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[IoCaster]

IoCaster said him, Garrus and Zaeed (?) had the best defense bonuses and were best left to defend the line, and he was loyal, and I thought an inferior Wrex could still get the job done as a Krogan tank. So what went wrong? Garrus kept it together earlier, and Mordin I found to be particularly useless on the battlefield so I didn't take him into the final battle.

I'm more upset at the loss of Mordin than Grunt, the most two dimensional character in the crew.

The problem is that only three squad members are qualified (according to the game) to be 2nd team leaders. It looks like you might have taken either Garrus or Zaeed to the final boss with you. If you lost Grunt and took either one of the others with you at the end then the line was underpowered.


Did you have Zaeed? Because just a loyal Zaeed and Garrus could hold the line by themselves in most cases. *confused*

 

[Fimbulvetr]

IoCaster said him, Garrus and Zaeed (?) had the best defense bonuses and were best left to defend the line, and he was loyal, and I thought an inferior Wrex could still get the job done as a Krogan tank. So what went wrong? Garrus kept it together earlier, and Mordin I found to be particularly useless on the battlefield so I didn't take him into the final battle.

I see the issue here.

Grunt is a moron and should never lead.

 

[AlStrong]

It's pretty simple. Garrus has experience leading a team/squad from his Omega/Archangel Days. Miranda was in charge of the Lazarus Project. Jacob was in charge of security during said-project.

Out of all the others, I can see only Zaeed and Tali who might have worked as a leader *shrug* (Tali might be considered a poor leader considering her track history at the start of the game and not maintaining any sense of order). Everyone else had a history of being a loner or part of a team, but not a leader-type.

 

[IoCaster]

IoCaster said him, Garrus and Zaeed (?) had the best defense bonuses and were best left to defend the line, and he was loyal, and I thought an inferior Wrex could still get the job done as a Krogan tank. So what went wrong? Garrus kept it together earlier, and Mordin I found to be particularly useless on the battlefield so I didn't take him into the final battle.

I'm more upset at the loss of Mordin than Grunt, the most two dimensional character in the crew.

Spoiler

Sent Legion to hack the door, Garrus held a fire team earlier, second time I put Grunt in charge and he just collapsed once we rendezvoused. Took Thane and Miranda to the final battle, and afterwards.. It just randomly showed Mordin dead. Never left him in charge of anything. Sent Jacob back to help Chakwas and Kelly back to the Normandy.

Yeah there's a piece missing here. Either you didn't have Zaeed and Garrus on the line or....let me run some numbers real quick.

You didn't have Zaeed did you?

EDIT: With Zaeed your score would have been 2.0 and everyone survives. Without Zaeed your score would be 1.71 and Mordin bites it.

EDIT2: If you want to load your save and take another run then do everything exactly the same except don't choose Grunt to lead a team. Leave him and Garrus on the line and you're set.

 

[enzo_gt]

Fuck

Well, it's kind of bittersweet. First GTA IV and then Mass Effect 2 had these kinds of irreversible, deal-with-it-and-move-on kind of decisions and I applaud it for that. When I (GTA IV SPOILER)

Spoiler

chose Dwayne over Playboy X which resulted in the arguably worse on all accounts outcome

, I thought that was masterful game design and really made an impact on you when you reflect on your decisions.

This is going to haunt me and my OCD completionist nature even throughout Mass Effect 3. D:

 

[enzo_gt]

Yeah there's a piece missing here. Either you didn't have Zaeed and Garrus on the line or....let me run some numbers real quick.

You didn't have Zaeed did you?

EDIT: With Zaeed your score would have been 2.0 and everyone survives. Without Zaeed your score would be 1.71 and Mordin bites it.

EDIT2: If you want to load your save and take another run then do everything exactly the same except don't choose Grunt to lead a team. Leave him and Garrus on the line and you're set.

How are you accomplishing this Wizardry?!

Fffffuuuuu

 

[Samara]

Just load the restart mission and you would be good to go. its at the loading screen.

 

[Skilotonn]

Spoiler

Grunt being a tank means he can be an escort, not a leader - he's one of my favorite characters to have on the team, but that's because *I'M* the one leading him, not him being a one-man army.

So that's why he died, because he either fool-heartedly went into a battle that he thought that he could handle all alone, or he set up his "squad" terribly and they all died leaving him alone to be swamped anyways.

