Anyone have a quick start / general strategy guide for this game? I don't know what to invest on early in the game or what upgrades to focus on.
First post in this thread has a lot of very good tips.
Very basically though
* upgrade doors one level ASAP. Huge upgrade to your ability to repel boarders
* Try to get good at NOT upgrading anything else through the first sector at the very least (and two or even three if you get skilled at combat). That way when you stumble across a shop with good stuff you can afford it with your hoarded scrap
* Engines (evading attacks) and shields (blocking lasers and beams) upgrade your defense. General consensus is that upgraded engines give you greater bang for your buck than upgraded shields. Shields are great for the early going but that's exactly when you should be trying to save your scrap. IF you get good weapons then weapon systems are good to upgrade to finish off your enemies faster.
* Get used to juggling your power around. Medbays should be off unless you need to heal someone and don't be afraid to turn off your O2 if that extra bar could be used elsewhere.
* Crews level up and make a big difference to the effectiveness of a system. You should ALWAYS have someone on pilot outside of dire emergencies. Try to keep the same crew on the same station as a veteran is incredibly useful.
* Don't play hero too much in the random events. No shame in not helping on a random event that screws you more often than it helps.
General combat tips
Try to recognize what you're up against and plan accordingly. If a ship has poor shields than try to pound on their weapon systems to keep them from hurting you for example. Also don't be afraid to run
Time your shots for maximum effectiveness as a barrage of hurt coming in at the same time is much better at overwhelming defenses than pinging at them one by one. If you're going to use a missile then consider firing it at their shields and then follow up with laser or beam fire so they have fewer barriers to get through and cause damage. Autofire is only really useful for ion weapons in my experience.