Mass Effect Legendary Edition

127 Achievements

2915 XP

120-150h

Epic

Archivist

ME1: Find all primary Alien: Council Races, Extinct Races and Non-Council Races codex entries

20 XP

21.0%

How to unlock the Archivist achievement in Mass Effect Legendary Edition - Definitive Guide

Papo Fett

TrueAchievements

14 May 2021 10:26

To get this achievement, you'll have to learn about the following races:

Council races:
- Asari - story related, first meeting with the Council
- Salarian - story related, first meeting with the Council
- Turian - story related, during your first chat with Nihlus

Non-Council races:
- Batarian - after you become a Spectre, before you leave the Citadel for the first time, talk with Anderson and use the Investigate (left) dialogue option to ask about his past, use all the options
- Elcor - you can find one in the embassy next to the human office
- Geth - as soon as you meet Ashley, use the Investigate (left) dialogue option to ask her about the Geth
- Hanar - you can find a merchant in Citadel's Emporium who will tell you more about his race
- Keepers - you can use Avina terminal to learn more about them
- Krogan - automatically unlocks when Wrex is recruited
- Volus - you can find one in the embassy next to the human office
- Quarian - automatically unlocks when Tali is recruited

Extinct races:
- Protheans - I believe this one is the most missable as you have to use the Investigate (left) dialogue option during the meeting with Anderson and Nihlus that happens at the beginning of the game (before landing on Eden Prime)
- Rachni - one of the early points to learn more about Rachni is to ask Avina that's located close to the Krogan statue close to the Citadel's Emprium

117

14 May 2021 10:26

34 Comments

All of these worked, except for the Batarians. I exhausted all the options he had to say, but didn't get this one.

By Tuxie Duck on 14 May 2021 21:05

I believe that the Batarians are before you become a Spectre, before you leave a citadel.

By McTennisD on 14 May 2021 22:19

I returned to Anderson after Feros (Before Noveria) and triggered a conversation and got the batarian codex. The only one I need is Prothean... Can I not get it on Ilos?

By Beeeeaaann on 15 May 2021 00:32

I can confirm the Batarian codex unlocked exactly when OP described, but not quite how. It wasn't any of the investigate questions, but it was under it on the left of the wheel, asking Anderson for the full story about him and Saren. It popped the achievement for me as soon as I picked the dialogue option.

By wdya on 15 May 2021 04:23

Yes, batarians can be obtained by asking anderson 'you and the spectres worked together?' 'something went wrong?' ' was anyone hurt?' he will then go into talking about the batarians

By Golden Sequence on 15 May 2021 05:00

Curious, I talked to him 3 times, following the exact same pattern where I asked about him and Spectres, got the comment where Batarians were mentioned, no codex entry. On 4th time it it triggered for some reason, so keep this in mind if you're not getting it on the first couple of tries. Note that I played couple of extra missions between the conversations.

By Tuxie Duck on 15 May 2021 15:15

Where is Anderson located after you become a Spectre? He’s not in the usual Embassy spot.

Edit: I found him. He’s in the docking bay accessible through the central elevator in C-Sec.

By FLEEBS on 15 May 2021 21:24

Can also confirm OP is correct after you become a spectre Anderson will be in the docking bay with Udina to give you your new ship and that is when you can ask anderson aboot his personal history with the batarions

By SSgtRubberDucky on 15 May 2021 21:40

So basically you can unlock this before you get the Normandy?
[rubs eyes]
Saying that is there *anywhere* else that you can get the Protheans?

By PawnSacrifices on 16 May 2021 00:29

I unlocked the batarian entry by playing the Bring Down the Sky mission, so there's a place to get it if you miss the dialogue option with Anderson.

By Triarius on 16 May 2021 08:56

For the Keeper entry, I had to ask the Avina directly outside of the citadel tower to get it.

By missionBoo on 16 May 2021 23:54

Anyone else experiencing this to glitch out on them? Done all the recommended steps and more in the codec entries and then all the dialogue prompts but still no chieveo popping. On series X if that makes a difference. I know it's only another hour ISH again to do but having to try it for a third time with all the non skipable cutscenes is gonna kill me 😂

By TK16938 on 21 May 2021 00:48

I have all entries listed in this solution, appearing the kodex. But the achievement didn't pop. Could it be bugged?

By ItaloMJ91 on 25 May 2021 19:14

Also can't get this to pop. Shame.

By THEpaynexkiller on 28 May 2021 18:18

I can't even bring myself to start again to get this achievement, sad part is, thus is one of 3 acheivements preventing me getting the 2915gs (other two are max level weapons in me2&3)

By anthony2690 on 28 May 2021 20:08

Mine just popped talking to an Elcor on Noveria. Weird af.

By THEpaynexkiller on 29 May 2021 19:34

I just want to point out that to earn the Keepers codex you have to speak with the Avina terminal that’s directly next to a keeper. I talked to a few different Avinas before I figured out the correct one that will give you the information about the Keepers.

By DarkRicochet117 on 31 May 2021 23:45

So, I don't have the Keepers entry, even though I spoke to Avina about them...

By kovalenko on 01 Jun 2021 00:02

Missing the prothean one is straight up ass.

By Magic Skoo1 Bus on 02 Jun 2021 01:32

Worth noting that these will show up under the Primary Codex entries section. I had a number of entries on Protheans under the Secondary Codex entries section. If you don't have a category for Extinct Races, you missed this.

