50 Fun Facts About Mass Effect: Andromeda

Which veteran actor voices Alec Ryder, the twins' father and humanity's Pathfinder, in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Clancy Brown, also the voice of Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants, plays the twins' father. Alec's face is generated automatically from whatever look the player gives his children.

Which Game of Thrones actress voices the asari doctor aboard Ryder's ship in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Natalie Dormer, the show's Margaery Tyrell, plays the ship's physician, a 275-year-old asari with a dry sense of humour who watches over the crew's physical and mental health.

Which Silicon Valley star voices Jarun Tann, the director of the Andromeda Initiative, in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Kumail Nanjiani plays the bureaucrat, a revenue official who became director only because the seven leaders ranked above him all died in a single disaster.

Which feature of Mass Effect: Andromeda was mocked in viral clips and memes during its ten-hour early-access trial?

Facial animations drew ridicule within days, and a patch the next month improved lip-syncing. BioWare also condemned the abuse aimed at a former EA employee wrongly named as a lead developer.

What is the name of the scout ship that Ryder commands as Pathfinder in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The Tempest is flown by a pilot who has served aboard since its early prototype days. Ryder chooses each destination from a galaxy map on its bridge.

Which six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle does Ryder drive across open-world planets in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The Nomad was inspired by the Mako of the first game but carries no mounted weapons, because the Initiative was planned as a peaceful exploration project.

Which Mass Effect: Andromeda character did a post-launch patch open up as a romance for a male Ryder?

Jaal Ama Darav could at first be romanced only by a female Ryder. BioWare changed that in June 2017 after fan feedback, noting that the angara are fluid in how they perceive gender.

Which hero of the original trilogy did BioWare decide early on to leave out of Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Commander Shepard was ruled out at the very start, which freed the team to rework long-standing systems. A prequel was also considered, then dropped after feedback from fans and focus groups.

BioWare kept the new alien species of Mass Effect: Andromeda humanoid partly so that fans could do what?

Cosplay as them, the designers hoped: jellyfish-like body plans gave way to humanoid ones. Budget limits then cut the five to ten proposed native species down to three.

The Remnant glyph puzzles that unlock vaults in Mass Effect: Andromeda play like which popular logic puzzle?

Sudoku is the closest match, played with alien symbols instead of numbers. Remnant Decryption Keys let a stuck player bypass most of the puzzles and enter the solution automatically.

Which space station serves as the Andromeda Initiative's seat of government in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The Nexus was built as a hub where colonists could live until their new worlds were ready. Ryder arrives to find it unfinished, short of supplies and shaken by civil unrest.

What is the name of the artificial intelligence linked to the Pathfinder's implant in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

SAM, short for Simulated Adaptive Matrix, was designed by Alec Ryder himself. It sees and feels what the Pathfinder does, and the whole team can talk to it through their implants.

Which ark carries the human colonists, the Ryder twins among them, to the Heleus Cluster in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Hyperion carries 20,000 humans in cryo sleep. After a crash-landing at the end of the story, the ark stays where it fell and becomes the heart of humanity's new home.

What title does the kett leader who abducts Ryder's twin hold in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The Archon commands the kett in Heleus and is obsessed with Remnant technology. A post-credits scene shows his second-in-command, the Primus, watching from afar.

Which krogan squadmate, over 1,400 years old, is the grandfather of the superintendent Kesh in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Nakmor Drack has been a soldier, a mercenary and at times a pirate, and his many injuries have left him with extensive prosthetics and synthetic organs.

On the toxic planet Habitat 7, what does Alec Ryder give up to save his child in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

His helmet goes to Ryder, whose own was cracked by a blast, and Alec dies in the poisonous air. Ryder wakes later to learn that the role of Pathfinder has passed to them.

What happens to Ryder's twin when the human ark strikes a dark energy cloud at the start of Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Left in a coma, the unchosen twin sleeps through much of the story before playing a key part in the finale. New Game Plus lets the player swap and play as the other sibling.

What is the default first name of the female Ryder twin in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Sara is voiced by Fryda Wolff and her brother Scott by Tom Taylorson. Players who keep the default first name will sometimes hear other characters say it aloud instead of just Ryder.

Which piece of gear does Ryder use to get around battlefields quickly in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

A jetpack lets Ryder dash sideways and leap into the air mid-fight. The old option to pause and aim powers from a menu was dropped too, so every fight runs in real time.

Which squadmate, a biotic who served with asari commandos, can only a male Ryder romance in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Cora Harper spent four years with an asari commando unit before signing on as second-in-command of the Pathfinder team. She gently turns down a female Ryder's flirting.

On which radiation-scarred desert world does Ryder found the first successful outpost in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Eos had already defeated two earlier colony sites, undone by radiation storms and kett attacks, before Ryder founded the outpost of Prodromos there.

Which revered angaran scientist, an expert on the Remnant, does Ryder free from the kett in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Moshae Sjefa is the angara's foremost expert on Remnant technology. Her rescue also shows Ryder the grim truth about where kett soldiers come from.

Which planet's lawless port, a haven for Initiative exiles, do the Outcasts control in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Kadara was first settled by the angara, and sulphide minerals make its water toxic. A rival gang, the Collective, schemes to take the port for itself.

What do the kett call the process that turns captured angara into new kett in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Exaltation overwrites a victim's genes until nothing of the original remains. It is the only way the kett can replenish their numbers, and it works on animals as well as people.

What is the dark energy cloud that cripples ships and ruins planets across Heleus called in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The Scourge was unleashed centuries ago when a weapon was detonated on a Remnant station. It wrecks most technology it touches, yet element zero can be harvested from it at great expense.

