#priority palaven

[acciokaidanalenko]

My grumpy boy on Minae 🥰

[enderevynne]

MASS EFFECT 3: LEGENDARY EDITION ➤ PHOTOMODE: Zeke PRIORITY: PALAVEN TEAM: Liara and James

ZEKE SHEPARD - ENGINEER - EARTHBORN - AKUZE SURVIVOR -

[lavampira]

okay but malena as a vanguard is absolutely fascinating to me because it actually feels the most ‘tanky’ in not only gameplay but immersion as well

something about the way she charges at hard-hitting enemies, using as much brute force as possible combined with a shotgun to the face, even going as far as using her own biotic barrier - the thing that keeps her safe - as a weapon to keep everything ahead of her squad, so they can stay in a safer cover or sneak around and pick off the stragglers. she has tactical understanding and command of the entire battlefield regardless of the high risk to get a mission done.

and it feels so involved when npcs make reactive comments like “shepard’s here, I need back-up, now” or “shepard’s tearing us apart” or “oh shit, it’s shepard” on quests like in arrival or on mars when she is only seconds from soaring into their space and decimating them with full force

[missgamerin]

Mass Effect 3 Scenery I Priority: Palaven - Menae

[lulii999]

‘Priority: Palaven’ was one of my favourite ME3 missions for uhh…many reasons. 👀

(IM SO HAPPY WITH THE WAY GARRUS TURNED OUT THOUGH I COULD CRY)

[felassan]

Story elements, Campaign Map, and Garrus character sheet from the Mass Effect The Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz Rulebook [source]

bonus: move names of Garrus' and Wrex' that just made me happy :)

Text version of first three images under cut -

Opening blurb:

"In the year 2186, the civilizations of the galaxy are at war with a relentless, artificial enemy called the Reapers. Commander Shepard’s warnings of their arrival were all ignored, and now the Reapers have invaded the galaxy in force, crushing all resistance. Earth has fallen. Palaven, the turian homeworld, is under siege, and their military might barely holds the enemy at bay. The Reapers are pressing into the galaxy on all fronts, and it is only a matter of time before the races of Citadel Space are crushed beneath their onslaught. But there is still hope. Commander Shepard has assembled a crew of trusted allies aboard the Systems Alliance stealth frigate, the Normandy. They have the schematics for the mysterious Prothean superweapon, the Crucible, but constructing it alone will not be enough. Shepard and the Normandy crew are racing to forge alliances, build a unified front capable of defeating the Reapers before they overtake the galaxy and complete their harvest of all biological life. All the while, the insidious terrorist organisation Cerberus advances their own agenda of human supremacy at any cost, led by the mysterious Illusive Man and his army of ruthless operatives."

Note from Admiral Hackett:

"“Commander Shepard, Since you took out the Cerberus lab on Sanctum, N7 Special Forces have hit every other lab we could find. Cerberus has caught on and moved their research efforts off-world. They’ve retrofitted one of their cruisers as a mobile research facility and now keep it on the move. I’ve received reports of more abductions, like the one you stopped on Benning, and several refugee ships have unexpectedly dropped off the grid. Cerberus could be holding those abductees on that cruiser as hostages, or worse, as test subjects. Their latest hiding place was the storm above Hagalaz. Taking a page out of the Shadow Broker’s book, I suppose. We only found them because the cruiser appears to have suffered a massive systems failure and crashed on the night side of the planet. Although these nights are a lot longer than Earth’s, unfortunately it’s almost morning and daybreak will bring the most powerful storm on the other side of the Attican Traverse. The Normandy is the only Alliance ship in range. I need you to see what Cerberus was up to. Interference from the storm is degrading comms, so there’s no way Cerberus can get their research off-planet except by portable data transfer. We have recovery assets on the way, but they won’t arrive until after the storm hits and tears that ship to pieces. Shepard, your orders are: Whatever you do, keep that research data out of Cerberus’ hands. When the storm is over, I don’t want them to recover their work from the wreckage. Denying them those assets will be a major blow. Retrieve the research if possible, or destroy it if there’s no other choice. Alternatively, find a way to fortify the ship until the fleet arrives. If you find prisoners along the way, get them out of there. The storm is coming, Shepard. Get it done.” – Admiral Hackett"

