Nightsolo's Mass Effect Walkthrough

Normandy: Prologue

Eden Prime

Corporal Jenkins and Kaiden Alenko are your squad mates. Walk forward and take a right when you can. Feel free to shoot the GasBags here as target practice. To the right at the dead end is an Upgrade Kit. Open if for an Armor Upgrade, and Codex Entry 132. Turn around and head up the hill. As you descend the other side, you're attacked by geth drones. Poor Jenkins dies. Once the drones are all down, Investigate his corpse, and you can say a few words for him. Doing so also gets you Codex Entry 44.

There is only one path to follow from here, so continue on and kill some more drones. On the north side of the path in the woods is another Upgrade Kit. A Medical Kit sits off the west side of the next open area, where you can replenish your Medi-Gel. As you descend the hill, you'll get a cutscene of a soldier under attack. Help her kill the geth, then Talk to Ashley. She will join your squad no matter what you say. Exit dialog and you'll have Codex Entry 8. Nearby are a Crate and an Upgrade Kit. Continue down the path and take out some more geth. Approach the middle of the ruins and Investigate the Dig Site. You'll get a cutscene. Loot the nearby Crate to get Codex Entry 43.

Follow the path up the hill to the north. As you approach the Camp, some Husks attack you, and you get Codex Entry 14. When they're dead, loot the Upgrade Kit behind the spikes, then open up the shack and Talk to the Doctors inside. As you learn all you can mostly from Dr. Warren, you'll also notice that Dr. Manuel isn't doing so well. You can shut him up with either You're safe or I can shut him up. Be sure to loot the stuff in the shed next door, then continue on your way.

As you descend the hill, you'll get a cutscene of Saren being a bad guy. Note how his cybernetic parts differentiate him from Nihlus, his fellow turian. There's a Malfunctioning Object off to the west you can loot. There's also a Crate in front of a shed to the east. Decrypt the lock, and Cole and two Farmers will come out to talk to you. Learn what you can from them, then as you leave, the male Farmer hints that they have something to give you. You can coax it out with You should come clean or squeeze it from them with I don't like being lied to. You'll recieve an item, and you can get more with either Is that all? or You're holding out on me. Ashley will ask who Cole's contact is. Find out more about him with He may know something or Is he worth dying for? Inside the shed is a Storage Locker, which you'll need Electronics to unlock it and loot it.

Continue down the hill and up the stairs. There's a Medical Kit on the south side of the platform. Investigate Nihlus' body, and a conversation starts with Powell the Smuggler. He details what happened, how he survived, where you should go next, and can give you some Grenades. If you got his name from Cole, Ashley thinks he's holding out on you, and indeed you can get a Grenade Upgrade out of him with either Let it go, Williams or You're pathetic. You can get more with either You should make amends, or You're lying. When you ask about the ship and how he was asleep, you can respond with Lucky break for you or You make me sick.

When the conversation is over, look behind the fire to the east for an Upgrade Kit. As you go down the stairs some geth will attack, and as you arrive on the other side of the train tracks, a whole bunch of geth will attack. When they're dead, find a Medical Kit about halfway down, then run to the far end and Activate the Train Controls.

You'll get a cutscene of Saren ordering his troops to set some bombs, then he approaches the Beacon. When you arrive you have five minutes to Disarm four Demolition Charges, while fending off geth as you go. The first Charge is directly in front of you. Go up the nearby stairs and cross the balcony to the other side. The second Charge is to the left/south off the walkway, and the third is further north, about halfway up the platform. The last one is at the northwest corner of the platform. When it's Disarmed, go down the stairs to the west and kill all the geth in the area. Before you approach the big green glowing Beacon, loot a Technician Kit in the northwest corner, a Crate and a Decryptable Storage locker just south of the Beacon, and another Decryptable Storage Locker in the southwest corner.

Now Investigate the Prothean Beacon, and a cutscene begins. If you're a male Shepard, Ashley will approach the beacon. If you're a female Shepard, Kaidan will approach it. Either way, you'll toss your squadmate out of the way, have a vision, and then pass out. There is then a scene where the asari Matriarch Benezia informs Saren that humans now have the Beacon. He gets angry and orders your death.

Normandy: 2nd Visit

You wake up in Medical. You have a conversation with Dr. Chakwas and either Ashley (if you're male) or Kaidan (if you're female). You can start a romance with your crew mate if you like, by being nice to him/her. Captain Anderson enters, and you can react to the situation and learn about the next step, which is to go to the Citadel. When you exit dialog, you'll have Codex Enties 17 and 91.

Before you head up to the Bridge, it's time to explore the Normandy. Before leaving Medical, use the Aid Station any time you're on board to replenish your Medi-Gel. This will also give you Codex Entry 46. Just outside Medical, Talk to Dr. Chakwas about everything you can. This will give you Codex Entries 36 and 125. Next to Dr. Chakwas is Shepard's Locker, which you can Open to find some new, level-appropriate items. You'll also get Codex Entry 100.

Across from Medical will be either Ashley or Kaidan. You can take the next step in your romance if you like, or you can be rude to her/him, earning you some Paragon or Renegade points, respectively. Whichever crew mate was standing in the Mess Hall, the other will be south of your locker, but won't have much to say. Captain Anderson is in the Captain's Office, but he only tells you to go up to the Bridge and tell Joker to get going.

Around the other side of the Mess Hall is an elevator. Take it down to the Vehicle Bay. On the south side are your Squad's lockers. You can change their equipment here any time you're on the Normandy. On the north side is the Mako. Inspect it to get Codex Entry 35. Talk to the Alliance Requisition Officer to learn about Licences. You can buy stuff from him any time you're on board. You can also get Codex Entry 42. Go aft and down a ramp into Engineering. Examine the Field Integrity Monitor to get Codex Entry 40 .

Take the elevator back up, and run up either stairwell to the upper deck. Go in the Comm Room and Examine the FTL Comm Link to get Codex Entry 128. Make your way forward, and look at the forward starboard edge of the Galaxy Map. Examine NavManual 1.4.1 to get Codex Entry 98. Continue forward and Talk to Joker. A cutscene shows you docking with the Citadel.

Citadel: 1st Visit

You arrive in a converstion with Captain Anderson, Ambassador Udina, and the Citadel Council. You have an opportunity for some Renegade Points by saying They're blind. After the conversation, you'll have the Mission "Citadel: Expose Saren." and Codex Entries 17 (if you don't already have it) and 18. You can start a few Assignments now, but completing them requires you to have some more skills, which you'll get after completing this Mission.

For now, just head to the Citadel: Presidum: Tower. From the human embassy, go out the door and hang a left. Open and go through the door at the base of the stairs. As you exit, a man will call your name and ask to speak with you. Ignore him for now. On your right is the Receptionist. Talking to her gets you Codex Enties 1 and 89. She can also tell you about the embassies, but for more information she recommends Avina. Turn around and Talk to the purple hologram. This is Avina Tourism Terminal I. Talk to her to learn all about the Citadel, and to get Codex Enties 13 and 38. Use the nearby Citadel Rapid Transit Terminal. Choose Presidium Locations, then Citadel Tower. This will put you in the middle of the Tower map.

Go straight ahead south. You'll meet a turian C-Sec officer named Garrus Vakarian, and learn that his own investigations into Saren are being stonewalled. After the conversation, continue up the steps towards Captain Anderson, and you'll enter a conversation with and about Saren. The council concludes there's not enough evidence, and during the conversation you can earn a couple Paragon Points with Quit protecting him. Kaidan will suggest speaking with Garrus, and Udina suggests talking to someone named Harkin to help track him down. If you ask Anderson about other leads, he'll suggest speaking with the Shadow Broker's agent, Barla Von. Talking with Anderson also gets you Codex Entry 2.

Go back down the stairs north and take the elevator down to the Presidium. Run south along the walkway. Barla Von's office is in the small room to the south, labeled Bank on the map. Talk to the volus in the suit to learn that Saren has betrayed Barla Von's boss, and that a krogan named Wrex might help you out. Exit dialog, and you'll have Codex Enties 11, 92, and 131

Leave and take the Citadel Rapid Transit to Wards: Chora's Den. Go through the open doorway and kill some turian assassins who must be working for Saren. Enter the club and go left. Talk to Harkin, who can give you some of his personal history, but is mostly important for getting the location of Garrus. Leave and take the Citadel Rapid Transit to Wards: Med Clinic. Go in the nearby door to the north.

When you enter the Med Clinic, there is a hostage situation. After some brief dialog, Garrus shoots the leader and you get to take out the other bad guys. When they're dead, you enter conversation with Garrus and Dr. Michel. You can praise Garrus with Nice shot, or take him down a notch with It was a big risk. You'll also learn from Dr. Michel about a quarian who has evidence you need for your case against Saren. The doctor put him in touch with Fist, another employee of the shadow broker. Ask her about quarians in general for Codex Entry 12. If you like, Garrus can join your crew. On your way out, the First Aid Station can replenish your Medi-Gel. Just outside, look out the window to Observe the View of Nebula to get Codex Entry 90.

Go west to overhear a conversation between a volus Citizen and a human Citizen, and you'll get Codex Entry 114. Backtrack a bit and go down the nearby stairs towards C-Sec Academy. To the immediate right, Examine the Public Extranet Terminal to get Codex Entry 129. Go north and take the elevator up to C-Sec Academy.

