Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 is a science-fiction role-playing action game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3. It is the sequel to Mass Effect and the second game in the Mass Effect trilogy.

For the walkthrough, see Mass Effect 2 Guide.

For content cut from the final version of the game, see Mass Effect 2 Cut Content.

Release

Mass Effect 2 was released on the dates, and at the recommended retail prices, indicated in the table below.

	Standard Edition		Collectors' Edition		Digital Deluxe Edition	Playstation 3 Edition
Country	Xbox 360	PC	Xbox 360	PC	PC	PS3	Release Date
U.S.A.	$59.99	$49.99	$69.99	$59.99	$59.95	$59.95	January 26th 2010 and January 18th 2011 (PS3)
Canada	$69.99	$54.99	$79.99	$69.99	$59.99	$59.99	January 26th 2010
Mexico	$799.00	$699.00	$899.00	$799.00			January 26th 2010
Eurozone	€69.95	€44.95	€79.95	€54.95	€54.99	€29.98	January 28th 2010
U.K.	£39.99	£29.99	£49.99	£43.99	£51.99	£39.99	January 29th 2010
Australia	$109.95	$99.95	$118 1	$108 1	$63.99		January 28th 2010
New Zealand	$129.95	$99.95	$149.95	$119.95			January 29th 2010
Czech Republic	1499Kč	1099Kč	749Kč	1399Kč		1499Kč	January 29th 2010
South Africa	R539.00 2	R309.00 2	R719.00 2	R445.00 2		R499.00	January 29th 2010
Russia	2499 руб	599 руб (Jewel) 2 899 руб (DVD Box)		1499 руб		2599 руб	January 28th 2010 February 11th 2010 (CE)
Romania	219.90 lei	139.90 lei	249.90 lei	199.90 lei			January 29th 2010 February 5th 2010 (CE)
Poland	199 zł	129 zł	299 zł	179 zł	169 zł	199 zł	January 29th 2010
South Korea	₩52,000	₩42,000					January 26th 2010
Thailand		฿799		฿1790			January 26th 2010
India		₨Rs. 999				Rs. 2499	January 26th 2010
Norway	429 - 599 kr	299 - 399 kr	599 - 799 kr	459 - 599 kr	449 kr	399 - 499 kr	January 28th 2010
Chile	$39,990	$22,990	$49,990			$34,900	January 26th 2010

¹ Exclusive to EB Games
² Without Cerberus Network key

Mass Effect 2 is included in the Mass Effect Trilogy, a boxed set containing all three Mass Effect games. The Trilogy was released on November 6, 2012 for Xbox 360 and PC for $59.99 USD. A PlayStation 3 version of the Trilogy was released on December 4, 2012 for $59.99 USD.

Retail bonus items

Depending on where the game is purchased, what edition is purchased and whether or not it was pre-ordered, the customer may be entitled to one or more Retail Bonus Items. There are three bonus armors and two bonus weapons that are unlockable in Mass Effect 2 depending on how the game is purchased. There is also one additional bonus armor available for those who have purchased BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins.

The following table details which items are available based on which version of the game is purchased, and whether or not the game was pre-ordered.

	Dragon Age	Standard Edition		Collectors' Edition		Digital Deluxe Edition		Playstation 3 Edition
Item	Purchase	Purchase	Preorder	Purchase	Preorder	Purchase	Preorder	Purchase
Blood Dragon Armor	✓							✓
Terminus Assault Armor			✓ 1		✓ 1
M-490 Blackstorm Projector			✓ 1		✓ 1
Inferno Armor			✓ 2		✓ 2		✓
Collector Armor				✓	✓	✓	✓
Collector Assault Rifle				✓	✓	✓	✓
Incisor Rifle						✓	✓
1 Available exclusively at the following retailers: 576 (Hungary), Blockbuster (Italy), BT Games (South Africa), Coin-Op (Switzerland), EB Games (Australia,Canada), Gamestop (U.S.A. Norway Germany,Canada), Gramer (Poland), Play.com(U.K., Standard Edition only), Saluzi(Thailand) , (X)Zone (Czech Republic), Gameplanet(Mexico ). 2 Available only at retailers not carrying the Terminus Assault Armor and M-490 Blackstorm Projector.

