Lets Play: Mass Effect (Updated - Ch 6 Part 2 - Virmire)

[woodaba]

Artemis Tau, definitely. You ain't going to leave my homegirl hanging are you? /pun definitely intended

 

[sage42]

Artemis Tau, if only to fill the entire team out.

 

[AD-Stu]

LOL - on the off chance there's someone reading this who hasn't played the game before I didn't want to make it explicit but yeah, there's a compelling reason to do one quest in particular first up

That said, leaving it until later is meant to have some hilarious side-effects as well so I'm genuinely happy with whatever people choose here. Keep voting away!

 

[Melon Hunter]

I'll vote Artemis Tau as well. You don't want to leave that asari (literally) hanging.

Also, on this topic:

I'm starting to sense a trend here - Rockstar are pretty good at the game-within-a-game thing

I've not actually played RDR so out of interest, how much influence did winning in the side games have on your performance in the main game?

I'm wondering because as discussed above, you could sink hours upon hours into quasar in Mass Effect and get pretty much nothing back for it - I think that's a big part of its failing.

The in-game games in RDR were great fun, but didn't have all that much influence in the game. Most of the games had pretty low wagers, usually less than $25 until quite late in the game, so like Quasar, you wouldn't win much. However, Blackjack, Poker and Liar's Dice could net you some pretty hefty wins if you knew what you were doing, and some fairly high-wager games were on offer in Thieves' Landing, a town not too far from the starting area. It made for a nice little earner if you needed the money.

One amusing feature was that a costume called the Gambler's Suit gave you the ability to cheat at poker by swiping a card off the deck while you dealt, and then switch the card in later. You had a little bar with a marker you needed to keep in the middle for a few seconds while you fiddled with the cards, otherwise you'd get caught. If you were caught, you had a duel in the street with one of the other players. That was always fun.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Artimus Tau, both to complete the first step of the Admiral's sidequest and to nab Liara. If you want to grab Liara last for amusements sake, then I vote you go to Feros first.

Personally, I never understood going to Noveria first. All you have to go on are vague rumors that Geth may or may not be in the general area, while on Feros there are people dying RIGHT NOW and on Artimus Tau there's someone who may be a vital breakthrough in the Saren case (either by giving us valuable information or a valuable hostage, as the case may be).

 

[AD-Stu]

The in-game games in RDR were great fun, but didn't have all that much influence in the game. Most of the games had pretty low wagers, usually less than $25 until quite late in the game, so like Quasar, you wouldn't win much. However, Blackjack, Poker and Liar's Dice could net you some pretty hefty wins if you knew what you were doing, and some fairly high-wager games were on offer in Thieves' Landing, a town not too far from the starting area. It made for a nice little earner if you needed the money.

One amusing feature was that a costume called the Gambler's Suit gave you the ability to cheat at poker by swiping a card off the deck while you dealt, and then switch the card in later. You had a little bar with a marker you needed to keep in the middle for a few seconds while you fiddled with the cards, otherwise you'd get caught. If you were caught, you had a duel in the street with one of the other players. That was always fun.

See, those sound like great fun and worthwhile to boot!

I know a lot of people didn't like it, but personally I enjoyed the pazaak games in KOTOR. Sure, the computer cheated outrageously and it encouraged you to abuse save files to make sure you never actually lost money, but you could win some reasonable amounts (IIRC) and there was some skill and strategy to the games.

I'm guessing one of the reasons Quasar sucks so much in this game is because you come across it pretty much at the start of the game in close proximity to stores that will sell you gear way above your current level if you had the cash.

Personally, I never understood going to Noveria first. All you have to go on are vague rumors that Geth may or may not be in the general area, while on Feros there are people dying RIGHT NOW and on Artimus Tau there's someone who may be a vital breakthrough in the Saren case (either by giving us valuable information or a valuable hostage, as the case may be).

True - based on the information we have right now, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of point in going to Noveria at all. Of course, those who've played the game before know that:

Spoiler

Matriarch Benezia is on Noveria

When you know that, Noveria is maybe the most compelling and urgent quest. But then if you're going to metagame like that, you also know that it doesn't really matter which world you pick because they'll all sit there patiently in their current state, waiting for you to arrive, so the point is moot

 

[AD-Stu]

OT:

*muffled shriek from next room* "MY NAME IS TALI YOU BIG STUPID OVERGROWN FISH-BAT HYBIRD!!!"

LOL okay I busted up from this. What's funnier is that Tali would act this way knowing her that well to predict. Plus her unawareness on how to express proper speech if not insults is highly cute. Yes it's weird of me but can you blame me?

Yeah, I didn't plan it at first, but Tali is a character I think we can have a lot of fun with when it comes to changing or inserting lines for her

The voting is unanimous for Artemis Tau so far. I'll leave it open for a while longer (primarily because I pick up my copy of ME3 in a few hours) and then come back in a few days to start the next chapter

 

[AD-Stu]

OK - I'm still reeling from the end of ME3 and, among other things, I think I'll be waiting at least until the face import patch is issued before I start another playthrough of it.

Which means this LP should be back on track! Expect another update in a few days, and feel free to keep voting in the meantime - though it's obviously going to take a massive comeback for anything to best Artemis Tau at this point

Damn, I did not know this.
I always hurried to get Spectre status, and then do the faffing about.
The wrong order, in hindsight.

Yeah - what happens is you get a 60x multiplier on the base experience for becoming a Spectre.

Your "base experience" gain is whatever level you're at, so if you become a Spectre at level 6 you get 6*60XP, whereas if you become a Spectre at level 12 you get double that (12*60XP). Most multipliers are so small (you get a one-off 25x when you achieve your specialisation class, the highest after that are the main quest ones at 15x each) that it doesn't matter when you get them but this one can make a big difference, especially at this early stage.

 

[AD-Stu]

[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 3, PART 1 (Therum) - Cheap exploits and hovering asari[/HEADING]

Spoiler

Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: We got promoted to Spectre and won a bet with Kaidan, but didn't get to shoot a damn thing.

As a result, Grunka's itchy trigger finger has developed a full-blown rash. When we last checked in on her, she was standing at the Normandy's galaxy map waiting for everyone to tell her where to go next. The results were unanimous: we're going to the Artemis Tau cluster to look for Dr Liara T'Soni, Prothean expert and daughter of Saren's offsider, Matriarch Benezia.

Here's the galaxy map. Major quests, like the one we're about to embark on, are helpfully marked. Thing is though, nobody has been able to tell us exactly which system within the Artemis Tau cluster Dr T'Soni might be in. There's four choices:

For whatever reason, Grunka just has a feeling about the Knossos system:

Paydirt! Any time you visit a planet and that has a big colour picture above it's description text, it's a giveaway that you can land there and do stuff. Plus there's mention of Prothean ruins. Let's do this.

"It looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few klicks away from the drop zone."

<font color=0000BB>"So... why didn't you drop us next to the complex?"

<font color=0000BB>"I just figured you'd enjoy a nice protracted outing in the Mako, ma'am."

<font color=0000BB>"Joker, when I get back to the Normandy, remind me to break both your legs on principle."

That's right, it's our first excursion in the Mako, probably everybody's number one complaint about this game! Personally I don't mind it, and since we're not going to be going overboard with side quests in this LP you won't have to see too much of it. Anyone doing a completionist run of the game will have to spend hours in it traipsing across random side-quest worlds though.