As you get off the elevator, Examine the Welcome Sign for the Codex Entry 88. Take the stairs to the west, and you'll see a big guy in red armor. Approach, and you have the opportunity to recruit the krogan Wrex. Use the Citadel Rapid Transit to go to Wards: Med Clinic. To the northwest is a reporter waving you down. Talk to Emily Wong and agree to help her with the Assignment "Citadel: Reporter's Request."

Go to Wards: Chora's Den. This time the place is clear of civilians, but crawling with bad guys. Kill them and proceed down the hallway to the back rooms. You'll enter conversation with a couple of guards. You can kill them, or let them go with Save yourselves or You're making a mistake. In this room is a Storage Locker you can unlock. In the last room, destroy the Turrets to make Fist surrender. When he does, he'll tell you where to find the quarian. If Wrex is in your squad, he'll kill Fist and that'll be the end of it. If Wrex is not in your squad, you can kill Fist yourself by saying You don't deserve to live. Either way you can finish the conversation with He deserved it. Take the Optical Storage Disk from the ground. There is a wall safe you can Decrypt before you leave.

You now have a timer to get to the quarian before she gets killed. Fight your way out of the bar towards the Citadel Rapid Transit station you came in on, but instead of using it, go straight ahead through the door and up the stairs. A cutscene will take place with the quarian being threatened. Assuming you arrived before the timer ran out, you'll have to fight off the thugs. When they're taken care of, a cutscene moves you to Ambassador Udina's office. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya presents her evidence, and then joins your team. You'll also get Codex Entry 85. Before leaving the office, Decrypt a computer to get the Assigmnet "Unusual Readings." This requires leaving the Citadel, so you'll deal with it later.

Go to the Presidium: Tower and present your evidence to the council. They accept your evidence against Saren, but don't believe the rest of your claims. Regardless of your attitude, the Council makes you a Spectre.

Your next Plot Mission is to talk to Udina at the Docking Bay, but there are several Optional Assigments to complete before you leave to explore the galaxy. In the Tower, in the midddle of the map is a salarian kneeling next to a keeper. Talk to Chorban and take his Assigment "Citadel: Scan the Keepers." I'll explain where all 21 are as you run around the rest of the station doing Assignments. There are four of them on this map. Start with the one (1) right next to Chorban, and you'll get Codex Entry 10. The others are in the southwest corner (2), in the middle of the map on the east side (3), and in the northwest corner (4). Talk to Rear Admiral Kahoku to pick up his Assignment "UNC: Missing Marines," which you'll complete after you've left the station. Talk to Garoth near the north stairs. His brother's ship is missing, and he wants you to find it and determine what happened. "Citadel: Privateers" involves leaving the Citadel, so again: deal with it later. Take the elevator down to the Presidium.

There are eight Keepers here. Straight across from the elevator, next to Avina Tourism Terminal II is the first (5). The VI even chastises you for "disturbing" the Keeper. Talk to Avina to learn more about the Citadel, and for Codex Entry 41. Go across the bridge to the south, and as you pass the mini Mass Relay, one of your squad members will make a "Hmm" sound. Talk to them to get their opinions on it.

Past the bank where you spoke to Barla Von earlier, go through the Emporium to a room in the back to find another keeper (6). The hanar shopkeeper in the middle of the Emporium has some Licences and other gear you can buy. You can also get Codex Entry 9 from it. Continue east, and take the southern fork in the path. You'll find a keeper (7) in the corridor. Backtrack a bit and take the north fork. Avina Tourism Terminal III is along the shore. As you approach, one of your squad mates will make a "hmm" sound. If Wrex is in your squad, Talk to him to get his opinion on the nearby Krogan Statue. Your other party member will also offer an opinion. Talk to Avina to learn more. It will also give you Codex Entries 5 and 79.

There's another keeper (8) in the southeast corner. Talk to the receptionist, Nelyna, to learn about the Consort. You can chat her up to learn about her boss. As you turn to leave, she gets interrupted, then asks you to speak to the Consort. Run through the lobby to the back of the establishment to do so. The Consort, Sha'ira, asks you to convince General Septimus to stop spreading rumors about her. Agree to do so, and you'll get the Assignment "Citadel: Asari Consort." Continue on your tour of the Presidium.

Go north, across the bridge. In the Embassy Lobby, a man named Samesh Bhatia will wave you down again. This time talk to him. His wife was killed on Eden Prime, and the Alliance is holding her body. Thre is some extra dialog if Ashley is in your squad. This is the "Citadel: Homecoming" Assignment. Go through the door to the west, up the stairs, and through a door into the Embassy Lounge. Go straight through a door in the back and Scan a keeper (9). Back in the lounge you can Talk to the barkeep for some useless gossip. There are also some Alliance Marines in the southeast corner who could use some calmng down. Lastly, Talk to Clerk Bosker. Doing so gets you Codex Entry 47. You now have two choices:
1) Get the body released with This isn't right or I'm releasing the body. Return to Samesh and give him the good news.
2) Side with the Alliance and return to Samesh to console him with This is important or This is war.

One door east of the Embassy Lounge is C-Sec Headquarters (not to be confused with Wards: C-Sec Academy). Talk to Executor Palin (the turian who was speaking to Garrus when you first met him) to learn his opinions on humans, Spectres, and whatnot. When you're done talking to him, Decrypt a console in his office to gain the "UNC: Strange Transmission" Assignment.

The other door in this wing of the Embassies is Archives. There's a keeper (10) in the back to Scan, and you can Examine the two Diplomatic Archive computers to get Codex Entries 87 and 93 . Head to the other wing of the embassies and go in the shared Volus and Elcor Office. Scan the keeper here (11) (it may not show up until later, which I've noted below). Speak with the ambassadors to learn about their races. This can also get you Codex Entry 7, if you don't already have it. The elcor not behind the desk is Xeltan. He too is having a problem with the Consort, and while he won't give you any real details, you'll get the Assignment "Citadel: Xeltan's Complaint."

Leave and head west along the corridor, towards the Tower. In the open area next to a planter box is a hanar arguing with a turian. Talk to either one of them to learn that the hanar is preaching here illegally. You can solve this Assignment, "Citadel: Presidium Prophet" in three ways:
1) Talk to the hanar and tell it either This is unworthy of you or There's trouble anyway, and it'll leave. Talk to the C-Sec Officer for a reward.
2) Talk to the C-Sec Officer and tell him either It's not causing trouble or This is dangerous and the C-Sec Officer will go away. Talk to the Hanar for a reward.
3) Talk to the hanar and buy the permit for him for 150 credits.

Go north, and there's another keeper (12) to Scan. Follow the nearby stairs down to an elevator which takes you to the Wards: Access. In the second room on your left is a keeper (13). South from there is an elevator which takes you to the Upper Wards.

Take an immediate right into the Alleyway where you saved Tali, and find a keeper (14) there. Backtrack through the door you came through and go south. Emily Wong is still here, so turn in "Citadel: Reporter's Request." You can then promise a future interview with I can offer you more, or get more cash with You owe me more.

Turn around and go up the stairs. Inside Flux, downstairs, Talk to Rita, who's standing next to the bar. She wants you to get her sister back, for the Assignment "Citadel: Rita's Sister." You'll find a keeper upstairs (15), and next to that is a Suspicious Gambling Machine you should Examine to get the "Citadel: Signal Tracking" Assignment. You'll need to find two Relays before you can find the Source, and I'll guide you to them as we go.

Head back down the stairs and into the Upper Wards. Go west into the markets and Scan a keeper (16) in the northwest corner. The volus merchant Expat can sell you stuff, including a couple of Licences. He can also give you Codex Entries 14 and 26. Also in the vicinity is Conrad Verner. Talking to him gets you the Assignment "Citadel: The Fan." This is the first of three encounters with him. This first time all you can do is choose whether or not to give him an autograph.

Go back into the Wards Access Map. The large room in the north has a Signal Source at the back you should Investigate. One of your squad members mentions the location of the next signal. For now, go back the way you came into the upper wards.

Go down the nearby stairs on your left towards C-Sec Academy and Scan a keeper (17) to the right. Back upstairs, past the Med Clinic is another keeper (18) to Scan. Go to Wards: Chora's Den. Inside, talk to the female barkeep, Jenna. She denies any problems. While you're here, find and Talk to General Septimus. Tell him to either Straighten up, or Get a grip. He also gives you the Assignment "Citadel: Xeltan's Complaint," if you don't have it already.

Leave the Den, and a turian named Chellick will bump into you and whisper to meet him at C-Sec Academy. Go to Wards: C-Sec Academy. Take the southern elevator up to the Docking Bay. At the end of the platform is a keeper (19). Go back down the elevator and head east. In the corner of the Requisition Office is the next-to-last keeper (20). The Requisition Officer can also sell you gear and a couple of Licences. Head to the far east of the map, and you'll find the last keeper (21) on the north side of Traffic Control. Inspect the computers Traffic Terminals on the south and east sides of this room for Codex Entries 113, 115, and 116.