Note from EDI:

"“Shepard, analysis of the crashed cruiser has isolated three primary objectives. The reactor, the research data core, and the kinetic barrier generator. You only have time to reach one of those before the storm arrives. Accessing the data core will allow us to steal Cerberus’ research, but they could salvage the ship’s wreckage after the storm has passed. Overloading the reactors will destroy the ship – and all hope of any data recovery or salvage. I am also detecting signs of the captives Admiral Hackett mentioned. By diverting power from the research core, you can boost the ship’s kinetic barriers long enough to preserve it and protect the prisoners until the Alliance arrives. However, if you do this, the data banks will be lost. The storm is only a few hours away, Shepard. I recommend moving fast. Displaying potential routes to each objective. The mission is yours.” – EDI"

[thefloatingstone]

Bro I literally just started Mass Effect 3 and I'm not even at Priority Palaven yet and I am already emotionally exhausted, how am I gonna do this

[edenprime]

Thats such a good question though like how do priority: palaven and priority: rannoch go without garrus and tali?

It never occured to me until now but yeah, it's 100% possible to make it to ME3 without them both, but it'd be so empty? From the player's POV, they are the ride or dies!

It might sound reductive, but a little bit of it is true. No matter how busy they are or what very good reasons they might have not to (tali in both me2 and me3 and garrus more in me3), they always join Shepard's mission. They don't leave their other responsibilities aside, but they still join up in the Normandy.

Tali's and Garrus' perspectives and cultures are completely different, as are their motivations and priorities, so the fact that they BOTH continue to choose to remain with Shepard must be so important to Shep? Hell, this is even acknowledged by the game, in ME3, when all three have their talk in the main battery. How would that go, without one or the two of them? How would Shepard feel?

Regardless of the nature of their relationship with Shepard, Garrus and Tali are a constant through the hardest parts of Shepard's life in the trilogy. The special goodbye is between the three of them for a reason, in my opinion.

Basically, what this all amounts to is that I can't imagine the story without those two next to Shepard.

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF PRIORITY: PALAVEN

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard, Lt. James Vega, Dr. Liara T'Soni, Garrus Vakarian, and EDI With: Flight Lt. Jeff "Joker" Moreau, General Corinthus, Primarch Adrien Victus, and Councilor Tevos War is your resume- and at a time like this we need leaders who have been through that hell. And honestly? Uniting these races may take as much strength as facing the Reapers. Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (2021)

+BONUS:

[katiemakena]

Priority: Palaven

[striderincosmos]

Codex Entry: Primer on Personal Weapons of Major Galactic Races

With the galaxy being as dangerous as it is, only about 35% of it falling under the Council-set guidelines of ‘Safe’, there is a remarkable industry centered around the production of small arms. Several megacorporations and conglomerates have made their name by having at least one company dedicated to providing the galaxy and its militaries with the tools of their trade. However, due to differences in mindsets and tactical priorities, each race’s arms have taken on one or more unique traits, covered below alongside prominent companies.

Human

Human arms manufacturers, such as Beretta-Benelli Arms and Colt-Smith & Wesson Americas under Hahne-Kedar, Hanwha Defense Concern and Howa Machinery under the Ryukami Zaibatsu, or more recent companies such as Jormungandr Weapons Design, largely prize versatility and ease of modification, allowing soldiers to adapt their weaponry to the circumstances presented by their battlefields and for personal preferences. Most human-designed weapons come with multiple firing modes, if not multiple types of ammo usage patterns to fit multiple barrels. It is not a stretch to say that every Alliance soldier’s weapon is unique, no matter how small the mod might be. Some of the most iconic human-produced weapons include the Lancer line of assault rifles produced by Howa Machinery and used by the Alliance military under the designation M-7, the rectangular, blocky K19 ‘Kessler’ pistol produced by HK and issued as a sidearm, and the Frontiersman line of civilian pistols and rifles offered by C-SW.

