woohoo just beat it on easy with the kestrel and was able to unlock the red-tail in the process. Them shields get harder and harder to pierce in late game. Ended up swapping out my hull beam for a heavy ion so I ended up with 2 lasers II's a heavy ion and an artemis. Not sure if I want to try normal now or I will probably just try and beat the game a few more times with some other ships/layouts on easy.
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FTL |OT| Stories of the Space Oregon Trail
- Thread starter Toma
- Start date
ncsuDuncan
Member
Quick tip for stubborn players like me:
Use the teleporter. Boarding enemy ships and killing their crew is very useful.
- You get more scrap, but more importantly you get a lot more fuel. I was constantly running out of gas before I started boarding ships.
- There is a higher chance you'll pick up more crew members, especially if you kill slavers but leave the ship/cargo intact.
- The teleporter is the best weapon against the boss.
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Had an amazing run on Normal with the Red Tail where I beat the final boss using only two missiles across all three stages. Only took 1 damage in the first stage and 1 damage in the second. Took about 7 damage in the third stage. Ended up with a ton of leftover missiles, drone parts, and fuel. I had two boarding parties I would cycle between - a pair of Mantis and a pair of Rockmen. Didn't lose a single crew member during the battle.
Use the teleporter. Boarding enemy ships and killing their crew is very useful.
- You get more scrap, but more importantly you get a lot more fuel. I was constantly running out of gas before I started boarding ships.
- There is a higher chance you'll pick up more crew members, especially if you kill slavers but leave the ship/cargo intact.
- The teleporter is the best weapon against the boss.
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Had an amazing run on Normal with the Red Tail where I beat the final boss using only two missiles across all three stages. Only took 1 damage in the first stage and 1 damage in the second. Took about 7 damage in the third stage. Ended up with a ton of leftover missiles, drone parts, and fuel. I had two boarding parties I would cycle between - a pair of Mantis and a pair of Rockmen. Didn't lose a single crew member during the battle.
My normal run with the Engi ship seemed to go a lot smoother. Basically just focus the ion blaster on shields and the drone does the rest. If you luck out with a good run and get a nice mix of weapons, it's definitely a great beast, but as the game proves, lots of different options are viable.
note to self: don't teleport two mantis into an AI scout ship, no oxygen lol. my teleporter didn't cool down quick enough to port them back
Yeah, I'm taking advantage of the auto-shot option now. For some reason I would stupidly keep spam clicking the ion blaster since I totally forgot about using auto-shot. With the fast recharge rate it made it sort of hard to focus on anything else in a battle :lol
I think most everyone does this at least once...hopefully no more than once though.note to self: don't teleport two mantis into an AI scout ship, no oxygen lol. my teleporter didn't cool down quick enough to port them back
Yeah, my usual advice with most weapons is to not use autofire and learn to focus fire and strategize around that, but with the ion blaster having such a short cooldown, it is best to just autofire with it.
Motherfuck! I was cruising into the fifth sector doing really well. Then all of a sudden I ran into one of those stars with the constant solar flare and an attacking pirate ship. Started to fight, was offered a surrender, but for some reason I got greedy and rejected it in order to take him down.
Then something happened where they took out my drone control or whatever for my anti-ship drone right as a solar flare came and started a bunch of fires and then I just couldn't recover. Everything went to shit so insanely fast I couldn't keep up :lol
Then something happened where they took out my drone control or whatever for my anti-ship drone right as a solar flare came and started a bunch of fires and then I just couldn't recover. Everything went to shit so insanely fast I couldn't keep up :lol
I never ever leap until I've repaired everything.
Fuck man, I have yet to beat this on easy.
ncsuDuncan
Member
I assume he means hull damage, which you normally can't repair yourself.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
Lololololololololol...hopefully no more than once though.
Oh that sucks. I finally beat the game on easy. Had a ship mod where each time you collect scrap it repairs some hull damage. So fucking good.
