____________________________________________________________________________ |\__________________________________________________________________________/| || ------> Mass Effect 2: Insanity Mode <------ || || v 1.1 Tirdun's Walkthrough and Guide v 1.1 || ||__________________________________________________________________________|| |/__________________________________________________________________________\| []===========================================================================[] | 1.0 INTRODUCTION | []===========================================================================[] This is Tirdun's guide to completing Mass Effect 2 on Insanity Mode. It also covers getting a perfect ending on the suicide mission. I hope it's useful in keeping you from smashing any controllers or giving up. v1.1: Added a few minor updates to missions and redid the entire final mission with advice on specific sections & the end boss. []==========================================================================[] | <[[ = SPOILER WARNING = ]]> | []==========================================================================[] | If you're reading this you're going to get spoilers. | | This is the only warning you're going to get. | []==========================================================================[] []====================================[] | 1.1 Contact Info | []==========================================================================[] You can email me at tirdun at yahoo dot com. I may or may not respond. []====================================[] | 1.2 Audio Visual Setup | []==========================================================================[] If these two lines match up, your visual setup is complete. |ABC|DEF|GHI|JKL|MNO|PQR|STU|VWX|YZ)|!@#|X%^|&*(\| |abc|def|ghi|jkl|mno|pqr|stu|vwx|yz0|123|456|789/| Otherwise, you need to switch to a single-spaced font like Courier. Oh, and there is no audio set up unless you're reading this out loud. []====================================[] | 1.3 Location Shorthand | []==========================================================================[] Planets are named Cluster > System > Orbit So Earth would be Local > Sol > 3 []====================================[] | 1.4 Table of Contents | []==========================================================================[] Each section has a X.Y number. Search for it using your browser (CTRL+F) and you'll find that section. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------. > 1.0 Introduction < --+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 1.1 Contact Info | 1.2 Audio Visual Setup | | 1.3 Location Shorthand | 1.4 TOC | --+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > 2.0 Insanity Tactics < --+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 2.1 Cover & Flanking | 2.2 Bait & Retreat | | 2.3 Weapon Combos | 2.4 Teammate Placement | | 2.5 General Enemies | 2.6 Melee Enemeies | | 2.7 Loki | 2.8 YMIR & Geth Prime | | 2.9 Praetorian | 2.10 Harbinger | --+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > 3.0 Missions < --+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.1 Prologue & Freedom's Progress | 3.2 Mordin | | 3.3 Grunt | 3.4 Jack | | 3.5 Prep Work | 3.6 Garrus | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.7 Horizon | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.8 Everything Except Recruiting | | 3.8.1 N7: Blood Pack Communications Relay (2 missions) | | 3.8.2 N7: Captured Mining Facility (1 mission) | | 3.8.3 N7: Wrecked Merchant Freighter (3 missions) | | 3.8.4 N7: Quarian Crash Site (1 mission) | | 3.8.5 N7: MSV Estevanico (1 mission) | | 3.8.6 N7: Abandoned Mine (1 mission) | | 3.8.7 N7: Archaeological Dig Site (3 missions) | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.9 Jacob Loyalty | 3.10 Grunt Loyalty | | 3.11 Mordin Loyalty | 3.12 Jack Loyalty | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.13 Samara | 3.14 Thane | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.15 Ghost Ship | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.16 Samara Loyalty | 3.17 Thane Loyalty | | 3.18 Tali | 3.19 Miranda Loyalty | | 3.20 Legion | 3.21 Tali Loyalty | | 3.22 Legion Loyalty | 3.23 Everything but Omega 4 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 3.24 Suicide Mission | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ []===========================================================================[] | 3.0 TACTICS | []==============================================+============================[] | 2.1 Cover & Flanking | []==============================================+============================[] This should be assumed, but cover is the only way you'll survive. Know how to get into cover and know how to find new cover. In general, you should look for places with the fewest entry spots and the longest field of fire in front of them. Also important is where you put your teammates, they can usually be put off to the side or far in front to draw enemy fire and give you time to perform headshots. This can also present opportunities to arc around your enemies to shoot them while they are in cover. []==============================================[] | 2.2 Bait & Retreat | []==============================================+============================[] Unity will bring your teammates back so don't be afraid to abandon your position to find a better location further back. Better still, don't hesitate to send your teammates into an area to flush out enemies or reveal their locations. Even more useful is pre-staging your team-mates before the attack begins to interrupt charges by melee creatures (Varren) or mechs. []==============================================[] | 