**Official Mass Effect 2 Thread** - The Thread of Unique Planets, New Species and Amazing Scores

[Qbah]

I only scanned when I needed resources for an upgrade, then I only scanned rich planets. I did visit every planet to see if there was an anomaly, but I didn't even come close to scanning even half the planets for resources.

That's what I was doing too. I was flying around looking for rich planets and only when I found an upgrade and did't have resources. Why would you look for them otherwise? Nothing else needs them, just researching the upgrades you find on missions or unlock (the ones from shops are added automatically). When I found one with EZ, I was scanning it "fully" though (as it's rare) - so I was pretty sure I didn't miss a spot. The other ones, when it went to poor I was flying away to find me a new one. And I know you could find big reserves even when it says depleted, but why bother? Plenty of other planets in the available systems.

And what I did was using both left and right sticks to the right and running circles parallel to the equator. When the scanning pointer is on the edge and you use both sticks (to rotate the planet and the pointer), it goes faster for some reason. You can notice it because the planet starts to turn faster (or I guess the upgraded scanner moves faster than turning the planet in scanning mode so the game just compensates for that). When I did a full circle (perhaps mark the first point or look for a deposit and then mark it to have a reference point), just move the scanner two blocks down and repeat. Also, it doesn't matter in which part of the deposit you fire the probe to, so even if it hits on a small part of of a huge one, the whole deposit is given to you - no need to wander off to find "a better spot" - that's something I found out empirically though - it's not written anywhere. When I found a huge spike on the scanner, I moved the scanner a bit to point to an edge when the graph is low but still from the same deposit and shot a probe - bam, 2500+ units added anyway. That's also the reason you are given other resources too when finding one spot - as there's some more attached to it that's not within the current scanning range.

 

[Queasy]

Why can't I just make EDI do all of this for me?

She's too busy with her affair with Joker.

 

[Queasy]

And what I did was using both left and right sticks to the right and running circles parallel to the equator. When the scanning pointer is on the edge and you use both sticks (to rotate the planet and the pointer), it goes faster for some reason. You can notice it because the planet starts to turn faster (or I guess the upgraded scanner moves faster than turning the planet in scanning mode so the game just compensates for that). When I did a full circle (perhaps mark the first point or look for a deposit and then mark it to have a reference point), just move the scanner two blocks down and repeat. Also, it doesn't matter in which part of the deposit you fire the probe to, so even if it hits on a small part of of a huge one, the whole deposit is given to you - no need to wander off to find "a better spot" - that's something I found out empirically though - it's not written anywhere. When I found a huge spike on the scanner, I moved the scanner a bit to point to an edge when the graph is low but still from the same deposit and shot a probe - bam, 2500+ units added anyway. That's also the reason you are given other resources too when finding one spot - as there's some more attached to it that's not within the current scanning range.

That's what I was doing last but it still felt too slow and tedious for me. Like I said, I was falling asleep while scanning. I have a bunch of upgrades I wanted to fill so I was going around to every planet with a good or higher resource rating.

 

[SR1729]

I was actually bitching to myself about scanning - or what I call "Planet Raping" - last night. It occurred to me that when it's all said and done, ***HALF*** of the game will have been spent pixel hunting. They either need to implement a far more efficient means of resource gathering or they need to ditch it entirely. Let Cerberus pay for my upgrades. It's my ass not theirs.

 

[sourceninja]

It really doesn't make sense that Cerberus would spend all this money on you, but give you the worst equipment money can buy and not offer to fund any upgrades.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Finally had a chance to play a couple/few hours in the game now (had a ski weekend). I love it already. The story has been pretty compelling from the start, and I'm encouraged that most everyone is reporting that it only gets better. I feel more conflicted in dialog options now because of the importance of the mission vs the distrust one should have against Cerebus. It's great.

Also read that resources are a PITA. I fully scanned the first 3 planets I could around Omega and already grabbed over 30K in platinum. Launched at least 30 probes per planet. Equipment seems to be more expensive this time, but the cred rewards are also much larger in the wall safes and whatnot.

I changed my ME1 level 50 Adept (level 55 actually, but I hadn't completed that run through) to a Vanguard. The charge skill + shotgun + incendiary rounds followup is pretty damn potent. I love it, and that all the renegade/paragon dialog options are already unlocked is helpful.

The cover system is definitely more useful (though blind fire and swat turns would have been awesome).

Miranda is hawt, I hope she's a possible love interest (don't need it spoiled though).

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I only scanned when I needed resources for an upgrade, then I only scanned rich planets. I did visit every planet to see if there was an anomaly, but I didn't even come close to scanning even half the planets for resources.

I only bother to scan Good or Rich planets.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Also read that resources are a PITA. I fully scanned the first 3 planets I could around Omega and already grabbed over 30K in platinum. Launched at least 30 probes per planet.

30k platinum is nothing. That's like one upgrade. You'll end up finding far more iridium and palladium than you need, and not enough EZ or platinum.

