Mass Effect: Where to Find Data for Tali’s Pilgrimage Gift
When Shepard first meets Tali in Mass Effect, they find out she is on her pilgrimage from the quarian Migrant Fleet and found some evidence of Saren's wrongdoing. After recruiting Tali to the squad in Mass Effect, Shepard can find her in Engineering on the lowest deck of the Normandy. If Shepard takes time to talk with her and get to know her, she will explain more about quarian culture and the importance of her pilgrimage. She will also share the quarian custom of bringing a gift back that benefits the Migrant Fleet. If Shepard wants to help Tali bring a gift back to her people, they will need to complete a series of Mass Effect side missions.
Tali will ask Shepard for a copy of geth data they find during the side mission UNC: Geth Incursions. Triggering this quest can be somewhat difficult; though there are three possible ways to acquire it, it is easily missed. Shepard will need to destroy four geth outposts and clear out a geth base to complete the side mission and recover the data. They will then need to speak with Tali to eventually have the chance to give her a copy of the data to bring back to the Fleet. Like the other alien companions, this serves as Tali's personal assignment or Loyalty mission and will be mentioned again in Mass Effect 2. Here's how to complete UNC: Geth Incursions and Tali's personal assignment in Mass Effect.
To complete the UNC: Geth Incursions side mission in Mass Effect, players will need to get the quest to trigger in one of three ways. The easiest way is to travel to the Armstrong Nebula. Joker will patch a message through from Admiral Hackett about the geth incursion, launching the questline. Shepard can also discover evidence of this quest from a geth computer terminal hidden either at Exo-Geni headquarters on Feros or at the Genophage Labs on Virmire.
No matter which way Shepard obtains the side mission, they will need to use the Galaxy Map and travel to the Armstrong Nebula to destroy four geth outposts. There is one geth outpost on a planet in each of the four star systems of the Armstrong Nebula. These are:
- Vamshi: Maji
- Hong: Casbin
- Tereshkova: Antibaar
- Gagarin: Rayingri
The geth outposts on each planet is labeled on the map once Shepard and their squad land. Each of these planets is overrun with geth enemies. Players will want to equip anti-synthetic rounds and use the Mako's cannons and machine gun to take out the Geth Armatures, Geth Turrets, and Geth Colossus at each outpost. The first three outposts are primarily outdoor structures, while the last one is primarily an indoor, close-quarters setting.
Once Shepard has cleared all four outposts, a squadmate will comment that a signal is coming from somewhere else in the cluster. This opens a fifth star system, Grissom. Shepard and their squad should travel to Grissom and land on Solcrum, the moon near Notanban. They will face Geth Rocket Troopers and two Geth Colossi outside the base, then more heavy geth inside.
After defeating the geth inside the complex, Shepard must use the door in the back of the lower level of the complex, across from where they entered, and hack the geth terminal in the back room to get the geth data files.
Shepard can return to the Normandy after obtaining the geth data, which will complete the Mass Effect side mission UNC: Geth Incursions. They should immediately go talk to Tali in Engineering. She will ask for copies of the files. Shepard can agree or refuse. Giving her the data helps Shepard later when Shepard and Tali meet again in Mass Effect 2. The decision also rewards a few morality points.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.