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About this mod
Raise the stakes of the emblematic Mass Effect 2 finale.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
- Donations
General Objectives
- Include a random element -> To keep the mission tense and improve replayability. Even knowing the mechanics, there is no absolute safety net, anyone can die. Yet, the goal is not to have a completely random experience, but to let the player manage the odds, and take risks knowingly.
- Preserve player agency -> Offer decisions that do matter. Unlike in vanilla, the decisions do no rest on knowing/guessing which choices are correct or incorrect. Rather, the decisions are about managing the individual strengths of your current team (which will depend on some of your choices during the rest of the playthrough -- not just loyalty), taking chances for a possible later payoff, and putting some squadmates more at risk to preserve others.
- Improve squadmate characterization -> Use a more individual approach to describe the way each squadmate is prepared & motivated for the mission. Give a chance of success for squadmates that automatically fail at certain tasks in vanilla.
- Restore hidden content -> Some cutscenes/squadmates combinations are impossible to see in vanilla (e.g. Thane succeeding at the biotic bubble). Some cutscenes are adapted depending on your squadmates' individual situations (e.g. Hold the Line leader will be one of your top squadmates).
- Include an optional cheat -> All lost squadmates and crew members can be revived after the suicide mission. This is meant for people who find the idea interesting but still want to start the next game with everyone alive.
New Mechanics
- No absolute win/lose condition. Any selected squadmate has a chance to succeed at any task, or to fail at it. But the odds heavily depend on some of your choices.
- Readiness Score. Each squadmate is assigned a Readiness Score (between Very Low and Very High), which depends on several things before the Suicide Mission, like Loyalty or participation in the 3 main Collector missions. The Readiness Score has a strong influence on how likely a squadmate is to succeed at a given task. It is displayed in-game before any choice where it matters.
- Readiness boosts during the Suicide Mission. Squadmates selected for specific tasks during the Suicide Mission will receive a strong Readiness boost, which can benefit them and the squad later. There is thus a significant incentive to take the risk of selecting less-than-ideal squadmates (Low-Medium Readiness). Squadmates selected to be in the fighting squad during the suicide mission also receive a Readiness Boost.
- Hold the Line Heroes. During the final moments of the mission (Hold the Line & Final fight), each squadmate will be tested individually against their Readiness, with Low Readiness squadmates having a large probability of dying. However, in the Hold the Line group, higher Readiness squadmates have a chance of performing a heroic save of other squadmates. The two selected for the last fight are on their own: they cannot be saved by others, nor save others.
- Collector Base Approach. All three events during the approach in the Normandy have a chance to play out positively or negatively (squadmate death), whether the corresponding ship upgrade is installed or not, although the chance of failure is larger if it is not installed. Unlike in vanilla, who dies in case of failure is not written in stone. Unlike the OT version of this mod, here all 3 upgrades can be purchased without restriction.
- If you can't deal with the losses. Once you regain control of the Normandy after the mission, a cheat gives you the possibility to revive all dead squad and crew members. Go to the Captain's cabin in the Normandy and interact with the Prothean Relic.
The full details of the mechanics are given in this article. It is not absolutely necessary to read it, as the new mechanics should be mostly self-explanatory while playing. However, since my goal was to create a system that remains interesting even when the mechanics are known, it should not "ruin" the experience either.
Smashbangcommander made an excel sheet to track the odds during the mission. You can find it here. It looks mostly correct to me, although the percent survival chances for Hold the Line may be somewhat approximative(?). But tbh I haven't checked the calculations in the excel sheet.
Changes from the OT version of the mod
For those who played Risky Suicide Mission in the Original version of the game, note that a few things have changed in this LE port:
- All 3 ships upgrades can be purchased without restriction. Probabilities of failure have been adapted.
- There is no longer any contribution to Readiness from the somewhat arbitrary moral alignment of the squadmates (Paragon/Renegade/Neutral).
- Instead, squadmates selected to fight alongside Shepard during the Suicide Mission (The Vents & The Long Walk) receive a +1 Readiness boost.
- The Hold the Line cutscene has been adapted so that the front squadmates are those of higher Readiness, and the ones who appear to be shot are ones at higher risk of dying.
If you are feeling supportive, you can buy me all 3 upgrades
Media
- Mass Effect 2 Mod Makes The Suicide Mission Choices Harder (thegamer.com)
- Mass Effect 2 Mod Makes Final Mission Even More Dangerous (screenrant.com)
- I tried out the Risky Suicide Mission mod... (reddit.com)
- 50+ video playthroughs of the Risky Suicide Mission with different Shepards and different outcomes, by burnouts3s3 (youtube.com)
- A playlist of Risky Suicide Mission playthroughs by various people (youtube.com)
- A video review of Risky Suicide Mission (OT version) by mickomoo (youtube.com)
Installation with Mod Manager
Install as a DLC mod with ME3Tweaks Mod Manager
- Drag and drop the compressed (.7z) mod file for Risky Suicide Mission into the Mod manager window, and import it.
