Mass Effect 3 *Spoilers*

[Enhance]

I'm surprised nobody started this thread up yet, even though I know quite a few of got it.

What do you guys think so far? I'm loving it. I'm not doing much of the main story line and am focusing on a lot of the side missions, as I've read that you need about 20,000 war assets in order to get the best ending, and those assets can be gained through doing as many side missions as possible, scanning all systems, etc.

For those of you who did the rachni side mission, I have a question.

Spoiler

I read online that if you chose not to save her in ME1 (and you imported your character from ME1>ME2), the act of saving her will make her a temporary ally in ME3, but she will then turn on you because she is a reaper. This would clearly be confusing to anyone who killed her in ME1, as her existence in ME3 wouldn't make sense. Fortunately for me, I saved her in ME1, thus I don't think she will turn on me since she will be the original queen. But, I couldn't find information online about this, so I'm wondering if you guys have come to a similar conclusion.

The only real complaint I have right now is that I wish missions had better updates. A lot of missions, specifically the side quests, don't have log updates through their separate parts, making it almost a necessity to look online and read the walkthroughs. Most of them are pretty linear, like the main story missions, but it's still a little annoying not knowing where exactly I need to find someone to continue the quest. I also wish there were clearer designations between main quests and side quests. Although main quests have 'Priority' written next to them, I wish it was more clearly defined like in Skyrim.

 

[sdhusker82]

I just beat it yesterday, what did you think of the ending?

 

[VectorVictor]

Enhance--

Spoiler

That's not the Rachni Queen. She's a construct of the Reapers harvesting the Rachni and says as much in her exposition (if you killed the actual Rachni Queen in ME1). And yes, she'll turn on you, and you lose the possibility of saving Grunt and Aralakai Group as well (if Grunt was loyal to you in ME2) for war assets.

Now, if you save the Rachni Queen in ME1, she'll be who you're talking to (and unindoctrinated to boot, IIRC), and I believe you can recruit the Rachni for the war effort at this point without any negative repercussions.

As for the ending...

Spoiler

The ending is a crock of s**t. ME3 was exceptionally good, save for the last 15 minutes (anything after the missile/survival/pounding you take on Earth--four brutes and four banshees my f*****g arse. Even Blasto isn't that f******g good.).

And here are some images that sum up the craptacular ending:

 

[Enhance]

I'm interested to see what the ending is - I've stayed away from message boards and online descriptions to make sure I don't find out too much. I've heard bits and pieces but, of course, not entirely sure.

I mean, are there multiple endings? I've heard/read that if you do all the side missions and build up as many war assets as possible, and do the Galaxy at War online play (to boost systems' readiness to 100%) before doing the final mission, you can get the "best" possible ending. I assume that the less ready you are, the worse the ending is, but it's still roughly the same idea (kinda like in ME2 - you can beat the Collectors but everybody dies).

Is this still the case?

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I'm surprised nobody started this thread up yet, even though I know quite a few of got it.

What do you guys think so far? I'm loving it. I'm not doing much of the main story line and am focusing on a lot of the side missions, as I've read that you need about 20,000 war assets in order to get the best ending, and those assets can be gained through doing as many side missions as possible, scanning all systems, etc.

For those of you who did the rachni side mission, I have a question.

Spoiler

I read online that if you chose not to save her in ME1 (and you imported your character from ME1>ME2), the act of saving her will make her a temporary ally in ME3, but she will then turn on you because she is a reaper. This would clearly be confusing to anyone who killed her in ME1, as her existence in ME3 wouldn't make sense. Fortunately for me, I saved her in ME1, thus I don't think she will turn on me since she will be the original queen. But, I couldn't find information online about this, so I'm wondering if you guys have come to a similar conclusion.

The only real complaint I have right now is that I wish missions had better updates. A lot of missions, specifically the side quests, don't have log updates through their separate parts, making it almost a necessity to look online and read the walkthroughs. Most of them are pretty linear, like the main story missions, but it's still a little annoying not knowing where exactly I need to find someone to continue the quest. I also wish there were clearer designations between main quests and side quests. Although main quests have 'Priority' written next to them, I wish it was more clearly defined like in Skyrim.

I am absolutely loving Mass Effect 3 right now. There's more theatrics in it than Mass Effect 1 or 2, and the continuation of characters from 2 to 3 really helps build that familiar ground (as you know how they behave and all that jazz) It took me until Mass Effect 3 for someone on my Mass Effect 2 crew to die. And I had one of those moments similar to when Ghost was killed in MW2.

As for the Rachni side mission, I only did it because I was sick and tired of going up against Cerberus on every corner and I was hoping that this would be a different enemy. Saved the queen and saw Grunt kick a$$ (which was awesome)

Eve, the female Krogan has, so far, been my favorite character. I'm very curious to watch how the rest of the game unfolds.

