Making the choice to play Mass Effect: Andromeda is a tough one right from the get-go. The long-anticipated sequel to the main Mass Effect franchise released to lukewarm reviews. Game-breaking glitches and strange facial animations turned players away from this sci-fi RPG. However, despite Andromeda’s many, many flaws, we found the game to be hilariously enjoyable. It’s no critical masterpiece, but it is surprisingly fun.
Within Andromeda’s story, players face plenty of choices, typical of the Mass Effect series. Read on if you want to know the worst possible decisions you could make during the course of the game’s plot. (Spoiler alert: The consequences have yet to be far-reaching, seeing as how no sequel for Mass Effect: Andromeda has been planned as of this writing.)
10 Trusting Arenna Farenth On Kadara
Of all the choices you have to make in Mass Effect: Andromeda, getting this one wrong will make you feel like an utter fool. A doctor on Kadara asks for Ryder’s help to stop a drug problem. The drug is called Oblivion, and the doctor wants you to steal it. However, when Ryder gets the opportunity to take it, another doctor called Arenna Farenth begs you to let her keep it, saying her family is at risk if you forcibly obtain the drug. Turns out, Farenth was lying to you. She’s a part of the drug problem. If you trusted her, you end up looking like an idiot to that other doctor at the clinic who asked for your help in the first place.
9 Lying To Maarel
Honestly, not many of the choices in Mass Effect: Andromeda have far-reaching consequences. However, these decisions can make you feel like an all-around jerk if you make the wrong one. At one point, an Angaran named Maarel asks for Ryder’s help in locating her lost brother. Ryder uncovers the fact that Maarel’s brother was Exalted (and therefore more or less dead). Upon returning, Ryder can lie to Maarel and give her hope that her brother is still out there. If you do this, Maarel happily goes on her way, believing her brother is alive. Do your conscience a favor and don’t lie to Maarel.
8 Ignoring The Protestors On The Nexus
Things went terribly wrong when the colonists from the Milky Way traveled to the Andromeda Galaxy. The hub the settlers eventually settled on became a hive of panic, disrepair, and fear. It’s only thanks to Ryder’s arrival that things got smoothed out.
Matters are still a tad tumultuous though, and protesters gather to cry out against what they feel to be unfair mid-game. If you have Ryder ignore the situation, the protesters will get quashed by the rest of the settlers’ leadership, and you’ll miss out on an opportunity to help average folk.
7 Saving And Keeping The AI From Voeld
The planet Voeld houses an ancient Angaran AI who is less-than-friendly when woken up. Upon activation, it immediately starts to hurt two nearby Angara. Ryder can instantly destroy the machine or leave it alone. If Ryder eliminates the AI, the Angara are saved, even though Ryder and pals may have lost out on valuable information from the construct. If the AI is left alone, those Angara just straight-up die. If you choose to callously let them perish, you also have the choice to keep the AI for yourself instead of leaving it for the Angaran people. So it’s almost like you’re doubly cruel if you take that route.
6 Not Solving The Murders On Kadara
Almost immediately upon arriving on Kadara, you learn that it is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. All Star Wars references aside, yeah, it’s a seedy place. Murders have been going on in the port city for a while, and Ryder gets the opportunity to try and solve them. However, Ryder can also choose to ignore them. If players decide to forego the murder investigation, the killings will continue to take place. This is quite literally a case where if Ryder does not take action, people will die. After all, the murderer was left to go free.
5 Accepting Sloane Kelly’s Deal
Sloane Kelly is one of the more intriguing characters in Mass Effect: Andromeda. From what you hear about her before you meet her, she seems like a real hero of the people. However, she’s set herself up a little empire on Kadara, and things there are not as just as you might have supposed. When you first meet her, she offers you a deal to talk with a convict before he’s executed. By agreeing to it, you’re essentially having Ryder say he/she is okay with Kelly’s authoritarian rule. Feel free to be polite to Sloane, but it seems like you’re signing the convict’s death sentence yourself if you agree to her deal.
4 Not Convincing Avitus Rix To Become The New Turian Pathfinder
Toward the end of Mass Effect: Andromeda, Captain Dunn’s life is put in danger. In order for her to survive this situation, all Pathfinders from the other Arks need to be found, saved, and established. If not, Dunn dies. That’s why you shouldn’t leave Avitus Rix, the successor to the Turian role of Pathfinder, feeling doubtful about his position.
Do whatever you can to encourage him to become Pathfinder. Not only is instilling confidence in him the kind thing to do, it’s also the right thing. Dunn’s life hangs in the balance.
3 Saving The Salarian Pathfinder Over The Krogan Scouts
Raeka came across as one heck of a Pathfinder. When you meet this Salarian Pathfinder, you feel a sense of relief that an experienced Pathfinder is going to join Ryder on board the Nexus. Unfortunately, a terrible choice slams its way into your lap that places Raeka’s life and the lives of a group of Krogan scouts against each other. However much it might hurt, you should save the Krogan. It is sadly a case of numbers here. Raeka is only one, albeit very cool, Salarian. The Krogan scouts are a group, and you should try to save as many as you can.
2 Keeping The Remnant Drive Core From The Krogans On Elaaden
This choice should be a no-brainer. On the planet Elaaden, Ryder finds a Remnant drive core, a piece of technology that could prove very useful to the settlers on the Nexus. However, the Krogans who live on Elaaden want it for themselves. Let the Krogan have the core, no matter what Nexus leadership says. If you don’t give the core to the Krogans, they will remain distrustful of Ryder and the Nexus, and they will not let you create an outpost on the planet. In the interest of solidifying relations with the Krogan, the core serves as an obvious gift.
1 Destroying/Preserving The Exaltation Facility
This last choice feels terrible no matter what you choose. When leaving the Kett’s Exaltation facility, Ryder can either destroy the edifice, eliminating the trapped Angara and the Exaltation equipment inside, or leave it alone for the moment, promising to return and attempt to reclaim the imprisoned Angara. By destroying the facility, Ryder is admitting no hope of reversing Exaltation while securing the area from the Kett. By letting it stand, Ryder holds on to the belief that those hundreds of Angara can be reclaimed while leaving a dangerous facility largely untouched. It’s a sucky choice, and so far has no lasting consequences. But of all the choices Ryder makes in the game, this one looks like it will come back to haunt the galaxy.
NEXT: MBTI Of Mass Effect Andromeda Characters (& Why You Should Romance Them)
