The entire Mass Effect series is full of tough narrative choices and with the release of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, fans are able to relive the trilogy once again. However, one of the toughest choices in the game has nothing to do with the complicated social politics the series is known for and comes before Commander Shepard is even introduced in Mass Effect 1. Choosing which career to give Shepard requires plenty of thinking and pregame planning.
Deciding on a career path in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a really big deal as it dictates how the player is going to approach combat throughout the entire game. The possible careers for Shepard are soldier, engineer, adept, infiltrator, sentinel, and vanguard. Each has its own pros and cons, but they all fall into one of three categories: biotics careers, tech careers, or weapon careers. It's a big decision to make, especially if this is a player's first time with the series, so choosing something might feel like a shot in the dark.
Changing Careers in Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Unfortunately, for anyone who chose a career that they don't really like, there's no way to change mid-game. If a player picked the vanguard class in Mass Effect 1 and decided that it's not for them, they're stuck with it until the credits roll. Luckily, changes were made for Mass Effect: Legendary Edition that allows all careers to use all weapons without any penalty, but a lack of interesting abilities for a player might hinder their experience.
All hope isn't lost for those looking to change their class. When importing a save file from Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2, or 2 to 3, the player is given the option to change their career. To do this, start a new game, select the option "Import ME1 Character" and change the career after selecting the proper character.
Having to play through a 15 to 30 hour game in an undesired career might not seem entirely worth it for some players. Luckily, Mass Effect 1 is quick to drop Commander Shepard into a combat sequence, so players can get a small taste of what their class might be right off the bat. If they don't like it, they can just start a new game with a new career.
The big problem with this, however, is that Shepard isn't given the full range of their class abilities from the get, so it might not be clear whether the player likes a class from the beginning or not. Instead of picking at random and having to replay the intro section of the game, it might be worth the player's time to do some research about which classes work best for their desired play style.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
