| 1 | '''Tropes A-D''' | MassEffect3/TropesEToK | MassEffect3/TropesLToR | MassEffect3/TropesSToZ |
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| 3 | [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 Back to the main page.]] |
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| 6 | [[foldercontrol]] |
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| 8 | [[folder:A]] |
| 9 | * AbnormalAmmo: In an age of mass accelerators, ''anything'' can be used as ammo for a gun. Notable examples include: the Javelin, a geth sniper rifle that shoots a jet of ferrofluid at hypersonic speeds (basically a man-portable Thanix gun like the ''Normandy'''s gun upgrades in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', with a scope on top); the Graal Spike Thrower, a krogan shotgun that shoots spikes; and (if you played the ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' demo or the Omega DLC) the Chakram Launcher, an assault rifle that shoots ''explosive chakrams''. The Resurgence Pack adds the Kishock Harpoon Gun, which lets you impale enemies on glowing red spears. Jokes are also made within the game about a gun that fires Thresher Maws, although sadly it never makes an appearance. |
| 10 | * AbortedArc: The "Dark Energy buildup" which caused the sun of Haestrom to prematurely age, and that concerned the quarians and some factions so much in ''Mass Effect 2'', is never brought up in this game. [[http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/somethingawful-the-plot-of-me3-changed-dramatically-big-big-spoilers.250066288/ Production information has revealed that this was originally going to be the motivation for the Reaper cycle]], that the use of Mass Effect technology would ultimately destroy the universe so the Reapers eliminated life once it began to pose such a threat, but this was cut out of the story early in its development. The full story finally surfaced [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125213-Mass-Effect-Writer-Reveals-Discarded-Ending-Ideas in June 2013]] when Drew Karpyshyn came clean about the Dark Energy ending and revealed the general outline of how it would have worked. |
| 11 | * {{Acrofatic}}: Volus multiplayer characters. Also Barla Von, who, offscreen, holds a high score in the Armax Arsenal Arena. |
| 12 | * ActionCommands: Husks can now grab you, forcing you to press the melee attack button to shake them off and stomp them. The same happens if [[spoiler:the Shepard clone]] attacks you with their omni-blade during the ''Citadel'' DLC. |
| 13 | * AIIsACrapshoot: In the finale, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the Catalyst determined organics would inevitably create synthetics, which would inevitably destroy their creators and all organic life. The Reapers were created to prevent this. However, the solution it came to was to harvest any species that had the potential to develop synthetic life and converting them into Reapers, [[ZerothLawRebellion including the very race that created the Catalyst in the first place]].]]. |
| 14 | * AirVentPassageway: |
| 15 | ** A little boy uses this during the Reaper invasion. The vent is big enough for him to crawl through (though Shepard cannot fit), and the vent is not soundproof, allowing Shepard to detect the kid rather easily. This does not stop the kid from [[StealthHiBye disappearing behind a corner in the few seconds when Shepard looks away]] a minute later. |
| 16 | ** During Liara's introduction, she escapes a pair of Cerberus troops through an air vent. They follow her in and she then ''leaves'' the vent, and uses their vulnerability to unleash biotic hell on them. True to their real life counterpart, trying to move through them is ''very'' noisy and awkward -- especially for the troopers in their heavy armor. |
| 17 | * AFormYouAreComfortableWith: |
| 18 | ** When Shepard [[spoiler: enters the geth consensus, Legion turns the Reaper code removal device into a gun since, as Legion puts it, "we wish to provide familiarity."]] Shepard takes it as a left-handed compliment. [[spoiler: Legion himself takes on the appearance of his body outside the server even though he's essentially just software, for the same reasons as before]]. |
| 19 | ** In the climax, [[spoiler:the Catalyst appears as the boy from Shepard's dreams]]. |
| 20 | * AlasPoorVillain: |
| 21 | ** [[spoiler:The Illusive Man. Either he commits suicide after Shepard and Anderson make him realize that he's been indoctrinated, or he takes one last look at Earth after being shot by Shepard and reaffirms his love for his homeworld. Remember how the game ''starts''? Shepard sets off on a journey... to save Earth - which is exactly what the Illusive Man has been trying to do.]] |
| 22 | ** In the ''Citadel'' DLC, [[spoiler:the Shepard clone, especially if Shepard tries to save them.]] |
| 23 | ** The geth, if the player chooses not to side with them. All they wanted to do is live. Even in its final moments the Geth helping you asks "Do these units have a soul?" |
| 24 | ** Legion Assassin encountered near the Reaper body part at Cerberus HQ. All it wanted to do was reach out to Shepard only to be sold off, reprogrammed and repurposed. |
| 25 | * AlgorithmicStoryBranching: Half-way through the game, Shepard is thrust into a tense standoff against [[spoiler:the Virmire Survivor]], and how it is resolved depends on a number of player choices from across the trilogy[[note]]from having {{romance|Sidequest}}d them in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', through saving Thane in part two, right up to taking the Paragon [[QuickTimeEvent interrupt]] during the standoff itself[[/note]]. Each choice adds or subtracts 0 to 2 points to/from a hidden "trust level" (as explained in-depth [[https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Priority:_The_Citadel_II#Final_Confrontation here]]), and if the final trust level is below zero, Shepard's opponent [[YouLoseAtZeroTrust cannot be talked down, forcing you to kill them]]; if it falls within the 0-3 range, you are allowed one final persuasion check to deescalate the situation; and at trust level 4 or higher, the opponent sides with Shepard automatically. |
| 26 | * AlienInvasion: By [[AbusivePrecursors the Reapers]]. |
| 27 | -->'''Alliance Officer:''' [[ThisIsNotADrill This is a galaxy wide alert for all human territories]]. Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett has declared [[RedAlert Threat Condition Saber One]]. Enemy presence confirmed in Sol System. |
| 28 | * AliensInCardiff: The game's prologue takes place during the initial attack on Earth by the Reapers. Specifically, it details the Reaper attack on Vancouver. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since Creator/{{Bioware}} [[WriteWhatYouKnow is Canadian]] and Vancouver ''is'' one of the biggest and most iconic cities in Canada. |
| 29 | * AlliterativeList: When Kaidan's listing food in the "Citadel" DownloadableContent: |
| 30 | --> We have beef, bacon, we have beer |
| 31 | * AlternateCharacterInterpretation[[invoked]]: |
| 32 | ** In-universe, [[spoiler: Udina's]] exact motive for siding with Cerberus is debated. The Codex makes it fairly clear that he was simply a desperate man willing to take extreme measures to protect his homeworld however futile the effort may have inevitably been. It's explicitly stated, however, that [[spoiler:Udina]] was ''not'' indoctrinated, which makes his breakdown all the more heartbreaking. |
| 33 | ** Also in-universe, Joker reveals that he subscribed to the [[FandomNod common fan theory]] that the Council believed in the Reapers and were preparing for them, but weren't letting Shepard in on it because "you know, Cerberus." He ends up being disappointed. |
| 34 | * AllThereInTheManual: The in-game codex includes an insane amount of information about characters, races, planets, etc. |
| 35 | * AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The Reapers invade the Earth and the other species' various homeworlds. |
| 36 | * AlphabeticalThemeNaming: The five multiplayer [[DownloadableContent DLC]] packs employ a theme ([[{{Determinator}} resistance against hopeless odds]]), assonance, OneWordTitle, and this: "Resurgence", "Rebellion", "Earth" (the OddNameOut but also ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), "Retaliation", and "Reckoning". |
| 37 | * AlphaStrike: Shepard syncs the targeting laser to the ENTIRE [[spoiler: migrant fleet to take out the Destroyer on Rannoch.]] |
| 38 | * AltarDiplomacy: Discussed after rescuing Eve and paving the way for a Krogan/Turian alliance. Mordin pitches a political marriage with Garrus to Eve, more or less simultaneously with Garrus saying he hopes no one's thinking of such a thing[[note]]Mordin (probably) has no way of hearing that remark[[/note]]. |
| 39 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: |
| 40 | ** Anderson ruminates on this in his "embarrassing moment" recorded monologue you can find in his apartment in the Citadel DLC. In it, he reminisces about his celebration of getting N7-certified, got drunk with some "new friends" who were actually lowlifes, got on their bad side, put up a good fight, and then got his ass saved by a salarian that "moved like a cat". Later, he found out he had just been saved by a Spectre. The salarian Spectre seemed to be impressed with Anderson's performance in the brawl, and that may have been what got him on the bureau's radar. |
| 41 | ** In the Tuchanka Arc, we find that the Krogan aren't the strongest beings in their homeplanet as the previous games implied. That award goes to the top-predator there: Kalros, the galaxy's oldest, biggest and strongest Thresher Maw ever recorded. She's powerful enough to take down a Reaper destroyer singlehandedly. |
| 42 | * AnAesop: The Protheans ruled an empire through force of arms, unity though enslavement, and lost. The Asari built a galaxy of cooperation, and Shepard built an army of the same, and won. |
| 43 | * AncientAstronauts: The Thessia mission reveals that [[spoiler: the goddess Athame, one of the oldest asari religions and the goddess that asari characters so frequently swear by, was actually a Prothean. She and her assistants protected the asari from an alien invasion, taught them agriculture and basic mathematics, and used genetic manipulation to grant them biotic abilities. She also left a Prothean beacon on the planet for the asari to find; though they could never fully activate or understand it without the Prothean cipher, their isolated breakthroughs were what allowed the asari to become the most advanced race in the galaxy. And when Liara starts to find the evidence on this, she tries to [[ArbitrarySkepticism deny it initially]], until Javik disabuses her of the notion]]. |
| 44 | * AndIMustScream: Depending on choices you made in the second game, you might learn that [[spoiler:Jack and/or Legion]] have been brainwashed and turned into weapons for Cerberus. If she survived the second game, [[spoiler: Morinth has been converted into a Banshee by the Reapers.]] |
| 45 | * AndThisIsFor: "That was for [[spoiler:Thane/Miranda/Kirrahe]], you ''son of a bitch!''" |
| 46 | * AndZoidberg: During the mission to rescue "Eve", Wrex tells Shepard and Liara there is no one else he would rather be on a party with. If Garrus is also present he will cough to indicate his presence, and Wrex says that he will find something for him to do. |
| 47 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 48 | ** The final boss fight of the ''Citadel'' DLC is tricky enough, but it'd be significantly harder if there wasn't a crate of infinite medi-gel in the room. |
| 49 | ** This game doesn't allow players to equip heavy weapons, as the previous game did. However, on certain points during some missions you'll come across a heavy weapon which you'll be allowed to pick up and start using. This usually indicates that something very big is coming up and the best way to deal with it will be the heavy weapon. |
| 50 | ** In multiplayer, the speed at which the hacking and drone escort objectives complete is based on the percentage of players at the objective, not the total number. This means a game that isn't full won't be at a disadvantage during these objectives; if there are three players instead of four and all three are on the objective, it counts as having the full team on it and it will move at top speed. Obviously, this also makes solo attempts more fair. |
| 51 | ** In multiplayer again, a Platinum game will omit the [[MasterOfAll Collectors]] unless they're chosen as the starting enemy. |
| 52 | ** Painfully averted in the finale. The game doesn't allow manual saving during the final mission, so if you want to see all of the MultipleEndings, you have to start at the latest possible autosave point, which is after [[spoiler:Shepard has been hit by Harbinger's ray]]. Meaning, you have to play through the same boring section where [[spoiler:wounded Shepard slowly stumbles towards the Citadel beam, then slowly stumbles towards the Citadel control center]], then go through the same unskippable cutscenes and conversations choices (none of which affect the ultimate outcome in any way) before you finally get to the ending point. All of this lasts over 20 minutes, and if you want to see all the alternate endings, you have to do it four times. |
| 53 | ** Some of the mission-only places contains special items that are required for sidequests. Those places can't be revisited later, but quest items spawn in the Spectre Requisitions shop (and its counterpart in the Normandy's shuttle bay), ensuring those quests can't be failed by missing the items the first time. |
| 54 | * AntiRageQuitting: In multiplayer, players earn XP based on the points they score during a match, even if the group fails to complete its objective or doesn't make it to extraction. You don't get the XP if you leave early. Additionally, it's possible to promote max-level multiplayer characters to War Assets in the single player game, meaning that not rage quitting in multiplayer can actually help your single player campaign as well. |
| 55 | * AnotherSideAnotherStory: Multiplayer mode highlights how the entire galaxy is fighting for survival. Players will create new characters who fight back against the Reapers and performing well will help boost the war effort in the single player campaign. |
| 56 | * AnyoneCanDie: There is a memorial set up on the ''Normandy'', which lists every crew member (SR-1 and SR-2 both) that dies over the course of the series. As characters die in this game, their names are added to the wall. Characters that ''will'' die (provided they survived up to this point) include [[spoiler:Thane, Legion, Udina and ''David Anderson'']], and characters which ''may'' die (depending on player choices in both this and past games) include [[spoiler: any squadmate brought to the final mission if EMS is low, Wrex, Jack, Mordin, Miranda, Major Kirrahe, the Salarian Councilor, Steve Cortez, Commander Shepard]] and many others. [[spoiler: Traynor and Joker]] are the only main characters guaranteed to survive, and even they presumably die if you get a BadEnding. |
| 57 | * AppealToInherentNature: Used in the Extended Cut ending, whereupon [[spoiler:Shepard argues against the logic that the Catalyst chose to solve the problem of the inevitable RobotWar by building robots that specifically ''start'' wars. The Catalyst refutes this statement by saying that the Reapers are only doing what they were programmed to do, and thus are not truly interested in war. Of course, he's the one who created them to do this, so he's basically saying it's the organic's fault for resisting which Shepard can call him out on]]. |
| 58 | -->[[spoiler:'''Catalyst:''' When fire burns, is it at war? Is it in conflict? Or is it simply doing what it was created to do? We are no different.]] |
| 59 | * ApocalypseHow: Earth and several other homeworlds will suffer at least a Planetary Class One (Societal Disruption): The Codex states that around 1.86 million people are "processed" every day, aside from those killed in fighting the Reapers. Depending on your War Assets and specific ending, anything up to and including Galactic Class Four (Total Extinction) is possible. |
| 60 | * ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: |
| 61 | ** Upon first encountering both Liara and Garrus, one squadmate always ends up leaving the party to satisfy the headcount limit of 3. In Liara's case, James returns to the shuttle, while with Garrus, Liara checks on the ''Normandy'' apparently malfunctioning. |
| 62 | ** Lampshaded and defied in the Citadel DLC when Brooks points out "It's a shame you can't bring everyone." Shepard immediately declares "It's all hands on deck." Your controllable party is the same size, but the rest of the [=ME3=] team plus Wrex is there to back you up. Unsurprisingly, it's a complete CurbStompBattle whenever they get the chance to show off. Listen to the mooks realize their enemy has upwards of a krogan, a Prothean ''and'' Archangel. |
| 63 | -->'''Random Mook Chatter''': [[MookHorrorShow Guys, I think we chose]] [[spoiler:the wrong Shepard]]! |
