Mantis ships really need a nerf

[cicobuff]

In a perfectly balanced game, there is only 1 ship type, 1 weapon type and 1 way to win only.

That's not an acceptable definition of the word "balance." The only time the word "balance" can apply to a single object is if that object has physical mass, weight, and therefore an equilibrium. In all other cases, the word "balance" is a comparative statement between two items in order to find relative equality.

Ok, let me rephrase. Perfectly balanced mean having TWO ships of 1 ship type, 1 weapon type with 1 weapon each and 1 shield bubble each going against each other. And to be perfectly balanced correctly, they fire at the same time and will always hit. The encounter always end up having them destroying each other within nano seconds of each other.

Acceptable enough?

PS: My point is that being balanced does not make necessarily make a good game. The superb design that FTL employs is that all ships are different and they are different in their mechanisms they can employ to win. The strongish enemies also make you work to understand how to defeat them.

Yes some weapon combinations and starting configuration can feel strong compared to others. But that's the charm of FTL and I may be so bold to say that it's DESIGNED and work as intended to bring challenge and fun to the game.

All this talk of OP about what is essentially a single player experience in a game that is designed to challenge each individual's problem solving capability (while having fun doing it!) is a bit silly imo.

To talk about OP is to not understand what FTL is about and designed for.

[BKT]

This thread is about the game balance...?

I thought it was just another "FFFUUUUU" thread.

[Dontmindme]

I still stick to my original point. While I believe there is generally wonderful balance in the game considering the wide variety of different options, I still believe that 2x damage for Mantis is a little overbalanced. It makes boarding a little too easy (often killing ships faster than if one attacked with weapons) and creates defensive situations that are far harder. 150%-175% damage would be more balanced vs other races. Even at 150%, Mantis would still be the "go to" race, as I'd take quicker killing over the rock greater survivability.

Its not game-breaking but it is the one feature of the game where almost everyone universally agrees that Mantis are the best boarders by far.

[UltraMantis]

They're supposed to be best boarders, but they suck at everything else, which makes them very limited.
Besides, they are fun the way they are. I don't see it as balance if things are made less fun. Mopping up an enemy before they fire a shot is a wonderfull thing, and it does not come so cheap or easy.

The Basilisk is probably the strongest ship in the game by a wide margin, but after playing it and thoroughly beating the crap out of the game, i have never played it since. Too easy. If you find the Mantis need a nerf, you can allways shove them out the airlock. It's what i usually do to Zoltan crew. Not because they need a nerf though, but because they screw everything up the second they move and i hate them.

[hermanJnr.]

Do enemy Mantis ships have souped up engines as standard or something? Just curious, since my problem with them isn't the boarders, it's the fact that my guns almost always seem to miss against them inexplicably :\

I've lost 3 really decent ships now to a Mantis fighter/bomber that I just constantly miss until they lay the smackdown on me. I can't even get 1 hit the cockpits/engine sometimes, because I miss so much.

Could be the RNG screwing me ridiculously each time, but meh. I've got to the reb. flagship a couple of times now and I feel like I know what I'm doing, but at the same time whenever I get a Mantis ship with 2 shields or more I start sighing, because I know they're going to rip me up with bombs/missiles unless I get the alpha strike on their weapons.

My Mantis last fight I had full hull, 170 scrap spare in Sector 5, 4 Engines, 2 shields and 2 Burst MK IIs (got a great drop) + enhanced doors and everything. I hit a Mantis Fighter with 3 shields, and I died. I couldn't penetrate the shields thanks to misses with 3 consecutive volleys (so that's 18 or so shots) and then it took my systems down with bombs. Could be a "FYFTL" moment, but still... XD

EDIT -

Oh, and I think boarding is fine. If you take events that give you crew you nearly always have a Mantis or Rockman on your ship. Spend 20 (or 70, I prefer getting 2 door upgrades at least) on doors and you can half-kill most mantis parties before they actually get to you anyway.

Player boarding is fine too. It takes skill to recognise whether you're going to be able to actually increase your resource yield by boarding an enemy. Take too long, miss their weapon systems or even just struggle to win the crew fight and you risk getting bad hull damage that negates any extra boarding bonus completely. There's also myriad ways to lose your valuable crew boarding too (ship jumps, fires, they hit your transporter with a missile so you can't retreat...etc.)

The only thing I don't like about boarding are those crappy Nebula events where you get boarded instantly without any hostile ship and get nothing for actually killing the boarders. They'd be so much better with a scrap reward, or some kind of quest component.