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I'm having trouble with the last of the Rannoch missions, where Shep wakes up and takes on a Reaper.

Shepard has a targeting laser which will call in an orbital strike with the combined might of the Quarian Migrant Fleet, but there's two major problems standing between the commander and victory.

  1. The Targeting Laser takes a while to power up.

  2. The Reaper is trying to kill you.

I can consistently avoid the Reaper's attacks for the first volley, but each time you hit it, the Reaper moves forwards, giving you less time to dodge future assaults. Is there some key to avoiding the Reaper's attacks? Strafing doesn't seem to be enough.

Raven Dreamer
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    +1 "The Reaper is trying to kill you." love it. How many hours in are you now? – Steve the Maker Mar 08 '12 at 13:37
  • This was pretty easy for me. Point at the red bit, hold down fire, and constantly roll. By the time you get to one side it fires and you switch directions. – OrangeDog Apr 05 '23 at 14:34

7 Answers7

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This was a very frustrating battle. The trick about the targeting laser is that it doesn't actually require you to complete the targeting lock in a single fire. You can completely let go of the trigger and run to the side, then re-aim, making increments of progress each time.

The other thing I noticed, which was non-obvious to me the first several times I died in the final slow motion sequence, was that the targeting seemed to work much more quickly if your aim was as close as possible to the center of the red eye (not just "Am I in the blue target circle?"). I haven't replayed to confirm with Science™ that this is indeed true, but on my successful completion I made sure to aim dead center and it was all over very quickly.

Tim Stone
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    As a side note to all space weapon R&D departments out there: I like my targeting lasers to work more quickly than, you know, the lasers trying to BURN ME TO A CRISP. – Tim Stone Mar 09 '12 at 21:34
  • +1: I also noted a distinct difference in speed during the slow motion scene between "aiming anywhere I could in a panic" and dying, compared to "aiming calmly at the centre" and a quick laser response time. – staticbeast Mar 12 '12 at 12:20
  • Holding your aim steady also seems to target a lot faster – Ben Brocka Mar 19 '12 at 13:06
  • Yes, aiming is much faster when not walking. It also helps to understand how the reaper aims. Once the reaper starts shooting the beam will not change direction anymore. So if you keep on walking to the right all time, it will hit you, but if you walk to the left and just after the reaper beam is visible to the right again, the beam will totally miss you. For the slow-motion sequence, you absolutely have to hit the red dot of the eye. Strangely it worked here only after I made a sidewards roll o.O – Simon A. Eugster Apr 07 '12 at 16:00
  • Just did this firght. The 3rd tip I'll add on top of your two: when you need to turn (either to run or to aim/fire), pause with the power menu, then turn, then unpause. – Brian J Sep 08 '17 at 01:00
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This boss fight is pretty tough, there are a couple of things that you can do to help get past it.

Immediately lock on and hold FIRE to hit it once with an orbital strike.

The tough part of fight is that you MUST stop to focus the orbital strike beacon, but you have to move often to avoid the Reaper’s laser.

targetting

Note that you can roll to avoid the laser mid-focus and pick up focusing the orbital strike afterwards. However, it will become very difficult to just roll out of the way at the last second. Rolling won't affect your focus as much as running, but by the 3rd strike, it is easier to avoid death by the Reaper laser by turning and dashing/running from side to side.

Rolling away from fire

This video walkthru shows the rolling technique very clearly.

The fourth strike is the toughest of all, and you will need to focus in small bursts. After making this strike, you will enter a slow-motion scene to engage your final shot. Just point, focus and blast away.

4th wave, up close

Tharius
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Easy, I was looking up how to beat him, but easily enough, to beat the laser, just strafe. Now Let me explain... as the reaper is powering up his laser, he will shoot his laser in the direction you are CURRENTLY moving. The direction you are moving JUST AS THE LASER STARTS TO SHOOT is the direction the laser will keep moving. So immediately when he starts to shoot his laser, move in the opposite direction. I can easily just continue strafing and locking on by using this tactic without stopping, or having to roll or anything. If you keep moving in the same direction as he starts to shoot the laser, you are bound to get hit, or you have to roll, which you still have a chance to get hit...

As to locking on... I couldn't figure out why i kept getting to slow mo laser and couldn't dodge it... apparently you have to hit him right in the red lol... :D Hope that helps

Ghosty
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    After dancing around on that stupid ledge for an hour, doing it this way took five minutes. Good answer. – detly Dec 08 '14 at 11:12
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    Nice, this is the right answer, by rolling or moving to the same direction I got always hit, but with this it was only 10 secs to kill the reaper. – inf3rno Apr 07 '15 at 21:27
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Trying to kill the Reaper was frustrating till I realised a few things:

  1. You have to stand still for the laser to lock on quickly. It you move, the lock on becomes very slow. Dodge, then stand still while you fire!
  2. Even if you're holding the trigger, the laser will only start firing once the blue targeting circle has appeared. If you're already holding the button down before the circle appears, the laser won't come on automatically. You have to let go of the trigger and start firing again. Make sure you see the thin laser beam!
Community
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Shepard
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Apparently you just have to be as close as possible to the darn thing. and yes, you have to hit it perfect center, if you're like a pixel off, it won't work

You can't dodge the slow motion laser.

Oak
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Seriously Disappointed
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for the first round go right, second round strafe left, third round alternate starting with right, and fourth round's in slow-mo

jridge
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The fourth phase/slow motion phase isn't as hard as it seems. i held the laser for about 10-15 seconds running in one direction. after that time, i stopped running and stopped painting the reaper with the laser. i then started running the opposite direction and continued to paint the reaper with the laser. once you continue to paint the laser, shepard will continue at regular speed and the reaper will continue in slow-mo. the laser will speed up as well and that will be the end of it. hope that helps!

Pete
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