Here's our map - basically we just have to drive the Mako down this linear canyon until we reach our destination.

<font color=0000BB>"Commander, I don't feel so... ulp!" *pukes*

<font color=0000BB>"Dammit Lieutenant... Joker, can you prep a janitorial team for when we get back? Alenko's girly little stomach apparently can't handly my driving, and he just hurled all over the cabin..."

<font color=0000BB>"Aye, aye, ma'am, mop and bucket team will await your return."

Huh. That was a Geth dropship and it just dumped a couple of Armatures in our path. Seems we're not alone in looking for Dr T'Soni.

<font color=0000BB>"Pfft - Armatures? It's like the enemy isn't even taking us seriously! Just let me line up the main cannon..."

<font color=0000BB>"Whoa Garrus! Do you know how big an XP hit we take for killing things from the Mako?!? Leave that cannon alone, we're gonna do this like real men: go park behind one of those ridges and then we'll hide behind it while taking these suckers down with pistols and tech powers."

<font color=0000BB>"You want us to take on those walking tanks on foot?!?" *pukes again*

<font color=0000BB>"Ugh... pussies, the lot of you. Just follow my lead."

Once again, the secret to this is being cheap: just put a solid object between yourself and the enemy, and most of the time their shots will plow harmlessly into the hillside while you get to take pot shots at them. The XP hit is kind of a big deal, BTW. Any enemy you kill from the Mako only gives you half the experience gain (even less on Insanity difficulty, IIRC) and over the course of the game that can add up to a huge amount of missed XP - maybe even a few missed levels.

Besides, as we'll see later on, killing things on foot is often far easier outside the Mako. For now though we'll pile back into it and continue on our way. A bit further on we find a gated base blocking our path.

<font color=0000BB>"Dammit, why did I even bring you Kaidan?!? Just pile out and shoot those turrets in the face with your pistol already!"

<font color=0000BB>"Erm... Shepard? Much as I admire your suicidally gung-ho attitude, I think there's an alternative. And I think you'll like it, becuase it's even cheaper than what we did last time."

<font color=0000BB>"Well I do like cheap... OK Garrus, I'm listening."

<font color=0000BB>"We only take an XP hit for killing things from the Mako, right? But what if we almost destroy stuff from in here, then just fire the final shots on foot?"

<font color=0000BB>"Yeah, that'll probably work - let's do it. But Garrus? In future, remember that only I'm allowed to break the fourth wall."

Having cheap-shotted all of the turrets, there's still the matter of the big gate blocking our way. Fortunately, what Kaidan was alluding to before was a side entrance - we'll take it now.

Whoops! Seems Garrus's narcolepsy is infectious. Grunka finishes off the rest of the geth herself and then drives the Mako through.

We need to search these buildings on foot to find a switch to open the gate.

To cut a long, bumpy story short, we kill some more airdropped Armatures, drive through some tunnels and eventually end up here:

We get out of the Mako, run up a canyon, kill a few more geth, then find this place:

Oh smeg. There's a Shock Trooper, two Snipers (who can pretty much one-shot us at this stage) and three annoying Geth hoppers in our way. Plus the small matter of the walking tank that's been airdropped at the back. Even Grunka thinks there's only one strategy for this encounter:

<font color=0000BB>"RRRRUUUUUNNNNNNNN!"

That's right - if you just run around the corner, most of the enemies will wander into your scope one at a time. And the Armature doesn't even move at all, allowing you to cheapshot it through this gap in the wall. Having dispatched the geth, we discover they were guarding a mine entrance.

<font color=0000BB>"Wait... what?!? 'The tiles in those holes remind you of a bathroom floor'?!?"

<font color=0000BB>*shrugs* "Well, yeah. You don't think they do?"

<font color=0000BB>"Sure, I guess. I just didn't realise we were so desperate for contextual dialog at this point that it was necessary to make comparisons between human and Prothean interior decoration. I'd better find something to shoot before I get antsy enough to jump out of the screen and go pistol-whip whoever wrote that line..."

Grunka got her wish, there were a few Geth drones on this level that I forgot to get screenshots of. We take another elevator down and then this happens:

Getting out, we hear a voice...

"Listen. This thing I am in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?"

"How'd you end up in there?"

"I was exploring the ruins when the geth showed up, so I hid in here. Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil! I activated the tower's defenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please."

"What? I am not on anybody's side!

<font color=0000BB>*whisper* "What's that human saying... the lady is protesting too much? How does she even know who Saren is, or which Saren we're even talking about? She must know something!"

<font color=0000BB>"I'm with Garrus - hundred credits says she's in league with Benezia and Saren!"

<font color=0000BB>"I'll take that action, Lieutenant." *turns back to Dr T'Soni* "We just need to figure some way past this energy field."

"There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain."

This would be a difficult problem to solve, if someone hadn't left a gigantic mining laser hanging around in the pit below:

"Of course. Yes. That makes sense. Please... get me out of here before more geth arrive. That button over there should shut down this containment field."

"Any idea how we get out of this place?"

<font color=0000BB>"Wait, don't you think we should have some exposition before we, y'know, get ourselves out of danger?"

<font color=0000BB>"Is this a human thing?"

<font color=0000BB>"It's a stupid human thing, but just go with it. Path of least resistance and all."

<font color=0000BB>"Okay. Well..."

*ominous crashing noises*

"What the hell was that?"

"These ruins aren't stable. That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event. We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in!"

"Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."

So, up the elevator we go!

We could attempt some sort of dialog, but Grunka has noticed that they didn't even bother to give this krogan a name for its subtitles, so it's unlikely to be any kind of interesting main character. What ensues is actually one of the more difficult fights in the game: we're stuck in a round chamber with little cover, a Geth Sniper and Rocket Trooper (either of which can pretty much one-shot us), two Shock Troopers and, of course, that damned krogan which can charge us, land tons of damage and has that damned immunity power.

Believe it or not this is actually the main reason I brought Kaidan on this mission: in the vain hope that his throw and lift biotics will help us keep some distance while we kill it.

Full disclosure, I died the first time. The second time though, this happened:

The krogan just stood there wailing on Garrus, who somehow survived long enough to distract it while the rest of us to finished it.

With that done, all that's left to do is run the hell out of the dig site:

Brilliant! Now back to the Normandy for what will become our traditional main-mission debrief with the squad:

"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference. <font color=0000BB>Also, we picked up the Mako on the way through - janitorial took one look inside and instantly went on strike."

<font color=0000BB>"Ugh, civilian contractors. Can't court martial them, can't shoot them."

<font color=0000BB>"The Mako thing wasn't a joke, the Lieutenant here made a real good mess of the inside. But yeah..."

"I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander."

<font color=0000BB>"Oh, so we need to be 'dealt' with, do we?"

<font color=0000BB>"There's the paranoid xenophobe that we've heard so much about!"

"<font color=0000BB>I... may have misspoken. Anyway, I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six."

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

<font color=0000BB>"So aliens are OK when they can give you beauty tips then. You really are more complicated than the secret Alliance files let on, aren't you Chief..."

<font color=0000BB>*whispers to Wrex* "Are the humans always like this?!?"

<font color=0000BB>"Dunno, I'm mostly just here 'cause they let me kill stuff."

