Summary
- Destroying the Collector Base is the Paragon choice, impacting dialogue and future games.
- Preserving the base is a Renegade move, focusing on Cerberus and human supremacy.
- The choice impacts War Assets in Mass Effect 3 with minor differences between outcomes.
The driving force behind the narrative of Mass Effect 2 is a mysterious alien race known as the Collectors, whose kidnappings of human colonists have increased since the destruction of Sovereign at the end of the first Mass Effect. A resurrected Commander Shepard is working alongside Cerberus to determine the Collectors' connection to the Reapers, and stop whatever machinations they have in the works. Much of Mass Effect 2 is spent recruiting a capable crew for the Normandy SR-2, and finding a way to traverse the Omega-4 Relay to infiltrate the Collectors' base located near the center of the Milky Way.
The second installment of the Mass Effect trilogy concludes with a suicide mission through the Omega-4 Relay to the Collector Base. This finale can have many different outcomes dependent on player action throughout the game, as well as choices made in the roles given to squad members during the mission itself. Regardless of player choices up to this point, Commander Shepard is tasked with making a decision regarding the fate of the Collector Base: destroy the base and everything on board, or keep the base intact while eliminating the Collectors so Cerberus can salvage the technology.
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Whichever choice the player makes will have consequences in both Mass Effect 2 and 3. Many of these are superficial, affecting the dialogue and cutscenes at the end of Mass Effect 2. The war against the Reapers in Mass Effect 3 is more tangibly impacted by the fate of the Collector Base, though the difference between the two options can be considered negligible in most circ*mstances.
What Happens If You Destroy The Collector Base In Mass Effect 2?
Pros & Cons Of Destroying The Collector Base In Mass Effect 2
Choosing to destroy the Collector Base during the suicide mission is Mass Effect's Paragon option. In the Mass Effect series, morality is divided into Paragon and Renegade. Each choice a player makes gives them points toward either category. In Mass Effect 2 specifically, those points are compared to the total number of Paragon and Renegade points available, and a percentage is calculated that determines Shepard's morality. There are even some unique dialogue options that may only be used by players with a rating high enough in either direction.
Shepard fights their way to the heart of the base before they're asked by the Illusive Man, Cerberus' enigmatic leader, to preserve the Collector Base for its valuable technology. He believes that Shepard can eliminate all the Collectors on board with a timed radiation pulse, after which Cerberus will swoop in and conduct its research. Throughout Mass Effect 2, Cerberus positions itself as a necessary evil - an organization ultimately interested only in preserving and uplifting humanity to a stature above the other alien races. Shepard's rationale behind destroying the base is to rid the galaxy of the site of horrific experimentation on the Collectors' victims, and ensure powerful technology does not find its way into the hands of an organization with questionable motives like Cerberus.
Also, while on the Collector Base, EDI hypothesizes that the Collectors are actually genetically modified Protheans, the historically dominant race annihilated in the last Reaper harvest. Prothean organic material was harvested roughly 50,000 years ago and used to create the Collectors, who then became the indoctrinated slaves of the Reapers. Much the same is happening to the human colonists who have been taken by the Collectors. As a result, this is considered a morally sound Paragon decision. However, choosing to destroy the base is met with conflicting sentiments from squad mates such as Garrus and Mordin, who point out the scientific value in preserving it.
Taking Mass Effect 2's Paragon route in destroying the Collector Base angers the Illusive Man, who now sits in front of a bright blue star and tells Shepard that the technology destroyed along with the base could have secured human dominance in the Milky Way against the Reapers and beyond. In a final act of defiance against Cerberus, Shepard tells the Illusive Man that he's no longer calling the shots, and that Shepard is taking the reins to fight against the Reapers.
What Happens If You Don't Destroy The Collector Base In Mass Effect 2?
Pros & Cons Of Preserving The Collector Base In Mass Effect 2
Instead of blowing up the Collector Base, taking the skin-altering Renegade route has Shepard overload the base's systems with a radiation pulse, killing the Collectors, but preserving the base itself. Contrary to Paragon Shepard's sentiments, a Renegade playthrough has the Commander generally buying into the idea of Cerberus being the best hope for humanity against the Reaper invasion. Shepard rejects the idea of a slow march to equality, instead choosing to immediately institute human supremacy. Their actions eliminate the Collector threat, but keep the base intact so that Cerberus can recover the Reaper technology, which is more advanced than any contemporary device in the Milky Way.
