and turrets around to make this easier. If you can find a point where you can save, hack a turret, hide, and reload over and over, that will speed things up. Fist’s office is the first good spot since he has multiple turrets in his office. You’ll know if you’ve successfully used the ability if the hacked enemy has “HACKED” instead of a health bar.

The other issue with this trophy is unlocking the ability. You will need to put seven points into Decryption before you can unlock AI Hacking. You will also need to be the one to use the abilities, having a squad member use AI Hacking won’t count towards the trophy.

Overload Specialist
Use Shield Overload 75 times

You will need to be an Engineer class character to use tech abilities. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Overload, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed.

Overload is unlocked from the beginning of the game and you should start working on it from Eden Prime on. You will also need to be the one to use the abilities, having a squad member use Overload won’t count towards the trophy.

Sabotage Specialist
Use Sabotage 75 times

You will need to be an Engineer class character to use tech abilities. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. As you’re walking around the Citadel or other areas, just cast Sabotage, wait for the powers to recharge, and repeat as needed.

Sabotage is unlocked from the beginning of the game and you should start working on it from Eden Prime on. You will also need to be the one to use the abilities, having a squad member use Sabotage won’t count towards the trophy.

Neural Shock Specialist
Use Neural Shock 75 times

You will need to be an Engineer class character to use tech abilities. These are easy enough to do and don’t require combat to count towards the trophy. This one is a little different as you will need a target for the uses to count. You don’t necessarily need an organic target though. You can use Neural Shock with the Mako as the target 75 times and it will count. If you use it on living targets, when you see the health bar go green, it will have counted.

The issue with this trophy is unlocking the ability. You will need to put five points into First Aid before you can unlock Neural Shock. You will also need to be the one to use the abilities, having a squad member use Neural Shock won’t count towards the trophy.

[olsen77]

Miscellaneous Trophies

First Aid Specialist
Use medi-gel 150 times

Fortunately, this counts over all playthroughs, so you don’t have to worry about getting this and Tactician in the same run. Whenever you take a significant amount of damage, simply press to use the medi-gel. Don’t go out of way to get this on the lower difficulties. If you’re going for the platinum, then you’ll take plenty of damage on Hardcore and/or Insanity.

Scholar
Find all primary Alien: Council Races, Extinct Races and Non-Council Races codex entries

(Missable) This is probably the easiest trophy to miss since you need to choose some Investigate conversation options in specific conversations. Only one race is really easy to miss though. Most of the others you basically have to zip through and not pay attention to side quests. The conversation options that you need to choose are listed below. Codex entries do not carry over, so if you miss one, then you have to find all of them again.

Council Races

• Asari - This is unlocked automatically during the first meeting with the council.
• Salarian - This is unlocked automatically during the first meeting with the council.
• Turian - This is unlocked automatically during the first meeting with the council.

Extinct Races

• Protheans - When talking to Anderson and Nihlus on the Normandy, choose the “Investigate” option and then “Protheans” when it’s given. This is the most missable of all the codex entries.
• Rachni - Near the Citadel Emporium, there is a large statue of a krogan in the water. Next to it is an Avina station. Talk to the VI, Investigate, and ask about the Rachni Wars.

Non-Council Races

• Batarian - Before leaving the Citadel after becoming a Spectre, talk to Anderson and ask him about his history with Saren and his previous mission. Choose “You worked with the Spectres.” If you don’t do this at that time, then you can find Anderson in Udina’s office and ask him about it then.
• Elcor - In the Citadel Embassies, next door to Udina’s office is the elcor ambassador, Calyn. In the Investigate options, ask him about his race.
• Geth - After you find Ashley on Eden Prime and she joins your squad, choose “Geth” after “Investigate”.
• Hanar - There are two hanars in the Presidium. The first is between the Citadel Tower and the Embassies. That is the one that is in trouble with C-Sec for preaching. The other is in the Citadel Financial District. Talking to either and Investigating will add this codex.
• Keepers - When you’re leaving the first meeting with the council, there will be a salarian named Chorban on the right side near one of the keepers. Once you agree to do his mission, the keepers will be added to the codex.
• Krogan - This is unlocked automatically when you recruit Wrex.
• Quarian - This is unlocked automatically when you recruit Tali.
• Volus - In the elcor ambassador’s office, ask the volus, Din Korlack, about his race in the Investigate options.

