Mass Effect 2

[MalaCloudy Black]

Who died in your ending? Anyone?

[Benji]

No-one major. I think delaying going through the Omega 4 relay cost me some of the random crew (I'm not sure if that's true or not, I read afterwards that not going straight through means that some of the crew die?), but all the squad and Chakwas survived.

[TKz]

I waited for like... ages to go through the Relay and I only lost Chambers.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I lost Mordin and Miranda.

[Your Mom]

Legion and Zaeed

[Ruki]

My first time through? No one [/bragging]

On my second playthrough, I wanted to get a bunch of people killed. Jacob, Jack, Legion, the crew and Thane all died for me, I think.

[tenaciousg]

My first time through, I chose Zaeed to lead a team and it cost me Legion.

I then reloaded that save, replaced Zaeed with Garrus or Miranda, and ended up having nobody get killed (despite not having Jack's loyalty).

I think when I do a full-out Renegade playthrough, I might try and sabotage a few people.

[TKz]

I had no one die and Jack wasn't loyal. It was odd, because everywhere I've read has insisted that YOU WILL DEFINITELY LOSE ANYONE WITHOUT LOYALTY.

[Benji]

I think loyalty guarantees survival, but if they're not loyal then there's a chance they will die.

I started an ME1 save. Not going to bother doing everything since this is a Hardcore save, and going around on the Mako... fuck that. Going to just do the missions that I remember being fun and just ignore the rest. I only went through on Casual first time, so Hardcore is a massive step up in difficulty, I've been surprised by how often I've died because I'm used to ME2 system of battles now. Just finished the first visit to The Citadel and I'm being a colossal bitch to everyone, just because I can...

First time I had no love interest because I was forced to kill Ashley because Kaidan was my squad mate. This time I'm going for a Shepard who sees humans as weak, and needing alien help, so he's going to go for Liara as his romance option. Not sure about the Rachni queen, on one side I should save her because the Rachni are a strong species, on the other hand, survival of the fittest says they were already fucked, they won't be needed. Might save Wrex, not decided, I've forgotten how the convo goes, so I'll see what seems right. Going to kill Kaidan since I killed Ash first time, plus Ash is a squad mate this time and she's much more similar to this Shep than Kaidan is. Going to save the council as part of my 'need alien help' gameplan and then select Anderson to represent as a strong military mind.

[tenaciousg]

I think loyalty guarantees survival, but if they're not loyal then there's a chance they will die.

I started an ME1 save. Not going to bother doing everything since this is a Hardcore save, and going around on the Mako... fuck that. Going to just do the missions that I remember being fun and just ignore the rest. I only went through on Casual first time, so Hardcore is a massive step up in difficulty, I've been surprised by how often I've died because I'm used to ME2 system of battles now. Just finished the first visit to The Citadel and I'm being a colossal bitch to everyone, just because I can...

First time I had no love interest because I was forced to kill Ashley because Kaidan was my squad mate. This time I'm going for a Shepard who sees humans as weak, and needing alien help, so he's going to go for Liara as his romance option. Not sure about the Rachni queen, on one side I should save her because the Rachni are a strong species, on the other hand, survival of the fittest says they were already fucked, they won't be needed. Might save Wrex, not decided, I've forgotten how the convo goes, so I'll see what seems right. Going to kill Kaidan since I killed Ash first time, plus Ash is a squad mate this time and she's much more similar to this Shep than Kaidan is. Going to save the council as part of my 'need alien help' gameplan and then select Anderson to represent as a strong military mind.

Not necessarily. Yes, having someone's loyalty increases the chances that they'll survive, but not having someone's loyalty could also mean a mistake that costs someone else their life.

For example, had I tasked the unloyal Jack with creating the biotic bubble to ward off the Seeker swarms, she wouldn't have been able to keep it up long enough to reach the other side of the room. Because she wasn't able to hold the bubble, one of the party members traveling with Shepard could have been carried off and killed by the swarms.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Miranda died for me. Her and Zaeed weren't loyal (I chose to save the guys in his mission rather than just chasing his target) but he lived, probably because I didn't put him in any particular teams in order to make sure he had a good chance of surviving.

[Ruki]

[Benji]

[NobBe Nobbs]

My first time through, I chose Zaeed to lead a team and it cost me Legion.

Which makes a lot of sense when you stop and think about it.

Sure, Zaeed's a veteran and all...but isn't it funny that he's always the only survivor of his encounters?

[tenaciousg]

My first time through, I chose Zaeed to lead a team and it cost me Legion.

Which makes a lot of sense when you stop and think about it.

Sure, Zaeed's a veteran and all...but isn't it funny that he's always the only survivor of his encounters?

Exactly. You really need to think about the character you're putting in charge of others' lives. Zaeed's basically a Ruthless-minded Renegade Shepard.

[The Mask of Norro]

I can't wait for ME3. Beating ME2 was amazing and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I did everything logically throughout my playthrough as a Paragon Shep. Did all sidemissions, completed all upgrades and did as much shit as I could before even attempting to board the first Collector ship. Got Legion, did his loyalty mission and immediately jumped through the warp to save my crew.

In the end, didn't lose a soul to the Collector's. It's all about remembering the strengths of your team and putting the right people in charge, yeah. Especially...

... that last part when you're leaving a defensive team behind to help you. Soon as I realized I was leaving behind people to protect my ass, I kept my strongest allies back and took my weakest with me. I'd already sent Mordin off with the survivors because I figured he was the least likely I'd use in the base for anything else, so I brought Jack and Tali with me for the final fight. By the time it was all over and we were back on the ship I'd hear random crew members bragging about my FemShep dragging their asses back out from the Collector's and everything. It was so awesome.

That final shot with all the crew nodding to Shep after she bitches out The Illusive Man? Phenomenal.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I think I brought Jack and Jacob along for the final battle. I had Mordin loyal, as well, but I made the mistake of leaving him behind and I pissed Miranda off bad enough (sided with Jack) that I was locked out of her loyalty mission. Really should've tried to do it sooner.

[Benji]

What is it about human squad characters that sucks so hard? Jacob, Kaidan and Ash are all pretty sucky and generic. Miranda is the only one with any different personality unless you use the DLC and get Kasumi and Zaeed (who, incidentally, are awesome). I've loaded up Mass Effect 1 again and have realised that those three humans are basically the same person

[Summers]

Jacob and Kaiden are awesome. Jacob's also a decent squad member. Ashley is alright.

[tenaciousg]

What is it about human squad characters that sucks so hard? Jacob, Kaidan and Ash are all pretty sucky and generic. Miranda is the only one with any different personality unless you use the DLC and get Kasumi and Zaeed (who, incidentally, are awesome). I've loaded up Mass Effect 1 again and have realised that those three humans are basically the same person

Thinking about it, it might just be that BioWare didn't want any other human party member showing up Shepard, who's supposed to be the pinnacle of humanity. If you're a Soldier, you're a better one than Ash. If you've got biotics, you spike higher than Kaidan. Your "perfection" is natural while Miranda's was paid for, and Jacob's so generic I can't think of any notable traits of his.

Regardless, I'm hoping to snag a few more achievements on my Hardcore playthrough before I make an attempt at Insanity. I managed to get Tactician, and I'm thinking of toning down the difficulty so I might be able to get Brawler without constant worry about my health. After that, I've just got the Overlord data packet achievement, the Arrival sneaking and surviving achievements, and, of course, Insanity completion.