It's "only" an in-game moment, but awe inspiring everytime.
It's more interesting if you read the codex. Ships this large are classified as dreadnaughts and they are physically incapable of landing on planets.
Ships work off of mass effect cores that use element zero (eezo) to lower the mass of an object, which allows regular engines using regular fuel to move it out of the atmosphere. But if you have too much mass, you need more eezo and a bigger mass effect core. But bigger mass effect cores require more electricity and output more heat and static charge (which, if not dissipated through radiating and grounding, will rebound and flash cook everything alive and fuse all the metal together).So the bigger mass effect cores can only run for short amounts of time before they need to cooldown. It's not that big of a problem in deep space at absolute zero, but just being in a star system is enough to noticeably lower the possible operating time.
Everybody has to build dreadnaughts in space and they can never land on planets (this leads to cool starship designs where all the decks are "sideways" with the upper deck being at the nose of the ship and the lower decks at the engines).
Sovereign is at least two (most likely more) times larger than the biggest dreadnaught of all of the known species. And, since it can land onto Eden Prime without blowing the **** up, that means it has the biggest mass effect core in the galaxy (at the time of ME1).
Last edited by logincrash on January 22nd, 2026, 16:07, edited 2 times in total.
It's "only" an in-game moment, but awe inspiring everytime.
It's more interesting if you read the codex. Ships this large are classified as dreadnaughts and they are physically incapable of landing on planets.
Ships work off of mass effect cores that use element zero (eezo) to lower the mass of an object, which allows regular engines using regular fuel to move it out of the atmosphere. But if you have too much mass, you need more eezo and a bigger mass effect core. But bigger mass effect cores require more electricity and output more heat and static charge (which, if not dissipated through radiating and grounding, will rebound and flash cook everything alive and fuse all the metal together).So the bigger mass effect cores can only run for short amounts of time before they need to cooldown. It's not that big of a problem in deep space at absolute zero, but just being in a star system is enough to noticeably lower the possible operating time.
Everybody has to build dreadnaughts in space and they can never land on planets (this leads to a cool starship designs where all the decks are "sideways" with the upper deck being at the nose of the ship and the lower at the engines).
Sovereign is at least two (most likely more) times larger than the biggest dreadnaught of all of the known species. And, since it can land onto Eden Prime without blowing the **** up, that means it has the biggest mass effect core in the galaxy (at the time of ME1).
Exactly that. It's just a cool scene by itself, but the implications of it if you pay attention are actually the real "cool part".
It's "only" an in-game moment, but awe inspiring everytime.
It's more interesting if you read the codex. Ships this large are classified as dreadnaughts and they are physically incapable of landing on planets.
Ships work off of mass effect cores that use element zero (eezo) to lower the mass of an object, which allows regular engines using regular fuel to move it out of the atmosphere. But if you have too much mass, you need more eezo and a bigger mass effect core. But bigger mass effect cores require more electricity and output more heat and static charge (which, if not dissipated through radiating and grounding, will rebound and flash cook everything alive and fuse all the metal together).So the bigger mass effect cores can only run for short amounts of time before they need to cooldown. It's not that big of a problem in deep space at absolute zero, but just being in a star system is enough to noticeably lower the possible operating time.
Everybody has to build dreadnaughts in space and they can never land on planets (this leads to cool starship designs where all the decks are "sideways" with the upper deck being at the nose of the ship and the lower decks at the engines).
Sovereign is at least two (most likely more) times larger than the biggest dreadnaught of all of the known species. And, since it can land onto Eden Prime without blowing the **** up, that means it has the biggest mass effect core in the galaxy (at the time of ME1).
Yup. Also the reason the ship in ME2 sends you down in a shuttle each time, since it's bigger.
It's "only" an in-game moment, but awe inspiring everytime.
It's more interesting if you read the codex. Ships this large are classified as dreadnaughts and they are physically incapable of landing on planets.
Ships work off of mass effect cores that use element zero (eezo) to lower the mass of an object, which allows regular engines using regular fuel to move it out of the atmosphere. But if you have too much mass, you need more eezo and a bigger mass effect core. But bigger mass effect cores require more electricity and output more heat and static charge (which, if not dissipated through radiating and grounding, will rebound and flash cook everything alive and fuse all the metal together).So the bigger mass effect cores can only run for short amounts of time before they need to cooldown. It's not that big of a problem in deep space at absolute zero, but just being in a star system is enough to noticeably lower the possible operating time.
