All I am going to say, BioWare are the masters of tension. When I had Jacob (bad choice) crawling through the air ducts, and he's like, "Oh god, I'm stuck!" And then I was like, "OMG I have to open the valves!" At the same time I've got tons of dudes shooting at me and I'm just saying, "omg omg omg omg hurry hurry, shit! Go! Shit! Hurry, hurry!"

" @expletive: Huh. Out of curiosity, what were your paragon/renegade levels at that point? Maybe you were neutral enough that a middle ground worked...eh, who knows, just throwing around theories... "

Tali got a rocket to the head for me by the vents.

I put Tali in the vents, which really made me frantic to save her. If I put Legion in there, somehow I doubt I would've ran that section with the same urgency. :P
 
Garrus was my squad leader bother times...figured if he's good enough to survive the first, why not the second?
 
Samara held up my shields and Jacob did the escort mission.
 
Everyone survived except Jack...and I didn't even use her for any of the missions. I guess having her at "normal" loyalty didn't cut it. Oh well. Next time I'll try sticking her on escort duties. She can't botch that up could she?

Well, what I did wasn't revolutionary, but I got through with no one dying. 
 

Can you still get this achievement if one of the crew members die?
 
Kelly died, I don't know why though, the only quest I did before going to the Omega 4 was the Legion loyalty quest.
 
Help?

Just want to report that I did #9 and it didn't work. 
 
Vents: Tali
1st Squad: Garrus
Shields: Jack
2nd Squad: Miranda
Escort: Grunt
End Team: Miranda/Thane
 
I had everyone loyal. I was renegade. Lost Mordin when Grunt was escorting back. No idea what I could have done differently. This is nuts. But I love this game for it.

I followed the 6th plan on the OP's list and the only two who weren't loyal, Miranda and Zaeed, died. Why did it work for some people and not me? I don't get it.

" I followed the 6th plan on the OP's list and the only two who weren't loyal, Miranda and Zaeed, died. Why did it work for some people and not me? I don't get it. "

" @xyzygy said:

" I followed the 6th plan on the OP's list and the only two who weren't loyal, Miranda and Zaeed, died. Why did it work for some people and not me? I don't get it. "

EDIT: Hmm, just read #6 again. My bad. What kind of upgrades did you have ? And can you tell me where did Miranda and Zaeed die ? "

" Just want to report that I did #9 and it didn't work.   Vents: Tali 1st Squad: Garrus Shields: Jack 2nd Squad: Miranda Escort: Grunt End Team: Miranda/Thane  I had everyone loyal. I was renegade. Lost Mordin when Grunt was escorting back. No idea what I could have done differently. This is nuts. But I love this game for it. "

I won! Awesome awesome sauce. Thanks, that was probably the tensest moment in my gaming life EVER.

I ve got through the suicide mission with everyone alive, even the Normandy crew,  and i think that the specific roles and teams are quite obvious if you wanna use all your squad members 
I used Legion for the vents, Garrus leading Fire team 1 
Shepard squad at that time was Grunt + Jack 
For the biotic bubble I used Samara and Miranda for the second Fire team  
Used Jacob for rescuing the survivors. Shepard's squad was like Zaeed+ Thane 
For the final squad I used Tali + Mordin - they didn't even die once, u just have to make them take cover and use Cain against the Final boss 
Everyone got out alive 
Had everyone loyal and almost every upgrade possible

This is my list
 
Vents: Tali
1st Squad: Miranda
Shields: Samara
2nd Squad: Garrus
Escort: Grunt
Final Squad: Tali+Legion
 
I had everyone loyal to me and i had max renegade if that even makes a difference.

 Aww, OP. The solution I put before had everyone including Kelly/etc. live, why not put it up? 
 
Might not be extraordinary, but c'mon. =P
 
Nice having all but the crew that died before (Hobble hobble around the ship, remember? Trying to say without spoilers.) is nice.

I went with Miranda for both team leads, Legion in the vents, Samara on shields.  I was worried about the crew making it back so I sent Garrus with them, knowing he'd be solid.  
 
Everyone Loyal, Everyone survived including crew.  My last team was Tali/Jacob because thats who I used a lot during the game.  
 
Max paragon, all upgrades possible, and diffused every team argument with a paragon dialogue choice. 

