Mass Effect 2

Introduction

Hello and welcome to our Mass Effect 2 Megaguide. This will be your companion throughout the game, providing you with anything and everything you need to know, be it skill stats, sidequest help, decision consequences, achievements- we look to cover everything. Naturally, Mass Effect 2 is a large game, and there will be holes in our knowledge- feel free to leave a comment on the relevant section and we'll see if it can't be added. Otherwise, enjoy.

So the GB guide system was changed about 6 months ago as I write this and I was kind of bummed to think that we were going to be losing out on the guide we took so long to write. I am very happy to see that someone transferred all of our hard work over to the new format. I just wanted to drop a note since the guide was a pretty big labor of love from all involved and to say thanks to my fellow guide makers; Lies, Llama, MasterofPenguins_Zell, and WallacetheGreat, for the awesome experience of working with them all.

-macandcheese

Importing A Save

If you played the first Mass Effect and still have your save on your hard drive, you can import that character into Mass Effect 2. Doing so will carry over your decisions from the first game, as well as give you a bonus for having a high-level character.

Decision Consequences

Mass Effect 2 will carry over a lot of your decisions from Mass Effect 1, and many of them will change certain elements of the game. Here is a catalog, to the best of our ability, of the major choices that carry over.

As it turns out, your decisions from Mass Effect don't make much of an impact either way on how Mass Effect 2 plays out. If you really want to know how they end up, you can check right here.

Ashley/Kaiden Decision

Kaidan/Ashley shows up for a brief scene but nothing serious.

Council Decision

If you let the Council die, there will be some mentions of racial tension due to the new human-led council, and some Turians will be less than amused with you, but either way you aren't dealing with the council a whole lot anyway. Your choice for the council is also fairly irrelevant.

Rachni Decision

If you saved the Rachni, you'll get a message from them but they don't make an appearance. It is hinted they will show up in Mass Effect 3.

Wrex Decision

If you saved Wrex, he's back on the Krogan homeworld united his people, and you'll receive a warm welcome when you visit. If you killed him, the Krogan will be decidedly less happy to see you.

Bonuses

When importing a character, it is possible to get bonuses at the start of the game if you achieved a few milestones in Mass Effect 1. Here's the full list of bonuses.

• Level 50 character:
  - 3000XP (start at level 4)
  - 40000 Credits
  - 5000 Element Zero
  - 5000 Iridium
  - 5000 Platinum
  - 5000 Palladium
• Level 60 character:
  - 4000 XP (start at level 5)
  - 50000 Credits
  - 10000 Element Zero
  - 10000 Iridium
  - 10000 Platinum
  - 10000 Palladium
• Rich Achievement: An additional 100000 credits.
• Long Service (completed 2 runs of ME2 or 1 run of ME1+ME2:
  - 25% Experience Bonus
  - 200000 Credits
  - 50000 Element Zero
  - 50000 Iridium
  - 50000 Platinum
  - 50000 Palladium
• New Game+:
  - Retain your level, all the Heavy Weapons you researched, your bonus weapon talent, and some of the weapons you found. You lose all your research and minerals.
  - You get to choose your bonus skill right from the beginning based on the loyalty achievements you have.

A percentage of your Paragon and Renegade points carry over. A full paragon or renegade meter will net you 190 points for the respective meter- which is almost nothing in ME2's scale, but it still helps.

Insanity Tips

This is just temporarily up here until we find a better way to integrate this into the guide proper/ expand it into a full insanity walkthrough, but seeing as lots of people are having trouble with playing on the Insanity difficulty, we figured it might be nice to put it in an accessible place. Here are some of our tips for playing and surviving on Insanity.

• Go in on a New Game+. Trying to play Insanity starting from level 1 is MADNESS. Finish the game on a lower difficulty, then go in on the NG+. You'll get to keep all your weapons and get hefty element and credit bonuses. Unfortunately, you'll have to research all your tech again. Which brings us to our next tip-
• RESEARCH EVERYTHING. Yeah. mining is a pain in the ass, but the gameplay rewards you get for the research projects are essential to your survival. As soon as you can, go nuts mining, then just build every schematic you see from there on in- ship upgrades are inessential, upgrades that affect gameplay are not.
• Pick a good bonus talent. After earning a companion's loyalty, you can learn their special talent on your Shepard- but you only can have one at a time, so pick well. You can respec in the tech lab for 3000 Element Zero if you end up not liking what you choose. We recommend either Warp Ammo or Reave as your bonus talent. Reave is pretty broken- it damages every type of defense in the game, and incapacitates our enemy to heal you against non-shielded organic targets. Warp ammo is highly effective because almost everything you fight on Insanity has a shield or a barrier or armor, and Warp Ammo will eat away at those quicker than normal bullets. By benefit of Warp Ammo being a passive power, you can use it in addition to your other biotic/ tech skills- with Reave you will probably just be continuously spamming that one power.
• Evolve all your powers to the heavy-hitting versions instead of the area versions. The best combat strategy on Insanity is to focus all your firepower at one target, and eliminate it as quickly as possible. The area effect might seem nice, but enemies don't often gather close enough for it to be effective and you're just weakening your combat ability against strong single targets- you'll need those heavy hitters for boss fights and some of the stronger basic enemies like Scions.
• Matching the correct damage types to the correct enemies and shields will save you a world of trouble. Even on insanity these will hit for massive damage. For instance Heavy Incinerate will take out nearly 75% of an enemies armor. Heavy Overload will destroy between 33% to 50% of an enemies shield and will do about 75% to 90% of synthetic enemies. Here's a small list of what destroys what.
  
  • Overload - Shields / Synthetic enemies
  • Incinerate - Armor / Organic Enemies (also stops Vorcha and Krogan from regenerating)
  • Warp - Barrier
  Using these powers will make fights a whole lot easier.
• Stay in cover AT ALL TIMES. This would seem pretty obvious but often enough you will think, "it's just one enemy i can pop out and kill him!". DON'T. Any enemy on insanity can reduce you to a fine red mist in under 2 seconds. Better to stay in cover and just spam powers on him while your teammates fire away. Which brings us to our next point.
• SPAM POWERS. In general you need to come out of cover for quite a while to do any kind of damage with your weapons. It's much easier to just fire a power like Incinerate or Reave and pop right back into cover while your target burns. This is mostly related to the early game, later on when your shields have improved you can come out of cover without instantly losing all of them.
• THE CAIN. This weapon might be a fun toy on normal but on insanity this bad boy can save your life. Use it to destroy the really dangerous enemies. Double scions, double uber mechs, the preator on horizon. You catch my drift. I'm sure these can all be beaten by regular tactics but why bother with those when you can fire one nuke and be rid of them. And finally...
• LEARN TO KITE. If you've ever played an MMO you'll know what i mean. Whenever you move into a new area a group of enemies will attack you. But they will be in ideal cover and you will not. Instead level the playing field... just walk back the way you came. The enemies will have to come out of cover to come kick your ass. Too bad for them they will all pop around the corner single file. Set up around a nice corner with everyone aiming in the same direction and you can wipe out entire teams one by one while never taking a hit. Too many enemies coming at you at once? Simply move back farther. This wont work everywhere of course, but in most areas this will make insanity a whole lot easier.

Story Walkthrough

This section of the guide covers the main story missions you'll be required to undertake to complete the game. Companion recruitment is covered in this section, but companion loyalty missions (which we recommend you do, as they effect the outcome of the suicide mission) are covered further down, under the "Companions" section. As this is the main story walkthrough, be aware that there will be unmarked spoilers, so try not to read past whatever section you're currently at.

Prologue

The prologue of the game is pretty short, and fairly self-explanatory. You should have no problems finishing it. Enjoy the spectacle.

Lazarus Facility

If you imported a character, you can also hit Start and allocate a few points if you'd like. If not, don't fret. Just follow the instructions Miranda gives you. Follow the linear path to your first enemy and take it out. Continue to listen to Miranda and advance to the next room. Find some cover and take out the next wave of mechs. The small room on the left has some ammo, but so does your path. Grab some from the room if you need it, then continue forward.

Once you have to grenade launcher, you may as well try it out. Once again, follow Miranda's instructions into the next area. Go ahead and enter the room in front of you and view a couple data logs to learn some things about your time here. There's also a Wall Safe to bypass for some [975] credits. The bypass mini-game is a simple match game; highlight one of the circles to see the symbol it hides, and then highlight the others until you find it's match. There are always eight circles and four different symbols. Once you're done in here, go ahead and continue down the path. Hear another log on your left as you see a dude get destroyed (R.I.P.).

Continue through the door to meet up with your first squad mate, Jacob. After your chat, go ahead and take the hint and give Jacob an order to use his Pull ability. Another chat once you destroy the mechs, and once that's over, there's another log to your left on the seats. Also, you can allocate some points for him now, to boost his skills. Continue forward. Make your way around the room, taking out the mechs and go through the door.

Follow the path until you meet Wilson. Do what they say--grab some Medi-Gel and heal Wilson. Your conversation will interrupted by some very rude mechs. Go ahead and use Wilson's Overload on that center group of explosives, and continue. Another conversation and move forward. Hack the Data Pad for [900] credits, then go through the door and follow the path. Head to the room from where the mechs came after you've routed them. Another hackable Data Pad on the ground for [975] credits. There's also a log and a Wall Safe to bypass for [900] credits. Head back to the other end of the hallway now and go through the door.

Talk to Miranda for a bit and then leave to meet the Illusive Man and you're asked a few questions along the way. If you imported a character, these questions will refresh you on your decisions in the first game, whereas if you're starting fresh with Mass Effect 2, they'll bring ou up to speed on the state of the universe.

NOTE: No matter your choice during the first game, whomever you choose now, is the new councillor

Now that you've arrived at Cerberus Minuteman Installation, you can save if you'd like. You can also customize your gear at the station behind Miranda, but there will be plenty of time for that later. Jacob and Miranda don't have anything to say, so when you're ready, continue forward to meet the Illusive Man.

After your conversation, head back out and talk to Miranda and/or Jacob if you like, then head for the door to start the next Mission.

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 Credits

Freedom's Progress

After the scene, you will land on the colony to investigate what happened to the colonists. Remember that you have some Squad points to dish out, and you're also likely to have more than one weapon. And if you'd like, you can assign one power for each of your squad mates to the D-Pad or drag them to the quickbar at the top on the screen on PC. Once you're situated, continue through the door in front of you.

Nothing's in the next room, so keep going. Once you reach the next area, there will be a door and some Spare Parts to Salvage, so do that before you go through for some credits. Take down the enemy mechs and continue down the path. Med Kit and Wall Safe containing [2000] credits inside. More Spare Parts to Salvage for another [1000] credits and some more enemies. Go through the door in front of you for another scene.

After that, go forth into the next room and take down the couple mechs. Another Wall Safe for [2000] credits. Through the other door and fight some drones. Use overload on them to take them down quickly. Room on your right has another Med Kit. Following room is empty. Down the stairs and take care of the drones. Before you follow their instructions and order them into position, there's another Spare Parts to Salvage to the left of the stairs for [1000] credits. Grab the Med Kit if you'd like and then move your squad mates into cover on each side of the door.

Heavy Mech to fight after that scene. Use Miranda's Overload to take down it's shields. If you have Incendiary Ammo or Incinerate, now would be the time to use it on the Mechs armor once the shield is dispatched. After those defenses are gone, it's health will drop extremely fast. It does possess a LOT of firepower though, so make sure to stay in cover. The mech will target you almost exclusively, so if you can keep it distracted, your teammates can whittle away at it's health.

Once you take it down go to room to the right of the door you entered, there is another Med Kit and Tali fixing up some Quarians. The room opposite has some Power Cells, which are your heavy weapon ammo. Another Wall Safe too for [3000] credits. Scan the big mech outside for some Research Data and grabbed the Refined Iridium [2000]. Through the door for a scene. This will show you how to do an interrupt (paragon or renegade depending on your choices so far), along with ending the mission. The choice you're faced with here has no impact, so your decision should revolve entirely around whether you want to be nice or mean to Tali.

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 Credits

You'll be back talking to the Illusive Man and after that, meet an old friend. Onto your new vessel.

The Normandy SR2

Ah, home sweet home. After another scene, you'll be introduced to various things on the ship. If you interect with the AI EDI at any terminal on the ship, she'll provide information about whatever area you are in.

• Deck 1: Captains Cabin -- You can go to your Captains Quarters and check out various things, such as your fish tank, or your Achievements. You can customize your gear here as well. You also have a Personal Terminal in your cabin on which you can read messages, see what upgrades you've purchased, see the status of your team, and watch tutorial videos.
• Deck 2: Combat Information Center -- It's the main deck of your ship where you're likely to be spending the most time. Galaxy Map is located here, as well as the Science Lab after you get the Professor. The Science Lab is where you'll be handing your upgrades to your weapons and ship. You can also mess with your weapon loadout in the room Jacob likes to hang out in. A Personal Terminal is also located next to the Galaxy Map- Kelly Chambers will tell you when you have new messages.
• Deck 3: Crew's Quarters -- Much of your crew and squad mates will hang out on this floor. There's not much to do except talk with these various members of your crew/squad. Well, there is the Medical Center in which you can start a quest. For more information on Normandy Quests, please refer to the [Normandy] section of the guide, under Sidequests. Lots of the crew (the chef, engineers etc) have flavor dialogue that changes fairly often, so it's sometimes worth coming down to the Crew Quarters and Engineeringto hear what they have to say about your latest exploits.
• Deck 4: Engineering -- Not much going on down here, a few engineers hang about. Another sidequest can be gained down there as well. For this, also refer to the [Normandy] section of the guide, under Sidequests.

Once you're done checking out the new Normandy, head over to the Galaxy Map on Deck 2.

Recruiting

At this point in the story, the Illusive Man will suggest you build a team to attack the collectors with. He provides you with four dossiers on people who might be of use. You can choose to recruit these four people in any order you wish, and they will join your crew once you have completed their mission. Although you can recruit in any order, we greatly suggest recruiting the Professor first. The sooner you acquire him, the sooner you can start doing upgrades in your tech lab, and you'll want to be doing upgrades.

Whoever you choose to recruit, head off to the Galaxy Map, and the markers will tell you where each mission is. You can fly over to the Mass Relay to get a better picture of where you can go and who you can recruit.

The Professor

Find your way over to Omega and dock your ship. Select the two members for your Squad, allocate some points, and choose what weapons you'll all carry if you can. Continue down the linear path after the brief scene, and go through the door. Keep going straight and through the door with the label of, "Afterlife," above it. You can confront the Batarians on the left of the passageway if you'd like for some Paragon/Renegade action.

Once through the next set of doors, hang a left around the giant pink/purplish screen to the back of the night club. Up the stairs on the right once you see a Turian with an assault rifle, then up another set of stairs. You'll know you've got there when an Asari tells you, "That's close enough," and a scene starts. Ask about Mordin- may as well ask about Archangel to, so you don't have to return. When that's all done, exit the night club.

Go left and you should see two doors. You want the one on the right. Once on the other side of the set of doors, take a right at the "Mad Prophet," who is a Batarian who is preaching to a group of humans how they're a blight on the universe. If you want to just continue the mission, you can take a right like I said and start a scene. But if you'd like to go shopping first, you can do that as well. If you'd like to view the inventory of the stores, you can refer to the [Shop] section of the guide.

Anyway, when you're ready, start the scene with the Turian Guard and Refugee. Use your blue/red Paragon/Renegade option here to speed things along- if you can convince him to let you in, the barricade guards won't attack you. Another set of squad selection and outfitting screens and you'll enter the next area, weapons drawn. Go straight and around some crates for some Element Zero [250] and some ammo. Go back and go down the hallway, following the path. There's a Med Station if you need any Medi Gels, otherwise keep going. Through the door for a small scuffle.

Go ahead and talk to the Batarian Victim if you're a nice dude and do the Paragon interrupt. There's a Hackable terminal for [5000] credits. Go through the door near the terminal and to the left for some Power Cells. Then bypass the door. Examine the body and play the logs if you'd like. Nothing else in here, so go back outside, and past the Batarian Victim.

Another bypass-able door on the right. Down the stairs for another log and a lootable Wall Safe for [4000] credits. Once you're done here, head back up the stairs and continue down the path through the door. Up the stairs on your left for a Med Kit, and Salvage point [1000] credits. You also have a decent vantage point for killing those Blue Sun Mercs below you. Take them out from up here, or head downstairs for the fight. Once it's over, head around the back of the room to around where they were and bypass the door on the right.

Down those stairs now and there's a Med Kit and lootable Wall Safe [4000] credits. Talk to the refugees if you want as well, you can get some Paragon/Renegade points. When you're done head back up and loot the Turian body on the floor for an Assault Rifle upgrade. Then through the door. Up the stairs on the right for some ammo and a vantage point. If you have a Sniper Rifle, now is a pretty good time to use it. You're going to be fighting Vorcha, which regenerate really fast. If Miranda is with you, or you have the ability yourself, Warp is great against these guys because it stops their regeneration.