As for Mordin, he just has that factor that if he is left to do things on his own or hold the line, he WILL die, because he just has some weak factor - even if everyone is loyal, it can randomly happen. I personally brought him to the final fight, without even reading about everyone else's problems trying to keep him alive, because I found his abilities important for the enemies there, and it happened to be the winning formula to bring everyone back alive to the ship.

 

[IoCaster]

Fuck

Well, it's kind of bittersweet. First GTA IV and then Mass Effect 2 had these kinds of irreversible, deal-with-it-and-move-on kind of decisions and I applaud it for that. When I (GTA IV SPOILER)

Spoiler

chose Dwayne over Playboy X which resulted in the arguably worse on all accounts outcome

, I thought that was masterful game design and really made an impact on you when you reflect on your decisions.

This is going to haunt me and my OCD completionist nature even throughout Mass Effect 3. D:

Well you actually did pretty well except for choosing Grunt to lead a team. Would you be kind enough to tell us if you had Zaeed recruited? I can't make sense of this otherwise.

Another way to make it work is to choose to take the two weakest loyal members with you to the end boss e.g., Tali, Jack, Mordin and/or Kasumi. That helps your defense score on the line and you could get away with just having one of the heavies there.

 

[enzo_gt]

Well you actually did pretty well except for choosing Grunt to lead a team. Would you be kind enough to tell us if you had Zaeed recruited? I can't make sense of this otherwise.

Another way to make it work is to choose to take the two weakest loyal members with you to the end boss e.g., Tali, Jack, Mordin and/or Kasumi. That helps your defense score on the line and you could get away with just having one of the heavies there.

Don't have Zaeed. Is he DLC? If so, don't have it. Only got Shadow Broker when it was on sale, and haven't started that yet.

I already kind of saved and left because I had to go to school (posting from iPhone). I don't suppose I can restart the final mussion now, since I returned to the Normandy and all now. I have an older save but it's like 10 hours back in the game (Kept to pursue Kelly :lol ).

Much of this is so unexpected, I really didn't know what to do, I figured the leader of the defense team would be sacrificed regardless too, so I was reluctant on Garrus. (stupid decision, I know). Heck, I didn't know these systems existed behind the scenes, I don't suppose many did on their first run through.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Zaeed is a free DLC extra character.

 

[TheYanger]

You've just learned the first rule of rpg club, which is save in seperate slots, often you can still restart the mission as long as you haven't done another afterwards, but your first choices are still locked in prior. If that part was fine, you can do it.

 

[AlStrong]

Much of this is so unexpected, I really didn't know what to do, I figured the leader of the defense team would be sacrificed regardless too, so I was reluctant on Garrus. (stupid decision, I know). Heck, I didn't know these systems existed behind the scenes, I don't suppose many did on their first run through.

There's always new game plus. I highly recommend using the mass effect wikia (now that you've finished the game once) to figure out which planets have which side quests, and only mine planets that you go to. It saves quite a bit of time and effort.

 

[enzo_gt]

You've just learned the first rule of rpg club, which is save in seperate slots, often you can still restart the mission as long as you haven't done another afterwards, but your first choices are still locked in prior. If that part was fine, you can do it.

Will try this afterwards, thanks. And usually I do save in multiple slots, did so with Mass Effect 1 and FFXIII, but I was powering through this. Essentially played 37 hours of ME2 over a span of 4 days, tried to finish it before school started again. It's like crack :lol might even be my GOTY. Good example of exactly what a sequel should be. I plan on writing up my thoughts in a few hours once I get home.

 

[IoCaster]

How are you accomplishing this Wizardry?!

Fffffuuuuu

The defense scores for each loyal squad member on the line:

Grunt, Garrus, Zaeed = 4
Samara, Jacob, Miranda, Legion, Thane = 2
Tali, Mordin, Jack, Kasumi = 1

For any non-loyal team members subtract 1 point. That means that your weakest guys/gals, i.e., Tali = 0

Add up all the defense points of all the squad members left to hold the line and divide by # of people left to hold the line. The minimum score for everyone to survive is 2.0 and there's a graduated tier of scores that will determine how many squad members die.

 

[IoCaster]

Will try this afterwards, thanks. And usually I do save in multiple slots, did so with Mass Effect 1 and FFXIII, but I was powering through this. Essentially played 37 hours of ME2 over a span of 4 days, tried to finish it before school started again. It's like crack :lol might even be my GOTY. Good example of exactly what a sequel should be. I plan on writing up my thoughts in a few hours once I get home.

