Priority: Thessia - Mass Effect 3 Guide - IGN (2025)

This page of IGN's Mass Effect 3 wiki guide is all about the Priority: Thessia Mission, including how to get through all combat encounters, where to find all collectibles, and pick the right dialogue choices for your playthrough.

• Mission Stats
• Find Route to Asari Temple
• Get to Outpost Tykis
• Fight to the Temple
• Find Hidden Connections
• Fight Kai Leng
• Back on the Normandy

Mission Stats

Video Guide

Mission Rewards

• Reputation: 15
• Mission Credits: 15,000
• Found Credits: 15,000
• Weapons: M-98 Widow
• Armor: Umbra Visor
• Mods: Shotgun High Caliber Barrel, Sniper Rifle Concentration Module, Assault Rifle Extended Barrel, SMG Heat Sink.

Recommended Loadout and Squad

• Liara will automatically be one of squad members. Warp will be an asset here so level up Liara's Warp skill and Warp ammo.
• A combination of biotics is also a good choice, so Javik or Kaidan are ideal.
• The Sniper Rifle Concentration Module makes sniping Banshees much easier.
• For unique dialogue, Javik will give a huge amount of it in this Mission. If you don't have him, Garrus will have to do.

Mission Enemies

• Husk
• Brute
• Marauder
• Cannibal
• Banshee

Travel to Thessia

To begin Priority: Thessia, travel to Athena Nebula cluster (close to the Serpent Nebula where the Citadel is), and land on Thessia, the inner-most planet in the system.

Find Route to Asari Temple

During the next cutscene, you will discuss the situation with Liara, who is very distressed over the Reapers attacking her homeworld. Here you can tell her how she should act in this situation. The wording will vary depending on if Javik is in your squad or not, but in any situation, the upper-right option will give +2 Paragon Points while the lower-right option will give +2 Renegade Points.

When you arrive, head down the hill of rubble to the outpost. Before talking to Lieutenant Kurin on your left, check among the body bags on the right-hand side for some items. You MUST pick them up now or else you'll be swiftly moved on to the next part of the level without a chance to go back for them.

• Umbra Visor - To find this item, look to the right of the two rows of body bags directly in front of you. It'll be close to a red ammo box.
• Supplies - 4,500 Credits. Continue forwards to a light stand at the base of a column to find this.

Now talk to Lieutenant Kurin, but before you can even get a word in, some rockets take out the guard, so you'll have to defend the position. Using the mounted gun on the right side of the entrance, take out all Brutes (up to 6), and the Husks that attack the Asari. Don’t let the human barrier fall and reload between waves. Pay special attention to the barrier bubble itself -- Husks like to slip past you and attack it.

Once they're all dead, speak with Kurin again, who has been ordered to hold this hopeless position especially for you, although she has no idea who you even are. Here you can say "What are your orders?" on the left, then reply either "I sympathize" for +2 Paragon Points or "There's a good reason" for +2 Renegade. Regardless, you can be open with her and say "I'm looking for an artifact" for +2 Paragon Points or "Just follow your orders" for +2 Renegade Points.

If you have Javik, he will read the Asari's memories and give her confidence. If that's the case, you can say either "We have the Crucible" for +2 Paragon Points or "Listen to him" for +2 Renegade Points. If you don't have Javik, you can pick "I've beaten Reapers before" for +2 Renegade Points.

Get to Outpost Tykis

After finishing the conversation with Kurin, you'll be on the bridge with the path behind you blocked. Push forward and take out the Marauders and Cannibals that appear on the far end. Remember that Cannibals like to devour their fallen brethren to bolster their armor (hence the name), so don't give them the chance! Once they're all down, head to the end of the bridge and head right, going over more rubble and around the building into a plaza.

Here, expect multiple Marauders in the area, and dozens of Cannibals. The Marauders here are perhaps best dealt with by assigning your squad to confront one, while you take out another. Use the squad commands (D-pad)! When you get towards the back end of the area, a Banshee will appear through your exit door.

