MovieChat Forums > Mass Effect 2 (2010) Discussion > Biotic bubble challenge?

Biotic bubble challenge?

posted 9 years ago by dobraye_utra
8 replies | jump to latest

Has anyone else gone out of their way to shake things up during the suicide mission?

For me, rather than play through entire sets of games to carry into ME3, I decided to re-load a few final missions, tweaking them slightly to get different outcomes, and even in this game, the results have been interesting...

Ie, I've been testing out the defence limit, to see how many non-loyals you can take on the final mission whilst keeping them alive. This one is quite useful to know; particularly for those fans who like seeing Legion interacting with Tali during her recruiting mission/loyalty mission, etc.

Other things I've noted are the dialogue shifts during the cutscenes, if certain characters are missing. (Though as a lynchpin character, Miranda is never replaced) Ie, if Jack and Garrus are dead during Miranda's offer to lead the second fire team, Jacob comments on her not being liked much.

This part actually got me wondering: has anyone taken out all the biotics prior to doing the bubble task? I'm curious since, as Miranda can't be killed -except when holding the line- she always talks with whoever makes the bubble suggestion, so what would she say as the only biotic left standing? I know it's possible, I just haven't tried it yet. Ie, don't pick up Thane or Samara, skip the hull plating to kill Jack & send Jacob through the vents to kill him. Voila!

"I enjoy the sight of humans on their knees. That was a joke." EDI

[–] pope_duke 9 years ago

I have not, but it sounds interesting.

I always choose Samara. I like her a lot, but I really don't use her a lot, since I always choose Miranda + whoever else, so I feel like it is her moment to shine.

I never even realized that using anyone but Samara or Jack ends up with squad member deaths, since it never really occured to me to use any but those two.

That's some neat stuff, but I fear I have nothing to add regarding what happens if, since I always do my loyalty missions/upgrades and always choose the powerful biotics for the bubble challenge.

[–] dobraye_utra 9 years ago

Samara is the paragon choice for the bubble challenge, ie you get extra blue for her and red for jack.

An odd question for you, if you don't use samara much, have you considered recruiting morinth instead? She's not hugely different from her mother, but she does have her own skills and a transferable loyalty power: dominate. Basically, the biotic ability to turn organic enemies against their allies.

If you do recruit her, since she is a homicidal maniac, what better excuse could there be than to kill her off at the end? With the exception of sending the wrong person through the vents, the perfect way to kill someone who is loyal would be to take that person and Miranda through the bubble sequence, but using either Jacob or thane to make the bubble. Since Miranda can't be killed here, when the bubble fails, the other person will die by default.

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

[–] pope_duke 9 years ago

An odd question for you, if you don't use samara much, have you considered recruiting morinth instead?

I am not much for replaying, so when I did my second playthrough of ME2 and went more renegade, I did not get that far. I would have sided with Morinth. I did not know about Morinth's cool power until I read of your mentioning it on this forum. That tempts me, but I am now pretty far into ME3, so if I try it, it'd be later.

As far as killing her off, you seem to have vastly more knowledge of how the suicide mission works, so it had never occured to me to recruit Morinth and then deliberately kill her off at the end. For instance, I chose Jacob to escort the non-combatants back to the ship, thinking that might get him killed. I did not realize it was basically safe passage for him and weakening my Hold the Line aspect.

I may go back to ME2 again someday now that I am gaining more knowledge of these options.

Thanks for the info. :)

[–] dobraye_utra 9 years ago

I do a fair bit of replaying ME2 if only to see what the differences can be. It's funny to get the same characters to completely switch their views depending on who you pair them with. Plus it's always interesting to play suicide limbo; ie, how few loyals do you actually need to keep people alive? I once had one loyal (admittedly, it was Zaeed; a fairly tough one) keep five non-loyals alive.

And then again, the games' biggest secrets can never be complete without the red/blue alternate endings that come from killing Shepard and leaving Joker to report to the Illusive man.

