Mass Effect 3: Heating Unit Stabilizers location

Side missions and activities are arguably a little more important in Mass Effect 3 than you might initially think, as many of these optional missions feed into your attempts to stop the Reapers. Some, however, are just about helping out people in need. One such quest is Citadel: Heating Unit Stabilizers.

This assignment sees you helping Sellea, a Salarian on the Citadel who desperately needs to find new Heating Unit Stabilizers in order to protect the eggs of his sister's colony from being put in danger. Yes, those are the eggs that... hatch Salarians. Salarians come from eggs - which you might just now be learning, if you missed that easily-skippable crumb of information in ME1 and ME2.

Anyway, you can overhear the Salarian's plight on the Citadel Presidium, just near the C-Sec area. He's on the phone, and you don't speak directly to him - sort of part of ME3's slightly lacklustre streamlining of much of its side content - but overhearing his phone conversation is enough to trigger the mission to locate the Heating Unit Stabilizers.

ME3 Heating Unit Stabilizers Location

We'll skip straight to the chase - the Heating Unit Stabilizers are found hidden away on an enemy base which you'll only visit as one of the N7 assignment side quests. These are basically fairly run-of-the-mill combat encounters that actually take place on the levels that make up the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer maps. So it's not the most exciting of missions.

The mission you're after is N7: Cerberus Fighter Base, which it should be noted only triggers after you complete the main story assignment Priority: Tuchanka. Admiral Hackett will give you the nod to attempt this mission, and you can then do it whenever you like. We've built a few natural N7 mission stopping points into our suggested ME3 mission order, if you need a hand.

Anyway, when you're on the fighter base, you'll find the Heating Unit Stabilizers inside the base you're assaulting. It'll appear on your UI as Heating Unit Schematics, and is inside, up on the wall with a couple of screens attached to it. Simply interact with it to nab the vital quest item.

• Note that if you just pick up the Heating Unit Stabilizers on the base before overhearing the Salarian's call, you'll simply have to find him and turn them in - the quest gets added to your log by picking up the items as if you'd spoken to him.
• If you missing the Heating Stabilizers in the N7 mission, you'll be able to buy them from the Spectre Requisitions store on the Citadel for 1000 credits. 

Regardless of how you obtain the Heating Stabilizers, or when, you'll get 1000 credits, 30 EXP, and 5 Reputation for turning the quest in. 

Mass Effect 3 side quest guides:  Kakliosaur Fossil  /  Benning Evidence