Backtrack a bit to the C-Sec Offices and Talk to Chellick. He explains that Jenna is undercover, but you can persuade him to let her go immediately with You don't need her or Pathetic. He still needs you to help him, though. You need to go down to the Wards: Lower Markets and confront Jax. While you're down there, Morlan is a shopkeeper you may want to buy stuff from. You have a couple of options:
1) Kill Jax and his goons either because you try to arrest him or you just don't like him. When you return to Chellick, he'll be pissed, and you won't get much of a reward, but you will get some Renegade Points.
2) Do as you were asked and get the mods. Bring them back to Chellick and he'll be so pleased he'll give you a spare mod for helping. You'll also earn some Paragon Points.

North of Chellick's office is a large room. There you can find a human C-Sec Officer arguing with a volus named Jahleed. Talk to him to learn that he thinks his business partner is trying to kill him. If you're still short one keeper, it should have appeared in the Volus/Elcor Embassy. When you've got it, go to Wards: Lower Markets and approach Chorban. If you've already spoken to him up in the Tower, he'll just talk to you. Otherwise he'll pull a gun and fight you, then surrender. In either case, during the conversation he reveals that Jahleed was the one who betrayed him. As you exit dialog,
1) If Chorban attacked you, you can either kill him or accept his Assignment to scan the keepers, or tell him you've already done it.
2) If you've already spoken to him, but didn't accept his Assignment to scan the keepers, you can get it now.
3) Otherwise you just walk away.

Return to Jahleed in Wards: C-Sec:C-Sec Offices. He reveals that he was hoping you'd kill Chorban for him. You have some options:
1) If you refuse to help him, you can turn him in right then and there.
2) If you refuse to help, and don't turn him in, you can get him to give the data back to the people he stole it from with Then do it legally or Take it back!
3) If you keep him out of jail without using Charm or Intimidate, you can accept his bribe.
4) If you have the "Citadel: Scan the Keepers" Assignment - completed or not - he'll offer it to you, and you can tell him that you're already helping.

Before you leave, go in the office next to Chellik's and Decrypt a computer to get the Assignment "Citadel: Person of Interest." If you don't have the skill to do that, don't worry, because you can still get the Assignment.

Go to Flux. On your way towards the stairs you'll see a cutscene of a salairan being kicked out of the bar. Talk to this salarian, Schells, and he'll ask you to help him scan the Quasar machines. There are two ways to complete this:
1) Give the device immediately to Doran, the owner of Flux. He'll reward you. Return to Schells and tell him you gave it to Doran.
2) Use any of the Quasar machines. Win five times. If you win seven times, Doran will bounce you out. Return to Shells with your results.
Either way, you can go back in to Flux and Dance with Doran. Talk to Rita, who's still standing near the bar, and she'll be happy her sister is back, completing "Citadel: Rita's Sister."

The next Relay you need for "Citadel: Signal Tracking" is in Barla Von's Office in the southwest corner of the Presidium. So go there and Investigate it. Now go through the Emporium and hang a right. Investigate this last Signal Source, and the AI inhabiting it will start a conversation. You can learn about its motives, but eventually it'll initate a self-destruct. You can shoot the nearby Power Junction, but in order to get any credits, you'll need to disarm it through a mini-game. The code varies, and your reward increases with the amount of time left on the timer. Also, you can't use OmniGel on this type of minigame. This completes "Citadel: Signal Tracking" and gives you Codex Entry 37.

Helena Blake is standing across from the Emporium Shopkeeper. She'll give you the Assignment "UNC: Hostile Takeover," which is the continuation of "Citadel: Person of Interest." Of course this involves leaving the station. You'll get the Assignment even if you try to refuse. Just a couple more things before you leave.

Next go to the Volus and Elcor Embassy. Talk to Xeltan, then return to Presidium: Consort Chambers, and Talk to Sha'ira. Regardless of your response, she gives you a Prothean Artifact, which you'll use later while you're out exploring planets. This completes "Citadel: Asari Consort" and "Citadel: Xeltan's Complaint."

Go to the Med Clinic and Talk to Dr. Michel. Accept her thanks. You can buy some Armor Upgrades from her. You can also replenish your MediGel at the Aid Station next to her. Leave to some other part of the station, and when you return, you'll find she's in trouble again. Agree to help her for the Assignment "Citadel: Doctor Michel." Go to Wards: Lower Markets and Talk to Morlan. You can buy supplies from him, and when you ask him about the medical supplies, a krogan blackmailer shows up. Either persuade him to leave the doctor alone or kill him, then return to Dr. Michel. Ask her who Banes is. She tells you to ask Captain Anderson about him, and the Assignment concludes, though there are still two more steps to it.

From here, go to Wards: C-Sec Academy: Docking Bay and Talk to Udina. He and Anderson give you three leads, and three associated Missions: "Find Liara T'Soni," "Feros: Geth Attack," and "Noveria: Geth Interest." Udina then walks away and you're out of dialog. Anderson is still standing there, so Talk to him. Ask about everything, including Banes, and he tells you to ask Rear Admiral Kahoku about him. Upon exiting conversation, you'll have Codex Entries 6 and 29.

Go to the Citadel Tower and Talk to Rear Admiral Kahoku. What you get is a the reason Kahoku gave you his Assignment. Once that conversation is over, go back to the Wards: C-Sec Academy: Docking Bay and Inspect the Normandy Weapons for Codex Entry 45.

That wraps up your first visit to the Citadel. Time to baord the Normandy and explore the Galaxy.

Normandy: 3rd Visit

Board the Normandy, and you'll have to make a speech to your crew. There are three speech trees:
1) The Paragon Way is to choose Humanity must do its part and Everyone is counting on us.
2) The neutral way is to choose the center right options, and therefore make the shortest speech possible.
3) The Renegade Way is to choose Nobody's going to help us and Humanity's in this alone!

Now is a good time to run around the Normandy and speak with your crew. Start with Joker. You can learn a lot about his past. You can get Codex Entry 32. While you're on the Bridge, look out the Viewport to get Codex Entry 105.

Go aft and through either door and down the stairs. On the starboard/right/south side is the Captain's Office. Examine the Personnel Manual to get Codex Entry 99. Kaidan is just north of here, but doesn't have much to say. Go in the center corridor and look at the Sleeper Pod for Codex Entry 112. Dr. Chakwas is in the Medical Bay, but if you've spoken to her before, she'll never have anything new to say.

Go forward and take the elevator down. If you recruited Garrus and Wrex, they'll both be down here in the Vehicle Bay and have things to say. Wrex provides Codex Entry 78. Aslhey is aft of the lockers, but like Kaidan, has little to say. The Alliance Requisition Officer will have some new items for you, especially if you bought some Licenses while on the Citadel. Go aft into the Engineering Bay, and Talk to Engineer Adams to get Codex Entries 30 and 31. Tali is also here, and you can Talk to her to get Codex Entries 81, 82, and 84. Examine the Element Zero Core to get Codex Entry 39.

Return to the top deck and Talk to Navigator Pressly. You can learn about Presley's opinion on aliens. On subsequent visits, Navigator Presley won't have anything new to say. When you exit dialog, you'll have Codex Entry 95. Approach the Galaxy Map and you'll get Codex Entry 19.

Liara's Dig Site

I recommend heading to Therum right away, so you can add Liara to your squad. Open the Galaxy map. Right-click anywhere or left-click the Zoom Out button a couple times to get to the large Galaxy Map. You'll see some tags pointing to circles. Left-Click the one under the tag "Liara's Dig Site" to zoom in on the Artemis Tau Cluster to see the available systems there. Left-Click on Knossos and you'll get a confirmation box asking if you really want to travel to another system. Left-Click Yes. You see a cutscene of the Normandy leaving the Citadel and using a Mass Relay. Before landing on Therum, Survey the planet Archanes and the hidden Carbonaceous Asteroid and Metallic Asteroid. To find them, let your mouse sit still and wait for a flash. Then move your mouse over the flash and click it. This will start the Assignments "UNC: Locate Signs of Battle" and "UNC: Valuable Minerals." You'll also get Codex Entries 61 and 96. Now Land on Therum.

You land in the Mako. The path here is mostly straight forward. Kill the geth already in your path, and also the ones that land in front of you. As the Armatures land, you'll get Codex Entry 74. You'll soon come to a narrowing in the path, guarded by three Geth Turrets and a gate. This is labeled Refinery on the map. One of your squad members will mention there's a back way to the north. Before taking it, you can kill all the turrets and geth anyway for some EXP, but you can't get in that way. So take the path to the north, where there are fewer geth, and only one Turret. There are several more geth, including a Destroyer, in the courtyard. Pick them off from a distance, then drive in and get out of the Mako. (The game doesn't make it very clear, but to get out of a vehicle, press your "Draw/Holster Weapon" button.) There are a copule of containers in the courtyard to loot. In the southeast building is a cowering geth, a container, and the controls to the south gate if you really want to open it. The northwest building has another cowering geth, a lootable container, and the controls to the north gate, which you do need to open.

Get back in the Mako and continue to drive along the only path, killing geth as you go. Eventually you come to a narrow gap with an invisible barrier that the Mako can't go through. So get out and hoof it the rest of the way. There are a bunch of geth to kill as you wind your way up a hill. There will be one short area where you can save before you get to the Mining Camp, where you fight a geth ambush, including an Armature and a Hopper, for which you get Codex Entry 75. When the area is clear, head up the ramp to the east and into the Ruins.

Follow the ramp down, fighting geth as you go. Take the elevator down to the next floor. There is a container immediately to your right as you get off the elevator. Make your way along the catwalk to the next elevator. Some drones will attack you on the way. This elevator will self-destruct on the way down, so just hop off the debris.

