How soon do I have to change difficulty levels to get the Mass Effect 1 insanity award?
This question is similar to How soon do I have to change difficulty levels to get the Mass Effect 3 insanity award?, but for Mass Effect 1 instead.
When you begin a new game in Mass Effect, there is a period between the opening cinematics and the first combat mission where you get to roam around the bridge of the Normandy. During this time, it's possible to enter the settings menu and change the difficulty of the game.
If I change the difficulty from a lower level to Insanity, and leave it at Insanity for the rest of the game, is it possible to receive the Insanity achievement?
I ask because I have a high level character that I used to beat the game at a lower difficulty, and I want to import that character into a new game so that I don't have to start an Insanity playthrough at level 1, but when I do the import, the new playthrough starts off using the lower difficulty, the game doesn't give me the option to begin the new playthrough on Insanity. As far as I can tell, the only chance I get to increase the difficulty is right after the opening cinematic.
Best Answer
According to an identical question on Gamefaqs, there seem to be 2 likely scenarios:
I know you can get the achievements from New Game+ if you change the difficulty before leaving the Normandy, and others say that as long as you change the difficulty level before you leave Eden Prime you will get the achievement.
Which is from the top voted answer. The other answer says
You have to change the difficulty to insanity BEFORE examining the beacon on Eden Prime. You might want to do it once you take control of your character just so you don't forget, but if can remember, do what I did.
So you're basically safe if you do it as soon as you gain control of your character. Free roaming around the Normandy also seems like a safe time to change difficulty.
As Ryan mentions in a comment below, he confirms that you can set the difficulty as late as just before the beacon activation.
Pictures about "How soon do I have to change difficulty levels to get the Mass Effect 1 insanity award?"
How do you get the insanity achievement in Mass Effect 1?
How to unlock the Insanity I achievementWhen can you change difficulty in Mass Effect?
Mass Effect 1 & 2 All you have to do to change the difficulty in each game is open up the pause menu. Once here, click on Options and then Gameplay. Here, you'll be able to see which difficulty is right for you. From easiest to hardest, those difficulties include Casual, Normal, Veteran, Hardcore, and Insanity.Does difficulty matter in Mass Effect 1?
And unless you're hell-bent on getting all of the collection's trophies or achievements, you're good to play on any difficulty you like. In fact, you can even get the platinum trophy for each game on PlayStation regardless of the difficulty you chose.How hard is insanity difficulty Mass Effect?
It is not hard but some enemies are bullet sponges like Krogans, make sure that you are equipping the right ammunition for the fight (like either anti synthetic or anti organic ammo). Level up as fast as you can, do every side quest, tasks and planets.Mass Effect Legendary Edition/Original Difficulty Comparison (Mass Effect 1)
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