This section of IGN's Mass Effect wiki guide is all about the Snap Inspection Assignment, including how to pass it, and what choices you should make for your playthrough.
NOTICE
This Assignment expires after you complete all four Mission Worlds, including Virmire. Make sure you complete it before then!
Assignment Stats
Essential Stats
- Persuasion Points: 9 Charm / 9 Intimidate
- Minimum Decryption: N/A
- Minimum Electronics: N/A
Recommended Loadout
- Unique Dialogue:
- Kaidan or Ashley have a unique response to open this Assignment. If both are present, Kaidan's will override Ashey's.
Travel to Widow
- Pre-requisite: Complete either Therum, Feros or Noveria
- Location: Serpent Nebula - Widow - Citadel - Wards - Docking Bay 422
As noted above, this Assignment is only available after you complete at least one Mission World, which can be either Therum, Feros or Noveria. It does expire after you complete all four Mission Worlds, so don't get complacent about it!
As indicated by the name, "Citadel: Snap Inspection" is located on the Citadel. This is the galactic hub in the Serpent Nebula, the only cluster in the western part of the Milky Way, and is where you do the "Citadel: Expose Saren" Mission. It also only has one system, Widow, and zero Discoveries.
Meet Mikhailovich
As this Assignment takes place in Docking Bay 422, it'll be the very first thing that happens to you when you return to the Citadel after finishing a Mission World and exit the Normandy. When you exit the Normandy's boarding tunnel, you'll spot the Rear Admiral blocking your path. Sadly there's no way to slip past him: you must do this Assignment.
Mikhailovich is not happy that the Normandy is out chasing after Saren, since it was slated to be under his command after the shakedown to Eden Prime. More importantly he's not impressed with the Normandy as a ship, and wants to make an inspection to stroke his ego. Your task is to defend the Normandy's design, expense and her crew in the face of his criticism.
If you're Renegade and don't care about the XP here, pick "I don't think so" and then either "I'm afraid so" or "Damn right I did": Mikhailovich will be barred from entering the ship. While you won't get any XP, you will get +2 Renegade Points, the same as if you'd fully completed this Assignment by picking all the Intimidate options!
If you let Mikhailovich on board the Normandy, you'll get a base XP reward for reaching the proper end of the Assignment. Getting the Morality Points on top of that is a more difficulty matter: the Rear Admiral will have harsh criticism on the CIC's design relative to the bow, stealth systems run by the Tantalus Drive Core, and the presence of non-humans as a security risk.
To get any Morality Points out of this Assignment, you'll need to pass the fourth Persuasion Check at the very end of the inspection. Curiously, it's only the fourth one: you can ignore the first three checks, pass only the fourth one, and still get the Morality Points!
So, here's how it shakes out at the end:
- If you have 9 Charm, you can pick "We need to build bridges" to point out that the multi-racial construction and crew improve the Alliance's image, for +2 Paragon Points.
- If you have 9 Intimidate, you can pick "We need to kick ass" to say that the Normandy shows humanity out-thinking the other races, for +2 Renegade Points.
Two final things to note with this Assignment:
- If you pass all four Persuasion Checks with either Charms, Intimidates, or a mix of the two, you'll get 1.6x more XP at the end of the Assignment.
- Mikhailovich's closing comments after the fourth Persuasion Check is determined by how many of them you passed. Despite this, there's no story consequences for failing to please him; as he notes, he doesn't expect anyone to actually act on his complaints.
If your Shepard has the Colonist Pre-Service History, you'll also get the start of the "Citadel: I Remember Me" Assignment at the bottom of the lift, but you can safely hold it off until just before your leave.
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