Mass Effect 2 Element Zero Locations, Upgrades and Side Quests Guide (Xbox 360, PC, PS3)

Mass Effect 2 on Xbox 360 In Mass Effect 2 finding the Element Zero locations, Normandy upgrades, and gaining team member Loyalty, are done to ensure everyone will survive the final mission to stop the Collectors. You also get money from doing more Side Quests (and thus can buy upgrades) and gain trust from doing all the tasks in this guide.

Please note: You must complete all these tasks before doing the Reaper IFF quest, because you can’t go back afterwards. Although after the Reaper IFF quest is done, logically you can do Legion’s Loyalty quest as you just added him to your team, but make sure to go save the crew immediately afterwards. Doing any other quests will result in starship crew members dying. Good luck Commander Shepard!

Table of Contents

Element Zero Planets To Scan:


The following listed planets will reveal a plentiful supply of Element Zero when scanned with the Normandy.

Tip to quickly scan planets by increasing rotation speed: Hold the left thumbstick to the far right, while at the same time holding the right thumbstick to the far right. Then pan right as far as possible, so the crosshair is on the right of the sphere. Raise and lower the cross-hair according to what you’re doing.

This video shows how to find a rich amount of Element Zero on one of the listed planets. In this case go to the Eagle Nebula, then the Relic cluster, and to planet Preying Mouth. Here’s the location video:

  1. Caleston Rift: Aysur Cluster – Planet Arvuna
  2. Caleston Rift: Balor – Caleston — 5,000
  3. Crescent Nebula: Lusarn Cluster – Planet Tarith
  4. Crescent Nebula: Zelene Cluster – Planet Helyme
  5. Eagle Nebula: Amun Cluster – Planet Anhur
  6. Eagle Nebula: Amun Cluster – Planet Sekhmet
  7. Eagle Nebula: Relic Cluster – Planet Preying Mouth
  8. Far Rim: Dholen – Gotha — 5,000
  9. Hades Nexus: Hekate – Bothros — 2,000
  10. Hades Nexus: Pamyat – Dobrovolski — 5,000
  11. Hades Nexus: Sheol – Gei Hinnom — 5,500
  12. Hawking Eta: Schwarzschild – Etamis — 5,000
  13. Hourglass Nebula: Faryar – Daratar — 6,000
  14. Hourglass Nebula: Osun Cluster – Planet Erinie
  15. Hourglass Nebula: Ploitari Cluster – Planet Thegan
  16. Krogan DMZ: Nith Cluster – Planet Mantun
  17. Minos Wasteland: Caestus Cluster – Planet Invictus
  18. Nubian Expanse: Kalabsha – Yamm — 3,000
  19. Omega Nebula: Batalla Cluster – Planet Nearog
  20. Omega Nebula: Batalla Cluster – Thunawanuro — 7,500
  21. Pylos Nebula: Dirada – Siano — 5,000
  22. Pylos Nebula: Satent – Boro — 6,500
  23. Pylos Nebula: Satent – Raisaris — 7,000
  24. Rosetta Nebula: Alpha Draconis – Aeia — 5,000
  25. Rosetta Nebula: Enoch – Joab — 5,000
  26. Rosetta Nebula: Enoch – Laban — 3,000
  27. Rosetta Nebula: Enoch – Mizraim — 2,000
  28. Sigurd’s Cradle: Decoris Cluster – Planet Sanctum
  29. Sigurd’s Cradle: Skepsis Cluster – Planet Watson
  30. The Phoenix Massing: Salahiel – Ekuna — 4,000
  31. The Shrike Abyssal: Urla Rast Cluster – Planet Talis Fia
  32. The Shrike Abyssal: Xe Cha Cluster – Planet Tosal Nym
  33. The Shrike Abyssal: Xe Cha Cluster – Planet Zada Ban
  34. Titan Nebula: Haskins Cluster – Planet Capek
  35. Valhallan Threshhold: Micah Cluster – Planet Farlas
  36. Valhallan Threshhold: Micah Cluster – Planet Israfil
  37. Valhallan Threshhold: Micah Cluster – Planet Kakabel

Normandy Parts To Upgrade:


If you want all your team members to survive the final battle, you’ll need to fully upgrade the Normandy.

