Mass Effect Guide

This page will contain walkthroughs for each mission, as well as player guides for some or all classes.

On the Normandy
You begin the game aboard the Normandy, where you learn that you are traveling to the peaceful planet of Eden Prime for what is supposed to be a shakedown mission. You also find out that Nihlus, a Spectre agent, is on board too. After a brief talk with Joker, the pilot, head to the far back of the ship. You can also talk to Navigator Pressly and the ship's resident medic, Dr. Chakwas here. When you get to the Comm room, you meet Nihlus. After a short conversation, Captain Anderson enters the room and informs you of the true nature of the mission, which is a covert pick-up of a Prothean beacon recently discovered during an excavation. You also learn that you have been named a candidate for induction into the Council's top secret Spectre organization. Nihlus will be evaluating your performance to make recommendations on whether you should actually be allowed to become a Spectre or not.

WARNING: This is the only point in the game at which you can get crucial dialog for the Scholar achievement. You must ask Nihlus about the Prothean before leaving the Normandy for Eden Prime.

At this point, a crew member alerts Capt. Anderson of a transmission that was just received. It shows a human squad on Eden Prime calling for help while coming under attack. After Nihlus leaves the ship alone to scout ahead, you and two squadmates touch down to begin the mission.

Find the Beacon
Head down to a small river and turn left - don't worry, the Gas Bags can't attack you (though they pop if you shoot them). After moving forward for a bit, a cutscene will start, and a member of your squad, Corporal Richard L. Jenkins, is quickly killed by a small group of Geth Drones. Take cover behind some rocks and pop out to take them down; use this opportunity to train yourself to preserve accuracy with whatever weapon you're using. After taking the drones down, examine Jenkins' corpse for a short conversation and some Paragon/Renegade points. Continue on; at the top of the hill, some more drones will attack you. Take them down and proceed.

Eventually you will trigger a cutscene showing Ashley Williams trying to escape from Geth troops after they impale a human. After killing the geth troops, you have a conversation with Ashley. She informs you that she is the only surviving member of her squad, and that the beacon is nearby. Look around to find a crate containing armor, an upgrade kit containing ammo upgrades, and a medical kit containing medi-gel. Head towards the beacon, where you'll encounter more geth troops. After disposing of them, investigate the dig site, which begins a dialogue. Ashley says that the beacon is gone and has been moved. She then suggests checking the nearby research camp. Before leaving the dig site area, look for a crate containing weapons.

While approaching the camp, you'll watch a cutscene that shows a husk being released from an impalement pod and coming to life. Proceed toward the camp and kill the husks that attack you. Try to keep your distance from the husks as much as possible, as they do significant damage. After killing the husks, find the upgrade kit containing weapons and armor. At the camp, find the Door Control and press A to use decryption to unloock it. If you have insufficient omni-gel, go to your equipment screen and convert some unused items into omni-gel by pressing Y. After successfully unlocking the door, enter the shed, which will trigger a conversation with Dr. Manuel and Dr. Warren. Afterwards, look inside the adjacent shed to find a crate containing a weapon, armor, and medi-gel. Follow the path beside the sheds to trigger the next cutscene, which shows Nihlus unexpectedly encountering Saren, a fellow turian who is also a Spectre. The cutscene ends with Saren pointing his pistol at the unsuspecting Nihlus, who has his back turned to Saren. As the game returns to live action mode, you hear a gun shot. Proceed down the path, and you will discover a ship taking off, followed by an attack by more husks. Kill them. Hug the right side of the canyon and unlock the sealed shed. Farmers will emerge. If you have invested in either charm or intimidate, you can "convince" them to part with some equipment, and perhaps acquire the name of their accomplice at the platform. Proceed forward where you will find the fallen Nihlus.

As you begin to investigate, an unarmed human approaches, initiating a conversation. He introduces himself as Powell and says that he saw Nihlus get shot by another turian named Saren, who after killing Nihlus, left on a cargo train to the next platform, probably headed for the beacon. If you received his name from the farmers, you can confront him about smuggling to receive grenades and upgrades. After the dialogue ends, more geth troops attack. Work your way to the train controls (use the map to find the location). Along the way, you will find a medical kit. Once you reach the controls, activate it to take the train to the next platform. You'll watch a cutscene in which Saren instructs a geth to set charges to destroy the colony. He then stands next to the beacon and begins to levitate.

When you reach the platform, you must disarm the four charges in less than five minutes, while being attacked by geth. Look for crates and a locker containing weapons and armor. After disarming the charges, fight your way to the west side of the cargo station and locate the beacon. Activate the beacon, which triggers a series of cutscenes. If you are playing a male character, Ashley will start getting drawn towards the beacon, but Shepard pushes her away and ends up being drawn in instead. If you are playing a female character, Kaidan will take the place of Ashley. Once you've been drawn in you'll start to levitate, see several flashes of disturbing images, then fall to the ground unconscious as the beacon explodes. The cutscene continues with Saren aboard a ship, being informed by an asari that the colony was saved by a human squad from the Normandy. He is also told that a human may have used the beacon, at which point he storms into a fit of anger before stating that the human must be eliminated.

Citadel Station
You are woken by Dr. Chakwas aboard the Normandy. She informs you that you've been experiencing increased REM (rapid eye movement) typical of intense dreaming. Captain Anderson enters and requests to talk with you privately about Saren. After you tell him about the visions you had, he states that a report must be made to the Citadel, because Anderson considers Saren's attack an act of war and that he will try to wipe out the human race.

WARNING: This is the only point in the game at which you can get crucial dialog for the Scholar achievement. You must ask Anderson about the Geth before moving on to Expose Saren.

After the conversations end, go to the cockpit and talk to Joker, which initiates a nice cutscene of the Normandy docking at the Citadel. You then see a heated discussion between Ambassador Udina and members of the Citadel Council about the events that took place on Eden Prime. The Council is displeased that Nihlus was killed and does not believe that Saren attacked Eden Prime. As such, they will not revoke his Spectre status without concrete evidence. After the Council ends the discussion, Udina briefly talks with you and Captain Anderson, then instructs your squad to meet him in the Citadel tower, which you can find by following the arrow on the radar. When you arrive, you'll witness an argument between a C-Sec agent and the executor. Afterwards, you'll meet Garrus Vakarian, the turian officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation of Saren. Proceed forward to the Council chambers, where the hearing is in progress. After a short debate, the Council denies the request to have Saren's Spectre status revoked.

Expose Saren
After the hearing, it is decided that you will have to find evidence to expose Saren. You're provided two leads: the C-Sec officer Garrus that you met before and Barla Von, an agent for the Shadow Broker. Garrus can be tracked down by talking to another officer named Harkin, a former C-Sec officer, at Chora's Den in the Lower Wards. Barla Von runs a business in the Financial District of the Presidium; it is found next to the hanar's shop there. After you've gotten these leads, you should leave the tower. On your way out, Ashley points out a Salarian who appears to be tampering with one of the keepers. His name is Chorban. If you speak to him you will be given the Citadel: Scan the Keepers assignment.

If you choose to track Garrus first, make your way to Chora's Den in the wards, either by using Citadel Rapid Transit or by walking. As you enter the corridor outside the club, you encounter three hostiles, likely Saren's men. Kill them and proceed into Chora's Den. As you approach Harkin, a short cutscene begins involving Urdnot Wrex and a krogan bouncer, if you have not already spoken to Barla Von. After the cutscene, talk to Harkin. Before he tells you where to find Garrus, he claims that Captain Anderson was the first human Spectre, but was kicked out after a failed mission, in which Anderson accused Saren of setting him up. Harkin then says that Garrus went to the Med Clinic in the Upper Wards to follow up a lead on Saren. On your way there, a reporter named Emily Wong will try to flag you down. If you speak to her you can acquire the Citadel: Reporter's Request assignment.

Proceed to the Med Clinic. As you enter, a cutscene begins showing Dr. Chloe Michel being threatened by a group of thugs. During the cutscene, the thug holding Dr. Michel is distracted by your squad's entrance, giving Garrus an oppurtunity to shoot him, which he does. Now the cutscene ends, and you dispose of the remaining thugs. Once that is taken care of, talk to Garrus and Dr. Michel to find out that the thugs work for Fist. They wanted to prevent her from telling Garrus about a wounded female quarian who offered to sell information to the Shadow Broker. You learn that Fist used to be an agent of the Shadow Broker but is now working for Saren, and is now about to meet the quarian who has info linking Saren to the geth. You must now confront Fist. You also learn that the Shadow Broker's has hired Wrex to take out Fist. At this point, Garrus joins you, and is now a selectable character you can add to your squad. Before leaving the Med Clinic, be sure to use the Replinish Medi-gel station on the wall.

