Advanced Players: How are you beating normal?

[canman]

After getting hooked on this game like it's a sci-fi slot machine for the past week, I've gotten to the point where I can beat normal pretty regularly. I wanted to list out the ways that I've found to maximize my chances of getting all the way through, and wanted to prompt a discussion about where I might be able to improve and what's working for other people.

1. I always upgrade my shields as soon as I get 50 scrap. I find that with two shields, around 60-70% of my sector 1 and 2 battles are ones that I can take power off my engines (or oxygen, to keep some power on my engines for avoiding missiles) and throw them into my shields to avoid any chance of getting hit. Minimizing the scrap I have to spend on hull repairs early on sets me up to have the scrap to pour into whatever upgrades I need to get through the mid-game.

2. I don't splurge in the early and mid-game, except on 1. key augmentations and 2. good weapons. I don't buy the cloak or teleporter until late game to prepare for the boss. In general, I find the extra scrap serves me better in my shields and engines. The only augmentations I ever buy are pre-igniter and the scrap recovery arm. If I'm sitting on a lot of scrap, I'll buy the long-range sensors since those will pay for themselves quickly. Other than that, I find the advantages of the other augmentations not to be enough to justify the cost.

3. By being very frugal with my scrap, I can usually stay ahead of the curve on shields such that nobody can even hit me with lasers or beams until sector 7-8. That means the game virtually becomes "avoid the missiles." A lucky early defense drone (mark 1 - I don't find mark 2 to be worth the power and scrap) makes me virtually untouchable until the boss. If I find a defense drone, I'll pay for the drone system ASAP. Otherwise, if I get a surplus of scrap, I'll buy the drone system and cross my fingers that it comes with the defense drone. In general, I have found that very good evasion is not good enough by itself - especially when you get to late game where the enemies are pounding you with those 3-damage hull missiles. I find that I either need a defense drone or a weapon set that can disable weapons before the enemy's second or third missile volley.

4. I find that it is most important to manage your potential outcomes for weapons in sector 3-4-5. If you can't blast through level 3 shields by then, you're finished. If I haven't been lucky enough to bump into a good weapon set by then, I start hoarding scrap and traversing the maps to optimize the nodes that I see (not necessarily go to) in hopes of spotting multiple shops that might hold the weapon I need.

5. I've had great outcomes by targeting the enemy's engines or cockpit more than I used to. If I'm managing a 6 laser burst, instead of going for shields or weapons, I will often wreck the engines first. I am then guaranteed that all 6 lasers will meet their target, which makes the rest of the battle a more exact calculation.

6. A lot has been written about beating the boss. If I can get that far, I never have any difficulty. Cloak is definitely not necessary with 4 shields and high evasion, but I find that a teleporter makes life so much easier. You don't even need a good boarding team to take out the weapons. In fact, if I'm not sporting a max crew, I'll take my dudes off of shields and weapons to go over. Once the missiles and ions are gone, you can take your sweet time.

7. Missiles and bombs are wonderful against the final boss, but I find to have enough for that fight, I can't really be using them throughout the rest of the game.

So to summarize:

Early game: don't get hit (by upgrading shields immediately)
Early-mid game: get a weapon or two (by saving scrap and finding shops. . . or getting lucky)
Mid-late game: avoid missiles (by getting defense drone or strong weapons + evasion), keep investing in shields
Late game: prepare for boss (teleporter, cloak if you can afford)
Boss: take out the primary weapons and you're golden. Teleporter is the easiest, most reliable way to do this.

What's working for other people?

[UltraMantis]

1. I always upgrade my shields as soon as I get 50 scrap. I find that with two shields, around 60-70% of my sector 1 and 2 battles are ones that I can take power off my engines (or oxygen, to keep some power on my engines for avoiding missiles) and throw them into my shields to avoid any chance of getting hit. Minimizing the scrap I have to spend on hull repairs early on sets me up to have the scrap to pour into whatever upgrades I need to get through the mid-game.

Spot on.

