FTL: Faster than Light, So... Anyone picked this up yet? Options

[ShadowDragon8685]

I've been playing it a lot the past two days. It's... Nifty, I'll give it that, it's very nifty. It's just also a pain in the ass, how shard it is to get so much as one new ship! Not only is it all randomly-generated, so the correct unlock conditions might not even appear in any given game, a lot of it is very Guide Dang It! in nature, and the rebel fleet encroaches, preventing you from making damn sure you've done everything possible.

[CanadianWolverin...]

And in true rogue-like fashion, Dying Is Fun ™.

This game is so good for a low price from Indie Devs who asked for a little to finish it in a Kickstarter and got a lot. Do yourself a favour if you play it, name your crew after friends, its like XCOM that way. There are so many little nuances that I suspect that anyone who says this is too hard is just kinda bad at games, sorry - luck has a lot less to do with if you win or lose than might first be apparent.

Like take a look at this sometime http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/ftl-preview-2/

In it, he does a brilliant space captain thing and ... well, I don't want to spoil it for you if you don't want it, but it didn't even occur to me until I read it and its absolutely a fantastic gamble on his part (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Just about every time I lost at this game, in the end I realized that each of those losses were my own damn fault. And that was wonderful. It generates harrowing tales of mistakes, recovery, victory, and loss that we can share with each other.

And you don't want to know what happened to Cpt CanRay *shudders* LOL

[X-Kalibur]

Now I have to...

A: Pick this up
B: Hear what happened to Capt. CanRay.

[CanRay]

I can feel the love. No, really, I can.

No, wait, that's heart burn.

[X-Kalibur]

I can feel the love. No, really, I can.

No, wait, that's heart burn.

I'm going to hope it involved tentacled aliens...

[ShadowDragon8685]

I'm going to hope it involved tentacled aliens...

It...

Actually, it might have. It's not impossible that Captain CanRay kicked the can in hand-to-hand combat with a Slug.

[CanRay]

You know, with my game budget as tight as it is (Along with the REST of my budget), you guys shouldn't be encouraging me like this.

[CanadianWolverin...]

It...

Actually, it might have. It's not impossible that Captain CanRay kicked the can in hand-to-hand combat with a Slug.

A psychic Slug.

[Fabe]

How can something so hard be so fun? I made it 5 sectors today before losing my last two crew members to fire,I was trying to vent the fires but forgot to open the doors to two rooms and that cost me the game.

[crash2029]

I picked it up yesterday and did three playthroughs. The final one actually got to the battle with the rogue dreadnought. I lost. But still, whoo! It was on easy though.

[X-Kalibur]

I picked it up yesterday and did three playthroughs. The final one actually got to the battle with the rogue dreadnought. I lost. But still, whoo! It was on easy though.

I've played through three times myself in the last couple of hours. Managed to unlock 2 ships and made it to the final battle... couldn't get to the damn dreadnaught though. I've unlocked the Engi ship and the Stealth ship (sucks, no shields)

[CanRay]

Got it, amazingly easy to die, but so addictive!

[X-Kalibur]

Damn, I'm up to 4 ships and 1 plan B layout (for the Kestrel). This game is damned addicting. Word of advice for the boss - bombs. Especially phase 2 where it goes drone crazy (and has a defense drone 2) your missiles won't get past to do any damage until you take out the defense drone.

Edit - 2 plan Bs. I have the plan B for the ship you get after beating the boss.

[_Pax._]

FTL is indeed addicting

But .... apparently I suck royally at it. I can hardly get to The Last Stand, I have only two ships - the starter Kestrel and the Engi ship - I have no B versions (only got 1/3 on the Engi because it's stupid easy).

*sigh*

What am I doing wrong??

[X-Kalibur]

FTL is indeed addicting

But .... apparently I suck royally at it. I can hardly get to The Last Stand, I have only two ships - the starter Kestrel and the Engi ship - I have no B versions (only got 1/3 on the Engi because it's stupid easy).

*sigh*

What am I doing wrong??

There are all sorts of little tips and tricks really. It mostly boils down to luck, but one way you can stack the odds is if you end up in combat with an enemy that cannot penetrate your shields - let the battle drag on for a bit. Your crew manning the pilot and engine get xp every time they dodge a shot and the shield operator can only get xp when the shields are struck anyway. There are also certain systems that you wouldn't normally think about upgrading that have a massive effect. Doors are a big one. At level 2 they stop boarders for a bit and in the mean time - you can vent all their air away. Honestly, the Kestrel (both A and B) are really strong ships and the Torus (Engi A) has a ton of potential - in fact, I beat the game with it first.

[_Pax._]

I do know about upgrading the doors. Also, if I can spare the scrap, I like to upgrade the Cameras once.

I can usually get to The Last Stand. But then, there's absolutely NO WAY I can survive combat. Even non-flagship Rebels at that point, absolutely murder me. I go from pristine ship, to drifting debris, in about the time it takes to say "my ship is now an expanding debris field" out loud. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[StealthSigma]

I do know about upgrading the doors. Also, if I can spare the scrap, I like to upgrade the Cameras once.

I can usually get to The Last Stand. But then, there's absolutely NO WAY I can survive combat. Even non-flagship Rebels at that point, absolutely murder me. I go from pristine ship, to drifting debris, in about the time it takes to say "my ship is now an expanding debris field" out loud. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

To beat the final boss I found that the following are ridiculously useful.

