Mass Effect 3 Companions Guide

Find out who is your squad-mate and how you can earn your companions in Mass Effect 3.

BioWare has confirmed that many of the older characters from both Mass Effect 1 and 2 will make some sort of an appearance in Mass Effect 3. In this Mass Effect 3 Companions Guide we will give you an insight to all of them.

Old surviving squad-mates from both the games will make re-appearances, along with other essential characters. In this guide we will go over your probable squad members and other confirmed characters that will make reappearances.

For more help on Mass Effect 3, read our Multiplayer, Troubleshooting and Weapons Equipment Guide.

Note. To Recruit all possible squad members, read our Squad Recruit Guide.

Mass Effect 3 Companions

There are a total of 8 squad members present in Mass Effect 3, each having a diverse personality, and unique traits that assist Commander Shepard in battle

  • Ashley Williams
  • Garrus Vakarian
  • James Vega
  • Kaiden Alenko
  • Liara T’Soni
  • Tali’Zorah vas Normandy
  • Javik
  • EDI

Ashley Williams
Race: Human
Class: Soldier
First Appearance: Mass Effect 1

With a completely new (and might I say better) look, Ashley Williams is now the Commander of the Normandy ship and a Spectre, ever since Shepard was trialed for his collaboration with Cerberus.

Ashley Williams will only make an appearance if she survived in the first Mass Effect game, in which case Kaiden Alenko will not make be available.

Ashley is a Soldier class character, adept with all weapons and heavy armor. This makes her a very useful aggressor in the battlefield.

Garrus Vakarian
Race: Turian
Class: Infiltrator
First Appearance: Mass Effect 1

A confident and dedicated Turian, Garrus was a member of the C-Sec before Shepard recruited him in the first Mass Effect.

Ever since then, Garrus has been a committed member in Shepard’s squad, as he has offered his skills with weapons and tech in some of the hardest times alongside Shepard, be it defeating Sovereign or eliminating the Human Reaper.

Garrus makes a return once again in Mass Effect 3 as a squad-member (provided he didn’t die in ME2), but apparently the scare on his face has healed in the game.

James Vega
Race: Human
Class: Soldier
First Appearance: Mass Effect 3

James Vega is a new recruit-able squad member in Mass Effect 3. Being a Human Systems Alliance soldier, Vega has all the hardened abilities that the human Alliance is known for, yet his simplicity and dedication prevents him from seeing the rather selfish ambitions of galactic politics.

Mass Effect: Conviction also gives an origin story for Vega, who was ordered to guard a prisoner on the Normandy, which was interestingly Commander Shepard.

Kaiden Alenko
Race: Human
Class: Vanguard
First Appearance: Mass Effect 1

Kaiden Alenko is a powerful Biotic and soldier, who made his first appearance in Mass Effect 1 as the first squad-mate of the series.

Provided he survived the Virmire battle in the first game (in which case Ashley will not be present), Kaiden will be the Commander of the Normandy and a Spectre.

Liara T’Soni
Race: Asari
Class: Adept
First Appearance: Mass Effect 1

Dr. Liara T’Soni, a ‘young’ Asari Prothean researcher, is first encountered in Mass Effect 1. Being the daughter of a powerful Matriarch named Benezia, Liara shares little similarities with her mother and instead opts to study the mysteries of the Prothean technology and their extinction.

In Mass Effect 2, she is the one who collaborates with Cerberus in order to revive Shepard. Liara is a confirmed squad-mate in Mass Effect 3, and makes an appearance alongside Garrus in the demo.

Tali’Zorah vas Normandy
Race: Quarian
Class: Engineer
First Appearance: Mass Effect 1

Making a first appearance in the Citadel in the original Mass Effect, Tali is a female Quarian who is an expert in tech. She can be recruited in the first game, and also makes an appearance in ME2.

After a rather eventful trial in the Quarian Migrant Fleet, Tali changes her name to Tali’Zorah vas Normandy. The surname in Quarian culture depicts the home ship of the respective Quarian. Tali makes yet another reappearance in Mass Effect 3 as a squad-member.

Javik
Race: Prothean
Class: Vengeful Ancient
First Appearance: Mass Effect 3

Javik makes his first appearance in Mass Effect 3 itself. Javik is the fortunate survivor of an unfortunate race known as the Prothean. He was preserved for more than 50,000 years and was awakened in order to fight against the Reapers; as they were the ones responsible for the extermination of all Protheans.

Javik is the embodiment of Vengenace of his society. He was the last and final warrior of the Prothean Empire and was born during the war with the Reapers.

He seeks justice for his people, and to exterminate Reapers and prevent them from harming any other race in the galaxy.

EDI
Race: Artificial Intelligence
Class:
N/A
First Appearance:
Mass Effect 2

EDI (Enhanced Defense Intelligence) acts a warfare defense mechanism for the Normandy SR-2, and first appeared in Mass Effect 2. EDI was created by Cerberus originally.