2.3 Weapon Combos | []==============================================+============================[] Overload shields. Warp barriers. Use team incindiary ammo. You will experience ammo starvation, so don't fire everything you have at a Blood Pack member unless you're preventing them from regenerating. Shockwave is an exceptional tool in pushing enemies back once their shields are down, and it also works well in breaking their cover. If you don't have it, take a teammember who does (Jack) and map it. You will want overload, make sure someone has it and that you've mapped it to a command. []==============================================[] | 2.4 Team Placement | []==============================================+============================[] I recommend placing team members ahead and to the sides in a firefight if at all possible. Let them absorb the damage and draw the fire while you snipe from a distance. You can bring them back with Unity or by beating all the local enemies, they don't have that option. Don't have sniper rifle? The hand cannon is almost as effective, or you can use biotics from a good distance. If you insist on charging in, set your team up to one side as a distraction and flank. []==============================================[] | 2.5 General Enemies | []==============================================+============================[] For most mercs and other cover-focused enemies you need to break their defenses, flush them out and kill them. Focus on: 1- Melee enemies and Loki first. They're outside cover and will close on you. Spread your team, find rear cover and take them out quickly. Remember lift and shockwave work best when shields are down, but shockwave will still stagger an enemy. 2- Heavy weapons. Find the rocket-launcher enemy and kill him. 3- Engineers and snipers. 4- Everybody else. The fastest way to take out cover-enemies is to break their shields (overload, warp) and then to lift them or use shockwave to send them flying. While in lift mode, enemies take a ton of damage. []==============================================[] | 2.6 Melee Enemies | []==============================================+============================[] This means Varren, FENRIS mechs, Klixen and Husks. I recommend shotguns and no cover unless you're fighting more than just these. Best course of action is to retreat and snipe/biotic their armor, then shotgun them as they approach. shockwave will scatter Varren, giving you more time to find a safe, open area to fight. []==============================================[] | 2.7 Loki | []==============================================+============================[] Loki mechs become vastly more dangerous in Insanity mode. With their new armor, better guns and larger groups, they can overwhelm you through sheer numbers and aggressive attacks. Bottlenecks are key: find a way to force the mechs into a long, narrow corridor and attack them from cover. Where possible, I've listed these in the missions. []==============================================[] | 2.8 YMIR & Geth Prime | []==============================================+============================[] There are two approaches to killing YMIR and Geth Prime: Sniping and Bait. If possible, do as much damage as you can from a distance by trapping the YMIR/GP behind something. They're not very agile and tend to be slow to respond to the environment. YMIR also don't pay much attention to you at sniper range, even if you pound on them with heavy weapons. I tend to use the collector beam, which burns through both shields and armor. For YMIR at close quarters, send your team to safe firing points and circle something. The mech will slowly follow you and take damage from your friends, who have unlimited ammo. For Geth Prime at close quarters, retreat and find a safe firing point. []==============================================[] | 2.9 Praetorian | []==============================================+============================[] The Praetorian are difficult for their close quarters slam, the speed they eat through shields and the ton of ammo needed to knock them down. My strong recommendation is to let your friends do all the work. You can usually get the Praetorian by itself, after which all you need to do is send your team somewhere safe to shoot and move slowly around cover in circles. The Praetorian will focus exclusively on you and your team won't run out of ammo. Yeah, it's pretty boring but you will kill it. []==============================================[] | 2.10 Harbinger | []==============================================+============================[] Leave the Harbinger for last, kill all the other collectors first, otherwise you'll just have to fight him again. Once he's by himself, fight as if he were a YMIR/Prime. []===========================================================================[] | 3.0 MISSIONS | []===========================================================================[] I'm going to assume you've got all available weapons via a first playthrough. If you missed one or two, you should be ok. For these missions, you're going to absolutely need to understand firing from cover and controlling your teammates. I strongly suggest the following order, mostly because it will give you team members with skills requried. Remember the planet with all the rogue Loki mechs? They'll tear you apart on Insanity. []==============================================[] | 3.1 Prologue & Freedom's Progress | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Miranda and Jacob | []===========================================================================[] The first missions [[Prologue: Save