Looking for some help

[MrNooby]

So I'm new to the game. I have a few ships unlocked, and I'm currently trying to unlock the federation cruiser.

I know this can be done one of two ways, by defeating the flagship with the engi cruiser, or by destroying the flagship that is under construction.

I've got my crew members skills up in their relevant roles as early as possible by buying a second shield level and getting into battles where my shields can't be fully pierced, to get as much of an advantage as I can.

I've gotten to the flagship numerous times, and I am yet to win, playing on easy. On my latest attempt I was running the Kirstel Type B, and was full hp, no crew members dead, everything in top shape at the third phase. I had 3 Burst 1 lasers, and a Basic laser, and I got destroyed completely and utterly. By the time I'd worn down the super shield to be able to hack and fire upon their systems, my weapons were being hit, and hard. From there it all went downhill.

I know that the rebel flagship that is under construction is an event in the rebel stronghold sector, what I'd like to know is how rare it is, and is there any way I can narrow it down where it may possibly be on my map? I've been taking the routes that allows me to see the most red sectors to maximise my chances of finding it, but I've yet to have any luck.

Barring that, what is the best way to go about defeating the flagship in sector 8, with either Engi Cruiser Type A or B (or C, not unlocked yet).

Please do be detailed in how I go about it and what goals I have as I progress throughout the game. All help is appreciated.

[stylesrj]

The best advice is to hope the RNG is in your favour and all your shots hit the super shields.
Your latest run sounds like it should have been the best thing ever. I wish I could get that many Burst Lasers on my ships in every run.
That or Burst Laser II's or Flak 1.

Some actual advice would be well...
Try getting a teleporter and some Mantis crew as soon as possible. Use them to clear the Flagship in Phase 1 so that there won't be any repairs in any phase and you get free reign of the ship. Invest in the Zoltan Shield Bypass if you can.

When attacking the Flagship in Phase 3, do not ever target the Triple Burst laser. Leave that intact! Three Heavy Lasers are annoying, but they're not as annoying as 3 missiles that can go through all shields.

Also, if you can't deliver heavy firepower quickly, invest in a cloaking device. In most of my runs, the cloak is mandatory to avoid that Power Surge on Phase 3 that'll really ruin your day. It's a real shame though as some already have 2 other systems and that cloak means you can't use anything else.

I used to also invest in Mind Control just to avoid it in Phase 3, but if you just micromanage your crew or brute force your way in (or use a Clone Bay) then even that Mind Control Device is a joke.

As for finding the Flagship under construction, it's going to be at an empty beacon. If you have acquired a scan of the area or got Long Range scanner, go for those beacons in the Stronghold Sector. One of them will possibly be the event.

Stronghold Sectors I think can be encountered as early as Sector 2, if you're lucky. It's definitely red but there is no pattern. Just like stasis pods and Rock Homeworlds. You might get one or the other.
Once you've passed the Stronghold, the only way to encounter it again is to start a new run.

[MrNooby]

I've read that killing all of the crew on the flagship makes the AI take over, and repair quickly. I'll definitely invest in cloaking this time round.

Also my question wasn't how do I find the event itself, but the rebel stronghold sector, is there any key to being more likely to find it, or is entirely RNG?

[Leylite]

Also my question wasn't how do I find the event itself, but the rebel stronghold sector, is there any key to being more likely to find it, or is entirely RNG?

Sadly, like finding any particular sector type, it's entirely RNG. Just try to maximize the number of red sectors you can see on your route, and hope for the best.

That said, despite how amazing the reward is for killing the Flagship Construction you certainly don't need to complete that quest (nor any other) to win the game.

[MrNooby]

Oh I know that. I've read up the federation cruiser and I love the idea of it. I feel like unlocking it will be easier destroying the partly constructed flag ship, rather than the actual one.

