Poll: Mass Effect: Kaidan vs Ashley who to save

[loc978]

I saved Kaidan, because I really can't stand people like Ashley. At least the headachey, obsolete, depressed biotic guy wasn't a damn xenophobic zealot.

Plus, biotic companions tend to be more useful than shooty companions in my experience. I can handle the required shooting, while biotics are a pain in the ass to hit anything with... so I make the AI handle that on my command (honestly, my companion loadout of choice is one pure biotic, one Vanguard... so human companions tend to get no love).

My recommendation: save the one who shoulders headaches rather than causing them.

 

[DazBurger]

I also never understood how people take moral stands on Ashley, yet I never hear anything about Wrex. He's a gun-for-hire that shows little care for the deaths of innocents, yet no moral outrage over that.

Shhh shh! Don't talk ill about Wrex! He will eat you!

Besides... Garrus has allways seemed to like him, who am I to question that?

 

[Zeraki]

I honestly never really understood all the hate Ashley gets. She's really one of the most well written characters in the first game. The others are mostly just walking codex entries for their respective races. There is more to her than just "lol I don't like aliens" that people constantly go on about(and you can get her to become more open minded throughout the game).

Unfortunately you don't get much payoff in Mass Effect 3 because she doesn't really do anything. It's almost like the writers forgot she even existed after a certain point. Mass Effect 3's Kaidan on the other hand is a much better character. Mass Effect 3 actually made me like him, because I could relate to him a bit with his awkwardness.

 

[SwimmingRock]

I didn't so much save Ashley as kill Kaiden. Why? Because I was playing FemShep and romancing both Kaiden and Liara. He then throws a ***** fit and makes you choose. I picked the dialogue option:"Can't I just have you both?" because I was trying to set up a zero-g space threesome.

Now, Liara was down for the interspecies fuck-fiesta I was planning, but Kaiden then gets angry and essentially ends his romance path by telling you he's disgusted and bla bla. You do not sass me on my Normandy, so Kaiden had to die. That meant Ashley didn't die, but I honestly gave no shits. Wrex + Garrus all day; every day.

 

[clippen05]

I chose Kaiden because Ashley's a bit of a species-ist... and I found her extremely unattractive in Mass Effect 1. Kaiden honestly isn't that great either, but I don't regret my decision. Also, for a game play standpoint, she's less useful than Kaiden in most situations.

 

[templar1138a]

I kill Ashley every time. In fact, I get impatient to do so. It doesn't matter what kind of character I play. She is misoxenist, simple-minded, god-fearing, and practically useless in the first game's combat. Way I see it, not only is Kaiden more likeable, but he's got a better grasp of the big picture for the galaxy.

Off-topic: Whoever "offers you 'more ways to save'" can kiss my ass.

 

[Dimitriov]

Kaidan is a boring loser.

Ashley is one of the best characters in the game. Pretty simple choice really.

 

[norashepard]

Both are good, though I personally like Ash more, both because Kaidan gets really pissy if you turn him down in ME1 and the fact that Ashley and Female Shepard are really badass together. I suppose Kaidan might be the same for a male Shepard but I wouldn't know because apparently all he wanted was my vagina and wasn't interested in talking to me more than for romance.

PS Ashley like so isn't even that racist. Yes she is uncomfortable with aliens in 1 but she learns to cut that out, and by the end of 3 she's calling people out on THEIR racist bullshit.

Of course if you're going purely based on stats, choose Kaidan. Nobody else has the same powers and junk. Ashley and Vega are the same though. And he is THE BEST character to have in the final mission.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

It's funny, I'm currently replayed ME1 right now and I'm about to do the Virmire mission so it's pleasantly surprising that I see this right now.

On the one hand Kaiden is pretty boring despite having a somewhat interesting backstory. Unfortunately nothing ever comes of it, his character arc doesn't really exist and to top it off his powers are eclipsed by almost everyone else, IMO he's the worst squadmate to take in a fight. He does however seem like a nice guy.

On the other hand, Ashley is somewhat more interesting given her family history and her disposition towards aliens and her being religious. This gives her a somewhat unique character arc, although she still isn't particularly interesting. However she's still pretty annoying, ESPECIALLY if she kills a certain you know who on Virmire.

I think I'm gonna take Ashley though seeing as last time I took Kaiden

 

[Brotha Desmond]

It virtually doesn't matter. They have the same role in the games and essentially the same dialog if you weren't in a relationship with either of them.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Didn't like either of them all that much, but I saved Kaiden.

