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[O.DOGG]

If I'm not, do tell your strategies! As I stated several pages earlier in this thread, I believe I'm using it correctly, but I'm just getting frustrated at being subject to the whims of its opening swinginess. More so than most of the other ships, really.

I mean, it's not an unplayable ship, but my last three runs have been some amazing luck. Zoltan shield, Asteroid Field and another Asteroid field.

Oh, I understand and agree completely. You should avoid asteroid fields like the plague with this ship at least until you buy your first shield. But that's why you have long-range scanners, to avoid them. Now what I would call bad luck is an encounter with a ship with an attack drone in the first sector. That could do some major damage but as always the strategy is to cloak as much as possible to avoid incoming fire. Just stick with it, with the cloaking and high evasion rate of the ship, fighting battles with it is almost elegant.

 

[RPG Wizard]

Oh, I understand and agree completely. You should avoid asteroid fields like the plague with this ship at least until you buy your first shield. But that's why you have long-range scanners, to avoid them. Now what I would call bad luck is an encounter with a ship with an attack drone in the first sector. That could do some major damage but as always the strategy is to cloak as much as possible to avoid incoming fire. Just stick with it, with the cloaking and high evasion rate of the ship, fighting battles with it is almost elegant.

By amazing luck, I mean I had ONE jump available after starting, and it was into an asteroid field. Both times.

With that kind of luck, can you really blame me for utterly despising the Nesasio?

 

[O.DOGG]

By amazing luck, I mean I had ONE jump available after starting, and it was into an asteroid field. Both times.

With that kind of luck, can you really blame me for utterly despising the Nesasio?

I understand Each to their own. When I run into this kind of luck, I just restart the game. If I'm not past the first or second sector yet, it's no great loss but I understand how it can be off-putting to most.

 

[Weltall Zero]

That really seems to be amazing bad luck, rather than any problem with the Nesasio itself. I personally find the Mantis Cruiser much more swingy in that regard. Simple stuff like a few automated drones or a few ships with medbays at the beginning, and you often can't get past Sector 1. Or perhaps I ALSO have been the victim of bad luck?

Mantis B seems to be this taken to the extreme; I've unlocked it but have yet to play it...

 

[RPG Wizard]

That really seems to be amazing bad luck, rather than any problem with the Nesasio itself. I personally find the Mantis Cruiser much more swingy in that regard. Simple stuff like a few automated drones or a few ships with medbays at the beginning, and you often can't get past Sector 1. Or perhaps I ALSO have been the victim of bad luck?

Mantis B seems to be this taken to the extreme; I've unlocked it but have yet to play it...

I think you're suffering from the fact that the Mantis ships have swingier openings, much like the Vortex and both Stealth ships.

My hatred for the Nesasio is that it has a swingier opening. Probably will always rage about it, but we'll see how it goes as I suffer through more ship achievements.

 

[Weltall Zero]

I think you're suffering from the fact that the Mantis ships have swingier openings, much like the Vortex and both Stealth ships.

My hatred for the Nesasio is that it has a swingier opening. Probably will always rage about it, but we'll see how it goes as I suffer through more ship achievements.

The Mantis seems much, much swingier than the Nesasio or Vortex, for some reason. It seems more vulnerable to a wider range of enemy ships. AI ship? You're screwed. Medbay and decent shields? You're screwed. Mantis/rock ship? Good luck with that.

The Vortex didn't seem particularly swingy for me, and can make short work of pretty much anything in the first three sectors (it does desperately need better weaponry later on). The Nesasio should be in between, I guess, but I've always had quite good runs with it. I should play a few more games with it.

Frankly, with all the ships the game has and how differently things can go in each run, replayability is through the roof.

 

[RPG Wizard]

*bashing head* Line of four red sectors! Pirate (okay, good, few rock ships), Rock controlled (AWESOME), Mantis controlled (okay, not worried), Mantis Homeworld. (ARGHHH)

8 ship run this time. I just needed one more Rock sector...

 

[Weltall Zero]

*bashing head* Line of four red sectors! Pirate (okay, good, few rock ships), Rock controlled (AWESOME), Mantis controlled (okay, not worried), Mantis Homeworld. (ARGHHH)

8 ship run this time. I just needed one more Rock sector...

To be fair, trying to get such a luck-based achievement seems like a sure recipe for frustration. They should probably change it with something else. On the other hand, that would alienate all those who did manage to get it...

 

[RPG Wizard]

A bunch of them are pretty luck-based. I think they're probably the weakest aspect of the game, but they're something to try for. I mean, once you can beat the game with any of the ships, what else is there?

 

[akira28]

On the topic of boarding, I still haven't messed around with teleporters much. I'd only feel comfortable sending Mantis crew members over but even then it seems risky since I'd probably be outnumbered. I hate taking risks with my crew members.

