Steam Guide by Cynic 0055 - this is for the Legendary Edition version of ME3, however it's a wonderful guide for the exact same game, any differences between ME3LE and ME3: N7 Digital Deluxe are detailed down below.
First notes:
Using an ME2 import reduces the playtime required to 100% the game, as there will be no second playthrough of the whole game required to unlock the "Long Service Medal" achievement. On sites like SteamHunters, this will result in a Playtime Invalidation. However, an NG+ playthrough has to be started eitherway in order to unlock "Battle Scarred" by importing an ME3 character, aswell as upgrade any weapon to rank 10 for the "Gunsmith" achievement, which can only be done after Priority: Mars and waiting through a lot of unskippable cutscenes. Once on the Normandy, rush to the Shuttle Bay and upgrade any weapon to Rank 10.
Notable bugs: The UI is broken for resolutions higher than 720p, resulting in a smaller UI the higher your resolution. Having a high framerate is not recommended, as the shield recharge delay and rate are affected by framerate. A 120 FPS cap however has been tested and is safe, even on Insanity difficulty.
Due to the N7 Deluxe Edition including all DLC, multiple weapons and one non-customizable suit of armor will be given, therefore only requiring the purchase of one other non-customizable suit of armor at the Citadel, which can be save-scummed in order to save on credits for the Rank X weapon.
Many other achievements can be save-scummed and farmed, the most useful of these being the various "Do X action X amount of times" type of achievements.
During Priority: Palaven, after clearing the airfield, make a manual save by the weapon bench before climbing the ladder to get on the turret and defend the area. This will be the save used to start the "Veteran" achievement farm, which without an ME2 import that also tracks kills from it and ME1 is a grind, detailed here way later.
VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT switch your difficulty from Insanity after leaving Earth, as doing so whatsoever will immediately void your "Insanity" achievement. If you find yourself struggling with certain achievements like the Citadel DLC's Armax Arsenal Arena "Simulated Hero", "The One and Only" and 'Technical Issues" achievements, simply make a manual save at the Armax Arsenal Arena and go back to it AFTER getting the "Insanity" achievement, where you can safely turn down the difficulty to Normal.
"Master and Commander" and "Defender"
It is fully possible to get the "Master and Commander" achievement without using an ME2 import and "Defender" without having to engage with the in-game multiplayer component.
For "Master and Commander", a lot of War Assets will come from doing the "Genesis 2" DLC that you are offered after creating a new character, which will let you make several important ME1 and ME2 decisions - note that this DLC gets bypassed if you are importing an ME2 character. Both games covered feature separate romanceable characters - for example you have to get to the ME2 part in order to pick Tali or Garrus as a romance.
A Paragon playthrough is recommended, as a lot of war asset-related decisions benefit from Paragon actions (e.g. Al-Jilani, the news reporter), but some Renegade choices will have to be made occasionally (e.g. choosing the Volus Bombing Fleet over saving the colony)
Important things to note: DLCs for both games are completely untouched, therefore DLC squadmates and war assets won't be available - and some Citadel side content will have to be done with compromises, choosing the option that gives out the most war assets.
Another thing to note is that certain loyalty mission decisions are chosen for you: Maelon's data is destroyed, the Geth Heretics are destroyed, Tali is not exiled/becomes Admiral, Miranda dies regardless of what you do to help her in ME3, Morinth dies, Thane and his son reconcile. Certain side content characters like Conrad Verner and Sha'ira are also untouched. Captain Kirrahe is not helped in Virmire, therefore he dies and cannot save the Salarian Councilor later. The war asset bonuses from ME1 exploration like minerals and things like Turian Insignias are also not available. Saving the ME2 crew members and having all loyalties + Normandy upgrades is impossible through Genesis 2, only possible with a carefully played ME2 import.
ME1 Decisions:
Romance: Choose whichever you'd like
Spare the Rachni Queen -> Spare the queen when helping Grunt in ME3
Kill Urdnot Wrex -> Do all side missions before the Shroud Facility. Do not reveal the Shroud Sabotage to the Krogans/Mordin and convince Mordin to carry on with the sabotage (at the very end of the mission after defeating the reaper) and save himself.
