When Mass Effect Legendary Edition was announced, the excitement was palpable. Fans of this franchise are rightfully enthusiastic about Shepard's journey and the fight against the reapers. And when it was announced that there would be gameplay updates, fixes, and modernization for the first installation, it stood to reason that most gamers would be pretty excited about that.
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But there was a gloomy assumption that the maximum paragon and renegade exploit would be fixed. Here's some surprisingly good news to those who love a good glitch in the player's favor; this loophole made it into the Legendary Edition! So for those picking up the game for the first time, here's how to set up and execute this glitch.
- Fly To Noveria
- Talk To Gianna
- Talk To Lorik Qui'in
- Clear Our The Mercenaries
- Talk To Gianna
- Talk To Lorik Qui'in
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Here's the best part about this exploit; it can be accomplished before doing any of the major conversations that require paragon or renegade dialogues to succeed. Yes, it involves leaving the Citadel, but Shepard can always go right back and accomplish everything there. Unlike some missions, players are not grounded on Noveria once landing there.
It's recommended to get the maximum paragon and renegade options and then go back to the Citadel.
While on Noveria, meet Gianna Parasini in Administrator Anoleis' Office. Talk to her, speak to the administrator, then go to leave and finish another conversation with her.
Meet with Lorik Qui'in in the bar on the top floor. He'll give Shepard a bargain to get garage access. Accept that mission, then head to the bottom floor and get ready to take out some mercenaries in the Synthetics Insights Office.
Though this might feel a little dark, it doesn't yield any renegade points and even the Council has no issue with a bunch of bribed mercenaries meeting an early fate, so there is no penalty to the story for doing this either.
Upon leaving and returning upstairs to Lorik Qui'in, Shepard will be interrupted by Gianna, who says to talk to her in the bar before talking to Lorik Qui'in. It's mandatory to talk to Gianna first as her offer sets up the entire dialogue conversations that Shepard needs to utilize for both the paragon and renegade options. Agree to help her, then talk to Lorik.
Select the following dialogue options:
- "Testify against Anoleis."
- "You'd be a hero," or "Damn right I will."
- Wait for Lorik to finish talking, then talk to him again.
- "Matriarch Benezia"
- Repeat the previous steps.
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Gianna's mission tasks Shepard with convincing Lorik to testify. Talk to Lorik again and he'll balk at the very idea. Thankfully, Shepard has both a paragon and a renegade way of changing his mind. Choose either one and this will lead to some dialogue that finishes the conversation. Each one gives twenty-four points to the selected meter.
Now speak to him again and ask him about "Matriarch Benezia." This resets his conversation to before he's been convinced, meaning Shepard can once again convince him to testify with a paragon or renegade option. Do this until both meters are maxed out (the paragon and renegade meters are in the Squad menu).
Congratulations, these bonuses not only work in this first game, but some of the bonuses will carry over into Mass Effect 2. Now all conversation options are on the table!
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