Reyes Vidal - No longer A Mystery (Official Thread)

Well... My first attempt of making a plush... But please don't laugh too loud.

Noo! I want that mission in several quests of mystery, intrigue and vengeance for past wrongs with no chance at redemption! If a Volus just happens to chase Reyes across background of a multiplayer map I'll riot.

Great top page pics.
That’s very likely unless he can read minds. He doesn’t seem shaken anyway. Perhaps he’s just glad he doesn’t have to share. Speaking of Umi in that scene, anyone else finds her attitude uncharacteristically proactive when she serves Reyes, especially compared to her treatment of him in the Zia quest? I’d get it if she either knew who he was or owed him some... but like this?

l guess so, can’t imagine him doing anything he’d find boring, but not even he can be everywhere and give everything his full attention and keep it well concealed to boot. Comes to think of it he must be quite excessively busy to make everything work smoothly. Still wonder if he’d continue in the resistance employ after he takes the Port (poor unsuspecting Evfra... ) or whether they’d just get wind of what’s happening, somehow.... I find it strange that Evfra would just be chill as they come about one of his agents running a powerful gang of his own.

I’d say that under normal circumstances working with the Kett is quite a no-no in Heleus for anyone... Yeah, it makes sense. So opportunistic with the weapons, though. As if the Colective were like that Wonder if Reyes is the only Resistance agent around the Port, though... and whether he had to make arrangement to be the first to meet Ryder or whether he was just lucky to have Evfra decide like that.

Well, SAM is quite entitled to his own opinions, so why not Also, one more proof of Reyes’ charms when even the disembodied pathfinder AI finds him irresistible, it’s only good he never gets to meet the Archon. Somehow, I’d take this a a better explanation to SAM’s actions than anything else, since there’s literally zero reason Ryder should meet Reyes if they make a deal with Sloane, as Reyes sort of disappears into thin air. I’m thinking that if the post-Sloane conversation wasn’t exclusive to the no-deal outcome things might make much more sense as he could offer further intel as well as the invite into Tartarus right away, but perhaps it’s just me.

I don’t know if High noon could be taken as a desperate step in any scenario, though. It’s too well plotted for that, seems like the final blow Reyes was way too happy to make. In a very privately shof-offish fashion. You don’t end an unfavorable game with such a fancy move, especially if you’re not sure you’ll win. I’d say that there would have to be two quests to the resolution of the diverging paths, High noon being the pro-Reyes one, while the other one would really have to involve Reyes doing something desperate, perhaps attempting an assassination or the like.

Yeah, makes the Remnant look like bloody amateurs in the field of mysteriousness I predict incredibly low levels of boredom in Ryder’s future.

Interesting, yeah, but I can’t imagine him coming to Andromeda with friends. He seems the type to go it alone as far as the important things are concerned, and who knows whether he was better at making friends back in the Milky way than he’s in Andromeda. Besides, what’s the chance they wouldn’t get stuck on the Nexus in cryo or something.. This actually seems to fit so well that any potential new info will have a hard time beating it...

Aww, thanks. Don’t know about LP, given how much happens behind the scenes or inside Ryder’s head... my playing RPGs really looks most of all like me making up a first-person narrator story, it translates far better into text than actual gameplay. (And tbh it’s s half the fun in any gaming I do, I’m weird like that). For now she's had surprisingly little trouble lying to the angara about the satellites and in a while she's standing before the Sarissa problem all over again, while keeping vividly in contact with Reyes in the meantime, shrugging off Vetra's grins when her turn comes in the "Aya or Kadara" banter




I tried all the angles I could imagine. Save for the one in that screen I uploaded the result was still the same.. or there was Ryder in the way so nothing could be seen. Not to mention Ryder had it even worse with the light than Reyes. Perhaps there's a way if Scott is actually taller than his sis, but the front view really did nothing for me. But thinking of this I could try once more... perhaps zooming out a little? The worst thing about this is that closing in on Ryder Reyes leaves that absolutely cool and flattering light, so if they stood just a bit different, none of this would've needed to be addressed.

