Collector Base: The Long Walk | Mass Effect 2 Wiki

Full Collector Base: The Long Walk Walkthrough

Getting Ready

You obtain this Mission once you have managed to infiltrate the Collector base successfully during Collector Base: Infiltration.

You enter a room that has colonists and the whole Normandy crew inside of pods. After walking around, you will encounter someone familiar inside a pod:

• If you went to the Collector Base immediately after the abduction of the Normandy Crew, you will find Lilith from Horizon.
• If you did one or more Missions after the crew was abducted, you will find Kelly Chambers in the pod.

Whoever is in the pod screams as she is liquefied and dies a horrible death. Depending on how fast the approached the Collector Base Mission, either the whole crew  is saved, half the crew or just Doctor Chakwas.

The Doctor is thankful or angry with you, depending on how much of the crew is saved, and proceeds to explain what the Collectors have been up to. They are processing Humans into paste of genetic material, that get sent into tubes to another part of the station. So you conclude that you must follow the tubes to reach the objective, but EDI warns you that there only available route has too many Seeker Swarms for Mordin's countermeasures to work.

This leads to the idea of a small biotic field that would allow a small squad to get past the Seeker Swarms. Miranda Lawson volunteers once more, but again, the decision is yours. 

Ideal Choices: Jack, Morinth or Samara (If their Loyalty Mission, haven't been completed, whoever you choose will die)

EDI also points out that there is another path that can be used as a distraction. You must decide now who should lead this second team.

Ideal Choices: Garrus, Jacob Taylor or Miranda Lawson (If their Loyalty Mission, haven't been completed, whoever you choose will die except for Miranda Lawson)

After both decisions have been made, Dr. Chakwas asks about the crew and their route back. So there is another decision to be made now, choose an escort for the crew or not, and if you do, who will be the one acting as an escort. This can play out in three different ways:

Ideal Choice: Any loyal teammate that was not assigned another task (Mordin, Jack, Tali or Kasumi). Whoever you choose, won't be available for the remainder of the Mission.

Non-Ideal: Any teammate that is not loyal, will allow the crew to survive, but the teammate won't make it.

Not Assigning an Escort: Doing this, will end badly for the crew, and they won't be able to survive.

After this you will have to select your squad, the Enemies will be the usual Collectors you have been facing, and Harbinger. The catch is that you only have a limited area to maneuver because of the swarms held at bay by your specialist's biotic field. 

Again, you will be facing Harbinger, and the lack of cover in this segment makes him even stronger. Kasumi Goto and her Flashbang Grenade can disable his attacks. So she is a really game-changer in this Mission. If it is upgraded to a high enough level, she can keep Harbinger neutralized indefinitely as long as she is alive. Tali or Legion can use their Combat Drone to distract Harbinger, although not as effective as Kasumi's grenade. 

After completing this section, you will have one more opportunity to change loadouts. Also, your Heavy Weapon Ammo and Medi-Gel will be restored to full capacity.

Walkthrough

You begin this Mission with the biotic specialist you  selected urging you to move while proceeding until reaching a corner. Make a save here, any final preparations should be made here. Once you are ready, select the specialist to move on. You will start to see the Seeker Swarms in all directions. Don't leave the bubble, if you do you will start to take damage until you die. This also applies to your teammates. 

If you are having trouble seeing or aiming because of the bubble, use your crosshairs and the Power Wheel to your advantage. This will allow you to pause time and locate Enemies easier.

You will eventually reach a point where you come under fire and the specialist needs to take cover. Do the same, and take cover to defend against the attacking Collectors. Harbinger will make an appearance,  and will be the only one to try to flank you. Don't let him because if he gets close enough, it will probably be game over. Once you defeated all the Collectors, save the game and select your specialist to move on.

After a short walk, you will be attacked again this time by Husks and Abominations. They appear at a certain distance, so you have time to kill them or thin their numbers before they reach your team. Then several Collectors will come out flying and one will be possessed by Harbinger mid-flight. This is a good opportunity to weaken and if possible, take a few of them out before they land. It is advisable, to use physic-based Powers because it will make them crash-land, and they'll have to take some time to recover, giving you and your team to dispose of them or take cover if needed.

Your biotic specialist, takes cover on a docked platform behind a pillar, while the Collectors land. 

Visibility, again, can be particularly bad at this point. You can use Harbinger's possession to your advantage as his flaming body is easier to spot than the regular Collectors. He will eventually possess them all. He doesn't take cover nor chase you past the pillar, so it makes this fight a pretty straightforward one. 