Everybody has to build dreadnaughts in space and they can never land on planets (this leads to cool starship designs where all the decks are "sideways" with the upper deck being at the nose of the ship and the lower decks at the engines).
Sovereign is at least two (most likely more) times larger than the biggest dreadnaught of all of the known species. And, since it can land onto Eden Prime without blowing the **** up, that means it has the biggest mass effect core in the galaxy (at the time of ME1).
Yup. Also the reason the ship in ME2 sends you down in a shuttle each time, since it's bigger.
I never gave them enough credit for that being the actual reason, but if so, that's good. Didn't care about that in ME3 thought, if that's true.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Any combo is good tbh.
I guess I agree. But some of them are more fitting than others. Colonist War Hero or Spacer Sole Survivor don't really jell as well as the others.
OK, so what I've gathered is that I need to run MELE through Steam to get the ModManager to work properly(Edit: On Nobara Linux), because otherwise it says, I kid you not "You do not have Origin installed" because instead of running LE1 through EA's insipid launcher it goes directly to Mass Effect 1's executable, which 'needs origin'. I hope the Saudi's behead whoever at EA is behind anti-gamer and anti-modding **** like this.
Last edited by TheEmptyRoad on January 23rd, 2026, 00:02, edited 1 time in total.
Skyrim Belongs to the Nords.
Geek the Mage first.
There is no virtue in extending mercy to those who want you dead.
Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!
It's more interesting if you read the codex. Ships this large are classified as dreadnaughts and they are physically incapable of landing on planets.
Ships work off of mass effect cores that use element zero (eezo) to lower the mass of an object, which allows regular engines using regular fuel to move it out of the atmosphere. But if you have too much mass, you need more eezo and a bigger mass effect core. But bigger mass effect cores require more electricity and output more heat and static charge (which, if not dissipated through radiating and grounding, will rebound and flash cook everything alive and fuse all the metal together).So the bigger mass effect cores can only run for short amounts of time before they need to cooldown. It's not that big of a problem in deep space at absolute zero, but just being in a star system is enough to noticeably lower the possible operating time.
Everybody has to build dreadnaughts in space and they can never land on planets (this leads to cool starship designs where all the decks are "sideways" with the upper deck being at the nose of the ship and the lower decks at the engines).
Sovereign is at least two (most likely more) times larger than the biggest dreadnaught of all of the known species. And, since it can land onto Eden Prime without blowing the **** up, that means it has the biggest mass effect core in the galaxy (at the time of ME1).
Yup. Also the reason the ship in ME2 sends you down in a shuttle each time, since it's bigger.
I never gave them enough credit for that being the actual reason, but if so, that's good. Didn't care about that in ME3 thought, if that's true.
The Alliance has reworked some parts of the SR-2 in ME3. They moved the armory and gutted the sleek conference room to make it into a proper war room. Maybe the put in a bigger mass effect core?
I'm gonna know for sure when I replay ME2 and ME3 during my "read everything" playthrough.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
I can't really decide which combination is best, with Earthborn/Colonist + War Hero/Ruthless being my favourites.
Even though not bad in itself, I like Spacer the least by far. Same with Lone Survivor.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
I used to go for Colonist Sole Survivor when I was younger, kind of similar to your Earthborn Sole Survivor description, except instead as a "man who lost it all but lived on, twice", which worked especially well with Everyone's Dead playthroughs.
Nowadays Spacer War Hero takes the cake. Kicking *** is just family tradition. And this playthrough I got to see the Spacer questline on the Citadel which I never did before, that was cool. Very obscure spot to find it though, was completely by accident that I found the guy.
I can't really decide which combination is best, with Earthborn/Colonist + War Hero/Ruthless being my favourites.
Even though not bad in itself, I like Spacer the least by far. Same with Lone Survivor.
My least favourite are Colonist and Lone Survivor. I think they go too much into the "melting faces human misery torture porn" territory.
I like Spacer because it's one of the rare instances of a WRPG protagonist having good parents who aren't divorced or dead. Earthborn is cool because he's a proper homegrown human.
War Hero is cool because of the whole "overwhelming odds Spartan" thing. Ruthless has the cool Judge Dredd tone to it.
I used to go for Colonist Sole Survivor when I was younger, kind of similar to your Earthborn Sole Survivor description, except instead as a "man who lost it all but lived on, twice", which worked especially well with Everyone's Dead playthroughs.
Nowadays Spacer War Hero takes the cake. Kicking *** is just family tradition. And this playthrough I got to see the Spacer questline on the Citadel which I never did before, that was cool. Very obscure spot to find it though, was completely by accident that I found the guy.
