To unlock all possible endings in Mass Effect 3, you’ll need to participate in the Readiness Rating System — an all-encompassing rating of your War Assets that determines how well your army fairs in the final battle against the Reapers. By making the tough choices in main story missions or in side-quests, you can earn more War Assets that go to your total Readiness Rating. If you don’t reach a high enough Readiness Rating, Shephard and his team will die during the final confrontation with the Reapers.
To get the best possible ending — as in, you’ll actually get an ending at all — you’ll need to collect 3100 War Assets. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition doesn’t include multiplayer or any of the other external methods for earning War Assets — but it does include all the bonus DLC. By completing all the DLC before initiating the final battle on Earth, you’ll be able to earn a lot of extra War Assets. If you complete everything in Mass Effect 3 singleplayer, you’ll only be able to earn 3750 war assets total. The DLC is basically guaranteed to give you +1100 War Assets if you complete all three DLC stories. Basically, the 3100 War Assets requirement is pretty tight.
How War Assets Work | Readiness Rating Guide
To guarantee access to all endings in Mass Effect 3, you must acquire at least 3100 War Assets. War Assets are earned by completing side-quests, selecting certain options as you play through main story missions, and by completing special jobs on the Galaxy Map. If you don’t earn at least 3100 War Assets, Shephard and his team will die on Earth in the final battle.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition doesn’t have any of the extra features or multiplayer, so you can’t earn bonus War Assets through the old methods. Instead, you’ll have to use the included DLC stories.
- Total War Assets | Earnable In Singleplayer
- Mass Effect 3 Campaign: 3750 War Assets
- Leviathan DLC: 620 War Assets
- Omega DLC: 405 War Assets
- Citadel DLC: 70 War Assets
You can check your current War Assets status on the upper deck of the Normandy. Your War Assets will be “locked-in” when you start Priority: Earth. In the Legendary Edition, you had to make all the “correct” decisions to earn enough War Assets — now, as long as you complete almost everything in the game, including side-quests, Search and Rescue, and DLC stories, you’ll be able to earn enough War Assets to reach the real endings of the game.
Sadly, no matter how many War Assets you get, you can’t change the final four endings.
