Hi, I'm just playing Mass Effect for the first time, and I'm just curious about a few things.
Is it a good idea to allow auto-levelling for my crew members? I chose soldier class for Shepherd, so I have very little utility skills with him.
Also, am I better off converting things into omni-gel, or selling it for cash? What does omni-gel do?
Also any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
AI is stupid in any game ever made. Do you really trust an AI to make the right leveling choices? IIRC, when the AI levels a character it simply distributes the points equally among all the skills, about the most sub-optimal way of allocating points imaginable. I highly recommend not allowing the AI to level anything.
Instead, look at the skill trees and you will see that each skill has 3 levels: basic, advanced, and master. With most of the skills, your cool down time on the power will decrease by 10 seconds for advanced and another 10 seconds for master. In addition, the damage the power does will increase by 50 points. For instance, overload will go from 50 points at basic, to 100 points at advanced, and 150 points at master. You should aim to get to master or advanced levels for your various powers.
At the beginning, because all the powers take about 1 minute to be ready to use again (cool down time=60 seconds) you want to concentrate on unlocking as many skills as possible so that you and your squadmates have a range of powers they can use. Then you can start concentrating on leveling up to more advanced versions of your powers so that they cool down faster, last longer, and are more powerful.
Omni-gel is used to skip the mini-games used to open crates. It is also used to repair the Mako when it is damaged. For any weapon, armor, or mod, level 1-4 versions are worth so little money you might as well just turn them into omni-gel. Only when you start getting level 5 and better stuff should you bother selling the stuff.
Why do you want to sell stuff? A lot of players are under the impression that they can just use what they find and there is no need to buy anything. But that is not the case. The best weapons in the game can only be bought from either the Normandy supply guy, or the C-Sec requisitions officer at C-Sec Academy. These weapons are listed as HMW(*) Spectre - Master Gear. You will want to make enough money to buy these weapons. You will also want to check in with various merchants to check for better armor and perhaps better omni-tools and biotic amps. The best armor is called Colossus. You can only get it starting around level 40. The best omni-tools and biotic amps are called Savant's.
You should also note that decryption and electronics let you unlock things. This doesn't need to be on Shepard, one of your squadies will do. The break points, are 1 point for easy, 5 points for medium and 9 points for hard. Conveniently these are the break points for basic, advanced and master for those abilities. You never really need to take these two skills past those points.
I would suggest you never use the auto level option. Instead look at your companions' skills and where the level breaks are. That will let you make informed, useful distribution of their skill points.
I would play as a Soldier class first time through the game. This will help you unlock all the weapon achievements, which means on the next playthrough you will be able to give them as a bonus to classes who otherwise would not be able to use them.
Also level your squad yourself. As mentioned above the automatic system tries to even things out, whereas you are better specialising them to compliment the class of the Shepard you are playing. Plus pick a weapon for your squad mates and level that. For example don't level Garrus to high in both assault rifles and sniper rifles.
Everyone has given good advice or linked to a thread with good advice. Let me add some additional links:
(Mass Effect 1) Start of the Journey: Single Playthrough Builds by Simbacca. Note that these builds include a bonus power. For first-time playthroughs you will not have any bonus powers unlocked.
ME 1 weapon and armor calculations by The Grey Ranger. In case you are curious.
And since you are playing as a Soldier, I highly recommend Basic Soldier Leveling Guide by capn233. Note that I think he had all XP bonuses, so you will not level up as fast as he did. I don't recall if there are many spoilers in that thread, but be warned.
Your level cap is 50 for a first playthrough.
For the Soldier, Assault Rifles are terrible until level IV (level 4) assault rifles start to drop, right around when you reach level 20. Level IV assault rifles start to gain accuracy around that level (levels I - III assault rifles only have 1 accuracy). So I recommend sticking with the Pistol until you start to get better assault rifles.
Sniper Rifles tend to be pretty bad early since they do not have much accuracy. You really need higher-level sniper rifles (with accuracy) to make them better, and investing in the Sniper Rifles talent also adds accuracy. It also requires a lot of points in Assault Rifles to unlock the Sniper Rifles talent.
As others have suggested, you are better off converting level I - III or IV items you don't use into Omni Gel since you do not get enough credits back to make it worth it. You can pretty much convert all Assault Rifles and Sniper Rifles into Omni Gel at ranks I to III since they are all bad.
Thanks so much for all of the advice! I've started levelling my people manually as advised and after a few hours of play it definitely all makes a lot more sense.
I'm the opposite. I think being informed before your first play through of any game is the worst thing you can do.That will let you make informed, useful distribution of their skill points.
I'm the opposite. I think being informed before your first play through of any game is the worst thing you can do.
