Mass Effect 2: Playable without mineral micro-searching?!

[Socdk]

Yeah, so the debate is over now. No need to point out what I'm doing wrong, slowhands. People have already done that.

Thanks for the replies, be they arrogant or helpful. For the arrogant ones I can't really be bothered to get upset. I know most of you are bully-victims transfering anger and rage to a place where you can be the bully instead - The internet. Brighten up people, it's wednsday.

 

[GodsAndFishes]

I managed to complete it without doing any mining (No Sheppard did not survive, but thats beside the point).

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You don't HAVE to mine everything from every planet. I just mine the resources I need...

If I need more Element Zero, (which I always do, as it'd hard to find for me), I go mine for more eezo.

 

[Jandau]

1. You're doing it wrong.

2. No planet takes more than 10 probes. Don't drop probes every time you detect something. Drop them only on large scanner spikes and focus on Rich planets.

3. You can acquire enough minerals for EVERY DAMN UPGRADE in UNDER AN HOUR. Not the game's fault you waste time and probes on junk worlds.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

You don't have to, but if you don't then you will lose people, on account of not having upgraded anything. If you can do that, yes.

 

[ddq5]

You really shouldn't blame EA, I'm pretty sure Bioware is behind the actual game mechanics since EA is just the publisher. One thing you should note is that after beating the game once, you get 50,000 of each element on your next playthrough.

Also, you're doing it wrong.

 

[richasr]

My firsy playthrough I didn't mine at all, I occasionally picked up mineral drops but no mining, and I got through it fine.

 

[JeanLuc761]

If you spread out the mining to 2 planets after every mission and spend five minute per planet, you'll find that you can complete it easily without it becoming too tedious. It really doesn't take that long.

This is an RPG. If you aren't comfortable with grind or you don't like long games, you bought the wrong title.

 

[The Bandit]

I really don't think that was Bioware's intention. I think they were trying to avoid the shitty side planets in the first game, where you had to drive the Mako over a completely vertical mountain to pick up a rock that you had already maxed out. : /

But, anyway, here's what I did:

1. Only scan good or rich planets.

2. Only send a probe on a very high signal.

3. Hold down the scanner until you get your first signal. This is now your starting and ending point. Hold down the scanner, searching for stuff, until you see the first probe point again. You're now done. Leave.

I had one dude die in the end, but I don't think it was mineral related.

 

[Illanair]

If you want to complete the game with everything and just cannot force yourself through the pains of scanning planets, people have figured out how to make console keybinds so that you can add the required minerals at will with a single click. Ofcourse this is seen as cheating by some, but personally after completing it twice, I've had enough of it. Even with the bonus minerals for new playthroughs, it is dead - fucking - boring. -.-

 

[The Bandit]

(No Sheppard did not survive, but thats beside the point).

That means you managed to do the game without doing any anything. Why did you even buy it?

Why do you care what he did? His game. If he wants to take a shit on it, that's his business.

 

[Talvrae]

I really don't think that was Bioware's intention. I think they were trying to avoid the shitty side planets in the first game, where you had to drive the Mako over a completely vertical mountain to pick up a rock that you had already maxed out. : /

Probably... But damn i still think the Mako mineral search was more fun that scanning probing things... Damn that's boring and pointless

 

[Agayek]

Title says it all...

I am a normal person. I don't 500+ hours to spend on a single game, let alone a mini-game inside a game. Seriously scanning for minerals, this mini-game, will take effing longer than the game itself!

It's insane is what it is. Personally I feel this is a lame excuse to make the game larger and lenghtier. Seriously, how many planets are in this game? Mass Effect 1 was a drag when it came to exploring every single planet but at least that was actual gameplay. The world around me dies when I scan planets! And I even have to go back for more probes constantly?! Would be fine if EVERY PLANET DIDN'T TAKE 10-15 PROBES! WTF EA, seriously... WTF?

So, long story short - Can I play this game without scavenging every single planet for minerals? Or is there at least some minimum I can keep it at? And no I don't hate the game, so don't go all fanboyish on me.

God I hope Yahtzee reviews ME2. He'll shred it for sure.

