****************************************************************************** Mass Effect Walkthrough - Version 0.1 ****************************************************************************** by ____ ___ \ \/ /_____ ____ _______ ____ \ / \__ \ _/ __ \\_ __ \ / _ \ / \ / /\ \_\ ___/ | | \/( /_/ ) /___/\ \(____ / \___ \ |__| \____/ \_/ \/ \/ Andy "Xaero" Cormack Email: incurse@gmail.com ****************************************************************************** [0.1] Intro and Legal ****************************************************************************** Hey all, this is my first proper guide for the community, planning to have everything included that I possibly can, anything you guys find that I've mis-typed or said wrongly or unclearly please email me about it, email address is above. Also gimme an email if you think there's any info you can contribute to the guide, locations of some of the "achievement whore" mission items like the minerals and gasses and keepers and things like that will all be helpful and be sure to leave a name or tag so that I can credit you properly =) This guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. ============================= [0.2] How To Use This Guide ============================= As far as using the guide goes, I've set out each section of the game in numbered order eg. [2.6] The left hand number before the dot, in this case 2, indicates the "chapter" section, this number is based off of the significant plot developing parts to the game, although these don't have to be played out quite in the order I've numbered them, you can still pick and choose and I'll make you aware of the choices as we go along. Each "chapter" is marked by * borders, each section within these chapters is marked by = borders. You've got a "chapter" guide just below that links to all the sections, so to pick up where you left off or just find a bit that you're stuck on just find or remember the section number. Also this guide WILL have spoilers in it, I'll try and avoid anything I can but there will be times when it is necessary so that I can continue with the guide without you getting confused. ===================== [0.5] Abbreviations ===================== I will attempt to add any and all abbreviations I use here in case you don't know what the hell I'm talking about. * Paragon and Renegade points - [P] and [R] or [P/R] if I'm talking about possible maximum points you can earn for either in a conversation. ======================= [0.4] Version History ======================= v0.1 - 28th November 2007 The very start of this guide, created on my SECOND run through as I wanted to fully enjoy it the first time around and complete the story without getting bogged down in reloading specific areas over and over to see the different effects. * Character creation guide done * Speed walkthrough created ================== [0.5] To Do List ================== * Expand on the core walkthrough to give all options and outcomes * Write side-quests and Paragon/Renegade section * Write "Love Interest" section for both male and female characters ======================== [0.6] Contents / Index ======================== Foreword [0.1] Intro [0.2] How To Use This Guide [0.3] Abbreviations [0.4] Version History [0.5] To Do List [0.6] Contents / Index [1.0] New Game [1.1] Profile Reconstruction [1.2] Military Specialization Game Start [2.0] Chapter One [2.1] The Normandy [2.2] Eden Prime [3.0] Chapter Two [3.1] Back on the Normandy [3.2] The Citadel [4.0] Chapter Three [4.1] Liara [5.0] Chapter Four [5.1] Feros [6.0] Chapter Five [6.1] Noveria [6.2] Peak 15 [6.3] Research Facility [7.0] Chapter Six [7.1] Virmire [8.0] Chapter Seven [8.1] The Citadel [8.2] Ilos [8.3] Back at the Citadel End Game ****************************************************************************** [1.0] New Game ****************************************************************************** Ok first up is character creation, this actually carries quite alot of weight as far as the actual story goes, your actions while playing of course make more of an impact, but these choices still make a fundemental difference, especially in combat. First up is choosing your name, get this out the way and lets move on ;) ============================== [1.1] Profile Reconstruction ============================== This section is basically just a background story for your character, where you grew up and how your early life was, this barely affects the story at all and so you're quite free to choose which ever takes your fancy. The choices are: * Spacer - born and raised in space, followed your parents into the military * Colonist - slavers killed your family in the colony you gew up on * Earthborn - orphaned and raised on the streets on Earth Next up is your psych profile, this basically determines what you did in your past to be so recognised and to have got where you are today, again nothing critical to the story, just something that determines what characters say about how they know of you etc. The choices here are: * Sole Survivor - extreme survival, you were the only one to come back alive from a mission * War Hero - faced insane odds vs. a huge enemy force and won, saving your comrades in the process and earning you a medal * Ruthless - "get the job done" just about sums this one up =============================== [1.2] Military Specialization =============================== Ok here comes the first big choice you're going to make, this totally affects your