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In Mass Effect Legendary Edition, finish the previous game through its final mission and credits, then start the next game with New Game → Import ME1 Character in Mass Effect 2 or New Game → Import ME2 Character in Mass Effect 3. The import carries Shepard’s identity and important story decisions into later games. If you have no completed save, the bundled Mass Effect: Genesis interactive comic lets you choose a limited set of major outcomes instead.
This guide covers the Legendary Edition path, Genesis, old PC saves, what actually carries forward, and the limits on importing into other games. Spoilers ahead for Virmire, the Suicide Mission, and the Collector Base.
How do I import a save in Mass Effect Legendary Edition?
Use the in-game import option from the next title’s New Game menu. The previous career must be complete through the ending and credits; simply reaching the final mission does not create the completion save that the importer needs.
- Complete Mass Effect. Finish the final mission and let the credits begin. There is no post-game free-roam in the first game, so finish optional missions and any other business before entering its endgame. IGN’s guide identifies the approach to Virmire as a practical last checkpoint for unrestricted exploration.
- Start Mass Effect 2 from the Legendary Edition launcher. Choose New Game, then select Import ME1 Character beneath the male or female Shepard options. Choose the completed career. The game displays Shepard’s background, psychological profile, and a summary of major decisions before you proceed.
- Review the character options. You may change Shepard’s class and rebuild their appearance. First name, gender, pre-service history, and psychological profile are locked to the imported career.
- Finish Mass Effect 2 with Shepard alive. Complete the Suicide Mission and its ending. A career in which Shepard dies there cannot be continued into Mass Effect 3.
- Start Mass Effect 3. Choose New Game → Import ME2 Character, then select the completed career. Any Mass Effect 1 or Genesis choices already recorded in that Mass Effect 2 save are included in the onward state.
Playing all three games as one imported career also unlocks the Long Service Medal achievement or trophy in Legendary Edition.
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Why is Import ME1 Character or Import ME2 Character missing?
The usual reason is that the prior title has not produced a completion save because its ending and credits were not reached. Return to that title, load the career, finish the final sequence, and then reopen the next game’s New Game menu. Also make sure you are starting the specific game and choosing New Game; selecting Resume in the launcher or choosing Load Game does not start the import flow.
What does a full save import carry forward?
An import is more than a recap: it supplies a world state that changes later scenes, dialogue, characters, missions, and, in Mass Effect 3, war assets. It does not move every item or system directly between games. Spoilers follow.
Mass Effect 1 choices that echo through the trilogy
- Virmire’s survivor: Ashley or Kaidan is left behind permanently. The survivor appears in Mass Effect 2 without joining the squad and can return as a Spectre in Mass Effect 3.
- Wrex’s fate: If alive, Wrex unites Clan Urdnot; if dead, the more traditional Wreav takes his place and is less trusting of Shepard. This substantially changes later genophage diplomacy.
- The Council and human councilor: Saving the Citadel Council costs Alliance fleet strength later but can provide the Destiny Ascension as a war asset. Legendary Edition records the Anderson-or-Udina councilor choice correctly. In the original Mass Effect 2, that nomination occurred after the transfer save, so Miranda asked the player to recap it instead.
- Romance: The relationship can be reflected by a photograph in Shepard’s cabin and by later conversations, including awkward moments if Shepard begins a new relationship. Liara’s story can continue through Lair of the Shadow Broker. Romance flags can be triggered by relatively limited Paragon conversation, so players who want to avoid starting one should end the relevant dialogue after the first plot world.
- Major mission and character outcomes: Sparing Fist can lead to an Afterlife cameo. Saving Feros’ colonists and Shiala can lead to an Illium medical-contract assignment and a war asset in Mass Effect 3. The Rachni Queen decision affects an Illium message and a later rachni-related fork. Helping Gianna Parasini creates an Illium assignment; male Shepard can also have a kiss scene with her. Garrus’s Paragon or Renegade direction changes his backstory and Sidonis-mission dialogue. Giving Tali the geth data affects her proof of identity on Freedom’s Progress.