Head to the C-Sec Academy. As you approach Wrex, a cutscene begins involving him and an officer. After the cutscene, a dialogue with Wrex begins. Garrus points out to him that Fist knows he's coming, and that they'd have a better chance working together. At this point, Wrex joins your squad.

If you choose to speak to Barla Von first, events occur a bit differently. Barla Von tells you that Fist and Saren both betrayed the Shadow Broker, and so a krogan mercenary was hired to eliminate Fist. He says that you can find Wrex at the C-Sec Academy. Head to the academy, and Wrex will join you. He will tell you that Garrus was also working on the investigation, and suggest that you speak to him as well. He'll tell you that you can find him at the Med Clinic, so head there. The same fight scene will play out, and after Dr. Michiel is safe Garrus will join you. Once you have Garrus and Wrex, head back to Chora's Den to take out Fist. Kill two groups of thugs and proceed to Fist's office. After the gunfight there, a dialogue begins with Fist surrendering. He reveals that the quarian wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker, so he set up a trap and told her to meet at the alleyway behind the Upper Markets, where Saren's men would be waiting for her. As the conversation ends, Wrex kills Fist as he was hired to do if he is present.

Live action resumes, and you have four minutes to reach the meeting location and save the quarian. You will have to kill a group of thugs as you leave Chora's Den. As you're walking down the alley toward the location, a short cutscene plays, in which the quarian asks a turian where Fist and the Shadow Broker are. The turian tells her to show him the evidence, but she refuses, and live action resumes. Kill the assassins and talk to the quarian, whose name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. After the conversation, the squad, plus Tali, goes to the Human Embassy where it is safe. A dialogue between you, Ambassador Udina, and Tali begins. She shows the evidence against Saren and explains how she got it. The talks end with Udina and Captain Anderson leaving for the Citadel Tower and Tali joining your squad.

When live action resumes, your squad is at the far north end of the tower. Go to the Council Chamber and talk to Captain Anderson. This triggers a cutscene in which the audio evidence is played for the Council. They officially strip Saren of his Spectre status, and the Asari Councilor says she recogmizes the other voice in the audio as Matriarch Benezia. Then you, Anderson, and the Council discuss the Reapers and how Saren is using the geth for his own purpose. As the conversation progresses, the Council decides to promote you to a Spectre. After the dialogue ends, Spectre Training, Charm, and Intimidate are unlocked. Ambassador Udina informs you that he will provide you with a ship and crew. Head to the C-Sec Academy and take the elevator to the Alliance Docking Bay to meet him.

Acquiring the Normandy
Once there, you learn that Anderson is stepping down and handing command of the Normandy to you. When asked why he's doing this, he admits that he was a candidate to become the first human Spectre while on a mission with Saren 20 years ago, but that Saren made sure that he failed. Anderson then instructs you to find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria in hopes of finding the Conduit before Saren does. Udina then suggests that you track down Liara T'Soni, the daughter of Matriarch Benezia, who was last seen in the Artemis Tau cluster. After finishing the conversations, enter the Normandy where you'll give a rousing, spontaneous speech to your new crew.

At this point, it is up to you which mission to do next. You have three choices: Feros, Noveria, or the Artemis Tau Cluster. You can also choose to ignore them all and joyride around the galaxy for a while.

When you're ready to head out, walk up the platform to the Galaxy Map to make your choice. This is your first opportunity to experience the depth of Mass Effect by visiting one of the many worlds available to you. Quite soon you'll start receiving distress calls and requests from Fifth Fleet command for assistance, and your journal will be overflowing with assignments. Several more side quests can be started simply by surveying the planets in the different systems. See Assignments for more information.

Artemis Tau Cluster
If you would like a strong biotic user with your party, and you aren't playing one yourself, this should be the first mission you head for from the Citadel because it unlocks the last character for you squad, Liara T'Soni. It doesn't have to be your first mission, however, and you will watch an amusing debrief at the end of it if you complete Noveria, Feros, and Virmire before this.

There are four systems available in the Artemis Tau cluster, Athens, Knossos, Macedon and Sparta, and Dr. T'Soni is in the Knossos system. Two of these systems offer interesting assignments that you can blunder into (if you haven't already accepted them), Athens is free of landable objects, but still has survey-able worlds.

Find Liara T'Soni - Surface
Liara T'Soni can be found within the Knossos system on the planet Therum. A cutscene will show the Mako airdrop from the Normandy, followed by Joker notifying you of some strange readings a 'few clicks' (a few kilometers) south. This course section is fairly linear so there are no fears about getting lost. However, be mindful that if you drive off the road onto the Lava, you'll be killed immediately and have to reload. Follow the path forward and around to the left. As you go over two small rises in the path. An ominous rumble overhead will herald a short cut scene of a Geth airdrop on the far side of the lava bowl you're driving around. Two Geth Armatures will be landed right in front of you. A couple of hits from the Mako main gun or bursts of machine gun fire will finish them quickly. You can avoid getting hit by using short quick lifts of the Mako jet thrusters just before enemy shot impact. With practice, you can time and alternate your thruster hops with firing your main gun, allowing you to avoid getting hit while they take damage from you. Continue up the road, engage and destroy Geth ground forces as you go. Eventually you'll encounter a gated wall protected by three rocket turrets. One of your teammates will shout that the enemy has tactical advantage here, and that you should seek an alternate route.

Just before the enemy gate is a small narrow defile, leading off the main road to the right. Turn into this small path and it will lead you around to the side of the first locked gate, bypassing it altogether and directly into the gate compound. It is defended by a single turret and Geth infantry. Destroy the turret and drive into the gate compound, engaging enemy infantry as you go. After killing all the open ground enemy, look carefully at the Mako radar screen. Locate the Geth hidden inside the buildings. Carefully zoom in with your Mako main gun and fire it through the windows. After a few shots, you can kill all the Geth lurking in ambush within the buildings.

Disembark from the Mako, loot the buildings and grounds of any containers, and open the second inner gate. Reboard the Mako. Continue your armed advance up the road. Geth forces will become greater in numbers as you go, but are easily handled by the Mako's main gun. Alternatively, the Geth are such bad shots that you can literally run the gauntlet and just ignore them. You'll get hit some, but none that should be of any tactical consequence.

Continue onwards to the end of the path, signaled by a road block with a narrow slit that you can only walk through. Look at the Mako's radar screen to get an idea of how Geth forces are placed as your personal radar will be subjected to Geth jamming once you disembark. Alight from the Mako and proceed on foot.

You'll find that at the top of the rise is several geth troops. Quickly dispatch them, by hiding behind the rocky outcropping in the centre and shooting from cover. The radar clears up for a sec. Head to the top of the rise and bear left. Seek cover immediately. Position your team on the right side of the entrance to the next area, whilst you remain on the left. Shoot all the visible Geth from cover, whilst watching for the sneaky ones that rush straight at you. Eliminate the sniper opposite, and the rocket trooper behind him quickly. Then continue forward. A couple more Geth will appear from up ahead, whilst one is hiding up to the right. Eliminate them and move up the slope on the other side.

Head right up the slope, then head left at the top. This is a very good place to save if you havent already. It just leaves you more time to configure weapons and ammo differently for the coming battle. Head towards the big structure ahead. When you get close enough, a cutscene takes over, showing you another variation of the Geth and then the subsequent deployment of a Geth Armature with some shock troops thrown in for good measure. Head straight to cover. The red beams that highlight you are the precursor to being hit by a powerful sniper round. Take everything down quickly then concentrate on the Armature to finish things off. Once they're gone, you can rest, heal and reconfigure as needed, then head up the steps into the structure on the right.