After the fight, go to the left of the main room through the door. There's some Element Zero [250]. Through another door to find some looters. Not much you can do with these guys, which is sort of a missed opportunity, oh well. Exit back to the room where you fought the Vorcha.

Continue down the path until you reach the clinic. Instead of talking to Mordin right away, go to the room across from his for some [2000] Palladium, a Med Kit, and another [2000] Palladium. Also view the research station for a upgrade. There's some [500] Element Zero and [2000] Iridium in Mordin's room. Also some Power Cells in the back and a Med Kit in the front.

Now talk to Mordin. While he's talking there will first a Renegade interrupt option, and if you ignore it, shortly afterward will be a Paragon. Your choice, although he'll stop talking even if you don't use the interrupt. After that, you'll get a new Pistol ( a handcannon, extremely powerful but limited ammo), which you equip if you want out in the clinic- there's a place to change your loadout. When you're ready, find your way to the door on the left side of the clinic coming out of Mordin's room.

Another battle with Vorcha and a couple Krogan. On the opposite end of the room from where you entered there is a Med Station, and on the left side, a Hackable terminal for [3000] credits. Up the stairs for another Hackable terminal and [5000] more credits. Keep going until you reach two doors, take the one on the left.

There's Daniel, Mordins assistant. Paragon or Renegade once you enter the room. Med Kit and Ammo is all that is left.

Continue to the other room. After the brief fight, go down the stairs for another. Nothing interesting in the room, except ammo and Vorcha. After this room is cleared, continue through the doors. Another short fight and some more stairs. Ah, more shooting.

After that, go to the back wall in front of you and insert the cure. More enemies show up, and I'm sure you know what to do with them by now. Head over to either side of the room and take out more dudes. Then activate the fans at the end. Then the same on the other side. There's a Med Station in each fan activation room. Once the second fan is activated, it will quick jump you back to Mordin. Daniel will be there if you saved him.

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 Credits

Now that you have Mordin you can start upgrading things. For more information on upgrading see the Upgrades section of the guide, and for information on Resources used for upgrades, refer to the Resources section under [Upgrades].

The Krogan

Travel to the Eagle Nebula and you should enter the Imir system. Fly your ship over to the Korlus planet and land. Select your team, allocate any points you may have and select a weapon loadout. Bringing someone with Warp is a good idea, as there will be lots of regenerating Krogan you need to fight. Select exit to start.

Nothing to do but follow the path until you reach a fight. After that, go a bit farther to find a Wounded Mercenary who you can talk to for some Paragon/Renegade points and some information on the situation. Keep going for another fight. Down the ramp and more enemies appear. Med Kit to left side. Keep going only to find more enemies. Nothing interesting still, just fight until your way to a Krogan fighting mercs. After the fight talk to him once you finish the the conversation the Krogan will make an opening for you. Go forward and examine the dead mercs body for [2000] credits.

Continuing down the path, you'll find your way to more enemies, not much around here except a Med Kit. Once the Krogan are routed, continue down the path for some [2000] Palladium. Up the path until you find a door that you'll need to Bypass. Once in the room, there will be an Upgrade on a dead merc as well as a Med Station and Power Cells. Go through the door.

Fight then up the path. Another fight then a hackable PDA across from the door for [4000] credits. Go through the door. Up the path for another fight. Room on the right contains a Med Kit. Kill the dudes and continue around the corner to loot a dead body for [2000] credits. After another fight continue into another, room for some Power Cells and an accessible Wall Safe that will give [4000] credits. Past the door for another [4000] credits from a hackable PDA. Then through the door.

Up yet another path, and through yet another door, for yet another fight. Keep fighting until you find your way to another door. If you didn't kill the Asari on Virmire in the first Mass Effect, she will be in this room, along with a Med Station and hackable terminal that will yield [4000] credits. Talk to the Asari for some Paragon/Renegade points, then continue through the door.

Bypass the terminal on the opposite side of the room then talk to Okeer. Continue through the door near the terminal on the other side. Down the path and through the door for a fight. The Blue Sun leader will attack you along with a Heavy Mech. Every 30 seconds she will release an armored Krogan. Take out the leader to stop the krogan from spawning, then take out the Heavy Mech. Once you're done head back up and listen to the log.

Mission Complete - 1000XP - 30000 Credits

Now you have your Krogan sitting in your ships Cargo Hold on Deck 4 if you'd like to activate him, and really, there's no reason not to activate him.

The Convict

Fly to the Hourglass Nebula. You should be in the Osun system. Fly your ship over to Prison Ship Purgatory and dock. Select your team, allocate any points you may have and select a weapon loadout. Select exit to start.

Move forward and talk to the guards. After the scenes, follow the path in front of you until you reach a guard watching a cell. Talk to the guard for a chance at some Paragon/Renegade points. Keep going you'll pass by another cell where you can talk to Prisoner 780 if you'd like. Go through the door at the end of the path.

Go straight to the other door across from you, and then head for yet another, albeit larger, door.

After the brief scene, get ready to take down some dudes. Go from where you came but this time take the left and head around the bed, fighting Mercenaries the whole way. And of course go through the door. Idiot enemy technician in this room with some [500] Element Zero and a Med Station. Go forward to the computer the Technician was at and use it when you're ready to continue. Then go through the door after the scene.

Down the path until you find some Power Cells. Keep going to access a dead body for [1500] credits. Across the left bridge for a fight. Scan a dead body near the door for an Upgrade. Go up around instead of going through the door for a hackable PDA that will give you [4500] credits. Then go back through the door to find some more Power Cells and another accessible dead body for [4500] credits. There's also a Med Station. Then through the other door.

Fight your way through this room as well. Once you're on the other side you can get another [1500] credits. Continue through the doorway for another Med Station, Power Cell box and bypass-able Wall Safe containing [3000] credits. Through the other door for a scene, and the final fight.

The warden will be protected by a powerful shield. Destroy the shield in front of you and any opposition you might find. Once the first generator is down head right. First take out any guys there and destroy the second generator. Get into cover at the third generator and make sure nobody is left.

Once you destroy the final generator the shields will drop on the warden and he will start firing missiles at you. Another group of mercenaries will attack you as well so take them out first. The warden is pretty vulnerable to biotics, so spam them if you have them. Once the commander goes down it will be...

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 Credits

Now that you have Jack, you've added a pretty powerful biotic to your team, as well as a romance option.

The Archangel

Head out to Afterlife and speak with Aria, she will inform you that Archangel is currently being hunted by the Merc groups of Omega and this is the way in. Head over to the nearby private room and speak with the bouncer like guy outside. When you enter you ill talk to the recruiter and sign up to go after Archangel. As you leave the place you will see a kid enter you can stop him for a +7 Paragon boost if you feel so inclined.

After this head over to the transit Hub near the entrance to Omega. When you arrive you will have a nice chat with a Merc telling you that basically they want you to go die and distract Archangel, guess its time to report for duty, we need to find sergeant Cathka but first lets explore the base a little.

After arriving at the main staging grounds head to the right to find a room full of Mercs along with a nice Datapad detailing the Mercs plan to attack Aria, hmm she may be interested in this grab it for later. Next leave this room and head out then take a right immediately, you should find yourself in a room with a heavy Mech, here you can pick up 500 Element Zero and Hack a Datapad for 4000 Credits but the big pull is to change the Friend Foe ID on the Heavy Mech making a later fight much easier. If you botch the hack on the mech you're locked out for good, so make sure to do it right- that mech will fight FOR you later and it's a huge help.

After that head back out and through continue on straight if you want you can talk to the Blood Pack Leader Garm, but there not much to really do there, head to the right to rear main area. First thing to notice is a datapad on the floor- hack it for 6000 Credits and head forward keeping an eye on the right hand wall. You should come across a door you can bypass, once you have done this enter the room and scan the weapons right as you enter, you should get SMG damage bonus upgrade. Next hit the datapad for 4000 credits, no need to hack thankfully, and lastly the Power cells and Med station.

Next head to the front of the room and enter the door on the right hand side, walk down the hallway and collected the med station then double back and enter the doorway about mid way though the hall. You can talk to the leader for a small Paragon boost, only +2 paragon but its something.

Now head back to the main room and cross to the group of Blue Suns next to the gunship and speak with Catka's assistant. During the conversation all the soldiers will leave and you will be given the chance to make some Renegade points, use the interrupt to Renegade (+5 Renegade to be exact) and you will knock out Catka, this also means the gunship is weaker later when you fight it, I would recommend you do this even if you are Paragon since its not to big of a hit and its helps a lot with the fight later.

When the Scene ends you will find yourself on the bridge heading towards archangel, quickly run after the Mercs and shoot them in the back to get rid of them, and head across the bridge to meet up with Archangel. Duder, it's totally Garrus!

After your brief conversation, you'll have the opportunity to help Garrus defend his bridge- pretty easy, as enemies are just funneling through a choke point. Keep killing enemies here until they break through the door on the lower level, at which point Garrus will ask you to go seal the lower entrances. You can choose to leave on squad member with Garrus to help defend him better if you wish- you'll have a little less help, but Garrus will last longer.

Go down stairs, through the door and follow the path to the shutters. Close all three- anything passing under it will reset the countdown, so try and keep enemies at bay while the shutters close. Once all three are closed, head back upstairs to help Garrus kill another merc leader. A brief dialogue interlude will occur, and then you'll be attacked by the gunship. If you used the Renegade interrupt earlier to kill the Batarian engineer, the gunship won't be at full health. It's still an intimidating foe however, and now is a great time to use your heavy weapon ammo, if you have any. Biotic powers like Miranda's Warp or Jacob's Incinerate Ammo work well against the gunship's armor.

Just stay in cover and whittle away at the health. Occasionally mercs will rappel in through the windows and attack you- the gunship usually backs off while they're in the room with you, Just keep at the gunship and eventually it will go down, triggering a cutscene and ending the mission.

Horizon Colony

After landing on Horizon proceed into the colony and begin your first fight with the collectors, after you have cleared out the Collectors head to the center of the battle area to find some Power Cells and the continue forwards, you should see a picnic table with a Datapad on it, hack it for 6000 Credits then continue on towards the colony. When you encounter the next set of boxes be prepared to fight more Collectors and some Husks as well. Once the area is clear head to the right hand side where you entered and enter a small trailer, grab the Datapad for 4200 Credits, after exiting head straight ahead to find the body of a Collector that you can scan for an upgrade.

Continue up the small hill and examine the dead Husk, you can get +2 Paragon for choosing to say that you are going to save the colonists. After that small diversion continue to the next battlefield and clean up the Collectors, thankfully no Husks here and head to the left hand trailer and grab the Med Kit there. Head back outside and into the trailer across from the one you were just in to find a safe you can bypass for 4800 Credits then continue forward.

You will fight another small group of Collectors before continuing forward and examining the colonists who are in stasis. Head up the stairs from the colonists to find a computer you can hack for 3000 Credits. Then head back down the stairs and head towards the collector Pods to pick up the Particle Beam.

Head forward for a scene where the Collector General takes control of one of his soldiers, this gives the soldier a barrier and armor however when the armor goes away the soldier dies. The general will continue to take soldiers for as long as he can so kill these dudes as fast as possible.

After killing all the Collectors go to the back left trailer and collect some Power Cells then head to the right and open the big ass door. After a nice cutscene you can explore the room and grab 200 Platinum, a Med Kit and 6000 Credits from the wall safe, you can also change your weapons loadout.

Head into the next area for some more fighting, you will be fighting more Collectors and Husks, you will also encounter you first Scion here, they are pretty heavily armored but they move slowly so you can use cover effectively against them. After cleaning out the enemies, head over to the left hand side trailer and go to the far end of it, you will find some Power Cells, now move to the right hand side and head up the stair towards the Collectors body. Scan the Body for an upgrade and head up the of stairs and go to the middle to find a computer terminal you can use for 3000 Credits. Now head back to the main door and Bypass it to continue.

When you enter the room head to the left and grab the Med Kit, next head across the area directly to the other side and you should see some Power Cells, grab them and head to a defensible location to hold off the enemies. Clean out the location and then head to the terminal in the center and hack the computer that is there.

Now you need to hold the location now while EDI brings the guns back online. After fighting plenty of the standard enemies you get to fight your first Praetorian, they are heavily armored and use heavy hitting attacks, when he flys up into the air and is surrounded by a field he cannot be damaged. I suggest using a heavy weapon to take him down and to keep your distance, because he has a devastating short range attack. Each time he lands will have a new barrier. Once the Praetorian goes down you get a nice scene and end the mission.

Mission Complete - 1000XP - 30000 Credits

Further Recruiting

After that fiasco, it's clear you really need to do something about these goddamn bugs. But first, you need even more team members. The Illusive Man will send you three more dossiers- same drill as last time, you can go at them in any order. The next story mission will activate when you've recruited two out of the three party members.

The Assassin

Go talk to Liara on illium, she will have information on the Assassin (and the Justicar). She's in an office above the first shop you see. Ask her about Thane, she will tell you to go talk to Seryna at Shipping Cargo (check your map). Talk to Seryna, cycle through all the options and she will give you the option to travel to Thane's location. You'll have little conversation with your driver who then drops you off at Dantius Towers.

As soon as you land you'll see a short cut scene where some salarians are being chased by some mechs. As soon as it ends they'll attack you. Once you dispatch them proceed inside, on your left is a room with a hackable terminal 4800 credits and a med-station. Once you pick this up go to the right. Here you will find a Salarian worker. Talk to him and do the PARAGON QTE to heal him. One of your teammates will open the door and you will be able to proceed.

At the end of the hall will be some mechs and regular mercenaries, reduce them to a fine red paste. Move through the area killing everyone in your path. Nothing here to pick up so go through the door, up the ramp and to the next floor. Here you will find two med-paks. More enemies for you to liquefy. You can camp out right there and wait for the waves to stop, or move farther to the right to flank them. Either way works.

Only one pickup in this area near the elevator which is a med-pak. Ignore the elevator for now and look around a bit. At the end of the hall is a new SNIPER RIFLE, some heavy weapon ammo and a hackable terminal 4000 credits. Bypass the door to rescue the Salarian workers. Talk to them for some information about Thane. There's one medi-gel and 3000 credits in the room with them so grab it. When you've got everything, head for the elevator.

As soon as you hit the button one of your teammates will tell you someone might be in the elevator. So get into cover and wait for the elevator to arrive. On veteran there will be one Krogan Bountyhunter and 2 engineers. so stay in cover until they fire off their powers then unleash HELL. Once you take em down step into the elevator and hit the button.

Once you arrive there will be an eclipse mercenary, talk to him for info and use the RENEGADE QTE to toss him out of the window if you feel like it. Pick up the datapad near the elevator for a side mission (give it to the Salarian in the transport hub). Step through either door to enter the next combat area, once you take down everyone bypass the door there to rescue another Salarian. Choose the paragon or renegade option for bonus points. Hack the PDA on the merc's corp for 6000 credits and grab the med-kit.

Proceed to the end of the hall to grab the heavy ammo and use the comm terminal to harass the assassin's target (hehehe). Then go up the ramp. Clear out the enemies and grab the Refined Element Zero (600), the med-kit and use the weapon locker if you want to change your teams loadout. Once your done, go round the corner.

Ah yes, more enemies! Watch out for the Commando with them these guys can be tough cookies. Once you take them down you'll run into a dead merc with an SMG you can scan to receive SMG Damage Upgrade, Hack the pad for 12000 credits and a med-kit.

Drop down and start moving across the bridge. Watch out for the rocket turrets at the end. Also there is another commando at the end so be careful. Once they're all dead enter the door to see the final cutscene.

Meet Thane!

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 credits

The Justicar

Go talk to Liara on Illium, she will have information on the Justicar (and the Assassin). She's in an office above the first shop you see. Ask her about Samara, she will tell you to go talk to officer Dara at the Tracking Office (check your map). Talk to Dara, cycle through all the options and she will give you the option to travel to Samara's location.

Talk to detective Anaya inside the police station and ask her about Samara, she will give you access to the crime scene. Go to the crime scene around the corner on the left. When you enter there is a console on the right upload the information for a side mission (return to Illium later and a Krogan will approach you and it will be mission complete). At the end of the hall down the stairs is a container with 3000 credits.

Proceed down the hall and kill the enemies there, then go left through the door. Meet Samara the justicar! Offer to solve the crime and she promises to join your crew. You'll be outside now, talk to the Volus (Pitne) standing closeby. Cycle through the conversation, RENEGADE QTE. He will give you access to the base.

Go into the elevator on the right of the Volus. This area has biotics and mechs, so someone with warp and overload would be nice. As soon as the elevator opens again there will be a mech in front of you. Destroy it. Go left. As soon as the door opens an Asari will attack you and destroy a crate. These crates release a toxic gas that increases your biotic abilities. But if you take too much you will die. Your biotics can get extremely powerful if you stay in the gas for a while- just make sure it doesn't kill you. Keep an eye on the meter.

