Introduction

Pinnacle Station was the second of two downloadable content packs for the original Mass Effect. It was released on X-Box 360 on 25 August 2009 at a price of 400 Microsoft Points, before the conversion of Microsoft Points to dollars and is now $5.00 on the X-Box Live Marketplace.

The pack was available for PC users the same day at a cost of 400 Bioware Points. It is included in the X-Box 360 and PC versions of Mass Effect Trilogy. It is not available in any form on the Playstation 3 version of the game.

Walkthrough

To begin the Pinnacle Station mission Shepard must have become a Spectre and you must have access to the galaxy map on the Normandy. From there you want to travel to the Argos Rho cluster and then to the Phoenix System. This system is present in the base game, but Pinnacle Station will not be there unless you have the content pack. There are five planets and two asteroid belts here.

The planets in this system can be surveyed and two of them can be visited if the right requirements are met. There is an asteroid in one of the asteroid belts has a Prothean Data Disc. Intai'sei is the site of Shepard's Apartment if you have the mission Convoy from completing Ahern's final challenge. Patashi can be surveyed to find a rare element. The same can be done in orbit around Vebinok. Sylsalto cannot be surveyed. Tuntau can be landed on to do the mission Wrex: Family Armor if Wrex is in the party. Pinnacle Station can be found in one of the asteroid belts.

There are three assignments on Pinnacle Station. The primary mission is Combat Missions. At the same time you can also complete Vidinos by besting the Turian's scores. Once you finish Combat Missions you will receive Convoy and be able to visit Shepard's Apartment.

Combat Missions

Once onboard Pinnacle Station speak to Admiral Ahern to learn about the facility and obtain this assignment. You initially have access to eight combat missions. These can be done in any order by speaking to Ochren. Completing the first eight missions will unlock four more. Completing those will unlock a final mission.

There are four different types of combat missions with each being represented by three maps. These missions are all combat and do not involve any kind of dialogue choices. Given that aspect of the missions, how you proceed is going to depend on what class you are. If you are beaten in a mission, you will not die, so losing a mission is nothing to worry about. The only exception to this is the final mission detailed at the end of this section.

Capture missions require you to capture a series of points on the map. To do this you need to stand in one for 20 seconds. Once it is captured, you will not be able to lose it. If an enemy enters the capture field, your progress in capturing it will slow down. If multiple enemies enter the field, progress can actually start going backwards. Leaving the field will also make progress go backwards.

Hunt missions require you to kill as many enemies as you can before time runs out. Killing an enemy will add more time to the timer. Enemies spawn throughout the map, but will not spawn at locations close to you. Being defensive works well on these missions because you are aiming for kills and not directly for a top time.

Survival missions require you to stay alive as long as possible. Like hunt missions, these missions reward being cautious. Enemies come in four waves that cycle, with the first wave being the weakest and the fourth being the strongest. Although it is possible to survive for prolonged periods of time, there is no benefit to survivng longer than is needed to best the times needed to beat Vidinos.

Time Trial missions require you to clear all waves of enemies as quickly as possible. Enemy waves must be completely cleared before the next wave will spawn. Clearing all waves will then save your time for the trial. These missions you need to go for quick kills vice defensive strategies.

As mentioned above, you initially only have access to eight missions. These are represented by two of each type of mission. Completing all eight and speaking to Ahern will unlock an additional mission of each type. Completing these four missions will allow you to attempt a new mission he has been working on.

This mission is a recreation of one of Admiral Ahern's missions during the First Contact War. Through your dialoge choices, Ahern will claim he needs to tone the encounter down because the "real thing" is too dangerous. Challenging him on this will lead to a wager: Ahern will turn off the safeties on the mission, which can result in Shepard's death, but if Shepard wins then Ahern will give up his retirement home to the commander.

Accept these terms and speak to Ochern to take on the challenge. You spawn in a small open-air facility. Kill the Turians present and approach the vehicle in the center of the room. Retrieve the data from it and sprint to one of the nearby turrents. Activate it and find a safe place to hunker down.

You need to survive for five minutes to complete the mission. You can hide anywhere, but it is probably easiest to pick one of the larger doors and make a stand there. Enemies will spawn along the four entrances, meaning from one of these doors you can see the other three spots. Unlike the earlier missions, enemies can spawn right next to you here. If you stand outside the door, however, they have to open it to attack you, giving you an auditory clue when they spawn and allowing you to respond.

The waves are fairly steady until the last thirty seconds or so. At this point enemies begin flooding in. Staying on the move behind cover at this point is you best bet because you cannot kill fast enough to keep up with the spawning enemies. Hiding behind party members is also a solid choice as they will end up absorbing most of the damage.

Once five minutes are up you need to speak to Ahern again to complete the assignment. This will give you access to Shepard's Apartment on Intai'sei and the assignment Convoy. You can go back and try the missions again if you desire, or you can head to Intai'sei right away and finish up the expansion pack's assignments.

Vidinos

Beating the top score on any of the challenges during Combat Missions will trigger a scene showing a Turian named Vidinos accussing a Human named Bryant of cheating because he has beaten one of Vidinos' scores. Since Shepard has also beaten one of his scores, intervene and point that out. Vidinos will challenge Shepard to beat all his scores, beginning the assignment.

This involves playing the same missions as the primary assignment, you just need to get higher scores then Vidinos. The scores to beat are posted on the board next to Ochren. The scores to beat are as follows:

Type	Environment	Score
Capture	Subterranean	1:29:47
Capture	Tropical	1:58:67
Capture	Volcanic	2:00:53
Hunt	Subterranean	35
Hunt	Tropical	50
Hunt	Volcanic	43
Survival	Subterranean	2:20:57
Survival	Tropical	1:46:43
Survival	Volcanic	1:31:83
Time Trial	Tropical	1:20:94
Time Trial	Volcanic	1:54:61
Time Trial	Warehouse	1:24:67

Once you have beaten all of Vidinos' scores, speak to him again. He will concede a Human can possibly beat his scores and let Bryant go. You can then remind him of his promise to offer you a weapon for finishing his challenge. You can ask for an assault rifle, pistol, shotgun, or sniper rifle. Finishing this conversation will complete the assignment.

Convoy

With Admiral Ahern's suicide mission complete you will receive this assignment. Go to Intai'sei to check out Shepard's Apartment. Once there access the computer terminal present. You will be told about three trade ships in orbit that will sell you a random item.

An item from the MSV Collins costs 5,000 credits and gives you a tier 4 item. An item from the MSV Adamas costs 75,000 credits and gives you a tier 7 item. An item from the MSV Wallace costs 220,000 credits and gives you a tier 10 item. You only need to buy one item from any of the three to complete the assignment, but you can repeat this process ad infinitum.

Copyrights

Mass Effect and all associated trademarks are (c) Bioware.