If you didn't do any missions after you finished the SM you're golden. You should have the option to do a mission restart for the SM on your load screen.

 

[enzo_gt]

If you didn't do any missions after you finished the SM you're golden. You should have the option to do a mission restart for the SM on your load screen.

THANK GOD. Wasn't that difficult a mission but I prefer this final boss to Saren. Will do when I get home. Excited, even.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Garrus is my main man. Couldn't imagine anybody else leading team B.

 

[Double D]

THANK GOD. Wasn't that difficult a mission but I prefer this final boss to Saren. Will do when I get home. Excited, even.

Seems like we're both playing this at pretty much the same time. Just finished the final mission Sunday. Just wanted to make sure you got all the free cerberus network DLC. Maybe I'm just a moron, but I just discovered all this stuff yesterday.

Edit: Just read your post a few up. Definitely in the same boat, as I had no idea who Zaeed was. :lol

Anyways, follow the link below.
http://social.bioware.com/user_entitlements.php

 

[Prothero]

For those playing the suicide mission: this topic at the Giant Bomb forums got me through it. I followed its advice exactly and everyone (all loyal) lived, no problem.

 

[Minamu]

enzo_gt: Change the difficulty to casual and you'll breeze through the final mission in 15 minutes. That's what I did when I screwed up on Insanity the other day. Casual was hilarious :lol You already have the difficulty achievements you can possibly get in one playthrough so it doesn't really matter for that, if that's your kind of thing.

 

[X-Frame]

enzo_gt: Change the difficulty to casual and you'll breeze through the final mission in 15 minutes. That's what I did when I screwed up on Insanity the other day. Casual was hilarious :lol You already have the difficulty achievements you can possibly get in one playthrough so it doesn't really matter for that, if that's your kind of thing.

Ever since I started playing my last couple playthroughs on Insanity I can't play anything easier. Your whole strategy changes when you're on Insanity and it's so much more fun dealing with strong enemies with a lot of defenses. Makes party building and usage of powers so much more important.

 

[enzo_gt]

Garrus is my main man. Couldn't imagine anybody else leading team B.

Glad they brought him back as a cast member, still wish they would've kept Wrex too. It's like the holy trinity of awesome.

Seems like we're both playing this at pretty much the same time. Just finished the final mission Sunday. Just wanted to make sure you got all the free cerberus network DLC. Maybe I'm just a moron, but I just discovered all this stuff yesterday.

Edit: Just read your post a few up. Definitely in the same boat, as I had no idea who Zaeed was. :lol
Anyways, follow the link below.
http://social.bioware.com/user_entitlements.php

I signed up and now what? I'm confused :lol And yeah, I was aware there was DLC, just not the contents. And I usually tackle DLC after so I was looking forward to getting to the endgame before getting interested.

For those playing the suicide mission: this topic at the Giant Bomb forums got me through it. I followed its advice exactly and everyone (all loyal) lived, no problem.

This helped, but I only really needed to send Mordin instead of Jacob for the escort, and I took Jack with me at the end just in case :lol But I have the achievement now, wahey!

enzo_gt: Change the difficulty to casual and you'll breeze through the final mission in 15 minutes. That's what I did when I screwed up on Insanity the other day. Casual was hilarious :lol You already have the difficulty achievements you can possibly get in one playthrough so it doesn't really matter for that, if that's your kind of thing.

Difficulty is not the issue, its fun the more challenging it is, and that last level is nowhere near as difficult as the first time I faced the Collectors on that hexagonal and expanding mindfuck of a battlefield. Thanks for the tips GAF, now onto the endgame

 

[EatChildren]

Garrus is my main man. Couldn't imagine anybody else leading team B.

I'm going to be genuinely disappointed when he doesn't return as a squad mate for ME3. Him and Tali. I know they're not the best characters in terms of skill, but they're like Shepard's best buds. Having them as my main dudes across both games was just too good.

*Geth Colossus appears*
"Just like old times."

*tear*

 

[goldlion054]

I'm going to be genuinely disappointed when he doesn't return as a squad mate for ME3. Him and Tali. I know they're not the best characters in terms of skill, but they're like Shepard's best buds. Having them as my main dudes across both games was just too good.