Boarding needs scanners upgrade to know where the enemy isn't. I liked to blow up a ship's shields and weapons and sickbay and then just let my 2 crew members double team their crew and capture the ship. Much better loot yield.

 

[Weltall Zero]

A bunch of them are pretty luck-based. I think they're probably the weakest aspect of the game, but they're something to try for. I mean, once you can beat the game with any of the ships, what else is there?

Beating it with ALL of the ships? That alone is going to take a while, and it's a quite different experience from one to the next. Even assuming one would manage to win every game in their first try (a very unlikely proposition), that's 50+ hours of gameplay right there. Factor in the initial learning curve until you can even finish the game on Normal, all the failed attempts, and unlocking every ship, and we're looking at 150 hours or more. Not bad for a game you can get for 5$!

Boarding needs scanners upgrade to know where the enemy isn't. I liked to blow up a ship's shields and weapons and sickbay and then just let my 2 crew members double team their crew and capture the ship. Much better loot yield.

It also needs scanners to know you're not boarding a ship with two rockmen and three mantises.

 

[RPG Wizard]

Beating it with ALL of the ships? That alone is going to take a while, and it's a quite different experience from one to the next. Even assuming one would manage to win every game in their first try (a very unlikely proposition), that's 50+ hours of gameplay right there. Factor in the initial learning curve until you can even finish the game on Normal, all the failed attempts, and unlocking every ship, and we're looking at 150 hours or more. Not bad for a game you can get for 5$!

I was unclear. I mean that I can (and have) beaten the game with every ship. (that I have unlocked) Now it's just a matter of going after the ship achievements. (So that I can unlock the rest of the B ships)

 

[Weltall Zero]

I was unclear. I mean that I can (and have) beaten the game with every ship. (that I have unlocked) Now it's just a matter of going after the ship achievements. (So that I can unlock the rest of the B ships)

Ah, gotcha. I unlocked the B layout of the secret cruiser using the other two achievements; since I'm not going for 100% achievement completion (at least not yet), that's ok with me. The other two achievements can be gamed quite easily.

 

[RPG Wizard]

Ah, gotcha. I unlocked the B layout of the secret cruiser using the other two achievements; since I'm not going for 100% achievement completion (at least not yet), that's ok with me. The other two achievements can be gamed quite easily.

Yeah, I've beaten the game at least twice with both the secret cruiser A and B, but I really want to knock out that last ship achievement before I unlock some other stuff. I guess I'll take a break if I get too frustrated, but I like having completion!

 

[Vlad]

Double KO against the

Spoiler

the last phase of the last boss

. Fuck that. If only I'd been a tiny bit more careful. Argh.

Doesn't it still count as a victory, though? I had that happen to me once and I still got the ending.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Other people have reported the opposite (victory while their ship went down in flames), so I'm guessing it's a matter of which ship is flagged as destroyed first. The game doesn't seem to actually have "double KO" mechanics.

Out of curiosity, did the victory ditty play?

 

[Stantron]

Damn, this game is cut throat. I was using version B of the Engi Cruiser. Got lucky with some 3 power ion beam II weapon on my first node. As I make my way through the sector, I level up my weapons capability so I can use both starting weapons plus the new one at the same time. Kicking ass, collecting a ton of fuel. Right before I was about to exit the first sector, I checked a node with a wrecked ship for survivors thinking I might get another crew mate. My lone crew member caught a virus and died... Game Over. Just like that. SONOVA!

I got lucky and made it to the last boss on my very first try (easy). Now, I sometimes fail early on. The game is a lot of fun though.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Damn, this game is cut throat. I was using version B of the Engi Cruiser. Got lucky with some 3 power ion beam II weapon on my first node. As I make my way through the sector, I level up my weapons capability so I can use both starting weapons plus the new one at the same time. Kicking ass, collecting a ton of fuel. Right before I was about to exit the first sector, I checked a node with a wrecked ship for survivors thinking I might get another crew mate. My lone crew member caught a virus and died... Game Over. Just like that. SONOVA!

It might sound cutthroat now, but 10-20 gameplay hours from now, you'll reread that post and shake your head . Away missions are the best way to suicide your crew members, and having only one...

I got lucky and made it to the last boss on my very first try (easy). Now, I sometimes fail early on. The game is a lot of fun though.

It happens to me too, even at this point (getting close to 90 hours). Worse, every time I can tell what mistake I made. You'd think at this point I would not make deadly mistakes...

 

[kiyomi]

Very late/slow response, but

The game is really interesting in the way that in makes you adapt to the stuff it throws at you. For example, if I got that augment, I would probably make more of an effort to save to get a cloaking system. Admittedly, that's the single most expensive item in the game, but with that augment you can really wreak havoc.

