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Very often in a game like this, you hit certain landmarks in the plot beyond which a large portion of the content becomes locked out.

In Mass Effect 1, there was a sort of dual one when unlocking the Ilos mission (being unable to access the Citadel) and actually going to Ilos (being unable to leave).

Mass Effect 2 had a different variant on this, where if you didn't complete pretty much everything you wanted to do before the IFF mission it was impossible to do without causing some unpleasant consequences (and skipping it and heading straight to the endgame to avoid those consequences caused OTHER consequences).

Is there any point in Mass Effect 3 like either of these scenarios? Is there some task you should be sure to hold off on until you're ready, or you risk losing access to content? (I'm not looking for a laundry list of things that you can or can't do - a good answer would be a very clearly demarked "Make sure you've done everything you can or want to do before you go do Mission X", if there is such a junction in this game.)

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  • Okay, Shinrai, let's slow down a little. This is essentially a duplicate of your End game question. I'm closing this because it's very broad and a dupe of that.
    – Raven Dreamer
    Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 6:01
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    Not exactly duplicate, I'd phrase along the lines of "are some missions missable" or something like that
    – JohnoBoy
    Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 6:13
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    @RavenDreamer - Yeah, I disagree that it's a duplicate. I think there's a big difference between things getting cut off during the game and things being open after the game - if anything, I'd say THIS is the more valid question. I'll edit the other, though, if you really don't see the difference. I certainly think "Can I screw up and not be able to finish some stuff" is constructive, at least.
    – Shinrai
    Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 6:29
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    I have exactly Shinrai's question here... basically, I want to know if there are any hidden triggers equivalent to ME2's IFF mission where you'll get some unpleasant outcomes if you didn't complete most of the other stuff first. You don't really know how to ask about that by mission name until you already know it exists. This question might just need some rewording, since I think that's what he's trying to ask and it's definitely different than the other question.
    – Sterno
    Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 6:45
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    Voted to reopen since I was about to ask the same thing after hitting ME1's "You cannot return to the Citadel anymore" by surprise.
    – bwarner
    Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 14:18

3 Answers 3

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Firstly for an initial point of no return - as soon as you get access to the Sirta vendor in the Hospital ward buy a/the present/s, completing missions removes them quickly before you know their value.

Secondly before beginning Priority: Tuchanka you should finish off as many sidequests as you can, since completing it renders some sidequests as failed. Don't panic about having some remaining in your journal however, a few don't have their locations unlocked for retrieving quest items until later.

Thirdly Priority: Cerberus Headquarters is the point of no return for the rest of the sidequests. You can still use the onboard vendors on the normandy to purchase goods, but because of the price markup on the ship it's better to visit them directly for whatever you need before commencing this mission as well.

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  • THIS is the sort of answer I've been waiting for. Thank you (and welcome to the site!).
    – Shinrai
    Commented Mar 14, 2012 at 14:12
  • What's the value of the presents you can buy in the hospital? I've never understood want they were there for.
    – s427
    Commented Mar 23, 2014 at 20:39
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There's one I've come across so far.

Before you cure the genophage, be sure that you've taken care of other matters dealing with Tuchanka as not doing so can affect your war assets.

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There is a point of no return near the end of the game after which you won't be able to finish any side missions that are still open (the mission name is a spoiler about some plot development):

Before you start the assault on the Cerberus headquarters you should finish any sidequests as you won't be able to finish them later.

If you want to remain completely unspoiled pay attention for missions where you get the dialog option to postpone the mission. That dialog option marks the point of no return.

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