Turian

Turian weaponry, as exemplified by offerings from Armax Arsenal, Cipritine Armory, or Palaven National Defense, emphasizes precision and reliability of use, often renowned for their durability in the field. While most turian weaponry eschews fully automatic fire, the power usually used to sustain such fire is instead channeled towards the stopping power of their individual shots, or towards modifying the ammo for unique use cases. Notable turian designs include the Cipritine Armory Phaeston, nicknamed by humans the ‘Turian AK’, the Armax Khrysae sniper rifle, which includes an explosive ‘anti-material’ setting, and the PND Joruna submachine gun, tailormade to pierce through kinetic shields, biotic barriers, and armor while retaining a compact, security team-ready design.

Salarian

Salarian designs from companies such as Aegohr Munitions, Halana Tactical Council, and Jezzela Equipment put an emphasis on modified munitions and stealth, slotting in well with the UISC military focus on covert operations, surprise attacks, and maneuver-focused warfare. Such weapons are also favored by those less scrupulous types who wish to catch their opponents off-guard, allowing for a chance to either press the attack or escape. Example weapons include the Scorpion pistol supplied by Aegohr, capable of launching delayed or remote-detonation explosives, the Seeker battle rifle, which comes fitted with a VI that conforms the trajectory of projectiles with split-second activations of ME-fields to desired locations, and the Veil sniper rifle, built to ensure completely silent, unseen usage in the field.

Asari

Asari weaponry, as designed by what few companies like Relessa Defense and Shadowtree Limited there are, are a rare sight in the wider galaxy, both due to the diplomatic nature of the asari’s culture and the emphasis placed by the Asari Military Conclave on their inherent biotic prowess. However, weapons meant to work alongside biotic-focused tactics or make up for any situations where biotics would not be wise to use are found in the possession of most asari soldiers. These weapons are usually capable of being enhanced by biotic power as well, some eschewing the typical alloy mono-block ammunition design to act as amplifiers and foci for biotic power. Examples include the Relessa Acolyte heavy pistol, designed to break through shields and armor that impede biotic attacks, the Shadowtree Tempest assault rifle that acts as the standard platform of the Military Conclave, and the Pulsar biotic focus (or BiFo), fulfilling the role of a submachine gun.

Krogan

Krogan arms are, in most krogans’ words, ‘no frills, all thrills’. Whether they are produced by what manufacturing concerns like Aralakh Weapons Foundries still exist on Tuchanka, or in dozens of ‘homebrew’ manufactories spread across the galaxy alongside their creators and clients, krogan weaponry’s main focus is on raw stopping power, coupled with explosive potential. Examples include the AWF Ogre battle rifle, a two-shot powerhouse that creates rounds almost as large as pre-Mass Effect humanity’s gunpowder-driven bullets, shell casing and all, the Hurex Offensive Claymore shotgun and Graal spike thrower, and the Rachni hand cannon, developed by AWF during the war against its inspiration as a close-in weapon for those krogan found in the press against the creatures, or having charged into close combat against them. Sniper rifles and other long-range implements are a rarity among the krogan due to being regarded as cowardly, though personalized, usually hand-crafted examples exist.