2. I don't splurge in the early and mid-game, except on 1. key augmentations and 2. good weapons. I don't buy the cloak or teleporter until late game to prepare for the boss. In general, I find the extra scrap serves me better in my shields and engines. The only augmentations I ever buy are pre-igniter and the scrap recovery arm. If I'm sitting on a lot of scrap, I'll buy the long-range sensors since those will pay for themselves quickly. Other than that, I find the advantages of the other augmentations not to be enough to justify the cost.

It's allways wise to sit on around 120 scrap. The teleporter is best purchased early (earn more scrap overall, enemies are weaker and have lousy medbays) or ignored until the endgame. If going the boarding route, improve the teleporter right away and upgrade the medbay as well. Investing in engines improves evasion and each succesfull attempt improves your crew for even more evasion. This makes it a priority for me.

Other augs worth buying: Drone Recovery, Repair Arm, Re-Loader (stacks).

3. By being very frugal with my scrap, I can usually stay ahead of the curve on shields such that nobody can even hit me with lasers or beams until sector 7-8. That means the game virtually becomes "avoid the missiles." A lucky early defense drone (mark 1 - I don't find mark 2 to be worth the power and scrap) makes me virtually untouchable until the boss. If I find a defense drone, I'll pay for the drone system ASAP. Otherwise, if I get a surplus of scrap, I'll buy the drone system and cross my fingers that it comes with the defense drone. In general, I have found that very good evasion is not good enough by itself - especially when you get to late game where the enemies are pounding you with those 3-damage hull missiles. I find that I either need a defense drone or a weapon set that can disable weapons before the enemy's second or third missile volley.

Again, a solid approach. But Defense MkII is best paired with Defense MkI. If i had to choose between the two i'd go for MkI or two MkI. They shoot down missiles that ignore shield, they shoot down Boarding drones, they shoot down asteroids. MkII try to shoot everything and fail usually.

4. I find that it is most important to manage your potential outcomes for weapons in sector 3-4-5. If you can't blast through level 3 shields by then, you're finished. If I haven't been lucky enough to bump into a good weapon set by then, I start hoarding scrap and traversing the maps to optimize the nodes that I see (not necessarily go to) in hopes of spotting multiple shops that might hold the weapon I need.

Meh. Weapons are overrated. High power isn't nearly as usefull as a weapon set that can smackdown shields and/or medbay. If you can do that, you can beat the boss. Without the medbay, you can board and remove the crew then break the shields. Finish of with any puny weapon. I realise i make it sound too easy. It's not.

5. I've had great outcomes by targeting the enemy's engines or cockpit more than I used to. If I'm managing a 6 laser burst, instead of going for shields or weapons, I will often wreck the engines first. I am then guaranteed that all 6 lasers will meet their target, which makes the rest of the battle a more exact calculation

Not me. I go for their drones first if they are a threat. If not, then i disable weapons. I clobber the shield occasianaly. I prefer a toothless moving target to a stationary armed one. Your approach isn't without merit, might actually be better.

6. A lot has been written about beating the boss. If I can get that far, I never have any difficulty. Cloak is definitely not necessary with 4 shields and high evasion, but I find that a teleporter makes life so much easier. You don't even need a good boarding team to take out the weapons. In fact, if I'm not sporting a max crew, I'll take my dudes off of shields and weapons to go over. Once the missiles and ions are gone, you can take your sweet time.

Testify! However i did get to the boss onlt to reach a stalemate. Twice. He lost weapons, i lost crew and missiles, so neither could win. Too bad.

7. Missiles and bombs are wonderful against the final boss, but I find to have enough for that fight, I can't really be using them throughout the rest of the game.

Again, i completely agree. Saving ammo for the endgame is important. Boarding from the get go has the additional benefit of hoarding supplies. If not using drones except for occasianal defence, it's good to trade them away for missiles or fuel.

[canman]

Other augs worth buying: Drone Recovery, Repair Arm, Re-Loader (stacks).

I wonder - can you manage to still get enough scrap for your runs with a Repair Arm? Also, I find that I usually have enough droid schematics to launch my defense drones without Drone Recovery (the offensive drones don't seem to pack enough punch to justify the cost for me). I agree that 2x Re-loader is great, but I usually don't invest in one because I'm not sure a second will ever appear later in the game.

I go for their drones first if they are a threat.

Yep, definitely. Drones (especially in the mid-late game) can wreck all your carefully managed shield and evasion upgrades.