style of play (along with the difficulty setting of course) and so should be understood properly. *** Tip *** I recommend for a first play through you should go for Soldier, purely because you can get used to how the game works alot easier that way, the rest of the crew you gather in the game have biotic and engineering skills so it won't hinder your enjoyment or limit your options, it just means point and shoot and enjoy the story. *********** The basics here are: Soldier - All guns nothing else. Max armour: Heavy, Weapons: All Engineer - Access any containers / computers, repair or mod equipment, disrupt enemies. Max armour: Light, Weapons: Pistol Adept - All Biotics nothing else. Max armour: Light, Weapons: Pistol Those are the 3 "base" classes, the other 3 choices are just hybrids of these. Infiltrator - Soldier / Engineer, Max armour: Medium, Weapons: Pistol / Sniper Sentinel - Adept / Engineer, Max armour: Light, Weapons: No advanced training Vanguard - Solder / Adept, Max armour: Medium, Weapons: Pistol / Shotgun Although these choices have a significant effect on gameplay, they rarely if at all affect story / plot choices, so feel free to choose which ever seems to suit your play style. Last up is the appearance options and then gameplay settings, I'm sure you all can handle this yourselves and it will depend on your preference as to the difficulty so I won't go into this ;) ****************************************************************************** [2.0] Game Start - Chapter One ****************************************************************************** Here begins the epic story of Mass Effect, be sure to take it all in on that intro cutscene =) =================================== [2.1] The Normandy =================================== There are a few conversations to be had between Joker and the Captain, the conversation with Joker nets you some small xp and some [P/R] depending on your answers. Going straight ahead from there you can optionally talk to Navigator Pressly and Doctor Chakwas for some more [P/R], once you're done head on into the door behind Doctor Chakwas to start a conversation with Nihlus, a Turian Spectre. You can pretty much say as little or as much as you want here and it won't make any difference. Now it's time to head on down to Eden Prime. =================================== [2.2] Eden Prime =================================== You get set down overlooking the colony, turn around and head around the corner on your left, you'll come to a short cutscene and have a few enemies to fight off, then carry on up, don't miss the upgrade kit lying on the floor to your left as you go. Then you get yet another mini cutscene followed by saving Williams' ass from a few Geth, this area has an upgrade kit and a crate in it just in front of you, talk to Williams in order to proceed with her joining your team. Heading on forwards some more and you get to the dig site where the beacon is supposed to be, take down the few Geth guarding the area and go over to investigate, another little conversation cutscene will start, after this the area also has another crate for you to pinch so don't be shy. Follow the slope up behind the crate for, you guessed it, another cutscene. Take down the enemies in the area and head on over to the little huts, the left of the two contains a couple of crates, the right one has two survivors in it, override the door lock manually or with omni-gel and you'll get a conversation with them. Once you're done with all that, head on out of the huts and down to your right, yet another cutscene will appear (yea this level is full of them...) keep on heading along that path and take out the enemies around this area, take the most right direction you can along the path you took and you'll come to another locked hut, there's a crate outside so more goodies to loot. Inside the hut are some more survivors, after you say goodbye to them one of them chimes in about some goodies they're hiding, if you have enough points in charm or intimidate you can get them to give you all of it, otherwise you just get the pistol. You can also force the situation to find out who smuggled the equipment which will be useful for some more goodies in a minute. In the hut there's also a storage locker for your looting pleasure. Move on down the slope and up the stairs, you'll come to where poor Nihlus lays, on the right there's a med kit, take that and then investigate Nihlus, a guy will appear that was hiding behind some crates, if you found out about him just now from the other survivors you have the conversation option to get some things from him too, you'll get your grenades refilled and if you push the matter with charm or intimidate he will give you a grenade upgrade too, how "generous" of him ;) After that's all out of the way head on over to the train to your left, there's some Geth guarding it so take them down and make your way all the way down the train until you can reach the controls to start that baby rolling. There's also a med-kit half way down the train that you might want to take. When you reach your destination after another cutscene you'll need to disarm all the demolition charges within the time limit, they're all in the same area as the first one and the only thing that makes this hard is if you're playing with a new character on higher difficulties due to the Geth slowing you down, so be warned. After you've made your way over to the other side where the last demo charge is, make your way