Mass Effect 2 Guide Essentials UPGRADES AND RESEARCH PROJECTS

Normandy Upgrades

The Normandy is the most technologically advanced Cerberus ship in the galaxy, but improvements are always possible.

Upgrades to the Normandy will improve her combat capabilities, increasing the chance of success in Shepard’s final mission.

Other upgrades will aid in exploration or improve the ship’s medical capabilities.

All ship upgrades must be researched. To obtain these research projects, talk to your crew members and ask them about research or ship upgrades.

Without any ship upgrades, you will be in extreme peril if you ever confront an enemy Collector ship.

Ship Upgrade Spoilers

Warning: Do not read this box if you want the final mission to be a surprise. Still here? It’s helpful to know in advance that ship upgrades are critical to the survival of your entire team as the Normandy rushes into the final battle.

If you skip out on certain ship upgrades, the Normandy will take extra damage and the lives of squad members will be lost before you even touch down for the ultimate struggle against the Collectors.

The following ship upgrades are required to stave off death: Thanix Cannon, Heavy Ship Armor, and Multicore Shielding, For every upgrade you fail to get, you will lose one squad member on the final approach to the Collector base beyond the Omega 4 relay.

So, don’t risk the potential death of some of your best teammates, like Jack or Tali.

To avoid unnecessary death and complications to the mission inside the Collector base, be sure you do the following long before going through the Omega 4 relay:

Speak to Garrus about ship upgrades and he will suggest the Thanix Cannon

Speak to Jacob about ship upgrades and he will suggest the Heavy Ship Armor

Speak to Tali about ship upgrades and she will suggest Multicore Shielding

The Heavy Ship Armor and Multicore Shielding together require 30,000 palladium, so make sure you mine for these resources on rich planets like Bannik, Moros, Neith, Ponolus, and Zeona.

The Thanix Cannon requires 15,000 platinum, which you can mine on plat-rich planets like Agnin, 2175 Aeia, Venus, Taaith, and Lorek. Of course, you can also recover minerals on many missions.

Technology Name	Upgrade	Description	Upgrade Level Required	Research Cost	Location
Silaris Armor Tech	Heavy Ship Armor	The asari-made Silaris armor upgrade is attached to the ship’s superstructure.	None	15,000 palladium	Converse with Jacob about ship upgrades
Argus Scanner Array	Advanced Mineral Scanner	Greatly speed up the planet-scanning process.	None	15,000 iridium	Converse with Miranda about ship upgrades
Thanix Cannon	Particle Cannon	This cannon is powerful enough to destroy a Collector ship with repeated hits.	None	15,000 platinum	Converse with Garrus about ship upgrades
Modular Probe Bay	Probe Booster	Normandy now has 50% extra probe capacity; 10 survey probes added to ship’s complement.	None	15,000 iridium	Converse with Thane about ship upgrades
Helios Thruster Tech	Extended Fuel Cells	Normandy now has 50% additional fuel cell capacity.	None	3,000 element zero	Converse with Samara about ship upgrades
Cyclone Shield Tech	Multicore Shielding	The rapidly oscillating kinetic obstructions of Cyclonic Barrier Technology (CBT) are added to the ship.	None	15,000 palladium	Converse with Tali about ship upgrades
Dermal Regeneration	Med-Bay Upgrade	Using this unit will immediately and completely heal your scars. Further scarring will not occur regardless of the actions you take.	None	50,000 platinum	Converse with Mordin following recruitment