Edit: I meant to put Krogan, not Grunt

 

[sdhusker82]

Enhance--

Spoiler

That's not the Rachni Queen. She's a construct of the Reapers harvesting the Rachni and says as much in her exposition (if you killed the actual Rachni Queen in ME1). And yes, she'll turn on you, and you lose the possibility of saving Grunt and Aralakai Group as well (if Grunt was loyal to you in ME2) for war assets.

Now, if you save the Rachni Queen in ME1, she'll be who you're talking to (and unindoctrinated to boot, IIRC), and I believe you can recruit the Rachni for the war effort at this point without any negative repercussions.

As for the ending...

Spoiler

The ending is a crock of s**t. ME3 was exceptionally good, save for the last 15 minutes (anything after the missile/survival/pounding you take on Earth--four brutes and four banshees my f*****g arse. Even Blasto isn't that f******g good.).

And here are some images that sum up the craptacular ending:

did you play through ME2? I just got it for cheap and started playing it to get some characters I missed out on with ME3 but yeah.. the ending....

Spoiler

were you as confused as I was? how the hell did my crew make off earth that fast, and I thought hackett was killed by that reaper, cause you hear your radio saying something like "everyone got decimated".

also I read that they're "fixing" the ending now. Either way I didnt like how Shepard has to die in every single one (unless your war assets are high enough).

Such a great game until then, hopefully they fix the plot holes in the new ending and hopefully its free.

 

[Enhance]

Eve is a great character, I agree.

Spoiler

I was really sad to see Mordin die while curing the genophage, but that was probably one of my favorite missions. I'm glad the krogan have someone who will show them the error of their ways.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Eve is a great character, I agree.

Spoiler

I was really sad to see Mordin die while curing the genophage, but that was probably one of my favorite missions. I'm glad the krogan have someone who will show them the error of their ways.

Spoiler

I was definitely sad to see Mordin die, him being the first character I recruited in ME2 and used the most on missions in that game there was kind of a vested interest in him. I would usually talk to him after every mission just to further the plot line as much as possible. Curious though, on that mission you had the option of not telling him about the sabotage, I wonder if that would've saved him. Also, I was going to tell Eve about the sabotage when I was first prompted, but when asked again I decided to ignore it. Wonder if things would've turned out differently had I said something. But yeah, that mission has thus far been my favorite, the Thresher Maw taking down the Reaper was pretty awesome. And lol, I ran by all those Brutes to activate the hammers, no way was I taking them on.

 

[sdhusker82]

Eve is a great character, I agree.

Spoiler

I was really sad to see Mordin die while curing the genophage, but that was probably one of my favorite missions. I'm glad the krogan have someone who will show them the error of their ways.

Spoiler

I was definitely sad to see Mordin die, him being the first character I recruited in ME2 and used the most on missions in that game there was kind of a vested interest in him. I would usually talk to him after every mission just to further the plot line as much as possible. Curious though, on that mission you had the option of not telling him about the sabotage, I wonder if that would've saved him. Also, I was going to tell Eve about the sabotage when I was first prompted, but when asked again I decided to ignore it. Wonder if things would've turned out differently had I said something. But yeah, that mission has thus far been my favorite, the Thresher Maw taking down the Reaper was pretty awesome. And lol, I ran by all those Brutes to activate the hammers, no way was I taking them on.

My friend who played through ME2 said he couldn't save him either, i'm guessing only that prothean dude from the DLC would be the only way to do save him

 

[VectorVictor]

Sweet baby Jebus, Enhance--any way you can just update the thread title and put 'spoilers' in it so we're not having to hide each and every one of our posts? LOL...

As for Mordin--

Spoiler

There's no way to save him, per my understanding.

As for the ending... (long exposition but I cover all the points I think...)--

Spoiler

Yes, it's a crock of s**t that EA forced everyone into using their 'online pass' for multiplayer, because that's the only way you can realistically get your readiness up to where you get the "good" "meh" "least s****y"? ending where Shepard is still alive and takes a breath.

FYI, for the "least s****y" ending, you have to pick destruction, and have your war assets above 4500 (if you convince the Illusive Man to pull a Saren, which requires strong Paragon or Renegade), or 5500 if you can't get the IM to pull a Saren.

And no, the ending makes no sense, and there's no closure. What happens to your dextro-based squadmates (Garrus, Tali) on Eden 2.0? I guess they starve to death after their food runs out while Joker, Edi, Ashley (really--did *anyone* save Kaiden?), and the rest of the crew watch on since the ship is broke and the Mass Effect relays blew up?

And why the holy f**k is Joker in the ship with your squadmates, anyway? Did he abandon the fight and directly disobey Shepard's last order?

