Yes, destroy it. In Mass Effect Legendary Edition, destroying the Collector Base costs you only about 10 war asset points in Mass Effect 3 compared with keeping it, and the choice only forces your ending if your military strength is very low.
Keeping it is a fair pick for a Renegade Shepard, and it does not ruin anything. This guide covers what each option does in both games and what the numbers look like in the Legendary Edition, which differ from the 2012 original of Mass Effect 3.
Where the Choice Comes Up
It comes at the very end of the Suicide Mission, after you defeat the final boss. Shepard is ready to overload the base’s systems when the Illusive Man calls in and offers an alternative: a timed radiation pulse that kills the Collectors but leaves the base intact for Cerberus. He argues that its technology could help against the Reapers.
This choice does not change who survives. If you are still working on that, start with our Suicide Mission checklist. Your squadmates react either way. If you destroy it, Garrus and Mordin point out what is being lost, and if you keep it, Tali and Jack remind you of the people who died there.
What Each Option Changes
| Where | Destroy the base | Keep the base |
|---|---|---|
| Mass Effect 2 morality | Paragon points | Renegade points |
| The Illusive Man | Angry, and Shepard tells him he no longer calls the shots | Pleased, and praises what the technology could do for humanity |
| Mass Effect 2 final scene | The star behind him is blue | The star behind him is red |
| Mass Effect 3 war asset | Reaper Heart, 100 points | Reaper Brain, 110 points |
| Mass Effect 3 dialogue | Some lines with the Illusive Man and Jack differ | Some lines with the Illusive Man and Jack differ |
| Mass Effect 3 ending if your strength is very low | Forced into the Destroy ending | Forced into the Control ending |
You pick up the war asset on Priority: Cerberus Headquarters, a mandatory Mass Effect 3 mission, so you always get one or the other. What remains there is a smaller piece of the Human Reaper if you destroyed the base and more of it if you kept it. These point values come from Mass Effect 3’s war asset list as first released. BioWare has published no full table for the Legendary Edition, so treat them as approximate.
What It Does to the Mass Effect 3 Endings
This is where the choice has the most weight, and also where older numbers cause confusion. The Legendary Edition removed multiplayer and changed how war assets are counted. There is no Effective Military Strength, only Total Military Strength, and the ending thresholds moved up to match. BioWare never published these values, so treat them as close figures. Here is how the base choice works on the Legendary Edition scale:
| Total Military Strength | What the base choice does |
|---|---|
| Under about 3,200 | You get one ending, and your base choice decides which: Destroy if you destroyed it, Control if you kept it |
| About 3,200 to 4,199 | You can pick either ending. The one matching your base choice causes slightly less damage |
| About 4,200 to 5,199 | The ending matching your base choice causes no major damage |
| About 5,200 and up | Destroy and Control both do little damage, and the base choice stops mattering |
The figure of 1,750 that you may have seen belongs to the original Mass Effect 3 and its Effective Military Strength, so ignore it on the Legendary Edition.
Anyone who works through most of the side content in the Legendary Edition should comfortably pass the bottom of this table, and more so with an imported save.
Why We Would Destroy It
- The cost is almost nothing. Ten points is a rounding error against a total in the thousands.
- It fits what the mission is about. The base was built on human lives, and the people you just rescued are aboard your ship.
- It takes a powerful tool out of Cerberus’s hands. The Illusive Man’s pitch is that humanity should hold this technology, and he is the one who would hold it.
- You earn Paragon points, which helps a Paragon run.
Keep it if you are playing a Renegade Shepard who agrees with him, or if you plan on the Control ending and your war assets will be low. Neither game punishes that choice, and the extra 10 points are a small bonus.
Before you get this far, our guide to how many missions you can do after the Reaper IFF will keep your crew alive, and who to pick for every Suicide Mission role will keep your squad alive. Our guide to what carries over between games explains how the result reaches your Mass Effect 3 save.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does destroying the Collector Base change who survives? No. Your squad’s fate comes down to loyalty, upgrades, and job picks, and this choice is not part of that. Keep in mind that if Shepard dies at the end of the Suicide Mission, that save cannot be imported into Mass Effect 3.
Which gives more war assets, destroying or keeping the base? Keeping it, by about 10 points: the Reaper Brain is worth 110 and the Reaper Heart is worth 100.
Does keeping the Collector Base lock you out of the best ending? No. At higher military strength, every ending is available whichever way you went. The base choice only limits you at the lowest strength, under about 3,200 in the Legendary Edition.
Can you change your decision in Mass Effect 3? No. The choice carries over in your save, and the only way to change it is to replay the end of Mass Effect 2 from an earlier save.
Do the numbers differ between the original and the Legendary Edition? The 100 and 110 asset values come from the original’s list, and BioWare has published no full table for the Legendary Edition. The ending thresholds did change: the original used 1,750 Effective Military Strength as its cutoff, and the Legendary Edition uses about 3,200 Total Military Strength.
What is the Reaper Heart or Brain used for? It is a war asset you pick up in Mass Effect 3 that adds to your Total Military Strength. You do not use it as an item.