Choosing the Renegade option with Mass Effect 2's Collector Base will similarly elicit opposed responses from squadmates who believe the testing facility should be destroyed so that it doesn't remain as a monument to the experiments conducted by the Collectors. Tali and Jack, among others, will remind Shepard of the innocent lives lost on the base when the player considers preserving it for the Illusive Man's benefit.
Discussing the outcome of the suicide mission with the Illusive Man when preserving the Collector Base will have him praising Shepard for doing what was necessary for humanity, all while seated in front of a dark red star. He mentions the technological leap will possibly be as great as when the Charon Relay was discovered before the events of Mass Effect, which propelled humanity into the interstellar age. Despite their compliance with Cerberus, Renegade Shepard still cautions the Illusive Man that the Reapers are still coming, and to not squander the opportunity the Collector Base gives him.
What Does The Collector Base Decision Affect In Mass Effect 3?
The Impact Of the Collector Base On Mass Effect 3
The final result of Commander Shepard's decision regarding the Collector Base becomes clear near the end of Mass Effect 3. As promised, Shepard continues the fight against the Reapers in the sequel. Near the end of the game, Shepard infiltrates the Illusive Man's Chronos Station to retrieve the Prothean VI, Vendetta, which has knowledge of the Catalyst, the final piece required to complete the Crucible and end the war. During this mission to Chronos Station, as Shepard battles the now-indoctrinated ranks of Cerberus, what remains of the Human Reaper, Mass Effect 2's final boss, can be seen.
If Shepard decided to destroy the Collector Base, only the Human Reaper's heart remains. If Cerberus was granted possession of the intact Collector Base, much more of the monstrous machine will be intact, including the Human Reaper's brain. These two outcomes directly translate into War Assets for combating the Reaper invasion. Once the mission aboard Chronos Station has been completed, the Alliance seizes all of the Cerberus assets on board and the player receives either the Reaper Heart or the Reaper Brain.
In Mass Effect 3, players accumulate War Assets that contribute to their Military Strength. Their overall Military Strength rating at the end of the game, along with Mass Effect's Galactic Readiness, determines how effectively the Citadel races can fight the Reapers. It also affects which endings are available to them. Destroying the Collector Base and later receiving the Reaper Heart nets 100 points toward the player's Military Strength. Preserving the Collector Base and being awarded the Reaper Brain gives 110 points to Military Strength.
Although Galactic Readiness was once partially determined by time spent in multiplayer lobbies, all multiplayer features have been removed from the Legendary Editions of the Mass Effect trilogy. Instead, carrying over save files from the first two games is the best way to build Galactic Readiness.
Both values are quite high relative to other War Assets in Mass Effect 3, but, despite the Illusive Man's promise of a great technological leap forward, the difference of 10 between the two is largely negligible. The available endings aren't determined by differences of ten, or even 100. As long as the player has over 1,750 Military Strength, they can choose between two different options; if they have 2,800 or more, a third ending is also available.
The Collector Base choice only impacts the ending of Mass Effect 3 if the player gathers less than 1,750 Military Strength throughout the game. If they chose to destroy the base, they're locked into Mass Effect 3's Destruction ending. If they chose to preserve it, they're locked into Control. Even so, there are plenty of opportunities to secure War Assets throughout Mass Effect 3. Since the mission to Chronos Station is mandatory for finishing the game, the decision to destroy or preserve the Collector Base has only a very small impact in the long run.
Few decisions made in the original Mass Effect trilogy, including the decision to keep or destroy the Collector Base, have much of an impact on Andromeda.
You Should Destroy The Collector Base In Mass Effect 2
The Best Option For Paragon Shepard
So, it's best to destroy the Collector Base in Mass Effect 2, if for no other reason than to stick it to Cerberus. Since the game is practically over by that point, and the decision impacts little in Mass Effect 3, it really comes down to a moral decision. If the player has stuck with a Paragon Shepard, then destroying the base is the greatest act of good they can possibly do. It ostensibly keeps Cerberus and its ideas of human supremacy from taking over the galaxy, even if they fail to do so with the technology in the base intact anyway.
Ultimately, choosing to preserve or destroy the Collector Base doesn't have much of an impact on the Mass Effect universe. However, for those invested in the story-telling of the trilogy, the outcomes of the decision are culminations of the Paragon/Renegade paths that can be taken in Mass Effect 2; Commander Shepard's opinion of Cerberus, and outlook on the impending Reaper invasion, are solidified by the final major decision during the suicide mission.
Mass Effect 2
Action RPG
Third-Person Shooter
Systems
- Franchise
- Mass Effect
- Platform(s)
- PS3 , Xbox 360 , PC
- Released
- January 26, 2010
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 25 Hours
- X|S Enhanced
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 13 GB (December 2023)