Well, how should I know? I guess so, but it wasn’t much of an accomplishment as the bot was pretty dumb... it remained unsuspecting even after I answered it’s question about what I like to do for fun with "tree around". I realized how small talk worked that day, though

The mythical Collective krogan, only seen in the mist by true enthusiasts and those in touch with their inner child But really, how many krogan engineers there are so they could join the Collective and not act sort of counter productive?

It's a.. well, logo. Perhaps it has some deep significance we don't know of yet. Or he wnated to design the logo himself, no matter he just can't draw. Or it was the ring Reyes' glass left right as he came up with the thought of the Collective and he considered that a sign. (Perhaps he's real supersitious about things like that ). I'm also only slightly reminded of this, but I would never blame Reyes of something other than being a Dragon age fan at worst....

thanks for having our backs fryda

i don't think that's a genderbent reyes, just the artist's drawing style

I assume Reyes would get paid either in credits or goods. After all, he’s not a member of the Resistance, he just “does jobs for them sometimes”, right? (Did I get the quote right?) If this shady smuggler trying to eke out a living on the toxic water planet didn’t ask for a pay, now that it would be suspicious. No one would expect Reyes to do anything out of the goodness of his heart. (Isn't Reyes terrible? ) Evfra might be many things, but he’s not naïve.

I can’t see that, but of course my eyes were mostly fixed on Reyes. Umi just had that sort of glassy stare that all the MEA asari seem to have at all times. But maybe Reyes always starts to annoy her with chitchat if she takes her time, so she just gets serving him out of the way ASAP?

Lmao I thought that apart from the make-up, it was a deliberately tomboyish characterization. Now I can’t help but imagine a not yet encountered Reyes opting for a heavily made-up look for a night out and dumb-dumb Ryder misgendering him and being devastatingly mortified afterwards at their blunder.

Lady Reyes (Reinas? ) and Sara duking it out would be something. Would it be those egos again? But yes, poor poor Scott, too, in that case.

Ooh, I didn’t know. I never take Sloane’s offer, so I haven’t seen the alternative response that Reyes has. I definitely think he’d be disappointed though, since it’s in his interest to have Ryder dislike Sloane and not work with her. On a purely personal level he might be impressed… only it’s not that much of a feat to bend over to Sloane’s demand - it’s not even a compromise, since Sloane only gains from their deal, and the Resistance loses out.

Sloane never questions Ryder afterwards about Vehn if you free him, right? You'd think she'd be suspicious that he escaped the same day that the Pathfinder came around asking for his release. Or she suspects, but knows that it would be a waste to ask Ryder about it. Or maybe Keema had a scapegoat already readied up... some poor Outcast guard that got framed, perhaps.


You probably have the cinematic tools, so maybe the blur option might help with the light. It might soften the glare. I can’t really remember, but I don’t think I had the sort of problem you’re describing. Are your settings on ultra?

As per this official chart, Scott is 185 and Sara is 172. And Reyes must be somewhere in between, since he looks up at Scott and down at Sara. 180 cm maybe? Funny, since I think Ryder has a line about Reyes being "tall" in the talk with the dock master if you go pro-Sloane, right?

Reyes maybe tries to recruit non-exiled people like himself into the Collective. It’s after all incredibly useful if the agents can freely board the Nexus and the various colonies as those start popping up. Considering what a clusterfuck the Initiative is atm, I can imagine more than a few disillusioned people taking him up on his offer. He’d have to vet them careful in order not to recruit someone like Spender. I think the salarian at Kralla’s even said that, that the Charlatan makes the final decision on whom to accept, which means that that task alone must take a considerable amount of time from Reyes. Unless the Collective is smaller organization than what I’m picturing.

