Out of the Freezer¶

Gawk at all the trophies and inspirational relics in Pathfinder HQ, then leave and make your way to Addison’s Office, where you’ll need to talk to Addison, then her assistant, Vladimir Brecka, to learn about all this AVP business. As you complete tasks that increase the stability, resources and odds of success of the Andromeda Initiative, you’ll earn Andromeda Viability Points (AVP) to represent these developments. These new developments will, in turn, allow the Nexus staff to awaken more people from cryostasis, done as operational blocs based on your needs at the moment.

Simply put: Complete quests to earn AVP, earn enough AVP to level up the Nexus and you’ll be able to awaken a new Cryo Pod. Once awakened, members of these pods will begin working for the benefit of the Pathfinder, earning you resources are regular intervals (every 45 minutes) or bestowing a permanent, passive perk on you. Some cryo pods require other, specific pods to be unlocked first, while other require you to reach certain viability thresholds on planets, or both. Below is a list of the cryo pods you can unlock, and the effects they have:

That being the case, which pods should you open first? Well, arguably resource pods, as stockpiling consumables, Research Data and minerals early on will make combat easier in the long run, either by allowing you to more freely use consumables, or by giving you a freer hand with research and development expenditures. “Mining Operations”, “Lab Technicians” and “Munitions” are all good first choices. It’s fairly easy to gather alien animal bits, due to their respawn rates, and these Bio Materials can be harvested and sold (especially Shell Filaments!) for a tidy profit, making worrying about money somewhat of a non-issue.

Make your pick, then, if applicable, enjoy your first reward and some quest XP for resolving this issue. You can collect resources gathered by returning to the AVP Status Control console in the Nexus, or by using a similar console in the Tempest’s Research Room. Note that you can also view the “Andromeda Viability” tab in the main menu now, just enter the menu and press [Triangle]/[Y].

Science Pods¶

Lab Technicians:

Every 45 minutes you’ll get 100 Milky Way Research Data points. It might seem fairly limited, but Milky Way Research Data is relatively scarce (compared to Heleus Research Data, anyways), and can be used to create many great items… especially if you favor biotics.

Mining Operations:

Every 45 minutes you’ll get a random assortment of several mineral types. You can get common, uncommon, rare… even ultra-rare minerals, and the more common a mineral is, the more you’ll get.

Improved Development:

Gives you 10% extra Research Data points from every scan. While this can certainly add up over time, you’re probably looking at an extra 1,000 Research Data points split between all three research branches, at best. On the other hand, it’s a necessary step on the way to the Innovation perk, so… the sooner you get it, the more you’ll get out of it.

Expanded Field Analysis:

Supposedly this perk spawns more common mineral nodes, which is less than ideal for several reasons. First, why bother running around looking for mineral nodes when you can just sit back and wait for the Mining Operations perk to deliver plentiful resources to you? Second, you can just spend easily-farmed Credits on whatever resources you need. A very low-priority perk.

Military Pods¶

Munitions:

This perk gives you a random consumable (ammo, Cobra RPGs, Shield Capacitors, etc) at regular intervals (45:00). This allows you to feel more comfortable expending them, and considering how much of a boon they can be, it might prove to be rather helpful to have a larger stock of such toys. On the other hand, you can buy consumables from many merchants, if you’re willing to farm.

Hunting Parties:

Every 45 minutes you’ll gain a random assortment of Bio Materials - Eiroch Fluid Sacs, Renderable Plates, Shell Filaments, etc. These are mostly useful for selling or crafting certain Heleus technology. Much of it can be purchased or harvested, mitigating the need to immediately invest in this perk.

Special Forces:

Every 45 minutes you’ll be rewarded with a variety of Tech Materials, such as Kett Alloy, Omni-Gel Canisters and Remnant Polymer. These are useful for crafting Remnant technology and Heleus technology, and to be fair, are relatively more difficult to farm than Bio Materials. Not a top priority, but if you plan to craft a lot of arms and armor, it might be worth an investment.

Reconnaissance:

Like the Expanded Field Analysis perk, this perk spawns random caches of goodies around planets, increasing the amount of loot you’ll find while exploring. This can be fairly hit and miss, however, as most of what you’ll find can be obtained in other, more reliable ways (resources have dedicated perks that are certainly more useful, and a crafted weapon will always be stronger than found ones, thanks to mods). That being the case, you’re probably better off investing in other perks and buying/crafting what you need.

Advanced Training:

You’ll get 10% more XP for completing encounters… not quests - encounters. Still, that can amount to a nice chunk of XP. Then again, you can simply drive back between enemy camps and kill them again, and you’ll earn more XP than you know what to do with just by questing. Add that to the fact that after a leveling sweet spot (usually in the mid 20’s), futher leveling will actually hinder you in some ways due to enemy power scaling. You don’t really need to speed up the process.

Always Prepared:

If you like consumables… well, this lets you carry more of them. Consider it if you’re a combat or tech class, or otherwise get more use out of consumables. Biotic-heavy characters may not use them as often, in which case, this may prove less beneificial.

Versatility:

Like Always prepared, this unlocks a fourth and final consumable slot. It can’t hurt to have Incendiary Ammo (for armor), Disruptor Ammo (for shields), a Cobra RPG, and a damage mitigation consumable on hand. How much you use consumables may vary based on your build, but if they’re a large part of your game (say, you have the Munitions perk), then this might be worth a buy.

APEX Tactics:

You’ll earn 15% more credits from APEX missions. Quick, what’s 115% of a pittance? Right, still a pittance. Go kill some Kaerkyns, sell Shell Filaments, it’ll be much quicker.

Commerce Pods¶

Financial Infrastructure:

Earn 500 Credits every 45 minutes. 500 Credits isn’t a bad sum, but when you consider that simply killing one Kaerkyn on Eos can yield 1,000 Credits worth of Shell Filaments it should become obvious that this is largely a waste of Cryo Pod points.

Financial Infrastructure II:

This perk upgrades the amount of money you’ll make every 45 minutes to 750. Very hard to vouch for this one.

Grey Market Connections:

With this perk you’ll earn a tiny increase to buy/sell prices. While the benefits may be mediocre overall, this usefulness of this perk is further eroded due to the fact that… well, it just seems to stop working after a while.

Market Dominance:

Merchants will now sell new, rarer items. Most (if not all) of these items can be found by just shopping around or crafting, however, and crafted weapons and armor have greater potential due to mods than non-crafted ones.

Trade Capacity:

Increases your inventory limit by 50. An absolute must-have perk before the patch (when you were limited to 50 items at the start), after the patch, expanding from 100 items to 150 is nice, but not essential.

After you select whichever Cryo Pod rewards you want, it’s time to move on. There are a few new quests to pick up on the Nexus, which will be covered below. If you can’t be bothered to do any tasks or sidequests right now, skip ahead to the next Priority Ops “A Trail of Hope - Aya and the Angara”.