Mass Effect 2 Credit Farming

[Alethia Tiell]

One thing that Mass Effect couldn't quite settle on was how many credits Shepard deserved for doing their work. While Mass Effect 1 has a pretty balanced credit system, Mass Effect 2's is infamously bad (which is strange, considering you're working for a privately funded organization instead of the publicly-funded government...).

Mass Effect 3 bounced back a bit, but players were still grasping for every credit they could get their hands on. This guide will walk you through the ways that you'll be able to farm money quickly (and avoid wasting it) in each Mass Effect game.

There aren't a lot of reasons you'd need extra credits in the first Mass Effect since the system is fairly balanced, but these are the best tricks to farming more in case you're running low.

There's a system of gambling available in the first Mass Effect game that can be used to farm credits. You'll want to play a game of "Quasar," located on the Citadel in the Flux Nightclub or the Silver Coast Casino. Similar to Blackjack, Quasar players are looking to get as close as possible to 20 without going over.

Mass Effect 2 is notoriously unbalanced when it comes to credits. You'll be running low on funds a lot of the time and there aren't really any ways of farming them reliably. But, here are a couple of tips while you're playing to make sure you're raking in as much dough as possible.

It's unbelievably easy to get caught up probing a planet and forget that each probe is costing you credits. The first time players run out of money is usually after mining a planet completely hollow.

It may have gone over your head that anytime you find medi-gel in the field but your medi-gel supply is already full, you receive credits instead. This is a great way to earn extra cash if you're comfortable not using your medi-gel as much so that you're always picking up those credits.

There are varren (dog-like reptiles) in the Urdnot Camp on Tuchanka that you can bet on. Once you find the fighting pit, look for a nearby computer that allows you to bet 250 credits on a varren of your choice. The trick to winning big money in these varren fights is to bet your money on Urz.

Urz is a special varren with a unique skin color whose previous handler was exiled. You can find him near a merchant named Ratch in the Urdnot Camp, but you won't be able to bet on him yet. First, follow these steps.

When you've installed the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3, you can find a place called the Armax Arsenal Arenain the Silversun Strip of the Citadel. This is basically a combat simulation room where you and your squad can take on unique challenges and earn points depending on how well you do.

Earning any amount of points can net you some credits, but netting at least 6,000 points will mean you can redeem them for 10,000 credits! There are no restrictions to the number of times you can repeat the simulation, so it's a simple and fun way to farm money.

Mass Effect 3 introduced a requisition terminal to the Normandy. It allows the player to purchase items from the comfort of their own spaceship. Though it's tempting to use it, players across the internet will beg you not to.

To have the luxury of getting items right on the Normandy, Shepard must pay a 10% markup compared to what they'd usually pay at a shopfront. This cut adds up quickly, and you'll notice a dramatic difference in your credits total once you stop using it.

Now, we don't just mean that you should do your credits and fuel scanning randomly. Instead, reference these lists of planets where you can find significant amounts of credits or fuel (which will save you money by not having to buy it) by scanning there.

I agree with most posted here....but then I am on PC, so I will just use a save editor to give myself the credits and resources I need. I played a bunch of ME1 and ME2 on original, and have no desire to spend hours farming for resources and credits to play a game I like just about everything else.

I wish they would spend time fixing actual gameplay bugs instead of changing stuff no one was complaining about. Personally, if you are maxed level at end of ME1, with max money, you SHOULD get a bonus into ME2....and as a Spectre, if some banker stole 9,899,999 credits from me, then I would probably be paying them a visit to discuss the situation.......

I'm waiting for a save editor to come out as well (if someone hasn't made one already) to do just this for my second and subsequent playthroughs. I didn't mind earning credits on my first or second playthrough years ago when I VERY FIRST PLAYED THE GAME. However, after countless playthroughs, it's one of the reasons I only play ME 2 and 3 on PC. The amount of credits and time you have to spend mining resources could be spent doing more enjoyable aspects of the game. I am playing my first playthrough of the Legendary Edition without any mods and am playing it "as intended". But, being able to go into a save editor and max out the credits and resources is great and saves me time in following playthroughs.. That being said....

You need to realize that not everyone has or wants a gaming PC and prefer to play on console. This was BioWare's chance to make the mining minigame a smaller part of the game. Make the planets award more resources so people don't feel forced to spend hours mining. Make the side missions that have zero consequences and don't carry over award more credits so you actually feel compelled to do them rather then pinching penny's.

For the record, I feel the reduction in credits was not needed. Nothing needed "balancing". Please revert the change back to the way it was before this patch.

I'm not bothered if they want there to be some choice in which things you can afford to get in an individual playthrough, but there should be enough credits added to the game that you can still get a lot of the DLC items that you may want while also stocking up on fuel and probes and buying all the original equipment and upgrades.

Which is why I suggested the compromise of 500,000. I also wish we got more credits transferred into ME3. The price for some of the guns is ridiculous. I usually like to give James the Piranha, but it costs SO much.

@Dragoness31 It depends how much was added to ME2. That still may be too many credits. Regardless, I'd rather they do percentage adjustments than just a static cap (in your case, that would be 5%, so somebody importing with max credits would get 500K, but those with below max credits would get progressively less, under 2 million being the point where they get less than the new 100K cap).

If the values in the INI are correct, they transfer 10% of the ME1 value and cap it at 100K (with the latest update). So that would have been 1M before the patch if you imported with max credits. If you're on PC, you may be able to just change those values (BIOGame.ini) to make it whatever you want (though I haven't verified if the game is respecting those settings).

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.

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 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. For actual possible credit totals and the required amounts of resources needed to procure every upgrade in the game, see the Upgrade Guide page.

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