Mass Effect 2 Suicide Mission Guide: Every Combat in the Long Walk

IGN’s Mass Effect 2 wiki guide page breaks down the Long Walk section of the Suicide Mission, focusing on every combat stretch you’ll hit and the decision points that influence how many of your Squad Mates make it out alive. As a reminder, this portion contains spoilers for the Suicide Mission—though it only talks about specific results when those consequences actually happen.

Checklists and what this section covers

This page is built to help you plan your way through the Long Walk by explaining which options to choose so that Shepard and as many Squad Mates as possible survive. Getting the “best” outcome may not be possible if your earlier preparation wasn’t on point, but the guide aims to give you the information needed to make the most of whatever state your run is in.

It also assumes you’ve already completed the earlier parts of the walkthrough that brought you here—specifically the Tartarus Debris Field and Base Infiltration sections.

Looking for something specific? Jump to…

• Before We Begin
• The Rescue
• The Biotic Plan
• Escort Biotic Specialist
• Reunion

Before you move on: setup and expectations

Before you push deeper into the Suicide Mission, this section is meant to provide general guidance on the options you’ll face during the run—especially those that affect survivability for both Shepard and the people traveling with you. Even if you can’t fully guarantee survival for everyone due to earlier choices, the guide’s intent is to help you understand what matters most.

The Rescue: who lives depends on your pre-Relay work

After searching the nearby corridors, Shepard’s group reunites with the Fire Team and Vent Specialist, only to find survivors from the Normandy crew who were taken earlier by the Collectors during Joker’s Jump. The game reveals they’re still alive, but then a woman is dissolved into liquid form. With that discovery, the Squad scrambles to get the crew back.

Which Normandy personnel are alive is determined by how many Missions and/or Assignments you completed before using the Omega-4 Relay.

• If you used the Omega-4 Relay immediately, all of the Normandy crew survives.
• If you completed 1–3 Missions/Assignments before the Relay, half of the Normandy crew is dead—including Kelly Chambers, Gabby and Ken, along with Mess Sergeant Gardner.
• If you completed four or more Missions/Assignments, all Normandy Crew dies except Dr. Chakwas.

Once Shepard frees Dr. Chakwas from the pod (or Kelly Chambers if you started the Suicide Mission right away), the Normandy’s doctor explains what’s been happening. Survivors appear to have been killed right before her eyes, dissolved into a substance described as “genetic paste,” which then feeds through pipes and tubes throughout the area.

At this point, you can respond for Morality Points:

• Choose “I’d never abandon my crew” for +2 Paragon Points.
• Choose “I didn’t come for you” for +2 Renegade Points.
• If some—or nearly all—of the crew had already died when you arrived, you can also choose:
  • “I wish I could have” for +2 Paragon Points.
  • “That wasn’t an option” for +2 Renegade Points.

The Biotic Plan: planning the swarm route and your specialist

After the Rescue, you assemble a plan as you follow the tubes into the main chamber. There are again two parallel routes you can use to throw the Collectors off-balance, but one of those paths is packed with Seeker swarms—more than Mordin’s counter-measure can realistically handle. Miranda suggests using biotic barriers to protect a small group from the Seekers.

You’ll need to make two key decisions here: who to bring through the swarm, and who will serve as the Leader of the Second Fireteam once more.

Choosing the Biotic Specialist

For the Biotic Specialist slot, you must pick someone who’s genuinely skilled with biotic powers; this isn’t a role where “any biotic will do.”

• Jack and Samara / Morinth are viable options.
  • You should not select someone who is Disloyal, since that puts the team in danger.
• Jacob, Thane, and Miranda are never good picks, even though Miranda tries to pitch herself for the task.

Important clarification: the guide repeats that you should not choose a Disloyal character for the biotic specialist role, because it creates risk for the team.

Picking the Fire Team Leader

Next, you choose the leader for the Fire Team again. This selection is framed as identical to the earlier decision:

• Miranda, Garrus, and Jacob are the options you should consider.
  • As before, avoid picking anyone who isn’t Loyal, since doing so puts someone on the team at risk.
• Mordin, Zaeed, Grunt, Samara, Jack, Thane, Kasumi, and Legion are not viable choices.

Again, the guide emphasizes that you should avoid selecting a non-Loyal character for this leader role due to the danger it creates.

After this, Joker radios in to say that he and EDI have restored the Normandy and can pick up the crew—though they’ll need to land behind Shepard’s position. Miranda argues they can’t afford to do that, so you’re offered the chance to send an escort.

The Morality Point result for your response here depends on how many of the crew survived and how you responded to Dr. Chakwas. Still, the guide notes that you’ll generally earn at least +15 Paragon Points for “I’ll have someone escort you,” or +15 Renegade for “The Mission comes first,” with additional mixed gains depending on whether you bounce between Paragon and Renegade-leaning actions.

If you decide to send an Escort, here’s the advice given:

• Choose a Loyal character. If the escort is Disloyal, they’ll be in danger once sent.
• The person you pick as the Escort won’t be available for the rest of the mission, which can be helpful or harmful depending on your progress and your squad composition.
• If you have multiple Disloyal characters, and you’ve already lost major squad members before this point (including Garrus, Zaeed, and Grunt), it’s suggested to send away a weaker character such as Mordin, Tali, or Kasumi. However, the escort must still be Loyal, or they’ll be at risk.

