Am I just a REALLY bad player, is it this hard for everyone?

[Todes_Schnitzel]

I say only 3 Wins with the Vortex und I make only 5 runs with the Vortex.

[Taskeen]

I don't remember, its been a while since I played FTL. It was something like 50/0.

[Nimbostratus]

Games played: 57
Victories: 1


I'm still a n00b. :p

[Alvarin]

167/56 but of those about 10 on easy.

[OnyxShadow]

I played the game over ten times before I even considered going to normal difficulty. FTL can be brutal, but if you only have one win in over 100 tries, you are probably missing something fundamental. I'd suggest watching one of the better players who streams the game on twitch.tv like LethalFrag (who last I checked had 14 wins in 17 tries on normal in his last reset).

[Mataza]

54 games/5 wins.

It´s a learning issue I guess. With learning I mean risk/reward type things.
Because I fear lose/lose events like the unknown disease on a mining colony, I sometimes use a wiki for the random events(if you choose "Send in your crew to help control the crowds." in the disease event, you either lose a crew member and get a bit of scrap or nothing happens. Ignore the event unless you have blue options)

I had my first win at 40 games or so, because of my uninformed bad decisions in the beginning.
Also I noticed some things:
Killing crew without destroying the ship gives MUCH more scrap and sometimes weapons.
Buying drone control for 1 defense drone(against rockets) is worth it(after you have 2 shields).
Multiple Burst laser 1/2 are one of the best armaments.
You need at least two ion blast 1 or one ion blast 1 & heavy ion to suppress shields.
Against the last boss use a teleporter. Board the weapon rooms and teleport back after the weapon is destroyed. Rinse, repeat.

[Beric]

66 played
5 Victories (one on normal, my first and only normal playthrough)

I've yet to unlock the Rock, Crystal, or Mantis Cruiser.

The best ship in the game is the Zoltan B. The Zoltan Shield is amazing. Get a cloaking device by the last boss and fire while cloak, and you're invincible. 3 of my 5 with with ship (including the 1 normal)

The Fed Cruiser A is also quite good. You take a lot of hull damage with the boss, but the beam will kill him. My other 2 wins with this ship were with 1 and 0 HP left, respectfully.

I play very conservatively. Never gone for a board strategy, and never based myself too much around missiles (except for the boss). Drones and missiles and crew members can run out. Infinite weapons are much better.

[Mataza]

66 played
5 Victories (one on normal, my first and only normal playthrough)

I've yet to unlock the Rock, Crystal, or Mantis Cruiser.

The best ship in the game is the Zoltan B. The Zoltan Shield is amazing. Get a cloaking device by the last boss and fire while cloak, and you're invincible. 3 of my 5 with with ship (including the 1 normal)

The Fed Cruiser A is also quite good. You take a lot of hull damage with the boss, but the beam will kill him. My other 2 wins with this ship were with 1 and 0 HP left, respectfully.

I play very conservatively. Never gone for a board strategy, and never based myself too much around missiles (except for the boss). Drones and missiles and crew members can run out. Infinite weapons are much better.

I disagree that Zoltan B is the best. In the first 2 sectors a simple fight in an asteroid field can destroy you before you can actually get a normal shield.
Kestrel B is by far easier to use. Any ship besides the Engi B and stealth is safer to use than Zoltan B.

[Tipsy]

I thought I was doing bad, but I'm only at 22 games with 1 win.

[Justin]

If it makes you feel better, the first time I beat the game legitimately (aka. without developer cheats) was like a week before release. (I helped make the game) Also, I'm sorry for your pain.