EDI has helped in eliminating the threat of human abduction in the past; now she has acquired a physical body in order to assist Commander Shepard in his fight across the Galaxy.

Older Squad-Members

Many other squad-members from the previous two games also reappear in Mass Effect 3. However, it is not confirmed whether any of these characters will be recruit-able squad-members, or to what extent their role is in the game.

Grunt
A genetically engineered Krogan super-soldier, Grunt was created and educated within 7 days in a tank by the Krogan Warlord Okeer. Though initially aggressive and violently unpredictable, Grunt earns the respect of Shepard (if he is removed from the tank in ME2) and joins the clan Urdnot if his loyalty mission is completed.

Jack
A highly dangerous convict, Jack was a sealed prisoner until she was released and recruited by Shepard in Mass Effect 2. Due to her dark and tortured past, she has become tough, aggressive and very hostile to almost everyone and everything. Jack’s nature can be calmed in ME2 by completely a Paragon-oriented romance with her. Her role in ME3 is not yet known.

Jacob Taylor
A soldier seeming a bit too decent to be in Cerberus, Jacob is an honest and dedicated squad-member in Mass Effect 2. Though he talks very little about himself and remains fairly docile, Jacob has his worries regarding his father, as in his loyalty mission they attempt to find out what exactly happened to the ship he was on. Jacob’s role in ME3 is not yet known.

Kasumi Goto
A thief recruited by Cerberus, Kasumi Goto makes an appearance in her DLC pack for Mass Effect 2. She aids Shepard in a mission on the request of Cerberus. Her role in ME3 is not fully known.

Legion
A surprise Geth ally, Legion is actually a Geth with 1,183 geth programs inside him, which have formed a ‘hive mind’ inside him to make him a super-intelligent individual.

Legion, unlike other Geth, is not hostile to Shepard or his allies. In fact, the Geth seems to be obsessed with Shepard, as he has grafted a piece of the N7 armor on himself, recovered from the original Normandy’s crash-site at the beginning of ME2.

Miranda Lawson
A Cerburus operative, Miranda Lawson was genetically designed to be the perfect woman, and is first encountered in Mass Effect 2.

Though she remains rigid and straight in her approach throughout most of the game, encouraging her to be a romance option reveals a softer side, and she eventually inclines more towards Shepard instead of Cerberus. Miranda makes reappearance in Mass Effect 3, though her role is not yet known.

Mordin Solus
A highly intelligent but eccentric and unpredictable Salarian, Mordin Solus is first introduced as a scientist attempting to help the intoxicated people on Omega following a plague outbreak.

After helping the people, Shepard recruits Mordin, who assists as a squad-member and scientist on the Normandy, being the main researcher of the ship. Mordin makes a reappearance in ME3, and helps rescue a fertile Krogan female.

Morinth/Samara
Daughter and Mother yet enemies, Morinth and Samara shared a regretful relationship, since Morinth was born with a rare disease that gave her immense seduction capabilities and killed whoever she mated with. Killing those who she mated with made her stronger and stronger.

Samara, a respected Asari Justicar, is her mother, and follows a strict and ethical code of conduct, which enforces both a punishing and respecting side to her.

She is a powerful Biotic. If the loyalty quest of Samara is done, Shepard will have the choice to either betray Samara, killing her and replacing her with Morinth, or to assist her to kill Morinth.

Morinth/Samara is confirmed to make an appearance in Mass Effect 3, depending on which one survived. However, the extent of her role is not yet known.

Thane Krios
A lethal religious Drell assassin who makes an appearance as a recruit-able character in Mass Effect 2, Than Krios is a respectful yet brilliant ally to have. Though an assassin, Thane regrets all that he has done, claiming that his body is but a tool.

For this reason he attempts to prevent his son from becoming what he is in his loyalty quest, as he stops him from an assassination attempt in the Citadel.

Thane also has a rare disease called Kepler’s Syndrome, which will eventually kill him. Due to the guilt of being an assassin and the knowledge of eventual death, Thane agrees to be alongside Shepard in his near-suicidal mission.

Urdnot Wrex
Urdnot Wrex is a Krogan bounty hunter first introduced in Mass Effect 1. He eventually joins Shepard is a squad-member. However, at Virmire, he and Shepard have a stand-off because of a possible cure for his race.

If he survives this, he reappears in Mass Effect 2 as the leader of the clan Urdnot, and agrees to let Grunt take the puberty ritual. Urdnot reappears in Mass Effect 3 and assists the team in rescuing a female fertile Krogan.

Zaeed Massani
Zaeed Massani is a bounty hunter and mercernary hired by Cerberus to aid save mankind. He is a possible recruit, only accepting to join Shepard if he helps him stop the Blue Suns leader Vido Santiago. Massani is a DLC character and does not appear in the original Mass Effect 2 release.

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