Mass Effect 3 Walkthrough Part 64: Priority: Rannoch Part 3

Boss Battle: Reaper

You may have fought the Reapers indirectly before, but this is the first time you will have to take one on while on foot. Luckily, you won’t be alone; the quarians will hit the Reaper with an orbital strike as it prepares to attack you. This will open up the Reaper’s weak spot, a pink area only accessible when the Reaper is about to fire. The quarians will tell you to flee now, but there are too many geth in the surrounding area, and it’s either them or the Reaper. Shepard will get out the targeting laser while the Reaper recovers.

Normally in this battle, you will have to wait until the Reaper fires its main laser. The first time you hit it, however, you will be able to do so unimpeded, because the Reaper will still be recovering from the quarian’s attack. Use the targeting laser to lock on to the pink spot on the Reaper’s body, right by where the laser usually emerges from. Hold the targeting laser in place until all of the little beams are synced up at the exact spot where you were aiming. At this point, the Normandy will swoop past and drop munitions on the Reaper. From now on, the Reaper will be shooting right at you, so there are no more free shots.

Run to the right side of the arena, just to give yourself a little more breathing room. There isn’t much in the way of cover here, and even if there was, it would be useless in the wake of that massive laser. You will simply have to sprint or roll out of the way when the Reaper attacks. When the creature begins to charge its laser again, roll to the side as the beam carves through the ground towards you. Immediately target the same pink spot by its gun when you right yourself, hitting it with the Normandy’s payload again.

Repeat this process two more times. After hitting the Reaper with the Normandy’s explosives for a third time, the Reaper will be practically right on top of you. Lock on one last time, and this fourth hit will down the boss.

After the battle, the Reaper still won’t be dead, not just yet anyway. As the invader lies dying, you will engage it in conversation. You can try to persuade the Reapers out of their attack, but of course this is to no avail. A more satisfying method is to give the Renegade response, which will then allow you to give another Renegade response afterwards.