Promotional bonus items

Electronic Arts Inc., Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., and 7-Eleven, Inc. teamed up to offer Promotional Bonus Items through the 2010 Dr Pepper EA Games Every Bottle/Cup Wins Promotion when any specially marked Dr Pepper 20 oz. bottle with a yellow cap, or a 7-Eleven Big Gulp is purchased from 7-Eleven in the United States. The codes found under the cap of the bottles or from the label of a Big Gulp can be entered and redeemed at the Dr. Pepper website for downloadable content for Mass Effect 2 as well as other EA Games. Mass Effect 2 prizes are downloaded via the Cerberus Network and are available for both the PC and XBOX 360. At this time there are only three Mass Effect 2 Promotional Bonus Items which were made available through the promotion on January 28, 2010.

• Umbra Visor
• Recon Hood
• Sentry Interface

These Promo DLC items could previously all be obtained by following instructions on this page, and can now be downloaded freely from Origin.

Details

Players: 1
Resolution: Xbox 360 and PS3: HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p // PC: Screen & Card Dependent
Publisher: Electronic Arts, Inc.
Developer: BioWare Corp.®
Format: 2x DVD (Xbox 360 and PC), 1x Blu-ray (PlayStation 3), Digital Download (PC and PlayStation 3),
Rating: "M" for Mature (NA), MA15+ (Australia), BBFC 15 (UK), PEGI 18+ (EU), USK 16 (GER)

PC version

See also: PC Tweaks (Mass Effect 2)

The PC version of Mass Effect 2 was developed by Bioware and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in India, Europe and North America on January 26, in Australia on January 28, and in New Zealand on January 29, 2010.

System requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended
OS	Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Processor	1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU	2.6+ GHz Core 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
Memory	1GB RAM (Windows XP) / 2GB RAM (Windows Vista / 7)	4GB RAM
Graphic Card	256 MB video memory with Pixel Shader 3.0 support; NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro or greater.	ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
Disk Space	15GB
Sound Card	DirectX 9.0c compatible	100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers

Note:

• For the best results, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and audio cards. Laptop or mobile versions of the above supported video cards have not had extensive testing and may have driver or other performance issues. As such, they are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.
• The latest NVIDIA drivers have been known to cause issues with Mass Effect 2. If you experience graphical issues after updating drivers (After June 15th, 2010), rollback your drivers to a previous version to fix the problem.
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements.
• Mass Effect 2 requires a dual core processor to run without multiple unofficial fixes.
• The game may still run on PCs that do not meet the minimum requirements, but users' experiences will vary: the game is not guaranteed to run perfectly, or at all. Official support is not available for systems that do not meet the minimum requirements. Attempt at your own risk.

PS3 version

The PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect 2 was developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The PlayStation 3 version uses a variation of the game engine being developed for Mass Effect 3. The game was released on January 18, 2011 in North and South America, on January 21, 2011 in Europe, and January 27 in Australia and New Zealand.

The full version of the game is also available for download through the PlayStation Network.

Included content

Copies of the PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect 2 include the following:

• The full Mass Effect 2 game
• Blood Dragon Armor
• Kasumi - Stolen Memory
• Overlord
• Lair of the Shadow Broker
• One Cerberus Network activation code.

PS3 downloadable content

All other downloadable content for Mass Effect 2 was made available for PlayStation 3 owners to purchase. In addition, several "exclusive" free and paid DLC packs were released. These DLC packs contain Mass Effect 2 content that Xbox 360 and PC owners already have or had access to, but which PS3 owners are unable to obtain otherwise. These packs include:

• Terminus Weapon and Armor
• Recon Operations Pack
• N7 Complete Arsenal Bundle

Since the original Mass Effect was not initially available on the PlayStation 3, Mass Effect: Genesis, a brief "interactive comic" which gives players the back-story of the Mass Effect universe and allow them to make choices which will affect their playthroughs of Mass Effect 2, was made available for download as part of the Cerberus Network.