Destroy the 3 waves of enemies and go through the door on the other end of the area. There is a new Shotgun on the table on the right and a weapons locker if you want to change your setup on the left. Proceed up the stairs and go left at the top. More enemies! Proceed through the area. At the end there will be a med station. Right behind the med station will be a hackable terminal.

Go around the corner and up the stairs and kill the Enemies there. Another med station and terminal. Go up the stairs again, right and then some more stairs.

In this area there are several enemies and a GUNSHIP. The gunship quickly leaves. On the left is a case of platinum (2000). Proceed through the area. Again a med station and heavy weapon ammo on the left. Next to it is a terminal, use it to receive evidence for Anaya. Proceed through the door on the right. Kill the three mechs that are in your way.

Proceed through the area, there is a heavy weapon ammo crate against the back wall. Leave it because you will need it later, instead cross the bridge. As soon as you cross the bridge the gunship returns! Start shooting it. During the fight it will drop 2 Fenris Mechs, take them out quickly because they can take down your shields with one hit. If you run out of heavy weapons ammo during the fight run back and grab the crate while the gunship retreats. Aren't you glad you saved it?

Once you destroy the gunship by-pass the door on the right and pick up the Shipping Manifest on the right. And access the terminal on the left (6000 credits).

Go trough the door on the left and talk to the stoned Volus for information. Do a PARAGON QTE to save the Volus' life, or let him continue and watch the hilarity. Move towards the end of the hall to find a med-kit and a weapons locker. Final fight time!

Take out their leader and some minor dudes. Hackable terminal at the end of the hall. Pick up the data pad on the table to return to the spaceport.

Renegade: Give the evidence to the Volus outside the police station for +5 renegade and 9000 credits.

Talk to Samara and she will swear allegiance to you. Team Member recruited! Tell Samara you need to talk to the detective if you're going paragon with the evidence.

Paragon: Tell the detective about the murder and the Volus smuggling. For 4200 credits and +12 paragon.

Talk to Samara again to return to the ship.

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 credits

The Quarian

When you land on the planet EDI will tell you the sunlight burns your shields. So stay in the shadows to avoid that.

After the landing head straight ahead run across the sunny spot. Grab the Med Kit and Scan the Geth in the corner then open the main gate and continue to your first fight with the Geth in this area. Head to the higher ground on the right and duck into some cover, now take out the Geth here and advance forward. Mid way down you should find a small alcove on the right hand side with some stairs down, grab the Medicine and head down the stairs, at the bottom is a Heavy Pistol that can be scanned for a Damage upgrade. Move forward cleaning out the last of the Geth here.

A small distance forward you should find two Geth attacking someone else, shoot them in the back and then scan the nearby Geth salvage for 6000 Credits, also grab the new SMG sitting on the ground next to a dead Quarian. After you have all the stuff answer the radio on the dead Quarian.

After the cutscene begin taking down the Geth and heading towards the left hand side of the area, here you will find a large shed like are, inside are several things, first off more Geth, take them down and grab the Demo charge then move past the Demo charge to find a Med Kit, turn around and go up the ramp next to where you found the demo charge for a Medical Station and then head to the front door to hold off some Geth.

Head towards the back of the room and fight some more Geth where you will find another Demo charge along with some Power Cells and a Medical Station.

As you leave you should notice straight ahead a box with 400 Iridium, take out the Geth but DO NOT plant the charges, first head up onto the overpass, you may have to fight some more Geth to get up. After you have made it up, run down the length and duck into cover to allow your shields to regenerate, next grab the stuff from the Medical Station and head down the ramp, now head over to the fallen pillar and plant the Demo charges.

Once the charges have blown head through the door and enter the room, scan the damaged Geth, bypass the safe on the far wall for 6000 Credits, scan another Geth at the far side of the room for 3000 Credits and scan the Geth Sniper Rifle on the table for an upgrade, you can also play Tali's journal if you want to, when you are ready go answer the comms.

When the scene ends, head through the door and use the Medical Station right outside then go down the ramp. When you enter the room you will be confronted by several Drones which will immediately camouflage themselves. Kill them and advance through the room but be careful since more Geth will show up, once they are dead head through the door at the far end of the area.

Lift the Security Lockdown. Head through the door and down the ramp grab the Med-KIt and then speak with Kal'Reegar. During the scene you will get a chance to chose what he should do: you can let him shoot rockets at the Colossus, or you can use the Paragon interrupt to convince him to stay in cover. Rockets will help for sure but he can die, so if you think you can take the Colossus on your own, may as well save his life.

After the scene ends head out and kick some Geth ass, on the left hand side you will find 200 Iridium just next to the ramp and another 200 Iridium on the other side near the next ramp up. On the right hand side there is 200 Near the Bridge across and another 200 right before the ramp to the colossus, in addition if you follow the ramp up past the colossus then you will find a Med Kit.

These are the Items you can grab while the Colossus is alive to get any more I recommend waiting until it is dead. Once it is dead head to the right of the door for some Power Cells along with with another set of Power Cells on the left hand side, once you have the items head through the door. Scan the Damaged Geth as you enter for 9000 Credits and then talk to Tali and welcome her aboard.

The game never really explains wha the deal is with the dying star and why it's so important- maybe in Mass Effect 3?

Mission Complete - 1000XP - 30000 credits.

Derelict Ship

The Illusive Man will contact you after you've recruited two more squad members. He says he's found a deserted Collector ship and wants you to investigate it. Select your team and jump into the ship, you will need to find a uplink where you can connect EDI to the Collector ship so she can get info, since the ship is in a bad way. This being a deserted ship and all, there are no enemies- at least for the first part of the mission.

Follow the path and you come to a pod you can examine, continue onwards and you find a pile of bodies to examine. When you continue onwards you will find a Med Kit and a terminal to examine, get both and after the scene you will get the chance to get some new gear, you will be able to pick a new higher power weapon or a new weapon spec with a more standard weapon, personally I like the higher power stuff but its really about playstyle. Grab your new weapon and continue onward.

Directly after the scene there are two items in front of you Power Cells, and 250 Element Zero, you can also change your weapon loadout at the Weapons Locker. After going a small way you should come to some ledges with a ramp to the right, take the ramp and grab the Collector Technology for 15000 Credits, a little ways head you find a Computer Terminal, examine it for a new upgrade then head up the ramp once you hit the Command Console contact the Normandy and enjoy the scene

To quote Admiral Akbar "It's a trap". In case you couldn't tell they were trying to lure you in and now the Collectors are here to fight, you need to hold the main platform while the Collectors attack- kill all the buggers.

Once all the Collectors are dead head back to the command console and link it with the ship. After the scene head out, as you do, you should pass another salvageable piece of Collector Technology: this one is worth 7500 Credits. Once you have it continue on. You will have to fight several Collectors, keep an eye out since Harbinger will take control of his troops here.

Move forward to the next combat area and clean out the Collectors here as well. Be careful if you are moving forward since the Collectors like to use the higher ground to flank you and that can get you killed very quickly, especially on higher difficulties. After you have cleared the area proceed to the farthest corner and you should find some Power Cells, grab them and then double back to continue on your way.

When you enter the next room EDI will tell you that she is opening a door at the far side of the room but before you can get there you will need to take down the Praetorian. Unfortunately he decided to bring some friends and you will be plagued by Husks during this fight which makes it harder, I suggest whipping out the heavy weapons to take this thing down. Once it has fallen, head across the room for the open door which closes, turn to the right and head down the perfectly placed hallway instead. Going down this hallway you will find more Salvageable Technology, grab it for another 7500 Credits and also examine the Terminal across the way for a Tech Upgrade.

Enter the big room ahead and grab some cover for another big fight, once again there are lots of places for flanking by both parties so keep and eye open, after they are all dealt with continue on. Next we get to fight a hordes of Husks, the thing about husks is that they are weak but the game will send them at you in large groups, try to aim for their legs, if you get a good hit you can get a one shot kill. Biotic powers like Throw Field are also good for crowd control.

Once the Husks are eliminated make your final run to the Normandy and enjoy the scene.

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 Credits (confirm please)

IFF Transponder

At some point after investigating the Collector Ship, the Illusive Man will contact you, asking you to go investigate a dead Reaper Cerberus discovered. Although not technically the point of no return, if you dally too long after completing this mission there are consequences- we recommend you finish up everything else before doing this mission.

Once you are on the ship follow the hallway and you should immediately find a wall safe with 2000 Credits, a Terminal with 2000 Credits, and another wall safe with 4000 Credits, you can also play the Work Log here after grabbing the items head down the hallway. At the end of the hallway you should find 2 Medical Terminals and another Work Log, continue on through the door and get a nice scene.

After the scene, proceed forward and get the next Work Log then move on. As you move to the end of the platform you will encounter some Husks, once again aim for their legs so you can one shot them or use Shockwave to blast large groups of them out of the way. Moving on we get yet another Work Log and more Husks along with some Abominations (red Husks that explode).

Once they are all gone move ahead and you will see several Husks get sniped down, on the right hand side you can also pick up some Power Cells and 2000 Platinum and a Terminal with 3500 Credits, you can also scan the Rifle for a Sniper Rifle Upgrade, when ready continue to move forward and get ready to fight more Husks. When you are advancing keep you eye on the right hand side to find a small passageway to a door that you can bypass. Ignore it for now and keep moving towards the end of the platform. Once you destroy all the husks and the Scion you'll have little scene here. Act according to your alignment to receive bonus points.

Go through the door and you will get a scene, continuing on you will be fighting TONS of Husks, don't be afraid to move backwards, also keep your allies around since they can really save your ass. Keep an eye on them since they have the annoying habit of walking off to stare at bulkheads while you get torn to shreds- bringing someone with Throw Field along is incredibly helpful, as they can blow away husks that get too close to you.

After cleaning house head up the ramp and turn left grab the Med Kit then turn around and head the other direction, you should see a Terminal, use it for 3500 Credits then head down the ramp and grab the Med Kit. Head down the last ramp and kill the next horde of Husks. Now turn around and find the ramp you came down, go past it and you find some Power Cells and a Shotgun you can scan for an upgrade.

Head up the ramp and turn to the right to find a terminal, access it for 3500 Credits then continue. After you head down the ramp you will be attacked by two Scions and some Husks. After taking care of business here head on and you will find more Power Cells and more Husks with two more Scions. Continue forward and find the door, grab the Med Kit before exiting through said door and grab the IFF and exit through the other door.

Now for the final battle here, you will be attacked by Husks with intermittent periods where the Power Core sphere will open up and you need to shoot it, when it closes kill more Husks and it will open again, it shouldn't take too long to do. Keep an eye on your party member because they WILL get into trouble. Also there is a laptop you can use for 1000 Credits on the left hand side. Once the core goes down the Normandy will pick you up,a long with the geth corpse you dragged out of the ship.

Mission Complete - 1000 XP - 30000 Credits

Suicide Mission

Before starting this mission make sure you have:

• Heavy Armor
• Multi-core Shielding
• Thanix Cannon

Else people will start dying before you even land. And going back is a no-go if your ship has been destroyed. Loyalty of your entire crew is a must if you plan on bringing them all back alive. Also make sure they have every upgrade available to maximize your chances of survival.

Head for the Omega 4 Relay and go into orbit then enter. EDI will ask you to confirm that you want to go to the Omega 4 relay (on the 360 the game will now ask you to insert Disc 1) After the (INCREDIBLY EPIC) scene ends you need to pick a team and you will be sent down to the cargo hold where you will have to fight Oculus.

There is a a Med Kit near the door you started at on the right hand side. Just use heavy weapons to burn down its health, it'll fly out of your cargo hold. Queue another cut-scene. Oculus returns with full health, destroy him with heavy weapons. There is some ammo laying about if you run out. After Oculus goes down you are sent back into the cut-scene.

Once you've landed it will ask you who you want as a tech specialist. Choose either Tali or Legion. For the fire-team select either Garrus or Miranda. Select anyone who's left for your own squad. For this first section your Specialist will be moving through a series of tubes. Their path will be blocked from time to time and it is up to you to hit a switch so they can move on. Keep an eye on the meter at the bottom of the screen. One good suggestion is if you have plenty of time left while the bar is draining kill some more enemies ahead before activating the valve shutoff.

Shoot the collectors blocking your path. After the Collectors are dead move forward and hit the first switch then move on and kill the next group of Collectors then hit the next switch, continue moving forward and taking out the Collectors until you have hit the last Vavle shutoff, since its the final level there are no items for you to collect here. After hitting the last switch you will get another scene.

Time to pick new teams. As your biotics specialist pick either Samara or Jack. Pick your first choice again for the second team leader, although there are some reports of Jacob working, it's best to stick with either Miranda or Garrus. And either have Mordin on your squad or send him to escort the survivors, because he tends to die a lot defending the door regardless of loyalty. If you choose to bring Mordin with you, anyone loyal can escort the crew. You are now in the main chamber. Stay inside the Biotic Bubble, you can leave but the swarm will destroy your shields quickly. Escort your Biotic through the level, taking out any opposition. Once you clear the room you will get another scene.

Final team selection! Anyone not on that team will stay at the current location to hold the door and buy you time. Again, make sure Mordin is NOT defending the door, as he dies quite a lot here.

Once you have your team head out. Much like on the Collector Ship, flying platforms will attach to yours and build a bridge. Kill all the enemies until the last platform attaches. It will have two Scions on it so you'll know when you're almost done. If you stay on the first platform throughout the fight the Scions will not attack you straight away. Use ranged powers like incinerate to take them down easily. Once they're all dead head to the last platform and hit the button.

The Final Boss

Another little scene where EDI tells you to hit the weak points. As soon as the fight starts Armor will cover the weak points and a platform with Collectors approaches. As soon as the Collectors die the armor covering the weak points will disappear and you'll be able to fire on them. This repeats until all weak points are destroyed. If you're a soldier you can use adrenaline rush to take out all the weak points at once, otherwise you should be able to get two each time they uncover.

After the boss goes down you will get a scene and a big decision choosing whether to blow the station or keep it and try to learn form the Reaper tech. Destroying the station is obviously the Paragon choice while keeping it is the renegade. This choice will likely carry over into Mass Effect 3, but has not impact on how the rest of the game plays out.

Once you have made the choice, you find that the boss was more resilient then you thought and he has not gone down. He is back and he is PISSED.

He moves around to 3 preset spots (left - center - right). His mouth will start glowing when he is charging but the sound when he's actually about to fire is very distinctive. Let him cycle through his routine once so you get a feel for when he attacks.

During the fight some collectors will drop in. If you need heavy weapons ammo i suggest you wait for Harbinger to take control of one of the collectors before you kill them. He drops large amounts of heavy weapons ammo.

When you've taken off half the health bar of the boss he will start destroying platforms left and right so make sure you are on the center one.

Once you destroy him it's time for the final cut-scene.

Congratulations you have finished the epic adventure of Mass effect 2

(The game will now ask you if you want to keep playing or do a new game+)

Companions

These sections deal with what to do with your companions once you've got them on the ship (as well as where to find them on the ship). Each of them has a loyalty mission to be undertaken, some can be pursued as love interests, and they're all willing to talk to you about their pasts or the mission. It's worth spending some time talking to people in between missions, and it'sdefinitely worth undertaking the loyalty missions, as those will affect the success of the suicide mission at the end of the game.

After you gain a companion's loyalty, you can also choose to take their loyalty talent (the skill that unlocks for them when they become loyal) for yourself- choose "Advanced Skill Training" (or something similar) from the research terminal, and you can add the loyalty talent from any squad member you have loyal to you. You can change this talent later for some Element Zero if you decide you want a different loyalty talent.

Each of your companions will also offer a unique research project- some will enhance the Normandy, helping you survive the suicide mission, or simply making basic tasks such as mineral scanning more tolerable. Others will enhance the combat abilities of the character. All of these projects are located under the PROTOTYPES section in the research menu.

Be warned that there will be some spoilers in these sections, although we'll try to conceal them as much as possible.

Miranda Lawson

Biography

Born on Earth, Miranda comes from a wealthy background. However, underneath her opulent upbringing lies a woman who is calm, collected and driven to accomplish her mission, at any cost. She is quick to judge and values her assignments and goals over people. Miranda is also a powerful biotic as well as a tech specialist. Her unique combination of talents allows her overload enemy shields, leaving them open for a follow-up biotic attack.

Early in her life she approached Cerberus and the Illusive Man and she is now devoted to their cause. She does what needs to be done in order to achieve Cerberus' goals.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Human
• Gender: Female
• Age: 35

Loyalty Sidequest

Go to the Eternity bar on Illium. Your mission contact is in the room on the left. Cycle through the conversation and the contact will transport you to the location. Watch the cut scene with the mercenaries. Renegade QTE. Destroy any enemies in the area and enter the elevator at the end. Talk to Miranda for more back story.

Enter the area, hackable terminal directly inside on the wall. Destroy any enemies and proceed to the next area. In the small room at the end is a med-kit and a Submachine Gun you can scan for an upgrade. Move down the hall and destroy the mechs. Directly on your left is a locker with 1500 credits. Kill any opposition and move towards the end.