This game is so reliant on luck
This time I had like 3 pulse lasers and one missle launcher and I fucking smoked everyone including the boss. IF I had that same set up on normal I still would have smoked him.Also, how come the credits are so fucking long? This project looks like something 5 guys could do in 6 months.
There was a kickstarter for it: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/64409699/ftl-faster-than-light
$40 pledge got your name in the credits. There were roughly 1000 people that pledged at that level or above.
OOOOOH hahahaha gotcha.
Majukun
Member
i'll never beat this damn game...even on easy...
that damn flagship..i manage to get to the third fight,i killed all the crew and was ready to rejoice,and instead that damn ship has an indipendent AI, and what is worse is that it regenerated the entire super-shield too.My ship was already near to implosion,so i didn't have the time to re-destroy the shield and make more damage...and the boarding team that was on the flagship was too slow to destroy the shields from inside
and that was on easy...i've chills down my spine if i think about trying to beat that gargantuan ship on normal...with much less resources..
and that was on easy...i've chills down my spine if i think about trying to beat that gargantuan ship on normal...with much less resources..
What tactic did you use? I've found that I'm doing better if I concentrate on the shields at first and after I have them down far enough to get through with my weapons I go for their weapon systems. Usually the missiles first as they penetrate your shields. Though I haven't managed to beat it on normal I usually don't have problems going through easy.
Whatever you do, target that fucking missile launcher so that you have enough hull to last you through the whole battle.
PjotrStroganov
Member
Same for me. Focused on the missiles almost every time and never finished it.
Majukun
Member
i used boarding teams for the weapons,i had some pretty well trained mantis and a full developed teleporter system,so i beam them,they kill the crew member inside and destroy the system (even though they are a little too slow at that for my taste),then i beam them back to heal while the teleport recharge,rinse and repeat.The weapons systems are separated from the rest of the ship,so i can concentrate on the battle without worrying about their safety because they are strong and in a two vs one battle.
the rest of the battle was about lowering their shield enough to let the laser (usually a halberd beam,because i use the zoltan ship..but this time i manage to get my hands on a galvage beam) pierce across 4 rooms making big damage.
I have no problem to get to the flagship on easy..but i have never managed to defeat her..and now i'm beginning to think that if i had let the last member of the crew alive,maybe the super shield wouldn't have recharge..without that ,it would have been an easy victory.
the rest of the battle was about lowering their shield enough to let the laser (usually a halberd beam,because i use the zoltan ship..but this time i manage to get my hands on a galvage beam) pierce across 4 rooms making big damage.
I have no problem to get to the flagship on easy..but i have never managed to defeat her..and now i'm beginning to think that if i had let the last member of the crew alive,maybe the super shield wouldn't have recharge..without that ,it would have been an easy victory.
Haunted
Member
Yes, you generally leave the guy in the weapon room to the left of the shield room alive as the lasers have a relatively high miss rate.
the_prime_mover
Member
I wouldn't even worry about the shield in phase 3 (at first) as the zoltan shield is independent of the shield room. Always focus on the missile launcher and the other gun so that the only thing that can attack you is it's power barrage (which shouldn't be too bad with 3 or 4 shield and some good evasion). Then just focus on getting in a few hits when you can. Leave a crew member in each weapons room so that they can keep the weapons deactivated and then send another few crew to just ravage the ship.
If you have cloak then this phase is even easier.
Dammit, I still have yet to beat this game, even on easy
I do get the teleporter's usefulness now, I guess it's better to teleport to a 2-square room at first, to minimize the amount of enemy crew you have to fight? Definitely you need to use Rockmen or Mantises as your boarding parties though, anyone else just gets their ass kicked.What does that auto-shot thing actually do? I don't think I ever managed to get it to work?
It has to be him. The outer positions are destroyed automatically so that leaves the only other viable target as the missile.
Always take down the missiles first
It keeps your weapons shooting at the same room. Turn it on and target a room with your weapons and they'll keep shooting the same spot each time when they are recharged.
If you turn it on and point a laser weapon at the shields room, ever 10 seconds or whatever the recharge is, it will shoot the laser at that room.
