FTL - a spaceship Rogue-like

Started playing this game recently and my favesies has been sending in mantis boarding parties after firebombing the med bay.

There's a perverse joy to be had against light Slug Interceptors by taking out their life support and letting them suffocate. Since the life support is, for some inane reason, separated from the crew space and has no doors in they have no way to repair it.

There's also just the sheer joy of the extra loot from intact ships. It's only really problematic for me when the game decides it'd be really funny to throw a bunch of auto-ships at me and I've been unlucky enough to not have the weapons to take them out (a common occurrence since I usually run a Mantis B). That, or the rooms are not connected and/or their systems don't self-repair, preventing me from launching a boarding drone and just sitting back and letting it slowly whittle the ship down.

I'll tell you what, though, boarding parties are an awesome way of taking down the flagship's weapon batteries.

Edit: On another note, there's few things more frustrating than almost getting the Rock ship only to, due to being tired, completely forgot about what you're supposed to be doing and end up murdering the entire crew. That was the only time I got the event, too. I think the stealth ship, Rock, and Crystal are the only ones I have left to unlock. And the Slug if they have one. Can't remember. Tired. Management at work sucks. Beer. Good beer. Hungry. Rambling...

edited 5th Jan '13 5:16:40 AM by IthilionTheBrave

Okay, this may be my new favorite game. I am LOVING THIS.

so how do I find slug crewmen? I read somewhere that slug like nebulae, but beyond that, I haven't encountered any.

There's just as common as any of the other races. The Slug Homeworlds are in a nebula, and I'm pretty sure that make slug-related events more common, but most random sources of crew members can have slugs anyway (like shops and stuff).

They are actually the rarest type of crew you can hire.

I actually encountered some a big after I posted that. They are incredibly useful.

wooo finally i beat the game for the first time....... on easy.

:(

Don't be so hard on yourself...the game's not easy...and easy mode don't actually give you much bonus beyond 25% extra scrap (it's significant yes, but other than that you still play by the same rule)

Easy mode DOES have easier enemy types. For example, beam enemies are much more common on normal and enemies get better shields faster.

I love this game. It really makes you feel like the captain of your own starship, the music's great and it's much more simple than it looks. Unfortunately, I absolutely suck at this game. I can barely get past 2 sectors, before I get promptly blown to kingdom come. Any tips?

if you only have a crew of three, place them at helm, shields, and engine, leaving weapons unmanned.

you'll fire slower, but you'll be more survivable.

also, upgrade shields to at least 2 fast, you want to have max shields by the end, and/or as much dodge as possible.

it's possible to get slightly better than 50% dodge rate I believe.

Also, yes, the teleporter is expensive, but it's REALLY USEFUL for the final boss, and it's also useful for getting increased loot from fights because you left the ship intact.

you want at least 1 missile system, with lots of missiles, probably best to keep a few in storage for the final boss fight.

^ Or bombs...they're better at bypassing the defense system at least...if you rely on missiles to blow up enemy's shields you're dead if they have defense drones unless you have multiple launchers or using the Pegasus...

edited 7th Jan '13 3:40:23 AM by onyhow

I really wanted a boarding drone. The first one I found? Sector 1... With the Mantis ship.

edited 7th Jan '13 6:28:55 AM by Ninjaxenomorph

Also, it's not THAT necessary to get lv 4 shield to fight the last boss (though it certainly helps, it's freaking expensive)...I beat the game a few times with only 3 shield blocks myself...

As a general rule, I'd say the most basic trick is to try to avoid taking any damage at all. You can do that with shields, cloaking, or even just aggressively targeting their weapon systems, but the main thing to keep in mind that no amount of damage is acceptable. If you find yourself talking 1 or 2 HP of damage in each battle, you're doing something wrong and you should fix it. I'm not saying it's necessarily easy to achieve this, but it should always be your goal. This isn't the kind of game where you trade blows with your enemies, it's one where you dominate them.

edited 7th Jan '13 7:28:36 AM by Clarste

Targeting their weapons is the only strategy for an early-game Zoltan B ship. They just have ion blasters and a pike beam, and you have to upgrade the shield yourself.

Bought this game on Steam recently. Been playing it a bit obsessively.

It's true the Stealth Cruiser doesn't really have many long-term advantages, but it's the first ship I actually beat the boss with. And since I just recently died in the first sector to an asteroid field, even after a few dozen playthroughs, I can say long-range scanners probably help more than you think.

I've unlocked every ship but the Rock Cruiser and secret ship, and the B forms of all of them. Won with all variants but the Engi B (Vortex). If you're looking for a ship with only disadvantages, I'd say that's it. One crew member and no sensors is not made up for by starting drones with increased speed. Tried four times, only reached the boss once, couldn't take it down then.

I've only gotten the event to unlock the Rock Cruiser twice; the Rock Homeworlds never seem to show up. First time I accidentally blew up the ship; second time the next sector was the boss, so the quest couldn't continue.

Favorite is by far the Mantis B (Basilisk). Most alternate versions just start a bit differently, but the Basilisk has that unique four-person teleportation room. Ridiculously powerful once you have enough crew. I hate Zoltan and automated vessels though.

My fav is the Red-Tail...4 mk 1 laser, large number of airlocks and airlocks that directly connect to both gun and shield room, teleporter next to medbay? Yes please! Though you starting guns WILL need replacement unlike normal Kestrel though..

edited 7th Jan '13 8:29:56 AM by onyhow

@noob: play on easy. It's not actually much easier, but you get more scrap so you can do more upgrading

As for ships, I beat the game using the zoltan B, no missiles. Just pumped up the shields and engine, tossed on a cloak, and relied on the 2x ion cannons and a burst laser mk 3 to rip up ships. For the final boss, I was actually using a rockman and an engi to disable the weapon systems and fight off intruders because I couldn't find any mantis. Also the B is great for intruders because its really to vent like everything.

Man, venting atmo on purpose to kill intruders is so dark.

the trick with the vortex is to simply vent everything ever. your crew member will not be leaving the cockpit, that's what the repair drones are for.

But what if I want to eek out more power from the engines or guns?

capacitor upgrades are cheap.

I suggest you drone swarm it, because that's what the ship is designed to do. multiple fast firing ion guns help supress so the drones can wreak havok

edited 7th Jan '13 9:07:39 AM by Lanceleoghauni

The Vortex also needs less drone parts at the beginning as you don't need extra drone parts to kill enemies unlike type A. It's a weird ship but it does have it's advantages.