Mass Effect 2: "Reaper IFF" aka "Derelict Reaper" Mission Tips On The Insanity Difficulty Setting

Time to continue our tips for the hardest missions for Mass Effect 2 on the Insanity difficulty setting. Remember to follow my general tips before you engage this mission. Today we go over the "Reaper IFF" or "Derelict Reaper Mission."

1. You can start "Reaper IFF" mission at your leisure. To obtain this mission you need to complete the "Collector Ship" mission. After that mission, you get the location of the Reaper ship. There's no need to start this mission right away. So, if you want to do side missions you can.

2. But once you start and complete the "Reaper IFF" mission you began the countdown to the final mission. Note after you complete this mission, you will be allowed to complete only two more missions before the Normandy gets attacked. After your crew gets kidnapped you must go through the Omega 4 Relay as you next mission or else they will become human soylent green, well actually genetic material for the human Reaper. So, if you need some upgrades or want to do other side missions do them before you start the "Reaper IFF" mission.

3. Know your enemy. Your enemies on this level are husks, abominations, and scions. Now remember on the Insanity difficulty setting, husks have armor.

3. You squad should be Miranda and Zaeed; heavy weapon should be Collector Paricle Beam or M-920 Cain. On Normal, I usually take Garrus and Jack. Garrus has extra dialogue at the impaled Cerberus scientists. Jack has the Shockwave power which can kill whole groups of husks without armor.

But husks have armor here. Jack is less effective. So bring two people who can deal with armor. Miranda can warp armor. Zaeed, assuming you have his loyalty, can burn armor with the Inferno Grenade. The added bonus is that the grenade has splash damage that can hurt nearby bad guys.

For my heavy weapon, I bring the Paricle Collector Beam. Those reasons will be explained when we get to the Reaper Core.

4. Learn to retreat when overwhelmed. Waves of husks will attack you. You will not be able to wipe out a whole wave. You may have to fall back. And remember to take your squad with you. The same holds true with scions. Fall back and use your sniper rifle on the scions if you have to. And do remember to unleash hell with your assault rifle on the husks. Plenty of ammunition will be found.

5. Save your game often. Just in case you get killed, you don't have to repeat a section that you've cleared.

6. Presevere your medi-gel.You really should save your medi-gel for the last level, the Reaper core. That's because your squadmates will get killed on a regular basis during that level. So don't use the medi-gel before that level and remember once you're allowed to save a game, your squadmates automatically revive.

7. The Reaper Core. You know the drill. You have to destroy the core in front of you. When the shield covers it, you can't do anything. When it's open you can damage it. In the meantime, waves of husks attack you. Mass Effect Wiki does a great job describing the sequences when the husks rise up. Note there is a finite amount of husks at one time. What I mean by that you won't face hundreds of husks at one time but wave after wave of husks until the core is destroyed.

Now you can't do anything with the shield up. So here's how I kept the husks at bay. When you enter the room, you're on a bridge that leads to the core. There are two stairs, one on either side which I will call the rear stairs. There are two stairs near the reactor core which I will call the front stairs. I moved up to the front stairs. Killed as many husks as possible. But I noticed a bunch of the husks were going up the rear stairs away from me. When they reached the middle of the bridge, I went down the front stairs. They attempted to cross the bridge and go down the front stairs. I ran towards the rear of the bridge. The husks stayed on the bridge and went to the rear stairs. I then went to the front stairs. Now you can move back and forth and keep dumb husks between the two stairs.

In the meantime, I've pulled out my Particle Beam. When the shield opens up, I unleash fire on it. The Mass Wiki notes that the Cain will end the mission quickly. That maybe so but it's a slow firing weapon that will allow the husks to surround you. The Particle Beam allows you to fire without delay. Remember to use your squadmates powers. Try to save as much medi-gel as possible. I usually wait until both squadmembers are dead before I use the medi-gel. Eventually you will prevail.

Conclusion. Activate Legion when you get back to the Normandy. First, you will only get to do two more missions before the Normandy gets attacked, forcing you to go through the Omega 4, assuming you want to save the crew. After you activated Legion, his loyalty mission becomes available almost immediately.