Dunno if it's been mentioned already, but I think difficulty setting also affects it.
 
Miranda was the only one on my team who wasn't loyal (sided with Jack during their dispute, and didn't have enough para/ren points to swing her back in my favor), and she kept freakin' dying on me no matter where I put here. I seriously replayed the final stretch like a million times testing all the possibilities. I heard people saying they got people to survive even without loyalty, so I began to think it was RNG odds. I kept replaying the final part, and I finally got the bright idea to turn down the difficulty to casual just so I can finish it faster. Lo and behold, that one time did the trick and Miranda FINALLY survived. 
 
If you're having trouble getting your squad alive, you might wanna give that a shot. Not exactly sure if it was the exact reason or just lucky RNG...and I don't feel like testing it any further. I beat that goddamn T-1000 a bazillion times more than I wanted to already.

I just did finished Insanity with this order, the order I used to go through on veteran which worked.  
 
Specialist: Tali 
1st leader: Garrus 
Biotic: Jack (With implants) 
2nd leader: Garrus 
Escort: Zaeed 
 
Mordin died. Everyone was loyal and had no more conversations for me. I have no idea what went wrong, but I'm thinking I should have put Miranda as the second squad leader. This order worked for me on Veteran though.

Here's my "everyone saved" line-up.
 
Shepard: Full Paragon, 3 Bars of Renegade.
Loyalty: Everyone
Ship Upgrades: Full
 
Vents: Legion
1st Squad Leader: Jacob
Shields: Samara
2nd Squad Leader: Miranda
Escort: Garrus
Final Team: Tali, Jack
 
Other Notes:

• All of the crew died except Dr. Chakwas.  I took my sweet time after the crew got kidnapped.
  
• Miranda was my love interest (not sure if that makes a difference).
• I was missing some weapon/armor upgades (didn't even know Tuchanka had shops).
• Had enough paragon/renegade points to use...
  1) Renegade choice with Jack/Miranda argument.
  2) Paragon choice with Legion/Tali argument.
  

I used method #18 and wanted to add to it.  With Jack not being loyal, it seems you have to have Miranda in your party and leave Jack with the rest of the crew, or else Jack will die.  I guess she pays more attention to the Collectors if she's not busy calling Miranda names.

 godamn it, i thought the whole 'ok this your last chance to do all the side quests and stuff before it's too late' point would be a little clearer, or maybe i wasn't paying enough attention. But DAMN i haven't done Tali's or Legions loyalty quests yet and all my crew just got taken. 
 
First question - before working out that the more stuff you do after the IFF quest the more people die, i went to all the shops throughout the galaxies and bought all the stuff that i couldn't afford before it in anticipation of the suicide mission... does that count as time passing? does landing on planets count as 'missions', i bloody well hope not because i went eveywhere, even bloody tuchanka. 
 
Second - I actually went and GOT tali, not even her loyalty mission, after the IFF quest. So that means both legion and tali won't be loyal if there's a 1 mission maximum after the crew's taken... can't two non-loyal members make it through alive??
 
this really sucks, i wasn't paying attention and did the IFF quest thinking it was a particuallry epic side-quest! then all of sudden he called himself legion and i was like wait what... this better not be bloody main quest. knowing about legion, i thought after i got tali on my team i would be issued another dossier. i actually got fucked over by knowing too many spoilers! :(

godamn it, i thought the whole 'ok this your last chance to do all the side quests and stuff before it's too late' point would be a little clearer, or maybe i wasn't paying enough attention. But DAMN i haven't done Tali's or Legions loyalty quests yet and all my crew just got taken. 
 
First question - before working out that the more stuff you do after the IFF quest the more people die, i went to all the shops throughout the galaxies and bought all the stuff that i couldn't afford before it anticipation of the suicide mission... does that count as time passing? does landing on planets count as 'missions', i bloody well hope not because i went eveywhere, even bloody tuchanka. 
 
