Mass Effect 3: The Ending(s) [** Spoilers **]

Kiith

Galactic Readiness only affects your War Assets score. On it's own, it doesn't do anything.

degrassinoel

yeah, ye can play through the entire single player game without ever touching MP - the readiness rating and increasing it through MP just adds to your overall war assets score.

Its actually quite handy if you enjoy multiplayer or should i say Co-Op?
But my first playthrough i didnt touch MP at all and ended up with a score of 5000+
My second playthrough, which i'm still doing here and there between MP games, i'm at tuchanka and my war assets are maxxed out if i had the option to go do the last mission i'd probably get all three endings already hehe

Zillah

degrassinoel wrote: »

Its actually quite handy if you enjoy multiplayer or should i say Co-Op?
But my first playthrough i didnt touch MP at all and ended up with a score of 5000+

You had 5000+ total assets, the maximum effective without multiplayer is around 4k.

My second playthrough, which i'm still doing here and there between MP games, i'm at tuchanka and my war assets are maxxed out

The green bar means nothing, there is no maximum to war assets, the bar fills up very early and doesn't really represent anything.

You need 5k to get the "Shepard breathes" teaser clip after choosing destroy, or 4k if you save Anderson. If your EMS is low (I think >3k) you see a cut scene where your fleets get beaten up instead of doing ok, and you don't get access to Control or Synthesis options. Synthesis is the hardest to get, except for Destroy-With-Breathing.

It's all stupid.

AnCapaillMor

Ok so how does one hijack an atlas mech?

Arawn

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Ok so how does one hijack an atlas mech?

Didn't you ever watch avatar? Shoot the glass hatch, kill pilot, run and press a at it

Clover

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Ok so how does one hijack an atlas mech?

Shoot the glass until it breaks , then shoot and kill the operator and run over and get in.

degrassinoel

Zillah wrote: »

You had 5000+ total assets, the maximum effective without multiplayer is around 4k.



The green bar means nothing, there is no maximum to war assets, the bar fills up very early and doesn't really represent anything.

You need 5k to get the "Shepard breathes" teaser clip after choosing destroy, or 4k if you save Anderson. If your EMS is low (I think >3k) you see a cut scene where your fleets get beaten up instead of doing ok, and you don't get access to Control or Synthesis options. Synthesis is the hardest to get, except for Destroy-With-Breathing.

It's all stupid.

its a wierd scoring system alright, but i did have it maxxed out in single player,(much as i could with war assets and random sidequests) i'm basing that on the fact that i was able to "save" anderson from TIM, and had the three options, including the breathing bit at the end solely by playing single player on my first playthrough. I've been back to that save a few times to see what else i could do and its all the stuff you've mentioned too, so in essence i got the numbers wrong, but the point that you dont actually need to do coop to get a better ending is still true.
Kinda glad of that too tbh, i like coop in me3 but i wouldnt normally go out and buy a game because of that being a feature.

SeantheMan

I read up about the Galactic readiness on the Wiki,
It seems to be just aesthetics really with no REAL significance...given the amount of missions and focus that are dedicated to it.

The 3 endings are similar and with regards to the status of Earth, (barely noticeable)

The best possible ending requires an EMS of at least 4000, provided Shepard has managed to Charm/Intimidate the Illusive Man in the final confrontation or 5000 if you failed, which involves Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War activities.

You will get an additional scene to depict the fate of the Normandy and some of its crew. Your past choices and preferences determine which crew members can be seen exiting the Normandy.

- Having a very low Effective Military Strength will cause no one to exit the Normandy.

However, if EMS is reasonably high:

Choosing to control the Reapers will cause Joker, your romance option and the most 'preferred' squad member to come out of the Normandy.
Choosing to destroy the Reapers will cause Joker, your romance option and another squad member to exit the Normandy.
Choosing to combine synthetic and organic life will cause Joker, EDI, and your romance option to come out.
Note: If your EMS is between minimum required and 2800, it is possible to only get Joker to leave the Normandy, or Joker and your romance option. 3 People leaving only occurs at at least 4000 or 5000 EMS (depending on how you handled Illusive Man)

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Priority:_Earth

Herrick

The best possible ending requires an EMS of at least 4000, provided Shepard has managed to Charm/Intimidate the Illusive Man in the final confrontation or 5000 if you failed, which involves Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War activities.

You will get an additional scene to depict the fate of the Normandy and some of its crew. Your past choices and preferences determine which crew members can be seen exiting the Normandy.

- Having a very low Effective Military Strength will cause no one to exit the Normandy.

However, if EMS is reasonably high:

Choosing to control the Reapers will cause Joker, your romance option and the most 'preferred' squad member to come out of the Normandy.
Choosing to destroy the Reapers will cause Joker, your romance option and another squad member to exit the Normandy.
Choosing to combine synthetic and organic life will cause Joker, EDI, and your romance option to come out.
Note: If your EMS is between minimum required and 2800, it is possible to only get Joker to leave the Normandy, or Joker and your romance option. 3 People leaving only occurs at at least 4000 or 5000 EMS (depending on how you handled Illusive Man)

Hmmm, so if its your most preferred squadmate and your love interest (that exit the Normandy when it has crash landed) I take it, its yet another bug/plothole?

