Andromeda Viability Points

This article is about the Nexus development points system. For the mission that introduces the AVP feature, see AVP Cryo Deployment Perks. For the multiplayer currency in Mass Effect: Andromeda, see Andromeda Points.

Andromeda Viability Points (AVP) represent the collective integrity of the colonization efforts in Andromeda.

Overview

AVP is earned by deploying Forward Stations, completing Missions, establishing Outposts, and activating Remnant vaults.

When enough AVP is earned, the Nexus level will increase, allowing more colonists to be awoken from cryo sleep by Pathfinder Ryder in order to support their missions. The type of colonists that are awoken determine what perks and advantages that will be available for the Pathfinder.

Cryo Pods

There are 3 categories of cryo pods - Science, Military, and Commerce. There are a total of 28 cryo pod perks that can be unlocked. Since Patch 1.08, a total of 24 perks (up from 17) can be unlocked in a single game run.

Not all of the cryo pod perks are available at the beginning of the game.

• Certain cryo pod perks are unlocked by unlocking prerequisite cryo pod perks.
• Other cryo pod perks are unlocked as planets and other game milestones are reached.

Science Pods

Selected for their years of field experience and ingenuity under pressure, these scientists' expertise can quickly improve the Initiative's research and resources gathering capabilities.

Icon	Name	Description	Requirement(s)	Reward
	Lab Technicians	Lab technicians help the Nexus science team analyze Heleus data with increased efficiency.	-	[Time-Based] Earn research points at regular intervals.
	Mining Operations	The Nexus allocates resources for setting up mining stations around Heleus.	-	[Time-Based] Receive a selection of minerals at regular intervals.
	Improved Development	The Nexus improves its processes for greater efficiency.	Lab Technicians	[Permanent] Increases Research Data gain from all sources by 10%.
	Expanded Field Analysis	Forward Stations are equipped with an array of probes, drills, and sensors so that automated systems can detect mineral resources even over distances.	Mining Operations	[Permanent] Additional common mining nodes will be made available.
	Expanded Field Analysis II	A new algorithm is installed on the forward stations to give the automated systems an even better chance of locating mineral resources.	Expanded Field Analysis, Viability of 90% required on Elaaden	[Permanent] Additional rare mining nodes will be made available.
	Accelerated Research	A large team of experienced researchers can complete projects with greater speed and efficiency.	Lab Technicians	[Permanent] Reduces the amount of time it takes to earn research points.
	Accelerated Mining	Nexus engineers develop a more durable drill that is better suited to Heleus conditions.	Mining Operations, Viability of 70% required on Elaaden	[Permanent] Reduces the amount of time to gather minerals.
	Improved Development II	Reorganization of the Nexus engineering teams reduces redundancies and further improves their efficiency and effectiveness.	Improved Development, Viability of 90% required on Havarl	[Permanent] Further increases Research Data gain from all sources by an additional 10%.
	Innovation	Allocating resources to improving developmental processes encourages Initiative engineers to innovate and improve on designs.	Improved Development II, Viability of 90% required on Havarl	[Permanent] Increases augmentation slots by one on all research projects.

Military Pods

Military veterans from across the Milky Way have brought their expertise to Andromeda, including advanced combat training and wilderness survival skills.

Icon	Name	Description	Requirement(s)	Reward
	Munitions	Friends in the Nexus militia make sure the Pathfinder's crew is always well-equipped.	-	[Time-Based] Receive a drop of consumable supplies at regular intervals.
	Hunting Parties	Expert combatants seek out Heleus wildlife to learn the best strategies to survive encounters.	-	[Time-Based] Receive organic materials at regular intervals.
	Special Forces	Highly trained squads venture into kett territory to test their defenses.	-	[Time-Based] Receive tech materials at regular intervals.
	Reconnaissance	Nexus engineers attach long-range sensors and monitoring systems to Initiative forward stations.	-	[Permanent] Reveal hidden caches around established forward stations.
	Advanced Training	Increase the number of Nexus security forces to allow the Initiative to insist on military training for colonists, boosting their confidence in dangerous situations.	Munitions OR Hunting Parties OR Special Forces OR Reconnaissance	[Permanent] Gain a 10% bonus to XP gained for completing encounters.
	Always Prepared	Nexus security develops a method for squads to carry more gear into the field.	Munitions, Viability of 70% required on Eos	[Permanent] Unlocks one extra consumables slot.
	Versatility	Nexus security develops a method for squads to carry a larger variety of gear into the field.	Always Prepared, Viability of 90% required on Eos	[Permanent] Unlocks one additional consumables slot.
	APEX Tactics	APEX adds new tactics to their repertoire.	-	[Permanent] Earn 15% more credits for APEX missions.
	APEX Tactics II	Advanced maneuvers and strategies make APEX even more formidable.	APEX Tactics, Viability of 70% required on Voeld	[Permanent] Earn an additional 15% credits for each completed APEX mission.
	Ears to the Ground	APEX is equipped with the latest in the field surveillance gear.	Viability of 90% required on Voeld	[Permanent] A 20% chance to receive weapons or armor when an APEX mission is completed.