Tactician
Complete playthrough with shield damage greater than health damage

(Missable) Aim for this one on your first playthrough. You'll probably get it without much effort. Casual is definitely the best difficulty to do this on since you want the enemies to do the least amount of damage to you. Use cover. Watch for enemies circling around you. The most important thing to make sure of is that you use better sets of armor that have improved shields. Using upgrades to further buff your shields will help as well.

Medal of Exploration
Land on an uncharted world

There are plenty of uncharted planets that you can land on. All that you need to do is find one to land on using the Galaxy Map. The one planet that does not count for this is Therum (where you find Liara).

Rich
Exceed 1,000,000 Credits

You will likely get this without even realizing it. Everything that you do gives some credits. You’ll find plenty from kills, in crates, and from side missions. Whatever items, weapons, and armor that you don’t collect, you can sell for some extra credits. There isn’t a ton that you need to buy since weapons and armor are pretty prevalent, so you won’t have to buy much from the various stores right away.

Note: You need to have at least 1 million credits in your account for this to unlock. What you spent before doesn't count.

Power Gamer
Reach 50th level with one character

You’ll need 238,100 XP to reach level 50. While it is possible to get this in your first playthrough (doing so would mean completing almost every side mission), it is more likely that you will reach level 50 in your second playthrough. Kills, hacks, completing missions, finding new codex entries, finding new mineral deposits, etc. all contribute XP to your character.

When you’re ready for your second playthrough, choose Select Existing ID at the character creation screen. That will allow you to import your character in a new game.

Extreme Power Gamer
Reach 60th level with one character

Level 50 is the maximum level that you can reach in your first playthrough. After you complete the game, then the level cap is raised to 60. If by chance you reach level 50 in your first playthrough, then any XP that you should gain after reaching it will not count. Level 60 requires 862,100 XP. You may go two full playthroughs without reaching level 60. Since three playthroughs are required for the platinum anyway, reaching 60 won’t be an issue.

Renegade
Accumulate 75% of total Renegade points

There are a couple of ways that you can do this. The long way would be to consistently choose the renegade options on the dialogue wheel (always the lower or red options) and slowly build it up to 75%. The easy way is a glitch that has been left intact from the Xbox 360 version.

On Noveria, you will have to gather some evidence for Lorik Qui’in in order to leave the port that you’re currently stuck in. After gathering the evidence, Gianna Parasinni will ask you to persuade him to testify against the administrator of the port, Anoleis. This is the point where the glitch is. You can repeat this as many times as you need for the trophy to unlock.

1. Talk to Lorik Qui’in.
2. Choose “Testify against Anoleis.”
3. Choose “Damn Right I Will.”
4. The conversation ends, so reinitiate it.
5. Choose “Matriarch Benezia.”
6. Choose “Another Question.”
7. Repeat Step #2.

This should go fairly quickly. You should also probably make a save just before starting the glitch, just in case you screw up. You can also do both Renegade and Paragon trophies without reloading the save.

Paragon
Accumulate 75% of total Paragon points

There are a couple of ways that you can do this. The long way would be to consistently choose the paragon options on the dialogue wheel (always the upper or blue options) and slowly build it up to 75%. The easy way is a glitch that has been left intact from the Xbox 360 version.

On Noveria, you will have to gather some evidence for Lorik Qui’in in order to leave the port that you’re currently stuck in. After gathering the evidence, Gianna Parasinni will ask you to persuade him to testify against the administrator of the port, Anoleis. This is the point where the glitch is. You can repeat this as many times as you need for the trophy to unlock.

1. Talk to Lorik Qui’in.
2. Choose “Testify against Anoleis.”
3. Choose “You’d be a hero.”
4. The conversation ends, so reinitiate it.
5. Choose “Matriarch Benezia.”
6. Choose “Another Question.”
7. Repeat Step #2.

This should go fairly quickly. You should also probably make a save just before starting the glitch, just in case you screw up. You can also do both Renegade and Paragon trophies without reloading the save.

Paramour
Complete any romance subplot

(Missable) The romantic options in this game are more limited than the other two games. As with the others, talk to whichever character that you want to be with between each mission. They’ll ask you at some point how you feel about them and then you’ll have sex with him/her on the way to Ilos. For male characters, you can choose between Ashley or Liara. Female characters can choose between Kaiden or Liara. The romance scene takes place on the way to Ilos.

[tier1dc]

good start.

Scholar was slightly annoying on Xbox for me. you really have to make sure to knock those out.

[PainOfDemise]

It's looking good. I figured it would be up pretty quick.

[DarkStar83x]

So far, so good.