Joker]] and [[Prologue: Awakening]] are fairly straightforward. If you're unable to complete these, you're not going to beat Insanity mode. As with all missions, make sure you grab all the cash and stuff laying around, you'll need those upgrades. [[Freedom's Progress]] For the flying rocket turrets, stay on the steps and let your buddies do most of the work. Overload works well. For the Fenris mechs, fall back and use your shotgun. For the YMIR, I recommend moving into the building on the left, putting Miranda and Jacob at the doors on the right in cover and firing from the windows. As long as you maintain cover, you shouldn't have too much trouble. []==============================================[] | 3.2 Mordin | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Miranda and Jacob | []===========================================================================[] Getting to Mordin is just a series of cover-battles. 1- First corner. I moved Jacob and Miranda into the room (send them to the closest crates for cover) and attacked from the doorframe/hallway. Remember to take out the Krogan and rocket launcher guys first, team incindiary ammo is a must. You shouldn't have to enter the room at all until you've killed nearly every merc, move right from the doorway to the small set of steps for a different angle. 2- After rescuing the Assistant, go up onto the balcony on the right. You can fall back down the stairs for even more cover. 3- Outside the Control Room: Standard cover battle, go down the steps so you can retreat back up them. 3- The big finale is a pain, after depositing the cure, move your team ahead and use lift alot. You're really going to want a sniper rifle for the guys up on the ledges. Worst case: send your team forward to draw fire and use the semiauto to wear the Vorcha down. []==============================================[] | 3.3 Grunt | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Miranda and Mordin | []===========================================================================[] Although Garrus is nearby, I skip him. You're going to want Grunt for that and the next few missions. The battles here are fairly standard run and cover up to the end. Until you meet the first Krogan, it's nothing unusual. 1- Krogan charge. The Krogan -might- be infinite, either way set Mordin and Miranda up at the bottom of the ramp at the closer of the two tunnels, then run in as bait. Command Overload and Incinerate and you'll get a gap to run forward through. 2- Finale. After the conversation go down the steps to the door and cheat. If you don't let everyone through the door, it won't lock and you can lure the Krogan into the stairwell by locking Miranda and Mordin at the landing. This gets a little hairy, but you've got to clear them out without the YMIR and Jedore pounding you. Once the krogan are down, snipe the YMIR from the doorway, then pick off Jedore at will. []==============================================[] | 3.4 Jack | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Mordin or Miranda | []===========================================================================[] More run and cover. 1- Betrayed: Stay in the back of the room, set your team and lure the Fenris and other Blue Suns out. Best not to fight in the hallway. 2- Big Room 1: I stay waaaay back in the trench and lure people forward. The YMIR is a pain, but you can get it stuck on all the junk in the trench and snipe/beam it. Send Grunt forward to draw out Blue Suns. 3- Big Room 2: Go left and up for a sniping position. It's the same situation as the last room. 4- Kuril: Kill all the guys from the back of the room, then send your guys up the right side to draw out the guards. Repeat left. Kill Kuril last. []==============================================[] | 3.5 Prep Work | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Doesn't matter | []===========================================================================[] You're going to automatically start [[Horizon]] after the next recruitment, so make sure to hit the stores on the Citadel and Omega to buy whatever upgrades you can. - Do all the talk/fetch missions on Omega. - Do all the talk/fetch missions on Citadel. - Do the Normandy purchase missions while you're there (brandy/couplings/food) - Talk to everyone on the Normandy to find out about upgrades and buy anything other than ship upgrades (you can buy them later). If you feel confident with Grunt and Jack, you can do some of the planet missions, because Garrus and Horizon are a pain in the tail. []==============================================[] | 3.6 Garrus | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack\Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Grunt and J/M become my default team at this point. Grunt is my bait, Jack or Miranda soften (Overload) or finish guys off (Shockwave). I'll mention other setups as I go, but the only other substitution is Garrus for J/M if I need another sniper/heavy. Note: Make sure you disable the YMIR and ship, go ahead and take the Renegade points even if you're playing a good guy, you'll have enough to not worry about this little incident. 