'Mass Effect: Andromeda' secrets: Hacks, exploits and Easter eggs revealed

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Mass Effect: Andromeda might be the start of a new chapter in the Mass Effect universe, but that doesn't mean there aren't a ton of references and nods to the older games in the series. As with any BioWare game, it would be well worth your while to take a break from the game's innumerable side quests and main narrative to find some of these secrets.

Read on for more on some of Mass Effect: Andromeda's many secrets.

Mass Effect: Andromeda secrets: Get unlimited credits and items using a glitch

Samurai Gamers has found that there's an easy way to get credits and items early on in the game once you've completed the tutorial mission, "Planetside," and gotten to the Nexus. Once you're on the Nexus, you'll get a side quest called "First Murderer," and once you accept it you'll be able to save your game manually in the Nexus. 

Save your game, then head to a small area to the right of the arms merchant in the area where you accepted the quest. Here you'll see a large orange crate that you can interact with to get loot out of, and if you take all but one item in the crate, then save and reload that file, the crate's contents will be restocked. You can use this until you embark on the next story mission, "A Better Beginning," at which point you might not be able to access the crate again, but according to Samurai Gamers it currently works on any other container in the game.

Mass Effect: Andromeda secrets: Use this trading trick for unlimited credits

For this glitch, IGN reports that you're going to want to advance the priority ops until you have access to the Govorkam system. Once there, head to Kadara, land on its surface and use the nearest transit console to access a prompt to "Take Lift to Slums." Once there, head west along the road until you find a woman named Thrasia, who will offer you a side quest called "A Packaged Deal."

Complete this side quest and Thrasia will give you a discount at her shop, which doesn't affect her buyback prices — use this to your advantage to buy large sums of valuable minerals on the cheap before selling them back to her for a pretty tidy profit.

Mass Effect: Andromeda secrets: How to unlock the secret tech tree skill

Shortly after you recruit the rogue academic Peebee, she'll mention via email that if you have any "rem-tech," you should give it to her. Once you've read that message, you should get a quest tracker for "Peebee's Secret Project," according to Polygon. This quest requires you to recover some rem-tech from Voeld, and then talk to Peebee in her escape pod in on the Nexus. She won't have any updates for you, but will ask you to visit her apartment at the Nexus.

Once you meet her in the Nexus, she'll show off a Remnant observer she's managed to reprogram, unlocking a new skill in Ryder's tech tree called "Remnant VI." This will allow Ryder to summon a friendly Remnant to attack enemies in combat.

Mass Effect: Andromeda secrets: Capture your very own miniature giant space hamster

Longtime fans of BioWare will remember Minsc the ranger and Boo, his "miniature" giant space hamster (itself a reference to the giant space hamsters of the Spelljammer Dungeons & Dragons setting) from Baldur's Gate. Now, there's a way you can get your very own space hamster in Andromeda

While on the Tempest, you can head to the kitchen and scan some crumbs, which will start a quest, according to What Culture. Do so, and you'll have to find two more small piles of food, at which point you'll be able to create a humane mousetrap and capture your very own space hamster, which you can keep in your quarters.

Mass Effect: Andromeda secrets: Other Easter eggs and references

If you're looking for Easter eggs, Andromeda has a ton of them, probably too many to list. Thankfully, the fine folks at Gameranx have compiled some of their favorites in a video, which we've embedded below. We won't spoil too much, but fans of Rick and Morty, Han Solo and the original series (including Mass Effect 1's villain, Saren Arterius) won't be disappointed.

There are probably even more Easter eggs to find, so take a break from saving the galaxy to poke around for some more, why don't you?

More Mass Effect: Andromeda news, updates, tips and tricks

For more on everyone's favorite space opera, check out the rest of what Mic has to offer. Here's an essay on the troubling history of colonialism in Mass Effect, a story about the horrifying harassment campaign carried out against a former BioWare employee, a guide to removing Ryder's helmet, a guide on romancing Keri, a guide to romancing Reyes and a quick explainer on the different types of health in Andromeda.