What Carries Over in Mass Effect Legendary Edition‘s New Game Plus Mode?

As a hardcore Mass Effect fan with over 500 hours across the trilogy, New Game Plus (NG+) is a great way to re-experience BioWare‘s sci-fi masterpiece while carrying over your favorite gear, stats and decision choices that give new playthroughs vastly more depth and customization.

But what exactly carries over between playthroughs using Mass Effect Legendary Edition‘s NG+ functionality? And what are the best things to focus on bringing into your next run?

In this guide, I‘ll break down exactly what transfers over along with tips to maximize your next playthrough.

Overview – What Persists in NG+?

At a high level, here‘s what carries over when you select "New Game Plus" after completing ME1, ME2 or ME3 LE:

✅ Reputation and Paragon/Renegade scores
✅ Levels
✅ Weapons, Armor and Mods
✅ Credits
✅ Resources like Medi-gel
✅ Romances and Relationship Status
✅ Key Decision Choices that affect missions/story

However, certain elements reset or don‘t carry over, namely:

❌ Weapon Licenses
❌ Codex Entries
❌ Assignments
❌ Achievements

Now let‘s break this down in more detail…

Keeping Your Guns and Gear

A major benefit of NG+ is getting to start every game with late-game weapon and armor upgrades already unlocked.

For example, playing as an Infiltrator or Soldier? Carrying over the M-98 Widow Sniper Rifle or M-76 Revenant Machine Gun with maxed out upgrades will make you an absolute powerhouse in ME2 and ME3 the moment you gain control of Shepard.

Or as an Adept or Sentinel, having high-level biotic amplifiers will ensure your powers can crush enemies even on Insanity difficulty from the very first missions.

Here‘s a quick overview of key gear I recommend focusing on in NG+:

Weapons

• Sniper Rifles – M-98 Widow, M-92 Mantis, Black Widow
• Heavy Pistols – M-6 Carnifex, M-11 Suppressor
• SMGs – M-25 Hornet, N7 Hurricane

Armor

• N7 Defender Armor – well-rounded protection
• Blood Dragon Armor – offensive/tank hybrid

Weapon Mods / Amps

• Extended Barrel V – 26% bonus damage
• High-Velocity Barrel V – +5% fire rate, piercing ammo

Carrying these over using the NG+ system will make insanity difficulty feel like a walk in the park during your new playthrough!

Building Your Reputation and Morality

Reputation and Paragon/Renegade scores also carry over between full trilogy playthroughs. This allows you to continue honing Shepard‘s persona as either a compassionate Paragon or ruthless Renegade across the entire story arc.

For key decisions, maintaining a high Paragon or Renegade score unlocks special persuasive dialogue options allowing you to negotiate ideal outcomes in certain missions.

For example, having your morality meter maxed out enables the possibility to >!save both the Quarians and Geth at the end of their war!< and also unlocks the >!Shepard Lives!< ending.

So focus on consistently building up your Paragon or Renegade meter through all 3 games to access these outcomes on your next NG+ run!

Bringing Your Romance Along

BioWare games are renowned for their compelling characters and romance options – and New Game Plus allows you to seamlessly carry intimate relationships you‘ve built with squadmates across the entire trilogy arc.

Romances require earning a squadmate‘s trust and affection through dialogue, unique missions and the sharing of secrets. Once a romance is locked in during ME1 or ME2, your love interest remains committed to Shepard even years later.

This continuity allows the relationship to gradually deepen with conversational callbacks to dates you‘ve shared, inside jokes and tender moments in which you comfort each other before difficult missions.

Certain love interests also gain new unique dialogue and content in ME3 after having romanced Shepard across multiple games. For example:

• Liara‘s romance scene is extended, with her sharing a ‘gift‘ she created for Shepard
• Kaidan confides he kept Shepard‘s plaque & dog tags after the Normandy SR-1 was attacked

So not only are romances preserved in NG+, choosing to consistently romance across all 3 games results in deeper emotional payoff.

Key Events That Still Shape Your Story

While you maintain power, wealth and gear, the NG+ story isn‘t just rinse and repeat. Many of Shepard‘s choices still have major effects across the trilogy, some spanning huge galactic consequences.

For example, seemingly small choices like saving the Rachni Queen in ME1 lead to allies aiding you against the Reapers decades later. Some events you might experience differently or witness long-term effects you never saw the first time around.

In many ways, NG+ enables a metropolis where your new Shepard benefits from their past self‘s actions while still facing dynamic threats where the path forward isn‘t guaranteed.

Here are a few key decisions from ME1 with long shadow that I‘d recommend replaying or selecting alternatives for in your NG+ run:

Closing Recommendations

I‘ve already completed several NG+ playthroughs, trying new classes and experimenting with decisions I handled differently my first time through. Each felt fresh and reactive while letting me retain my favorite guns and squadmates.

For your first NG+, I recommend choosing the opposite morality path Paragon versus Renegade to experience the dichotomy of dialog, reputation-restricted choices and squadmate reactions from a new lens.

And don‘t just default to the same love interest if romancing – it can be extremely rewarding to experience other squadmates you may have overlooked (Garrus and Tali are wonderful!).

You‘ve saved the galaxy multiple times. Now enjoy the journey!

Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below, and check out my 100% trilogy completionist guide here.