Save file corruption

Following the release of the PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect 2, numerous players reported that their save files were being corrupted. This corruption forced a console restart and rendered all Mass Effect 2 save files unplayable.

While a patch to resolve the issue was pending approval by Sony, BioWare's Chris Priestly suggested that players could avoid the save file corruption by shutting down and restarting the game every few hours, before the corruption had a chance to occur. The patch was released on February 21, 2011 and the save file corruption problem was repaired.

Plot

“

Two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life, a mysterious new enemy has emerged. On the fringes of known space, something is silently abducting entire human colonies. Now Shepard must work with Cerberus, a ruthless organization devoted to human survival at any cost, to stop the most terrifying threat mankind has ever faced.

To even attempt this perilous mission, Shepard must assemble the galaxy's most elite team and command the most powerful ship ever built. Even then, they say it would be suicide. Commander Shepard intends to prove them wrong.

— Official Plot Summary

Shepard's fate

Main article: Mass Effect 2 Guide

In Mass Effect 2, it is possible for Commander Shepard and members of the team to die at the conclusion of the game's final mission. Throughout the game the player will be building up the team, resources, information and ship necessary to succeed in the final mission. Should the player enter the final mission unprepared it is possible to experience an ending where Shepard dies, members of the team die, or even a disastrous ending in which everyone dies.

If Shepard dies, the player will be unable to continue playing the game after the credits, and will be unable to import their character into Mass Effect 3. Death is final for all characters, and any who die during the ending will not appear in Mass Effect 3.

Characters

Squad members

Main article: Squad

In Mass Effect 2 the player has the opportunity to build a team of up to twelve characters at any one time. Possible companions include:

Garrus Vakarian Grunt Jack Jacob Taylor Kasumi Goto1 Legion

Miranda Lawson Mordin Solus Samara or Morinth Tali'Zorah vas Neema Thane Krios Zaeed Massani1 1Downloadable characters.

Shepard's success greatly depends on gaining the loyalty of these recruits. Loyalty of crew members is gained by completing their missions.

Returning characters

The following old characters may appear at some point in Mass Effect 2, provided they survived the events of Mass Effect. None of them are recruitable as squadmates except for Liara T'Soni, who can be temporarily recruited through the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC pack.

Kaidan Alenko1 David Anderson Helena Blake1 Doctor Chakwas Nassana Dantius Fist1 Admiral Hackett Harkin Khalisah al-Jilani Jeff "Joker" Moreau

Gianna Parasini1 Navigator Pressly Shiala1 Liara T'Soni Rana Thanoptis1 Conrad Verner1 Donnel Udina Ashley Williams1 Urdnot Wrex1 Emily Wong

¹If they survived Mass Effect

Locations

Commander Shepard and the team visit a wide variety of new locations in Mass Effect 2, including:

• Omega
• Illium
• The Migrant Fleet
• Freedom's Progress
• Horizon
• Tuchanka
• A Collector Cruiser
• A Derelict Reaper
• Collector Base
• Zorya ¹
• Bekenstein ¹
• Aite ¹
• Hagalaz ¹
• Aratoht ¹
• Project Base ¹

¹Requires Downloadable Content

Locations returning from Mass Effect include:

• The Citadel

Save File Transfer

Main article: Save File Transfer

Mass Effect 2 allows the player to import characters from any completed Mass Effect playthrough. This means that several decisions made by the player in Mass Effect will carry over, and have the potential to impact the story. Examples of events that particularly influence Mass Effect 2 include who was rescued on Virmire, the fate of the Council, and any romance interest.

However, due to changes made to the game's leveling system, your character's level and abilities will not transfer over to Mass Effect 2. The player will start out with basic abilities, however, the game will acknowledge your character's level and morality and adapt it in ways that map across to the new system.