- Other survival flags: Rana Thanoptis can appear on Korlus and be mentioned later. If Kirrahe survives, he can appear in Mordin’s ship conversation and become a war asset; he can die saving the salarian councilor if Thane also survived.
- Smaller traces: Decisions involving Bring Down the Sky and Balak, UNC: Rogue VI, Conrad Verner, Khalisah al-Jilani, Emily Wong, keeper scans, and background-specific Citadel assignments mostly surface as emails, news, or short cameos. Balak can appear in Mass Effect 3’s Citadel: Batarian Codes assignment.
Mass Effect 2 choices that matter in Mass Effect 3
- Suicide Mission survival: Garrus and Tali can return as squadmates if they lived. Grunt, Jack, Jacob, Kasumi, Legion, Morinth, Mordin, Miranda, Samara, Thane, and Zaeed can appear in some form if alive, though some may still die in Mass Effect 3 if their loyalty was incomplete. Kelly Chambers, Kenneth Donnelly, Gabriella Daniels, and Dr. Chakwas can also return if they survived; Kelly additionally requires the dinner flag.
- Genophage data: Whether Maelon’s research was saved or destroyed affects Eve’s condition.
- Geth and quarian conflict: Rewriting or destroying the geth heretics changes the relative strength of geth and quarian war assets. Tali’s exile makes later peace more difficult.
- Samara or Morinth: The choice determines whether Samara can become a war asset or Morinth can appear as an enemy on Earth.
- Collector Base: Destroying it gives the Reaper Heart war asset and can tilt a low-military-strength endgame choice toward Destroy; preserving it gives the Reaper Brain and can tilt the choice toward Control.
- Other mission flags: Completing Lair of the Shadow Broker affects an intel upgrade and Liara’s first conversation. Arrival completion changes dialogue; skipping it costs the Alliance 103rd Marine Division 50 military strength, according to the Fextralife Mass Effect 3 Wiki (2021). Overlord and Firewalker lead to Vega and Cortez’s Hammerhead discussion and later Archer or David follow-ups. Spectre reinstatement, the Keiji graybox, punching al-Jilani, and Conrad’s Illium resolution also leave traces.
What changes mechanically when a career is imported?
Each game translates some progression into its own systems rather than transferring Shepard’s whole inventory unchanged. The figures below are import bonuses documented by Mass Effect Wiki and IGN in 2026; the level bands differ between the original release and Legendary Edition.
| Mass Effect 1 import band | Starting level | XP | Credits | Each resource |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1–49 | 2 | 1,000 | 20,000 | 2,500 |
| Level 50–59 in the original release; levels 50–56 in Legendary Edition | 3 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 5,000 |
| Level 60 in the original release; levels 57–59 in Legendary Edition | 5 | 4,000 | 50,000 | 10,000 |
Morality transfers only in part: a Mass Effect 1 Paragon or Renegade bar that is 50% full can transfer up to 190 points of that alignment, according to Mass Effect Wiki and IGN (2026). Gear, weapon licenses, medi-gel and grenade upgrades, and Codex entries do not become Mass Effect 2 inventory.
Credit rules vary by edition. In the original game, the “Rich” achievement for holding 1,000,000 credits at once adds 100,000 credits to the import. Legendary Edition instead carries 10% of the first game’s credits, capped at 100,000, according to Mass Effect Wiki (2026) and IGN (2026). Independently, completing Mass Effect 2’s story awards a starting bonus of 200,000 credits and 50,000 of each resource; IGN notes that the theoretical credit total can reach 350,000 when combined with import bonuses.
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What carries from Mass Effect 2 into Mass Effect 3?
Shepard’s level carries, but credits reset. Three Normandy upgrades transfer: Heavy Ship Armor, Multicore Shields, and Thanix Cannon. Excess minerals from Mass Effect 2 convert to war assets, while bought gear does not transfer. Model ships and the space hamster can be rediscovered in Mass Effect 3; fish return if Kelly Chambers was persuaded to feed them and survived.
What carries into Mass Effect 3 New Game+?
