**Mass Effect 2: the decisions that follow you into Mass Effect 3**
Mass Effect 2 puts a lot of its biggest decisions inside the squad's personal missions. Some change how a conversation ends. Others decide whether somebody is around for the third game at all. A few help decide the future of entire species.
This follows those choices through the game, including where they connect to Mass Effect 3. Full trilogy spoilers. It applies to the released game and Legendary Edition, including the story DLC.
**1. Before you get too far: your save and your squad**
Import your completed ME1 Shepard if you want the world you already built. Starting fresh or using Genesis supplies a different set of decisions; Genesis does not recreate every little assignment. Check the import summary instead of assuming your old outcomes came across.
Recruit the whole team and open Grunt's tank. Leaving him in storage means you miss his personal mission and his return in ME3. Later, keep and activate Legion instead of handing it to Cerberus. Losing those conversations also removes choices you might want later.
Keep separate saves before loyalty missions, Reaper IFF and the Omega-4 Relay. A mission can be marked finished without the squadmate becoming loyal. Check the squad screen after the conversation.
**2. Tali's trial starts before the trial**
On Freedom's Progress, let Veetor leave with Tali if you want his help later. During Tali's recruitment on Haestrom, keep Kal'Reegar alive. These two can help you clear her name without exposing her father.
During **Tali: Treason**, speak to the admirals about their motives and ask Veetor and Reegar for support before leaving for the Alarei. At the hearing:
- Use the available Charm or Intimidate response to clear Tali without handing over the evidence.
- Alternatively, with the earlier support arranged, rally the crowd.
- Refuse to expose her father without securing an acquittal, and Tali is exiled but loyal.
- Present the evidence against her father, and she is cleared but loses loyalty permanently.
That last branch is a trap if you're aiming for peace in ME3. A loyal, living Tali is needed for it. Exile makes the later peace route harder, but it does not automatically make it impossible. [Tali's trial and its consequences](https://t.co/OL6tbjNRgn)
**3. Mordin, Maelon and the genophage**
During **Mordin: Old Blood**, decide separately what happens to Maelon and what happens to his research. Stopping Mordin from shooting him does not automatically preserve the data.
Save the research if you want Eve to survive ME3's genophage-cure mission. Destroy it and she dies. You gain Mordin's loyalty either way when you finish the mission.
This joins the decision you made about Wrex in ME1. Living Wrex and living Eve give the krogan two very different voices from Wreav. If Wrex is dead and Maelon's data is destroyed, ME3 offers a particular sabotage branch where you can persuade Mordin to live. That comes at the cost of leaving the genophage uncured. You cannot use that route to save Mordin while also delivering the real cure.
Maelon's personal fate changes the scene and later correspondence. His research is the part that directly determines Eve's survival. [Old Blood](https://t.co/5nozypqZVv)
**4. Grunt's loyalty matters beyond the suicide mission**
Wake him, talk to him after Horizon and finish **Rite of Passage**. Surviving the thresher maw's time limit is enough to advance; killing it is the extra accomplishment, not a requirement for loyalty.
In ME3, a surviving Grunt leads the krogan team investigating the rachni. If you choose to save the queen or breeder, completing his ME2 loyalty mission is what lets Grunt survive the retreat. Merely bringing an unloyal Grunt through ME2 is not enough for that outcome. [Grunt's mission](https://t.co/RhQlNQbnt9)
**5. Garrus and Sidonis**
During **Eye for an Eye**, let Garrus shoot Sidonis or keep talking and persuade him to spare Sidonis. Garrus becomes loyal either way.
So you can stop the revenge killing without ruining your squad. The difference is what Garrus does with his grief and what happens to Sidonis afterward. This does not create a separate hidden requirement for Garrus to survive the final mission. His assigned job there still matters. [Garrus's decision](https://t.co/RvsT2c3SjN)
**6. Miranda, Jack and their argument**
Finish Miranda's mission to protect Oriana. You can stop Miranda from shooting Niket, but Enyala kills him anyway. Encourage Miranda to speak to her sister if you want their reunion. Completing this mission is also part of keeping Miranda alive in ME3. [Miranda's mission](https://t.co/yT3AlNwnX8)
In Jack's mission, you can persuade her to spare Aresh or let her kill him. Either way, finish destroying the facility. If spared, Aresh later dies helping children escape a Reaper attack, a small consequence delivered through ME3's news. [Jack and Aresh](https://t.co/BamJFsDIlX)
Once both missions are complete, Jack and Miranda argue aboard the Normandy. Use the blue or red persuasion option to settle it without choosing a side. Picking one makes the other disloyal. A later private persuasion conversation can repair loyalty, but don't assume that also repairs every romance consequence. Save before finishing the second mission and check both characters afterward. The same basic problem happens later with Tali and Legion. [Jack's confrontation](https://t.co/0Wy9FBYVw5)
**7. Thane: actually stop Kolyat**
During **Sins of the Father**, keep following Talid and update Thane when prompted. Lose the target and Kolyat can carry out the assassination, leaving Thane's loyalty unsecured.