It’s hard to get a picture how many members they might reasonably have. Depends maybe on how large area of Kadara they operate in. We only see such a small area of an entire planet (what would Sloane do if we went to the opposite side of the ball to set up our Outpost? I guess she wouldn’t let it go and still would harass us, but it would eat a huge amount of the Outcast resources if they had to operate that far constantly.

Of course, a smaller pool of agents would fit better into the happy family image. Reyes would have less risks too. After all, it helped a lot that they could pinpoint the potential fake-Charlatan to two or three people with such accuracy.

Wonder why she never calls him "little guy"


Lool.  I know abou the tall dark and handsome thing but this takes it to a whole new level. How did that particlar piece of knowledge get to spread around? I'd imply Mr. Sniper Guy had something to do with it, but I guess he'd go into hiding along with Reyes when things go south in the cave....



Hmm, interesting idea but how the hell do you hide an entire outpost? It would be a matter of time before someone in the Outcasts notices a strangely large number of Initiative shuttles and comms coming and going and will want to know what’s happening.. and things will simply go from there. However, I kind of guess that would be the beginning of Sloane's end one way or another... can't imagine her to just let it go and put up with the new neighbours, but the strain that conflict would put on her would only make it easier for Reyes to gain support and take over, since she's have to be losing it more than usual... perhaps even to the point of the general population losing their patience with the Outcasts. Hehe, if the AI did that troll outpost thing, Reyes would owe them a fruit basket at the very least.

But, how would he get in touch with the AI people since there’s no contact since the exiles left for who knows what part of the cluster? Guess it’s at least a good guess for what Reyes will be up to in the future. If he’s gunning to have a spy network, he needs people in key positions anywhere. Hehe, wonder how long it takes since he tries to smuggle some of his people into the Resistance... if he already hasn’t done so, that is.

Don’t know about Spenders, though. An organization like the Collective must have its share of them, just look at the fake Charlatan lady who somehow happened to slip under Reyes’ radar. That might even be one of the potential things that might come to bite Reyes in the future, if Crux is to be believed about him not taking too much care about how shit gets done... as long as it is.
The Collective member count is actually an interesting question too. If Reyes takes care about every recruitment, as he well should, the Collective can’t have all that many members.. my money would be on few people who seem like they’re everywhere. (But if the Charlatan watches and chooses for himself, what’s the recruitment salarian there for then, huh?)


Hehe, it’s not about him not asking for payment, more about wondering what the Resistance can actually offer in a way of payment. But I guess the first contact is well underway with the Nexus ot without it. Well, at least nobody can ask "what did the exiles ever do for us?" Well, if he’s terrible, he’s mostly the lovable kind, so whatever....


Lol, that’s surely a possibility. "Serve the annoying smuggler before he becomes even more annoying..." very like Umi. Or maybe it’s just Reyes’ way to get Umi to waste no time serving his drinks?


Rofl. That would be the weirderst thing to happen in Mass Effect or very likely any other game ever, well, since Sacred 1 and Shaddar the suddenly gender changing villain. If that were to happen I’d be way more mortified than Ryder

Regina perhaps? I was thinking more of the gang war between "her" and Sloane, but thinking of Ryder, it would very likely be egos all the way... might even be fun, though it would run a significant risk of becoming a lookalike of the beautiful and uplifting Shepard/Aria thing with a just a little less headbutting, which would be impeded by the delicateness of some participants



Hmm, when you put it like that it must be a bit disappointing to him... but it really isn’t a reason to disappear and hope to be found in Tartarus later, rigt? It’s the prime reason to appear once again and try some more, especially since Reyes does look like the type that does enjoy the chase... and very likely the challenge But remember Ryder is AI, so the very fact they entered the Outcast HQ and didn’t leave it being hurled out of the door by edgy krogan must be a very unexpected outcome and a bit of a small feat in itself to everyone who know how Sloane operates.
Hehe, sometime it feels I’m the only one who doesn’t care about anything Vehn-related in the slightest, no matter the actual politics of it. He’s a traitor, let him die. Ryder dryly, uncaringly reciting the reasons he gave for his actions to Evfra is such a fitting moment for my RP anyway.