<font color=0000BB>*shakes head in bemusement* "A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

"It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

"Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn't any evidence."

"I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research. But I know I'm right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

<font color=0000BB>*under breath* "Anyone else thinking it's this 'just a feeling' stuff and not her age that's the reason for her research being ignored?"

"The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements - the mass relays and the Citadel - are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

And with that, we've stumbled across the beginning of the major plot for the entire trilogy.

To cut the rest of a long story short, Liara tells us that beacons are incredibly valuable, which explains why Saren risked so much to capture it. She also says they were meant to interface with Prothean minds, which is why the message was all garbled. Oh, and she says lesser minds would have been destroyed by the process - yay us!

She doesn't have any information that can help us find Saren, and everyone decides to take her at her word that she's not working with him or Benezia (though I still think it's suspicious that she even knows who Saren is - Spectres are supposed to be secret operatives
after all, and nobody's even mentioned a surname). So we bring her along to fill the asari-sized hole in our squad selection screen.

Then she feels a bit faint, and has to go get checked out by the docotor.

<font color=0000BB>"I believe you owe me another hundred credits, Lieutenant?"

<font color=0000BB>*mutters under breath and pays*

"Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?"

Ah, the other post-main-mission tradition - getting sass from the Council.

"Don't tell me how to do my job!"

"You are free to act as you see fit, Commander. Our role is to offer guidance and advice."

"It's up to you if you're smart enough to listen."

We can hang up right now (another post-mission tradition), but Grunka persists.

"Or maybe we don't know her. We never expected she could become a traitor."

"At least the mission was a success."

"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?"

"I don't need this."

*disconnects*

And that's that - an entire major quest in a single update. Admittedly, it's by far the shortest one but still, how's that for efficiency!

Next time out we'll cover the obligatory post-mission infodump with all our squadmates.

I'm planning to knock off a couple of side quests to round out this chapter before we vote on the next major quest to pursue too. I'm only planning to show a few of the interesting ones in the LP (I'll probably grind some of the others off-screen for XP and loot) so that said, does anyone have any favourites they'd like to see covered?

 

[Melon Hunter]

[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 3, PART 1 (Therum) - Cheap exploits and hovering asari[/HEADING]

Spoiler

Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: We got promoted to Spectre and won a bet with Kaidan, but didn't get to shoot a damn thing.

As a result, Grunka's itchy trigger finger has developed a full-blown rash. When we last checked in on her, she was standing at the Normandy's galaxy map waiting for everyone to tell her where to go next. The results were unanimous: we're going to the Artemis Tau cluster to look for Dr Liara T'Soni, Prothean expert and daughter of Saren's offsider, Matriarch Benezia.

Here's the galaxy map. Major quests, like the one we're about to embark on, are helpfully marked. Thing is though, nobody has been able to tell us exactly which system within the Artemis Tau cluster Dr T'Soni might be in. There's four choices:

For whatever reason, Grunka just has a feeling about the Knossos system:

Paydirt! Any time you visit a planet and that has a big colour picture above it's description text, it's a giveaway that you can land there and do stuff. Plus there's mention of Prothean ruins. Let's do this.

"It looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few klicks away from the drop zone."

<font color=0000BB>"So... why didn't you drop us next to the complex?"

<font color=0000BB>"I just figured you'd enjoy a nice protracted outing in the Mako, ma'am."

<font color=0000BB>"Joker, when I get back to the Normandy, remind me to break both your legs on principle."

That's right, it's our first excursion in the Mako, probably everybody's number one complaint about this game! Personally I don't mind it, and since we're not going to be going overboard with side quests in this LP you won't have to see too much of it. Anyone doing a completionist run of the game will have to spend hours in it traipsing across random side-quest worlds though.

Here's our map - basically we just have to drive the Mako down this linear canyon until we reach our destination.

<font color=0000BB>"Commander, I don't feel so... ulp!" *pukes*

<font color=0000BB>"Dammit Lieutenant... Joker, can you prep a janitorial team for when we get back? Alenko's girly little stomach apparently can't handly my driving, and he just hurled all over the cabin..."

<font color=0000BB>"Aye, aye, ma'am, mop and bucket team will await your return."

Huh. That was a Geth dropship and it just dumped a couple of Armatures in our path. Seems we're not alone in looking for Dr T'Soni.

<font color=0000BB>"Pfft - Armatures? It's like the enemy isn't even taking us seriously! Just let me line up the main cannon..."

<font color=0000BB>"Whoa Garrus! Do you know how big an XP hit we take for killing things from the Mako?!? Leave that cannon alone, we're gonna do this like real men: go park behind one of those ridges and then we'll hide behind it while taking these suckers down with pistols and tech powers."

<font color=0000BB>"You want us to take on those walking tanks on foot?!?" *pukes again*

<font color=0000BB>"Ugh... pussies, the lot of you. Just follow my lead."

Once again, the secret to this is being cheap: just put a solid object between yourself and the enemy, and most of the time their shots will plow harmlessly into the hillside while you get to take pot shots at them. The XP hit is kind of a big deal, BTW. Any enemy you kill from the Mako only gives you half the experience gain (even less on Insanity difficulty, IIRC) and over the course of the game that can add up to a huge amount of missed XP - maybe even a few missed levels.

Besides, as we'll see later on, killing things on foot is often far easier outside the Mako. For now though we'll pile back into it and continue on our way. A bit further on we find a gated base blocking our path.

<font color=0000BB>"Dammit, why did I even bring you Kaidan?!? Just pile out and shoot those turrets in the face with your pistol already!"

<font color=0000BB>"Erm... Shepard? Much as I admire your suicidally gung-ho attitude, I think there's an alternative. And I think you'll like it, becuase it's even cheaper than what we did last time."

<font color=0000BB>"Well I do like cheap... OK Garrus, I'm listening."

<font color=0000BB>"We only take an XP hit for killing things from the Mako, right? But what if we almost destroy stuff from in here, then just fire the final shots on foot?"

<font color=0000BB>"Yeah, that'll probably work - let's do it. But Garrus? In future, remember that only I'm allowed to break the fourth wall."

Having cheap-shotted all of the turrets, there's still the matter of the big gate blocking our way. Fortunately, what Kaidan was alluding to before was a side entrance - we'll take it now.

Whoops! Seems Garrus's narcolepsy is infectious. Grunka finishes off the rest of the geth herself and then drives the Mako through.

We need to search these buildings on foot to find a switch to open the gate.

To cut a long, bumpy story short, we kill some more airdropped Armatures, drive through some tunnels and eventually end up here:

We get out of the Mako, run up a canyon, kill a few more geth, then find this place:

Oh smeg. There's a Shock Trooper, two Snipers (who can pretty much one-shot us at this stage) and three annoying Geth hoppers in our way. Plus the small matter of the walking tank that's been airdropped at the back. Even Grunka thinks there's only one strategy for this encounter:

<font color=0000BB>"RRRRUUUUUNNNNNNNN!"

That's right - if you just run around the corner, most of the enemies will wander into your scope one at a time. And the Armature doesn't even move at all, allowing you to cheapshot it through this gap in the wall. Having dispatched the geth, we discover they were guarding a mine entrance.

<font color=0000BB>"Wait... what?!? 'The tiles in those holes remind you of a bathroom floor'?!?"

