“When your biotics are honed into huntress-grade weapons… people can be weird about it.”

Lieutenant Cora Harper is a human biotic and the Pathfinder team's operations specialist in charge of ground missions. Harper was formerly an officer in the Systems Alliance military until she was transferred from the Citadel Council's Valkyrie Program (a subset of their interspecies military integration plan) and placed with the asari commando unit Talein's Daughters.

Cora's huntress training and biotic capability made her a candidate for Alec Ryder's second-in-command and, if warranted, his successor as Pathfinder.

Her screening interviews state that she was raised in poverty on an independent cargo freighter. She joined the Alliance at eighteen to obtain training for her powerful biotic abilities.

Cora lends her voice to the Andromeda Initiative orientation briefing regarding the Pathfinder team, and is a potential romantic interest for male Ryder.[3]

Mass Effect: Andromeda Edit

When ark Hyperion arrived in the Heleus Cluster after 634 years and becomes damaged by the Scourge, it causes artificial gravity to fail in the cryo bay, which Cora was forced to reset. Soon after, she summons one of Alec's children to the bridge to discuss their next course of action. Ultimately, Alec made the decision to lead the Pathfinder team to the surface of Habitat 7. Unfortunately, a series of electrical storms, hostile alien encounters and the subsequent sacrifice of Alec to save his child, resulted in the young Ryder being made the new Pathfinder.

Though Cora trusted Alec's judgement, she privately confides in Ryder that she believes herself better suited to be Pathfinder and was shocked that Alec had passed the mantle down to his unprepared offspring. Even so, she maintains that she remains committed to the new Pathfinder and will support them as their second-in-command.

Interactions with Cora will reveal that she never felt like she fit in anywhere. Her high powered biotics seemed to make people nervous or threatened. After her time with the asari commandos came to an end, she felt rejected when she was urged to leave Talein's Daughters by her C.O., Nisira T'Kosh. Cora later found a mentor in Alec Ryder who appreciated her candor and welcomed her biotic abilities. Cora became enamored by Alec's vision of creating a new civilization where all types of people had a place, including Artificial Intelligence and over-powered human biotics like her. Thus she joined the Andromeda Initiative to create that civilization in Andromeda. She admits to Ryder that she dreams of having a rose garden in Heleus.

Loyalty Edit

Cora makes it her focus to find the asari ark, the Leusinia. After speaking to some asari refugees at Prodromos on Eos, Ryder can locate the survey ship Periphona's transponder on Voeld. After Cora manages to decode the ship's flight recorder, she finds the last known location of the Leusinia, which is under attack by the kett. Upon boarding the ark, Cora gets to meet her idol, Sarissa Theris, who had replaced Matriarch Ishara as asari Pathfinder. After helping Vederia Damali restore power to the ark and deactivate a Mass Effect Field generator, SAM finds an audio log revealing that Sarissa abandoned Ishara to get tactical data on the kett. After defeating the kett leader, The Valiant, Cora helps Sarissa boost a biotic barrier to repel the kett ship's attack, allowing the Leusinia to escape and the kett ship to be destroyed. Cora and Ryder later privately confront Sarissa over her shameful secret. Ryder can choose to either keep Sarissa's secret, or reveal it to the Leusinia's crew, either having Sarissa remain as Pathfinder or have Vederia take her place.

Skills Edit

Note: Rank 6 of each Skill is unavailable to Cora until her loyalty mission Cora Harper: At Duty's Edge is completed.

Armament Edit

Cora is armed with an M-28 Shotgun.

Romance Edit

Dialogue options to flirt with Cora will begin appearing from the first time Ryder speaks to her on the Tempest. She will turn a female Ryder down gently, but if Ryder is male, she will return his advances.

After completing her loyalty mission, a cutscene follows where the Pathfinder checks up on Cora back at the ship. She expresses guilt about having idolized Sarissa. If Ryder has been flirting with her, an interrupt will appear to offer a hug, which she gratefully accepts. On Cora's next personal mission, Cora shows Ryder a patch of land in Fairwinds Basin that Cora plans to turn into a garden. The mission offers the option of either locking in the romance (by way of an interrupt allowing Ryder to kiss her) or breaking it off, depending on player choice.

Once The Journey to Meridian has been completed, speaking to Cora will prompt her to fabricate a story about "a very serious lighting malfunction" in the Pathfinder quarters. The two go to investigate, at which point Cora admits it was an excuse to spend some time together. Ryder is given the option of taking her to bed, or inviting her to stargaze and cuddle until they both fall asleep. Regardless of which option is picked, she discusses a desire for them to go exploring together someday, using the stars as guidance, with nobody else accompanying them.

She will end up snuggled on Ryder's shoulder during the Tempest's Movie Night.

When Ryder returns to the ship during Meridian: The Way Home, she will request for him to meet her on the bridge for a brief talk before continuing with the mission. She has romance-specific dialogue during the game's epilogue, where she expresses a hesitance to settle down, but says she won't rule anything out.

Correspondence Edit

First email received from Cora following Ryder speaking with her:

To: Ryder
From Cora

Thanks for talking. Things feel better, though they don't feel fixed yet. Remember to take time for yourself, too. Work's important, but so is time to grieve.

"Grief and fear cannot rule you;
let them be your faithful servants, protective of their mistress.


P.S. Plants are coming along. SAM and I are learning about botany together interesting times.

Received after activating the remnant vault on Eos during A Better Beginning:

That vault
To: Ryder
From: Cora

Can still smell that Remnant vault on my armor. Lot of weird shit down there. Like my huntress manuals would say, "the razor's edge between known and unknown teaches you what can be cut away."

Now I think back, it reminded me a little bit of some of the temples on Thessia. Same huge spaces and running "water." Same sense of a huge purpose you can't really understand. Makes me wonder if we'll ever really know what their builders did there.


Received after rescuing the Moshae:

Writings of Sarissa Theris
To: Ryder
From: Cora

I know you're busy, but Sarissa's manuals and writings really are worth reading if you get some downtime. Especially:

- "A Rock in the Maelstrom" (Her classic work on crisis strategy and emergency response.)
- "The First Three Centuries: The New Huntress's Path" (You can borrow the copy that Nisira gave me.)
- "Twelve Leaves" (A mix of meditations and tactical insights. This was co-written with someone called R. T'Naya.)
- "Speeches and Silences" (This is about her experience in the Battle of Kerkis and all the politicking that led up to it. Also has the original battlefield vids of Sarissa shielding a city district with her biotics. Impressive!)
- "Essays from the Void" (Contains her induction address to new commandos, and a historical analysis of the first asari Spectres.)

Hope you enjoy them.


Received after completing Cora Harper: At Duty's Edge, exposing Sarissa but keeping her as Pathfinder:

Thank you
To: Ryder
From: Cora

I mean it--thank you. Still sorting through everything, but it's easier since we talked.

No idea what the other asari will make of Sarissa now. Will they trust her judgment on what planets to settle? Follow her against the kett? Remains to be seen, I guess.

Meantime, let's hit some bad guys, shall we?


Trivia Edit

  • Cora is listed as 172 cm tall and and 61 kg.
  • Cora is trained in the art of asari dancing.[4]
  • Cora's service number 6002-AC-1762

References Edit

  1. MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA | Combat Profiles & Squads | Official Gameplay Series - Part 2
  3. MASS EFFECT™: ANDROMEDA – Official Cinematic Trailer #2
  4. Mass Effect: Initiation