through and down the stairs, there's a crate at the top near the stairs. There's a crate, 2 storage lockers and a technician kit in this area so make sure you loot them all before you investigate the Beacon, as that will end the level. Enjoy some more cutscene goodness =) ****************************************************************************** [3.0] Chapter Two ****************************************************************************** ============================ [3.1] Back on the Normandy ============================ You wake up in the medical bay after your encounter with the beacon, little conversation with the doctor, one of the love interests and then Captain Anderson. Step outside and you'll have your love interest standing there for a few extra [P/R] to grab. Don't forget to pick up some new items from your locker as well, it's just behind you to your right as you exit the medical bay. Head on upstairs and go talk to Joker to Enter the Citadel. =================== [3.2] The Citadel =================== Conversation with Udina and Anderson and then some free roaming time, this is where the side quests really start to kick in, there are quite a lot for the Citadel so be sure to take a look around, examine everything and talk to anyone you can. *** Note *** I'm working on a side mission guide right now to add to this walkthrough, so in the mean time you can explore for yourself or just stick to the story walkthrough. ************ After exiting your room, take a left down the stairs, left again through another door and down some more stairs, head straight across the waiting area and press the rapid transit console, marked on the map as a transition labelled "To C-Sec Academy", I'm not sure if this labelling was an overlooked mistake or if it was originally intended that you go to C-Sec first rather than straight up to the Citadel Tower. Anyway, head on up the stairs when you've fast travelled to the tower and you'll run into some Turians talking, one of which is the investigator in charge of uncovering Saren, this is a tiny conversation so you can just zoom through it and then carry on straight up to the Council and a conversation cutscene. After the conversation head on down the stairs again and hit that rapid transit console, you're now heading over to Chora's Den in the Wards section. Once there head on through the entrance in front of you and make your way into the club, once inside take a left round until you come to a cutscene with Wrex the Krogan, after this ends talk to Harkin just in front of you at the table. Once that's over with it's time to head over to the Med Clinic in the upper wards, if you haven't been exploring you won't have got the fast transit next to this place yet, so head out of Chora's Den, left when you get to the exit where the fast transit station is, up the stairs and then you can see the med clinic on the map at the far end of the area. Once you enter there will be a short cutscene and Garrus playing the hero, after which you'll have to head back to Chora's Den, BUT this is a good time to go pick up Wrex to add to your party, you bumped into him earlier on your first trip into Chora's Den, to get to him just head on over to the C-Sec Academy just outside the Med Clinic, clearly visible on the map just to the left. After heading down there and getting into the elevator you'll end up in C-Sec Academy, Wrex is getting a talking to just up the stairs on the left, get him to join you and be on your way. After that conversation take the easy way back to Chora's Den via the fast transit console just behind / right of you, you'll have a bar fight ahead of you as Fist has gone a bit paranoid nuts on security. Once you've cleared the room head on over to near where you met Wrex in here and go through the guarded door to the back of the place, take out or intimidate the workers in here and head on through to Fist, don't miss the locked container on the wall to your left just before the door for some more goodies. Fist is an easy enough fight to deal with, just take down the 2 turrets first that pop up at the back left and right of the room and then he's easy. If you have Wrex in your squad the conversation takes a quite funny turn as he shoots Fist half way through your conversation. In the room after the conversation make sure you get your hands into that wall safe at the back right, and there is also a data disc lying on the floor that you can give to a reporter for a side mission (more about that is explained in the side missions section). Ok so now you're on a timer to get to the Quarian before she gets deep fried by some goons, head back out of Chora's Den and take that same left as we did before up the stairs and there you have the little meeting in the alleyway. Take out those assassins and you just saved your next squad member =) Now it's back to Udina's room to get the quarian to spill the beans on her info on Saren, after the conversation it's back to the Citadel Tower to talk to the council, take the quickest fast travel console you can find, the one just down the stairs and across the embassy reception area, head on up the Citadel Tower stairs to get to another cutscene, you get your Spectre status finally in this scene and also manage to get Saren's revoked, yay... Fast transit back down to C-Sec and then take the elevator right in front of you when you get there to get to the docking bay of the Normandy. Another talk cutscene where you get given the Normandy, at this point you get 