Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q's

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evoblade
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 8:09 pm

Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q's

Postby evoblade » Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:49 pm

I got to the final boss with stealth A last night. The first two phases weren't that bad (thanks for isolating those weapons rooms guys, made it super easy for my boarding crew), but the third, holy crap. I quickly melted under a swarm of drones and a hail of missiles? What am I supposed to do?

I struggled with weapons the whole run, once the enemies have 3 or more shields the dual laser doesn't do anything and therefore the minibeam is useless. I got a firebomb later on and that was useful for softening up their equipment/crew before my boarding party came calling. I used the dual laser to soften up their shield before bombing, because it seemed lower shields made the bombs miss less (though this may have been my imagination / coincidence). What weapons should I be aiming for on this ship? How do I survive the boss 3rd stage between cloaks?
GPuzzle
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 12:37 pm

Re: Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q'

Postby GPuzzle » Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:21 pm

There are three parts on the boss:
Normal Battle
Drone Swarm
Laser Spam

Normal Battle:
Kill all the crew BUT the laser room guy and destroy shields. After that, throw whatever you have. Destroy the cloaking too.

Drone Swarm:
Teleport into drone room and destroy it. Also destroy the missiles room and the beam room. After you hear the siren, activate the cloaking. Repeat until flagship is defeated.

Laser Spam: You will probably have taken some damage on the last to fights. Go to a repair shop (almost necessary depending on how much health you have). After that, destroy the Zoltan Shield, teleport in and destroy everthing but laser room. If the shield regenerates, attack again. If you want to destroy the flagship with a coup de grace, perform an alpha strike on the laser room guy.
evoblade
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 8:09 pm

Re: Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q'

Postby evoblade » Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:00 pm

I think I killed all of the crew on the first phase. I can't remember, definitely on the second phase. Perhaps my memory / perception is failing me but it seemed as if the Drone Swarm was the third phase of going after the flagship. I assume the reason for leaving the guy alive is to prevent the computer from taking over?

Also, I'm still very unclear on which weapons I should be aiming for (to get for my ship)? Pretty much none of my weapons were useful other than the fire bomb and breaching drone. I did everything else with an away team (RIP lv 2 killer mantis guy, you set all the records for crew kills).

Also, which weapons stations are which? I'm not very good at recognizing what the weapons are.
The Captain
Posts: 390
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:44 am

Re: Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q'

Postby The Captain » Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:42 pm

You need weapons that can get through 4 layers of shields. Since the boss can cloak initially, sheer volume of laser shots is perhaps the fastest (though not only) way. It's rare to get three Burst Lasers Mk II, but hopefully you can get at least one - maybe two? - then some combo of other types. With only three weapon slots, a Burst Laser Mk III is an option (which I otherwise usually sell). Of course the Weapon Preigniter and Auto Reloader augs help immensely with the long cooldown.

The Ion Blast Mk II fires rapidly and will eventually knock down shields to where your other weapons will hopefully be able to do damage. The boss's cloak will enable shield regeneration, so you might have to "start all over." I like the Halberd Beam, because it does 2 damage per room, so if you miss some shots but still get down to 1 shield, it can still do a little damage.

Fire bomb is useful if you're boarding with Rocks, but IMO not so much otherwise: it doesn't do any system damge - i.e., you have to wait for fire to burn the system - and the boss has a lot of crew to put out fires. If you're going with bombs, then you need to have enough ammo, and my preference is for Ion Bomb or Breach Bomb Mk II. I do find the Small Bomb useful, though it needs more help than the others I mentioned.

Boss weapons left to right: Ion Burst, Burst Laser, Burst Missile, Beam.
evoblade
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 8:09 pm

Re: Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q'

Postby evoblade » Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:11 pm

Thanks, gents. This is actually a pretty awesome and concise boss guide. Even though I've beaten the game a few times, I keep referring back to it.
anosmianAcrimony
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Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2013 6:55 pm

Re: Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q'

Postby anosmianAcrimony » Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:00 pm

I don't think he necessarily needs weapons that can get through four layers of shields. As he's running a boarding strategy, all he needs is some bombs to help him kill almost all of the enemy crew and some sort of damage dealing weapon - a single Basic Laser will do - for once his guys on board the Flagship have destroyed the Flagship's shield system.
The Captain
Posts: 390
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:44 am

Re: Stealth A - First time on final boss fight and weapon q'

Postby The Captain » Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:44 pm

anosmianAcrimony wrote:I don't think he necessarily needs weapons that can get through four layers of shields.

Well, there are various ways to defeat the boss. But being able to take down its shields and do damage really helps.
... As he's running a boarding strategy, all he needs is some bombs to help him kill almost all of the enemy crew and some sort of damage dealing weapon - a single Basic Laser will do - for once his guys on board the Flagship have destroyed the Flagship's shield system.

That's potentially more than "some bombs." I once had about a dozen with a small bomb, basic laser, pike beam and four Mantises with 2* combat (oh, and perhaps my most useless run to have a Weapon Preigniter). In the first round I missed with the bomb a bunch of times, had two Mantises KIA while boarding the main body, was almost out of ammo when I finally got some consecutive hits and took out the Medbay again, killing some wounded crew trying to fix it, so that my remaining two Mantises could eliminate the rest and take down the shields. But it was a very near thing.