Mass Effect 2: Arrival Tips For Insanity Difficulty Setting

Why play Mass Effect 2: Arrival on Insanity? For the challenge. So, here are tips for playing Arrival on the Inanity difficulty setting. Remember to review my general tips for playing Mass Effect 2 on Insanity. This is not a complete walkthrough but will cover the most difficult areas. If you want a walkthrough, check this one out from Mass Effect 2 Wiki.

1. Make Slam your extra power. That will become apparent at the last section of the mission.

2. Save your game often.

3. Fools rush in. Don't rush into rooms. A lot of times you should seek cover next to the door. Let the enemies run around and pick them off. If you need to, retreat and lure bad guys to you under cover. And remember that all enemies have shields now.

4. Take out pyros first. These guys will try to flank you. And on Arrival, they're faster. A pyro's flamethrower will ruin your day. So when they appear, give them special attention.

5. Tips for hack the terminal. Before you enter the room with Dr. Kenson, save your game. Okay rescue her, get the credits in the room and take out the guard that comes to attack you. Head downstairs to the elevator room.

When you enter the room, you come under attack from four guards. Take cover and take them down. Kenson has two powers. They are Overload and Incinerate. Use her powers. As you move forward, doors open up and more guards appear. Again seek cover. Take out these guys. Okay, once they're down, take a breath. Because you won't be able to save your game until you reach Kenson's base.

To start the next part of the mission, you must activate the terminal. Kenson comes over and will hack it to bring down the elevator. Now there's a vestibule outside of the terminal that has a turned over table you can use for cover. Kenson tells you to hold the fort but she can't help you. Enemies come from the left in waves of three. They have shields. And they make a beeline for Kenson. They will shoot at you as they approach. So be careful.

I first seek cover behind a wall in the vestibule. I try to take down the shields of the guards but eventually they will be on top of you. I move back to the hall where Kenson is and take cover. This causes the guards to seek cover behind the fallen table. Okay, here's the order. As soon as you defeat these first three, Kenson tells you that you need to close the door from where they entered. Guards in waves of three will continue to enter until you shut the door. But there will be only three at one time. This is what I do. I kill two guards and weaken the third significantly. I then run to the door's controls, the weakened guard heads for Kenson. If you're fast enough you can get to the controls and shut it before other guards appear. If guards appear, there will be only two but it will be difficult to keep Kenson alive while you're putting down the two new guards. Regardless, get to the controls and shut the door. Head back to Kenson to kill the guards that are moving on her.

Now a group of guards now appear from the right. Stay under cover of the vestibule's walls. They don't advance so pick them off. After they've been defeated. Another group comes from the elevator. You might want to take out the sniper rifle. Once you're finished with these guys Kenson moves to the elevator. Take a breath. Collect ammo clips and then head onto the elevator.

Now you head up a floor with the shuttle. Remember fools rush in. You're immediately under fire. Get under cover and start taking out the guards on this floor. Use Kenson and be careful. Once you've defeated all the bad guys, destroy the locks on the door. You can use your power of Slam on them. Get in the shuttle and escape to Kenson's base. Once you get there, you can save your game.

6. Object Rho. No need for tips here. You can't survive the attack. And if you're looking for the "Last Stand" achievement, you would be insane to do this on um, Insanity. Get the achievement on a lower difficulty level like Normal.

7. The Final Battle. You're on the surface. The asteroid is heading toward the Alpha Relay. Strong "winds" are swirling above you. There's a crate in front of you but don't run there. Go to the right and take cover behind the wall of crates. Why? The guards won't flank you. They take cover in positions in front of you.

Now here's where the Slam power is worth its weight in gold. Use your assault rifle to rip down the guards shields. Now use Slam on unshielded bad guys. It throws them high in the air and the "winds" sweep him up and away. Instant kill.

Finally, there's only a YMIR Mech between you and the communications control. Use the crates for cover. And don't get careless. Remember once you get the Mech down to its shields, you can use Slam. It won't throw the Mech up but it will freeze and damage it. Eventually you destroy the Mech. Get to the communications control and call the Normandy. That's it. Enjoy the cutscenes.