1- Waves: Fairly simple. Attack from the bridge side of the upstairs room until they get past, then switch to the staircase side so you can shoot guys coming up. If they get up the stairs, set your team at the window and move to the door. There's fair cover and you should be able to wear down anyone before they get into the room. 2- Split: If you're playing nice, leave Grunt here. You'll need biotics over gunpower. Race to the central switch and brace yourself for the next step. 3- Right Door: I recommend sniping from the door (make sure you focus on the Varren or they'll sneak up on you) then send Jack\Miranda forward and charge to the switch before the Krogan arrives. It's not that he's hard, fighting him is going to slow you down a lot, and you really need to get to the next door. 4- Left Door: This is all about sending J/M ahead and using a ton of biotics to push the Vorcha back. Snipe from the door, send J/M forward and pound them with lift & shockwave until you're to the corner. You have to move quickly to get to the switch, retreat really isn't an option. 5- Final Push: Garrus is a moron who gets shot a lot here. I don't know why. I had to move directly into his way to force him to find a better spot during the attacks because he insisted on standing at the windows and getting sniped by guys in the far room. It's all about finding cover and sniping/heavy weapons on the ship. Send Grunt to cover the side where the troops arrive, you should be all the way in the back behind the couch. There's a small window on the far left where you can safely shoot at the dropship without it firing back. []==============================================[] | 3.7 Horizon | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Garrus | []===========================================================================[] I've done this with Jack, but Garrus has more weapons and you're going to need ammo for this. Most of the early battles are straightforward, find cover and kill everything except Harbinger, then kill him. 1- After the tool shed: As soon as you walk up the hill you'll be attacked by Husks, heavies and the Harbinger. It's a nightmare and there's simply no place to get cover. I've beaten this area in two ways: First, you can get cover behind the building on the far side. It's almost directly ahead of you from the shed door (left after the low wall, up the steps) and you'll only have to cover left and right. This is a crap shoot, though, and Grunt kept jumping into the window and getting killed. You can also take cover behind the rust colored things on your left, just outside the door. I put Grunt at the wall (he won't trigger the enemies) and took Garrus to cover. This was sketchy because Harbinger rushed us. Sorry, there's no simple way to do this. 2- Immediately afterward: DO NOT LET THE BIG DOOR CLOSE. You can skip the first wave of this by sending Grunt and Garrus to the transmitter while you stand outside. They'll kill the two Scions behind the wall w/o getting hurt and you'll completely skip the Husks. It can be a little challenging to get them to move into the area without you, just inch the "go-here" arrow further and further out while standing under the door. 3- Push the Button: When you hit the switch, retreat to the walkway on the left side. Set Garrus/Grunt at the left ramp and take the right ramp. You'll avoid most of the attacks and get a good angle w/ a sniper rifle. 4- Praetorian: As mentioned above, don't fight it. Put Garrus and Grunt as far away from the transmitter as you can (sticking them on the ramp from the last wave works, just make sure you do a new "go here" command) and slowly walk around the trucks. The Praetorian will ignore them (if they're far enough away) and fire at you. Let them kill it, you have no time limit (despite EDI's nagging) and they have unlimited ammo. []==============================================[] | 3.8 Everything Except Recruiting | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Whoever | []===========================================================================[] As with Horizon, there's another must-do mission coming up: The Ghost Ship. And as with Horizon, it's a pain. So go to Illium. Do all the talk/fetch missions. Buy upgrades. Make sure you buy the star charts! These will give you a chance to find a few tech upgrades, get to level 30 if you're not there yet and collect cash to buy even more upgrades. Make sure you complete all the missions in your Journal and do a last check for upgrades on Illium, Citadel, Omega and Tuchunka. []==============================================[] | 3.8.1 N7: Blood Pack Communications Relay | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt/Garrus and Jack/Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Part 1: Crescent Nebula > Lusarn > 4 (Tarinth) Part 2: N7: Blood Pack Base Shrike Abyssal > Xe Cha > 1 (Zada Ban) There's nothing special about these, lots of Vorcha and a Krogan boss. []==============================================[] | 3.8.2 N7: Captured Mining Facility | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt/Garrus and Jack/Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Part 1: Crescent Nebula > Zelene > 2 (Helyme) Run & cover to the right, then decrypt the data. While it's decrypting, fall back a bit so you don't get flanked the way you came. Lift is nice because the Eclipse mercs will often fall into the central hole. []==============================================[] | 3.8.3 N7: Wrecked Merchant Freighter | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Garrus/Miranda/Jack | []===========================================================================[] Part 1: Eagle Nebula > Amun > 4 (Neith) You may actually want to do your team's loyalty missions first, or pick up Tali/Legion later for their anti-mech biotic skills. This was a breeze on the standard difficulties but on Insanity the waves of Loki are murderous. Also, I never survived a sprint to the shuttle from any position, there are always 4 - 6 Loki shooting at you, and they'll rip through your shields even with extra biotic cover. Instead focus on killing -all- of them. They are limited (check the cargo manifest) and as soon as the last one