Quarian

While the quarian people, their homeworld and most of their industrial base lost in the Morning War, largely use what weapons they can acquire from human, turian, asari, and salarian sellers, there are still examples of truly quarian craftsmanship that are created on what ships in their massive Migrant Fleet have been converted into mobile manufactories. Named after the ships that they occupy, Tenkelii, Jukoris, and Zebel, companies known among the Fleet as the Triumvirate, are the last bastions of the quarian’s unique style of weaponry. Instead of using alloy mono-blocks, quarian weaponry utilizes miniature plasma generators to create ‘bolts’ of plasma contained in ME-Fields, trading penetrating power for efficacy against shields, barriers, and synthetic targets. With ship bulkheads that the quarians want to minimize the risk of a breach within, and with the geth as their ancient foe, such weaponry is truly a fitting companion to those quarians who manage to acquire one. Examples include the Tenkelii Khalgetr assault rifle, unique in modern weaponry for its ‘particle beam’ mode, Zebel’s Reegar carbine, and the Ganetka pistol produced on the Jukoris.

[milkywayes]

i was tagged by @thefloatingstone to do this mass effect questionnaire! thank you!

under the cut cause it’s long.

1-3 is garrus. i love him an ungodly amount and he’s a squadmate in all three games so that’s what it is. i realize that’s boring though so i’ll state my second favorites:

me1: wrex

me2: tali

me3: james

4) widow

5) black widow

6) infiltrator or soldier. just let me use that damn widow.

7) i’ve thought a lot world-building wise about palaven, but we never got to go there (blessing in disguise as i suspect) so i’ll say sur’kesh. i’m also partial to illium just for the aesthetics.

8) uhmmm ilos

9) garrus recruitment. shocker

10) this game has so many good missions. i can’t pick. priority: geth dreadnought for the brief spacewalk and banter, maybe

11) HA. i’m sure you can guess

12) femshep/miranda

13) MAKO are you kidding

14) I feel like answering this question would be very unwise. you are welcome to infer whatever scandalous opinions i might hold from this.

15) underrated!! most characters seem to be very beloved so i’m not sure. i’ll say ashley.

16) - 17) N/A

18) sr2 because it’s fun but my shepards always prefer the sr1 lol.

19) destroy all the way.

20) paragade

tagging: @gammaraydeath @lilmissnatcat24 @westernlarch. no pressure as usual!

[ferniliciousness]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

Was tagged by @nowandthane Thank you :) You tagged me over a week ago, but I saw someone else do it and just remembered 😅 Covid brain.

I am a fan since: July 2023

Favourite game of the series?: Dont hate me for this, but its Mass Effect 1. The others have better mechanics, but the storyline and just pure variety and choice you have in one, not to mention THE MAKO! just makes me love it so much. And I'm saying this as someone who has yet to even romance anyone in 1.

MShep or FShep?: FShep hands down. Have never even contemplated playing MShep lol.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: Ive been Earthborn 2 or 3 times but I also enjoy Spacer.

Biotics or Tech: Tech. I am a tech girlie through and through. Ive only played a biotic class once. It was fun but I still prefer tech.

Paragon or Renegade: Paragon hands down lol. Sometimes a pit of Paragade but I'm too nice to be mean to people.

Favourite Class: Engineer or Soldier. I love the tech powers of Engineer but I also love my assault rifles lol

Favourite Companion: Tali, hands down.

Least favourite Companion: Jacob.... do i need to say more.

My squad selection: ME1- Garrus and Tali or Wrex, ME2 Garrus and Tali or Mordin, ME3 Garrus and Liara

Favourite In-game romance: In case you couldnt tell from above, cough, its Garrus lmao

Other pairings I like: Garrus is the only romance I like for the first two games for femshep, but Traynor <3, the amount of times I have almost broken up with Garrus for her is insane.

Favourite NPC: Kal'Reegar

Favourite Antagonist: TIM

Favourite Mission: Priority Palaven. As a Garrus romance it has one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Tali's, I love the ship and the drama if you bring Legion

Favourite DLC: Citadel

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: Destroy, everytime

Favourite Weapon: M-96 Mattock, best part of being a soldier

Favourite Place: The migrant fleet from Tali's loyalty mission.

A quote I like:  "Your best has my mandible on the floor. Damn."