If desired, the player will be able to choose a new appearance, or choose a new class. Pre-service history and psychological profile cannot be changed. It does not seem possible to make minor changes to the previous appearance (e.g. change hairstyles). You must either take it exactly as it was before (though the visuals will be somewhat enhanced in the new game), or start from scratch with a new custom appearance. It should be noted that any facial scars from Mass Effect are not carried over; however, your character will receive brand-new scars at the beginning of Mass Effect 2.

If a player beats Mass Effect multiple times on a single Shepard, either by saving and re-loading or by starting a new game plus, each "victory" will be a separate Shepard that the player may import to Mass Effect 2. The player need not worry about over-writing one of the existing Shepards, and may review all the major specifications and decisions of a Shepard before choosing to import the file.

Note that it is not possible to move the End Game save file from one Xbox to another. There are two options to get around this: either move a Mass Effect save game to the new Xbox and finish the game again on the new Xbox (thus creating a new End Game file), or import the ME character into Mass Effect 2 on the old Xbox, and move the resulting save file to the new Xbox before continuing.

Gameplay changes

Combat

Main article: Combat (Mass Effect 2)

Mass Effect 2 features a significant number of changes and additions to weapons and abilities.

There are now six weapon classes:

• Heavy Pistols
• Submachine Guns
• Shotguns
• Assault Rifles
• Sniper Rifles
• Heavy Weapons

Changes to core gameplay mechanics include:

• An ammunition system based on "thermal clips". Instead of cooling down automatically, weapons dissipate heat into thermal clips. Thermal clips have a finite capacity and guns are reloaded by ejecting the clip and inserting a new one. Replacement thermal clips are found lying around, or dropped by defeated enemies. All small arms utilize the same type of thermal clip.
• Weapons skills from the first Mass Effect have been removed; Shepard can use only weapons specific to the Commander's class at the beginning of the game. An additional weapon skill can be picked up during the Collector Ship mission. Soldiers, Infiltrators, and Vanguards can choose an upgraded weapon of a type they can already use instead of learning a new weapon type.
• Heavy Weapons, which require power cells to be fired and can be fired to devastating effect.
• Targeting of individual body parts. Headshots inflict additional damage, while enemies who are shot in the leg may be crippled and drop to the ground.
• Cover is now entered manually, instead of automatically as it was in the first Mass Effect. This allows for a smoother transition from cover to cover than in Mass Effect. If the cover is waist-high, characters can also choose to leap over it.
• Weapons fired while Shepard is in cover are more accurate, with the exception of shotguns and heavy weapons. This replaces the crouching accuracy bonus from the first game, which Shepard can no longer do out of cover.
• Storming, or sprinting, is still possible as in Mass Effect however it is considerably slower, there is no visible fatigue meter, and it's now impossible to change direction while storming. Shepard can storm both in and out of combat, however it is slightly faster during combat. While storming Shepard is unable to take almost any other action, though orders can still be issued to the squad. Storming and taking cover are both bound to the same key/button by default; running into valid cover will cause Shepard to automatically take cover. Note: The automatic cover-taking behavior occurs even if storm is bound to a different key/button than the take cover/use command such as by using PC Tweaks, though doing this still helps prevent some unintended cover-taking.
• A modified health system. Medi-gel is no longer used in the same way. Shepard and squadmates now automatically regenerate depleted health and shields if they avoid being hit by enemy fire for several seconds. Medi-gel is used by the Unity power to revive fallen squadmates during a firefight.
• On the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 it is now possible to map powers to the LB and RB buttons(For Xbox 360), and L2 and R2(PlayStation 3). The Y(For Xbox 360)and Triangle(For PlayStation 3)button is exclusively mapped to the special class power. This allows the player to utilize up to three powers without pausing and bringing up the power wheel.
• Grenades have been removed in the vanilla game, at least as they worked in Mass Effect, however some grenade-like powers as well as some grenade-using opponents are re-introduced with DLC.