I couldn't stand Ashley's racism, and more importantly, her insubordination. After having her angrily question Shepard's decisions a few times without Shepard giving her permission to speak freely on the subject - yeah - that was pretty much what signed her fate. If given the option I would have just transferred her to someone else's command or discharged her, but since that wasn't an option, yeah... she got to stay behind on Virmire.

 

[Raikas]

I actually liked both characters in the first game and I saved both over the course of various playthroughs. That said, I voted for saving Kaidan in this poll because I actually ended up editing all but one of my Ashley saves to swap them out after playing ME3 - her character had a couple of good moments, but overall he gets more random banter on missions and on the Normandy with other characters and has (at least for my play style) a more useful powerset.

I was surprised by the dialogue thing - knowing that almost three-quarters of games have Ashley rather than Kaidan I'd have expected her to have better lines and more of them. And given that she was the LI in the original ads, I'd have thought her romance plot would have been better as well, but I thought it was the blandest of them (not counting the ME2 non-squad ones, of course). It's a shame, because she was a decent character to start with (I don't disagree with the "religious/racist" thing, I just thought it made her more interesting).

And Kaidan is worthwhile for reasons other than just being not-Ashley though - he's almost unkillable with Barrier maxed out, he has some funny lines in 1 (I always wonder if the people who were bored with him just didn't bring him to Noveria and missed his best lines). And I liked that in the Citadel DLC there's a bit where he calls a renegade Shep out for being an ass, because it's about time someone did.

I didn't so much save Ashley as kill Kaiden. Why? Because I was playing FemShep and romancing both Kaiden and Liara. He then throws a ***** fit and makes you choose. I picked the dialogue option:"Can't I just have you both?" because I was trying to set up a zero-g space threesome.

Now, Liara was down for the interspecies fuck-fiesta I was planning, but Kaiden then gets angry and essentially ends his romance path by telling you he's disgusted and bla bla.

Eh, Ashley has the same scene with the same reaction (more-or-less, if anything she's more aggressive) with mShep.

 

[Patrick Buck]

I always have to save Ashley. I don't even like her, she annoyed me, the racist cow. But at least she has a personality. Kaidan was just BORING. Would rather have a squadmate I hated than one I felt nothing for at all, plus she becomes a more reasonable person in ME3, so it wasn't too bad.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Specieist Xenophobe or morose Carth Onasi 2.0? That's a tough one. They're both pretty bland characters, eclipsed only by the black hole of a personality that is Jacob. I'd go with Kaiden, because at least he's just being mopey, and not actively trying to kill your other teammates.

Agreed.
I could forgive Ashley a great many things, but I couldn't forgive her for

Spoiler

killing Wrex.

Kaidan may be bland, but at least he never did that.

 

[LetalisK]

Specieist Xenophobe or morose Carth Onasi 2.0? That's a tough one. They're both pretty bland characters, eclipsed only by the black hole of a personality that is Jacob. I'd go with Kaiden, because at least he's just being mopey, and not actively trying to kill your other teammates.

Agreed.
I could forgive Ashley a great many things, but I couldn't forgive her for

Spoiler

killing Wrex.

Kaidan may be bland, but at least he never did that.

Wait, you didn't do it yourself?

 

[Kingjackl]

Kaidan is the more likeable character and more beneficial to gameplay. I've always preferred him.

 

[WindKnight]

Ashley. Ashley was, overall, a more interesting character to me. she was flawed, and had issues, but you understand why she had her negative aspects, and she had a an arc to somewhat dealing with them. (still haven't played 3, but hope to start on it soon).

Kaidan just didn't engage me at all. I enjoyed his backstory, but it didn't grab me like tali, wrex's, garrus's, liara and ashleys.

Plus overall I found him kinda dead weight in combat. I lost count of the times he got taken out of action compared to the others.

 

[Random Argument Man]

I let Ashley die a lot. Most of the cast from Mass effect 1 aren't that much interesting to begin with. Besides, Kaiden sort of became a bro during Mass effect 3. He was canadian and drank whiskey! WHISKEY! I TELL YOU!

I haven't done a playthrough with Ashley surviving.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Specieist Xenophobe or morose Carth Onasi 2.0? That's a tough one. They're both pretty bland characters, eclipsed only by the black hole of a personality that is Jacob. I'd go with Kaiden, because at least he's just being mopey, and not actively trying to kill your other teammates.

Agreed.
I could forgive Ashley a great many things, but I couldn't forgive her for

Spoiler

killing Wrex.

Kaidan may be bland, but at least he never did that.

Wait, you didn't do it yourself?

Y-you...you CHOSE to do the deed yourself?!

Spoiler