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Krogan-style hospital

Mordin has learned that Blood Pack mercenaries have captured Maelon, his former protege, and are holding him on Tuchanka. Maelon helped Mordin work on the genophage project, so his capture raises possible security concerns.

Acquisition[]

Prerequisite: Horizon (mission)

Kelly Chambers will tell you that Mordin wants to speak with you in the Tech Lab. You can also access the journal.

Preparation[]

Everything you'll face on this mission has armor and many of them will be krogan who aggressively try to close to point blank range, so anti-armor ammo powers, fire or warp powers to stop regeneration, and disabling abilities with a long duration are key, e.g. high level Pull, Neural Shock, Stasis, Flashbang Grenade, or Singularity. Luckily you should have Mordin's own Cryo Blast available which is excellent at this and on a very fast cooldown compared with most squadmate abilities. In terms of weapons, a well-upgraded pistol is your best friend; generally it is not advisable to engage in shotgun duels with krogan, especially on higher difficulties.

In terms of your second squadmate, Grunt is an excellent choice, especially if he's fresh from earning his Fortification bonus power from his own loyalty mission. He excels at taking point versus enemy krogan and can also provide your team with Incendiary Ammo.

In terms of heavy weapons, the M-622 Avalanche is great at doing what Mordin's Cryo Blast does only on a larger scale and with a longer disable duration, and there's one fight in particular where it can come in very handy. The Arc Projector can also be quite powerful on this mission as its shots are uniquely able to incapacitate krogan; it also causes explosive containers to detonate with additional force which can be useful during at least one encounter.

Walkthrough[]

Tuchanka Clan Urdnot[]

Commander Shepard arrives at Tuchanka

Welcome to the blasted homeworld of the krogan and varren. This planet has seen everything, including nuclear war. When you arrive at Tuchanka, you can see many krogan near the landing pad. When you try to enter the Urdnot base, the squad captain stops you and tells you that for your own safety you must speak to the clan leader, who will be either Wrex or Wreav, depending on your choices on Virmire in Mass Effect or whether you started your campaign in Mass Effect 2. You do not have to speak with the leader immediately. In fact you can bypass him entirely for Mordin's mission by speaking directly to the head scout.

Walking down the hall, you will be treated to some interesting comments by your squadmates. EDI will also tell you of any pending tasks or your progress after the missions on Tuchanka. When you enter the main area, there are a few things to note. To your left is a shop called Ratch's Wares, straight ahead is varren fighting pit, to your northwest is pyjak-killing mini-game and the head scout, to the northeast is the clan leader, up the ramp is the mechanic, and behind the mechanic to the right is Fortack. Choose to speak with the clan leader first or take a look around.

Clan Leader[]

Wrex: When you approach the Urdnot throne, the guards hold you back while the clan leader is speaking with Gatatog Uvenk, an emissary from a rival clan. The clan leader is clearly annoyed and the guards tell you to wait for Wrex to call you. Wrex turns his head at that and welcomes his old friend. You can have a conversation with him about what he is doing on Tuchanka and his progress since two years ago. Ask about Mordin and Grunt’s missions on Tuchanka. You can ask him to join you but he says that his place is here. Wrex will tell you to speak with either the Chief Scout or the Shaman respectively.

Wreav: Wreav is puzzled to see a human, and depending on your decisions in Mass Effect, there are a few interesting conversation lines. You ask the same questions as above, but Wreav is not as friendly. He will direct you to the same people when you are done.

Chief Scout[]

The Urdnot chief scout (the one on the right)

End the conversation and head over to the chief scout. However, before beginning, look around if you didn’t before. Be sure to get the small side assignment from the mechanic and look at the shops. Ratch will give you a discount if you kill some pyjaks with the turrets located by the Chief Scout, assignment: Tuchanka: Killing Pyjaks, Fortack will give you a discount when you complete both missions on the planet, or if you manage to kill the Thresher Maw during Grunt's loyalty mission.

When you speak with the chief scout he is well aware of the situation and where the Weyrloc Clan is hiding, in an old hospital, ask why to get a laugh. He will tell you to also be on the lookout for a scout that he sent to investigate the situation. This triggers the assignment Tuchanka: Old Blood: Missing Scout. You can choose to take the truck now or if you missed the mechanic, go back and get the side assignment, Tuchanka: Combustion Manifold from him otherwise you will not be able to complete it.