Find Liara T'Soni - Underground
Head through the door, and follow the corridor along. Watch for the Geth trooper showing up at the bottom of the corridor. Take him out, and continue towards the end. Take out the several Geth that currently inhabit the catwalk below you. Follow the catwalk down to the lift. Use the lift, and ride all the way to the bottom. Depart from the lift, and move slowly along the catwalk. Three drones appear from below, ahead of you. Destroy them, and head for the second lift. Ride this all the way down. When the lift fails, jump out onto the platforms below, and continue down until you land on the stable catwalk, where you hear a voice. Look towards the Prothean structure, to see Liara T'Soni. Walk towards her to initiate a conversation. Answer as you see fit, and obtain as much information as you need. Ultimately, she is trapped, and needs you to find a way in. She also warns of more Geth and a Krogan also attempting to reach her.

Once the conversation ends, turn around but stay still. If you have a sniper rifle, take out the Geth on the opposite side of the chasm. Two more approach from nearer. Take them all down. Then go down the catwalk to the rocky floor. Head to the back of the chasm for a couple of lockers. Once you have what you need, head back to the Mining laser controls. Press A to enter the code. The code is A X B Y.

The mining laser then activates, opening up a hole for you to use in order to access the Prothean structure. Follow the path down and into the structure. Head up to the button and press A. When you use it, the lift rises up to a higher level. Turn around and head over to Liara T'Soni. This enters the conversation automatically. Again, answer as you wish, the result is the same though, Liara joins your team. The structure then begins to crumble thanks to your little jaunt with the mining laser. You order Joker to get the Normandy to us, and then the lift rises.

When you reach the top, you find yourself face to face with a Krogan and his Geth escort. However you answer him, you have to fight him to escape. Once the Krogan and Geth fall, a cutscene takes over showing you and your team running out of the ruins and towards the outside where the Normandy is waiting for you.

Debrief: Joker jokes about nearly wrecking the ship and Liara explains about the 'Cycle of extinction'. This also explains a bit more about both the Prothean and Reaper races. Also more references to the Conduit and what Saren is after. Come the end of the conversation, your team is complete.

Noveria
Noveria is a cold, and snow covered location. It has a Hazard Level of One, but your suit doesn't have a countdown bar when you go outside. Upon exiting the Normandy expect a rude welcoming party. Weapons are not allowed on this planet for security reasons; unless you're a Spectre. After the friendly guards let you through, go up the stairs until some alarms go off. Talk to the woman at the desk. You learn that the Matriarch is at one of the research stations called Peak 15. Take the elevator down and go down the stairs to talk to Administrator Anoleis. He will indicate that you can't exit the facility without a garage pass, and that he will not give you one.

Leaving Port Hanshan
Since Port Hanshan is a cesspool of corporate intrigue, there are several ways to acquire a garage pass and continue your mission. If you stopped at the shop before speaking to Anoleis, you were probably asked to smuggle a package for the shopkeeper. If you accepted his request, you will find the package on the gangway by the Normandy. Depending on your negotiation skills, you can give the package to the shopkeep for up to 500 credits, or to his client (a Krogan mercenary called Imorada) for up to 750 credits, or turn the package in as criminal evidence to Anoleis for a garage pass, some credits, and possibly keep the upgrade itself. (See Noveria: Smuggling for other details on the other ways to complete this assignment that don't help you acquire a garage pass)

If you have already finished the smuggling assignment or don't want to turn in the shopkeep, you'll have to do a bit more work. On your way out of the administrator's office, the secretary will talk to you and tell you about a certain Turian who has a grudge against Anoleis. Take the hotel elevator up. When you arrive, turn right and go up to the second floor. Directly across from the doorman (who perpetually refuses you entry) is a Salarian businessman sitting at a table making a long distance call. If you stand next to him, you can eavesdrop and get insights into what is happening with Anoleis and Qui'in. Inamorda, the Krogan mercenary (from the shopkeeper's smuggling quest) is also on the walkway just behind the Turian. Now go back downstairs and talk to Lorik Qui'in. He'll tell you that he has evidence Anoleis is corrupt, and that Anoleis knew of this. Under the color of his administrator's authority, Anoleis had Qui'in locked out and his security personnel are now illegally ransacking Qui'in's office in an attempt to find and destroy that evidence. He also reveals that Anoleis has been paying some of his more corrupt guards to do things like this under the table. He agrees to give you his garage pass and some credits if you can safely get the evidence back to him, so agree to help him.

Leave the hotel; return to the main concourse and make your way towards the garage area immediately next door. Just before going up the garage stairs, you'll find an elevator that will take you up to Qui'in's offices. Upon your arrival upstairs, you will be challenged by several guards at the door to state your purpose. Tell them that what they're doing is illegal and convince them to leave, or kill them; your choice will be reflected in either Paragon or Renegade points. The remaining guards however, will attack regardless of this choice. After battling them, loot any containers, and acquire an assignment from a computer in a back room. Go up to the second floor and towards Qui'in's office (at the end of the long overpass walkway). After gaining the evidence from Lorik Qui'in's desk computer, you'll be confronted by the Sergeant of the Guards when you leave. She and her guards will attack you, so you have to kill them all. Go down the elevator, and you'll meet Anoleis's secretary, who turns out to be an investigator for the board of directors.

Depending on who you want to help, you can either deliver the evidence to Anoleis or go to the bar to speak with secretary at this point. If you go to the bar, the secretary will tell you that she is investigating Anoleis and ask you to get the turian to testify. She can also tell you that Peak 15 sent an Omega Code (containment breach) right before the Matriarch arrived. You don't have to get the turian to testify to get the garage pass, and can simply give him his evidence. If you convince him, go to Anoleis's office and talk to the secretary, and tell her that you got the turian to testify. You'll watch a cutscene with her dragging off Anoleis, him telling you to arrest "that bitch", and her giving you the pass for the garage.

If you want to give the evidence to Anoleis, simply return to his office and tell him that you have it. You can quickly cut a deal for it, and in exchange for handing it over to him he gives you the garage pass and some credits. If you have a high enough charm or intimidate, you can keep the evidence for yourself but you get no credits in this case. This allows you to leave his office and give the evidence to Parasini and watch the administrator get hauled off, right after you blackmailed him. You also get xp for both events.

If you really don't like Anoleis or Parasini, you have another option. Speak to Parasini at the bar to find out that she's investigating the administrator, and then return to Anoleis. Let him know that she's investigating him, and he will ask you to leave while he speaks to her. You'll watch a cutscene where he confronts her, and then hear gunshots from off camera. You'll enter the room to find them both dead, and you can loot a garage pass from Anoleis's body. Immediately after you do security will arrive, and you can answer their questions as you like. Eventually they leave you to your business. If you return to Lorik after this, he won't want his evidence anymore as there's no more need for it. You can intimidate or charm him to get him to compensate you 250 credits anyway.

Note: If you're simply interested in the most xp possible, keep the smuggling package until you have retrieved the evidence for the turian. Return to Anoleis and give him the shopkeeper's package. Then deal with the evidence as you like.

However you got your garage pass, it's time to use it. The guard at the garage will ask for your pass, and after she confirms it you're free to enter. Inside the garage you'll be ambushed by two Geth Destroyers and some hoppers. You can easily unlock the vehicle next to you if you have trouble; it won't move but it acts as a turret. The guards show up after the battle and wonder how the Geth got there, before rushing back to their stations. Loot the containers and hop in the Mako. Head towards Peak 15, killing the Geth and looting containers (usually next to destroyed vehicles) along the way. You will find rocket turrets when you get nearer the installation. After a rather long winding road trip you will get to a building with a partly blocked garaged door. Alight from the Mako and enter the building from the pedestrian entrance just to the left.

Peak 15
As soon as you enter the garage room with the ramp, the door behind you will lock and you will be set upon by Geth and Krogans. The Geth Juggernauts are very strongly shielded and have ample health points. Moving while returning fire makes it easier to kill them as it will allow you to avoid their fire while you accumulate hits on them. The Krogans are also dangerously hardy. They're deceptively knocked down after intense fire, only to get back up and charge you when you least expect it; requiring that you to kill them a "second" time. If tactically feasible you can continue to shoot them while they're on the ground to ensure that they don't rise again. You should quickly dispatch them at a distance (without allowing them too close) because their melee attacks are deadly. After the garage battle, continue on to the decontamination chamber noting the inward facing autoturrets. You will hear automated warnings that main power and the station's VI are offline. Ride the elevator up, and you'll eventually enter a large dining facility (partially destroyed and open to the outside weather) guarded by a few Geth. After killing the Geth, to the right is a set of stairs (partially covered in snow) that lead into a corridor inhabited by several Rachni. There will be several decrypt containers and a few Rachni ambushes in the various rooms along the corridor.

