Arrival - Mass Effect 2 Guide - IGN (2025)

Arrival is one of Mass Effect 2's DLC missions.

You get the call for the Arrival mission on the Normandy if you check your personal terminal after you clear Horizon. You'll have a short conversation with Admiral Hackett.

This unlocks the Viper Nebula, a system along the bottom fringe of the galaxy map. The Bahak system is fairly barren, as you might expect from a batarian-controlled area of space, and only Yunaca, the nearly-invisible planet third from its sun, has any mineral deposits worth collecting.

Arrival is a solo mission for Shepard, and it's a tough one, so there's little point in doing this until the end of the game. Be sure to research all relevant upgrades before you go, as you'll want any advantage you can get.

Land on Aratoht to start the mission. Cut the power relay to open the door and enter the bunker. The bridge control nearby is burned out, so go downstairs and kill the varren guarding the working control. Cross the bridge.

At this point, you can get to Dr. Kensen with relative ease via Sheperd's patented "shoot everyone you see" approach. There is, however, an achievement/trophy for reaching her without ever entering combat with any of the guards, which provides a bit more of a challenge. Note that the Infiltration Cloak does not count as "stealth" for purposes of avoiding combat. (In fact, if you engage it, the local guards have a habit of shouting as if you were in combat with them already, which can be a little startling.) The only way to get the achievement is to never get within a certain range of any of the guards at all.

Go up the stairs past the bridge and kill another varren. Cut the power to the lasers blocking the passageway, then turn left to eavesdrop on a conversation. Follow the tunnel around to your right and go up the stairs. Shoot the gas canister on the ceiling at the end of the hall, then turn the gas valve to turn off the flame jets.

Go into the tunnel beyond, and use the valve in front of you and the valve down the tunnel to the left to deactivate the jets in front of you. Go through the door behind them to find a personal log, 400 credits, and some research data on Heavy Weapon Ammo. The stairs in here are blocked, so go back the way you came and deactivate the same two valves, then go down through the end of the passageway.

Open the door and go up the ramp into the kitchen. Go through the door to the exterior balcony, then walk carefully down the ramp to ground level, and cross the yard to the power relay without attracting the guards' attention. Disable power, then climb up onto the truck bed, and use it as a stepping stone to reach the second floor of the building.

Search the offices for 400 credits and 400 iridium, then drop down into the alley and take the stairs up. Sneak by the two chatty guards, then go through the door on the balcony in the hangar bay. Use the crane control to get the cargo hook out of the way, then drop down to the floor and lower the vehicle. Use the open hatch to drop down to the hangar's basement level.

Take 400 credits from the locker and cut power to turn off the lasers. Use the stack of crates as cover to get past the two guards in Kenson's cell and go down the hall until you find another unlocked door. Open it to rescue her. After the cutscene, you'll receive the achievement Covert Action.

Kenson is your squadmate for the next few minutes. She's hard to kill and knows Incinerate, so you don't really need to worry about her. Fight your way through the only really open path to reach the terminal she needs, then watch her back while she hacks you a way out. This involves staying alive against several waves of normal batarians, who are nonetheless lethal if they're allowed to concentrate fire. All of the waves come from the door you entered the area through, and you'll need to shut that door to buy some of the time you need.

Once it's shut, backtrack to Kenson's position and hold the door against three more waves of batarians. When she gives you the nod, go to the elevator and ride it down to the shuttle bay. You'll need to manually shoot out the locks on either side of the bay doors, and the trick is doing so without exposing yourself to lethal weapons fire. Try only to go after one of the locks in the breaks between waves of batarians, then board the shuttle once the doors are open.

You'll be automatically taken to Project Rho. Follow Kenson to the artifact's storage area, and watch as hilarity ensues. You'll now need to survive ten waves of increasingly difficult enemies, concluding with a battle against a YMIR Mech. If you manage to make it through all ten waves, you'll earn the Last Stand achievement, right before the artifact itself knocks you out.

If they manage to kill you at any point—and they might; they're very aggressive and support themselves with pyros, flash grenades, and flanking tactics—it's not a game over. Instead, it just advances you to the next area.

In the sick bay, listen to the research log, then use the control panel to take control of a LOKI mech. Shoot the scientist, then the four other mechs between you and the power junction near the exit door. Approach it to open the shield, then blow it up with your pistol.

Use the weapons locker outside the medical bay to reequip yourself, then get ready for a running fight, out of the sick bay into the living quarters. Standard Project security personnel have submachineguns and flash grenades, and are frequently accompanied by flamethrower-wielding pyros, who have way more health than they look like they should have (a Project pyro has no armor or shields at all, but is one of the only organic enemies in the game with enough HP to soak up a body shot from the Widow) and who will flat-out charge your position. Elites have shields, and Engineers have barriers and know Incinerate.

Salvage some mech parts in the living quarters for 1120 credits, then go around the barricade in the hallway. Watch out for a pyro in the laboratory in the next room, then grab a research log and 1360 credits from the far side of the room.

The next area has an engineer and an elite, with 250 element zero for the taking on a desk. Take them out, then proceed to the Project control room. There are two pyros, an elite, and an engineer here, in addition to a few normal goons. Dispose of them carefully, then use the console for a conversation scene (radio the colonists vs. radio for extraction). Two more normal guards storm in immediately afterwards; take them out, then use their door to reach the reactor core.

After you talk to Kenson, dispose of two more guards. You're supposedly "trapped" in here, but you can shoot a fuel tank on the wall to expose the exit door's override. Do so, then use the elevator to get to the second floor. Scoop up 200 element zero, then run down the hallway to fight an engineer and her posse of guards.

With them dead, use the controls to insert the cooling rod. Dispose of two more guards and take the next elevator. Abort the plasma venting with the next console, then raid the medical station and pick up 1000 credits.

Go through the empty plasma venting chamber and dispose of a bunch more guards in the maintenance corridor, including a pyro and an elite. Blow up the explosive crate near the door to clear your exit route. Williams, a guard who is clearly an optimist, will now radio to say he has you trapped; dispose of him and remove the security lockdown with his console.

This triggers the arrival of a pyro and another guard via a nearby elevator, which can be tricky in such close quarters. Deal with them and ride up. In the security checkpoint, you can find a lot of thermal clips and 200 element zero.

Take the elevator up to find 1000 credits on a PDA. Open the nearby door to find another ambush from a very well-situated, well-armed group of Project personnel, then bypass the door past them. Grab 200 element zero and 1000 credits from the wall safe, and insert the second cooling rod to avert the reactor meltdown.

Take the elevator down to finally catch up with Kenson. You can use a Renegade interrupt on her if you want, but the end result's the same: you're now on the clock. Take 525 palladium from the next room, and 2100 credits' worth of survey data from an alcove near the airlock. Restock on heavy weapons ammo before you leave the base to go outside for the final showdown.

You're under fire the moment you go outside by eight guards with flash grenades, who can kill you in seconds if they catch you out of cover, and they will flank you if given the option. They do start off at a good distance from the door, which gives you a good opportunity to cut them down a bit with Incinerate or similar powers, but you need to chop them up as fast as possible before their backup, the YMIR mech, shows up.

Once they're dealt with, get to the comms relay to finish this mission. You've got some conversational options to deal with, giving you final opportunities to win alignment points, but surviving that battle essentially "wins" Arrival.