Mass Effect 3 Citadel: Batarian Codes Guide—Items, Combat, and Choices
This page of the Mass Effect 3 wiki guide focuses on the Citadel: Batarian Codes side mission. It covers where to locate every required item, what you need to do to get through each combat segment, and which choices matter for shaping your run.
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- Mission Stats
- Travel to Widow
- Meet Officer Noles
- Visit the Spectre Office
- Huerta Memorial Console
- Normandy Dock Console
- Refugee Camp Console
Mission Stats
Video Guide
Mission Rewards
- Mission Experience: 210 XP
- War Assets: (Adjustments to the Batarian Fleet and the Alliance Third Fleet are mutually exclusive)
- Batarian Fleet (100 TMS)
- +10 TMS to Batarian Fleet
- -10 TMS to Alliance Third Fleet
- Batarian Fleet (100 TMS)
- +10 TMS to Batarian Fleet
- -10 TMS to Alliance Third Fleet
Travel to Widow
- Prerequisite: Complete “Priority: The Citadel 2”
- Location: Serpent Nebula – Widow – Citadel – Presidium Commons – C-Sec Outpost
Once you finish “Priority: The Citadel 2”, this side mission becomes available. That main priority objective refreshes the Citadel with new side content, including this task. The Citadel acts as the galaxy’s central gathering point and is always shown in the western Milky Way region.
Meet Officer Noles
From the Presidium Commons, make your way to the C-Sec Outpost on the eastern side of the map (it’s indicated by a 5 on the map screen). At the top of the stairs that lead down toward the shops, you’ll find Officer Jordan Noles working C-Sec.
She explains that a saboteur is using the Citadel’s hacking key systems to interfere with power and communications, and she asks Shepard to step in. As Shepard takes a closer look, it becomes clear these are old Batarian diplomatic codes—left over from the time the Batarians still maintained an embassy on the Citadel, before they departed in 2171.
Visit the Spectre Office
Your next step is the Spectre Office inside the Citadel Embassies. You can reach it in the same corridor where Commander Bailey’s office is located.
At the Spectre Terminal, enable the item called “Batarian Access Codes”. Doing so will expose where the relevant consoles are located using Shepard’s omni-tool.
Huerta Memorial Console
The first console is inside a side room within Huerta Memorial Hospital. To reach it, go through the security scanner corridor, then take a right-hand U-turn into a Lab Services room that sits beside that corridor. Inside, next to the glass wall, you’ll spot the console—showing a scrolling bar graph—beside a woman holding a datapad.
Normandy Dock Console
The second console is located at Normandy Dock: Bay D24. Open the map screen and find the Passenger Lounge area marked with a 2. Then check the eastern wall of the Passenger Lounge to locate the console positioned next to a vending machine.
Refugee Camp Console
The third and final console is at the westernmost part of the docks: the Holding Area known as Bay E28, labeled with a 4 on the map screen. What happens next depends on what you chose in Mass Effect 1’s Bring Down the Sky DLC:
- For most players, the Batarian Balak will hold you at gunpoint. This scenario happens if you ignored Bring Down the Sky, or if you completed it and chose to let Balak go so you could save his hostages.
- Balak will also show up if you went after him instead of the hostages, then selected either “[Leave him for the Alliance]” or “[Leave him to die]”. Those choices allow Balak to survive so he can appear in this side mission.
- If you played Bring Down the Sky and chose to go after Balak, then selected “[Kill him]” to execute him on-screen, Shepard will meet Noles in Cargo Hold: C to detain an unnamed suspect, referred to here as the “Cargo Hold Batarian”.
- Balak will also show up if you went after him instead of the hostages, but then picked either “[Leave him for the Alliance]” or “[Leave him to die]”. These will both have Balak survive to appear in this Side Mission.
If you have Balak with you, there’s an additional dialogue wheel that lets you earn Morality Points:
- Choose “Blame the Reapers” for +2 Paragon Points.
- Choose “Blame yourselves” for +2 Renegade Points.
From there, you’ll be able to decide how to end the conversation with the Batarian. Your options include:
- The blue Charm choice, “Join us” / “Join our fight” grants +5 Paragon Points, plus the Batarian Fleet war asset worth 100 TMS.
- The red Intimidate choice, “You need me” / “Help us or die” grants +5 Renegade Points, plus the Batarian Fleet war asset worth 100 TMS.
- The white option on the right provides no TMS reward, and its effects differ depending on whether you have Balak or the Cargo Hold Batarian:
- If you have Balak, it corresponds to “[Kill him]”. Shepard carries out the execution, but you don’t receive the Batarian Fleet. Instead, it reduces the TMS of the Alliance Third Fleet by -10 TMS.
- If you have the Cargo Hold Batarian, selecting “You’re under arrest” results in no war asset rewards or reductions.
- If you have Balak, this will be “[Kill him]”. Shepard does so, but doesn’t get the Batarian Fleet and will in fact lower the TMS of the Alliance Third Fleet by -10 TMS.
- If you have the Cargo Hold Batarian, picking “You’re under arrest” gives no War Asset rewards / reductions.
No matter how it plays out, completing the side mission always earns you 210 XP. Securing the Batarian Fleet also adds the Kestrel Helmet to Batarian State Arms. If you had Balak and selected the Charm or Intimidate option, Balak will further strengthen it with an additional +15 TMS.
For more Mass Effect 3 assistance, explore the following guide sections:
- Legendary Edition Changes
- How-To Guides
- Key Choices and Consequences
- Romance Guide
- Walkthrough
- Side Missions
Up Next: Citadel: Biotic Amp Interfaces
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