Dossier: Tali

Formerly listed as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the quarian engineer earned her adult name after helping Shepard defeat Saren two years ago. Tali is currently on a classified assignment for the Migrant Fleet Admiralty Board on Haestrom, deep in geth-controlled space.

Acquisition
The Illusive Man provides Shepard with dossiers on three new squadmates after the mission to Horizon.

Walkthrough
Recommend that you bring a squad member that can use a sniper rifle, it will make things easier.

Also recommended that you bring the Missile Launcher or Arc Projector as your heavy weapon.

If you wish to acquire the Geth Pulse Rifle at the end of this mission near Tali's location, be sure to set the difficulty setting to either Hardcore or Insanity BEFORE landing on Haestrom while aboard the Normandy.

Arrival
Haestrom was a former quarian colony world to which Tali and her team have traveled to study the unusual things its sun is doing. Unfortunately the planet is under attack by the geth. Solar radiation on the surface is so strong that it will weaken and eventually overload Shepard's shields. You must stay in the shade and run from cover to cover to survive. Do not stay in the sun for any prolonged period of time because it will completely destroy you and your squadmates shields. Simply put, AVOID THE SUN.

The first area after the drop off is easy &mdash; just get past the, sun and you will eventually reach what resembles a booth that you would see outside some place that you can’t go unless you have a pass card. Luckily this one does not, go inside to get some space parts (credits), medi-gel and a log that gives you some brief background on what happened to a point. Unlock the gate and go inside.

Immediately get in cover and note two things: where the sun falls, and where the enemies are. Defeat all the enemies on the ground floor and any that try to flank you by coming down the ramp or stairs behind you. Once the enemies are dead, pick up clips and go up the ramp, it is a better position than staying on the ground. But it is your choice, the walkthrough will explain both.

Up the ramp: Leave your squadmates in shaded cover and run up the ramp into cover. Once in it you will come under attack so give your squadmates a call and put them in shaded cover. Fight your way down to the large spheres in the crates and take cover there. Take cover on the back one and put another further up on the next set. Once the attacking geth are taken care of then go down the ramp to your right, leave your squadmates, and get a scan of a heavy pistol, granting a research. Continue to the end and use shaded cover areas to take out the geth on the ground.

On the floor: Keep in cover, and you squadmates will tell you that the sun is too bright and another way must be found. You can continue or ignore them. Duck to the right to get the research for the pistol and get into the shaded cover at the bottom of the ramps. Beyond this, there is no cover from the sun so hope you have a sniper and you are good at shooting long range.

Regroup
Either way you went once the Geth are eliminated, grab the refined Iridium before moving on. Watch out and keep to cover because there are geth around the corner that are battling quarians, no matter what you do you will not be able to save the quarians, so take out their aggressors. Battle through the geth until reaching a quarian radio on the ground. WARNING: before you pick up the radio look behind it in order to acquire the Tempest SMG. Picking it up results in a cutscene with the Quarian Marines battling the geth. The Geth Dropship collapses a pillar and blocks Shepard's access to the quarian marines.

It is a good idea to also save before picking up the radio.

Getting the Charges
After the cutscene and dialogue options, Shepard must retrieve two demolition charges to destroy the pillar. Watch out in this area because there are a few Geth Destroyers and a Geth Prime. For the charges, one is off to the left in a garage, go for this one first because it is much easier. Most of the cover going to the garage is in shade so no worries about the sun. Take out the geth inside and move your squad up when necessary. Watch out for the Geth Hunters in the area and their stealth fields. Also watch the ramp heading up because some geth will come out of there at a regular pace.

Once the geth are destroyed move your squad into position to cover the door. Grab the two medi-gel in the area and access Tali’s journal first before grabbing the demo charge. Once you grab the charge, get in cover fast because the geth will be charging you and their forces include that Geth Prime. Take it out from a distance or let it get close and nail it with shotguns. Recommended that you destroy it from the distance, much less hassle especially on higher difficulty levels.

The second charge is a little more difficult. Run up the stairs outside the garage and take cover in the shade. There are very few crate to provide cover here from the sun so be careful, it is just better off to run down the catwalk and into the room at the end. Before running however access Tali’s journal to your left for another update. Once in the room you can leave a squadmate here, preferably the one with the sniper rifle or assault rifle. Grab the medi-gel and open the shutters before going down the stairs.

