Unlocking the "Shepard Lives" Best Ending in Mass Effect Legendary Edition
As an experienced Mass Effect gamer and guide writer, one of the most common questions I see is: "What is the minimum number of war assets needed to get the best, Shepard lives ending in the Legendary Edition?"
The answer is you need a minimum Total Military Strength (TMS) score of 7800. This factors in war assets imported from all 3 games as well as your Galactic Readiness rating.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know about maximizing your TMS to unlock the Destroy ending where Shepard survives. Let‘s dive in!
How Total Military Strength is Calculated
Your Total Military Strength determines the quality of the endings available and is calculated using this formula:
Total Military Strength = War Assets x Galactic ReadinessWar Assets are all the resources Shepard accumulates across the entire trilogy by completing missions, tasks, assignments, and other activities.
Galactic Readiness is a percentage modifier indicating how much of your War Assets actually contribute to the final fight. The default is 50% if you don‘t play multiplayer.
Here‘s an example calculation:
8,500 War Assets x 50% Readiness = 4,250 Total Military StrengthTo unlock the best ending, you need a minimum TMS of 7,800. Let‘s look at how you can achieve that.
Minimum Viable War Assets For Best Ending
To reach 7,800 TMS with the default 50% Readiness, you would need 15,600 War Assets. Here‘s a breakdown by game:
| Game | War Assets Needed |
|---|---|
| Mass Effect 1 | 3,100 |
| Mass Effect 2 | 5,000 |
| Mass Effect 3 | 7,500 |
| Total | 15,600 |
So with perfect completion of war asset opportunities in all 3 games, you would exceed the minimum assets needed.
But what if you don‘t get 100% in each game? Here‘s the bare minimum viable assets needed:
| Game | War Assets Needed |
|---|---|
| Mass Effect 1 | 2,000 |
| Mass Effect 2 | 3,000 |
| Mass Effect 3 | 5,300 |
| Total | 10,300 |
As you can see, you can allow some margin for error in each game and still meet the TMS requirement, provided you follow some optimal strategies which I‘ll outline next.
Maximing War Assets in Each Game
Achieving even the bare minimum assets requires some optimal choices and near perfect completion of opportunities. Here are some tips:
Mass Effect 1
Assets carried over:
- Save Council for full Alliance fleet (500)
- Complete Noveria, Feros, all collection quests
- Save Wrex for krogan support (150)
- Complete all companion missions
Target: 2,000+ War Assets
Mass Effect 2
ME2 ship and crew survival impacts ME3 greatly:
- Upgrade ship to keep everyone alive (100)
- Complete all loyalty missions (up to 305)
- Resolve conflicts for max survivors (125)
- High reputation for squad recruitment (132)
Target: 3,000+ War Assets
Mass Effect 3
Critical choices and tasks in ME3:
- Make optimal decisions across priority missions
- Scan planets to discover assets
- Play Citadel DLC for best ending
- Complete Tuchanka bomb and genophage cure
- Broker peace between Geth and Quarians (300+)
- Save Omega with Aria T‘Loak
| Task | War Assets |
|---|---|
| Priority Missions | 2,100 |
| Side Missions | 1,900 |
| Planet Scanning | 1,300 |
| Total | 5,300 |
Target: 5,300+ War Assets
As shown above, even minimal effort completion in ME3 can yield the assets needed as long as previous games are accounted for.
Galactic Readiness – The Importance of Multiplayer
WhileWar Assets form your base asset pool, Galactic Readiness determines what percent of those assets actually help fight the war.
The default Readiness is only 50%. So 15,600 assets yields the minimum 7800 TMS.
However, Readiness can be increased up to 100% by playing multiplayer or the Datapad app.
For example, with 75% Readiness, you would only need 10,400 War Assets to unlock the best ending, making things much easier.
Here‘s a table showing War Asset requirements at different Readiness levels:
| Readiness | War Assets Needed |
|---|---|
| 100% | 7800 |
| 75% | 10,400 |
| 60% | 13,000 |
| 50% (Default) | 15,600 |
So while multiplayer is never mandatory, it can give you more margin for error in amassing enough TMS for the Shepard Lives ending.
Choosing the "Best" Ending for Shepard‘s Survival
Once you have over 7,800 TMS, you need to pick the Destroy Ending when prompted by the Catalyst. This destroys the Reapers as well as the Geth and EDI.
With high enough military strength, however, the final cutscene shows Shepard still alive and breathing in the rubble on Earth! An amazing reward after everything endured across the epic trilogy.
So in summary, focus on:
- Achieving high asset totals in ME1 and ME2
- Optimal scanning, mission order, and decisions in ME3
- Multiplayer to increase Readiness if needed
- Choosing Destroy once your TMS exceeds minimum thresholds
Follow the tips in this guide, and you‘ll be ready to experience the incredible payoff of Shepard cheating death to see another day after defeating the Reapers for good!
Let me know if you have any other questions on unlocking this amazing ending with the minimum viable assets in Mass Effect Legendary Edition!