Commerce Pods

Trade is the lifeblood of civilization. These talented merchants and entrepreneurs can use their connections to acquire rare items, grow financial investments, or improve inventory management.

Icon	Name	Description	Requirement(s)	Reward
	Financial Infrastructure	Economic planners lay the infrastructure for a robust financial system that will benefit the outposts.	-	[Time-Based] Earn credits from investments at regular intervals.
	Financial Infrastructure II	Economic planners lay the infrastructure for a robust financial system that will benefit the outposts.	Financial Infrastructure	[Permanent] [sic] Earn a large amount of credits from investments at regular intervals.
	Grey Market Connections	Allies ensure Initiative representatives enter negotiations with a stronger position.	-	[Permanent] Improves prices when buying and selling items.
	Grey Market Connections II	Having friends in all the right places ensures always getting the best prices.	Grey Market Connections, Viability of 70% required on Kadara	[Permanent] Even better prices when buying and selling items.
	Market Dominance	Initiative influence on markets in Heleus is felt. Traders allow access to more of their inventory in an attempt to stay competitive.	Grey Market Connections	[Permanent] Gain access to special inventories from merchants.
	Supply Lines	The Nexus establishes an efficient network of traders and ships that supply necessary supplies to far-flung outposts.	Financial Infrastructure II OR Grey Market Connections II, Viability of 90% required on Kadara	[Permanent] Increases the amount of raw materials and consumables that can be purchased from traders.
	Trade Capacity	Strategic placement of Nexus resources increases the capacity for trade and transport.	-	[Permanent] Increase inventory capacity.
	Trade Capacity II	The Nexus further expands its transporting capacity.	Trade Capacity, Viability of 70% required on Kadara	[Permanent] Further increases inventory capacity.
	Fusion Mod Support	A wide-reaching trading network gives the Initiative access to top manufacturers and fabricators.	Market Dominance, Viability of 90% required on Kadara	[Permanent] Cuts the penalty of all Fusion Mods in half.

Time-Based Rewards

Cryo pod perks that give rewards at regular intervals do so every 45 minutes of real world time. This time interval means time actually spent in game, and not spent in game menus.

Time-based rewards are not automatically received after each timer interval. To receive the rewards, visit the AVP menu and manually collect the rewards, then the timer is refreshed for the next reward. The AVP menu can be accessed on the Nexus in Addison's Office or in the Research Room of the Tempest.

Time-based rewards do NOT stack over time. If applicable rewards are available after 45 minutes of time, after an additional 45 minutes (90 minutes total) the same reward amounts will be available. No extra rewards are accumulated over time. Rewards have to be manually collected for the timer and reward process to start over.

Mechanics

Science Pods

• Lab Technicians - 100 is awarded every 45 minutes.
• Mining Operations - A small selection of Common and/or Uncommon minerals are awarded every 45 minutes.
• Improved Development - Doesn't increase Research Data awarded for Task: Unearthed or scanning mineral nodes.
• Expanded Field Analysis - Enhanced mining zonesare added to maps.
• Expanded Field Analysis II - Rare mining zones are added to maps.
• Accelerated Research - Research Data awarded from Lab Mechanics is reduced to every 30 minutes.
• Accelerated Mining - Minerals awarded from Mining Operations is reduced to every 30 minutes.
• Improved Development II - Research Data gain stacks with Improved Development for a total of 20%.
  • Doesn't increase Research Data awarded for Task: Unearthed or scanning mineral nodes.
• Innovation - Augmentation slots are only increased for items that can utilize augmentations. Items that can't be developed and/or do not have augmentation slots do NOT gain an augmentation slot.