Once on the ground along with the squadmate you left behind take out the geth moving from cover to cover as needed. Be careful who you order to move, because calling that squadmate down will deprive you of a big tactical advantage: height. Once the geth are down grab the refined Iridium for the center near the crane thing and proceed into the room at the end of the area. Once inside grab the medi-gel, power cells, and the charges.

When you exit grab cover as once again the geth will ambush you. They really don’t want you to get to Tali, or at least not before they can get to her. Take out the geth, watch for the destroyers, because they will charge you just like in Mass Effect, and move as necessary. Remember to remain in shaded cover. Once the geth are eliminated move back to the pillar and plant the charges. You now have 10 seconds to get away before there is a rather large explosion. Basically get behind some cover, that IS NOT the pillar itself. Even if you are at the ends you still have a chance to be killed in the explosion.

Past the Pillar
Once past this door, Shepard will enter a room that unfortunately contains a lot of dead quarians. There are a lot of things in this room and you cannot exit yet. Grab the spare parts, scan the rifle, bypass the safe, salvage the geth and hack the terminal to get a lot of credits from the room and research for assault rifle damage. Access Tali’s journal again to get a nostalgic log. Talk to Tali via the comm system to continue.

You can talk to Tali about her mission, her people, and where she is. She tells you that she has locked herself in the observatory at the far end of the colony and most of the marines are dead trying to protect her. Tali unlocks the door and pleads with you to save as many marines as possible.

Getting to the Observatory
This is a good point to save the game.

This next area is tricky because while the cover is shaded, it is easy for the geth to flank you. Also there is a very annoying Geth Prime walking around so watch out for that. The first things you encounter are the Geth Recon Drones. (These are the drones that killed Jenkins on Eden Prime in Mass Effect.) Take them out because their pulse emitters will rip through your shields faster than the sun. The Prime and Troopers will come in while you are battling these, so shift you focus to the main geth, especially that Geth Prime. There is nothing to pick up in this area, so stay focused on the geth, moving from shaded cover to shaded cover, and getting to the end in once piece.

You know when you are at the end when you see a vehicle pointing towards a door. Go through the door, and before raising the shutters, hack the wall safe and save your game. Once you raise the shutters a cutscene will play showing the vast amount of geth blocking your way to Tali’s position. The first thing you will notice is the Geth Colossus trying to break through. If you ever had the guts to fight one of these on foot in Mass Effect, then you know how hard they are. Especially this one, because it comes complete with the new self-repair feature.

Past The Shutters
Go out the door and down the stairs, here Shepard will encounter Kal'Reegar, one of the last remaining Quarian Marines accompanying Tali. He informs Shepard that there is a geth colossus as well as a large number of other geth blocking the way to Tali. You can ask him about the cover and what is the best strategy. ASK these questions because otherwise you will regret it. This walkthrough is a general guide you will have to modify your strategy based on Shepard’s abilities and your squad’s abilities.

To the Left: the left is well covered from the Colossus but is more vulnerable to the individual troopers. This path is better for biotic heavy and/or tech heavy squads.

To the Right: the right has a sniper’s post and a lot of cover. However it is completely exposed to the sun, so take that into your calculations. This path is good for combat-heavy squads and squads with assault rifles and sniper rifles.

Up the middle: The middle path is only good if you stay in cover; otherwise it is suicide. You have plenty of cover from the ordinary geth, but the Colossus has a firing solution on you the whole time. The Colossus can kill you in one shot so use the middle if you are only on easier difficulty levels. The harder the level, the more suicidal this path is.

Pick your path carefully and then continue the conversation with Kal'Reegar.

Get to Tali
Continuing the conversation, Shepard may ask Kal'Reegar to either provide cover fire with his missile launcher or tell him to stay down. If you tell him to stand down because he is injured, he will still say he can fight. Persuading Kal'Reegar to stand down requires a Paragon interrupt. After Kal'Reegar stands down, Shepard can ask for his help, allowing one to maximize Paragon points as well as have Kal'Reegar participate in the fight. If Kal'Reegar stays in the the fight, he will take potshots at the Colossus with his missile launcher. However, the Colossus may return fire and kill him.

