Dossier: Tali | Mass Effect 2 Wiki

Full Dossier: Tali Walkthrough

Getting Ready

In this Mission you will fight a lot of Geth. Powers like Overload or Disruptor Ammo are incredibly useful during this Dossier. Garrus can be a perfect choice to bring along, because of his passive that enables his Overload to one-shot the shield of lesser Geth Enemies.

Walkthrough

Head to Haestrom, located in the Dholen system, within the Far Rim cluster. Haestrom was a former Quarian colony, to which Tali and her team have travelled to stufy the things its sun is doing. The planet is now under attack by the Geth, and to make things worse, solar radiation on the surface is incredibly strong. Strong enough to overload your shields. You must run from cover to cover in order to survive. If you stay in the sun for a prolonged period, it will completely wreck your shields.

The first area, has no hostiles, move down the ramps to get past the sun until you reach a small building with a door on the right side. Enter it to salvage a damaged Geth, this action will yield you x3000 Credits. You can also find a Medi-Gel in a Med-Kit, and a Quarian log that plays on repeat in the room, that gives you some brief background on what has happened. 

Activate the gate controls to open the facility gate outside. Exit the building and go through the gateway and immediately get into cover, notice where the sun falls and where the Enemies are in cover. You will see a Geth Dropship arrive and deploy several Geth Troopers. Defeat them all.

More Geth will spawn from a doorway far at the end of the map as you move forward. There are now two paths forward to the other side of the map. Either path will get you to the next section.

• You can stay on the lower level: Stay in cover and one of your teammates will state that the sun is too bright and another way must be found. You can decide to continue or ignore. Duck to the right and you can scan the Heavy Pistol to obtain a Heavy Pistol Damage Upgrade and then get into the shaded cover at the bottom of the ramps. You can find a medical station with Medi-Gel at the top of the ramps. There's no more cover beyond this.
• You can head up the ramp: Leave your squadmates in shaded cover and run up the ramp into cover. Once in cover, you will come under fire so give your teammates a call and put them in shaded cover.
  Fight your way down to the spheres in the crates and take cover there. Put one teammate at the back and the other one further up on the next set. Once the attacking Geth are taken care of on the causeway, go back to where there is a ramp to your right with a medical station with Medi-gel.
  Take the ramp to the bottom and you can scan the Heavy Pistol for a Heavy Pistol Damage upgrade. Call your squadmates to your location at the bottom of the ramps and deal with any remaining Geth on the ground floor before moving forward.

After getting rid of the Geth, grab the crate of Refined Iridium located across from the down ramp, to obtain x400 Iridium. Watch out and keep to cover because there are Geth around the corner that are battling Quarians. In this area, you can find a salvageable Damaged Geth Hunter, that grants x6000 Credits and an M-9 Tempest.

Now it is advised to save before picking up the radio. Once you do, you are treated to a cutscene where you see the Quarian Marines battling the Geth. After the cutscene ends, you must retrieve two demolition charges to destroy a pillar. You will have to face Geth Destroyers, a Geth Prime and a few Geth Hunters.

You can find one charge in the garage located on the left, and the other one can be found inside a bunker straight ahead. Take the one on the garage first, because it's easier. You can't claim the charges while Enemies are still in the area, so there's no roundabout about it. After the cutscene ends, a wave of Geth spawns in front of you and Geth Troopers will spawn from the garage. Deal with the Geth in front of you first, and then start moving slowly towards the garage, while you battle the Geth Troopers.

Once you reach the doorway of the garage, more Geth will spawn inside the garage. There are Geth Hunters among them, try to focus on them if you spot them. After they are disposed of, enter the garage, and collect any ammo you find. You can find a med-kit containing Medi-Gel if you go straight ahead and then to your right. Up the ramps you can find another Medi-Gel, and Tali's journal, that tells you why the Quarians are in Haestrom. It is advised to save your game now.

Grab the first demo charge, as once you grab the first demo charge and head to the doorway, another Geth Dropship will fly in and deploy more Geth Troopers and a Geth Prime. So, take advantage of this knowledge, and place your teammates into cover behind the yellow vehicle before you trigger the Dropship.

Once you trigger the dropship, head to the back of the room as soon as possible, to get into cover near your teammates. This whole movement will make the fight easier, and after completing this battle, save your game. 

Now is time to head for the second charge, hidden in the bunker. Head left as you exit the garage, Geth Troopers will begin spawning from the direction of the second demo charge. Move forward towards the second charge, to end the constant spawning of Geth Troopers. Once you reach the point where the large Geth wave spawns, the constant Geth Troopers trickle will come to an end. 

You have three different ways to deal with the final wave, the one that includes Geth Destroyers.