Approach the asari behind the force field. Through dialog, you learn that this is the Liara T'Soni, and that she has nothing to do with her mother, Matriarch Benezia. You need to get her out of her predicament before you can leave. Turn around and follow the catwalk east. Geth will appear and attack you on the ground of the cave. At the back of the cave you can loot the containers in the Storage Tents using some Easy Decryption. Once all the geth are dead, backtrack a bit, and you'll see the Mining Laser Controls. Use the control to start a mini-game for unlocking it (the code is random, and can't be overriden with OmniGel). The laser cuts an opening below Liara's cell. Go through and activate the elevator, which will take you up to Liara's level. You go into some dialog before you free her, where you learn the mining laser destablilized the ruins. Then you all hop on the elevator and ride it up...

...into an ambush by some geth led by a krogan. After some dialog with the krogan, you fight them to the death. A cut-scene plays where your squad runs out of the ruins just before they collapse. (Note that the sound effects in this scene are abnormally loud, so have your hand near your computer's volume control.) The scene jumps to the Normandy's Comm Room. All your squad mates are sitting on chairs, and you debrief the mission with them. Be sure to get information about the Protheans from Liara, as this will get you Codex Entry 71. After you dismiss them, Joker will call over the intercom and ask if you'd like to speak with the Council. It makes no difference if you do or not. Liara is now a selectable squad mate.

Normandy: 4th Visit

Be sure to speak with all your existing crew members, as they'll have new things to say. Joker will ask for a medal.

You can further your romance with Kaidan or Ashley, and you also have the option of pursuing Liara, regardless of Shepard's gender. She'll explain why. Liara is hanging out in the Lab and Storage behind Medical.

The Alliance Requisition Officer in the Vehicle Bay will have new items, as will Shepard's Locker outside Medical.

There are several new Codex Entries to pick up:
107 and 117 by Examining the two Heat Load Monitors in the corridor between the Bridge and Galaxy Map;
34 by Looking Outside the Gunnery Station next to Joker;
122 by examining the Point Defense Systems next to Navigator Presley;
104 and 127 through dialog with Kaidan;
54 and 70 through dialog with Liara;
65 and 67 through dialog with Garrus;
106 in Engineering by Examining the Core Charge Status;

1st Explorations

Citadel: 2nd Visit

If you haven't already gotten a radio transmission from Nassana Dantius while out exploring, you'll hear from her, asking you to meet her in the Embassy Lounge. Also, one of three people will appear on the station, depending on which pre-service history you chose during character creation. These paragraphs are labeled A), B), and C), and are in the order you'd find them as you explore the Citadel.

As you exit the Normandy, you will be greeted in the Docking Bay by Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, He asks if you'll let him inspect your ship. You can refuse, but there's an opportunity for Paragon or Renegade Points if you let him. The scene briefly fades to black, to imply that's he's gone aboard and looked around. When he gets back, he makes some comments about the ship. (Note that there are neutral responses possible here as well) The first has to do with the CIC. Next he critiques the Stealth Systems. Thrid, he doesn't like aliens. Lastly, the Admiral asks if you have anything to add. Depending on how you got through the conversation, he'll leave to file either a slightly negative or very negative report. There's no way make the man truly happy. After the conversation ends, you'll have Codex Entry 111. Next time you access the Galaxy Map, Admiral Hacket will debrief you.

Take the elevator down into C-Sec Academy. You'll be ambushed by a reporter with a long name. She looks a lot like Emily Wong, but isn't nearly as nice. If you refuse the interview or end it prematurely, you'll get blamed for a bad interview. For the best reults, opt for the Charm or Intimidate responses. For the last question, choose the neutral right-side "I can't confirm or deny that". Admiral Hacket will debrief you the next time you access the Galaxy Map.

A) If you chose a Colonist pre-service history you'll be contacted by Lieutenant Girard as you exit the elevator from the Docking Bay. He asks you to help talk down a suicidal woman. So get back on the elevator back up to the Docking Bay. Talk to Girard. He gives you a sedative to use on a suicidal woman named Talitha. Approach her at the end of the walkway and Talk to her. You need to get close to her, one small step at a time, so use the Investigate options and take a step forward when you can. When you're close enough, you can Give her the sedative, Use the sedative, or order Girard's sniper to Shoot her, that's an order. Return to Girard for your reward.

B) If you chose an Earthborn pre-service history during character creation, go to the Wards: Chora's Den. Just outside will be Finch. Talk to him. Finch wants you to get one of your old gang-mates out of jail. Go into Chora's Den and talk to the Turian Guard. You now have some choices:
  1) Convince the guard to release the prisoner with either I need your help or Make it negotiable. Return to Finch for your reward.
  2) Don't convince the guard, and Finch will show up to confront you. You then have some real choices:
    a) This won't help you or So what will make him go away.
    b) Shoot him. The guard then compliments you for ridding the galaxy of such scum.
    c) I've got a warning, followed by This changes things, will bribe Finch.

C) If you chose a Spacer pre-service history during character creation, go to the Presidium: Wards Access. Talk to Zabaleta. He claims to have served with your parents, and asks for some spare change. You can tell him I'll give you the money or You're just a drunk. After that, go back to the Normandy: Comm Room and Access the Comm Terminal to have a conversation with your mother. She wants you to convince him to go to the Veteran's Affairs Office. So return to Zabaleta and you'll have two conversation branches.
1) The Veteran's Affairs Office, and I'll give you 20 for food for the Paragon way, which will get him to go.
2) Or for the Renegade way to get him to stay a drunk: No one understands! Waaah!, and Screw you.

In the Wards: Upper Market, you can Talk to Conrad Verner again. You choose whether or not to give him a picture of yourself. Even if you refuse, he'll be back. The merchants here and at the Emporium should all have new items for your perusal.

On the Presidium, just west of the Bank, are two humans arguing about something. Through dialog, you learn that the two are siblings-in-law, and are arguing over whether to get gene therapy for her unborn child. You have to convince one that the other is right. Your first option is either It's still her choice or You're not helping. Next, you say either It's worth it, or Think of the child. The "Citadel: Family Matter" Assignment is over when you exit dialog. You also get Codex Entry 94.

Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson are hanging out in Udina's Office. Udina will comment on your actions on Therum, but they don't have anything else new to say. You can Examine the Navmanual in front of him for Codex Entry 108, if you don't have it already.

In the Embassy Lounge is an asari seated at a table near the bar. Her name is Nassana Dantius, and she's the one who contacted you as you approached the Citadel. She says her sister has been kidnapped, and she wants you to help get her back. Agree to do so, and you'll get the Assignment "UNC: Asari Diplomacy." This involves going to another planet, so deal with it later. Or if you've already dealt with it, she'll reward you. If you tell her I've got a better deal or Credits won't cut it, she'll give you the Armali Council Liscence.

In the Tower is Emily Wong. Assuming you helped with her "Citadel: Reporter's Request" Assignment, she'll be here, working on another story. She wants you to plant a bug in the citadel traffic contol room to help her with a story. After you exit dialog, you have two choices:
1) For the most Paragon or Renegade points, re-enter dialog right away and tell her I've changed my mind, or I already did it.
2) Go to Wards: C-Sec Academy: Traffic Control, and plant the bug in the corner near the keeper. Return to Presidium: Tower and tell Emily It's a good cause or You're welcome. A random elevator will randomly have an announcement about her story.

Rear Admiral Kahoku and Garoth are also in the Tower, and you can turn in their respective Assignments. Turn in any other Assignments you may have completed while out exploring. When you return to the Normanday and access the Galaxy Map, Admiral Hackett will let you know how you did on either the interview with Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani, or Admiral Mikhailovich's inspection. Time to leave.

Feros

Go to Attican Beta Cluster: Theseus System, and Land on Feros. (Tali will provide some extra commentary if you'd like to take her along.)

Exit the Normandy and follow the walkway. You'll come across a panicked human named David al Talaqani. He tells you to speak with the colony's leader Fai Dan, and is then killed by some ambushing geth. Follow the walkway and go up the stairs, killing geth as you go. At the top, you'll see some humans taking cover behind barricades. This is Zhu's Hope. If you talk to anyone, they won't have much to say, and will repeat the instructions of David al Talaqani: Talk to Fai Dan. So run through or around the pre-fab structure to the west and find Fai Dan.

When you do, the conversation is cut short by some attacking geth. When they're down, Fai Dan will ask you to clear out the remaining geth in the area, and will refuse to say anything else. So continue up the stairs, and at the top, go straight/left into an open area. If you see an elevator on your right, you're going the wrong way. A bunch more geth will drop from a ship, and you'll need to kill them all. When clear, return to Fai Dan to tell him the good news. Finally he'll talk to you. He and the woman next to him explain that the geth's main base is at ExoGeni Headquarters. Fai Dan will also ask you to take care of more geth nearby, with "Feros: Geth in the Tunnels."