3 locations that are basically the "chapters" of the story, they each play their part in advancing the story, it doesn't matter what you choose in the conversation but it nicely lays out your options for plot development from here on, so we basically have: * Artemis Tau Cluster (Liara is here) * Feros * Noveria I decided to go with saving Liara first as my first play through I chose Williams in the love subplot and also because you can bring her along when you confront her mother. Which ever one you choose I've set them all out in the chapters below, you might want to check the Contents [0.6] at this point so you don't have to go hunting for which ever place you decided to go. Head on to the Normandy and get that Galaxy Map out ;) ****************************************************************************** [4.0] Chapter Three ****************************************************************************** ============= [4.1] Liara ============= Head over to the Artemis Tau cluster > Knossos Sector > Therum and land there. When you land just follow the map and fairly obvious path around the lava and you'll come to a well guarded camp after a small Geth attack on your way there. Take the advice of those that are with you and find another way around, there's a path to your right as you get there, take that and you only have 1 turret to deal with and you're inside the camp, leave the gates up and you won't have to deal with the other turrets at all. Go to your right from this entrance and you'll come to a gate you need to open, head on inside the door on the left side of the gate and there's a Geth inside guarding the gate control, take him down and head on through. There are some crates / lootables in this area but the only one of note that you pass by is a locked crate just to the right of the gate you just opened. At the end of this long winding road you'll come to a section where there's loads of rocks piled up and you can only get through on foot, so ditch your Mako and head on up the slope. You'll get a mini boss fight when you reach the top of the slopes at the dig site, nothing really to worry about again though just remember to focus on the little guys first, they pack quite a punch and end up distracting you from your main focus if you don't end them first, plus it's damn hard on higher difficulties. After taking that mini boss down, head right and up the steps / slope into the dig site itself. Head on down, down, down, until you come to an elevator, ride that down, move along and ride another one down to where Liara is, a conversation will happen with you and Liara about her being trapped, after that we move on to figuring out a way to free her. The easiest way is to just head on down the stairs behind you, take out the few Geth guarding the mining laser just in front of the stairs and then guess your way through the code, it beeps green each time you get one right and won't take you long at all to crack, this blows a hole in the floor below Liara and enables you to get through and take an elevator up to her. Another short converation ensues regarding your escape, you wind up getting caught by the Krogan and Geth on the way out at the top of the elevator that Liara uses, simple little fight, just dive for the nearest cover and blast em all one at a time, your squad proves very little use here and anything but the lower difficulties sees them dead within seconds. Another cutscene after that and you're home free with the blue skinned Asari wonder in tow. Long conversation cutscene time back when you're safe and sound on the Normandy, after that talk and then talking to the council on the mission report it's back to saving the galaxy one chapter at a time. ****************************************************************************** [5.0] Chapter Four ****************************************************************************** ============= [5.1] Feros ============= To get to this section you need to go to Attican Beta > Theseus > Feros. Upon landing you won't receive the most hospitable of welcomes, but then you more or less come to expect that in this game =) head on out the door next to Joker at the front of the ship, select your squad and head on round to a chump called David al Talaqani, he says Fai Dan wants to talk to you, no matter what your response he ends up getting shot by some Geth, take all those guys down and head on up the stairs at the end. Head around into where the survivors of the Geth attacks are holding out, head straight through the door in front of you as you pass by the survivors, go all the way through and out the other side of that and turn right and talk to Fai Dan. Geth start pouring into the area again, take them all out and return to your chat with Fai Dan, he won't talk to you until you clear the whole area, you'll know once you've done this because the Geth ship will fly off in a mini cutscene. After going back and talking to Fai Dan you discover you need to go to the ExoGeni building where all the Geth seem to be flocking to. Go the same way as you went last time when the Geth just attacked except take a right and head to the transition marked "Stairs down to Tunnels" on the map. Heading down all the stairs leads you to what sort of looks like a sewer tunnel of some sort, head right and clear out some geth, then head right again and over a short bridge, through a door leading to point of interest "Geth Transmitter". This is quite heavily guarded so be careful and don't forget to