Mass Effect: Character Creation and Achievements - Guide

This Guide will show you how to Create a Custom Commander Shephard in Mass Effect 1 (All Versions).

Provided that you login to the Systems Alliance Database to do so.

Getting Started

Welcome to the Alliance Database… Classified Infomation Requested…

Establishing Secure Connection… Secure Connection Confirmed.

When you start the game, you have the option to have the game allow you to create a custom Commander Shepard. If you do so, you need to have to do a few things.

First of all, you need to select a gender for your character. Like other BioWare games, this doesn’t really matter, but gender equality. Shepard can be male or female.

If you choose male, you get Mark Meer to voice your Shepard and for females, you get Jennifer Hale, who does a great job.

*Please Login to access your Profile*

After selecting a Custom Male/FemShep, you’ll need to Login to the Alliance Database by naming your character. You can only change the first name, because you can’t have voice actors naming every possible name on the face of the Earth. The default male is John, the default female is Jane, but you can change that. If course, in the course of the game, your character will ALWAYS be called Shepard, and never by their first name.

Reconstructing the Database

*Preparing to Send… Sending…
Decrypting… Verifying User Name… Verifying User Data…
WARNING!!! Data Corruption Detected!
Automatic Reconstruction Failed.
Profile Reconstruction Required.
Please Reconstruct Profile*

The next part is the character’s background, their background on their childhood before they joined the Alliance Military. This choice out of the three will effect a mission in the game, provide Paragon and/or Renegade points and effect how you are viewed as a character in the game.

*Confirm Pre-Service History*

Spacer

“Both your parents were in the Alliance Military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more than a few years. Following in your parent’s footsteps, you enlisted at the age of eighteen.”
Hero Route
Paragon +2

Colonist

“You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When you were sixteen, slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol and you enlisted with the military a few years later.”
Netural Route
Paragon +1
Renegade +1

Earthborn

“As an Earthborn, you had a rough childhood in the slums on Earth and have
a gritty edge to your personality.”
Dark Route
Renegade +2

*Confirm Psychological Profile*

Sole Survivor

“During your service, a mission you were on went horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to overcome physical torments and psychological stress that would have broken most people. You survived while those around you fell, and now you alone is left to tell the tale.”
Neutral Route
Paragon +1
Renegade +1

War Hero

“Early in your military career you found yourself facing an overwhelming enemy force. You risked your own life to save your fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. Your bravery and heroism have earned you medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet.”
Hero Route
Paragon +2

Ruthless

“Throughout your military career, you have held fast to one basic rule: get the job done. You’ve been called cold, calculating, and brutal. Your reputation for ruthless efficiency makes your fellow soldiers wary of you. But when failure is not an option, the military always goes to you first.”
Dark Route
Renegade +2

Playable Classes

After figuring out the history of Commander Shepard, you need to choose a class to play as. There are 6 classes that you can choose from, each either a pure user of Combat, Tech or Biotics, or a hybrid between two of them.

Soldier

The Soldier is your pure combat class, they are those who use guns to solve all their problems. They can use all 4 weapons without relative ease, the only class that is able to use Heavy Armour and they have the ability to use First Aid. This is the best option for first time players because it’s easy to use, point and shoot. The class of a default Shepard or a quick Shepard.

Via the appropriate mission, Shepard can advance into a Commando to improve offensive power, or Shock Trooper to improve their defensive power.

If you are planning to use soldier, you will definitely need Tech and Biotic powers.
Tali and Liara will be the best choice since they are pure Tech and Biotic users.

Base Skills:

Pistol
Assault Rifle
Assault Training
Combat Armor
Soldier

Unlocked Skills:

Shotgun
Sniper Rifle
First Aid
Fitness

Engineer

The Engineer is like the Soldier, a pure user, but of Tech this time. They are the masters of cracking locks and hacking into systems, and also hacking and disabling enemy units. Since the Geth are electronic, you can hack into them to render them useless.