Boarding from the get go has the additional benefit of hoarding supplies.

I wanted to ask about boarding strategies. Despite the increased scrap and items it nets you, I usually don't board. Why? First, I don't like to spend scrap on crew members (instead getting them through the game events) and getting a good boarding team seems to happen too infrequently. Second, if I do dump scrap into teleporter + good boarding team and preoccupy myself with boarding, I often take more damage because I'm behind on upgrades and can't disable their weapons fast enough. However, its seems like a lot of good players love to board, so people must be making it work.

[SushaBrancaleone]

I agree with most of the stuff, i'm just coming to realize now the advantages of boarding and as the op said of how much easier they make the boss fight. If you managed to unlock the secret ship (crystal) the B version is great for boarding. U use the Crystal people special ability and can reduce ALOT of dmg.

This is what i do. move all 3 crew members to the port room (default 4 square room) and port to the weapons room (must be a 4 square room). Pause the game, and click the special ability as soon as your members are in the enemy weapons room. You should have blocked all enemy crew from entering that room, so you can hit the system and take down their weapons. If you decide to let the enemy crew inn after the ability is over you wont have shut down weapons totally, but its not a problem cos the ship comes with stealth, click it and go back to check your men.
If the enemy ship has a med bay you want to use the crystal men special ability again (u have 3 crystal people so you can time them) a bit before the enemy crew runs to the medbay. You can kill enemy crews real fast like this without taking damage.

Your ideal targets are manned ships with 4 square weapons bay. Never port to a 2 square room, use your stealth and try and kill the crew asap if the enemy ship has a 2 room weapons bay. port to any room that has 4 squares if possible.

Avoid automated ships. If you encounter them you can teleport 2 crystal people to the weapons room. they will be able to take it down before dying from lack of oxygen even with teleport bay at level 1. You can then wait for ftl an get out of there. the ship comes with no weapons and the upgrade will cost you 60 scrap. dont bother just stay away from automated ships.

Zoltan ships are also a problem since you cant teleport inside until the shields are down. You can fight zoltans and automated in asteroid fields cos they will take dmg from the .. asteroids.

If manage to do this in sector one you usually have a good chance to get all the way to the boss.

I find the best way of maximizing my chances is by considering a restart before I pass to sector 2. What i weigh is how much scrap i have accumulated, if i found weapons or drones as the OP mentioned or if i managed to buy the repairing system or the shield upgrade.

With this ship you don't really need to upgrade weapons so in sector 2 i usually upgrade my shields. If by sector 3 i don't have level 2 shields i consider a restart.

So i find that restarting games which started with "bad luck" is a good way to achieve the objectives mentioned by the OP

[Zauron]

I agree about the cockpit/engine thing. Sure at earlier fights where they have small evasion I'll go for weapons first, but the more I've played the game (and watched videos of others playing it), the more I see cases where getting important shots evaded ends up dragging the fight on for so long that the player gets chipped away at and possibly even killed, when if they had just taken out that cockpit, all their anti-shield techniques work flawlessly and they can systemically destroy the ship. I've more than once watched a video of someone playing and started yelling at the screen "instead of swearing as your barrage continuously misses, just hit the damn cockpit and finish this fight!".

[UltraMantis]

The repair arm is seen as largely useless and maybe it is, but it does heal 1HP of your hull each and every time you earn scrap. In some cases thats twice for one beacon (defeat baddie, get reward from civilian). Finding a store when you're badly damaged or running a gauntlet through some Rebels is a bit easier when you know you have some limited self-repair capability. Mostly it is to ensure i never have to desperately hope i hit a store nearby.

The -15% scrap penalty is offset by healing. That's worth 3-4 scrap for every HP healed which reduces the hit. Also if your board everything in sight, you earn more so the penalty is negligible. The overall effect is that you only repair at a store when you're badly damaged and leave the rest to the Repair Arm.


You may be right on the drone recovery arm. I dont typically buy it but it ensures that you have near limitless drones so you can trade away surpluses. Handy in some cases. Re-loader is allways a boon. Even just one.