Here's probably the best way to avoid mining:

Play through the game twice. First time, do no sidequests or mining or upgrades or whatnot and just blitz through the thing. Beat the game and start your second playthrough, which is the "for realz" game. Doing it this way makes it so you start the game with 50,000 of every element and 200,000 credits. You'll have to mine a bit, but if you mine out the first cluster, that will give you all the resources you need for the rest of the game (except for Platinum. Stupid 50,000 cost on the surgery upgrade that nobody ever uses).

 

[ma55ter_fett]

Title says it all...

I am a normal person. I don't 500+ hours to spend on a single game, let alone a mini-game inside a game. Seriously scanning for minerals, this mini-game, will take effing longer than the game itself!

It's insane is what it is. Personally I feel this is a lame excuse to make the game larger and lenghtier. Seriously, how many planets are in this game? Mass Effect 1 was a drag when it came to exploring every single planet but at least that was actual gameplay. The world around me dies when I scan planets! And I even have to go back for more probes constantly?! Would be fine if EVERY PLANET DIDN'T TAKE 10-15 PROBES! WTF EA, seriously... WTF?

So, long story short - Can I play this game without scavenging every single planet for minerals? Or is there at least some minimum I can keep it at? And no I don't hate the game, so don't go all fanboyish on me.

God I hope Yahtzee reviews ME2. He'll shred it for sure.

I'd mine enough to get all your ship upgrades (guns, sheilds, hull) and to upgrade the weapon type you use most (improved damage + accuracy + clip size)

 

[CmdrGoob]

What you do is:

Talk to Miranda about upgrades and get the scanning speed upgrade ASAP.
Don't bother scanning any planet less than rich or perhaps good.
Don't bother being thorough, just do quick sweeps.
Only grab the big deposits, don't waste probes on little ones.

In 5/10 minutes you can grab a ton of resources. Repeat only when you need more, and you'll have no troubles at all.

 

[Socdk]

1. You're doing it wrong.

2. No planet takes more than 10 probes. Don't drop probes every time you detect something. Drop them only on large scanner spikes and focus on Rich planets.

3. You can acquire enough minerals for EVERY DAMN UPGRADE in UNDER AN HOUR. Not the game's fault you waste time and probes on junk worlds.

1. Okay

2. Got it

3. Not my fault that I'm not informed of this. I haven't been given a single hint as to what is plenty-o-minerals and what is not-so-plenty. That is why I'm asking you guys before getting deep into the game. In ME1 there were missions/assignments that actually required you to explore almost every planet, so I figured that the same thing went on here. But TFTI.

You really shouldn't blame EA, I'm pretty sure Bioware is behind the actual game mechanics since EA is just the publisher. One thing you should note is that after beating the game once, you get 50,000 of each element on your next playthrough.

Also, you're doing it wrong.

Oh, right. I'm a FIFA-player. Blaming everything from shotty games to the global warming on EA is just a habbit now.

If you spread out the mining to 2 planets after every mission and spend five minute per planet, you'll find that you can complete it easily without it becoming too tedious. It really doesn't take that long.

Oh, okay. I was a bit worried because I'm a very thorough gamer. I hate completing a game without doing everything possible in it so I feared I'd have to spent hours and hours on mining to upgrade everything I can. A major curse really.

Thanks for the advice! I'm overjoyed againg!

 

[dududf]

I started with my mass effect 1 save... I had the maximum level, and I was really rich...

So I received alot of minerals and money... and add that with my Paragon stuff and I started off easily.

[sub]Also... I kinda liked scanning...[/sub]
And if memory serves me right, one of the ship ugrades you ask a crew mate for is an upgraded scanner... from which I highly reccomend.

 

[Socdk]

@ everybody

Thanks for the quick responses. Q is A now and all's well.

 

[RenegadeRed]

Haha sucks for you this is why I play on the PC, where cheats are easily available. For instance, I beat ME1 using a trainer that unlocks unlimited money, minerals, grenades, etc. And it was awesome because I didn't have to drive around that horrible SUV that controls like a Parkinson's patient on icestakes to search for resources. Anyway, I plan on skipping mining in ME2 by doing the same.

Oh and I never understand why people buy a game and then rant about a bad aspect, fully knowing the problem before buying it. Seriously if it bothers you then skip it. Mass Effect 2 is at least a 24 hour game if you do the minimum and want to survive the suicide mission (what my friend did).

By the way, do you guys know what happened to grenades and why Bioware didn't include them this time around?