Rock Cruiser

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Madhax
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:52 pm

Rock Cruiser

Postby Madhax » Mon Oct 29, 2012 12:36 pm

So, I see a lot of people praising the rock ship's strength on these forums. The rock ship was the last ship to unlock for me, and after trying it a few times I really didn't like it. I hate having a weapon system reliant of finite ammunition, I hate having a crew full of slow guys, I hate the door layout.

What am I missing? I haven't unlocked Rock B yet because of how much I dislike playing Rock A, but judging by the comments on these forums I'm missing something. What makes people like the rock ships, and how can I adjust my playstyle to take advantage of this ship?
SushaBrancaleone
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 2:23 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby SushaBrancaleone » Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:12 pm

boarding is the answer you are looking for.

Rockmen are immune to fire. with the rock ship A you want to buy a teleporter asap and then possibly a fire bomb.
teleport to enemy rooms and set them on fire. if u target the enemy weapons you should also reduce anyincoming damage which will save you scrap on the long run. Not having to buy and upgrade weapons (boarding is a viable strategy all the way to the boss (included)) will allow you to upgrade your defence earlier than usual and thus save scrap. by sector 3-4 you should can easily have lvl 2-3 shields and a defence drone mark 1 working.
if u can unlock the crystal ship B it starts with a 4 room teleporter a 4 room medbay next to it, no weapons, and a stealth system implemented. its the best ship for boarding and thus also the best ship in the game.

ciao
FDru
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:08 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby FDru » Mon Oct 29, 2012 4:49 pm

Best ship in the game? I'd argue that isn't going to be a boarding ship. Boarding ships are such a crapshoot early game, you could easily lose early due to encounters against ships that you simply cannot board. Maybe the Basilisk is a safe option, since it starts with the 2 shields and defense drone, but in general boarding ships struggle severely.

The Kestrel B and Zoltan B are probably up there as some of the top ships. These ships can finish the game with their default weapons setups (though the kestrel will need supporting systems to deal with 4+ shields), which is a huge boon, and makes them extremely effective throughout the entire game.
SushaBrancaleone
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 2:23 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby SushaBrancaleone » Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:23 pm

FDru wrote:Best ship in the game? I'd argue that isn't going to be a boarding ship. Boarding ships are such a crapshoot early game, you could easily lose early due to encounters against ships that you simply cannot board. Maybe the Basilisk is a safe option, since it starts with the 2 shields and defense drone, but in general boarding ships struggle severely.

The Kestrel B and Zoltan B are probably up there as some of the top ships. These ships can finish the game with their default weapons setups (though the kestrel will need supporting systems to deal with 4+ shields), which is a huge boon, and makes them extremely effective throughout the entire game.



som1 said

For me, the biggest issue FTL has is teleporting. For a small investment (75scrap), you can consistently capture ships - which has huge benefits - more scrap, more crew, and more weapons. It pays for itself very quickly.
You also don't need to invest in weapons (a bomb or missile to take out a medical bay/ reduce their firepower) is all you really need. Because weapons and weapons systems are so pricey, not having to do this lets you spend more on defenses, which means you take less damage, and get more money etc etc. It's also brilliant against the last boss. To put it simply, teleporting is reliable, predictable, and too good.



there are several posts out there stating how overpowered boarding is.

fdruu.. im sorry to tell u but u're doing it wrong... lol
Last edited by SushaBrancaleone on Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
FDru
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:08 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby FDru » Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:14 pm

I already know how powerful boarding is, and I never said it wasn't. Boarding ships simply have horrible early games against many ships.

auto scouts/fighters
Zoltan ships
anything with a medbay (with the exception of the Crystal ship since it can lockdown)

