Mass Effect 2 – Useful Hints and Tricks (Xbox 360, PC)


Cheat: Double Your Hacking Rewards

Occasionally, after completing a hacking mini game for credits etc. you can press A repeatedly as the window closes and cause the game to glitch out and let you hack a second time -- for another chunk of credits! This is rare, but it sometime does work -- so get in the habit of mashing.


Hint: Romancing the Yeoman

If you chat it up with Yeoman Kelly Chambers often and choose to be kind to her you can instigate an "unusual" romantic encounter. You'll eventually be able to invite her to dinner. Additionally, you cannot let Kelly die in the final mission (choose a loyal escort for the crew in the final scene). After you beat the game, talk to Kelly and you'll receive an email from her. Go to your quarters and you'll be able to invite her up using your console. She'll appear and you'll be able to watch the evening's awkward events unwind.


Easter Egg: Legion Does the Intergalactic Shuffle

Approach Legion in his quarters and highlight him but do not talk to him. He'll do "The Robot," the traditional dance of his ancestors.


Hint: Anomalies Anonymous

You can find anomalies when scanning the following planets (listed as Cluster, System, and Planet below). Anomaly = Side Quest!

• Caleston Rift, Solveig, Sinmara
• Caleston Rift, Talava, Taitus
• Crescent Nebula, Lusarn, Tarith
• Crescent Nebula, Zelene, Helyme
• Eagle Nebula, Amun, Neith
• Eagle Nebula, Strabo, Jarrahe Station
• Hades Nexus, Sheol, Gei Hin
• HourGlass Nebula, Faryar, Daratar
• HourGlass Nebula, Ploitari, Zanethu
• Minos Wasteland, Fortis, Aequitas
• Omega Nebula, Ariniarkan, MSV Strontium Mule
• Omega Nebula, Fathar, Lorek
• Pylos Nebula, Dirada, Canalus
• Pylos Nebula, Nariph, MSV Broken Arrow
• Rosetta Nebula, Enoch, Joab
• The Shrike Nebula, Xe Cha, Zada Ban
• Sigurd's Cradle, Decoris, Sanctum
• Sigurd's Cradle, Skepsis, Franklin
• Titan Nebula, Haskins, Capek


Easter Egg: Probing Uranus

Head to the Local Cluster and scan Uranus. The first two probes you launch will result in "unusual" statements from EDI.


Hint: Geth Pulse Rifle

Note: The Geth Pulse Rifle can only be found on Hardcore or Insanity difficulty. During the recruitment mission for Tali, look for the rifle in the same room you find Tali. It will be sitting on the ground next to a destroyed geth.


Hint: Slightly Faster Planet Scanning

Need to speed up scanning? Put the scanner all the way to the right or left, and rotate the planet the same way speeds it up a lot.


Hint: No One Left Behind Achievement

For this achievement, develop all the ship upgrades and keep every character loyal to Shepherd.

The crew can die and you'll still get the achievement. Just none of your teammates can die.

This one is pretty easy to get if you remember to:

1.) Remain a fully dedicated paragon or renegade.
2.) Always have full team loyalty. Just do all of their side missions.
3.) Have full/all/maximum ship upgrades. Take time out and do the mining.
4.) Get all the prototype upgrades.
5.) For the assault, use this configuration. I'll list all people you can use, and also who I used:

Tech Specialist
Tali
Legion
(I used Legion)

Leadership
Miranda
Jacob
Garrus
(I used Jacob and Miranda)


Biotic Specialist
Samara / Morinth
Jack
(I used Samara)

Crew Escort
Any loyal character
(I used Thane)

The team you bring with you to fight doesn't matter as long as they're loyal to you. I used Mordin and Garrus for my team the entire time. Good luck!


Hint: Finding Element Zero

Below is a list of the planets where you can mine the ultra-rare Element Zero. The systems for each Zero-laden planet are listed below, followed by the star and planet names.

Calestone Rift
• Aysur, Arvuna - Moderate
• Balor, Calestone - Moderate

Crescent Nebula
• Lusam, Tarith - Rich
• Zelene, Helyme - Moderate

Eagle Nebula
• Amun, Anthur - Rich
• Amun, Sekhmet - Moderate
• Relic, Preying Mouth - Rich

Far Rim
• Dholen, Gotha - Moderate

Hades Nexus
• Hekate, Asteria - Poor
• Hekate, Bothros - Poor
• Pamyat, Dobrovolski - Moderate
• Sheol, Gel Hinnom - Moderate

Hawking Eta
• Schwarzschild, Etamis - Rich

Hourglass Nebula
• Faryar, Daratar - Rich
• Osun, Erinle - Rich
• Ploitari, Thegan - Moderate

Krogan DMZ
• Nith, Mantun - Moderate

Minos Wasteland
• Caestus, Invictus - Moderate

Nubian Expanse
• Kalabasha, Yamm - Moderate
• Batalla, Nearog - Moderate
• Batalla, thunawanuro - Rich

The Phoenix Massing
• Salahiel, Ekuna - Moderate

Pylos Nebula
• Dirada, Siano - Moderate
• Satent, Boro - Rich
• Raisaris - Rich

Rosetta Nebula
• Alpha Draconis, 2175 Aeia - Moderate
• Enoch, Joab - Rich
• Enoch, Laban - Moderate
• Enoch, Mizraim - Rich

Shadow Sea
• Iera, Prospect - Poor

The Shrike Abyssal
• Urla Rast, Talis Fia - Moderate
• Xe Cha, Tosal Nym - Rich
• Xe Cha, Zada Ban - Rich

Sigurd's Cradle
• Decoris, Sanctum - Moderate
• Skepsis, Watson - Rich

Titan Nebula
• Haskins, Capek - Moderate

Valhallan Threshold
• Micah, Farlas - Moderate
• Micah, Israfel - Moderate
• Micah, Kakabel - Moderate
• Paz, Garvug - Rich


Unlockable: Alternate Costumes/Colors

Complete a Loyalty mission for a party member to unlock alternate color schemes for that character.


Unlockable: Bonus Experience, Resources, Paragon and Renegade Points

Start a new game in Mass Effect 2 using a profile from Mass Effect (1) and you'll get the following bonuses:

• Experience Points (an amount based on your previous level, basically you'll start at Level 2)
• Resources (can be used for weapon and armor upgrades)
• Paragon and Renegade Points (if you have the MAXIMUM amount of either Paragon or Renegade points from Mass Effect you'll get a bonus number in of the same points in ME2)


Unlockable: New Game + Bonuses

Mass Effect 2 features a New Game + feature which allows you to play the game a second time with certain items and stats you accumulated in your first game.

• You get to choose your Loyalty Bonus Skill from the start.
• Your retain Skill Points but can redistribute them.
• Your level and XP carry over; the max level (level cap) is 30.
• Your Renegade/Paragon points are reset to neutral.
• You keep your weapons and armor, but not the upgrades.


Hint: Bonus Paragon or Renegade Interruption Points

During conversations, you may spot a RIGHT or LEFT TRIGGER appear in the top left portion of the screen. If you hit LEFT TRIGGER when the "wings" logo appears you'll get Paragon points. If you hit RIGHT TRIGGER when the "star" appears you'll get Renegade points.


Till next time, keep on gaming and enjoy!!

Labels: Cheat, Games, Mass Effect 2, PC, This Week, Xbox

This entry was posted by James Dumas, on Thursday, February 18, 2010. You can leave your response .