Before starting the Suicide Mission purchase the armor, weapon, and shielding upgrades for the Normandy, as for each one of these not purchased a squad member will die during the run to the Collector base.

 

The following list will show, in order of perference, which crew member will die if you haven't upgraded that part

 

* Heavy Ship Armor: Jack

* Multicore Shielding: Kasumi, Legion, Tali, Thane, Garrus, Zaeed, Grunt

* Thanix Cannon: Thane, Garrus, Zaeed, Grunt, Jack, Samara/Morinth

 

Note: This tier is sorted by the characters' order of dying in descending order. Squad members on the "Multicore Shielding" list will not die if they are in your party when you fight the Oculus. Bringing party members to fight the Oculus will not protect Jack if you do not have Heavy Ship Armor, or anyone on the "Thanix Cannon" list.

 

After entering the Omega 4 Relay but before the beginning of the suicide mission, your ship will be attacked by an Oculus at two different intervals (between cutscenes). You will be taking in a team to fight the Oculus, though the team selection does not have any consequences or impact on gameplay, thus you may choose anyone you want.

 

There are three stages to this mission, during which you will have to choose members of your team to perform certain duties. Picking an inappropriate character for those tasks will result in someone's permanent death. Appropriate choice are listed after Ideal, while inappropriate choices are listed after Non-Ideal.

 

Note: If an ideal squad member is not loyal for your playthrough, consider them to be a non-ideal choice.

 

If at the end of the final battle only one or no squad members survived, no one will help Shepard onto the ship, resulting in the Commander's death. A single surviving squad member is not enough to save Shepard.

[edit] Collector Base: Infiltration

 

Main article: Collector Base: Infiltration

 

* A Specialist Technician is required to infiltrate via the station's vents to bypass the defenses and doors and open the central gate for the rest of the squad.

o Ideal: Tali, Legion, or Kasumi.

o Non-Ideal: Anyone else, or a disloyal technician, as they will be shot in the face while forcing the door shut.

* A Fire-team Leader is required for the second team. The briefing conversation mentions that this member must be experienced in leading a team.

o Ideal: Garrus, Jacob, or Miranda

o Non-Ideal: Anyone else, as they will get your specialist technician killed, even if a loyal Tali, Legion, or Kasumi was chosen.

* Your Team – will be fighting against Collector Drones, Harbingers, and several Collector Assassins, which all have biotic barriers on harder difficulties (Drones gain barriers on Hardcore and Insanity only). Characters with Warp or Incinerate powers are a good choice, as Warp is effective at taking down biotic barriers and armor, and Incinerate deals decent damage against organic enemies along with setting them on fire for a few seconds, and it does some damage against barriers.

 

You will have to fight several Collector squads, while pressing forward to activate eight different consoles alongside a path beside the vent your Specialist is in. The heat in the tunnel will kill your specialist if you take too long to reach the consoles, so you should clear out the enemies as quickly as possible. Another tactic (although it can take a few tries depending of how skilled you are and the difficulty level) is to ignore enemies and simply rush ahead opening all the consoles in your way. Also, while the Collector Drones fly in to engage your squad, they are highly vulnerable in mid-air to Throw and Concussive Shot. In normal difficulty, this will instantly kill the Collector Drone and Throw Field can take out an entire group before they get a chance to attack you. It is advisable to save your game before you press the last button in case you pick the wrong character for the next session. The mission immediately ends after pressing the final button, so if time is running out it may be worth it to run to the button and press it even if there are enemies remaining.

[edit] Collector Base: The Long Walk

 

Main article: Collector Base: The Long Walk

 

* A Biotic Specialist to generate a shield, protecting the squad against Collector swarms.

o Ideal: Samara/Morinth or Jack.

o Non-Ideal: Anyone else. Doing so will result in one of your squad mates being carried off by a Collector swarm.

* A Fire-team Leader for the second team (referred to by Miranda as "the diversion team").

o Ideal: Garrus, Jacob, or Miranda. Note that Miranda will not die here even if disloyal.

o Non-Ideal: Anyone else. There is a possibility of this leader dying as the doors close at the end of the long walk (shot in the stomach as the door closes).

* An Escort to guide the Normandy crew back to the ship. However, you can't use this person for the final battle. Choosing no one results in the death of the Normandy crew.

o Ideal: Mordin. This will ensure his survival because he has a strong chance of dying if he doesn't escort the crew back, even if he is loyal. An explanation is given here. Otherwise, any loyal squad member is guaranteed to successfully escort the crew back to the ship.

o Non-Ideal: A team member that you have not secured loyalty from. This squad member will perish while escorting the Normandy crew.