No matter what path you choose, keep in shaded cover and avoid the Colossus’ line of fire at all costs. The best option is to get on its flanks where there is some cover and you can take down the Colossus with some ease. Don’t expend a lot of heavy weapon ammo here save it all for the Colossus. Move along your chosen path and take out as many of the small geth as you can. Once you get on the Colossus’ flank, there is a heavy weapon ammo crate no matter which side you go on. Pick it up and begin.

The geth colossus is protected with heavy shielding and armor. Once enough damage is done to its armor, it will collapse into a defensive position enter into a repair mode and rapidly regenerate its shields. Take down its shields fast and hammer its armor. Fortunately its self-repair doesn’t repair its armor, just its massive shields. Once the shields and armor are down, or even just its shields, unload with the heavy weapons. If it raises its shields, wait until it stands back up before opening fire again. Keep going until it collapses.

Once the Colossus is destroyed, the path to Tali is clear. Mop up any geth you missed, gather the other heavy weapon crate, the 4 packs of refined Iridium, and the medi-gel just down from the sniping platform. A good way to defeat the Colossus is to bring its shield down to half, then use M-920 Cain to destroy it from across the field.

Once you have everything you can get the spare parts outside of the observatory before going in. In the observatory, on Hardcore or Insanity difficulty levels, you can find a Geth Pulse Rifle. Once you encounter Tali in person, you can ask her what she and the marines were doing there, and about what she has been up to for the last two years. You then ask Tali to join you. If Kal’Reegar survives, he will take the data and upload it. If he is dead, then Tali is disappointed that she is the only survivor of her whole team and she uploads the data herself over a secure channel. Shepard, the squad, and Tali then return to the Normandy.

Normandy
Jacob Taylor greets Tali in the briefing room and welcomes her aboard. She is thankful for their timely rescue but she has concerns about working with Cerberus. Once you alleviate her concerns, she says that she will be in engineering. On her way out, Jacob tells her to introduce herself to the ship’s AI, EDI, which provokes an emotional reaction from Tali.

From then on, Tali can be found across from Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly in main engineering. Kelly then suggests to a male Shepard that Tali may want to be more than friends. Shepard also receives a private message from the Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet approving her transfer to the Normandy. The message also threatens "severe and appropriate actions" if Tali suffers any harm while under Shepard's command. The message is signed by Admiral Rael'Zorah, Tali's father.

Enemies

 * Geth Colossus
 * Geth Destroyer
 * Geth Prime
 * Geth Recon Drone
 * Geth Rocket Trooper
 * Geth Trooper
 * Geth Hunter

Mission Summary

 * Experience: 1,000 (1,250)
 * Credits: 69,000
 * Cerberus Funding: 30,000
 * Credits Found: 39,000
 * Weapons:
 * M-9 Tempest Submachine Gun
 * Geth Pulse Rifle (only on Hardcore and Insanity)
 * Upgrades:
 * Assault Rifle Damage (Kinetic Pulsar)
 * Heavy Pistol Damage (Titan Pulsar)
 * Resources:
 * Iridium: 2,004

NOTE: Although the mission summary says Credits 69,000 (if all are colected) you actually receive 60,000. This has been confirmed on PC.

Trivia

 * Upon arrival on Haestrom upon entering the sun for the first few times your squadmates will make comments about staying the shade. This is probably a reference to the quip "Good. Then we will fight in the shade.", attributed by Herodotus to the Spartan Dienekes at the Battle of Thermopylae, which has been re-popularised by the film 300.
 * Grunt is completely unaffected by the sun on the mission because he has armour and not shields.
 * While fighting the Colossus at the end of the level, there is a glitch which allows you to revive your allies without using medi-gel. Firstly, it is required that you perform the Paragon action when prompted to intervene with Kal'Reegar, thus saving him, and when your comrades are down talk to him again and they'll get up.
 * If you are playing as a Vanguard, there is a glitch when fighting the Colossus. When you first come into sight with the Colossus (before talking to Kal'Reegar) you can charge across the battlefield at the Colossus which will trigger the conversation with Kal'Reegar. After the conversation with Kal is over you will be right next to the Colossus. When this glitch is performed the Colossus will not attack you throughout the battle, it will just sit there, allowing you to attack it.
 * After defeating the Colossus, grab 800 units of refined Iridium from the 4 containers in the area. Walk up to Tali. If you go back outside, each of the 4 containers will contain 1 unit of refined Iridium, for a maximum of 4 per set. Repeat as necessary for the slowest way to farm Iridium.