Alternatively, you can spare Wrex BUT you have to do all side missions, reveal the sabotage and let Mordin cure the genophage, there will be a -50 war asset loss due to Eve dying, but if everything else is done correctly, this choice can be made.
Virmire sacrifice: Do not pick your romance as the sacrifice
Save the Citadel Council -> You receive the Destiny Ascension as a higher scoring war asset.
Human Councilor: Pick whomever you'd like, Udina ends up being the councilor in ME3 anyway.
ME2 Decisions:
Recruit all squadmates
Resolve conflicts
Stay true to friends
Improve the Normandy's weapons and armor -> squadmates stay alive but all crew members except Doctor Chakwas die, losing their war assets, however your squadmates will bring in way more anyway.
Romance: Choose whichever you'd like
Keep the Collector Base -> receive Reaper Brain war asset.
N7 HQ details
Before or during your ME3 playthrough, you can log into the N7 HQ website with the EA account that's associated to your copy of ME3, where in the "Galaxy at War" tab you can engage in the minigame that helps increase Galactic Readiness. The premise is very simple: you have 3 missions for each of the 5 theatres of war and you can start 5 in total. The longer the mission takes to complete, the more Galactic Readiness for that theatre you receive:
| 1 hour mission | 3 hour mission | 5 hour mission |
|---|
| 2.80% | 2.98% | 3.17% |
This will bypass the need to engage in the game's multiplayer to increase Galactic Readiness BUT if you don't want to change the default Shepard appearence for the "Enlisted" achievement, you can create any multiplayer character to get the achievement.
One thing to note is that Galactic Readiness decays faster the higher % it is. It has been discovered that the decay is about 3% every 24h if Galactic Readiness is around 100%. So ideally, you'd want to work on the game and N7 HQ in order to have Galactic Readiness at 100% by the time you finish Priority: Rannoch OR assault the Cerberus Base. The galactic readiness achievement pops at any point in the game where you're at 100%, while Master and Commander only pops at those two points in the game while having the appropriate amount of Effective Military Strength, which is affected by galactic readiness. A good tactic to maintain the Readiness at 100% after reaching that point is to simply start a 1 hour mission in each theatre and leave them unclaimed until the % drops (might require a page refresh).
Of course, if you do decide to engage with the game's multiplayer instead, the playtime will change dramatically compared to a completion of the game done with the N7 HQ site, as it will depend on either your solo skill or having the proper team to tackle full Bronze/Silver/Gold matches, but it has been reported that dying after the 1st wave grants ~3% to Readiness towards the Theatre tied to the map you did.
The "Defender" achievement pops either when you go into the main menu and Galactic Readiness is at 100% OR if you go into the War Terminal and access the "Galaxy at War" tab.
ME3 decisions and gameplay strategy:
From the start until the end - focus on finding as many text logs and medkits/healing stations (450-150 XP) as possible while in missions, as they will give you XP. Medkits will give less or no XP if they replenish missing medi-gel supplies. The difficulty played aswell as achievements obtained at the time increase the multiplier for these XP gains. This is crucial, because the road from level 1 to level 60 requires a lot of XP, most notably the final stretch from 59 to 60, and simply completing everything in your path doesn't give nearly enough to reach level 60 or help the early-to-mid part of the game where having powers early like Class Mastery for things like extra reputation gain is key.
Prioritize building up your reputation through easier morality choices and Paragon/Renegade intrerrupts, engaging in unique conversations with squadmates on the ship, completing side missions, resolving conflicts and levelling up the "Reputation" side of the "Mastery" power that's available to all classes as soon as possible. This is required as many important morality dialogue options need high reputation. The earliest way to see whether you are behind on reputation is, after convincing Dr. Chakwas to not come onboard the Normandy, to try and convince Dr. Chloe Michel to come onboard the Normandy instead - she requires a rather high amount of reputation before you can convince her and she disappears if you go through with a second unique Kaidan/Ashley hospital visit.