• Take cover as soon as you see Geth spawning down the hill. Remain where you are, and use the distance to your advantage. Don't let the Geth Destroyers get close enough and once their shields are stripped, you can use Incinerate or shoot their tanks to make them explode.
• Run up to the stairs located outside the garage and take cover in the shade. There aren't many crates to provide cover from the sun, so it is just better off to run down the catwalk and into the room at the end. Once there, you can position a teammate here, preferably the one able to use Sniper Rifles or Assault Rifles. Open the shutters and go downstairs. Once you are on ground level, take out the Geth while moving from cover to cover.
• Return to the garage and place your teammates into cover. Move forward to lure the Geth Destroyers to the garage and take them out. Then move forward and peek around the corner at the Geth Troopers down the ramps. The Troopers will tend to stay in the lower area, between cover. Use the distance to your advantage to chip away their health. Return to the garage if needed to recharge your shields. More Geth Troopers will spawn to replace the ones you have kill. Carefully, move your squad forward towards the bunker using cover as needed. Once you get close enough to the building, the Geth Troopers will stop spawning.

Before collecting the second demo charge, and after you destroyed the Geth, there are several items you can pick from this area. You can find one crate of Refined Iridium containing x400 Iridium on a crane like object directly across from the garage doorway. Another one can be found under the overhead walkway near the bunker area. It can also be looted to obtain x400 Iridium.

There are also two Medi-Gels to collect, one is in a medical station in the bunker, next to the second demo charge, and the second one can be found upstairs, in the room with the shutter controls. You can also find a second console up the elevated catwalk, to access Tali's journal for more information about the Quarians motive to be on Haestrom. Finally, you can find some Power Cells, next to the second demo charge, in the bunker. It is advised to not collect it if you already think you have enough Heavy Weapons ammo, remember that grabbing them also restocks the ammo of all your other Weapons.

After you are done collecting items, save your game and then grab the second demo charge. A new wave of Geth will spawn outside the bunker room, Once you exit the bunker you will be ambushed by them. You can use one of these two tactics

• You can decide to remain in the bunker, taking advantage of the pretty good cover in there. Assuming the risk that the Geth Destroyers may get to close range or decide to flank you.
• Dash to the door ahead to your left and climb up the stairs to reach the room with the shutter controls. Open the shutters to pick off the Geth Rocket Troopers, and then many of the Enemies below. Although you may not be able to eliminate them all from this position, it may simplify the battle significantly.

Once you are finished with the Geth, move back to the pillar and plant the demo charges. You have 10 seconds to get away before there is a rather large explosion. Get behind some cover, NOT the pillar itself. 

After you past this door, you will enter a room containing a lot of dead Quarians, several dead Geth and a single Geth crawling towards the door. You can collect a lot of things in this room. 

If you scan the Disassembled Geth Rifle you will obtain an Assault Rifle upgrade, if you bypass the Ancient Wall Safe x6000 Credits, if you salvage the first Damaged Geth and second Damaged Geth you will obtain x3000 and x6000 Credits, respectively.

There is another one of Tali's journal for you to learn about the situation, and finally there's also another chance to pick up the Tempest SMG.

When you are ready, talk to Tali via the comm system to continue. You can talk to her about her Mission, her people and where she is. She has locked herself in the observatory at the far end of the colony, and most of the marines died trying to protect her. Tali unlocks the door and pleads with you to save as many marines as possible.

Past the door, there is a medical station with medi-gel. Head down the staircase, but be careful as you approach the doorway. You will face more Geth in the next area, and keep in mind that they will try to flank you. Geth Recon Drones, continously spawn in groups until you reach the other side of the area, and there are Geth Troopers and one Geth Prime patrolling the area. 

The first Geth you encounter in this area are the Geth Recon Drones. Focus on them because they can rip your shields. Use Overload an command your squadmates to take them out.

The Geth Prime and the Geth Troopers will come in while you are facing the Recon Drones, so shift to the Geth Prime once they enter the battlefield. As you move forward, the Geth Recon Drones' spawn point will keep moving further back in the room, however they will still keep spawning untilyou reach the other side and killed all the Geth in the area. You will know you are at the end because you will see a vehicle pointing towards a door. There is nothing to pick after the fight, so save your game and open the door.

You will find an Ancient Wall Safe, that can be looted for x6000 Credits and a medical station. Now you have to raise the shutters in the room by Lifting Security Lockdown. After you do so, a cutscene will play showing the vast amount of Geth blocking your way to Tali's position. 

The first thing you will notice is the Geth Colossus. This is a powerful Geth and has a unique self-repair ability. Once you regain control, if you have a Sniper Rifle, you can use it to pick off lesser Geth from the windows in the room, before exiting. Don't shoot at the Geth Colossus, because it will end up repairing itself. This will make your life easier in the upcoming battle against the titanic Geth Colossus.