dies you'll automatically exit the mission. I recommend you take 4 positions and kill mechs using the wait & bait method. First, put your teammates behind cover up on the hill, then go down and lure the mechs back. You can then take cover behind your guys and snipe/biotic/ shoot the mechs as they walk toward you. The right side (facing back toward the shuttle) offers the most cover, I think. Once the mechs stop coming to the hill, move forward to the first X shaped cover area (there's a med kit on top) before the fork. Set your team in cover behind this and bait the mechs on the right and left pathways. From this position you should be able to lure the YMIR out. From the fork you can snipe/beam his shields and armor off, then continue to draw mechs out. This position will allow you to kill the lion's share of the Loki, they'll appear from the left edge on the far side of the right-hand path and you can easily retreat toward the center behind some debris. This gives you an easy spot to use shockwave through the junk, or you can drop back and snipe. Your team can either stay at the X or move to the right side of the right path. Finally, move up the LEFT side. It's more open and you can send your team ahead to suck up some of the damage. The Loki will come from behind the shuttle on both sides, usually 2 left and 3 right. You can move forward to another X shaped thing, but it's not quite as safe. Again, the mission will simply end when you've killed all the Loki. Part 2: N7: Abandoned Research Station Eagle Nebula > Strabo This is essentially a big puzzle. The only dangerous part is the steam. Part 3: N7: Hahne-Kedar Facility Titan Nebula > Haskins > 1 (Capek) More mechs = more fun. Wait & bait again, this time take someone with biotics (I took Jack) so you can shoot through corners at the Loki. The best position seems to be on top of the ramp that leads into the main area full of crates. Put your team up here and go bait the mechs that come from the right side of the room. You can retreat up the ramp and then u-turn back so you're standing above them. The Loki will often get stuck on the handrail of the ramp. I think the mechs will keep spawning, so eventually move down the right side to the corner, where there's a small dead-end that serves as \good cover. From then, it's just moving from cover to cover through the short maze. []==============================================[] | 3.8.4 N7: Quarian Crash Site | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Garrus/Jack | []===========================================================================[] Part 1: Hades Nexus > Shiol > 1 (Gei Hinnom) This is a pain. There are two ways to attempt this: A) Switch everyone to shotguns and stage both team members in front of the Quarian. Stand near the entrance to the area and try to take down the sheilds of the Varren as they approach w/ heavy weapons or a sniper rifle. Your team will then take them out. You have the opion of using shockwave and lift to send them flying. B) Put a team member in front of each pair of caves. Their job is to hold the Varren off while you kill them w/ sniper or heavies. You can also run in and aggro the Varren by shotgun, but you're risking missing one or getting chomped. I never succeeded with this method, but I came close. []==============================================[] | 3.8.5 N7: MSV Estevanico | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Nobody | []===========================================================================[] Hourglass Nebula > Ploitari > 2 (Zanethu) Nothing special about this mission. You're not under a time limit, so feel free to explore. []==============================================[] | 3.8.6 N7: Abandoned Mine | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack/Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Minos Wasteland > Fortis > 3 (Aequitas) The husks will spawn forever, including from behind once you reach the fork. Essentially, you're going to have to retreat from the fork, clear out as much as you can, then go up the ramp (right side) and charge into the last room. Shotguns and biotics help. []==============================================[] | 3.8.7 N7: Imminent Ship Crash | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Garrus and Jack/Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Pylos Nebula > Nariph The challenge here comes in the second major room. You have to clear out the geth atop the two balconies, then shut down both timers PLUS have enough time to get up to the last puzzle. Switch Garrus to sniper and use biotics to break the shields of the geth. If you have trouble, bring Kali or Legion later on. You can also find safety if you get right up against the balconies from below, where you can use biotics through the floors above you. []==============================================[] | 3.8.7 N7: Archaeological Dig Site | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack/Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Part 1: Rosette Nebula > Enoch > 3 (Joab) Nothing exciting Part 2: N7: MSV Strontium Mule Omega Nebula > Arinlarkan Run and cover for most of the mission. The ship's bridge is a bit of a pain, send Grunt in to stir things up while you shoot from outside. As soon as the bridge is clear turn around and take cover. The last few heavies are sniper bait on the far side or lift/shockwave will send them flying. Part 3: N7: Blue Suns Base Sigurds Cradle > Decoris > 3 (Sanctum) The first fight is long, but not much new. The real challenge comes from the 2 YMIR mechs. The best tactic is to circle left and up the ramp to take cover in the back room (where Narrom will spawn). From here