Banshees are Reaper-converted Ardat-Yakshi, and this is the first guaranteed time they appear (you can meet them earlier in Kallini: Ardat-Yakshi Monastery or the Leviathan DLC). They have extremely powerful Barriers and warp around to make headshots hard. Use Warp or Disruptor Ammo to sap the Barrier, and if you have a Sniper Rifle Concentration Mod, use it to score headshots. Most importantly, keep your distance. There's also a Hydra Missile Launcher in a dark nook at the top of the stairs which can do serious damage, but only has one shot.

• Med Kit - 50 XP. From the Banshee door, head down the staircase to the middle of the plaza, but on the level just before the bottom, head right to find this Med-Kit behind the railing.
• Med Kit - 50 XP. In the middle of the plaza and facing away from the Banshee door, head left and find this Med Kit next to the front door of the building.

Now, enter the demolished building via the Banshee door, then turn left to go up the ramp, vault up a ledge and head through a doorway. Turn right and you'll spot an orange panel bypass door at the end of the ruined hallway.

• Terminal - 7,500 Credits. Before going through the orange Bypass door, drop down the next ledge and check to your left to find this Terminal.

In the next area, you will get a View Prompt to look up at a Reaper towering above you, as well as some Asari snipers on the other side of the area. Drop down and take out the Cannibals below you, who are largely unaware of your presence. If you have a sniper rifle, this is a great area to get some practice in.

• Broken Shotgun - 3,000 Credits. In this area, head to the lower portions on the right-hand side. Here will be a large, square, two-tiered object: go around it to the right and into the very dark alcove to find this item for some more Credits.
• Shotgun High Caliber Barrel - Above the broken shotgun is a balcony. Turn around and make a U-Turn to your right to climb up a slope of rubble to get onto the balcony, where you'll find this mod.
• Med Kit - 50 XP. On the same balcony as the mod above.

Run up the ramp of rubble made by the collapsed building and talk to the lone sniper, although you'll quickly have to take out some enemies below. Your elevated position is a perfect sniper's nest, which contains the following items:

• Sniper Rifle Concentration Module - At the edge of the rubble on the left side of the overlook.
• Med Kit - 50 XP. Right next to the mod described above.
• M-98 Widow - This Sniper Rifle is located to the Asari sniper's left, next to some Thermal Clips.

The M-98 Widow is one of the most powerful guns in the game, capable to killing any enemy in a single shot, provided you have the right Ammo Powers in use. However it has low ammo and must go through a long reload animation after every shot, so you MUST make every shot count!

After you clear the area, head down the ladder and look for the gap in the opposite wall so you can get to Outpost Tykis. Through the wall, head left and vault up the ledges to meet what's left of them. Unfortunately it's impossible to get to the temple without some air support: at this, reply with either "We could use their help" for +2 Paragon Points or "No choice" for +2 Renegade Points.

Fight to the Temple

After the dialogue, you will have to clear the area in front of you. Just before the stairs up, look down and you will see another Hydra Missile Launcher, which should help you quite a bit in this situation, which is full of Ravagers and yet another Banshee, all with thick Armor. If you choose to, deal with the Banshee first, then the Ravager. Take out the Barrier generator too since it'll give another layer of protection to your foes.

Once all the enemies are head, head up the hill of rubble.

• Assault Rifle Extended Barrel - When you get to the top of the slope, stand still and turn to your right to spot the wreckage of one of the gunships. Check among the rubble for this easily-missed mod.

Continue to advance, but be very careful because the road ahead is a tough one. You will have to kill Husks, Ravagers, Marauders and bear the brunt of TWO Harvesters. Take out the Barrier generator first and foremost, stay in cover at all times and maintain a fair distance. Don’t forget about Liara’s Singularity power. Don't try and take down the Harvesters as they'll simply be replaced: instead focus on all the other Reapers while hiding in the rubble. Once the Harvesters have left, head through the debris and then follow the route left to the entrance of the temple.

• SMG Heat Sink Mod - When you reach the entrance to the temple, check the left-hand side to find this mod, lying against a box of thermal clips.

