Mass Effect Tourist Guide

System: Vamshi

• Planet: Maji

Geth Incursion

This Geth outpost is tricky to reach. It's at the top of a winding mountain track, with heavy turrets along the way. You can try sneaking in over the top, but it's more trouble than its worth, frankly. The outpost itself is much the same as the one on Casbin, but this time you'll have to face a Geth Colossus before the camp is truly destroyed. Again, the Mako's slow shield regeneration and shonky camera can make this harder than it needs to be. Find a spot with a good shot at the Colossus, fill it with lead, and boost over its plasma blasts when it fires.

BONUS: There's a Turian insignia here, and a "strange skull".

• Planet: Pregel

BONUS: There's a Turian insignia here.

• System: Hong
• Planet: Casbin

Geth Incursion

There are two Geth brigades here - one at the outpost, one at the anomalous signal. The outpost is the one you want, though feel free to tackle both. At first you'll face snipers and rocket troops, bunkered down in those turrets. Deal with them, and a dropship will swoop in and start adding shock troopers to the mix. Kill enough of those and you've won the day. In terms of tactics, it's safer to deal with the snipers and rockets using the Mako, but I found dealing with the shock troopers much easier after I got out of the sluggish vehicle with the rigid cannon and used my tooled up squad on the ground instead.

BONUS: There's a Salarian ID tag here as well.

• Planet: Matar

BONUS: There are Matriarch's Writings here.

• System: Tereshkova
• Planet: Antibaar

Geth Incursion

This icy world has very low visibility. The Geth outpost is in a natural rock basin, making attack difficult except for by direct approach. To make matters worse, there's a Geth Colossus already waiting for you - so make that your primary target. Once you've defeated the Colossus, snipers and rocket troopers, a dropship will add a mixture of shock troopers and Geth Prime to the battle. The Mako's secondary fire (RB) comes in handy here, as they'll be bunched together and vulnerable to its explosive impact.

BONUS: There's a Prothean data disc here, but it's guarded by a Thresher Maw. It's possible to pick it up and drive back out again without being killed, with a bit of luck. Ignore the anomaly right in the middle of the Maw's lair - it just tells you that the bodies were killed by a Thresher Maw. No, really?

• Planet: N/A

BONUS: There's a League of One medallion on an asteroid in this system.

• System: Gagarin
• Planet: Rayingri

Geth Incursion

Your target this time is the overrun facility. There are husks inside but, once you deal with them, the Geth reveal themselves. Clear out the whole building, then go back outside to deal with some more Geth. You'll now locate a signal from the main base behind this incursion, opening up the final section of this monster assignment.

BONUS: There's a League of One medallion here as well.

• Planet: Junthor

BONUS: There are Matriarch's Writings here.

• System: Grissom
• Planet: Solcrum

Geth Incursion

Solcrum is the small moon orbiting Notanban. You can't miss the Geth base on the map - it's not far from where you land. There are two Geth Colossi waiting for you outside, along with the expected snipers and rockets, and inside is even tougher - a room swarming with the toughest Geth types around, including several Geth Destroyers, who will charge at you and pound you to paste. Defeat all of them and then head to the back room and hack the console. You'll receive vital information about the Geth, which opens up the Tali and the Geth assignment.

BONUS: There are Matriarch's Writings here as well.

• Planet: Benda

BONUS: There's a League of One medallion here.

• Planet: N/A

Tali and the Geth

Back on board the Normandy, after completing the Geth Incursion marathon, head down to the drive room and talk to Tali. She'll ask for a copy of the Geth data to take back to her people, as part of her pilgrimage. Give it to her to complete this assignment.

System: Newton

• Planet: Ontarom

Dead Scientists

This is an investigation you can start on Noveria, where it appears as Doctor at Risk, but if you chose the war hero background for Shepard then it takes on a whole new aspect once Lance Henriksen fills you in. As the new title suggests, scientists have been turning up dead - and they're all tied in with the massacre on Akuze that you survived. It's now a race to get to the last remaining scientist to find out what's going on. At first this assignment looks like just another search-and-destroy against some mercenary thugs, but once you reach the scientist it becomes rather more interesting.