Yeah, they hid the guy in the corridor between the two elevators - the place where nobody goes after they unlocked fast travel taxi cabs. Even though that corridor has objectives from two other quests in it.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Earthborn War Hero, of course!
By the time he's getting into the Spectres he's already meant to be very accomplished.
Unless doing an "Evil" playthrough in which case pick the more "punished" ones like Colonist / Sole Survivor.
Last edited by Magick on January 23rd, 2026, 15:10, edited 1 time in total.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Earthborn War Hero, of course!
By the time he's getting into the Spectres he's already meant to be very accomplished.
Unless doing an "Evil" playthrough in which case pick the more "punished" ones like Colonist / Sole Survivor.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Earthborn War Hero, of course!
By the time he's getting into the Spectres he's already meant to be very accomplished.
Unless doing an "Evil" playthrough in which case pick the more "punished" ones like Colonist / Sole Survivor.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
At least one is also a woman. Immediatly devalueing N7
Last edited by Reichspepe on January 23rd, 2026, 15:26, edited 1 time in total.
Which Origin + Psych Profile combo do you think is the most kino choice?
I used to think that the default John Shepard Earthborn Sole Survivor Soldier was kinda lame, but thinking on it, this is a classic example of the indomitable human spirit: an orphan boy who has to fend for himself survives the most horrific conditions without breaking to save the galaxy later.
Then Colonist Ruthless - a tale of a helpless victim exacting righteous justice onto the perpetrators. Colonist Shepard loses his home to slavers and later makes sure none of those ever leave Torfan.
And the Spacer War Hero is about a noble lineage of warriors and how Shepard was born into greatness. Also a cool perspective.
Earthborn War Hero, of course!
By the time he's getting into the Spectres he's already meant to be very accomplished.
Unless doing an "Evil" playthrough in which case pick the more "punished" ones like Colonist / Sole Survivor.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
Saren is i think, yeah. But Anderson, the ship and Shepherd are essentially human's "trial" at the highest tier of that group.
Earthborn War Hero, of course!
By the time he's getting into the Spectres he's already meant to be very accomplished.
Unless doing an "Evil" playthrough in which case pick the more "punished" ones like Colonist / Sole Survivor.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
Saren is i think, yeah. But Anderson, the ship and Shepherd are essentially human's "trial" at the highest tier of that group.
Saren isn't N7. He isn't even a human.
From the wiki: Known N7 Graduates:
Commander Shepard - Favorite N7 on the citadel.
David Anderson - One of the first graduates of the N7 training program.
Kai Leng - Dishonorably discharged Alliance soldier and current Cerberus operative.
James Vega - Offered entry into the program just before the start of the Reaper invasion. He may decide to accept the offer depending on the actions of Commander Shepard.
Andromeda:
Alec Ryder - Former N7 and Pathfinder of the Andromeda Initiative.
Lee Riley - An N7 engineer who leads a team to reactivate and defend fuel reactors on Cyone.
Susan Rizzi - An N7 Fury discussing item procurement with a peer at the Silversun Strip.
Alec is plausible, but the last 2 are fan fiction territory as far as I'm concerned.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
Saren is i think, yeah. But Anderson, the ship and Shepherd are essentially human's "trial" at the highest tier of that group.
Saren isn't N7. He isn't even a human.
From the wiki: Known N7 Graduates:
Commander Shepard - Favorite N7 on the citadel.
David Anderson - One of the first graduates of the N7 training program.
Kai Leng - Dishonorably discharged Alliance soldier and current Cerberus operative.
James Vega - Offered entry into the program just before the start of the Reaper invasion. He may decide to accept the offer depending on the actions of Commander Shepard.
Andromeda:
Alec Ryder - Former N7 and Pathfinder of the Andromeda Initiative.
Lee Riley - An N7 engineer who leads a team to reactivate and defend fuel reactors on Cyone.
Susan Rizzi - An N7 Fury discussing item procurement with a peer at the Silversun Strip.
Alec is plausible, but the last 2 are fan fiction territory as far as I'm concerned.
Aha that's me misremembering. Saren was just a high ranking Spectre.
Earthborn War Hero, of course!
By the time he's getting into the Spectres he's already meant to be very accomplished.
Unless doing an "Evil" playthrough in which case pick the more "punished" ones like Colonist / Sole Survivor.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
Saren is i think, yeah. But Anderson, the ship and Shepherd are essentially human's "trial" at the highest tier of that group.
I genuinely cannot make sense of your post.