Continue moving forward you will enter a room with three doors. Eliminate the few hostiles there and go to the large circular computer core room in the rear. Walk around the ringed structure to the back and enter the center. Activate the core entry and drop down into the core. You can now reinitialize the VI manually, or use 100 omni-gel. Manually reinitializing the core is a mini game. To complete it you must get all of the blue glowing blocks into either the yellow Y or B column, but the catch is a larger blue glowing block cannot be placed into a column if it already has a blue glowing block in it smaller than itself.

The VI will be manually reinitialized with the following key sequence: X Y, X B,  Y B,  X Y,  B X,  B Y,  X Y,  X B,  Y B,  Y X,  B X,  Y B,  X Y,  X B,  Y B

...or just use 100 omni-gels. Done either way, once the VI reinitializes, it will introduces itself as Mira. She tells you that Rift Station is currently not accessible, and gives you a list of three errors that need to be remedied before you can regain access to it: 1. Reconnecting the landlines on the roof to restore Mira's full functionality 2. Reactor Core back online by fixing the helium-3 fuel lines 3. Clearing the tram's decontamination chamber of loose "contaminants"

Exit the core and go through the door directly behind it; up the elevator to the roof. Kill the Rachni and reconnect the cables. Loot the decrypt containers. Return to the room with the three doors. Note, each time you complete a task and pass through this room, a Rachni ambush will occur. Next take the elevator up to the power plant. Kill the Geth here (be careful of the ones on the second story above you when you go through the door on your right) and restore power by reconnecting the Helium-3 lines, located at the center of the middle walkway. The second floor of this area has several decrypt containers worth exploring. Go back to the three doored chamber, kill another Rachni and finally enter the corridor to the tramway. There are several Rachni in the decontamination chamber. You can activate the plasma purge (requires electronics skill) or tell the VI to open the door and engage the Rachni. Alternatively, you can also decrypt the lock to the decon chamber and open the door yourself, bypassing the control room and VI altogether. After passing through decontamination, you'll enter the tramway platform where you'll find the tram to transport you to Rift Station.

Rift Station
Arriving on the rift station platform you will have access to only one area, where you will meet a security contingent; two guards led by a Captain. After a brief conversation, Rachni will suddenly rush the room. After you've killed the Rachni, you can continue your conversation with the captain. He says that Benezia has not come his way, and since you didn't see her on your way in from Peak 15, suggests that she may still be down in the hot labs. You can leave now for the hot labs (see below), or pass the guards and help the trapped science team.

In the main room behind the guards, you'll find several scientists and more guards. An Elcor in the middle of this room acts as a merchant. In front of the medical bay tunnel, is a rude Asari scientist (who is later revealed as an Asari commando working for Benezia). In the back is a Salarian scientist suffering from post traumatic stress, and a guard standing in front of a restricted area tunnel and locked door (If you decrypt this door, all the guards throughout the entire level will immediately become hostile to you). To the right is another guard in front of a room with some obtainable supplies. To the left is a tunnel leading to another large room with locked access to the maintenance tunnel and a small lab under quarantine lockdown. In this second large room is a Volus scientist who tells you about how Saren hatched a living Rachni (previously thought extinct) from a discovered transport derelict filled with Rachni eggs in stasis. The hatchling egg turned out to be a Rachni Queen, which is now being forced to breed a Rachni army for Saren.

In the medical bay, you will find Dr Cohen, treating fellow scientists (who are slowly succumbing after contamination by exposure to a deadly toxin). He tells you that a cure may be available but that the particular lab has been locked down by the security team. If you talk to the Captain at the entrance, he will allow you access into the contaminated lab to find a cure for the stricken scientists. Upon entry, search the room first for supplies, as the game will cutscene and the undercover Asari commando and a few Geth will enter the room as soon as you obtain the cure. After you kill them, the Volus scientist will tell you that they came in from the maintenance tunnel. Return to the med bay with the cure, and you can talk Dr Cohen into giving you his access pass to enter the maintenance tunnel. This method allows you access to Benezia without killing any guards. There is a single Rachni guarding the tunnel, which eventually leads to a common anteroom before the final room with Benezia. Telling the security Captain that you were attacked by the Asari elicits his sympathy but doesn't change anything.

If you prefer a more straightforward path, you can choose to decrypt the door of the restricted area, this will also occur if you entered the lower level area through maintanence (avoiding the confrontation with the guards) and took the other elevator back up. However, thereafter all the guards will attack you, forcing you to kill them all and denying you further access to the merchant or any of the dialog and assignments here. This restricted area is filled with enemies, but will lead to an elevator that eventually takes you into the same common pre Benezia anteroom as if you had gone through the maintenance access corridor. If you had entered the restricted labs through maintenance instead but take this elevator back up into the main room, the guards there will now attack you.

If you leave the science labs and clear the Hot Labs before aproaching Benezia, you will find the captain and his men waiting for you in the central area when you return. He will tell you that he had orders to wait for you, and deal with you if you survived the Hot Labs. You will need to fight your way through the restricted area to reach Benezia, or you can head to the quarantine area and head through maintanence. If you do visit the quarantine area, you're treated to an amusing cutscene involving the volus scientist from the Hot Labs.

However you get there, once you enter the room with Benezia, you cannot leave again. The game will cut scene and offer a few dialog choices. If you have Benezia's daughter in your team, you will hear a few modifications to the dialog but none that would affect gameplay. After a brief conversation, she will attack you. She gets assistance in three separate waves, and after each wave her power will diminish. She will only stand on the central platform and will not move from there. But she does have a very powerful biotic attack, so care should be taken to avoid being in her line of fire. If you fight your way into an area shielded from her view (behind the Rachni container), she can no longer harm you. After killing all of her commandos from the second wave, Benezia will falter and the game will again cut scene. You will have another conversation with her; in a rare moment of lucidity, she tells you about her unwilling indoctrination and gives you the coordinates of the Mu Relay (which she has already given Saren). Then as she is no longer able to suppress Saren's influence any further, her demeanor will harden, and she will attack you anew, with a final wave of commandos to aid her. However, as she is already severely weakened at this point, you can incapacitate her easily, and then kill any remaining commandos thereafter.

After Benezia is dead and another cut scene, you will have a conversation (through a dead Asari surrogate) with the Rachni queen. She will reveal to you that her birthed offspring, raised by Saren without the benefit of her guidance were too damaged and dangerous to be allowed to live, and that they should be destroyed. Thereafter, your choice of freeing or killing her (ie dooming the Rachni race to extinction once again) will be reflected in your Paragon or Renegade scoring. The back door tunnel where Benezia's summoned commandos appeared from will lead you directly back to the Tram platform. You can no longer regain entry into the station.

If you had entered the Hot Labs before facing Benezia, you will find no guards at their forward position when you return. They will all be waiting for you in the main room. The commander will tell you that they have orders from Benezia, and they will attack you. Clear the room, and fight your way back to the elevator to the restricted labs in the rear, or take the elevator down to quarantine. In quarantine, you will see the Volus scientist talking to the Asari commando while she aims a pistol at him. Kill her and her guards, and enter the restricted labs through maintenance. Benezia is dealt with the same way after either path.

Since you can't go back anymore, leave the only way possible. You will find yourself in the tram station, unable to reenter the science station labs.

Hot Labs
The events in the hot labs occur the same whether you visit before or after facing Benezia. Once you enter, you will be unable to leave until you have completed the events here. When you arrive, you will talk with the only scientist left here. A rachni will appear and kill him, then you will be able to kill the rachni. Retrieve the activation code from the body, and go into the room in the back. Speak to the VI, and activate the neutron purge. Many rachi will appear on your radar in the main room; but there are actually far fewer in the room. Kill them within the allotted time limit, or just run past them, and activate the elevator. The screen goes dark, and a loud explosion is heard.

After defeating Benezia, dealing with the rachni queen, and activating the neutron purge in the Hot Labs, board the tram back to the main station. The scene will cut to the com room aboard the Normandy.

Feros
As you exit the Normandy, walk towards the human NPC David al Talagani to trigger a conversation. After he tells you about the geth attacking, and that Fai Dan wants to speak with you, the dialogue ends abruptly from an attack by a group of geth. Kill them and proceed down the corridor, which triggers a short cutscene showing a Geth Stalker moving around. Dispose of them and continue forward.