Near the end of this area is a body you can scan for a Medi-gel upgrade. Inside the container is a hackable console (3000 credits). Keep moving and kill more enemies. Towards the end of the area are another hackable console (3000 credits), a case of Element Zero (300) and another terminal with 3000 credits. Move into the next area for another batch of enemies.

Once you destroy everyone the door to the elevator will unlock. Grab the heavy weapons ammo and the medi-gel and step into the elevator. Another Cut scene. Choose what you want according to your alignment. You can interrupt Miranda for paragon points. More combat! After you kill everyone you'll find a medi-gel, a trinket (side quest) and a security terminal (3000 credits). Step into the elevator to head into the next area. Almost done!

You can convince Miranda into talking to her sister. Once the cut scene ends you'll be done.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 credits

Once you complete both Miranda's and Jack's loyalty missions they will get into a fight. Jokes will tell you to go break it up because they're about to kill each other. You'll have several dialog options available. Choose either the Paragon or the Renegade option to retain both their loyalty. If you don't have either of those you'll have to choose who you keep loyal.

Upgrade

Miranda offers to upgrade the Normandy's mineral scanner SOMETHING YOU SHOULD GO BUY RIGHT THIS VERY INSTANT. You'll be spending so much time scanning for minerals to buy the other upgrades, this one is essential.

Jacob Taylor

Biography

A former Alliance marine, Jacob is one of the few survivors from the attack on Eden Prime. Following those events he worked with Miranda Lawson of Cerberus and foiled a Batarian terrorist plot to release a deadly virus on the Citadel, saving countless lives. In the aftermath Jacob joined Cerberus believing that humanity needed to become stronger and be able to protect itself throughout the galaxy. While he agrees with Cerberus' goals, he can be conflicted over their means.

Jacob is also a powerful biotic capable of lifting and hurling enemies with great force. His extensive combat training also makes him lethal with his firearms.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Human
• Gender: Male
• Age: 28

Loyalty Sidequest

After you land on the planet head towards the big crashed ship, ignore the emergency VI for the moment and head up the ramp onto the sip. As you enter look to the left for a datapad and hack it for 3000 Credits. On the way off the ship you should see some spare parts. Salvage them for 1500 Credits then go examine the beacon. After you are done with the beacon head up the hill where you will be attacked by some hunters. Kill them off and salvage the spare parts at the end for 1500 Credits, then continue up the hill and you will find a small settlement. There is a Med-Kit on the right hand side as you enter.

Continuing long the right side you will find more salvage for another 1500 Credits, and also a PDA worth 2100 Credits towards the middle of the area. After you have the stuff head further up the hill, you will have to fight some more Loki mechs but they are pretty standard. Make sure you scan the spare parts for 1500 Credits and the Heavy Pistol for an Upgrade. Once you have those continue to press forward. As you advance you should see another salvage for 1500 Credits as well as a Medical Station and Power Cells.

You are now hitting the last battle, where you will fight a couple of standard guards and a heavy mech. Nothing much at this point though, plenty of cover here too so it goes by easy. Before you open the door grab the 500 Element Zero and 2400 Credits that are just next to the door then push through for the final scene.

Jacob is less than amused with his father's actions, and you can nudge him into several courses of action- killing his father, abandoning his father on the planet, or reporting him to the alliance.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Upgrade

Jacob will offer to upgrade the Normandy's armor plating, something that will help you survive the suicide mission.

Mordin Solus

Biography

Mordin is a Salarian professor and brilliant scientist. While eccentric at times, Mordin is guided by scientific principles rather than morals. His analytical outlook on life leads him to do what is necessary for the greater good.

His unique genius will be a valuable asset in combating the Collector threat and their unknown technology. In the field, Mordin is a powerful tech specialist capable of disabling enemies and deploying crippling attacks, such as Incinerate.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Salarian
• Gender: Male
• Age: 50

Loyalty Sidequest

Go to tuchanka and head inside to talk with the Chief. Ask him about the Salarian and he will tell you to go talk to the Scout dude. He will tell you the location of the Blood Pack base. Go there now.

When you arrive there is a weapons locker right next to the vehicle if you want to refit your squad, otherwise, head inside. Your first enemies will be some crawlers, then some Varren. Shoot them to bits. Proceed onwards.

More enemies, Blood Pack troopers this time. After you kill them all there will be a case of iridium and a medi-kit. Further down more Blood Pack. Once you hit the door there will be an upside down vehicle next to it which you can salvage for a side mission. Bypass the door to continue. Once inside scan the dead human for backstory. Continue down the stairs. On the right at the bottom of the stairs is a crate of iridium.

Go left into the hospital, and through the door. A cutscene will start where the Clan Weyrloc krogan will explain the situation, you can interrupt him for a RENEGADE QTE. There's really no reason not to use this QTE, as they'll attack anyways and this thins their ranks. Kill all the krogans that attack you. Pick up the iridium on the bottom floor and head up the stairs. Grab the med-kit and continue.

Open the door and grab the circuit board directly in front of you for 3000 credits. Grab the iridium (500) and access the terminal. Examine the dead krogan in the next room for more backstory and hack the research terminal for Krogan Vitality upgrade.

Proceed forward and enter the door on the right. Hack the pad for 1500 credits then talk to the krogan. Help him if you want (sidequest) else leave him. Go to the end of the hall and open the door on the left, kill everyone inside the room. There is a board you can salvage near where you entered, grab it 4500.

Cross the bridge and grab the medpack. A little further ahead a pack of Varren and one Krogan will attack, so shoot them, then grab the power cells at the end of the hall and head down the ramp. Another group of krogan will attack, including their Chief. Waste em! Open the door on the right for a crate with 3000 credits.

Go through the other door and go down the stairs. Hack the terminal there for a bonus I totally missed because I was typing this. :P

Enter the last door and confront Mordin's assistant. Go through the conversation and interrupt Mordin, or don't. You have the choice of destroying the data, convincing mordin he needs to continue the work and cure the Genophage, or just keeping the data in case it will be useful later.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Upgrade

Mordin can upgrade his own Omni-Tool, increasing the tech damage he deals by 20%

Jack

Biography

For every kill she has a tattoo, and she is covered in ink. Subject Zero has been around; ran with gangs, joined a cult, and kept the haircut. A powerful biotic with a mysterious past, not much is known about Subject Zero other than she is drawn to brutality and violence. Her emotional instability doesn't help the fact that she can lift and discard enemies like trash with her biotic powers. She's dangerous, unstable, and extremely violent, exactly what Commander Shepard needs for his suicide mission.

Subject Zero's skills and abilities will be a valuable asset to Shepard's team, that's if he can keep her under control.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Human
• Gender: Female
• Age: ??

Loyalty Sidequest

Head to the planet indicated on your star map and land. You will get a small cutscene as you descend to the planet when you hit the ground you will be on a platform, take the ramps down into the facility and run past the door and to the right. You will see a Terminal, hack it for 3000 Credits now double back and go through the door. Keep pushing forward until you get to a room with high ceiling and trees.

At the far end of the room you will encounter your first enemies, a pack of 4 wild Varren and also a blood stain you can examine to get a scene with Jack. After the conversation head through the door and grab the Med Kit immediately on your left then head down the hallway. You can examine the security for another conversation, when you are finished head through the door behind you.

Head down the stairs, mid way you will see a door you can Bypass, do so and then grab the 500 Element Zero from the room you just opened and continue down the rest of the stairs and through the door. In this room you will find a group of Blood Pack Mercs. Head to the right side and go to the end of the room, there is an alcove that runs the length of the room, inside you will find a datapad worth 3000 Credits.

Once the Blood Pack is eliminated Bypass the door at the end of the room and move on, next time you encounter the Blood Pack is in the cell area, take out the few Mercs and move up, there will be 3 Varren in the hallway so take them out, there is a circuit board you can salvage for 3000 Credits in the second to last room on the right hand side, after you get the cash head through the door.

Continue through the next room and grab the Med Kit past the door. In the next room you find a lot of stuff, first hack the Research Terminal for a Biotic Upgrade then grab the Power Cells and open both the Security Consoles then head through the door for a big fight, clean everyone out of the room then head to the back. Bypass the Secure Container for 3000 Credits. When you have the cash head through the doors to get to Jacks cell and blow it up.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits.

Once you complete both Miranda's and Jack's loyalty missions they will get into a fight. Jokes will tell you to go break it up because they're about to kill each other. You'll have several dialog options available. Choose either the Paragon or the Renegade option to retain both their loyalty. If you don't have either of those you'll have to choose who you keep loyal.

Upgrade

Jack offers to upgrade her Biotics to new L5 implants which increase the damage she deals with biotic powers by 20%

Grunt

Biography

Believing anything can be resolved by a fight, Grunt is a younger Krogan who is excitable and energetic. His Krogan nature drives him to violence and killing, yet not indiscriminately. With his "might makes right" philosophy, Grunt never shies from confrontation nor would he let Commander Shepard do the same. Like his Krogan brethren, he lives for the glory battle and he is yet to know defeat.

Grunt has a youthful sense of invulnerability, but is cunning beyond his years. He joins Shepard's crew because he believes it will help him fight his own personal battles.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Krogan
• Gender: Male
• Age: 22

Loyalty Sidequest

Grunt's loyalty sidequest takes place on Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld. Mordin's loyalty quest also takes place there, so it might be wise to get them both at once.

Go Tuchanka and take Grunt with you, as soon as you land the guard at the landing pad will tell you to go talk to the chief. Head inside and go talk to the chief he will tell you that Grunt needs to perform a rite and that you have to go talk to the shaman. Go talk to the shaman. <dunno what happens if you don't save wrex>. Ask him what to do and headbutt Gatatog Uvenk if you feel like it. Travel to the trial.

The Place is littered with medpacks heavy weapons ammo and dead Krogans who give you cash. Save the Heavy Weapons Ammo for the fights and loot everything else. First Wave are Varren, second wave are Crawlers, third wave is a Thresher Maw.

The first 2 waves are pushovers but keep an eye out on your AI buddies since they have a tendency to do stupid things. The Thresher Maw has a crazy powerful attack so make sure you are in cover when it fires. Since it only has armor keep spamming INCINERATE on it and it will die quickly (Provided you have a team member with Incinerate/ Incinerate ammo). If you just really don't think you have what it takes to kill the Thresher Maw, technically you only need to survive for five minutes to pass the trial- if you can stay alive for five minutes though, you can easily kill it in that time. There's also an associated achievement, if that motivates you.

Once you've completed the rite Gatatog Uvenk will show up to ask you to join his clan. Be smarmy about it and ask grunt what he thinks. Fight time. A horde of krogan all with armor so just spam INCINERATE and you'll be fine. Once their down, Chief will show up to say hi. Then a little talk with the Shaman an it will be...

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Upgrade

You can get a unique shotgun for Grunt which does more damage than anything else in the game he can use. This shotgun can only be used by Grunt (Or Shepard when he already has the Shotgun proficiency)

Garrus

Biography

Garrus returns from Mass Effect, spending the time Shepard was away eliminating scum on Omega with his trusty sniper rifle.

Loyalty Sidequest

When you touch down at the Citadel make sure that Garrus is in your party then hop off the ship and begin. Head through security and talk to Captain Bailey, he will put you on track to find Fade. He directs you to a warehouse on level 26. When you get there you will meet Fade, or so you think.

After the scene you will have the real location, head to the nearest rapid transit center and go to the Factory District. When you get there you will see a small scene and then you need to fight a lot of Blue Suns Mercs. Take care of the two here and head through the door. Directly in front of you is a Med Kit, grab it and move on. As you make your way through stick to the left hand side and you should find a wall safe. Bypass the safe for 1500 Credits. Now begin sticking to the right hand side of the area, you should hit two circuit boards, wait and make sure that you have killed the enemies and then bypass them. Be careful though, if you get attacked while trying to bypass it counts as failing.

Move forward and kill the remaining Blue Sun Mercs you should arrive at a dead end with the bridge controls. Grab the Med Kit, Power Cells, 2000 Iridium, and Hack the computer for 4500 Credits, then lower the bridge and continue. After taking down the Heavy Mech that shows up continue forward and you should see a Med Kit, grab it, and continue forward. Before you exit through the door there is a circuit board on the right of it you can bypass for 1200 Credits. Enter the next room and grab all the loot inside, including some Power Cells, 2100 Credits from the wall safe, and some forged ID's. Also, right after you leave the room there is a terminal you can hack for a Sniper Rifle upgrade.

Continue onto the next warehouse floor and kill all the bad guys. When you get close to the end your final fight is with two Heavy Mechs. It can be hard but the best advice is make sure they don't flank you and take one out as quick as possible. Once they are down head for your target, but expect a few more light mechs to stand in your way. After the scene you will get to help Garrus kill his traitor. You can chose the Paragon or Renegade, but if you want to keep Sidonis alive you will need at least some Paragon to convince Garrus not to kill him.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Upgrade

Garrus offers to upgrade the Normandy's weapon systems- something that will help you survive the suicide mission at the end.

Thane Krios

Biography

A deadly assassin born of the Drell race, Thane is a warrior-monk. He is stoic, collected, and very spiritual. He ardently believes in his religious path and its accompanying rites and prayers. From Thane's perspective, his body is the weapon wielded by his employers, however he does not believe in killing indiscriminately. Once his services were up to the highest bidder, but something happened; something changed him. Now he has shifted his professional philosophy; he no longer takes contracts for pay, but rather he chooses his targets based on his moral and religious beliefs.

While Thane is lethal with any firearm, he is also a powerful biotic who is able to manipulate foes at will. If Commander Shepard can convince Thane to join his mission, he will have one of the galaxy's most dangerous assassins at his side.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Drell
• Gender: Male
• Age: 39

Loyalty Sidequest

When you land on the Citadel go speak with Captain Bailey. After your chat head up to Darkstar and find Mouse-if you have to use the interrupt to get the information out of him Mouse will be very angry with Thane, so it's better if you can simply talk it out of him. Mouse reluctantly informs you who hired the hit and so it's off to call the cavalry. Return to Captain Bailey and tell him what you know. He will bring in your suspect and you get to interrogate him.

Pick which cop you want to play then head into the interrogation. Once you get the info out of him (I suggest the Bad Cop, its way more fun). Captain Bailey will secure you passage to the area.

You will stalk the catwalks while Thane follows the target, you will need to give him updates on the targets location. Begin by grabbing the Heavy Pistol Upgrade from the Datapad nearby then go through the door at the other side, continue straight until you cannot go any further then turn right and go to the middle of the platform, around now Thane should ask for an update.

Once again head straight staying close to the target. Now turn to the left and follow him through the door. Head straight through the door and keep following, after passing through the next door you will be confronted by a worker, you can use charm or intimidate to get past him. Go to the right to keep following the target.

Thane will confront his son who holds the target hostage, you will get a Paragon interrupt where you shoot the gun out of Kolyat's hands, this is the best way to bring him in.

The quest will end and after a nice heart to heart the father and son will be on the road to rebuilding their relationship.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Upgrade

Thane offers to upgrade the number of probes the Normandy can hold at once, doubling your capacity from max 30 probes to max 60 probes. Very helpful for extended mining sessions, and will likely save you credits on fuel (not that credits are ever much of a problem in the game).

Samara

Biography

Samara is a Justicar, an asari who has forsworn having children and given up all worldly possessions aside from weapons and armor, to wander the galaxy righting wrongs — as defined by their unwavering code of justice. An extremely powerful biotic warrior, Samara is calculating and resolute in her missions. She has no problem with killing as vindicated by the asari Justicar code, but she disapproves of "unjustified" violence.

Her regal and poised demeanor hides something, something from her past that racks her with guilt. What is it that haunts Samara's past, and why does it compel her with such ardent determination?

Quick Facts:

• Species: Asari
• Gender: Female
• Age: Estimated 600 human years

Loyalty Sidequest

It's quite possible to botch this quest by saying the wrong things or not attracting Morinth, so we strongly suggest you save before you take it on because if you blow it and Morinth walks away, there's no second chance and you'll never get Samara's loyalty.

Head Back to Omega to start this quest and go talk with Aria, she will direct you to a young women who was recently killed. Head to the apartments right near the entrance to the slums. Talk to the girls mother, she will let you search her rooms, when you do so read the journal of the desk. This informs you that they met at the VIP section of afterlife. Talk to the bouncer right outside the VIP lounge above the markets.

Talk to the bouncer and tell him Jarrut told you about this place he will let you in. As you enter you will see a guy called Vij leaning against the wall speak with him and then leave. Next move towards the dance floor, you should see a Turian called Meln, interact with him and tell him to leave the dancer alone. You end up kicking his ass and going on your way.

Finally look for a guy called Horftin on the outskirts of the dance floor, tell him you will help and he will ask you to tell his friend some code words to warn her. Now head over to Florit and tell him Terminal then Eternity. She will get the picture and ditch out.

