Mass Effect 2 ending (number of spoilers inside, pre-emptive warning)

[Shimmyshake]

Spoiler: a second warning too

So I just finished playing through ME2, I know I'm a little behind the times. There's one thing that's irking me though and that's the fact that Mordin got killed and I have no idea what I did wrong. I went through everyone's loyalty missions, even legion's at the loss of half my crew.

I picked all the right people (I think) for the tasks during the suicide mission, Tali for the ventilation tube, and Miranda as the leader of the other squad both times, I even sent an escort with my crew back to the ship. But still, Mordin got killed when they were holding collectors off while I fought the final boss.

I'm at a loss as to what I did wrong, anyone know? Also, any of your ME2 endings turn out agonizingly frustrating?

 

[Mekado]

Spoiler: a second warning too

So I just finished playing through ME2, I know I'm a little behind the times. There's one thing that's irking me though and that's the fact that Mordin got killed and I have no idea what I did wrong. I went through everyone's loyalty missions, even legion's at the loss of half my crew.

I picked all the right people (I think) for the tasks during the suicide mission, Tali for the ventilation tube, and Miranda as the leader of the other squad both times, I even sent an escort with my crew back to the ship. But still, Mordin got killed when they were holding collectors off while I fought the final boss.

I'm at a loss as to what I did wrong, anyone know? Also, any of your ME2 endings turn out agonizingly frustrating?

There's a chance someone dies even if everyone is loyal and you pick the right people, and the "weakest" characters dies first (ie mordin/tali)

Copy-pasted from the wiki
"Note: The teammates you do not pick are assigned to hold the line from the Collectors. A 'defensive skill' value is calculated for the 'hold the line' group as a whole, based on a defensive value inherent to each character. Loyal characters gain a bonus to this value. If the 'defensive skill' check is not high enough to ensure all characters' survival, squad members will be designated to die based on their vulnerability, with Mordin taking priority if he is present. Leaving behind strong defenders, such as Grunt, Legion, and Zaeed will increase the group's odds of survival. In contrast, certain characters such as Jack, Tali and especially Mordin have less skill in holding their position and should be removed through escort duty or taken along. The entire group will survive as long as the combined defensive skill is high enough, otherwise the game picks a squad member to die based on the scenario of who was left behind and how loyal the group members are."

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_2_Guide

 

[Da Mann]

did you say "we haven't got much time" befor the last boss? if so, then you might've taken too long to get done with it

 

[Shimmyshake]

did you say "we haven't got much time" befor the last boss? if so, then you might've taken too long to get done with it

Bah, that actually affects it? If I had known, woulda skipped the stupid pep talk.

Ah, thanks Mekado!

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Spoiler: seriously, here there be spoilers

Well first off if you do Legion's loyalty mission right after the Normandy's attacked you'll still save your crew.

Yes, Tali and Miranda were good calls (Legion and Garrus respectively work as well). But when you leave people to hold the line while you go to destroy the base you need to leave enough heavy-hitters (like Garrus or Grunt) behind or your weakest crewmen may die. It's fairly random, but if you don't have enough combat strength then one will die. Less and less combat strength open up the random selection to a larger range (for example, my first play-through Jack died). Mordin's the weakest overall so he's always most likely to die.

 

[Internet Kraken]

If you leave Mordin behind in the final battle, his armor suddenly turns into tissue paper and his skin turns into jelly. The game has preset values for the survival chances of each character, which is modified based on who is left behind and loyalty. Mordin's base value is the lowest of everyone, making him the most likely to die. Even if you get everyone loyal, he is still likely to die just because of his low survival chances.

There are some ways to avoid his death though. The simplest is to have him be the crew escort. If he's loyal, he will instantly succeed and there will be no chance of him dying. Another option is to take him to beat the final boss, preventing him from dying while holding the line. The last option, and hardest, is to get him to survive while holding the line. To do this you need to leave behind most the best "Defenders" in your group. This includes characters like Grunt, Zaeed, and Garrus. Their presence boosts the overall chance of survival, so enough of them are left behind Mordin might make it out alive.

You're better off just having him escort the crew though.

EDIT: Oh right, personal experiences for discussion.

Well my first playthrough got everyone out alive except for Samara, who was killed by the deadly bees. This is because when I hear Miranda's "any biotic could handle it" comment, I assumed this meant that any biotic could do the damn job. Instead she collapsed towards the end, making me lose Samara, which pissed me off since I'd been using her for a good portion of the game. Though in my opinion it made my first playthrough better, since it shattered my feeling of safety and made me worried I would lose other party members as well.

It wasn't my fault though. It was Miranda's. I will always blame her for this.

 

[Blindswordmaster]

Spoiler: a second warning too

So I just finished playing through ME2, I know I'm a little behind the times. There's one thing that's irking me though and that's the fact that Mordin got killed and I have no idea what I did wrong. I went through everyone's loyalty missions, even legion's at the loss of half my crew.

I picked all the right people (I think) for the tasks during the suicide mission, Tali for the ventilation tube, and Miranda as the leader of the other squad both times, I even sent an escort with my crew back to the ship. But still, Mordin got killed when they were holding collectors off while I fought the final boss.

I'm at a loss as to what I did wrong, anyone know? Also, any of your ME2 endings turn out agonizingly frustrating?

Send Mordin as the crew's escort.

 

[gigastrike]

You don't have enough strong fighters with the rest of your team. Try taking some less combat focused characters with you to fight the...

Spoiler

Human Reaper.

 

[VhenRa]

Got a No one Left Behind both times.

Tali and Garrus for first section. Jack and Garrus with Mordin escorting then took Jack and Tali with me to fight the boss. No one left behind.

Next time it was Tali/Garrus. Jack/Garrus/Mordin with Tali and Miranda to the boss.

 

[Feriluce]

I sent legion through the tunnels, and he died at the end. Then I let grunt lead the other squad and he died. And then I took miranda and tali with me to the last boss and miranda got killed at the end >:

 

[Altorin]

I let miranda make the bubble and that got Garrus Killed, and Grunt lead the second squad and died from that.

Noone died on the Hold the Line though.

I've never bought the defense value thing. It seems too random. Lots of people have had Moradin hold the line very well (myself included)

 

[kidigus]

Your teammates can get pwned a random, If you have Samara hold the biotic sheild then you can have both of the other henchmen you take live (instead of one getting envoloped by the swarm.)Also anyone from the team that holds the door might get killed.

I found that the best way to preserve a teamate was to have them not do anything, and just take them along for the end boss fight.