Zhu's Hope
You will encounter a group of human colonists. If you wish, you can receive the assignment Investigate Shipments by decrypting the terminal located inside the nearby 3-room structure. Proceed to Fai Dan's location and talk to him. During the conversation, more geth attack. Kill them all, and pursue them up the stairs and into their drop point. After you have killed all the Geth here, return to Fai Dan.

At this point you have the opportunity to speak to the colonists and help them out. There are several big problems the colonists need help with: restoring water, finding food, restoring power, and eliminating a geth base. You can speak with several colonists to acquire these assignments now, or charge ahead and get them while completing them. Thankfully, all of these are completed in the same area and are fairly quick. If you are pursuing a strictly renegade path, you will want to assist them now as you may be unable to complete their assignments later. Even if you're not a renegade, it's possible that you will be unable to complete some or all of these assignments later, so you should help them now if you plan to. If you still don't want to help them now, simply climb the tower beyond Fai Dan and take the now active elevator.

If you do want to help the colonists, climb the tower past Fai Dan and pass the elevator. Follow the path downwards, killing geth as you go. Before long, you'll see a water valve in a tight geth filled corridor. Opening the valve will unlock Feros: Water Restoration if you didn't get it from the colonist in Zhu's Hope; you will need to find two more in this and the next corridor to restore their water. At the end of the first corridor, you can take a bridge to the other side, or continue on. The bridge leads to the geth outpost. Kill the geth in the entry, and then kill the krogan warriors who come out and attack. Open the upgrade kit behind one of the short walls. Proceed to the transmitter and open the technician kit next to it, then destroy the transmitter. Head back out and clear out the geth in the north end of the tunnels, where you will find the last of the water valves. At the end of the tunnel, you will find a disturbed colonist named Ian Newstead. If you offer to help him, a squad of geth will attack. While down here, you will want to go through the door to the collapsed highway, where you'll be greeted by a pack of Varren. When you kill the Varren Alpha, you'll unlock Feros: Varren Meat if you haven't already received it. Get the equipment and upgrades from the sludge canister and the malfunctioning object. Then remove the power cells from the disabled vehicle, which unlocks Feros: Power Cells. On your way out, the corridors will be restocked with geth for you to kill. Return to the colony, and inform the relevant people that you have completed their tasks. When you're done, climb the tower beyond Fai Dan and take the now active elevator.

ExoGeni and the Geth Base
Ride the elevator up to the garage, engage a few attacking Geth, and then board the Mako. Drive out of the garage down the linear skyway road, eliminating Geth as they appear. Be careful not to drive over the edge, as you will be treated to a spectacular, but fatal, drop. On the road, you will hear radio transmissions while you drive. The first set of these refers to the under road chamber that you can explore for more Geth or loot boxes. Eventually you will reach an enclosed area, and hear transmissions from other colony survivors. You can park the Mako near the ramp to their hiding place, and talk with the survivors if you'd like (one has a side quest), but it isn't necessary.

If you choose to stop at the skyway hideout, you'll be introduced to the ranking ExoGeni representative, Ethan Jong, and a concerned ExoGeni employee, Julianna Baynham. During the conversation you'll discover that they have had no contact with Zhu's Hope since the attacks, and that Julianna's daughter Lizbeth went missing during the attack and is likely still within the ExoGeni facility. Julianna will ask you to find her daughter and help her if you can; Ethan will just ask you to keep damage to a minimum and to respect their property rights. You can also speak to Gavin Hossle to acquire the Feros: Data Recovery assignment while you are here. Afterwards, leave the hideout and reboard the Mako.

Proceed up the ramp and out onto the next section of the skyway. You will encounter more Geth, and there will be another under road chamber that you can explore for supplies. Eventually, you will pass through a double set of gates and be blocked from further advance in the Mako. The chamber beyond contains several geth, including more radar jamming geth stalkers, you can kill some of them from the safety of the Mako if you want to fire through the opening. Using the area blast effect of the Mako's main gun, ridding the area of Geth is relatively easy. Eliminate them, enter the chamber, and climb the ramp to your left.

From here you will see several pathways. You can hack the door on your right if you'd like to fight a geth armature on foot and in close quarters. The entrance to your left will be blocked by an energy field, and there is no way to disable it from your current location. Lastly, you can drop down a floor and continue from there. You will be warned by your teammates that it looks like a one way trip, but since there's no other way to advance, hop down when you're ready. Follow the tunnel into another collapsed area, and a short cut scene will start. You'll be shot at by Lizbeth Baynham. She'll apologize shortly after, answer some questions about the facility, and give you her ExoGeni Identification so that you can access the facility. She will direct you towards breaching the Geth Force Shields as the most important order of business. After the conversation, you'll be attacked by varren. Kill them, and enter the door on the far side of the roadway.

Enter and go up the stairs; listening to a Krogan trying to intimidate ExoGeni's VI into giving out privileged information. As you turn the final corner, a cut scene will ensue, ending with the exasperated VI asking the Krogan to "please step aside..." as a line is forming behind him waiting to use the VI console. The Krogan will puzzle over this request and turn around; see you, and attack.

After getting rid of the Krogan, speak to the VI. It will recognize Lizbeth's identification and address you as if you were her; allowing the security clearances that the real Lizbeth is granted. It will answer all your question about the Thorian research. You'll learn that it is a sentient plant with mind control capabilities, living underneath the Zhu's Hope colony. It goes on to say that the colony was used as a test group to watch and study these mind control effects (explaining the colonists' odd behavior). If you ask about Lizbeth's personnel file, you'll discover that she had been lying to you by feigning ignorance of the Thorian project. You'll also try to contact your ship to warn them, but be unable to reach them due to interference by the Geth Force Shield.

From here you'll continue to clear the facility. You'll notice that the Geth ship simply anchored itself onto the building with extended claws, and that the ship is powering the energy shields. You will have to deal with the ship to disable the fields, but aren't carrying enough explosives to dent the ship's armor. You'll continue until an option presents itself. When you enter the next room, you will be on an elevated walkway to find two geth engaged in something resembling prayer, kneeling before an odd bright light altar. Engage them from your higher vantage point. Thereafter, you need to drop down into the room, knowing that you won't be able to go back up. You can examine their altar but otherwise not interact with it at all.

Continue from here into a larger room with several Geth and three exits. In the middle is the force field blocked exit. To the right is a set of stairs that lead up to a narrow room containing the data terminal that you need to access if you accepted the Feros: Data Recovery assignment; it is guarded by several Krogan mercenaries. To your left is a set of stairs that leads up to another shuttle bay. Head up those stairs. The shuttle bay will have numerous Geth for you to eliminate. After you have done so, climb up to the catwalk on the right side of the room, where there are additional Geth. After they're dead, examine the shuttle bay controls on the far side. Apparently, the shuttle bay doors are behaving a bit strangely, and can be made to close more strongly than normal.

Select the door pressure by adjusting the controls immediately to the left of the interface. A bar will appear on screen, with arrows indicating the range of pressure you need to stay within. Click on the panels to the left until the cumulative pressure is correct, and then activate the bay doors. The correct PSI combination is 11, 17, & 5

They'll slam shut, slicing through one of the ship's claws. The missing claw will initiate a cascade of anchorage point failures and the ship will fall to the city below. As soon as it's done, Joker will contact you, letting you know that the colonists are attacking the ship. Respond as you like, collect all of the items in the area, and head back downstairs to the large room, and through the now unblocked center pathway. When you reach the end of it, you'll find Lizbeth waiting. After confronting her about what she really knew about the Thorian, she'll join you for the trip back to her mother. Get in the Mako, head back towards the survivor hideout, and eliminate the Geth reinforcements that block your path. As you get closer, you will hear a distressed radio broadcast from Julianna. A cut scene will show Lizbeth imploring you to "stop the Rover" as she jumps out of the Mako and runs down the ramp to where the survivors are. Follow her into the hideout.

Another cut scene will show an emotionally upset Julianna being subdued by ExoGeni security as an armed Ethan Jeong argues with her. Lizbeth, upon seeing this, charges forward from the shadows demanding that they release her mother; Jeong, with a raised weapon, commands you and your team step forward to where he can see you. Ethan will state that upon reestablishing contact with ExoGeni headquarters (since the force fields no longer blocked communications) he was instructed to purge the colony to cover up what they've done. He was hoping that the Geth had gotten rid of you, but now that you're here, either you toe his corporate line or else you'll answer to him. If your Charm skill is high enough, you can convince him that there's no need to do anything to the colony, and that the situation can be turned into a brilliant PR event. If your Intimidate skill is high enough, you can ask him to calculate the probable outcome of a gunfight between a bean counter like himself and a Spectre, allowing him to realize that he must back down. Finally, you can kill him. If you do, his security personnel will just raise their hands and back away, as they want no part of what Jeong got.