Yeah, that's easily one of my favourite things about the game. I'm not a big roguelike guy (honestly before FTL and Isaac I'd have been hard-pressed to even tell you what a roguelike was) so it's all pretty much new to me, the idea that you can play something and get a radically different experience, not only in terms of the scenarios that occur as a matter of course or as a product of the player's own

Spoiler

in

ability to adapt.

With FTL I'm definitely - but steadily - trying to realise that pretty much everything has a use if you know what to do with it. As a result, I'm beginning to think "oh, hey, I could do this if I do XYZ, and later on it could pay off.". Maybe it hasn't exactly gone to plan on most occasions - which is again probably a good thing - but I'll get there. Perhaps.

It's really easy to forget about that in the heat of battle, yeah. As you become more experienced, you'll notice that you approach battles differently; I usually make an assessment of whether I should try to destroy the ship or flee (according to the ship's equipment), and power my systems accordingly. Then if I get unexpectedly beaten up, I reassess again. Early on, I approached all battles as "win or die" situations... but that tends to lead to the second.

Honestly half the time I forget there's even a pause button. Space master and commander I am certainly not. :lol

So far with the latest few playthroughs and thanks to the advice of you guys I've changed tactics pretty much every time which has opened my eyes a bit. I should definitely think each battle through a bit more, since I do find myself constantly itching for a fight when an enemy crops up. I hardly ever accept surrenders unless I'm in a dire position and just need everything to calm down. So you can probably write off a career in space politics, too.

On my latest playthrough just now I got further than I've ever done, reaching S8 and having my first encounter with the boss. Really didn't expect to very much to it but somehow armed with just the Artemis and standard laser beam, got rid of the shields and had it down to 2 points of hull.. strength? I guess that's what you call it? I was, for a second at least, dreaming that I had finally conquered FTL

Spoiler

on easy

, but that was when I realised my hull had almost collapsed too. Alas he got the first shot in and down we went.

Had a bunch of interesting stuff though, couple of new crew members, a few drones (that I didn't end up using at all), the Breach weapon and two stasis pod thingies. How do I get those repaired, for future reference?

Oh and I picked up a couple of the achievements, reaching S8 obviously, Technophobia and one other one which I forgot.

 

[Parallacs]

Very late/slow response, but


Had a bunch of interesting stuff though, couple of new crew members, a few drones (that I didn't end up using at all), the Breach weapon and two stasis pod thingies. How do I get those repaired, for future reference?

Oh and I picked up a couple of the achievements, reaching S8 obviously, Technophobia and one other one which I forgot.

The stasis pod is the first step for the secret race. Look it up on the FTL wiki. It takes MANY tries to finally get the correct sequence. The initial reward from opening a stasis pod can almost ensure you get a win on easy!

 

[Weltall Zero]

Very late/slow response, but

Yeah, that's easily one of my favourite things about the game. I'm not a big roguelike guy (honestly before FTL and Isaac I'd have been hard-pressed to even tell you what a roguelike was) so it's all pretty much new to me, the idea that you can play something and get a radically different experience, not only in terms of the scenarios that occur as a matter of course or as a product of the player's own

Spoiler

in

ability to adapt.

With FTL I'm definitely - but steadily - trying to realise that pretty much everything has a use if you know what to do with it. As a result, I'm beginning to think "oh, hey, I could do this if I do XYZ, and later on it could pay off.". Maybe it hasn't exactly gone to plan on most occasions - which is again probably a good thing - but I'll get there. Perhaps.

I'm not exactly a roguelike fan in general, either; I even own Binding of Isaac and have barely played it. Another roguelike I did love was Spelunky, perhaps, again, because it mixes it with another genre I love (platforming, in this case).

Honestly half the time I forget there's even a pause button. Space master and commander I am certainly not. :lol

I have pause bound to the middle mouse button (I think that's how it is by default since one of the latest updates) because I use it so often that reaching for Space is a chore. I virtually never do any commanding outside the pause button, actually. In a sense, that means you probably play better than I do, all things being equal.

So far with the latest few playthroughs and thanks to the advice of you guys I've changed tactics pretty much every time which has opened my eyes a bit. I should definitely think each battle through a bit more, since I do find myself constantly itching for a fight when an enemy crops up. I hardly ever accept surrenders unless I'm in a dire position and just need everything to calm down. So you can probably write off a career in space politics, too.

Nothing wrong with not accepting surrenders; I rarely give quarter myself, unless I'm short on fuel and they're offering like 5 of the stuff, or some equivalent situation (or, again, as you mention, I just need the fight to stop). Blowing ships up is usually worth more. The first time a slaver ship surrenders when you have 8 crew and you say "nope" and burn them all to a crisp, you won't feel particularly good about yourself, but the extra scrap will surely heal your heart wounds.

On my latest playthrough just now I got further than I've ever done, reaching S8 and having my first encounter with the boss. Really didn't expect to very much to it but somehow armed with just the Artemis and standard laser beam, got rid of the shields and had it down to 2 points of hull.. strength? I guess that's what you call it?

