Mass Effect Andromeda guide: Meridian – The Way Home, Khi Tasira

It’s time to take Meridian.

Now that you’ve settled the Krogan paradise of Elaaden and taken The Journey to Meridian, Mass Effect Andromeda‘s main quest priority operations are drawing to a rapid conclusion: the time has come to try to take Meridian and, if necessary, take out the Archon.

Find more tips, tricks and explanations in our Mass Effect Andromeda guide and walkthrough.

The Point of No Return

Unlike most other priority ops, The Way Home won’t unlock a stack of new side quests, or progress any you’ve got on hold. that’s because we’re on the downhill slope now; the final credits are in your sights.

This is the point of no return, for really reals this time, and as a result you’ll want to try to tidy up any quests. While it’s not necessary to do everything now – there’s plenty of time for fetch quests after this last critical path mission – some sidequests, and planetary viability, effect the sequence of events and battles in the very final stages here.

As a general guide, you’re pretty safe ignoring any Task-tier quests that involve tracking down three signals, bodies, transmitters or whatever from random encounters on planet surfaces; these don’t have any effect on ending sequences. On the other hand, loyalty quests, the Ark missions and planetary viability quest chains are worth doing before you proceed.

Most importantly, make sure you finish anything involving the Hyperion. These quests will not be available later. Tidy off any quests marked as coming from the Hyperion in your quest log, for they won’t be available post-credits although everything else will.

We’ve listed all the side missions and tasks that unlock alongside each major mission on their walkthrough pages – you can use this as a checklist of sorts. You can check out all of the available quests via our guide hub, and you’ll find the most recent quests that unlocked on the pages for Hunting the Archon and The Journey to Meridian.

Optional Extras before hitting Meridian

Before you head to Meridian, there are some quests you should consider doing. These quests will have a significant impact on the finale of the game – so if you don’t do them things will be different and quite possibly a little worse.

Below, we explain the missions in question and why:

• Missing Arks – Turian Ark: Lost but not Forgotten

  Tracking down the Turian Ark in this sub-quest will lead to you finally having a Turian Pathfinder on your side. The more pathfinders the better for this final assault.

• Missing Arks – Cora Harper: Asari Ark

  Much as with the Turian Ark, following Cora’s loyalty mission won’t just make her loyal and unlock her rank six skills but will also one way or another mean you end up with an Asari pathfinder. Be sure to either hide the dirty secret or appoint a new pathfinder entirely if you want their help.

• Know Your Enemy

  This quest line is all about a bit of dissent within the Kett hierarchy – not every Kett agrees with what the Archon is up to. Completing this quest might mean you have some inside help…

Gather Scourge Data from the Galaxy Map

In order to track down Meridian, there’s a bit of busy work too. First off, chat to Suvi on the bridge of the Tempest. After some exposition you’re to use the Galaxy Map and collect data on the Scourge. Since you’ll be travelling around anyway this is an ideal time to tidy up missions, as mentioned above.

Once you’ve gathered the data you’re pointed to, use the terminal on the Tempest Bridge to analyse it. You’ll then be pointed back to Khi Tasira, the place we visited in the previous main mission, The Journey to Meridian.

This is where the true point of no return is, and the game will alert you of this fact. When you’re ready, head to Khi Tasira to kick off Mass Effect Andromeda’s finale.

Back on Khi Tasira – and the Hyperion

On Khi Tasira you’ll face a number of Remnant enemies – remember that these guys are synthetic, and so they’re vulnerable to electricity-based attacks such as Overload and other tech powers. Remember, however, that the load-out you pick will carry through with you right to the end of the game – and that’s going to involve a big boss encounter and some further encounters with the Kett. Pick a load-out and build that you think can handle both sides of things.

Battle your way through Khi Tasira – then you’re in for a bit of a surprise. We won’t spoil it.

Now you have to battle your way through the Ark Hyperion – the difference being that you don’t have much in the way of weaponry. Use your pistol and grenades carefully to take down the Kett – it’s only the Chosen, so you don’t have to worry too much about this compared to other encounters. As you progress, you’ll soon find much deadlier Kett, but the story gives you a way around it.

Get to the console indicated and use it. Some story unfolds… and then you’ll find yourself back aboard the Tempest.

The Final Battle for Meridian

On the Tempest things don’t stop for a breather, not really. This is a last chance to talk to your squad before the finale – in case, you know, anyone doesn’t make it. Or just to give them a pep talk – either way, consider taking the time to have a chat with each of them. While you’re back on the Tempest, this still counts as part of the mission, so you can’t save or fly anywhere else.

This is now a final assault. Here, your choices from throughout the game will come back to help or haunt you in the form of which friendly faces show up to help you – or which ones don’t. The Pathfinders, the Angaran Resistance – lots of people can help you depending on your decisions throughout the game, as detailed in the rest of our guide.

Fight your way through the waves of Kett enemies. Everybody is at this party – there’s Ascendant, Chosen, Anointed, Destined, the works. You’ll even face the occasional rare Exalted Krogan. We’ve published strategies on how to take down several of these tougher enemy types on our other pages.

You know how to take all these down from hours of battling Kett right across the Heleus Cluster – just employ everything you already learned here. Remember that you can order your squad to focus fire and ability use on a particular enemy if you need to take them down fast, and keep moving from cover to cover to keep yourself safe.

Don’t forget the basic combat setup either: slow-firing guns are better against armor, rapid fire is better against shields.

The fate of Captain Dunn

At a point in this final push Captain Dunn of the Hyperion will throw herself in harm’s way for the greater good. She will die unless you made some prescient decisions throughout the game: if there is a helpful Asari Pathfinder and if Avitus is the Turian Pathfinder, Captain Dunn will be saved.

The Final Boss – The Archon and the Architect

After Captain Dunn’s fate is decided you’ll have a series of more difficult battles including an Exalted Krogan and a Fiend at the same time(!), but again, your basic combat smarts will see you through this one. Clear out the Kett and push on, and then you’re going to be given a more specific task.

What you need to do is get to the position pointed out to you by your helpful ally and then hold your position there until the console you need becomes active. You’ll have to repeat this three times. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? Well… there’s a catch.

The catch is an architect. The good news is that if you’ve been fastidious about your side mission completion you will have already battled a few of these bad boys, though this battle is a little different since you have an additional objective to worry about. Still, our original architect strategies still very much apply.

Here are some basic tips:

• Focus on the small remnant first – the smaller remnant such as assemblers and observers should be your initial priority, and once they’re down then turn your attention on the architect.
• Make good use of cover – while much of Andromeda’s combat allows you to tackle things in a more mobile manner, you’ll want to make good use of cover against the architect – its guns are devastating.
• Be ready to move away from grenade spam – the architect will use sticky grenades to flush you out of cover, but the UI marks them clearly. When it spits grenades out, make a move.
• Be aware of your position – this is a simple one, but watch where you step – you need to be inside the markings the UI leaves on the floor in order for the hacking to progress. Hold the line!
• When the head is exposed, attack! – attacking the head when your allies tell you to can leave the architect temporarily out of action, giving you vital time to regroup.

Once you interface with all three consoles you’ll be able to fully defeat the Architect and with it the Archon. Meridian is yours! We’ll leave what happens next for the game to explain. Or you could watch the video below.

Don’t worry, Mass Effect Andromeda continues after these scenes play out. You can explore the Heleus cluster at your leisure.

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