Amazing Zoltan B Run

[Sharpieman20]

Okay, this happened a few days ago, so I just tell you kinda the synopsis of what happened. So, I started out with ye olde Zoltan B, loved it, got level 1 shields very quick. I was using the "Ion Switch" Method I have read about (Link: http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4643) and it made the ship AMAZING! Anyways, soon after the start I get Automated Re-loader. I play to sector 3, then I see WEAPON PRE-IGNITOR in shop and I squeal like a baby pigling in happiness! Soon after this, I find the Halberd beam at a shop and buy it (ofc) and I come across a shieldless auto drone. It decloaks and BAM! I get the slice and dice achievement and 1-hit kill it. After all this I still have level 1 shields, but I can get it's shields down before it knocks down my Zoltan Shields. So it is uneventful till Sector 7. Around now I have 3 Shields, and maybe 4 engine bars, and my weapons from earlier. I'm stacked in scrap and I realize, Hmmm I could beat the boss for sure if I could find cloaking. I look at my warp map and I see a shop! BOOM! Cloaking. I almost considered selling Weapon Pre-Ignitor and buying Automated Re-loader because it is better for the style I was playin' (Double Ion mk1). So I get to the 8th Sector and get Level 3 shields and still level 4 or so engines. I think, man, I'd love to get me another halberd beam before I fight the boss and BAM! find one "Randomly floating in space". I hit a shop and repair up for the fight. Phase 1: A bit of damage (I don't have boarding crew) but soon I take down his shields and double halberd his engines, recharges up real quick with my Level 2 weapons guy and Automated Re-loader. Phase 2: Pretty easy, dodge power surges with cloak, get lucky and dodge missiles and such, end like Phase 1. Phase 3: I got really unlucky with dodge rates, I had like 35% evasion cause of maxed leveled pilot and engine-guy. Nice though how quick ions broke through Zolt shield. I dodge his super laser burst things with cloak easily. I keep missing with ions though... I have very low hull at this point, low yellows. I have him down to 1 shield when my ion misses. All of the sudden, 3 missiles and lasers attack, all hitting home. I evacuate my small crew of 4 to the weapons room to be ready, fires raging in all the other rooms. I double hit their engines with halberds, making sure the ions don't miss. 3 hull points left. Auto-reloader and weapons king save me, firing just before their missiles, destroying their ship. Amazing run, probably my luckiest one, but for some reason my score was only 3341, low even for easy on my standards. Hope you liked my story! You guys ever get lucky like this?

[TheAzryte]

I had a similar run, got to sector 7, when my zoltan gunner died due to fires in the weapons bay as he was halfway through the door out, while a pair of drones were putting out the flames, and those slugs had the nerve to ask for Surrender?, I raged no way I could beat the boss without that max gunner, I don't think.

[Number43]

You considered ditching the pre-igniter for an automated re-loader?

I also considered that once since I already had 2 other re-loaders and getting a third would have helped get the "watching ships burn" achievement since I had 2 fire beams, but I decided to stick with the pre-igniter after all and managed to get the achievement despite not having 3 automated re-loaders. I actually pulled it off despite causing a hull breach in a 4 tile room early in the fight, as I set all the other rooms on fire then raked both fire beams across the airless room at the same time. (btw for anyone having trouble with that achievement, it is best gotten when the enemy ship has a teleporter, as if you avoid fighting the boarders you can get around the problem of the fires killing off the crew before you're able to get fires everywhere.)