ME2 SPOILER thread (warning, spoilers ahead!)

[LewisLegion]

Yeah, I was kind of surprised about Tali being so short and clearly having her hackles up from the moment Shep walked in the door. Even my room-mates were like...'holy cow, when'd she turn into a holy b----?'

They remembered how sweet she was on my first playthrough with my nice Shep

[LewisLegion]

Ok, I gotta be doing SOMETHING wrong.

I finished my second playthrough with my male uber-ass Shep, and I lost two people this time instead of just one.

Tali I knew I was going to lose quite a while before it happened. My Shep, being the jerk-hole he is, presented the evidence to the Conclave of what her father was doing, despite her begging him not to. Boy, was she PISSED. End result…no loyalty and she quite pointedly told me ‘don’t talk to me unless you need something’.

Sure enough, she got a rocket to the face.

The second death surprised me though. Again, I had all upgrades. I sent Grunt as the leader of the secondary team while I brought Jack with me to do the biotic shield through the swarm. My first playthrough I sent Miranda in Grunt’s place and she came through the door shot, but recovered. Grunt came through shot…and died.

The only thing I can think of I might have done is that Shep didn’t let him make his own choices on Tuchanka, stepping in and being an ass instead, and that he mocked their ceremonies and rituals. Perhaps not being allowed to stand up for himself caused him to be less sure of himself and thus resulted in his death? If that’s what caused Grunt to die then I say, kudos to Bioware for integrating things that well and for tying that in.

If not…then I wanna know what the heck I did wrong *ROFL*

[lordlundar]

Yeah, I was kind of surprised about Tali being so short and clearly having her hackles up from the moment Shep walked in the door. Even my room-mates were like...'holy cow, when'd she turn into a holy b----?'

They remembered how sweet she was on my first playthrough with my nice Shep

Heh, I took Tali and Liara as my usual squad and Tali always was the hardass of the two.

If not…then I wanna know what the heck I did wrong *ROFL*

First one, Tali wasn't loyal
Second one, you made Grunt the fire team leader. A lot of people make that mistake because he's a Krogan and can regenerate.

Okay, here's how it goes:

Ship upgrades - There's 3 that you need to worry about for survival. Shields, Armor, Guns. For every upgrade of those you miss, you lose someone in the INITIAL assault before you land. Who you lose depends on the upgrade and who's on your personal team. The other upgrades do not affect survival chance, but contribute something else. Personal upgrades also do not apply to survival. After the ship lands, those are irrelevant.

Loyalty - Loyalty is required if you have them on their own. If they are not loyal, the only way to save them is to have them on you're immediate team. If you put them into another role, someone is gonna die (usually the disloyal person, but if the biotic is not loyal, you lose one of your squad instead)

Position - Here's where it gets tricky. You need the exact mindset for the role. Anything less will cost a team member, regardless of their loyalty.

Specialist 1 - Tech heavy - Tali or Legion (mordin is a scientist, not heavy in machines, so he doesn't qualify)

Fire Team (both times) - Leadership capability - Miranda, Jacob, Garrus. Yes, they will get shot, but recover if loyal.

Specialist 2 - Biotic heavy - Jack or Samara/Morinth - (despite Miranda's claim to the contrary, only a loyal, strong biotic will be able to pull it off)

Door - Unsure, As I chose not to leave someone there. So far as I know, it only buys you some more time.

Escort - Combat capable - Jacob, Grunt, Garrus (I've heard Thane and Mordin being successful, but it's not constant)

Final team my seem like it's not a factor but it is. All your team members have a special rating referred to as "hold the line". More combat capable members are better off at this, and can offset those who aren't (tali and mordin) Best chance of survival for that is to take your "squishes" (specialists) into the final fight and make sure you have Zaeed from the DLC and have him loyal.

A final note, after you destroy the reaper, there's a chance your squad members can die. If they are Loyal, it's very low, if they are not, then it's very high. As well, this info will raise the chance of survival, not guarantee it. The only binary ones (either yes or no) are the ship upgrades.

(One other thing, is it just me, or when Joker hands you the datapad, the look on Shepard's face is basically saying "bring it, I'm ready for you"?)

[LewisLegion]

Yeah, I knew Tali was going to die a long time before I went into the final station simply because I knew I had ‘flubbed’ her loyalty quest. I purposefully put her as the first tech specialist knowing she would die because…hey, my Shep was an ass. Grunt dying, however, TOTALLY took me by surprise.

Each time I’ve played I’ve sent Zaeed to escort the crew back (made it just fine both times) and had the majority of the group hold off the door (all made it through just fine both times).

And yes, I LOVE that look at the end. Totally ‘bring it!’

[Gravekeeper]

Ouch, ya, Grunt will get people killed. He is *not *leadership material. What lundar said, its Miranda, Jacob or Garrus, period.