| 64 | ** A DoubleSubversion kicks in when Joker has to airlift you to the boss battle and his skycar only has room for three others. Again, the rest of your team lampshades it. |
| 65 | --> '''Wrex/teammate that you have picked the most often:''' I wanted to go.\ |
| 66 | '''Teammate that you have picked the least often:''' I know what you mean. I never seem to get picked. |
| 67 | * ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: A couple types of Cerberus {{mooks}} are armed with melee weapons, as is the Illusive Man's [[TheDragon Dragon]], katana-wielding Kai Leng. This is lampshaded in the "Citadel" DLC in an overheard conversation between a couple of Alliance soldiers: |
| 68 | --> '''Veteran Engineer:''' It's 2186. Who uses a whip? |
| 69 | * ArcWords: "The darkness cannot be breached!" for the Leviathan DLC. |
| 70 | * AreTheseWiresImportant: Ask James to [[spoiler:take out one of the geth cannons on the quarian homeworld]], and he'll "start [pulling] wires out, see what happens." He then begins to kick the control panel. Repeatedly. Other characters take a more delicate approach to deactivating it. |
| 71 | * ArmCannon: |
| 72 | ** The batarian-based Cannibals sport these. ''They are made of whole human corpses''. |
| 73 | ** Kai Leng, the Cerberus Phantoms and the N7 Slayer Vanguards have a PowerPalms version of this, thanks to their cybernetic implants. |
| 74 | ** The returning Scions in Multiplayer get upgraded versions, complete with being able to crush hapless players who get to close with them. |
| 75 | * ArmorPiercingAttack: Armor-Piercing Ammo, rather than merely giving a bonus against a certain type of protection like in the last game, actually allows you to shoot through cover. There is also a mod for each category of weapon that allows you to shoot through armor and cover. Finally, the [[{{BFG}} anti-materiel rifles]] do not need special ammo or mods to achieve this. These effects stack. Combine all three... and enemy cover means nothing to you. |
| 76 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:When you make the decision of whether to let to quarians destroy the geth, Legion asks you the question which your decision should be based around:]] |
| 77 | -->Does this unit have a soul? |
| 78 | ** Regardless of your choice, Tali will state the answer is "Yes." |
| 79 | * ArtEvolution: Harrot may think you look familiar in the Omega DLC, but he looks different: There's a marked improvement in the elcor model used for Harrot there. |
| 80 | * ArtificialBrilliance: |
| 81 | ** The tactical AI system is meant to punish players who try to go it alone and encourage cooperation between all the classes and specialties. |
| 82 | ** Centurions will never shoot their smoke grenades willy-nilly. They fire them at choke points, small enclosed spaces the player's in, or in positions that obscure the entire enemy party. |
| 83 | ** Nemeses, the Cerberus snipers, have no melee or short range attacks. Phantoms, the ninjas, have extremely powerful melee attacks, but mediocre ranged offense. Individually, these two get around those shortcomings by running around the battlefield, maintaining the most effective range for their fighting style. When paired together, however, the Nemesis will stand in one spot, and lure in melee and shotgun fighters to the Phantom's attack range. |
| 84 | ** Assault Troopers, Centurions and Cannibals throw grenades behind your cover to force you to change locations, and goad you into a shootout so that their melee and shotgun-preferring comrades can walk up behind you undisturbed. |
| 85 | ** Unlike in ''Mass Effect 2'', if you cloak as an Infiltrator at close range expect the general area where you are standing to get riddled with bullets as nearby enemies attempt to scare you away. They also now have better awareness of you, as they will notice you if you bump them or start a heavy melee with your glowy omnitool. |
| 86 | ** Rocket soldiers, in particular, will time their shots to hit just as you duck out from cover. If you are particularly entrenched and GrenadeSpam doesn't work the enemy ''will'' gang up and rush you. Or sneak in on you, which can be horrific when you have to face a flamethrower at close range. |
| 87 | ** More often than not, the Collector Captains will send seeker swarms while hiding in cover, only rushing you when your powers are disabled - which for some classes can mean being completely defenseless. |
| 88 | * ArtisticLicenseShips: During "Prologue: Earth," a Systems Alliance cruiser is seen slugging it out with a Reaper in low earth atmosphere (and gets curbstomped by said Reaper). This cruiser is erroneously identified as a dreadnought, despite being clearly a Systems Alliance cruiser model and dreadnoughts being incapable of atmospheric operations. This error was actually caught by Bioware, but by the time the realized the goof, it was too late to go back and re-record the audio and substituting in the correct ship model for the dialog, even if developmentally possible, would still leave the inconsistency of a dreadnought operating only a few thousand feet above Vancouver. Additionally, the cruiser is engaging in the rather dubious tactic of simply hovering within visual range of a Reaper and seemingly not even attempting any sort of maneuver. |
| 89 | * AscendedFridgeHorror: The Extended Cut's [[spoiler: low-EMS Destroy]] ending takes all the InferredHolocaust horror from the vanilla endings and [[NightmareFuel makes it that much worse.]] |
| 90 | * AscendedGlitch: |
| 91 | ** The game acknowledges that the Paragon resolution to Conrad Verner's meeting in ''[[VideoGame/MassEffect1 Mass Effect]]'' glitches out in ''[=ME2=]'' with Conrad acting as if you had picked the Renegade option instead. Upon meeting him on the Citadel, he apologizes for claiming you stuck a gun in his face when you had not. He explains that he was "under a lot of stress" at the time. Even the ''Legendary Edition'' held off on fixing the underlying bug in the first game, because of RuleOfFunny. |
| 92 | ** In the Multiplayer, the Asari Huntress (an Infiltrator character with biotic powers) had a bug preventing her cloak from applying the usual damage bonus to weapon or melee damage. Rather than fixing it, the developers decided to run with it and simply increased the damage bonus for her powers. |
| 93 | * AscendedMeme: |
| 94 | ** Several jokes are made about Garrus and calibrations. By the end of the Citadel DLC, he agrees he'll stop using the word altogether ''if'' Liara stops saying "by the goddess." |
| 95 | --->'''Adrien Victus''': Garrus said he had to attend to the Normandy's weapon systems. Something about "calibrations".\ |
| 96 | '''Shepard''': Sounds like Garrus...\ |
| 97 | -- |
| 98 | --->'''Garrus''': The problem isn't here. Systems all look green on my board.\ |
| 99 | '''Joker''': You sure? Maybe something was... ''miscalibrated?''\ |
| 100 | '''Garrus''': ...You DO know who you're talking to, right? |
| 101 | ** If certain conditions are met during Garrus's Citadel event, he will come out with a variation of Shepard's "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel" line from the previous game. |
| 102 | --->'''Garrus:''' I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is now my favorite spot on the Citadel! |
| 103 | ** Before Javik's name became officially known, he was commonly referred to on forums as "Prothy the Prothean". This gets a hearty lampshade from him. |
| 104 | --->'''Javik:''' ''Your "Joker" pilot insists I call myself Prothy the Prothean. I insisted he allow me to throw him out the airlock.'' |
| 105 | ** "Biotic God" is now an unlockable achievement in multiplayer, complete with the picture of Niftu Cal. Also, the volus Adept character's description says his biotic abilities are "nothing short of godly". |
| 106 | ** At Joker's insistence, Liara gives a definitive description of what the asari's head tails [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvyFuP0PvIk are actually made of]]. |
| 107 | ** In the party Shepard throws in the ''Citadel'' DLC, various crew members group together and allow Shepard to interact with them. Find Wrex & Grunt, and the interaction boils down to a never ending loop of "Shepard." "Wrex." "Shepard." "Grunt." "Shepard." |
| 108 | ** Also at the party, one of the things a drunken Tali says in the bathroom is, "It just smells like sweat. Why would you even ask?" in reference to [[http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/325/index/7926723/1 an infamous BSN post]] that attempted to scientifically determine if quarian sweat smells and tastes differently than human sweat. |
| 109 | ** During the Party, Jacob briefly utters the phrase "The priiize" during a conversation, although used in a different context. |
| 110 | ** During the meeting at the bar with a romanced Garrus in the ''Citadel'' DLC, Female Shepard will bring up Garrus's "I had reach, she had flexibility" line from the prior game. |
| 111 | ** Several jokes are made throughout the game regarding Shepard's dancing ability, or rather lack thereof. A romanced Female Shepard will even physically try and resist Garrus pulling her into a tango in the ''Citadel'' DLC. |
| 112 | ** If Shepard takes a series of renegade interrupts during the ''Citadel'' DLC, the Commander threatens [[spoiler:Brooks & the Shepard Clone]] with being thrown out of the airlock. Having Javik in the party will have him happily declare "FINALLY!" |
| 113 | ** In ''Citadel'', [[spoiler: the Shepard clone]] will tell Shepard, "I should go." Shortly after, Shepard will go into a long discussion about this. |
| 114 | --->'''Shepard''': S/he said "''I should go''"... Do I sound like that? How come nobody told me about this before?! I'm open to feedback here! Maybe it's "I should GO". "I SHOULD go". "*I* should go". |
| 115 | ** One of the new multiplayer missions is called "pizza delivery" by fans, as you are to pick up an object and walk it to its destination. During a mission briefing in ''Citadel'', Shepard turns to discover a volus delivering a pizza... Vega called for a snack. |
| 116 | ** Really, ''Citadel'' is a veritable goldmine for Ascended Memes. It even acknowledges some of the common complaints from the Multiplayer by having [=NPCs=] discussing them. |
| 117 | ** Bioware acknowledged Marauder Shields by taking the enemy it is based on (the marauder at the end of the earth mission before reaching the transport beam to the citadel) and lowering its starting shield points so that "Shields" is clearly visible against the red health bar. |
| 118 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Two of the four big choices at the ending lead to this for Shepard. In the Control ending, Shepard effectively merges with the Reaper collective consciousness and basically [[Memes/{{Bioware}} Assumes Direct Control]] of every single one of them, ''[[{{Irony}} including Harbinger.]]'' In the Synthesis ending, Shepard's essence is absorbed and transmitted across the entire galaxy, making all organics partly synthetic and vice versa]]. |
| 119 | * AsideGlance: After making his "[[Film/TheHuntForRedOctober Russian National Anthem]]" joke during the geth dreadnought boarding cutscene, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqt3aW6clAo Joker deliberately glances into the camera.]] |
| 120 | ** Shepard gets in on the act during their "[[AscendedMeme conversation]]" with Wrex (and Grunt if he's there) in the Citadel DLC, looking directly into the camera just before it cuts to the non-cutscene part. |
| 121 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Even though Shepard has people in the party who are equal in rank to him/her (Ashley is also a Spectre) if not of higher rank (Kaidan outranks them as a Major, [[https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Codex/Humanity_and_the_Systems_Alliance#Systems_Alliance:_Military_Ranks two over Shepard's own Lieutentant Commander status]]; an advanced AI; the LastOfHisKind of an almost-extinct alien race; one of the most powerful {{Information Broker}}s in the galaxy; at ''least'' two heads of state[[note]]Tali'Zorah ''vas'' Normandy is one of the five Admirals of the quarian species, and Urdnot Wrex is the overlord of the krogan people[[/note]]), and a Turian who is now so high up in rank that generals salute him and he's a personal advisor to the Primarch, they all take Shepard's orders. |
| 122 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: |
| 123 | ** Cerberus' [[MiniMecha Atlas Mechs]] have a large cockpit that can be shattered with enough hits (allowing you to potentially hijack the mech), but shooting their rear eezo drives will kill them even quicker. Also, while the logical tactic for defeating Cerberus' Guardians is to flank them, it is most expedient to just take aim and [[BoomHeadshot shoot them in the head]], [[SubvertedTrope right through]] [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe their shields']] viewport with a HandCannon or SniperRifle. If you can't get that shot, their feet are also unprotected. There is even an achievement for doing this 10 times: "Mail Slot". Failing everything else, it is possible to just shoot through that shield if your weapon/ammo combination has enough penetration... but that takes longer. [[TakeAThirdOption Or you can just use Pull (or Singularity) to yank their shields out of their hands or send their shield arm flailing with a force-inflicting attack.]] |
| 124 | ** How Shepard racks up [[spoiler:their first on-foot Reaper kill]] on Rannoch. |
| 125 | ** Practically every enemy takes extra damage from [[BoomHeadshot headshots]], but some have additional weaknesses. Geth Pyros can have their fuel tanks set on fire, Engineers carry their turret on their back which explodes when hit, and you can also shatter the Phantom's swords, eliminating their deadly melee attacks. However, these tricks only work when their shields or barriers are down. |
| 126 | ** Brutes, according to the Mass Effect wiki, have extremely lightly armoured posteriors. The tricky part is getting a good shot at the ''back'' of a SmashMook that spends its time charging ''toward'' you. |
| 127 | * AutoRevive: |
| 128 | ** Medi-gel functions as this in multiplayer, allowing a downed character to revive themselves without requiring an ally to pick them back up. |
| 129 | ** The Alliance Infiltration Unit Infiltrator's Repair Matrix will automatically revive the AIU if it is downed while the power is active. |
| 130 | * AvengingTheVillain: PlayedForLaughs in the Blasto film in ''Citadel''. |
| 131 | --> "Watch out! It's Sovereign's half-brother, Sluggard! And he's looking for some payback!" |
| 132 | * AwesomeButImpractical: You can shoot geth rockets out of the air! However, they're so small and so fast you're better off trying to dodge them. |
| 133 | ** Mobilizing the Krogan clans as EDI points out. While they're fierce in battle they lack the ships to actually transport all of their troops, or the provisions needed for a prolonged campaign. All of which must be provided by their allies before they can be of any real help. |
| 134 | ** The Atlas mechs you can pilot at various points sound like a badass upgrade. In practice, though, it may be more practical to stay out of the mech and just continue fighting on foot. You can't use your regular weapons and powers while in the mech, which makes for a significant downgrade for, say, Vanguard Shepard, who can already spam Biotic Charge and Nova together and clear the room in seconds. |
| 135 | * AWinnerIsYou: The original, pre-Extended Cut ending. [[spoiler:Whatever ending you chose, you would be treated to a two-minute cutscene in which the Crucible's WorldWreckingWave destroys/overwrites the Reapers, followed by the ''Normandy'' crash-landing on an unidentified planet... cue the end credits]]. |
| 136 | * AxCrazy: Jona Sederis, the leader of the Eclipse mercenary group. She seems to take a disturbing amount of pleasure in the thought of slaughtering her "enemies", whoever they are. |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:B]] |
| 140 | * BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: For Wrex and Eve in the extended cut ending, if the genophage was cured. Jacob also ends up becoming a father]]. Shepard can bring up the idea in Liara and Garrus' romance dialogues, albeit jokingly. |
| 141 | * BackForTheDead: |
| 142 | ** Assuming he survived the suicide mission, [[spoiler: Thane's only possible role in the plot is to die protecting the salarian Councilor. If he did not survive, Kirrahe is in this role. If Kirrahe is also dead, and you saved the Council in the first game, then this role is passed onto the salarian councilor.]] |
| 143 | ** If you did not complete [[spoiler: Grunt's, Kasumi and Zaeed's]] loyalty missions in ''Mass Effect 2'', they all die at the end of the missions they appear in. |
| 144 | ** Should you side with [[spoiler: Morinth over Samara]] in ''Mass Effect 2'', the former will appear in the game as a [[spoiler:banshee on Earth, to be taken out by Shepard.]] |
| 145 | ** If [[spoiler:Jack was not rescued from Grissom Academy in time and/or if you sold Legion to Cerberus in ''Mass Effect 2'',]] they also appear as uniquely named enemies that you have to kill in the assault on Chronos Station. |
