Mass Effect Andromeda: Everything We Know About the Story, Characters, Profiles & Skills
Jan. 30, 2017Mass Effect Andromeda: Everything We Know About the Story, Characters, Profiles & Skills
There are going to be 3 different launch editions for the game when it releases this spring.
Furthermore there is a Collector’s Edition that features either an RC or die cast version of the game’s Nomad vehicle and a steelbook case for the game. The RC version will be a 199 USD value plus the game cost if bundled and the die cast version will be a 99 USD value plus the game cost if bundled.
As far asDLC, there is nothing officially announced but we can safely anticipate it is in the works. We do know that there will be no Season Pass for it.
TheAndromeda Initiativeis a newsletter that also promises special trainings and rewards for completion as it fleshes out the game’s story. So far a few briefing videos have been released and they give some background into the game’s backstory, exploring the arks and the Nexus home base, theTempestandNomadand thecharactersyou’ll be meeting. The initiative will possibly reward players with special DLC, access to betas and more.
The game takes place 600 years beyond the events of the first trilogy and stand on its own as a story, although we can expect at least nominal story connections to the original games. What we do know is that the major races of the Milky Way launched a series of ark spaceships with their inhabitants in stasis to the Andromeda Galaxy. They are led by Pathfinders, which you will play as, who will explore and chart the course to new homes, interacting diplomatically and violently if necessary with the nativeracesand creatures. The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light years from Earth, making it the nearest major galaxy to Earth’s Milky Way. Andromeda contains one trillion stars, which is more than double the number of the Milky Way, and provides an attractive location for intergalactic colonization.
Ryderis the main character in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Ryder is shown in trailers as both male and female and BioWare has confirmed that Ryder is actually a brother and sister team. You will select one of the 2 siblings to play as, and the other will be alive somewhere in the universe as you play through the story.New Game Pluswill allow you to play as the other Ryder sibling.
Romanceis making a return to the game. There will no longer be a hard line where you have to complete a romance at a certain point or it’s lost forever. There will be opportunities to romance multiple people, but this depends on the feelings of your partners and whether they are open to it. Counting squad, crew and light romances there are more romance options in Andromeda than ever before. There will even be casual moments with minor characters, potentially casual one off dates. Same sex and inter-species romance options will be available.
TheKettare one of the new races you will encounter, and early trailers have them set up as potential adversaries. The goal was to design the race to look foreboding but still allowing players to empathize with them. Because of the types of stories they want to tell, BioWare did not want players to dismiss them as mere antagonists, but rather complicated beings. Bone armor added a militaristic feel to their gear. Other new races have been shown in subsequent trailers but none of them have been specifically named. Your primary antagonist has been named though, a mysterious figure calledthe Archon.
Squadmate dialogue has been increased. You will be able to speak to your sibling but they will not be in your squad. Several squadmates have been named: HumansCoraandLiam, anAsarinamedPeebee, aTuriannamedVetraand aKrogannamedDrack. The popularloyalty missionsfrom Mass Effect 2 will also be making an appearance in Mass Effect Andromeda. Each companion had one of these story focused quests, and they gave players a chance to learn about their squadmates’ history and motivations, and made for some compelling emotional moments. You can learn more about some of your squadmates in the following video:
When it comes toReputation, the Paragon/Renegade dichotomy has been replaced by Heart/Head/Professional/Casual. There is no longer a meter to track your moral choices against, whether it’s changes to your visual appearance or otherwise.
There are no character classes in the game, having been replaced by the new feature calledProfiles. Profiles are specialized orientations that result in play style bonuses such as improved damage withWeaponsorSkills, or more defensive boosts and they have titles similar to old classes likeAdeptandVanguard. They can be swapped in and out at will and there will be benefits for specific specializations and the profiles can be ranked up as players progress, increasing their specialization effectiveness. There are 7 different profiles players can choose from:Soldier,Engineer,Adept,Sentinel,Vanguard,Infiltrator,Explorer.
As you play through the game and level up you’ll be able to spend earned skill points on anySkillsyou want to use, which are specialized abilities that you can use in combat. Skills can be further improved along ranks, with each new rank costing skill points and providing new benefits. As the game progresses, a narrative reason will allow you to respec your allocated points.
There are 3 categories of Skills:Combat Skills,Biotics SkillsandTech Skills. Skills themselves are classified as passive or power (active). Players can equip 3 active powers in combat at one time, each assigned to a button press.
When used, Skills themselves will now have individual cooldown timers rather than a global cooldown for all Skills. This is to allow players more freedom in how they operate, and gives them the flexibility to expend them all or use them in combinations. This is true across single andMultiplayer.
Mass Effect Andromeda is going to be a huge game and we’ve just scratched the surface. Subsequent parts in this series will cover theweapons,armor,craftingand vehicles you’ll be using as well as thelocationsand types of activities you’ll be able to engage in. Keep checking back with us to read them all!
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Emergence
Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.
i was always tactically minded… though i admit i’ve taken characters that were “slightly” less suited to the task because i liked them more. however, even though i do like tali, if she’s basically useless on said mission she’s staying home. (note: i admit it’s hard to find a situation where she would actually be useless to the mission… it was just an example)
My Ryder will be hanging out with Cora the Explorer
I’ll probably rotate the other squadmate until I find my favourite.
Yeah, I’m still holding hope that there will be quarians though we have yet to actually see any in any of the trailers or gameplay.
Even still though yeah so far I’m leaning to those two as my characters main buddies. Also going to be weird not being Shepard but it will be the first time I mess with the character editor. Never really did that for the trilogy just stuck with the default look.
That is the key for me, finding those 2 squad buddies who I bring in no matter what, even if the mission calls for different talents. It’s funny you went Tali and Garrus, because those were 2 through thick and thin as well. It’s weird to be looking towards an experience without them honestly.
So far I feel that Vetra and Drack are going to be my new Tali and Garrus, by that I mean the companions that I shall always have. That’s just me for now. Still kind of hesitant due to ME3 like I explained in the previous thread on the latest trailer but I shall probably get this more then likely day one I won’t deny.