I've started a new run and it's not going so bad. I'm in the Red-Tail, sector 6, 1 Burst II Laser, 3 Basic, 3 Zoltan crew members, in shielding, engines, and weapon bay all maxed in the skill, along with a human captain maxed on helm and 2 rocks.

I've got a fair amount of upgrades, including cloaking, and I feel if I can get my hands on more burst lasers I can beat the flagship via mass laser barrage.

[MrNooby]

Got through flag ship phase 1 and 2 smooth sailing with 80% hull left...then my zoltans started dying, and even with max reactor, power started going off....medbay on fire, oxygen down, weapons frantically being repaired...I got the 3rd phase of the ship to no shields active, and 2 bars of hull before I died...

So close....yet so far...

[stylesrj]

Keep trying.

Cloak may be expensive, but you only need 1 bar of power. If you time it right, you can activate it before a Power Surge, dodge everything and then have it recharge in time for the next one.

The teleporter may also be your friend. If you take down their super shields in Phase 3, send all non-essential crew to board them. If you have the bypass, then send them.
Non-essential crew means Shields, Weapons, Sensors and Doors. Even if they're Engies, it's a lot better having them blast at the subsystems.

Don't do that strategy though if there's still enemy crew onboard. Let them come to you or kill them all off in Phase 1. Phase 1 is a good time to build your strategy. No power surges, just an annoying cloaking device and hacking module.

A good boarding run would be Teleporter, Reconstructive Teleport and Clone Bay. That way you don't have to worry about them dying if the Flagship cloaks and you need to extract your team for healing. The reconstructor will do that and if they die, Clone Bay will revive them.

Some say boarding is risky, but I think it's worth the rewards if you know how to mess with the AI (watch those suckers run for the shields when you put one foot/claw in the room).

[MrNooby]

Started another game, took a risk and looked at a store in sector 1 at the cost of a jump, after finding a few things I could sell, and was fortunate enough to find a Burst Laser II, obviously not passing that up. Now all I need is another 3...

[stylesrj]

We all wish for 4 Burst Laser II's for any run. But it never does seem to happen

Not even in runs where I decide to be a little cheaty and disable the Rebel Pursuit.

[MrNooby]

Well, after a few losses in sectors 3-4, I made it to the rebel stronghold. I was all excited, naturally, I overstayed my welcome by a long time, even at the risk of dying just so I could take out the flagship under construction, but I never found it unfortunately.

Upon reaching the last shop in sector 5 before going to the flagship I was unfortunate enough to still have 4 basic lasers....and I had all but given up on the idea of winning this time round. Then I saw a teleporter.....so in the end, I had a L3 teleporter, L3 hacking, L4 Shields, L4 Engines, L2 Medbay, L2 Oxygen (because one time I had level one and they hacked it, all my guys died from suffocation.....), amongst a myriad of other things. I sold all my weapons to fund what I needed. I had enough power to fully power everything, without juggling.

As soon as phase 1 flagship started, I took out the missle salvo quickly, cloaking the one shot it managed to get off. Next the laser, then Ion. From here on out, I couldn't take any damage, I had only taken 1 hull damage so far...

Then I realised my problem...if I have no weapons at all, then the only way the destroy the ship is to sacrifice a crew member, unless I wanted to activate the super AI, which I certainly didn't want to do. Well I managed it in any case, sacrificing one of my unskilled humans. In the 2nd phase, I immediately destroyed the missle salvo system once again, then went for the drone bay. My mistake was thinking that destroying the drone bay would stop the drone swarm....alas, I was wrong.

And from there well...I got blasted to pieces. My cloak didn't last long enough to do me much good.

This run, I'm taking a different approach from all my other runs. I'm running the Engi A Crusier again, but this time I'm going to focus it on ion weaponry, and boarding. Since I will be killing the crew of almost all vessels, I will be getting a fair amount of scrap, which I will use to power a highly defensive ship to evade fire while my crew goes about destroying the ships....from the inside. Let's hope it works out. I imagine my first two purchases will be a cloning bay and a teleporter.