Commander Shepard’s extraordinary adventure spans the farthest reaches of the galaxy, and this section of the guide escorts you step-by-step along the way.
Every spectacular plot twist and potential outcome is covered in these pages, along with vital tips and strategies to ensure that you don’t become stuck or lost during this unforgettable journey through the stars.
The goal of this critical-path walkthrough is to help you achieve victory and satisfy all primary mission objectives in the easiest manner possible.
The walkthrough is streamlined to help you quickly find the answers you seek whenever you become stuck or lost.
Optional assignments are heralded as they become available by special boxes at the start of each walkthrough segment.
For in-depth looks at assignments, please refer to the "Spectre Assignments" portion of the guide.
Walkthrough Chapters
This critical-path walkthrough is segmented into a number of chapters, each focusing on a particular region of the galaxy.
Walkthrough chapters begin with comprehensive overviews of the situation at hand, including labeled maps of the areas Shepard must explore to complete primary mission objectives in the region.
Mission objectives are introduced in the overviews as well, and are illustrated by screenshots that run along near the top of the chapters’ pages in a "mission taskbar."
Mission Taskbar
As objectives are met in the walkthrough, the running taskbar updates to illustrate your progress through the current walkthrough segment.
Use the taskbar to quickly measure your advancement, keep yourself on course, and determine your next move.
Notes, Tips, and Boxes
To avoid sensory overload, we’ve implemented a variety of unique boxes that help make vital info stand out from the primary walkthrough path. Here’s a quick briefing on the various boxes you’ll see.
Achevement
Mass Effect has a host of Achievements for you to unlock. Many are somewhat general, requiring you to use a specific ability a certain number of times, for example.
Others require you to reach specific milestones in the primary campaign. Every time you earn one of the Achievements, a special box appears to let you know how far you’ve come.
Check the appendix at the back of the guide for a complete list of Mass Effect Achievements.
Sidebar
Mass Effect presents you with a universe of possibility.
Each decision carries with it the potential to sway the plot in unique and unexpected ways, and some choices are designed to be quite difficult to make without knowledge of the potential outcomes.
Fear not: whenever you encounter a major junction—a point at which the choices you make will lead you down one of two (or more) distinct branching paths—we cover the most natural or obvious path in the main walkthrough.
We use sidebars like this one to detail what might have been had you chosen to explore a less obvious or more extreme approach.
Thus, the walkthrough shows you the results of exploring all avenues of the main adventure, and helps you make your choices with a foreknowledge of every potential outcome.