Recommended Loadout

Your final choice in this phase is who to bring with you as part of your squad. The guide highlights that this decision directly connects to the Biotic Specialist selection.

• If you were forced to choose a Biotic Specialist who is either not qualified or not Loyal, then one of your two Squad Mates will be put at risk—so plan accordingly.
• If you chose a Loyal Jack or Samara / (the text references “Tap to Reveal”), then you can bring whoever you want without triggering that same risk condition.
• With the above in mind, Samara and Kasumi are recommended again, along with Legion.

Escort Biotic Specialist: survive the swarm and the big Collector push

The next exercise starts off easier, giving you room to get comfortable with the biotic barrier setup. When the specialist is operating inside the bubble, they’re protected from the Seeker Swarm. If you’re outside it, Seekers deal rapid damage. Once the Biotic Specialist reaches the end of the corridor, you’ll have to manually prompt them to move forward—this needs to be repeated periodically as you advance.

That manual movement also lets you scavenge Thermal Clips after battles if you need supplies.

Eventually, Collectors begin firing from your left. The Biotic Specialist takes cover to keep the barrier active, letting you handle the attackers. Since these enemies are far off, the guide suggests a sniper rifle (if you have one) as the optimal approach. Enemies will also try to flank from ahead and to your right, and cover is limited, so you have to stay careful.

If you end up dying here, the guide notes not to panic—there’s an auto-save triggered moments earlier.

When the area is clear, you signal the Biotic Specialist to move up again. Stay inside the dome the specialist creates, because if you step out, Seekers will tear you apart in only seconds. The specialist’s biotic movement is slow enough that this shouldn’t be a problem.

As you proceed, you’ll hit a smaller enemy group: a Husk and two Abominations will attack. The advice is to eliminate the Abominations from range, since they violently explode when killed and can harm both you and your party members.

As you push forward further, the Biotic Specialist drops into a lower area while more Collectors arrive from above. Collector Drones aren’t the main threat here—Harbinger and Collector Assassins assault you all at once. With little cover available, the guide recommends holding behind solid protection and returning fire only when it’s safe, noting that you should already understand how these fights play out by now.

Not long after, you’ll run into Husks and Abominations crawling up from the sides again. Remember: Abominations explode when killed, so the preferred method is still to take them down from a distance, ideally when they’re near other Abominations so the chain damage hits a cluster. The guide adds that a Scion makes things worse—if it fires a Shockwave, you should immediately stop aiming so Shepard can reposition fast enough to dodge.

NOTE: this is the last manual save before the end of the Long Walk

After this battle and before you check back in with your Biotic Specialist, you get the LAST window in the Suicide Mission where you can make a manual save. If your choices so far make you confident, the guide strongly suggests saving now.

Moving on from there, you’ll see the Biotic Specialist start to run out of energy. The guide frames it as a huge drain to keep the barrier active, and the specialist needs rest at an entrance a short distance ahead. As you approach, you’ll be attacked by random Husks and Abominations, but this time the biotic barrier won’t stop to let you deal with the threat. The specialist must keep moving, or the party won’t reach the door in time.

After some sporadic fighting while maintaining movement, you eventually reach the corridor that leads to the door into the next area.

Reunion: how prior choices finally cash out

At this stage, the choices you made after rescuing the Normandy crew—and the decisions you made while planning your route through the Seeker Swarm—start paying off.

• If you chose a Loyal Jack or Samara / Tap to Reveal, then nobody will die.
• If the Biotic Specialist was Miranda, Thane, or Jacob, or if your choice was Disloyal, then one Squad Mate will be killed by the Seeker Swarm.
  • The guide says there’s a “pecking order” for who gets taken, but it only removes a Squad Mate—not the Biotic Specialist.
  • The order provided is: Thane → Jack → Garrus → Legion → Grunt → Samara → Jacob → Mordin → Tali → Kasumi → Zaeed → Morinth.

After that, Shepard’s Squad helps the Fire Team through their door, and the earlier selection of the Fire Team Leader determines the outcome.

• If you picked a Loyal Miranda, Loyal Jacob, or Loyal Garrus, they survive.
• If you chose someone unqualified, or you picked a Disloyal character, they’ll die after going through the door—while the rest of the Fire Team survives.

Finally, Shepard contacts the Normandy to check on everyone. Here, EDI reports the status of the crew:

• If you did not give the Normandy crew an Escort, all of them will have died.
• If you gave them a Disloyal Escort, then the crew lived, but the Escort died.
• If you gave them a Loyal Escort, then both the crew and the Escort survive.

With the Reunion resolved, you move into the last stretch of the Suicide Mission: The Reaper Finale.

Want more help with Mass Effect 2? The guide points you to the following sections:

• Legendary Edition Changes
• How-To Guides
• Key Choices and Consequences
• Romance Options
• Walkthrough
• Side Quests

Up next: The Reaper Finale

Top guide sections

• Legendary Edition Changes
• Basics
• Tips and Tricks
• How-To Guides

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