I think we pretty much call them hull points.

I was, for a second at least, dreaming that I had finally conquered FTL

Spoiler

on easy

, but that was when I realised my hull had almost collapsed too. Alas he got the first shot in and down we went.

Had a bunch of interesting stuff though, couple of new crew members, a few drones (that I didn't end up using at all), the Breach weapon and two stasis pod thingies. How do I get those repaired, for future reference?

As Parallacs mentioned, those are the first step in a chain that leads to unlocking the secret ship, the caveat being that you need to fall into specific subsequent events for it to go through. Suffice to say, in 85 hours of gameplay and around 10 victories or more among Easy and Normal, I only managed to complete the chain once (which was fortunately my second try). To be fair, since I already have it and the chain is not exactly easy, I lately go for the weapon plus scrap, and eschew the pod.

 

[Parallacs]

. To be fair, since I already have it and the chain is not exactly easy, I lately go for the weapon plus scrap, and eschew the pod.

Yeah, I might as well write out why I think the stasis is a good gamble for people trying to beat easy. Spoilers on secret race and end boss:

Spoiler

The stasis pod contains a Crystal alien. You need to visit a green sector (Engi or Zoltan) to free him from it. Look at your map at the start of each game and try to get an idea of what will happen.

To get the secret ship, after visiting a Zoltan or Engi sector to unlock him, you need to visit the Rock homeworld. This is the RNG that screws over most people. BUT, this alien will win you the game. Forget about the secret ship. All you need is a teleporter.

1 Get to the boss and turn OFF your weapons. Put any power you have into your shields, engines, teleport and if you have a Defense 1 drone, put that up.

2 Teleport your best fighters to take out the missile launcher, have teleport ready for the instant it goes down. Heal, then take out the tri-ion on the far left, then the beam on the far right. Don't take out triple laser guy.

3. Next, bring your Crystal and a good fighter to the teleporter. Teleport to a small room (such as engine room). Start killing the guy. As soon as he starts to leave, pause the game and click on the crystal portrait to your left. There is an ability to lock down the room. As soon as the poor trapped guy is dead, teleport back. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

4. Without a crew (except for laser guy) you are free to take down the shields with a teleport. Turn on a laser and finish it off.

5. For phases two and three, the ship won't be able to repair. Just follow step 2 again. Cloak during the first missile volley, then again during surges. Game won.

The crystal is so overpowered.

 

[DiscoShark]

Managed a successful run on Normal with this setup. What's not shown are tier 3 shields and maxed cloaking but they were pretty integral to my win as well I think. Combination Zoltan shields and Rock plating makes for a formidable defense but the highlight is definitely tagging Halberd beam with 2 capable ion weapons to cripple opposing shields. Halberd's are most certainly an end-game capable weapon when backed up properly and I absolutely tore through the boss while only dipping under 50% hull once during the entire thing. Maxed cloaking gave me ample time to do whatever repairs I needed to do and give me time to charge up my weapons sufficiently while avoiding taking any damage.

Interestingly the only times I've been able to win at the game are in situations where I've chosen NOT to get a crew teleporter at any point, which is strange because when I do get a crew teleporter I'm usually really quite adept at killing the enemy crew, the problem usually arises when I send my crew into areas where the opposing vessel has a combination of strong shields and missiles. In most cases I don't get drones so I have to take the damage while my kill squad tries to take them out asap. I'm sure it's more to do with the ship choice in this case though, I've always had fairly successful runs with the Zoltan Cruiser and the Zoltan shield is by far one of the best augments in the game.

And yay I can use the Rock ship now <3

 

[Weltall Zero]

Yeah, I might as well write out why I think the stasis is a good gamble for people trying to beat easy. Spoilers on secret race and end boss:

Completely agreed on all acounts.

Interestingly the only times I've been able to win at the game are in situations where I've chosen NOT to get a crew teleporter at any point, which is strange because when I do get a crew teleporter I'm usually really quite adept at killing the enemy crew, the problem usually arises when I send my crew into areas where the opposing vessel has a combination of strong shields and missiles. In most cases I don't get drones so I have to take the damage while my kill squad tries to take them out asap. I'm sure it's more to do with the ship choice in this case though, I've always had fairly successful runs with the Zoltan Cruiser and the Zoltan shield is by far one of the best augments in the game.

And yay I can use the Rock ship now <3

Congratulations! Yeah, a secondary danger about teleporting (besides the obvious ones of losing your crew) is becoming a sitting duck while your crew kills all of the enemy crew, which usually takes quite a bit of time. What I usually do is try to disable the enemy's weapons first (plus the medbay, obviously, if it has one), THEN send the boarding crew. This sometimes means destroying the ship before I can even board it, or getting it low enough that it's too much of a risk, but this still outweights taking a handful of missiles to the face. If you send your crew to the weapons room, they can't even repair it, although this is usually a 2x2 room so you run the risk of getting four-teamed (although, surprisingly, the AI doesn't tend to do it).