Via the appropriate mission, you can upgrade to Operative to improve your buffering skills with your Tech powers, or head to Medic to improve your healing skills.

With this as your class, you want someone to fight, and someone to hack for you. With this, you are probably going to stick to Ashley, a pure Combat Soldier and probably Liara for her Biotic powers.

Base Skills:

Pistol
First Aid
Decryption
Electronics
Engineer

Unlocked Skills:

Basic Armor
Medicine
Hacking
Damping

Adept

The Adept is the last pure user, the user of Biotics, or Jedi. With this, you will be able to defend yourself with Barrier, or throw your enemies to render them useless. However, they will lack the offensive power or the tech power that would be required for an all round unit.

Via the appropriate mission, Shepard can upgrade to Nemesis to boost their environmental biotic powers such as lift, while an upgrade to Bastion will improve their defensive biotic powers such as Barrier.

Your squad should consist of Ashley for her combat capabilities and Tali for her Tech powers because Tech plays a very large role in the game.

Base Skills:

Basic Armor
Throw
Barrier
Warp
Adept

Unlocked Skills:

Pistol
Singularity
Lift
Statis

Infiltrator

The Infiltrator is a combination of Combat and Tech. They have the offensive hacking powers of the Engineer and the long range and close range stopping power of a Soldier. They are a very powerful class, the other being the Vanguard. With Combat and Tech, they can easily go through the game without need for a support squad.

Via the appropriate mission, Shepard can upgrade to Commando to improve your sniper rifle skill or Operative to improve your disabling techs.

It is best to have a Biotics user since they can help you bring down the enemy whilst they are distracted. A Combat user couldn’t hurt either.

Base Skills:

Tactical Armor
Decryption
Electronics
Pistol
Infiltrator

Unlocked Skills:

Sniper Rifle
Damping
Fitness
First Aid

Sentinel

The Sentinel is the combination of Techs and Biotics. This can be quite useful but there lies a problems. You don’t have the combat capabilities of bringing down the enemy. This class is again a support class since you can’t take the enemy down.

Via the appropriate mission, Shepard can upgrade to Medic to improve the healing capabilities or to Bastion to support offensive Biotic powers.

Your squad should consist of Ashley to support your combat skills, or lack there of. The second should either be Garrus or Wrex to improve your combat powers.

Base Skills:

Barrier
Throw
Decryption
First Aid
Sentinel

Unlocked Skills:

Electronics
Lift
Statis
Medicine

Vanguard

The Pure Jedi class, the Vanguard is one of the most powerful classes, they can combine Biotics and Combat together. They however, lack the Tech powers to take down locks and that will seriously undermine your support squad. They can easily knock down foes, throw them and fire.

Via the appropriate mission, Shepard can upgrade to Nemesis to strengthen your offensive Biotics or to Shock Trooper to improve the combat capabilities of your character.

Your squad should consist of Tali or some other Tech user to ensure that you don’t have problems with hacking and decryption. The second should be one to supplement your skills.

Base Skills:

Assault Training
Pistols
Throw
Warp

Unlocked Skills:

Shotgun
Lift
Barrier
Tactical Armor

Achievements & Bonus Talents

A list of these achievements can be found in the game’s start-up menu. Achievements for Mass Effect require at least three complete playthroughs of the game in order to acquire them all. Certain achievements bestow more rapid experience gain, weapon damage, or unlock bonus talents that can apply to any subsequent careers.

N7 Elite

Acquire all trophies

Medal of Honor

Complete 1 Mass Effect Playthrough on any setting
Unlocks Hardcore difficulty setting and unlocks character levels 51-60.

Medal of Heroism

Complete Feros

Distinguished Service Medal

Complete Eden Prime

Council Legion of Merit

Complete Virmire

Honorarium of Corporate Service

Complete Noveria

Long Service Medal

Complete 2 Mass Effect Playthroughs on any setting
Weapon damage increased by 5%.