Hospital Approach[]

Once you choose to go to the hospital, there will be a short cutscene with a load screen depicting Shepard and the selected squad rolling across the ruins of Tuchanka. Once you arrive there is a Weapons Locker, use it if you wish. Move out through the door next to the weapons locker, then around the U-Turn and be prepared to take cover immediately. The first fight will not be with Blood Pack but with some native wildlife, two klixen. Move around and take them out at your leisure but remember that klixen explode when they die, so keep your distance. When done with the klixen move forward, and go through an opening to your right. One klixen and two varren will show up as you round another U-turn right when entering the opening. Two Blood Pack Boom-Squad await you. After you are done with them move on by turning left up an old broken highway.

Shepard's team travels in a tomkah to the hospital area

General Tactics: Throughout this mission, there are several tactics which will come in handy repeatedly:

  • Burn off armor with Mordin's Incinerate, or with weapons (preferably using Incendiary Ammo)
  • Slow charging klixen, varren, and krogan with Mordin's Cryo Blast. Alternatively use Concussive Shot or biotics.
  • Use flame to halt the regeneration of varren and krogan.
  • Once armor is stripped, Mordin's Incinerate will make Pyros explode violently, damaging other nearby enemies.

The next area is an old highway that has some cover on it. As the Blood Pack really don’t want you getting to that hospital they attack you on the bridge. Use the standard tactics of moving from cover to cover and take out your enemies. Once they are down move up if you haven’t already and before rounding the curve pick up the Medi-gel and the refined iridium (+600 iridium). Then move into cover as more enemies come around the curve. This group will usually contain a Pyro so take him out from a distance. Round the corner and take cover as more enemies will be waiting for you. Tip: On Insanity there will be four Pyros, in two groups of two. Strip their armor and then use Mordin's Incinerate to make them explode prettily. Don't let them get close to you under any circumstances.

This is the last area outside the hospital so after this it turns into an indoor battle. Use the cover to take out the Blood Pack members. There is usually a Boom-Squad and a Pyro in the area. Once the enemies are down move to the ruined tank on the right side, directly across from where you entered, to recover the combustion manifold for the Urdnot Mechanic, then move to the door and save your game before entering.

Hospital Interior[]

Mordin examines a human body

Entering the hospital you only have one way to go down the stairs to your left. At the first landing you find a dead human body. Selecting this starts a conversation with Mordin and you can learn about the experiments being conducted, and how Mordin hates using live subjects because it is barbaric and not his definition of science. Once you feel satisfied that you now have more reasons to take this place out, ending the conversation with the options can earn a few morality points. Move on down the stairs and don’t forget to pick up more refined iridium (+600 iridium) to the right at the bottom of the staircase. Move around to the door and save your game before opening the door.

The next room will contain a Clan Weyrloc Speaker. He just wants you to go away. During his speech there'll be Renegade interrupt. While the clanspeaker is monologuing about the "grand plans" that Clan Weyrloc have with the galaxy after curing the genophage, Shepard can cut it short by shooting at the pipe with the flammable gas below the Clanspeaker. The Clanspeaker first laughs at the human's inability to shoot straight, but Shepard's second shot detonates the leaked gas and incinerates the Clanspeaker. If the interrupt isn't taken, then you can get some information but be prepared for a harder fight. Once the conversation ends take cover and shoot the enemies on the upper level. They will charge down the ramps down to your level, so make sure they don’t survive long enough to do so. When the combat is done, pick up the iridium (+300 iridium) and the medi-gel before moving up the ramps.

Tempted to use the interrupt yet?

Combat Strategy: From Shepard's initial cover position it is quite difficult to successfully target the enemies up on top of the ramp, yet you are very much exposed to their fire. Therefore move to your left and take cover where you can instead get clear shots at them as they emerge from the bottom of the ramp. Strip the armor from each krogan in turn, knock them down with powers, use Incinerate to stop their regeneration, and then take them out.

Tip: On higher difficulties this fight can be hairy due to the amount of enemies, your low ground position, and the fact that several krogan will be closing on you while some vorcha pin you down. A good way to make it easier is to have the M-622 Avalanche as your heavy weapon option. First, have the Avalanche selected before you enter the room and trigger the cutscene. Right at the start of the fight after the cutscene ends, fire a volley of 4-6 shots at the upper level where all of the enemies are grouped up outside a door. This will severely damage all opponents and should freeze the vorcha and knock them out of the fight until you've dealt with the krogan. The arcing shots of the Avalanche plus its large area of effect make it ideal for attacking enemies on higher ground; if you can't hit them directly it's enough that you land shots on the walls near them.