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Ugh, has anyone experienced losing their save files after using the save+quit exit? Had a really good run going on. I've searched my computer for the continiue.sav but nothing...

 

[Parallacs]

Ugh, has anyone experienced losing their save files after using the save+quit exit? Had a really good run going on. I've searched my computer for the continiue.sav but nothing...

That sucks. I have read other posters in here having lost save games.

Personally, I will only start up the game if I know I have an hour to make a full run. I have never used the savegame.

I think worrying about whether my ship would fall apart in the next sector would stress me out all day.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I think worrying about whether my ship would fall apart in the next sector would stress me out all day.

lol, well I spent a good part of the day planning out how to go with the last upgrades and how to beat that final boss, heh.

It's weird though, with the cloud save function and everything. Maybe my file was somehow deleted, and the cloud save disappeared through synch? Bah. Time to start over, I guess.

 

[Parallacs]

Has anyone ever maxed out every upgrade and optional upgrade?

I came close last night on an easy Federation run. While that lacks cloak, it has the beam weapon. I think I was only about a hundred scrap short from maxing everything.

I can't imagine someone doing it on normal though.

 

[RPG Wizard]

Has anyone ever maxed out every upgrade and optional upgrade?

I came close last night on an easy Federation run. While that lacks cloak, it has the beam weapon. I think I was only about a hundred scrap short from maxing everything.

I can't imagine someone doing it on normal though.

Just requires some luck. I had a run with the

Spoiler

Bravias

where the only thing I hadn't maxed was the drone system. Boarding gets you a significantly larger portion of scrap than destruction, after all. Especially in late sectors.

 

[super-famicom]

I finally beat Normal after numerous failures!!! AND none of my crew died!

I was using the Kestrel and managed to buy a second Burst Laser Mk2 in Sector 3, then get an Ion Blast Mk2 as a quest reward in the following sector. The RNG must have been in my favor this game, because I bought a Drone Control that came with Defense Drone Mk1!

The mothership in all its stages was no match for me. My final setup:
Burst Laser Mk2 x2
Ion Blast Mk2 x1
Hull Missile x1
Defense Drone Mk1 x1
Defense Drone Mk2 x1
Lvl 2 Teleporter
Max Shields
48% Dodge

My final augments were Weapon Reloader and the Shield Booster.
Before the final sector, I was running Long Range Scanner and Scrap Recovery Arm along with the Shield Booster. I found a store in the final sector and sold Scrap Recovery and Scanner for the Weapon Reloader.

Something really useful I discovered in my run was having Scrap Recovery Arm equipped in the Slug Nebulas. When fighting a Slug ship, they'll give you the option to let them live and give you a bunch of stuff in return. The amount of scrap they give you is huge! And the Recovery Arm increased the scrap so much I was able to upgrade my ship in no time! I encountered the Slug Nebula in the penultimate sector. Prior to that I hadn't purchased Boarding yet. After tearing up the Nebula, I got my Teleporter up to level 2 before entering The Last Stand, which was really useful in taking out the mothership's missile launcher.

Now, which ship should I roll with next...

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Sorry to bog the thread with technical, boring questions, but does anyone know if you can change the savefile destination for FTL?

I'm playing the game alot on a enterprise laptop, and My documents is in a synched network folder in which I (steam) have only read-only access (I guess).

I think that is the reason why my save file got lost the other day.

 

[RPG Wizard]

Something really useful I discovered in my run was having Scrap Recovery Arm equipped in the Slug Nebulas. When fighting a Slug ship, they'll give you the option to let them live and give you a bunch of stuff in return. The amount of scrap they give you is huge! And the Recovery Arm increased the scrap so much I was able to upgrade my ship in no time! I encountered the Slug Nebula in the penultimate sector.

It's not that it's a Slug Nebula, it's that it was Sector 7. The amount of scrap you receive from events goes up proportionally to what sector you're in. In Sector 7, with a scrap recovery arm, you will be making TONS of scrap just from the 10% bonus.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Ugh, has anyone experienced losing their save files after using the save+quit exit? Had a really good run going on. I've searched my computer for the continiue.sav but nothing...

That sucks. I haven't lost my save once yet, fortunately...

Has anyone ever maxed out every upgrade and optional upgrade?

I came close last night on an easy Federation run. While that lacks cloak, it has the beam weapon. I think I was only about a hundred scrap short from maxing everything.

I can't imagine someone doing it on normal though.

If I remember correctly, I did so to get one of the achievements for the Zoltan Cruiser. In fact I remember it being the only way to do so. That was on Easy, though.

I finally beat Normal after numerous failures!!! AND none of my crew died!

