Advanced Edition: First impressions thread

[tututu]

My first impressions in order

> this game looks cool i think i'll like it
> whats going on
> what a stupid RNG game
> srsly its all about RNG theres little to no skill involved
> RNG RNG RNG, reminds me of my first playthrough to xcom impossible ironman
> this is how they make games "hard" now, instead balancing them good and spending time to make them fun and challenging they just put bunch of RNG - all "hard" games are like that e.g.Xcom I&I , its a shame i liked the atmosphere/game but its shallow
> im supposed to go to bed but im mad now
> 10 hours later with similar thoughts repeating i beat the game finally without sleeping cause i was mad at it
> i should find its forums so i can whine and complain about RNG like the others
> i went on google and found completely legit and argumented RNG complains like the one i wanted to write so i gave up
> I decided to replay the game
> got lucky with pre-weapon loader and 2x automated weapons in the first shops (I bought em all plus put a human on wep system to level up to max faster)
> got lucky and got heavy hull laser and burst laser mark 2 (so i had 2 of these cause of starter one)
> leveled wep systems asap / throw a rocket on enemy shield and 6 shots by burst laser mark 2 on their wep system they cant shoot me
> game turned easy as hell farmed 400 scrap several times maxed weps killed everyone before they could shoot me because i had 8 shots before they had a single shot and few seconds after their shot i had 4 more shots and i had 3 weapons that shoot 3 times
> got cloaking
> beat every single ship until flagship phase 2 without takingdamage
> beat flagship phase 2 with taking 2 damage
> beat flagship phase 3 with taking 30% damage
> confirmed my impressions that this game is ALL about RNG theres very little skill involved and this run i got so lucky it was such a faceroll nobody had a chance against my over the top ship which could shoot with all weapons 3 times before getting shot at because i had cloaking and super fast CD's (+40% cd on weapons so yeah) and i also was so rich i had 4 shields and even 40% evasion AND 2 drones (1 of which was combat so my damage was over the top)

[shadowcrust]

Just finished my third run and so here come my fifth impressions:

Hard mode is really too easy, I beat the flagship 2 out of 3 times and only lost narrowly against the third incarnation of the flagship in my first run - had I not executed my precious Mantis boarders by shooting down the ship they were just teleporting into, I might have won the first run as well, as dealing with Mind Control was a bit tough with only three crew members remaining (is Mind Control supposed to continuously, that is, without any cooldown, control enemy crew?). So my rough estimate after these first runs is that approximately 145.3% of all runs on Hard mode can be won if you're playing well enough.

Also not helping my first attempt was engaging the new Elite Fighters, for an average ship they are very tough now. I think the "problem" of indefinitely staying in the rebel fleet of classic FTL was dealt with in the worst possible way: now the average and subaverage ship have no chance against the Elite Fighters, while a very, very well equipped ship probably can still stay indefinitely in the rebel zone. Previously, with some delicate maneuvers it was possible dealing with Elite Fighters with practically any but the weakest ships, which has now been traded for "you need to be super super lucky to freely jump around with your invincible ship". Why not just giving no points for defeating Elite Fighters? This would have been the much better way in my opinion.

It's still a bit early for a final judgement, but I think there are slightly too many different systems around in AE. It just feels a bit arbitrary. Also, hacking and mind control are a bit too powerful for my taste.

Despite some concerns, the new unlocking scheme is good. Ships are easy to get, and for the perfect stats sheet you can still go for the quests to obtain the precious Q. So far, I've won the game with Kestrel and Torus (after starting from scratch for AE) and unlocked Vortex and Osprey (both because of the quest and the Torus victory in the same run). So a lot to do still!

[karadoc]

> confirmed my impressions that this game is ALL about RNG theres very little skill involved and this run i got so lucky it was such a faceroll nobody had a chance against my over the top ship which could shoot with all weapons 3 times before getting shot at because i had cloaking and super fast CD's (+40% cd on weapons so yeah) and i also was so rich i had 4 shields and even 40% evasion AND 2 drones (1 of which was combat so my damage was over the top)

So far, you've only won because you got lucky - but that doesn't mean the same is true for everyone. Obviously this game involves randomness, but that doesn't mean it's all about luck. Many novice players lose most games on easy, whereas many experienced players win more then 90% of games on normal. (The new version hasn't been out long enough to comment on how reliably people can win on hard.)

The game is about managing risks and making strategic decisions. The randomness can be hedged, and that's how the game is played. For every lost game there's generally a bunch of things could have been done differently to avoid the loss. Sometimes it's simply, like opening an air-lock to put out a fire; sometimes it's a matter of not accepting a risky event (such as choosing to fight giant spiders); sometimes it comes down to micro-managing system power in the middle of a battle. For every loss, there's sometime to be learnt about what could be done better next time.

[Levgre]

Cloning Bay is in general inferior to Medbay, at least for veteran players. I think it could use more health per jump. Suiciding to get back to full heatlh can be necessary to avoid an unlucky clone bay hit + crew death, a risk which largely offsets the benefits of the cloning bay. Drawing enemy boarders to your medbay is a lot better defense strategy than a slow rush of clones. Ideally I'd like the cloning bay to also be able to clone one target crew member at a time, thus you get an extra clone which you can send on a suicide mission etc. while still manning your ship, but that crew member doesn't permanently loses health, or just dies each jump.