Haunted
Member
You can tell it's turned on when the target crosshairs are yellow. Autofire is absolutely essential for fast-reloading weapons.
Yes, saves are one-time only.So I guess this game automatically deletes saved games when you load them? I had a sweet Zoltan ship set up and was just saving it before going into the final sector, but when I got my ass kicked I tried to go back to the menu and reload but it wouldn't let me
You can back up the file manually, but where's the fun in that.
Majukun
Member
thanks for the advices guys,now i too can say that i've beat FTL (even if only at easy).
leaving one guy alive and knowing what guns to destroy first (other than arriving at the boss very well armed in this run) really made the battle much simplier..even if the second one was really tough.
one question..is possible to unlock new ships on easy?i never find those damn random events...
leaving one guy alive and knowing what guns to destroy first (other than arriving at the boss very well armed in this run) really made the battle much simplier..even if the second one was really tough.
one question..is possible to unlock new ships on easy?i never find those damn random events...
It only jumps if you take down its HP or kill all the people onboard. So just leave 1 person alive, and that will make the later stages easier.
Haunted
Member
Cloaking helps a ton with the surges.
Aside from that, a sufficiently upgraded ship with at least 3 shields and ~40% dodge chance should hold it together long enough to take out 2 of their 3 weapon rooms and then go to town on their hull with whatever weapon combo you have available (as a sidenote, missiles aren't as effective as they are in the first stage since they've got a defense drone in the second stage). It is in my opinion the hardest stage of the boss fight.
edit: ah also, if you don't have a good melee crew, a defence drone can really save your ass in that stage by shooting down the enemy boarding drones before they can land on your ship.
There's tons of strategy videos on YT, or just straight up LPs of the boss as well. Also, this post on the forums could be helpful to you.
Good luck!
NNNNNNNNGGGHHH. So what all this is telling me is that I need stuff I don't have, like an ion weapon or lots of Mantis crewmembers (I only have 1 mantis, the rest of my boarding teams are humans). I also don't have a drone control system, and in stage 2 the bad guy has a defense drone so even though I do have missiles that can ignore shields, I can't use them because they get shot down.
Haunted
Member
If you don't have any of it, what'd you spend all the scrap you got during the game on?
And a Mantis and 3 Human boarding crew is good enough to clear out the weapon rooms. The defense drone will shoot down one missile at a time, so if you have a second missile launcher and can launch two at the same time, one should make it through.But yeah, it is completely possible to not have a good enough ship to defeat the flagship at the end (it's one of the bigger criticisms leveled at the game).
edit: the last thing I could recommend is to watch one or two successful LP runs on YT (not just the flagship battle) to get a sense of what kind of choices they make and maybe where they did things differently from you. Maybe you can incorporate some of that and improve your own play.
Haunted
Member
Congrats!
It is possible to unlock ships on easy. Most of the random ship unlock events take place in the respective races' homeworlds, so always go for those if you see them on the map and when there, try to explore as much as possible to increase your chances.
Majukun
Member
thanks.
yeah i know where the events occur,but i never find them,even if i explore a huge chunk of the right sector.On normal i bumped in those much more frequently,but most of the time i didn't have the system required on the ship because of the lack of resources..that's why i choose to run at easy
here they are my advice
1)upgrade doors.in this battle you'll probably get hostiles drones on board,and some fire might light inside your ship...with a fully upgraded door system you'll keep at bay both and have much more time to send crew to deal with them
2)don't bother attacking the drone system of the flagship.the drone combo will not stop anyway,and that system is really powerful,so if you have any means other than missiles to attack/lower the shield don't care about that and go straight to the shield (after have destroyed 2 of the three weapon rooms ,one must stay intact to let one crew member alive in that,it will be important in the third fight).Remeber that pegasus missiles can pierce through the drone anyway,because while one missile gets shoot down,one will reach the target.
3)cloaking is a huge help here..remeber to not activate it until the flagship shot's you or the drones begin their crazy attack,you'll avoid A LOT o damage
Majukun
Member
yeah,if you beat the game you unlock the federation cruise with the multi-ethnic crew
PjotrStroganov
Member
I found out the usefulness of cloak. I've finally beaten that sucker on easy!
