HiI am still in ME1, 7 hours played, done with "Bring Down the Sky" DLC.I am lvl 10 soldier, and I almost maxed out both my Charm and Intimidate.So far I have been rather neutral (3 blocks of Renegade and 3 blocks of Paragon).Do I still have plenty of time and possibilities to decide my main path for the rest of the trilogy?And also, is it worth it playing without being too much Paragon or too much Renegade? For instance 60 para, 40 rene.I heard that I lose many possibilities by staying neutral.But at the same time I don't like the idea, that I always have to behave in one way for the rest of the game, just to min/max the outcome. I played the way I played so far by picking responses that felt right in the moment. I don't mind things going a bit wrong for me later, if you know what I mean. I'd rather pick actions and responses intuitively. My primary concern are romances.What do you think?Edit: I am on Noveria, right after the power reroute puzzle

Sounds like you still have a lot of time to choose which path you want to take, though it's very possible to almost max out both paragon and renegade in one playthrough, especially if you're playing Legendary mode with the increased exp.The problem with choosing only one path is it's not always clear exactly what the paragon and renegade options will end up doing in conversations. One minute your renegade points are earning you a few extra credits, the next they're pushing old ladies into oncoming traffic. My advice if you want a realistic experience is to just pick the option that feels right in the moment and you will probably find yourself with a lot of points in both paragon and renegade by the end of the game. Unless you want to choose a specific path, that is.I usually go neutral, leaning slightly renegade because it makes you feel like a badass instead of an douchebag or a boy scout.

The problem with ME is that it fully incentivises paragon or renegade and not neutral. There are so many times where you need an amount of paragon or renegade points in order to resolve issues. Honestly, if you want to be free of this burden, save edit paragon or renegade to be max before you continue, so you can choose the options you want without being gimped.

@aleq2000 aleq2000 wrote:Yes, I'm really considering it, although a part of me is reluctant to doing it. I feel like I am cheating in a way, That is because you in fact are cheating. 😉 Don't get me wrong, it is your game and a single player game as well, so you can do whatever you like. Imho it is just that inside a Role-playing game decisions should matter. The Morality system is there to make decisions hard, that is the entire idea about it. If you skip this part, you skip a big part of what makes Mass Effect so great.

@Nekasus Yes, I'm really considering it, although a part of me is reluctant to doing it. I feel like I am cheating in a way, but I understand the perks of it. And I am more willing to do it, if it means more freedom and enjoyment. Games are supposed to be fun not a burden.Do you have any tips on editing the save game file without screwing anything up?

@Lexizion Thank you, I will try to keep that in mind. It's a bit of a dilemma for me right now: should I just keep playing naturally as it is, should I stick to a certain path, or should I edit my save file I'll to unlock all the options. And then have the freedom to choose. I am leaning a bit towards the latter.

Paragon VS Renegade VS Neutral | EA Forums

12 Replies

Lexizion
5 years ago
Sounds like you still have a lot of time to choose which path you want to take, though it's very possible to almost max out both paragon and renegade in one playthrough, especially if you're playing Legendary mode with the increased exp.
The problem with choosing only one path is it's not always clear exactly what the paragon and renegade options will end up doing in conversations. One minute your renegade points are earning you a few extra credits, the next they're pushing old ladies into oncoming traffic. My advice if you want a realistic experience is to just pick the option that feels right in the moment and you will probably find yourself with a lot of points in both paragon and renegade by the end of the game. Unless you want to choose a specific path, that is.
I usually go neutral, leaning slightly renegade because it makes you feel like a badass instead of an douchebag or a boy scout.
Nekasus
5 years ago
The problem with ME is that it fully incentivises paragon or renegade and not neutral. There are so many times where you need an amount of paragon or renegade points in order to resolve issues. Honestly, if you want to be free of this burden, save edit paragon or renegade to be max before you continue, so you can choose the options you want without being gimped.
aleq2000
5 years ago
@Nekasus Yes, I'm really considering it, although a part of me is reluctant to doing it. I feel like I am cheating in a way, but I understand the perks of it. And I am more willing to do it, if it means more freedom and enjoyment. Games are supposed to be fun not a burden.

Do you have any tips on editing the save game file without screwing anything up?
aleq2000
5 years ago
@Lexizion Thank you, I will try to keep that in mind. It's a bit of a dilemma for me right now: should I just keep playing naturally as it is, should I stick to a certain path, or should I edit my save file I'll to unlock all the options. And then have the freedom to choose. I am leaning a bit towards the latter.
Lexizion
5 years ago
As long as you are doing all the side missions and picking non-neutral conversation options you can easily get high enough in both to make all the ranks in intimidate and charm available. Then you can put as many points into each as you like (this will be much easier if you're playing with the double exp option enabled).
I would also mention that most paragon and renegade conversation options become available to you with as few as maybe 60% of the ranks unlocked. Only one or two end-game options become unavailable if you don't have them maxed out.
mcsupersport
Hero+
5 years ago
Actually, if you have spent points into Charm/Intimidate, then it really doesn't matter at all what path you choose. I think you lose out on maybe one renegade or paragon specific mission if you don't get max or close to it, but otherwise, it is all flavor. Now ME2 DOES cause issues when you don't go full in on one or the other, but ME1 is all based off your charm/intimidate points. One bonus you get to going full renegade or paragon is you will earn free charm/intimidate points for reaching certain milestones along with the free point from spectre status being earned, allowing you to max your charm/intimidate for free if you run 3 trips through the game, and thus not having to spend a point on it and instead only spend on skill points.

So if you have high charm/intimidate scores, then play the game how you feel and choose options you like. In ME2 unless you use a save editor, then you need to pick a path and go.....me I use save editor and max both in ME2 so I can play as I want, and not be limited due to game mechanics.
Nekasus
5 years ago
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectlegendaryedition/mods/20?tab=files
Use this, only edit the paragon or renegade values to your liking. Sorry I didnt see your response until today.
holger1405
Hero+
5 years ago
@aleq2000

aleq2000 wrote:
Yes, I'm really considering it, although a part of me is reluctant to doing it. I feel like I am cheating in a way,

That is because you in fact are cheating. 😉

Don't get me wrong, it is your game and a single player game as well, so you can do whatever you like.
Imho it is just that inside a Role-playing game decisions should matter. The Morality system is there to make decisions hard, that is the entire idea about it.

If you skip this part, you skip a big part of what makes Mass Effect so great.
Nekasus
5 years ago
@holger1405 It is cheating I agree. But the morality system being tied to in game mechanics makes roleplay hard. If the morality system didn't impact mechanics in the way it does, and acted more as an aesthetic meter rather than a gameplay element, then it'd be fine. Naturally it is up to @aleq2000 to decide what to do.
holger1405
Hero+
5 years ago
@Nekasus

I on the other hand think it is a good thing that it is tide to gameplay.

That is what makes decision hard, that you actually can screw up something, that you actually have to think about what you are doing.

The curiosity about what impact this or that decision have.

Did that lead to outcomes I did not like? Yes it did, exactly as it should be imho.

That is good Roleplaying for me, not getting what you want all the time, no overdriven hand holding, accepting the consequences and making the best out of it.