For a new player, what should follow Citadel?

[Deathlok]

I tried to take care of that little hostage situation aboard the MSV Ontario with my upstart team and piddling skills. That didn't go so well. The only chance I had of surviving included a mad dash across the hanger without firing a shot. But then I found we could not open any of the secure lockers scattered around the ship. I felt like someone had pulled me from the kiddie pool and tossed me into the middle of the Pacific.

There has to be a more gradual transitioning of difficulty available for new players leaving Citadel. Where might I go that I may continue learning how to handle my team in combat without such a brutal beating as suffered at the hands of those fanatical biotics?

Am I also setting myself up for a fall later in the game by allowing the engine to automatically level my crew? Will I remain forever unable to open lockers or survive certain fights?

[FEZ. TF7]

with lockers and locked doors you need someone with the skills Decryption and Electronics in the party, they are the skills i work on 1st for certain characters so take off auto level up and manually allocate them

After the citadal you want to go to the planet Theron to get another squad member after that you can follow the main plotline by visiting Feros, Noveria, Vermire, Ilos

Ilos is the point of no return so once you go there you wont be able to finish any sidequests that you might have so if you want to finish all sidequests do so at anytime inbetween all the locations i have mentioned before going here

[T02my]

Virmire is too some kind of "point of no return" since you won't be able to finish the Citadel quests which need to do something outside Citadel and then return back on it to report, like missing brother or Admiral Kahoku's assigment. So be aware of it!

[SwobyJ]

I tend to do something like:
-Eden Prime
-Citadel main story and a full sweep of getting and finishing sidequests there (unless I get really bored - this location literally makes me fall asleep)
-Some UNC stuff if I want
-Therum (main mission planets are whatever order you want, but I like this order)
-Some UNC stuff
-Feros
-Check on Citadel because some more sidemissions opened up, hand in completed missions
-Novaria
-Some UNC stuff
-Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station DLCs
-Check on Citadel
-DO EVERY REMAINING SIDEQUEST AND HAND IN AT CITADEL IF I NEED TO
-Virmire
-Ilos
-Ending


Basically, I go back and forth. After one main mission area (Therum/Feros/Novaria), more sidemissions open up on the Citadel, but after that, it is up to whatever you find on the Galaxy Map (some sidemissions are triggered only by investigating a planet/system).

You pick up your last mandatory (Wrex and Garrus are technically optional, though I think you are forced to get one of them) squadmate on Therum, it is the shortest main mission to go after, and except in a couple ways (a couple bosses on Hardcore/Insanity), it is the easiest mission, so people tend to go there.

Novaria can tend to have hard areas so people leave it for last/second last (with Virmire as last - Virmire opens up after 2 other areas are completed), but going Novaria-->Feros is perfectly valid too.