save, clear out all the Geth and Krogans until you reach the transmitter and then blow up the transmitter at the end. There are a couple of containers in here as well, one next to the transmitter and one just in front of you after you turn around on your way back out. Next up head over to the skyway elevator, right on your route back to where Zhu's Hope is. There's a couple of guards pinned down by some Geth drones, shoot them all down and head into your beloved killing machine, Mako. Make your way along the skyway until you get to the ExoGeni headquarters, the route is fairly linear and you got the map to help you of course. You'll get to another obvious "choke point" where your Mako can't get through so hop out and head on inside on foot. Go over to where it's marked with the "Drop Down" transition and go down, you'll come to a cutscene where you meet Lizbeth, after talking to her you get an idea of how to take down that blue energy field just behind where you dropped down, you have to take out the Geth ship some how so it loses power, you also get Lizbeth's key card so you can get around the ExoGeni area. Get on over to the transition marked "Main Level" on your map and head on up the stairs, you'll get a cutscene of a Krogan trying to get info from an ExoGeni VI, take him down and then speak to the VI to find out about the Thorian. After finishing the conversation, head left around the side and up the stairs. There are two Geth sat here, kill them and you get a cutscene of how you are meant to get rid of the ship. Head on through the section following the one route round, turn left once you come to the room with the blue energy field and then head up the stairs in there, follow the route round until you get to the "Shuttle Bay Door Controls" marked on the map. After you clear out the Geth there and touch the controls you get a set of pressure valves light up to your left, all you got to do is get the pressure bar into the marked zone, just use the following: 2 4 5 [] [] [] [] [] 1 2 3 4 5 And you're all set, press the door controls again and the door snaps shut, leaving the Geth ship flying down to hit the ground! Mwhahaha =) Also at this point if you go right as you look at those controls you have yet another locked container in there with some goodies. Now that you've cut the power to the energy field it's time to head back to it and go through, Lizbeth is waiting on the other side. She'll join you temporarily, not as a squad member but just tagging along, on the way back you pass a bit where there's radio chatter and Lizbeth realises it's her mother. She dives out of the vehicle, go follow her, a cutscene/conversation starts up and you'll either have to talk Jeong out of what he's doing or end up killing him. Once that's all done you can be nice and get a special grenade upgrade from Lizbeth's mother that you can use on the colonists at Zhu's Hope without killing them for [P] or you can just kill them for [R] instead. Carry on back to your Mako and head back to Zhu's Hope, once inside check your fire on every red target in there because some are the civilians shooting at you. Use your gas grenades to keep them all alive or plow through them like cannon fodder it's up to you, when you get back to where you met Fai Dan first there will be an upgrade kit on the floor with 5 more grenades for if you run out. Head over to where the Crane is marked on the map and use it, it will pull open an entrance down to the Thorian. A mind controlled Fai Dan appears and tries to stop himself, ending up shooting himself to stop, time to head on down to take out the beast. Follow the one route around and you'll come to the Thorian with a little intro cutscene. After the cutscene the cloned Asari will attack you, this whole boss is again fairly simple to do, all you have to concentrate on is following the path up and round blasting all the Thorian Neural Nodes (they look like tentacles stuck in the wall) as you go. Once you take down the final one right at the top of the area you'll see the Throian spiraling to its doom and then you get a conversation with Shiala, the one the Thorian was using to make clones of. After all the talking and getting the cipher from Shiala you can head on back to the Normandy, tie up any side missions you may want to complete and get on board. Another end of chapter talking session with all your squad and Liara helping you understand a bit better. When you go to the galaxy map after reporting to the Council you'll get another communication from them regarding another story critical area to visit. Time to visit our next stop, Noveria. ****************************************************************************** [6.0] Chapter Five ****************************************************************************** =============== [6.1] Noveria =============== Ok, to get to this place head to Horse Head Nebula > Pax > Noveria. Once you land you'll have a nice welcoming party, I've only ever said I'll be keeping my weapons on this conversation but I'm pretty sure if u surrender them you still get to keep them once they say you're a Spectre. Head on inside the door after the conversation and up the stairs, talking to Gianna Parasini gets you access to the elevator into the area. Head in and talk to Opold to your right inside the glass area, he will ask you to get a package for him, the quickest way to get access to your Mako and drive off to Peak 15 after Benezia is to get the package and give it to Anoleis instead of