Yeah, I think so. Thanks for the tips, I might revisit the scene. At worst I’ll get a little frustrated again

It'd be awesome if a Single Ryder could oppose or help him in MEA 2 with passionate argument about why they didn't just let Sloane die. And a second chance at romance that suits my morals better.

I don't think so, or Morrigan, Jack, and Sera would be unromanceable to me as well

But where does the rumor of Reyes getting shot by Ryder on his inglorious way out come from? Did someone happen to be bird-watching in the area, only to catch a sight of the whole scene? Did it get recorded on hidden Remnant cam system? Yeah, everyone knows Reyes is the Charlatan and hiding, but who knows the Pathfinder took a shot at him? Surely the Outcasts wouldn't go spreading a story of how he got away.

Edit: or perhaps they would if they wanted to show he's weakened and maybe runs a bit slower than usual?

Big yeah for the argument, I'd love Reyes and Ryder sorting it out Not sure how the morals of the whole thing would change though, it's not like the duel bullshit just ceases to exist at some point in the future...

This. I don't see how having a partner whose characteristics you can't accept benefits anyone.

That would be interesting but I suspect it should only be doable when you've put him in charge of Kadara in High noon. Such an option for the other route would be much stranger than him and Ryder just making up after some shitstorm and necessary reparations for the injured party (aka Reyes )

Heh, I guess that's because I don't really see Sloane as the same kind of traitor as Vehn. Unless there's something I'm missing about the whole uprising business (_{which is a distinct  possibility}) I fail to see any premeditated treachery in what she did, just her her being a hot head, impatient with the current leadership. Not ideal, very likely not professional, and short-sighted as far as viability goes, but Vehn sold his own to an enemy in hopes of saving his own miserable hide, and that one, to me at least, fucking glares on the scale of treachery and calls for a placement in a special section of hell, as far as I'm concerned, not wriggling away with several months of tending to shrubbery on Aya. Plus, I'm not arguing Sloane deserves to be rescued. She got rescued because it made sense at the particular moment and because it's just a piece of fiction we're discussing.

That said, is it more clever to hand him over to the Resistance for the benefit or the right parties and loss of the wrong ones? Very likely, but I suppose since it's the local angara who want him dead, some of the general angara public might share their opinion and let it slide, more or less. And Evfra's "I want Vehn" isn't really an agreement. Evfra may demand what he likes, the Pathfinder may deliver what they like. Not like they did little for the angara in many other ways.


How... uncharacteristically fatalistic and chance-dependent of Reyes, unless he has dealings with SAM the Pathfinder isn’t aware of Even so, I’d at least expect him to leave a hint, really, what would he do if a dead angara just didn’t happen to pop up in a convenient place at a convenient time? Or maybe he did have a backup plan and eventually no need to use it?

I still don’t know how detailed those brochures were on the SAM topic, though.... did they really contain all the info? But I guess at some point it wouldn’t be hard for Reyes to get better intel anyway. Hehe, definitely not Imagine what Reyes could do with a little help from an AI... I’d say double effectivity and half the time for anything... for starters It would be awkward to come to Kadara only to know Reyes has already made a remnant army...

I somehow suspect that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t try I can pretty well imagine her fuming about it all day long. The torching itself might be difficult, but I still guess the Outcasts could make some lesser scale trouble to the AI even across the planet, stealing, sabotage, ocasional murder, taking out shuttles, that kind of thing. Can’t imagine such things not making it miserable for the leadership and the morale back on the Nexus.

Yeah... but what are the chances of that? I guess he’d just have it delivered in secret... perhaps with a hand-written thank you note at least?

Hmm, I actually thought there was always a promising individual at the start, and the recruiting/testing process then, but maybe that applies only to higher level operatives and not the common Collective person... if such a thing indeed exists at all and the Collective really isn’t a very small organization.