Lastly find and talk to Vertin and convince him not to mug anyone, after you kick the Turians asses as well Morinth will show up and invite you to her table. First thing you want to talk about is Music, tell her about Expel 10, then talk about Hallex. Next talk to her about Art and tell her "I know what I like" then ask her about violent Vids then use the Paragon option and she will invite you to her apartment.

Now that you are in Morinths apartment you need to distract her until Samara arrives, first head over to the wall and scan the Assault Rifle for an Upgrade then go talk to Morinth. When you talk to Morinth, you will need 3 bars of either Paragon or Renegade (check by pausing and going to the squad screen, look for the little notches in the meter) to keep your mind while talking to Morinth. If you do choose the paragon/renegade options, you'll be treated to an extended duel between Samara and Morinth, and given the choice of killing Samara and having Morinth join the team, or killing Morinth and helping Samara end her quest.

If you don't have high enough paragon or renegade, Samara will simply save you by quickly killing Morinth and you won't get the choice.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Upgrade

Samara (or Morinth) offers to upgrade the fuel cells in the Normandy, giving it 500 extra fuel and allowing it to travel farther without having to refuel. Helpful for exploring some larger clusters, but entirely unnecessary.,

Tali'Zorah vas Neema

Biography

Tali, the Quarian machinist returns. Following the Geth assault on the Citadel, Tali returned to the Migrant Fleet and joined the crew of the Neema. Renowned for her technical and engineering abilities, she is an important and respected member of the Quarian fleet. Tali's unique insight allows her to hack mechanized opponents, overload shields, or deploy an automated Combat Drone.

Her resourcefulness and tech skill set will prove to be a useful asset to Commander Shepard against not only the Geth but also the Collectors.

Quick Facts:

• Species: Quarian
• Gender: Female
• Age: 24

Loyalty Sidequest

When you talk with Tali, you'll learn that she has been accused of treason and needs to return to the Migrant Fleet immediately. Of course, "immediately" in Mass Effect terms means whenever you damn well feel like it (Although be careful near the end of the game, that kind of thinking can get you into trouble).

Anyway fly into the fleet to begin the quest, as you enter you will learn the charges that have been leveled against Tali. Continuing along you will meet Tali's aunt and find that you have been made Tali's official ship captain, and therefore you stand for her in the trial- time to try your hand at being a space lawyer.

Walk into the main room to begin the trial and speak on Tali's behalf. You find that the active Geth have overtaken Tali's father's ship- something Tali herself did not know- and you offer to take it back. After this initial trial, you can talk to the admirals and get a feel for their positions, as well as learn some very interesting information about Quarians and their ongoing conflict with the Geth. When you're ready to move on, head to the hanger bay to get your transport. You'll be facing Geth so it's a good idea to bring someone with strong tech abilities- Tali is fairly useless in combat and needs to be babysat, especially on higher difficulties.

Once on board Tali's father's ship, head forward and clear the room of Geth. Once they are all down grab the Med Kit to the left of the entrance, there are two laptops with 1500 and 1800 Credits at the far right hand side and on the far left hand side near the door are some Power Cells. Grab all this and hit the door. Head through the first door on the left and Hack the Terminal for 4200 Credits and the Med Station next to it, you can also examine one of the things in the room for a conversation with Tali.

Next, head through the door at the end of hallway and hack the monitor for the Geth Shield Strength upgrade. Continue through the last door to move on, here you will fight some more Geth. After they are go down, access both laptops at the right hand side of the room for 1800 and 2100 Credits, and as you leave bypass the wall safe for 4200 more Credits.

After you have cleaned the next room out grab 2000 Palladium from the left side and the Med Kit from the far end of the room before leaving you can grab another 3000 Credits from a wall safe behind you. As you leave and check the wall console for another conversation with Tali. Be careful in the next room, the Geth come fast here and if you go down the stairs you are asking for trouble- let them come to you and take them down as they come up the stairs. Once the Geth are dead, head down the stairs and grab 2400 Credits from the laptop. You also get 1800 Credits from the laptop across the room and the Med Kit at the back of the room. Take out all the Geth in the final room and Grab the ship model for your cabin. Use the computer for 3000 Credits and head to the back of the room and grab the evidence.

Return to the Flotilla, where the Admiralty board is busy deciding Tali's fate. You have the option of presenting your evidence and clearing Tali's name but incriminating her father, presenting no evidence and letting Tali be exiled, or using the Paragon/Renegade option (if you pass the check) to convince the Admiralty Board not to exile Tali without having to use your evidence.

Tali expresses her wish that you do not show the evidence that incriminates her father, and if you do show, she will reject your actions and not become loyal. Allowing Tali to be exiled gains her loyalty but may have repercussions in Mass Effect 3, while using the Paragon/Renegade option gains Tali's loyalty AND allows her to remain a member of the Migrant Fleet.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Once you complete both Legion's and Tali's loyalty missions they will get into a fight. Jokes will tell you to go break it up because they're about to kill each other. You'll have several dialog options available. Choose either the Paragon or the Renegade option to retain both their loyalty. If you don't have either of those you'll have to choose who you keep loyal.

Upgrade

Tali will offer to enhance the Normandy's shields, an upgrade that will help you survive the suicide mission.

Zaeed Massani

Biography

Zaeed served in the Alliance military before building a reputation as one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the Terminus Systems. For 20 years he waged war for profit, but now he wishes to step away from his life of bloodshed and mercenary work.

Lacking any real conscience, Zaeed is a well experienced soldier who has battled his way across galaxy. He offers his services to Commander Shepard, but they come at a price...

Quick Facts:

• Species: Human
• Gender: Male
• Age: 40

This character currently is available as downloadable content for those who have access to the Cerberus Network.

Zaeed is on of the easiest characters in the game to recruit. Once the game recognizes our DLC and sends you an in-game message about Zaeed, just head to Omega. Zaeed will literally be impossible to miss once you disembark, as he's straight down the docking hallway. Talk to him and either convince him to spare the Batarian or just let him kill it, then return to your ship.

Loyalty Sidequest

For Zaeed's loyalty sidequest, he'll ask you to help him attack the leader of the Blue Suns mercenary group, who is holding a refinery hostage. When you arrive, you'll discover things aren't so simple- Zaeed has no interest in saving the hostages and only wants revenge on the leader of Blue Suns for personal reasons. You are faced with the choice of helping Zaeed pursue his revenge, or saving the hostages. Helping get revenge will get you renegade points and assure Zaeed's loyalty. If you save the hostages you'll get paragon points but Zaeed will NOT be loyal to you. With a high enough Paragon you can save the hostages and convince Zaeed to become loyal. Either option will get you the achievement, and they both involve lots of fighting, so be prepared.

Head straight offof the landing point and you will find some dead bodies to examine for some lines from Zaeed, continue as he says, when you begin to see the area open out this is where the fight will take place, grab some cover and clean out the Blue Suns Mercs that attack, this is a pretty fortified area and after the first wave goes down they send in reinforcements, near the exit there is a PDA to acess (6000 Credits). Leave this area and advance.

Just before the door to ente the refinery you will find 400 Paladium, colect it and enter, directly after the scene ends there will be 400 Paladium, you will need to clean out the Blue Suns before advancing, as you continue you will see another 400 Paladium on the right hand side.

When you exit this area you wil get a scene and be presented with a choice, save the workers or go after Vido, you can tell which is Paragon and Renegade but the mission goes differantly with what you chose.

Paragon Choice

If you chose to save the workers instead if heading through the door you jump down a level and prepare to find the shutoff for the refinery. Continuing forward you will find several Fuel Control Panels, you ned to hit all of these to redirect the fuel and save the workers. Along the way you should find a Salvage (6000 Credits). As you move forward you will see several workers trapped and they will tell you that the extinguisher system is upstairs, head up the stairs, at the top you will find400 Paladium. In the final room you will find a Research Terminal with a Heavy Weapons Ammo upgrade and the extinguisher system, hit the switch and you will save the workers then head through the now open door.

Renegade Choice

You continue forward and find more Mercs, as you enter the next room you will see some salvage (6000 Credits), and a Terminal with an Assualt Rifle Damage upgrade, grab both and move through the door. After cleaning the next room out and proceed.

Both Choices Meet Here

Here you find 400 more Paladium and a little further yon ou will find a Heavy Weapon. The M-451 Firestorm is a flamethrower just like the ones you have been fighting the whole game. Move forward and you will make it to the center of the complex.

Change your weapons if you want at the Weapons Locker and grab the Power Cells next to it, also the Salvage as you enter (6000 Credits) continue to the next area and prepare for a big fight, Vido really wants to stop you here so he throws a lot of Mercs at you. Near the middle of the room you will find a Med Kit, grab that whenever you want.

Mid way through the fight the fuel tanks on the ceiling will begin to leak and start moving, watch out since the fire will hurt you if it hits you, the posotive is you can shoot the tanks down and they will explode and kill any enemies they hit.

Once the room is cleaned of the rediculous number of Mercs head to the right hand door and go thorugh, grab the Salvage (6000 Credits) ad head for the left hand side door, Grab the Salvage from this side as well (6000 Credits) and then head for the door at the far end of the room

Renegade Ending

When you exit you will get a scene where Zaeed will get his revenge (in a badass way too) and this will make him loyal. THis is by far the easier way to gain his loyalty since rescuing t the workers will make you miss Vido and thus Zaeed will not get his revenge.

Paragon Ending

Turns out Zaeed was right and the time that it took to save the workers costs him his revenge, Vido escapes in his ship and Zaeed accidentally ejects a thermal clip into the flamable liquid. You to have a quick chat and if you have a high Paragon score you can convince him that he should work with you

IF YOUR PARAGON IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH YOU WILL NOT EARN HIS TRUST

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Legion

Biography

Legion is a geth squad mate who will join you during the mission to acquire the Reaper IFF. Rather, you'll bring his disabled corpse back to the ship, where you can choose whether to activate him or not, much like Grunt. He is a tech specialist and can use sniper rifles and assault rifles. His unique ability is Geth Shield Boost, a very strong shield modifier.

Loyalty Sidequest

Legion's loyalty sidequest sheds some interesting light on the events of Mass Effect 1, and also provides perhaps one of the larger decisions in the game. Shortly after you activate him, Legion will ask for your help in shutting down a faction of "heretic" geth. As it turns out, before the events of Mass Effect, there was a rift between the Geth, with some wanting to help Sovereign and others who did not. Legion did not wish to aid Sovereign, and considers those who did heretics.

When you begin the mission you will have a small scene, the stuff you say here has no real bearing, just some easy Paragon or Renegade points,head down the hall and grab the Med Kit on the floor then go down the stairs. Here you will see some Green Lines along the floor, walking over these will trigger the enemies, if you can follow the path and find the stations they are at you can stop them before they can attack you. Once the Hub is destroyed head over to it and Salvage it for it (3000 Credits)

Continue through the doorway and you will see two turrets, they can be hacked to become friendly, simply move the reticule over them and press A, continue to the end of the hall and wipe out any enemies still alive. Moving forward you will find yourself in another maze of activation strips, avoid them and hit one of the Hubs, once all the enemies are dead Salvage both hubs for 3000 Credits each.

Head into the next hallway and two enemies will advance down it towards you, mop them up and grab the Med Kit at the end of the hallway then move on up the ramps, in the next hallway two more enemies will advance at you again, same as before, kill them and head through the door at the end of the hallway. In this room you will see two more hackable turrets, hack them and then clean up any enemies while they are distracted by the turrets, once the room is empty exit through the back.

At the end of this next hallway you will find a Med Kit and some Power Cells, grab them and double back tot the door you just passed.after going down the ramps you will come to a T intersection, go right and grab the 2000 Palladium then turn around and head for the door. In the next room there is a Terminal you can override for an upgrade. Upon entering the next big room, you will find more of the trip lines, avoid them as you head down the ramps and then find a good position to attack one of the Hubs, after all the enemies are downed collect the salvage from both Hubs for another 3000 Credits apiece.

Once you are in the main server room you can grab the Med Kit and then activate the Terminal, this will prompt an attack by the enemies, several waves will come, you can hack the turrets on the ground floor as well but the hack will last for several seconds and are useless for the most part. Hold the top floor while the enemies attack, a scene will play when you are finished and you will have to make another moral choice, a fairly serious and well-thought out choice that could easily return in the third game. You will now need to run out of the base and fight a handful of enemies on the way, once you get out the mission is cleared.

Mission Complete - 750xp - 15000 Credits

Notes

Once you complete both Legion's and Tali's loyalty missions they will get into a fight. Joker will tell you to go break it up because they're about to kill each other. You'll have several dialog options available. Choose either the Paragon or the Renegade option to retain both their loyalty. If you don't have either of those you'll have to choose who you keep loyal.

Upgrade

His upgrade is a Custom Sniper Rifle. This is also available to Shepard on the collector ship if he already has the Sniper Rifle proficiency

Romance

In Mass Effect 2 Commander Shepard will encounter several new potential love interests. For a male Shepard these areMiranda Lawson , Subject Zero, Yeoman Kelly Chambers and Tali'Zorah. For a female Shepard, the new potential love interests are Jacob Taylor, Thane Krios, Kelly Chambers and Garrus. You can also romance Morinth as either female or male Shepard, however if you do, Shepard will die.

If you imported a character from the first game, Mass Effect 2 will recognize any relationship you had with some extra dialogue and a picture of your love interest in your cabin. Having a love interest in the first game does not prevent you from having one in Mass Effect 2, although Bioware has said there will be repercussions for "cheating" in Mass Effect 3.

To romance a character in Mass Effect 2, just talk to them a lot and eventually your relationship will move in this direction. The male romance options will get into fights with other crew members- you need to side with your love interest in these fights.

After beating the game, you can invite your love interest up to the captain's cabin and have them rest with you or simply be in your room. Kelly Chambers will dance for you after beating the game.

Assignments (Sidequests)

This section covers uncharted planet quests, mail quests, quests recieved from NPCs, etc. Companion loyalty quests are covered in the companions section.

These side missions usually give you between 50 and 150 XP, a few credits and Upgrades.

-- Not all information and names have been verified.

Normandy

These Assignments are found by exploring the Normandy.

FBA Couplings

Donnelly and Daniels in Engineering need power couplings. These couplings can be purchased at Kenn's Salvage in the markets on Omega. Return to the engineering twins once you have them.

Serrice Ice Brandy

Doctor Chakwas would like a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy but hasn't been able to find one.

You can obtain a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy:

• On the bar in Afterlife on Omega
• In Dark Star on level 28 of the Zakera Ward on the Citadel
• From Ratch's kiosk on Tuchanka

Pick up the bottle and deliver it to Dr. Chakwas.

Special Ingredients

Mess Sergeant Gardner needs special provisions. These provisions can be purchased at the Zakera Cafe next to C-Sec on the Citadel. Once the goods are purchased, return to Gardner.

Omega

These Assignments are found by exploring Omega.

Archangel: Datapad Recovered

Found in the room with Jaroth during the mission to recruit Archangel.

Return the datapad to Aria in Afterlife. Unlocks the mission “Eclipse Smuggling Depot.”

Packages for Ish

Ish and his friend Sel are located between the main entrance to Afterlife and the door leading to the Marketplace.

If you agree to Ish’s deal, you will need to pick up two packages for him. The first is datapad outside of Saronis Applications on Level 26 of the Zakera Ward on the Citadel. The other datapad is on a sectional couch at the far end of the Eternity Bar on Illium. When you have both packages, return to Omega and deliver them to Ish.

Struggling Quarian

There are a few ways to complete this task, the easiest being to give Kenn 1000 credits so he can leave Omega. If you choose not to give him he credits, talk to Harrot at his store in the marketplace. Choose between the options given, then return to Kenn.

The Professor: Missing Assistant

After first meeting Mordin Solus in his clinic, he will task you with restoring power to the generators- and finding his missing assistant, Daniel. Do the mission as normal, except immediately before you enter the fan room, the path splits. Right takes you to the fan room and the end of the mission, left to Daniel. Head left to a locked door and bypass it. Daniel is inside being held captive by a group of Batarians. You can either use paragon or intimidate to convince the Batarians to let Daniel go, at which point you can kill the Batarians anyways or let them go as well. Trying to kill the Batarians while Daniel is still held hostage will get him killed. Daniel will automatically return to the clinic once you have freed him.

The Patriarch

Speak with Grizz, and he will tell you to find Patriarch and warn him that there’s a price on his head. Patriarch is in the side room in Lower Afterlife. Once you tell Patriarch he needs to leave, choose one of the dialogue options. If you choose Paragon, go to the back alley, then report back to Aria. If you choose Renegade, just go talk to Aria.

Citadel

These Assignments are found while exploring the Citadel. The CItadel hub has changed quite a bit since Mass Effect 1- probably the most obvious sign of the tonal shift from game to game.

Crime In Progress

A Quarian and a Volus have some sort of dispute on the Citadel, with a C-Sec officer trying to go through the motions and work it out. They can be found on level 26 of the Zakera Ward.