[veshialles]

Priority: Palaven - The Battle Of Menae

[dispatchwithlove]

I just got into the Mass Effect series and I finished up 1 and 2 by the time I slipped into Shakarian Hell (I am so at home omg this ship) and at first I was confused by the amount of soft Shepard when she was so gruff both games. Now I'm playing 3 and finished up with Priority: Palaven and I finally get why Shep is softened so much in fic ;_; holy crap she's going through so much and Vakarian being right there for her the way he is during the game is just...wow. Wow. I'm in love, Your Honor.

Welcome to the fandom! I'm fairly new myself (my first play through was about 4 years ago). Listen, don't get me started on Shakarian, because those nerds have taken up too much of my time since I first stumbled upon them. They are the best ship. I love tough but nerdy boys and badass women, and best friends falling in love. I too am in love, your honor 😁 Regarding soft Shepard in fics, I think there's a few reasons you see it so often. 1. Yes, Shep needs some tlc. She goes through so much, has so much on her shoulders, and really deserves to be taken care of a bit, because fuck knows she's taking care of everyone else with every spare minute she has. And even soldiers have soft side. 2. A lot of fanfic is self service and therapeutic. We write, and read, what we need ourselves, and seeing a kind, caring, lovable guy take care of the woman he loves feeds our souls. We like to see it in fic because we all need it. And it's ok to admit that we need care, everyone needs to be taken care of at some point in their life. I fully support people writing and reading fics that fulfill this need. So, writing Shep as a bit soft so Garrus can take care of her when she needs him happens quite a bit... and I eat that shit up. 3. I'll speak to my own fics solely here: my detective au Jane Shepard is a cop, not a specially trained, hardass, take-no-shit N7 soldier, so I purposefully wrote her as softer. Yes, a homicide detective would see awful shit and be a bit "harder" than the average citizen, but at the end of the day she's a cop and cops are not on the level of special forces soldiers. BUT I still enjoy writing moments where Garrus takes care of her, because I think it's a really sweet way to show how much two people love each other. Whether canon or au, though, I think what most Shakarian people love most about Garrus and Shepard's dynamic is the mutual respect, and the acknowledgment that they're both capable, strong adults, but will be there to carry each other when they fall. And last but not least, if you're looking for some harder Shepards that are more in line with badass canon Shepard, I recommend the fics below. Both authors have written Shepard as incredibly capable, badass, and still manage to weave in some vulnerability and tenderness between her and Garrus. They're two of my favorite fics: New Game, by Alden

Two Strangers Meet at the Edge of the Galaxy by @dulcidyne

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 3, exploring and Priority: Palaven:

-Broadly speaking, many planetary descriptions are the same as they are in ME1 or ME2. Some have minor differences.

It’s disappointing. The descriptions have always been an excellent opportunity for world building and ME3 barely utilizes them.

Harsa

-Khar’shan – It’s implied that the reign of the Hegemony is over. Whatever the future may bring, the batarian government will be different.

It’ll be interesting to see if the next Mass Effect game holds to that or not.

Annos Basin

-Sur’kesh – The salarians avoid overpopulation by careful breeding rules.

I suspect part of their frustration with the krogan is the krogan’s refusal to do the same. After all, both species lay eggs. If the salarians can maintain a steady population, why not the krogan?

I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but the salarians likely consider those bits irrelevant.

-The salarians are noted as an amphibious species.

Trebia

-The turians classifying information about their moons is amusing. I’m sure records already existed in other species’ systems; did classifying them actually accomplish anything?

Also, how hard is the information to refind? We calculate information about solar bodies that we will never reach in our time. Surely doing so for Palaven’s moons is even easier when you can just swing by a mass relay to observe them first hand.

-Menae – Shepard has no dialogue choices on the shuttle but speaks plenty.

I don’t plan to mention this every time it comes up, but the lack of control of Shepard in this game is grating.

-The turians are under attack and scraping by, so of course Shepard will loot multiple weapons and mods. I’m sure they won’t mind.

