Stupid newbie questions about ME2

I'm getting very close to the Horizon mission kicking in so these posts are extremely helpful. My Shep is saying loyal to Kaidan so should I avoid asking Kelly and Jacob to tell me about themselves? Kelly seems to be waiting to jump on a flirt (reminds me of Lelianna in DAO)and I don't like how Shep acts when she asks Jacob about himself because she sounds like she's flirting.

I have a drone and didn't even know what it was (didn't pay attention to Kaidan's drone in ME1, I guess) so this thread has helped me there and I'm going to go read more about it now.

ETA: I had never looked into playing the ME trilogy before because I'm lousy at shooting games and also because I really dread and dislike games where your crew mates can get killed. I'm fumbling along with the shooting part and I'm trying not to get too attached to anybody so I can act all stoic-like if they die. 

ETA: Off to flirt with Kelly so I can prevent more deaths (but no romance with Kelly)

 Seriously, my pets dying is a very bad thing, but I didn't know he was talking about my fish...wasn't sure which crew member was aquatic though. 

Do I get to save my hamster? Please?    

Have you ever managed to keep them all alive by feeding them right through the ME2 end game?  I haven't.

Thanks for clearing that up as well.  I was afraid of that... but couldn't remember precisely.

dragontartare - With Samara and Thane's recruitment missions taking you back to the ship automatically, I don't see any way for you to get a 9th squadmate if you do more than 5 missions before getting your 8th (which is your intent).  So I would continue with the original plan if you want your Shepard to be as upgraded as possible before triggering the Collector Ship mission - That is, do all the loyalty missions that trigger (there should be 7 in all including Zaeed's which should already be on your Galaxy Map as a label "Help Zaeed.")  I would buy the Star Charts at Baria Frontiers on Illium (which will open up some new clusters on your Galaxy Map, giving you access to some N7 side missions).  Do some of those, but leave 1 or 2 for after the Suicide Mission (i.e. after the formal end of the game).

LotSB is a great DLC, as is Arrival.  Both are very worthwhile storywise... LotSB in particular if...

  To me, it doesn't matter whether you do either one before or after the Suicide Mission.  The story generally works either way and the story works OK even without them.  We all have our preferences though.  My recommendation of doing LotSB during this 5-game trigger sequence was purely for having Shepard as upgraded as possible.  It does count as a mission, but...



Particularly if you're not wanting a lot a spoilers, I really would just not worry too much about the order in which you play these missions.  The game is very well written in that regard... it will work out pretty much no matter what order you do things in.   Sorry about not getting back to you sooner as well (I'm an oldie and fell asleep early, early last night.)

For RP reasons, I like to have the minds of my crew a clear as possible. Hence, I like to do their loyalty missions in a way that's pleasing to them. Well, as pleasing as possible since I won't let Zaeed have his way. I also recruit as much as possible because I really don't know what I'm up against and want as many options as possible. It means having a large team but the odds of everyone surviving are slim. And I definitely do all the upgrades for my ship because it'll save lives.

For DLC, I'll help Liara against the Shadow Broker mainly because I feel I owe it to her for doing something that led to me being alive. That said, if I don't help the outcome is the same so no loss as far as game mechanics go. For RP, I find Arrival absolutely necessary. The lead-in to ME3 is etched in that DLC, even though it won't change very much in ME3.

Also, get a love interest, if not in ME2 then definitely in ME3. The world is about to end. Find a little piece of joy.

I'm getting very close to the Horizon mission kicking in so these posts are extremely helpful. My Shep is saying loyal to Kaidan so should I avoid asking Kelly and Jacob to tell me about themselves? Kelly seems to be waiting to jump on a flirt (reminds me of Lelianna in DAO)and I don't like how Shep acts when she asks Jacob about himself because she sounds like she's flirting.

I have a drone and didn't even know what it was (didn't pay attention to Kaidan's drone in ME1, I guess) so this thread has helped me there and I'm going to go read more about it now.

ETA: I had never looked into playing the ME trilogy before because I'm lousy at shooting games and also because I really dread and dislike games where your crew mates can get killed. I'm fumbling along with the shooting part and I'm trying not to get too attached to anybody so I can act all stoic-like if they die. 

Oh balls, I have never bought the fishes or the hamster because as animal rights advocate I don't like animals in captivity, I tend to feel my characters as I was them, literally, but now I regret it, I missed so many and precious content! XDD Maybe in a second run. In DAO I didn't know that you could adopt the nug for Leliana, which I will do in another run, and wish I would have done in the first and canon run.

dragontartare Extended cut, totally free! I used this guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/comments/1ad5ev/mass_effect_dlc_faq/

Then you'll get along fine with someone you encounter - provided you have the Citadel DLC for ME3.  Space Hamster is a friend, though, so it makes sense to have him.  

I did Garrus's loyalty mission and I love that even though I didn't personally witness their interactions in ME1, I could still feel their history together. Also, he finally allowed Shep to flirt with him, and I found the scene somehow hilarious (but in a good way). Given his reason for agreeing to sleep with Shepard at some point in the future, I think I will romance him rather than Jacob. Since I have flirted with both, I assume that this is like DA where at some point I will have to turn Jacob down and make it clear that Shepard prefers Garrus?

I did Garrus's loyalty mission and I love that even though I didn't personally witness their interactions in ME1, I could still feel their history together. Also, he finally allowed Shep to flirt with him, and I found the scene somehow hilarious (but in a good way). Given his reason for agreeing to sleep with Shepard at some point in the future, I think I will romance him rather than Jacob. Since I have flirted with both, I assume that this is like DA where at some point I will have to turn Jacob down and make it clear that Shepard prefers Garrus?

Oh do I need to buy the fishes or the hamster to see that? I thought I played the Citadel dlc 100%  so intrigued right now