Congratulations! That's a quite beastly setup for Normal! In my own experience, those damn slugs always shortchange me when i let them live, which I do anyway as I STILL haven't unlocked their goddamned ship.

Sorry to bog the thread with technical, boring questions, but does anyone know if you can change the savefile destination for FTL?

I'm playing the game alot on a enterprise laptop, and My documents is in a synched network folder in which I (steam) have only read-only access (I guess).

I think that is the reason why my save file got lost the other day.

I haven't done it myself, but people usually make symbolic links to the folder in question. Not sure if this would help in this particular case, though.

 

[Parallacs]

Just a note on the scrap recovery arm: They stack but they don't compound.

You don't get 110% and then 110% of that

You get 120% flat. Not a major difference but interesting to see.

I did one run with three scrap recovery arms. I thought I would be rolling in the dough but I never got a teleporter till late in sector 7 and was blowing money on ship repairs.

If I remember correctly, I did so to get one of the achievements for the Zoltan Cruiser. In fact I remember it being the only way to do so. That was on Easy, though.

I think you can get the zoltan one without having to do the sub-systems. I don't know though, I only have the other two achievements.

 

[super-famicom]

It's not that it's a Slug Nebula, it's that it was Sector 7. The amount of scrap you receive from events goes up proportionally to what sector you're in. In Sector 7, with a scrap recovery arm, you will be making TONS of scrap just from the 10% bonus.

Is that true?! In my 59+hours of gameplay, I never noticed. I should turn in my FTL pilot license. I was always stuggling to stay alive in normal mode or micromanaging my boarding parties in easy mode.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Just a note on the scrap recovery arm: They stack but they don't compound.
You don't get 110% and then 110% of that
You get 120% flat. Not a major difference but interesting to see.

Well, a 110% of 110% is 121%, so I guess that's pretty much barely noticeable anyway.

I think you can get the zoltan one without having to do the sub-systems. I don't know though, I only have the other two achievements.

Oh yeah, you're right. The achievement is to have X energy in systems, and you can't have energy in the subsystems anyway.

Is that true?! In my 59+hours of gameplay, I never noticed. I should turn in my FTL pilot license. I was always stuggling to stay alive in normal mode or micromanaging my boarding parties in easy mode.

You honestly didn't notice that earlier sectors give you way less scrap and stuff from everything? I find it downright shocking/disheartening when I finish a playthrough and go back to earning 10-15 scrap per ship destroyed.

 

[super-famicom]

You honestly didn't notice that earlier sectors give you way less scrap and stuff from everything? I find it downright shocking/disheartening when I finish a playthrough and go back to earning 10-15 scrap per ship destroyed.

I've noticed low scrap yields in sector 1, but from sector 2 onwards I always defeat ships by using boarding parties and not blowing them up. But this was always on easy mode, so maybe I'm not used to the reduced scrap on normal mode. In my normal victory, I didn't have a teleporter until the end of sector 7, so my scrap rewards always looked pitiful.
I feel dumb for never noticing though D:

 

[Parallacs]

Well, a 110% of 110% is 121%, so I guess that's pretty much barely noticeable anyway.

Yeah, it is a difference of nothing.

But I wonder if they handle all augments the same way, such as the shield booster and the weapon loading one.

So if you had a 10 second reload weapon, with two reload augments, it would be:

Stacked
(1-.30)*10seconds = 7.0s

Compounded
(1-.15)*10s = 8.5s
8.5*(1-.15) = 7.225s

This is an instance where compounding would actually hurt. I've lost games by 0.225 seconds!

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I haven't done it myself, but people usually make symbolic links to the folder in question. Not sure if this would help in this particular case, though.

Oh, great! I'll google how to do this and try it out then!

Btw, I love your general hints post!

 

[Weltall Zero]

Yeah, it is a difference of nothing.

But I wonder if they handle all augments the same way, such as the shield booster and the weapon loading one.

So if you had a 10 second reload weapon, with two reload augments, it would be:

Stacked
(1-.30)*10seconds = 7.0s

Compounded
(1-.15)*10s = 8.5s
8.5*(1-.15) = 7.225s

This is an instance where compounding would actually hurt. I've lost games by 0.225 seconds!

Heh. One way to measure this would be to take a video of a weapon reloading with both on and freeze framing/frame counting.

Oh, great! I'll google how to do this and try it out then!

Hope it helps! I'm not sure if this approach would would when the My Documents folder is already linked to a net folder, but there's no harm in trying.
There's a guide here about using a symbolic link plus DropBox to synch your savedata folder (for use with non-Steam versions of the game, I guess). The symbolic link stuff might be useful for you.
http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2172

Btw, I love your general hints post!

Thanks a lot! I hope they were useful!

