Mass Effect 2 Walkthrough: Part 2, Loyalty Missions to the Suicide Mission

This is part 2 of our Mass Effect 2 walkthrough for the Legendary Edition. It starts after the Collector Ship and covers every loyalty mission, the three ship upgrades that matter, the Reaper IFF, Legion, and the Suicide Mission with role picks that keep everyone alive.

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The whole trilogy walkthrough

The right order for this part

The order matters more here than anywhere else in the trilogy. Follow it and you can save everyone.

1. Do every loyalty mission you have (all except Legion's).
2. Buy the three key ship upgrades.
3. Do the Reaper IFF mission.
4. Activate Legion and do his loyalty mission.
5. When the Collectors attack the Normandy, go straight to the Omega 4 Relay. No side trips.

1. Loyalty missions (short version)

Each squadmate gets a personal mission after you talk to them on the Normandy. A loyal squadmate is much more likely to survive the Suicide Mission, and it unlocks their bonus power. Here is what to know for each one.

• Miranda: The Prodigal (Illium). Protect her sister Oriana from Eclipse mercs. Any ending makes her loyal.
• Jacob: The Gift of Greatness (Aeia). Find out what happened to his father's crashed ship. Loyal either way.
• Garrus: Eye for an Eye (Citadel). Track down Sidonis, the man who betrayed his squad. Shoot him or let him go: Garrus is loyal either way, as long as you finish the mission.
• Mordin: Old Blood (Tuchanka). Find his old student Maelon in a Blood Pack-held clinic. Keep or destroy the data; both give loyalty.
• Jack: Subject Zero (Pragia). Explore the ruined facility where she grew up. Loyal at the end.
• Grunt: Rite of Passage (Tuchanka). A krogan trial against waves of beasts and then a thresher maw. Survive until the timer ends, or kill it if you can. Keep moving between pillars.
• Thane: Sins of the Father (Citadel). Stop his son Kolyat from making a terrible mistake. Mostly talking and tailing a target. Loyal at the end.
• Samara: The Ardat-Yakshi (Omega). Use yourself as bait to lure Morinth in the Afterlife club. At the end, side with Samara to keep Samara. Siding with Morinth swaps them: Morinth joins and is loyal, Samara is gone. Save before this one.
• Tali: Treason (Migrant Fleet). Tali is on trial. Do not show the evidence against her father, or she won't be loyal. Instead, win the case with a Paragon or Renegade option, or by rallying the crowd. Rallying needs Kal'Reegar alive and Veetor sent with Tali in part 1.
• Zaeed: The Price of Revenge (Zorya). Zaeed wants Vido, his old partner. If you stop to save the refinery workers, Zaeed is not loyal unless you pass a Paragon or Renegade option at the end.
• Kasumi: Stolen Memory (Bekenstein). A heist at Donovan Hock's party. Keep or destroy the graybox at the end; both work. The final fight is against Hock's gunship.
• Legion: A House Divided. Comes after the Reaper IFF. See below.

Loyalty conflicts

Two pairs argue once both are loyal: Miranda and Jack, and Tali and Legion. You need a high enough Paragon or Renegade score for the blue or red option that calms both down. If you can't, one of them loses loyalty. Save before you talk to them. Do lots of Paragon or Renegade choices earlier so your bar is high.

2. The three ship upgrades you need

These come up in conversation and then appear in the research lab on the Normandy. Talk to these three crew members often until the option appears.

• Heavy Ship Armor (Silaris Armor): from Jacob.
• Multicore Shielding: from Tali.
• Thanix Cannon: from Garrus.

Without each one, a squadmate can die during the jump to the Collector base, even if they are loyal. They cost a lot of minerals, so scan planets. Miranda's mineral scanner upgrade makes scanning much faster.

3. Reaper IFF and Legion

When you are ready, take the Reaper IFF mission. You board a dead Reaper to get the device that lets the Normandy pass the Omega 4 Relay.

• The Reaper is full of Husks. Area powers and shotguns help. Watch out for Scions and Abominations.
• A geth helps you from a distance. You meet it later.
• Grab the IFF from the core, then destroy the Reaper's core. Shoot it when its shields open while husks keep coming. Kill husks that get close, then go back to the core.

Back on the Normandy, you can activate the geth: Legion. Do it. Then do his loyalty mission, A House Divided, a fight through a geth station. Rewrite or destroy the heretics: both give loyalty. Then deal with the Tali and Legion argument if it comes up.

4. The crew abduction: go now

After the IFF, the Collectors soon attack the Normandy and take the crew. You play a short section as Joker. After that, go straight to the Omega 4 Relay. Every extra mission costs crew lives. If you go at once, the whole crew can be saved.

5. The Suicide Mission: everyone survives

Save before you jump. The game asks you to fill roles. These picks are the safe ones, and every pick must be loyal.

The Omega 4 Relay

Here your ship upgrades are checked. If you bought all three, nobody dies.

Infiltration

Pick the tech specialist to crawl through the vents and a fire team leader for the second team. Fight with your squad to open the valves. Your tech specialist survives if they are loyal and right for the job, and the leader is too.

The Long Walk

Pick a biotic to hold a barrier around your squad while you walk through the swarm. Stay inside the bubble and keep moving. Here you also choose who escorts the rescued crew back to the ship. Send someone loyal; Mordin is a good pick because he is the weakest at holding the line.

Hold the line and the final squad

Everyone you don't take to the final fight stays behind to hold the line. A loyal group with strong fighters like Grunt, Garrus and Zaeed holds well. Take two loyal squadmates with you to the final fight.

6. Final boss: the Human-Reaper

The last fight is against a giant Reaper under construction. You stand on a platform while Collectors fly in on other platforms.

1. Shoot the glowing weak points on the Reaper (its eyes, then the glowing core in its chest) when it's open.
2. Kill Collectors that land on your platform first, and stay in cover between shots.
3. Use heavy weapon ammo on the weak points when it's safe.

After the fight you choose to destroy the base or give it to Cerberus. Then run for the Normandy. Shepard survives the ending as long as at least two squadmates survive. Keep your final save: you import it into Mass Effect 3.

Tips for this part

• Make a hard save before the Reaper IFF. If something goes wrong, you can go back.
• Don't pick Mordin or Jacob as tech specialist. Only Tali, Legion and Kasumi are the right people for the vents.
• Leaving after the abduction is the big trap. Even one side mission costs crew lives.
• Upgrades beat loyalty for the ship checks. A loyal squadmate can still die if the armour, shields or cannon are missing.

My take

The Suicide Mission is still the best ending in the trilogy, because every choice you made in the game finally shows up on screen. I like the full survival run, but losing someone once is part of the experience too. Did you get everyone home on your first try?

FAQ

Can everyone survive the Suicide Mission?

Yes. Make every squadmate loyal, buy the armour, shield and cannon upgrades, pick the right people for each role and go straight to the relay after the crew is taken.

Who is the best tech specialist in Mass Effect 2?

Tali, Legion or Kasumi, as long as they are loyal. Anyone else dies in the vents.

When should I do the Reaper IFF?

After every other loyalty mission and the ship upgrades. After the IFF you only have time for Legion before the Collectors attack.

Does Shepard die if I mess up?

Shepard only dies if fewer than two squadmates survive. If Shepard dies, that save can't be imported into Mass Effect 3.

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