A mass effect andromeda crafting guide.
Mar 26, 2017 10:25:42 GMT
kukumburr, Space Cowboy, and 3 more like this
Post by Deloi on Mar 26, 2017 10:25:42 GMT
So, since i see some questions about crafting, every now and then, i figured i would write a guide to help newcomers out.
(Version 1.2 of this crafting guide, would appreciate the thread being stickied if the mods find it helpfull enough).
Let's first explain the basics, the stages of crafting and research points:
In mass effect andromeda theres two stages to the crafting process, researching blueprints and developing the items.
The research stage allows you to spend research points in order to unlock blueprints for items. Every item has 10 stages (starts out with 5, but a "advanced" version with 5 more is unlocked once you reach rank 5) and you need to upgrade the previous ranks in order to get to the higher ranks. The option to research higher ranks mostly have level requirments. It's worth mentioning that the ranks are written in roman numerals*1 and that some of the items gets a different name depending on rank (A Heleus armor at rank III is called a Heleus champion armor, while a Heleus armor at rank V is called a Heleus icon armor). Most of the armors gets a different model (a different look) at higher ranks as well, often starting out looking very barebones but looking like the mass effect equivalent to heavy armor once they are at rank V.
*1(I = 1, II = 2, III = 3, IV = 4, V = 5, VI = 6, etc, up to X = 10).
You have three different kind of research points for three different kinds of technology. The first type is the milky way tech, its technology from our galaxy. The second type is the heleus tech, its technology from races that currently inhabit the heleus cluster like the Agaraans*2 and the Kett. The third type is the remnant tech, its technology left behind by a race that left strange machines all over the heleus cluster*2. You obtain research points mostly (you can also obtain some from quests or through the AVP system but thats not covered here) by using you scanner to scan the environment, certain objects (like a remnant data core) will give you research points of a certain type (in that case remnant).
*2Its worth mentioning that you do not start out with Agaraan items in the heleus tech nor do you start with anything from the remnant tech option (the remnant tech appears as a ? in the begining).
If you check a items details in the research screen you can see its material cost to develop after the research is done.
About researching augment, researching augments works differently then normal research. When you research a augment you instantly gets a copy of said augment (no development necessary) and you also get the ability to find said augment as random loot afterwards. Augments are powerfull augmentations for weapons that can change their behavior completely.
The development stage allows you to craft your items and to augment them using augments. Augments, not to be confused with mods, are something that can ONLY be applied during the development stage and once applied they cannot be changed or removed without deconstructing the entire item. You need at least a rank 2 (II) weapon in order to apply augments since rank 1 (I) dosen't have augment slots (Not the case with armor). When in the development screen it will show you what materials you need in order to craft a item, if the blueprint has augment slots it will also allow you to select augmentations after selecting the blueprint (optional).
It should be mentioned that many augments are separated into "types" and that all weapons and armor sets only allow one augment of a certain type in it (as far as i know). If you allredy have a certain type of augment on a weapon any other augments of that type wont even show up for the other slots (personally i would have prefeared if they did but were greyed out, but oh well).
Many augments also have different functionality depending on what your trying to apply it too (for example, a weapon augment may behave differently on a shotgun then on a pistol). In most cases these differences are included in the augment description.
There we go, thats the basics of crafting. Now let's look at it in some more depth:
Blueprints:
Theres two*3 different kinds of blueprints. One you get through research (For example the N7 armor and the N7 eagle), the other you get automatically at certain level thresholds*4 (for example the pathfinder armor and the avenger). You can in general make higher rank stuff from blueprints you have to research then from stuff that unlocks automatically, since the level threshold for automatic blueprints seems to be higher then the level requirment for researching a blueprint at the same rank.
*3There may be other blueprints you get from quests, stores or as random loot, etc. But i haven't run into any thus far.
*4There may be other requirments then just your level, unknown at this time.
AVP bonuses related to crafting:
First off, id like to mention that certain perks dosen't even appear in the AVP meny until certain tresholds are reached. So if any of the perks im mentioning now dosen't appear for you that just means that you have to continue playing until it does.
In the science section theres a perk that adds one additional augment slot to any item crafted, thats a HUGE bonus and necessary if you want to craft top of the line equipment (the downside being that it requires several other perks and i belive that you also need to reach a high viability value on a particular world). Other then that theres AVP bonus perks that allows you a steady income of different materials and milky way research points (spread out between science and military).
And while not strictly crafting related; id like to add that the commerce section have a perk that halves the negative side effect of fusion mods (fusion mods being realy powerfull armor mods that comes with some severe negative side effects).
