FTL

[Hermie]

I've been playing on iPad, had a great run on the Engie ship where I focused on a boarding drone I got early. This guy would wreck most crews and I could get more weapons and salvage from it. When I came to the flagship, I sent out my trusty drone, only to have it land in one of the weapon chambers that doesn't connect to the rest of the ship. Unlike the teleport there's no way to recall it with out it being destroyed, so in the end, I just had to have my weapons bounce of my shield until I got destroyed. =(

 

Pic from someone else that had the same problem:

 

[SecretAsianMan]

I started playing the AE last night.  I was never that good at FTL to begin with and it's a comfort to know that I still suck.  I haven't really gotten the hang of using hacking but I LOVE mind control.  Flak cannons just aren't working well for me, but I've only used them once or twice.  Despite all the new content (which I love), I have to say what I really like the most is just the extra polish that's been applied to the game.  The little UI tweaks such as highlighting a section of a room when you send a guy there, better descriptions of crew members and weapons/tech, manning stations like doors and sensors, saving crew positions, etc.  It's so much fun.

 

A couple questions about the cloning bay:

 

1. Does it have a queue for cloning guys?  If, for example, one of my crew members dies fighting off an attack and a second dies a short while later while the first guy is in the process of getting cloned, does the bay automatically start cloning the second guy when the first is finished. 

 

2. Are there any downsides to the cloning process?  Is purposely asphyxiating crew members after a fight to get them back to full health a viable strategy?

 

By the way, that tip about countering enemy mind control with yours is the best.  Thanks guys.

[dibs]

I think your crew loose some of their experience points when they revive. I haven't actually used a clone bay yet myself though!

[dibs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-gra_mEWeY

[Codicier]

I have been playing FTL as my break game for the past couple of days.

The advanced edition has really been a nice surprise, it wasn't expecting that much from it but it's rounded off some of the jagged edges of the experience while still maintaining the tension.

I always seem to go for the maximum amount of lasers combined with a missile system or a beam that I can switch between by powering one on or off.

I intend to use the missiles to take out Shields early on, then switched to the beam to inflict lots of damage, Managed to hit sector seven on normal this way which I was pretty happy about.

[tberton]

A couple questions about the cloning bay:

 

1. Does it have a queue for cloning guys?  If, for example, one of my crew members dies fighting off an attack and a second dies a short while later while the first guy is in the process of getting cloned, does the bay automatically start cloning the second guy when the first is finished. 

 

2. Are there any downsides to the cloning process?  Is purposely asphyxiating crew members after a fight to get them back to full health a viable strategy?

 

By the way, that tip about countering enemy mind control with yours is the best.  Thanks guys.

 

1) Yes there is a queue and I believe it goes through them automatically.

 

2) Crew members lose a bit of experience after being clone, but it's not a ton, so asphyxiation might still be the right strategy in certain cases. I wouldn't do it too often though.

[dibs]

Oh, SAM, if you have a teleporter, then there is

an upgrade that heals your guys when you teleport them

[SecretAsianMan]

Cool, thanks for the answers.  I don't purposely kill them very often, only when they're near death anyway and I haven't upgraded the bay's healing between jumps.

 

And dibs, I know about that upgrade but I'm one of the people that hates the teleporters so I never use them.

[Bjorn]

Once you get the cloning machine leveled up and its healing a fair amount per jump, then asphyxiating them doesn't seem that necessary.

 

Your dead will still queue up to be cloned even while the machine is off as well.  You have a few seconds to turn it on before their soul is lost to the vastness of space. 

[SecretAsianMan]

Your dead will still queue up to be cloned even while the machine is off as well.  You have a few seconds to turn it on before their soul is lost to the vastness of space. 

 

Haha, I was just about to come ask that.

 

What about death due to a random event (like helping with a viral outbreak or taking a strange creature onboard that eats someone)?  I assume there are some kind of events give you additional options if you have a cloning bay.

[Bjorn]

I don't think I've seen any Blue options yet, BUT, if you lose someone to an event (like the space spiders), then they just get cloned and you get them back.  The cloning bay doesn't have to be on to have that happen.  The flavor text of some of that is pretty amusing. 

[tberton]

Yeah, Clone Bay makes random events a lot more do-able. However, the one with disease will still permanently kill the guy, because the clone will still be diseased.

[Gormongous]

I am playing a hack-and-beam game while listening to Genesis' Invisible Touch. It's the best thing ever. It (the hacking drone) takes control (of their shields) and (the beam) slowly tears you apart.

 

[TurboPubx-16]

I lost to the second phase of the boss, in what can be described as a run blessed by the laser gods. I sold four Burst Laser 1's! I discovered the greatness of the Charge Laser 2, as well as the flack (flak?) cannon. I tried out the Beam Drone 2 for a bit only to discover that synchronizing it with my weapons was not possible. All in all it was a very fun run. I've discovered that the way for me to enjoy FTL is to take my time. Reading all of the text helps me relax and play the whole game much more methodically.

[SecretAsianMan]

Ok, I'm now onboard with hacking.  I think my favorite part of it isn't the direct effect it has on the system, but rather that it locks the doors and prevents people from entering.  Also the fact that you can see into the room in nebulas means it pairs well with mind control.  On my current run I've been using mind control and hacking as a quick combo at the start of a fight to disable a system (usually weapons) long enough for me to take it out with my cheap lasers then slowly pick off the rest of the ship.