Plus, the destroy ending has you taking out the Geth as well. What the holy f***k?!?! If you have a high enough Paragon or Renegade, you can save the Geth and you find out later via Tali that they're working hand in hand (or AI in environmental suit, as it were) with the Quarians to get them shelter, food, and to get themselves acclimated back to their homeworld. And now in the "best" ending you f*****g have to kill them because they're synthetics and hey, "in order to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs"? F**k you, EA and BioWare.

And what about the whole f*****g fleet that you spent the whole game amassing that's now hanging out around a f****d up Earth? What are they going to do--the Mass Relays were blown up, so it's going to take them months or years (per established canon) to slog it home via FTL. Hell, it may take the Quarians the better part of an Earth decade to get back to their home planet they *just* took back but left anyway to help out Shepard and Earth. And you still have food/supply issues, again, including the dextro-based lifeforms (whose Earth foods, whatever is left, won't support).

And finally, the Mass Effect relays--when they go 'boom', they take out an entire solar system (see Arrival DLC's aftermath and the Batarian homeworld). Since the Mass Relays were at the edge of many of these established homeworlds, wouldn't the Turian and Asari homeworlds be taken out? (Note: Our relay was a little beyond Pluto, past the asteroid belt, so I *suppose* that our Solar System could still be around, sans a few planets like Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus...and wouldn't an explosion like that be enough to ignite Jupiter? Or am I getting too 2001 in here?)

---

Mind you, I don't want, nor expect a happy, Hollywood ending with blue Asari babies (yeah, my FemShep got it on with Liara--don't hate) and Wrex (yeah, I saved his a$$ in ME1--don't hate) baking me a f*****g cake. I just want concrete answers about the aftermath that conform with established canon. That isn't too f*****g hard to do...that is, unless you're on a tight deadline and EA wants you to shoe-horn in MP so they have an excuse to put an online pass into the game.

 

[Enhance]

Good point, matt. If a mod sees this, can it be updated to say "Mass Effect 3 *Spoilers*" sans the quotations?

I assumed the ultimate or least sh**ty ending allowed you to save the relays and make everything peachy. This is really disappointing

So, when you ultimately beat the game, how is DLC worked out? I assume more DLC missions will come out in the future, but are you really going to have to completely restart the game just so you can have Shepard alive? In ME2, you could do DLC after the Collector base was destroyed.

 

[sdhusker82]

Sweet baby Jebus, Enhance--any way you can just update the thread title and put 'spoilers' in it so we're not having to hide each and every one of our posts? LOL...

As for Mordin--

Spoiler

There's no way to save him, per my understanding.

As for the ending... (long exposition but I cover all the points I think...)--

Spoiler

Yes, it's a crock of s**t that EA forced everyone into using their 'online pass' for multiplayer, because that's the only way you can realistically get your readiness up to where you get the "good" "meh" "least s****y"? ending where Shepard is still alive and takes a breath.

FYI, for the "least s****y" ending, you have to pick destruction, and have your war assets above 4500 (if you convince the Illusive Man to pull a Saren, which requires strong Paragon or Renegade), or 5500 if you can't get the IM to pull a Saren.

And no, the ending makes no sense, and there's no closure. What happens to your dextro-based squadmates (Garrus, Tali) on Eden 2.0? I guess they starve to death after their food runs out while Joker, Edi, Ashley (really--did *anyone* save Kaiden?), and the rest of the crew watch on since the ship is broke and the Mass Effect relays blew up?

And why the holy f**k is Joker in the ship with your squadmates, anyway? Did he abandon the fight and directly disobey Shepard's last order?

Plus, the destroy ending has you taking out the Geth as well. What the holy f***k?!?! If you have a high enough Paragon or Renegade, you can save the Geth and you find out later via Tali that they're working hand in hand (or AI in environmental suit, as it were) with the Quarians to get them shelter, food, and to get themselves acclimated back to their homeworld. And now in the "best" ending you f*****g have to kill them because they're synthetics and hey, "in order to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs"? F**k you, EA and BioWare.

And what about the whole f*****g fleet that you spent the whole game amassing that's now hanging out around a f****d up Earth? What are they going to do--the Mass Relays were blown up, so it's going to take them months or years (per established canon) to slog it home via FTL. Hell, it may take the Quarians the better part of an Earth decade to get back to their home planet they *just* took back but left anyway to help out Shepard and Earth. And you still have food/supply issues, again, including the dextro-based lifeforms (whose Earth foods, whatever is left, won't support).

And finally, the Mass Effect relays--when they go 'boom', they take out an entire solar system (see Arrival DLC's aftermath and the Batarian homeworld). Since the Mass Relays were at the edge of many of these established homeworlds, wouldn't the Turian and Asari homeworlds be taken out? (Note: Our relay was a little beyond Pluto, past the asteroid belt, so I *suppose* that our Solar System could still be around, sans a few planets like Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus...and wouldn't an explosion like that be enough to ignite Jupiter? Or am I getting too 2001 in here?)

