Codex/Player Tutorials

Secondary Codex Entries

Basic Controls

• The basic movement controls are:

• Forward: [ W ]

• Strafe Left: [ A ]

• Strafe Right: [ D ]

• Back Up: [ S ]

• To interact with an object or character, approach and press [ E ].

• To take cover from enemy fire behind an object, move forward [ W ] and push against it. Shepard will lock into "cover mode" with back to the object. You can slide to the edges of the object using [ A ] and [ D ].
• Near the edge of an object, it is possible to fire your weapon and use combat abilities. Shepard will appear to "lean out" to fire around the corner. If you are crouched behind a low cover object, you will "pop up" and fire over it. To leave cover, press [ S ] to back away from the object.

• Irregularly-shaped objects may not allow you to move into cover mode behind them. Flat surfaces offer the most reliable cover.

• Press [ Left Control ] to toggle into and out of crouch mode. While crouching, your weapons fire is more accurate, but you move slowly.

• Press and hold [ Shift ] while using the movement keys to "storm" (sprint) for a short distance. While moving in storm mode, you will become fatigued - a bar appears in the lower left of the screen to show your level of fatigue. If you leave storm mode, fatigue will bleed away. If you run until fatigue bar fills, you will be forced to return to normal movement speed, and you will not be able storm again until all fatigue has bled away.

Combat

• Press [ Q ] to draw and holster your weapon.

• [ Left Click ] or press [ Left Mouse Button ] to fire your weapon. Weapons have unlimited ammunition, but generate heat when fired. Your weapon's heat level is displayed in the lower left of the screen. Fire in short bursts to avoid overheating. If your weapon overheats, it will not be able to fire again until the heat dissipates fully.

• The Sabotage Power makes weapons more likely to overheat. Some enemies can use Sabotage against you!

• When and enemy gets too close, pressing [ Left Mouse Button ] will initiate a pistol whip or rifle butt melee attack. This will cause some injury, and may force enemies back or knock them down, giving you a chance to shoot them.

• Press [ Right Mouse Button ] to toggle in and out of targetin zoom mode. While zoomed in, your weapons fire will be more accurate. Sniper Rifles are very difficult to use if not zoomed in.

• Press [ F ] to use your squad's First Aid Power. First Aid heals everyone in the squad, but consumes 1 medi-gel per use, and has a cooldown period before it can be re-used.

• Training in the First Aid Talent improves the amount of health restored per use, and the Medicine Talent reduces the cooldown time between uses. The combined skills of ALL squad members with these Talents will benefit your squad.

• Press [ R ] to throw a grenade. You can carry a limited number, so use them carefully. Grenades "stick" where they impact and can be remote-detonated by pressing [ R ] a second time. This makes them useful as traps.

The Tactics HUD

• Press and hold [ Spacerbar ] to pause the game and open the Tactics HUD. Along three sides of the Tactics HUD overlay are tabs with icons representing the actions your squad can take.

• Clicking the weapon icons changes the firearms used by each squad member; there are also hotkeys available. Pistols [ F1 ] and Shotguns [ F2 ] are handy at short range. Assault Rifles [ F3 ] excel at medium range. Sniper Rifles [ F4 ] dominate at long range. You can also cycle through Shepard's weapons outside the Tactics HUD by using [ ] ].

• Each character can equip all four weapon types, but not all characters are TRAINED to use each weapon. If you order a squad member to use a weapon they are not trained in, their accuracy and damage will suffer.

• Clicking on Power icons orders the use of a combat Power. Powers range from Kaidan's biotic abilities, to Ashley's combat techniques, to Tali's engineering skills. Moving the mouse cursor over a Power's icon will describe its effects.

• At the top of the two squad member's menus are four additional buttons that allow you to issue squad commands to them. These commands can also be issued outside the Tactics HUD by using hotkeys.

• Move (hotkey [ Up Arrow ]) - Move to the location under your targeting reticule.

• Hold Position (hotkey [ Right Arrow]) - Hold current position.

• Attack (hotkey [ Left Arrow ]) - Attack the enemy under your targeting reticle.

• Rally (hotkey [ Down Arror ]) - Return to Shepard's side.

• At the top of the Tactics HUD are Shepard's Power hotkey Quick Slots. As Shepard levels up, you gain new combat Powers. To add new Power to your Quick Slots, click and drag any Power icon from Shepard's tab to a Quick Slot.

• You cannot utilize your squad member's powers using the Quick Slots.

Character Advancement

• As the squad gains experience, they advance in level. All members of the squad level up together. At each level, characters gain Talent Points. Press [ U ] to access the Squad Menu. Here you can spend Talent Points to improve the squad's abilieties. Remember to level up ALL your squad members!

• On the right side of the screen, you will see a list of Talents available to the currently selected character, with rows of "blocks" that tint green to indicate their current level of skill. Below the list is a number indicating the amount of Talent Points available to spend. To spend points, mouse over the Talent and click on it.

• Moving your mouse over a Talent will highlight it and display its description. While your mouse is over a Talent, it will highlight, and display a description of it. By moving the mouse over the individual blocks that represent Talent levels, you can see the effect of each point of improvement. Blocks with icons in them unlock combat Powers or additional Talents.

• If you don't want to select your Talents by point, click the [ Auto Level Up ] button to automatically spend points on Talents appropriate to the character's class. If you are not satisfied with any changes, click the [ Undo Talent Points ] button to revert all changes. Note: once you exit the Squad Menu, you can no longer Undo.

• On Shepard's page of the Squad Menu, you will see two meters on either side of the character portrait. These track Shepard's Paragon and Renegade reputations. If you act as a force for the betterment of all, you gain Paragon reputation. If you accomplish goals by any means necessary, you gain Renegade reputation.

• Shepard's maximum level of persuasion skills is initially limited, but improves as you gain levels and cultivate a reputation.

Equipment

• Equipment can be bought from stores, looted from containers, or taken from defeated enemies. Equipment from enemies will be automatically added to your inventory, there is no need to stop and search corpses.

• Press [ I ] to access Equipment Screen, which consists of several "boxes" next to an image of the currently selected character.

• The bottom row lists the squad's consumable Resources: current and maximum supplies of medi-gel and grenades, available omni-gel, and available credits.

• Above Resources is the main Inventory box. The top row of icons allows you to switch between different types of equipment: Assault Rifles, Biotic Amps, Armor, etc. Below is scrolling text list of your equipment within currently selected type. Items which are shaded grey cannot be used by the currently selected character.

• At the top left is a box showing the stats of your currently Equipped Item of the active type. At the top right is a second box showing the stats of the currently Selected Item in the Inventory box, allowing at-a-glance comparison. To equip the selected item, double lick its name in the Inventory box, or use the Equip button at the bottom.

• Your Equipped Item in the top left will display one or more light blue squares. These are Upgrade Slots. Upgrades enhance equipment capabilities in various ways. Click on an Upgrade Slot to switch the Inventory box to display Upgrades that can be equipped in the current piece of equipment. Click the icons at the top of the Inventory box to switch between Upgrades Slots on the item.

• Unneeded equipment can be sold for credits at a vendor, or reduced to omni-gel using a button athe bottom of the Inventory box.