<font color=0000BB>*shrugs* "Well, yeah. You don't think they do?"

<font color=0000BB>"Sure, I guess. I just didn't realise we were so desperate for contextual dialog at this point that it was necessary to make comparisons between human and Prothean interior decoration. I'd better find something to shoot before I get antsy enough to jump out of the screen and go pistol-whip whoever wrote that line..."

Grunka got her wish, there were a few Geth drones on this level that I forgot to get screenshots of. We take another elevator down and then this happens:

Getting out, we hear a voice...

"Listen. This thing I am in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?"

"How'd you end up in there?"

"I was exploring the ruins when the geth showed up, so I hid in here. Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil! I activated the tower's defenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please."

"What? I am not on anybody's side!

<font color=0000BB>*whisper* "What's that human saying... the lady is protesting too much? How does she even know who Saren is, or which Saren we're even talking about? She must know something!"

<font color=0000BB>"I'm with Garrus - hundred credits says she's in league with Benezia and Saren!"

<font color=0000BB>"I'll take that action, Lieutenant." *turns back to Dr T'Soni* "We just need to figure some way past this energy field."

"There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain."

This would be a difficult problem to solve, if someone hadn't left a gigantic mining laser hanging around in the pit below:

"Of course. Yes. That makes sense. Please... get me out of here before more geth arrive. That button over there should shut down this containment field."

"Any idea how we get out of this place?"

<font color=0000BB>"Wait, don't you think we should have some exposition before we, y'know, get ourselves out of danger?"

<font color=0000BB>"Is this a human thing?"

<font color=0000BB>"It's a stupid human thing, but just go with it. Path of least resistance and all."

<font color=0000BB>"Okay. Well..."

*ominous crashing noises*

"What the hell was that?"

"These ruins aren't stable. That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event. We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in!"

"Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."

So, up the elevator we go!

We could attempt some sort of dialog, but Grunka has noticed that they didn't even bother to give this krogan a name for its subtitles, so it's unlikely to be any kind of interesting main character. What ensues is actually one of the more difficult fights in the game: we're stuck in a round chamber with little cover, a Geth Sniper and Rocket Trooper (either of which can pretty much one-shot us), two Shock Troopers and, of course, that damned krogan which can charge us, land tons of damage and has that damned immunity power.

Believe it or not this is actually the main reason I brought Kaidan on this mission: in the vain hope that his throw and lift biotics will help us keep some distance while we kill it.

Full disclosure, I died the first time. The second time though, this happened:

The krogan just stood there wailing on Garrus, who somehow survived long enough to distract it while the rest of us to finished it.

With that done, all that's left to do is run the hell out of the dig site:

Brilliant! Now back to the Normandy for what will become our traditional main-mission debrief with the squad:

"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference. <font color=0000BB>Also, we picked up the Mako on the way through - janitorial took one look inside and instantly went on strike."

<font color=0000BB>"Ugh, civilian contractors. Can't court martial them, can't shoot them."

<font color=0000BB>"The Mako thing wasn't a joke, the Lieutenant here made a real good mess of the inside. But yeah..."

"I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander."

<font color=0000BB>"Oh, so we need to be 'dealt' with, do we?"

<font color=0000BB>"There's the paranoid xenophobe that we've heard so much about!"

"<font color=0000BB>I... may have misspoken. Anyway, I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six."

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

<font color=0000BB>"So aliens are OK when they can give you beauty tips then. You really are more complicated than the secret Alliance files let on, aren't you Chief..."

<font color=0000BB>*whispers to Wrex* "Are the humans always like this?!?"

<font color=0000BB>"Dunno, I'm mostly just here 'cause they let me kill stuff."

<font color=0000BB>*shakes head in bemusement* "A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

"It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

"Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn't any evidence."

"I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research. But I know I'm right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

<font color=0000BB>*under breath* "Anyone else thinking it's this 'just a feeling' stuff and not her age that's the reason for her research being ignored?"

"The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements - the mass relays and the Citadel - are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

And with that, we've stumbled across the beginning of the major plot for the entire trilogy.

To cut the rest of a long story short, Liara tells us that beacons are incredibly valuable, which explains why Saren risked so much to capture it. She also says they were meant to interface with Prothean minds, which is why the message was all garbled. Oh, and she says lesser minds would have been destroyed by the process - yay us!

She doesn't have any information that can help us find Saren, and everyone decides to take her at her word that she's not working with him or Benezia (though I still think it's suspicious that she even knows who Saren is - Spectres are supposed to be secret operatives
after all, and nobody's even mentioned a surname). So we bring her along to fill the asari-sized hole in our squad selection screen.

Then she feels a bit faint, and has to go get checked out by the docotor.

<font color=0000BB>"I believe you owe me another hundred credits, Lieutenant?"

<font color=0000BB>*mutters under breath and pays*

"Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?"

Ah, the other post-main-mission tradition - getting sass from the Council.

"Don't tell me how to do my job!"

"You are free to act as you see fit, Commander. Our role is to offer guidance and advice."

"It's up to you if you're smart enough to listen."

We can hang up right now (another post-mission tradition), but Grunka persists.

"Or maybe we don't know her. We never expected she could become a traitor."

"At least the mission was a success."

"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?"

"I don't need this."

*disconnects*

And that's that - an entire major quest in a single update. Admittedly, it's by far the shortest one but still, how's that for efficiency!

Next time out we'll cover the obligatory post-mission infodump with all our squadmates.

I'm planning to knock off a couple of side quests to round out this chapter before we vote on the next major quest to pursue too. I'm only planning to show a few of the interesting ones in the LP (I'll probably grind some of the others off-screen for XP and loot) so that said, does anyone have any favourites they'd like to see covered?

I apologise for not knowing what systems they're in, but the 'abandoned spaceship' missions are some of my favourite sidequests, especially the one with the psycho biotic girlfriend stalking you through the deserted cargo ship. They were eerie as hell the first time I played them, especially as an Infiltrator with little in the way of close-combat solutions.

 

[woodaba]

Most of the standout sidequests have been mentioned already, but I would like to double the vote for Dead Scientists. It's pretty damn vital, considering the role you-know-who have in the second game.

 

[AD-Stu]

I may as well take this opportunity to post the alternate version of meeting Liara, if you leave her til last.

*snip*

I strongly recommend doing the "Wrex: Family Armor" sidequest (though it doesn't really matter if you include it in this LP or not).

Thanks for the video link - I've never been able to bring myself to leave Liara until last so I've never actually seen that scene play out. Not as funny as I'd imagined, in retrospect, but still interesting.

And yeah, I'm planning on doing all three squadmate side quests on screen (though I may... erm... gloss over some of the endless combat in Tali's one).

All the other ones suggested sound good to me. At the rate we're going (I'm probably due to do another character screen update) I don't know if we'll get our Renegade score high enough to trigger The Negotiation, but we'll see how we go. If it doesn't work out, maybe I can just go take a screenshot outside the base where it happens or something

I apologise for not knowing what systems they're in, but the 'abandoned spaceship' missions are some of my favourite sidequests, especially the one with the psycho biotic girlfriend stalking you through the deserted cargo ship. They were eerie as hell the first time I played them, especially as an Infiltrator with little in the way of close-combat solutions.