- Select the mod in the Mod Manager library list (for LE2) and click "Apply Mod".
- Verify that the adequate options are selected for compatibility patches with other mods (some may need to be installed before Risky Suicide Mission)
Flexible Installation Timing
- Install anytime during a playthrough, as long as it's BEFORE the start of the Suicide Mission (when going through the Omega-4 relay).
- That said, it is preferable to install it before the Horizon mission (otherwise some bonuses will be given to default squadmates, rather than depend on your choices).
Language Support
- The mod was developed with the english version of the game, but it should work fine in all languages supported by the game.
- French, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, and Russian are fully translated.
- In other languages, the few lines of text added by this mod will be in English.
Update from 1.4 to 1.5
- The new version of the mod (1.5+) is not backwards compatible with the previous versions (1.0-1.4).
- Do not update the mod during the suicide mission.
- You can update the mod if you already started your playthrough but not the suicide mission. In this case, directly go and use the terminal in the Captain's cabin. It will set some things straight and you can verify that your squadmates Readiness (from participating in missions) is correct.
- Once you've updated the mod, reloading an old save is possible under the same constraints: it must be before the start of the suicide mission, and you need to go check the terminal in the captain's cabin.
Compatibility
This mod is not compatible with:
- LE2 Liara Squadmate. Not even with the autopatcher: some of the files not addressed by the autopatcher concern the Suicide Mission logic, which is obviously important here. A user reported playing the Suicide Mission with both mods without serious issues, as long as Liara is not used for certain roles (see in comments). You may also try to play with both mods for most of the game, then uninstall Liara Squadmate before going through the Omega-4 relay. This is untested, so no guarantees either.
- Big Guddamn Hero and Miri's Long Walk. These mods make Zaeed/Miranda able to succeed as Team Leader/Biotic Specialist within the vanilla system of the suicide mission. Risky Suicide Mission already made it possible for both of these squadmates to succeed at those tasks.
This mod is only partially compatible with (the effects of these mods will be disabled by Risky Suicide Mission in some areas of the Suicide Mission):
- Kelly and Kenson Restoration (LE2)
- Cerberus and Alliance Uniform Consistency (LE2)
- LE2 Alternative Bodies
- NPC Edits (LE2)
- Officer Chambers LE2
This mod is natively compatible with (no compatibility patches needed):
- Early Recruitment (incl. Legion module. Readiness bonuses for participating in main missions are properly adapted for the cases where certain squadmates are recruited earlier; see the Detailed Mechanics for more info).
This mod includes compatibility patches for (compatibility requires to install those mods before Risky Suicide Mission, and check that the compatibility patches are properly applied, during installation of Risky Suicide Mission):
- Unofficial LE2 Patch (Note that it is not required: you can use Risky Suicide Mission without installing the LE2 Patch. Some elements of the LE2 Patch are included by default in Risky Suicide Mission, other elements will be applied only if the Unofficial LE2 Patch is already installed).
- Last Person Standing (LE2) (although it might actually be difficult to kill everyone with Risky Suicide Mission).
- Reaper Husks Consistency Mod (ME2LE)
- Conrad Verner Remembers (ME2LE) (although this mod is essentially obsolete since a fix for Conrad is implemented in the Unofficial LE2 Patch.
- Cerberus Ladies Wear Cerberus (ME2LE) (only for the Alternate Kelly Hair option).
- The Normandy Project LE2 (this mod is not compatible with Conrad Verner Remembers, so you can't have both compatibility patches).
- Virmire Savior Mod (LE2)
There should not be compatibility issues with other mods.
However, note that the modifications made by Risky Suicide Mission in different files are highly inter-dependent. Any future mod with a higher mount order, and which modifies some of the same files as my mod, has a high chance of creating serious incompatibilities.
Technical information (for modders, etc), is on the memtech website.
Special Thanks
- Mgamerz, SirCxyrtyx, d00t, HenBagle, Kinkojiro, and anyone who contributed to ME3Tweaks Mod Manager and ME3/LegendaryExplorer.
- beccatoria and Marcus22Khaar for help and permission for compatibility patches.
- elizabethnessie for the Russian translation.
- Krozt for the Italian translation.
- Gatzek for the Polish translation.