Military Pods

• Munitions - few consumables are awarded every 45 minutes.
  • 22.22222 % chance for either Overdrive Pack, Shield Capacitors, Incendiary Ammo, or Hazard Resistance to drop 3 to 6 individual instances
  • 11.11111 % drop chance for a single Cobra RPG
  • Disruptor and Cryo Ammo will never be part of this perk's rewards
• Hunting Parties - A small selection of Common Bio Materials is awarded every 45 minutes.
• Special Forces - A small selection of Common Tech Materials is awarded every 45 minutes.
• Reconnaissance - Hidden caches award weapons, armor, and items scaled with player level. The quality of the items inside is determined by the time the cache is opened, rather than the moment this perk is unlocked or anything else. Caches will NOT award higher Ranks of weapons, armor, items than current player level. See Scaled Item Rewards.
• Advanced Training - The experience (XP) bonus is only applied to XP awarded for killing enemies. All other XP sources are unaffected by this bonus.
• APEX Tactics II - Credit gain stacks with APEX Tactics for a total of 30%.

Commerce Pods

• Financial Infrastructure - 500 is awarded every 45 minutes.
• Financial Infrastructure II - 750 is awarded every 45 minutes. Incorrectly labeled in game as a [Permanent] reward. This is a [Time-Based] reward.
• Grey Market Connections - 5% less when buying, 25% more when selling.
• Grey Market Connections II - 5% less when buying, 25% more when selling. Stacks with Grey Market Connections for 10% less when buying, 50% more when selling.
• Trade Capacity - Inventory capacity increases from 100 to 150. (Before Patch 1.05, inventory was set at 50 and increased to 65).
• Trade Capacity II - Inventory capacity increases from 150 to 200. (Before Patch 1.05, inventory was set at 65 and increased to 80).

Strategies

Playstyle will determine which cryo pods are best to unlock during gameplay. A few items to keep in mind are the following:

• Credits, RD, and other renewable perk rewards can also be obtained from Strike Team Missions in Mass Effect: Andromeda Multiplayer. Points may be better spent augmenting other perks depending on involvement with the multiplayer component.
• Time-based perks seem like a good perk to unlock but require constantly returning from gameplay to collect rewards.
  • Minerals and materials are only common and/or uncommon rarity. Deconstructing found items can provide potentially many more items.
  • Credits aren't used much at higher levels and there are plenty of other methods to obtain credits. The amount given by perks is fairly small.
  • On the contrary, Lab Technicians is an excellent cryo pod perk to obtain as Milky Way RD is the least found during gameplay but used for the most blueprints. A ready supply of Milky Way RD is always a good option to have even if it doesn't benefit from Improved Development bonus.
• Improved Development and Improved Development II are excellent perks to obtain as soon as possible especially because a scanned item cannot be scanned again to obtain the bonuses. Both increase RD obtained from all sources. In short, sooner the perks are obtained, the higher RD is accumulated at the end of the playthrough. As RD can be hard to obtain at times, anything that increases RD acquisition is a good thing to have.
• Using Reconnaissance to find hidden caches is an excellent way to find good items. Take note that the caches scale with player level. It is best to not open every cache right away but save a portion of them for higher levels to get even better gear.
  • Since New Game+ allows a playthrough reset but retaining player level, conservation there will matter less since most cache rewards will likely be at levels IX to X from the start of the game.
• Extra consumables slots awarded by Always Prepared and Versatility are only useful if using a playstyle that uses consumables. Otherwise it is best to save the points for other cryo pod perks.
  • However, if research and development of items is not a playstyle priority, perks relating to RD are not a useful set of perks to unlock.
• Innovation is an excellent perk to obtain as it gives an additional opportunity to add another augmentation to an item. An additional augmentation slot allows another opportunity to add a Stacking General augmentation (or other augmentation) to an already customized item.
• Advanced Training is a good early option to help a low-level Ryder level quickly or for one trying to reach an R&D level requirement and partially offsets the need to allocate experience granting armor pieces.

AVP Rewards

Forward Stations

Each Forward Station deployed awards +2 AVP and increases planetary viability by +2%.
Note: The first landing on Eos grants the above mentioned bonuses instead of the Forward Station at Site 1.
Note: The Forward Station on the vault island on Eos doesn't grant the AVP or viability bonuses.

Mission Rewards

For missions that award AVP, see Mission Rewards.

Tempest Scanning Rewards

For scanning that awards AVP using the Tempest, see Tempest Scanning Rewards.