After dealing with Jeong, Julianna and Lizbeth begin worrying about the colonists. They devise a mild nerve gas that can be used in your grenades to render the infected colonists unconscious. You must equip this as your grenade upgrade for it to work. After acquiring the gas, it's time to deal with the colonists directly. You can also complete the data recovery assignment while you're here if you have the data. Otherwise, board the Mako and continue your return to Zhu's Hope.

The Thorian
When you approach the colony, a short cut scene will introduce you to a Thorian Creeper. Then you'll get a chance to issue orders to your squad as to whether they're to hurt the colonists or not. If you accepted the Nerve Gas modification from Julianna, you can use gas grenades to subdue the colonists. Since the gas mods uses up your available stock of grenades, it may be difficult to save all of the colonists if you haven't been purchasing the grenade "maximum allowable inventory" upgrades. However, it is also possible to knock out colonists in close melee combat without killing them (just run up to each and rifle butt stroke them). Note: the Thorian Creepers will not have names, but all colonial targets will have proper names. Each colonist that dies will give you 2 renegade points, each colonist that lives will give you 2 paragon points. If you kill one of the colonists offering an assignment, you will be unable to complete that assignment if you haven't already done so. You can kill Thorian Creepers without consequence and your squad will fire upon them regardless of your other orders. Further, your squad will also fire upon and kill a colonist if the colonist is allowed to close with them and you do not take timely action. That is, if a colonist begins beating on one of your team members, you have to disable them quickly (gas grenade or butt stroke) or else your team member will take matters into their own hands (they will shoot and kill the colonist regardless of your orders). Alternatively, you can detail your team to hold in a position where they'll be out of the line of fire, and go it alone if you're able. If you run out of grenades, you can get another supply of five grenades from a tech kit located on the floor exactly in the spot where Fai Dan was standing when you first met him. If you don't collect these grenades during this action, the tech box will no longer be there afterwards. After you killed all the Thorian Creepers and have subdued (or killed) the colonists, a cut scene will show an armed Fai Dan walking towards you. It ends as he resists the Thorian's mental commands for him to shoot you, by killing himself instead.

Enter the lair of the Thorian using the crane operating station. A cut scene will show the ship being lifted out of the way, uncovering a set of stairs that lead down. After entering, you become trapped as the roof collapses on the stairs behind you. Entering the main atrium you will see a breathtakingly huge plant organism, the Thorian. Another cut scene will show an Asari like clone extruded from the Thorian. The clone will speak with you, alledging betrayal by living creatures such as yourself. It hints that Saren had agreed to give it living creatures in fair exchange for information, but that now other living creatures will renege on Saren's agreement. It apparently cannot separate Saren's dealings from that of other living creatures; thus it considers your request for freedom for the colonists to be a breach of an agreement. So for that you must be killed.

Hence, you cannot avoid fighting the Thorian. The cloned Asari, which bears the same biotic skills as the original that she was derived from, will attack you at the end of the dialog. After dealing with her and a few nearby Creepers, look carefully at your weapons radar. If you see red enemy targets, position your team in a safe place with a good long field of fire. Then start shooting at the Thorian. After you land a few rounds, the red target dots will start moving in your direction. Wait until they come into range and engage. After clearing out a few of these Creeper squads, advance up a fairly linear path to kill the Thorian Nodes. You'll encounter these targetable Thorian Nodes along the way, with hibernating Creeper squads in attendance. The Creepers cannot be engaged unless they're awake. You can wake them by either shooting at a nearly Thorian Node or at the Thorian itself.

After each Node is destroyed the Thorian will extrude additional Asari clones that will challenge you at the next Node. Advance in a linear path through each of the five thorian levels using similar tactics; ie entice the Creepers to come to you by targeting the Thorian or a node. There will be a med station a little past mid way on level three. Another tip for killing the Creepers is if they somehow get up too close, is to just butt stroke melee them. They attack by mauling slashes and toxic contaminants. If you butt stroke them, they generally fall in front of you and can be easily shot while they're flailing on the ground. Be careful of the Asari clones as their biotic throw attack is fairly powerful, dropping you to the ground for several seconds if you're hit. Also, be wary that if you're standing next to a platform edge, her biotic throw attack will actually lift and throw you off the platform, killing you instantly.

Once the final Thorian Node has been destroyed the Thorian will lose its grip and fall to its death. The cut scene that follows will show Shiala, the real Asari (that clones were made from) being released from Thorian pod captivity. Shiala it seems, was a Benezia acolyte that was sacrificed to the Thorian in exchange for a Cypher. The Thorian Cypher enables one to better understand the Prothean thought process, allowing imagery from the Prothean Beacons to make sense. Shiala was used to previously implant the Cypher into Saren's mind, allowing him to understand the Beacon's message. You ask Shiala to do the same for you. Another cut scene will follow, and you're shown a series of disturbing but disjointed images. Thereafter you can decide to either shelter or kill Shiala; she will volunteer to help the colonists in whatever way she can, or she will kneel down and, without a whimper, allow you to execute her with a bullet in the back of her head. After the cut scene, you'll appear on the surface at Zhu's Hope. You can then talk to the survivors and conduct business with the Salarian merchant (if he wasn't killed in your assault). Conclude any unfinished business and return to the Normandy.

Insertion
The mission begins with the Mako being dropped onto the shores of Virmire. It is essentially a curvi-linear path that only allows you to travel in one direction. A quick look at your overhead map will give you a general idea of the path that's laid out for you. Follow the shoreline until you encounter enemy, engaging them as you go. Eventually, you'll come to a building manned by Geth. If you want, you can use the Mako's radar and cannon to engage; the Mako's cannon area blast effect is powerful enough so that you can actually take out most of the Geth by hitting the walls next to them or the ceiling just above them. Inotherwords, it is a really good proximity weapon if you know how to use if to good effect. Go in on foot to finish off the remainder. After taking care of the Geth defenders, there are a few decrypt enclosures for you to scavenge. You'll find a control console that will open the gates for the next stretch of beachline. The number of Geth defenders will increase as you go. After a fashion, you'll run into another Geth structure, housing an antiaircraft battery control and another gate console. Assault the building and disable the AA battery's console; scavenge, open the gate, and move on to the final Geth Gate. This final gate will be guarded by multiple assorted troopers. When you defeat the last of them, one of your companions will inform you that the way to the Salarian camp is now clear. As you move on down the shoreline, Joker will radio a message to you. Continue until you reach the Salarian camp which, despite it being an infiltration operation, is set up on the beach in plain view right outside of Saren's base. When you get closer a brief cutscene will lead into a conversation with the Salarian Captain Kirrahe.

The captain will brief you on the tactical situation. It seems that Saren has found a cure for the Krogan Genophage and is intending to use it to breed a new Krogan army under his control. You and the Salarian captain understand that this discovery must not be allowed to exist. However, Wrex will insist that such a discovery can be used to solve the threat of extinction for his race. After the cut scene, you're tasked to deal with Wrex, and to ensure that his loyalty isn't in question. An emotionally conflicted Wrex will be standing on the beach shooting his pistol at the ocean. As you approach him, another cut scene will start; Wrex will say that the cure for the Genophage cannot be destroyed. There are several ways of dealing with this situation, resulting in a variety of Paragon or Renegade points. One way is to talk to him using charm ("These aren't your people") and to make him understand that Saren will only use the Krogans as slaves, discarding them when he's done (max Paragon). Another is just outright shoot him (max Renegade). A third way is to be indecisive, picking the middle ground type answers ("calm down" or "we can work this out"); Ashley will shoot Wrex in the back, insisting that she couldn't take the chance that Wrex might have harmed you (min Paragon). The final way is to intimidate ("don't be so naive"). This choice is essentially the same dialogue as telling him Saren will use the Krogan as slaves, but results in Renegade alignment (min Renegade). See the Virmire: Wrex and the Genophage assignment for additional details. After you've dealt with Wrex, speak to the Salarian captain again.

