For a game as old as Mass Effect, we get to enjoy a whopping assortment of 108 different combinations of character modifications to choose from. You can really go the extra mile to create your very own unique shepherd. But how do you change your appearance in Mass Effect from the get-go? Let’s get started.
You can change your appearance in Mass Effect after you start the game and choose your Military Specialization. To change your facial structure, jaw, mouth, head, eyes, and nose. You can only change your appearance once when the game begins. After that, you’re stuck with your custom Shephard.
When you first boot into Mass Effect, you’re given the option to choose either Commander John or Jane Shephard, titled with the Soldier Class. They’re of Earthborn Origin with a reputation set to Sole Survivor. If you just want to hop into the game, choose this. But if you want to make your own Shephard, select Enter New ID.
What Carries Over in Mass Effect Trilogy?
Select New ID
After you select New ID, you’ll be able to customize four categories for Commander Shephard.
- Pre-Service History
- Psychological Profile
- Military Specialization
- Gender
While character traits on the surface, they do add a bit of depth to the game as they alter the story and key gameplay factors. You can use a custom name, but that doesn’t really matter as it’ll only show up in your profile. The characters in Mass Effect will either address you as Shephard, by your last name, or by your Rank.
How to Change Your Gender in Mass Effect
When stepping into the character creation tool, you’ll have to assign a gender to your Shephard, be it Male or Female. Throughout all three games, your gender is pretty much locked and it’s not quite possible to switch or transition your gender through Mass Effect 2 or 3.
What gender does is, of course, alter your appearance options, and your romance interactions and sexual affiliations with characters are catered to accordingly. The gender option makes some minor alterations to the dialogue as well, but nothing too drastic.
How To Change Your Appearance in Mass Effect
After you’re done selecting your Military Specialization, you’ll be given the choice of selecting your Facial Identification. You can either go with the default look or change your character’s appearance.
You can go the route of cycling through available presets or use the bespoke character creation tool of Mass Effect 3 to fiddle with your Facial Structure etc. You’re given a total of 8 options to go for:
- Facial Structure
- Head
- Eyes
- Jaw
- Mouth
- Nose
- Hair
- Scar
Facial Structure
In the Facial Structure Option, you’re introduced to three sliders that allow you to fiddle with the general Facial Structure, your Skin Tone, and Complexion.
Head
Head on over to the Head Option and you’ll be introduced to loads of customization sliders. You can change the thickness of your neck to beef up Shephard. Altering the size of your noggin is also a welcome addition. Cheek width can be manipulated. You can attune the facial structure a bit more by messing with the Cheek Bones, Cheek Gaunt, Ear Size, and Ear Oriention.
Eyes
The eye options are pretty ample. You can skew the shape, height, width, depth, and iris color of your eyes. Eyebrows can be manipulated too.
Jaw
Next up is the jaw with sliders for Chin Height, Chin Depth, Chin Width, and Jaw Width.
Mouth
You can change the shape of your mouth and tweak the Mouth Deth, Lip Size, Mouth Height and Mouth Width.
Nose
If you don’t like your nose, you can give your Shephard a Nose Job by changing the Nose Shape, height, and depth.
Hair
Hair spices things up a bit with loads of premade hairstyles, beards, and brows to browse. You can preselect your hair and facial hair color separately.
Scar
Commander Shephard is no soy boy. He’s headed into battle multiple times and if you’re looking to give your Shephard a scar, now you can.
Can You Change Your Appearance in Mass Effect Later?
Sadly, once you create your character, you can’t really change your appearance later in the game. Since the game and hence, Legendary Edition has been out for more than a decade, we don’t expect to see any updates in terms of character customization either.
Conclusion
And that’s all you need to know on how to change your appearance in Mass Effect. You can create your very own custom Shephard or head straight into the action with the default character. It all comes down to you.