i think that they are just taking the scenic route and flying with regular ftl travel, and not using mass relays. thats why shepard has time to thwart their plans

But if you were already attacked by the collectors (the Joker mission) and didn't go immediately, you already lost the crew.

I thought that was inevitable or something. Too bad.

You have time for 2 more missions after the IFF

You need to get ALL the normandy ship upgrades (armour , guns) or you will lose some members in the initial attack. Plus ALL the members must be loyal.

Next a tech specialist is needed in the pipes i.e select either legion or tali.

Send miranda as the second team leader and she should be able to handle the other strike team well.

Finally reaching the biotic barrier part, use samara as the one who creates the barrier and again select miranda as the second team leader.

When the choice comes to hold the line against the collectors or rush towards the goal, select hold the line.

Then when joker sends word send in Mordin.

For the final fight, select whoever you want (I selected Jacob and Miranda) and I cleared the mission on the first go without any casualties. However, avoid Zaeed since his survivability for the endgame is dubious at best.

IFF=\Jocker mission. I messed up and didn't really answer his question. I did Legion's mission right after the IFF. EDI was still blabbering something about needing time to test it or smth. When we got back she said it was finished and i got forced into the fake mission/collector attack/crew abduction sequence. After that - you really can't do anything else if you want your crew to survive.

You can do Legion Loyalty mission after IFF, before triggering Joker mission. You just need to speak to Legion first, before EDI says you need to use shuttle. That way you won't get shuttle message before completing Legion mission.

that look joker gave when edi said she liked the image of humans crawling on their knees was fucking classic

decided to kerblammo the base.. just dont trust that illusive git one bit... also judging from the conversation im having with him at the moment i feel validated i made the right choice.. hes all about human dominance, and i cant help but feel that in the third game thatd completely alienate me from the other aliens (haww, puns ftw) - besides, i think all this inter-species teamwork shit is a far more noble choice, plus its.. i dunno.. i just like the idea better of being pro co-operation rather than just humans only. hopefully with the choices ive made, ill lay the foundation for a pretty epic army in the final game. im just buzzed i manage to both keep my entire team alive, kill that annoying glass faced chick AND piss off the illusive bastard.. sweeeet

oh yeah.. hes definately not happy with me... i suspect hes gonna come after my ass in me3...