---

Mind you, I don't want, nor expect a happy, Hollywood ending with blue Asari babies (yeah, my FemShep got it on with Liara--don't hate) and Wrex (yeah, I saved his a$$ in ME1--don't hate) baking me a f*****g cake. I just want concrete answers about the aftermath that conform with established canon. That isn't too f*****g hard to do...that is, unless you're on a tight deadline and EA wants you to shoe-horn in MP so they have an excuse to put an online pass into the game.

Matt, the way I interpreted it, was that the mass relays just sent out the "effect" you chose. Like if you chose the red it would destroy all reapers in that vicinity. Thats the problem with the ending though, its too ambiguous and leaves everyone wondering what exactly happened.

 

[VectorVictor]

Sweet baby Jebus, Enhance--any way you can just update the thread title and put 'spoilers' in it so we're not having to hide each and every one of our posts? LOL...

As for Mordin--

Spoiler

There's no way to save him, per my understanding.

As for the ending... (long exposition but I cover all the points I think...)--

Spoiler

Yes, it's a crock of s**t that EA forced everyone into using their 'online pass' for multiplayer, because that's the only way you can realistically get your readiness up to where you get the "good" "meh" "least s****y"? ending where Shepard is still alive and takes a breath.

FYI, for the "least s****y" ending, you have to pick destruction, and have your war assets above 4500 (if you convince the Illusive Man to pull a Saren, which requires strong Paragon or Renegade), or 5500 if you can't get the IM to pull a Saren.

And no, the ending makes no sense, and there's no closure. What happens to your dextro-based squadmates (Garrus, Tali) on Eden 2.0? I guess they starve to death after their food runs out while Joker, Edi, Ashley (really--did *anyone* save Kaiden?), and the rest of the crew watch on since the ship is broke and the Mass Effect relays blew up?

And why the holy f**k is Joker in the ship with your squadmates, anyway? Did he abandon the fight and directly disobey Shepard's last order?

Plus, the destroy ending has you taking out the Geth as well. What the holy f***k?!?! If you have a high enough Paragon or Renegade, you can save the Geth and you find out later via Tali that they're working hand in hand (or AI in environmental suit, as it were) with the Quarians to get them shelter, food, and to get themselves acclimated back to their homeworld. And now in the "best" ending you f*****g have to kill them because they're synthetics and hey, "in order to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs"? F**k you, EA and BioWare.

And what about the whole f*****g fleet that you spent the whole game amassing that's now hanging out around a f****d up Earth? What are they going to do--the Mass Relays were blown up, so it's going to take them months or years (per established canon) to slog it home via FTL. Hell, it may take the Quarians the better part of an Earth decade to get back to their home planet they *just* took back but left anyway to help out Shepard and Earth. And you still have food/supply issues, again, including the dextro-based lifeforms (whose Earth foods, whatever is left, won't support).

And finally, the Mass Effect relays--when they go 'boom', they take out an entire solar system (see Arrival DLC's aftermath and the Batarian homeworld). Since the Mass Relays were at the edge of many of these established homeworlds, wouldn't the Turian and Asari homeworlds be taken out? (Note: Our relay was a little beyond Pluto, past the asteroid belt, so I *suppose* that our Solar System could still be around, sans a few planets like Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus...and wouldn't an explosion like that be enough to ignite Jupiter? Or am I getting too 2001 in here?)

---

Mind you, I don't want, nor expect a happy, Hollywood ending with blue Asari babies (yeah, my FemShep got it on with Liara--don't hate) and Wrex (yeah, I saved his a$$ in ME1--don't hate) baking me a f*****g cake. I just want concrete answers about the aftermath that conform with established canon. That isn't too f*****g hard to do...that is, unless you're on a tight deadline and EA wants you to shoe-horn in MP so they have an excuse to put an online pass into the game.

Matt, the way I interpreted it, was that the mass relays just sent out the "effect" you chose. Like if you chose the red it would destroy all reapers in that vicinity. Thats the problem with the ending though, its too ambiguous and leaves everyone wondering what exactly happened.

Check again--the relays blow up when they shoot their neon-colored death across the galaxy.

See at 2:05 to 2:15 or so--pieces of the relay go flying out from the neon-colored death ray explosion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPhWndG6EIY

The only difference I know of that's substantial is that in the 'control' ending, the Citadel remains intact (but the Mass Relays still go boom).

 

[Enhance]

So have 100% galactic readiness, full war assets and choose to destroy reapers, and you get "perfect" ending?

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

How can you choose not to destroy the Reapers?!?