Before you leave, pick up some optional quests. Inside the large pre-fab structure, Talk to Calantha and Hollis Blake (related to Helena Blake?). She's suffering, and you can have a short but strange conversation with them. In this room you can Examine a Terminal for Codex Entry 130. In the next room is a Terminal you can Decrypt to get the "UNC: Investigate Shipments" Assignment, if you haven't gotten it elsewhere. Also inside is Davin Reynolds. He's in charge of the colony's food and will give the Assignment "Feros: Varren Meat." From him you'll also get Codex Entry 16. Macha Doyle is hunched over a pipe near the entrance to the colony, and will give the Assignment "Feros: Water Restoration." Nearby, working on a vertical machine is May O'Connel, who needs a Power Cell for the Assignment "Feros: Power Cells." Standing by the east side of the pre-fab structure is Ledra, a Salarian merchant. He sells the Haliat Armory License, among other things. Over by the Freighter Crane Controls to the south is Hana Murakami, who acts very strangely. You can ask Fai Dan about the strange behavior of his people, but he's just as evasive as they are.

Having picked up all those Assignments, it's time to complete them. Go past Fai Dan and up the stairs you took earlier. This time, instead of going straight/left where you killed the attacking geth, continue to the right, past the elevator and down some more stairs. You'll be killing geth all through the Tunnels map. In the first little side-corridor, there are two Water Valves, one on either end. Hit them both and continue. Take the first right and go east along the walkway. In the back room is a krogan and more geth guarding the Geth Transmitter. Destroy it, loot the containers, then backtrack and go straight through the door to a large room.

As soon as you enter, you get a cutscene showing you where the Varren are. Kill all the varren, then run further into the room and the Alpha Varren will attack. When it's dead, you'll get a dialog box telling you that it's dead. The Assignment will update telling you to return to Davin Reynolds. Turn around and loot the Fuel Compartment of the broken vehicle for the Power Cells. Loot the Malfunctioning Object and the Sludge Container before going back into the tunnels. Continue north into the next side-corridor. The last Water Valve is at the south end. Keep going north as far as you can, and you'll come across Ian Newstead. Talk to him, or at least try to. As you make your way back to Zhu's Hope, you'll be ambushed by more geth.

Back at the colony, hand in all the Assignments. When you talk to Fai Dan, be sure to mention the strange behavior of Ian. He passses it off as illness, but I'm sure you know better. Go back up the stairs and this time take the elevator to the Skyway. When you get off the elevator, you'll encounter some colonists fending off a Geth Drone. Destroy it, then enter the Mako. Drive out of the garage and follow the very straight Skyway, killing geth along the way. About halfway up along the side is a side passage with some geth and a couple of lootable containers. Get out and kill and loot, then continue on your way. As you continue, you'll hear some radio transmissions. At the first turn you come to there will be a room down and to the Mako's left. Exit the Mako and walk down into the Refugee Camp.

As you approach, you'll enter into conversation with Ethan Jeong and Juliana Baynham. He's panicked, and she's worried about her daughter. Accept her request to find Lizbeth. Talk to Gavin Hossle and accept his Assignment, "Feros: Data Recovery." Get back in the Mako and continue along the Skyway. Along this map are two side passages where you can kill some geth and loot some containers. Exit north in the Mako, and enter the ExoGeni Headquarters garage. The passage is too narrow to drive through, so exit and continue on foot.

Kill the geth in the garage, then unlock the door to the north. Inside this room is a Malfunctioning Object. When you loot it, the Geth Armature comes alive and you'll have to destroy it. Go back out to the south. There's a force field blocking your way, so drop down the hole in the floor. Your main goal now is to deactivate the forcefield to get out. When you exit the trench and enter a large room, Lizbeth Baynham, Juliana's Daughter, will take a shot at you, then apologize. Through dialog you can learn why she's here. She'll also mention somthing about why ExoGeni was here in the first place. Before you leave, she'll hand you her ID to help you access the computers in the compound. When you do turn to leave, a large pack of varren will attack. Put them down, and exit through the passageway to the southwest.

As you go up the stairs, a cutscene will play showing a krogan arguing with a VI. Kill the krogan, then access the VI Terminal. It thinks you're Lizbeth. Just play along and learn all you can from the thing. Continue along the hallways south past the VI, then east, and you'll come to a pair of geth guarding one of the Dropship's Claws. After you kill them, a short cutscene plays where your squad mates discuss the situation. There's a Glowing Orb you can Approach, but it doesn't do anything, other than provide Tali something to comment on. (You may remember a similar orb on Trebin in the mines.) Loot the crate in this room, then continue on.

In the next room, after clearing the geth, go out the narrow passage to the east, and up some staris. (If you're facing the barrier, go right) Kill the three krogan, then Access the console at the far end of the room to download Gavin's data for "Feros: Data Recovery." Go back down the stairs, then straight across the room thorugh the doorway next to the force field and take those stairs up.

In the first room is a Secure Crate you can loot. In the next large room, kill then geth, then access the console to get the Assigment "UNC: Investigate Facility." Go up the nearby stairs, and you'll get a short cutscene where one of your characters mentions you can't take care of the claw, and you see some geth standing around. Go down the other side and clear out the remaining geth. There are a couple of lootable containers here, as well as two Server Nodes that give two more Assignments: "UNC: Investigate Samples" and "UNC: Geth Activities."

Use the Shuttle Bay Door Control at the far end to learn that you need to use the four switches next to it to push in a specific range of PSI to activate the door. You'll need to hit some of the five buttons, and they're labeled with the ammount of PSI they give, so you can do the math. The total you need is 31-34 psi, so 13+11+7=31. Hit those three, then trigger the Control. A cutscene shows the door severing the claw in this room, and the Dropship falling from the building.

Severing the Claw also deactivates all the forcefields. In the little room to the north is a lootable container. Retrace your steps back downstairs, then north through where the force field used to be. Lizbeth will meet you, and you confront her about her knowledge of the Thorian. After the conversation, Lizbeth will get in the Mako with you.

Drive back along the Prothean Skyway. More geth will be there to slow you down. When you reach the Refugee Camp, the Mako will stop, and Lizbeth will run out. Join her. A cutsecne will play showing Ethan trying to arrest Juliana. You can convice Ethan to let her go with What about the big picture? or I'll kill you first. If you don't have enough Charm or Intimidate for those options, then you'll have to kill him by saying either I'm ending this now! or They won't miss you, either. When that situation is resolved, Lizbeth and Juliana will explain that the colonists have been taken over by the Thorian. They will give you the Anti-Thorian Gas upgrade no matter your response, and it's your option to equip it. Agreeing to use it will earn you Paragon Points, trying to refuse will earn Renegade Points. Before you leave, give the OSD to Gavin to complete "Feros: Data Recovery."

Get back in the Mako and drive back to Zhu's Hope. If you're a Renegade, don't equip the Anti-Thorian Gas, and instead kill everything. If you're a Paragon, do equip the gas, and use grenades on all the colonists to knock them out. The gas grenades also instantly kill any creepers, so feel free to use them if you have enough. You'll earn Paragon Points for each colonist who survives, and Renegade Points for each one you kill. The Thorian Creepers you can kill with no penalty. Also keep in mind that if you haven't turned in the colonists' Assignments, you obviously won't be able to after they're dead. The vendor Ledra won't be around either.

Your objective is to activate the crane controls on the south side of the pre-fab buildings. You'll have to take care of all the colonists and creepers first. A cut-scene plays showing the fate of Fai Dan. Go down the stairs to the north, and approach the Thorian. It spews out a clone of a captured Asari, and speaks through her. Learn all you can from her (it?). Eventually the Thorian gets pissed off and the Clone attacks you, along with a group of Creepers. Take out the Asairi Clone first, as she's a real threat. Note that knocking any enemy off the edge will kill it.

You have to destroy six Thorian Nodes to kill the thing. Each one is guarded by a group of inactive Thorian Creepers. They'll activate one at a time as you shoot a node. So if you're having trouble fighting them all at once, fire off only a few rounds into a Node, and kill the Creepers in smaller groups. Also, a fresh Asari Clone will come for you after each node is destroyed. When the last node is destoryed, the original Asari emerges from a pod, and you enter into conversation with her. After learning all about the Cipher, you can let her live to help the colonists rebuild by saying A noble idea and Sounds good to me, or you can kill her by saying I can't let you live. After conversation, you'll be back in Zhu's Hope, with the fresh Codex Entries 33 and 56. If you chose to help the colonists, they'll be back and thankful. In any event, head back to the Normandy.

During the debrief, if Liara is on board, she'll offer to help you make sense of your new visions. There are also some opportunities for Paragon or Renegade points, depending on your dialog choices. When you dismiss everyone, you have the choice of whether or not to report in to the Council.

Normandy: 5th Visit

Time once again to visit with your crew members.

Speaking with Kaidan gives you Codex Entry 126, and if you're female, you can further your romance with him or tell him you prefer Liara.

Speaking with Liara will unlock Codex Entry 57, and you can further your romance with her regardless of Shepard's gender.

Speak with Garrus to unlock Codex Entry 64. He'll also offer the Assignment "Garrus: Find Dr. Saleon." If you accept, it opens up Kepler Verge: Herschel System: MSV Fedele.

Talk to Ashley to learn more about her, unlock Codex Entry 97, and to further a romance with her if Shepard is male.

Speak with Wrex to get Codex Entry 77. He'll also offer the Assignment "Wrex: Family Armor," if you haven't done it already.

Talking to Tali will unlock Codex Entries 83 and 86. She'll also mention she'd like some information on the Geth as part of her Pilgrimage. She won't give you the Assignment, but it's part of "UNC: Geth Incursions," assuming you haven't already completed it. Also, she won't converse with you if you've been rude to her in the past.