Are basically all off-limits until you get some real armaments. That is a lot of lost resources when you have to avoid so many ships. Whereas I can take the Kestrel B, Engi A, Zoltan B, etc and never skip a single encounter.
SushaBrancaleone
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 2:23 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby SushaBrancaleone » Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:05 pm

tbh ive reached sector 7 with 500-600 extra scrap (on normal) with the crystal ship b
the initial setup, is good enuff to take down the boss (as far as you gather a couple more crew).
You just need a weapon to take down the boss hull on stage 3. but even a one energy laser is sufficient once you have taken down all crew and shields. yes the boss turns on AI if you kill all crew, but if you destroy the bays that do offensive damage, all you have to do is dodge the 7 lasers shot special ability, and guess what the crystal ship b comes with stealth from start so you can just vanish before they shoot at you.

seriously if your having trouble in the first sectors with boarding, it is because you are not using boarding as your main strategy. you are wasting resources on buying weapons u dont need. focus on optimizing your boarding, not that its really needed either every time i have taken down the boss with the crystal b i have not upgraded med bay or teleporter beyond lvl 1. 3 crystal men and a mantis/rockman are plenty to beat any ship in the game. just use the special ability lockdown to either, lock enemy crew in the room preventing them from going to med bay or use it before the enemy crew enters the room, which allows you to take offline which eversystem you choose (i go for weapons).
this settup is available from the very start and works great throughout the game without having to further invest on it. talk about op
Madhax
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:52 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby Madhax » Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:17 pm

I'm well aware of the power of boarding. I've unlocked every other ship and beaten the game with most of them.

I'd like to try the fire+boarding strategy with the rock cruiser, I was just wondering if there was something else I was missing with that ship. Since it doesn't start with fire weaponry or a teleport system, getting that combo is something that would take some customization to achieve.
Fangz
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:57 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby Fangz » Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:23 pm

Madhax wrote:I hate the door layout.


The door layout is actually the strongest point of the Rock Cruiser. It has two horizontal lines of segmented empty rooms that can be used to easily vent pretty much every system room in the ship, making this ship almost fire proof (let alone rockmen being immune to fire).

Madhax wrote:The rock ship was the last ship to unlock for me, and after trying it a few times I really didn't like ithow can I adjust my playstyle to take advantage of this ship?


Well, apart from the awesome door layout, I also don't like the Rock Cruiser A at all. However, I managed to beat the game with it after a few tries.

What do you need to accomplish this? Luck. Yes, luck. Because you need to find weapons. If you happen to find decent weapons at a store, sell your missile launchers if necessary (and the good for nothing rock plating augmentation, which costs 40 scrap if my memory serves). In the meantime while you can't find/buy weapons get yourself a crew teleporter. Use boarding as a weapon replacement. You will take a lot of damage to the hull, but it should do the job until you find/buy a decent weapon setup.

So, finding/purchasing weapons is your #1 priority, otherwise you will starve on missiles. Don't be ashamed of selling your rock plating augmentation. It costs 40 scrap and it is not that useful. Basically, get rid of all your default stuff once you have the opportunity to get a better setup.

The rest is silence.
samules
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:39 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby samules » Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:49 pm

Boarding ships are tricky when you have no powerful weapons but really a bomb is good enough to deal with a medbay, crystals can board AI ships and wreck em so even a basic laser can kill them. Getting a weak laser of beam and a bomb of any kind is easy enough and then you just need to take good care of your boarding crew. Running with no weapons for more than a sector however is a terrible idea.
Neoviper
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:38 pm

Re: Rock Cruiser

Postby Neoviper » Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:59 pm

The rock A is a bit tough to use, missiles being your only starting weapon is fairly restrictive. Either better weapons or boarding are absolutely necessary to allow you to keep earning scrap without having to spend a prohibitive amount of what you make on more missiles. I like the rock B a lot more, as the heavy pierce doesn't require any upkeep cost, and the firebomb is just insanely effective with rock boarding. You can permanently shut down important rooms, primarily weapons and medbay for this ship, by bombing them and immediately following up with your rocks. Even if it's a fight they'd normally lose, the fire will fill the room causing the opposing crew to retreat. I love doing this to the weapons room, as they'll have absolutely no means to do damage to you, allowing you to kill the rest of the crew at your leisure.