 

* Your Team – You will be fighting against Drones, Harbinger, Assassins, waves of Husks and Abominations, and two Scions.

o Tali and Legion are probably preferable for this segment; their combat drones can escape the biotic field safely and root out any dug-in enemies.

 

The Biotic Specialist you have chosen will erect a dome-shaped biotic shield encapsulating the squad from Collector swarms. Note: moving outside of the biotic barrier will cause damage to Shepard and eventually result in death. The Biotic Specialist will move slowly through the level and stop three times for you to fight off a wave of enemies before proceeding. The waves encountered are:

 

1. Drones and Harbinger - on the far side overlooking a small pit with a large block in the centre.

2. Husks and Abominations climb up from a ledge then Drones, Harbinger and Assassins will fly in - on a long walkway with a left-facing 'sniper alley'.

3. Husks, Abominations, and a Scion - at a left-turning bend in the road with a raised platform on the left side.

 

[edit] Final Battle

 

Note that, while manual saving is not allowed from this point onwards, the game will auto-save at the beginning of each part. Loading an auto-save also gives you the opportunity to change the weapons loadout of your squad. If you die, you will have full ammo when you reload the game, even if you didn't have full ammo at the last save.

[edit] Part 1 – Team Selection

 

* The team you pick here will stay with you for the rest of the suicide mission – you will be fighting against Drones, Harbinger, Assassins, Abominations, Scions, and one giant Human-Reaper larva.

o Ideal: Squad members that are loyal to you and are less suited for defensive tasks such as Mordin, Jack, Kasumi, and Tali.

o Non-Ideal: Squad members that are not loyal to you. They will die after the battle as the Collector station begins to fall apart.

o Note: The teammates you do not pick are assigned to hold the line from the Collectors. A 'defensive skill' value is calculated for the 'hold the line' group as a whole, based on a defensive value inherent to each character. Loyal characters gain a bonus to this value. If the 'defensive skill' check is not high enough to ensure all characters' survival, squad members will be designated to die based on their vulnerability, with Mordin taking priority if he is present. Leaving behind strong defenders, such as Grunt, Legion, and Zaeed will increase the group's odds of survival. In contrast, certain characters such as Jack, Tali and especially Mordin have less skill in holding their position and should be removed through escort duty or taken along. The entire group will survive as long as the combined defensive skill is high enough, otherwise the game picks a squad member to die based on the scenario of who was left behind and how loyal the group members are. (Squad members who are not loyal are most likely to survive here than anywhere else, provided the group's collective defense skill is high enough, although they will be the first to die if the skill is not.) Leaving behind two strong defenders like Legion, Grunt, or Zaeed should suffice, provided you haven't lost too many people.

o Note: The order squad members die is as follows: any non-loyal squad members, Mordin, Tali, Kasumi, Jack, Miranda, Jacob, Garrus, Samara/Morinth, Legion, Thane, Zaeed, Grunt

 

Ammo is very scarce, so powers must be used efficiently, and ammo must be scavenged when possible. Platforms will fly in, carrying several Collector enemies on them. The last platform will contain three Abominations and two Scions. After defeating them there will be a console to trigger the next section.

 

Note: On both the PC and Xbox 360 versions there is a glitch where the two Scions will not attack until you run up to the platform to engage them. If you have a sniper rifle or Warp you can kill them from 2 platforms away before they are aware you exist.

 

Note: Whatever Heavy Weapon you bring with you will have its ammo maxed out as soon as the player takes control.

[edit] Part 2 – Destroying the Feeding Tubes

 

More fly-in platforms with various types of Collectors. After clearing each platform, the armor covering the four tubes of the inactive Human-Reaper will open for a short period of time and should be destroyed immediately.

 

It is possible to destroy at least two each round. The M-15 Vindicator or M-12 Locust can both be used to destroy two at once without powers. With heightened Adrenaline Rush, the M-6 Carnifex hand cannon can destroy each tube with one shot. The M-76 Revenant machine gun has sufficient ammunition to destroy all tubes in one long burst, finishing the battle in one round. The M-920 Cain can also take out two tubes simultaneously. The Collector Particle Beam can destroy all four tubes in just one go before the covers come down. It is also possible to destroy the tubes or at least heavily damage them by using Warp, so having squad members with this ability can be useful.

