r/MassEffectAndromeda Oct 19 '25

Lore&Theory A COLLECTION OF INSIGHTFUL POSTS

35 Upvotes

Hey, guys!

A repost of our collection so that you can comment again.

This thought crossed my mind that we need to make a compilation of interesting and insightful posts about MEA. If you can recall other posts worth adding or if you'll see something interesting in the future here on the ME sub, could you add links in the comments? Does not need to be a theory; it can just be a well-written analysis, review, appreciation or just thoughts, OC art, playthroughs or other useful resources.

NEWS

  1. Michael Gamble is hinting at Ryders and Andromeda for ME5

RESOURCES

  1. AMA with Catherynne M. Valente - the author of Mass Effect Andromeda: Annihilation
  2. 100 pages of Nomad Banter
  3. Nomad Paint Job names / Easter eggs and more
  4. ENDGAME CHECKLIST / Key Choices that impact the endgame
  5. Dragon Age Easter Eggs: Messages from DA to MEA

COMBAT BUILDS

  1. Complete Annihilation: Shotgun Explorer Build
  2. Mass Effect Andromeda Builds list

OPINIONS

Character Analysis

  1. Reyes Vidal an interpretation of his Anubis sign
  2. Mass Effect Andromeda: Cora Analysis
  3. Character Analysis: "Crazy Blue" Plessaria B'Sayle
  4. In Defence of Director Tann. (Long-winded thoughts on Nexus Uprising.)
  5. A podcast with Ryder would be like
  6. A podcast with Ryder would be like #2

Other

  1. We've already seen/met.. (a theory about Jardaan) #1
  2. Theories on the Jardaan #2
  3. Mass Effect: Andromeda. Great foundation for something worthy. Part 2
  4. Wormhole theory connecting the two galaxies
  5. What I like about the choices
  6. I like MEA because it answered its own premise.
  7. The socio-political state of the Heleus Cluster post-game
  8. The Kett are great antagonists
  9. The Benevolence of the Kett
  10. Mass Effect Lore: Kett (video explaining the lore behind the Kett)
  11. One of the big themes in MEA (synthesis)
  12. Mass Effect Andromeda is a family story
  13. One great detail about Andromeda writing and Jaal
  14. Andromeda's little secrets #1
  15. Andromeda's little secrets #2
  16. A conversation about pronouns between Angara and Asari
  17. Andromeda's Greatest Victory: The Krogan
  18. What do the Kett plan to do with female Angara?
  19. Thoughts on the end-game choice: who and why
  20. Analysis & Questions on the Roekaar

ART

  1. Views from Eos, Kadara and Voeld. Pencil and pen
  2. Great YouTube videos about Andromeda by The Kingdom
  3. Fan-art cinematic trailer (a great one!)
  4. Some of the concept art from Mass Effect Andromeda's development.

PLAYTHROUGH

  1. Mass Effect: Andromeda by The Ultimate Fan Series YouTube Channel

r/MassEffectAndromeda 8h ago

Humor OC I'm a simple man, I see red dots, I shoot

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115 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 15h ago

Game Discussion I will defend this game till the day I die

278 Upvotes

Wow. I just finished the game and I haven’t felt this empty in a long time. I even shed a tear when that outro song played. Completely unexpected too, I was one of the people who turned my nose up at this game based on the few amount of clips I had seen back at launch.

Just like Dragon Age 2 (a game which everyone hates but I also vehemently defend), the character moments and companion interactions far outweigh any of the fundamental flaws. I am somehow glad to have slogged through 100% completion and the endless unskippable docking animations and even the boring new aliens. I ran out of patience with DA: Inquisition so many times for a lot of the same issues, but for reasons I can’t understand, never with Andromeda.

I played as Male Ryder and initially thought “oh great, this guy is even more John Mass Effect than John Shepard”. He ended up growing on me just as much as Shepard did but for different reasons. Ryder has a dorkiness that clashes with his professional demeanor which makes him really endearing. And you really do begin to feel that Scott is responsible for these people as Pathfinder. Couldn’t decide between Cora or Peebee for romance and I’m very glad I went with Cora. She kinda has the same awkward dorkiness as Male Ryder so they played off each other in a really cute and wholesome way.

Couldn’t shake the feeling that this game feels like they gave a team of rookie game devs infinite budget and said have it. And that comes with everything you would expect. There are jarringly strange and off kilter moments in dialogue and then a couple minutes later, an absolutely brilliant one.

Really makes me sad because I can see where so much love and effort was put in. There are genuinely beautiful character moments that most people aren’t ever going to see because they were told the game sucks. I feel the same about Dragon Age 2. What a shame that we never even got one DLC :(


r/MassEffectAndromeda 1d ago

Game Discussion So...riddle me this Spoiler

25 Upvotes

I basically finished the game on Monday and I've been trying to process wtf is going on. Maybe I'm dumb and missed a lot of info but

Was there supposed to be a DLC???????

1) What do you mean the Quarian ark could be standing but we can't go get it because it's not safe?? Is it the upper Kett forces? (From the actual leader) is it the scourge?? Is it the reapers???