Powers

Mass Effect 2 includes a variety of new talents, which are now called "Powers", including:

• New biotic powers:
  • Charge
  • Dominate
  • Pull
  • Reave
  • Shockwave
  • Slam
• New tech powers:
  • AI Hacking
  • Combat Drone
  • Cryo Blast
  • Energy Drain
  • Geth Shield Boost
  • Incinerate
  • Neural Shock
  • Overload
  • Tactical Cloak
  • Tech Armor
• New combat abilities:
  • Adrenaline Rush
  • Concussive Shot
  • Flashbang Grenade ¹
  • Fortification
  • Inferno Grenade ¹
  • Unity
• Ammo powers, that act as replacements for ammo upgrades.
  • Armor Piercing Ammo
  • Cryo Ammo
  • Disruptor Ammo
  • Incendiary Ammo
  • Shredder Ammo
  • Warp Ammo
• Powers returning from Mass Effect
  • Barrier
  • Singularity
  • Stasis ¹
  • Throw
  • Warp

¹Requires Downloadable Content

There are a number of changes to how powers work.

• Using a power now activates a cooldown on all other powers as well as the cooldown on the one the player used. However, to compensate, the cooldown on powers has been significantly lowered, from between 45-120 seconds to between 3-9 seconds. Shepard's cooldowns on powers are often much shorter than the cooldowns on the same power used by an NPC ally.
• Most Tech and Biotic powers now automatically lock on to targeted enemies and seek them, and many are even capable of arcing around cover, no longer requiring completely clear line of sight. They can, however, still miss if poorly aimed, the target is moving especially fast, or the target takes cover.
• Bonus powers for Shepard return, and as in the original Mass Effect, these are unlocked by earning achievements. However, these achievements require considerably less grind and there are now opportunities to unlock and also change a character's bonus powers even after that character has been created.

Advancement

The new level cap is 30. Advancing from one level to the next requires a total of 1,000 experience points, and this remains constant from levels 1-30. Further advancing powers is no longer a simple point per power advancement system. Powers now cost an increasing number of points to advance and offer a specialization choice when maxed out. Since you can only max out five powers, this greatly affects play style of the characters. As such, it is now possible to reset your advancement and reset your character in-game. However, your main character can gain new powers throughout the game, and unique powers can be unlocked for team mates through game play.

As in Mass Effect, all party members gain experience and level up simultaneously regardless of their participation in missions or if/when they are recruited. Each time the party levels up, Shepard is awarded two additional squad points to spend on skill development, up to a possible maximum of 50 total points at level 30 (51 once a bonus power has been unlocked). Other party members receive two squad points at each new level from levels 1 to 5 and two points every two levels from level 5 to 19. After level 19 party members receive only one squad point every two levels.

Infinite squad points glitch

Note: The Infinite Points Glitch will not work if you have downloaded any Xbox title updates after May 17, 2010. Christina Norman gave the reason for why this glitch was fixed. "The extra skill points glitch could worse[n] the play experience for players. Specifically, we can not guarantee the character import process will work properly for characters with extra skill points. These characters may fail to import, or their skill information may not import correctly."

To use this exploit you require: Mordin Solus and the Research Terminal, 7,500 Element Zero (5000 for Advanced Training, 2500 for Retrain Powers) per point desired, Retrain Powers research, Advanced Combat research, and "Dominate" (Morinth's Loyalty ability) available.

This glitch only works on Shepard; it does not affect squad members. First, you must acquire the tech lab by recruiting Mordin Solus from Omega, then finish the events at Horizon in order to unlock the retrain powers upgrade; you must have "Dominate" unlocked from a previous file or from choosing to save Morrinth on Samara's loyalty mission. Simply choose "Retrain Powers" to reset your squad points then choose "Advanced Combat Research" and select "Dominate." You will now have 1 free point invested in "Dominate." Simply Retrain Powers again, and repeat. This only works (as of 1.01) with "Dominate."