Worth doing? Not a particularly exciting mission, but if you chose the war hero option when creating your character, this fills in some cool backstory.

BONUS: There's a Turian insignia here as well.

• Planet: Klencory

BONUS: There are Matriarch's Writings here.

Garrus: Find Dr. Saleon

• System: Herschel
• Planet: N/A

This is another crew assignment, activated by chinwagging with your companions between missions. Gain the confidence of Garrus and he'll eventually start talking about a case he never solved while working at C-SEC. It involved a doctor growing cloned organs inside his staff, but the Salarian in question was never caught. Garrus has the info needed to track the guy, and it'll lead you here - where the MSV Fedele awaits. Add Garrus to your squad, wipe out the shambling test subjects and then find the not-so-good doctor. Garrus wants to put a bullet in his head, naturally. What happens next is up to you.

Worth doing? Not really. This is a pretty generic combat mission followed by a standard moral dilemma. The rewards are small, and the loot minimal.

• System: Acheron
• Planet: Altahe

Listening Post Theta

Head for the listening post to discover it's overrun with rachni. Wipe 'em out, then check out the computer and comms array. There's a record of a supply ship, and an urgent distress call from the neighbouring system of Erebus. Something fishy is clearly going on, and the trail leads to the Argos Rho...

BONUS: There are Matriarch's Writings here as well.

• Planet: N/A

BONUS: There's a Turian insignia on an asteroid in this system.

• System: Erebus
• Planet: Nepmos

Listening Post Alpha

Tipped off by the message received on Altahe, make your way to the listening post and you'll discover a handful of marines under siege from swarms of rachni. Yes, it's Starship Troopers time. Talk to Lt Durand, then lend them a hand with your superior firepower - you can hook the Mako up to the generator to fire up the automated cannons - and keep the rachni at bay until their numbers run out. Talk to Durand again, and you'll learn that there's an underground rachni lair. The coordinates are added to your map. Are you man (or woman) enough to finish the job? Go to the infested mine and clear it of rachni - you need to kill the two brood warriors in the end chambers to complete this portion of the mission.

• Planet: Wermani

BONUS: There's a Prothean data disc here.

Old Friends

This mission only appears if you chose the Earthborn background, and is triggered just outside Chora's Den. Finch, a member of the same gang you used to run with on Earth, demands your help in freeing someone from Turian custody. The guard in question is in the bar and, as always, it's up to you how to approach the situation. Whether this will come back to haunt you remains to be seen.

Worth doing? Technically, no. But what's the point of choosing a background for your character if you're not going to do the quest that ties in with it?

I Remember Me

This is the mission for those who chose a Colonist background, and it involves a girl from the colony where you grew up. She was taken as a slave, and is now suicidal. You've got to talk her out of a deadly plunge from the docking bay.

Worth doing? As with Old Friends, why not?

Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things

This is the mission for those with a Spacer background. Between the Wards and Presidium you'll find a rather wretched figure who asks for money. This assignment actually finds you calling up Shepard's mum, and discovering that this is an old family friend. Help him in whichever way seems best.

Worth doing? Looks like even space heroes don't phone their mum often enough, so you probably shouldn't pass up the chance.

Besieged Base

Once your Paragon level is above 75%, Lance Henriksen gets in touch with a special assignment. A science facility has been taken over by biotic terrorists, and you're needed to clear the building without harming the staff, who have all been drugged up and are wandering around like idiots. It's actually easier than it sounds. These terrorists aren't the brightest bunch, so if you were expecting to use precision shots to take down bad guys hiding behind human shields, think again. Once they're alerted to your presence, you can back away to a safe area and wait for them to come to you.

Worth doing? Not really. You do get 24 Paragon points, but as you only get this quest once you've already earned a ton of Paragon points that's not much of a prize.

The Negotiation

If you've been a very bad boy and filled the Renegade meter to over 75%, then Lance Henriksen sends you to do some dirty work on the planet Nonuel, in the Hades Gamma Cluster. As the name suggests, you'll be expected to deal with the criminals from the warlord's base, as well as a mercenary camp, by using your Intimidate skills. Or your guns. Up to you, really.

Worth doing? Much the same as the Paragon assignment, though there's better loot to be had here.