Keep in mind that your squadmates do not take cover effectively in this section and can be gunned down either by Harbinger or any other of his minions. This situation leaves you in charge of the heavy lifting, so be careful and play conservative without risking your life too much. Kasumi Goto is the best Anti-Harbinger teammate at your disposal. If you manage to disable him with her Flashbang Grenade you can focus on the other Collectors troops until you leave Harbinger alone. 

Once they are all gone, save your game and if you are lacking ammo, search the area for thermal clips before talking to your biotic specialist. Once you are ready, just prompt the specialist to move on.

As you start this third section, your specialist starts to wear out heavily and struggles to maintain the field active, but will still manage to do so. Eventually, the third attack begins. Take cover and this time, pay attention to the sides because you can be flanked. This time Husks, Abominations and a Scion will be the attackers. First, focus on the Husks and the Scions because they will attempt to rush you and if they manage to get close enough, you will be easily overwhelmed. Once they are down, focus on the one Scion. 

You can use the short wall located opposite to where your specialist takes cover, that provides adequate cover to protect you from the Scion. You can also deal with the Husks from this position. Note that your Heavy Weapon ammo is restored when you being the next part of the Mission, so take advantage of this. Don't hesitate to use Medi-Gel as needed, because the Scion can delay normal shield recharging with its attacks. 

If you are an Engineer, or decided to bring  Tali or Legion, the Combat Drone can be useful to keep the Scion distracted for a long period of time, allowing you to focus on the Husks or Abominations first. 

Once they are all gone, save your game and prompt your specialist to move on. Keep in mind, that before talking to the specialist is the last chance you have to make a manual save. 

The specialist is at its limits by maintaining the field and states the need to reach the end soon. You will find little cover in this next area. There are no more Collectors to face, only Husks and Abominations. This area is a long walk, these Enemies come from the sides, so the use of Shotguns is advised.

Once the door is in sight, the specialist states again that they need to reach it as fast as possible. This final part, turns into a race, as the specialist starts running to the end. When you leap over the barriers, a cutscene plays. 

The squad races down the ramp and the door is opened by a squadmate who runs ahead:

• If you have a non-loyal or non-ideal teammate taking charge of the barrier, the biotic falls from exhaustion and whichever squadmate is providing a rearguard is carried away by the swarm.
• If the chosen biotic specialist is loyal and ideal, they push the barrier back, sending the swarms and Collectors flying, and everyone manages to make it safely.
• Note that Miranda is unable to die in this section, so if she is put on your squad with a non-loyal or non-ideal specialist, the second squadmate is always the one to die.

The second squad radios that they are under heavy attack, then someone hacks the door to allow them in. Shepard covers them and as the leader enters they are shot, Shepard rushes to their side:

• If ideal: The leader shakes it off and survives.
• If non-ideal: The leader grabs their stomach and collapss to the ground. The shot is fatal and the leader dies in Shepard's arms.
  If you have only three members left in your party, any fireteam leader will survive - this is because you have to leave at least one to cover Shepard's squad.

Once the two teams regroup Joker reports on the status of whoever is escorting the crew back, then informs you that the Collectors are massing outside the doors. Regardless of which option is chosen, Miranda Lawson says that the rest of the team will stay back to cover Commander Shepard and a small squad.

You will have to choose again who to bring and to face the final battle, once you select your team you can give a little motivation speech. 

A platform comes near your position with three Collector Drones, this is a pretty straightforward part, take cover and use Powers and Weapons to deal with them. 

When you defeat them, a second platform will arrive with more hostiles, this time two Collector Drones and a Collector Guardian. Again, nothing you haven't faced before, there's plenty of cover, so choose a side to where you find comfortable. 

A third platform will come when you defeat the hostiles on the second one. This time again with three Collector Drones and Harbinger will immediately possess one. Deal with Harbinger first, as he will try to flank you while the other ones won't try to do it. Once they are gone, two platforms will join the main one at once. 

One platform carries two Collector Assassins and the other one brings Harbinger and a Collector Guardian. Harbinger will focus on you, and will be the most mobile of your Enemies, so try to deal with him first to avoid surprises. 

When you defeat all the Enemies, another platform joins in. Three Abominations and two Scions will arrive on this platform. Once you have dealt with them, you will find a console on the platform. Interact with it to activate the platform. Doing so will revive any downed teammate. 

You ask EDI what do the tubes lead, and the AI tells you that they are all leading to a super structure, both organic and inorganic... a Reaper! Commander Shepard looks up and states that it is not a common Reaper, a Human-Reaper. Your platform then joins a bigger platform, directly below this monstrosity. You learn that the Collectors were processing Humans in order to complete this Reaper. 

