There’s a good reason why Garrus became just one of two companions available across every game in the original Mass Effect trilogy. Along with fellow alien crewmate, Tali, he’s one of the most popular characters in the franchise, considered both one of the best romance options, or just an all-around great buddy for Commander Shepard.
With that in mind, it’s little surprise that as soon as we take command of the Normandy SR-2, most of us head straight to Omega and make a beeline for the turian bad boy - even if it’s exactly what our new friends/captors at Cerberus advise against.
Because The Illusive Man and Miranda are completely unaware of just how cool Garrus is, they recommend that you swing by a clinic to recruit a doctor to the team. But of course, you’re Commander Shepard, and you can disappoint Cerberus all you like. Instead, you can ride with some mercs who are after a man known as “Archangel”. After a few shenanigans, it turns out Archangel is none other than Garrus from the first game - a fact most players will be aware of by now, hence the eagerness to recruit him so early on.
We can see this by looking at Mass Effect Legendary Edition’s Steam achievements. You get a different achievement for recruiting each character, and The Archangel sits at a completion rate of 33.5%. The Professor - the one you get for recruiting the character the game tells you to, in a mission that is infinitely easier - is just behind, at 33.3%. Recruiting Garrus involves lengthy and sometimes frustrating stretches of combat, where you take on a seemingly endless wave of enemies, while also having to keep an eye on the turian’s healthbar. This difficulty makes it all the more impressive that players race to complete it as soon as they start the game.
After Omega, it looks like most players go after Jack. The achievement for recruiting her, The Convict, has been earned by 28.1% of Legendary Edition players on PC.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition released May 14, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.