Move across the upper level and through the door that the speaker came out of. Around the corner and through another door are circuit boards that you can salvage (+3,000 credits). This area seems to be some type of laboratory, judging by the equipment and the dead krogan female in the room to the left. The room to the right will contain some more iridium (+500 iridium) and a terminal. Accessing the terminal will help to get Mordin’s tongue a little looser about his role in the genophage update project. Once you have the information you need, end the conversation.

The body of a female krogan volunteer poses a moral dilemma

The krogan body is yet another conversation. Initially Mordin scans the body to determine that it is female and how she died from multiple tumors. Mordin shows some repentance because he says that it’s his fault that she died. The rest of this conversation leads to some very interesting dialogue and what could be a tirade by Mordin about how true science doesn’t require test subjects. Some options cause Mordin to reconsider the ramifications of the genophage and eventually he even goes spiritual. He provides a few interesting opinions about the various religions across the galaxy and humans. End the conversation any way you choose to either agree with or express moral outrage at Mordin. There are some morality points to be gained depending on your choices. Before leaving hack the terminal to get the Krogan Vitality upgrade.

Move down the hall until you reach a door on the right hand side. Open the door to see the scout that the Urdnot Chief Scout asked you to look for along with a hackable datapad (+1,500 credits). He says that he is not locked up and that he is helping the krogan people. You can, through the dialogue, leave him there or convince him to return to his clan as a warrior. Convincing him requires certain dialogue options and telling him that the only reason that Weyrloc is researching the cure is to help them multiply. If you have enough Paragon or Renegade points you can get him to rise to his feet and run back to the clan. Once the deal with the Scout is done then move down the hall to the door on the left and be prepared for the fight. This is a good point to save the game.

Warning: The next door will lock behind you and you will not be able to go back. The door stays red and when used it will say door cannot be opened with enemies around, even if all enemies were killed. Make sure you look for the Scout and gather everything before moving forward.

Research Lab Exterior[]

Opening this door leads into a room with a platform in the middle and it looks, if you look down, like some kind of atrium. Don’t take too much time to admire the sights because the Blood Pack will attack once you go through the door. They like to cross the explosive crate laden bridge, so watch out for explosive crates until the end of the mission. You can also use them against your enemies. Once you have killed all of the hostiles, go to the other side of the platform and salvage a circuit board (+4,500 credits).

Combat Strategy: Try to take out the two vorcha immediately so that you won't have to endure their crossfire as the three krogan come straight at you -- note that once you open the door but before stepping through it the vorcha will not yet be alert to your presence, so take the chance to snipe or otherwise surprise one of them. Then advance to the first turning point if you can, always trying to forestall having the krogan come around the corner and trap you without cover. Stasis will stun even an armored krogan; otherwise you'll need to strip their armor rapidly and then use Concussive Shot, Biotics, or Mordin's Cryo Blast power to slow them down. Take full advantage of the explosive crates when the krogan wander past.

Cross the bridge once you have those credits, and pick up the Medi-gel. As you proceed down the corridor on this side a krogan accompanied by a pack of varren will emerge. Take the varren down quickly before they reach you (the two explosive crates can come in especially handy here) and then the krogan can be dealt with.

You will now find power cells near the top of a staircase. Save your game before going down. Tip: If you aren't desperate for heavy weapon ammo, leave the power cells where they are for now, because if you grab them during the upcoming fight they will also restock the ammo for all of your weapons.

If you haven't the time to admire the sights in-game do so with this picture (and take a gander at the semi-hidden troops)

Once down the stairs get in cover immediately, and take note of any explosive crates you can make use of. First a pair of krogan will emerge from a doorway directly ahead of you - take them down before they get too close, using tactics you are probably getting pretty practiced at by now. Tip: You can retreat back up the stairs if the krogan get too close, gaining more time. They will helpfully follow you up, so just take cover and wait for them.

As soon as the two krogan are down, another group of enemies will emerge from the far diagonal door, including varren, krogan, and Chief Weyrloc Guld. Guld has a barrier as well as armor, carries a nasty shotgun, and throws biotics as well.

Combat Tips:

  • The varren are the most immediate tactical threat here because they can knock you out of cover and expose you to deadly fire. Fortunately they're fairly weak and you should be able to take them out quickly, simplifying the rest of the battle.
  • Next work on the accompanying krogan, retreating if they start to get too close, back up the stairs if necessary.
  • Using Medi-gel to revive your squadmates when they go down will help keep the enemies distracted. If you're especially sneaky you can sometimes wait until the krogan have moved past one of your downed friends and then revive them to create extra confusion.
  • Guld himself tends to lag a bit behind the others, and is best dealt with last when you can safely concentrate all your power on him. Stay well away from his shotgun - keep falling back as necessary.