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Hope it helps! I'm not sure if this approach would would when the My Documents folder is already linked to a net folder, but there's no harm in trying.
There's a guide here about using a symbolic link plus DropBox to synch your savedata folder (for use with non-Steam versions of the game, I guess). The symbolic link stuff might be useful for you.
http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2172

Thanks again, I tried this, but it seems I can't make a link in a network folder. "A local NTFS-drive is required to perform this operation."

Thanks a lot! I hope they were useful!

They sure were, and even more so when I find a way to actually being able to save the game. I'll guess I have to use my stationary, a shame since it's a perfect laptop-on-lap-in-couch sort of game.

 

[Mindlog]

Speaking of odd lucky setups.

Hehe, that was fun.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Thanks again, I tried this, but it seems I can't make a link in a network folder. "A local NTFS-drive is required to perform this operation."

I was supecting as much. :/ At this point, the only thing I can think of is undoing the original symbolic link that's probably done in your computer, but of course you wouldn't want to do that...
Well, there IS another solution, which is to make a partition and install another copy of Windows (or, perhaps even better, Linux, since the game has a Linux version as well). Of course, that depends on how much freedom you're given with that laptop . You can always say you've dual-booted Linux for work-related reasons, or to learn more about it.

Speaking of odd lucky setups.

Hehe, that was fun.

Holy crap! That might be the single best (worst?) case of overkill I've seen in this game yet.

 

[ScOULaris]

So I finally got around to purchasing FTL, and I've been absolutely hooked ever since. Even as I sit here at work, visions of future strategies that I'd like to employ and memories of past failures dominate my mind's eye. I'm a total sucker for Roguelike-likes, and FTL deserves to be ranked among other recent greats like Spelunky and Binding of Isaac.

Alright, now that I've gotten my fanboy gushing out of the way, I have a few questions that I hope FTL-GAF can maybe help me with:

1. Can I unlock ships on Easy and then use them in future Normal playthroughs? If so, might this be a good way to go about unlocking stuff? I have been playing on Normal only for about 3 or 4 days now, and I still have yet to unlock any other ships or even achievements. The ship that you unlock by getting to Sector 5 seems easily doable, but the rest all have vague criteria for unlocking.
2. From perusing this thread, I gather that upgrading the engine is paramount in most cases. Is that accurate? Should I usually make that an early priority, and is it important to always have a crew member manning the engine room?
3. I've gotten better at dealing with boarders, but it still seems to be my Achilles heel in this game. I could be doing great for quite a while and then two or three Mantises will board my ship and begin to wreck shop. Moving everyone to the medical bat and venting the rest of the ship has been pretty effective for me, but I'm wondering if there are any better strategies I could employ to deal with this.
4. I've always struggled with not having enough scrap to ever take advantage of better weapons or more advanced systems. I've only once had enough to even purchase a Teleporter system. Usually, when I come across a shop, I need to spend a little on fuel and missiles. After that's done, the weapons and other upgrades are way out of my price range. Is this the case with most people playing on Normal? Do you rely on lucky drops for more advanced weapons?

 

[Kipp]

[*] I've gotten better at dealing with boarders, but it still seems to be my Achilles heel in this game. I could be doing great for quite a while and then two or three Mantises will board my ship and begin to wreck shop. Moving everyone to the medical bat and venting the rest of the ship has been pretty effective for me, but I'm wondering if there are any better strategies I could employ to deal with this.
[*] I've always struggled with not having enough scrap to ever take advantage of better weapons or more advanced systems. I've only once had enough to even purchase a Teleporter system. Usually, when I come across a shop, I need to spend a little on fuel and missiles. After that's done, the weapons and other upgrades are way out of my price range. Is this the case with most people playing on Normal? Do you rely on lucky drops for more advanced weapons?
[/list]

I don't feel qualified to answer the first two questions, so I'll give my advice on these last two. Haha

Boarders used to be a huge problem for me too, but now they're just a bit of an annoyance. Basically I don't bother trying to rob them of oxygen anymore. They cause too much damage in the meantime. I usually just grab 3-4 people (don't worry about pulling men off of their stations temporarily) and get rid of them quick, exchanging healthy ones for nearly dead ones if I need to. Also helpful is trying to separate them so you're only dealing with 1 or 2 at a time and buying an Anti-Personnel Drone. This advice is hardly thorough though, so anyone else, feel free to add to it.

Secondly, scrap is definitely pretty hard to come by in Normal in the early sectors. Usually you have to plan ahead and just save up scrap for a bit before going to a store. Maybe buy 2 engine upgrades and 2 shields and then just save up 150 scrap or so and then go to a store. People have been known to sell off their weapons and whatnot just to be able to afford the Stealth cloak thing because it's thought to be a very worthy investment. The teleporter isn't usually worth buying unless you have 4 or more crew members with some rockmen or mantis. But yeah, the main thing is to consciously save your scrap in order to have enough to buy nice things at the store.

