The Mass Effect: Legendary Edition giving fans the perfect excuse to revisit the beloved franchise and replay Commander Shepard's iconic journey. Even if you are new to the trilogy, Legendary Edition packs every piece of content along with several enhancements and improvements into one neat package, so you can enjoy the best science-fiction story ever told in video games.
For completionists, however, it's all about achieving the coveted platinum achievement/trophy for Mass Effect 1 in a single playthrough. It requires you to know every single missed achievement/trophy in the game, and there are several. This guide will ensure that you don't have to reset your playthrough mid-game.

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Mass Effect 1
have one
missed difficulty achievement
. You have to hit
ME1
on Insanity without changing the difficulty settings. Make sure to change your difficulty level before going to Eden Prime or it won't count.
Don't sweat though. Compared to the following two rounds,
ME1
is quite easy.
Missable Character Missions in ME1
You can recruit up to six loyal companions in Mass Effect 1but only two can join your team for missions. With almost a hundred missions, you have plenty of time to switch party members to unlock all their achievements/trophies in ME1.
While there is a specific mission order where certain allies are appropriate for certain missions in light of the plot, you can take anyone anywhere without worrying about the consequences. Sure, your companions will be displeased. Some can even be killed depending on your choices, but have one high enough Paragon/Renegade level takes care of it.
Achievement/trophy |
How to get |
Tip |
---|---|---|
Asari ally |
Complete 5 missions with the Asari team member. |
Include Liara in your team. She can be recruited from Therum. |
The tavern Ally |
Complete 5 missions with the Krogan team member. |
Include Wrex in your team. He can be recruited from the Citadel. |
Quarian Ally |
Complete 5 missions with the Quarian team member. |
Include Tali in your team. She can be recruited from the Citadel. |
Sentinel Ally |
Complete 5 missions with the Alliance Sentinel squad member. |
Include Kaiden in your team. He joins you from the beginning of the game. |
Soldier Ally |
Complete 5 missions with the Alliance Soldier squad member. |
Include Ashley in your team. She can be recruited from Eden Prime. |
Turian Ally |
Complete 5 missions with the Turian squad member. |
Include Garrus in your team. He can be recruited from the Citadel. |
Missable DLC missions
Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition includes the Bring Down the Sky DLC mission by default. Although not part of the main story, your decisions can affect something the story of ME2 and ME3. Bring Down the Sky is optional, so you might accidentally miss it. Therefore, make sure to complete it before heading to the planet Ilos, which is the point of no return Mass Effect 1. You cannot return afterwards for the DLC mission.
Achievement/trophy |
How to get |
Tip |
---|---|---|
Colonial savior |
Complete the mission Bring Down the Sky. |
Complete before going to Ilos. |
Missable Ability Masteries
Aside from a few abilities, the rest can be completed with Liara and Tali if you play as a soldier class. However, you don't necessarily need to take them on quests for the achievements/trophies because a popular error still works in Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition. The orange Citadel Rapid Transit points on the Citadel (as well as the Mako) are considered a combat target. So spamming targetable abilities on them counts towards their respective achievements/trophies.
Achievement/trophy |
How to get |
Tip |
---|---|---|
AI Hacking Specialist |
Use AI Hacking 25 times. |
|
Barrier mastery |
Use biotic Barrier 25 times. |
|
Damping specialist |
Use Damping Field 25 times. |
|
Electronics specialist |
Use Shield Overload 25 times. |
|
Lift Mastery |
Use biotic Lift 25 times. |
|
Neural Shock Specialist |
Use Neural Shock 25 times. |
|
Sabotage specialist |
Use Sabotage 25 times. |
|
Singularity Mastery |
Use Biotic Singularity 25 times. |
|
Stasis Mastery |
Use biotic Stasis 25 times. |
|
Cast Mastery |
Use biotic Throw 25 times. |
|
Warp Mastery |
Use biotic Warp 25 times. |
|
Specialist in first aid |
Use Medi-Gel 50 times. |

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Other missed achievements/trophies in Mass Effect 1
The archivist is the only missed achievement/trophy you should be worried about i Mass Effect 1. This is because two of its codex entries can only be unlocked during the prologue section. Therefore, if you miss them, you have no choice but to restart the game. These are the Prothean and Geth codex entries. As a rule of thumb, clear all dialogue when talking to someone, especially their “Investigate” dialogue wheel.
Achievement/trophy |
How to get |
Tip |
---|---|---|
Archivist |
Find all primary Alien: Council Races, Extinct Races and Non-Council Races codex entries. |
|
Charismatic |
Use Charm or Intimidate to solve an impossible situation. |
|
Medal for Exploration I-III |
Land on 8 unknown worlds. |
Scan asteroid belts to discover unknown locations. |
Principled |
Collect 75% of the total possible Paragon/Renegade points. |
The Long Service Medal
achievement/trophy requires you to finish all three games with the same character. So after hitting
ME1
import the same character/class into
ME2
and
ME3
.
Can you 100% Mass Effect 1 in a single playthrough?
Unlike the original Mass effect game, you don't need multiple playthroughs to unlock all its achievements and trophies. Thanks to several changes introduced with Legendary Edition, you can 100 percent Mass Effect 1 in a single playthrough.
This is mainly because the Insanity difficulty is available from the start. You don't have to beat the game once to unlock it. Additionally, achievements/trophies that require you to use certain abilities can now be easily unlocked via party members during the same playthrough. You just need to know where to invest their skill points.
The one achievement/trophy that most players tend to miss is the Archivist, which must be partially completed during the prologue, before taking off for Eden Prime. Other than that, you shouldn't have any problem unlocking Platinum for Mass Effect 1 in a single playthrough.