If I did not import a character from Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2, what squad mates will I not have access to? That is, are the presence of certain squad mates dependent on pulling them forward from the two previous games?
In other words, if I only have Mass Effect 3, is it impossible to get specific squad mates due to not having access to an imported character from the previous games?
(This question is related to a previous question I had asked, but is distinct enough to stand on its own.)
The decisions made by the "default" Shepard will not keep you from getting any of the squadmates in Mass Effect 3.
However, certain secondary characters (who were squadmates in previous games but not in this game) may have been killed, and they will not appear in this game. For instance, Thane and Jack both make appearances in ME3 if they survived ME2, but if you don't import a save it's assumed they died.
None.
The only potentially exclusive squadmate in ME3 is Javik, the Prothean, from the "For Ashes" DLC.
First off, the only returning squadmates are Liara (who can not have died), Ashley/ Kaidan (one of whom must have died), and Garrus and Tali, who the game assumes to have lived.
As for other notable life and death descisions for non squad members, the game assumes:
Wrex was killed on Virmire. Grunt was never awoken from his tank. Samara died at Morinths hands, though Morinth does not appear directly either. Legion was never activated. Jack and Thane died during the suicide mission. Miranda and Jacob survived the suicide mission. Of the Normandy's crew, only Joker and Doctor Chakwas survived the suicide mission.
