Ally trophies are a scam

[usrmd]

Is anyone else having trouble with these? I've completed the game, with 55 missions done right before Ilos, but I did not get either of the ally trophies for Garrus & Wrex (59 total, 4 without them), who I recruited first thing and kept for the entirety of the game.

 

What's more odd I got the Quarian ally trophy months ago on my first playthrough, along with Completionist, and I've done a bit more in this run than that one..

 

 

[beepop100]

The trophy description is a bit inacurrate in what you have to actually do for the achivement to unlock. I can't find the link that fully explains it atm but generally the 45 to 55 missions or so, depending on the character, that you have to complete is broken down to 5 or 6 main (story-line/main) missions and the rest are the side missions. The amount of story missions and side missions that you have to complete with each character differs on each ally (it's wierd).

I found that in my playthough I think Garrus and Wrex ally trophy unlocked AFTER completing Illos - as I had to complete that (last main/story) mission in order to satisfy the amount of story-line missions you have to do with those characters. I also had completed a fair number (over 50) side missions so I was very confused too.

 

So if you're saying you've competed the game as much as possible with those character you'll probably unlock it after you complete Illos as what happened with me. Hope this helps.

Edited April 16, 2015 by beepop100

[jbbowser]

Most of the Ally trophies worked as expected for me. The two exceptions were Liara ( took 76 Missions) and  Wrex ( took 69 missions).

[merciful84]

Are you using a guide? I did when going for the Ally trophies and didn't have any issues. It does take at least 2 or 3 playthroughs to get all of them:

 

http://www.playstationtrophies.org/game/mass-effect/guide/

[starcrunch061]

Is anyone else having trouble with these? I've completed the game, with 55 missions done right before Ilos, but I did not get either of the ally trophies for Garrus & Wrex (59 total, 4 without them), who I recruited first thing and kept for the entirety of the game.

 

What's more odd I got the Quarian ally trophy months ago on my first playthrough, along with Completionist, and I've done a bit more in this run than that one..

 

The trophy description is a bit inacurrate in what you have to actually do for the achivement to unlock. I can't find the link that fully explains it atm but generally the 45 to 55 missions or so, depending on the character, that you have to complete is broken down to 5 or 6 main (story-line/main) missions and the rest are the side missions. The amount of story missions and side missions that you have to complete with each character differs on each ally (it's wierd).

I found that in my playthough I think Garrus and Wrex ally trophy unlocked AFTER completing Illos - as I had to complete that (last main/story) mission in order to satisfy the amount of story-line missions you have to do with those characters. I also had completed a fair number (over 50) side missions so I was very confused too.

 

So if you're saying you've competed the game as much as possible with those character you'll probably unlock it after you complete Illos as what happened with me. Hope this helps.

 

I too had trouble unlocking those particular ally trophies, and while they did unlock, it was much later than I expected.

[Dragon-Archon]

They all worked for me. You have to complete 75% of the main missions and side quests. This is quite a grind, because it basically means almost 3 full playthroughs to get all the ally trophies.

[Matto_lsi]

There's so many topics and walkthroughs on these trophies, that anyone going for them should know what to do in advance.  Since the game came out on 360 years before PS3, all the 360 guides are way more in depth and accurate than anything I saw for the PS3 version of the game.

 

With that said, the very first result for a google search of 'mass effect ally' gives me this -- http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Party_Member_Achievement_Guide

 

That guide is what I used on both 360 and PS3 to complete this game, and it clearly lays out what you need to do and why.  In short, do as little as possible until you acquire the 2 allies you plan to use for your current playthrough, then go back and kick off all the side quests you want.  I finished off all my ally achievements before I got to Ilos.  I finished off all but Liara before reaching Virmire.

 

My best tip, do all the easy and quick side quests and skip the long ones.  Don't collect anything, no minerals, no insignias, its a waste of time.  Some side quests you can complete in less than a minute, and many in less than 10 minutes.  Follow the info in that guide I linked, and you should be good.  Also, always start and finish a side quest with your ally in your party.  I never found definitive proof that you needed to start it with them, but I didn't take the chance.  Also, if you don't complete certain quests a certain way, they won't count as finished until you come back to the ship and talk to Admiral Hackett.  At that point, no one is in your party, so the quest doesn't tally for the trophy.  A good example of this is not bringing Wrex on his loyalty mission.  If you do, the quest ends on the planet, and if you don't, it ends on the ship when Shep is alone.