The Alliance Requisition Officer and Shepard's Locker will have new stuff.

Assuming you've completed two plot worlds, when you go to use the Galaxy Map, Joker will tell you about a priority transmission from the Council. You'll have to go to the Comm Room and deal with it before you can use the Galaxy Map again. The Council gives you the Missions "Virmire" and "Race Against Time." Upon exiting the conversation, you'll have Codex Entry 27.

You can go straight to Virmire, continue with Noveria, or complete some new Assignments that will have opened up, including some in the Maroon Sea Cluster which continue the story of the Thorian and ExoGeni. I recommend the latter.

2nd Explorations

Again, you may want to hold off on exploring until after the next plot world. The only Assignments that disappear are the ones on the Citadel.

Noveria

Go to Horse Head Nebula: Pax, and Land on Noveria (You're chasing Liara's mother here, and taking the daughter along will provide some extra dialog.)

Exit the Normandy and follow the walkway. You'll be confronted by some security personnel. Partway through the conversation, someone on a loudspeaker intervenes for you. From the Docking Bay, go north through Customs. You'll be stopped and forced to talk to Gianna Parasini, who asks you to meet her in Administrator Anoleis's Office. If Liara is in your squad, she'll ask if you want her to stay. If she's not with you, one of your squad members will suggest perhaps she should be. It's totally up to you, and doesn't affect anything other than some dialog.

After this conversation, turn around and talk to Maeko Matsuo, the Captain who stopped you earlier. You can improve your standing with the local guards by saying Forget about it, or you can worsen it by saying Humiliating, wasn't it?. The rest of her conversation can be interesting, too.

Take the elevator up into Port Hanshan. The goal here is to get a Garage Pass so you can continue on your way. There are a two different ways to get it.

The Quick Way

The More EXP Way

From the elevator down from Customs, take a left and go southeast into the Administration Office. Talk to Gianna Parasini. She can tell you about the facilities and corporations on Noveria. Ask to see Anoleis, then head around the partition and Talk to him. After the pleasantries, you can grill him on Saren and Benezia. Tell him you need to see Benezia, and he'll say you can't get there. On your way out of the office, Gianna Parasini will call you over. Talk to her and she'll mention a way to get the Garage Pass.

Leave the Administration Office and go northwest across the Plaza. Enter the Hotel Lobby. Talk to Mallene Calis. She wants you to distract Rafael Vargas over by the bar while she uploads a virus to his company's network. You have several choices:
1) Turn her down with Not this time. This gets you the most Paragon Points.
2) Accept her Assignment. Talk to Rafael Vargas and tell him what Mallene Calis asked you to do. Return to Mallene and tell her I told him about you.
3) Accept her Assignment and ask her about anything else she knows about him. While talking to Rafael Vargas, you'll have to make four Charm or Intimidate choices, then the device Mallene gave you will beep. Return to Mallene and tell her It's done. You can then Charm or Intimidate her into giving you more credits.
4) Accept her Assignment. Talk to Rafael Vargas and tell him what Mallene Calis asked you to do. Return to Mallene and tell her [Lie] It's done. You can then Charm or Intimidate her into giving you more credits. This gets you the most Renegade Points.

Next, Talk to Lorik Qui'in. You can grill him about leaving Hanshan and Benezia. Eventually, choose the "Lorik Qui'in?" option. He wants you to get some data out of his office. First, go up the stairs to the northwest, then across the bridge to the south. You can disable the security systems in Qui'in's office by Decrypting the Security Control Unit here. By doing this, you can also get the Assignment "UNC: Dead Scientists," if you haven't done it already. Take the elevator back down to the Plaza, then go south (turn right off the elevator). Take the corridor to the west and use the elevator to enter Synthetic Insights.

Upon entering, you'll be confronted by some guards. You can get them to leave peacefully with either You're here illegally, or You can't take us. Regardless of whether you fight them or not, you'll have to fight a second set of guards as you make your way upstairs to the office at the end of the walkway and Open Lorik Qui'in's Computer to grab the data. On your way out, Kira Stirling tries to stop you, and you'll have to kill her no matter what you say. There are a number of lootable containers both upstairs and downstairs, as well.

When you exit the elevator back in Port Hanshan, Gianna Parasini stops you and asks you to meet her in the Hotel Lobby and speak to her before speaking to Lorik Qui'in. You then have some choices:
1) Go to the Hotel Lobby, snub Gianna and go directly to Lorik Qui'in. He'll give you the Garage Pass.
2) Snub both Gianna and Lorik, and present the evidence to Anoleis in the Administration Office. You can then blackmail him, and he'll give you the Garage Pass and a bunch of credits.
3) Go to the Hotel Lobby and Talk to Gianna Parasini first. Then convince Lorik Qui'in to testify against Anoleis. The Charm or Intimidate options will get you the most Paragon or Renegade points here, respectively. You then have two sub-choices here:
  a) Meet Gianna Parasini in the Administration Office to have Anoleis arrested. Gianna will then give you the Garage Pass. This will get you some Paragon Points.
  b) Go to Anoleis in the Administration Office, and tell him Gianna is an undercover agent. He'll call her into his office, and they'll both be killed in the shootout. This gets you several Renegade Points. Loot the Garage Pass from Anoleis's corpse. Maeko Matsui shows up and you have to talk you way out of there. Lastly, you'll want to return to Lorik Qui'in to give the evidence back to him, seeing as how he's the only one alive who can use it.

However you got the Garage Pass, head to the southwest side of the Plaza towards the Garage. You can Talk to Lilihierax to learn something about what's going on at Peak 15. Show the ERCS guard your pass, and go in the door. A scene will show some geth activating, and you'll need to kill them. There's a vehicle blocked by crates that you can Unlock and use the turret on to help. Maeko Matsuo shows up once they're all clear. If you like, you can Talk to her and let her know there are geth around.

Continue through the hallway and get in the Mako. Drive out into Aleutsk Valley. Follow the road to the end, killing geth along the way. There are also a few crates and kits you can loot. Just don't spend too much time outside the Mako, as you'll eventually freeze to death. Finally you'll come to a dead end, where you'll exit the Mako and enter the Peak 15 Garage on foot. Kill the krogan and geth inside. Go up the ramp to the southeast and double back. Follow the walkway and hang a left, taking the elevator to Peak 15 Administration.

Go straight out into the Cafeteria and fight some geth. As you make your way up the stairs and down the hallway, some rachni will attack. When they're dead, go in the room to the north and Decrypt a Terminal to learn some information relevant to the Assignment "Citadel: Asari Diplomacy," assuming you haven't already completed it. In both side rooms are lootable containers. You can also Open a Terminal in the northwest room to get Codex Entry 122.

Take the elevator to the south up to the Peak 15: Mira Core. Use the Power junction to turn power on to the local VI, then go west up the stairs and down into the Mira Core itself. Either Decrypt the puzzle or use Omni-Gel to activate Mira. The VI tells you can't continue until you take care of two problems first.

Opposite Mira's core is a corridor to an elevator. This takes you up to the roof. Kill some rachni, then activate the Landline Console to the north. Loot the container up here, then take the elevator back down.

From Mira's core, backtrack to the room with the Power Junction, but beware the surprise rachni. Take the unlocked door to the north. Follow the corridor around and take the elevator down. Exit the elevator and follow the corridor to a room. Take either door out, and kill geth along the walkway until you come to the opposite side of the room. Activate the reactor. There is some loot in the room above. Follow the ramp to the south up to get to it.

Backtrack to the junction room, beware another surprise rachni, then go through the now open door to the south. Follow the corridor to the south. and take the elevator up. You'll come to two doors, one of which is locked. The locked one is the one you need to get through. There are three ways to do this: 1) Activate the Mira Terminal and tell her to open it; 2) Decrypt or use Omni-Gel on the locked door; 3) use Electronics or Omni-Gel on the Plasma Purge Control to incinerate the rachni. Any way you do it, go through the now-open door, through the corridor, and get on the Tram.

When the Tram stops, go north, then west, and down the only elevator you can get on at the moment. When you get off the elevator, you'll enter into conversation with Captain Ventralis. He'll volunteer some information about the Matriarch. By saying either You survived somehow or This place is vulnerable, you can get information about the station's defenses, and he'll tell you that Dr. Olar can provide more information about the Rachni. Lastly, he opens the elevator to the Hot Labs, which you'll visit later. When you exit conversation, you'll be attacked by some rachni. Once they're dead, Talk to the Captain again and he'll thank you.

Continue north through the hallway and Talk to the folks in the Medical Bay. The Asari Alestia Iallis is meditating, and you can learn why she's so calm. Dr. Palon is a Salarian taking a nap. He doesn't tell you anything you don't already know, but there is a Medical Kit you can loot near him. Petozi is an Elcor merchant. If you don't already have them, he can sell you the Medigel Upgrade II, the Kassa Fabrication License, and the Sirta Foundation License. The Guard Barracks to the southeast have several Lockers you can loot. There are three exits from the west side of this room.

The middle ramp leads down to the Lower Medical Bay. Dr. Zev Cohen is here, and needs your help finding a cure for some infected scientists. You'll have to say I need more to help or Tell me everything to get the Assignment "Noveria: Quarantine." Return to Captain Ventralis and if you're willing to risk contamination, he'll open the door to the Quarantine Labs. To get there, go back to the Medical Bay and take the southwest exit. Use the elevator to go down.