Opold, your reward will be 200 credits and a pass to leave. The package itself is over next to the Normandy, so head on back and pick it up, once you have it, head back up the elevator and go speak to Anoleis, he is located in the Administration Office, marked clearly on your map, when you mention it to him, hand him the package and then ask about a reward, you now have a garage pass =) Next up head across to the garage, again easily locatable on the map, when you enter the garage after showing the guard your pass there will be some Geth to deal with, afterwards guards will head in and you explain the situation. Head on out on your Mako that's parked up near the exit to the garage, follow the route round, take out some Geth on the way and you'll end up at Peak 15. =============== [6.2] Peak 15 =============== After heading through the big doors near the entrance you'll get some of Saren's minions after you, both Geth and a few Krogan, take them out and head up the stairs at the far end to your left, doubling back on yourself but on the upper level. Go through the door on your right as you reach the end of the walk way, don't worry about the turrets in here, they're not going to shoot =) Go into the security office on your right and you've got a locked container and an upgrade kit in there, then head back and take the left rather than the right side to go into an elevator. At the top head through the door and some Geth are waiting for you, once those are all down you get a cutscene of some Rachni and then you get attacked by some little "workers". Head up the stairs to your right as you entered that room, two Rachni are waiting for you up there, then head into the second door on your right for a medkit on the table, a Rachni will also jump you in here so be careful. Head back out of that room and take a right, through a couple of doors and into another elevator. There's a technician kit on the floor at the far end of the room you enter, you can't open either of the doors to the sides of this room at the moment so carry on through to the next part where there's a large round structure in the centre, round the back of this is a sort of entrance with a button to "Enter Core", push it and it takes you down to the memory core. At this point you can either manually reactivate the VI Core with a tower mini-game or just buy the repair out with 100 omni-gel if you have it to spare. The mini-game is simple and easy enough: X Y B 1 [] [] [] 2 [__] [__] [__] 3 [____] [____] [____] 4 [______] [______] [______] You basically need to move all of the 4 blue lit boxes in X to either Y or B. The documentation for the fastest way to do this is basically laid out like the grid above, for instance the first block in the top left will be X1, going down from that is X2, X3 and X4, going across you'd have Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 and B1, B2, B3, and finally B4. Movement is denoted in a similar way to chess eg. X1 > B1 is just move X1 to B1. ================== Fastest solution: ================== X1 > B1 X2 > Y2 B1 > Y1 X3 > B3 Y1 > X1 Y2 > B2 X1 > B1 X4 > Y4 B1 > Y1 B2 > X2 Y1 > X1 B3 > Y3 X1 > B1 X2 > Y2 B1 > Y1 There may actually be an even faster method that I haven't come across yet, if you know a faster way feel free to email me and I'll update the guide and credit you. After reactivating the VI you will come back up the elevator and begin talking to "Mira" the VI for Peak 15. End the conversation after you're satisfied with any info you wanted to know, then head back into the previous room and take the door on your left to enter the reactor controls, after taking the elevator down to the reactor controls, enter the small room and there is a technician kit and a disposable canister with medi-gel in it. You will notice that your radar is jammed now too, more enemies around, hint hint. Take the door to your left, both doors lead to the same area but taking the left one is closer to the stairs up to more goodies, Geth are all over this place, take them down and head up the stairs on your left, at the top of the stairs head around until you enter a small room, you'll find a storage locker to open in here. Anyway, after you've collected that stuff, head back down those stairs, take a left and head to the fuel lines, interact with them and you'll have restored the main reactor. Head back on up the elevator, you'll notice that the tram is still inaccessible though, so head to where the VI Core was and then take the door behind it up to the elevator and up to the roof. Up on the roof are quite alot of Rachni, take them out and just head straight forwards to activate the landlines for the tram. There's also a locked crate just behind the tram console, some more items for the taking =) Time to head on over to where Benezia is, the door to the Trams should be open now so go back past the VI Core and take the door on your right. Take yet another elevator to this area. In here we now have a rather unique problem, trapped Rachni stand in the way of getting on the tram line, you have a couple of choices open to you, talk to Mira to explain them to you. If you have high enough electronics skill on one of your squad members or yourself you can activate the plasma jets and just deep fry them, or you can get Mira to just open the doors and you can shoot them, either way it's a quick and easy solution. Follow the route on through from there and enter the tram, you'll end up at the research facility where Benezia is. ========================= [6.3] Research