Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Mass Effect: Andromeda on PC: how skills, Profiles, and Favorites work, strong builds with real skill names, combos, the main story order, planets and viability, crafting and research, squadmates, and what the Deluxe Edition extras actually give you.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final patch (1.10, 2017); the Steam Deluxe Edition launched June 11, 2020 and the game is no longer updated. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

You are not locked into a class. Skills from Combat, Tech, and Biotics are all open. Your Profile is chosen separately and can be swapped at any time.
Set up Favorites early. You get four Favorites slots, each holding three powers plus one Profile, so you can hot-swap loadouts in combat. Switching puts powers on cooldown by default.
Combos win fights. Hit an enemy with a primer power, then a detonator power, for big area damage. Most good builds are built around one combo type.
Movement is vertical. Jump jets, dash, and hover make Andromeda far more mobile than earlier Mass Effect games. Keep moving; cover is automatic when you move near it.
Raise viability on every planet. Completing tasks on a planet raises its viability percentage; hitting the right level lets you establish an outpost and earns Andromeda Viability Points (AVP) that unlock cryo pod perks on the Nexus.
Scan everything. Scanning with the scanner gives research data (Milky Way, Heleus, and Remnant) used to unlock blueprints.
Build, do not buy. Crafting weapons and armour through research and development usually beats store gear, and you can add augmentations.
Deluxe items are early-game shortcuts. The Deep Space Explorer and Scavenger armour and the Pathfinder Elite weapons are strong early but get outscaled by crafted gear. Use them, then move on.

What Is in the Deluxe Edition

Item	What it is
Deep Space Explorer Armor	Cosmetic/early armour set
Scavenger Armor	Early armour set
Pathfinder Elite Weapon Set (4)	Four early weapons
Nomad Skin (3)	Paint jobs for the Nomad rover
Pathfinder Casual Outfit (2)	Outfits for the Tempest and Nexus
Pet Pyjak	A pet for the Tempest
Multiplayer Booster Pack	Five 50% XP boosters for multiplayer (one per match)
Multiplayer Deluxe Launch Pack	Starter items for multiplayer

Deluxe items arrive through in-game delivery; check the Tempest's loadout and supply options once you have access. On PC the game runs through EA's app alongside Steam.

Core Systems

Skills

Skills are split into three trees. Each skill has six ranks, with branching choices at the higher ranks.

Tree	Example active skills
Combat	Concussive Shot, Tactical Cloak, Turbocharge, Barricade
Tech	Overload, Incinerate, Cryo Beam, Energy Drain, Invasion, Flamethrower
Biotics	Pull, Throw, Singularity, Shockwave, Lance, Annihilation, Charge, Nova, Backlash

Each tree also has passive skills that boost weapons, shields, power damage, and similar stats.

Profiles

Profiles give bonuses and rank up automatically based on how many skill points you have invested in the matching trees.

Profile	Focus
Soldier	Pure combat and weapon damage
Engineer	Tech powers; keeps a combat drone
Adept	Biotics that disable and destroy
Sentinel	Tech plus biotics with shield protection
Vanguard	Close-range biotic aggression that refills shields
Infiltrator	Tech plus combat; precision and tracking
Explorer	Jack-of-all-trades; fast power switching

Profile ranks require cumulative skill points of 6, 24, 54, 99, 156, and 234 for ranks 1 to 6.

Combos

A primer sets up a combo; a detonator triggers it. Hit a primed enemy with a detonator for a combo explosion.

Combo type	How to trigger
Fire	Prime with a fire power (for example, Incinerate or Flamethrower), detonate
Cryo	Prime with Cryo Beam, detonate
Electric/tech	Prime with Overload or similar tech powers, detonate
Biotic	Prime with Pull, Singularity, or similar biotics, detonate with Throw, Charge, Shockwave, or Lance

Tooltips in the skill tree show whether a power primes, detonates, or both.

Squadmates

Six squadmates join over the story:

Squadmate	Role
Liam Kosta	Human; close-range and support
Cora Harper	Human biotic commando
Peebee	Asari biotic and Remnant enthusiast
Vetra Nyx	Turian soldier and smuggler
Nakmor Drack	Krogan veteran; tough brawler
Jaal Ama Darav	Angaran resistance fighter

Loyalty missions open as you talk to your crew on the Tempest and progress the story. Do them before the finale; loyal squadmates matter in the last missions and add a lot of character.

Main Story Order

According to the Fextralife mission list, priority ops run:

Prologue: Hyperion
Planetside
Nexus Reunion
A Better Beginning
A Trail of Hope
Hunting the Archon
The Journey to Meridian
Meridian - The Way Home

Before the final priority op: finish loyalty missions and any planet content you care about. You can continue exploring after the ending, but some character moments are best seen before it.

Planets and Viability

Major worlds you will work through include Habitat 7 (prologue), Eos, Aya, Voeld, Kadara, Havarl, Elaaden, and H-047c. Each has side quests, Remnant vaults or ruins, and viability tasks.