To get the Infinite Squad Points, you will need at least 4 available points and a power ready to be evolved to its 4th level. Go to the Squad Menu and instead of pressing A to evolve a power, press X + A. This evolves the power, while "undoing" points transfer at the same time, leaving you with having both results. Now, repeat. NOTE: to get maximized results, make sure you have 10 available points so you can repeat the whole thing over and over again in one single session without leveling up your character. This allows you to upgrade all skills. Should you make a mistake, first press B to cancel the evolution then press X calmly to remove the points you added and retry. Also it is possible to regain previously spent points with this method. For example, if you have a level 3 ability and 4 unused squad points, you can regain the points spent on the 3rd level skill and get 7 points in total. This happens randomly, or the exact method is yet to be revealed.

Inventory

Changes to the inventory system include:

• Weapons are chosen at the beginning of missions and can be swapped out for newly, or previously, acquired equipment at lockers found throughout the various environments in the game, or aboard the new Normandy.
• Armor is modular and custom N7 armor can be built from parts bought from merchants, or acquired on missions, through the player's armor locker aboard the Normandy SR-2. These parts can have different behaviors and influences on gameplay. At the armor locker players can also customize many aesthetic aspects of their armor, including color and shininess as well as choose between helmets and visors. Shepard can also equip alternatives to helmets including an environmentally sealed N7 helmet or a visor similar to the one worn by Garrus.
• The player can modify aspects of armor and weapons, such as accuracy or ammo mods, by collecting research projects and working on them at research terminals in the science lab aboard the Normandy SR-2, provided Shepard has recruited a scientist to work there.

Dialogue and cinematics

Instead of Intimidate and Charm skills, Shepard's ability to pick persuasive options in dialogue is determined directly by his or her Paragon or Renegade score.

Mass Effect 2 adds a large new feature to the dialogue system: Interrupts. The interrupt system will allow Shepard to take more physical action in a conversation, either through a Renegade hostile interrupt or a Paragon heroic interrupt.

Navigation

In the Galaxy Map, the Normandy is now visible at the cluster and system levels. The player navigates in the cluster and system views by manually flying the Normandy. Moving the Normandy between star systems in the cluster view burns fuel that must be replenished at fuel depots; if the Normandy runs out of fuel it is automatically moved to the nearest system with a depot (with a penalty deducted from the ship's resource stores). Area maps are now only available at hubs; on missions, the area map is replaced by an objective marker pointing to the mission objective. Exploring planets in the Mako is no longer available in Mass Effect 2; the player instead locates minerals and anomalies via the new Planet Scanning mini-game.

Mini-games

Mass Effect 2 replaces Mass Effect's decrypting mini-game with two new mini-games: matching circuit nodes to bypass locks and matching code fragments to hack encrypted files. Mass Effect 2 also introduces a new Planet Scanning mini-game to replace the Mako's planetary exploration.

Demo

On June 14, 2010, BioWare released a free demo version of Mass Effect 2. The demo features the beginning missions of the game. The player can carry over saved progress from the demo into the full game once it is purchased. The demo is available for Xbox 360 and PC.

The demo includes the missions Prologue: Save Joker, Prologue: Awakening, and Dossier: The Convict. After completing the second mission, the player is informed that if progress in the demo has been saved to a storage device, then that save data will be usable in the full game. The third mission will then begin, but no progress from that mission will be saved.

A Mass Effect 2 demo was released for download on PlayStation 3 on December 21, 2010 in North America, and December 22, 2010 in Europe. This demo differs from the original demo in that the missions Freedom's Progress and Dossier: The Professor are included.

Downloadable Content

Main article: Downloadable Content

The development team planned for much more extensive downloadable content than what was available in Mass Effect, and a large portion of the Mass Effect 2 team moved to DLC after the game's release. Episodic combat, weapon and armor packs, characters, worlds, and full campaign expansions are available for download.

At the time of the game's release, those who bought a new copy of the game got a free activation code to the Cerberus Network, while those who rented or bought used copies had to pay a 15-dollar activation fee; presently however the Cerberus Network is a free download. Periodic updates were provided via the in-game 'Cerberus Network' as well as external DLC channels. Mass Effect 2 DLC found outside the Cerberus Network varies in price.

