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Is there any point in exploring systems that do not have a mission associated with them, besides resource gathering? For example are there any hidden side quests or random encounters to be found?

EDIT: To be more clear, are there any quests or random encounters which are not previously referred to or marked in any way, and thus can only be found by scanning planets? I have "found" a couple of missions by scanning planets but in each case the mission location was already marked on the system map.

jwaddell
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2 Answers2

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Yes, there are some side quests that are not marked. If you scan a planet and find an anomaly there, this means there is a mission on that planet.

They are pretty short, but somewhat more varied than the side missions of Mass Effect 1.

According to the Mass Effect 2 wiki there are 38 anomalies that each represent a side mission (don't follow the link if you want to remain unspoiled).

jwaddell
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Mad Scientist
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  • I assume "systems that do not have a mission associated with them" means the side quests, which are in fact marked, but only after being discovered. – Raven Dreamer Feb 21 '11 at 02:40
  • Yes I meant missions that you would not find if you didn't scan random planets, see my edit to the question. – jwaddell Feb 21 '11 at 04:25
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If EDI does not tell you when you first zoom in on a planet that "an anomaly has been detected", the planet can safely be ignored.

Unlike in Mass Effect 1, there are no hidden objects to search for (i.e., carbonaceous asteroids) either.

Raven Dreamer
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