#1 - Cloaking field
#2 - Teleporter + 2 crewmen for boarding actions (preferably rockmen/mantis though humans are decent)
#3 - Fast firing Ion Weapon (helps with keeping the shields suppressed)
#4 - x2 3 shot or 5 shot weapons (for tearing through shields)
#5 - Repair drone (for repairing your hull)

#1 - The cloaking field is best used when you see the ship launch a lot of weapons at once. There's usually a warning message just before this happens.
#2 - Since it's not an automated ship, systems require crew to repair and the weapon systems are isolated from the bulk of the crew space. Teleport your two crewmen over to each of the weapon systems (starting with 3rd from the left) to have them kill the crewman manning it and destroy the weapon system. The 3rd from the left is the missile launcher. That means you only need to deal with drones and whatever special attack the ship uses.
#3 - Self explanatory, but best to have it auto-attack and target the shield system.
#4 - Self explanatory, auto-attack is your friend. I prefer targeting the O2 system with the higher attack count weapon and use my lower attack count weapon on their medbay. If your ion cannon is keeps the shields fairly well suppressed, this is the best way to kill off the enemy crew. I managed to kill off 2 or 3 of the crew (on easy) using that tactic in the first fight.
#5 - Self explanatory. Repair drones repair 3-5 of your own hull.

Other tips, if you think you can afford to do so, jump away from the battle when the flagship's crew teleports over. That traps them on your ship so you can deal with them at your leisure and bring all your systems back online.

I have 5 ships unlocked now.
Kestral A, Engi A, Zoltan A&B, and Federation Cruiser A.

[CanRay]

Ooooooooooooo, "No Redshirts" Achievement! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[StealthSigma]

Ooooooooooooo, "No Redshirts" Achievement! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I almost had that once, except for the fact that I wasn't paying close enough attention to one of my boarding actions.... forgot I had a weapon firing at the ship. Killed my two Rockmen I was using for boarding. SOBs had maxed out combat skill too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[_Pax._]

#3 - Fast firing Ion Weapon (helps with keeping the shields suppressed)
#4 - x2 3 shot or 5 shot weapons (for tearing through shields)
#5 - Repair drone (for repairing your hull)

.... good lord, how do you ever get enough Scrap to afford all that ...?!? O_O

[X-Kalibur]

To beat the final boss I found that the following are ridiculously useful.

#1 - Cloaking field
#2 - Teleporter + 2 crewmen for boarding actions (preferably rockmen/mantis though humans are decent)
#3 - Fast firing Ion Weapon (helps with keeping the shields suppressed)
#4 - x2 3 shot or 5 shot weapons (for tearing through shields)
#5 - Repair drone (for repairing your hull)

#1 - The cloaking field is best used when you see the ship launch a lot of weapons at once. There's usually a warning message just before this happens.
#2 - Since it's not an automated ship, systems require crew to repair and the weapon systems are isolated from the bulk of the crew space. Teleport your two crewmen over to each of the weapon systems (starting with 3rd from the left) to have them kill the crewman manning it and destroy the weapon system. The 3rd from the left is the missile launcher. That means you only need to deal with drones and whatever special attack the ship uses.
#3 - Self explanatory, but best to have it auto-attack and target the shield system.
#4 - Self explanatory, auto-attack is your friend. I prefer targeting the O2 system with the higher attack count weapon and use my lower attack count weapon on their medbay. If your ion cannon is keeps the shields fairly well suppressed, this is the best way to kill off the enemy crew. I managed to kill off 2 or 3 of the crew (on easy) using that tactic in the first fight.
#5 - Self explanatory. Repair drones repair 3-5 of your own hull.

Other tips, if you think you can afford to do so, jump away from the battle when the flagship's crew teleports over. That traps them on your ship so you can deal with them at your leisure and bring all your systems back online.

I have 5 ships unlocked now.
Kestral A, Engi A, Zoltan A&B, and Federation Cruiser A.

on #5 I both agree and disagree. I smoked the boss earlier today with the Zoltan A using 2 halberds, am Ion 2 (the one that fires every 4 secs, like on Engi A) and an ion bomb, along with an Anti-ship drone I and II. Bomb the shields first, while keeping the ion auto firing. As soon as the ship has 1 (or even 0 shields) nail the cockpit and shields with the halberds. Knocking out the cockpit sets dodge to 0 on them.

Another note about the final boss - one time I managed to kill all the on board crew... it simply became automated at that point.

[StealthSigma]

.... good lord, how do you ever get enough Scrap to afford all that ...?!? O_O

Kept enough scrap around so that I could buy all the fuel at every store I came across and bounced out of each system just before the rebel invasion overtook the exit. I also kept an even blend of hostile vs civilian sectors that was I got into a lot of combat to get scrap while making sure stores were plentiful enough for fuel. I basically made around 10 jumps, I think, in each sector.

[LurkerOutThere]

Yea now that i've learned not to race out of a system as fast as possible I find i can get some pretty good stuff going. It's also important learning what to buy and when. I mean sure some of the stuff is obvious, but a level 2 med-bay for instance helps a lot with that infected station occurance without having a rock or engi crew member. A teleporter also seems to be a must have for acquiring more crew.

[StealthSigma]

Yea now that i've learned not to race out of a system as fast as possible I find i can get some pretty good stuff going. It's also important learning what to buy and when. I mean sure some of the stuff is obvious, but a level 2 med-bay for instance helps a lot with that infected station occurance without having a rock or engi crew member. A teleporter also seems to be a must have for acquiring more crew.

The beacon scanner augment that lets you see where ships/events are is fantastic.

[LurkerOutThere]

One frustrating thing for me, i like taking ships intact, i loose more boarding parties though to computer cheats or firing mishaps then i'd like to think about, really sets you back.