Pinnacle Station

Pinnacle Station was the second downloadable content module for Mass Effect. It was released in August 2009 (for 400 MS points on Xbox Live or $5.00 USD on the PC) and added Pinnacle Station, a unique training facility, to the Galaxy Map.

Plot
After joining the Spectres, Commander Shepard receives an invitation to train at Pinnacle Station, a training facility run by Admiral Ahern. The station features a sophisticated combat simulator, allowing elite competitors to train their skills and challenge each other. Once aboard the station, Shepard can speak with Admiral Ahern or proceed directly to the simulator. The scenarios may be chosen by talking to the salarian technician, Ochren.

Once Shepard sets a high score on one of the missions, upon exiting the simulator the commander sees a turian, Vidinos, accuse Lieutenant Bryant, a human competitor, of cheating. If Shepard interrupts the scuffle, Vidinos challenges Shepard to prove a human could actually have beaten his time, by competing against his times on the first tier of missions. Vidinos will offer his weapon as an extra incentive, if Shepard can do it.

When Shepard beats his time, Vidinos offers a choice of one of his weapons, which differ depending on the commander's level, and Shepard is given access to Pinnacle Station's top tier scenarios. Upon completing them, Admiral Ahern says he only has one scenario left, a recreation of a battle the admiral fought in during the First Contact War. Shepard tells Ahern to turn off the safeties, and takes on the challenge as a wager: Ahern offers his retirement home on Intai'sei, while the commander accepts that this may be a fight to the death.

After fighting a bitter battle against waves of turian mercenaries, Shepard emerges victorious and Ahern honors his agreement. Shepard is then given access to an apartment in the Phoenix system, which contains grenade and medi-gel restock stations (as well as a radio by the couch). A personal computer, with a message meant for Ahern, also allows Shepard to order random, but sometimes extremely rare weapons, armor or upgrades at three different price tiers from a local trade convoy, by paying certain amounts of credits.


 * For 5000 credits, the MSV Collins will offer tier IV equipment
 * For 75,000 credits, the MSV Adams will offer tier VII to VIII equipment
 * For 220,000 credits, the MSV Wallace offers tier X equipment

Achievements
Completing Pinnacle Station gives three achievements: New Sheriff in Town, Best of the Best, and Undisputed. See Achievements: Pinnacle Station.

Assignments

 * Pinnacle Station: Combat Missions
 * Pinnacle Station: Convoy
 * Pinnacle Station: Vidinos

Known Bugs
If playing on the XBOX 360, sometimes Pinnacle Station is not accessible with Bring Down the Sky installed. This occurs when Bring Down the Sky is installed from the Platinum Hits bonus disc. The solution is as follows:


 * Delete Pinnacle Station and Bring Down the Sky
 * Clear XBOX 360 cache
 * Download Pinnacle Station to hard-drive
 * Re-install Bring Down the Sky from Bonus Disc

This should allow you to use both DLCs properly.