Thane works as an escort. For me anyhow. I always go with Samara for the shield and Legion for the vents. I also always pick "we better hurry" over "someone has to hold the door". Not sure if that matters or not but I'm not screwing with the formula.

No casualties so thus far.

[Geek King]

Ok, finished my first run though of the game, so I can safely join the thread.

Played a FemShep imported from the first game that I apparently made look remarkably like Alyson Hannigan without meaning to. According to friends watching me play.

I played Paragon, like the first game, and made it through with all intact first time. Probably because I like to stick my nose in every corner when I play. Last mission I ran with Tali as the tunnel runner, Jack as the biotic, Miranda leading the other group both times, had Garrus lead the team to hold the door since he has experience in last stands, Jacob on escort, and took Mordin and Tali against the Reaper so that all my combat heavies would be on the line. For added awesomeness, I finished off the reaper with a Widow sniper round to the eyeball. Does HUGE damage, as I had at least a quarter bar left.

Nice touches: Mini mission with Joker and EDI saving the ship from the Collectors, and Joker, of all people, holding the Normandy's door with an assault rifle. My roommate and I actually cheered out loud for Joker at that point.

[Nurian]

My FemShep is staying loyal to Liara, but I noticed something:

Is it just me or does Moridin seem disappointed that she wasn't interested either?

[LewisLegion]

Mordin loves to tease you that you have a crush on him if you keep coming to talk to him. And yes, I sensed a tad bit of disappointment

His 'love' advice was hysterical. My renegade Male Shep was romancing Miranda and Mordin's comment about Cerberus planting 'bugs' and the implied...um...location of the bugs was...well, we laughed.

A lot.

Ahem.

[Gravekeeper]

His 'love' advice was hysterical. My renegade Male Shep was romancing Miranda and Mordin's comment about Cerberus planting 'bugs' and the implied...um...location of the bugs was...well, we laughed.

With Tali it was Quarian erogenous zones and lotions or ointments to reduce discomfort. With Thane its, and I quote, "prolonged oral contact may lead to hallucinations".

[Salted Grump]

With Tali it was Quarian erogenous zones and lotions or ointments to reduce discomfort. With Thane its, and I quote, "prolonged oral contact may lead to hallucinations".

And with Garrus (if you're playing femshep) it's 'topical ointments. Chafing.' and 'Differing amino layouts. Do not... ah, ingest.'

Deliberately did a 'Kill 'em all' ending; kinda sad, but watching Joker just verbally lay into the Illusive Man was catharatic, to say the least. Now to do a NG+ on insane difficulty and get away with everyone coming out alive.

[LewisLegion]

Deliberately did a 'Kill 'em all' ending; kinda sad, but watching Joker just verbally lay into the Illusive Man was catharatic, to say the least. Now to do a NG+ on insane difficulty and get away with everyone coming out alive.

Ooh, how'd you manage that? Just didn't do the loyalty quests? Did your Shep get out alive?

[Salted Grump]

Ooh, how'd you manage that? Just didn't do the loyalty quests? Did your Shep get out alive?

No loyalty, no ship upgrades. And Nope, Shep gets it just before getting to the Normandy if there's nobody else alive.

Leaves pretty much Joker alive from the first game, unless you count the cameo characters.

[LewisLegion]

Teehee! I'm going to have to try that...just for giggles

[Salted Grump]

Don' forget to Mismanage, like sending Grunt off to play 'tech infiltrator' and not sparing anyone for the Escort of the crew, and having a crappy biotic for the shield section (of a non-biotic, if you can get away with it)

[lordlundar]

Don' forget to Mismanage, like sending Grunt off to play 'tech infiltrator' and not sparing anyone for the Escort of the crew, and having a crappy biotic for the shield section (of a non-biotic, if you can get away with it)

Well, if you want to go all out, sure.

But yeah, if you want to go for an all death thing, then just use the info I put up earlier as a guide in what NOT to do. No survival ship upgrades guarantees 3 deaths before the Normandy even lands. The tech specialist and first fire team are goners if you don't choose right and don't have the loyalty. Biotic specialist will kill off one at least, 2 possibly (haven't confirmed if you have a non loyal hybrid for the role) second fire team loses their leader with a bad choice, escort I'm unknown on (I've herd success from a variety of choices) but a non-loyal Mordin should be a quick death there (in theory) Door guard, you might want to save tali for, as she's considered a "squishy" and finally, piss around on the way to the fight. Should finish off anyone remaining not on your squad. If loyalty is down, you might lose both your squad mates, leaving shepard alone for the run.

Mind you, this is all theory.

Additional note related to my prior post: I think the "hold the line" value is a minimum number that needs to be attained to avoid losing people, either an average or cumulative, I'm not sure. Running with that theory, having a door person would hurt the chance of survival. But once again, it's theory.