By Sol Invictus XI on 14 Jun 2021 05:20

Does anyone know if you can get this with two separate playthroughs? I missed the Prothean entry the first go around.

By Mudlo7581 on 20 Jun 2021 23:02

Unfortunately no as soon as you start NG+ your codex is wiped I’m doing the exact same thing, starting NG+ game on casual I got them all in an hour so not to bad

By ccliffy90 on 23 Jun 2021 11:28

Are said spots the only ways to get certain ones?

By Darick 23 on 29 Jul 2021 03:18

The Protheans entry is the most missable of the bunch. The original game had the same issue. It's very easily missed because it's right at the beginning of the game and requires a specific dialogue selection.

By Valiant Phoenix on 31 Jul 2021 21:55

I got all the codex entries needed for the achievement but it did not unlock. I dont know what I did wrong but I double checked against the list and there's nothing missing. What did I do wrong? Is there an order in which the entries need to be collected or something?

By simateix on 10 Aug 2021 20:35

Do I look under primary or secondary?

By Antny Xx on 15 Jan 2022 06:13

This wasn't working for me so I assumed it was bugged. Then for some reason when I spoke to the elcor merchant in the mess hall on Noveria it unlocked. Can't remember seeing a codex entry being added though, very weird.

By Myths Armada on 07 Feb 2022 22:45

I've spoken to the elcor mentioned and finished the quest involving him and a consort and still no codex entry for the elcor. Hopefully I'll have luck on novella as well

By dale smeegle on 22 Apr 2022 14:54

The Elcor entry in the Citadel didn't help.
But as soon as I spoke with the elcor vendor in Noveria, it finally unlocked !

By Wicelow on 14 Sep 2022 07:40

Just want to point out that you can get the Batarian entry during the Bring Down the Sky mission.

By wvgoldandblue24 on 03 Apr 2023 06:13

To add to the Prothean solution, it's not enough to just choose the "Protheans?" option during the Nihlus convo. You MUST also choose the option under "Investigate". I learned that the hard way.

By Jimeee on 02 Jan 2024 20:00

Doesn't seem these carry over into NG+, i missed the Prothean one but did all the others, quickly started a new game after i completed it to get the Prothean one but the achievement didn't pop, so i looked at my codex and it's pretty much empty. Fairly annoying, but at least it only takes an hour or so to get them all.

By Scotty#6895 on 16 May 2021 11:42

It’s infuriating that you spend like 50% of the game talking about Proteans and shit like that, doing missions about them and whatever.

And yet BioWare didn’t think any of these times would be valid enough to also unlock the entry about them, but instead puts in the most prologue of prologues and makes it missable if you press A one time too many.

EDIT: Did a new run purely for the reason of getting this achievement, and even skipping everything and rushing through everything it took about 50 minutes.

By White Lama on 22 May 2021 21:53

Solid info. As others have said, miss the option at the beginning for Protheans and you're hosed. Earliest you can get Quarian and Krogan is if you head for Chora's Den to find Harkin immediately after the first council meeting, where you'll bump into Wrex, and then learn about Quarians immediately after by going to find Garrus at the clinic. Mostly moot anyway as you'll earn them after recruitment and can't get Batarian until after becoming a spectre.

So Nihilus convo, Ashley for Geth, finish Eden Prime, quiz the Volus and Elcor ambassadors, Keepers Avina near tower, Citadel tower, Chora's Den, Med Clinic, Hanar salesman, Krogan statue Avina, return to tower, quiz Anderson about his previous mission, Achievement popped before Anderson finished speaking. Probably the most direct path but still took over an hour. You can skip conversations with X but that may also leave them so be careful with it.

By Chucklestyle on 13 Nov 2021 03:04

View all 34 comments Show less comments

The, Pants, Party

XboxAchievements

This achievement is highly missable, though you can unlock it within the first hour or so of the game so it's not the end of the world if you do. The "Protheans" codex entry can only be gained before you leave the ship for the first main story mission, or when talking to Anderson again right after he gives you the ship for good, so ensure you get that. The rest can be unlocked either automatically during the story or through multiple methods, and are not missable. I have only listed the easiest methods which do not expire. The full list of entries for this achievement are as follows:

Aliens: Council Races

Asari: Story related.
Salarian: Story related.
Turian: Story related.

Aliens: Extinct Races

Protheans: 1) During the first conversation with Captain Anderson and Nihlus, choose "Investigate" before completing the conversation, and Protheans should be one of the choices. 2) After becoming a Spectre, ask Anderson more about Noveria outside the Normandy but before boarding it.
Rachni: On the Citadel Presidium, go to the Avina terminal by the giant Krogan monument.

Aliens: Non-Council Races

Batarian: After Captain Anderson about his previous mission. He will be in Udina's office at the embassies on the Presidium after you leave the Citadel for the first time.
Elcor: At the embassies on the Citadel Presidium, talk to Calyn and ask him about the Elcor.
Geth: Investigate with Ashley Williams when you first meet her on Eden Prime, or once you get back onto the Normandy after finishing Eden Prime, ask Captain Anderson about it.
Hanar: On the Citadel Emporium on the Presidium, talk to the Hanar merchant named Delan. Ask him about his speech for the codex.
Keepers: On the Presidium, talk to the Avina terminal and a Keeper nearby and ask Avina about the Keepers.
Krogan: Story related.
Quarian: Story related.
Volus: In the embassies on the Citadel Presidium, talk to a Volus named Din Korlack and ask him about his race, or talk to the Avina terminal just outside of the embassies, and ask her about the Volus.