All good - the psycho girlfriend one is on the list, and the Garrus one is in a freighter as well. If memory serves me right (and I get everything else right) I think there's probably one more we'll see on screen too.

That face Liara makes perfectly summarizes how I feel about Mass Effect 3's ending along with other things that keeps driving me to dislike Bioware.

OT: Thank you for those tips. I'll be happy to remember about those Geth tanks and getting out to finish them off grants me more XP then if I were to blaze through with my own tank (har har). But the harder the difficulty is, does it grant you more XP or the same if you were playing it on casual? Truth be told I play on casual in all Mass Effects because the story is what draws me in to play *shrug*

Yeah, I was so tempted to make that shot her avatar for the rest of the game. Thought it might be a bit cruel though

IIRC you don't get any more XP for killing enemies on higher difficulty. The only thing that changes is that on Insanity difficulty you take an even bigger hit for killing enemies from the Mako (other difficulty levels you get 50% of the XP, I think on Insanity it might only be 40%). So you're not missing out by playing on casual. And given how exploit-ridden this game in particular is, all you're really doing is saving yourself time

Thanks for reading guys!

 

[AD-Stu]

[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 3, PART 2 (Artemis Tau) - The slaver and the giant worm[/HEADING]

Spoiler

Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: We rescued Dr Liara T'Soni from an archaeological dig, had her join our band of merry misfits, then hung up on the Council for the lulz.

Before we go off and do anything else productive, let's go have a chat with each of our squadmates. Liara is the newest and therefore most interesting, so we'll go see her first. She hangs out in a lab at the back of the med bay:

"Dr Chakwas assures me I am going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of asari physiology."

"You're in good hands. Dr Chakwas <font color=#0000BB>has dissected a lot of asari in her time."

<font color=#0000BB>"She's... what?!? Oh. This is another human 'joke', isn't it?"

<font color=#0000BB>*grins* "You're getting better at this! By this time next week, we'll have you walking up to krogan and asking them what the five fingers said to the face."

"<font color=#0000BB>I... don't think I want to know what they said. Anyway, I never properly thanked you for saving me from the geth, Commander. If you hadn't shown up..."

"I'm just glad we got there in time."

"But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise."

<font color=#0000BB>*under breath* "The various xenophobes on my crew, on the other hand... never mind."

"Maybe she thought allying herself with Saren would somehow be for the greater good in the long run. At least, I hope so. None of this makes any sense to me. I have not spoken to Benezia in many years, but I know her! And this was not like her. Something changed."

"Sounds dangerous. And lonely."

"Sometimes I would run afoul of indigenous lifeforms, or stumble across a small band of mercenaries or privateers. But I was always careful. Until the geth followed me to Artemis Tau, I never found myself in any situation my biotics could not handle. As for the solitude, well, that is one aspect that most appealed to me. Sometimes, I just ned to get away from other people."

"<font color=#0000BB>Oh gawd, not another emo. We're already stuck with Kaidan... for now. You don't like other people?"

"I suppose it comes from being a Matriarch's daughter. People expected me to follow in Benezia's footsteps. They wanted me to become a leader of our people. But I felt drawn to the past. The Protheans were these wondrous, mysterious figures. I wanted to know everything about them. That is why I find you so fascinating. You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime; you were touched by working Prothean technology!"

"<font color=#0000BB>Y'know, you might want to revise your expectations of the Protheans. Just in case you ever, I dunno, happen to meet one or something. As for the rest of that stuff, it sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab somewhere."

"Joking? Oh, by the Goddess! How could I be so dense? You must think I am a complete and utter fool. Now you know why I prefer to spend my time in the field with data disks and computers. I always seem to say something embarrassing around other people. Please... just pretend this conversation never happened."

On top of all that, Liara can also tell us a bit about the asari species. Long story short, they were the first species to discover the Citadel, were instrumental in forming the Council, and are generally the voice of peaceful cooperation in galactic politics. They have a natural lifespan of about a thousand years. They're mono-gendered, though if there were "male" asari, I totally think they'd look like Doctor Manhattan.

Oh, and they can reproduce with any partner, of any gender from any species, in a process that may or may not involve physical contact.

Other species' 'misunderstanding' of this process has apparently earned the asari a reputation as the sluttiest blue space sluts in the galaxy. Go figure. Liara's parents were both asari, however, something that is looked down upon among her species because they feel that nothing has been gained when two asari mate. She was raised by Benezia and never met her other mother.

Right, infodump over! We might as well get our emo overdose over and done with by talking to Kaidan next:

"This Saren is looking for records on some kind of galactic extinction. But we can't get backup from the Council? Sorry, Commander. There's writing on the wall here, but someone isn't reading it."

"It's funny. We finally get out here, and <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmuScAvrWXA>the final frontier was already settled. And the residents don't even seem impressed by the view. Or the dangers."

"Well well, you're a romantic. Did you sign on for 'the dream', Alenko? Secure man's future in space?"

"Maybe I was a romantic in the beginning. But I thought about it after Brain Camp - ah, sorry, 'Biotic Acclimation and Temperance training'. I'm not looking for 'the dream'. I just want to do some good. See what's out here. Sorry if I got a bit too informal. Protocol wasn't a big focus back in BAaT."

Prompt Kaidan at this point and he'll tell you all about his biotic training - if it's Tali's job to single-handedly explain quarian history in this game, then it's Kaidan's job to explain the history of human biotics. It goes on for a bit, so I'll do a highlights package:

Those kids were "accidentally" exposed to element zero in the womb - in Kaidan's case, his mother was downwind of a transporter crash and it was probably a genuine accident, but it's suggested that a lot of the later accidents were arranged by corporations to get more test subjects.

Kaidan was one of a bunch of kids on the station, but there was no extranet connection to allow them to access porn, so Grunka naturally jumps to conclusions:

<font color=0000BB>"Emo."

<font color=0000BB>*ahem* "She was from Turkey. Her family was very rich. She was smart, and charming as hell. Beautiful, but not stuck up about it."

<font color=0000BB>"Dunno where you're getting your info, lieutenant, but I'm not from Turkey..."

"Well, you're welcome. Ma'am. You make a habit of getting this personal with everyone?"

"No. No, I don't. We'll talk again later."

Ash is next:

"<font color=0000BB>Whoa, there's a loaded statement if ever I've heard one! Not everyone has a happy family life."

"No, I guess not. Too bad those ruins got destroyed. I mean, they lasted thousands of years. That's impressive. Anyway, I was hoping to get a minute of your time. Off the record."

"Is this duty-related, Chief?"

"No, ma'am. Well, maybe."

"With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship? This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy. I don't think we should give them free reign to poke around the vital systems. Engines. Sensors. Weapons. <font color=0000BB>I mean, what would happen if we gave the turian free reign to mess about with the calibration of our main guns?!?"

There's that xenophobe we've all come to know and love! And speaking of Garrus...

"Probably the same reasons as most officers. I wanted to fight injustice, wanted to help people. I guess my father had something to do with it, too. He was C-Sec. One of the best. I grew up hearing about his accomplishments or seeing his picture on the vids after a big arrest. He's taking my resignation pretty hard."

"<font color=0000BB>I'm starting to wonder if there's anyone on my crew without daddy issues, but I'll bite... he's not impressed that you're going after Saren?"

