How many squadmates can die when everyone is loyal? | Suicide Mission | Mass Effect 2

[MoriShy]

I know there is or was a calculator for those questions but it was either removed or I can't find it. There is also no guide so far I know, and I don't have the time at the moment to figure it out myself ingame.

The scenario is: Everyone is recruited, everyone is loyal, the Normandy didn't got any upgrades, and I want the crew to die.

I have following idea how it could go, and I would like to know what you think and if you have any suggestion how to make it even worse:
-Jack, Legion and Thane die, because of no upgrades (Kasumi was spared, because she was chosen in the Oculus battle)
-Garrus dies, because he was sent into the vents
-The entire crew dies, because they were sent to the ship without an escort
-Zaeed dies, because the barrier failed
-Grunt dies while leading the other team

So, following squadmates should be alive before the final battle:
Miranda, Jacob, Mordin, Tali, Samara, and Kasumi

The real question is now because of the "Hold-The-Line-Meter".
Who should be taken (and therefor also survive) so most others who were left behind do die?
Mordin, Tali and Kasumi all have 1 survival point, while Miranda, Jacob and Samara have 2 points.
I would think taking two of the 2 point squamates would make the line weaker. Would It make a difference who of the three I pick, and would all three 1 point squadmates die?

[N7_Shadow]

Play the mission and make decisions based on what you want to do. If it doesn't work out, and you want to redo the mission, use this spoiler. It cheapens the experience if you use guides on your first try.


When asked who will lead (happens twice), choose either Miranda, Jacob or Garrus.

When asked who goes into the vents, choose Tali, Kasumi, or Legion.

When a biotic field is proposed, choose Samara, or Jack.

When choosing who will travel with you in this biotic bubble, choose based on their durability or ability to disrupt and distract enemies because they don't take cover, and thus will take hits on higher difficulties.

When asked who will escort the crew, Mordin, Tali, Kasumi, or Jack are good candidates for escort duty as they have low defense value for the final battle. I always send Mordin.

When asked who is to go with you for the final battle, don't take two strong heavy fighters, like Grunt and Garrus. Mordin, Tali, Kasumi, or Jack are ideal candidates to take because they have weak defense. However, the last time I played, I took Samara and Thane, and sent Mordin to escort the crew. Miranda was in charge of the defense squad. Everyone survived.

Note, Samara and Thane both have Throw, and I used the special skill to trip barriers. I was able to spam that with a very short cool down timer. This allowed Thane and Samara to push almost all of the Collectors off the platforms. If you are fast enough, Harbinger never gets a chance to assume control. It's not easy to do on Insanity, however, and if I remember correctly, I was only able to do that on one wave. Be careful with this. AFAIK, Samara and Thane are medium on defense. Grunt, Thane, Zaeed and Legion are heavy defense. I believe this is correct.

Weak defense = Mordin, Tali, Kasumi, Jack,
Medium defense = Miranda, Jacob, Garrus, Samara/Morinth,
Strong defense = Legion, Thane, Zaeed, Grunt

Pretty sure if you take 2 of the strong defense people with you, somebody is going to die. However, since I took a strong and medium, I think the only reason nobody died is because I sent Mordin (weak defense) to escort the crew. I am assuming that had I sent a medium or heavy defender, somebody would have died. I'm not sure, but it's possible that putting Miranda in charge also helped, because she gives your squad a bonus, but I don't know if that's true in this situation, when she's not with you.

After the mission, and you are back on the Normandy, talk to all the crew. This is after you are able to walk around the ship again. They all have something to say, except Kasumi and Zaeed.


As to your original question, it's literally possible for everyone, including Shepard, to die on this mission. However, if everyone is loyal, I don't think that's possible. So I'm not actually sure how many can die if you make every bad choice, but everyone is loyal.

Have fun!

[barzai]

Originally posted by N7_Shadow:

As to your original question, it's literally possible for everyone, including Shepard, to die on this mission. However, if everyone is loyal, I don't think that's possible. So I'm not actually sure how many can die if you make every bad choice, but everyone is loyal.

Have fun!

I've never tried to kill everyone including Shep while having completed the loyalty missions--without them it's fairly easy--but bear in mind that you don't need to recruit everybody, so from that perspective, it's easier to kill everyone off if you didn't recruit them in the first place!

Even in games where I'm playing "normally" I often don't recruit Thane or Samara, in part because I find their loyalty missions irritating. Not on account of what you're trying to achieve but just mechanically. I can't count the number of times I've blown Thane's mission because I couldn't fat-finger my way along the catwalks fast enough!

Obviously you can ignore the DLC Duo--Zaeed and Kasumi--and you can in theory leave Grunt in the tank and Legion in the lab.

That being said, you're gonna wind up with ten team members regardless owing to the underlying mechanics of the game, and without the backstop of lack of loyalty, it may well be impossible for Shep to die, since--at least according to the flowchart--you'd have to be down to 0-1 teammates, and any loyal members of the squad in the final stage of the mission automatically survive.

[Sultryhag]

IGN has a perfect guide on who to take

https://www.ign.com/wikis/mass-effect-2/How_the_Suicide_Mission_Works

Every reason for death and the choices are given

[Alex_x86]

Everyone can die on suicide mission except Joker. And yes by "everyone" I mean that Shep also can die