 

[Azih]

1. Can I unlock ships on Easy and then use them in future Normal playthroughs? If so, might this be a good way to go about unlocking stuff? I have been playing on Normal only for about 3 or 4 days now, and I still have yet to unlock any other ships or even achievements. The ship that you unlock by getting to Sector 5 seems easily doable, but the rest all have vague criteria for unlocking.

1. 
   
   Yes, ships unlocked on Easy are available for Normal and it's the best way of unlocking ships.
   
   

   From perusing this thread, I gather that upgrading the engine is paramount in most cases. Is that accurate? Should I usually make that an early priority, and is it important to always have a crew member manning the engine room?

   
   Engines are really good and provide maybe the best bang for the defensive buck overall. You can experiment with different playstyles but the best way to not get hurt is to not get hit.
   
   Always have a crew member on the important systems (pilot for sure, the rest depend on playstyle). Your crew gains experience as they use the station and an experienced member increases the effectiveness of the system when they're on it.
   
   Whenever an enemy misses your pilot and engine guy gets experience, whenever a shield gets regenerated your shield guy gets experience and the weapon guy gets better every time a weapon fires and goes through its cooldown.
   
   Should you make it an early priority? Well that's a scrap issue.
   
   

   I've gotten better at dealing with boarders, but it still seems to be my Achilles heel in this game. I could be doing great for quite a while and then two or three Mantises will board my ship and begin to wreck shop. Moving everyone to the medical bat and venting the rest of the ship has been pretty effective for me, but I'm wondering if there are any better strategies I could employ to deal with this.

   
   You can micro your crew go in and attack the boarders and then run back to the medbay to make them boarders die faster. Also make sure your first upgrade is the blast doors. Best value for money in the game.
   
   

   I've always struggled with not having enough scrap to ever take advantage of better weapons or more advanced systems. I've only once had enough to even purchase a Teleporter system. Usually, when I come across a shop, I need to spend a little on fuel and missiles. After that's done, the weapons and other upgrades are way out of my price range. Is this the case with most people playing on Normal? Do you rely on lucky drops for more advanced weapons?

   
   Ah, that's the first tip that really made my playthroughs better. Try to upgrade as little as possible in the first one or two sectors (a good sense of how much upgrading is safe comes from experience really and as you get better at the game the fewer upgrades you'll need to hopefully beat up the weaker early ships. The RNG might always screw you though). Try to save up the scrap so that when you run across a store you'll have the funds to buy the fancy systems the RNG might gift you with.

 

[ScOULaris]

The teleporter isn't usually worth buying unless you have 4 or more crew members with some rockmen or mantis.

You don't think so? It seems to me that a lot of people think the teleporter is a very useful and important upgrade. I've only used it once and to minimal effect, so I can't say one way or the other.

I definitely think I will try prioritizing my engine next playthrough, though. That's something that I was always neglecting before.

Yes, ships unlocked on Easy are available for Normal and it's the best way of unlocking ships.

Cool, thanks. I think I'll feel a little weird playing it on easy (pride, I guess?), but it'll be worth it if I can start experimenting with new ships faster.

 

[Vlad]

You don't think so? It seems to me that a lot of people think the teleporter is a very useful and important upgrade. I've only used it once and to minimal effect, so I can't say one way or the other.

I definitely think I will try prioritizing my engine next playthrough, though. That's something that I was always neglecting before.



Cool, thanks. I think I'll feel a little weird playing it on easy (pride, I guess?), but it'll be worth it if I can start experimenting with new ships faster.

I've had the best results with only buying the teleporter after I've already got a good boarding party, which is either two mantises, two rocks, or one of each. Too many times I've started a run with the intention of focusing on boarding parties, buying a teleporter, and then only getting engis and zoltan as extra crew.

If you can swing it, though, a teleporter (and upgraded sensors, don't forget those) can pay for themselves pretty easily, since you get more scrap by killing all the crew than by destroying their ship.

Just to echo what everybody else has said, you should never ignore your engines. Yes, pumping all your money into weapon systems can be tempting, but when enemy missiles knock a couple gaping holes in your hull before you can even fire off that fancy Glaive Beam, then it's all for naught.

 

[Parallacs]

On Normal mode, I typically do not upgrade my engines or shields at least until I get through sector two. I use any scrap I get on augments such as the scrap recovery arm. Also, I'll spend scrap if I see a must buy weapon such as the Burst II or the Fire Bomb.

For teleporter, I get it if I have just one mantis or two extra humans. If I'm flying the federation cruiser, I get it right away. It pays for itself in just a few battles and you don't want to risk getting to the end boss without finding it for sale again.

 

[Azih]

You don't think so? It seems to me that a lot of people think the teleporter is a very useful and important upgrade. I've only used it once and to minimal effect, so I can't say one way or the other.

It's very good, IF you have crew members that are capable boarders. Mantises, Rockmen, Humans are ok. You have to go with what the game gives you.