Boarding is an either/or case. Either eave it for the finale, or do it right away to reap max rewards and capture the relatively easy prey of s1-s3. It does depend on the ship because of their unequal starting weapons/system and also crew. Besides Mantis, Humans and Slugs make fine boarders. Rocks are too slow. Combat experience rises fairly quickly and basic upgrades for the teleport only cost 30 scrap. What's there to lose?

You'd only need a lvl3 teleporter if you wish to board airless AI ships which is a great way to drop their shields or kill their engines, or you know, weapons.

I rarely purchase crew. Even Zoltan. I will buy an Engi if i dont have any, and maybe i take a Mantis if i need another 2 person wrecking crew. Mostly i rely on events and slavers.

The investment pays off by the blinding speed with which you can capture clumsy ships. A 3 person crew goes down faster than their weapons can do you serious damage, but it does depend on their weapons. If the weapons are a serious threat, or if they board you instead and delay your attack, or if the fight will drag on for so long you will spend the reward on repairs, then maybe it's better to power down the teleport and power up some weapons. Or recharge FTL and bug out. Try to ignore your ship completely and focus on killing their crew. Hopefully you will earn enough scrap to cover engines/shields upgrades and/or a Defense MkI fairly quickly.

[SwordofAeons]

1. I always upgrade my shields as soon as I get 50 scrap. I find that with two shields, around 60-70% of my sector 1 and 2 battles are ones that I can take power off my engines (or oxygen, to keep some power on my engines for avoiding missiles) and throw them into my shields to avoid any chance of getting hit. Minimizing the scrap I have to spend on hull repairs early on sets me up to have the scrap to pour into whatever upgrades I need to get through the mid-game.

The only ship upgrade I buy in sector 1 is level 3 Engines, can't beat that 15 scrap price tag. The enemies that can be stopped by two shields would only do one or two damage before dying against one shield. 50 scrap is a big investment to stop a few stray shots when you can find a shop that will set you up for an easy win. Depending on my offense, sometimes I don't get that second bar until sector 3.

2. I don't splurge in the early and mid-game, except on 1. key augmentations and 2. good weapons. I don't buy the cloak or teleporter until late game to prepare for the boss. In general, I find the extra scrap serves me better in my shields and engines. The only augmentations I ever buy are pre-igniter and the scrap recovery arm. If I'm sitting on a lot of scrap, I'll buy the long-range sensors since those will pay for themselves quickly. Other than that, I find the advantages of the other augmentations not to be enough to justify the cost.

Yep, this is key. Until I put together a package that can down the boss, I like to float at least 80 scrap (Ion II or Teleport) and ideally 120(anything sans Cloak). Scrap Recovery Arm is worth buying every time you see it, and consider Automated Reloader since it's cheap and improves nearly every strategy. Never buy Pre-Ignitor before you have the weapons to go with it. If a weapon-damage strategy doesn't pan out, it's a junk augment. You're underestimating Teleport and Cloak. Teleport is the strongest weapon in the game and gives you bonus rewards on top! It's rare to be able to afford Cloak, but it means you'll be taking nearly zero hull damage from there on out.

3. By being very frugal with my scrap, I can usually stay ahead of the curve on shields such that nobody can even hit me with lasers or beams until sector 7-8. That means the game virtually becomes "avoid the missiles." A lucky early defense drone (mark 1 - I don't find mark 2 to be worth the power and scrap) makes me virtually untouchable until the boss. If I find a defense drone, I'll pay for the drone system ASAP. Otherwise, if I get a surplus of scrap, I'll buy the drone system and cross my fingers that it comes with the defense drone. In general, I have found that very good evasion is not good enough by itself - especially when you get to late game where the enemies are pounding you with those 3-damage hull missiles. I find that I either need a defense drone or a weapon set that can disable weapons before the enemy's second or third missile volley.

You don't want to be ahead of the curve on shields. That's very expensive. Typically, I'll have 2 shields by sector 3, 3 shields by sector 6, and 4 shields in sector 8 if at all. Defense drones are amazing, but your upgrade scheme means if you don't find one you're screwed. Your defensive goal isn't to render yourself immune, it's to minimize the hull damage you take, and modest shields + modest to good engines is vastly better at that than raw shields.