*Geth Colossus appears*
"Just like old times."

*tear*

I was physically ill when i found out Wrex wasn't coming back as a playable character. him and Tali were who champions used. I did fall in love with Samara, but she will always be 2nd fiddle to Wrex

 

[EatChildren]

What's the dealio with official threads? I'm working on the ME2 PS3 OT and I'm wondering when I'm supposed to put it up.

 

[FilthyLies]

What's the dealio with official threads? I'm working on the ME2 PS3 OT and I'm wondering when I'm supposed to put it up.

You can post it up to a week early is the usual rule.

 

[EatChildren]

You can post it up to a week early is the usual rule.

Bitchen. Thanks.

 

[Wallach]

What's the dealio with official threads? I'm working on the ME2 PS3 OT and I'm wondering when I'm supposed to put it up.

I think they generally go up two weeks before release. You should PM Stump or someone though because I think they wanted to lock this thread and move all ME2 discussion to the new thread anyway right?

 

[EatChildren]

I think they generally go up two weeks before release. You should PM Stump or someone though because I think they wanted to lock this thread and move all ME2 discussion to the new thread anyway right?

Yeah, this thread is getting big, so they wanted to shift discussion over to the PS3 thread as opposed to making another copy of this and having the PS3 one as well.

I'll PM Stump. I'm nearly finished with it, so it could go up whenever really.

 

[Ashsturm]

I really love Mordin,

Spoiler

just had the coversation about his suspicion of Shepard's romantic feelings towards him

my initial reaction was to say no... but on second thoughts...

Knowing what happens at the end of the game parts of me wants

Spoiler

Mordin, Garrus, Thane and Jack to survive but at the same time it will inspire more emotion if they don't.

The best part of the game is when negative actions happen as a result of your influence.

Spoiler

Wrex getting a bullet in the head, Jacob's dad being beaten to death. I didn't want either to happen but that what makes it so dramatic

 

[ShinAmano]

Finished my insanity run with no one left behind...only one more run needed to finish off the last few achievements I need:
Brawler
Data Hound
Paramour
Tactician
The Hard Way

The last one should be easy...tips on the others?

 

[Songbird]

The last one should be easy...tips on the others?

Brawler is relatively easy if you play as a class that has extended shields/damage reduction like the Sentinel, Soldier, Vanguard. I got the achievement as an Infiltrator by cloaking, shoving an enemy with melee and then taking it down with the SMG.

I'm not sure if using Kasumi's flashbangs to knock an enemy down and then melee-and-shoot will count. Must experiment. /mordin

Paramour is simple, have you not gone all the way through a romance arc? Time to pick a favourite character!

 

[ShinAmano]

Brawler is relatively easy if you play as a class that has extended shields/damage reduction like the Sentinel, Soldier, Vanguard. I got the achievement as an Infiltrator by cloaking, shoving an enemy with melee and then taking it down with the SMG.

I'm not sure if using Kasumi's flashbangs to knock an enemy down and then melee-and-shoot will count. Must experiment. /mordin

Paramour is simple, have you not gone all the way through a romance arc? Time to pick a favourite character!

Yeah problem is I am playing as a female Sheppard and i thought I would be in with Kelly, but apparently she does not count. I have terrible choices in who to hook up with

 

[Minamu]

I had not talked to a single person about romance during my insanity run but Miranda seemed interested after the game ended anyway. Check it out (dunno what characters females can get it on with though). She wanted time to think about it though, so with a mission or two left, it shouldn't be a problem.

Brawler was one of the few ahcievements I had left too. I did it by shooting droids during the Justicar mission. I shot them down to 30% hp maybe , one melee and a really quick no scope heavy gun shot. I don't think you're allowed to even zoom. The window is that tight, in my experience :S

 

[ShinAmano]

I had not talked to a single person about romance during my insanity run but Miranda seemed interested after the game ended anyway. Check it out (dunno what characters females can get it on with though). She wanted time to think about it though, so with a mission or two left, it shouldn't be a problem.

Brawler was one of the few ahcievements I had left too. I did it by shooting droids during the Justicar mission. I shot them down to 30% hp maybe , one melee and a really quick no scope heavy gun shot. I don't think you're allowed to even zoom. The window is that tight, in my experience :S

I can get with Jacob, ArcAngel and The Assassin...all three are pretty weak choices...