Distinguished Combat Medal

Complete 1 Mass Effect playthrough on the Hardcore difficulty setting.
Do not change the setting.
Unlocks a gamer pic of Saren Arterius for use in your profile and unlocks
Insanity difficulty setting.

Medal of Valor

Complete 1 Mass Effect playthrough on the Insanity difficulty setting.
Do not change the setting.
Unlocks a “N7” gamer pic for use on your profile.

Pistol Expert

Shotgun Expert

Assault Rifle Expert

Sniper Expert

Lift Mastery

Use biotic Lift 75 times
Unlocks Lift for use as a bonus talent.

Throw Mastery

Use biotic Throw 75 times
Unlocks Throw for use as a bonus talent.

Warp Mastery

Use biotic Warp 75 times
Unlocks Warp for use as a bonus talent.

Singularity Mastery

Use biotic Singularity 75 times
Unlocks Singularity for use as a bonus talent.

Barrier Mastery

Use biotic Barrier 75 times
Unlocks Barrier for use as a bonus talent.

Stasis Mastery

Use biotic Stasis 75 times
Unlocks Stasis for use as a bonus talent.

Damping Specialist

Use Damping Field 75 times
Unlocks Damping Field for use as a bonus talent.

AI Hacking Specialist

Use AI Hacking 75 times
Unlocks Hacking for use as a bonus talent.

Overload Specialist

Use Shield Overload 75 times
Unlocks Overload for use as a bonus talent.

Sabotage Specialist

Use Sabotage 75 times
Unlocks Sabotage for use as a bonus talent.

First Aid Specialist

Use medi-gel 150 times
Unlocks First Aid for use as a bonus talent.

Neural Shock Specialist

Use Neural Shock 75 times
Unlocks Neural Shock for use as a bonus talent.

Scholar

Find all primary Alien: Council Races, Extinct Races, and Non-Council Races codex entries

Completionist

Complete the majority of the game
Experience rewards increase by 5%.

Tactician

Complete playthrough with shield damage greater than health damage
Shield strength increases by 10%.

Medal of Exploration

Land on an uncharted world

Rich

Exceed 1,000,000 Credits
Unlocks Spectre weapons from the NRO and C-Sec Academy.

Dog of War

Geth Hunter

Soldier Ally (Ashley)

Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance soldier squad member
Damage Reduction improves by 10%.

Sentinel Ally (Kaiden)

Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance sentinel squad member
Lift and Throw recharge time improve by 10%.

Krogan Ally (Wrex)

Complete the majority of the game with the krogan squad member
Regenerate 1 HP per second (Shephard only).

Turian Ally (Garrus)

Complete the majority of the game with the turian squad member
Damping and Overload recharge time improve by 10%.

Quarian Ally (Tali)

Complete the majority of the game with the quarian squad member
Sabotage and Hacking recharge time improve by 10%.

Asari Ally (Liara)

Complete the majority of the game with the asari squad member

Power Gamer

Reach 50th level with one character
All experience rewards increase by 10%.

Extreme Power Gamer

Reach 60th level with one character
All experience rewards increase by 5%

Renegade

Accumulate 75% of total Renegade points

Paragon

Accumulate 75% of total Paragon points

Paramour

Complete any romance subplot

Spectre Inductee

Become a Spectre

Charismatic

Use Charm or Intimidate to resolve an impossible situation

Search and Rescue

Locate Dr. T’soni in the Artemis Tau cluster

Colonial Savior

Complete the Bring Down the Sky mission.

Pinnacle Station (PC/XBOX 360 Only)

New Sheriff In Town

Take first place in any combat scenario on Pinnacle Station.
Requires the DLC pack Pinnacle Station.

Best of the Best

Take first place in 12 combat scenarios on Pinnacle Station.
Requires the DLC pack Pinnacle Station.

Undisputed

Complete Admiral Ahern’s survival mission.
Requires the DLC pack Pinnacle Station.

Original Link – Continuation of discussion

Mass Effect – Character Creation Guide

Getting Started

Reconstructing the Database