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Mass Effect 2 Hints

Normandy Tour

  • 1 of 16: Look just to the left of the big galaxy map to find your private terminal. You can use it to check on various things, including your team, your upgrades, and your messages.
  • 2 of 16: You'll have several messages piled up, so read through them to get some info and codex entries. Choose to mark messages as read when you're through with them to get them moved to the archived messages section.
  • 3 of 16: The galaxy map is used to fly the Normandy around the galaxy, so don't do anything with it until you're done looking around.
  • 4 of 16: To the right of the galaxy map is Yeoman Chambers' station. When you talk to her, your responses will determine whether or not you start a friendship or romance with her.
  • 5 of 16: Past the galaxy map, go up some stairs and look on the right for some controls you can examine to get a codex entry. You can get another one from the flight controls in the cockpit.
  • 6 of 16: Play with the cockpit's shutter control if you like, then talk to Joker and use the EDI terminal for info.
  • 7 of 16: Go back past the galaxy map and look on the back wall for two doors and an elevator. (There's another EDI terminal here, as well as in other areas of the ship, but you can only get a bit of basic info from them.)
  • 8 of 16: The left door leads to the tech lab, which you can't enter until you recruit the salarian scientist. The door on the right leads to the armory, where you can use the weapons locker to change everyone's default loadout. (Note that on Shepard's list, you can change your heavy weapon to the M-490 Blackstorm Singularity Projector or the Arc Projector if you have certain DLC modules installed.)
  • 9 of 16: Another thing you can do in the armory is talk to Jacob about a few things. Watch for opportunities to gain morality points.
  • 10 of 16: Go through the armory's side door to find another locked tech lab door, plus an unlocked door that leads to the briefing/comm room. The only thing you can do in there right now is access an EDI information terminal.
  • 11 of 16: Return to the galaxy map area and use the elevator to go up to Deck 1. All it has is your personal quarters, which includes a duplicate private terminal, an armor locker you can use to change your armor selection, and gimmicks for viewing your achievements and playing some music. (Take the time to listen to all nine tunes. Some of them are really cool!)
  • 12 of 16: Use the elevator to go to Deck 3, then run around to the mess area behind the elevator. Talk to Mess Sergeant Gardner in the little kitchen area to learn a few things and get the "Normandy: Special Ingredients" optional assignment.
  • 13 of 16: Look to the left of the kitchen for Miranda's office, and to the right for the medical lab. You can talk to Miranda in her office about herself and Cerberus, though you won't learn much of use this early in the game. In the lab, you can talk to Dr. Chakwas to get some info and the "Normandy: Serrice Ice Brandy" optional assignment.
  • 14 of 16: Take the elevator down to Deck 4, then use the monitoring station that's directly ahead to get a codex entry.
  • 15 of 16: Go through one of the doors next to the elevator, then go through another door to reach an area with two engineers you can talk to in order to get some info and the "Normandy: FBA Couplings" optional assignment.
  • 16 of 16: That's it for the starting tour, but don't forget to talk to everyone again after every mission you complete. There will usually be new dialogue topics available, many of which will get you morality points or progress on a friendship or romance.