When all the enemies have fallen look for a door on the right, it has a locked crate (+3,000 credits). Move across the bridge and down the stairs. BEFORE you go into the lab, hack the terminal at the bottom of the stairs for a Heavy Weapon Ammo upgrade. Once you are ready save because of the dialogue options in the next room and enter the room.

Maelon’s Lab[]

Maelon's Laboratory on Tuchanka

Immediately when you enter, you go into a cutscene. Maelon is at the other end of the room scanning a holo screen with an Omni-tool. Mordin confronts him and after a few words he realizes that Maelon is working out of guilt, and is not being coerced. You can offer an opinion on that point. At that point, Mordin confronts him about his research methods and his motives. Apparently Maelon can justify it because his hands are already bloody, and if it takes a little more to undo the genophage, it will be worth it. He sees the galaxy as a more dangerous place without the krogan because of everything that happened in Mass Effect and in the two years since. You can offer Mordin some guidance in dealing with the situation but it is up to him. Mordin eventually charges his former student and pulls a gun. You can use a Paragon interrupt to save Maelon’s life. Once that is done the matter of the data is still up in the air. There are four different dialogue options regarding what to do with Maelon's data. Shepard can convince Mordin to either:

  • Destroy the data (+15 Renegade points)
  • Save the data just in case (+15 Paragon points)
  • Save the data to help the krogan (+15 Paragon points)
  • Tell him the genophage was the right thing to do and to destroy the data (+15 Renegade points)

After the decision is made the option to end the mission comes up, you can choose to stay and hack a terminal (+3,000 credits). Hack it and then end the mission and return to the Urdnot Camp.

Note: A bug will occasionally prevent you from leaving the room if you choose to "stay" in Maelon's Lab.

Urdnot Clan Base Post-Mission[]

When you return EDI gives you an update that clan Urdnot has gained in strength. If Wrex is clan chief, Urdnot adopts the remaining members of clan Weyrloc, mostly women and children. If Wreav is clan chief, then Urdnot gains strength by raiding Weyrloc's stockpiles, which Mordin calls "survival of the fittest". The player can then find the Mechanic and give him the manifold for bonus experience, credits, and dialogue.

Mass Effect 3 Consequences[]

If Maelon's data was saved, Mordin uses the data to stabilize Eve, resulting her survival at Priority: Tuchanka. If it was destroyed, then Eve will die during the mission. If Wrex was sacrificed on Virmire, and the data is not saved (leading to Eve's death), then Mordin can be saved if Shepard's reputation bar is high enough and a persuasion option is chosen. Otherwise, Mordin will sacrifice himself during dispersal of the cure for the genophage, or will be killed by Shepard.

Email[]

After the mission, if you persuaded him to return to base, scout Urdnot Darg sends Shepard this email entitled "Back from female camp.":

From: Urdnot Darg


Dear Human,

The clan leader told me how to get in touch with you. I don't remember much of what happened, but the chief scout said you pulled my quad out of the fire when I got caught and poisoned over at the Weyrloc camp. Thanks. Next time I have a chance to kill a human, I won't. Unless I go into blood rage or something.

I got to go to the female camp after I recovered, and it was pretty good. I was actually thinking of joining the Blood Pack before this happened. I think I'm going to stay here instead.

-- Urdnot Darg, Scout -Second Class

Enemies[]

Mission Summary[]

Data Saved: Troubled by Clan Weyrloc's progress toward genophage cure without Cerberus knowledge. Cure data may prove useful. Krogan dangerous, but if recruited as shock troops against Reapers, extremely valuable.

Mordin's assistant is no longer a problem. Mordin will have no trouble focusing on the mission.

Data Destroyed: Troubled by Clan Weyrloc's progress toward genophage cure without Cerberus knowledge. Eradication of cure data removes problem, but must recruit vorcha, krogan informants to cover information gaps.

Bugs[]

  • A bug will occasionally prevent you from leaving the room if you choose to "stay" in Maelon's Lab. A precursor to this is if you find yourself unable to save after defeating Guld; fortunately the game autosaves just before entering Maelon's Lab if you successfully hack the console that provides the Heavy Weapon Ammo upgrade, and if you have autosave enabled. Sometimes when this save is reloaded the inability to manually save is fixed. If you have previously disabled autosave in the options menu, be sure to re-enable before entering. Looking at the monitor at the lower right side behind you (if facing the wall at the end of the room) triggers this again, so you can save properly if you just hack the wall computer and do not turn towards your right at least not enough to activate the monitor.
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