Salarian Commander Rentola has several important items for sale (in the first tent), including max inventory upgrades for medi-gel and grenades, and two arms dealer licenses.

Facility Assault
After the Wrex situation, speak with the Salarian Captain. He will offer his congratulations or sympathies depending how you dealt with Wrex. Then he will brief you on the need to assault Saren's facility. He plans on using his ship's drive core as a 20 Kiloton bomb to destroy Saren's breeding operations. The hard part is that the bomb must be placed into a specific area on the other side of Saren's base. His men will provide a diversionary attack while you sneak into the facility, disable the rest of the antiaircraft guns so that the Normandy can transport the bomb to the target location. He will request that you provide him one of your party (either Ashley or Kaidan) so that his three assault teams can better communicate with your "shadow" team. You can choose one or the other, but it is not a final choice. You'll get an opportunity to decide again later which of the two shall die. Thereafter, he will offer you a final chance of either "I'm not ready yet" or to proceed with the assault. Once you choose to start the mission, you'll appear on the other side of the base's perimeter wall and cannot go back.

You start in a narrow canyon with a stream running through it. No one will be shooting at you yet, so you can take stock of where you are and where you need to go by first looking at your overhead map. Follow along this curvi-linear path for a short ways until you see a guarded structure. Make your way towards the building clearing Geth as you go. Within are assorted decrypt containers. If you would like to assist Captain Kirrahe's team, on the far end of the second floor is a control panel that can disable the enemies communications. This is the first of four opportunities to assist the Salarian assault teams (worth Paragon points) and each will be pointed out, but doing so is not required.

Afterwards, head back down, then make a right at the fork. This brings you down to another area with a choice of directions. Kill the Geth on the left and then head left or right. Either way leads you to a structure. Make your way towards the structure but stop short. There is a trooper and a Krogan guarding so take them down and then aim at the satellite uplink on top of the building. You can destroy it to further assistassist Captain Kirrahe's team if you like.

Head onto the catwalk and move forward until the split and head left to the circular platform. Kill the two Geth that approach from behind and then kill the Geth and Krogan off to the left then head right towards the re-fuelling platform to help out Kirrahe further. As soon as you can, nail the fuel tanks and destroy the remaining flyers. Follow the path around to the left and then back towards the main base. Destroy the sniper and the two battle masters guarding the entrance, and enter through the door to your right. Alternately, you can use decryption and enter through the sewers on the ground level; doing so only changes the order in which you visit the facility.

Go through the door and make your way along the catwalk which leads you to a security console. Use the console and choose whether to set off the alarms or not, your last chance to assist the captain. All the doors are now unlocked proceed through the furthest door to catch a pair of Salarians off guard. Two more will approach from the left, kill them. Head towards the stairs and kill the Geth Juggernaut at the top on the left. Make your way around to the left and go through the door then go left through the other door and continue forwards. Go through the door at the end and kill the two Salarians inside.

The first door on the right leads down to the holding cells you passed in the last corridor. In the cells you'll find some of the missing Salarian commandos. Talk to the Salarian in the cell on the far left and deal with as you wish. Head back up stairs and go up in the elevator. When you reach the top kill the Krogan doctor and any Husks that come out from stasis. Go through the door on the left in the middle of the room. This accesses an outer catwalk that leads to another door guarded by Geth. Beyond them is the antechamber to Saren's personal laboratory. Hiding there is Rana Thanopsis, an Asari Neuroscientist reluctantly working on the effects of indoctrination. She will freely give you access to Saren's lab, and you can ask her questions regarding the mind control research. Thereafter, you have a choice of setting her free or killing her. You can only get 9 Renegade points for killing her. Setting her free does not result in Paragon points. There are a few decrypt containers in the room. Go beyond that room and over another walkway, through the door into a short hall, and onto the elevator. Arriving in Saren's lab, you'll see another Prothean Beacon; use it for another cut scene. Once done, as you walk up the catwalk again, another cut scene starts. You're begin talking to a hologram of Sovereign and you're given the chance to ask it questions. It becomes clear that it holds organics in little regard and is in the process of ensuring that all organics are wiped out again, perpetuating a repetitive cycle that has lasted for "...longer than you can fathom."

Once the conversation ends, Joker informs you that Sovereign is now on its way back at you, fast. Head back out the door you came from and into the elevator. Once you reach the bottom, go out of the door, and kill the Geth on the catwalk. Go back through the room at the end, then out the door. The bridge is now closing in front of you so cross it. Kill the three Krogans guarding the other side, then continue. Go through the door at the end, then out through the last door, onto walkways around the side of the base on the ocean. Be on your guard but head up the walkway all the way until you see the AA gun. Kill the Krogan and rocket drones guarding the area and head towards the gun.

Once everything is dead, go up the stairs and deactivate the generator. When you switch it off, Geth appear from behind. Quickly destroy them and move on. Go towards the elevator. When the door opens, there will be three Geth standing on the other side of it. Kill them and step in. Activate it to head to the bottom. Once it opens, head to the end of the corridor and out through the door. Kill the Geth in the water ahead of you. Go to the massive door at the end and open it. You come out into a big open area which leads down to the left. You'll be informed the the AA gun is now dead and the Normandy is coming in to land.

Extraction
A cutscene will now take over showing the Normandy landing, then the bomb being off loaded and finally a message from the team member you sent with Kirrahe, saying they're trapped. Either Ashley or Kaidan will remain with the bomb, whichever one you did not send with Kirrahe earlier, and you may need to reselect your party. Once the action starts again, head to the right through the door. Be prepared for a fight. There are a couple Geth and some Krogan at the end. Go into the elevator at the end and head up. Make your way up to the left and then a cutscene will take over. It seems there's trouble at the bomb site as well, but you can only assist one of your crew members.

Its decision time. One of your team will die, the other will live. If you're looking for romance, it'd be a good idea not to kill the one you want. Otherwise, you're free to choose. Once your decision is made, you will head off to the location. Read the section below that corresponds to your choice.

Bombsite:-

Head back to the elevator and go back down. Once at the bottom, head back to the main door in front. Open it and pile out all guns blazing. You will find a Geth Prime and Geth Juggernaut amongst the other troops out there. Once they're all down, Saren will appear for a confrontation. Talk with him until it comes to a fight. Once that happens, hit him as hard a possible until a cutscene takes over you escaping again, and the death of whoever stayed at the AA gun. BOOM

AA Gun:-

Head through the door and around to the left. Summon the elevator, and use it. Once it stops, head out in either direction and eliminate the Geth around the area. Once down, a cutscene takes over showing Saren having a chat with our avatar. Once the conversation ends, you can fight him. After quite a beating he'll go down and another cutscene will take over showing your inevitable escape and the death of whoever stayed at the bombsite. BOOM.

Now, whichever choice you made, you're back on board the Normandy. After survivors guilt has settled a little, Liara T'Soni will help you understand the complete message from the Prothean beacon if she has been found.

Citadel Station - Return
After retrieving Dr. Tsoni and completing the missions on Feros, Noveria, and Virmire, you will watch a cutscene the next time you use the galactic map. After that, it's time to return to the Citadel. This is not ideal as the Council, with ambasador Udina, have decided that you don't really need to go Geth hunting or determine what the Conduit is. They have decided, in fact, to ground both you and the Normandy. Captain Anderson has a way out and asks you have to meet him in Flux to discuss the options.

This is your last chance to complete any assignments on the Citadel, so make sure you don't have anything else to do here before choosing one of Captain Anderson's options. Once you're ready to leave, speak with Captain Anderson. He will offer to risk himself to override the lock on the Normandy. He offers to break into C-Sec to do so, or he will hack ambasador Udina's computer to remove the lock from there. You can choose them for him, or he will select the ambasador's computer if you let him choose. Whichever you choose will show different cutscenes, but the outcome is the same. If he heads to the Ambassadors office, he punches Udina and lets you escape. If he goes the C-Sec route, he headbuts the executor and gets shot helping you escape, but he does appear to survive.

After you've taken to the skies, you're again free to choose your destination, and Ilos will be available. The Citadel is no longer available to land on.

Ilos
Once you head off to Ilos for a shot at stopping Saren and the Conduit, whatever it may be, you will enter a cutscene. If you have been following the Romance sub plot then you may have a romantic encounter with your love interest. Assuming the right responses are given that is... you'll figure it out. Afterwards you'll be treated to more cutscene before Joker drops the Mako right in the thick of things.