 

Anyway, follow that guide.  You will have all Ally trophies other than Liara if you follow that guide, and you should get hers on Virmire.  Step 5 says go to all non-mission worlds.  You can, but you don't have to.  I skipped a few of the longer missions like the 5 geth bases, and the one where you go to 3 planets to take out a syndicate.  Those are very long, and even with Liara, are not needed.  Do the easier ones first, and definitely do Bring Down the Sky.  I'd recommend doing that one just before you head to Virmire so the item you get is useful through end-game (unless you're already level 50/60, then knock it out whenever).

 

EDIT: I just want to add after reading this thread, there's a lot of misinformation here.  No offense to any of the previous posters, but seriously, there's no difference between ally requirements.  You unlock them at different times because they MUST BE IN YOUR PARTY AT MISSION COMPLETION.  As I mentioned above, some missions might end on the ship instead of the planet.  Also, crit path forces you to complete some main missions before you can even acquire an ally.  Ashley and Kaiden are there from day 1, but you've already completed Eden Prime before getting Garrus, and you complete Garrus' mission before you get Wrex, and you complete Wtrex's mission before you get Tally, and you must leave the Citadel and rescue Liara before she's a party member.  That's a good 4-5 main mission difference between Liara and Ashley/Kaiden.  The requirements are the same, but you start them at different points in the game.  That's why you limit the missions you complete on the Citadel before you have the allies you want.  If you just play the game, it's possible not to get Liara until just before heading to Virmire (or even at all, you can technically never recruit her).  I can't stress enough that the PS3 guides for this are mostly crap.  It's like whoever wrote them ignored the fact that the 360 guides had been updated and perfected for nearly 6 years before the game came to PS3.  Follow a 360 guide and ignore the PS3 guides.  It's really quite appalling how bad they are in comparison, and the information is really inaccurate.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Matto_lsi

[Arkthur]

All allies need 45 missions to get the trophy, except for Liara and Garrus that need 50. Now, the reason why people's count sometimes goes beyond the 45-50 needed and still don't get the trophy, has a really easy reason to it. Not every mission counts towards the trophy (I'm talking about side missions).

 

Allow me to explain, some side missions are not completed on the planet, instead, you have to return to the Normandy to get the "completed" status, Major Kyle and Colony of the Dead are good examples of this, since you complete these missions while on the Normandy, and you don't have any party members besides Shepard while on the ship, the mission wont count. 

 

Another example are Rex and Garrus's missions, if you do not brin them with you, you have to complete the mission on the Normandy. The only missions I'm not sure about are the minerals/medallions/etc missions. Those can be completed both in the Normandy or on a planet, but I assume that if you completed them on any planet (actually being on the planet, not via scanning), they should count.

 

I had the same problem with Liara, but after a good reasearch, I got the trophy while doing the Locdown missions, with a count of 50 exactly. 

 

If anybody is going after this trophy, I recommend completing Feros first, making sure you complete every Therum/Noveria/Feros/Citadel mission, and then do side missions until you have a total of 40 (45 if you have Liara/Garrus). That way you can choose which mission to do, since some are harder to do (BDtS, Geth Incursions) than others. Once you have the right number of missions, you should unlock this trophy while on the Lockdown.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Arkthur

[funboy1246]

The only one that hassled me was liara. Wrex n garrus i got on the same playthrough. I do every side quedt i can and inspect/ land on eevery planet in every system.

[usrmd]

Gah! judging by these replies, it sounds like there is a clear detail that I do not understand. Some people seem to be getting "lucky" somehow, unlocking them as expected? Shouldn't be luck, should be normal.. I've taken all advice, and I did follow a guide before this run.. I planned ahead, althrough the guides made it sounds stupid easy. ASAP got Garrus and Wrex literally as soon as possible.. started missions/assignments after that... I've done most of everything, there's like 3 missions left and they are all collectible like valuable minerals.. I did Feros first, Noveria and then Virmire, with assignments between but most were aimed for off top. I've never used anyone but Garrus and Wrex for over 20 hours gameplay. I didn't even change the difficulty.

 

So if you're saying you've competed the game as much as possible with those character you'll probably unlock it after you complete Illos as what happened with me. Hope this helps.

 

Thats the thing, I did finish the game and no trophy. I even went back, scoured for a couple more and tried again. Still nada..