you can either try to get the mechs stuck behind the large platform at the end of the walkway or behind some crates. Send your team to shoot from a safe place and try to keep under cover. When the YMIR die, get away from the walkway or Narrom will sneak up behind you. []==============================================[] | 3.9 Jacob Loyalty Mission | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jacob | []===========================================================================[] Oh yeah, forgot about Jacob. The first battle is surprisingly stiff thanks to some of the feral hunters charging. After that, it's standard cover fighting until you get to the YMIR. From here, retreat and you can shoot/snipe at the YMIR between the boards of the wall or from the relative safety of the path. Use Grunt as bait and you'll reach daddy without too much difficulty. []==============================================[] | 3.10 Grunt Loyalty Mission | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack/Miranda | []===========================================================================[] OK, assume the Keystone is NORTH There's unlimited ammo strewn around, if you pick up ammo and wander away, it respawns. Find the ammo and keep that in mind. A) The Varren. You're going to stand in front of the SOUTHEAST stairway where the Varren spawn, standing about halfway back toward the ramp. Station Grunt and Jack up on the raised area in the SE corner so they're looking down at the steps. As each Varren spawns snipe/heavy it and then shotgun it. They'll come at you from the steps and from around the corner, but you'll have a good area to shoot at them before they reach you. G&J should be taking care of a few. IF the Varren get too close, retreat up the steps and go down the ramp on the far side (WEST) and circle back. B) The Klixen. Same idea, only you'll be circling the whole time. Set your team free (down on the d-pad). As the Klix appear, you want them to chase you in a circle around the platform. They're slightly slower than you, so you can back up and shoot at them w/ your shotgun. Remeber to grab ammo. C) The Maw. You should have the collector beam and a sniper rifle (otherwise take Garrus). Go to the opposite side of the platform and shoot. D) Last Battle. Kill Uvenk. It's not particularly special, retreat down and to the right if things get hairy. You can circle behind Uvenk. []==============================================[] | 3.11 Mordin Loyalty Mission | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Mordin and Grunt | []===========================================================================[] There's really nothing new here. Do this one next because you're here anyway. Make sure you do the scout mission and wrap up whatever else you've got in your Journal here. []==============================================[] | 3.12 Jack Loyalty Mission | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Jack and Miranda | []===========================================================================[] Again, nothing terribly difficult. For the last fight flank left around the table. Kureck will eventually come this way, so you might as well be ready. NOTE: I do Jack's mission first because to get both Jack and Miranda to stay loyal you need to avoid the "Miranda pissed at you" bug. You'll want a lot of Charm or Intimidation skill before you do Miranda's loyalty or you'll get one of the funeral endings. []==============================================[] | 3.13 Samara | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack/Garrus | []===========================================================================[] Two main fights. Gunship: Station your team in the room before the bridge and go bait the gunship. Put a person on either side of the doorway and stand back so you can kill the Fenris mechs, then run forward and heavy/snipe the gunship. Do not bother shooting at it from anywhere except the doorway. There are power cells directly across from the door. Last Fight: Essentially snipe and stay back. Send Grunt forward to get people out of cover and flank around to the right when Wasea goes into the back room. []==============================================[] | 3.14 Thane | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack/Garrus | []===========================================================================[] Cover battle after cover battle. Stay back and send your team forward, there's no secret way around any of these. Krogan: After the first rescue, retreat as far back the way you came as possible. Bridge: Not much to do except inch forward. You can ignore the rocket drones until you get up underneath them. Fight the last group from the stairs, don't go up onto the platform or you'll get mobbed. []==============================================[] | 3.15 Ghost Ship | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Garrus | []===========================================================================[] Three painful parts: A) The stupid f&$#@g platforms. My trick here is to wipe out the first wave of attackers and the Scion with the M-920 Cain (nuke gun). Run forward to the edge of the platform and start powering up the Cain as soon as the incomming platform starts to slide down your field of vision. Timing doesn't need to be perfect. Essentially, you'll wipe out the first batch of collectors (no harbinger, either) and take the Scion down to 10% health. Upside: No first wave, now you have plenty of cover on the second platform. Downside: No heavy weapon for the rest of the mission. After 5 ugly deaths on the platform I got through in no time w/ the Cain. B) The Praetorian. Send Grunt and Garrus