Han Olar is a perfectly sane volus who can tell you what these bugs are. Talk to the ERCS guard to the south and he'll unlock the door for you. Inside are three smaller rooms, and there's loot in two of them. There's a console to the south you need to use to make the cure. You need the amount of several materials for a cure. Click once to start the bar moving, then click it again when it's between the two arrows. Do this several times, and when it's ready, you'll be ambushed by Alestia Iallis, who admits to being a servant of Matriarch Benezia. Kill her and her geth companions, then exit the room.

One of your squadmates remarks that Alestia killed the ERCS guard who let you in, so you needn't worry about passing his contamination test. Talk to Han Olar again and he'll tell you where your attackers came from. Unfortunately, you need a pass to get there. Return to Dr. Cohen and give him the cure. In exchange, he'll give you the Maintenance Tunnel Pass. You can also get some Medi-Gel out of him by saying either Got any medi-gel? or I need more.

Next stop is the Secure Lab. There are two ways to get there:
1) If you feel like fighting all the guards, including Captain Ventralis, exit the Med Bay to the north and Decrypt the lock on the door. The door will open, but all the sentry bots and the guards become hostile. Fight your way north through the corridors and take the elevator down.
2) Take the elevator back down to the Barracks. With the Maintenance Tunnel Pass, the door to the north will just open for you automatically. Continue north through the tunnels.

Upon entering, you'll go into conversation with the Matriarch. After this, she'll call in waves of soldiers. Ignore the boss lady and just kill her minions. She gets weaker with every wave you kill. When the last wave is dead, Benezia will talk to you again. After the conversation, you'll have to kill her and some more of her minions. You'll get Codex Entry 33, if you didn't already have it.

A nearly-dead asari comes to life and becomes a communication device for the Rachni Queen. You can learn a lot about the Rachni through dialog. You then must choose whether to Spare or Exterminate the Rachni Queen. This is worth about two dozen Paragon or Renegade Points. Whatever your decision, the queen will have asked you to eliminate her remaining corrupted children.

Work your way back towards the tram. (There's a previously locked door that will lead to a shortcut - the door has the image of a tram above it.) If you leave now, Noveria's Board of Directors will bomb the place to contain the Rachni. On the other hand, you can do this yourself for more EXP. Instead of getting on the tram, go west and take the left elevator, which was previously locked, down to the Hot Labs (has the image of a flask with flames under it). You'll find Yaroslev Tartakovsy sitting on a chair, breathing is last breaths. He'll tell you how to set off the neutron purge. Before he can give you the code, a Rachni Soldier pops up and kills him. Take out the rachni, then loot the code from Yaroslev Tartakovsy's corpse. Continue in to the next room and Access the Mira Terminal. Give her the code and a countdown will start. Many rachni will attack you. Kill as many as you can, but get to the elevator before time expires.

Now take the Tram back to Port Hansham. Mercifully, you don't have to walk, then drive, then walk some more. Instead, you'll be teleported to the Normandy: Comm Room, and again you can earn Paragon or Renegade points through your conversation choices. Choose whether or not to talk to the Council. If you do talk to them, they won't like your decision vis-a-vis the Rachni Queen, regardless of whether you killed her or set her free.

After the council chastises you, and if you've been pursuing romances with two of your squadmates, Liara and one of the humans (depending on Shepard's gender) will show up and demand you make a decision. If you try to say Can't I have both of you?, you'll wind up with neither.

Normandy: 6th Visit

Time once again to visit with your crew members.

Kaidan will unlock Codex Entry 58, but if you're female and chose romance with Liara, he'll need some comforting first.

Liara doesn't have anything new to say, but you can confort her if you chose romance with someone else.

Garrus needs his mind eased about ever catching Saren. You can also exchange opinions on what the Council might do with Saren when you do finally catch him. Upon exiting dialog you get Codex Entry 66.

Ashley is celebrading Armistace Day. You can learn about her grandfather's role in the First Contact War. Upon exiting dialog, you get Codex Entry 109.

Wrex will talk about life as a mercenary, and you'll get Codex Entry 80.

Tali will thank you for accepting her on your ship, assuming you've been nice to her thus far.

The Alliance Requisition Officer and Shepard's Locker will have new stuff. You could go straight to Virmire, but now is another excellent opportunity to complete some new Assignments and continue exploring the galaxy.

3rd Explorations

The whole Galaxy Map should be accessible now, and now's a good time to complete all of the Assignments you haven't finished yet.

Virmire

Go to Sentry Omega Cluster: Hoc System and Land on Virmire. For some reason, this time you find yourself on foot, outside the Mako. Promise Joker you'll take out the AA towers, then enter the Mako. Drive along the path provided, killing geth along the way. There are some native creatures roaming around, but killing them will have no effect on the game. Eventually you will come to a Gatehouse. The gates are open, but feel free to get out and kill the geth guarding it, and loot the lockers upstairs.

The path will split soon. Both ways lead to the same place: the AA Tower. You can double-back along the other path if you want the extra EXP from kiling geth. Again get out of the Mako and kill geth as you head up stairs and deactivate the AA Tower and open the gate. Get back in the Mako and drive through the now-open gate. There's another Gatehouse up ahead. Repeat what you did at the last Gatehouse, then go through the last gate. As you approach the Salarian Camp, you'll exit the Mako and enter conversation with Captain Kirahe.

After talking to Captain Kirahe, you'll have the option to do a couple of things around the camp. First you should deal with Wrex, assuming you recruited him into your crew. Talk to Wrex. He's pissed that you want to destroy Saren's "cure" for the Genophage. You can talk him down with These aren't your people! or Don't be so naive. This isn't necessary if you've previously completed the Assignmnet "Wrex: Family Armor." Talking him down also gets you the Charismatic Achievement. Or if you want him dead, you can either 1) signal Ashley to kill him, or 2) kill him yourself.

In a tent nearby, Decrypt the Communications Relay to get Codex Entry 59 . In the other tent is a Medical Station you can loot by Decrypting it. Also in that tent is Commander Rentola, who will sell you the Armali Council License, and the Elanus Risk Control License.

When you're ready, Talk to Captain Kirahe again. He'll explain the plan and you'll choose between Kaidan and Ashley who you want on Kirahe's team. The choice only affects who's available in your own squad. Be sure to explore all the dialog options to get Codex Entries 60 and 62.

(A spoiler note about plot here. One of your squad mates will die. Between Kaidan or Ashley, I recommend sending the one you want to survive away with one of the Salarian Teams. When the bomb arrives, the other will stay with it to arm it. When you get the choice, choose to continue on to the AA Tower to save that squadmate. Death by nuke is, in my humble opinion, a much more noble and dramatic death.)

You'll drop into a new area. "Virmire: Assisting Kirrahe's Team" enters your Assignment page automatically. There are four things you need to do to assist. From the start of the mission, go north. Up on the platform is a Triangulation Tower you can Disrupt (1). Continue west, and you'll come to another platform. Shoot the Sattelite Uplink at the top of the structure (2). At the next fork, go north, and shoot the Fuel Tanks. Also destroy all the drones in the area (3). From the Refueling Platform take either path and go west across a bridge. Get past the geth resistance, and go through the door.

Once inside the entryway of the base, you'll come to a Security Console. This is the last bit of help you can give Kirahe's Team. You then have a choice to handle some extra geth yourself withThey've got enough trouble (4), or send them to Captain Kirahe with They can handle it. "Virmire: Assisting Kirrahe's Team" completes either way, but the salarians will only survive if you take on the extra forces yourself.

Enter the Warehouse and go south through Maintenance into the Security Office. After you've killed the indoctrinated and used the Security Interface to Deactivate the Alarms, you'll notice there are three ways down. Take the northernmost stairs down into Cell Block A. Here you'll meet Lieutenant Ganto Imness. You can free him and the other salarians for some Paragon Points, or leave him to rot and kill his buddies for some Renegade points.

Go back up stairs and take the southernmost stairs up to Cell Block B. Menos Avot is the leader of another salairan group, but one that was experimented on. You can free him for some Paragon Points, but the other cells open up at the same time, and you'll have to kill everyone. Take the stairs on the south side of this room down to the Storage Room. There are some indoctrinated to kill here, as well as stairs down to the Maintenance Bay and some lootable containers.

The door down here is locked, so go back up to the Security Office and this time take the elevator in the middle down to the Genophage Labs. Here you'll need to kill a krogan scientist and some husks. Loot the stuff in the room, then go through the door to the west, and hang a left. Kill some more geth on the outdoor walkway, and go through the door. Talk to the asari scientist Rana Thanoptis, and choose to let her go or kill her. Go through the next door, across a walkway, through a couple more doors, and take an elevator. In the next room, approach the Beacon to trigger a vision. Go back up the ramp and approach the big red hologram. This is Sovereign, and you should learn what you can from it.

When the conversation is over, go back through the office where you met the asari scientist, and continue straight ahead north. A bridge will lower and you can go across it north, fighting some krogan as you go. Once through the door, follow the walkway around, and killing some geth as you go. The two lower areas have some lootable containers. At the top of the stairs, Deactivate the Turret Controls, then take the elevator on the opposite wall. As it opens, geth will spill out of it, and more will approach from the direction you just came.