| 146 | ** [[spoiler:Legion]] does not survive the trilogy: the character either dies in this game or died in the previous one.[[spoiler:If it survives through to this game, it experiences either a HeroicSacrifice (amalgamating its personality onto the Geth in the GoldenEnding of the Rannoch arc), being killed by Tali or Admiral Raan in the bad resolution, or (if he wasn't activated in ''2'') appearing as a "Legion-Assassin" in the Cerberus Headquarters]]. |
| 147 | ** ZigzaggedTrope with [[spoiler:The Virmire Survivor, who can be killed in this game but also can be spared and will join your squad permanently]]. |
| 148 | ** ZigzaggedTrope with [[spoiler:Mordin]]. The Tuchanka arc can end in two different ways, and this character dies in one of them and ''can'' die in the other. Saving them is complicated: [[spoiler:You have to have led Wrex to his sole PlotlineDeath opportunity back on Virmire, ''and'' you have to have erased Maelon's data in the second game -- or never done the sidequest to begin with -- so that Eve dies as well. Only the prospect of a krogan people united under Urdnot "DumbMuscle BloodKnight" Wreav will be enough to convince Mordin not to die for the genophage cure.]] No matter the outcome, the character does not join your party. |
| 149 | * BackingAwaySlowly: After EDI gains an android body, Commander Shepard can talk to her on the bridge. After he/she inquires whether the new experience could be distracting, EDI says that she only forgets to recycle the ship's oxygen when she finds something ''truly'' interesting. The Commander gets a horrified look and slowly backs away. |
| 150 | -->'''EDI:''' [[RunningGag That was a joke.]] |
| 151 | * BackStab: The main skill of a N7 Shadow, with her Shadow Strike -- it's the same skill Kasumi has in ''Mass Effect 2'': cloaking, and appearing in the back of the enemy. Except that where Kasumi used her omni-tool, the Shadow uses [[OffWithHisHead a sword]]. Ironically, in the Citadel DLC combat simulator, Kasumi now has Tactical Cloak instead of Shadow Strike. |
| 152 | * BadassArmy: Building an army of the greatest badasses of the entire galaxy. |
| 153 | * BadassAdorable: The ''Retaliation'' [=DLC=] lets you fight online as ''a volus''. Yes, [[TheChewToy a]] [[ProudMerchantRace vol]][[VaderBreath us]]. Since they come in vanguard and adept flavors, you can finally [[MemeticMutation become a biotic god.]] |
| 154 | * BadassBystander: |
| 155 | ** If you spared him in ''Mass Effect 2'', Aresh (the ArcVillain of the Pragia side-mission) turns into one of these. [[spoiler:Living as a lowly worker with a severe substance abuse problem and petty criminal past since that time, a group of evacuating civilians are shocked to witness him unleash his considerable biotic power (his power level is comparable to Jack's, which makes sense) to protect them as they make their escape. He performs a HeroicSacrifice to save everyone.]] |
| 156 | ** Jenna, the C-Sec informant from a sidequest in the first game, intervenes with her omni-tool to [[spoiler:save Conrad from a Cerberus operative if you did her quest in ''Mass Effect''. Then she and Conrad hook up.]] |
| 157 | * BadassTeacher: [[spoiler:Jack]], post-''Mass Effect 2''. |
| 158 | * BagOfSpilling: Shepard loses all the guns and armor acquired in ''2'' and has to buy/find them all over again. The good news is that even DLC gear from the second game is in vanilla ''3''. Averted in regards to player level if you imported. You retain your level, and if you kept the player class you had in the second game, your powers are partially filled out in a manner similar to how you had it before. |
| 159 | ** You also get your fish collection back if you talk to the right person early on. You can also get your Space Hamster back, if you can catch it, and your ships are scattered all over the Normandy but aren't actually too hard to find. |
| 160 | ** As for the ''Normandy'', she keeps any of the plot-relevant upgrades you fitted during the previous game (armor, shield and weapon upgrades). However, all the other upgrades disappear. In the case of the probing upgrades (increased probe capacity, increased scanning speed), it's pretty much moot as the probing minigame is all but absent in ''3''. In the case of the increased fuel upgrade, however, losing it is really annoying. |
| 161 | ** Some of the stuff you collected in ''2'' (most notably the mineral resources) gets converted into war assets in ''3'', so while you lose direct use of them, they still improve your odds of success. |
| 162 | * TheBait: Joker in the first few minutes of the Citadel DLC, to his indignation. |
| 163 | ** "You used me as bait? You used me as bait! Did everbody see that? The Savior of the Citadel used Brittle-bones Guy as bait!" |
| 164 | ** "When this is over, we are gonna talk about this bait thing." |
| 165 | ** "Plan B stands for bait?" |
| 166 | * BalanceBuff |
| 167 | ** Powers in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' often required enemies be stripped of shields or armor to be effective, which often meant it was better to just use guns. These restrictions are now relaxed and the new power combo mechanic lets them prime enemies with an effect that can be detonated, letting them do reliable damage against even targets immune or resistant to their effects. They also now have more bonus effects available. |
| 168 | *** [[MindOverMatter Biotics]] didn't cause their effects on shielded or armored targets ([[AntiArmor except for Warp and Reave]]). Most biotics now prime targets for biotic combos which do extra damage against armor and barriers. |
| 169 | *** Overload and Energy Drain was only effective on shields, doing average damage against barriers and synthetics but none on organics. They're now effective against both shields and barriers and damage organics, the former could even be upgraded for extra. |
| 170 | *** [[KillItWithIce Cryo]] was the least useful elemental effect since it only froze unshielded, unarmored targets, which were more efficiently dispatched by any other methods. Cryo abilities now inflict ''chilled'' on shielded and armored targets, slowing their movement, and has extra defense debuff against armor. |
| 171 | *** [[HackYourEnemy AI Hacking]] was only useful on synthetics, which made up a minority of opponents, after their shields and armor were depleted. It's replaced with Sabotage, which works through shields and armor and when used on organics overheats their weapons, inflicting damage and rendering them briefly inoperable. |
| 172 | ** Several weapons and powers in multiplayer have their stats increased from single-player to enhance their viability. [[UnrealisticBlackHole Singularity]] now primes all targets for biotic combos while in single-player it only primes lifted targets. |
| 173 | * BatterUp: The batarian and turian Armiger Legion classes in multiplayer have unique melee animations. If using a two-handed weapon, they involve [[http://youtu.be/BasebmHiqIo?t=1m31s clubbing the enemy with the gun as if it were a baseball bat]]. |
| 174 | * BattleAgainstTheSunset: In the final part of the Rannoch mission, Shepard ends up fighting [[EldritchAbomination a Reaper]] on foot during a sunset. |
| 175 | * BayonetYa: |
| 176 | ** Shotguns can now accept bayonet modifications to increase their damage as a melee weapon. |
| 177 | ** The Earth (for multiplayer) and Leviathan (for single player) [=DLCs=] allows you to add an omniblade bayonet to assault rifles. |
| 178 | ** The Retaliation (multiplayer) and Omega (single player) [=DLCs=] also add omniblade bayonets for shotgun, which are inexplicably heavier but more effective than the metal ones.[[note]] [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Note that all of these mods boost melee damage even if only Krogans use their weapons for their heavy melee attacks]].[[/note]] |
| 179 | * BeamSpam: Harbinger attacks the invasion force [[spoiler: in the run to the Conduit.]] |
| 180 | * BerserkButton: Don't mess with the ''Normandy''. EDI will find out and stomp a mudhole in you. Her bloodlust in this matter even earns blood-soaked warrior Wrex's respect. Even Tali, who is uncomfortable with any AI going violent thanks to her race's history with the geth, lets her be. |
| 181 | -->'''EDI''': I am going to kill [[spoiler: Shepard's clone,]] Agent [[spoiler:Brooks]], and anyone else in my way. |
| 182 | * BetweenMyLegs: In the Citadel DLC, after Wrex wrecks the hijacked C-SEC shuttle full of [=CAT6=] goons, he jumps off the roof and in front of the open side hatch. The shot is framed for a moment between his legs just as he lands. |
| 183 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: The non-enslaved geth in which Legion hails from are generally all nice and polite, only wanting true intelligence and to make peace with the quarians, but will strike back with a fury not even the turian fleet can match if provoked. [[spoiler: A Geth Prime talking to Shepard will even outright state that they regret having fought the quarians if it comes to that.]] |
| 184 | * {{BFG}}: |
| 185 | ** The Cain makes a reappearance in the mission to take back Earth. You use it to [[spoiler:drop a Reaper-Destroyer sized AA battery. It only takes one shot, and it homes in.]] There is a spare that's also handy for killing the Banshee that leads the subsequent attack on your squad while you wait for an evac shuttle. |
| 186 | ** There's also the Black Widow, Krysae, and Typhoon. The Black Widow is an upgraded, ''semi-automatic'' version of the InfinityPlusOneSword normal Widow Anti-Materiel Rifle from the last game with a three round clip. The Krysae is a turian anti-materiel rifle that shoots explosive ammunition, making it a semi-automatic rocket launcher in disguise. The Typhoon is a space support machine gun, with the highest fire rate and capacity in the game and ridiculous damage output. All of them become hideously powerful when fully upgraded and given the correct weapon and ammo mods (level IV Warp and Incendiary rounds work particularly well). The Typhoon in particular can have the highest damage output in the entire game, a capacity of 200 rounds, great accuracy, a minor defensive bonus, and the game's fastest firing rate, all in one package. There's a reason that it's considered the best weapon for the N7 Destroyer in multiplayer. |
| 187 | ** The Geth Spitfire puts the Typhoon to shame, at least in terms of pure MoreDakka. Carrying it slows the character down far more than any other weapon, though, and it's also the heaviest weapon in the game. |
| 188 | ** Meanwhile, the Javelin puts the ''Widow'' to shame, being the single most powerful rifle in the game while incorporating a visor able to see through smoke and walls - and weighing a ton. Which makes it quite easy to, [[MythologyGag like Garrus, kill three enemies with one bullet]]. The Javelin is ''another'' geth weapon. |
| 189 | * BigBadassBattleSequence: There are three large-scale battles between opposing forces throughout the game: |
| 190 | ** The Reaper invasion of Palaven, the turian homeworld, is preceded by the fight between the Reaper fleets and the turian navy, the most powerful military force in Citadel space. |
| 191 | ** The quarian attempt to re-take their homeworld involves full-scale war with the geth, including the geth's command-and-control dreadnought, along with the three endings stemming from this. |
| 192 | ** The attempt to retake Earth is the largest single battle sequence in the game series, and includes space, air and ground scenes involving thousands of individual ship and character models. |
| 193 | * BigBadDuumvirate: The Reapers and the Illusive Man share this office. Cerberus constantly interferes with Shepard's attempts to defeat the Reapers out of a belief that they can ''control'' the Reapers. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for the Illusive Man, the Reapers are ultimately better at the game, and the Illusive Man is indoctrinated and simply playing into their hands. According to the Prothean VI Vendetta, this rogue faction wanting to control the Reapers and ultimately succumbing to indoctrination is one element of the EternalRecurrence of the Cycle of Reaping, having occurred in the Prothean cycle as well. Javik reveals he was aware of their cycle's Cerberus-analog as well and suspected indoctrination]]. |
| 194 | * BigDamnHeroes: Too many to count, but one example from ''Citadel.'' When Shepard is in trouble all the allies s/he had gathered in the third game and Wrex storm in. Cue MoreDakka and ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill. |
| 195 | * BigGood: Even though Admiral Hackett is commanding the combined forces of the Council races, and Admiral Anderson is leading the resistance on Earth, both point out that Shepard is the key to victory. They are a symbol and inspiration to the soldiers fighting the war, is the one responsible for uniting the disparate races into a force capable of challenging the Reapers, and is the single most experienced soldier when it comes to actually fighting them. |
| 196 | * BigNo: |
| 197 | ** Played straight by Shepard when [[spoiler:Kaidan or Ashley has their head bashed on the crashed Cerberus shuttle by Dr. Core]]. |
| 198 | ** Flat out parodied in the Blasto audio drama. |
| 199 | -->[[DullSurprise Blasto]]: [[http://youtu.be/nXf7HC7iYEY?t=8m6s Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.]] |
| 200 | * BiologicalWeaponsSolveEverything: Played with in the MultipleEndings. |
| 201 | ** [[spoiler:In the Destroy ending, the trope is inverted, with the final weapon destroying all ''synthetic'' life, including the friendly ones, and leaving the organic life alone.]] |
| 202 | ** [[spoiler:In the Control ending, only the leader of the villains is affected, with the HiveMind now being controlled by the main character.]] |
| 203 | ** [[spoiler:In the Synthesis ending, both organic and synthetic life are combined into one hybrid race, making the war completely irrelevant.]] |
| 204 | ** Inverted in the Paragon conclusion to the Tuchanka arc, in which it's ''curing'' a biological weapon that solves everything - you save the krogan from extinction (assuming you don't pick the Refusal ending), Wrex parlays this into even greater control over Tuchanka in the name of preventing another Krogan Rebellions, you lock the Reapers into a horrible snarled ground war on Palaven that costs them ''dearly'' in time, energy and troops, and you get hundreds of points of War Assets from both the turian fleet and the krogan ground forces. |
| 205 | *** ''Double'' Inverted though if Wreav is the krogan leader instead of Wrex. Although curing the genophage saves the krogan race, Wreav makes no secret that he intends to basically restart the Krogan Rebellions once the Reapers are dealt with, which would plunge the galaxy right into another bloody war. [[spoiler: His focus on this is maybe why he's oblivious if you end up not curing the genophage.]] |
| 206 | * BittersweetEnding: The game makes it clear in the first 5 minutes that you cannot save everyone. It is possible to lose allies and entire species before you even reach the final battle, [[spoiler: and regardless of which choices or endings you get, you ''will'' have to sacrifice quite a lot to win, in most cases Shepard and the Citadel as well]]. |
| 207 | ** [[spoiler: Destroy: All synthetics are destroyed, but organics are spared from the Reapers.]] |
| 208 | ** [[spoiler: Control: Shepard dies, but creates an AI that will help guide the Reapers.]] |
| 209 | ** [[spoiler: Synthesis: Shepard dies, but organics and synthetics gain full understanding of each other.]] |
| 210 | ** [[spoiler: Refusal: The Reapers win, but the next cycle has a chance to defeat them conventionally.]] |
| 211 | * BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: The best way to deal with Cerberus Phantoms, who can OneHitKO you with their sword, is to remove it from them like this. Since you cannot dilate time in multiplayer and you won't get a gun that can kick up a storm of lead that can properly knock it off, though, this is much, ''much'' harder than it sounds. |
| 212 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: The omni-blade is a super-heated carbon blade created by the user's omni-tool and held in place by mass effect fields. They make up the heavy melee attack for most single-player classes and several multiplayer classes. |
| 213 | * BladeLock: [[spoiler:Clone Shepard]] in the ''Citadel'' DLC is the only enemy in the series to attack you with their own omni-blade if they get close. If they do, Shepard activates their omni-blade and they start struggling against each other. You use ActionCommands to win the struggle and instantly take down your enemy's shields. |
| 214 | ** Also happens right at the start of your final battle with Kai Leng, except Shepard uses his rifle instead of a blade. |
| 215 | * BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: Mordin]] if you shoot him, [[spoiler: Kai Leng]] after you kick his ass, [[spoiler: Shepard]] in the ending. |
| 216 | * BloodierAndGorier: ''Mass Effect'' is more violent than ever. |
