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
- Normandy Parts To Upgrade
- Team Member Loyalty Missions and Upgrades
- How To Make Everyone Survive The Final Suicide Mission
- Side Quests
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:
- Caleston Rift: Aysur Cluster – Planet Arvuna
- Caleston Rift: Balor – Caleston — 5,000
- Crescent Nebula: Lusarn Cluster – Planet Tarith
- Crescent Nebula: Zelene Cluster – Planet Helyme
- Eagle Nebula: Amun Cluster – Planet Anhur
- Eagle Nebula: Amun Cluster – Planet Sekhmet
- Eagle Nebula: Relic Cluster – Planet Preying Mouth
- Far Rim: Dholen – Gotha — 5,000
- Hades Nexus: Hekate – Bothros — 2,000
- Hades Nexus: Pamyat – Dobrovolski — 5,000
- Hades Nexus: Sheol – Gei Hinnom — 5,500
- Hawking Eta: Schwarzschild – Etamis — 5,000
- Hourglass Nebula: Faryar – Daratar — 6,000
- Hourglass Nebula: Osun Cluster – Planet Erinie
- Hourglass Nebula: Ploitari Cluster – Planet Thegan
- Krogan DMZ: Nith Cluster – Planet Mantun
- Minos Wasteland: Caestus Cluster – Planet Invictus
- Nubian Expanse: Kalabsha – Yamm — 3,000
- Omega Nebula: Batalla Cluster – Planet Nearog
- Omega Nebula: Batalla Cluster – Thunawanuro — 7,500
- Pylos Nebula: Dirada – Siano — 5,000
- Pylos Nebula: Satent – Boro — 6,500
- Pylos Nebula: Satent – Raisaris — 7,000
- Rosetta Nebula: Alpha Draconis – Aeia — 5,000
- Rosetta Nebula: Enoch – Joab — 5,000
- Rosetta Nebula: Enoch – Laban — 3,000
- Rosetta Nebula: Enoch – Mizraim — 2,000
- Sigurd’s Cradle: Decoris Cluster – Planet Sanctum
- Sigurd’s Cradle: Skepsis Cluster – Planet Watson
- The Phoenix Massing: Salahiel – Ekuna — 4,000
- The Shrike Abyssal: Urla Rast Cluster – Planet Talis Fia
- The Shrike Abyssal: Xe Cha Cluster – Planet Tosal Nym
- The Shrike Abyssal: Xe Cha Cluster – Planet Zada Ban
- Titan Nebula: Haskins Cluster – Planet Capek
- Valhallan Threshhold: Micah Cluster – Planet Farlas
- Valhallan Threshhold: Micah Cluster – Planet Israfil
- 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.
- Caleston Rift: Solveig System – Sinmara — Mining the Canyon
- Caleston Rift: Talava System – Taitus — Quest
- Crescent Nebula: Lusarn System – Tarith — Captured Mining Facility
- Crescent Nebula: Zelene System – Helyme — Endangered Research Station
- Eagle Nebula: Amun System – Neith — Blood Pack Communications Relay
- Hades Nexus: Sheol System – Gel Hinnom — Wrecked Merchant Freighter
- Hourglass Nebula: Faryar System – Daratar — Quarian Crash Site
- Hourglass Nebula: Ploitari System – Zanethu — Eclipse Smuggling Depot
- Minos Wasteland: Fortis System – Aequitas — MSV Estevanico
- Omega Nebula: Father – Lorek — MSV Strontium Mule
- Omega Nebula: MSV Strontium Mule — Abandoned Mine
- Pylos Nebula: Dirada System – Canalus — Lost Operative
- Rosette Nebula: Enoch System – Joab — Anomalous Weather Detected
- Sigurd’s Cradle: Decoris System – Sanctum — Archeological Dig Site
- Sigurd’s Cradle: Skepsis System – Franklin — Javelin Missiles Launched
- The Shrike Abyssal: Xe Cha System – Zada Ban — Blue Suns Base
- Titan Nebula: Haskins System – Capek — Abandoned Research Station
- Titan Nebula: Haskins System – Capek — Blood Pack Base
- Unknown — Imminent Ship Crash
- 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.