The Volus accuses the Quarian of bumping into him and stealing his "Credit Chit." Question the Volus to see where he was when he last had it. He will tell you he was shopping at Sirta Foundation, the store located behind the arguing pair. Talk to the store's owner and she'll tell you she doesn't remember. Then walk to the store across from Sirta Foundation, called Saronis Applications. Talk to Marab inside the store and he will tell you the Volus left his "chit" there. Collect the chit and return to the Volus. Hit the quicktime event for paragon points.

Interview 2.0

Remember that reporter from the first game that you either punched out made look crazy? Well she's back, and you can think of this as your second chance!

You’ll find Khalisah al-Jilani on level 28 of the Zakera Ward. If you talk to her she’ll request a second interview. During the course of the interview, you are given a Renegade interrupt to end the talk very abruptly. If you chose not to interrupt, pick from one of the dialogue options to end the interview.

Take it from us: PUNCH HER IN THE FACE.

Found Forged ID/False Positives

*This assignment will not appear until after you have done Thane's loyalty mission.*

There are two Asari on level 27 of the Zakera Ward who cannot pass through C-Sec. You can get them through security a few ways:

1. If you picked up the fake IDs on Garrus' loyalty mission, you can just give them to the Asari. The IDs are located at the very end of the segment where you hunt down Harkin, in the room before you fight the two mechs.
2. If you missed/ don't yet have the IDs, talk to the Asari, who will tell you to talk to C-Sec. Talk to the customs officer- a high enough paragon/renegade will allow you to convince C-Sec to let them through, finishing the quest.

Apparently if you convince C-Sec to let them through, then do Garrus' mission and get the fake IDs, the Asari appear again, allowing you to get double XP for this quest.

Krogan Sushi1

On Level 27 of the Zakera Ward you’ll find two Krogan questioning whether there are fish in the lakes of the Presidium. Listen to their conversation until you get the mission pop-up, then head to the Dark Star club on Level 28. Talk to the Presidium Groundskeeper inside the club, then go back and talk to the Krogan again to complete the quest.

Why is this a quest? I have no idea.

Illium

These Assignments are found while either exploring Illium or during missions conducted on Illium.

Blue Rose of Illium

A Krogan named Charr is reciting love poems to his Asari girlfriend. Talk to her about their relationship, then choose either the paragon or renegade dialogue options.

Conrad Verner

The carryover from Mass Effect 1 is bugged/intentionally nonexistent for this quest. Regardless of your actions in the first game, Conrad will always say you put a gun in his face and scared him off.

If you didn't make Conrad Verner (the crazy fan) commit suicide in Mass Effect 1, he can be found in the Eternity club on Illium, threatening a bartender. Apparently, in the intervening two years between your death and now, Conrad has BECOME YOU. Or at least is trying his best- he's wearing an N7 armor replica, and going around trying to "right wrongs". This being Conrad Verner, he's not doing so hot. There are a few options for dealing with Conrad in this situation.

1. You can talk to him and find out that an Asari merchant tricked him into trying to get the deed to the bar for her. This Asari merchant is not on the trading floor, but instead over near the Transportation Hub. Talk to her choose the paragon or renegade option. Talk to Conrad, and choose one of the dialogue options to complete the mission.
2. You can convince Conrad he's not cut out for this line of work by just flat-out telling him so, or by SHOOTING HIM IN THE FOOT.

Indentured Service

After speaking to the Slave Broker, talk to the Synthetic Insights Rep about purchasing the Quarian. You can either choose the paragon/renegade option to sell the Quarian to her, or you can choose the upper right dialogue option to understand her reasoning. If you choose the upper right option, return to the Slave Broker. From there you can choose the paragon/renegade option to free the Quarian.

Gianna Parasini

If you helped Gianna Parasini take down Anolleis on Noveria in Mass Effect 1, she'll show up on Illium trying to take down a corrupt merchant and she'll ask for your help in getting the asari to admit guilt.

Liara: System Hacking

For this mission, Liara wants you hack three terminals around the taxi/shopping area of Illium and upload the data from vulnerable spots nearby. Thankfully, you’re provided with nifty a distance meter that emits a tone that intensifies as you near the target, but since you’re reading this you won’t really need it (unless I’m not specific enough).

The first terminal is along the wall to your right as you enter the area with all of the taxis. Hack the terminal, then walk over and access the valuable data near the Baria Frontiers kiosk. The second terminal is along the wall to your left as you enter the taxi area. Hack the terminal, then walk down past the Memories of Illium store and access the data from the terminal in the corner. The third terminal is on the wall next to Gateway Personal Defense. Once again, hack it, then walk over to the kiosk next to Officer Dara’s office and access the data. Once you have the data, return to Liara for the next phase of the mission.

Liara: The Observer

After you help Liara collect the data in the “System Hacking” mission, she now wants you to hack more terminals. Yeah, just what I wanted. Anyway, there are five terminals you can hack to gather information on the identity of the Observer. You must hack the terminal, and either call Liara immediately or wait until you have all of the data. There’s no need to wander too far, most of the terminals are on the Trading Floor area.

The terminals are located:

1. Next to the stairs leading up to Liara’s office.
2. On the right side large scrolling screen.
3. On the circular terminal next to the left side large scrolling screen.
4. On the circular terminal closest to the path back to the Normandy.
5. Inside the Eternity Bar.

Now to be clear you could only hack one terminal, call Liara, choose who to kill, and report back to her, but then you wouldn’t know who the real Observer is! So, once you hack all five terminals, make the call and tell her something’s not right about this information. Then talk to Liara again to found out who is the real spy. Mission Complete!

Medical Scans

Shiala, the Asari you met on Feros if you played Mass Effect 1, needs you help. Speak with her and then talk to Erinya, who is standing next to the Baria Frontiers kiosk. Get her to talk about her family, then choose either the paragon or renegade dialogue options. Return to Shiala when you’re done. If you killed Shiala but still saved the colony, a random Feros colonist will give you this quest.

The Assassin: Salarian Family Data

This mission is found when you pick up a datapad during the mission to recruit the Assassin.

The datapad is found near the elevator when you get off and deal with the guard by the window. You might miss it if you don’t go back to the elevator. Pick it up and deliver it to the Salarian in the Shipping Cargo area to complete the mission.

The Justicar: Smuggling Evidence

This mission is found during your mission to recruit the Justicar.

Pick up the Shipping Manifest in the room with the door you must bypass after you destroy the gunship. You can either give the manifest to Pitne For or Detective Anaya to complete the mission.

The Justicar: Stolen Goods Found

This mission can be found on your way to the crime scene during your mission to recruit the Justicar.

Read the Shipping Details terminal, and the next time you dock at Illium a Krogan will ask you if you have the information. Speak with him to complete the mission.

The Prodigal: Lost Locket Found

This mission is found during Miranda’s loyalty mission.

The lost locket is labeled “Trinket” and is found on a crate next to the elevator after to take care of Enyala. Pick up the locket and deliver it to the Asari outside of the trading floor on Illium to complete the mission.

Tuchanka

Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld, is another hub planet you can visit, although it has very few quests. This is one of the areas where your choices in Mass Effect 1 will be the most noticeable- depending on if you saved or killed Wrex on Virmire, the situation on Tuchanka can be extremely different. Tuchanka can only be unlocked to visit by taking on Grunt or Mordin's loyalty quest- both require you to visit the planet.

Combustion Manifold

Talk to the Mechanic working on the large truck and he will tell you he needs a combustion manifold. You can find the Combustion Manifold to the right of the door you must bypass in order to enter Clan Weyrloc’s base. Deliver the manifold to the Mechanic to complete the mission.

Killing Pyjaks

To find the mission, talk to Ratch about the local Pyjak problem. Then head over to the Defense Gun Controls next to the Chief Scout. There are three waves of Pyjaks you must kill to complete the mission. The first wave consists of 12 Pyjaks, with a second wave of 15 Pyjaks and a third wave of 18 Pyjaks.

The launcher only has 20 rounds per wave, so don't spam. Each launcher round has a bit of splash damage, so you don’t have to hit the Pyjak directly to kill it. Also, there is about a 1 second delay between launching a round and hitting the target, so make sure not to aim where the Pyjak is, but where it will be. Complete the three waves and return to Ratch.

Old Blood: Missing Scout

Found in the Clan Weyrloc’s Base during Mordin’s loyalty mission.

You can find the scout behind a door to the right after you examine the dead Krogan female. You can talk him into going back to the Urdnot base, or you could also force a Renegade interrupt. If you manage to save him, return to the Chief Scout.

N7 (Galactic)

These quests are found by scanning, mission rewards or messages from your private terminal. Usually scanning.

Abandoned Mine

This mission is found on Aequitas in the Fortis system of Minos Wasteland.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Before entering the mine, there is a container with some credits next to a corpse. When heading in through the mine entrance, there will be a box of Refined Iridium [440] to the right of the table with the datapad. You will be fighting a lot of Husks and Abominations, so use incendiary ammo or powers to quickly bring them down. Be careful, Abominations will explode before they die. As you head further in to mine there will be another box of Refined Iridium [600], then when you come to a ramp you will find yet another box of Refined Iridium [560].

Go up the ramp and bypass the locker to get some credits. Continue forward and you will find, once again some Refined Iridium [400]. It’s almost as if this were once a mine or something! When you come to a fork in the path there will be a Med Station to the left. Both paths lead to the same place, so fight you way to the room containing the alien device and shoot both bombs to complete the mission. If you can, there is a locker to bypass just outside of that room.

Abandoned Research Station

Found near Antigar in the Strabo system in the Eagle Nebula. This mission is given to you through your private terminal, it cannot be found by searching.

To open the locked door, go into the other room and restore power to the docking area. The room also contains two boxes of Refined Iridium [600/400]. Once that is done, head into the Hub Area with the sealed VI room. You won’t be able to enter the VI room until you restore power to the rest of the station. Along the outer wall of the Hub Area are three doors.

The door to your left is the Research Lab (It will be marked on the wall). Inside the lab you will find two boxes of Refined Iridium [600/400]. Once you restore power to the lab, you must solve the puzzle. Use the computers to rotate the reflectors so the beam will destroy the cylinder on the other side of the room. One way to solve this puzzle is to activate:

1. Computer 1 once.
2. Computer 2 twice.
3. Computer 3 once.
4. Computer 4 three times.

When the cylinder is destroyed head back into the Hub Area.

The door opposite from the entrance to the Hub Area is Engineering. The hallways here are venting gas, and will cause damage when it hits you. Head down the hallway while trying to avoid the gas leaks. On the right will be a room with a Personal Locker containing some credits. Once you reach the end of the path there will be a console to restore power to Engineering. Once power is the store the leaks will stop, so head back into the main room.

The last door, located to the left of the main room entrance, leads to the Living Quarters. Make your way into the room with the console and restore power to the area. Unfortunately, restoring power will lock all of the doors in the area. Oops. To unlock all of the doors, face the three computers on the desk in the room and activate them in this order: Right, middle, left, middle. That will unlock all of the doors in the living quarters, including the one that was locked when you first entered. Inside that room are three Personal Lockers filled with credits. Next, head back to the Hub Area to face the VI.

In front of the VI room is an access panel. Restore power to the Hub Area and enter the newly unlocked doors. Shut down the VI to complete the mission.

Anomalous Weather Detected

This mission is found on Canalus in the Dirada system of the Pylos Nebula.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Visibility is poor on this planet, so use caution. On the other side of the large stone pillar in front of you is some Refined Palladium [100]. Fight your way up the hill and watch you for Geth Hunters. At the top of the hill are three boxes of Refined Palladium [200x2/100]. The area at the bottom of the hill has two more boxes of Refined Palladium [200x2]. When the path narrows, take cover, there will be a Geth Destroyer along with some Hunters and plenty of Troopers. When they are all taken care of, access the Geth Device at the end of the path to complete the mission.

Archeological Dig Site

Found on Joab in the Enoch system of the Rosetta Nebula.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Fight the Blue Suns Mercs and go through the door to enter the dig site. Fight more mercs, and go up the ramps and through the door down the long hallway. In the next room fight your way past the Blue Suns Commander and Captain Locke. Go into the room past where you fought Locke and scan the Prothean Video Log to complete the mission.

Blood Pack Base

Found on Zada Ben in the Xe Cha system of The Shrike Abyssal.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Walk across the land bridge and down the ramp. Cross the next land bridge and go through the door to your right. Take out Kalusk and shoot the Containment cells, and then quickly go back through the door to complete the mission.

Blood Pack Communications Relay

Found on Tarith in the Lusarn system of the Cresent Nebula.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Follow the path and activate the beacons along the way, using the blue beam as a guide to each beacon. Once you reach the end, fight Samaul and bypass the Communications Terminal to end the mission.

Blue Suns Base

This mission takes places on the planet Sanctum, in the Decoris System of the Sigurd’s Cradle star cluster.

Scan the planet to find the landing site. Take cover immediately as many Blue Suns Troopers will pour out of the base entrance. Once they are all dead, head inside, but don’t forget to pick up the box of Refined Iridium [400] wedged in between some crates before you go up the stairs and into the base. Take cover once you’re inside the base, and defeat the Troopers and the Eclipse Commander. The Commander has shields and armor, so remember to use the appropriate ammo types and powers to bring him down. The room to the right contains a Wall Safe.

The room to the left will lead to a cave entrance. Kill the incoming troops and go into the cave. On the left there will be a box of Refined Iridium [400]. Proceed through the cave where you will find two more boxes of Refined Iridium [400x2]. Defeat the two YMIR Mechs, then Captain Narom and some Troopers. In the room to the left of the Bypass Door is a Wall Safe. Bypass the door and overload the distress beacon to complete the mission.

Captured Mining Facility

Found on Helyme in the Zelene system of the Crescent Nebula.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Make your way into the facility and bypass the door. Before you bypass, there is some Refined Palladium [2000] to the left on some crates near a rocky ledge. Once you are inside the facility move forward while fighing the Eclipse Troops. Turn left and fight your way to the Bridge Control panel. Then go to the Mainframe terminal. Hack it and decrypt the Encrypted Data.

Reinforcements with storm in form where you entered so take up positions and hold out until the data is decrypted. Enemies will have barriers, shields and armor so make sure to use everything at your disposal. Once the decryption is complete examine the Mainframe panel. Exit the menu and end the mission when you are ready.

Eclipse Smuggling Depot

Mission given to you as a reward for completing Archangel: Datapad Recovered. Found on Daratar in the Faryar system of the Hourglass Nebula.

To complete this mission, you must destroy the three YMIR Mechs destroying the crates. Make sure to use different ammo types and powers to take them down faster. Here’s a tip: If you have the M-920 Cain, fire it at the center of the area and you will destroy the Mechs with a single shot and not destroy any of the crates. Also, check near Security Systems terminal for a Med Kit and some Refined Element Zero.

Endangered Research Station

This mission is located in the Caleston Rift cluster, the Solveig system, and on the planet Sinmara.

After landing on the station, move forward along the path, making sure to salvage the broken generator for +2000 Palladium. Head towards the control station, and bypass it to unlock. Even if you fail the bypass you won't be locked out. After the walls fold down move forward. Hitting the control button in the center will power up one of the consoles (you can tell because there will be a display screen active on the object). First, activate the cooling system, then activate the shield generator, then bypass the main control console. This will trigger a cutscene of the station's sheilds activating, and the mission is over.

Hahne-Kedar Facility

Found on Capek in the Haskins system of the Titan Nebula. This mission is given to you through your private terminal.

Scan the planet and launch a probe. Fight the Mechs outside and enter the facility. The room across from you as you enter has a Wall Safe and Med Kit. Fight your way through the factory floor, and along the way you’ll find boxes of Refined Element Zero [150/175]. In the stairwell there is a box Refined Element Zero [175]. Head up the stairs and hack the console to complete the mission.

Imminent Ship Crash

This mission is given through your private terminal. The ship is located next to Jonus in the Nariph system of the Pylos Nebula.

This is a timed mission, and you only have 6 minutes to prevent the ship from crashing. Bypass the door in front of you and take down the Geth inside and override the console to open the door. In the next room you have to activate the power couplings on the lower level, then make your way up the ramp and hack the console to restart the engine. There’s also a box of Refined Iridium [800] next to Power Coupling 2 if you can get it.

Javelin Missiles Launched

Found on Franklin, Skepsis system, Sigurd’s Cradle.

Scan the planet. This is a timed mission, so you only have five minutes to stop the launch. Start by killing the Batarians in the hallway and bypassing the door. Defeat all of the enemies and bypass the door at the bottom of the stairs. If there is enough time, grab the Refined Palladium [2000] near where the Batarians were positioned. Kill the Commander and hack the console. Pick one of the options to complete the mission. Before ending the mission, be sure to grab the credits from the Wall Safe.

Lost Operative

The Eclipse base is located on Lorek in the Fathar System of the Omega Nebula.

At the start of the mission there will be a box of Refined Platinum [1200] behind some crates to your right, next to the shuttle. Go up the platform and through the door on the right. Inside there are some Eclipse Troopers and perhaps a few Eclipse Vanguards. Once they are taken care of, more enemies will come in from the room across from you. After all of the enemies are dead, go into that room to find a Wall Safe and a Med Kit. Next, bypass the Holding Cell Access panel.