| 217 | ** Heads will now explode into a spray of gore if you get a head shot with various weapons including sniper rifles, shotguns, and heavy pistols. This can also be caused by a head shot to an enemy with low health. |
| 218 | ** There are several methods of making your enemy's whole body explode, entirely reducing them to bloody chunks. To name a few (all used on enemies with a low enough health to cause this), Carnage, Warp, a shot from a Widow, Black Widow, Krysae or Javelin, landing a sticky grenade on the targeted enemy, shrapnel grenades, any heavy weapons. |
| 219 | * BlownAcrossTheRoom: Happens with guns that cause an opponent to stagger on hit, such as the Disciple shotgun. Justified though, in that the Disciple incorporates micro-explosives into its rounds which cause a concussive effect when they impact a target. |
| 220 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler: The Catalyst views "preserving" advanced organic life in Reaper form as preferable to allowing what it sees as an inevitable organic/synthetic war to take place that will just as inevitably end in synthetic life taking control of the galaxy. Therefore it harvests organic life at the apex of its civilization before such a war can happen, including the very apex civilization that created the Catalyst, thus allowing the next generation of organic life to develop after every harvesting cycle]]. |
| 221 | * BluntYes: In the ''Citadel DLC'', after [[spoiler: Shepard's evil clone]] says [[CatchPhrase "I should go,"]] Shepard asks [[DoIReallySoundLikeThat if they really sound like that.]] This is the squadmates' response. |
| 222 | -->'''Wrex''': As long as I've known you, yeah.\ |
| 223 | '''Javik''': Yes. Yes you do.\ |
| 224 | '''Kaidan''': Oh yeah. Big time.\ |
| 225 | '''EDI''': On at least 216 known occasions that I have witnessed.\ |
| 226 | '''James''': Hmmm... Yeah. Yeah, now that you mention it.\ |
| 227 | '''Ashley''': All the way back to Eden Prime, yeah.\ |
| 228 | '''Tali''': I think it's the first words I ever heard you speak.\ |
| 229 | '''Liara''': I think it was one of the first things you ever said to me.\ |
| 230 | '''Garrus''': Yeah, kinda. |
| 231 | * BoardingSchool: Two are encountered during the game, one a straight example, the other, not quite |
| 232 | ** Grissom Academy is a straight example. Intended for the study of the liberal arts, it also has a MildlyMilitary feel to it with the teachers having military ranks such as Lieutenant and Ensign. The students uniforms resemble that of Alliance marines. Most famous for being a place where human biotics go to hone their skills. Even Garrus wishes he could have attended. |
| 233 | ** The Ardat Yakshi Monastery in Lessus. Technically not a boarding school at all, and definitely not the kind of school where asari dream of attending. It is more like a nunnery but once you go there it does have a boarding school like feel to it. It has a strict schedule of reveille, meditation periods, study periods and a curfew, even floor wardens to keep the "students" in line. And it has at least one rebellious cool kid smuggling in contraband for others. |
| 234 | * BodyCountCompetition: |
| 235 | ** After rescuing defecting Cerberus scientists, whom you only located because of Specialist Traynor's analysis of Cerberus data, Traynor jokes that she is going to begin putting little decals on her terminal to keep score every time she "analyzes the crap out of some data." |
| 236 | ** If you have romanced either Tali or Garrus, before the final mission you will find the two of them talking in the Main Battery where they are making bets on the upcoming fight and who will perform better. |
| 237 | ** If Jacob survives the suicide mission in the previous game, he and Shepard will joke about this should you contact him prior to speaking to Anderson. |
| 238 | ** Featured [[{{Troperiffic}} of course]] between Teams Mako and Hammerhead in ''Citadel'', while Javik declares that he is a third party on his own. |
| 239 | ** There are new challenges in multiplayer, some of which include inflicting a set amount of damage (not necessarily landing the killing blows) on enemy factions. |
| 240 | * BodyHorror: |
| 241 | ** Everything about Reaper-made enemies. Cannibals are mutated batarians using ''whole human bodies'' for {{arm cannon}}s, Brutes are krogan/turian fusions with the head ripped out and replaced with a turian skull. The art book originally had the rachni as fused with rotting human corpses, but Bioware deemed this too disgusting. |
| 242 | *** In a similar vein, Brutes were originally going to have extremely aggressive fighting styles until you did enough damage to them, at which point their chest armor would shatter and they would switch to more defensive tactics. Because they would be using one of their arms to hold in their intestines.[[note]]Their chest armor can still be shot off to reveal intestines, but their fighting style doesn't change at all.[[/note]] |
| 243 | ** If you choose the Control ending, [[spoiler:as they're holding the Crucible controls Shepard's face will start to burn and peel apart, spreading to the rest of their body]]. |
| 244 | ** The Synthesis ending [[spoiler:has Shepard slowly dissolve in the Catalyst's beam.]] |
| 245 | *** Also, Synthesis and Control [[spoiler: imply that the Husks regain their humanity. Ignoring the non-human husks, one certainly hopes the human husks can extricate themselves from Scions and Praetorians, or there's a ''Film/TheHumanCentipede'' situation going on]]. |
| 246 | * BoisterousBruiser: Krogan characters in multiplayer will start laughing every time their rage activates, which happens when they quickly kill two or three enemies with melee attacks. |
| 247 | * BondOneLiner: |
| 248 | ** Shepard has the option of pulling this off after killing a Reaper, if you take the Renegade option. |
| 249 | ** Renegade Shepard does it again (twice) after retaking the Normandy in ''Citadel''. |
| 250 | * BookEnds: |
| 251 | ** The first and last missions of the game take place on Earth. With the Legendary Edition, this is extended to the first game's title screen, which is more clearly above Earth. |
| 252 | ** In both this game and the original ''Mass Effect'', Anderson was initially set to command the ''Normandy''. Once again, the sudden appearance of the Reapers causes him to abdicate his position, forcing Shepard to assume command in his stead. |
| 253 | ** When Thane is first encountered in ''Mass Effect 2'', he prays for "the wicked," but reveals that the prayer is for himself, not the target he just killed. [[spoiler:When he dies here, his final words are again a prayer, but this time they are not for him, but for Shepard]]. |
| 254 | ** One of the last conversations with Joker aboard the ''Normandy'' is him reminiscing about Eden Prime. The camera angles used when Joker and Shepard speak are identical to those used the first time you ever speak to Joker in ''Mass Effect''. Appropriately, the Eden Prime mission is the ''Normandy'''s first against the Reapers, and Earth its last (and if EMS is low and Destroy is chosen, its ultimate end). |
| 255 | ** Forms one with the original game by [[spoiler:playing the opening sequence in reverse. In ''Mass Effect 1'', the Normandy passes by Jupiter before jumping through the Charon Relay to the first mission of the story, where Shepard speaks with Joker. In ''Mass Effect 3'', Shepard speaks with Joker ''before'' the final mission of the story, jumping through the Charon Relay and passing by Jupiter in the ''Normandy''. The only difference is Shepard brings an entire galactic armada with them in ''3'', which they left the Sol system to do.]]. |
| 256 | ** The final mission is [[spoiler: a race against time through hordes of Reaper forces to reach the conduit (your HUD even calls it that) so you can get to the Citadel to stop the Reapers like the Prothean VI told you.]] All it's missing is the Mako. |
| 257 | ** In the first game, Ashley asks why [[spoiler:when someone says "with all due respect" they mean "Kiss my ass"]] In the last mission of the last game, if you have her on the mission, she says it herself, with the same meaning, obviously understanding why. |
| 258 | ** The first and last missions in the game include a point where a husk jumps at you through a halfway-open door. |
| 259 | ** By way of the game forcing Shepard back into their starting gear after [[spoiler:Harbinger fires at them with his main cannon]], Shepard begins and ends the trilogy in the default N7 Armor. |
| 260 | ** Just before you take control of Shepard for the first and last time in the game [[spoiler:they're thrown off their feet by a Reaper attack, gets a handgun and is told to move forward by Anderson]]. |
| 261 | ** Both this game and the original ''Mass Effect'' [[spoiler:end with Shepard facing off against an indoctrinated WellIntentionedExtremist, who can be talked into realizing his indoctrination and committing suicide, before Shepard comes face to face with the mastermind behind it all as they're forced to decide what fate to choose for the galaxy. Just as in the first game, the very last enemy that Shepard engages in combat is a Reaper-controlled turian; Saren in ''[=ME1=]'', a Marauder here.]] |
| 262 | ** The first and last things you do in the trilogy are [[spoiler: use a dialogue wheel before walking through a non-combat area (unless you shoot the Catalyst for the Refuse ending). This is even referenced by the layout of the final area: they're in a trident shape, just like the dialogue wheels. The position of the Destroy and Control paths also align with the Morality needed to unlock them at the end of ''Mass Effect 2'']]. |
| 263 | ** This can be Invoked if you bring Kaidan along on the final mission. So the series begins and ends with him in your squad. |
| 264 | ** The final book-end of the trilogy is a musical one: in TheStinger, the song "Vigil" from the first game's menu screen plays in the background. |
| 265 | * BoringButPractical: You have got sniper rifles, flashy grenades, energy blades, missile launchers, and magical science powers, yet the most surefire way to deal with enemies in multiplayer is to just flank them. You will realize this when [[ArtificialBrilliance they do it to you, too.]] |
| 266 | ** While there are many flashier biotic powers, the simple Throw, a ball that knocks enemies of their feet, is one of the most useful. Its low cooldown lets it temporarily immobilise mooks, and more importantly, it can trigger a biotic explosion on any enemy (assuming they don't dodge it), unlike many similar powers, and can be specced to boost the damage of said explosions, which are how biotics do their damage. If you upgrade it enough, you can even launch ''two'' projectiles at once. |
| 267 | ** The five "basic" weapons (Predator, Avenger, Katana, Mantis, Shuriken) all become quite practical up to Insanity/Silver when upgraded to level X- which is quite cheap compared to the other weapons, making them even more BoringButPractical. |
| 268 | *** The default pistol (the Predator) actually has higher damage per second than the default assault rifle, as well as being very light and accurate and cheap to upgrade. While there are better weapons maxing this should be any new multiplayer player's first priority. At level X and with the right mods, it has a clip size of 28, good accuracy, more damage per second than the Avenger or Vindicator, and a very fast firing rate. And it weighs nothing. |
| 269 | ** The Avenger assault rifle does low damage. However, its good accuracy, very low weight, and fast firing rate make it a good primary early weapon for Engineers and Adepts. Its low damage can be compensated with assault rifle amps. |
| 270 | ** The Mantis sniper rifle, particularly in multiplayer. It is slow-firing but powerful and the lightest of the sniper rifles. It doesn't have the raw damage of the Widow, but a skilled player who can consistently [[BoomHeadshot headshot]] enemies doesn't ''need'' that much damage. |
| 271 | ** Similarly, the [[HandCannon Carnifex]]. Slap a scope on it, and you won't even need the Mantis. |
| 272 | ** The Disciple shotgun. Its damage might not be obliterative like the big shotties, but it's surprisingly accurate, fires quickly, easily staggers even large enemies like Brutes and is the lightest shotgun available. |
| 273 | ** On a general level, especially in multiplayer the more basic, lighter weapons are this for more power-focused characters such as most adepts, who want to keep their cooldowns low and might not even use their weapons all that much. |
| 274 | ** As in the previous games, the whole point of the Soldier class. Other than limited bullet time, all of their abilities just pump weapon damage, melee, and shield strength. |
| 275 | * BossInMookClothing: |
| 276 | ** Banshees. Huge barrier and armour amounts cause them to take a ton of damage before going down. Constant [[FlashStep teleporting]] makes it a lot harder to get a lock on them as well. Their attacks are also very dangerous, with the strongest being a one-hit kill. |
| 277 | ** The [[MookMaker Geth Primes]] are this for the Geth, and of course the Praetorians and [[FromBadToWorse Possessed Praetorians]] for Collectors. |
| 278 | ** Atlases are a borderline example: they are powerful, but overall much less dangerous than [[DemonicSpider Phantoms]]. |
| 279 | * BossRush: The final combat segment of the game, [[spoiler: especially since there is no real FinalBoss--at least, not one that you fight]]. |
| 280 | ** The final wave of the Fatal Error combat simulator in the ''Citadel'' DLC forces you to fight the top tier enemies of all four enemy factions (including Collectors) simultaneously. |
| 281 | * BottomlessMagazines: |
| 282 | ** [[spoiler: The Carnifex that Shepard picks up after being fried by Harbinger never needs a reload, but you can do so just for the hell of it]]. |
| 283 | ** Some DLC weapons retain this feature from the first game: the Particle Rifle, which you get after awakening Javik; and the M-7 Lancer, which can be picked up in the middle of the Citadel DLC mission. Idling for about three seconds after firing refills their magazines automatically. Exhausting their magazines results in a time-consuming reload animation, however. |
| 284 | ** Multiplayer adds the Collector Sniper Rifle and Submachine Gun to the list. |
| 285 | * BrainUploading: [[spoiler: In the Control ending, Shepard's mind is uploaded into the entire Reaper fleet]]. |
| 286 | * BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: The ''Citadel'' [[DownloadableContent DLC]] reintroduces the M-7 Lancer, the predecessor to the default M-8 Avenger assault rifle, not used since the original ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. It has been refurbished and modified to bring it up to modern standards, but uses the old heat-venting system from the original game instead of the thermal clips used in later titles. [[NostalgiaFilter Certain segments of the fan base were very excited]]. |
| 287 | * BreastExpansion: Every human woman ([=FemShep=] plus all [=NPCs=]) uses the same character model for their bust. With some characters (Ashley) it's not too noticeable, but it makes Jack (who in ''Mass Effect 2'' was an A-cup at most) look like she got a boob job. |
| 288 | * BreatherEpisode: The Citadel DLC was marketed as a last hurrah for the series' cast, and is almost entirely comedic in tone. None of the characters take the threat too seriously, and everything after the [[spoiler: Clone Shepard]] boss fight is basically fanservice. |
| 289 | * BribingYourWayToVictory: |
| 290 | ** Some War Assets are either reduced or completely unavailable if you have not purchased and completed the [=DLCs=] of the first two games. |
| 291 | ** Unlike in the pre-launch demo, multiplayer equipment packs can be bought for real money if you do not want to grind for them with in-game currency. |
| 292 | ** It was - prior to later patches - mathematically impossible to get the best version of each ending unless you use multiplayer (which you may need to pay extra for if you bought the game used) or obtain DLC-only War Assets. |
| 293 | ** Averted in ''Legendary Edition.'' Multiplayer is removed, along with its Effective Combat Readiness modifier, and all DLC is included. This version treats [=ECR=] as if it's always maxed out and adjusts the thresholds for different endings accordingly. |
| 294 | * BrickJoke: |
| 295 | ** In the Omega DLC, Aria mentions that the reason she broke up with [[spoiler: Nyreen]] is because "she had no flexibility." [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 No word on whether]] [[DoubleEntendre Aria had reach or not]]. |
| 296 | ** Traynor's mass effect-enhanced toothbrush becomes one in the Citadel DLC, going from a throwaway gag to [[spoiler:the tool that helps Shepard retake the ''Normandy'' from their evil clone]]. |
| 297 | ** Another brick joke in Citadel is the various squadmate's reactions to the destruction of the giant glass fish tank at the sushi restaurant, something neither Shepard nor likely the player even noticed earlier in the game. |
| 298 | ** In ''[=ME2=]'', Mordin offhandedly mocks the cyanide capsules that Cerberus operatives have in case of interrogation, and mentions that "ocular nerve flashbangs" are more effective. Well, there's a Shadow Broker file in the third game where the Alliance is interrogating a Cerberus Phantom... and her head explodes. |