 

 

If anybody is going after this trophy, I recommend completing Feros first, making sure you complete every Therum/Noveria/Feros/Citadel mission, and then do side missions until you have a total of 40 (45 if you have Liara/Garrus). That way you can choose which mission to do, since some are harder to do (BDtS, Geth Incursions) than others. Once you have the right number of missions, you should unlock this trophy while on the Lockdown.

 

Well, I've done well over 40 missions total with Garrus and Wrex. including BDtS and Geth Incursions.. my count is 57 missions completed with Garrus and Wrex, 61 completed total. I did miss Fai Dan's turn in quest, as well as UNC: Hostile Takeover.. those are the only 2 assignments I've not completed, aside from Valuable Minerals, Turian Insignias and Aasari Writings. Could the fact that I'm doing a Renegade run be the issue?

 

Here is something though... First playthrough months ago, when I unlocked Tali's trophy & Completionist in the same run, doing much less then I have here.. I used the mass effect trilogy disc and this one I have purchased the PSN version of the game 

[sephiroth4424]

I've finished the plat recently.All ally trophies unlocked after completing the 45th mission (checked) and BEFORE Virmire.I almost did every assignment except the collection ones.So by finishing Therum,Feros,Noveria with their side missions plus the assignments for Citadel (not all) and the UNC ones (not collection ones),you are good to go.Just make sure that when you activate the mission you have the two squad members you want.For example.In my 2nd playthrough i went with Kaidan and Ashley.I took Kaidan's trophy first and in the next mission Ashley's.This happened because in the very first mission in Eden,Kaidan was a member when it appeared in my journal.Ashley joined after so completing the mission didn't count for her.Same with Garrus-Wrex.I recruited Wrex right after Garrus,so i did one more mission for him after i took Garrus' ally trophy.

[usrmd]

Everything being said here contradicts my run.. except

 

Most of the Ally trophies worked as expected for me. The two exceptions were Liara ( took 76 Missions) and  Wrex ( took 69 missions).

 

76 and 69 missions? that is far above the reported 30-40 that basically everyone claims, some around 45 @ the high end.. but sitting at 57 completed missions in my case, there is not enough content left for me to reach those numbers for the trophies.
 

They all worked for me. You have to complete 75% of the main missions and side quests. This is quite a grind, because it basically means almost 3 full playthroughs to get all the ally trophies.

 

It's a heavy requirement definitely.. I'm prepared for the playthroughs, but I've finished over 75% of the game and still no trophies. If they were unlocking properly, I'd be ecstatic.. but I just spent 20 hours for no trophies, now I'm wondering if it's worth the risk for another go.

Edited April 16, 2015 by usrmd

[ScutumMagister]

I didn't have any problems when going for them on my previous ID that I can recall. You just have to make sure you're doing all the side missions you can; for instance, it's entirely possible to get Ashley's and Kaidan's trophies before you even set foot on Virmire. I used the following page on the wiki as kind of a checklist to get as many as I could - http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Assignments

Edited April 16, 2015 by ScutumMagister

[Arkthur]

Could the fact that I'm doing a Renegade run be the issue?

This might be an issue. Just to be sure, you're not counting missions like the one from the reporter on the Citadel, or the one from the mother who won't give his child gene therapy (can't remember the names of those). If you are doing a Renegade run, and gave reg. answers while talking to this people, you might've rejected the quest, they still appear on your journal but they do not count as completed.

 

The problem I mentioned before was because of a Renegade run, I did every mission possible, but I rejected some others without knowing it could affect me, I had both Garrus and Liara in my party, and only Garrus's trophy popped, and that was after defeating the last boss.

[usrmd]

This might be an issue. Just to be sure, you're not counting missions like the one from the reporter on the Citadel, or the one from the mother who won't give his child gene therapy (can't remember the names of those). If you are doing a Renegade run, and gave reg. answers while talking to this people, you might've rejected the quest, they still appear on your journal but they do not count as completed.

 

The problem I mentioned before was because of a Renegade run, I did every mission possible, but I rejected some others without knowing it could affect me, I had both Garrus and Liara in my party, and only Garrus's trophy popped, and that was after defeating the last boss.

 

Dang, I did do those assignments for the reporter girl I did everything she wanted. For the gene therapy I thought I chose the renegade options but ultimately she decided to get the therapy. You're saying these don't count as completed, even though they are marked as such? I got the 75% Renegade trophy at the end of Lorik Qui'in's quest on Noveria, quite a while ago.

