henke on 9/12/2012 at 09:39
It's pretty fantastic. And difficult. Has anyone gotten to the point where they can consistently beat the game? I say "consistently" because to me it looks like luck plays a big part in success or failure. I've played about 8 runs over 4 hours now, Normal difficulty, and the furthest I've gotten is sector 5 (out of 8). Most of my runs end when I come up against a ship that's way more powerful and well-equipped than mine. There's no way of knowing what waits beyond a jump and, it seems to me, that around sector 4 or 5, there's going to be roughly a 10% chance that the next jump you make will lead you into a deathtrap with no chance of escape. A bit frustrating how it eventually turns into a game of luck, but maybe there's something I'm overlooking? I'm still having too much fun banging my head against the wall to look up wikis and walkthroughs, but if any FTL veterans wanna share some tips (in spoiler tags) I'd be all ears. :)
demagogue on 9/12/2012 at 09:46
One time I got to Sector 4 and saw a straight shot of green-dot friendly systems the entire way and I thought *finally* I'll make it to Sector 5... And I died at the end of Sector 4 anyway. =L
I've been reading that drones are powerful & a lot more cost efficient than missiles, so it's worth saving up to install the system early on. I think especially because I lose a lot of money repairing my ship, a repair drone would free up all of that to spend on weapons and upgrades.
Ulukai on 9/12/2012 at 10:24
Hooray, someone made a thread about FTL. I was going to but for various reasons, never got round to it. Spent around 9 hours on it so far.
These aren't really spoilers. Firstly I would say: Play on easy. Think of Normal as Hard and Easy as Normal.
I did have reservations about this as I mentioned in another thread, but easy is still damn hard. I've come tantalisingly close to beating the game on easy, reaching the final sector (but not defeating the boss). It's definitely not a walk in the park though.
Secondly I would say: Spend some time in the easier first sectors trying to build up your armaments, crew and defenses.
Once you've got some half decent shields you can mop up the first sector encounters and build up your scrap reserves to buy more weapons. Sometimes, it all goes pear shaped but overall you'll be much better equipped to face the later sectors, where you really need at least 3 weapons and a number of extra crew if you want to stand any chance at repelling intruders.
Lastly: Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your crew. If you're boarded by Mantis and you send your Engi to fight them, he's toast.
Quote Posted by demagogue
I've been reading that drones are powerful & a lot more cost efficient than missiles
I haven't really played around with drones much, but I do know that whenever I run out of missiles I end up being pretty screwed, so I think I may explore this avenue too. ( I guess you can still run out of drone controllers but I always seem to end up with dozens)
henke on 9/12/2012 at 11:13
Quote Posted by demagogue
I've been reading that drones are powerful & a lot more cost efficient than missiles, so it's worth saving up to install the system early on.
Actually when you make it to Sector 5 you unlock the Engi ship, which has drones by default, but no missile launchers. Only made 1 run with the Engi ship, and the combination of Ion Blaster and Drone was working beautifully for the first 2 sectors, but finally I ended up facing a very powerful enemy who kept taking out my drone-controlroom as soon as I'd sent a drone out. After sending out half a dozen drones in a loosing battle I blew up.
Quote Posted by Ulukai
Spend some time in the easier first sectors trying to build up your armaments, crew and defenses.
In my first few runs I did linger around the early sectors as long as I could but then I started running out of fuel and missiles already in sector 3 or 4, so I figured bee-lining for the exit to conserve resources might be the key. That didn't work either as I ended up being too underpowered for the later enemies. Hmm... maybe threading a fine middleline might be the way to go. And also conserving missiles and drones in the early battles unless I absolutely
have to use them?
Haha this fucking game. :D
I think I will switch to Easy, yeah. :)
Al_B on 9/12/2012 at 11:23
Completely agree about playing on easy (at least to start with). Normally it'd feel cheap but with the game having a large amount of luck involved it helps skew things in your favour.
I've been up against the final fight a few times but not won yet. You definitely want to take your time on the early stages and not just rush for the exit on each sector. I personally like to invest for a second level of shields as quickly as possible but it does take quite a bit of scrap.
Probably obvious but always keep your main systems manned by the same people to build up their skills, particularly engines as evade / dodge can be very helpful. You also don't need to have your med bay powered all the time so de-power it and allocate the energy elsewhere until you need it. (hint: fighting boarders in the med bay if you can encourage them there tends to work in your favour)
henke on 9/12/2012 at 13:19
Quote Posted by Al_B
Probably obvious but always keep your main systems manned by the same people to build up their skills
First noticed that on this run actually, that the crew levels up.
Anyway I'm on my first Easy run and I'm feeling like A GOLDEN GOD! Just jumped into sector 7, and my Engi Spaceship has maxed out shields, two lazorguns (plus some kind of Healthgun that I haven't tried yet) and more drones than you can shake a stick at(three!). Plus enough batterylife to keep most of the neccessary offensive and defensive systems running without breaking a sweat.
Ah alright. I'm gonna get back to it. Just needed to take a break to cool my nerves and clear my head. Hopefully I'll make it to the endboss. :D
edit: NOPE!
Made it to the Flagship. I even had my Reactor maxed out before the encounter but it wasn't enough. Only managed to sneak in one good hit on it in a brief gap when it's shields were down. Next time, I'm gonna make sure I have capacity to have 3 drones active at once before I meet it. One for defending, two for attacking.
Score: 2731
Ulukai on 10/12/2012 at 18:57
Quote Posted by henke
S'up. :cool:
Congrats!
Now what are
your hints? :)