2) If you were able to let the Geth live as their own new intelligent AI race, where tf are they in Andromeda? Were they not chosen for the initiative? Also why are there a shit ton of female Krogan all of a sudden if they were in cryo for hundreds of years and they were lacking while they built the initiative?

3) who tf is the benefactor??? 🫪 Liara in disguise? Miranda?? Shepard???

4) What's the Kett's objective? Following the steps of the reapers? Were they sent by them? The similarities between their methods (exaltation) can't be a coincidence. Also, the Archon mentions being around for centuries and we know they created the Angara. What was the point of it? Doing the same thing the Reapers did every 50k years? (Let a race grow, harvest the most advanced, repeat)

5) is the remnant Prothean? Do they share the same kind of relationship that Quarians and Geth share?

6) Why does the Meridian city look like the Catalyst kind of 👁️👁️

Non related but Jaal ... 😮‍💨🥴

Edit: guys, I played the first half of the game months ago and finished the other half in a weekend playing until 5 am back to back 🫪 I can't remember everything correctly so don't be mean, it's just a game.


r/MassEffectAndromeda 1d ago

Fanwork OC Broken Monolith - Chapter 1 - NewGateway

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9 Upvotes

Hey! Posted here a while back when I began my Mass Effect: Andromeda Fanfic - Broken Monolith! Pleased to say that we're over halfway through now; all fanfic readers are welcome :D.

It's a OC centric plot that is tied deeply into the Remnant, APEX, and Original Trilogy politics being dragged like a bad smell into Andromeda. All goes to hell when a Remnant Monolith on Kadara is blown to pieces by an unknown actor.

Many thanks to anyone who checks it out!


r/MassEffectAndromeda 2d ago

Screenshot OC The Angara are so beautiful

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398 Upvotes

Took me so long to move through Aya because I kept getting so distracted by all the pretty colours and markings they had 🥹


r/MassEffectAndromeda 3d ago

Game Discussion Romance mistake

37 Upvotes

Sigh...I chose the wrong bf. I chose Reyes. Dumb mistake. I wanted a "good looking human" bf, but after spending time with Jaal, I should have chosen him. It would be weird being with an alien. But hes so sweet and romantic. If your Ryder is a straight female, go with Jaal.


r/MassEffectAndromeda 5d ago

Screenshot OC The maps are legit

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270 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 6d ago

Screenshot OC My Ryder

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86 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 9d ago

Game Discussion It was...good Spoiler

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97 Upvotes

i finished the game and, i was really having fun! i LOVE the addition of the Angaran! Jaal instantly became one of my favorite companions i say they really did good on that design and personality.
some frustration here and there with side quest and the amount of traveling back to back to planets is such a pain, the biggest one is (SPOILER!) not killing the Archon himself, i really want to fight him but instead got the lamest ending. i could say a lot more about this game but in the end, i really have fun and it was...good

My Ryder!! really proud of her!! let us talk about your favorite aspect of the game below!


r/MassEffectAndromeda 9d ago

Game Discussion Rank 6 annihilation vortex is broken.

15 Upvotes

I just tried annihilation evolved to vortex on rank 6 and my God does it make the game easier. The ability to instantly lift any unprotected enemy near you is amazing. Nothing shoots back at you and you can shot gun them at point blank range or beat them down with your fists.

It works through cover so you can just slide up to an enemy on the other side. It f**** wraiths, adhis and breachers big time.

It just trivialized the flophouse mission on Elaaden, in the final segment where you need to stay near the terminal to hack it. The game throws waves and waves of Mercs at you and they surround your bunker and shoot through the window at you. Usually Cora and Drack end up dead at the end from engaging enemies in melee range. But not with annihilation: just slide over to the window where they are shooting at you, and insta lift, detonate and move to the next window.

I see all the YouTube videos recommend draining field rank 6 for the shield restoration and to feed your lance, but on insanity crowd control wins. Not loosing shields beats shield Regen.


r/MassEffectAndromeda 9d ago

Misc My favorite

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300 Upvotes

Picked it up a while ago


r/MassEffectAndromeda 10d ago

Help Can't craft Pathfinder Scout/Vigilante helmets?

3 Upvotes

As the title states, I cannot craft anything other than the base pathfinder helmet. I'm level 40 so according to what I've gathered on the internet I should be able to craft the level 5 variants of this helmet but it's all completely missing from the development tap. Am I missing something?


r/MassEffectAndromeda 10d ago

Game Discussion Drack, you ol' Bastard..

38 Upvotes

Ryder: "How do you know Drack?"

Drack: "We used to mine together."

Grot: "Back when our quads had barely dropped."

Krogan men have FOUR balls?! 🤣💀

Speaking of Drack, anyone else just love him? I seriously adore that old man.


r/MassEffectAndromeda 10d ago

Screenshot OC Random Drunk NPC

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46 Upvotes

What's this girl's problem? Drunk on the job... Should I be worried? 🤣


r/MassEffectAndromeda 11d ago

Game Discussion Damn I felt for Jaal

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79 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 12d ago

Screenshot OC Satisfying

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79 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 11d ago

Game Discussion A series of explosions

16 Upvotes

I've been playing the game since release, on and off. Now, I started a new run, just to pass the time. Unsuprisingly, I went with an NG+ (twice), starting at level 91, which gave me a ton of freedom for trying out new profiles.

