Me3 how does scanning work

I knew in Mass Effect 2, you would orbit the planet and then go about the grind, I can't find the same on Mass Effect 3. So do I just go about scanning randomly? On the system map, you can scan a region of the system by sending out something that could be compared to a "sonar ping," and once you've located an item on a planet or moon, you can select that planet or moon and begin the planetary scan.

In the first phase, you press a button to scan a region around the Normandy. Any items of interest will be highlighted with a red ring. You can then go and investigate these sites. You can only scan a portion of the system at a time, and scanning too many times in the same system if is is under Reaper control will lead to the Reapers chasing you out of it, lest you game over.

Some items you will just find in the system map - items like extra fuel from the remains of a wrecked ship, for example. Others will require you to scan the planet before you can locate the item. If you must scan a planet or moon, you enter the second phase. You'll be shown a 3-D model of the planet, and you'll have a little radar icon that shows you which direction the item in question is.

You'll have to move over the surface of the planet, scanning periodically to keep moving in the correct direction. Once you've located the item noted with a white dot you can launch a probe. The probe will recover the item, and then you can leave orbit. The scanning is quite a bit more straightforward and fast compared to ME2. In that game, you might spend 10 minutes extracting resources from a planet, and use up probes that had to be replenished.

In this game, there's usually far fewer items to be found on a planet, and you have infinite probes. You enter a system and use the left trigger on the at least to scan. The scan effects a limited area of the system. EDI will indicate if a scan found anything on the map. If EDI finds something on a planet, it works just like scanning a planet with a detected anomaly in ME2.

Players will need to be smart and evasive while scanning to avoid the Reapers and gather everything they need to win the war.

Here's how to scan planets and evade Reapers in Mass Effect 3. When Shepard uses the Galaxy Map aboard the Normandy in Mass Effect 3 , they can immediately determine which star systems have been overrun by Reapers. They can still explore these systems, but they will have a greater chance of being detected in fewer scanner pings while there.

After entering a system, Shepard can travel close to a cluster of planets and follow the button prompt to scan. On PC, this is usually the right mouse button, and on console it is one of the triggers. If any of the planets contains a war asset or side mission item, EDI will alert Shepard they have found something, and a red ring will circle the planet. This can also happen in the spaces between planets, but these recoverable assets are usually extra fuel from demolished Fuel Depots.

Once they discover an asset, players should steer the Normandy to the planet and follow the button prompts to enter orbit. They can then scan the planet as they would have in Mass Effect 2 , following the white line on their scanner until they reach the glowing white spot indicating the location of the asset. They will launch a probe to recover the asset. Each time Shepard uses the scanner, there is a chance for Reapers to take notice.

The Reaper Alertness meter in the lower left region of the screen will reveal how many more scans you can perform before alerting the Reapers. To escape the Reapers, you must simply pilot the ship out of the current system.

You can do this by using a Mass Relay or by just cruising out of the solar system -- at the expense of fuel.

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