down to the lower floor before the spawning (don't move too far into the room). Use them to wipe out the Husks and Collector drones FAST. Then play ring-around-the-rocks with the Prothea... er Praetorian. C) The Harbinger hallway: standard cover fighting, you have to fight the Harbinger several times. There's just no easy way to avoid killing him and having him respawn shortly after. []==============================================[] | 3.16 Samara Loyalty | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Samara and whoever | []===========================================================================[] To get Morinth, search Nef's room and talk to the guy at the start of the mission to get the main 2 talking points. In the bar, defend the Asari, dance with the other Asari and get a round of drinks for everyone. Ignore the insult and punch options. Discuss music, mention Expel 10 Discuss art, mention Forta. You can go either way on the drugs option Discuss travel, power is it's own reward. If you screw this up, there's an out if you have a high enough persuade. If you have enough charm, you can resist Morinth and get a choice to kill Samara. I haven't taken it, but it nets you Morinth as an exact replacement for Samara. You can then romance her and die a hideous death whenever you feel like it. []==============================================[] | 3.17 Thane Loyalty | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Thane and whoever | []===========================================================================[] I've never failed the interrogation part of this, not sure if it's possible. You can fail the stalking part, though, so make sure you keep up with the dude. If you're having trouble, it's probably during the part where he splits up with his Krogan bodyguard. He's not as obvious standing against the wall. []==============================================[] | 3.18 Tali | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Jack | []===========================================================================[] I'm not sure why I wait so long to get Tali. Probably because I don't ever use her in a party. I always go with Legion if I need Geth-killing power. For this, stay to the right for the first section, up to the explosives. The raised hallway is well covered and you won't get flanked. After the block falls you're going to face infinite geth from the left (machine shop area), so you have to push forward. After that, get up to the windowed room on the opposite side to get a good angle on all the Geth Destroyers. Once you're into the last section, reverse up the ramps from the Quarian to take out the Geth snipers on the right bridge. Geth will continue to come from that way to flank you, so set your team to shoot the front and left while you keep that area clear. Once the destroyers come, I go left and then retreat from the first wave. Then take the left path to get to the big guy. I've done the same on the right, but there's not as much cover and the sunlight gets annoying. []==============================================[] | 3.19 Miranda Loyalty | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Miranda and Grunt | []===========================================================================[] Trouble ahead. If you don't have high enough persuation, you'll be doing this mission (or Jack's) for nothing. There's a lot of cover fighting, but nothing out of the ordinary. For the last area I flanked right and left Miranda to deal with the Boss Captain. []==============================================[] | 3.20 Legion | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Grunt and Garrus | []===========================================================================[] Husks, husks and more husks. Essentially inch forward until the husks spawn then retreat. Shockwave is great here because it kills the husks instantly after you drop their shields. If you don't have it, sub Jack for Garrus and use it constantly. For the Scions you have to retreat, sometimes back to the door of the area. Two shockwaves will essentially kill you, so fall back and either use a sniper rifle, the hand cannon or heavy weapon if you have it. You can send Grunt around to try and soften/distract them, but he's going to go down so you'll have to work fast. The last area is just a nightmare, no holds barred. Wish I had a sure-fire plan. The husks tend to favor the stair/ramps closer to the door, but that's not a safe assumption to plan an attack around. Personally, I ran down the ramps near the core, waited until they started to bunch up (be careful in the corners, they crawl up behind you), charged around them to the ramps near the door and then across. They tend to bunch up as they go up and over, so I'd fire from the central platform, shockwave them, then run down. I'd then repeat on that side. This gives you a chance to use shotgun/semi-auto, then shockwave or lift. If you're a soldier, go with your big gun and aim for the heads. Grunt and Garrus aren't huge helps here. They'd get swamped and work as distractions, no matter where I stationed them. The best plan seemed to be to put them in the central section to help keep the husks from getting in the way of my circle, but it wasn't a great system. []==============================================[] | 3.21 Tali Loyalty | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Tali and Legion | []===========================================================================[] Oh yeah, take Legion on this one. The Quarian conversations are great. Essentially bait and retreat. For example, there's a ramp where you can bait the Geth to follow you down into a lab. If you set