Mass Effect Andromeda – Scanning Planets and Personal Scanning

If you’ve been playing Mass Effect Andromeda, scanning planets in search of loot, you may have found that scanning planets has changed. Scanning planets in Mass Effect Andromeda is different than it was in past games. Don’t worry, things are much easier now when you know how the scanning system works. This article covers scanning planets in Mass Effect Andromeda, as well as personal scanning to make sure all the bases are covered for you.

Scanning Planets

If you’ve played previous Mass Effect titles, planetary scanning has been made considerably easier. No longer do you need to scan entire planets section by section in search of minerals and other loot. Instead, Suvi will just let you know when there’s something worth scanning. When you activate the scanner with L2 (PS4) or LT (Xbox One), you’ll see a ring appear with an arrow guiding you to the location of the loot. If you don’t see a ring, there’s nothing on the planet to find, so make sure you look for the large ring before you try to collect any loot.

When scanning planets you’ll usually find crafting materials or experience points. Most items you’ll be scanning for are pretty easy to spot and should stand out. When you find what you’re looking for, press R2 (PS4) or RT (Xbox) to launch a probe and collect your rewards. As you can see, there’s not much to it, but coming from past Mass Effect games, things have definitely changed.

Personal Scanning

Generally speaking, you don’t need to worry about scanning until the game informs you there’s something of interest nearby. This usually happens with a controller vibration and a prompt in the bottom left of the screen. If you have vibration turned off, just keep an eye on that bottom left corner and you’ll know when there’s something worthwhile to scan.

You can gain research credits (for crafting and augmenting) or continue a quest by scanning various objects. Usually these objects appear as a darker shade of orange. When you see something like this, activate your scanner by pressing X (PS4) or A (Xbox One). There are a few instances in which you can get both research credits and quest progression, but usually it’s one or the other.

Be sure to check out our Mass Effect Andromedia guide hub for more in-depth coverage of the game!