Therum --> Feros --> Novaria --> Ilos is perhaps the 'most canon' order, as well with the combat difficulty, but again, this is in no way 'hard set'. Doing sidemissions as you go along will level you up more (beyond the Lv 30s that the main story alone will give you, into the Lv 40s and Lv 50s) and open up access to better gear as well.

~~~

Decryption and Electronics opens up locked items. Technically, when it comes to purely unlocking things, you only need ONE squadmate (including Shepard) to have a high ability (the 'Master' ability mark) and you can unlock everything. It takes into account the character with the highest points, not the combined squad points. For non-Techy Shepards (like my main Vanguard Shepard), I first brought Tali along and gave her Master Decryption/Electronics ASAP, then later on, my Kaidan and Liara and Garrus had enough that I didn't necessarily need Tali around. This is just one route to take though.

IMO you really shouldn't be auto-leveling. Auto-leveling in games like this really only applies well when you're on Easy (mayyybe Normal) difficulties as someone not intending at all to learn about how the game works. It is too late to reset points now, but you can turn auto-leveling off now and you should be fine.

[SwobyJ]

Originally posted by Blitz vas Krieger:

Virmire is too some kind of "point of no return" since you won't be able to finish the Citadel quests which need to do something outside Citadel and then return back on it to report, like missing brother or Admiral Kahoku's assigment. So be aware of it!

Virmire is 'sort of' the PNR.

You can actually do something crazy like:
1)Novaria
2)Feros
3)Virmire
4)Therum

Which is funny because Liara will be delirious and fits in well with an 'Asari-disliking' Shepard :)

But yes, one should finish all sidequests and DLC before entering #4 on that list, whatever location that may be. Because once you complete #4, you will be forced into new events the next time you enter the Citadel.
So this is technically the 'Point of No Returning To The Citadel Normally' :P

Then, once you get the Normandy back, entering Ilos on the map is the absolute 'Point of No Return' for anything else, like UNC missions.

[Deathlok]

Originally posted by Sith Olus:

After the citadal you want to go to the planet Theron to get another squad member after that you can follow the main plotline by visiting Feros, Noveria, Vermire, Ilos

Do you mean Therum? Liara T'Soni?

I then to Feros, but read I should have gone elsewhere to level up and reach Charm 12, first. Ugh!

It's funny leveling up the NPCs, having absolutely no idea what anything even means. Remember the good old days, when we wound read a paper manual before playing a game (that came on physical media)?

[FEZ. TF7]

Yep, i meant Therum, lol, don't know where i got Theron from unless i got confused with the Theron Guard in Gears of War

I do also remember the booklets we used to get in physical copies back in the day

As what Swobyj mentioned you only need to level up Decryption and Electronic's to master level to be able to open anything

It is hard for a new player because you get all these skills and have no idea what uses they have

I think Kaiden and Tali are the only one's that have both of those skills, maybe Garrus has both but not to sure about him because i never use him as a squadmate so you might want to take one of those characters and just pump said skills but don't neglect putting points into things like a weapon skill and armor for them because they will be rather squishy for the most part of your playthrough but your piority should be those 2 skills

You will get some free points in charm and intimidate as you play depending on your choices during conversations so don't really worry too much about it, i only usually work on charm or intimidate when i feel my characters is efficient enough in other skills

[Gramarye]

I can't remember which sidequests I did first after the Citadel, actually, but I know I did a good number of them before I went to Therum. I'm pretty sure my first stop was in the Hades Gamma cluster on the way to Therum, and then I checked out the clusters that are one jump away from Hades Gamma because I was new to the game at that time and wasn't even completely sure if fuel was actually a mechanic of the game (i.e., thinking I should minimize the number of jumps I took). I didn't read any tutorials or wikis or walkthroughs first, just jumped right in. Either way, it seemed to work out well enough.

I guess by pure coincidence, I ended up doing them in the order above: Therum, Feros, Novaria. Haven't been to Virmire yet.

I did read the player codex, though, so I knew that I needed to have one and only one squadmate with Decryption and Electronics, but First Aid combines all squad First Aid abilities.

[SwobyJ]

Sorry, yes, that is correct Gramarye. First Aid takes the combined First Aid points in your squad.

I was incorrect about this either in this thread or another one, I forget.

[MaximumEffort]

As people said before, do some exploring, scan some planet and explorer 1 or 2 to get some exp up, then go to Therum, get the last party member. after that, its really your choice, which ever planet you like, go for it!

[Deathlok]

Originally posted by Sith Olus:

I do also remember the booklets we used to get in physical copies back in the day

I found a Steam link to the PDF of the manual. Probobly worthless to everyone but the two or three of us who are just now playing this for the first time.

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/17460/manuals/manual_english.pdf?t=1414522510

[Deathlok]

Something I noticed is that if I only followed the "script" and worked on missions as they were presented to me, I missed out on all the free-ranging exploration that I've enjoyed so much in other open-world games, such as The Elder Scrolls and Grand Theft Auto series. And if I only followed the "script," I would be eternally destitute.

I just begam exploring systems, conducting surveys, and landing on any planet I can. It seems a great way to make money. I'm accidentally coming upon sites of miscellaneous missions I've been given along the way, so that's a plus.

I do hope the game is designed well enough that this free-ranging exploration doesn't break quests or risk rewards.

[iXenite]

I just wanted to mention that SwobyJ plays the game pretty well how I do, and I thought that pretty funny. :P Either way, that's probably the best way to grind up the levels. Tali is your best bet for getting the right skills levelled to open the lockers. For me, Ashley was my tank when levelled properly and was a must have on pretty much every mission.

Also, don't let the game level up for you. I don't know what it does exactly as I've never done it, but it's always best in these games to do that yourself. I mean, who knows what you need in your game better than you? So, level up accordingly to the situations you've been facing, and bring whoever you find will be most helpful across most scenarios. Also, explore as much as possible. Land on a planet for a side quest? Good, ignore the entire quest and go to every map marker you can see (aside from the one(s) pertaining to the side quest), this will net you some XP. I will say though, compared to the following titles in the series, ME1 has the most boring side quests in the entire series. The Citadel side quests, the "elevator announcement" side quests, anything other than main quest lines are super boring and uninspired. Even Wrex and Garrus' "Loyalty-ish" missions were insanely simple and uninspired compared to ME2 where they had depth and meaning. Kinda like comparing Gift Giving in Dragon Age Origins vs Gift Giving in Dragon Age 2. One being simplistic and emotionless, and the other being more meaningful and fun.

Either way though, the grind in this game is worth it - as the latter half of the game can be pretty difficult if you haven't levelled up well. Especially for missions like Virmire, Ilos, and the Final Mission. At least I found them to be more challenging. Especially the last mission. I always hate scenarios with Geth Snipers and Rocket Troops in this game. They are like the definition of Death for me in ME1.

Also, random Pro Tip concerning the Geth: Whenever you have to fight those Geth Horse things (like on Noveria) just run over them and drive away, especially on Noveria. Most of the time you can just do that tactic rather than try to desperately fight them.

[Deathlok]

Do you get fewer XP that way, as in other games? Borderlands comes to mind, wherein you get more XP fighting on foot than from a vehicle.

[FEZ. TF7]

You do get more xp if you fight them on foot, so no point in running them over, but there's an abundance of xp throughout the game and you'll cap out at level 50 on your 1st playthrough if you do mostly everything well before the end of the game so you could run them over if you really want to

[MaximumEffort]

Originally posted by Deathlok:

I do hope the game is designed well enough that this free-ranging exploration doesn't break quests or risk rewards.

Nope, not really. But some areas, like Garrus or Asari diplomat quests are freakishly hard if you stumble on them straight out of citadel. Just use ME wikia to see what planet is what quest, if you have not yet gotten the quest for the planet you're exploring.

And even if you do the quest before initiating if, you can still complete it - 'oh I did that already' style