The Colossus can fire a devastating pulse. The only way to avoid getting hit by it is to get in cover or to change directions at the right time, which is easier obviously at long range. The Geth Colossus will fire the pulse, whether it can see you or not, so listen for the "whistle" of the shot as it travels and wait for it to strike, to know when it's safe to move.

Go out the door and down the stairs, and you will encounter Kal'Reegar, the last surviving Quarian accompanying Tali. He tells you about the Geth Colossus and a large number of other units blocking the way to Tali. You can ask him about the tactital situation, and what the optimal strategy if for dealing with the Geth Colossus.

Before proceeding in any direction, take a moment to clean out the Geth approaching your position. 

The left path is well-covered from the Geth Colossus but is more vulnerable to the individual troopers. It is advised to take this path if your squad is well equipped in the Long-range weaponry department. You will eventually reach a covered area, to the left of the Geth Colossus. From here, you can shoot at it from cover, but be careful of the lesser Geth who might try to flank you. Position your squadmates so they can take put the regular Geth while you focus on the Geth Colossus.

The right path has a sniper's post and a lot of cover, on the other hand, you will be much more exposed to the sun, so keep that in mind. Clean up any Geth you can see up there before heading up the ramp. You can crouch along the guard rail on the left to protect you from the sun. This is a good path for combat oriented squads. There will be a few waves of Geth that will spawn in front of you, so keep on shooting them until you can reach the overlook above the Geth Colossus.

Once you reach the overlook, you can hide and shoot the Geth Colossus, to death with their regular guns at their leisure, just watch your back as another wave of Geth can appear from nowhere. If you are in the correct position, shots will be blocked by a pillar, and spawning Geth cannot approach directly.

If you go up the middle, it's suicide if you don't stay in cover. It can be done on lower difficulty levels. You have plenty of cover from the ordinary Geth, but the Geth Colossus has a firing solution on you whole time. Not advised to take this path on higher levels.

Pick your path carfully, thinking on the strenghts and weaknesses of your characters, and then continue the conversation with Kal'Reegar. Whichever path you choose, once you head down a little, a wave of Geth will come forward to attack, so don't rush in.

Continuing the conversation with Kal'Reegar, you can ask him to either provide cover fire with his missile launcher or tell him to stay down. He will say he can still fight if you tell him to down. However, you can perform a Paragon interrupt to persuade him to stand down. Keep in mind that if you let him take the Geth Colossus shield down to the point where it initiates self-repair, then after coming back online, the Geth Colossus will fire on Kal'Reegar and kill him. 

No matter what you decide to do, try to keep in shaded cover and avoid the Geth Colossus main cannon at all costs. The key is to advance slowly and steady, be patient on your approach, as either path has its pros and cons. If necessary, use Heavy Weapons, as you will find plenry of Heavy Weapons ammo following the fight.

The Geth Colossus is protected with heavy Shielding and Armor. If you do enough damage to its armor, it will collapse into a defensive position, enter into a repair mode to rapidly regenarate its shields. There's only one way to prevent this, is to fight your way in close and take it out with a sustained barrage of fire. So you'll need to take care of the lesser Geth in the first area to make sure you are able to do this. Keep in mind that the Geth Colossus tends to focus exclusively on Commander Shepard. After you destroy the Colossus, be sure to take down any remaining geth that you may have missed.

Collect all of the items in the area before entering the observatory door. You can find two Medi-Gel here, one next to Kal'Reegar and the second one located in the sniper's nest on the right side of the battlefield. You can find four crates of Redined Iridium for x200 Iridum each. You can find them located near the four crane objects around the battlefield. You can also obtain two Power Cells, one on the right of the observatory door and the other one on the wall opposite from the left of the observatory door.

After you finish your looting spree, enter the observatory. There you will find three disabled Geth platforms next to Tali. You can salvage x9000 Credits from a damaged Geth. If you are playing on Hardcore or Insanity difficulty levels, you can find an Intact Pulse Rifle, that rewards you with a Geth Pulse Rifle on another one of the platforms.

Talk to Tali to ask her about what she and her unit were doing here, and about what she has been doing this last two years. You can then ask her to join your cause. If you managed to keep Kal'Reegar alive, he will take the data and upload it, if you don't, then Tali will do it, expressing dissapointment about being the only survivor of the expedition. 

After this scene, she joins you and the rest of the crew in the Normandy. Jacob Taylor welcomes Tali, and although she is thankful for the rescue, she expresses concerns about working with Cerberus. She states that she will be allocated in Engineering. 

 

Video

[video goes here]

 

Map

[map goes here]

 

 

Trivia & Notes

• Notes and tips go here.