Grunt: Rite of Passage

Grunt thinks he may be seriously ill and has requested a trip to Tuchanka to get a diagnosis.

Acquisition
This is Grunt's loyalty mission, in which he requests that Shepard travel to Tuchanka so that he may complete the krogan rite of passage. In the cargo hold of the Normandy SR-2, Grunt will pace back and forth restlessly as he tells Shepard that he is unnerved by his intense desire to destroy and kill. It has become an involuntary compulsion rather than an intentional, pleasure-seeking activity. He requests that Shepard take him to Tuchanka, as EDI is lacking in the area of medical records pertaining to krogan, who now fiercely guard their medical data since the salarians used it against them with the genophage.

Walkthrough
With Grunt in your party, speak with the current leader of Clan Urdnot, who will note that Grunt is of the age where he must complete the krogan rite of passage, and refers the party to the clan Shaman. The clan Shaman will relate various information about the rite, as well as krogan history and culture. Gatatog Uvenk will protest Grunt taking the rite, as he is tank bred. You can get Uvenk to stand down in a number of ways. After Shepard agrees to be Grunt's krantt, the Shaman sends Grunt and company to the traditional grounds of the rite.

The rite involves repeatedly pressing a switch, which begins a sort of monologue and spawns waves of enemies.

In the area, there are several Med-Kits, power cells, dead krogan, and two turbine parts on either side of the central stairs. Be sure to loot all of them at some point because once you defeat the Thresher Maw in wave three, you won't be able to come back and loot them. It's better to leave the power cells and med-kits on the main platform for the Thresher fight as you'll have no cover if you go downstairs looking to recharge.

Wave One
Varren - The first wave summons multitudes of varren and they all descend upon Shepard, Grunt and the third party member. A good strategy is to try to shoot them before they get too close. They're deadly in close quarters, but pose no threat at a distance as long as they stay there. They come from two sides of the map at the opposite corners from the switch, so you need to stay sharp and not leave your back unguarded.

It is possible to face the varren all from one side if Shepard quickly makes it to the top of the center set of stairs. The varren will all come up at Shepard up from the bottom of these stairs as it is the quickest route to Shepard and the team.

There is a glitch where in when you kill all the varren there will still be one left, this varren does not have a health bar it just has a name saying varren, it will not attack and it will not die, whenever you try to kill it, it will just stand up and stay in an aggressive stance. There are two solutions for this; either reload the game, or have a squadmate use Pull, and repeatedly shoot the varren with your shotgun in an upwards direction, effectively blasting it out of the map. If successful, the Rite will continue.

Wave Two
Klixen - These fire-breathing creatures make up the second wave and are delivered by harvesters on either side of the map; don't waste your ammo, the Harvesters cannot be killed. These definitely need to be taken out while you are still out of their fire-breathing range or they can quickly cause havoc and deal a lot of damage. They are resistant to Incendiary Ammo and Incinerate but weak against Armor-Piercing Ammo, Reave and Warp Ammo. If you watch your teammates carefully, they will automatically face the direction of the next incoming harvester.

Just like with the varren in wave one, there is a glitch where there will still be one klixen left without a health bar, and it just has a name saying klixen. Sometimes it will not even be visible, but will appear to be hidden under the ground. Just as before, there are two solutions for this: Either reload the game, or have a squadmate use Pull, and repeatedly shoot the klixen with your shotgun in an upwards direction, effectively blasting it out of the map. If successful, the Rite will continue.

Wave Three
Thresher Maw - This is not so much a wave as it is a giant creature attack. There is only one Thresher Maw and the primary objective is simply to survive. All you have to do is survive the attack for five minutes and the test will be ended.