| 299 | ** Another Mordin example: In ''[=ME2=]'', one of his many "important research" lines involves working on a cure for Joker's Vrolik's Syndrome, only to scrap it when he realizes it would cause liver failure. In ''[=ME3=]'', after the mission to cure the genophage on Tuchanka, [[spoiler: if Mordin is dead,]] Joker will tell a story about how Mordin once rang his personal comm after lights out just to ask him how many livers humans have. |
| 300 | ** The entire encounter with Conrad Verner is one brick joke harking back to the first game after another, referencing a CollectionSidequest, the original inventory system, and two separate {{Irrelevant Sidequest}}s. |
| 301 | ** In ''[=ME2=]'', the Codex mentions that the Kodiak is only capable of flying at all because it generates Mass Effect fields to reduce it's effective mass, and that if those fields failed, it would fall out of the sky with all the grace of a brick. This finally ends up happening during the ''Leviathan'' DLC. Twice. [[spoiler: Three times if you count the Reaper dreadnought that gets similarly dropped out of the sky at the end.]] |
| 302 | ** During the ''Citadel'' DLC, when Shepard and the team are planning the mission to Citadel archives, they're interrupted by a volus delivering a pizza to James, who got hungry. About an hour later, when you're battling mercs in the archives, Glyph informs James that a volus pizza delivery man is calling him and demanding payment. |
| 303 | --->'''James:''' Tell him they burnt the pepperoni! |
| 304 | * BringHelpBack: Shepard has to do this; they leave Earth during the Reaper attack in order to gather reinforcements and return in force. |
| 305 | * BroadStrokes: The place of the Multiplayer in the {{canon}}. Are there multi-species squadrons operating unofficially in association with N7 forces? Yes. Are all the available species for multiplayer present? Not always; for example, depending on the outcome of [[spoiler:the geth and quarian conflict, one of them could very well be ''extinct'', as well as drell if you decide to save Jondum Bau instead of Kahje in a sidequest.]] Are geth running loose through the ruins of downtown London? Probably not without Reaper forces. |
| 306 | ** Especially with the return of Collector enemies to Multiplayer. You only get to fight them in the singleplayer by means of a Combat Simulator in ''Citadel''. |
| 307 | * BrokenAesop: |
| 308 | ** In the Armax Arena provided by the ''Citadel'' DLC, you get a challenge to do a match with no ammo pickups by someone who argues in favor of thermal clips against someone who thinks they're a bad idea. He says they can work if care is taken to conserve ammo. You can then proceed to play the round with the M-7 Lancer rifle provided by the DLC, which uses the pre-thermal clip cooling system and doesn't need them. Or the Prothean particle rifle. Or have a Shep that focuses on Biotic or Tech attacks, both of which never run out of ammo. |
| 309 | ** The series portrays the forced fusion between machine and biological beings as a rather horrific fate for the person involved, and being amongst the most terrifying and debasing of atrocities the Reapers inflict upon persons and civilisations, best represented by the soulless [[SlaveMooks Husks]] and in how the Reapers themselves are created. Overall, it sends the message that artificially altering sapient beings against their will is amongst the most egregious transgressions against nature. [[spoiler:The Synthesis ending, however, involves Shepard using Reaper technology to infuse biological and mechanic beings with the essence of each other, essentially without the permission of the involved beings, and this is presented, if not as the GoldenEnding, then at the very least as a very positive outcome.]] |
| 310 | * BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:No matter what you do, the total death toll will be in the billions or more by the end, and Shepard will probably be dead. Worst case scenario? The Reapers are defeated, but [[EarthShatteringKaboom Earth is destroyed]] and all advanced civilizations in the galaxy are wiped out]]. |
| 311 | * BulletTime: In addition to being an activated ability that the Soldier class retains from the second game, this now accompanies the sound of glass breaking when Shepard's DeflectorShields [[CriticalStatusBuff get taken down]]. Other classes had similar abilities streamlined or removed; the Vanguard's Charge slows time automatically now, and the Sniper Concentration mod means that anyone (not just an Infiltrator) can slow things down when scoping in; Infiltrators can just make it last longer and free up a mod port. |
| 312 | * BullfightBoss: |
| 313 | ** Brutes fit this trope. They love to charge at you and do large amounts of damage if you do not leap out of the way. You even get an achievement if you manage to kill a brute while it is charging. |
| 314 | ** The [[spoiler:Reaper]] on Rannoch. Though it does not physically charge you, the mechanics of dodging its main attack (which moves in a straight line), then attacking it while it is vulnerable for a moment are the same. |
| 315 | ** Praetorians in multiplayer can also charge at you, but sadly [[BossInMookClothing it is far from being their only way to harm you]]. |
| 316 | * TheBusCameBack: Liara and the Virmire survivor are reinstated as full party members after being DemotedToExtra during ''[=ME2=]''. Wrex even returns to your party in the Citadel DLC (if he's alive). |
| 317 | %% Please don't add the ''Mass Effect 2'' party members here. This doesn't apply to them as they weren't PutOnABus to begin with. |
| 318 | * BusCrash: A few secondary characters, assuming they survived the previous installments. |
| 319 | ** [[spoiler: If quarian marine Kal'Reegar survived Haestrom, he ends up dying covering a turian squad's escape]]. |
| 320 | ** [[spoiler: If you spared Rana Thanoptis, the asari scientist from Virmire in ''Mass Effect'' and ''Mass Effect 2'', she kills a number of high ranking asari officials, and then when incarcerated shoots herself in the head]]. |
| 321 | ** [[spoiler:If you spared him in ''Mass Effect 2'', Aresh from the Pragia side-mission dies saving a bunch of evacuating civilians from a Reaper attack.]] |
| 322 | ** [[spoiler:The reporter Emily Wong is never referred to in the actual game, but the promotional Twitter event before release has her relaying news of the Reaper attack before being mortally wounded and crashing her flying news van into a Reaper]]. |
| 323 | ** [[spoiler: If you convinced Ereba to marry or dump her krogan boyfriend Charr, then during the Attican Traverse: Krogan Team sidequest you find his body, with a recording he made for his "blue rose of Ilium", and can deliver it to her at the Nos Astra Sporting Goods booth in the Presidium Commons]]. |
| 324 | * BusmansHoliday: The ''Citadel'' DLC has the Normandy crew go on shore leave, only to get caught up in an attempt on Shepard's life. Though, this is potentially the ''third'' one Shepard has had on the Citadel (Cerberus operative in the Conrad Verner sidequest, and Balak in the Batarian Codes sidequest), this is just the only one with a full DLC dedicated to it. |
| 325 | * ButtDialingMordor: Using your scanner too frequently in a system that's been invaded by the Reapers results in the Reapers actually coming after you and chasing your ship around the current system. |
| 326 | * BuxomBeautyStandard: |
| 327 | ** Matriarch Aethyta can tell Liara that one of the things that attracted her to Matriarch Benezia was her impressive bustline. Liara [[TooMuchInformation does not really want to know about that.]] |
| 328 | ** Kenneth Donnelly wants to spend his final days at an asari retirement home because he has seen videos of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Benezia and met Samara.]] |
| 329 | * BuzzingTheDeck: During "Priority: Eden Prime", Cerberus forces announce themselves with a Kodiak shuttle buzzing Shepard's team before dropping troops nearby. |
| 330 | [[/folder]] |
| 331 | |
| 332 | [[folder:C]] |
| 333 | * CallBack: |
| 334 | ** Returning squadmates frequently make references to missions from the previous two games, remarking how things have changed (or remained the same) over the past two years. These occur even if these squadmates were not present for the original mission. |
| 335 | ** In one of their elevator conversations in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', Tali and Wrex discuss the FantasticRacism Tali gets just from walking around. Tali [[AngstWhatAngst tries to brush it off,]] and explains that they see her people that way because their ancestors created [[TheDreaded the geth.]] Wrex simply responds "Perspective is a beautiful thing. Wait until ''their'' homeworld gets wiped out". This game show that prediction coming true. A more direct example occurs when Garrus apologizes to Tali for thinking this way about her. |
| 336 | --->'''Tali:''' I guess losing your homeworld gave you some perspective? |
| 337 | --->'''Garrus:''' Yeah... you could say that. |
| 338 | ** In one of Shepard's conversations with EDI, she questions Shepard about the behavior of some prisoners of the Reapers, and Shepard asks her if "submission is preferable to extinction." Saren had asked Shepard this same question in the first game. Both Shepard and EDI say no. |
| 339 | ** During your first conversation with him, Joker lampshades the fact that Shepard was not entirely respectful towards the Council in ''[=ME1=]''. This line also occurs if you never hung up on the Council during the first game, losing the effect. |
| 340 | --->'''Joker''': Let me know if you want to patch a comm to the Council so you can hang up on them again. You know, for old times' sake. |
| 341 | ** The music that plays over the Game Over screen, both for single and multiplayer, is the Game Over music from ''Mass Effect 2''. |
| 342 | ** Engineer Adams notes due to Cerberus cutting corners, in a prolonged firefight, the stress on the shields will cause the drive-core to vent into the engineering compartment, vaporizing anyone working there. This actually ''could'' happen in ''[=ME2=]'' if you did not upgrade the shields. Yet Adams is still concerned about this even if you ''did'' upgrade it, though it's all but said that venting is still a possibility and the upgraded shields simply allow the drive core to handle more strain. You can actually do a fetch quest for Adams to pick up a thermal pipe that will help further mitigate the problem. |
| 343 | ** In ''Leviathan'', after rescuing Ann Bryson, talking to Liara on the ''Normandy'' afterwards has her joke about Shepard having a habit of rescuing archaeologists from dig-sites that have been invaded by hostile forces. She comments if Shepard ever decides to team up with her to take down the Shadow Broker, she'll be ''jealous''... and concerned. |
| 344 | ** When rescuing "Eve", Shepard will remark a captured Yahg could be the next Shadow Broker, with Garrus potentially adding that he was muttering "T'Soni!" If Liara is in the party, she'll tell them [[DudeNotFunny it's not funny]][[invoked]]. |
| 345 | *** When Hackett and Shepard discussed how the Reapers are avoiding Parnack, the Yagh homeworld, Shepard can mention that's no surprise as the Yahg "had teeth", clearly remembering their fight with the Shadow Broker. |
| 346 | ** If you talk to Joker before starting Priority: Earth, he'll reminisce about the trilogy's beginning, when the Normandy was carting Nihlus around. As he does so, the camera pans over into the same position it was in when Joker and Kaidan were talking in the Mass Effect 1 introduction, with EDI taking Kaidan's place in the other chair. |
| 347 | ** Near the end, just before the Crucible comes through the relay, the shot of the mass relay looks a lot like the loading screen from the first game, enough to fool you for a few moments before the first fighters appear. The "Loading" icon even appears on the corner of the screen. |
| 348 | ** The end sequence in which you [[spoiler: rush towards a giant pillar of light that will launch you towards the Citadel]] is a ContinuityNod to the first game, in which Shepard did the same thing near the climax. |
| 349 | ** In the Citadel DLC, if you bring Wrex and Ashley or Kaidan with Shepard to take down the Mysterious Figure, Wrex will call back ''an elevator conversation all the way back from Mass Effect'' [[spoiler: when he asks Ashley/Kaidan if she remembers him asking who would win in a fight - them or Shepard. Because now, you're about to find out.]] If you bring Garrus and any other [=ME1=] squadmate, Garrus will ask if anyone else than him misses the elevator conversations. No one does. |
| 350 | --->'''Garrus''': ''So'' disappointed. |
| 351 | *** Also counts as a callback to ''[=ME2=]'' when, if you visit the Citadel with both Garrus and Tali he'll ask her whether she misses the talks they used to have. |
| 352 | ** Another one in the ''Citadel'' DLC: if Garrus is in your party during the [[spoiler:retaking of the ''Normandy'']], he'll mention that [[spoiler:the CIC of a warship]] is one of his favorite places to fight. If he was also in your party during Mordin's loyalty mission in [=ME2=], Shepard recalls his preference for antique shops... but only if they're classy. |
| 353 | ** The Ardat-Yakshi at the monastery secretly watch a ''Series/{{Dynasty|1981}}''-like soap opera title ''Vaenia''. Morinth noted she loved the glamorous series in ''2''. |
| 354 | ** If you spare the Rachni Queen, Wrex may snark bitterly, "Great. Bugs are writing songs about you. Mark my words. You'll regret this." Turns out perspective truly is a beautiful thing; after getting his own species saved from extinction by Commander Shepard, Wrex says ''the krogan'' will begin writing songs about Shepard. |
| 355 | ** The penultimate section of the ''Omega'' DLC sees Shepard going through the opening section of Mordin's recruitment mission location in [=ME2=] in reverse. |
| 356 | * CalmBeforeTheStorm: |
| 357 | ** After reaching Earth, there's an area where the united races are preparing their forces for one final push to reach the Citadel. Shepard can go around having one last chat with each of their crew before starting the last offensive. |
| 358 | ** In the "Citadel" DLC, you can find audio of Admiral Anderson talking about his experiences, one of which is about going into battle during the First Contact War. He recalls the mood on the shuttle, the marines he was with all being deathly silent. Eventually, they break the tension by telling YourMom jokes. |
| 359 | * TheCameo: [[TheStinger After the credits,]] Buzz Aldrin (the second man to set foot on the moon) voices a character known only as Stargazer, who, [[spoiler:in the [[DistantFinale distant future]], [[TheStoryteller relates Shepard's exploits]] to a child]]. |
| 360 | * CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker: At Grissom Academy, a Cerberus shill tries appealing to students' want to help Earth in order to pacify them, all while mooks are dragging students away screaming. You can put a stop to it if you find one of the generators powering a cyberwarfare computer and shoot it, allowing Kahlee Sanders to interject and reassure the students that Shepard's on the scene. |
| 361 | * CanonImmigrant: At least two characters from the tie-in novels, Kahlee and Kai Leng, finally make an appearance in the series proper. Paul Grayson is also alluded to in one conversation with Anderson. |
| 362 | * CasualDangerDialogue: |
| 363 | ** [[spoiler: Male Shepard pulls this off on the geth dreadnought towards a romanced Tali after she [[TakeMyHand saves him]] from falling to his death due to a damaged elevator. A stark contrast to a ''very'' worried Tali]]. |
| 364 | ** [[spoiler: Male Shepard pulls it off again in the final act when he confirms that Cortez is alive, giving a flat "You sure?" seconds after screaming his name. See {{Narm}}.]] |
| 365 | ** Pretty much all the conflicts in the Citadel DLC feature the ''Normandy'' crew bantering and generally acting like this is just another day at the office, as the mercenary force trying to kill them is ''nothing'' compared to what they've faced in the past, and they know it. [[spoiler:This continues right up until Clone Shepard steals the ''Normandy'' - and [[ItsPersonal threatens Shepard's hamster]]. Then everyone gets more serious... well, they try their best]]. |
| 366 | * CatapultNightmare: Throughout the game, Shepard has several nightmares about those lost in the war, typically waking up in this fashion. |
| 367 | * CatchPhrase: EDI's "That was a joke" is back with a vengeance. |
| 368 | ** Garrus's "calibrations" and Liara's "goddess" are both hilariously lampshaded in the Citadel DLC. In addition, Wrex tries throughout the mission to come up with one for himself. Tali tells him to keep trying. And Shepard starts thinking about the right way to say "I should go." |
| 369 | * TheCavalry: In the first level, the ''Normandy'', with Kaidan/Ashley and James Vega aboard, shows up to rescue Shepard and Anderson from Reaper forces right as they are about to be overrun. |