Facility ========================= Take the left door instead of the one straight ahead after you've exited the tram, then take the open door in that room to the science station elevator. Talk to the Captain here and say you're after Benezia, he will end the conversation by giving you access to the hot labs, a couple of Rachni attack at the end of the conversation, take them out and then head back up the elevator, take a right and head down the elevator right next to the one you just used, this takes you to the now accessible hot labs. In this area, talk to Yaroslev, you will discover that Benezia is not in the hot labs after all and he will also explain that you can't now leave the area without activating a purge of all the Rachni, talk to Mira in the next room and she explains that you need an authorisation code to activate the purge, go back to Yarsolev and he will begin saying what you need to do and then before finishing will get killed by a Rachni, loot Yarsolev's corpse to obtain the code needed for the purge and then talk to Mira again and input the code. The Rachni will now be pretty annoyed and there will be loads of them waiting back in the previous room for you, you've got 2 minutes to kill them all and make a run for the elevator before the whole area is purged. Head back into the other elevator again, head through to the large room and the Captain would appear to be the one that tried to trap you in the hot labs, he ambushes you with all his men, take them out and then head to the opposite side of the room and through security to the secure labs. When you step out of the elevator there's a technician kit and upgrade kit on the floor to take, then head on through the door, take the door on your left and you will come out to a cutscene with Benezia. She will send her minions of Asari and Geth to attack you, fight off 3 waves and head up to her for another cutscene, she will explain that she can't fight Saren's will and gives you the details for the Mu Relay, after the cutscene she will have lost control again, take her out and then another cutscene will follow, you can decide to destroy the Rachni, keep it imprisoned down here or set it free. Before you leave the area, near Benezia is another container for you to open, there are also 2 more crates if you head left from that raised platform, then left 2 more times down some steps. Head back to the Normandy along the tram way for the usual end of chapter chat in the comms room. Time to head on to Virmire. ****************************************************************************** [7.0] Chapter Six ****************************************************************************** =============== [7.1] Virmire =============== To get to our next destination, head to Sentry Omega > Hoc > Virmire. Follow the route around in the Mako until you get to closed gates at the point on the map labelled with a gatehouse and a plot point "AA Tower" jump out of the Mako, up the stairs to your right, there's a crate directly across from you when you reach the top of the stairs, head through from there to the far side, through a short tunnel, turn off the AA Turret and then activate the gatehouse doors. From there head back down to the Mako and carry on round. The next gatehouse is also closed so again head outside your Mako, up the stairs and activate the gates the crate in this area is near the tunnel through to the gate controls, time to zoom up to the base for a cutscene. You have a couple of choices at this point, you can either kill Wrex, Charm him or Intimidate him, charm or intimidate skills need to be pretty high for this option, although you will get an achievement if you can talk him out of it. Next up is deciding which of either Williams or Alenko goes with the Captain and which stays to help arm the nuke. You'll get a short cutscene of the captain giving a speech and then it's off to take down the base. Following the map is the best course of action for this section, it's pretty straight forward, and helping the ground teams in any way you can generally ends up with a better outcome for you, just head to all the labelled places on the map before going to the base entry transition. You can choose a couple of ways into the base aswell, they both lead to the same place and link up about half way round so it's just down to preference. Head around the area until you get to the security office, this will have an elevator in it linking to the labs, you can have a look around in the detention centres first or just head straight on down. After stepping out the lift, to your left is a table with some containers on it, take those and then investigate the husk just to the right side, it will get off the device and start attacking you, as will the rest of the area. Then head out the door to your left about half way down the room, then head left out the door through security, an Asari will be inside begging for their life after hiding under a table, you can choose to let her go or shoot her if you want some more [R] instead of [P], there's also a weapons locker in here too for you to take. Time to carry on out the door on to the Communications Tower. Take the elevator down and head through the door and down the stairs, examine the beacon and, unlike the last one, this is more complete and doesn't blow up! After another cutscene head back up the elevator and carry on straight through the security centre and straight past the door up to the breeding facility, Krogan