Anyone else feel horrible after doing "hunting the archon" and deciding to...

I chose the Salarians because I figured any Krogan that would allow himself to be captured isnt worth saving.

I picked the Salarians only because I thought they were civilians, but the Krogan scouts weren't. Felt pretty bad about it though.

I save the scouts, with the idea that I don't want the Archon to have access to more krogan to exalt, since he'd already shown he'd pretty much figured out how to do that. I don't want him having access to a krogan army. At least with the salarians, he seems a ways off from being able to incorporate them into exaltation, and I'm taking his supply out from under him. Plus Raeka says she doubts she'll make it - what's the guarantee for Ryder that she'll still be alive by the time they can reach her? At least the scouts are still alive to rescue.

The same can be said for the krogan. They could be dead by the time you reach them just as raeka could be dead by the time you reach her.

I felt horribly for not saving the Krogan scouts and leaving them for exaltation. However, I also couldn't leave Raeka behind who had just risked her life to save us and the civilian Salarians. The Krogan were warriors. They knew the dangers of their role as scouts. The Salarians were scientists who were ambushed and had no choice. In addition, the Salarians went to great lengths to make sure Raeka was not discovered by the Kett and stayed alive because of how important she was. In addition to the Salarian civilian deaths, it would have made every individual that sacrificed themselves to make sure she lived die in vain.

Finally, I dismissed Sarissa as Pathfinder for abandoning Ishara and leaving her for dead. It would have been extremely hypocritical of me to do the same thing and leave Raeka behind after all she had done to help me in that mission.

This also was all after I completed Elaaden's quest line and sided with the Krogan, making Addision promise to take their side in negotiations with Tann and providing them with the Remnant drive core.  If Drack doesn't get over it and have my back in the future, then I know he was never a fully loyal companion, let alone friend, and I would have been disappointed by him later on anyway.

I saved the Salarians, and felt no guilt at all. Drack chewed my ass over it, but it was my call to make, and I stand by the decision. I'd have done it again in the same situation. Being a leader means that sometimes tough choices have to be made under difficult circumstances. Not everyone is going to like it, but these decisions still need to be made. The mission must always come first.

The hard, pragmatic truth of the matter is, a highly-trained, experienced Pathfinder is far more of an asset than a handful of scouts.

In any case Drack soon got over it. I'd already earned plenty of points with him for helping his people, and supporting the Krogan colony.

In any case at the end of the game Drack adored me, because I chose Morda to be the representative

Well I am on my 4th play through and just did this mission. On my other 3 I have always saved the Krogan because I didn't want more exalted Krogan but on this play through I thought hang on I just fought an exalted Krogan so the Kett can do more Kraogan anyway if they capture them like they did the scouts.  I also wanted to save Reeka for a change.

Spoke to Drack and I was like OMG what a complete over reaction by Drack. Hundreds of salarians already died on the Kett ship and he is dismissing my decision as some sort of bias yet I had supported the Krogan with all my other decisions and already had Dracks full loyalty.

The whole thing left me feeling really shitty with the way it was written. Drack should have been pissed off with HIS scouts for getting caught more than me deciding not to save them given my previous decisions with the drive core etc and his lifespan and experience in battle.

Just seemed an extreme piece of writing based on Drack's history. Actually just really pissed me off.

Krogan can go get wrecked, saved them the first time. This time went with Raeka and saving her every time now as she is extremely valuable compared to random scouts. besides Dracks reaction after that made it clear, Krogan only care about themselves and their clan first, thats it and they will never ever integrate with the other species properly. It was a stupid idea to bring them in the first place.

Finally I am an Initiative pathfinder which means Initiative gets first priority than the scouts who already broke off from the nexus. Think the value changes depending on when one does the mission, this time i did it just after getting the transmitter and so hadn't even reached Eladeen.

So I am not a fan of the Salarians. Priority: Sur'Kesh in ME3 does a good job of showing their manipulative side. They play god with other species and manipulate the circumstances to keep their hands clean. It would have been one thing if they learned their lesson with uplifting the Krogan, but on Sur'Kesh you see their work continuing on the Yahg, varren and so on.

That being said, I tried to play Andromeda as a fresh start or blank slate. I did not read any of the books (nor should I need to) so I disliked the way Morda talked to me. Even if there was an injustice they suffered she could have explained the situation to me and tried to show a modicum of diplomacy. She's no Wrex thats for sure. So when its decision time on the Archon's ship this is how I weigh things. At this point in the game I have:
1. Fixed Elaadan's vaults
2. Saved the Krogan chief botanist and the seed vault
3. Given the Krogan the remnant drive core
4. Exposed Spender and set record straight on the Nexus.

At this point I feel like I don't owe the Krogan anything - so when the decision is the Salarian pathfinder + civilians versus a handful of Krogan scouts, its a no brainer. From what I have seen in the game (I don't read the codex since BW will retcon it anyway later) the Kett reproduce through indoctrination. sorry I meant exaltation. That is why they capture people alive. There was nothing to indicate they have cloning facilities and would be able to create any more exalted Krogans beyond the numbers that were available on that ship.

Do they ever explain why Krogan scouts were on the Salarian ark to begin with?

Saved the Salarians and Raeka. They had already figured out how to exalt the Krogan, and I wasn't willing to have them exalt the Salarians as well. Also, if I remember correctly, they were civilians, while the Krogan were scouts.

I saved the Salarians in one play through, won't be doing it again, kettified krogan are no fun, I gave them a chance to uplifted, and they attack me!