Several upgrades can be researched to upgrade the Normandy SR-2 starship. By improving the weapons, armor, and shielding with upgrades you affect the success of the final mission. How it changes the ending of the game: For each upgrade you don’t buy, one team member will die during the Collector base attack. Upgrade everything to make sure all crew members survive the final battle. What upgrades to buy and all the equipment in the game is listed here:

  • Arms

Javelin Disruptor Torpedoes
Thanix Cannon (Garrus recruit upgrade, Cost: 15,000 Platinum)

  • Defenses

Multicore Shielding (Tali recruit upgrade, Cost: 15,000 Palladium)
Heavy Ship Armor (Jacob talk upgrade, Cost: 15,000 Palladium)

  • Propulsion & Power

Antiproton Thrusters
Fusion Plant
Tantalus Drive Core
Extended Fuel Cells (Samara or Morinth recruit upgrade, Cost: 3,000 Element Zero)

  • Sensors & Scanning

Modular Probe Bay (Thane recruit upgrade, Cost: 15,000 Iridium)
Advanced Mineral Scanner (Miranda talk upgrade, Cost: 15,000 Iridium)

  • Others

Stealth Systems
Med-Bay Upgrade (Dr. Chakwas email for Tech Lab research upgrade, Cost: 50,000 Platinum)
Reaper IFF

Team Member Loyalty Missions and Upgrades:


If you want all your team members to survive the final battle, you’ll need them to have full trust in you. Do the loyalty mission for each team member to solve their personal issues. Having a 100% Paragon or Renegade status will also help bring a tough customer like Jack back in line to be loyal again after a fight. And don’t forget to upgrade their stats all as high as possible to make them the strongest possible allies.

Tip to keep loyalty after completing all loyalty missions: It’s recommended to talk a lot to Kelly (the crew shrink) after each mission, as she might unlock the lip service dialog choice available when talking to arguing crew mates.

How To Make Everyone Survive The Final Suicide Mission:

Once you reach the Collectors base in the final mission. To make sure it’s not actually a suicide mission, you will have to send your loyal team members to do certain tasks in the following specific order for all of them to survive. These choices will come up as you play through the final mission…

1. Tali or Legion should go into the station’s vents to do hacks;
2. Garrus, Jacob or Miranda should lead the secondary squad;
3. Jack or Samara/Morinth should protect you with a biotic barrier;
4. Mordin (or Tali) should escort the starship crew back;
5. Miranda or Jacob (or Garrus) should lead the secondary squad the 2nd time;
6. Grunt, Garrus or Zaeed should hold the line. Make the defenders team rear guard you.

Side Quests:


There are side quests galore in Mass Effect 2. In the below overview of their locations, you’ll find the nebula, system & planet names followed by the side quest in question.

  1. Caleston Rift: Solveig System – Sinmara — Mining the Canyon
  2. Caleston Rift: Talava System – Taitus — Quest
  3. Crescent Nebula: Lusarn System – Tarith — Captured Mining Facility
  4. Crescent Nebula: Zelene System – Helyme — Endangered Research Station
  5. Eagle Nebula: Amun System – Neith — Blood Pack Communications Relay
  6. Hades Nexus: Sheol System – Gel Hinnom — Wrecked Merchant Freighter
  7. Hourglass Nebula: Faryar System – Daratar — Quarian Crash Site
  8. Hourglass Nebula: Ploitari System – Zanethu — Eclipse Smuggling Depot
  9. Minos Wasteland: Fortis System – Aequitas — MSV Estevanico
  10. Omega Nebula: Father – Lorek — MSV Strontium Mule
  11. Omega Nebula: MSV Strontium Mule — Abandoned Mine
  12. Pylos Nebula: Dirada System – Canalus — Lost Operative
  13. Rosette Nebula: Enoch System – Joab — Anomalous Weather Detected
  14. Sigurd’s Cradle: Decoris System – Sanctum — Archeological Dig Site
  15. Sigurd’s Cradle: Skepsis System – Franklin — Javelin Missiles Launched
  16. The Shrike Abyssal: Xe Cha System – Zada Ban — Blue Suns Base
  17. Titan Nebula: Haskins System – Capek — Abandoned Research Station
  18. Titan Nebula: Haskins System – Capek — Blood Pack Base
  19. Unknown — Imminent Ship Crash
  20. Unknown: MSV Broken Arrow — Hahne-Kedar Facility

Want a bigger guide? Visit our full Mass Effect 2 walkthrough.

Thanks to Earvcunanan for recording the scanning video.