After the conversation with EDI is over, a platform will join yours bringing 3 Collector Drones and Harbinger. Once they are all down, the four tubes injected into the Reaper are exposed. Shoot one until it explodes. The other three will be protected again, and another platform will arrive, loaded with 2 Collector Drones and 2 Collector Guardians. 

Again, once they are down, the tubes are exposed again and you can damage them. Focus on one to make it explode.  More Collectors will arrive now., this time two Collector Guardians and a Collector Assassin, who will probably be possesed by Harbinger. Again, the injection tubes will be exposed, destroy one.

Collector Drones will come flying to the main platform. One from the front, and one from the left, destroy the final tube, a cutscene will play out. You will see the Human-Reaper falling, and Commander Shepard contacts the other team to learn about their status and informs them to head to the Normandy. Commander Shepard gets in touch with Joker telling him to get the ship ready because he is about to "overload this place and blow it sky high". EDI patches through a communication from the Illusive Man, he tells you that you don't need to destroy the base but with the use of a timed radiation pulse, you could get rid of the remaining Collectors but leave the technology and machinery intact.

The conversation revolves around the Illusive Man's idea of using the base to humanity's advantage, until you have to decide to destroy the base or backpedal and decide to keep it.

• Destroy the base: If you decide that no matter what the Illusive Man says, you still think the base should be destroyed, the Illusive Man will start to get more and more irritated with such decision. As her superior, he orders Miranda Lawson to stop you from blowing the place up, to which she replies that she is resigning from Cerberus. This makes the Illusive Man to turn to Commander Shepard again, and starts babbling about what's at stake and what Cerberus has done from you before Miranda cuts the communication channel and hands you a device to blow up the place in ten minutes (Although there's no timer or nothing of the sort). You get +23 Paragon Points.
• Keep the base: If you decide to keep the base by instead using a timed radiation pulse as the Illusive Man suggested, one of your teammates (Not Miranda Lawson if you brought her along), will protest against this route. The Illusive Man believes that you are granting humanity an extremely valuable asset against the war with the Reapers. Miranda Lawson hands you the device emit the radiation pulse. You earn +23 Renegade Points.

Regardless of your choice, you will face the final boss of the game, the Reaper-Human Larva. It emerges from the void in fron of you and its main attack is shooting beams from its mouth after charging up for a few seconds. Its weak points are easilty noticeable because they glow up in orange, they are the eyes and a big circle on its chest. The Reaper-Human Larva will lean back and forth from the platform and Collector Drones will appear to complicate things. When you have dealt 50% damage to the boss, Harbinger will also join the fight. He will be, as always, the most aggressive Collector present and try to go after you most of the times to flank you. Deal with him and any Collector he possesses as early as possible. When there are no more Collectors around, keep hitting the weak points of the boss.

When the Boss is around 15%-25% health, a new wave of Collectors with Harbinger will be summoned. Deal with them using the usual tactics. Eventually, the Boss will fall and you will be treated to the final cutscene of the game.

The Reaper-Human Larva falls and after a few explosions, the team gets in contact with Joker who tells that all survivors made it back safe. Harbinger then talks about how your actions changed nothing and humanity now has the exclusive attention of the Reapers. This happens while you are being chased by a group of Collectors. The Normandy emerges and your team enters it while Joker provides back up fire. The ship flies off and away from the Collector base, just in time. Harbinger states that you have failed and they will find another way, and releases control of the possesed Collector while the base blows up and is engulfed in flames.

The scene changes to the Normandy, Commander Shepard enters the Communication Room, for a final conversation with the Illusive Man.

• If you decided to destroy the base the star behind the Illusive Man will be blue. He will be visibly angry towards you, stating that you are making a habit of costing him more than time and money. He proceeds to argue that Cerberus is humanity and your decisions are simply too idealistic, that he should have known you'd choke on big decisions. Commander Shepard asks Joker to cut the communication  and lose the channel. 
• If you decided to keep the base, the star behind the Illusive Man will be colored red. He has a friendlier attitude towards Commander Shepard and compliments his decision. Once the conversation is finished, the Illusive Man looks at the hologram of the spared base and grins.

The scene drifts to the Normandy:

• If everyone survived, Commander Shepard is seen walking and acknowledging his teammates and heads to a window to look to the space, after Joker hands him some Reaper schematics.
• If any of the crew members died, Commander Shepard will be seen mourning over their caskets.
• If Commander Shepard died, Joker will be seen standing over his casket.

Somewhere else, hundreds or thousands of Reapers are seen heading towards the Milky Way, paving the way for the final part of the trilogy, Mass Effect 3.

 

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Trivia & Notes

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