 

[Gooberlx2]

30k platinum is nothing. That's like one upgrade. You'll end up finding far more iridium and palladium than you need, and not enough EZ or platinum.

Damn, I got the impression that 70K platinum left over was a lot....I probably just read the thread wrong.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Damn, I got the impression that 70K platinum left over was a lot....I probably just read the thread wrong.

You said you found 30k platinum...where did this 70k figure come from?

Regardless, a ton of upgrades need platinum, and it's almost always like 25k a shot. I have a freaking ton of iridium and palladium, but I never use it because I always need EZ and platinum.

 

[Gooberlx2]

You said you found 30k platinum...where did this 70k figure come from?

Regardless, a ton of upgrades need platinum, and it's almost always like 25k a shot. I have a freaking ton of iridium and palladium, but I never use it because I always need EZ and platinum.

Just from reading previous conversations in the thread. I figured if 70K was a lot, and I already had 30K from 3 planets, I was in good shape.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Just from reading previous conversations in the thread. I figured if 70K was a lot, and I already had 30K from 3 planets, I was in good shape.

Oh...well, 70k will net you about 2-3 upgrades, and there are about 2x as many upgrades that require platinum as opposed to any other element. It really is unbalanced. I hope you can collect more than 99,999 of an element, because I'm about there with my stockpile of palladium, meanwhile I have less than 10k platinum. :\

 

[Qbah]

Oh...well, 70k will net you about 2-3 upgrades, and there are about 2x as many upgrades that require platinum as opposed to any other element. It really is unbalanced. I hope you can collect more than 99,999 of an element, because I'm about there with my stockpile of palladium, meanwhile I have less than 10k platinum. :\

Yes you can, I had 150k of Iridium and the last one when I finished the game (300 EZ and Platinum ).

Now, some MAJOR MAJOR spoilers, do not mouse-over it if you haven't finished the game. You have been warned. It's how I now believe the story is - Game went waaaay up to 9/10 after reading this It's from a poster in the PC section (JoshGuru7) with my summary at the end:

My opinions:

Spoiler

1. The collectors have no plan as they are reaper slaves. The reapers have a very long term plan as we saw in ME1. They allow civilization to develop in the galaxy over 50,000 years to a point of sufficient diversity, then use the keepers to activate their own citadel relay and return. The galaxy is basically a farm for them, and they return periodically to harvest it. In ME1 the prothean VI speculates that they wipe out all sentient life but has no guesses about motive. In ME2, we see that they use the species they destroy, either by rewriting their genetic code to be slaves or by liquifying the diverse races in order to procreate.

Spoiler

2. The Protheans evolved like any of the other species. They would have been liquified to form new Reapers, but the first attempt failed because they were not genetically diverse enough as a species. As a result their genetic code was rewritten and they were kept around as slaves. Presumably the Reapers would prefer to procreate by liquifying the races they capture, so this is a rare step.

Spoiler

3. On one hand, the Reapers invasion is simply business as usual for them. Sovereign determined the galaxy was ready to be harvested again, so they are returning to condense all sentient life into a few new Reapers. If EDI's estimates are correct, then they can get multiple Reapers out of the same race depending on population size. The similar looking Reapers that you see were simply created out of the same race for any number of reasons. One speculation is that it could have been the race directly before the Protheans and as relatively young Reapers they were given the task of summoning the rest of the Reapers back while the 20 million year old reapers snoozed in deep space.

On the other hand, much is made throughout ME2 about the supposedly vast genetic diversity of humans. Since genetic diversity is necessary for strong reapers this is clearly a source of interest to them as humans might make great reapers. The plot of ME2 revolves around a single reaper (Harbinger) commanding a bunch of collector slaves to build a human reaper for him. The reason for this isn't explicit, but it's probably part experiment and part desire to procreate. It's reasonable for the Reaper to assume that this will be risk-free, as only Reapers have the necessary technology to pass through the Omega 4 relay. Harbinger probably wouldn't have risked the destruction of it's slave race for a single Reaper, since presumably it could make dozens of Reapers instead if it was able to open the Citadel Relay.

Spoiler

One other thing to keep in mind is that at this point we have no idea how many Reapers there are and how far away they are. ME1 and ME2 have proceeded under the assumption that the Reapers are so far away in deep space that the only way they can make it back in a meaningful amount of time is through the Citadel relay. However, ME2 involved the destruction of both the prothean/collectors and the geth faction that the Reapers adjusted to serve them. This may make further plotting to open the Citadel relay much more difficult in ME3 and so they may attempt to construct another relay elsewhere via pawns unknown or to directly fly back to galactic space. Millions of Reapers could have been headed at full speed towards the galaxy since the moment that Sovereign was destroyed.

That makes a lot of sense actually Made me feel a lot better about the plot and that it's actually very good! And not rushed and cheap as I first assumed after finishing the game. Thanks for sharing!