 

I just found UNC: Lost Module, and am going to finish a couple collectible quests while landed and finish Ilos for the 4th time, hoping for at least 1 of these trophies.

 

Edit: Lost Module didn't do it, but turning in UNC Hostile Takeover gave me UNC The Negotiation, which unlocked Korgan Ally trophy. Better then nothing!

Edited April 16, 2015 by usrmd

[manyuhesp]

I don't remember exactly how many missions did I do with each character but I remember Liara's trophy took me a shit lot of missions and didn't unlock until near the end.

 

In the end I did 4 playthroughs, so I got 2 character trophies per playthrough plus the last one being the Insanity run that I just did it with Garrus and Liara. 

 

I love the game so I didn't mind, I would have done 2 more playthroughs if needed... Now that I think about it... Maybe I should pla...  No, no, no.

[usrmd]

Finally got the Turian ally trophy after completing the objective Override the Security on Ilos. I had to use the wiki and complete every possible assignment for my run up to Ilos, except Geth in the Tunnels (missed) and UNC Valuable Minerals. I wonder how the next 2 will work

 

I love the game so I didn't mind, I would have done 2 more playthroughs if needed... Now that I think about it... Maybe I should pla...  No, no, no.

 

I'm also starting to really like the game.. if it wasn't for these trophies I'd say it's a must platinum.

[ChickenExotic]

no issues for me. I made sure i got all my allies ASAP and once i left the citadel only use my main 2. 

[Arkthur]

Finally got the Turian ally trophy after completing the objective Override the Security on Ilos. I had to use the wiki and complete every possible assignment for my run up to Ilos, except Geth in the Tunnels (missed) and UNC Valuable Minerals. I wonder how the next 2 will work

 

 

I'm also starting to really like the game.. if it wasn't for these trophies I'd say it's a must platinum.

Congratulations! The rest of the allies are easy (minus Liara), but if you want, I can give you the list of the missions I completed to get Liara's trophy. I got the trophy right before the end of Lockdown 

[Mr_Freaker]

I think they are very straightforward.

I agree it's really boring to replay the same game doing the same missions three times.

 

You can get this trophy before starting Virmire, so just play the game and eventually you get it.

Just scan through ever planet, talk to everyone that wants to talk for more missions.

 

And as far as I know, a lot of missions will somehow influence further games, despite some missions will only influence one message you recieve on your terminal.

[usrmd]

And as far as I know, a lot of missions will somehow influence further games, despite some missions will only influence one message you receive on your terminal.

 

What do you mean by this? 

 

Congratulations! The rest of the allies are easy (minus Liara), but if you want, I can give you the list of the missions I completed to get Liara's trophy. I got the trophy right before the end of Lockdown 

 

 

Thanks! I'm already 4 hours into this run, with 28 completed assignments with Ashley and Liara. If I finish it and no trophies, I'll take a look at that list 

[Mr_Freaker]

What do you mean by this? 

 

 

Mass Effect is known for having choices influence your gameplay, I'm sure you know.

It's not only about the big missions or who you romance.

 

Even completing small side missions will influence your next two games somehow.

Sometimes you just get another text on your terminal, sometimes you encounter someone for a two line conversation, ...

But sometimes it changes a lot.

[usrmd]

Even completing small side missions will influence your next two games somehow.

Sometimes you just get another text on your terminal, sometimes you encounter someone for a two line conversation, ...

But sometimes it changes a lot.

 

That is interesting to know.. I should have paid more attention after my first playthrough.

 

 

To update, the last 3 ally trophies unlocked without the same problems as Turian and Krogan.

 

I've realized something, that people do different missions in many different orders, judging by their lists.. and assignments/missions vary in objectives to complete.. all of my trophies unlocked during completion of an objective within an assignment or mission.. none unlocked upon completion of a mission/assignment as a whole. This means that 2 people doing the same 10 assignments/missions in a different order would have different # of actual objectives completed during the course of completing them. I don't think these trophies unlock based on any number of missions/assignments completed, but instead the objectives within them count towards some total # per character. That would mean that missions/assignments that are turned in on the Normandy do count. Still, people claiming to unlock these trophies after 30-40 missions/assignments, I don't believe it. Doing every assignment/mission up to finishing Noveria (first) is 55 (-collectibles), and my Kaiden trophy unlocked before the end of 56, Feros: Geth Attack.