-Speaking of, the interaction sensitivity in ME3 is turned down way too much. You have to get very close to an item for it to alert you. The sensitivity in ME2 was much better.

-You should be able to speak to General Corinthus after the initial dialogue with him.

He could provide a lot of additional information and lore on the turian military and current situation. Huge missed opportunity by Bioware.

-Why are the primary enemies husks?

The Reapers are actively fighting the turians. Palaven is right there. We should primarily be fighting marauders.

-You get no additional information on what Taetrus is or why Victus was there, so if you’ve never read up on the Cerberus Network screw you. Figure it out by context.

I’m actually okay with that part – Shepard should know what Taetrus is. However, Bioware could easily have tweaked the dialogue to make it more clear for players and should have added a codex entry on the Taetrus war.

-I’m puzzled at why Victus’ actions on Taetrus are considered so radical.

He let the separatists and the salarians wear each other out, then swooped in and took both out.

Isn’t that what Palaven did during the unification wars?

Palaven remained neutral, let the colonies wear themselves out fighting each other, then swooped in and forced them to make peace and rejoin the Hierarchy.

If anything, Victus’ actions should be considered traditional.

-What’s the point of sending Liara back to the Normandy because it’s behaving strangely?

She’s not an engineer. She’s not even especially good with technology. She sent Shepard to hack those terminals in ME2 on Illium because they’re better at it than her.

I suppose that after the Collectors invaded the Normandy in ME2 it’s not unreasonable for everyone to be a bit jumpy and want a strong fighter on the ship.

-How do the turians feel about Garrus so easily falling in line with Shepard?

He’s clearly high ranking now, but he recognizes Shepard as a superior and accepts their orders.

Sure, Shepard’s a spectre and a war hero but that must still seem strange.

-As many have said, the image of Victus facing Palaven as he processes that he’s the primarch now is powerful.

-On the way to Victus, James mentions the lack of batarians and krogans at the war summit. They should be there as strong fighters.

The batarians are out of the picture because the Hegemony is effectively destroyed. The krogans hate turians and salarians and therefore won’t attend.

Then Victus immediately says the krogans will be needed.

Good foreshadowing on Bioware’s part, and Victus has already been established as a loose canon so it feels natural.

-What is Garrus’ title while he’s on the Normandy with Shepard?

He continues to be Victus’ advisor so there’s presumably some formal arrangement between the Hierarchy and Alliance that Shepard doesn’t care about.

Ambassador? Seconded? Detached?

Normandy

-Hackett acknowledges that everything he does is just a delaying action to build the Crucible. The war will not be won head on.

-Once again, the dangers of building the Crucible when nobody knows what it does is raised. However, there aren’t any better options so build it it is.

And they wonder why the other species are reluctant to join in?

-Hackett says that Cerberus does not have humanity’s best interests at heart.

Considering that Arrival is supposed to be played last in ME2 and it ends with Hackett saying that at least Cerberus is doing something about the state of the galaxy, that’s quite a turn around.

It feels like the writer of ME2 and ME3 were working from different scripts. Which is bizarre, because they’re mostly the same writers.

-Shepard mentions that TIM wants to control the Reapers. Hackett dismisses it; the war will end with dead reapers.

This is what I mean by the endings are not a natural extension of the game. This is the perfect opportunity to hint that Control might be viable – either by Hackett suggesting that TIM might be on the right track or Shepard pushing back that they think it may work.

But the way the scene plays out, Control is treated as failure state. Of course players reject it as valid choice. The game tells them it isn’t one.

Codex

-The Codex says that Reaper capital ships are created from one species each cycle.

It also says the Reapers have lost multiple capital ships this cycle.

That must be extremely heavy losses for them.

-The entry for krogan ancient history mentions Kalros to explain why krogan architecture can withstand vibrations despite Tuchanka not having many earthquakes.

Once again, good foreshadowing by Bioware. This is mentioned well in advance of Priority: Tuchanka.

-Why is Garrus referred to as a combat engineer? He’s an infiltrator.