Mass-effect – How does assassination work in multiplayer

mass-effect-3mass-effect-3-multiplayer

During multiplayer games of Mass Effect 3, sometimes the commander over the radio will declare an assassination as the next objection. I understand the goal is to kill the designated target, but there are some other details that are a bit fuzzy.

  • Is there any logic behind what's designated as the target? As in, is there a sequential order or a prioritization of "tougher" enemies?
  • Is there a time limit to manage when killing the target?
  • Is there a chance the target will escape the map? If there is, are there consistent exit points on maps?
  • Are there ever multiple assassination targets assigned at a time?
  • Does it matter which team member takes down the target?
  • Is it possible for the target to be killed without direct action taken by the players? That is, can the game "accidentally" kill the target? If so, is this considered to be a successful completion of the objective?

Sorry for the blast of questions! I know there's some cool guy out there that knows the answers.

Best Answer

Every 3rd, 6th, and 10th wave is a "goal-oriented" wave rather than simply a "survive" wave.

There are three possible goals (Hold point, cap objectives, kill priority targets).

To answer your questions:

There is no perceivable logic to the target picking. The first target generally picks a strong enemy, such as a Banshee, Atlas, or Geth Prime if there is one in the spawn wave, but this is not guaranteed, especially on lower difficulties.

After this first target, the game seems to pick randomly from enemies that are far from the active players. Since the strong enemies are both likely to be nearby the players (because they take longer to kill) or have just been killed (if they were the target), it is likely that the later targets are less powerful enemies. I've even had a husk be the important target, once.

Additionally:

  • There is a time limit, displayed in the top right corner, that varies with wave number and challenge difficulty (bronze, silver, gold). This resets on each kill, and, if it reaches zero, will end the mission, same as if all squadmates flatline.
  • Targets will not leave the map. In some cases, the picked targets are still in the process of entering the map.
  • only one target at a time.
  • it does not matter how you kill the target, or who kills the target.
Related Topic