At long last, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has been released and fans can now play through the entire trilogy without much hassle. With enhanced graphics, a better AI for Shepard's companions and quality of life improvements, this is the definitive way to play the universally acclaimed game. While players will appreciate these vast improvements, there is one thing that remains the same and could baffle Mass Effect veterans and new players alike: the confusing layout of the Citadel.
Shepard's team is deposited on the Citadel at the beginning of the game, right after the bombastic introduction on Eden Prime. Players are tasked with reporting directly to the Citadel's council about the turncoat Spectre Saren. This is a great time to get to know the various races of Mass Effect, pick up some side quests and meet some potential new allies.
You'll start with listening to Ambassador Udina argue with the council. Unfortunately, they insist that everything must be said at the hearing. You can score a +2 to your Renegade score here by stating that "They're blind" when talking to Udina. You'll also get your first task of the visit - attend the hearing. This is a great chance to explore the Citadel's top level, the Presidium and get to know more about the world of Mass Effect.
If you want to head straight to the hearing, head down the stairs outside the embassy. From here, go straight past the hologram guide on the left and head to the northwest corner of the Presidium. If you get turned around, there are direction signs that can help. When you reach the Citadel tower, take the elevator up to the council chambers and you'll encounter yet another argument. This time it's between Executor Pallin and a C-Sec officer, Garrus Vakarian. It becomes quickly obvious that Garrus could be an ally in Shepard's fight against Saren as he feels limited by C-Sec's love of red tape.
Head north to attend the hearing. While your efforts at convincing the council will be mostly fruitless, you can get +2 Paragon points for picking the dialogue option "Quit protecting him!" Once the hearing is over you'll need to talk to Captain Anderson to discuss some leads. It's important to exhaust his dialogue here as this will get you the "Citadel: Shadow Broker" quest. You'll also automatically get the "Citadel: Garrus" quest. The former deals with Barla Von, an agent of the Shadow Broker, who deals in information. The latter involves speaking with the turian C-Sec officer that you met earlier. To that end, you're told to find Harkin, a disgraced C-Sec officer who is likely festering in Chora's Den.
To find Barla Von, head down the elevator back to the Presidium and take the nearby bridge across the large river, where you'll find Von inside a bank. A conversation with the volus will reveal that Fist, the owner of Chora's Den, is in big trouble with the Shadow Broker as he double-crossed the mysterious figure and changed his allegiance to Saren.
The Shadow Broker hired a krogan mercenary to deal with Fist, so you'll need to hurry if you want to talk to him. The quest is renamed "Citadel: Wrex" at this point. Head to Chora's Den in the Wards, underneath the Presidium. You'll go through the wards access, or you can use the Citadel's Rapid Transit system if you picked it up as a destination earlier.
Just outside of Chora's Den, you'll be attacked by two assassins. Use the railings as cover and eliminate the threat before they make their way around to kill you. With that done you can enter and explore Chora's Den.
Heading to the left of the bar will give you your first encounter with Wrex. After a cutscene where he argues with one of Fist's bouncers, he leaves. To the right of the hallway, you'll find Harkin. After a conversation with the sleazy cop, you'll learn quite a few interesting things about Captain Anderson, but most importantly you'll learn that Garrus has gone to talk to Dr. Michel at the Med Center, as she may have some useful information on Saren.
The Med Center can be found in the Upper Wards. Once there, you'll find Dr. Michel being threatened by some of Fist's thugs, and you'll overhear them mention a quarian with information about Saren. You will also see Garrus, hiding and waiting for a moment to strike. The cutscene ends when the thugs notice Shepard and Garrus takes one out with a well-placed shot, followed by a short battle against the remaining grunts. Once that's done there will be a conversation with Garrus and Dr. Michel - telling Garrus "It was a big risk" will get Shephard +2 Paragon points, but complimenting him with "Nice shot" will get them +2 Renegade points instead.
Upon learning that your goals are the same, Garrus offers to join your squad and you're off to confront Fist. You don't have to put him in your party right now, but he's a good sniper who may be a great boon in the coming fights. Garrus will also recommend that you seek out the mercenary who is also going after Fist, which brings you back to Wrex.
The quickest way to get to C-Sec will be to use the Rapid Transit system to head back to the Embassies. Head to the right of the Embassies and down a ramp to find an elevator, which will take you to the security offices. Here you'll find Wrex being admonished by officers. Talk to him to learn more about the situation. He will also mention the quarian, who went to Fist not knowing that his allegiance lies with Saren. Wrex will join your squad as you get ready to take down Fist.
When Wrex joins you'll get the chance to change up your squad. However, be warned that if you take Wrex to confront Fist, he will kill him. Choose whichever squad you want and head back to Chora's Den. Fist is expecting you, so you'll have some thugs to take down on the way to his office. Try to take down some of the enemies from outside the bar before heading in and using the cover to your advantage. Note that there is an enemy on top of the bar with a great vantage point, so take him down as soon as possible.
Once these enemies are dealt with head to the hallway to Fist's office. You'll find some enemies inside, but you can convince them to back down without a fight if Shepard has 3 ranks of Charm or Intimidate, and you'll get a nice +2 to either Paragon or Renegade depending on the choice they make.
The encounter with Fist is a somewhat tough fight with the bar owner and two automatic turrets. You can either focus everything on Fist or take down the turrets, after which he will immediately surrender. Either way, you'll learn that Fist set up a meeting between the quarian and the Shadow Broker, but it's actually a trap. Before going to rescue the quarian, you get a chance to kill Fist by choosing the "You don't deserve to live" option for +2 Renegade points. Regardless of what you choose, Wrex will take the choice away from you and finish him off himself if he's in your party, but Shepard can still get the +2 Renegade points by saying "He deserved it."
You'll have four minutes to save the quarian, which should be plenty of time. First, search Fist's office; there's a Wall Safe that can be opened if Shepard, Kaidan or Garrus have points in Decryption. You can also find an Optical Storage Disc to complete an optional side quest on the Citadel.
Now make your way out of Chora's Den. There will be enemies again, but you don't actually have to fight them. When you reach the Rapid Transit station for Chora's Den turn left up the stairs and into the red alleyway, and the quarian is straight ahead. Take out the enemies after the cutscene and you'll get a short cutscene with the quarian, Tali, after which you are transported back to the human embassy.
At the embassy, Tali will provide you with the information that she had on Saren, which is enough to incriminate him in the Eden Prime attack and Nihlus' murder. Tali will offer to join your squad and you'll be tasked with returning to the council to expose Saren.
Head to the Citadel Tower for another cutscene in which this new evidence is provided and The Council is convinced of Saren's wrongdoing. During this conversation it will be suggested that Shepard is made the human Spectre, and they can respond with "It's the best solution." or "Quit holding us back!" The former will give a +2 Paragon bonus and the latter a +2 Renegade bonus. Either way, you're made a Spectre and gain all the boons that come with the job, including more ranks in Charm and Intimidate which are crucial for unlocking dialogue options.
After this meeting, your final task is to speak with Ambassador Udina outside the Normandy, accessible via the Docking Bay elevator in C-Sec Headquarters. Here, Captain Anderson relieves his command and the Normandy is given to Shepard. During this conversation Shepard can say "I'll be careful." for +2 Paragon points, or "That's your job." for +2 Renegade points. With this, you'll have successfully exposed Saren as the traitor he is, became a Spectre yourself and opened up the game. This would be a good time to take on some sidequests on the Citadel and search your ship to talk to the new squadmates who you've recruited. After that, the galaxy is yours to explore.
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