Importing a completed Mass Effect 3 career into a new Mass Effect 3 campaign carries level, class, powers, reputation, weapons, armor, modifications, and credits. Appearance and bonus power can be changed, but class cannot. The weapon-upgrade ceiling rises from V to X; war assets and intel-terminal upgrades reset.
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Import a completed save whenever you want the most detailed continuation. Genesis is a faster substitute for starting Mass Effect 2 or Mass Effect 3 without a usable career, but it offers only headline decisions rather than the full record of a playthrough. IGN’s guide, updated 23 June 2026, describes it as “nowhere near as granular as playing Mass Effect 1 outright.”
| Consideration | Full-game import | Genesis |
|---|---|---|
| What it uses | A completed career from the previous game | A short interactive comic selected during a new campaign |
| Choice detail | Major decisions plus many mission, loyalty, character, and smaller flags | A limited set of major outcomes; most side-quest, loyalty-detail, and collectible flags are absent |
| Time | Requires finishing the preceding game | About 15 minutes per comic in Legendary Edition; the original DLC description gave 15–20 minutes |
| Squad and collectible detail | Can carry the actual relevant survival, loyalty, and other recorded flags | Does not recreate most detailed loyalty or collectible outcomes |
| Best fit | You have a finished save and want the fullest continuity | You are beginning a later game without a prior completion save |
How do I start Genesis?
- From the Legendary Edition launcher, start Mass Effect 2 or Mass Effect 3.
- Begin a new campaign and select male or female Shepard without importing a save.
- In Mass Effect 2, the Collector-attack prologue runs before a popup offers Genesis. In Mass Effect 3, the offer appears immediately. Choose Yes to make choices; choose No only if you accept the default world state.
- Answer the comic’s decisions using the dialogue wheel, which pauses the scene. Mark Meer or Jennifer Hale narrates according to Shepard’s gender. Panels can be skipped.
- Afterward, continue to character creation. A Genesis career begun in Mass Effect 2 can later be imported into Mass Effect 3, carrying the choices made in that comic.
The first comic covers romance or mission focus; Wrex’s fate; the Virmire survivor; the Council’s fate; and whether Anderson or Udina becomes human councilor. The second covers recruiting squadmates, staying with Ashley or Kaidan and Liara or moving on, resolving squadmate conflicts, rescuing the Normandy crew immediately or preparing the ship and team first, romance with Tali, Miranda, or Garrus, and the Collector Base decision. Those compressed outcomes do not stand in for every loyalty mission or side quest.
The second comic’s two crew-rescue paths encode trade-offs rather than letting you set each person’s fate individually. “Prepare ship and team” implies loyalty missions and Normandy upgrades that help the squad survive, but most of the Normandy crew die apart from Dr. Chakwas. Choosing “Rescue crew immediately” implies that about half the squad dies.
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Can I import original trilogy saves into Legendary Edition?
It depends on which original game produced the PC save. Original PC Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 careers can be copied into the corresponding Legendary Edition save folders. Original Mass Effect 1 saves cannot be loaded by Legendary Edition’s first game because the format changed.
Copy an original PC Mass Effect 2 or 3 save
GameSpot and GameRevolution confirmed the folder-copy method for original PC Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 saves. GameRevolution reported loading a save and playing for about 10 minutes in each game without issues, while cautioning that it could not guarantee every save would load flawlessly. This is not an equivalent console migration method.
- Launch the relevant Legendary Edition game, start a new game so its save folders are created, then quit once the opening sequence begins.
- Find the original career folder. The usual Mass Effect 2 location is
C:Users[username]DocumentsBioWareMass Effect 2Save[Name_Level_Class_Date]; use the corresponding original Mass Effect 3 folder for an ME3 career. - Copy the character folder into the Legendary Edition location:
C:Users[username]DocumentsBioWareMass Effect Legendary EditionSaveME2or...SaveME3, matching the game. - Start Legendary Edition, avoid Resume, open Load Game, and select the copied career.
Why can’t I copy an original Mass Effect 1 save the same way?