The mission begins with the Mako landing on the surface of Ilos about twenty yards from Saren. Unfortunately you just miss him and are left facing a locked door. The first job is to jump out of the Mako and about turn to face away from the door. Head up towards the pillars ahead and eliminate the Geth troopers that appear from that area. Then run through and kill the Geth that are hiding behind shields in the area ahead. Use the pillars for cover if you need to, but be watchful of the Geth Armatures hiding off to the left. You can either kill them, or head over to the right and move down into the area below using the small path in the scenery.

Once below, eliminate the Geth in the area straight ahead, then make your way to the right also eliminating the trooper guarding the area. Once the coast is clear. Head to the control panel and shut down the Armatures if you didn't kill them.

Now, head forward and kill the drones in the area to the right. Then go into the area and up the path which leads to the area near the back of where the Armatures were. When you reach the top, head right, then head left down a path. Look for a small crate in the entrance so you don't miss it. It's easy to get lost in the maze so check your map frequently.

Follow the path all the way around to the left and finally head towards the small statue of someone sitting. Go past the statue and around towards the back of another statue. Move up the slope to the right of this statue. In the courtyard on the right, and on the ledge further ahead to the left, there are Geth troopers, and a couple of destroyers thrown in for good measure. Quickly kill everything, and head towards the ledge area to the left of the courtyard. Again, check the map, but you should be heading down a slope, then up the other side.

You'll round a right corner at the top of the slope. Kill the Geth at the top. Head across this area and into the elevator on the other side. Down it goes. Once you reach the bottom, you'll be facing a tunnel, with a large courtyard ahead. At the far end of the area is a Geth force that is guarding the security room. There is Geth Armature control panels in the room which can be hacked to gain the use of them. But once everything is dead, head to the far left corner of the room and head up the slope. At the top, head right and on the right you'll see a console which can be use.

A small cutscene will start showing what I can only assume is a distress call, regarding the Reaper invasion. After the message ends, head back down to the main courtyard, and then head down the long tunnel on the left. Hop onto the elevator at the end and ride it to the top. You'll find yourself in the centre of the top area again. Where you faced the Geth Armatures earlier. Head left and go back between the pillars to the Mako. Jump aboard, and then head into the Archives area down the slope.

Keep driving straight when you reach the bottom. Eventually you'll come to another slope and you just keep going down. At the end of this second tunnel, you'll encounter a small force of Geth. A couple of shots from the Mako takes care of them quickly enough. Continue down the third slope and into the next corridor. Drive right to the end, where the forcefield is blocking your path.

Jump out of the Mako and go through the door on the right of the field. Needn't worry about weapons, its a friendly visit. Head into the elevator and travel down. At the bottom, head forward to meet Vigil. The facility and its purpose is explained to you. You can ask as many questions as you like, depending on your hunger for knowledge. Ultimiately, the Ilos research facility is a secret that the Protheans managed to keep hidden for the Reapers. All the inhabitants went into cryostasis, but over time, Vigil had to cut out the power to certain staff to preserve the most intelligent few. Once the Reaper threat passed and they returned to dark space, the scientists were woken to figure a way to regain control of the Citadel Mass Relay. They succeeded, and thus stopped the Reapers returning. Sovereign is using Saren to reopen the Citadel Mass Relay manually. The true purpose of the Conduit is revealed. A neat little back door into the Citadel.

Once the conversation ends, return to the Mako. You'll notice the field has gone. Hop in and drive forward to the end. Go down the slope amd kill the Geth at the bottom. Turn left and continue down. Follow the path around to the right. Go down the slope and follow it around. You'll face some troops and a Geth Colossus. The main gun will make short work of everything. Now continue along the path. Eventually you'll come across mor rocket troopers. Kill them, and drive on. Guarding the last corner before the home straight is more rocket troopers. Once dead, drive straight down the path towards the light. A cutscene ensues showing the Geth fleet along with Sovereign attacking the Citadel. Once the cutscene ends, you have 40 seconds to make it to the Conduit in time. Its designed to be a little too close for comfort, so you really have no time to fight. Basically, this means pedal to the metal action. Once you're at the Conduit a cutscene will show you launching into it, and coming out the other side on top of some Geth. Ironically the exit point of the Conduit has been right under your nose the whole time.

Time to finish the fight (doh, that's Halo 3!).

Citadel Station - Final
Final stand against Saren and Sovereign on the Presidium. Many Geth stand between you and the council chamber where Saren is going. An outdoor excursion up the side of the tower leads you directly to him.

Happily, fighting in zero gravity has its advantages. Fighting the geth ground troops is much easier if you have a biotic-strong squad. Once out in the open, a strong Lift talent, or Lift combined with Throw, will launch enemies out into space, resulting in an instant kill.

After a conversation with Saren, and his resulting suicide if you Charm or Intimidate him - or a fight if you don't, the final boss fight ensues involving the fastest moving creature/cyborg in the game.

Check back soon for complete walkthrough

If you are are soldier or a class that uses a gun of some sort as your main weapon this following section applies to you. *SPOILER ALERT FOR CENTRAL STORY*

If you have maxed out charm or intimidate you can convince Saren that he can redeem himself. He shoots himself in the head. First fight avoided. He still gets taken over by Soveriegn. But if you can't convince him then the fight is inevitable. You first have to fight Saren on his fun little hover craft again. You can use the sides of the stairs as cover preventing your team from dying. By positioning by the walls they will be out of the way of his attacks. Saren will inform you that he has been "upgraded" from your previous encounter. Pretty much this means he is just buffer and has his shield regenerate faster.

If you have bullets that penetrate shields like Proton, Incendiary, or Toxic shells of some sort this will come in handy as you can chip away at his actual life rather than his shields. Hiding behind a wall as well will allow your shields to regen, but Saren will too. Skills to use are OVERKILL, ADRENALINE BURST, and if you tend to take a lot of hits IMMUNITY. Once you eliminate him he will fall down into the garden under the council area and have a large piece of glass stuck in him from the fall. Shepard will then take matters into hand and upload the program you received earlier on Ilos.

Of course, this is not the end of Saren as the Reaper Ship will unexplainably revive Saren's body and make him into a mechanical horror who darts around like the various Geth wall-crawling units. Once again bullets that bypass shields or provide damage over time will come in handy since he will be moving around quite quickly. To avoid taking hits from Saren it is advisable to move around. He has aquired several new abilities in this form including the ability to overheat your weapons and fire rockets so be wary. This makes him miss often and make your teammates take the hits instead. Continue to beat him in using the same skills listed above for the first fight. In no time you will be watching a fun cut scene while knowing there is one fewer criminal in the Milky Way.

Also another strategy is to use a character that has a high level of biotics especially lift, you can keep hitting saren with lift and he will no longer be able to fly around and be a "floating duck". It worked for me on easy, I'm not sure how well it works on the hardcore/insanity levels though.

Level Caps and Repeat Careers
It is possible to reach level 50 on your first playthrough, but you won't achieve it without completing a number of side assignments. Since you are capped at level 50 for your first time through the game, you can not reach level 60 until the second playthrough with your original character. If you're looking to reach level 60, it isn't necessary to reach level 50 before your first completion. After you beat the game, you can start your character over by going to create new character and selecting the bottom most option. You then restart the story with all of your experience and items intact from the previous game. All items that were equipped on other characters are transferred to you, and you gain doubles of anything you equipped. For your main character, all of your talent points remain spent as they were before. Your party members all begin at the same level as you, but with no talent points spent, allowing you to rebuild them as you like.

Assignment Guide (Side Quests)
Many assignments are referenced in the above walkthrough. In most cases they are only assignments that you are likely to encounter while working through the main mission, or may be unlikely if attempted after a certain point in the story. For a complete, alphabetical list of the various assignments in Mass Effect, see the assignments page. If you would like to see the assignments organized by cluster and system, see the Mass Effect System Guide.

Class Guides

 * Infiltrator Guide
 * Adept Guide
 * Soldier Guide
 * Vanguard Guide

Achievement Guides

 * Rich Achievement Guide
 * Weapon/Ability Achievements Guide
 * Morality for Paragon/renegade achievement.
 * Romance

Equipment Guides

 * All Equipment
 * Weapon Specific Guides
 * Assault Rifles
 * Grenades
 * Pistols
 * Shotguns
 * Sniper Rifles