War Assets

War Assets in Mass Effect 3 are the people, weapons, armies and fleets that Commander Shepard can accumulate throughout the game.

War Assets are assigned a point value, indicating Total Military Strength, which is then multiplied by a Readiness Rating to produce the galaxy's Effective Military Strength, which determines success in the final battle against the Reapers. They are earned in direct tie to what occurs in the game, whether it be events happening the background or the missions which the player actively participates in. War Assets may also be obtained by scanning planets in systems controlled by the Reapers on the War Map, while this does pose the threat of being detected and terminated by the machines.

War Assets and military strength can be inspected using the War Terminal on the second level of the Normandy.

Readiness Rating
The readiness rating is presented as a percentage of the collected war assets that contribute to the galaxy's Total Military Strength. War Asset's true value is attributed to the Total Military Strength, but is then multiplied by the Readiness Rating percentage, resulting in the Effective Military Strength. The readiness rating is increased by participation in the Galaxy at War system, which includes:
 * Multiplayer
 * Mass Effect: Infiltrator
 * Mass Effect: Datapad

Participation in Galaxy at War is encouraged to achieve the maximum possible Effective Military Strength (over 5000), but, according to preliminary reports, the player can gain high enough Effective Military Strength to have the choice of all possible game endings even when only playing single player. However, it appears that in order to have all endings available from only single play, one needs to have imported their file from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, as well as made certain choices that maximize War Assets.

In the Multiplayer of Mass Effect 3, completing matches adds to the player's overall readiness rating. There are 5 zones (Outer Council Space, Terminus Systems, Attican Traverse, Inner Council Space and Earth Systems Alliance Space); all with their own map. While the player may chose the map they which to play, this only puts readiness points towards the zone that map is associated with. Typically, if a specific map is chosen, 8-9% readiness is added to that zone, while if "Unknown Location" is chosen, aside from the XP Bonus, 3-4% readiness is added overall. The readiness rating is averaged from the readiness ratings of all the zones, meaning if "Unknown Location" is chosen, all zones will receive a 3-4% boost. If a the mission is failed but it is in the second half of the match, 2% will be allotted to the player.

Readiness rating deteriorates at about 1% daily, so it is encouraged to play Multiplayer to maintain it.

War Assets

 * Alien
 * Alliance
 * Asari
 * Crucible
 * Ex-Cerberus
 * Geth
 * Krogan
 * Quarian
 * Salarian
 * Turian

Sword and Hammer
When the mission Priority: Earth is started, all gathered War Assets combine into two different groups, codenamed Sword and Hammer. Sword consists of all allied fleets and starships, and Hammer consists of all ground forces. When Sword attacks the Reaper fleet above Earth, it acts as a distraction to allow Hammer to land on Earth and engage the Reapers on the ground to aid Admiral Anderson's resistance forces.

Depending on the number of War Assets gathered and their combined military effectiveness rating, Sword and Hammer will either take heavy losses during the battle or be able to hold their own. Readiness rating determines if the Crucible, depending on the solution chosen, destroys all forces fighting on Earth indiscriminately, or selectively targets the Reapers.