The original first game saves use the .MASSEFFECTSAVE format, while Legendary Edition rebuilt Mass Effect 1 around the later .pcsav format. The original files therefore appear corrupted rather than importing normally. GameSpot reported this incompatibility on 16 May 2021; GameRevolution (13 May 2021) and Pro Game Guides (17 May 2021) also reported launch-era tests with the same result. A later unofficial rename suggestion conflicts with those reports and should not be treated as a reliable conversion method.
How did original trilogy imports work?
For the original PC games, the first-to-second-game transfer used a configuration utility rather than Legendary Edition’s single-launcher flow.
- Open the Mass Effect 2 configuration utility from its launcher’s Configure option or run
...Mass Effect 2BinariesMassEffect2Config.exe. - Choose Save Files → Copy Mass Effect Save Games. The default first-game location is
...My DocumentsBioWareMass EffectSave. - Start Mass Effect 2, choose New Game → Import ME1 Character, and select the career.
That configuration tool had a documented conflict that could prevent Mass Effect 2 from launching; the Mass Effect Wiki describes a manual-copy workaround. Each completed victory on the same Shepard is saved as a separate career, and the importer shows major decisions before the player commits.
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On Xbox 360, the import depended on a hidden final autosave stored on the hard drive or Arcade internal flash used to finish the game. A routine file-management copy could miss it. One workaround was to copy a pre-finale save to the target drive, replay the ending there, and import the resulting autosave. The same approach applied when moving a backwards-compatible Xbox One Mass Effect 1 completion onto a 360 to build the second-game import.
Legendary Edition is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. PlayStation Legendary Edition does not support cross-generation save transfer; GameSpot identifies Xbox One and Series as the cross-generation path. The first game’s original save-format break remains separate from the ability to continue a Legendary Edition career through the trilogy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can Mass Effect 3 import a Shepard who died in the Suicide Mission?
No. If Shepard died at the end of the Suicide Mission, Mass Effect 3 rejects that career; that Shepard’s story ends in Mass Effect 2. Choose a different completed Mass Effect 2 career if you have one, or begin a new Mass Effect 3 game with Genesis to establish a limited set of earlier choices.
Do trilogy saves import into Mass Effect: Andromeda?
No. Mass Effect: Andromeda does not read trilogy career saves, and choices made in Legendary Edition do not affect it. The Mass Effect Wiki’s save-transfer guide distinguishes Andromeda from Legendary Edition: original trilogy saves can be brought into Legendary Edition in supported cases, but not into Andromeda.
Is there a next Mass Effect that can import these choices?
As of 21 October 2026, no player-facing next game can import Legendary Edition choices. EA announced that it would not proceed with BioWare’s early-development Mass Effect project and would close BioWare and its Edmonton workspace. The staff memo quoted by IGN said, “We’ve made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we’re closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace.” Bloomberg, via IGN, reported about 400 EA job cuts, around 3% of staff, including roughly 50 BioWare roles.
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IGN reported that the unreleased project had been confirmed as set hundreds of years after Mass Effect 3, returning to the Milky Way. On 25 October 2026, former franchise technical director Romain Toutain described the project’s choice system as accounting for trilogy decisions through alternate timelines. He explained that the game had “different timelines, basically” rather than one simple combined universe. That system was never released, so there is no save folder, import menu, or Genesis-style recap for a Mass Effect 5. IGN reported the Prime Video live-action series remained in development at Amazon MGM Studios at the time of the studio closure.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Mass Effect choices are officially counted as importable?
There is no official published count of distinct importable plot flags. The import covers decisions at several levels, from major character fates to smaller mission outcomes, so a single number would depend on what counts as a separate flag.
Did PlayStation 3 players always need Genesis to continue Mass Effect 1?
Before the Mass Effect Trilogy package and the PlayStation Network release of the first game, Genesis was the practical way for PS3 owners to carry its decisions into Mass Effect 2. The comic came through the Cerberus Pack with new PS3 copies; Xbox 360 and PC players could buy it separately.
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Can I make a broken original Mass Effect 1 import work with a save editor?
Unofficial PC save editors can alter plot tables after a first Mass Effect 2 save, but they are not an official import route and can create contradictory states. For example, a corrupted combination could designate both Anderson and Udina as councilor.