Do all unique Kaidan/Ashley hospital visits before Priority: The Citadel II or build your reputation to convince them to stand down during The Citadel II,
Visit all former and current squadmates within various areas of the Citadel. Thane is especially important for former squadmate visits as not speaking with him results in the Salarian Councilor's death in Priority: The Citadel II, as his only other savior, Kirrahe, is already dead 2 games ago. All squadmate types have new unique dialogue opportunities after each main Priority mission,
Do all fetch quest side missions on the Citadel,
Tell Dr. Chakwas to assist Hackett instead of coming back to the Normandy,
Complete the From Ashes (Priority: Eden Prime) DLC, making sure to grab all 3 intel to assist the Eden Prime colonists,
Complete all N7 missions and side missions given to you by Admiral Hackett and Samantha Traynor respectively, making the following decisions:
Citadel: Hanar Diplomat: Stop the virus, letting Jondum Bau die,
Grissom Academy: Send the biotic students as a front-line force,
Citadel: Volus Ambassador: Sacrifice the colony in exchange for the Volus Bombing Fleet,
Ardat-Yakshi Monastery: Save Samara using the Paragon intrerrupt,
N7: Fuel Reactors: Send a squadmate to help the other team, then use the Spectre Terminal at the Citadel to promote Riley.
Choose all correct conflict dialogue options (e.g. Citadel cafe owner over the C-Sec agent),
Authorize all Spectre Terminal requests excluding the Asari Commando vet requesting a pistol and the human Engineer requesting a transfer to Reaper territory.
Main Story, Omega, Leviathan, Citadel
Note: Each main story mission gives new squadmate and Normandy crew member dialogue to farm for bonus power, reputation and/or paragon/renegade points alongside the missable side missions. Samantha Traynor will inform you about most of these dialogue opportunities, but pretty much never when it comes to EDI and Joker.
Priority: Palaven: Doesn't have side missions tied to itself, but finishing it will void certain side missions if they aren't completed yet,
Priority: Sur'Kesh: Speak with Lieutenant Tolan before speaking to Padok Wiks,
Priority: Tuchanka: Do all side missions before the Shroud Facility and cure/sabotage the Genophage depending on whether you spared or killed Wrex, explained earlier.
Priority: The Citadel II: If you haven't visited Ashley/Kaidan in the hospital enough, you will need a high enough reputation to convince them with a morality dialogue option to stand down, otherwise they will die. Once the mission itself is over and you are leaving the Citadel, send Kaidan/Ashley to help Hackett, however as a 25 War Asset difference, the choice to have them join you in the Normandy is very much possible (or required if they are your romance).
Complete the Omega DLC, making sure to do all 3 command center side missions as they are missable, followed by the Leviathan DLC, where you have to make sure that you use the clues to pinpoint one location - this is missable because you can leave Bryson's lab as soon as you have 3-5 matches. You have the opportunity to do this two times before it gets missed. Another thing to keep track of is Ann Bryson - do not use the Renegade intrerrupt as you lose her as a war asset.
SEMI-IMPORTANT: Make sure your Galactic Readiness is high or at 100% as completing Priority: Rannoch will be the point where talking to Admiral Hackett can pop the "Master and Commander" achievement, but if this doesn't happen, you will have another chance when starting the assault on Cerberus HQ.
Priority: Rannoch: Disable the geth fighter squadrons, have enough reputation to convince Admiral Korris in order to save him, side with Admiral Gerrel over Admiral Raan, warn Raan, side with Admiral Xen over Tali, let Legion upload the code and have a high enough reputation (reportedly 4 full bars) to Rally or Warn the fleet in order to ensure a Geth-Quarian alliance.
Priority: Thessia: Complete N7: Communication Hub and finish off all remaining Citadel fetch quests before starting this main mission, Priority: Horizon can be done immediately, after talking to squadmates and crew members, of course.
Complete the Citadel DLC after Priority: Horizon, as all squadmate-related content is fully unlocked for the DLC at this point, though of course you will have Miranda missing due to her dying guaranteed without an ME2 import.