If you manage to kill the Thresher Maw, they gain the respect of the krogan and the rite ends. The Thresher Maw moves around the outskirts of the map, but is easy to follow when it dives back underground. The Thresher Maw can destroy some of the weaker structures, so try to avoid those for cover and go for the sturdier walls instead. Its acid attack is an area of effect attack and will still track and fire at you even if you are cloaked. Its blue "tongue" seems to be a weak spot, and incurs more damage than its armored carapace. The Arc Projector is very effective on the Thresher Maw, especially with spare power cells lying around - as long as you haven't wasted it on the first two waves.

If you are playing this part on Insanity, even a Heavy Weapon such as the Collector Particle Beam won't be much good against the Thresher Maw's armor. The best strategy is to utilize Incendiary Ammo on the creature, and have your squadmates constantly help you in attacking the Thresher Maw. Zaeed's Inferno Grenade, Mordin's Incinerate, and Samara's Reave are examples of good squadmate attacks to use. Armor Piercing Ammo is also a good idea, and having weapons with high armor penetration (such as the Widow, Revenant or Mattock) will go a long way to damaging the Thresher Maw. The Cain is also a good weapon to use, but will usually only damage half the Thresher Maw's health. The Thresher Maw is immune to the effects of Stasis.

Uvenk's Folly
After the Thresher Maw is destroyed or the timer hits the five-minute mark, the Rite of Passage is officially over. However, at that point Gatatog Uvenk and his krantt make an appearance. During the cutscene, Uvenk expresses that he is impressed by Grunt's accomplishment. He then seeks out a loophole that he believes will allow him to accept Grunt. Grunt, however, is not at all pleased by what Uvenk is saying.

No matter what conversation option Shepard chooses, they end up engaging Uvenk and his krantt. Uvenk has a barrier and armor that need to be taken down to kill him and there are three or four Gatatog Warriors with him. Once they are all dead, you will automatically return to the Urdnot camp and speak to the Shaman. The Shaman will welcome Grunt as a full-fledged member of Clan Urdnot and award you a shotgun damage upgrade. Once you're done speaking with the Shaman, the mission will end.

If you brought the Arc Projector and still have ammo, you can wreak havoc on the krogan by targeting Uvenk at the start and shocking them to death. If one of them gets past the shock radius, just have Grunt and your other ally target them to take the heat off you.

There are two krogan corpses that can be searched and two Medi-gel packs to be picked up during the fight against Uvenk. But you have to loot them before finishing the fight because you will automatically leave the area. One is located down the stairs by the medi-gel packs and the other is behind the last barricade where Gatatog and his troops are positioned.

Mass Effect 3 Consequences
Grunt appears during Attican Traverse: Krogan Team provided he survived the suicide mission. At the end of that mission, if you choose to spare the Rachni Queen, Grunt will die if this mission was not completed.

Email
After the mission is complete, Shaman Urdnot sends Shepard this email with what one might call a "request":

Enemies

 * Klixen
 * Varren
 * Thresher Maw
 * Gatatog Uvenk
 * Gatatog Warrior

Mission Summary
Grunt has joined Clan Urdnot and should be emotionally stable.

Will monitor krogan’s progress of societal acceptance with Clan Urdnot. Hopefully clan bonds will not interfere with loyalty to Shepard. Data regarding krogan clan politics useful.


 * Experience: 750 (937)
 * Credits: 30,000
 * Cerberus Funding: 15,000
 * Credits Found: 15,000
 * Power Unlocked
 * Grunt: Fortification
 * Upgrades
 * Shotgun Damage (Synchronized Pulsar)
 * Resources
 * Platinum: 2,000

Trivia

 * After this mission, if Shepard killed the Thresher Maw, several krogan will comment on the Thresher Maw Shepard killed, stating that it has not been done since Urdnot Wrex underwent the Rite himself.
 * Upon returning to Tuchanka after the quest, should Shepard have killed the Thresher Maw, EDI will report that there have been numerous breeding requests directed for Grunt. Humorously (and to Grunt's amusement), there is also one for Shepard.
 * During the fight with Uvenk, heading up the flight of stairs and examining the giant piston will reveal the words: "Lots of very small text put something interesting here or whatever" upside-down.