[Mr_Freaker]

That is interesting to know.. I should have paid more attention after my first playthrough.

 

 

To update, the last 3 ally trophies unlocked without the same problems as Turian and Krogan.

 

I've realized something, that people do different missions in many different orders, judging by their lists.. and assignments/missions vary in objectives to complete.. all of my trophies unlocked during completion of an objective within an assignment or mission.. none unlocked upon completion of a mission/assignment as a whole. This means that 2 people doing the same 10 assignments/missions in a different order would have different # of actual objectives completed during the course of completing them. I don't think these trophies unlock based on any number of missions/assignments completed, but instead the objectives within them count towards some total # per character. That would mean that missions/assignments that are turned in on the Normandy do count. Still, people claiming to unlock these trophies after 30-40 missions/assignments, I don't believe it. Doing every assignment/mission up to finishing Noveria (first) is 55 (-collectibles), and my Kaiden trophy unlocked before the end of 56, Feros: Geth Attack.

 

If I can spoil a certain misc encounter in Mass Effect 3 to show the brilliance of these previous encounters.

 

In Mass Effect you encounter Conrad Verner, a dedicated fan.

You will encounter this person through all games, with an option to kill him in ME2.

In ME3 there's an encounter where somebody shoots a blank at you, but he jumps in front of you to save you.

But if you play ME2 or ME3 with a certain determined chain of previous events, you never encounter this.

(I always play as a paragon so I'm always nice to him )

 

Same goes for the Batarians in "Bringing down the sky" (ME) and the Arrival DLC (ME2) that changes a few encounters in ME3.

[Matto_lsi]

There's still a lot of talk about which quests you complete and how.  So I'll include another link (again, from a 360 site):

http://www.xboxachievements.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53469

 

The vast majority of people who talk about these trophies provide at best some misinformation.  At worst, completely inaccurate advice that will do more to hamper someones progress towards the trophies than help them.  As someone who has earned every achievement on 360 and every trophy on PS3 for this game, please, for the love of god, only look at the thread I posted above, and the link I'm re-posting below:

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Party_Member_Achievement_Guide

 

The requirements for each ally are the EXACT SAME.  You do not need more missions or side quests for some versus others.  The reason some unlock sooner than others is, as I've already said, some Allies you start the game with, and others you recruit 4-5 main missions into the game.  Also, as I mentioned in my last post, some missions don't complete until you get back to the Normandy and are essentially party-less.  No one gets credit for these.  If you're worried about which ones, read up on each mission before you do it.  Wrex's family armor is a mission that will end on the planet ONLY if Wrex is in your party.  I recommend doing this mission with Wrex and Liara when going for Liara's ally achievement so she gets credit for the mission.

 

Anyway, follow the Party Member Guide to reduce the number of overall missions you complete before recruiting later allies, especially Liara.  And follow the advice given in the first thread I linked, as completing missions can be very quick and easy, or very time consuming.  Replaying this game on PS3 took me way less time than when I did it on 360 (my longest playthrough being under 20 hours versus 46 hours on 360), and I got all ally achievements as expected.  I did not collect any minerals, any writings, any insignias, none of it!  I did not do either of the really long missions (5 geth bases and 3 planets for crime syndicate).  All this can be avoided with every ally, even Liara, and still easily get the trophy.  When I got Liara's trophy, I hadn't even landed on Virmire.  I did only Feros, Noveria, a bunch of side missions, and got it when completing BDtS.  That includes no geth bases and no collection missions.  I did not land on every planet and I did not complete anything that took a lot of time.  Just main missions, side missions on each main world, and easy side missions in the galaxy. 

 

One last thing, this is how I split up my allies per playthrough (same on 360 and PS3).  This allows me wiggle room so I can swap out Ashely and Kaiden with Wrex for his family armor mission, etc...  Both Ashely and Kaiden's trophies popped for me before I even finished Noveria, and I had very few side missions (besides the Citadel ones) completed at that time.  Tons of wiggle room there.

1st normal/casual (up to lvl 50) - Ashley/Liara

2nd hardcore - Tali/Kaiden

3rd insanity (lvl 50-60) - Garrus/Wrex (these allies are essentially easy mode, Wrex almost never dies, I highly recommend saving them for your insanity run)

Edited April 19, 2015 by Matto_lsi