"He'd think I'm being rash. He would say I'll become like Saren. He actually talked me out of becoming a Spectre when I was younger. For the same reasons."

"I could have received special training, but my father didn't like it. He despises the Spectres. He hates the idea of someone having unlimited power with no accountability. He wouldn't like you, Commander. No offense."

<font color=0000BB>"It's not like I operate with absolutely no accountability - I call the Council after every big mission and give them the chance to say at least one stern thing to me before I hang up on them!"

"<font color=0000BB>I know. But Saren's not going to play by our rules. C-Sec's rules. If you want to nail Saren, you need to send someone who isn't restricted by policies and procedures."

This is a recurring issue with Garrus, and it's pretty much the same one that's at the heart of the Paragon/Renegade choices we make throughout the game: do you do things the "right" way, or do you go for results regardless of the cost? Grunka is leaning towards the latter at this particular moment.

<font color=0000BB>"Since I'm a FemShep that'll take on a whole new meaning in the next game. But for the moment I'll take it at face value. Thanks bro."

"I could tell as soon as I met him."

<font color=0000BB>"WHAT THE F^&K?!?!?!?!?" Why didn't I know about this?!?

"They said it paid well and the boss was never around to ride them. They said he was looking for more men, too. So I checked it out. We'd been raiding ships in the area for months when we took out this massive cargo freighter. Our biggest haul yet. I was on board checking bodies for valuables, looking for some extra credits."

<font color=0000BB>"Smart - this is an RPG universe after all. Plus you can sell their weapons and upgrades for near-infinite amounts of credits."

<font color=0000BB>"Heh heh heh. Yeah, I know. It's a pretty sweet deal."

<font color=0000BB>*makes mental note to un-break the money system in the next game*

"Anyway, that's when I saw him. I don't know what he wanted. He was just moving through the ship. Watching. Couple of mercs called him by name, but he never spoke to them. Never spoke to anyone."

"If there was anything of value on that ship, I didn't see it. That's why I didn't mention it sooner. That's the only time I saw him. Didn't even know who he was. Still wouldn't if I hadn't joined up with you. But my instincts were right. Every other merc on that mission turned up dead within a week. Every damn one."

One to go - these post-mission chats take a long time once you've got a full crew!

"The Normandy runs so smooth it feels like we're not even moving. And the engines are so quiet. How do you sleep at night?"

<font color=0000BB>"On top of a pile of money, with many beautiful ladies?"

"I guess you don't have to worry about that here <font color=0000BB>with your... was that some kind of harem you just described?!?"

<font color=0000BB>"It was a joke, Tali. From an ancient Earth cartoon show."

"<font color=0000BB>Oh. But it's more than the silence. This ship feels so empty, it's like half the crew is missing. Back home, I couldn't wait to go on my Pilgrimage. I couldn't wait to get away from the crowds. Now that I'm out here, I kind of miss them."

"<font color=0000BB>At risk of sounding serious for the first time in this conversation, sometimes we don't appreciate what we have until it's gone."

"I would never abandon my people, Shepard. I will go back eventually. But we have to stop Saren first. Otherwise, I might not have a home to go back to."

Phew! Let's recover from all that talking by finding something to shoot. We're still in orbit above Therum in the Artemis Tau cluster and there were a few other systems in the vicinity, let's see if they have anything interesting in them:

"Message coming in. Patching it through."

"Commander Shepard, my name is Nassana Dantius. I have a job for you. I can't say any more in an unsecured communication. If you're interested in hearing my offer, meet me on the Citadel so we can talk in person. I'll be waiting in the diplomat's lounge on the Presidium."

<font color=0000BB>"I don't remember seeing any lounge... oh, you mean the Worst Bar on the CitadelTM! Whatever, we'll see."

There's one planet we can land on in this system:

We'll take Liara along for her first mission. Here's her stat sheet and how I applied her initial points:

Almost all of her powers are biotic (pretty much all asari are biotics, something about their homeworld being rich in element zero and therefore not needing 'accidental' drive core explosions for exposure... though I don't think that's actually covered in this game).

Throw and Warp are her key offensive powers so I've maxed them out first. Stasis isn't all that helpful in this game because you can't deal damage to enemies while they're frozen - it's godly in later games where it just gives you a stationary target. Singularity is great as a crowd control ability, it basically just creates a big circle within which any enemies are pulled into the air and float around waiting to be shot.

While we're at it, this is Grunka's latest stat screen:

Having achieved our first perk in the Spectre Training column, we can now revive our squadmates when the collapse in battle - Garrus is redeemed! I probably won't put a lot more into Pistols, and will start focussing on Sniper and Assault Rifles instead because high-level assault rifles + upgrades = neverending stream of death in this game.

<font color=0000BB>*makes mental note to put a stop to that shit in the next game too, even if it takes a great steaming dump all over the established canon*

<font color=0000BB>"Dammit Hudson, you ruin all my fun! If I ever get my hands on you..."

Fitness is also something I'll be building up more now that we've got some of the basic stuff (like getting Decryption and Electronics up to a level where we can unlock Hard objects) out of the way. But I digress, we've got a planet to trundle around looking for stuff!

Let's look at the map:

Pretty much all side-planets follow the same formula. There'll be one main objective to investigate, a copy-pasted building or mine with some bad guys to kill and probably some loot at the end. In this case, it's the stronghold highlighted on the map. There'll also be a couple of secondary objects highlighted on the map, things like crashed satellites which you can loot. And there will be some unmarked resources which you can scour the map for in order to mine them. Like so:

For the sake of everybody's sanity that's the last time you'll see that on screen. I picked up the other stuff as well, then went to check out the stronghold.

The radar shows lots of bad guys, including snipers in perches. We have terrible weapons at the moment, particularly in the sniper rifle department (unlike later games in the series, in ME1 your sniper rifle crosshairs wobble all over the place like they're drunk if you don't have a good enough rifle or you aren't skilled enough, making it basically useless).

To make things worse this planet has a Level 1 environmental hazard, so if we walk around outside the Mako for too long we start dying. There's fixes for that which we'll pick up later, but for the moment it's all just a bit too hard. So we bum rush the door in haphazard fashion instead and check out what's inside:

Pirates, apparently. This is one of the four environments that's copy-pasted for the side quests, all that really changes is the positioning of the boxes inside. I think it's just supposed to be some kind of prefabricated warehouse or something. But enough of that and more shooting!

We eventually kill them all, including one boss-ish enemy who was labelled "Asari Slaver" and in an upstairs office we discover this:

Huh. That's it. I guess this is what Nassana wanted to talk to us about... we'll catch up with her later back on the Citadel.

There's one more system in Artemis Tau I'd like to check out - remember a few updates ago, just after we got promoted, when Rear Admiral Kahoku wanted us to look into some missing marines? The place where they went missing is just next door:

<font color=0000BB>"Uh, they don't look very alive ma'am."

<font color=0000BB>"It's a trap!"

<font color=0000BB>"I think I might know what's about to happen, but I don't want to spoil the surprise..."

Yup, it's our first shai hulud Thresher Maw! These things give huge experience gains, especially if you kill them on foot. They've got tons of health, they'll destroy the Mako with pretty much one hit if you get into melee range, and after taking a bit of damage they'll disappear underground only to pop back up somewhere else nearby.