I had Garrus and Liara exit the ship, Garrus was my most used squadmate which makes sense, but Miranda was my LI.

If its supposed to be you LI, it must be messed up like the flashback sequence where anyone who romanced an ME2 character got Liara instead.

I had assumed the two exiting the Normandy at the end were your most used squadmates, if that were the case Garrus and Liara makes sense for me anyway.

I wonder if its a bug or laziness on Bioware's part?

Gbear

The first time I played through all the little war assets made it feel like I was making a difference in the war. You start off with a palpable sense of desperation but it builds and builds and you're thinking "YEAH LETS KICK SOME ASS!" and then there's a few token clips in the battle over earth and there's some minor differences with the final choice.
Massive anti-climax.

With Garrus and Liara - they were my main squadmates - Liara because she was the only one with biotics and Garrus because he's awesome. They were the two on the Normandy at the end. But they were also my squadmates on Earth and as far as I know, were vapourised by Harbinger. How and why they got to the Normandy is anyone's guess.

SeantheMan

Herrick wrote: »

I had Garrus and Liara exit the ship, Garrus was my most used squadmate which makes sense, but Miranda was my LI.

If its supposed to be you LI, it must be messed up like the flashback sequence where anyone who romanced an ME2 character got Liara instead.

I played through the endings a few times, and it tied in with the above.
But it was sometimes between either of my 2 most used (Garrus / Javik)
Joker/EDI and Javik popped out for the Synthesis ending.
And my LI in the rest

I doubt Miranda would appear, because she wasnt a "squadmate" in ME3


Did anyone else who was Hetrosexual in the game, find that "Steve" the shuttle pilot was waaayyy too forward . I was actually worried in some conversations with him, that if I chose the wrong answer...certain things would happen.
Especially when you see him at the bar in Purgatory.
I didn't sex up Jack, Miranda, Tali, Liara etc for you to go this way !!

Also....next playthrough, I'm kicking Diana Allers off my ship...I hate her

Gbear

SeantheMan wrote: »

I played through the endings a few times, and it tied in with the above.
But it was sometimes between either of my 2 most used (Garrus / Javik)
Joker/EDI and Javik popped out for the Synthesis ending.
And my LI in the rest

I doubt Miranda would appear, because she wasnt a "squadmate" in ME3


Did anyone else who was Hetrosexual in the game, find that "Steve" the shuttle pilot was waaayyy too forward . I was actually worried in some conversations with him, that if I chose the wrong answer...certain things would happen.
Especially when you see him at the bar in Purgatory.
I didn't sex up Jack, Miranda, Tali, Liara etc for you to go this way !!

Also....next playthrough, I'm kicking Diana Allers off my ship...I hate her

I think to be fair it's more about not being used to gay characters. All the female characters pretty obviously try it on with the Shepmeister.
For them you say something like "lets keep it professional" - with Cortez it's a simple "i like women".

Herrick

SeantheMan wrote: »

I doubt Miranda would appear, because she wasnt a "squadmate" in ME3

Yeah I know what you mean. What I was getting at though is if one of the two is definitely supposed to be your LI, it's bit lazy on their side to only include a LI from ME3 if you get me, considering its only a short cutscene.

SeantheMan

Herrick wrote: »

Yeah I know what you mean. What I was getting at though is if one of the two is definitely supposed to be your LI, it's bit lazy on their side to only include a LI from ME3 if you get me, considering its only a short cutscene.

Yes, they have been very lazy for ME3..as below

AnCapaillMor

The 3 identical end videos except with different colours pretty much sums it all up on the laziness. Don't get me started on the tali unveiling. I bet one of the DLC's will convert the tali pic into a moving gif and it'll cost like a tenner.

As for Liara coming out at the end, as far i know if your LI is not a standard one(not a squadmate) she comes out in place of them.

Yeah don't talk to Cortez(gay dude) in purgatory, serves me rights for skipping through his conversations.

Shryke

My love interest was Jack. EDI and Garrus were probably my most used and I think they were my final team. It was the 2 of them I got at the end.

Kirby

Herrick wrote: »

I had assumed the two exiting the Normandy at the end were your most used squadmates, if that were the case Garrus and Liara makes sense for me anyway.

I wonder if its a bug or laziness on Bioware's part?

It's not the most used squadmate. It can't be. It has to be the most talked to or clicked on squadie.

I never used Javvik the prothean but I did talk to him alot as what he said was interesting and I got him very early. He came out of the normandy for me. I used Garrus, Liara and Tali constantly and they were no show's.

Herrick

Kirby wrote: »

It's not the most used squadmate. It can't be. It has to be the most talked to or clicked on squadie.

I never used Javvik the prothean but I did talk to him alot as what he said was interesting and I got him very early. He came out of the normandy for me. I used Garrus, Liara and Tali constantly and they were no show's.

Well Garrus and Liara were the ones I talked to the most as well as used so for me it remains a mystery!