As for Morinth; for the sake of game continuity, I believe the best thing you can actually do for her is to kill her off even if you do recruit her. Mostly because she has virtually zero influence in ME3. I wouldn't want to spoil things for you, but the most you get to see are a couple of emails, to yourself and to her family, and later on a random banshee appears that will be 'labeled' as Morinth.

"I think our first move should be to call the Avengers!" Ant Man

[–] pope_duke 9 years ago

I may have to go do some replaying now.

I enjoy the Loyalty missions, and I am also the kind of person that likes to do side missions. I am not a completionist, but in games where there is a main mission and side missions, I generally do as many of the side missions as possible.

And then again, the games' biggest secrets can never be complete without the red/blue alternate endings that come from killing Shepard and leaving Joker to report to the Illusive man.

That sounds interesting.

I wouldn't want to spoil things for you,

I appreciate the concern. I have not done a lot of research, but I did do some checking into how some characters figure into ME3, so I knew about that with Morinth. She seems the best (if only) candidate for deliberately killing her off if you bring her into the team.

[–] dobraye_utra 9 years ago

The fun thing about the loyalty missions is the diversity of outcomes. With Zaeed, you can play nice, or you can kill everyone. With either of Tali's missions, the best results always occur if you bring Legion along etc.

The kill Shep endings are fun to do, but can be quite complex to arrange, since to get there, you have to actively kill everyone on your team. (best way to start is by skipping the ship upgrades, and/or by not picking up everyone, to limit options.) Of course, as a simpler solution, I'm sure someone has put both the red and blue versions on youtube by now.

Aside from Morinth, Jacob seems to be a definite popular choice for killing off. Personally, I never romanced him, but I'm fairly sure no matter how you play, he's always with some doctor who's having his baby in part 3. So even if you romanced him, he still decided to cheat on you!

"I think our first move should be to call the Avengers!" Ant Man

[–] pope_duke 9 years ago

With Zaeed, you can play nice, or you can kill everyone. With either of Tali's missions, the best results always occur if you bring Legion along etc.

That is a neat aspect. I played nice with Zaeed, but I pretty much have everyone loyal by the time I get Legion. I need to mix that up and bring him to the Migrant Fleet. What fun. :)

I wonder, now, why I don't play it more to explore variations. With Dragon Age: Origins, I played every available origin (at least through the introduction and some further), just to see the variations.

Of course, as a simpler solution, I'm sure someone has put both the red and blue versions on youtube by now.

That sounds much easier. I'll check. Thanks :)

Aside from Morinth, Jacob seems to be a definite popular choice for killing off.

That is the reason I sent him to escort the non-combatants. I (apparently wrongly) thought it would be high risk, and he is my least favorite. It's a shame, really, since I think he has potential, is voice-acted well enough, and I enjoyed his loyalty mission, but Jacob in combat is not only useless to how I play, but he seems to become a liability.

I enjoyed seeing him in ME3, and I sent him right to the Crucible as security. He can stay off the Normandy as far as I am concerned. :P

[–] dobraye_utra 9 years ago

The thing with playing nice with Z' is that unless you've got enough paragon, there's no way to keep his loyalty when you let Vido get away. And unlike, say, Miranda or Tali; there's no way to swing that around later.

If I can, I try to take Legion to Tali's recruitment as well as her loyalty mission. Kal Reager's response to you turning up with him is priceless, and Tali's response: awkward!!!

He's also funny on the Flotilla, interacting with the Admirals; especially Zen.

I don't tend to use Jacob much myself, and ditch him as soon as I've recruited... anyone else. I do like his ammo power, but not enough to keep him around. If I'm feeling like killing him, I do sometimes send him through the vents... well, he did volunteer! Or I do the bubble thing with Miranda and use Thane to do the bubble. Since Miranda can't be killed, whoever she's with will automatically die. (Which makes some sense; Bioware made a probability list of who dies in what order. Being at the top end, Miranda can only die on the Line. Which is probably why she's exempt from the vents and escort duty, as she has to do the speeches with Shep at the end.)

"I think our first move should be to call the Avengers!" Ant Man