Credits are the standard galactic currency, and are used to purchase weapons, armor, armory licenses, and upgrades.
History[]
The credit was established as the standard galactic trade currency by the Citadel's Unified Banking Act, a piece of legislation enacted by the Citadel Council. This legislation was drafted by the volus, due to their expertise in financial and commercial matters. The Act also laid out regulatory guidelines for determining the value and exchange rate of the credit in relation to the currencies of the individual Citadel member races.
The credit has a managed floating exchange rate, calculated in real time by the central bank to maintain the average value of all participating currencies. Some regional currencies are worth more than a credit, and some less. When the Systems Alliance joined the Citadel, its various national treasuries were linked into the credit network. A human with a bank account of Mexican pesos, Japanese yen, or Indian rupees can purchase any item priced in credits at fair market value. All economies that participate in the credit network are required to price items in both local currency and credits.
Hard currency can be stolen or counterfeited, so electronic fund transfers are the norm. More importantly, physical transactions cannot be easily tracked, making them ideal for tax evasion or the purchase of illegal goods.
Mass Effect[]
In Mass Effect, Commander Shepard is limited to a maximum of 9,999,999 credits. After this cap is reached, no monetary rewards for completed missions/assignments will be given. Any items sold to merchants will also effectively be given away for free. Upon reaching this limit, it is advisable to convert any unwanted items to omni-gel rather than to sell them; alternatively, the player may keep them around to sell later after buying something. Discounts for purchases as well as bonus profits from selling items back to vendors can be obtained and increased from higher ranks of the Charm and Intimidate talents.
Mass Effect 2[]
- For credit rewards from specific missions see the walkthrough page for that mission; or, see Upgrade Guide#Credits by Location/Mission.
Mass Effect 2 has the same credits cap as the first game, although reaching this limit requires cheats or other exploitation. Credits are fairly sparse in Mass Effect 2. They are rewarded by examining certain datapads and containers and after completing missions. With all downloadable content installed and completed (included by default with Legendary Edition), coupled with level 60 import bonuses and the bonuses from previously completing a Mass Effect 2 playthrough, it is possible to purchase everything in the game including the cabin accessories such as model ships and fish.
The amount of credits available from a normal play-through covering all missions, assignments and current DLC is 1,280,251[1] with an upper theoretical limit pushing 1,347,951 if avoiding the use of medi-gel and heavy weapons and choosing Renegade options for credits; saving on refueling costs may allow for more. Acquiring all upgrades no longer requires importing a level 60 (+50,000) character with the "Rich" achievement (+100,000) or starting with the completion bonus (+200,000) from Mass Effect 2 as long as all the DLC is installed, otherwise these import standards are necessary.
Legendary Edition: All previous DLC for the original version of Mass Effect 2 is included by default. In the original game, most of the weapons or other items included with DLC packs becomes available automatically in the game at no additional in-game cost. In Legendary Edition, most of the equipment that is "DLC exclusive" in the original game must instead be purchased with additional credits at vendors or with mineral resources in the Normandy's Tech Lab just like everything else. For this reason, the above numbers are not accurate.
Mass Effect 3[]
- For credit rewards from specific missions see the walkthrough page for that mission; or, see Equipment Guide (Mass Effect 3)#Credits and Medi-gel by Mission.
In Mass Effect 3, credits are obtained in much the same way as in Mass Effect 2. Credits can be spent to purchase weapons, weapon upgrades, weapon mods, armor sets and parts, power resets for party members and Shepard in the Normandy's Med-Bay, bonus powers, and other miscellaneous items. With the release of the Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC (included by default in Legendary Edition), it became possible to earn unlimited credits in a single playthrough by playing games at Castle Arcade or Silver Coast Casino, or by redeeming tokens from repeated Armax Arsenal Arena runs.
Mass Effect: Infiltrator[]
Credits in Mass Effect: Infiltrator is a special currency with a Cerberus logo which is used by its operators. They can be obtained by Randall Ezno in three different ways:
- By finishing a checkpoint. The amount of credits rewarded depends on the difficulty and on ranking achieved. Missions can be replayed for additional credits.
- By scanning vaults or computers in the background (50 or 200 credits by object).
- By trading Intel Points (25 credits by Intel Points).
Those credits can only be spent on the Mass Effect: Infiltrator Store to acquire or upgrade abilities and equipment for Randall Ezno.
Note: It is also possible to buy credit packs with real money from the Store via a micro-transaction system.
Mass Effect: Andromeda[]
Single Player[]
Credits in Mass Effect: Andromeda work much in the same fashion as prior Mass Effect games as it is a universal currency throughout the Heleus Cluster, even to the angara. Credits are found during combat, exploration, missions, and through merchant functions.
Credits can be spent on weapons, armor, Mods, Augmentations, ND1 Nomad upgrades, blueprints, Resources, and other items during gameplay.
APEX Missions & Strike Teams[]
APEX Strike Teams also uses Credits that are earned during missions. Apex & Strike Teams Credits are stored on a different account than Single Player and can only be used in the Store to buy boxes of equipment for Multiplayer Characters.
Multiplayer[]
In Mass Effect: Andromeda Multiplayer, credits can be earned by completing missions. The Credits can be used to buy Packs in the game store in order to unlock new characters, weapons or items. Two others currencies are used in Multiplayer:
- Mission Funds , gained via Strike Teams during APEX Missions,
- and Andromeda Points earned via a micro-transaction system.