If you reach the confrontation, stop Kolyat. You can intervene through the available dialogue or interrupt rather than letting the moment pass. The successful branch gives father and son a chance to talk. Helping Thane here also sets up a much fuller family story in ME3, assuming he survives the finale. [Thane's mission](https://t.co/nojRCede8l)
**8. Samara or Morinth**
Read the clues at Nef's home and use Morinth's interests at Afterlife. Repeatedly losing her interest can fail the mission; avoid talking about family or justicars.
At her apartment, a sufficiently strong Charm or Intimidate response lets you resist her and choose whom to help. Support Samara and Morinth dies. Support Morinth and she kills Samara, takes her place and becomes loyal. Without successfully resisting Morinth, Shepard automatically helps Samara.
The replacement has lasting consequences. A surviving Samara can return for her remaining daughters' story in ME3. Morinth does not fill that role; she eventually appears as a named banshee. And accepting Morinth's later offer of intimacy kills Shepard. [Samara and Morinth](https://t.co/a26Z2DEdxO)
**9. Zaeed, Jacob and Kasumi**
**Zaeed:** Pursue Vido and sacrifice the workers, and Zaeed gets his revenge and loyalty. Save the workers and Vido escapes; you need the blue persuasion response afterward to secure Zaeed's loyalty. The mission ending alone does not guarantee it. [Zaeed's mission](https://t.co/U17ui7HaJG)
**Jacob:** His father's fate can be Alliance arrest, abandonment to the survivors or being left a pistol to kill himself. Completing the confrontation earns Jacob's loyalty regardless. Pick the fate you intend rather than treating the harshest option as necessary for the finale. [Jacob's mission](https://t.co/15qNaiVlC3)
**Kasumi:** Keep Keiji's graybox or destroy it. Both earn her loyalty. The difference follows her memories and later dialogue; keeping it does not secretly doom the suicide mission. [Kasumi's mission](https://t.co/xmJyUvQaLt)
**10. Legion and the geth heretics**
After Reaper IFF, activate Legion and speak to it until **A House Divided** is available.
At the end, rewrite the heretics or destroy them. Either choice earns Legion's loyalty. Rewriting leaves more geth for ME3, increasing their fleet strength while weakening the quarian side. Destroying does the reverse and helps the later peace check. If you achieve peace, the combined fleet value balances out either way.
Destroying the heretics is helpful for peace, not an absolute requirement. Tali's trial, both characters' survival and your later ME3 choices all contribute.
When Tali and Legion argue, use Charm or Intimidate to keep both loyal. Restoring lost loyalty afterward can help keep somebody alive, but resolving the original argument peacefully is itself part of the later peace calculation. [Legion's mission and dispute](https://t.co/WPRbepbu9R)
**11. Relationships and smaller returns**
Male Shepard's main new romances are Miranda, Jack and Tali; female Shepard's are Garrus, Jacob and Thane. Talk between missions and follow the relationship you actually want. With Jack, accepting the early casual encounter shuts down the full romance. Several ME3 romances, including Garrus and Tali, need to have started here. [ME2 romance choices](https://t.co/3osNedpNhz)
If you want Kelly to return in ME3, build the relationship enough to invite her to dinner, and rescue her from the Collectors. Surviving alone isn't the complete requirement. That dinner also leads to her offering to feed your fish. [Kelly's return](https://t.co/osZX8w06VK)
Kenneth and Gabriella can return to Normandy engineering in ME3 if rescued. Their conversations together are another reason the abducted crew matters, even though they aren't selectable squadmates. [Kenneth and Gabriella](https://t.co/Gdz970HE3P)
If Conrad Verner survived your ME1 encounters, deal with his Illium assignment so his story can continue in ME3. Your response to journalist Khalisah al-Jilani also gets remembered. These are smaller returning-character branches, not requirements for the Collector Base. [Returning decisions](https://t.co/6yyTVFPCLM)
**12. The story DLC**
In **Lair of the Shadow Broker**, a Shepard who romanced Liara in ME1 can reaffirm that relationship. It gives their story another chapter between the first and third games. You can still pursue a new ME2 partner, but that history becomes something you and your partners discuss later. Don't treat a picture in Shepard's cabin as the final decision for the whole trilogy; ME3 asks you to settle the relationship again. [Relationships across the trilogy](https://t.co/8MWbRQ474b)
In **Overlord**, take David away from Gavin and send him to Grissom Academy if you want to free him from the experiment. You can meet him recovering there in ME3. Leave him with Gavin and ME3 reveals that Gavin eventually killed him. Saving David here still requires rescuing Grissom Academy in ME3 when it becomes available. [David's branches](https://t.co/Jat6MzKUrM)
**Arrival** ends with the relay's destruction; trying to warn the colony does not produce an evacuation-and-everyone-survives branch. If you skip the DLC, the incident still happens through an Alliance operation, with different responsibility and a cost to an Alliance war asset. It can be played after the main ending. Do not insert it between the Normandy abduction and the rescue. [Arrival](https://t.co/sp6cuvUkPK), [imported consequences](https://t.co/VcqkYHbg0d)
**13. The two countdowns people mix up**
Reaper IFF starts the endgame sequence. The crew abduction starts the rescue urgency. They are separate stages.
