Mass Effect Lockdown Guide (Race Against Time) Prep Tips

Mass Effect’s “Lockdown” sequence is the moment the story finally shifts from background pressure to an immediate, mission-at-hand situation. After you wrap up the earlier mission worlds, this section explains what to do during the Race Against Time Mission, which choices matter for your run, and what you’ll need to prepare for before the game effectively moves beyond this point.

Lockdown: What’s Coming and What You Must Prepare

This portion of the game functions like the start of the finale. It also represents the last stretch where you still have full freedom to explore and make choices within the game. Once the credits roll, you won’t be able to continue afterward—so you can’t rely on a post-game save to fix mistakes.

Backup your save and plan ahead. Since there’s no post-finale continuation, creating a save before you commit to this segment is strongly recommended.

If you’re looking for something specific, the guide breaks the content into jump-to sections covering mission stats, council briefing, Citadel side activities, escaping the Citadel, meeting with Captain Anderson, and what happens back on the Normandy.

Mission Stats
Report to the Council
Citadel Assignments
Escape the Citadel
- Our Own Worst Enemy
- Negotiator’s Request
Meet With Anderson
Back on the Normandy

Mission Stats and Required Skill Checks

Essential Stats

Persuasion Points: 8 Charm / 7 Intimidate
Minimum Decryption: N/A
Minimum Electronics: N/A

Report to the Council: The Citadel’s Response

After you finish the missions Find Liara T’Soni, Feros, Noveria, and Virmire, the next time you check in via the Galaxy Map, Joker notifies you that the Council has confirmed reinforcements for the Citadel. They want Shepard to return and speak with them face-to-face.

However, the moment you arrive, the Council and Ambassador Udina reject your warning about the Conduit. They claim the Reapers are a fabrication Saren used to distract them from his real objective: attacking the Citadel. In response, they decide to lock both you and the Normandy down.

At the end of this sequence, choose “You son of a bitch” to gain +2 Renegade Points.

If you’ve been pursuing a Romance path, you’ll also get a brief scene with your partner. It’s notable that this moment doesn’t actually influence the romance’s progression. Before anything escalates, Joker interrupts with an update: Captain Anderson has a plan, and he wants you to meet him in Flux.

Recommended Loadout

Unique Dialogue:
- Even though there isn’t any combat during this Citadel visit, one of the upcoming assignments includes unique dialogue if Ashley is in your Squad—so if you can, bring her.

Citadel Assignments: Final Side-Quest Window

Because of how Shepard leaves the Citadel during this stretch, this section is the final time you can start and complete every Citadel side-quest. Make sure you review the Citadel side-quests page and finish them all before you speak to Anderson in Flux.

Citadel: Side Quests

There is, however, one Citadel quest you may miss if you haven’t already handled it, plus two more that become unavailable unless you completed their objectives on their associated UNC Mako worlds:

Citadel: The Fan — If your last interaction with Conrad Verner wasn’t him asking for a picture, you won’t be able to complete this quest.
UNC: Asari Diplomacy — If you didn’t complete this assignment’s objective on Sharjila, this Citadel quest can’t be finished.
UNC: Missing Marines — If you didn’t complete this assignment’s objective on Edolus, this quest can’t be completed.

Escape the Citadel: Shops, New Side Quests, and Choice Outcomes

On the Normandy, a mechanic in the airlock has just one brief comment, but otherwise the ship’s routine doesn’t change much. Before you proceed, consider stopping by the shops one last time to grab Armory Licenses as well as Medi-Gel and Grenade Upgrades.

The stores available are:

The Requisitions Officer in C-Sec
Delan the Emporium Shopkeeper on the Presidium
The Volus Expat in the Upper Markets
Morlan’s famous shop in the Lower Markets

Our Own Worst Enemy

There are two new side quests you can handle. In the Upper Wards balcony, across from the entrance to Flux, you can find Charles Saracino standing with a group of protesters as part of the assignment Citadel: Our Own Worst Enemy.

Saracino leads the Terra Firma party, a “humanity first” organization pushing for more political power.

If you want to avoid politics in your playthrough, pick “Goodbye” to end the conversation with no XP and no Morality Points.
Otherwise, choose either “The ‘Appeasers’ are right” or “Earth must walk alone” to keep the conversation going.

If you didn’t choose “Goodbye,” you can then decide whether to back Saracino:

Choose “I won’t support you” to earn +2 Paragon Points.
Choose “You have my support” to earn +2 Renegade Points.
Choosing the similarly named “I can’t support you” option in the middle provides no rewards.

All three outcomes wrap up the quest.

Negotiator’s Request

The second assignment appears in the corridor leading to Flux on your way to Captain Anderson. There, you meet Elias Keeler, a negotiator who has run through his supply of legal mental stimulant and is asking for more ahead of an upcoming negotiation. This is the Citadel: Negotiator’s Request side quest.

You can approach it in a few different ways. If you choose “If you say so” or “No promises,” you can leave to pick up a Stimulant and/or a Depressant from Dr. Michel’s Med Clinic for 77 Credits each.

Here are the available ways to conclude the side quest:

If you pick “You’re an addict,” you can then select either:
- “Then the game is wrong” (requires 4 Charm), or
- “Don’t be an idiot” (requires 3 Intimidate),
to unlock additional actions:
- If you have 8 Charm, you can pick “You need help” for +8 Paragon Points.
- If you have 7 Intimidate, you can pick “No, you’ll go now” for +2 Renegade Points.
- You can still choose “If you say so” or “Then the game is wrong” to get Keeler something from Dr. Michel’s Med Clinic.
If you chose “If you say so” or “No promises,” you can go to Dr. Michel’s Med Clinic and buy either a Stimulant or a Depressant for Keeler for 77 Credits each:
- If you pick “(Give him the stimulant),” you receive a large amount of Credits. If you previously chose either the “Then then game is wrong” Charm option or the “Don’t be an idiot” Intimidate option, you also gain +2 Paragon Points.
- If you pick “(Give him the depressant),” you receive a large amount of Credits and +9 Renegade Points.

Meet With Anderson: Two Escape Routes

Once your last Citadel side quests are handled, head into Flux and find Anderson at one of the tables on the lower level.

Captain Anderson believes Shepard—finally—and he has two approaches to get the Normandy out of lockdown. You can either:

Break into a C-Sec-secured area, or
Hack Udina’s computer.

Choosing between them results in the same outcome: Anderson will hack Udina’s computer. He adds that he’d rather do it that way if you simply pick that option outright.

Interestingly, neither escape method grants Paragon or Renegade points, so you can go with whichever feels more comfortable.

Back on the Normandy: Conversations Before the Next Step

After everything on the Citadel is underway and you’re back aboard the Normandy, you can talk with Pressley, Joker, Chakwas, Garrus, your Virmire Survivor (if applicable), Wrex if he’s alive, Engineer Adams, and Tali. These conversations let you hear their thoughts on the plan to steal the Normandy.

If you want more help for Mass Effect, the guide points readers to additional pages covering Legendary Edition changes, how-to guides, key choices and consequences, romance options, walkthrough content, and side quests.

Mass Effect Lockdown Guide: What to Do, Choices That Matter, and Prep Tips

Lockdown: What’s Coming and What You Must Prepare