Are you saying that Saren is an N7? He isn't, because N7 is a human program for Alliance soldiers. They might've started accepting aliens much later but that might be me misremembering and confusing ME3 with a fanfic I read. But Saren would never have accepted an N7 designation because he hates humans.
Or are you saying that Saren is accomplished while Anderson and Shepard aren't? That's not the case either, since both Anderson and Shepard were both good enough to be actually considered for Specters by the Council despite being humans prior to Eden Prime. Saren is a Turian and Turians are routinely invited into the Spectre training program. Even Garrus could've been a Spectre.
As for the ship, Normandy is a prototype co-developed by humanity with the Turians as a show of good faith. It has several cutting edge technologies and it cost as much as a heavy cruiser or ten thousand fighters. It better be top tier for that much money.
Didn't see J1M's post.
Last edited by logincrash on January 23rd, 2026, 16:44, edited 1 time in total.
Shepard's an N7. N is the Spec Ops designation and 7 is the highest rank. He's already way above your average soldier, more like one of the Delta guys who knocked over Venezuela in an hour. And that's independent of any of the major events like Elysium or Torfan.
I think Anderson's the only other N7 in ME1. I don't remember there being any other N7s in ME2. Vega wants to go into the program in ME3. I haven't played the multiplayer but I think the human PCs in that are N7s.
Saren is i think, yeah. But Anderson, the ship and Shepherd are essentially human's "trial" at the highest tier of that group.
I genuinely cannot make sense of your post.
Are you saying that Saren is an N7? He isn't, because N7 is a human program for Alliance soldiers. They might've started accepting aliens much later but that might be me misremembering and confusing ME3 with a fanfic I read. But Saren would never have accepted an N7 designation because he hates humans.
Or are you saying that Saren is accomplished while Anderson and Shepard aren't? That's not the case either, since both Anderson and Shepard were both good enough to be actually considered for Specters by the Council despite being humans prior to Eden Prime. Saren is a Turian and Turians are routinely invited into the Spectre training program. Even Garrus could've been a Spectre.
As for the ship, Normandy is a prototype co-developed by humanity with the Turians as a show of good faith. It has several cutting edge technologies and it cost as much as a heavy cruiser or ten thousand fighters. It better be top tier for that much money.
Didn't see J1M's post.
I agree with you, I misremembered about N7 being human-specific.
The comment about the ship and humanity was that I think at the time of ME1 humanity's acceptance into the highest tier groups (Spectres) and politics was pretty recent, wasn't it?
So humanity's exploits at the highest tiers of Spectres (and later, the council) were essentially a trial run representing the species. And the ship (being co-developed and used by those now going on missions at the highest tiers) was the vehicle for that.
I loved how the ship was cutting-edge spook-tier too, really gave the "spec-ops" feel.
ME1 was "unpolished" (fine for the time period and studio), but they REALLY put the effort in to make everything "feel" right and fully immersive in the setting, right from the main menu theme.
Last edited by Magick on January 23rd, 2026, 16:51, edited 1 time in total.
A fanfic I read had all three origins running around the galaxy, but as separate characters. The proper canon Shepard was a Colonist War Hero, the Spacer Sole Survivor was the guy chasing Cerberus around, and the Earthborn Ruthless Shepard was working for Cerberus.
It looked like the fanfic author was working up to making the Ruthless Shepard take the place of Kai Leng but, I guess, couldn't write the Ruthless Shepard to be ******** enough to install the Illusive Man's Reaper cybernetics. So, the Colonist Shepard vs Ruthless Shepard rivalry ended in a brutal down and dirty knife fight during the Grissom Academy mission in ME3.
A fanfic I read had all three origins running around the galaxy, but as separate characters. The proper canon Shepard was a Colonist War Hero, the Spacer Sole Survivor was the guy chasing Cerberus around, and the Earthborn Ruthless Shepard was working for Cerberus.
It looked like the fanfic author was working up to making the Ruthless Shepard take the place of Kai Leng but, I guess, couldn't write the Ruthless Shepard to be ******** enough to install the Illusive Man's Reaper cybernetics. So, the Colonist Shepard vs Ruthless Shepard rivalry ended in a brutal down and dirty knife fight during the Grissom Academy mission in ME3.
There's room for 3 Shepards in the squad. Would have assumed they teamed up to reform the Three Musketeers.
Last edited by J1M on January 24th, 2026, 21:43, edited 1 time in total.
And this playthrough I got to see the Spacer questline on the Citadel which I never did before, that was cool. Very obscure spot to find it though, was completely by accident that I found the guy.