4. I find that it is most important to manage your potential outcomes for weapons in sector 3-4-5. If you can't blast through level 3 shields by then, you're finished. If I haven't been lucky enough to bump into a good weapon set by then, I start hoarding scrap and traversing the maps to optimize the nodes that I see (not necessarily go to) in hopes of spotting multiple shops that might hold the weapon I need.

A Teleport can also fulfill this role. The patch to show node connections made it much easier to plan routes to see every node, if there's a distress beacon or a store you want to find it.

5. I've had great outcomes by targeting the enemy's engines or cockpit more than I used to. If I'm managing a 6 laser burst, instead of going for shields or weapons, I will often wreck the engines first. I am then guaranteed that all 6 lasers will meet their target, which makes the rest of the battle a more exact calculation.

Your goal in every fight is to render your opponent harmless as soon as possible. Sometimes that's a volley to the weapons or drones, sometimes it's murdering their crew, and sometimes it's disabling their evasion.

6. A lot has been written about beating the boss. If I can get that far, I never have any difficulty. Cloak is definitely not necessary with 4 shields and high evasion, but I find that a teleporter makes life so much easier. You don't even need a good boarding team to take out the weapons. In fact, if I'm not sporting a max crew, I'll take my dudes off of shields and weapons to go over. Once the missiles and ions are gone, you can take your sweet time.

Yep, and this strategy works before the last boss, too. Play a bit with Mantis B and you'll appreciate how unimportant manning the ship is when you can kill them all before they get a shot off.

7. Missiles and bombs are wonderful against the final boss, but I find to have enough for that fight, I can't really be using them throughout the rest of the game.

Missiles cost 6 scrap and are limited, hull repairs cost roughly 3 and are infinite. Unless a missile prevents at least two incoming damage, it's absolutely not worth using. Even then, it's sometimes better to take it on the chin.

So to summarize:

Early game: don't get hit (by upgrading shields immediately)
Early-mid game: get a weapon or two (by saving scrap and finding shops. . . or getting lucky)
Mid-late game: avoid missiles (by getting defense drone or strong weapons + evasion), keep investing in shields
Late game: prepare for boss (teleporter, cloak if you can afford)
Boss: take out the primary weapons and you're golden. Teleporter is the easiest, most reliable way to do this.

What's working for other people?

For me:

Early game: get up to 80+ scrap asap
Mid game: finish my end-game package, surplus scrap balanced between engines and shields
Late game: Luxury upgrades like Defense Drones, 4 Shields, pilot/med/oxy, second-tier augments

Tips:
Keep Engines one level above your Reactor. You can pull power from Oxy for a few seconds when there's an incoming missile.

Visit every regular-sector nebula node you can. Halved fleet pursuit means you can rack up serious scrap.

When suffocating boarders, vent the room they're trying to enter as well. Turn off Oxy and close doors behind them, so if they turn around they have to break the same door twice.

If you hit Mantis or Slug homeworlds, don't forget the upgrades to trigger their quests.

You can survive a trip to an automated ship with level 2 Teleporter.

Unless you're majorly struggling, let the rebel fleet take the exit if it gets you two more node visits.

Use the open all doors button to equalize oxygen levels. It makes emptied rooms safe /fast/.

When engaging in melee, you can swap positions by telling two people to leave and then re-enter the room in a different order. You'll pull your nearly-dead guy out of harm's way without missing a beat.

[UltraMantis]

You can survive a trip to an automated ship with level 2 Teleporter.

Realy? With Rockmen yes, but with others that's a huge risk not worth the 60 scrap it costs to upgrade to lvl3. You realy do this often? I know i tried and decided against it.

[zarakon]

Yeah, 100hp boarders can just barely survive on a drone with a lv2 teleporter, but it is quite risky. They're dead if your teleporter gets hit, and they're dead if they happen to get hit on the way to the medbay after beaming back.

[SwordofAeons]

Yeah, 100hp boarders can just barely survive on a drone with a lv2 teleporter, but it is quite risky. They're dead if your teleporter gets hit, and they're dead if they happen to get hit on the way to the medbay after beaming back.

They'll get back to the ship with 2-3 HP. It's not something you want to do regularly, but on occasion it will turn around an impossible fight. Never risk it on a ship with cloak unless you have level 3 Sensors.