Viability tips:

On Eos and other "golden world" candidates, activating the Remnant vault makes the planet habitable and unlocks outpost placement.
Choose outposts deliberately: some decisions shape each world's population and dialogue later.
Spend AVP on cryo pod perks as soon as you earn them. Research and resource perks pay off fastest.

Nomad rover:

Upgrade the Nomad through its development screen to add shields, mining drones, and traversal improvements.
Use the Nomad's scanner and mining drops to harvest resources for crafting.

Research, Development, and Crafting

Research: spend research data (Milky Way, Heleus, Remnant) to unlock blueprints for weapons, armour, and augmentations.
Development: spend minerals and materials to build items from blueprints. You can add augmentations while crafting for unique effects.
Priority: research one good weapon line and one armour set early, then keep upgrading their tiers rather than spreading thin.
Weapon families behave differently: Milky Way guns use thermal clips, while Remnant weapons overheat instead. Try a few before committing your research.

Strong Builds

These builds come from the Fextralife builds list; skill names are exact.

Build	Profile	Key skills	Weapons
Sniper	Soldier	Tactical Cloak, Barricade, Turbocharge	Black Widow sniper, assault rifle, pistol
Close Combat	Vanguard	Incinerate, Charge, Nova	Shotgun, plus a pistol or assault rifle
Biotic	Adept	Pull, Throw, Singularity	Rifle
Sentinel	Sentinel	Energy Drain (with the rank 5 Extended Drain choice), Backlash, Lance	Pistol of choice
Universal	Explorer	Energy Drain, Charge, Incinerate	Flexible; Fextralife notes it needs a large skill-point investment (252+) to come online

How to play them:

Vanguard Charge: prime a target with Incinerate, then Charge in to detonate the fire combo, close the distance, and restore shields; Nova clears whoever is left around you. Great on Insanity if you manage shields.
Adept combos: Singularity or Pull to prime, Throw to detonate. Chain biotic explosions across groups.
Sentinel: Energy Drain for shields, Backlash to block and reflect, Lance to detonate at range.
Explorer: access to all three trees; Charge into a primed group for mixed combos.
Soldier Sniper: Fextralife's tip is to drop Barricade and pop Turbocharge first, then Tactical Cloak, so your opening shot gets every bonus at once.

Multiplayer (Co-op)

Multiplayer is a separate horde-style co-op mode: a team survives escalating waves of enemies while completing objectives, and everyone earns XP and credits at the end of a match. It does not affect the single-player story, and it offers more species to play than the human-only campaign. Before a match you pick a character, allocate its skill points, and set weapons.

Deluxe extras: the Multiplayer Booster Pack (five 50% XP boosters, one per match) and Multiplayer Deluxe Launch Pack are granted instantly; use the boosters on your longest, highest-difficulty matches.
Server status: see the FAQ below. Public lobbies were still reported working in September 2026, but friend invites were unreliable.
Play it for fun, not completion: with no patches since 2017 and no official support, do not invest money expecting fixes.

Difficulty

Difficulty ranges from Narrative to Insanity. If you pick Insanity, build around shield sustain (Energy Drain, Charge) and combos, and play slower with jump jets for repositioning.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Spreading skill points across everything. Pick one combo engine and max it first.
Ignoring Favorites. A second loadout for boss fights or long-range fights makes the game much easier.
Hoarding AVP. Cryo pod perks help immediately.
Skipping loyalty missions before the finale.
Selling research-worthy items. Scan everything for data before looting and selling.
Driving the Nomad without upgrades on harsh worlds; hazards drain life support quickly.

Advanced Tips

Animation-cancel with dash. Dashing after a power can shorten downtime.
Hover-shots: jump and hover to shoot over cover and get headshots.
Mix combo types in your squad: a squadmate with a primer power (like Cora or Peebee's biotics) can set up your detonator.
Augment crafted gear for fire rate, power damage, or cooldown bonuses that fit your build.
Profile swap mid-fight: a defensive Profile when shields break, an offensive one for burst.
Use the Tempest's research station often as your data builds up; blueprints scale quickly.

FAQ

Is Mass Effect: Andromeda still getting updates? No. Patch 1.10 in 2017 was the last update. The Deluxe Edition on Steam (June 2020) is the same game plus bonus items.

Can I respec? Yes. A respec option is available aboard the Tempest once you have access to the ship. It costs credits, so plan a build rather than respeccing constantly.

Does the Steam version have achievements? Yes. BioWare added Steam achievements to the Deluxe Edition on August 27, 2020.

Which Profile is best? Vanguard and Sentinel are popular for high difficulty because of shield sustain; Explorer is the most flexible.

Do I need to play the trilogy first? No. It is a standalone story set in a new galaxy.

How long is it? The main story is long; completing planets and loyalty missions easily doubles it.

Does multiplayer still work? As of September 2026 we found no EA or BioWare announcement shutting down Andromeda's multiplayer, and Steam forum threads from August-September 2026 show players still getting into public lobbies. The same threads report friend invites disconnecting after a few seconds and other lobby errors with no official fix, so treat multiplayer as working but unsupported. Check EA's server status (help.ea.com) before buying for multiplayer.