1. Get the Good DLC

In general I don’t think much of games that have half their story hidden away in DLC. I think it’s a scummy business practice and, well, Mass Effect is no different.

However, Mass Effect is an unrivalled experience. It’s more than worth the extra bucks to buy at least the essential DLCs. So I’ll give you a brief rundown below of which DLCs are must haves and which are must nots.

ESSENTIAL DLC

These DLCs are packed full of lore and story content that will fill in some serious blanks left in the original games or add to the experience in a way that you simply don’t want to miss. In fact I’d go so far as to say they should have been part of the base games.

• Lair of the Shadow Broker (ME2)- A huge story addition that explains a big gap between ME2 and ME3, which is also an enjoyable spectacle to play. 10/10

• Citadel DLC (ME3) - Tons of extra squadmate interactions that you will absolutely love, and a fun little side quest. 10/10

• Arrival (ME2) - A creepy, intriguing set of missions that fill in some big blanks between ME2 and ME3. 7/10

• Leviathan (ME3) - Similarly creepy to Arrival, this DLC goes into much greater depth on the lore of the trilogy in a way you don’t want to miss. 8/10

DLC TO BUY IF YOU CAN AFFORD THEM

The following DLC are good to great additions to the games that I consider well worth getting and playing… if you can afford them. Any or all of them will add to your experience positively.

• From Ashes (ME3) - An interesting extra squadmate. Well made and with tons of dialogue. 8/10

• Zaeed (ME2) - A badass extra squadmate. Content is lacking but the character is absolutely awesome. 5/10

• Kasumi (ME2) - A fun, somewhat adorable extra squadmate. Content is better than Zaeed, but still lacking compared to base game characters. 6/10

• Overlord (ME2) - Extremely engaging story that’s more than a little creepy. Certain gameplay sections are a bit tedious. 9/10

• Omega (ME3) - Cool content heavy side quest that ticks a lot of boxes for “what I want from a Mass Effect DLC”. 10/10

• Bring Down the Sky (ME1) - Fairly decent side quest addition for ME1, a bit lacking compared to DLCs for the other games though. 4/10

That sums up all the worthwhile DLC for the trilogy. You’ll find there are three others you can get: Pinnacle Station, Firewalker and Normandy Crash Site. Unless you’re a hardcore fan of the games I don’t think you’ll get much out of these three however, so feel free to skip them.

2. Decide whether you want to experience everything, or have a blind playthrough

Mass Effect has a great number of side quests and extra content you can play through, and the mechanics of the game make it possible to make “optimal” choices. It’s a good idea to ask yourself before you start whether it will bother you to have scenes play out where you’re unable to get the result you want. If that does bother you, I’ve written a spoiler free guide to an optimal Mass Effect playthrough as a supplemental piece to this one. I recommend checking it out.

On the other side of that coin, it can enhance your first playthrough to go in blind and face the consequences of your decisions.

It’s up to you which way you’d prefer to go.

3. Don’t feel pressured to play on a higher difficulty

Mass Effect is great because of the atmosphere, worldbuilding, character interactions and development and narrative that it creates. While the gameplay does improve with each successive game in the trilogy, the combat is not one of the things that defines the trilogy. In fact, you may even find the clunky combat takes away from your experience. If this is the case for you, you should turn the difficulty down and focus on the story and characters.

4. Talk to people and read Codex entries

Mass Effect has a great deal of depth to its worldbuilding, and two of the primary ways in which you can experience this delightful galaxy are through discussions with non player characters and through codex entries. While it’s certainly not the end of the world to miss a few bits here and there, you’ll be surprised how engaging it is to delve into the details of the Mass Effect universe by chatting up NPCs on the Citadel or the Normandy and by scrolling through the Codex.

5. Pick the Class that will best suit your preferences

The three Mass Effect games each have different combat systems, though Mass Effect 1 is the most different in concept and execution, while 2 and 3 are a lot more similar. To help you decide what kind of combat experience you want, below I’ve written a very brief overview of how each class in each game feels to play.

MASS EFFECT 1

• Soldier - Weapons focused, with most skill trees improving survivability. Very easy and straightforward to play.

• Engineer - Tech Power focused, able to open locked crates, increase personal shields and do a little crowd control. Meant for more of a support role, but you don’t need to bring tech squadmates with you to unlock crates and hack computers.

• Adept - Biotic Power focused, with all abilities being based around controlling and damaging enemies. Has more options for handling enemies than any other class, but requires a lot of micromanagement.

• Vanguard - A mix of soldier and adept, with some crowd control and some weapon damage bonuses. Not as tanky as a soldier and has less power variety than an adept, but has a lot of potential for close quarters damage output.

• Sentinel - A mix of engineer and adept. Has some of the power variety of an adept while also being able to handle out-of-combat hacking.

• Infiltrator - A mix of soldier and engineer. Has good weapon damage output while also increasing shields and being able to hack crates and computers.

MASS EFFECT 2

• Soldier - Still the most straightforward class to play, but now with a few extra powers to utilise. Only class able to use Assault Rifles (at first).

• Engineer - The only class able to summon a drone, engineers sit back and let allies take the brunt of the action while supplementing with tech powers to weaken shields and get through armor.

• Adept - Built around using biotic powers to control choke points and take enemies briefly out of combat or send them flying.

• Vanguard - Has now leaned even more heavily into close quarters intense combat. Able to charge from the other side of the battlefield right into the middle of a fight. High risk, high reward.

• Sentinel - Fitted with tough tech armor and able to use a reliable mix of tech and biotic powers, sentinels are very solid and versatile.

• Infiltrator - Able to become invisible and slow time briefly when aiming down a scope, infiltrators are excellent for picking enemies off from a distance.

MASS EFFECT 3

In the third game all classes have almost an identical identity to their Mass Effect 2 variations. The biggest differences being some extra powers being made available to each class and the ability to equip any weapon regardless of class.