Hades Nexus: Obelisk of Karza Guide—Quest Steps, Choices, Rewards
Mass Effect 3’s Hades Nexus side content includes a helpful language-focused quest: “Hades Nexus: Obelisk of Karza.” This guide breaks down where to go, what to do during each major encounter, and the key decisions that shape your run—starting from when the mission unlocks and ending with the rewards you’ll walk away with.
Checklists
If you’re looking for a specific part of the quest, here’s the same route broken into quick sections:
- Mission Stats
- Travel to Widow
- Meet the Researcher
- Find the Obelisk
- Deliver the Obelisk
Mission Stats
Video Guide
Mission Rewards
- Reputation: +5
- Mission Credits: 15,000 credits
- War Asset: +40 TMS to Alliance Engineering Corps
Travel to Widow
- Prerequisite: Complete “Priority: The Citadel 2”
- Location: Serpent Nebula – Widow – Citadel – Presidium Commons
This side job appears after you finish “Priority: The Citadel 2.” That objective refreshes the Citadel by adding fresh side missions, including this one. The Citadel functions as the galaxy’s main hub, and it’s always shown in the western side of the Milky Way map.
Meet the Researcher
Go to the Presidium Commons and make your way toward the Apollo’s Cafe area. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you’ll naturally turn left—ignore that for now and head right instead. Follow the path until you hit a dead-end marked by a “Meridian Place” sign. On the right-side benches sits a researcher in white. He’s in the middle of an excavation of the Obelisk of Karza, described as a kind of Rosetta Stone for Prothean language, but he was forced to evacuate when the Reapers arrived.
Find the Obelisk
- Prerequisite: Complete “Priority: Rannoch”
- Location: Hades Nexus – Hoplos – Makhaira – Kopis
You can’t retrieve the Obelisk of Karza right away. It only becomes available after completing “Priority: Rannoch.” Once you’re able to do it, look for the Hades Nexus cluster near the southeastern edge of the Milky Way. From that cluster, fly northeast to the Hoplos system; the trip should take roughly 120 fuel.
After you land in the system, find Makhaira—the second planet in Hoplos. Then scan its moon, Kopis, to verify that there’s something you can recover. Enter Kopis’s orbit, then fire a Probe at the bright white target. If everything lines up, you’ll have recovered the artifact.
While you’re in the Hades Nexus region, you may also want to grab the other Search and Rescue items available there, since they’re tied to the same general area and can help you keep your momentum.
Deliver the Obelisk
Now that you have the Obelisk of Karza, return to the researcher at the Presidium Commons. Speak to him to confirm you’ve recovered it. He’ll thank you, and the mission payout is:
- +5 Reputation
- 15,000 credits
- +40 TMS to the Alliance Engineering Corps
Want even more help for Mass Effect 3? There are also pages covering Legendary Edition changes, general how-to guidance, key choices and their consequences, romance options, walkthroughs, and a full list of side missions.
Up Next: Hades Nexus: Prothean Sphere
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