 

[Roarer]

I can get with Jacob, ArcAngel and The Assassin...all three are pretty weak choices...

Have your Fem-Shep hook up with Garrus/Archangel. It's really funny and awkward.

 

[EatChildren]

Mass Effect 2 |OT2| for the PS3 is pretty much finished. I went completely overboard, so apologies in advance.

 

[Lime]

Mass Effect 2 |OT2| for the PS3 is pretty much finished. I went completely overboard, so apologies in advance.

Will the discussion be restricted to only the PS3 version?

 

[EatChildren]

Will the discussion be restricted to only the PS3 version?

Nope. Mods want to close this one as its getting too big, so all convo will shift over to that one.

 

[Ferrio]

Have your Fem-Shep hook up with Garrus/Archangel. It's really funny and awkward.

Spoiler

Chafing

 

[ShinAmano]

Have your Fem-Shep hook up with Garrus/Archangel. It's really funny and awkward.

Yeah he gets the least hate from me so I guess he is a go, but this is a one time thing since my blue female friend from the first game is my only true ME love :lol

 

[EatChildren]

"Until February 23rd, 2011, Mass Effect 2 players on Playstation 3 can download the Terminus Armor and M-490 Blackstorm Projector Weapon free of charge from the PSN Store. After Feb 23rd, the Terminus Gear will be available as paid DLC. Order your copy of ME2 on PS3 today!"

From ME2 Facebook

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

"Until February 23rd, 2011, Mass Effect 2 players on Playstation 3 can download the Terminus Armor and M-490 Blackstorm Projector Weapon free of charge from the PSN Store. After Feb 23rd, the Terminus Gear will be available as paid DLC. Order your copy of ME2 on PS3 today!"

From ME2 Facebook

Wait, I thought the PS3 edition was going to include all of the previously released ME2 DLC that was on 360?! Meaning all three DLC expansions, character outfits and armor/weapon packs.

Ugh... I'm really tempted to double dip. But I'll wait until the PS3 version hits $29.99 or less on Amazon. These days that'll probably happen by June.

 

[EatChildren]

Wait, I thought the PS3 edition was going to include all of the previously released ME2 DLC that was on 360?! Meaning all three DLC expansions, character outfits and armor/weapon packs.

Ugh... I'm really tempted to double dip. But I'll wait until the PS3 version hits $29.99 or less on Amazon. These days that'll probably happen by June.

The only bundled content with the PS3 version is the Mass Effect: Genesis interactive comic, Kasumi Stolen Memory, Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and the Blood Dragon armor.

All the weapon packs and what not wont be included.

 

[ShinAmano]

Wait, I thought the PS3 edition was going to include all of the previously released ME2 DLC that was on 360?! Meaning all three DLC expansions, character outfits and armor/weapon packs.

Ugh... I'm really tempted to double dip. But I'll wait until the PS3 version hits $29.99 or less on Amazon. These days that'll probably happen by June.

I got this game for a steal...$10 for a new copy and $6 for all the DLC...give or take with 600 ms points.

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

I got this game for a steal...$10 for a new copy and $6 for all the DLC...give or take with 600 ms points.

I paid full price for the LE on day one. Also paid full price fir each of the three major DLC expansions. I don't regret any of that, definitely the 2010 GOTY.

 

[The Antitype]

Is it me, or is Jack just really unlikable?

I know there's a general dislike of angsty characters because they've become so overused lately, but honestly I usually don't mind them. Sometimes I actually find well-written angst really compelling, cause it usually leads to some form of introspection or personal growth to overcome it.

But...uh....Jack just seems like a bitch.

 

[ShinAmano]

I paid full price for the LE on day one. Also paid full price fir each of the three major DLC expansions. I don't regret any of that, definitely the 2010 GOTY.

Yeah I can't believe I waited to pick this one up...it was kind of nice having the trailer for ME3 to watch right after completing this one though.

 

[markatisu]

Is it me, or is Jack just really unlikable?

I know there's a general dislike of angsty characters because they've become so overused lately, but honestly I usually don't mind them. Sometimes I actually find well-written angst really compelling, cause it usually leads to some form of introspection or personal growth to overcome it.

But...uh....Jack just seems like a bitch.

I think they were aiming for misunderstood and uses anger/meanness to cover real emotions

But I agree she came off as a major bitch