 

I'm not really into the charge weapons, I love the new chain ones though.  I did manage to pick up a Vulcan on a run, and even got a pre-igniter, but didn't have the resources to utilize it fully.  That thing is awesome, I'd love to mess around with it some more.

 

I'm liking having Lanius crewmembers.  Trying to unlock the B ship configuration has led me to an anti-boarding strategy I hadn't considered before, which is constantly maintaining a vacuum in every room that's not occupied by non-Lanius so any boarders automatically start losing health.  Of course this doesn't work when I fight other Lanius.  It also requires at least one point in doors, or someone manning it.  One thing about getting the achievement for less that 20% oxygen that's driving me nuts is I almost had it but then I got screwed by a hack on my door control.  I didn't realize it until after the fight, but when the doors got hacked they all slammed shut and my oxygen levels went up to 60%, costing me the achievement.  It was kind of a hilarious scenario but it also really annoyed me because I was literally one jump away from getting it.

[tberton]

I'm liking having Lanius crewmembers.  Trying to unlock the B ship configuration has led me to an anti-boarding strategy I hadn't considered before, which is constantly maintaining a vacuum in every room that's not occupied by non-Lanius so any boarders automatically start losing health.  Of course this doesn't work when I fight other Lanius.  It also requires at least one point in doors, or someone manning it.  One thing about getting the achievement for less that 20% oxygen that's driving me nuts is I almost had it but then I got screwed by a hack on my door control.  I didn't realize it until after the fight, but when the doors got hacked they all slammed shut and my oxygen levels went up to 60%, costing me the achievement.  It was kind of a hilarious scenario but it also really annoyed me because I was literally one jump away from getting it.

 

That's the strategy I was playing for a while. It's super fun, but tough to pull off. Got me to the Flagship once, but I didn't have the right weapon loadout for it.

 

In other news, Zoltan C is bullshit, especially once you start encountering anti-drones.

[Bjorn]

I also did the air purged ship with the Lanius, super effective and amusing.  I did manage to get the below 20 percent achievement, but I was playing on Easy for that one, as I wanted to make sure I unlocked the B variant.

 

The C version of the Federation ship is interesting, got it last night on Normal (then died on Phase 3 of the Flagship).  The artillery beam gets replaced with an artillery super flak cannon, but you have NO weapons at all.  Seems like it might be more powerful overall, but would be a slog through the opening sector or two until you pick up another weapon to help out. It's a shame you can't man the Artillery Beam for some other effect. It's also got a teleporter, Clone Bay and 2 Zoltan crew, so I tried using them as suicide bombers.  Unfortunately their death explosion isn't that powerful.  With their reduced health, they don't do enough damage while alive for their death to finish a normal human enemy off. 

[Gormongous]

For me, the most interesting moment of an FTL game is the realization that you're somehow behind the scrap curve and that you need to find a way to beat the flagship beyond your default strategy (for me, usually hacking, cloaking, burst lasers, and beam weapons). For the most part, I dislike that the flagship breaks so many rules (especially the disconnected rooms, the invulnerability to a crew wipeout, and the special powers that work even when their relevant systems are destroyed), but I do like that it is a crucible of player strategy that can force some incredibly tight moments and some flashes of brilliance.

[Sno]

There's a new rebel stronghold area in AE that has a possible encounter with a second under-construction flagship. The fight is tough, but you only need to win once, and it's nowhere near as difficult as any of the three fights with the final boss.

It's a good encounter to beef up your resource pool with, because the rewards for beating it are quite tremendous.

[Bjorn]

Oh, wow, I saw that as an option once late in a run, and ended up opting for a Green Engi space, as I was badly in need of a store to repair and figured it was the safer option.  I'll have to head down that route next time I see it. 

[tberton]

Man, I just had an incredible run: Red-Tail, fully upgraded hacking, Flak I, Laser Charger I, Basic Laser and Halbered Beam. By the final sector, I had a fully upgraded engine, 3 shields, full backup battery and full crew. I was taking out those random Sector 8 rebel ships without taking a hit. And then.... I lost to the second battle with the Flagship. The problem was that my hacking was useless because of the defense drone and I couldn't get through their shields fast enough to do any damage.

Mistakes I made: Lasers instead of Ions, no Mind Control or Crew Teleporter, throwing money into subsystems instead of saving for a fourth shield and mistiming some hacking in the first flagship battle.

[Nachimir]

A strategy I really want to try for the fun of it is a reverse boarding party.  Mind Control to turn enemy, teleport to bring them over to my ship to a room vented to space, and upgraded doors to keep them there until they die.   Not the most efficient strategy, but it turns FTL into a space horror simulator, only you are playing the villain/monster.  This amuses me.

 

Suffocating an enemy crew by keeping shields down and using EMP on the O2 was one of my favourite grim things from the previous version

[tberton]

Any tips for using the Federation B? I'm having trouble.

[Bjorn]

Any tips for using the Federation B? I'm having trouble.

 

I focused on getting the Artillery Beam up to max level first, then invested everything else into shields/engines for defense.  I also farmed an early enemy for experience once I was at shield level 2 to get my pilot and engineer up to max level.  Fights were slow for awhile depending on the beam, but it kept me alive and scrap coming in until I found a store with something good.  I eventually got hacking and a decent missile launcher, which combined let me control an enemies weapons systems as my beam carved them up.  But that wasn't enough to tackle the Flagship once I got there. 

[dartmonkey]

I really fancy trying this out but last time I played 40 hours vanished into the ether.