The driving force behind the narrative of Mass Effect 2 is a mysterious alien race known as the Collectors, whose kidnappings of human colonists have increased since the destruction of Sovereign at the end of the get-go Mass Effect. A resurrected Commander Shepard is working alongside Cerberus to make up one's mind the Collectors' connection to the Reapers, and stop any machinations they have in the works. Much ofMass Issue two is spent recruiting a capable crew for the Normandy SR-2, and finding a way to traverse the Omega-iv Relay to infiltrate the Collectors' Base located near the center of the Milky way.

The 2nd installment of theMass Effecttrilogy concludes with a suicide mission through the Omega-four Relay to the Collector Base. This finale tin can have many different outcomes dependent on role player action throughout the game, as well as choices made in the roles given to squad members during the mission itself. Regardless of player choices up to this point, Commander Shepard is tasked with making a decision regarding the fate of the Collector Base: destroy the base and everything on board, or keep the base intact while eliminating the Collectors so Cerberus tin can salvage the engineering science.

Whichever selection the player makes will have consequences in bothMass Outcome 2 and3. Many of these are superficial, affecting the dialogue and cutscenes at the end ofMass Effect 2. The war confronting the Reapers inMass Result 3 is more tangibly impacted past the fate of the Collector Base of operations, though the difference between the two options can be considered negligible in virtually circumstances.

Destroying the Collector Base of operations in Mass Result 2

Choosing to destroy the Collector Base during the suicide mission is Mass Result'south Paragon option. Shepard is asked by the Illusive Man, Cerberus' enigmatic leader, to preserve the Collector Base for its valuable applied science. ThroughoutMass Effect 2, Cerberus is positioned as a necessary evil - an arrangement ultimately interested merely in preserving and uplifting humanity to a stature to a higher place the other alien races. Shepard's rationale behind destroying the base of operations is to rid the milky way of the site of horrific experimentation on the Collectors' victims, and ensure powerful technology does not detect its manner into the hands of an organization with questionable motives similar Cerberus.

While on the Collector Base, EDI hypothesizes that the Collectors are actually genetically modified Protheans, the historically dominant race annihilated in the last Reaper harvest. Prothean organic material was harvested roughly fifty,000 years agone and used to create the Collectors, indoctrinated slaves of the Reapers. Much the same is happening to the human colonists who take been taken by the Collectors, though choosing to destroy the base of operations is met with conflicting sentiments from team mates such every bit Garrus and Mordin, who point out the scientific value in preserving it.

Taking Mass Effect 2's Paragon route in destroying the Collector Base angers the Illusive Man, who now sits in front of a bright blue star and tells Shepard that the technology destroyed along with the base could have secured man potency in the Milky Manner against the Reapers and beyond. In a final act of defiance against Cerberus, Shepard tells the Illusive Homo that he's no longer calling the shots, and that Shepard is taking the reins to fight against the Reapers.

Preserving the Collector Base in Mass Outcome 2

Instead of blowing up the Collector Base, taking the skin-altering Renegade route has Shepard overload the base's systems with a radiations pulse, killing the Collectors but preserving the base itself. Contrary to Paragon Shepard's sentiments, a Renegade playthrough has the Commander generally ownership into the thought of Cerberus existence the best hope for humanity against the Reaper invasion. Shepard will keep the base of operations intact and then that Cerberus can recover the Reaper engineering science, which is more advanced than any gimmicky device in the Milky Way.

Choosing the Renegade selection withMass Effect ii'sCollector Base will similarly elicit opposed responses from squadmates who believe the testing facility should exist destroyed so that it doesn't remain as a monument to the experiments conducted by the Collectors. Tali and Jack, amidst others, will remind Shepard of the innocent lives lost on the base of operations when the player considers preserving the base of operations.

Discussing the event of the suicide mission with the Illusive Homo when preserving the Collector Base volition have him praising Shepard for doing what was necessary for humanity, all while seated in front of a dark red star. He mentions the technological leap will possibly be equally great as when the Charon Relay was discovered earlier the events ofMass Outcome, which propelled humanity into the interstellar age. Despite their compliance with Cerberus, Renegade Shepard still cautions the Illusive Man that the Reapers are however coming, and to non squander the opportunity the Collector Base gives him.

The Touch of the Collector Base on Mass Effect 3

The terminal event of Commander Shepard's decision regarding the Collector Base becomes clear near the end ofMass Event 3. Shepard infiltrates the Illusive Man's Chronos Station to retrieve the Prothean VI, Vendetta, which has cognition of the Catalyst, the final piece required to consummate the Crucible and end the state of war against the Reapers. During this mission to Chronos Station, every bit Shepard battles the now-indoctrinated ranks of Cerberus, what remains of the Human Reaper,Mass Outcome 2's terminal dominate, tin be seen.

If Shepard decided to destroy the Collector Base, only the Human Reaper's centre remains. If Cerberus was granted possession of the intact Collector Base of operations, much more of the monstrous machine volition be intact. These two outcomes directly translate into State of war Avails for combating the Reaper invasion. One time the mission aboard Chronos Station has been completed, the Alliance seizes all of the Cerberus avails on board and the player receives either the Reaper Eye or the Reaper Encephalon.

Destroying the Collector Base of operations and afterwards receiving the Reaper Eye nets 100 points toward the player'southward Military machine Strength, a measure of the accumulated War Avails which, forth withMass Issue's Galactic Readiness, determines how effectively the Citadel races can fight the Reapers. Preserving the Collector Base of operations and beingness awarded the Reaper Brain gives 110 points to Military Strength. Both values are quite high relative to other War Assets inMass Effect 3, but the difference of x between the ii is largely negligible.

In that location are enough of opportunities to secure War Assets throughoutMass Outcome iii, and since the mission to Chronos Station is mandatory for finishing the game, the decision to destroy or preserve the Collector Base has only a very small impact in the long run. However, for those invested in the story-telling of the trilogy, the outcomes of the decision are culminations of the Paragon/Renegade paths that tin can be taken in Mass Issue 2 . Commander Shepard's opinion of Cerberus, and outlook on the impending Reaper invasion, are solidified by the final major determination during the suicide mission.

Next: How to Go the Perfect Catastrophe in Mass Result 3

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Kyle Gratton (958 Articles Published)

I of Kyle's earliest memories is of watching his older brother play Ocarina of Time, which probably explains how he ended up as an Editor for Screen Rant'due south Gaming section. His tenure at SR began in late 2020 as a contributing Game Features writer earlier quickly becoming a Staff Author, a function that gradually progressed into an Editor position. A final Midwesterner who graduated from the University of Kansas, Kyle also has knowledge and interest in literature, pic, motion-picture show adaptions of literature, and history. When not talking well-nigh The Legend of Zelda, Night Souls, Mass Consequence, or some PlayStation exclusive, he'south probably droning on nearly the works of Cormac McCarthy, Frank Herbert, Stanley Kubrick, and Wes Anderson. Or he's trying to get you to watch Mad Men. He's a business firm believer in three hours being the perfect length for a movie, only thinks a lot of games are much too long. When not sedentary, Kyle enjoys traveling to the National Parks, seeing new cities, and has ambitions to explore abroad. Find him on Twitter @KyleGratton

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