So I guess:

Spoiler

1. Reapers use the galaxy as a farm to grow organic life - they need it to procreate.
2. This organic life needs to be varied enough for a new Reaper to be "born" from it
3. Once it's varied enough, they return, indoctrinate everybody, turn them to goo and build themselves new Reapers from the "soup"
4. Protheans cycle wasn't varied enough, the Reapers couldn't build more of themselves - left Protheans as drones for Harbinger (a Reaper) to gather samples and intel on the next cycle - if species diversified enough - come back, conquer, indoctrinate and add to their numbers.
5. The human species alone is very diverse on its own, enough to build a good Reaper just from one species - we saw it at the end (and killed it ). Go hummies

If that's how it worked then nice job BioWare No to mention, the Citadel fleet killing Sovereign was a major blow to the Reapers

Spoiler

- even though their numbers are huge, if just making one is such a pain, loosing one is huge.

 

[gorcorps]

I was actually bitching to myself about scanning - or what I call "Planet Raping" - last night. It occurred to me that when it's all said and done, ***HALF*** of the game will have been spent pixel hunting. They either need to implement a far more efficient means of resource gathering or they need to ditch it entirely. Let Cerberus pay for my upgrades. It's my ass not theirs.

If you're spending 20 hours 'pixel hunting' then you're doing it so wrong.

 

[Rage187]

about finished.

Earned the loyalty of all my peeps including Jack but somehow she isn't loyal anymore. I'm grinding out the last upgrades and will wrap things up tonight on Veteran. Looking forward to starting it again on Insanity.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

about finished.

Earned the loyalty of all my peeps including Jack but somehow she isn't loyal anymore. I'm grinding out the last upgrades and will wrap things up tonight on Veteran. Looking forward to starting it again on Insanity.

Yeah, I started right off on Veteran too. It's challenging sometimes, but not too tough. I think I had to reload maybe three times or so.

 

[gorcorps]

about finished.

Earned the loyalty of all my peeps including Jack but somehow she isn't loyal anymore. I'm grinding out the last upgrades and will wrap things up tonight on Veteran. Looking forward to starting it again on Insanity.

I hear that when Jack and Miranda fight, when you side with one of them you may lose the loyalty of the other. I remember siding w/ Miranda but I didn't lose Jack's loyalty.

 

[Rage187]

I hear that when Jack and Miranda fight, when you side with one of them you may lose the loyalty of the other. I remember siding w/ Miranda but I didn't lose Jack's loyalty.

makes sense as I did side with Miranda. Of course I was trying to set the stage for the two of us to explore her galaxy later.

 

[brblx]

that's weird that she's still loyal for you. i sided with jack because miranda reminds me of claire from 'lost.' and now she's just being a wise and beautiful woman and i may just let her die if that's how this is supposed to work out.

i've read that you need like 75% paragon or something to be able to keep both their loyalties. if you don't have it, you have to wait until 100% or something more absurd. to get their loyalty back.

i've said fuck it and just going renegade now. i enjoy throwing people out of windows and punching women in the face.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I hear that when Jack and Miranda fight, when you side with one of them you may lose the loyalty of the other. I remember siding w/ Miranda but I didn't lose Jack's loyalty.

Hi spoilers?

makes sense as I did side with Miranda. Of course I was trying to set the stage for the two of us to explore her galaxy later.

Again WTF...

 

[sourceninja]

Hi spoilers?



Again WTF...

Seriously, you had no idea a bioware game would let you pick from a bunch of hot chicks to have sex with?

 

[gorcorps]

that's weird that she's still loyal for you. i sided with jack because miranda reminds me of claire from 'lost.' and now she's just being a wise and beautiful woman and i may just let her die if that's how this is supposed to work out.

i've read that you need like 75% paragon or something to be able to keep both their loyalties. if you don't have it, you have to wait until 100% or something more absurd. to get their loyalty back.

i've said fuck it and just going renegade now. i enjoy throwing people out of windows and punching women in the face.

Ah, I had pretty high Paragon so that's probably it.

 

[gorcorps]

Hi spoilers?



Again WTF...

Hardly a surprise or a plot twist in any way. Jack hates cerberus and Miranda works for them... to think it's a spoiler that they yell at each other is absurd.

The fact that you can buy a hampster was more of a surprise than that.

 

[AeroEngy]

Also read that resources are a PITA. I fully scanned the first 3 planets I could around Omega and already grabbed over 30K in platinum. Launched at least 30 probes per planet.

I probably only use 15-20 per planet. Like some other have said I use the both sticks to the right and go in circles method only on good/rich planets. However, I will not launch a probe unless the "spike" on the graph is at least ~75% to the top. I can still deplete a planet, it only takes a couple of minutes each, and I haven't ever felt like I need more resources for anything ... except money to buy the damn upgrades.

 

[Kev]

I bought the upgrade for the planet scanner, didn't really notice a difference. WTH is it supposed to do?


Did anyone see the advertisement of the Elcor Hamlet production? Hilarious