VERY IMPORTANT: Ensure Galactic Readiness is high or at 100% before starting the assault on Cerberus HQ in order to obtain "Master and Commander", otherwise you will miss this achievement if you haven't obtained it after Priority: Rannoch! After this, you are free to choose any ending you'd like - however only one ending is the one where there is a special cutscene tied to a really high war asset amount.
Insanity build and miscellaneous achievements
"Insanity" and "Unwavering":
The build with the best chances of surviving the entire game on Insanity will be the Soldier specced into the Cerberus Harrier and Viper with Incendiary and Disruptor ammo, aswell as concussive shots with Amplification that constantly proc Tech Bursts. To add to this overpowered build, the best squadmates to always have around are Garrus and James, equipped with the N7 Typhoon that is modded with the Piercing Mod and Spare Thermal Clip/Heat Sinks - of course they have to be specced into weapon damage and assault rifle damage, aswell as their ammo powers optimized for even more damage instead of special abilities (excluding James' Incendiary, which is specced into Explosive Burst).
The Cerberus Harrier and N7 Typhoon weapons are available from the start because of N7 Deluxe Edition's inclusion of all DLC weapon and armor packs, you can equip them during Priority: Mars as soon as you pick up a weapon off the ground and select change loadout.
Soldier build
Garrus build
James build
The Omega DLC isn't too much of a risk if done in the mission order described above, since you'll be high level enough. And of course... Nyreen becomes a squadmate and she can equip the N7 Typhoon. Other main game missions that have you sacrifice a squad mate slot generally let you have James or Garrus tag along - however the Citadel DLC's start is the most dangerous, as you're by yourself with just a pistol and limited ammo - the enemies have cluster grenades and drones that will harass you if you aren't careful. Even with the squadmates and loadout back, the CAT6 enemies are some of the strongest in the game and will take a beating before dying.
Bruiser and Overload Specialist:
Unlike Mass Effect: Legendary Edition - using a squadmate's Overload power to break the shields of 100 enemies doesn't work in this version of ME3 - therefore forcing you to make a completely new character if your main one isn't specialized in a class that can have the Overload power (Sentinel and Engineer). In this case, you will have to start a New Game as a Sentinel, fortunately this time on a difficulty such as Narrative.
Before you get off of Earth and sift through a lot of unskippable cutscenes for the main event, you can farm the husk which is only killable with an omni-blade melee attack for the "Bruiser" achievement, as on Insanity it is pretty much a deathwish engaging in melee combat. Reach the double doors and do not trigger the husk, instead make a save and then trigger it, instantly killing it with an omni-blade attack. Using the quickload button, grind the 100 melee kills.
Focus on medkits and text logs to gain XP and level up Overload's damage as much as possible. Once you are given free reigns after Priority: Mars, go to N7: Cerberus Labs and deliver the first sample. Immediately after delivering the first sample, make a quicksave while still facing the shuttle. Using this quicksave, turn around with your back against the shuttle, then go to the right and down below in the direction of the next sample where you will find a Centurion and 2 Combat Engineers, which can deploy their turrets. All of these enemies have shields, but be careful not to Overload the turrets too early, as they will simply explode and instantly kill the engineers. It might take some coercing to make the Engineers drop down a turret, so it might be faster to just Overload the shields of the Centurion and Engineers, then simply quickload and repeat.
Veteran:
Returning to the manual save made on Palaven for the "Veteran" achievement prep, turn down the difficulty to Narrative and use the weapon bench to switch your squadmates' weapons to weaker weapons, as you don't want them poaching your kills while on the turret. Once that's done, go to the ladder and make a save right at the base. Do note however that after killing enough enemies with the turret, you will be forced to fight the brute, which is the point where you reload your save - the only issue being that this brute autosave will be what's loaded if you press the quickload button, therefore you have to go into the pause menu to load the save by the ladder.
Generally, you will get to kill around ~35 husks before the Brute shows up, and if you do this grind after going through the main game, you will have around 1000-1250 kills already depending on how much you relied on James and Garrus to clean up enemies for you. One round of the turret section can last as quick as 1 minute and 20 seconds. Calculated: you will have an approximately 2-2,5 hour grind ahead of you, so mute the game, turn up the music and have fun. The game gives progress update notifications every 500 kills.
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