Cerberus Network

• Zaeed - The Price of Revenge: featuring Zaeed Massani, a human bounty hunter and mercenary hired by Cerberus to join Shepard's squad. Also includes an associated set of missions, a new Achievement, and a new heavy weapon.
• Normandy Crash Site: allowing the player to explore the crash site of the SSV Normandy.
• Cerberus Weapon and Armor: which includes the Cerberus Assault Armor, a combat armor which boosts health, shields, and heavy weapon ammo, and the M-22 Eviscerator Shotgun, a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing rounds.
• Arc Projector: a heavy weapon that ionizes targets with a non-visible laser to ready them for a high-voltage electrical attack.
• Firewalker Pack: including 5 new missions for use with the new Hammerhead hover tank.

Paid DLC

Game Packs

• Alternate Appearance Pack 1: a new costume for Garrus, Jack, and Thane.
• Kasumi - Stolen Memory: featuring a new squad member and associated set of missions, as well as a new Achievement and the Locust submachine gun.
• Equalizer Pack: adds the Capacitor Helmet, Archon Visor, and Inferno Armor to Shepard's armor locker.
• Overlord: containing four new missions involving a rogue VI rampaging through a Cerberus facility and two new Achievements.
• Aegis Pack: adds the M-29 Incisor sniper rifle and Kestrel Armor set.
• Firepower Pack: which contains the M-5 Phalanx heavy pistol, the M-96 Mattock assault rifle, and the Geth Plasma Shotgun.
• Lair of the Shadow Broker: containing a new mission in which Commander Shepard and Liara T'Soni team up to confront the Shadow Broker, as well as five new Achievements.
• Alternate Appearance Pack 2: a new costume for Grunt, Miranda, and Tali.
• Arrival: was the final DLC made for Mass Effect 2 linking to Mass Effect 3. The pack contains one assignment and deals with the Reapers' initial arrival in the Milky Way.
• Mass Effect: Genesis: backstory comic for Mass Effect 2 that allows players to make key plot decisions from Mass Effect that affect Mass Effect 2.

Xbox 360 items

• The Squad Picture Pack: containing 5 Gamerpics featuring Commander Shepard, Grunt, Thane, Tali, and Samara. Priced at US $1.00.
• The Squad Picture Pack 2: contains 5 Gamerpics featuring Miranda, Garrus, Jack, Zaeed, and Jacob. Priced at US $1.00.
• The Character Picture Pack: containing 5 Gamerpics featuring a Collector, the Illusive Man, Legion, an Eclipse Mercenary and Renegade Commander Shepard. Priced at US $1.00.
• Omega Premium Theme: available via Xbox Live. Priced at US $2.99.
• Avatar items have been released containing items from Mass Effect 2. Items are available via Xbox Live, priced from US $1.00 to US $3.99.

Patches

The current Mass Effect 2 patch version is 1.02.

Mass Effect 2 action figures

DC Unlimited has produced a set of Mass Effect 2 figures in May 2011. The figures will be sold separately for £14.99/$15.99. Series one consists of four characters: Thane Krios, Commander Shepard, Grunt and Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Each Figure will be 6.8" apart from Commander Shepard who will be 6.75". Each figure will come with its own unique weapon, with Thane coming with the M-4 Shuriken, Grunt coming with the M-300 Claymore, Tali coming with the M-23 Katana, and Commander Shepard coming with the M-8 Avenger, along with a removable helmet. Initially, DC Unlimited announced that the characters Garrus Vakarian, Legion, Miranda Lawson and Mordin Solus action figures would be added for Series 2.

However, it has been reported that the second series may have been cancelled due to poor business performance by DC Direct. Furthermore, listing and pre-orders of Series 2 action figures has been removed from DC Direct's website.

In winter 2011, the figures from Series 1 and Series 2 both reappeared on the Bioware Store site, following the reveal that all previously announced figures would be released by Big Fish Toys . As of January 2014, the figures are no longer present at the BioWare Store.