I can’t imagine how he’d take that one since he’s so smug about his Charlatan business But it’s quite likely, yeah. Might lead to some interesting quests about infighting in the Collective... Interesting... something Sid might try to do, even, but she’d need to have a pretty good reason for doing that (I guess Vetra wouldn’t look kindly on her joining the Collective because it’s adventurous). Anyway, it might definitely work, again better than some random conflict, because Vetra, and even more so because Vetra’s protective issues. But this time around I’d like it if the conflict were centered about whether to let her remain in the Collective and take the risks, for the sake of change. (Unless we’re talking something like Sid inflitrating them to bring them down from inside. Ouch.)

With the Kandros guys the choice could also be based on Ryder finding out and choosing whether to tell. Might set up some interesting conversations in both cases. But I’d say a Cthulhu pawn Spender would have to be a Spender+ with perhaps some mini-boss capabilities, not a Spender lite. Hopefully the back hole inhabitants are the capable and dangerous kind of space monsters

Think he prepared that far ahead, huh?  Well, if he had this merc/intel plan going... The resources going towards the soup kitchen are fitting. It’s likely the kadara exiles must have taken some survival tips from the locals one way or another... but I guess that money must have been on some use too when he dealt with the angara. Doubt he’d need weapons, though, there are plenty on Kadara and plenty more can be stolen from the Nexus... without anybody knowing where you came from and where you’re taking them




I like that. Reyes Vidal- impressive from the very first gesture he makes Too bad Ryder is too much of an outsider to fully comprehend the feat they see being achieved at that moment. But he could still have topped that and ask her to surprise him... and then walk away from that.

Maybe he was offered some clandestine deals of that kind by the Nexus leadership? Doubt Tann would care who actually did something during the Uprising, but The Charlatan is a good and useful one to have on board, surely they must know that, even if they won’t own it publicly. Or Ryder just insisted on inviting him and nobody dared to oppose them

I can see her doing that. She already reprimands Ryder anyway.


So they have satellites in orbit or something to check on all the traffic, ships and communication. Ok, I suppose that's standard in the future. No sneaking up on the planet unless the AI would employ stealth ships then, which they don't have, apart from the Tempest.

A fruit basked is always welcome.


Lol yes. Maybe krogan shrink when they get older, too. They always look a bit small. When I think of the scene in ME2 when you release Grunt, he looks huge. And then during gameplay he doesn't.


When you have a save before High Noon he's happy to tell it again and again. Here's the convo, the Outcasts have a smiliar process:

Ryder: Let's say I was interested in joining your little gang. How would I do that?
Collective Recruiter: You're more high profile that our usual members, but it's up to the Charlatan who joins. If you have potential, our leader will reach out to you. Usually through a representative.
Ryder: And then what?
Collective Recruiter: For some, that's it. Others may have to pass a test. It's different for every recruit.


Yes, he doesn't look that much taller than Sara. A bit but not towering.


Yep he shows up and you can talk to him. Of course no storage room offer is made^^. I don't think he sneaked in, he stands in the open, even if a bit away from the others but not hidden. I think since he helped he was invited or not stopped to attend. And if the bosses know who he is it's better to allow him entry to the party, he is an ally now. Maybe the restrictions for exiles were also loosened a bit, at least for those who participated in the battle.

I see.

The satellites can be operated by a small number of agents I think. It's just surveillance.

He probably calls them. Reaching out doesn't necessarily mean meeting in person. That would have to be someone he's very sure about and who would receive a high position from the get-go. Of course he can always take a look at prospective recruits while just being the smuggler and observing them.



He's too busy working. Perhaps he already chatted to some people and is just waiting for Ryder to come by.

That would be good. Some exiles want to return anyway. They should take this chance to repair relations.


Some of the Outcasts are quite unhappy they have to defend the outpost and that is exists. Not all of them share Sloane's view that making a deal with Ryder is not the same as making a deal with the Nexus. There's potential for conflict in the ranks.


