Is it just me?

[Alsojames]

Is it just me or is the DA-SR12 (layout B for the stealth cruiser) completely useless?

For starters, it has no shields, but that's not a big deal for a stealth ship. On the other hand, It doesn't even start the game with enough energy to power its ONE WEAPON. Yes, it's a devestating weapon (it can easily one-hit anything in the first couple sectors) but you have to spend two thirds of your starting scrap just to power it! Not to mention that anything with an ion weapon can just lock you down for the whole fight.

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I always end up in the most BS encounters with this ship. Like starting off in a huge nebula where the only course of action is to move into a sun. Or fighting an enemy with ion and missile weapons, which basically lock down your weapons while its missiles start fires all over the place.

And that's on easy!

[Hoa_Binh]

It is not at all bad, you do know that you can de-power most systems to be able to use the beam? Don't need the medbay, nor all in engines for the start.

[VanguardOfValor]

I actually had a lot of fun with the Type B Stealth Cruiser.

Your stealth system can help you survive the long warmup for the Glaive Beam, and if you dedicate your energy to fighting people you can even get away with turning off your oxygen for a bit if need be. IT shouldn't take too long for you to fix up your energy situation, and then you can focus on getting a shield system to keep yourself alive and stable.

Bad luck can happen to any ship, though: one of the side effects of the way this game is made is that sometimes you will just get obliterated no matter how you try to recover. don't let it poison a ship for you because they can all be useful - even the Vortex.

[Alsojames]

Yeah but I've never had luck this bad with ANY other ship. I played with this ship a couple times, got frustrated, played the Loadout A stealth cruiser and had a blast. Then I went back to the Loadout B and I got obliterated in the second encounter.

[Tal]

You are right that it is a hard ship to play. There will be many moments in the early game where the enemy gets to take a shot at you before you kill them. If that shot hits your weapon system it's utterly devastating, as you have to repair it, then charge up again.

And if they have an offensive drone it tends to be terrible news.

If you are very lucky you can get through those early fights, get scrap and upgrade your shield, but a less luck based strategy is to level up the cloak as fast as possible, which eliminates the window people can hit your weapons in.

Still requires a fair amount of luck though...

[FDru]

It has plenty of power. Put your Zoltan on your engines and disable your medbay.

[tswaters]

I find this ship is completely gimped... probably only good for the pacifism run achievement, as you can avoid all the ships with long range scanners.

Sure, the glaive beam can take out any ship with one blast in the first couple sectors, but your weapons systems need to survive long enough to fire it. With 2 cloak, you can usually evade the first barrage, giving you enough time to power up the beam for the shot (usually -- with both engines powered & everything manned, only 80% evade when cloaked) -- any offensive drone hit to weapons and you are dead. Encounter a zoltan shield with an offensive drone? Good night Irene.

I can't even get past the first sector without blowing all the scrap I need for a shield on either repairs or engines/cloak. And when you get a couple of sick two-energy second weapon? You need to throw away 125 scrap just to upgrade your systems to power one of them, or maybe try your luck switching out the glaive, but just try to survive the few barrages the enemy will fire at you before you can take down the enemy ship.

Pretty much every other ship has a way that you can survive the first few encounters in the first sector -- either by running away or fighting, but not this one. You are going to take hull damage even if you play it flawlessly. Plus no titanium casing -- this would be most beneficial for allowing the weapons system take a bit of a beating, but nothing.

If there is any ship that needs a buff, this is it. I say give it the same engines as the type A and enough energy to power all the systems (except med bay) to start off. Still going to have a hell of a time with beam/antiship drones but it wouldn't be as completely gimped as it is now.

[DrunkenRine]

once i got a weapon preigniter from a surrendering ship right in sector 1 ... with the stealth ship b...

maybe your mind is able to behold the full meaning of this sentence one day.

[UltraMantis]

i have been struggleing with this ship recently and i can understand where you're coming from. The Stealth B is a chore to play. I'm starting to hate the Glaive beam anyway. One measly hit in your weapons bay and you're crippled. Considering that i havent been able to earn enough scrap to buy shields before early sector 2 at the eraliest, i'd say the chances of making any progress are very low. At least the Nesasio can tear it up for a long way before succumbing, but the DA-SR12 can barely make any progress.

That said, noone is twisting your arm into playing such a tough ship. You do it to yourself. And despite of my criticisms, i enjoy the challenge. Even if the one-dimensional nature of the ship gets on my nerves sometimes.

My two best runs involved trading away the damn Glaive. It's not a good starting weapon, it's a pain in the ass to recharge it for so long and every fight is allways the same. The only question is do you have Cloak lev2 or lev3, and does the enemy have a drone that forces you to cloak sooner than you'd like. Every fight is about avoiding the first enemy volley and unleashing the Glaive which sometimes doesn't quite kill the ship in the first strike, and the second one is a long way off. Once i traded it away for a Halberd and i was much happier. The faster recharge felt like such relief. The other occasion, i traded away the Glaive and Attack MkII (no drone control) for a Teleporter and a second Mantis. Of course the next three ships were impossible to defeat with boarding...

[Number43]

I managed to win with it on normal once. Took a few tries though before I got past the early game in good shape.

It really would be a lot easier if it had the system casing of type A, not because that augment is worthwhile, but you can sell it for 50 scrap in order to help pay for a shield.