Mass Effect Legendary Edition merges the series into an almost seamless experience in which players' decisions easily carry over between games. Players aiming to be intergalactic heroes will have the opportunity to do so by seeking to help those in need to become a Paragon of galactic society. Players that achieve at least 75% Paragon will also net the Principalled achievement during Mass Effect 1.
Gaining Paragon points in Mass Effect Legendary Edition will often consist of having Shepard be an overall friendly, virtuous, and caring person. This translates to picking dialogue choices that show companions and NPCs that the Commander cares, understands, and is altruistic. The more points in Paragon players have, the more convincing they will be when attempting to persuade others which can often lead to avoiding hostilities altogether.
To become a Paragon, it can be very useful for players to understand how the dialogue wheel system works. Options to the right of the wheel will often advance the conversation, while those to the left will expand on the current topic and often give players a chance to gather more information. Dialogue options that appear on the upper side of the wheel are the ones players want to look out for as they often represent "good" answers. Likewise, Paragon players should mostly avoid the options at the bottom of the wheel as they represent the Renegade path in Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
How to be a Paragon in Mass Effect
Mass Effect 1
During the first game in the series, players can follow the proven technique of choosing dialogue options that appear on the upper side of the wheel to progress towards becoming a Paragon, which will unlock ranks in the Charm skill. Throughout the game, players will have several opportunities to persuade people through blue dialogue options that will need enough Paragon and Charm points to unlock; otherwise, they will be grayed out. When players become Spectres, they will also receive one free point in both Charm and Intimidation, which will carry over when importing a character. Reaching 80% Paragon during Mass Effect 1 will unlock the "UNC: Besieged Base," where players must defeat biotic fanatics and rescue their hostages.
Mass Effect 2
The second game in the series will present players with even more opportunities to demonstrate their morality by adding special interrupt button prompts during dialogues. These interruptions will more emphatically demonstrate the Commanders viewpoints and can often result in direct physical actions. Although it is possible to max out Paragon and Renegade on the same character, certain dialogue options are locked behind an invisible threshold related to how strickly players have stuck with one morality. Therefore, players who wish to be the ultimate Paragons should not stop choosing Paragon options because their bar is maxed out.
Mass Effect 3
Much like previous games, Mass Effect players can gain Paragon points by choosing the upper dialogue options in the conversation wheel and will also have access to the special interruptions introduced in Mass Effect 2, which rewards a large number of morality points. Unlike the previous games, morality in Mass Effect 3 works in tandem with Reputation as a single percentage bar, which means choosing Renegade options while attempting to become a Paragon will be counter-productive for those wishing to max it out. Reputation is the sum of Renegade and Paragon points and will influence NPCs reaction to Shepard. This sequel is the most morally binary in the series and will often push players towards one end of the moral spectrum, allowing players to more easily identify, and stick to, Paragon during Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with backward compatibility for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.