Using the Bravais /Crystal Men

[Mr.spacedude]

Well i've just been using the bravais and i've noticed a lot of things i don't know and a lot of vulnerabilities.

First off the layout scatters the systems as far away from each other as possible with 11 rooms between the weapons and engines.

And I know nothing about crystal men or their lock-down ability how long does it last what PRECISELY does it do.

I think we need some tips for using the bravais with all its mystery

Because those god Damn POWERFUL crystal weapons that tear everything without defence drones or stealth to shreds are definitely worth it.

Also errrm how do you post an image im an internet newbie
TY

[Aerowind]

Crystal Weapons are more powerful, true, but fail horribly against the second phase of the boss (because crystals act as missiles, and can be shot down by defense drones).

The Crystal Ship is set up the way it is to take advantage of the Crystal's natural abilities...namely, venting any boarders that come. Also, lockdown...well, locks down the room. Nobody can enter or exit, which again, helps with the suffocating of enemies. Get level 2 doors, and when the enemy tries to break through a door, just go to the other side of it and use the lockdown ability so they can't get in until it dies down. By then, you should have vented them all into space.

[actionhero112]

Upgrade your defenses first.

Shields, Drone Bay + Defense drone should be the priority, most ships are decimated by crystal weaponry, you don't need to upgrade your weapons until basically directly before the final boss. Don't be afraid to sell Sell Crystal vengeance too, no strategy should be about taking damage, and it gives a decent chunk of scrap.

Then buy Crew Tele ASAP. Sometimes I'll even get it before the drone bay. Reason being is that Crystal men are the best boarders. They can teleport into a room, lock it down and 2 v 1 the person in there, also preventing them from going to the medbay. Rinse and Repeat. They can even do this in automated drones, because the racial less suffocation damage, they can tele over, destroy shields, drone bay etc, and teleport back before asphyxiation on a level 1 teleporter.

Spend scrap on defense primarily.

IMO, I think the Bravais is a better boarder than it's Type B, because it doesn't struggle against Zoltan shields, and are able to destroy ships in the beginning rather than being forced to board, with meager defenses. You take less damage this way, and spend less on repairs.

[zzandrio]

I've got a full playthrough of the crystal A at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S9tjGz0t9M and a no weapons challenge run with the crystalB at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyizrO0FW5Q Should be some tricks in there for using these ships. (Being full playthroughs, these videos are pretty long.)

[SushaBrancaleone]

i find the crystal ship to be the strongest in the game
particularly the B version.
It has a 4 room teleporter froms tart and 3 ice people. but no weapons. Its not a problem u really dont need them until the boss. it also comes with stealh in default

The special ability is better exploited with the B ship. This is what I do.

teleport crew to weapons room (2 crew if room is 2 squares 3 if its 4 squares) and IMMEDIATELY use the special ability.
IF you have done this fast enuff, there will be NO crew in the enemy weapons room. Using the special ability prevent the enemy crew from entering the room. Before the ability is over you should be able to take down antleast 1 enemy weapon.
You also want to use your STealth to evade the first missile. By the time the ability is over you will have dodged a missile, slowed their cooldown and taken down at least 1 weapon. Depending if the enemy ship has a medi bay you can either repop the special skill to take down the enemy weapons entirely or if the ship does have a medibay u can let them in and close them in the room before they head to the medibay and thus kill them real fast. In the first 3 sectors you will win all fights easily if u use all 3 icemen. just try to find more crew. If you can add a mantis to your boarding party its is best as they do more damage and help take down weapons faster. but always keep the 3 ice people to have the special ability, u can win fights real fast taking very little damage this way.

What works best with this strategy is to get level 2 shields and a defence drone up asap. no need of weapon, which you will only really need to kill the boss (as killing all the crew on it wont get u a win u have to smash the hull). You also wont need a mark 2 def. drone until the boss.

You can focus on ugprading your defences with this tactic.

You will have trouble with DRONE/automated ships and ZOLTAN SHIPS, especially if u dont find a weapon soon. (DONT BUY one just wait till u find one or can buy a decent one)

With ICEmen you can teleport to automated ships weapons room and take them down and teleport them out before they die of asfixiation. they have 125 health and seem to suffer less from lack of oxygen than rock men.

Still you wont be able to "kill" automated ships without doing hull dmg. so if i get stuck in a fight with one i destroy their weapons room with a teleport and then wait for my ftl to be ready and jump out.

There is an exception, you can fight against both such kinda ships in asteroid fields, meteors will do the hull damage for you allowing you to boards zoltan ships and to destroy automated ships.


I think thats all. but hey the special ability is really OP, as far as you can port in the enemy room and either destroy their weapon or kill their crew you enemy will be either unable to harm you or lose all their crew very soon into the game.

This works great all the way to sector 7, just upgrade your shields soon as to counter dmg from beams and get a def drone up against missiles, which you will only need for longer tuffer fights.

overall, i found out that the crystal ship (B) is the easiest to beat the game with. I dont rem how hard it was to unlock but its even better than the a version (with which i beat the boss on norm for the 1st time).

[SushaBrancaleone]

Oh one more thing.

WHen you use a crystal ship You dont need to find the pod and the lab to find the secret sector again, so if you go to the rock homeworld with this ship, you have a chance at popping into the secret sector again. THis is both great in terms of final score (1 more sector) and in the weapons you can buy there at very cheap prices.

[boran_blok]

oh my, that changes a lot of my strategy for this ship. I will always try to line up some red sectors from now on.

[UberFubarius]

Actually I never tried this before...
But is engie's medbay dispersion rate fast enough to heal crystal's suffocation damage (which occurs at half the rate)?
If so, I just need to keep a few room oxygenated for my normal crew and vent the rest!

[Troacctid]

Actually I never tried this before...
But is engie's medbay dispersion rate fast enough to heal crystal's suffocation damage (which occurs at half the rate)?
If so, I just need to keep a few room oxygenated for my normal crew and vent the rest!

I don't know about that, but Crystal B's layout naturally allows you to vent all the unmanned rooms except the 02 room while leaving your manned rooms and medbay/teleporter with oxygen. So I usually just leave everything vented all the time anyway.

[manicdad]

I've been using the Crystal Ship A, and the "Lockdown" ability of the Crystal men hasn't shown up. I teleport them into a room, and the enemy crew just waltzes in. Move them to another room, and the enemy crew follows. How does this ability show up?

Thanks...