Thats it for my first pass on this crafting guide, feedback is appreciated.
Changelog:
1.1 - Fixed some minor errors, still the same content.
1.2 - Added some more basic info about augments.
(Version 1.2 of this crafting guide, would appreciate the thread being stickied if the mods find it helpfull enough).
Let's first explain the basics, the stages of crafting and research points:
In mass effect andromeda theres two stages to the crafting process, researching blueprints and developing the items.
The research stage allows you to spend research points in order to unlock blueprints for items. Every item has 10 stages (starts out with 5, but a "advanced" version with 5 more is unlocked once you reach rank 5) and you need to upgrade the previous ranks in order to get to the higher ranks. The option to research higher ranks mostly have level requirments. It's worth mentioning that the ranks are written in roman numerals*1 and that some of the items gets a different name depending on rank (A Heleus armor at rank III is called a Heleus champion armor, while a Heleus armor at rank V is called a Heleus icon armor). Most of the armors gets a different model (a different look) at higher ranks as well, often starting out looking very barebones but looking like the mass effect equivalent to heavy armor once they are at rank V.
*1(I = 1, II = 2, III = 3, IV = 4, V = 5, VI = 6, etc, up to X = 10).
You have three different kind of research points for three different kinds of technology. The first type is the milky way tech, its technology from our galaxy. The second type is the heleus tech, its technology from races that currently inhabit the heleus cluster like the Agaraans*2 and the Kett. The third type is the remnant tech, its technology left behind by a race that left strange machines all over the heleus cluster*2. You obtain research points mostly (you can also obtain some from quests or through the AVP system but thats not covered here) by using you scanner to scan the environment, certain objects (like a remnant data core) will give you research points of a certain type (in that case remnant).
*2Its worth mentioning that you do not start out with Agaraan items in the heleus tech nor do you start with anything from the remnant tech option (the remnant tech appears as a ? in the begining).
If you check a items details in the research screen you can see its material cost to develop after the research is done.
About researching augment, researching augments works differently then normal research. When you research a augment you instantly gets a copy of said augment (no development necessary) and you also get the ability to find said augment as random loot afterwards. Augments are powerfull augmentations for weapons that can change their behavior completely.
The development stage allows you to craft your items and to augment them using augments. Augments, not to be confused with mods, are something that can ONLY be applied during the development stage and once applied they cannot be changed or removed without deconstructing the entire item. You need at least a rank 2 (II) weapon in order to apply augments since rank 1 (I) dosen't have augment slots (Not the case with armor). When in the development screen it will show you what materials you need in order to craft a item, if the blueprint has augment slots it will also allow you to select augmentations after selecting the blueprint (optional).
It should be mentioned that many augments are separated into "types" and that all weapons and armor sets only allow one augment of a certain type in it (as far as i know). If you allredy have a certain type of augment on a weapon any other augments of that type wont even show up for the other slots (personally i would have prefeared if they did but were greyed out, but oh well).
Many augments also have different functionality depending on what your trying to apply it too (for example, a weapon augment may behave differently on a shotgun then on a pistol). In most cases these differences are included in the augment description.
There we go, thats the basics of crafting. Now let's look at it in some more depth:
Blueprints:
Theres two*3 different kinds of blueprints. One you get through research (For example the N7 armor and the N7 eagle), the other you get automatically at certain level thresholds*4 (for example the pathfinder armor and the avenger). You can in general make higher rank stuff from blueprints you have to research then from stuff that unlocks automatically, since the level threshold for automatic blueprints seems to be higher then the level requirment for researching a blueprint at the same rank.
*3There may be other blueprints you get from quests, stores or as random loot, etc. But i haven't run into any thus far.
*4There may be other requirments then just your level, unknown at this time.
AVP bonuses related to crafting:
First off, id like to mention that certain perks dosen't even appear in the AVP meny until certain tresholds are reached. So if any of the perks im mentioning now dosen't appear for you that just means that you have to continue playing until it does.
In the science section theres a perk that adds one additional augment slot to any item crafted, thats a HUGE bonus and necessary if you want to craft top of the line equipment (the downside being that it requires several other perks and i belive that you also need to reach a high viability value on a particular world). Other then that theres AVP bonus perks that allows you a steady income of different materials and milky way research points (spread out between science and military).
And while not strictly crafting related; id like to add that the commerce section have a perk that halves the negative side effect of fusion mods (fusion mods being realy powerfull armor mods that comes with some severe negative side effects).
Thats it for my first pass on this crafting guide, feedback is appreciated.
Changelog:
1.1 - Fixed some minor errors, still the same content.
1.2 - Added some more basic info about augments.
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