Which game engine was Mass Effect: Andromeda built on, forcing BioWare to remake its tools from scratch?

Frostbite, made by EA DICE, was not designed with role-playing games in mind, so BioWare had to rebuild what the trilogy's Unreal Engine had supplied. Dragon Age: Inquisition had made the same hard switch first.

Which city's BioWare studio led development of Mass Effect: Andromeda instead of the Edmonton team behind the trilogy?

Montreal housed a new BioWare team, and many of its developers had joined specifically to work on a Mass Effect game. The Austin studio lent a hand as well.

Where aboard Ryder's ship does Peebee suggest no-strings zero-gravity flings in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The escape pod beside the bridge doubles as Peebee's quarters. The flings can carry on even while Ryder is courting someone else, until another romance is locked in.

Which smuggler, a romance option for either Ryder, is unmasked as the Charlatan in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Reyes Vidal hides his role as leader of the Collective gang until he confronts the rival boss of the exiles' port, a twist that blindsides even Ryder.

Which morale-boosting event does Liam Kosta ask Ryder to organise for the crew in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

A movie night sounds simple, but the crew keep adding demands first: snacks, better snacks, drinks, a sound system and finally a different film.

Which science officer, a scientist of deep religious faith, can only a female Ryder romance in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Suvi Anwar holds advanced degrees in astrophysics and molecular biology. She keeps things professional with a male Ryder, and a later romance scene has her brewing Earth tea in the Pathfinder's quarters.

Which news reporter can Ryder have a fling with after a string of interviews in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Keri T'Vessa is an asari journalist making a documentary about events in Heleus. She does not mind if the Pathfinder is already committed to someone else.

Which crew member can Ryder flirt with but never romance, whichever twin is played, in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Lexi T'Perro, the ship's doctor, explains that humans just are not her type. She is also the crewmate most likely to remark on the Pathfinder's other flirtations.

Which dish does Vetra Nyx ruin when she cooks a surprise dinner for a romanced Ryder in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Steak is the casualty, because the turian turns out to be a terrible cook. Flustered, she admits she only wanted to do something special, then tells Ryder she loves them.

Gil Brodie wants to name a baby after which Remnant megastructure, humanity's new home, in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Meridian inspires both of his picks: Meri for a girl and Dian for a boy. The baby is his best friend Jill's, and a romanced Ryder can agree to help raise it.

Which sport does Liam Kosta arrange between Initiative colonists and the angara in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Soccer games were how his old organisation, HUSTL, brought refugee camps together. A female Ryder can use the match to commit to him or to keep things casual.

Which morality system of the original trilogy did Mass Effect: Andromeda drop for more nuanced choices?

Paragon and Renegade points were felt to belong to the trilogy's hero and to make little sense without that character. Ryder's replies shape a personality instead.

In Mass Effect: Andromeda, putting every skill point into biotic powers unlocks which profile for Ryder?

Adept is one of the profiles that replace the fixed classes of the trilogy. Ryder can switch between saved loadouts of skills and profiles in the middle of a fight.

What kind of machinery lies inside each Remnant vault that Ryder activates in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

A terraforming system inside each vault rapidly repairs a world's ecosystem. Every vault Ryder restarts raises that planet's viability and clears the way for an outpost.

Which vanished race is revealed to have created both the Remnant and the angara in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

The Jardaan seeded the angara across Heleus and built the Remnant to safeguard their technology. After a weapon unleashed the dark energy cloud, they abandoned the cluster.

Which species' missing ark does Ryder find tethered to the kett flagship in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Salarian colonists were being used in kett experiments when Ryder boarded the flagship. Freeing their ark also handed Ryder the location of the prize the kett leader was hunting.

Which exiled former security chief of the Initiative leads the Outcasts gang in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Sloane Kelly sided with the mutineers during an uprising and chose exile over a return to cryo sleep. Her followers then drove the kett out of the port they now rule.

Which billionaire founder of the Andromeda Initiative does Ryder learn was secretly murdered in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Jien Garson ran short of money and accepted funds from a silent partner. Her death was written off as a disaster casualty until Ryder's scans showed someone else had been in the room.

Which new game kept BioWare's Edmonton studio too busy to lead work on Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Anthem was a brand-new property, which is why the trilogy's home studio handed its space saga to a newer team in another city.

Which EA racing series' developers did BioWare invite to help tune the driving in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Need for Speed developers came on site to offer advice, one of several times BioWare enlisted help from other EA teams who worked with the same engine.

Which technique did BioWare plan to use to fill Mass Effect: Andromeda with hundreds of planets, then scrap?

Procedural generation was still the plan as late as 2014, then was scrapped for lack of resources, leaving the team behind schedule. Most of the game was then built in about 18 months.

Which composer, known for The Maze Runner films and Daredevil, wrote the score of Mass Effect: Andromeda?

John Paesano set out to blend organic and synthetic sounds to capture both the triumph of exploration and the fear of the unknown. Nightclub scenes were scored by DJs from Edmonton.

Which former lead writer of the series became director of Mass Effect: Andromeda after its first director left?

Mac Walters replaced Gérard Lehiany, who had come from Beenox's Spider-Man games. The lead writer, the senior editor and other leaders also left BioWare during production.

Which rival role-playing game did BioWare study to keep side quests in Mass Effect: Andromeda from feeling tedious?

The Witcher 3 set the standard BioWare wanted to reach, after filler side quests had been a common complaint about its own Dragon Age: Inquisition.

What did the Andromeda Initiative call the promising planets it picked for settlement in Mass Effect: Andromeda?

Golden worlds were identified from long-range scans made before launch. By the time the arks arrived centuries later, the dark energy cloud had left them inhospitable.