The straightforward route is to finish everyone else's recruitment and loyalty missions first, buy your ship upgrades, then do Reaper IFF. Activate Legion, get its mission before using the galaxy map, complete that mission and settle the Tali argument. After the abduction, head through the Omega-4 Relay immediately.
Do not spend that rescue window finishing assignments. Delaying kills members of the abducted crew. The amount of activity allowed before the abduction varies with unfinished squad missions, so don't build your plan around a supposed universal two-mission allowance. [Legion's mission timing](https://t.co/WPRbepbu9R), [safe endgame preparation](https://t.co/ffIFnwxpci)
**14. The suicide mission decisions, in order**
Research the Normandy's armor from Jacob, shields from Tali and Thanix cannon from Garrus before leaving. Missing upgrades cause deaths before you can assign the ground teams. [Ship preparation](https://t.co/RNpAhCHVw8)
For a clean all-survivors route, everyone should be loyal:
1. **Vent specialist:** Tali, Legion or Kasumi.
2. **First fireteam leader:** Garrus, Jacob or Miranda. Both this leader and the vent specialist must be suitable and loyal; a bad leader can get the specialist killed. [Infiltration choices](https://t.co/Vdgu8G9Xb5)
3. **Biotic barrier:** Jack or Samara; Morinth also works if you chose her. Miranda volunteering does not make her suitable.
4. **Second fireteam leader:** use loyal Garrus, Jacob or Miranda again.
5. **Crew escort:** send a loyal squadmate; Miranda is not available for this role. Mordin is a particularly useful choice because getting him safely out also helps the remaining defensive group's average. No escort means the rescued crew dies. [Long Walk choices](https://t.co/Xot4rikXxC)
6. **Final two companions:** take loyal squadmates. Leave strong defenders behind. Garrus, Grunt and Zaeed are the strongest, while Mordin, Tali, Kasumi and Jack contribute the least to the defensive calculation.
With all twelve recruited, everybody loyal and alive, Mordin escorting, and loyal Tali and Kasumi accompanying you for the last fight, the remaining team has enough strength to hold the line. That's one working combination, not the only one. If you've already lost people, the calculation changes. An unloyal final companion dies, and stripping the rear guard of its strong defenders can cause deaths even among loyal people. [Final squad and defensive calculation](https://t.co/zZO9giLbgC)
**15. Destroy or preserve the Collector Base**
Destroy it and you reject the Illusive Man's request. Preserve it and Cerberus gets the facility. Neither choice independently determines who escapes your current mission.
ME3 reflects the decision through dialogue and the recovered Reaper Heart or Brain war asset. It can influence which ending is available at extremely low military strength, but preserving the base does not lock a properly prepared Shepard into Control. Likewise, destroying it does not prevent you choosing a different ending when you meet its requirements. [Collector Base consequences](https://t.co/CMX9S68twW)
When you're finished, carry forward a save with Shepard alive. You can complete remaining content after the finale and import that later state. The big things you're taking into ME3 are the people who survived, Tali and Legion's decisions, Maelon's data, relationships and the DLC outcomes. Those are the branches the third game is about to bring together.
**Mass Effect 2: the decisions that follow you into Mass Effect 3**
· Games / Mass Effect 2