Although after each mission I always talked to everyone so I dunno. Maybe its because you get Garrus and Liara far earlier than the other squaddies. So maybe I did talk to them more I suppose.

Overheal

EA has been crowned the 2012 Worst Company in America!

Oh well, Worst Company In America 2012 is officially in the books. All that's left to do is send off the Golden Poo to EA.

Traditionally, the Poo has been delivered on its little red pillow. But this year, we'll give EA three different color options for its pillow, though in the end it's still the same old Poo.

blatantrereg

I had an effective score of <2500 and I had 3 people leave the Normandy on control option. That contradicts a couple of things in the last couple of pages including quotes from another Website.

I din't ave the synthesis option; when I chose destroy on a reload I didn't wake up at the end; I think the fleet did do ok in the cutscene.

Shiny Cactus

Overheal wrote: »

EA has been crowned the 2012 Worst Company in America!

Thanks for that, proof is proof,
Also another reason for the miserable endings is the lead writer left after
mass effect 2 was finished, he was a good writer even if the other writer has been through all 3 games

SeantheMan

blatantrereg wrote: »

I had an effective score of <2500 and I had 3 people leave the Normandy on control option. That contradicts a couple of things in the last couple of pages including quotes from another Website.

I din't ave the synthesis option; when I chose destroy on a reload I didn't wake up at the end; I think the fleet did do ok in the cutscene.

The Crucible attaches itself to the Citadel. Shepard is then given the series' final choice. There are a maximum of three options; however, if the Effective Military Strength of your War Assets is below 1,750, you will simply be assigned an ending based on your decision about the Collector Base. Otherwise, you need an EMS of 2,800 or higher to unlock the third choice.[1][2]

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Priority:_Earth

danthefan

Just finished the game, my ending was:

Shot the Illusive Man, chose Synthesis, the Reapers stopped blowing **** up and flew off, Normandy crash lands on some tropical planet with crew seemingly alive.

Is this the so called good ending? Not sure I'm not feeling the rage some other people are.

degrassinoel

have a read of the indoctrination theories and play through the end again but blow the reapers up, see if ye still think its the good ending.

Also did ye notice in the synthesis ending that when

shepard falls into the light he briefly becomes a husk?

personally i took the synthesis ending first too, but i dont think it was the "right" one after seeing all three.

Herrick

I think the ending I got is whats being classed as "the right one"

That involves:

- Saving Anderson from being executed by TIM, but regardless he dies a few minutes later anyway.

- Choosing the destroy option

After all the cutscenes and I think credits, you get a short cutscene showing Shepard moving about in the rubble showing he's alive.

SeantheMan

I replayed the final mission a few times, trying different things, negligible differences.

1st time I chose all the paragon talk options, 2nd time I chose the Renegade...they were basically the exact same anwers from TIM.

I also killed TIM the one time, and saved Anderson, who obviosuly dies, next time I let him shoot Anderson, (snapshot of Anderson pops up as you make your choice regardless) , and finally didn't attempt to stop TIM, and the game ended

I tried all 3 options, each were pretty stupid I thought.

The indoctrination theory did make a little sense...but then the Prothean VI would have detected it as it did with Leng.

And I think I'm right in saying, Synthesis is the only choice,....where it explicitly tells you that all Relays will be destroyed ?
I was pretty sure if I chose either of the other 2 they would remain intact, but no, relays get blown up no matter what.

RichTea

SeantheMan wrote: »

And I think I'm right in saying, Synthesis is the only choice,....where it explicitly tells you that all Relays will be destroyed ?

Nay, I replayed the ending the other day and the kid says using the Crucible in any way destroys all the Relays... A ridiculously railroaded ending.

degrassinoel

I completely agree with that RichTea.
I knew there was a finality all the while through playing me3, but that was just terrible writing, especially from a bioware game.

Herrick

SeantheMan wrote: »

The indoctrination theory did make a little sense...but then the Prothean VI would have detected it as it did with Leng

But here's the thing, could the VI only detect people under full indoctrination?

The theory is that Shepard only comes under indoctrination after you wake up and go towards the beam taking you to the Citadel.

If that's the case, the VI wouldn't class you as indoctrinated when you encounter it. From what I gather the dreams and that beforehand would simply be attempts at influencing Shepard rather than having him under control.

Lordhogo

Herrick wrote: »

But here's the thing, could the VI only detect people under full indoctrination?

The theory is that Shepard only comes under indoctrination after you wake up and go towards the beam taking you to the Citadel.

If that's the case, the VI wouldn't class you as indoctrinated when you encounter it. From what I gather the dreams and that beforehand would simply be attempts at influencing Shepard rather than having him under control.

This is one of my problems if this indoctrination theory is true. I mean there is a lot of evidence pointing towards indoctrination but it is all so insignificant. I'm not looking for some scene that makes it painfully obvious, where you are told straight by Harbinger or TIM just some clue that makes sense by the end. Of course that is all irrelevant if the theory is untrue as Bioware wont clarify which gives me bad feeling that it will be revealed in DLC.