How to Romance Ashley Williams - Mass Effect 3 Guide - IGN (2024)

This page of IGN's Mass Effect 3 wiki guide is all about how to Romance Ashley Williams, including how to rekindle an old Romance with her from Mass Effect 1 and how to Romance her for the first time in this game.

It's worth noting that there are BIG SPOILERS for Mass Effect 3 on this page. Read with caution!

• Hospital Visits
• Citadel Coup
• Locking in Ashley
• After Locking In

Romancing Ashley Williams

Ashley, who is only available to Male Shepards, is unique among the Mass Effect 3Romance options because she is one of only three who can both be Romanced for the first time in this game, or have a Romance from a previous game continued.

Hospital Visits

The first thing you need to do before even thinking of Romancing her is to clear your name. After all, you were dead for two years and then worked with Cerberus, so Ashley has a lot of reasons to be suspicious of you.

First, during Priority: Mars, Ashley will have two scenes where Ashley asks about your alliance with Cerberus. You'll want to answer "It was a temporary alliance" and "You know me better than that" for the first scene, while for the second scene you'll want to pick "You think I'm like him?" and "I'm still that guy".

At the end of Priority: Mars, they'll be gravely injured, and spend the next while at Huerta Memorial Hospital on the Citadel. While you can get her The Collected Alfred Tennyson from Sirta Supplies in the hospital, it's ultimately your conversations when she wakes up that matters.

After completing another Mission, she'll drop you an email to let you know you can visit her at Huerta. If you were Loyal to her and didn't Romance anybody in Mass Effect 2, you'll be able to reaffirm that you still love her, or be more reluctant. If you weren't and Romanced Tali, Miranda or Jack, you'll have the option to choose Ashley over them.

After completing a second Mission, Ashley will send you another message letting you know she's accepted the Spectre position, and is up and about. You'll want to visit her again for reasons that will become clear below.

Citadel Coup

Things come to a head in Priority: The Citadel II, where Udina helps Cerberus launch a coup against the Citadel Council and is escorted out by Ashley. Here you'll need to pass a Trust check, where various actions in the past will determine if Ashley trusts you enough to side with you over Udina, which ultimately decides if she lives or dies. Here's all of the points you can earn or deduct:

• Romancing Ashley in the first place during Mass Effect 1 gets you +2 Points.
• Sparing the Council at the end of Mass Effect 1 gets you +1 Point. Sacrificing the Council gets you -1 Point.
• If Kirrahe died in Mass Effect 1 and Thane died in Mass Effect 2, you get -2 Points.
  • The reason for this is because nobody is there to stop Kai Leng from killing the Salaian Councillor, allowing Udina to fabricate footage of Shepard killing them instead.
• Cheating on Ashley with Tali, Jack or Miranda in Mass Effect 2 gets -1 Point.
• Picking the Paragon options on Mars gets +1 Point, while the Renegade options get -1 Point.
• Visiting Ashley at Heurta while she's awake but bedridden at Huerta will get +2 Points.
  • Not apologizing for cheating on her here will get -1 Point.
• Visiting Ashley at Heurta when she's up and about and accepted the Spectre position will get +1 Point.
• Finally, right at the start of the confrontation scene outside the elevator, using the Paragon Interrupt to lower your weapons will get +1 Point.

So with all that, you can have anywhere between +8 and -6 Points to your name. During the confrontation at the end of the Mission, your points will determine if Ashley trusts you.

• If you have 4 Points or more, Ashley will automatically trust you.
• If you have between 0-3 points, you'll need to pass a Reputation Check.
  • If you have enough Reputation, you can pick a Charm or Intimidate option that will earn their trust.
  • If you don't have enough Reputation, you can only pick the white option on the right side of the Dialogue Wheel. Ashley will refuse to trust you, and you'll be forced to kill her.
• If you have -1 Points or fewer, Ashley automatically refuses to trust you, and you'll be forced to kill her.

So, after all that, assuming you passed and Ashley lived, you can meet her again at Normandy Dock: Bay D24 when you open the door to the Normandy. Here you'll learn that Ashley's been offered to join Admiral Hackett's Crucible team, but she'd rather stay with you.

• If you pick "Welcome aboard", Ashley joins the Normandy as a Squad Mate and can be taken groundside just like in Mass Effect 1.
• If you pick "I don't think so", she'll be assigned to Hackett's team. You'll be unable to make any further interactions with her for almost the entire rest of the game, including the Citadel DLC.

Locking In Ashley

From this point, you'll have several interactions with Ashley to help lock her in as your Romance Partner. This is the point where those who didn't Romance her in Mass Effect 1 will be able to for the first time in 3.

First, you'll want to meet Ashley at the Citadel at the Docks: Holding Area Memorial. You'll want to be here for Ash and pick comforting dialogue choices, and use the Paragon Interrupt, to progress things.

Next, at some point Ashley will send an email asking to meet Shepard on the Citadel. This is where you can Lock her In as it were. You'll want to pick "You're very distracting" and then "Yes" to confirm the Romance. Picking "No time for that during a war" or "It's not the right time" will permanently turn her down.

After Locking In

With Ashley confirmed as your Romantic partner, the game won't let you start or continue for a Romance towards anybody else. If you have the Leviathan DLC, you'll have some unique dialogue with her in the final mission, and if you have the Citadel DLC, you'll have a great amount of unique dialogue and altered scenes with her.

In the finale of the game, when you start Priority: Earth, Ashley will visit Shepard in the Captain's Cabin for the big Romance Scene. In the calm before the storm before you go to the Conduit beam, you can have a final talk with her before you go.

The last time you can interact with Ashley is in the Extended Cut during the final charge to the Conduit Beam. Here, a Mako will overturn and flip dangerously close to her. If your EMS is 1,749 or lower, Harbinger will then vaporize her with his laser beam. If it's 1,750 or higher, she'll be injured by the Mako and Shepard calls for an emergency pick-up, where you can have your final words with her.

After you make your Crucible choice at the very end of the game, Ashley will be the one to put Shepard's name up on the Memorial Wall. However if you picked Destroy and your EMS is 3,100 or more, she'll smile and refrain from putting it up, sensing that Shepard is alive.