Well, they'll have to be persuaded it's a bad idea.

I guess, but it still seems like a significant investment. If they just stole a couple of satellites from the Nexus, reprogrammed them and then dropped them at some key locations, maybe it’s not too tasking, then.

I think they’re there also to spy on any potential rivals setting up operations. Like that one woman on the broken Turian golden world that eventually gets taken out by Reyes? A small hitch in Reyes’ ambitious plan to become a famed information broker – there’s not much interesting info to be brokered in this boring ass cluster.

As unpractical and foolhardy as it might be, I kind of like the idea of Reyes making an exclusive ultra-rare occurrence of going to meet somebody in person and dropping an ultimatum like that. If he had vetted the person properly, it might come across as extremely flattering, to be asked to join directly by the Charlatan himself. The risk would be high, of course, but Reyes does love making impressive personal appearances.  And if it proved too scary for the potential recruit, Reyes would know that they're not hardcore enough anyway and would just kill them. Basically I guess I just want to see Reyes do more terrible things lmao. I doubt there are many if any people he'd want to join that bad, anyway, so I guess it's not really feasible.

I don’t think he’d ever pretend to be a lesser Collective operative. It’s extremely important for his cover to appear unaffiliated and impartial, only speaking for the "little people" of the Port and the slums.

Reyes is very bad at partying. 

There ought to be a side quest “Make Reyes Relax and Enjoy a Party”. Steps would include getting fine whisky that would make him stop and enjoy the moment, putting on some smooth music he'd enjoy (quest fail state option: choosing ME elevator music mix), acquire a cute doggo that he could pet while lounging...

Lovely pics, thank you for sharing. I love the third one; your Ryder looks badass enough to cause Reyes some trouble. (Also how tiny is Sara? Reyes looks so tall and imposing in that shot. )

Alright THAT thing with the mouth, I’ve had that one before. It’s ruined some of my shots, but it’s not as bad from farther away - like that screenshot of yours isn't ruined by it. I don’t think anything can be done about it. :/ Maybe certain lip shapes work better with it, I don’t know. I like to make my characters’ lips thinner than the default.

Oh I like that nighttime Port picture. Makes it look like it's quieted down for some reason (like a bloody regime change...?). It's almost eerie.

I don't know about dwarfism, but Dorado's apparently broken her neck.

Ryder better watch out that Reyes won’t get tired of them, he doesn't seem to have patience for bitchy behaviour. Sooo maybe it's not a good idea to try the angry storming off after High Noon lol. Zia probs has a case of sour grapes.

Hmm, the Collective guys are the only ones that become non-hostile after Reyes takes over. The random unaffiliated raiders on Kadara and Elaaden still seem to make up a large portion of the exiles… But as we know, that’s mostly the result of the stupid game mechanics design. Hard to say how much large the peaceful exiled-exile population on Kadara is supposed to be. I agree though that a more relaxed policy might entice some of them back, yeah. Such as those that don’t suffer from the brain damage.

Yeah, but I meant in the writer’s pet sense where it was insufferably blatant about how awesome they thought Aria was. Or Liara. That’s also one of the reasons why I’d question it if the sequel did away with the Reyes/Sloane choice and just forced us to work with Reyes regardless of whom we chose. Let him be optional and let Sloane choosers get to continue with her, and also keep him human with both faults and positive traits.

She could maybe make it as an operative, but yes I meant the latter: Reyes must keep close tabs on Ryder’s crew among other notable people, and he wouldn’t risk getting into trouble over letting Sid join, even if she is useful.

I’m not so sure that the Collective will get their image cleaned up all that quickly. It might be Reyes’ eventual goal, but it could even be that he’d scrap the Collective over time and reshape it into another, more acceptable looking group. One that’s even more secretive and hard to figure out, but inside with mostly the same people and operations. He’d want clients that otherwise would shy away from the “pirate gang from Kadara” look. Maybe in like a decade, once things are more established?