How to Romance Tali'Zorah - Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Guide - IGN (2024)

This page of IGN's Mass Effect: Legendary Edition wiki guide is all about romancing Tali'Zorah, including what you need to do to initiate and Lock In the Romance, and rekindle it in Mass Effect 3.

It's worth noting that there are BIG SPOILERS for Mass Effect 2 and 3 on this page. Read with caution!

• Mass Effect 2
  • Tali vs Legion
  • The Suicide Mission
  • Tali Romance and Legion Dialogue
• Mass Effect 3
  • Priority: Rannoch

Mass Effect 2

Tali is only available to Male Shepards, and she becomes available after you successfully complete her Loyalty Mission, Tali: Treason.

Importantly, you MUST ensure Tali is Loyal to you by NOT presenting the evidence against her father to the Admiralty Board. You can pick an option that results in her being exiled and still have her available, but if you presented the evidence, a Romance with her will NOT be possible.

Once you complete Tali's Loyalty Mission, you can begin courting her, which happens in three conversation stages. Each conversation stage is reached by initiating the one before it and then completing any Mission or Assignment.

Stage 1

Talk to Tali and pick "I want to talk about you", where you'll learn that she has a minor fever, and mentions that the most intimate thing a Quarian can do is link up their suit environments. She alludes that Shepard is the closest person she's met who she's comfortable doing that with; when she says so, pick anything other than "Goodbye", then after that pick "I'm interested" to begin the relationship.

Stage 2

Once again you'll need to pick "I want to talk about you" to discuss the previous conversation and whether a relationship can even work. Pick "No, you weren't", and then "I want to be with you" to express proper interest. Tali will of course need some time to figure out how to make it happen considering her weak immune system.

Of course, if you've been courting either Jack or Miranda, Tali will first bring this up with you and ask where you stand. If you want to be with Tali, you'll need to tell her so by picking "I only want you". Do that, and you can start Stage 2 properly.

Stage 3

The third stage is the confirmation stage, begun by picking "I want to talk about you". Your options after it are a bit confusing, because the option to continue is in the middle, as "Only if it's safe". The other two, "No. It's too dangerous" and "No. The mission comes first", are at the top and bottom slots. Picking "Only if it's safe" in the middle will Lock In Tali as your Romance partner.

Tali vs Legion

There is one final obstacle you may have to pass before the big Romance scene. If you decided to activate Legion and then complete his Loyalty Mission along with Tali's, then the next time you board the Normandy you'll be informed of the two getting in a confrontation.

Here, you must decide how to resolve the argument. If you have a high amount of Paragon or Renegade points, you can pick either the Charm or Intimidate option to tell both of them to drop it without losing their Loyalty or jeopardizing your Romance with Tali.

If you can't pick either of them, things become more difficult as you must side with either Legion or Tali. If you want to continue the Romance with Tali, you MUST pick "Legion, stop transmitting". This is because while you can patch things up with the person you told to stand down afterwards, doing so with Tali will NOT restore the Romance. In other words, if you pick "Back off, Tali", the Romance will be permanently ceased.

Romance Scene

As with all Romance Scenes, this one is initiated by starting the Suicide Mission via the Omega-4 Relay. This will be your absolute last chance to back out, done by picking "No. I've changed my mind" to break up with her. If you want to continue with Tali, pick "Tali, relax. I want this".

The Suicide Mission

As Tali is a member of Normandy's crew, you must also make sure she survives the Suicide Mission at the end of Mass Effect 2. To do that, first make sure that you have as many Squad Mates Loyal to you as possible before grabbing the Reaper IFF, and upgrade the Normandy's Shields, Armour and Cannon at the Research Terminal.

During the Suicide Mission itself, a Loyal Tali is a good pick for the Vent Specialist. She is however a poor choice for the role of both Second Fireteams in the first and second parts of the Collector Base infiltration, and the Biotic Specialist.

If you do not have a Loyal Jack or Loyal Samara / Morinth, avoid picking Tali as a Squad Mate for "The Long Walk" through the Seeker Swarms, as she'll be put at risk in that case. If tali isn't Loyal but you still want to keep her around, avoid picking her for any defined role or as a Squad Mate: that will get either herself or somebody else killed.

Tali Romance and Legion Dialogue

There's one situation you can find yourself in that deserves special attention. It's possible to bring Legion to both Dossier: Tali and Tali: Treason for a large amount of exclusive dialogue.

This is a problem however because acquiring Legion will also pick up the Reaper IFF, which begins a countdown that initiates a Mission that results in the Normandy's crew being kidnapped. If you want all the crew to survive you need to initiate the Suicide Mission immediately, but that means you can't complete a Romance with Tali before then.

There is however a way to make this happen. A Romance with Tali progresses based on you talking to her, completing a Mission or Assignment, then talking to her again. So what you need to do is save at least two Missions or Assignments to do after the Suicide Mission, so that the Romance can progress as normal.