When that is done, more Eclipse Troopers will enter the room through the doors on the other side of the room, along with Morl and usually an Eclipse Vanguard. Morl has armor and shielding, so make sure to use ammo type and powers accordingly. Up the ramp and through the doorway on the right will be a box of Refined Platinum [800]. Bypass the door at the end of the hallway and access the Data Logs. Choose one of the options to end the mission.

Mining the Canyon

Found on Taitus, in the Talava system, Caleston Rift.

As soon as you land, read the datapad, the bypass the mech to turn it on. What you need to do is find power cells so the mech can operate. There's one right in the courtyard the shuttle lands in, feed it to the mech and he'll blast through the canyon wall. Where there's a rift in the canyon, take the right pth and pick up another power cell, then feed it to the mech to continue. Walk ahead of the mech and down the ramp. To the left are a couple Varren guarding another power cell. Kill them, take the power cell, and feed the mech. As you continue moving up the canyon there is a power cell next to a piece of junk, pick it up and give it to the mech- he'll go forward and blast through another wall, destroying itself but opening the 5000 Platinum for you to take.

MSV Estevanico

Found on Zanethu in the Ploitari system of the Hourglass Nebula.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. Once on top of the ship, shoot the piece of the ship that is swaying in front of you. Then, walk down the girder that appears after another piece of the ship falls. On the next platform walk down the girder to you right. Walk up the newly formed ramp and open the box of Refined Iridium [500]. From there, walk up the girders to the walkway with the next box of Refined Iridium [500].

Vault up onto the girder in front of you and vault again onto the platform. Run down the path to where it ends and start to walk across the beam on the right. Then walk across the beam leading down to the next platform and walk onto the stairs. The stairs will fall, then run down path where you see the Refined Iridium and go up the stairs. Continue in the direction until a girder falls and makes a path to the Mainframe panel (with the flashing red light). Access the Mainframe terminal to complete the mission.

MSV Strontium Mule

Found in the Arinlarkan system of the Omega Nebula.

Fight the Blue Suns in the first room and head up the ramps in the adjoining room. Bypass the Hub Security Console at the top to unlock the three doors. Head upstairs and fight your way to a door that needs to be bypassed, then go left to find the controls to bypass it. Once the door is open kill everyone inside and scan the Ship’s Log.

Then immediately take a defensive position inside that room because reinforcements will be coming down the hallway across from you. Once they are all taken care of, go down the hallway where the enemies were appearing and turn left. Go through that door and recover the Payload in the room, then end the mission.

Quarian Crash Site

Found on Gei Hinnom in the Sheol system of the Hades Nexus star cluster.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. At the start there is a box of Refined Palladium [2000] to your left, and once you collect that go down the path and stabilize Forzan vas Idenna. Fight off the waves of Varren until the shuttle arrives. Board the shuttle to complete the mission.

Wrecked Merchant Freighter

This mission is found on Neith in the Amun system of the Eagle Nebula.

Scan the planet and launch a probe to land. You won’t encounter any enemies until you make it to opposite side of the area, so make sure to look around for parts to salvage and two boxes of Refined Platimun [420-440]. When you are ready, deactivate the Signal Transmitter and make your way back to the shuttle. You’ll be fighting a lot of LOKI Mechs and a YMIR Mech, so equip Disruptor Ammo and use tech powers. Get back to the shuttle and press the corresponding button to complete the mission.

Classes

These are the classes you can select for Shepard

Adept

The Adept, outfitted with L5x implants, is a biotic specialist, capable of disabling and killing enemies with raw biotic power. With their unique talents, Adepts are the only class able to deploy the Singularity power, a lethal biotic trap capable of snaring multiple enemies. When enemies hide behind cover Adepts are able to Pull them, exposing them for a deadly follow-up attack. Additionally Adepts are able to throw the opposition with their Push ability, making cliffs and ledges lethal opportunities. While they lack advanced combat training, Adepts are the best class at defeating enemies without firing a shot. Abilities: Warp Push Pull Singularity Shockwave

Engineer

They are tech specialists, the only class able to employ combat drones on the battlefield. Summon combat drones to harass enemies, knocking them out of cover and drawing fire away from you. Additionally Engineers can hack mechanized opponents turning deadly enemies into powerful allies. With the ability to use tech powers to manipulate combat, they turn difficult battles into victories.. Upgrade your drones, giving them a powerful energy blast or turn them into a deadly bomb. Additionally Engineers have potent offensive capabilities including Incinerate and Overload. Abilities: Combat Drone Incinerate Overload Cryo Freeze AI Hacking

Infiltrator

Infiltrators are tech and combat specialists and the only class able to cloak themselves from detection. They are deadly at any range, with a wide variety of weapons, equipment, and powers that can take down even the most fortified of defenses. With their training in Sniper Rifles, Infiltrators can eliminate foes from safety before moving in. Additionally, with a combination of ammo types at their disposal Infiltrators can handle both organic and synthetic enemies with ease. When combat gets heated, Infiltrators are able to deploy a Tactical Cloak and evade enemies before rejoining the battle and disposing of any remaining opposition. Abilities: Disruptor Ammo Cryo Ammo Tactical Cloak Incinerate AI Hacking

Sentinel

Sentinels are unique, bringing both tech and biotic abilities to the battlefield. They are versatile and always equipped to deal with any situation. After overloading an enemy shield, Sentinels have no trouble throwing the opponent with their biotic powers. Additionally when battles become too heated, they can Cryo Freeze an enemy buying the Sentinel precious time eliminate foes or take cover. Sentinels are also equipped with the most advanced Tech Armor to keeping them safe in hostile situations. If overloaded, the system discharge and stun all enemies within a short distance. Abilities: Throw Warp Overload Tech Armor Cryo Freeze

Soldier

Soldiers are outfitted with an ocular synaptic processor allowing them to fire with heightened focus at their targets. Whether they are picking off Geth at long range, or disposing of a pack of Vorcha up close with a shotgun, Soldiers can overcome any obstacle with sheer firepower. They are the only class capable of wielding assault rifles, and are masters of all other forms of weaponry and ammunition types. When Soldiers utilize their Adrenaline Rush ability, they seemingly slow down time around them giving them precious moments to eliminate foes with lethal accuracy. Additionally when battles get heated, Soldiers can deploy an explosive concussive shot to knock down multiple enemies. Abilities: Adrenaline Rush Concussive Shot Incendiary Ammo Cryo Ammo Disruptor Ammo

Vanguard

Vanguards are outfitted with a L5n implant giving them powerful biotic capabilities; coupled with their weapons training, they become lethal at close range. Vanguards are capable at closing the distance instantly on an enemy with their unique Charge ability. Gathering immense biotic power, Vanguards will Charge toward an enemy, passing over chasms and through obstacles where upon they collide with their target, sending them flying through the air. Additionally Vanguards are able to release an explosive Shockwave, tossing enemies and knocking them from cover. If Vanguards find themselves in trouble, they are also able to use their Charge ability for a quick escape to safety. Abilities: Inferno Ammo Improved Cryo Ammo Charge Shockwave Pull

Weapons

Weapons in Mass Effect 2 are handled a bit differently than in the first game. There are only about twenty weapons total in the game, and they can only be changed at the start of a mission or at designated weapons lockers. When you finsd a new weapon everyone on your team gets a copy, and the game usually auto-equips your best weapon, so you rarely have to worry about changing them around yourself.

Assault Rifles

• X-8c Avenger - Standard assault rifle.
• X-15c Vindicator - Found on Omega near Archangel.
• M-76 Revenant - Only available to Soldier Shepard on the Collector ship.
• Geth Pulse Rifle - Only available in Recruit Tali mission on Hardcore or Insane Difficulty.
• Collector Assault Rifle - Only available with the Collectors Edition of Mass Effect 2.

Shotguns

• S-23d Katana Shotgun - Standard Shotgun.
• S-27d Scimitar Assault Shotgun - Found during Samara Recruitment Mission
• M-300 Claymore Heavy Shotgun - Only available to Grunt after upgrade.
  (Also available to Shepard on the collector ship if he already has the proficiency)

Submachine Gun

• X-4d Shuriken Machine Pistol - Standard SMG
• X-9d Tempest Submachine Gun - Acquired on the mission to recruit Tali

Heavy Pistols

• X-3c Predator Heavy Pistol - First weapon found in game.
• X-6c Carniflex Handcanon - Received from from Mordin when you first meet him

Sniper Rifles

• S-92c Mantis Sniper Rifle - Standard Sniper Rifle
• S-97c Viper Sniper Rifle - Found during The Assasin recruitment mission.
• M-98 Widow Anti-Material Rifle - Only available to Legion after upgrade.
  (Also available to Shepard on the collector ship if he already has the proficiency)
• M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle - Only available with Collectors Edition of Mass Effect 2

Heavy Weapons

• M-100 Grenade Launcher - First heavy weapon you find in the tutorial.
• M-622 Avalanche -Researched
• Collector Particle Beam - Found on Horizon.
• ML-77 Missile Launcher - Researched
• M-920 Cain - Researched (this weapon only fires when it is at 100%)
• M-451 Firestorm - Can be found during Zaeed's loyalty quest
• M-490 Blackstorm Projector- Gamestop preorder bonus

Upgrades

One of Mass Effect 2's big features is the new upgrade system, which essentially replaces the loot system from the original game. You discover upgrades on missions by scanning technology, or buying the blueprints in stores. Once you've obtained the upgrade blueprint, return to the tech lab on the Normandy (unlocked after recruiting Mordin) and look at the research terminal. All the upgrades you can research will be listed, with ones you cannot afford grayed out. To actually make these upgrades requires a certain amount of resources, which are obtained by mining planets.

Weapon Upgrades

Assault Rifles:

• Assault Rifle Accuracy
• Assault Rifle Damage (5 levels 50% total) ( 1 extra level if you take the renegade path in the Zaeed loyalty mission)
• Assault Rifle Penetration

Heavy Pistols:

• AP Heavy Pistol
• Heavy Pistol Critical
• Heavy Pistol Damage (5 levels 50% total)

Shotguns:

• Shotgun Damage (5 levels 50% total)
• Shotgun Extra Rounds
• Shotgun Shield Piercing

Sniper Rifles:

• AP Sniper Rifle
• Sniper Headshot Damage
• Sniper Rifle Damage (5 levels 50% total)

Sub Machine Guns:

• SMG Damage (5 levels 50% total)
• SMG Extra Rounds
• SMG Shield Piercing

Heavy Weapons:

• Heavy Weapon Ammo (5 levels 75% total) (1 extra level if you take the paragon path in the Zaeed loyalty mission)
• M-622 Avalanche
• M-920 Cain
• ML-77 Missile Launcher

Squad Upgrades

All these upgrades are for your entire squad unless specified otherwise.

• Biotic Cooldown - 20% faster biotic cooldown
• Biotic Damage - 5 levels 10% biotic damage per level
• Biotic Duration - 20% biotic power duration
• Damage Protection - 5 levels 10% shields, barriers and armor
• Emergency Shielding - Unity restores squad members to full strength
• Medigel Capacity - 5 levels +1 medigel capacity per level
• Tech Cooldowns - 20% faster cooldown on tech abilities
• Tech Damage - 5 levels 10% per level to tech power damage
• Tech Duration - 20% duration for all tech powers
• Trauma Module - Unity heals your squad members to full health

Team Upgrades

Shepard Upgrades

• Bypass Module - Doubles the time limit for bypass
• Hack Module - Doubles the time limit for hack
• Hard Shields - Shepard's shields take 20% less damage
• Heavy Bone Weave - Shepard takes 50% less damage from melee attacks
• Heavy Muscle Weave - Shepard's melee attack is now more powerful
• Heavy Skin Weave - 5 levels 10% health per level for Shepard
• Redundant Field Generator - Randomly regenerate Shepard's shields to full

Legion Upgrades:

• Geth Shield Strength - Increases shield strength (2 levels 50% total)
• Geth Sniper Rifle - Custom Sniper Rifle

Grunt Upgrades:

• Krogan Shotgun - Custom Shotgun
• Krogan Vitality - Increases Health (2 levels 50% total)

Other Upgrades:

• Mordin Omni-tool - Increase Mordin's Tech Damage by 20%
• Subject Zero Biotic Boost - Increase Jack's Biotic Damage by 20%

Ship Upgrades

Talk to the corresponding people and ask for [Normandy Upgrade]

• Advanced Mineral Scanner - Increases the movement speed and size of the mineral scanner (Miranda)
• Extended Fuel Cells - Increases fuel reserves by 500 to 1500 (Samara)
• Heavy Ship Armor - Add armor to the Normandy (Jacob - Suicide Mission)
• Probe Booster - Doubles the number of probes you can carry to 60 (Thane)
• Med-bay Upgrade - Instantly repairs any scars Shepard might have (Talk to the Doctor)
• Multicore Shielding - Add Multicore Shielding to the Normandy (Tali - Suicide Mission)
• Thanix Cannon - Adds a particle cannon to the Normandy (Garrus - Suicide Mission)

Shops

This section covers all the things that you can buy in stores, the original prices are listed along with discounted prices if you can get a discount at the store

Resources

This section is meant to help you in the quest for resources, you need lots of them to get the upgrades for both the Normandy and for your weapons and characters. The problem is it can be a bitch to find out which planets are good for mining, below you will find all the planets listen by Nebula along with there richness in minerals

Just a note to help out, any planets that have an anomaly (N7 side Missions) will be marked with an N7 like so (N7)

Mining Basics

The mining minigame is incredibly simple- rather menial actually, especially in long sessions. The Normandy has a set number of probes to mine planets with (30 originally, 60 with an upgrade); once these probes are depleted you cannot mine any more minerals and must return to a fuel depot to purchase more.

Once you enter the planetary scanner, you can move the cursor around with the joystick or the mouse. To begin scanning, hold down the left trigger or the right mouse button- this will slow down the cursor movement speed, but also activate the mineral graph. Move the cursor around until you see a spike in the graph- this indicates the presence of resources. The higher the spike he more resources your probe will retrieve. On the 360 your controller will rumble as you get closer to mineral deposits, allowing easier location. Once you've found where the mineral is, press RT or left mouse to fire a probe and retrieve the resources. Once you fire a probe all the resources in that spot are gone- you'll never need to fire two probes at the same spot.

Caleston Rift

Crescent Nebula

Eagle Nebula

Far Rim

Hades Nexus

Hawking Eta

Hourglass Nebula

Ismar Frontier

Krogan DMZ

Local Cluster

Shadow Sea

Minos Wastleand

Nubian Expanse

Omega Nebula

Pylos Nebula

Rosetta Nebula

Serpent Nebula

Sigurd's Cradle

The Phoenix Massing

The Shrike Abyssal

Titan Nebula

Vallhallan Threshold

Skills

Below is a breakdown of all available skills/powers in Mass Effect 2 along with tables showing how they progress as you level up. To level up your skills, go to the pause menu and select the "Squad" option. It will be glowing when you have points to allocate. When leveling up, remember that it is possible to respec Commander Shepard (by paying 3000 Element Zero), but it is impossible to respec your companions without starting a new playthrough, so be careful what you spend your points on.

There are a total of 51 obtainable points to spend on Commander Shepard's skills, while there are 30 total points to spend on each squadmember.

Ammo Powers

Ammo powers modify the way your weapon deals basic damage, increasing the harm done to certain types of enemy defenses. Ammo powers have no time limit once activated, but you can't stack ammo power effects on top of each other. At level 4 you can choose between unlocking that ammo ability for your entire squad, or unlocking a much stronger individual version of that ammo power. Usually the squad version is advisable as you multiply the effects thrice over, but the individual upgrades can be pretty nice.

Ammo Powers:

• Incendiary Ammo
• Cryo Ammo
• Disruptor Ammo

Ammo Using Classes:

• Soldier
• Vanguard
• Infiltrator

Incendiary Ammo

Incendiary ammo is useful for taking down enemy armor very quickly. It deals damage over time but bullets only do a percentage of the weapon damage. Very useful against Scions.

Cryo Ammo

The greater your Cryo Ammo rank the higher chance of enemies freezing.

Disruptor Ammo

Disruptor Ammo works well against Synthetics and enemy shields.

Biotic Powers

Biotics function much the same as they did in the first game- they offer new abilities that can change the way combat works by incapacitating an enemy or affecting their defenses. Biotic powers tend to recharge very quickly and only last for short periods of time. When upgrading a biotic power to level 4 the player is given the choice of increasing it's effective radius, allowing it to hit more targets, or creating a stronger version of the power, allowing it to deal more damage. Both are effective, and which you choose depends more on your playstyle than any imperial benefits we can list.

Biotic Powers:

• Shockwave
• Pull
• Warp
• Throw

Biotic Using Classes:

• Adept
• Vanguard
• Sentinel

Shockwave

Shockwave creates a ripple effect that tosses any enemy in it's path into the air.