Legion and Tali up at the bottom fo the ramp it makes a good crossfire. The only place this doesn't work well is the room before Geth Prime. The balcony is a terrible place to set up because there's Geth flanking on both sides and rushing the steps. I set up in the room before the balcony and just risked a rush. Put T&L at the door to slow down the destroyers and try to stay alive with shield bonuses. For Geth Prime set Tali and Legion up to use drones. They're very effective in distracting GP. Kill the Hunters with heavy weapons and kill GP with whatever you have left while he tries to kill the drones. I don't think I took any damage from Prime. []==============================================[] | 3.22 Legion Loyalty | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Legion and Garrus/Grunt | []===========================================================================[] I take Grunt because he has more armor/health. Make sure you save prior to starting and at each doorway. The autosave system isn't as aggressive here as I'd like. Personally, I broke the green line in every room as soon as I found good cover. The main area of difficulty is the console room. While the system is working you have a few waves of Geth to deal with. The last 2 are the real pain, rocket-Geth and Hunters start to pile up. Luckily your teammates will heal after each wave without your help. The safest spot is near the entrance of the room in a U shaped cover area. Focus on one staircase at a time and use sniper/heavy/auto guns to clear it as fast as you can. Otherwise you'll get stuck in the crossfire or flanked by the Hunters. Don't use all your heavy ammo, but feel free to unload with anything else as the ammo respawns and you can load up after the wave. Once one staircase is clear you can take cover on the other side and deal with the remaining Geth with semi-auto or the hand-cannon. Use Legion's hack skill as soon as shields go down and any shockwave/lift you have. This will break up the incomming fire. I never saw any point to the two turrets or the turrets on the floor below, they're impossibly short lived. After this mission, you'll have to break up another fight. You should have plenty of charm, though. []==============================================[] | 3.23 Everything Except Omega 4 | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Whoever | []===========================================================================[] This isn't as important as it was prior to Ghost Ship or Horizon. By now you should have maxed out most of the upgrades or know that they've become insanely expensive. Buy whatever upgrades you don't have at Omega/Citadel/etc and talk to all your teammates to finish off any storylines. There are probably a few planetside missions left over, but I don't bother. The smuggler cargo is impossible to get with 3 YMIR, they'll kill you or destroy all the crates. The two new missions after Ghost Ship (the shield puzzle and the kidnapped operative) don't pay much so unless you're on the verge of buying a weapon upgrade, do the simple walk&talk missions and move on. []==============================================[] | 3.24 Suicide Mission | []==============================================+============================[] | Team: Lotsa People | []===========================================================================[] Everyone should be loyal. Everyone should be leveled up. If anyone isn't loyal, don't use them for anything and expect to see them die. Vent: Tali or Legion. Team 2 Leader: Garrus Team 1: Grunt and Miranda/Jack Escort: Mordin so he doesn't die randomly. Again. Shield: Samara Team 2 Leader: Garrus Team 1: Grunt and Miranda/Jack
Final: I do Grunt & Miranda for damage & biotic breaking abilities. They do
a fair job holding the collectors off while you shoot at the Reaper.

Deaths: 
- Ship deaths are caused by missed upgrades.
- Non-experts die (don't send Thane into the vent)
- Non-loyal team members die most of the time.
- Engineers (Mordin for me) die quite often in the last battle and team 2
  missions. I've never lost one with Garrus as the leader, but the engineer
  seems to drop dead on the last push if you don't have full loyalty on
  every member.
  
Vent phase: You should have plenty of time until you get to #5 or 6. Note
that you can sprint past the harbinger and just hit the vent if you have to.
The 6th vent was particularly bad for me, so I ran past the remaining
collectors and hit the switch knowing I'd have more time on the 7th.

Shield phase: There are a few annoying spots (first Harbinger) but nothing
drastically new. Shockwave is very useful on unshielded Husks (take Jack).

Final run: The platforms are much easier this time. Take the CAIN and don't
use it on the Scions, you're going to want it for the boss.

BOSS: For the main boss, use the CAIN to drop his health fast, then switch
to sniper or heavy pistol and stand behind the tall wall on the lowest 
platform. While Grunt and Miranda deal with the collectors you can stand
just behind that wall and be safe from his fireball attack. Unload on
him with anything you have (incindiary semiauto works well), then grab 
ammo and retreat. Once the Harbinger starts to arrive, you're going to 
have to do some scrambling to avoid getting smacked by his big cannonball 
attack. As soon as he drops enough big ammo to fire the CAIN again, pull 
off another shot. Between the sniper or heavy pistol, incineration shells 
and two CAIN shots, the big T2 will go down screaming. 

Hopefully everyone lives and you get the end credits without the
funeral scene. If not you can contemplate reloading or doing an easy run
for the other achievements.