This game is too fucking ridiculously hard. Can anyone explain to me how I can even survive more than 2 sectors if I'm constantly out of missiles, constantly have to spend scrap on repairs instead of upgrades while getting buttraped by missiles for which there is apparently no defense at all?
Defense Drone takes out missiles. Targeting their weapons systems first helps too.
And how am I supposed to even afford a drone considering I first need the drone system thing and then the drone itself? And the system alone costs like 80 scraps. That's ridiculous.
Only time you should use your missiles in the first two sectors is when someone is shooting missiles at you and that should be to take their weapons system offline ASAP. Even then, your triple laser should be more than enough to get through an enemies single shield and do 1 or 2 hits to their weapon system disabling it.
Don't buy a drone with the starter ship unless you get a REALLY good one from the rng and have scrap to burn. Taking out enemies weapons system should be first priority. Best defense = good offense.
OK thanks. Any suggestions regarding how to spend scraps in general in the beginning? Should I do ship internal upgrades, if so which ones? Or should I buy stuff from the store?
Dropping 90-100 scrap (varies by ship) on level 2 shields is an excellent early buy. Doors level 2 for 20 scrap is one of the best value upgrades in the game, helps immensely with fires and boarders. If you find a free weapon early on going up to 4 weapon bars may be worthwhile. Since shops and they're merchandise are random it can be helpful to keep a reserve of 50-100 scrap (including anything you're willing to sell) so you have the option when you see something worth buying. Don't be afraid to spend down to zero if you think/know you're heading into danger and can afford some extra upgrades (see especially extra engine for evasion/faster exits).
There are a lot of different ways you can prioritize your earliest scrap, you just need to experiment and die a lot. FTL is very much trial by fire. Some general tips though:
A 2nd shield blip can get you through 75% of the game untouched by anything except the occasional missile (on easy). Shields get exponentially more expensive, but they are oh so nice.
Cheaper but less effective (though MORE effective against missiles) is upgrading engine for dodge ability. Also your pilot skill increases dodge as well. By end game you should get hit infrequently but in the beginning sometimes a few engine boosts for the same price as a new shield level can be worthwhile.
First door upgrade is something criminally cheap like 20 scrap and can save your ass against a mantis boarding party. You shouldn't see those until sector 3, but definitely get that door upgrade before you enter a mantis sector.
Also once you realize how easy the first couple sectors can be assuming you don't get royally hosed by the RNG, it really pays to hop around in them as long as you can to collect scrap. Once you learn how to measure your jumps against the impending tide of the fleet chasing you, you should be able to get out of a sector when they are just arriving at the final jump node. Plan a route that has you zig-zagging up and down the top or bottom half of a sector hitting as much as you can.
Also early on don't take too many risks. Wait until you have upgraded your systems so that you get blue options to random encounters, otherwise you could be putting your crewdudes at risk. Getting a teleport, stealth and camera system upgrades help, but those are mid/late game and shouldn't be prioritized early. Here, though you should experiment though. Be willing and accepting of death and just experiment with the options so that you learn how each of them can potentially effect you so that you know how to balance the risk/reward on later games. Remember that event that lead to a giant spider eating one of your crewman? Yeah, don't click that option next time, or do and find out that reward COULD be that you get another crewman... Only way you can make informed decisions is if you're informed and to get informed you gotta eat it and eat it often.
CorySchmitz
Junior Member
THe FTL guys asked me to make a poster! Check it out.
http://cargocollective.com/coryschmitz/FTL-Poster
http://cargocollective.com/coryschmitz/FTL-Poster
Well I stopped playing this now. I love the mechanics, but I just failed my 5th playthrough on easy just before the final boss, and every time that happens I consider the 2 hours playtime before wasted and just get angry. I don't feel I actually enjoy playing the game anymore, it's just the empty drive to actually beat it, and when I fail I get way too frustrated.
So maybe it's just not for me.
So maybe it's just not for me.