 

Destroying the four tubes will cause the Reaper to fall into the chasm below. Shepard will open up the platform's core and prepare to plant a bomb, but will be contacted by the Illusive Man, who asks Shepard to preserve the facility both to use against the Reapers and to "security humanity's future against the Reapers and beyond." Shepard will then have to make a choice -- destroying the facility is a Paragon action, while preserving the facility for Cerberus to use against the Reapers is a Renegade action.

 

Note: During this conversation, Shepard will refer to team members giving their lives, even if the entire team has survived up to this point.

[edit] Part 3 – The Human-Reaper Larva

 

You start behind a good barricade spot and you can start shooting at the Reaper's eyes (they are small, but there are 3 of them, two in the left socket, one in the right), or the large weak point on its chest. It has a nasty charge up attack and it would be wise to not expose yourself until it is done. If you are hit by it, your shield will be depleted and will take longer than usual to recharge. (If you're feeling brave, you can also take advantage of the fact that it stays still while charging its attack to get in some reliable damage; listening to the charge-up sound will tell you when it's time to get back behind cover.) Be aware that the Reaper's glowing mouth is vulnerable to your weapons while this attack is charging, and presents a very large target for gunfire. Note that you can fall off the platform you are on, so stay away from the edges.

 

Once you have damaged the Reaper enough, Collector drones will attack. During this section of the fight Harbinger will drop special Heavy Weapon ammo packs when killed. Also note that the Reaper's mouth weapon will injure or kill any Collector enemies it hits. When the boss' life is below 25%, it will begin dodging around and send more attacks at you. Continue shooting at its eyes or use the M-920 Cain, directed at its chest and the fight should be over shortly, leading to the end of game cutscenes. Sniper rifles are surprisingly effective: when the Reaper leans to the right there are about 3-5 seconds worth of reliable targeting. After the first shot, an Adrenaline Rush (if available) allows for a second reliable shot. This has the advantage of spending very little time outside of cover (just enought to fire two shots), allowing for little to no damage to Shepard.

 

The target is armored, so sniper rifles get a bonus. Widow and Mantis rifles have a 50% bonus against armor, and, boosted by rifle damage upgrade (50%) and hightened adrenaline rush (100%), the damage is massive. With perfectly aimed shots (it's not hard to aim for the single eye on your left on adrenaline), the Reaper can be dropped in four or five shots on Casual using the Widow with zero damage to Shepard.

 

Note: At the end of the battle when you talk to Joker via comm link, he will tell you all "survivors" have made it back to the ship, even if you saved your entire team.

In there are your answers.

I came up to the conclusion that I like both equally. Each one has its pros and cons. However, one thing that gripes me about ME2 is that it's way more focused on the battle aspect. I want more talking and emotional stuff Bioware, plzkthx!

HOW COULD YOU LET MORDIN DIE? *cry* (and btw having him singing as your ringtone is soooo lovely)

Why would you not choose Tali?

Someone dies if you don't have that person's loyalty.

Was it during the hold the line segment? If that's the case, it's because

@Bunda Oh jeez thanks I’ll have to read that sometime.

@LadyK Yeah I like both, I just like ME a teensy bit more. I did not want him to die and I’m going to go back and save him. Oh that must be lovely I’ll have to look it up.

@Gatito Because I didn’t want her to die in the event my team mates died and I didn’t think she’d be fit for the final fight. Apparently I was wrong.

@WaWa I had Mordin and everyone’s loyalty.

@BioD Yeah I believe that was the part where it happened. We were going for the final mission and the others stayed behind to hold the line. I sent Jacob to the Normandy because I was afraid something might happen. I figured he could defend the crew if need be.

I’ve already went back and played the game to fix a few of the poor choices I made. I’ll probably go back and fix things so Mordin and no one else will die. It shouldn’t be that hard considering I’ve already beat the final level once.

Someone dies if you don't have that person's loyalty.

Not completely. It depends oh the certain job you assigned to that said character. I was reading a guy saved everyone with just four or five characters loyal...but that's really hard to do I'm sure.

Great, you finished Mass Effect 2.

Now get Lair of the Shadow Broker.

I sort of can't get any DLC since I only have dialup...

Then get better interwebs.

Seriously, unless you're bankrupt or owe a gang lord money, YOU HAVE NO REASON TO NOT GET IT.

Not bankrupt and we do not have gangs in our area. We just do not have access to that type of internet service.

Then bankrupt yourself to get better internet

Sorry, my job doesn't pay that well and getting a house is more important. :/