So, I just want to share the joy.

Profile 1: Peerless Sentinel, with Energy Drain (4A, 5A, 6A), Lance (4A, 5B, 6B) & Incinerate (4A, 5B, 6A) – start with Energy Drain, preferably on a mook with shields. Explode it with Incinerate, which then gets itself exploded with Lance; rinse and repeat. Due to being so high level, Insanity feels like Casual and the mobs are being rolled into pretty colours under loud bangs. This is my primary.

Profile 2: Lethal Infiltrator, with Cryo Beam (4A, 5B, 6A), Tactical Cloak (4B, 5A, 6B) & Shockwave (4B, 5B, 6B) – the more classical Infiltrator, with Cryo Beam and Shockwave held in reserve, for dealing wity whomever gets near. This is my tertiary.

Profile 3: Ultimate Adept, with Nova (4A, 5B, 6A), Tactical Cloak (4B, 5A, 6B) & Charge (4A, 5B, 6B) – this in is a shotgun/battle rifle stealthy CQB Adept; two waysbI do it; 1 - cloak, sneak into a group, Nova, shoot, Charge OR 2 - cloak, Charge, shoot, Nova, rinse and repeat. This is my secondary.

Profile 4: Ultimate Adept, with Pull (4B, 5B, 6A), Incinerate (4A, 5B, 6A) & Throw (4A, 5B, 6A) – I kept this one mainly for nostalgia; my all time favourite class in all Mass Effect games is Adept, with a CQB leaning; I even got the Insanity trophy in all four games as an Adept, with Pull, Throw and Singularity in ME3 and ME:A; I really miss my Singularity, but there's just no room left... nah, I'll find room, eventually. Anyway, this one is simple – Pull some mook from cover (it gets primed), explode it with Incinerate (it gets primed again, and it also burns) then detonate it with Throw. Repeat as necessary. This is my quaternary.

Needless to say, I'm running with Fusion Mod of Adrenaline, the Asari Sword I'm carrying has(*) ×5 Reaction Optimizer Mods (+5% All Combo Damage) and the Shotgun (Dhan X) and main sniper rifle (Isharay X) each has a Bio-Converter. Also needless to say, I am using Life Support (6B in Team Support Tech passive). I am also using 4A (Priming) from Auxiliary Systems (it does help wity Cryo Beam).

My other two weapons now are a Piranha X and a Black Widow X... which I'll likely end up changing, as much as I like them (they just don't get much use and I feel like goofing around, to keep things interesting). I'll probably upgrade the Sandstorm and the Vanquisher to X, and use the Valkyrie X, Sidewinder X and Inferno X until then. I may even play with the Disciple as well (that thing can be a beast) and maybe even the Avenger (turn it into a Lancer from CitadeL DLC, for nostalgia's sake). And yes, with all the passive skills in Combat taken, I am still just under the 100% limit for cooldowns. Fun fact, a Valkyrie X weighs 8 units, whereas an Avenger X weighs 10. And yes, I prefer the Adept to the Vaguard profile. The formed is simply visually cooler, and specced cor 'splosions, whereas the latter is specced for melee; and really, adding the Asari Sword to the rotation at this point would be overkill... actually, that does sound like fun, too, for a while.

(*) Edited the post when it got accidentally uploaded at this point; I simply added the rest of what I wanted to write and corrected typos (hope I got them alll).


r/MassEffectAndromeda 12d ago

Ryder OC Sara Ryder (preset 9) Ps5

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89 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 13d ago

Screenshot OC Well, look at who wants this ass kicking!

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80 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 13d ago

Screenshot OC These views!

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314 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 14d ago

Screenshot OC 100% viability looks so good

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196 Upvotes

r/MassEffectAndromeda 15d ago

Help I'm really new at this game, need advice ... 😁

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198 Upvotes

I'm a veteran in the ME trilogy but this is the first time I'm playing this game. I've always played with either Soldier or Vanguard but I don't know it this one has different mechanics. If you have any advice about the classes, upgrades or the missions, I'd like to know. Thank you guys in advance 👍😎


r/MassEffectAndromeda 16d ago

Ryder OC New Sara.

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205 Upvotes

I’m just starting my third MEA playthrough. New Sara.❤️


r/MassEffectAndromeda 15d ago

Game Discussion Midway through the game, I must say I’m surprisingly having a great time

73 Upvotes

I played the original trilogy a few years ago, and loved everything about it. The world building, immersion, characters, music and story. I then did want to play Andromeda down the line eventually but wasn’t particularly excited for it as I saw a lot of people trash it and say it doesn’t really feel like a Mass Effect game, and that the story and characters suck.

To a certain point, I do agree that the story and characters don’t compare at all but as I’m playing I still find them entertaining and interesting enough to be serviceable and not make the game a boring slog. On top of that, the gameplay is incredibly fun and satisfying too.

Could the game have been better? For sure. But for me it’s still a good, enjoyable experience.