Second - I actually went and GOT tali, not even her loyalty mission, after the IFF quest. So that means both legion and tali won't be loyal if there's a 1 mission maximum after the crew's taken... can't two non-loyal members make it through alive??
 
this really sucks, i wasn't paying attention and did the IFF quest thinking it was a particuallry epic side-quest! then all of sudden he called himself legion and i was like wait what... this better not be bloody main quest. knowing about legion, i thought after i got tali on my team i would be issued another dossier. i actually got fucked over by knowing too many spoilers! :(

I did a second run as a good person and got EVERYONE to live, including the crew.  I didn't have loyality for Miranda and that DLC guy.  But everyone was loyal.  Much better ending than the first run with me being a prick.  x.x

i was an idiot, i picked 2 non loyal members for the final part because i thought it would keep them alive...  i read it better afterwards, great guide though thanks

•  I used Thane and Garrus through most of the game (in the missions that allowed it), not sure if that has any impact.        

1. Shopping doesn't count against you but doing any kind of side mission will get people killed. 
2. Yes, you can make it with people on "Normal" loyalty but you might have to turn down the difficulty for it. Make a backup save just in case. I recommend you get either Legion or Tali to full loyalty because you need one of them to be loyal for the last mission.

This thread is super long, so I haven't read through all the posts, and therefore I don't know if this has been said/confirmed. BUT, to save a non-loyal character, avoid assigning them to any specific tasks, and do not include them in your party to attack the Human-Reaper. 
 
The only exception here is Mordin, whose loyalty should be pretty easily attainable. Would highly recommend using Mordin for the escort mission, but if your escort isn't loyal, he/she will likely be killed. 

Beat the game with everyone (including crew) getting out in 36 hours. 
I used: Tali for vents, Garrus first and second team leader, Samara for shields, Jacob for escort and Miranda and Thane as my final team. 
However, I did have everyone loyal and almost all of the upgrades purchased (only ones not purchased were some final weapon/armor upgrades).

Just beat the game and everybody survived along with the crew.
 
Vents - Leigon
1st Squad - Garrus
Shields - Jack
2nd Squad - Garrus
Escort - Grunt
Personal Squad - Mordin and Miranda throughout
 
I had everyone loyal, all the ship upgrades and most of the weapon/armour upgrades too.

Was I the only person who thought that the vent meant pick Thane ? 
I knew that it was possible ( I actually thought that you couldnt avoid it) that someone might die. 
So when I saw him walk along side us in plain view, i saw of dawned on me that I had made the wrong choice.
 
Oh well always next time

Can someone please tell me what resource you need to upgrade the normandys shields thanks

I hate that Mordin will die for no reason whatsoever.  I had everyone loyal, legion do the vents, Garrus as squad leader both times, Samara my shield, and Grunt the escort.  I had Jacob and Zaeed with me in the final fight, and they were useless. I shouldv taken Mordin, and Thane, kuz they were my weakest guys, and that wouldv kept them alive.

So, just played through end again, and got everyone to live. Had Mordin's and Jack's upgrades this time.
 
Vents: Legion
1st/2nd Squad Leader: Garrus 
Escort: Mordin
Biotics: Samara
Final Team: Thane/Miranda
 
EDIT: As I have been unable to access Xbox live recently, I haven't downloaded Zaeed, so I don't have him. Don't know if that effects survival chances or not.

i finished my first playthrough and i managed to get every team member, except Jack,  out alive.
  
Vents: Tali
1st/2nd Squad Leader: Garrus 
Shields: Samara
Escort: None
Final Team: Miranda & Jack
 
Notes: I had all upgrades for the team and ship; after i recovered the IFF i've done 3 more missions and then i went through the Omega 4 Relay. Non-loyal members were Legion and Jack.

Here's what I used 
 
Vents: Tali
1st/2nd Squad Leader: Samara
Shields: Samara
Escort: Grunt
Final Team: Mordin and Miranda
 
Tali ended up getting shot in the face but I refuse to replay it as that is my Shepard's ending and I will live with the consequences in ME3

so I did an insanity run with everyone loyal and  had most weapons upgrades and all prototypes, everyone lived:
Vent: Legion
1st Squad: Garrus
Shields: Jack
2st Squad: Garrus
Escort: Mordin
 
Then I did a normal run, everyone recruited was loyal but I didn't activate grunt and skipped Zaeed, also did not upgrade any weapon, armor or prototype, except the Normandy shields, armor and weapon, then used the same configuration than my insanity run, everyone lived, so in normal difficulty, gear upgrades seem to have no impact.