You're now in the Krogan Breeding Grounds. Fight some geth in eastern Breeding Trench, then go through the door and wait for the Normandy to set down. The nuke will be offloaded, and the squadmate you chose to do so will stay here and arm the bomb. After the cutscene, you'll need to continue through the door opposite from which you entered. Fight some more geth and krogan in the western Breeding Trench, then take the elevator up. As you approach the balcony, another scene will trigger, in which you must choose to save either the character you left with the nuke, or the one with the other team at the AA Battery. The one you don't help will die.

If you choose to go back to the nuke, go back the way you just came. If you choose to go on to the AA Tower, stay up on this level and follow the railing, go through a door, down some steps, and take the elevator down. Either way you go, you will confront Saren. You'll enter conversation with him, during which you can try to persuade him not to fight with Join me or Sovereign will betray you. Unfortunately, you have to fight him anyway. Just when you're about to finish him off, a cutscene plays where Saren escapes, and the Normandy shows up to rescue you.

You'll wind up in the Normandy's Comm Room, mourning the death of the squadmate you left behind. Liara will again ask if you want to join minds to help clarify the new information from the Beacon on Virmire. Choose whether to report in to the council. When you exit dialog, you'll have Codex Entry 28.

Normandy: 7th Visit

Time once again to visit with your crew members.

If you saved Kaidan, he'll offer some words on Ashley's death. If you're female and pursuing a romance with him, he'll state that he'll be ready after Saren has been dealth with.

Liara will inquire about the nightmares you've been having as a result of the Prothean Beacons. You can also further your romance with her.

Garrus doesn't have much new to say, other than to thank you for helping him thus far. You'll get Codex Entry 68 from him.

If you saved Ashley, she'll offer some words on Kaidan's death. If you're male and pursuing a romance with her, she'll state that she'll be ready after Saren has been dealth with.

If Wrex survived his encounter with you, he will say only that he respects your choice.

No matter what choices you made regarding Kirahe's team, they'll be in the Vehicle Bay. Captain Kirahe offers some words of condolance over your lost crew member. Rentola will only offer stuff for sale if you helped Kirahe's team and completed "Virmire: Assisting Kirrahe's Team."

The Alliance Requisition Officer and Shepard's Locker will of course have new stuff.

When you activate the Galaxy Map, you'll immediately be taken back to the Citadel, so make sure you've completed your rounds before doing so.

Citadel: 3rd Visit

As soon as you land, you'll be in the Council Chambers. Because of the political implications of pursuing Saren at this point, Ambassador Udina grounds the Normandy. After the conversation, you'll be back on the Normandy. You'll take out your frustration by punching your locker, then if you're pursuing a romance, your love interest will comfort you. Unfortunately, before things can go any further, Joker interrupts with news that Captain Anderson wants you to meet him at Flux.

Before you meet with Anderson, there are several things left to do elsewhere on the Citadel. Firstly, turn in any Assignments that are left to be turned in. There are also a couple of new Assignments you can find and complete. Do these now, because this is your last chance.

Go to Wards: Med Clinic. In the middle of the open area are a bunch of anti-alien protesters. Talk to Charles Saracino, their leader, to get Codex Entry 101, and the Assignment "Citadel: Our Own Worst Enemy." If Ashley and Garrus are with you, they'll comment on some the Investigate lines of inquiry. Turning down his request for an endorsement earns you some Paragon Points, whereas agreeing to help his cause earns you Renegade Points.

Even if your Assignment log shows "The Fan" as completed, Conrad Verner may be back in the Wards: Upper Markets. This time he wants to become a Spectre. No matter what you say to him, this time, the Assignment "The Fan" is truly complete.

Go to Wards: Flux Access. Elias Keeler will be at the base of the steps leading to the entrance. Talk to him to learn that he wants a stimulant to help him through some tough negotiations. You can end the Assignment right away with either You need help or No, you'll go now. If you agree to help him, go to the Med Clinic and buy either the Mental Stimulant or the Depressant from Dr. Michel. Return to Elias. If you give him the Mental Stimulant, you get some credits and that's it. Or you can Give him the depressant for some Renegade points.

When you've wrapped up your business on the Citadel, go to Flux and Talk to Captain Anderson. He proposes himself breaking in to Citadel Control to override the controls holding the Normandy. You can ask him for another option, and he'll suggest Udina's Office. It's your choice or his, and the only effect is which cutscene you see. Note that this is your last opportunity to buy anything from the merchants on the Citadel.

When you're ready, go to the Docking Bay and board the Normandy. When the Normandy is free, you can go anywhere in the Galaxy. This is the last time you'll be free to go exploring, so I highly recommend finishing up any exploration, Scanning, or Assignments now. It's also the last time to speak with your crew. Joker, Presley, Chakwas, and Adams will even comment on being fugitives.

Ilos

Go to Pangaea Expanse: Refuge System and Land on Ilos. This apparently takes some time, because Shepard finally gets to have sex with your romantic interest during a cutscene. (Assuming you were romancing anyone, that is.) The scene then shifts to your dramatic landing on Ilos. When you choose your party here, know that these folks will be with you until the end. This is a Prothean world, so Liara will have some extra things to say if you bring her.

You'll automatically get Codex Entry 25. (Save in a fresh slot here, as there's a possible bug later.) Your first task is to open the big doors so you can take the Mako after Saren. So turn around on foot and head south. Kill geth as you make your way through the ruins. Where the Geth Armatures are is where you need to go. If you don't want to fight them, go down the nearby ramp to the west and fight some minor geth. (This area can be confusing the first time through, so use your map for orientation.) On the lower level, use the Armature Control panel to disable the Armatures upstairs. Continue through the Lower Ruins, and you'll come up just past the Armatures.

Hang a right, and follow the corridor west, then south. Turn east and make your way south through the Courtyard. On the east side is an elevator that will take you up to a Secrue Crate. Shepard is too much of a wuss to jump down a few feet, so take the elevator back down and run up the ramp to the south. Exit via the elevator in the southwest corner to the Security Station.

Kill the tough geth here, possibly with the aid of the Armatures, which you can activate Decrypting or Overriding the Armature Repair Stations in front of them. Make your way north through the Armature Bay, and up one of the ramps to the sides. Open the Security Panel to open the big doors. After the uninteligible message, go back down a ramp and continue north. Take the elevator back to near where the Mako is parked and get in.

Bug: It's possible, if you save here and quit the game, that upon reloading the doors will be closed. Backtracking doesn't help. The safest thing to do is restart Ilos, or load a save from before the doors were opened. If you don't want to do that, cheat with the console. Start with ghost to get through the doors, then walk, followed by spawnvehicle to get a Mako. Oddly, the spawned vehicle is really weak, and will get killed easily in the final run, and you'll have to cheat again.

Follow the trench north until the Mako gets trapped. Get out and take the the elevator to the east. Walk forward and you'll talk to Vigil. There is an excessive amount of conversation here, but you can finally learn what this game is about. (Get a good look at the stasis pods here: you may see one again in ME3.)

Back in the Mako, drive through the trench. There are, of course, some geth to kill along the way. Eventually you come to a stop, and a cutscene takes place. When the cutscene is done, drive straight at the mini Mass Effect Relay. There's a timer before it closes, so unfortunately you don't have time to stop and kill the geth in your way.

Bug: If you cheated earlier to get through the bugged doors, you'll need to cheat here again, as the spawned Mako will die after a couple of shots, even on the easiest difficulty setting. After the cutscene, get out of the Mako and fly. Then superspeed to just in front of the relay and walk to drop down to the ground. spawnvehcle, then get in the fresh Mako and drive through.

Citadel: Finale

Another cutscene, and you find yourself on the Citadel: Presidium. Some husks activate as you approach the elevator. Kill them. You can Talk to Avina to get a status report, but the only place to go is the elevator up to the Tower, so get in. A cutscene plays, and you wind up running in your mag boots along the outside of the Tower.

Make your way along the Maintenance Shaft, eliminating any resistance along the way. In the Exhaust Plain, you'll come to an open area where a geth dropship will offload twelve troops. You must down not only them but the dropship as well. Run around and activate the three Defense Turrents to take out the ship while you handle the troopers. Past these is the Exterior Defense Grid. There are three Geth Heavy Turrets and a bunch of geth troopers to get past in the wide open area. If you don't like the Turrets, you can take the path down a ramp to the east/left and fight some krogan instead.

Finally you arrive in the Council Chambers. Make your way up the stairs, fighting geth along the way, then Saren will attack you. You'll have the possibility of forcing him to kill himself through dialog, if your Charm or Intimidate Talents are maxed out. Start with We can beat them! or They'll betray you! Followed by Don't give in to them! or You gave up!. Then finish with That's not true! or It's never too late!

Otherwise you'll have to fight him. When he's dead, you approach the control panel and have to choose whether to Save the council or Let the Council die. Lastly, Saren's implants activate, and you have to fight that creature. If you were paying attention to the previous conversation, Saren just explained why this is possible. When that thing is vanquished, the Mission is over.

The ending cutscene is interrupted in the middle when you get a choice of who to appoint as humanity's member on the Citadel Council. You have three choices: Anderson, Udina, or let the politicians decide. This decision, as well as many others throughout the game, will have effects if you import your save games into Mass Effect 2. Enjoy the end credits!

last modified 22 March 2018