For me the only way to play a game will always be to only know what you learn from the manual, the in game tutorial, or from playing the game.
Becoming better though learning what works and what doesn't is just as important and getting better by leveling up
....
What has the OP gained by being told stuff he would have learned by 1/3 of the way through his first play through.
Each squad mate may have had a couple of points in less than ideal places. Would it have stopped him from killing Saren?
Does having the mathematically best allocation of points stop his squad mates from overheating their guns, shooting into rocks?
I will always believe that the best gaming experience will always come from knowing only what the developers wanted you to know.
Personally, I agree with for the most part, in that I prefer learning by playing the game.
However, this is Mass Effect 1, and if you screw up your points or want to try a new build/power setup you have no way of resetting your points (unlike in ME2 or ME3).
Heck, it took me about 2-3 playthroughs before I started getting comfortable with the game, and even then, I had played about a dozen playthroughs before joining these forums and learning about stuff I wished I had known beforehand (like free charm/intimidate points, killing in the Mako reduces XP gained by 50%).
"Also, am I better off converting things into omni-gel, or selling it for cash? What does omni-gel do?"
Don't even worry about credits. In my first playthrough by the end of the game I had 6 million credits just by selling the leftover weapons and weapon/armor upgrades.
Hell, my last playthrough I had like 9999999 max credits just by selling those high-tier upgrades.
Omni-gel...well someone already explained it up there. I don't remember ever having to use more than 50 Omni-gel an entire playthrough.
Don't worry about credits in this game.
By the time you reach level 35-40 you'll have enough credits to buy every Spectre weapon, an Amp/Omni-tool and get a Kassa Fabrication armory license to buy the Colossus/Predator armor.
Again, in my last playthrough I had Liara/Tali/Garrus and myself in Colossus armor and Wrex in Battlemaster armor and still had too much credits.
Credits are too laughable in this game.
Another thing I should mention:
After you reach level 20, the next time you access the galaxy map and travel to a new system, Admiral Hackett will call you and give you a new mission. (I recommend travelling to the Citadel or another system you have already visited to avoid him telling you about an assignment specific to that system). Completing this mission will give you a choice between one of two class specializations.
The mission is called
For the Soldier, you have a choice between Commando or Shock Trooper.
Commando will increase weapon damage, improve Assassination (sniper rifle) and Marksman (pistol) talents, and reduce cooldown on Immunity.
Shock Trooper will increase health, damage protection, and reduce cooldown on Immunity.
"Before I begin handing out advice, I want to say that I am a player who begins at veteran difficulty, and I increase the difficulty after each play-through. So, I have played this game on the hardest difficulty, and have beaten the game on that difficulty. This advice is from my own experience playing, and I will list some general tips."
Leveling your companions:
Like others have said, do not allow the AI to do any of the leveling for you. Do not spec your companions for combat either, as you will be doing most of the killing and fighting. Instead, focus on the utilities your companions have to offer, whether they be crowd control, being able to open stuff, de-buffs. or just being a bullet sponge.
Combat Tips:
When in combat, do not hug the wall to take cover. There is a cover system in Mass Effect 1, but the cover system frankly sucks. You have to go to the very edge of the wall to pop out and shoot, but the enemies can still hit you at the edge no matter what. Instead, it is far more effective to run in and out of cover, like in a First Person Shooter, than actually utilizing the cover system.
Also, pistols are your best general purpose weapon in the game, as pistols, with master marksman, has the highest dps in the game,it is more accurate than the assault rifle, easier heat management, and to me, makes every other weapon outside the sniper rifle, a matter of preference. Sniper rifles are your only long range weapon, which gives them some use over the pistol, but I found there weren't many situations where I needed to snipe. Of course, you could if you want to.
Vendors:
Do not worry about buying anything from the vendors other than your basic capacity upgrades,(but you do not even have to buy those, as grenades and what not are sort of useless)because the loot you find improves as you level up.
Just wanted to say enjoy your first playthrough - wish I could go back to my first time! Take your time, dig deep and enjoy 
Agree that you shouldn't waste a lot buying weapons from the shops, you'll get them in the crates you unlock and the ones you find level up as you go... but do at least buy the Elkoss Combine license if you plan to take this Shepard through to ME3. Do get a medical armor upgrade from Dr. Michel (particularly if you're not finding any in crates yet and your Shep doesn't have any regen). They are also useful to put on squaddies that don't have any regen capabilities.
I'm the opposite. I think being informed before your first play through of any game is the worst thing you can do.
You should've been more careful with spoilers in that post. Especially since you stated that you didn't think being informed was a good idea
The OP said he/she just started the series for the first time. No need to post upcoming events in the following games imho.
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