Loyalty Missions in Mass Effect 2, are a type of quest unique to each Companion that once completed unlock that companion's fourth Power as well as an alternate outfit. Loyalty also grants an extremely important effect on the final Mission of the game.
Powers unlocked through Loyalty Missions can also be learned by Commander Shepard. To do so, you have to use the Advanced Training research upgrade, though only one may be learned at any given time of the total 14 available.
You can also access one of these 14 Powers available, when creating a new Commander Shepard or when importing one from the original Mass Effect.
Acquiring Loyalty Missions
After completing the Mission on Horizon, you will be informed by Kelly Chambers that members would like to talk to you. The trigger for Loyalty Missions is more or less the same: you have to complete a Mission or an Assignment that ends with a "Mission Complete" screen. (Small Assignments from the Normandy, Omega, Illium, Tuchanka and the Citadel do not count as triggers for the Loyalty Missions).
The Loyalty Mission for Grunt, Legion, Tali, Thane and Samara have an additional trigger. If by that point, all but one character has been recruited and all other squad members' Loyalty Missions have been completed, then the Loyalty Mission of the aforementioned character will become available directly after them joining the crew.
Availability
The 10 Loyalty Missions will be acquired in the following order:
Zaeed Massani's and Kasumi Goto's Loyalty Missions work differently than the members in the base game. Their Loyalty Mission becomes available upon recruitment.
Note that if you do not recruit a certain member, their Loyalty Missions will be skipped and the next one from the aforementioned sequence will be available for completion instead.
You will acquire the skipped Loyalty Mission after completing an Assignment or Mission upon recruiting that squad member. For example, if you have Garrus' and you haven't recruited Samara, you will get Tali's Loyalty Mission instead.
Choices
It is possible to make choices during some Loyalty Missions that prevent squad member involved from becoming loyal, even though the Mission will be considered complete. These are the following:
Samara: If you don't attract or lose Morinth's attention during her mother's Loyalty Mission will cause Morinth to leave, preventing her from being trapped by Commander Shepard and Samara. This results in Samara not becoming loyal.
Tali: During her Loyalty Mission, by providing the evidence that Tali's father was guilty of treason will prevent her from becoming loyal.
Thane: If you don't update Thane during his Loyalty Mission while you are following Joram Talid, results in Kolyat killing Talid.
Zaeed: If you choose to save the workers during his Loyalty Mission, will prevent him from becoming loyal, unless you are able to use a high-level Charm at the end of the Mission.
Also, leaving him pinned under the beam will kill him at the end of his Loyalty Mission. However, this option will become available ONLY if you have already gone through the Omega 4 Relay, you chose to save the workers and have at least 2 more squadmates left.
Confrontations
After completing their respective Loyalty Missions, two pairs of team members will end up in an argument. These are:
- Legion and Tali: Legion scanned Tali's Omni-Tool to obtain information on the Flotilla and wants to transmit it back to the Geth.
- Jack and Miranda: They argue about Cerberus' and the Illusive Man's responsibility and involvement for the experimentation on Jack.
These confrontations will happen as soon as you return to the Normandy after completing the Loyalty Missions of both parties involved in the discussion. You will be brought in to settle the dispute and then, can choose to support one member over the other during the disagreement. You will lose the loyalty of the one you didn't support.
In order to calm both members, it is necessary to choose a Charm or Intimidate option. If you don't have enough Paragon or Renegade points, the options will be grayed out, forcing a choice between two squad members.
You have the possibility to regain the lost loyalty of a squad member with another Charm or Intimidate conversation option later. Keep in mind that the team member whom you did not support, will no longer respond to romantic overtures, even if their loyalty is regained at a later time. Losing the loyalty of the team member, will not result in the loss of their alternate outfit or special Power.
