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Mass Effect: Andromeda

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Missing Science Crew

By
Nathan Garvin

Drilling For Answers

You’ve done everything else there is to do on Voeld… save possibly companion quests, but nevermind that. The weather isn’t going to clear up enough to remove the cold hazard, but at least the storms have stopped and the planet is now a pleasant… sickly green? Anyways, the only thing left to do is the quest “Missing Science Crew”, and you probably know what’s waiting for you at the end of this quest.

Return to the Voeld settlement and talk to Priya Blake, who will complain that a few of her drill technicians went missing a while back, and they’re too incompetent to pick up the trail. All she can do now is wallow in self-pity, so offer to do the work she’s clearly incapable of doing, then exhaust her dialogue options, if you wish. When you’re ready to get to work, leave the building Priya Blake is in and make your way across the outpost to reach another building to the north, in which you’ll find a Datapad detailing their location… enough to allow you (read: SAM) to track them, anyways.

Search a datapad in the Voeld outpost to find out where Priya Blakes team went (left) then track them down and scan their remains (right).

Those drillers, whatever else you can say about them, certainly made it pretty far. How long has this outpost been here, anyways? Whatever, their navpoint is on the eastern edge of the map, so naturally that means you should fast travel to one of the nearby Forward Stations (the central one of the three that line the eastern side of the map, for example?) then drive to the navpoint, which is near a Mining Zone. When you arrive you’ll find… well, it’s not pretty, and scanning the bodies indicates that Remnant were the cause. Read a Datapad near the wreck to find another clue - unusual seismic activity? Oh, you’ve seen this before.

Boss Battle - Voeld Architect

After reading the Datapoint you’ll get a new navpoint to the southeast. All you need to do is drive the Nomad down the valley, where you’ll find a thoroughly smashed Kett base with an Architect flying overhead. Make your way south to the closest Kett platform, upon which you’ll find a heating unit, an ammo container and a health container. This platform should, then, provide everything you need to fight the Architect for now.

It doesn’t fight any differently than the one on Voeld: it’ll periodically summon minor Remnant (Breachers, Assemblers and Observers) which you’ll need to kill before it’ll continue the fight. In addition it has a rapid fire laser attack, it’ll launch energy mines to flush you out of cover, and it’ll perform a charged-up beam attack which can also penetrate cover and leave residual electricity on the ground. By now you should know what to do and how to deal with these attacks - stay in cover for the rapid-fire laser and vacate the area and seek new cover when the Architect fires mines and the charged beam. Simply shifting between a few bits of cover should serve you just fine.

Stay in cover to avoid the Architect’s rapid-fire laser attack (left) and stay mobile to avoid its mines (right).

The Architect on Eos was rather susceptible to a low cooldown Charge build, and while they are both surrounded by an area-of-effect energy field that’ll harm you when you’re nearby, the fact that there’s an environmental hazard on Voeld means you should pick a place to make your stand that’s near a heating rod. Even if you can mitigate the damage the Architect does by constantly charging, you’ll still need to replenish your life support.

So, dodge its attacks and make use of mid-to-long-ranged weapons and abilities to damage its conduits on its legs and head, alternatively. As usual the ultimate goal is to destroy the head conduit, but it’ll only expose these after you damage its leg conduits sufficiently, so don’t be picky about your targets. When you destroy a leg conduit the Architect will fly off and situate itself elsewhere on the battlefield, so you’ll need to follow it, scout out a new spot from which to make your stand (look for cover to alternate between, ammo boxes, health boxes, and healing rods).

Shoots its leg Conduits (left) until it opens up its head conduit (right).

After destroying the first leg conduit it’ll take up position along the southern-most edge of the Kett outpost, so respond by circling around the eastern edge of the battlefield and take up position to the southeast. For the next - and final - phase of the battle (after destroying a second leg conduit) the Architect will take up position along the northern end of the battlefield. Make your way northwest to another collapsed Kett structure near the center of the battlefield and finish off the fight from here.

When the Architect falls, activate it to neutralize it permanently (left) then loot the lucrative container it leaves behind (right).

When the Architect finally falls, interface with its head to send it to heel in orbit, then collect the container it leaves behind to score the Fusion Mod of Hovering I and another Remnant Data Core. You’ll earn 400 AVP, +10% Voeld viability and 2,660 XP for your trouble. Loot the containers around the battlefield, and whatever else the Remnant dropped, then search for Platinum nodes. Once done, return to the Voeld outpost and report back to Priya Blake to end this quest.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Electronic Arts
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, XB One
  • Genre
    Action RPG
  • Guide Release
    16 February 2017
  • Last Updated
    7 December 2020
  • Guide Author
    Nathan Garvin

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Sent on a 600 year voyage to the next galaxy, you are the Pathfinder, the one selected to lead your race as you discover and colonize new worlds. To survive in this harsh new reality, you must quickly learn to co-exist with other races in Andromeda, and unlock the mysteries of the galaxy itself, in order to ultimately decide the fate of humanity. Inside the guide you will find:

  • A detailed explanation of the main missions.
  • Complete coverage of every side quest and area you can discover.
  • Planetary guide coverage.

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