Here's our suggested sequence of events:

1. Make sure you have two Missions / Assignments left to do, which you'll complete after the Suicide Mission. We recommend two of the Project Firewalker Side Quests, "Geth Activity" and "Survey Sites Located", since they're short and rather inconsequential.
2. After getting the Reaper IFF, talk to Legion immediately to gain his Loyalty Mission. You'll now have three Missions / Assignments on your list.
3. Do Dossier: Tali on Haestrom. This lets you bring Legion with you for unique dialogue.
4. After recruiting Tali, talk to her in order to pick up her Loyalty Mission. Complete it with Legion in your squad for the unique dialogue.
5. Once you've completed Tali's Loyalty Mission, talk to her to develop the Romance.
6. Now complete Legion: A House Divided. Once you're done, talk to Tali to develop the Romance.
7. Approach the Galaxy Map and you'll find that the Reaper IFF has been completed. Once all this is over and the Normandy crew are missing, go through the Omega-4 Relay immediately so that none of them die when you find them.
8. Once the Suicide Mission is over, save your game, then alternate between talking with Tali and completing one of the Project Firewalker Side Quests you saved earlier. Finishing each will unlock new dialogue for Tali that lets you progress the Romance to its completion.
9. Once the Romance has been Locked In, you'll automatically be taken to the Captain's Cabin for the Romance Scene.

Mass Effect 3

Unlike every other Romance option in Mass Effect 3, Tali doesn't appear until past the halfway point, and before then it's unclear if she's even in the game! If you Romanced her in Mass Effect 2, you'll want to be patient and wait until she shows up in Priority: Geth Dreadnought. Fortunately, she has easily the quickest meet-to-Lock-In time in the game.

Shortly after she's revealed to be on the Admiralty Board, you'll have a mostly-private conversation in the meeting room. When you get your first Dialogue Wheel, pick "Do you still want me?". She'll then suggest talking in private in the Captain's Cabin.

This meeting in Shepard's quarters MUST be done before Priority: Rannoch, otherwise it will be missed and you cannot Lock In the Romance. When you do start the scene, pick "I'm here for you" and "I want to be with you", easy peasy.

With the Romance locked in, Tali will have some unique dialogue aboard the Geth Dreadnought, and a little bit in Priority: Rannoch.

Priority: Rannoch

The price for this ease however is that Tali is very much at risk in the finale of the Quarian / Geth storyline. At the very end, your Geth Sniper will upload the Reaper Code so that the Geth can be fully sentient and alive, however the Quarian fleet refuses to stop attacking them, meaning they'll all be killed when the Geth reactivate with sentience.

You must then either pick a side, or broker for peace. Brokering for peace will actually work, but the Persuasion options for it require passing two checks. The first determines if the options are even available in the first place, and has the following requirements:

• 80% of the Reputation bar filled.
• Tali surviving the Suicide Mission in Mass Effect 2 to be present in 3.
• Legion activated in Mass Effect 2 and survived the Suicide Mission to be present in 3.
• Completion of the Rannoch: Geth Fighter Squadrons Side Quest.

Passing this means you can select the options, but the second check determines if it'll even work. Meeting the requirements below gives a certain amount of points:

• +2 Points for completing Tali's Loyalty Mission in Mass Effect 2 without getting her exiled OR presenting the evidence against her father.
• +2 Points for destroying the Heretic Geth at the end of Legion's Loyalty Mission in Mass Effect 2.
• +1 Point for resolving Tali and Legion's fight after completing their Loyalty Missions in Mass Effect 2, without upsetting either of them.
• +1 Point for completing Rannoch: Admiral Koris.
• +1 Point for choosing to save Admiral Koris during Rannoch: Admiral Koris.

If you have less than 5 points, you plea will be unsuccessful. If you have 5 points or more, the plea will succeed and both the Geth and Quarians will live. As a result, so will Tali.

If however you can't pass either check, you'll have to choose whether to spare the Quarians or the Geth. If you're Romancing Tali, YOU MUST CHOOSE TO SAVE THE QUARIANS. If you choose to save the Geth, Tali will commit suicide in grief, and not even a Loyal Tali with a Locked-In Romance will be able to prevent this from happening. We repeat:

If you choose to spare the Geth over the Quarians, Tali will die, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Aftermath

With Tali Locked In and surviving Priority: Rannoch, you can talk with her again aboard the Normandy to check in on her. This is very important because at the end, she'll say that she's left something for you in the Captain's Cabin, which turns out to be a photo of her revealing her face. You can also meet with her on the Presidium Commons next time you're on the Citadel.

Tali will also have a great amount of unique dialogue in the Citadel DLC, particularly because, being a Squad Mate, she can be taken directly onto Missions. This is in addition to the usual Meetups that themselves are different now that you Romance her.

When you initiate Priority: Earth, Tali will join Shepard to keep him company, if you pick "Yes, I could". In the calm before the storm before you make the push to the Conduit beam, you can have a conversation with her.

At the end of the game, if Tali is in your squad you'll have one last scene in the final charge to the Conduit beam. A Mako will flip over and land dangerously close to her: if your EMS is 1,749 or less, she'll be vaporized by Harbinger's laser cannon. If it's 1,750 or higher, Shepard will call in the Normandy for an emergency extraction, and you'll have your final words with her.

If the Normandy's crew survived its crash at the very end, it'll be Tali who puts Shepard's name up on the Memorial Wall. But, if you picked Destroy and had an EMS higher than 3,100, she'll refrain from putting it up, knowing Shepard is still alive.