Trilogie / Fins
Crucible
Des fins comptées avant le QG de Cerberus
Le total se fige au lancement de Priorité : QG de Cerberus. Synthèse dès 6200. Shepard respire à 7400 ou plus.
Legendary Edition does not use the 2012 effective-military-strength table. Multiplayer readiness is gone, so the number on the war-asset terminal is the number that matters, and it is read when you speak to Hackett before Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. Anything you pick up inside that mission, including the Collector wreckage, does not unlock a new ending.
Destroy, Control, and Synthesis are the three Crucible choices. Refuse is always there and always the same. Shepard takes a visible breath on Destroy only if you were at 7400 or more before you launched the headquarters mission. Synthesis appears at 6200. Below 5200, whether you destroyed or saved the Collector base still changes which endings exist and whether Earth survives them.
What each choice does
Destroy kills the Reapers and also the geth and EDI. It is the only one that can show Shepard alive, and only as that breath at 7400 or above. Control is the Illusive Man's argument: Shepard is lost, the Reapers remain under a new will. Synthesis, once the bar is high enough, merges synthetic and organic life and kills Shepard in the act. Refuse leaves the Crucible unused and the cycle intact.
Players still quote 3100 because that was an Extended Cut EMS threshold from the original game, when a 50 percent readiness multiplier sat on top of your assets. Do not divide your Legendary Edition total by two and do not chase 3100. Read the bracket table on this page.
The conversation with Hackett immediately before Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. War assets picked up during that mission, including the Collector wreckage, do not change which endings exist. Refuse is always available. Shepard rejects the Crucible choice and the cycle continues.
| Bracket | What changes |
|---|---|
| Below 3200 | Collector base still changes the plate. Synthesis locked. No breathing epilogue |
| 3200–4199 | Collector base still changes the plate. Synthesis locked. No breathing epilogue |
| 4200–5199 | Collector base still changes the plate. Synthesis locked. No breathing epilogue |
| 5200–6199 | Collector base no longer changes the plate. Synthesis locked. No breathing epilogue |
| 6200–7399 | Collector base no longer changes the plate. Synthesis unlocks. No breathing epilogue |
| 7400 or more | Collector base no longer changes the plate. Synthesis unlocks. Shepard breathes on Destroy |
| Bracket | Base | Result |
|---|---|---|
| below-3200 | Saved | Control only. Earth is destroyed. Destroy and Synthesis are not offered. Shepard does not breathe. |
| below-3200 | Destroyed | Destroy only. Earth is destroyed. Control and Synthesis are not offered. Shepard does not breathe. |
| 3200 | Saved | Control and Destroy. Earth is destroyed either way. Synthesis is locked. |
| 3200 | Destroyed | Control destroys Earth. Destroy devastates Earth but people survive. Synthesis is locked. |
| 4200 | Saved | Control leaves Earth intact. Destroy devastates Earth. Synthesis is locked. |
| 4200 | Destroyed | Control destroys Earth. Destroy leaves Earth intact. Synthesis is locked. |
| 5200 | Saved | Control and Destroy, and Earth makes it through either. The Collector base no longer changes the outcome. Synthesis is still locked. |
| 5200 | Destroyed | Control and Destroy, and Earth makes it through either. The Collector base no longer changes the outcome. Synthesis is still locked. |
| 6200 | Saved | Control, Destroy, and Synthesis. Earth makes it through. Shepard does not take a breath on Destroy yet. |
| 6200 | Destroyed | Control, Destroy, and Synthesis. Earth makes it through. Shepard does not take a breath on Destroy yet. |
| 7400 | Saved | Control, Destroy, and Synthesis. On Destroy, the epilogue shows Shepard take a breath. Assets looted inside Cerberus Headquarters do not create this outcome if you were under 7400 at the door. |
| 7400 | Destroyed | Control, Destroy, and Synthesis. On Destroy, the epilogue shows Shepard take a breath. Assets looted inside Cerberus Headquarters do not create this outcome if you were under 7400 at the door. |
Four plates
Destroy
Shoot the power conduit.
The Reapers die. So do the geth, and EDI. High war assets keep Earth standing. At 7400 or more before Cerberus Headquarters, Shepard breathes.
Control
Take the Illusive Man's path and seize the Reapers.
Shepard is gone. The Reapers remain, under that will. Not available at very low assets if the Collector base was destroyed.
Synthesis
Jump into the beam and merge synthetic and organic life.
Requires at least 6200 war assets before Cerberus Headquarters. Shepard dies. It rewrites the setting more than the other two.
Refuse
Walk away and let the Crucible sit unused.
Always available. The cycle continues. There is no Shepard epilogue to optimize.
Open next: the Collector base flag; what has to be done before Cerberus Headquarters.
Questions the codex gets
I hit 7400 after the headquarters mission. Does Shepard live?
No. The gate shut when you committed to Priority: Cerberus Headquarters. The assets inside the mission do not reopen it. Reload to before the briefing if the terminal was short.
Does the Collector base matter if I am above 5200?
Not for which endings you get or whether Earth survives them. It still changes a scene and a small piece of Cerberus history. Below 5200 it decides whether you are even offered Destroy, Control, or both.
Is Refuse a secret best ending?
It is a real ending, and it does not scale with war assets. It is the cycle continuing. Pick it because you want that scene, not because a higher number is hidden behind it.