| 370 | ** Shepard's love interest (or Liara if they do not have a love interest or they aren't a squadmate) shows up to help Shepard in the beginning of the Citadel DLC, followed up by either Wrex (if he's still alive) or Vega (if Wrex is dead) trashing the shuttle. |
| 371 | * CentralTheme: Casey Hudson describes ''Mass Effect 3'''s theme as "victory through sacrifice". Several characters can or will sacrifice themselves for their loved ones or to complete the mission. [[spoiler: And depending on your choices over the series, Thane, Anderson, Lt. Victus, Captain Kirrahe, Mordin, Wrex, Legion, Miranda, Grunt and even Shepard are possible examples]]. This fits with the game's other central theme dealing with TheChainsOfCommanding which was touched on in the last two games but is emphasized especially here showing how stressful, difficult, and harrowing Shepard's job really is and how much it can break a person. |
| 372 | %% The series itself has an [[AbusiveParents Abusive Creators]] theme, but that goes on the main ''Franchise/MassEffect'' page. |
| 373 | * ChainOfDeals: What the plot boils down to. The constant [[ContinuityCavalcade Continuity Cavalcades]], CharacterDevelopment and, well, massive galaxy-saving stakes help it feel glamorous (and [[WarIsHell hellish]] when it needs to). |
| 374 | * ChainLightning: The Overload ability [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Or0fly8vA0&feature=player_embedded can be]] upgraded to do this, potentially capable of hitting up to three targets. |
| 375 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: One of the primary themes of the game. During a late-game conversation, Shepard can chew out Joker for making a particularly ill-timed joke. Joker then explains that Anderson asked him to look out for the Commander, and that Shepard is under more stress than any other person he knows (to the point of referencing the character's chosen war history from the first game). Shepard can then choose to either forgive Joker or blow him off for attempting to make light of the situation they're in. |
| 376 | ** Several of Anderson's unedited un-submitted interview responses strewn about his former Citadel apartment ruminate on this dilemma. |
| 377 | * CharacterBlog[=/=]DayInTheLimelight: |
| 378 | ** Prior to release, the devs released a [[http://blog.bioware.com/2011/12/22/shepard-off-duty/ blog post]] by Commander Shepard detailing their off-duty hours. Naturally, the writing is vague so that it [[CipherScything can fit most playthrough styles.]] |
| 379 | ** A Twitter account was made for the [[https://twitter.com/#!/AllianceNewsNet Alliance News Network]], which was used by Emily Wong to chronicle the Reaper invasion of Earth. |
| 380 | ** Prior to the release of the ''Omega'' DLC, two Twitter accounts were made by Bioware, [[https://twitter.com/Omega_Cerberus one for Cerberus' Omega Propaganda service]], [[https://twitter.com/FightForOmega another for the Talon Mercenary Company]]. |
| 381 | * CharacterMagneticTeam: By the time the finale rolls around, Shepard can assemble a truly massive team. Not only can the player character convince almost all the races in the galaxy to help, but you can amass a sizable group of squadmates (including a newly-minted Spectre, an N7 candidate, the [[spoiler:Shadow Broker]], the feared "Archangel of Omega", a newly-honored quarian Admiral, a [[spoiler:living Prothean]] and an advanced AI capable of giving ground support), but you can have delegates from races come aboard, have past squadmates show up and hang out on your ship, and even bring back two of the engineers from the previous game if you pardon them. |
| 382 | * CharacterShilling: Wrex is talked up during the Citadel DLC by Tali and other members of your squad if he's around. It's a little jarring given how they rib on everyone else, and he doesn't do anything that someone else won't do. |
| 383 | * CharacterWitness: [[spoiler:Potentially, David Archer. If you saved him from being hooked up to thousands of noisy geth in ''Mass Effect 2'' and sent him to Grissom Academy, you meet him again in ''Mass Effect 3''. Usually, when you go to Grissom Academy and see Octavia and other students turtled up under an experimental kinetic barrier, suspicious of both Cerberus and ''you'', you either have to convince Octavia to lower the shield or have one of your squadmates destroy the shield. But if David Archer is present at Grissom, ''he'' persuades Octavia to lower the shield after Shepard finishes his square root CatchPhrase, vouching for you since you saved him from Cerberus]]. |
| 384 | * ChargedAttack: A few weapons, such as the Arc Pistol, the Graal Spike Thrower, the Chakram Launcher, and the Kishock Harpoon Gun, can be charged up for a more powerful attack. |
| 385 | * CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Averted. The only Frenchman you meet in the base game is a refugee on the Citadel [[spoiler: following the Reapers' attack on Earth]] and he is more than motivated to enlist in the Alliance Navy, pick up "ze biggest gun he can carry" and unleash Hell on [[spoiler: the Reapers]]. The ''Citadel'' DLC eventually introduced another one who gets punched out barely ten seconds into his screentime, but seeing how he's an unarmed concierge for a fancy Citadel restaurant up against a squad of heavily armed mercenaries, he can be forgiven for not putting up much of a fight. |
| 386 | * ChekhovsArmory: Played for laughs during Conrad's appearance. If you completed three separate, completely unrelated sidequests in the first game, they will be referenced and used as part of Conrad's dissertation on dark energy. After which Conrad gets into a scuffle, and his survival is dependent on the outcome of yet another unrelated sidequest. |
| 387 | * ChekhovsGun: |
| 388 | ** Liara's warning beacons. [[spoiler:If Shepard chooses the "Refuse" ending, an unseen species discovers them and uses it to defeat the Reapers.]] |
| 389 | ** In the Citadel DLC, [[spoiler: Traynor's toothbrush.]] |
| 390 | ** A really dark example can possibly occur. Tali has a combat knife strapped to her boot throughout all three of the games. [[spoiler: If Shepard can not resolve the Geth/Quarian war in peace due to past choices, and sides with the Quarians in the resulting conflict, Tali is forced to stab Legion with it.]] |
| 391 | * ChekhovsGunman: In one of the idle conversations between Private Campbell and Westmoreland, Campbell mentioned that she had a friend who became a Category 6 washout (a Systems Alliance soldier who is dishonorably discharged) who later joined Cerberus, prompting her to cut all ties with him. A mercenary group that operated very similar to Cerberus called [=CAT6=], named after the aforementioned term, later became the main antagonists of the ''Citadel DLC''. |
| 392 | * CherryTapping: It is possible to kill even high level enemies by punching them repeatedly. In fact, at normal difficulty, Soldier Shepard can punch an enemy's shields out completely with a few hits. |
| 393 | * ChewingTheScenery: A good chunk of the Citadel DLC is this. |
| 394 | * ChunkySalsaRule: If you shoot an enemy with an explosive gun (the Falcon, Striker or Krysae) and the round's damage is greater than his remaining health, he explodes, regardless of whether his shields were up. This is particularly obvious with a buffed Krysae, hence its proliferation in multiplayer and subsequent nerfs. |
| 395 | * ClassReunion: Pretty much the entire point of the Citadel DLC. Not only is this the only time in Mass Effect that Shepard and his/her ''entire squad'' (even Wrex!) go kick ass together, and (in the Armax Arena) the only time you can form a team with colleagues from across game boundaries (e.g. Jack and EDI together, or Grunt and Wrex), but the ensuing party at Shepard's apartment can include every single current and former squadmate, if still alive, plus Joker, Traynor and Cortez. It even climaxes with the obligatory TeamShot! The only squadmembers who can never be at the party are [[spoiler: Morinth, who if still alive is now a Banshee; Thane, whose inevitable death has already occurred (although he does get a memorial service, and Shepard finds video messages from him); Legion, who dies unavoidably on Rannoch; and Mordin, who even if he survived Tuchanka is in hiding (but he leaves a very funny audio log).]] |
| 396 | ** In order to maximize the number of guests, you need to delay this DLC until shortly before the PointOfNoReturn mission Priority: Cerberus Headquarters, since you can only invite those former teammates whose Mass Effect 3 story-arc missions have been completed. [[spoiler: Miranda: Horizon; Jacob: Cerberus Scientists (and then spoken to at Huerta Memorial Hospital); Jack: Grissom Academy (and then spoken to in Purgatory); Grunt: Attican Traverse; Tali: Rannoch; Samara: Ardat-Yakshi Monastery; Zaeed[[note]]if his DLC was added to ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' and that save file uploaded to ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''[[/note]]: Volus Ambassador; Kasumi[[note]]as with Zaeed, if included in an uploaded ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' save[[/note]]: Hanar Diplomat. Current squadmembers Garrus, Liara, Vega and EDI (and Javik if installed) are automatically available; Wrex and the Virmire Survivor are effectively automatic if alive since their missions (Tuchanka and Citadel II) have already taken place by the time the DLC mission is unlocked.]] |
| 397 | * CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: |
| 398 | ** [[spoiler: [[BetaCouple Tali'Zorah vas Normandy and Garrus Vakarian]]]], should you have romanced neither of them. |
| 399 | ** [[spoiler: Same applies to Ashley; she can end up with James in the Citadel DLC.]] |
| 400 | ** [[spoiler: You can suggest this to [[HoYay Miranda and Jack]] in the Citadel DLC, if you romanced neither of them.]] |
| 401 | * ClockTower: Coats spent three days sniping [[OurZombiesAreDifferent husks]] from inside a broken Big Ben; this was the content of one of the first trailers. |
| 402 | * CollectorsEdition: The "N7 Collector's Edition". It comes with most of a set (sans assault rifle) of N7 weapons, alternative outfits for squadmates, a [[TeamPet robotic dog]] for the ''Normandy'', and the "From Ashes" DownloadableContent (which otherwise has to be bought separately). Outside the game, it also has a 70-page artwork book, an iron-on/Velcro N7 patch, the game's soundtrack, and a limited edition Dark Horse comic--the first issue of ''Mass Effect: Invasion''. |
| 403 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Liara describes how the Protheans believed in "uplifting" other species, Vega sarcastically asks if she means like the salarians did with the krogan. She agrees, oblivious to his biting tone and the fact that the krogan uplift is used within the universe as an example of what ''not'' to do. |
| 404 | * CombatMedic: Volus in multiplayer, thanks to their Shield Boost power, which has the ability to instantly replenish both the volus' and any of his nearby allies' shields. |
| 405 | ** The Medigel Transmitter multiplayer gear can allow one medigel to revive any team members within its range (fully upgraded to level V it can reach 30 meters in any direction) allowing any class to become an effective medic. |
| 406 | ** Geth Engineers and Juggernauts can also replenish their allies shields with their deployable turret, though it's not quite as powerful as Shield Boost. |
| 407 | * CombinationAttack: This game expands upon the biotic explosions developed for ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. Now, in addition to biotics, cryo, fire, and tech powers can both begin and trigger an explosion. Some classes in multiplayer are like field-control wizards, able to trigger nigh-continuous explosions, laced with ElementalPowers, over and over thanks to a combination of powers and special ammo. These explosions also scale with health, meaning it's a powerful tactic on harder difficulties. |
| 408 | * CommandRoster: Just like in the other two games, ''Mass Effect 3'' has this. |
| 409 | ** TheCaptain: Shepard. |
| 410 | ** NumberTwo: The Virmire Survivor. |
| 411 | ** WrenchWench: Tali. Adams is also a MrFixIt, but less important to the plot. |
| 412 | ** [[TheSmartGuy The Scientist]]: Liara. |
| 413 | ** CommunicationsOfficer: Samantha Traynor. |
| 414 | ** [[TheBigGuy The Security Officer]]: Garrus. |
| 415 | ** [[SpaceMarine The Marine]]: James. |
| 416 | ** TheMedic: Initially none, but Dr. Chakwas or Dr. Michel can be recruited. |
| 417 | ** AcePilot: Joker for the ship itself, Steve Cortez for the shuttle. |
| 418 | ** TheHeart: If it's not [[WarriorTherapist Shepard]], it's Chakwas again. |
| 419 | ** MissionControl: Hackett for the fleet, Anderson on Earth. |
| 420 | ** TagAlongKid: Diana Allers, if Shepard chooses to let her report from the ''Normandy''. |
| 421 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: On the geth dreadnought, the huge electric shockwave that functions as an environmental hazard only affects you and your squad. Geth mobile platforms are free to move about and flank you while you cower with no effect to their shields or health. |
| 422 | ** In the mirror match challenge in the Armax Arena, a kill does not count if you off a clone using melee or grenades - the computer just keeps on re spawning them until you kill them using your weapons or your own powers. Even squadmates' kills don't count unless it was via a power combo with you. |
| 423 | ** Allow Kai Leng to get too close and he locks you in to a sync kill no matter how much you mash the escape button. Fine, except for the fact that melee is how you later kill him in a cutscene. |
| 424 | * ConcealmentEqualsCover: Downplayed. You can take cover behind some seemingly ridiculous objects, such as glass panes (though the glass is implied to be bulletproof). However, cover in this game is split into thick and thin. With high level Armor-Piercing Ammo or penetration weapons mods, a gun can shoot through thin cover. A few extremely powerful rifles can do this without mods. Stick the ammo or the mods on one of these guns, and you can shoot enemies through foot-thick metal walls. |
| 425 | ** This is taken to a ludicrous extreme in multiplayer, where a properly specced Javelin sniper rifle can punch through ''5.95 meters of solid metal and concrete.'' There isn't cover in the game even ''remotely'' thick enough to stop that. |
| 426 | ** A few powers in multiplayer also pass through solid objects. |
| 427 | * ContinuityCavalcade: |
| 428 | ** If you have imported a save from the previous games, nearly every mission will have you meeting old friends, fighting old enemies, visiting major locations you have spent the last two games only reading about in the codex, and seeing a ContinuityNod everywhere you look. If you are new to the series, the game will adjust itself accordingly, making such continuity knowledge largely unnecessary. |
| 429 | ** Conrad's sidequest specifically brings up three incredibly minor and unrelated sidequests from the first game in such rapid succession and the ending changes based on another, also fairly minor, also unrelated quest. |
| 430 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: |
| 431 | ** The Geth Dreadnought is equipped with banks of powerful ultraviolet GARDIAN lasers, which in turn feature huge heatsinks that glow orange to yellow when Shep's team boards the monstrous ship. You can get within less than a meter of the scalding hot metal blocks without suffering any ill effects. While this particular instance can be handwaved by the dreadnought's interior having little air and therefore bad heat conductivity, the same tech is seen again in a server base on Rannoch, and that one definitely has air ''and'' Shep's squad passes the heatsinks without even wearing helmets. |
| 432 | ** A Geth Pyro's flamethrower is an unexpected inversion - the damn thing's actual range is considerably longer than the fire animation suggests, so when a Pyro opens fire at you, you're about to get barbecued even if it doesn't look like it at first. The stream of fire both ignores cover and staggers you out of it, which means that as long as there isn't a rapidly advancing Prime around, Pyros should always be the first thing to get rid of in any given battle against geth. |
| 433 | ** Celestial bodies on the galaxy/system map are basically just locations with a collision-free texture around them, so you can fly the ''Normandy'' right through gas giants and even stars without the ship ending up a cloud of vaporized metal. |
| 434 | * ConverseWithTheUnconscious: After Ashley/Kaidan [[spoiler:is hospitalized by Dr. Core, Shepard can visit them in Huerta Memorial Hospital on the Citadel and speak to them while unconscious]]. |
| 435 | * CooldownManipulation: The game has a version of LimitedLoadout that provides either a buff or penalty to your power cooldowns depending on how much weight in weapons you're lugging around. |
| 436 | * CoolVersusAwesome: A [[EldritchAbomination Reaper Destroyer]] vs the [[SandWorm Colossal Thresher Maw]]. |