Bypass the Barrier Control on the right to enter the temple.

Find Hidden Connections

• Med Kit - 50 XP (MELE only). As you walk in, Legendary Edition players can find a Med Kit on the left side of the main walkway.

Once you're done examining the artifacts, Examine the Statue, where Shepard will realize that the statue contains a Prothean Beacon, like the ones they found on Eden Prime and Virmire. One of your Squad Mates then interacts with one of the plaques, which cracks the statues somewhat. So, your task is to find three more. Here are the artifacts you need to interact with:

• The Bust of Janiri, the bust in the middle-right-hand side of the temple.
• The Biotic Manuscript, in the corner directly to the left of the Athame Statue's Examine point.
• The Shield of Athame, flanking the side of the main walkway near where you entered the temple.

Once you find all three, return to the base of the statue to Examine it, where you'll have a very unique encounter involving a Prothean memory construct. Make sure to pick left-hand options here if you want a better perspective regarding the Reaper Cycles. Here are the Morality Points you can earn by talking to it:

• "But we need your help" and "Give us a chance" (+4 Paragon Points total)
• "It isn't over yet!" and "They weren't me (+4 Renegade Points total)

As the conversation concludes, you can pick "You've lost touch" for +2 Paragon Points or "I used to trust you" for +2 Renegade Points. You'll then get in a duel with Leng himself for possession of the Prothean VI.

Fight Kai Leng

As soon as you gain control over Shepard, take cover behind a bench. What you should know is that you won’t win this fight, and Leng will let you empty handed.

What you need to do is to stay in cover all the time, so you can avoid the gunship behind Leng. He generally won’t get near you (although he can incur a one-hit kill on you or a Squad Mate if he does), so you don’t have to worry about that. Just fire your weapon and aim for Leng. If your shield drops, remain in cover, then fire again. Leng has Shields, so Overload and Disruptor Ammo are great assets. A Sniper Rifle is especially useful with the time-stopping Sniper Rifle Concentration Module.

When you drop Leng's Shields to about a quarter, he'll retreat and call a gunship. You can slow his recovery, but you can't stop it, so you may as well let them fully recharge. Once they have, return to attacking Leng and you'll be able to reduce his shields again to nearly zero. But he will retreat and call a gunship, again.

When his shield drops a third time, a new cutscene will start, showing Leng leaving with the information you obtained.

Back on the Normandy

You are now in a rough spot for Shepard, and some of their crew. After a sad conversation with the Asari Councillor, Shepard retreats to the War Room with their squad, Liara upset that Cerberus was there before you. You can respond with either "No, I should have known" for +2 Paragon Points or "Not good enough!" for +2 Renegade Points.

Shepard is understandably sick of Cerberus beating them and wants to get some payback. Luckily, Specialist Traynor has a lead: she tracked Kai Leng's shuttle as it crossed the galaxy, only for the signal to be blocked when it entered the Iera system in the Shadow Sea cluster. As EDI points out, it's home to Sanctuary and not much more, so with nothing else to go on, that's your next destination.

Normandy Conversations

Here's the various conversations you can have:

• CIC: Talk with Anderson on the Vid Comm for +5 Reputation, Traynor to pick up N7: Communication Hub, then Joker and EDI.
• Crew Deck: Talk to Tali for +2 Reputation, Ashley, and Garrus for +2 Reputation and the Proximity Mine Bonus Power. If you have Javik, Glyph says Liara is be downstairs talking to him.
• Shuttle Bay: Talk to Vega for a bit of dialogue.
• Engineering: Visit Allers, see Kaidan with Engineer Adams then go to Javik's room if you have him for a scene that gives +2 Reputation.
• Crew Deck: Return to the Crew Deck and talk to Tali again if you have Javik for +2 Reputation, then Liara for +2 Reputation more, and the Stasis Bonus Power. Talk to Tali again after for +2 Reputation.

Completing Priority: Thessia will mark the final time the Citadel stores will be updated. As such, you may want to visit the Citadel to pick up anything you think you might need.

If you're following this guide in order, your next task will be N7: Communication Hub.