Sound difficult? Hardly. They have a ranged attack, but it's a slow-moving glob of green snot that's easily dodged. And they only come back up on flat ground, so as long as the Mako is parked on one of the many nearby little hills while the Thresher Maw is underground you're safe. And you can usually tell when you're going to come across one, because they pretty much always live in these circular arena-type areas with the little hills in them.

So we just stay out of melee range, dodge its ranged attacks, beat it down with the Mako, then jump out to fire the last few shots on foot like so:

Now to check on those marines:

Sorry for the delay guys, that was a way longer break than I'd planned!

Just to wrap things up, let's have another vote. We spoke to both Liara and Kaidan this update, and they both seemed *ahem* pretty keen on us. It's time to start thinking about our romance choices for this game - should we go with:

- Kaidan?
- Liara?
- Neither?

Place bets/votes now! And as always, thanks for reading

 

[Zen Toombs]

Just to wrap things up, let's have another vote. We spoke to both Liara and Kaidan this update, and they both seemed *ahem* pretty keen on us. It's time to start thinking about our romance choices for this game - should we go with:

- Kaidan?
- Liara?
- Neither?

Place bets/votes now! And as always, thanks for reading

No problem, it's an entertaining read. As for my vote... Grunka strikes me as either an angry lesbian or an angry bisexual (probably stemming from you playing her as angry, and the fact that you seem to be a straight male). I'm not sure who to romance in the first game, but as I said she strikes me as liking the ladies.

Anyways, thanks for the update!

 

[woodaba]

I think I've developed a subconcious reaction to Casey Hudson. Every time I see that smug bastards face, i feel an urge to punch the screen.

As for who to romance...er...I pretty much always go for Liara in ME1, (mainly because Kaidan is incredibly uninteresting and Ashley is an ignorant bigot), so I'm putting my vote down for her. Pity she becomes a determinator sociopath in ME2 until the end of Lair of the Shadow Broker.

 

[sage42]

Personally I vote either go for Liara in a "Oh crap we're gonna die!" one night fling sorta thing, or wait till the next game and go for Garrus, if only of the hilariously awkward pick up lines.

 

[AD-Stu]

"I suppose it comes from being a Matriarch's daughter."

This struck me as a little odd.

I may have misunderstood Asari lore here, but, assuming an Asari lives long enough, they'll become a Matriarch.
Meaning, the title of "Matriarch's daughter" isn't all that rare or unusual.

Yeah, it struck me as odd too - my understanding is the same, all asari graduate to the matriarch stage at around 700 years of age so being a matriarch's daughter is hardly rare.

What I've always taken it to mean is that Benezia was a particularly influential matriarch, and that's what put pressure on Liara. As we learn in the later games, not all matriarchs become powerful leaders. Some of them serve drinks in bars, for example...

 

[endtherapture]

Don't go for Kaidan. In fact, kill him. His face is all fucked up and ugly. It looks like it's made out of china. His eyes are funny. It gets worse in ME3. At least Ashley gets hot.

 

[woodaba]

When's the next update coming out? Is this LP cancelled?

 

[AD-Stu]

Nope, not cancelled - I've just been running REALLY short on time lately The next update, however, is due right... now:

[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 3, PART 3 (Various) - Do rogue VIs dream of electric pyjaks?[/HEADING]

Spoiler

Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: We did a shitload of talking, then shot a giant worm in the face. Just another day in the life of Grunka Shepard then...

If we were taking this "Saren's gonna destroy the galaxy" stuff seriously then we'd be off chasing down one of our other promising leads. But since we have the luxury of metagaming this and know that the story will just wait until we're damn well good and ready to join back up with it again, we're going to faff around for a bit. There's a point to it though, I promise!

To kick things off, there's been a request for a freighter-based side quest, and Grunka has a feeling she'll find one in the Gemini Sigma system:

Incidenally, Gemini Sigma is also the prettiest system in the game, don't you think?

Ah hah! We find a stranded freighter, and dock with it.

Hmm. Grunka loots a few crates then moves forward into the main cargo hold...

<font color=0000BB>"Of course it was no accident Wrex - I shot it to make it explode while we were still a safe distance away! You've got a point though, there are an awful lot of them around..."

<font color=0000BB>"Does anyone remember if we're right for spare tyres on the Mako? Someone's left a whole bunch of them here!"

All freighers have the same basic layout, so up front we can be pretty confident we'll find two rooms and the cockpit. Sure enough...

"The machine's keeping him alive."

"I'm not seeing any brain activity on the readouts. He's dead. This body is just an empty shell."

Not really knowing what's going on, we leave the body alone for the moment and check the other room.

<font color=0000BB>"Can anyone else guess where this is headed..."

<font color=0000BB>*fingers shotgun* "Yup, I'm getting a pretty good idea."

Only one place left to check - the cockpit.

It doesn't show up particularly well, but the "Julia" from the recordings is charging us down the corridoor. She's a biotic but it's three on one and we have Sabotage, Damping and biotics of our own so the fight is over before it's even begun. She attacks first so there's no option to talk her down or anything. Just one thing left to do now: turn the guy's life support off.

Now let's go for another cruise about the galaxy. For no particular reason *ahem*, Grunka chooses the Argos Rho cluster, Phoenix system:

As per last update, I've done the resource collection faffing about off screen and then skipped straight to the interesting bit: the "hidden structure" on the map.

<font color=0000BB>"Bah, XP gains be damned - we're using the cannon for this!"

Inside is another warehouse with a slightly different arrangement of boxes and shelves, and a different bunch of bad guys. One of them even has a name!

Having killed everyone, we wander upstairs and find loot central. In the middle is a particularly conspicuous safe:

Huh. Wrex "must" know something about this? Sounds fishy, I guess we'll go back to the Normandy and ask him:

<font color=0000BB>"Is this another one of those stupid human jokes, like 'You're from England, you must know my mate Pete from Thwopshire' or something? That said, my family is missing an heirloom set of armor..."

"Thanks Shepard. I might be starting to like you after all."

"<font color=0000BB>Uh, I didn't think these kind of romance options kicked in until the second game... so I'll try to deflect and just ask: are you getting soft on me Wrex?"

"Huh. Just 'cause I like you doesn't mean I wouldn't kill you."

Oh Wrex. Never change

FWIW, if we hadn't have picked up the armor ourselves then after enough conversations Wrex would eventually tell us about it and point us in the right direction. The outcome is still the same.

"Such as?"

"Such as... I needed to get out of our system. I needed to eat. I needed to survive. I was betrayed."

<font color=0000BB>"Hmm. This sounds like a story that'll end violently - please, continue."

"I was head of a small tribe. We were trying to restore order after the war, but the other tribes were against us. One of the biggest of those tribes was led by Jarrod. He wanted to continue the war. He wanted to fight: turians, salarians, each other. It didn't matter who, as long as we were fighting."

<font color=0000BB>"Wait... Jarrod? Really?!? I thought all krogan had tough-sounding names like Uvenk and Wreav - 'Jarrod' sounds positively stupid in comparison, like he should be wearing the krogan equivalent of a sweater-vest or something."

"<font color=0000BB>Glass houses, 'Grunka'. Glass houses. Anywho, I just wanted Jarrod to shut up. I wanted him to stop leading the tribes astray. But he couldn't understand how much things had changed. We didn't have the numbers to go to war. We needed to focus on breeding, at least for one generation. And for a while we were getting through. Some of the tribes started coming around."