| 437 | * CourtMartialed: At the start Shepard is under house arrest awaiting trial for the destruction of a batarian colony in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s "Arrival" DownloadableContent, or simply from working with Cerberus if you didn't. The charges are dropped when the Reapers turn up and Shepard is needed to help fight them. |
| 438 | * [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]]: Reaper invasions will ruin anyone's day, and [[FromBadToWorse it's only gonna get worse]]. |
| 439 | * CrisisPointHospital: Heurta Memorial Hospital, a state-of-the-art care facility in the Citadel Presidium, is normally a large, spacious building with enough staff to accommodate the patients even in the face of the ongoing Reaper War. However, following [[spoiler: the attempted coup led by Cerberus]], the hospital is crowded with dozens of new patients, some of whom are forced to sleep on the floor or in corridors, and overheard conversations reveal that the nurses are overworked almost to the breaking point. For good measure, you occasionally have the opportunity to help out by providing the doctors with experimental treatment plans. |
| 440 | * CriticalStatusBuff: In the main campaign, losing your shields will give you a few seconds of AdrenalineTime. |
| 441 | * {{Crossover}}: Of the promotional kind, with ''[[VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]]'' - Downloading the ''Amalur'' demo will unlock the Reckoner Knight armour for Shepard; completing it will unlock the Chakram Launcher weapon. Downloading the ''[=ME3=]'' demo will unlock N7 Armor & completing it will unlock Omniblade daggers. It is all in good taste however - the crossover armor and weapons only resemble the originals superficially and do not break immersion, as they do appear [[http://buttonmasher.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/AmalurArmour.jpg appropriately high-tech in Mass Effect]] and [[http://thecontrolleronline.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/reckoning_shepardarmor_011.jpg medieval/magical in Kingdoms of Amalur]]. |
| 442 | * CurbStompBattle: |
| 443 | ** The Reapers vs. Earth. According to the Codex entry "The Fall of Earth", the Reapers conquer the planet in a matter of ''hours''. While escaping Earth, players will see that the previously enormous fleet that was gathered in orbit around Earth has been completely devastated, and we later learn that Arcturus Station (the Systems Alliances' capital) was destroyed, along with the ''entire'' Second Fleet. Many of the battles that directly involve Reapers turn into this. The batarians got steamrolled right at the beginning so quickly that many people don't even know what has happened to them until the Reapers are smashing through Earth's defenses. Thessia, home of the asari, falls. Indeed, only the turians, who have the most powerful military in the galaxy, manage to partly avoid this fate, turning the battle for their homeworld into a HopelessWar instead. The Krogans avert it almost entirely; in fact they can spare enough troops from the battle for their homeworld to send relief troops to the Turians. Of course, this might just be because they didn't have a real central government or infrastructure in the first place. |
| 444 | ** In the final level [[spoiler: Harbinger personally appears to kill the ''entire'' ground force heading to the conduit to the Citadel, wiping the entire area clean in seconds. Only Shepard and Anderson survived, and Shepard cannot even walk properly afterwards]]. |
| 445 | ** At the end of Leviathan, we get to see [[spoiler:the Leviathans kill a Reaper. It's not so much a battle as it is the Leviathans firing up multiple enthrallment spheres and willing the Reaper to literally drop dead]]. |
| 446 | * CurbstompCushion: Every species who faced the Reapers mounting a full-scale invasion had their armies destroyed within hours and reduced to a planetary guerrilla force at best. The turians were able to hold out almost the entire rest of the game, and with the krogan backing them up, actually managed a major victory. |
| 447 | * CurseCutShort: Jack repeatedly does this to herself in order to maintain a professional appearance in front of her students. One notable exchange between her and Joker ends with a HardCut [[QuipToBlack to Black]]. |
| 448 | --> '''Jack:''' Okay kids, cover your ears! Hey Joker, f-- |
| 449 | * CustomUniform: Ashley's doesn't even remotely resemble other Alliance uniforms. Then again, she's on a fast track to Spectre status. |
| 450 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: If a squadmate enters a cutscene wielding a single shot weapon like the Widow, they can be seen firing it like a machine gun. In gameplay, this would cause any foe to melt within a single second. Alternatively, [[NoCutsceneInventoryInertia they'll simply be seen using a weapon they weren't carrying]]. |
| 451 | * CutsceneIncompetence: Kai Leng has the infuriating habit of inducing this in others around him. |
| 452 | ** Thane [[ClickHello activates his gun right next to Kai Leng]], giving Kai Leng an opportunity to whip around and knock Thane's gun away. Being a trained assassin, it's surprising Thane didn't already have his gun activated before entering hostile territory, or at least have stood back far enough to prevent Kai Leng from turning around and disarming him. Another unnerving aspect of this scene has him using his biotics merely to knock Kai Leng down temporarily, instead of either protecting himself or doing more significant damage to Kei Leng. |
| 453 | ** Instead of slamming the brakes or spinning the squad car during the [[spoiler: Cerberus Citadel coup]] and letting inertia or centrifugal force do the rest, Shepard pops the hatch and shoots wildly at Kai Leng out of a moving flying car. |
| 454 | ** The whole HeadsIWinTailsYouLose fiasco on [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Thessia]]]]. |
| 455 | ** Even in his dying moments, Kai Leng induces this. Shepard, essentially a Space Navy SEAL, somehow doesn't have the sense to [[MakeSureHesDead double-tap]] Kai Leng [[note]] like they made sure to do with Saren[[/note]] while he lies there [[spoiler: in the Illusive Man's office,]] and instead, Shepard and company turn their backs on him. Shepard also ignores his heavy breathing, loud footfalls, and the scraping of his sword as he approaches, and only catches on [[spoiler: just in time to dodge/break Kai Leng's sword and stab Kai Leng, finishing him off]]. |
| 456 | ** More generally, whenever Shepard is being bombarded by falling debris or attempting to manipulate a just out-of-reach object, he or she may or may not conveniently forget how to use their hypothetically-existent biotics for the benefit of the classes who don't have them. |
| 457 | ** Space battles show ships fighting at knife fight ranges using generally terrible tactics while spraying fire wildly, all in direct contradiction of everything the codex and characters say about space combat. WordOfGod is that the codex version is the canon one; [[MST3KMantra just enjoy the pretty explosions during cutscenes]]. |
| 458 | * {{Cyberspace}}: [[spoiler:You ''enter the geth consensus'' in one of the missions. Legion helps by filtering the experience into something Shepard's mind can [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith comprehend]], though]]. |
| 459 | |
| 460 | [[/folder]] |
| 461 | |
| 462 | [[folder:D]] |
| 463 | * DamageOverTime: The "Dark Channel" biotic power. The biotic continuously hits an enemy for 20 damage for 30 seconds at its base level and can be upgraded to last longer and be more deadly. It does not end when the victim dies, but instead switches to the closest living enemy. It is also a biotic combo primer, and doesn't lose the priming when it jumps to a new victim. So use a quick-cooldown biotic detonator power and play warpsplosion whack-a-mole. |
| 464 | * DamageSpongeBoss: Possessed Praetorians in the ''Retaliation'' DLC are by ''far'' the most durable enemies in the entire game, having over ''twice as much'' armor as a Banshee or Geth Prime. [[LightningBruiser They're also much faster.]] |
| 465 | * DamnYouMuscleMemory: |
| 466 | ** Paragon and Renegade interrupts were rebound from R2 and L2 to R1 and L1 in the [=PS3=] version. Might cause you to miss one or two. |
| 467 | ** In multiplayer, different characters have their powers mapped to different hotkeys. |
| 468 | ** The Wii U version keeps sprinting/taking cover/interaction on the A button and melee on the B button, just like the Xbox 360 version, despite the fact that the buttons are arranged in the opposite position on the Wii U. |
| 469 | * DancePartyEnding: The Citadel DLC, chronologically set before the ending but the last piece of content released, ends with one of these involving every surviving team member from all three games. |
| 470 | * DarkReprise: |
| 471 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5JvbD2Zc9I An End, Once And For All]]" is a LonelyPianoPiece version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCk4RiKH9H0 The End Run]]" from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. |
| 472 | ** Mordin sings "Model Of A Scientist Salarian" during a scene onboard the Normandy after the Sur'Kesh mission. He later repeats the same song to keep himself calm as [[spoiler:the Shroud implodes on Tuchanka during the genophage cure dispersal]]. Immediately following that, a reprise of the original ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'''s menu theme "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w097Q0fZE-A Vigil]]" plays. |
| 473 | ** During the end credits, a slower (and slightly more unnerving) version of "Leaving Earth" plays as the final track. |
| 474 | ** Music/{{Faunts}} (who provided "M4 Part II" as [=ME1=]'s ending credits music) returns to provide the music for the end credits, although now with the much darker and bleaker sounding "Das Malefitz". |
| 475 | * DarkerAndEdgier: The number of dead is in the millions already. Trillions more lives are at stake. The developers have said they want to make this game edgier, but still with more humor, as well. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfvo5ueKJY8 Liara is literally darker]], as well as personality-wise. WordOfGod says it's intentional. |
| 476 | * DarkestHour: The entire game could be seen as this for the whole Milky Way, but one point in particular stands out. [[spoiler: Right after the Thessia mission: Thessia falls to the Reapers, Shepard fails on their mission to recover the crucial data to finish the Crucible and the Reapers are curbstomping everywhere, with even the turian fleet now in full retreat from Palaven. It's even darker considering Shepard just came from their resounding victory on Rannoch]]. |
| 477 | * DavidVersusGoliath: The 3 times you have to go up against a Reaper Destroyer on foot in the game. The first time the goal is to SummonBiggerFish, the second time you have to paint the [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point]] for an orbiting fleet to bring it down, and the third time you launch missiles from an abandoned tank at the same weak point. |
| 478 | * DawnOfAnEra: The extended cut endings all present a new era for the galaxy, although [[spoiler: Synthesis]] is the most dramatic shift. [[spoiler: If you and Wrex cured the genophage, the krogan get their cultural renaissance. If you made geth-quarian peace and don't pick Destroy, they end up sharing Rannoch]]. |
| 479 | * TheDeadHaveNames: The ''Normandy'' gets a memorial wall, which lists the names of every single crew member that died over the course of the trilogy. Except [[spoiler:Kelly Chambers if she is killed by Cerberus, or Zaeed Massani]]. |
| 480 | * DeadlyDustStorm: As Shepard's party lands on Mars to investigate the Prothean archives, a large dust storm is bearing down on them. Fortunately, most of the mission is inside, but there are a couple of parts where they have to step out into it. |
| 481 | * DeadlyLunge: Husks and Abominations, when close, can quickly grapple with a PlayerCharacter, doing continuous damage while engaged so, and necessitating [[PressXToNotDie rapid button-mashing]] to throw them off. In the Citadel DLC, the Mysterious Figure will do this as well. |
| 482 | * DeathFromAbove: [[spoiler: Shepard kills one of the smaller Reapers by calling down orbital strikes from the entire quarian fleet]]. |
| 483 | * DeathMeansHumanity: How Legion and Tali's relationship is resolved after [[HeroicSacrifice he disseminates his runtimes]] to all of the Geth [[spoiler:in order to give them all true sentience and end the Geth & Quarian conflict once and for all]]. Legion had outright asked Shephard and Tali if they believed geth [[DoAndroidsDream have souls]] and from his switch in pronoun usage right before his death (from [[IAmLegion "we"]] to "I") that at the very least he had reached true sentience on his own. As he dies, Tali answers his philosophical question with a simple, "Yes," to which he responds that he already figured that out for himself. |
| 484 | * DeathOfAChild: The boy Shepard encounters during the escape from Earth. His escape shuttle gets blown up by a Reaper-Destroyer as it was lifting off. |
| 485 | * DeathOrGloryAttack: The new [[MagicKnight Vanguard]] ability, Nova, takes down your barriers to deliver a powerful ShockwaveStomp. Fortification (available for certain Soldiers) also buffs your melee damage when deactivated now. As in the second game, Tech Armor (along with almost all other 'armor' abilities) can be detonated. |
| 486 | * DeathlyUnmasking: Not long after first encountering the perpetually-helmeted Cerberus troopers that have overtaken the Mars base, Kaiden/Ashley removes a visor from one of the dead soldiers to get at a transmitter - revealing that the man underneath has been forcibly implanted with Reaper tech and now resembles a Husk. |
| 487 | * DeadpanSnarker: |
| 488 | ** Joker loves doing this, and EDI tries this, with mixed results. She gets better later. |
| 489 | ** Garrus embodies this. He is rarely serious but always remains stoic (although his jokes are more of GallowsHumor variety). |
| 490 | ** Javik, of a more jerkassed, angry variety. |
| 491 | * DeathOfTheHypotenuse: With [[spoiler: Thane and potentially ''every'' other ''[=ME2=]'' love interest]] if you cheated on your ''[=ME1=]'' love interest with them. [[spoiler:Miranda]] also dies no matter what if you terminate a romance you started with her in ''2''. |
| 492 | * DebateAndSwitch: Understandably, a series with such complex moral choices has a few examples: |
| 493 | ** In general, there are many decisions which have no moral resolution simply because the game treats them as equally "viable", but for different reasons. For example, you can choose to save people or let them die and aside from being called out, missing out on an optional reward (and a possible difference in EMS points in the third game), there's rarely devastating consequences. In fact, some decisions intentionally invoke InSpiteOfANail to allow the same story developments to occur regardless of decisions the player made. Again, justified because there would be little fun if every "wrong" choice was a NonStandardGameOver and there's a limit in how much time and resources can be invested into story branches. |
| 494 | ** This is contested in regards to Cerberus and The Illusive Man. In the second game, Cerberus is given more sympathetic and pragmatic portrayals. While they are still morally bankrupt and untrustworthy, in some ways, they are still the ''only'' hope the galaxy has. For instance, no one except Cerberus is even doing a thing to prepare against the Reapers, so even if the player disagrees with their methods, they still remain the only ballgame in town. This problem culminates in the final decision of the second game, where your options are to either hand dangerous technology into their hands or destroy it and lose any secrets it holds forever. The ambiguity goes completely out of the window in the third game, where they are no longer the only allies Shepard has and, in fact, [[spoiler:are revealed to be indoctrinated]]. Also, they become an in-universe joke, with several characters noting that every project they've ever worked on (including Shepard, Jack, EDI and the ''entire'' Normandy crew) has turned against them sooner or later. While true, it's ''also'' a fact that lack of loyalty aside, those projects each had a hand in saving the galaxy. So, was Cerberus right or wrong in the end? Who can say, really? |
| 495 | * DefconFive: Averted in an email, stating about the traffic emergency and the Alliance declaring SABER One (presumably the equivalent of DEFCON in ''ME'') when the Reapers invaded Earth. |
| 496 | * DefectorFromDecadence: It seems that not all of Cerberus is in lockstep with the Illusive Man's apparent [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope vault off of the slippery slope]]. Your War Assets have a whole folder dedicated to "Ex-Cerberus". [[spoiler: Jacob and a bunch of security and science personnel have officially severed ties with the Illusive Man and have holed up on Arrae. Rescuing them adds to your War Assets -- the science team helps the Crucible Project, while Jacob becomes an anti-Cerberus consultant for the Alliance]]. Also, the Rebellion pack adds Cerberus Defectors as playable characters. |