and Geth are both guarding this area. Making your way round you'll come to a part right before an elevator with AA Turret Controls, disable them so you can get the Normandy in with the nuke, head down in the elevator, cross the courtyard and open the big doors, out the other side wait around a bit for the Normandy to land. Next you need to carry on through the other big doors leading to the AA Tower via the other Breeding Trench, take the elevator up to the AA Tower, there's a crate just in this area, loot that and then head up the ramp and you'll get a conversation cutscene where you ultimately have to decide whether Williams or Alenko dies, saving one gets the other killed so make up your mind. At this point you have to go different ways depending on who you saved and where they are, saving the one at the nuke means you have to now go back on yourself and head down to the place where the Normandy landed, otherwise you head on up to the AA Tower, either way you get a cutscene conversation with Saren, after which you have to fight him, then once his health is down another cutscene triggers where the Normandy comes in to collect you all, all except for one anyway... ****************************************************************************** [8.0] Chapter Seven ****************************************************************************** =================== [8.1] The Citadel =================== You come on back to the Citadel, thinking that everything is getting sorted out and you're going to be on your way with a fleet to stop Saren, instead Udina betrays you and locks your ship in the dock, now you gotta find a way to get back out again. You get a couple of cutscenes, one for Udina's betrayal and another with the love interest you flirted with the most, then you get a message from Joker saying Captain Anderson wants to meet you in Flux, better go talk to the man. Exit the Normandy, head down the elevator into C-Sec and then take the fast transit over to Flux, head on in and talk to the Captain at the table near the bar. He's basically going to get the Normandy out of lock down so you can go save the galaxy, you get to choose how he gets you out of dock, the guarded way gets him shot, Udina's office doesn't, either way though he still gets you out, time to head for Ilos. ============ [8.2] Ilos ============ To get there head to Pangaea Expanse > Refuge > Ilos. This is the point where your love interest ends up coming for some alone time with you ;) Anyway... after that "scene" we're coming up for Ilos, once you're down on the planet you watch as Saren locks the door right behind him, now you need a way to get it open again so let's go find it. Make your way down past the Plaza and the Courtyard, laying waste to the onslaught of Geth the game is now throwing at you, head to the elevator marked on the map below the courtyard, take that down and head inside, lots of Geth guarding this place too, head to the tunnel at the opposite side of the room but then go around the side of it instead of into it, there is a ramp up at either side to get to the security room, from there you can touch the control panel to re-open the door Saren locked you out of. Head back down the ramp and into the tunnel we skipped by just now, head on down that and take the elevator back up to reach the Plaza again, head back on into the Mako and lets go for a drive. About half way round an energy field will trap you, get out of the Mako and head into the elevator just beside you, it will lead down to a conversation with a Prothean VI, it will let you know all you need to in order to stop the Reapers from coming back, as long as you get there in time to stop Saren of course. Head back out to the Mako and the energy field will be gone, follow the roads around until you get a cutscene of the conduit and the battle starting at the citadel. Once that's over you have to do a runner for the conduit before it closes, easy enough to do, 40 seconds to get there, just ignore the 4 Geth Colussus avoiding their large and slow attacks. =========================== [8.3] Back at the Citadel =========================== Ok, we're winding up to the big bad fight with Saren, head on over to the plot point on the map to continue past this first small section, once you enter the elevator you get another cutscene. After the cutscene Saren has stopped the elevator so you end up having to walk the rest on an epic space walk full of shooting Geth =) This whole section is pretty straight forward, just follow the map route round the area until you get back inside the Citadel, then you come up face to face with Saren again. You can do this a couple of ways, either talk him down with charm or intimidate or you can just shoot his ass, talking him down is kinda easier though because even on casual difficulty he uses so many shield boosts to keep himself alive that it's insane. Anyway, after disposing of him head up to the control panel and a conversation cutscene will begin, you can choose at this point whether you want to let the council live or die, your reinforcements are ready for either. Back on the Citadel you go to check on Saren to find out that Saren isn't all as dead as he seemed due to the Reaper "upgrades" he's had. Time to take him down a second time eh? This time he transforms a bit and ends up looking and acting more like Geth than Turian, just take him down while he jumps about like a grass hopper and then yet another cutscene ensues, congrats on completing the game! =)