"No, he didn't. Eventually he called a Crush, a meeting on sacred ground."

"It sounds like a trap to me..."

<font color=0000BB>"...and me!"

"<font color=0000BB>It did to me too. But when your father invites you to a Crush... there are some laws even we hold sacred."

<font color=0000BB>*coffee spit* "Jarrod was your father?!?"

"We talked. But we didn't get anywhere. When it was clear that I wouldn't join him, he gave the signal. His men leapt from the graves of our ancestors like krogan undead! The few that were loyal to me died quickly."

"That... is why I left. And that's why I'll never go back."

<font color=0000BB>"Wait... let me take stock here. You killed your own father and had to leave your planet and your people behind as a result. Garrus didn't get to be a Spectre because his dad wouldn't let him go to Spectre school. Liara never met her 'dad' and pretends to be OK with it, but she's always been looked down upon for being a pureblood. Tali is having higher than normal expectations placed on her pilgrimmage because her dad's an admiral. Williams joined the marines because of, or despite, her father and her grandfather. That means... Kaidan, the one I've been calling an emo all game, is actually the only one of my squadmates that doesn't have daddy issues?!?"

<font color=0000BB>"Compare me disfavourably to that wet blanket one more time and so help me Shepard, I'll kick you right in the quad..."

<font color=0000BB>"Point taken. Wrex."

"Shepard."

While we're down here, let's take our first steps on the road to having more money than we could possibly know what to do with. We've picked up a lot of crap equipment during the past few missions, I've been through everybody's lockers and made sure that they're using the best stuff, and now it's time to ditch the rest. Here's our inventory screen now:

Lots of useless crap, and 88,181 credits. But we visit the conveniently-located Alliance Requisition Officer, sell all that useless crap, and all of a sudden:

No more useless crap and 154,444 credits, almost double our money. And that was only selling low-grade stuff - the prices go up as we sell higher level gear, and the gear drops scale up with our level. We'll crack the million mark in no time and be up to the 9,999,999 credit cap before the game is two thirds done.

Speaking of levels, we ticked past the Level 20 mark on that last side quest, which triggers this conversation next time we go back to the galaxy map:

"Shepard, this is Admiral Hackett from Alliance Command. We've got a situation here, and you're the only one who can handle it."

Admiral Hackett (voiced like a boss by Lance Henriksen) does this to us a lot in this game - he's not actually a major character and we never see or meet him, but he briefs us on pretty much all of the Alliance-related side quests. Like the one we're about to undertake. But first, Grunka has to act a bit pissy:

"You're a Spectre, Shepard. And this isn't some run-of-the-mill mission. There's an Alliance training ground where we test weapons and technology in live-fire simulations. One of the VIs we use to simulate enemy tactics in the drills is
no longer responding to our override commands. It's gone rogue."

<font color=0000BB>"Ugh. You're saying the science pukes fucked up and now you need a soldier to make the problem go away?"

<font color=0000BB>"Get used to it, Commander. It's the premise for most of the side quests in this game and the next one."

<font color=0000BB>"Would it be insubordinate of me to point out that you just broke the fourth wall, Admiral?"

"<font color=0000BB>Damn straight it would Commander. But back to the matter at hand. Despite the massive body of evidence to the contrary we're not stupid. This is a virtual intelligence, not a true AI. It's not self-aware, and it can't access any external systems. We didn't do anything illegal here."

As I think I've mentioned previously, artificial intelligence research is crazy-illegal in the Mass Effect universe and the Citadel Council will sanction your entire race back into the stone age if they catch you doing it. That's why Hackett is going to such great pains to make the distinction.

"We need you to fight your way through the training ground to the VI core, and manually disable it. The VI controls all of the facility's weapons, drones and automated defenses. You're the only one who can pull this off, Shepard. Good luck."

Turns out the base with the rogue VI is on Luna, Earth's moon:

That's as close as we'll get to Earth until ME3, by the way. It's a pretty backdrop and that's all. The training facility we need to find is on top of a nearby hill:

There are three science facilities up there, each with two missile-launching turrets on the roof. We deal with them all using the Grunka-approved "peek just over the top of a hill and take pot shots while their rockets pound uselessly into the ground" approach. We picked up a reasonable sniper rifle a while back, which makes this a bit easier:

Turrets dealt with, let's go inside the first bunker.

This is another standard copy-pasted environment. In this case there's an entrance lobby, a short corridoor opening out into the main room, then a couple of smaller rooms at the back. Inside these bunkers, the VI has let out a bunch of automated defense drones that we need to kill - like so:

We've finally found a reasonable assault rifle (the low-level ones are horribly inaccurate and overheat really fast) so I've switched from pistols to that as our main weapon and will probably keep it that way for the rest of the game.

Note also that we've brought Garrus and Tali along for this mission. They both have the Overload and Sabotage abilities (as do we), which are godly against mechs. In particular, Sabotage overloads their weapons so they can't fire at you for a short period, allowing you to pump them full of slugs with impunity.

Having done that to all the mechs, we proceed to the rooms at the back where we find the "VI conduits". There's absolutely nothing subtle about this, we deactivate them by shooting them until they blow up.

<font color=0000BB>"Toxic gas? This thing can't see we're wearing full environmental suits and all we need to do is just put our helmets back on?!?"

<font color=0000BB>*shrugs* "Guess it's really not an AI then..."

We blow up all the rest of the conduits then go to the next bunker, where we repeat the same process:

<font color=0000BB>"Keelah se'lai - I know this is only a VI, but what is it thinking?!? Between us we're carrying a dozen weapons with infinite ammunition..."

<font color=0000BB>"...for now!"

<font color=0000BB>"PISS OFF HUDSON!!!"

<font color=0000BB>"...so at best these kinetic barriers are just going to create pointless busy work for us."

She's right, of course. There's just one bunker to go - this one contains rocket drones as well as the ordinary machine gun ones and unlike the other bunkers, the ones in here have mastered a crude but effective strategy: the little buggers Zerg Rush us.

As we can see, things haven't gone well for Garrus and Tali. Fortunately we now have the revive talent, so we can wake them back up again. Eventually we finish off the drones and make for the conduits:

The VI has saved its best idea until last, but it's too little too late. All it does is spawn three more drones in the other room, which we kill before blowing up the last of the conduits. Which gives us this message:

Getting to this screen has been the main point of this update - we get to pick our specialisation class! Having begun as an Infiltrator, we get to choose between "Commando" and "Operative". Here's a rundown on each:

Commando:
- Increases damage with all weapons
- Improves Immunity ability
- Improves Marksman ability (faster/more accurate pistol shots with less overheat)
- Improves Assassination ability (more accurate/more powerful sniper rifle shots)

Operative:
- Reduced recharge time on all tech attacks
- Improves Overload (the shield-busting tech ability)
- Improves Sabotage (the weapon-busting tech ability)

Voting time: we're actually going to have two for this update!

First, are we going to be a Commando, or an Operative? Place bets now!

And second, we're due for another major mission so where should we go next? Feros, the ruined Prothean city-planet where geth have been seen and the Alliance has lost contact with a human colony? Or Noveria, the playground of shady corporations, another place where geth have apparently been seen? Place bets now too!

As always, thanks for reading