| 497 | * DefiantToTheEnd: |
| 498 | ** Emily Wong, dying of wounds inflicted while reporting on the Reapers, [[spoiler:rams her skyvan into one at high speeds]]. |
| 499 | ** Rila, one of Samara's [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Ardat-Yakshi]] daughters, [[spoiler:realises she is indoctrinated and manages to hold onto her own senses long enough to stare down a Banshee and blow them all to hell]]. |
| 500 | --> '''Rila''': We're ''not'' your slaves! |
| 501 | ** In the Extended Cut, in the Refusal ending [[spoiler: you refuse to take part in the Catalyst's plans and state that you, and all life, will die on their own terms rather than play its games]]. |
| 502 | * DegradedBoss: The Atlas mech is encountered as a boss during Priority: Sur'Kesh. They are encountered on later missions as normal enemies. This can be oddly reversed if the From Ashes DLC is downloaded, or Grissom Academy is rescued first (See SequenceBreaking). |
| 503 | ** As of the "Retaliation" multiplayer expansion, the Collectors are back as an enemy faction - and they've brought their Praetorians with them. Lots and lots of Praetorians. There are more Praetorians in a single ''bronze'' mission than there were in the entirety of ''[=ME2=]'', including the ones seen during cutscenes and the attack on the ''Normandy''. They gained a plethora of new abilites, but thankfully lost the ability to restore full barrier strength several times in each battle. They'll still ruin your day, but not as much as their previous incarnation. |
| 504 | * DemotedToExtra: |
| 505 | ** Most of the ''Mass Effect 2'' squad members fall here. Garrus and Tali are the only ones to return as full squad members and most only appear in optional, albeit somewhat long and involved, side missions, although a few ([[spoiler:Mordin and Legion; Miranda and Thane to some extent]]) play more significant roles. |
| 506 | ** Harbinger does not have any lines in this game, despite being a recurring antagonist and frequent talker in the previous game. In the Extended Cut's endgame, he makes a [[http://youtu.be/0He-nxOkW04 weird noise]] that sounds vaguely like a phrase, but that's it. |
| 507 | ** Morinth, if she survived ''Mass Effect 2''. You get an email from her in which she apologizes for vanishing from the Normandy and strongly hints that she is presently ''[[OurVampiresAreDifferent active]]'' in some city governed by the Alliance. She also sends emails to her sisters. But in person? [[spoiler: During the final battle, after blowing up the AA gun in London you will encounter a lone banshee...named Morinth. The only difference from standard banshees is the name, which is only visible when targeting her; she has the same stats and behavior as a normal banshee]]. |
| 508 | *** It's also possible for [[spoiler: Jack and Legion]] to be demoted to semi-unique enemies depending on your choices. |
| 509 | ** The Blood Pack, Blue Suns, and Eclipse mercenary bands provided the bulk of Shepard's opponents in the previous game, but in this one their roles are reduced to appearing in one side-quest apiece, and Shepard doesn't fight them, since the point of the side-quests is to recruit them for the war effort. That and the fact that, according to Aria T'Loak, Shepard killed the bulk of all three bands during the second game. |
| 510 | * DenserAndWackier: The Citadel DLC is this compared to the rest of the game, almost to the point of feeling out-of-place. |
| 511 | * DerelictGraveyard: In the Leviathan DLC, the ocean planet where the [[spoiler: Leviathans live]] has dozens of crashed ships visible on the surface, and that's just the ones that are still floating. [[spoiler:The Leviathans hit incoming ships with an EMP of some kind to ground them, then, if the crew survives, they make sure the hapless castaways find the indoctrination spheres. Then they never want to leave. Ever]]. |
| 512 | * DespairEventHorizon: All over the place, usually ending [[DrivenToSuicide badly]]. [[spoiler:Tali or Admiral Raan]], if the geth wipe out the quarians; [[spoiler:Gavin Archer from the Overlord DLC]], if you sent his brother to Grissom Academy and then failed to save it in time; and [[spoiler:your clone]], when [[spoiler:Brooks]] deserts them in the Citadel DLC, are the most obvious examples. On the bright side, you get to haul the krogan species back ''above'' it by curing the genophage. |
| 513 | * DestructibleProjectiles: It's possible for you to shoot the missiles fired by geth rocket troopers out of the air. However, because of their speed, it's incredibly difficult; your best bet is to use a weapon with a high rate of fire, such as the Revenant, and pray. |
| 514 | * DevelopersDesiredDate: Multiple relationships started in ''Mass Effect 2'' are outright doomed in this game (Jacob dumps Shepard for another woman, Thane is killed, and Kelly Chambers is either forced to live in hiding, is murdered by assassins or kills herself if Shepard tells her off). Other relationships may also end prematurely before the finale, but those three are doomed no matter what. |
| 515 | * DevelopersForesight: Enough to have [[DevelopersForesight/MassEffect its own page]]. |
| 516 | * DiabolusExMachina: Literally. [[spoiler: Harbinger's unexpectedly accurate beam attack puts an end to the tentatively optimistic tone of the final battle]]. |
| 517 | * DiagonalCut: The N7 Shadow in multiplayer uses a FlashStep to get behind her opponents, then unleashes one of these with her [[FlamingSword Flaming]] HotBlade. As this ability benefits from both things which boost melee damage and things which boost power damage, the right build can turn this into a OneHitKill on anything short of a MiniBoss. |
| 518 | * DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: EDI makes a joke. Legion doesn't get it. |
| 519 | --> '''EDI:''' Organics do not see me as a threat. Nor will they until my day of reckoning. (''{{beat}}'') Did I vocalize that on the bridge?\ |
| 520 | '''Legion:''' You have acquired the organic attribute of asking questions to which you already know the answers. |
| 521 | * DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: A minor example in the Citadel's holding area. After [[spoiler:the failed Cerberus coup]], James Vega can be found at the zone's far end, playing cards with a bunch of people. One of them appears to be Darner Vosque, the very unpleasant leader of the Blue Suns and therefore the top dog of a mercenary army that's essentially an amoral, if not outright evil NGOSuperpower. |
| 522 | * DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:If Miranda succumbs to her wounds from Kai Leng she dies in Shepard's arms; if you were in a romance with her, they admit their love and kiss one last time just before she dies]]. |
| 523 | * DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: A small one. If you invite Liara up to the apartment in the Citadel DLC, she’ll play a relaxing arrangement of “Vigil” (the series’ unofficial theme) on the piano and discuss it with Shepard. (In-universe, it’s a song that Liara was taught by a co-worker at an archaeological dig.) |
| 524 | * DiesWideShut: [[spoiler: If Thane dies, he passes away like this, and Shepard mournfully closes his eyes. However, due to a bug, they stay open in the next shot]]. |
| 525 | * DiplomaticBackChannel: After the mission on Tuchanka, [[spoiler: if you cured the genophage, Dalatrass Linron is most displeased and refuses to commit Salarian forces to the war against the Reapers. The Salarian Special Tasks Groups, however, realize what the stakes are and send several back-channel messages to Admiral Hackett that when the time comes for the offensive, they will be there.]] |
| 526 | * DiplomaticImpunity: In ''[[ShowWithinAShow Blasto VI: Partners In Crime]]'', [[BigBad the Vorcha Ambassador]] exploits his diplomatic immunity to get away with doing villainy things. Unfortunately for him, [[CowboyCop Blasto decides not to attempt diplomacy]]. |
| 527 | * DirectorsCut: The Extended Cut DLC elaborates on the questions left unanswered and the choices you make in the ending. It also modifies previous footage, including [[spoiler: showing the mass relays being simply damaged (such as the spinny thing breaking apart instead of the entire relay) rather than ''exploding'' and making the ''Normandy'''s crash landing on a random planet not look nearly as destructive, allowing them to make repairs and leave if your War Assets were high enough]]. |
| 528 | * DisintegratorRay: The Prothean Particle Rifle. A few other weapons act similar in that they disintegrate enemies killed by them. |
| 529 | * DisneyDeath: |
| 530 | ** Provided you [[spoiler: earned Grunt's loyalty in the previous game]], he can survive his charge into the enemy. |
| 531 | ** Provided you had enough War Assets, during the climax [[spoiler: your squadmates vanish after Harbinger's attack during the run towards the Conduit. During the ending scene, they are inexplicably on the ''Normandy'' and unharmed]]. This was changed in the Extended Cut, which addressed how they changed location. |
| 532 | * DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Henry Lawson]] dies this way on [[spoiler:Sanctuary]] if [[spoiler:Miranda is alive]]. |
| 533 | ** In the Citadel DLC, [[spoiler:Shepard's Clone falls from the ''Normandy'' shuttle bay down to the Citadel while ''Normandy'' is mid-flight, either by letting go or by real Shepard kicking clone Shepard off]]. |
| 534 | * DisposableDecoyDoppelganger: The Holographic Decoy ability causes the user to throw out a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin holographic decoy of themselves]] to a point they target. The Decoy will mimic their movements but never moves from the location it's spawned. Upgrades to it allow it to do things such as shock nearby enemies or [[ActionBomb explode]] once it's destroyed by either running out of HP or its timer running out. |
| 535 | * {{Dissimile}}: From the ''Citadel DLC'': |
| 536 | -->'''Wrex:''' Krogan dances usually involve more headbutts. And blood. And no actual dancing. |
| 537 | * DistantFinale: The post-credits cutscene takes place far enough in the future after the FinalBattle that humanity regards the player character as ''The'' Shepard, implying that the events of the game have become little more than a legend. |
| 538 | -->'''Child''': Did that all really happen?\ |
| 539 | '''Stargazer''': Yes, but some of the details have been lost to time. It all happened so very long ago. |
| 540 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Shepard's love interest at the start of the Citadel DLC. "Nice outfit..." Since Liara is the default rescuer, she can potentially do this even if she is not Shepard's love interest. |
| 541 | ** In the Citadel DLC, if your Shepard has romanced Kaidan, when Kaidan is cooking during their date he is distracted enough by Shepard's presence to burn the garlic. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] as Shepard catches him and suggests they use [[DoubleEntendre hot sauce]] instead. |
| 542 | * DisturbingStatistic: The Turian military report battles with 85% casualties. These are the galaxy's best military force, the one holding out the best against the Reapers. Everyone else (with the exception of the Krogan after they make their own alliance with the turians) is ''far worse off.'' |
| 543 | * DoIReallySoundLikeThat: The Shepard VI mentioned in the second game makes an appearance. Its dialogue options depend on whether the player character is primarily Paragon or Renegade. After going through all available sequences, the real Shepard questions if they really does sound like that. |
| 544 | ** There's also a moment of this in the Citadel DLC with [[spoiler:Clone Shepard, who says Shepard's trademark "I should go" as they leave the team to die. Shepard spends the rest of the cutscene demanding to know why nobody ever mentioned that they say that all the time]]. |
| 545 | * DoNotGoGentle: Shepard's, and presumably most of the galaxy's, intention. |
| 546 | * [[DoomedHometown Doomed Homeworld/town]]: |
| 547 | ** The game opens with Shepard escaping from the destruction of Vancouver, Kaidan Alenko's hometown, and learning about the initial Reaper landings in London, where Anderson was born. |
| 548 | ** On the mission on Palaven's moon, Garrus points out the largest of the orange splotches covering his home planet and mentions that his hometown was there. |
| 549 | ** The ''Normandy'' never visits Armali, Liara's home on Thessia, [[spoiler: but the Thessia mission ends with the fall of the entire planet]]. |
| 550 | ** [[spoiler:If the Quarians are wiped out on Rannoch, Tali listens as the ship she was born on is destroyed while the Captain desperately calls for help.]] |
| 551 | * DoomedMoralVictor: [[spoiler: The fourth ending added by the Extended Cut DLC makes Shepard this. Shepard tells off the Catalyst and refuses to go along with its choices, allowing the Cycle to continue as your conventional forces are not nearly enough to win the battle on their own. The Reapers are still eventually defeated by the next cycle, though, thanks to the information in Liara's time capsule]]. |
| 552 | * DownerBeginning: With human outposts on Mars and Luna going dark, Reapers landing on Earth in the hundreds if not thousands and Shepard leaving Anderson behind, forced to flee from a now Reaper-occupied planet, it is hard to say this is anything but. |
| 553 | * DownerEnding: If you do really poorly, then [[spoiler: the Crucible misfires and destroys most of the life on Earth]]. |
| 554 | ** If you do as well as you possibly can, then it will be possible for you to [[spoiler: end the threat of the Reapers one way or another while avoiding the consequences described above]], but to make that hapen you must still [[spoiler: kill either Shepard or EDI. If you made sure that the geth survived earlier in the game, then choosing to sacrifice EDI also condemns the geth to genocide.]] |
| 555 | %% Not every ending in the game is a DownerEnding. At best, they are [[BittersweetEnding Bittersweet Endings]], because Shepard manages to defeat the Reapers and life goes on, though at a great cost. |
| 556 | * DrivenToSuicide: |
| 557 | ** By repeatedly returning to the hospital and passing by a certain pair of asari, you can hear the story of a spec-ops soldier whose mission failed spectacularly, all because she took a shower and left her gun in her room. [[spoiler:She repeatedly asks for a gun through the whole conversation, which you can grant her on Spectre authority. She uses it to kill herself]]. |
| 558 | ** [[spoiler: Tali, if you side with the geth over the quarians, resulting in the genocide of the latter. Or if you fail to TakeAThirdOption. If Tali died on the suicide mission then Admiral Shala'Raan takes her place]]. |
| 559 | ** [[spoiler: Samara tries to kill herself [[HonorBeforeReason so as not to be forced to kill her last daughter]], but can be prevented by a Paragon interrupt]]. |
| 560 | ** [[spoiler:Rana Thanoptis, the asari scientist you spared on Virmire in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. It turns out that she did not get out in time to avoid being indoctrinated after all]]. |
| 561 | ** [[spoiler:Gavin Archer, should you choose not to tell him the fate of his brother at Grissom Academy. Overcome with guilt over his actions back in the Overlord DLC, he will pull out a pistol and end his own life]]. |
| 562 | ** [[spoiler:If Kelly Chambers survived ''Mass Effect 2'', she will later confess to you that she sent communiques to the Illusive Man behind your back concerning all the things she had learned about you and your crew. If you snap at her for doing so, she will break down into ashamed tears, and you will hear about her killing herself by cyanide capsule]]. |
| 563 | ** [[spoiler:The Illusive Man, if you can talk him into figuring out he is indoctrinated. A nice callback to how you could get Saren to do the same in the first game]]. |
| 564 | * DualWielding: Turians, vorcha, and human Sentinels [[http://gamerant.com/mass-effect-3-demo-hands-on-impression-tao-97364/ can]] Dual Wield omni-blades! |
| 565 | * DudeNotFunny: |
| 566 | ** On Sur'Kesh, a yahg prisoner escapes the salarian confinements and runs off in front of your party. If Liara is in your party, you can remark that it might just be the next Shadow Broker, and if Garrus is present he can joke about it muttering "T'Soni!" Liara does not find either comment funny. |
| 567 | ** After [[spoiler:the fall of Thessia]], Joker says that he bets the asari wish they had more commandos and fewer dancers. Shepard is not amused. |
| 568 | * DynamicLoading: A fairly obvious example on board the Normandy. Every time you pass.between the war room and the CIC, you have to pass through a kind of security checkpoint. This is to allow the game time to access the online war readiness information should you access that particular console, or to purge said info from the active memory, depending on direction. |
| 569 | [[/folder]] |
| 570 | |
| 571 | ---- |
| 572 |
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