WingedKagouti on 3/1/2013 at 23:11
Quote Posted by faetal
mysterious broken pod of some kind which I assume is for unlocking a ship, but I couldn't find a way to get it fixed.
It is the first step of getting to the secret sector and finding the secret ship.
After finding the broken pod, you need to get the (unique) Medical Records event. If you found the event before the pod, then you can't get the Crystal guy inside it (the event is tagged as unique and you can't save it for later). If you do manage to get both events and in the right order, then you'll get a nice crew member and unlock the ability to use the special beacon that can be found in the Rockman Homeworld system (it can be found in sector 6 or 7, if it's available at all). Overall, you need quite a bit of luck to get the hidden ship.
VanBurenPhilips on 4/1/2013 at 00:21
Just as a general tip, since focusing on evasion I've completed the game every time on Normal, except once when I'd beaten boss phase 2 but it had taken out my medbay and 02 and all my guys suffocated (got torn apart mainly because I didn't have a defense drone). So for general survivability, and saving lots of scrap because you need fewer repairs, I've found this to be the only consistently reliable approach.
Quote Posted by catbarf
Oh well. I'm starting to get the hang of it, my main complaint is that it seems awfully difficult to unlock the other ships.
Yeah, the Engi ship and Osprey will just come from progress, I think everything else is the result of a quest. The Rock ship is a pretty straightforward one which I lucked into very early. If you can find Rock Homeworlds you should get this one without too much trouble, and it's a good ship. Some of the others are so convoluted you're unlikely to get them without following a guide.
The slug ship is great! I'd tried the bio-beam before and didn't get the hang of it, but with the slugs' telepathy it is awesome - you can take out crews right from the start of the game without ever needing a boarding party. Have encountered very little difficulty with this ship.
Quote Posted by faetal
missiles rock for the flagship.
Be careful with that second phase though - a single-shot missile weapon will be blocked by the flagship's defense drone, so if relying on missiles, don't go in with just one :)
The Zoltan ship looks great for a starting setup and not too difficult to get, I'll hunt for that next time. How does the Zoltan shield aug work, you get one full bar at the start of every battle?
faetal on 4/1/2013 at 01:01
Quote Posted by VanBurenPhilips
Be careful with that second phase though - a single-shot missile weapon will be blocked by the flagship's defense drone, so if relying on missiles, don't go in with just one :)
This is where ion II really came in handy. Got the shields down and then switched from Hermes missile to Halberd beam when their shields got low.
Quote:
The Zoltan ship looks great for a starting setup and not too difficult to get, I'll hunt for that next time. How does the Zoltan shield aug work, you get one full bar at the start of every battle?
Yes, exactly that. Basically, you get 5 free hit points from any weapon type before you have any risk. The biggest bonus is starting with 3 Zoltan though, as you get their power bars.
catbarf on 4/1/2013 at 01:40
How do you maximize evasion? Is it just upgrading the engine and keeping the engines and pilot station manned?
I also got the Engi ship and it seems a little lackluster to me. It's fine for the first sector or two but once it hits enemies with 2 shields it doesn't seem to do enough consistent damage to survive the return fire. It's also harder to vent than the Kestrel so fire is more of a problem.
Ulukai on 4/1/2013 at 08:30
Quote Posted by catbarf
How do you maximize evasion? Is it just upgrading the engine and keeping the engines and pilot station manned?
Yes. You can also upgrade the autopilot so that if you need to get the pilot to put out a fire/repair a system you still get some evasion bonus. Without an upgraded autopilot, no pilot = no evasion at all, regardless of engine upgrades.
faetal on 4/1/2013 at 12:26
I completed my first run with the Engi ship. The ion blast II is great for getting through shields, you just need a rapid fire laser or missiles to finish the job. Also, don't underestimate the efficacy of some of the beam weapons which can penetrate a layer of shields. Having a halberd beam or fire beam do 1 damage to a row of rooms when the enemy ship has shields down to 1 can be really useful.
bob_doe_nz on 4/1/2013 at 13:04
20 runs through this and I still haven't even beaten the first iteration of the Boss ship.
However I'm loving every single bit of this while trying out different strategies and tactics.
VanBurenPhilips on 4/1/2013 at 15:56
Quote Posted by faetal
Basically, you get 5 free hit points from any weapon type before you have any risk. The biggest bonus is starting with 3 Zoltan though, as you get their power bars.
They both sound like great advantages. If you found a weapon pre-igniter as well you'd be way overpowered :) I'm on the hunt for this ship now. I also want to try out more beam weapon tactics, I've used the fire and bio beams a lot, but I always focused on taking the shields down completely - seems like doing partial but widespread damage could be really effective if you get the hang of it. I could never tell if that was working with the bio beam, because I had no sensor subsystem.
Quote Posted by catbarf
How do you maximize evasion?
Yep, exactly as you & Ulukai said. I'd recommend getting evasion up to 25 or 30% asap, then shield lvl2 before spending on anything else, most ships* should be alright with their starting weapons for this long. Then continue to up them both from time to time, I tend to have them both maxed by the time I meet the flagship. All very luck based of course but that's the plan.
* I ain't vouching for the stealth ship! That thing's baffling to me :)
Quote:
I also got the Engi ship and it seems a little lackluster to me. It's fine for the first sector or two but once it hits enemies with 2 shields it doesn't seem to do enough consistent damage to survive the return fire. It's also harder to vent than the Kestrel so fire is more of a problem.
I never got very far with the Engi ship either but I wasn't playing to its strengths, must try it again sometime. I'd like to try a setup with two Ion IIs if I ever find an extra one. The Engi and Rock ship consume ammo in every fight, so you're against the clock to find a decent new weapon. Good point about venting, the slug ship type A has an ace layout for it, and I just (today) got the Kestrel type B which is even better - I fly around with most of the unmanned rooms vented at all times. Risky of course, but it's great against fires & intruders, especially if you can upgrade your doors.
Good luck to ya bob_doe_nz, it's a tough old game but you'll learn quick and the randomness may not seem so harsh eventually.
bob_doe_nz on 4/1/2013 at 23:01
Quote Posted by VanBurenPhilips
Good luck to ya bob_doe_nz, it's a tough old game but you'll learn quick and the randomness may not seem so harsh eventually.
Believe it or not, I'm actually enjoying this game. It's simple but not so simple.
VanBurenPhilips on 5/1/2013 at 19:07
Great isn't it? :D I got my arse kicked so many times (on easy, let alone normal) but it's so addictive.
I got the Zoltan ship and botched my first run. Second attempt, now got a full suite of weapons incl. 2 beams... I love it! Also got gifted sys repair, anti-personnel and defense II drones by generous random people. I'm fit for the endgame & only in sector 6, fingers crossed!
Oh yeah, I've been seeing how little evasion I can get away with in the endgame. This all assumes fully skilled pilot and engineer - each guy adds 10% (unskilled, they add 5% each). I've run it with a maxed out engine several times which is 55%. Last time I tried 6 points in engine (max is 8) which gives 48% - seemed like more than enough, although you must have a good way of dealing with the boarding drones in boss phase 2. A single defense I drone was enough for me. This time I'm going to try with 5 points = 45%. And in future runs I may see if I can get away with less than max shields. The top level upgrades cost a lot, so any savings there could allow for more varied ship builds.