Pull

Pull forces the target out of their cover, lifting them into the air. Once that it's unprotected you can use other abilities at your leisure.

Throw

Throw knocks your enemies back with a tremendous amount of force.

Warp

Warp is really useful for taking out enemy barriers quickly.

Tech Powers

Tech Powers are very similar to Biotic abilities--they recharge rather quickly, they don't last too long, and the rank 4 upgrade is a choice between area damage or heavier single target damage.

Tech Powers:

• Incinerate
• AI Hacking
• Overload
• Cryo Blast

Tech Using Classes:

• Sentinel
• Infiltrator
• Engineer

Incinerate

Incinerate is a concentrated fire attack that can devastate all enemies, especially those with armor.

AI Hacking

AI Hacking allows the user to hack a synthetic and turn it against it's allies. Hacking past Rank 2 will even generate a shield for your new ally.

Overload

Overload is great at decimating enemy shields and stopping synthetics in their tracks.

Cryo Blast

Cryo Blast deals damage and can potentially freeze your opponents in their place, allowing for you to shatter them into a thousand pieces.

Special Powers

Each class in Mass Effect 2 gets one specific ability that no other class can use. This ability is always mapped to the Y button on the 360 controller.

Charge

Charge is the class specific Vangaurd skill that allows you to zoom across the room and ram into an enemy with a large amount of force.

Adrenaline Rush

The Soldier's specific class power is Adrenaline Rush, which slows time to allow for more precise aiming.

Concussive Shot

The soldier gets a second ability that no on else gets, concussive shot, it releases a single strong round and when leveled it can be devastating.

Tactical Cloak

The Infiltrator's specific class power is Cloak, which allows you to become invisible along with extra damage to the first hit while invisible, great for lining up sniper headshots.

Singularity

The Adept's class-specific power is Singularity, which generates a mini black hole that incapacitates non-shielded enemies and damages shields and kinetic barriers.

Tech Armor

Tech Armor is the Sentinel's Special Power. It allows the user to boost their armor for defensive purposes, and release an energy pulse when depleted.

Combat Drone

The Combat Drone is the Engineers Special Power. A small spherical drone appears to distract and attack your enemies.

Class Modifiers

The Class Modifiers are skills specific to a single class and are designed to boost that classes abilitys. The standard choice for a class 4 evolution will make you chose between a modifier for getting more damage and longer power lengths or quicker cooldown times. They will also have a choice between getting a 75 %or 100% boost to your Paragon and Renegade points.

Combat Mastery

The soldier's class modifer boosts Health, Damage, Storm Speed and your Paragon or Renegade points

Operative

The Infiltrator's special Modifier boosts Health, Weapon Damage, and Power Recharge Time

Biotic Mastery

Biotic Mastery is the Class Modifier for Adepts, pretty much the same as any other.

Tech Mastery

Tech Mastery is the Engineers Class Modifier that can allow someone who is playing the Engineer to lower the price of upgrades, as well as the same things that the other modifiers do.

Assault Mastery

Assault Mastery is the Vanguards Class Modifier, and is pretty much the same as other Class Modifiers.

Defender

Defender is the Sentinel's Class Modifier. Besides doing the usual, the Sentinel's Class Modifier can yield a good sized reduction on your power recharge time.

Bonus Talents

These powers are the skills you can acquire if you do a characters loyalty quest. Once finished, you can go and research Advance Training in The Professors lab, and choose for yourself a bonus power for 5000 Element Zero. And if you get the loyalty quests achievements, you can also choose a bonus power at the beginning of a new playthrough.

Barrier

Barrier allows you to create a fairly powerful shield around your character. It's a great a power if you're having to charge through some strong enemies.

Slam

Slam lifts up a target and then slams them into the ground

Fortifcation

Fortification creates an armor barrier around your character, which can make them into a pretty good tank. It needs to be recast if it's depleted, it doesn't recharge on it's own, even if it's still within the duration time. Chances are it will be depleted before two minutes, so the Improved Fortification evolution might not be as viable to Vanguards or Soldiers who like to get up close and personal.

Geth Shield Boost

Slightly different than Barrier or Fortification, for the one of the evolutions gives a weapon damage bonus.

Reave

Reave stops the target from healing and restores health when used against organics with no armor or shields. It decimates enemy barriers and armor.

Energy Drain

Energy Drain steals from enemy barriers to keep your shields strong.

Neural Shock

Neural Shock stops organic enemies cold in their tracks.

Shredder Ammo

Shredder Ammo tears organics Health apart.

Warp Ammo

Warp Ammo does extra damage to barriers, health and armor. Even does extra health damage to enemies who are currently affected by other biotic abilities.

Inferno Grenade

Inferno Grenade is basically an explosion that causes incendiary damage to everyone in it's impact radius.

DLC

This section covers downloadable content available through the Cerberus Network. This section may not stat up to date past launch, and any material dealing with downloadable companions wll be placed under the above "Companions" section.

Normandy Crash Site

Located on Alchera in the Amada system of the Omega Nebula.

Scan the planet to find the crash site and launch a probe to land. To complete the mission you must find a suitable spot to place a memorial statue and collect the 20 dog tags off lost crewmen. Dog tags are made a bit easier to find by searching for the blue glow they emit. Make sure to also search around for resources and Shepard's old N7 helmet, seen here:

To the best of our ability, here are the locations of the 20 dog tags:

While collecting dog tags you can also choose which piece of wreckage to place the memorial in front of.

Once you have collected all 20 tags and placed the monument, return to the shuttle to complete the mission.

Zaeed - The Price of Revenge

Shepards shadowy backers buy the loyalty of Zaeed Massani, the galaxy's most feared bount hunter and mercenary soldier. Once downloaded, go to Omega to recruit Zaeed. See companions section for more detail

Bonus Items

These are the weapons and armor you receive with pre orders or other promotional offers.

Collector's Weapon

"The Collectors' weapon uses the same principles as a human assault rifle, but its organic components clearly set it apart. Its ammunition resembles pellets of metallic enamel that strip shields off enemies with deadly efficiency."

Collector's Armor

"The Collectors' armor is flexible and even tougher than ballistic fibers. Its organic construction allows it to be self-healing."

• Regeneration Bonus +10%
• Storm Speed +10%
• Health +20%

Terminus Armor (GameStop)

"Terminus armor is environmentally sealed with an independent air supply for use in space and extreme planetary conditions."

• Increases storm speed by 10%.
• Increase shields by 15%.
• Increases all weapon's reserve ammo by 10%.

M-490 Blackstorm (GameStop)

"The M-490 Blackstorm Singularity gun encases particles of matter within a high-powered mass-increasing field. This creates a gravitational singularity that draws enemies inward for a short time before exploding."

Inferno Armor

"The Inferno armor has a VI dedicated to recognizing signs of stress and medical trauma. This application helps assess soldiers, but can be useful in any high-risk situations. The Inferno's microframe computer also manages biotic amp and omni-tool power, and microservos help the wearer's movements to counteract the armor's weight."

• Negotiation Bonus +10%
• Tech and Biotic Power Damage +10%
• Storm Speed +10%

Sentry Interface

"This visor works with the Sentry system, a software application that optimizes an armor suit's microframe computer. When the Sentry system is running, more power can be devoted to shield management."

• Increases shield strength by 5%

Umbra Visor

"A next-generation night-vision device that assists targeting. By detecting the focal point of the wearer's eyes and enhancing the image at that location, the visor helps direct a biotic power or a shot from an omni-tool exactly where the wearer is looking."

• Increases power damage by 5%

M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle

"The M-29 Incisor rifle is one of a new wave of military and police sniper rifles designed to overload active defenses such as shields. Firing three shots with each pull of the trigger, the Incisor's burst is so fast that all three rounds will be in the target by the time the barrel has moved a millimeter, increasing its stopping power without sacrificing accuracy."

Blood Dragon Armor

"Created for Earth's Urban Combat Championship league, this set of armor has undergone more field testing than those of modern militaries. The chest and shoulder piece bears the logo of the Edmonton Blood Dragons, and the inside of the armor bears the signatures of the entire team. When and how the Illusive Man got his hands on the armor is unknown."

• Increases power damage by 15%.
• Increases shield strength by 10%.

Recon Hood

"A hood issued to covert action teams. Ballistic-mesh fabric and composite ceramic plating provide necessary armor, and the integral air filter helps in hostile environments." (Dr. Pepper DLC)

• Weapon damage + 5%

Achievements

The Achievements for Mass Effect 2 are fairly standard, you can get all the achievements in a single playthrough bit I highly recommend against it. The hardest achievement by far is the for running through the whole game on Insanity, this is VERY hard to do on your first playthrough.

The recomended way is two playthroughs, the fist to get the majority of the achievements and the second mostly for the Power Gamer and Insanity achievements.

Mass Effect 2 has 51 Achievements for 1015 Gamerscore

Mission Based

Missing in Action (5G)

Save your crew from an overwhelming attack

Very Elusive (10G)

Return to active duty

The Convict (10G)

Successfully recruit the Convict

The Krogan (10G)

Successfully recruit the Krogan

The Archangel (10G)

Successfully recruit Archangel

The Professor (10G)

Successfully recruit the Professor

The Quarian (10G)

Successfully recruit the quarian

The Justicar (10G)

Successfully recruit the Justicar

The Assassin (10G)

Successfully recruit the Assassin

Friend or Foe (10G)

Obtain geth technology

Colony Defense (25G)

Defend a human colony from attack

The Prodigal (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Officer

Ghost of the Father (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the Cerberus Operative

Catharsis (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the biotic Convict

Battlemaster (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the krogan

Fade Away (10G)

Gain the loyalty of Archangel

The Cure (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the Professor

Treason (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the Quarian

Doppleganger (10G)

Help the Justicar resolve her mission

Cats in the Cradle (10G)

Gain the loyalty of the Assassin

A House Divided (10G)

Hack a geth collective

Revenge! (15G) [DLC]

Gain the loyalty of the mercenary

Ghost Ship (25G)

Complete the investigation of a derelict alien vessel

Suicide Mission (50G)

Use the Omega 4 Relay

Mission Accomplished (125G)

Save humanity throughout the galaxy from certain annihilation

Against all Odds (15G)

Survive suicide mission

No One Left Behind (75G)

Keep your team alive through the suicide mission

This one is a pain- see the suicide mission section above on how to keep everyone alive

Operative (15G)

Complete a mission discovered by scanning an unexplored world

This requires you to complete one N7 mission. See the section above if you need to locate one

Agent (50G)

Complete 5 missions discovered by scanning unexplored worlds

This requires you to do five N7 missions. See the section above to easily locate them

Insanity (75G)

Complete the game on the "Insanity" difficulty level without changing the setting

Insanity is a real challenge, since most every enemy has some sort of protection (Barrier, Shield, Armor) and they do extra damage. HIGHLY recommended to go in on a New Game+ around the level cap. Soldier with Reave is a pretty good class for playing Insanity

Combat Based

Head Hunter (10G)

Perform 30 headshot kills with any weapon on humanoid targets

You can grab this achievement really easily, I would suggest using a charecter that can use a sniper rifle since they are the best weapon for getting headshots, but pistols also work.

Brawler (10G)

Shoot and kill 20 enemies while they're knocked back by a punch

This is a harrder achievement, you need to run up and melee an enemy then quickly finish them off with your gun. this can be hard if you allies are killing all the enemies before you can. Best done on cannon fodder- taake them down to about half health, punch them, then quickly open up with an SMG or Assault Rifle to finish the job.

Master at Arms (15G)

Kill enemies with 5 different heavy weapons during the game

This is easy but time consuming, you need to get a kill with 5 of the heavy weapons, getting the achievement is easy but it takes some time to get all the heavy weapons. Just make sure to acquire them wherever possible, and to actually USE them. Lots of people like to hoard their ammo and never use these things.

Tactician (10G)

Hit 20 different targets with multiple biotic powers to combine the effects

Pretty easy achievement, but easiest done with multiple biotics in the party. Pause the game by opening the radial power menu, target an enemy, then queue up a biotic attack from yourself or a party member (make sure it's one that will be effective e.g. don't use Pull on a shielded enemy). While still paused queue up a different biotic power on the same target from a different party member. When you unpause both biotic attacks will hit the target at the same time and it will count towards your achievement.

Merciless (10G)

Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire

Extremely easy achievement, you should get it no problem. If you're having trouble, use Jacob's incendiary ammo and Mordin's incinerate ability.

Warp Specialist (15G)

Warp the barriers of 25 enemies

This is one of the hardest, you need to get the killing blow on the barrier and since barriers do not come back once they have gone down. Best advice is to hit the enemy with a warp right away, note how much barrier it takes down, whittle away the barrier until you're sure the next Warp will kill it, then use Warp. Sometimes your companions will kill the barrier before you can warp it, unfortunately. This achievement will unlock even if you're using a companion's warp ability.

Incineration Specialist (15G)

Incinerate the armor of 25 enemies

Same strategy as the Warp achievement- you'll need to get the killing blow on their armor using Incinerate. When you start fighting Collectors is a good time to get this, as whenever Harbinger possesses one, they gain armor. This achievement will unlock even if you're using a companion's Incinerate ability

Overload Specialist (15G)

Disrupt the shields of 25 enemies

This is the same type of achievement as the Incineration and Warp ones- get the killing blow on an enemy shield with Overload. This is easiest done on the few missions where you fight Geth, as most of them possess shields. This achievement will unlock even if you're using a companion's Overload ability

Big Game Hunter (10G)

Thresher Maw defeated

This achievement comes from Grunt's loyalty quest- for the third and final trial, you'll be asked to survive five minutes against a Thresher Maw- or kill it. It has a ridiculous amount of health, but it's attacks are quite easy to dodge. It only possesses armor, so Incinerate and biotic powers such as Singularity and Warp work well against it. If you're more gun-minded, a properly placed heavy weapons shot can do a nice chunk of damage, as will a normal sniper rifle. Five minutes SHOULD be ample time to defeat it, but you might want to keep a save right before in case you somehow manage not to kill it.

Everything Else

Highly Trained (15G)

View all advanced combat training videos at Shepard's private terminal

This one is super easy, go to your personal terminal (either in the captains quarters or the CIC) and the use the advanced training option to watch the videos, it takes maybe 2 minutes.

Long Service Medal (75G)

Complete Mass Effect 2 twice, or complete it once with a character imported from Mass Effect 1

Paramour (50G)

Successfully pursue a relationship with a teammate

For this you need to speak with your chosen conquest after you have completed missions, there are lots of missions so don't worry to much about missing a chance to talk. The achievement and scene will happen when you enter the Omega 4 relay. For male Shepards, Jack, Miranda, and Tali are romance options. Female Shepards can have a relationship with Garrus, Thane, or Jacob.

Prospector (5G)

Retrieve mineral resources by scanning and probing a planet in the galaxy map

You will get this crazy early, you will need to mine tons of minerals to get all your upgrades, just go to any planet and scan and then launch the probe for your achievement

Explorer (10G)

Visit 100% of the planets in an unexplored cluster

Head over to any of the clusters that you have a 0% in, then go to all the planets and enter orbit, do this to all the unexplored areas and you get the achievement. You do NOT have to scan a planet for it to count as visited, only enter orbit. Just make sure not to run out of fuel for your ship while exploring.

Power Gamer (10G)

Reach Level 30 with one character

30 is the level cap for Mass Effect 2, and can conceivably be reached in one playthrough, but probably only with an imported level 60 from Mass Effect. For everyone that doesn't reach level 30 their first playthrough, just start a new game, choose the "Import ME2 Character" option, and select your save. Your level will carry over, and you can replay the game until you hit level 30. This might be a good opportunity to try and tackle Insanity as well.

Scholar (15G)

Unlock 15 new Mass Effect 2 codex entries

Getting this is nice and easy you wont even need to try, as you play you will be getting new codex entries, even without looking you will get 15 pretty quick

Scientist (10G)

Complete any research project in the Normandy's laboratory

There's a tech lab on your ship that unlocks after you recruit Mordin. From this tech lab you can purchase upgrades using mined resources- something you will need to do a lot throughout the game. This achievement unlocks after you purchase your first upgrade.

Fashionista (5G)

Personalize your armor in your quarters on the Normandy

When you first get the new Normandy go to the Captains Quarters at the top of the ship and go to customize your armour, when you back out after changing your armour you get the achievement

Technician (15G)

Obtain 10 technology upgrades

Research 10 upgrades of any nature to get the achievement, it should not take to long but you will need to mine to get enough to get the ten upgrades

Weapon Specialist (15G)

Fully upgrade a weapon

Over the game you can purchase the upgrades as well as buy them from stores across the universe, it will take a while to get these since all the weapons have 7 or so upgrades. A good rule of thumb is to just buy and research any upgrade you find- they'll come in handy even if they don't work you towards the achievement.

Power Full (15G)

Evolve any power

To evolve any of your powers you need to max out the power, this takes 10 points and when fully upgraded you will have to chose between two forms of the power. You get the achievement after making your choice.