Commander Shepard can behave in dramatically different ways in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, depending on his orientation.
If he is of Paragon (blue) alignment, he will favor law, order and diplomacy. If he is of Renegade (red) alignment, he will prefer to use more questionable methods such as the excessive use of force or the sacrifice of allied forces to achieve his ends.
Beware, this does not mean that Paragon is equivalent to good, and that the Renegade is an evil choice. It's a little more subtle than that. Sometimes, only one alternative exists, where the violent choice is the right one on occasion.
We are not going to list all the choices and decisions for you here, but rather a general guide -- which should be more than sufficient in the majority of cases.
Is it better to play Paragon or Renegade?
The short answer is that Paragon is usually better. For the majority of players, it will be the best choice, by far, to (almost) always favor the blue answers in all situations and to seek peaceful solutions as often as possible.
The first reason is that the result is almost always better with the choices of Paragon. This is one of the major flaws in the writing of the game somewhere, in principle the dilemmas offered to you should pit the less profitable but honorable moral choice against the renegade choice, which is more profitable, but which will tarnish your reputation.
In practice, playing cautiously is the best choice, at least from a general story perspective.
The second reason is that not all players will have the right stomach or sensibilities for Forsaken-type gameplay. Shepard Renegade's actions can prove uncomfortable for the most sensitive people.
Nonetheless, playing Renegade has its merits. In the first Mass Effect, you can maximize both your Paragon points and your Renegade points, which gives different stat bonuses and different missions.
So it's best to alternate between the two depending on the situation, in order to get as many bonuses as possible. This is no longer the case in Mass Effect 2 and 3, which instead encourage favoring one extreme or the other in order to unlock exclusive options during dialogues.
Playing Renegade is a very interesting option for the second game, since it allows you to discover another side of the story and another possible turn of events, often tragic. The fact that Renegade choices tend to make the game a little more difficult (if only on a story level) is also a good point in this context.
Finally, playing Renegade is much more enjoyable if you have the right kind of humor. Seeing a distressing character take a surprise spell from Commander Renegade is hilarious, even when you openly laugh at the suffering and drama of others.
When a bunch of incompetent, ungrateful bureaucrats who mistreated you from the start end up perishing over one of your decisions, that's quite satisfying. You just have to accept the long-term negative consequences.
In any case, having an extreme Paragon or Renegade score opens up additional possibilities for dialogue, which can greatly facilitate a situation, and even open the possibility of obtaining a much more favorable, otherwise inaccessible outcome -- including at the end.
Outside of the first game, it's best to turn to one extreme or the other.
How to play Paragon or Renegade
The first thing to know is that the dialogue wheel tells you very clearly what the orientation of the responses is, based on their position on it, as you can see in the image above:
- Top: Paragon
- Center: Neutral
- Bottom: Renegade
In the first Mass Effect, you need to invest talent points in the Charm line (to be Paragon) or the Intimidate line (to be Renegade) in order to unlock special dialogue options to the left of the dialogue wheel.
You must have a sufficiently high level in the corresponding skill to use these answers, in which case they will appear in the corresponding color. If your score is not high enough, you will not be able to use them.
In this case, we advise you to reload the game and take part in this dialogue after having awarded more points in the corresponding skill, or even later in your adventure if you run out of points.
You should know that to invest in these talents, you must also have a sufficiently filled blue or red gauge (on the left of the screen).
It's kind of a virtuous circle -- the more you choose answers of a certain type, the more points of that type you will get, which will unlock more dialogue options that will offer even more points.
Shepard's origins at the start of Mass Effect 1 will determine his starting orientation with these two gauges, we advise you to choose a combination that maximizes the number of points:
-
Space + War Heroes: 20 Paragon Points
or
- Terran + Ruthless: 20 Renegade Points
You start the game with three talent points, we advise you to place the first two in Persuasion or Intimidation so that you can immediately unlock the answers during the first special dialogues that await you at the beginning of the story.
ALWAYS make this talent line your priority afterwards, looking to fill it as you progress through the story and unlock more points.
We would go so far as to advise you to keep one or two points in stock permanently to invest them when possible (after a quest that gives many alignment points for example) without having to wait for a level gain.
Mass Effect 2 and 3
The operation of this system is simplified a bit in the next two episodes. Note that you start with a Paragon and/or Renegade bonus depending on your score from the previous game.
The response system remains the same -- the major difference is that to unlock the blue and red special responses, your total Paragon or Renegade score is used. There is no more dedicated talents.
Your score in these areas must reach a certain percentage of your progress in the story. Typically, you need to have up to 75% of the max points in one lineup or the other to unlock special responses.
In the first game, it is possible to play on both boards, but subsequently it is better to concentrate on one.
The other big change is linked to a QTE/intervention system during dialogues. At key moments, a Paragon or Renegade icon will appear on the screen and you can choose to react or not.
This will usually earn you quite a few points in the area concerned, and it may turn the situation in your favor. It's usually a good choice to make use of it, but you have to be quick and not skip dialogue like a savage.
Special Paragon-type interrupts usually save or protect someone. Renegade-types allow you to hurt or kill someone (typically an opponent), which grants a lot of points in the corresponding alignment type.
A strong point of the Mass Effect trilogy is how your actions have varying degrees of impact throughout the adventure and the games that follow. Our guide details the effects of all the major choices on the endings of each title and on the grand finale, as well as the list of possible endings.