Hacking is in general OP. The way you win in FTL is countering the proper enemy systems, and hacking is an easy + cheap way to do it.

Lots of the new weapons don't seem to be of much benefit verse the old weapons, and don't open up new strats, like the ones where you can stack shots. Others are just more efficient than vanilla weapons without a significant drawback, and thus imbalanced.

The general gameplay is not changed at all, you difficulty/probability of winning is based on how much scrap you get and whether the RNG deals you the right hand as far as tools (weapons, systems, augments, so on), and whether you encounter "achille's heels" for your ship.

[balmung60]

Cloning Bay is in general inferior to Medbay, at least for veteran players. I think it could use more health per jump. Suiciding to get back to full heatlh can be necessary to avoid an unlucky clone bay hit + crew death, a risk which largely offsets the benefits of the cloning bay. Drawing enemy boarders to your medbay is a lot better defense strategy than a slow rush of clones. Ideally I'd like the cloning bay to also be able to clone one target crew member at a time, thus you get an extra clone which you can send on a suicide mission etc. while still manning your ship, but that crew member doesn't permanently loses health, or just dies each jump.

Hacking is in general OP. The way you win in FTL is countering the proper enemy systems, and hacking is an easy + cheap way to do it.

Lots of the new weapons don't seem to be of much benefit verse the old weapons, or open up new strats, like the ones where you can stack shots. Others are just more efficient than vanilla weapons without a significant drawback, and thus imbalanced.

The general gameplay is not changed at all, you difficulty/probability of winning is based on how much scrap you get and whether the RNG deals you the right hand as far as tools (weapons, systems, augments, so on), and whether you encounter "achille's heels" for your ship.

I dunno, I don't think that I will ever go back to the stock Medbay (except for perhaps on the Shivan, since it doesn't let me deal with boarders in my preferred manner). It lets me take far more risks when boarding and when responding to events like the Giant Spiders. Combine it with the Healing Teleporter and I can act with complete disregard for the safety of my boarders without any actual risk. I never fought boarders in the medbay because I just spaced them without fighting them. And healing on the jump is much more convenient than rounding up all the wounded and shuffling them through the Medbay (especially if you have a small one).

The Medbay might be, by some standards, more optimal, but it's less fun, so it has no place on my ship.

[5thHorseman]

Cloning Bay is in general inferior to Medbay, at least for veteran players. I think it could use more health per jump. Suiciding to get back to full heatlh can be necessary to avoid an unlucky clone bay hit + crew death, a risk which largely offsets the benefits of the cloning bay. Drawing enemy boarders to your medbay is a lot better defense strategy than a slow rush of clones. Ideally I'd like the cloning bay to also be able to clone one target crew member at a time, thus you get an extra clone which you can send on a suicide mission etc. while still manning your ship, but that crew member doesn't permanently loses health, or just dies each jump.

You've not given the strategy possibilities enough thought. Why fight boarders when you can just empty the ship of air? What about the bonus scrap from events that would kill your crew, that you've always avoided before? What about ... well I don't want to give it all away. IMO the clone bay is in most ways superior to a medbay.

[Levgre]

Cloning Bay is in general inferior to Medbay, at least for veteran players. I think it could use more health per jump. Suiciding to get back to full heatlh can be necessary to avoid an unlucky clone bay hit + crew death, a risk which largely offsets the benefits of the cloning bay. Drawing enemy boarders to your medbay is a lot better defense strategy than a slow rush of clones. Ideally I'd like the cloning bay to also be able to clone one target crew member at a time, thus you get an extra clone which you can send on a suicide mission etc. while still manning your ship, but that crew member doesn't permanently loses health, or just dies each jump.

You've not given the strategy possibilities enough thought. Why fight boarders when you can just empty the ship of air? What about the bonus scrap from events that would kill your crew, that you've always avoided before? What about ... well I don't want to give it all away. IMO the clone bay is in most ways superior to a medbay.

You're assuming I haven't thought about those things... I have. There aren't that many of those events per game. If I think cloning bay is lower value you need at least 1-2 before you break even. Emptying the ship of air isn't always a ideal/valid strat, strong enough boarders can fight through reinforced doors, and I don't like to always upgrade my doors beyond level two, or they can even stay level 1 with the medbay strat. Regardless, if they enter in certain rooms, you may have to abandon and still take damage to some systems before you can asphyxiate them. I just like the greater consistency.

[5thHorseman]

You're assuming I haven't thought about those things...

All I know is that I thought as you do, then I played with the clone bay a bit and now I think it's better than the medbay. 50 scrap better? Maybe not, but whenever I play a ship with one I'm happy I have it over its lesser counterpart.

[hybridfive]

You're assuming I haven't thought about those things... I have. There aren't that many of those events per game. If I think cloning bay is lower value you need at least 1-2 before you break even. Emptying the ship of air isn't always a ideal/valid strat, strong enough boarders can fight through reinforced doors, and I don't like to always upgrade my doors beyond level two, or they can even stay level 1 with the medbay strat. Regardless, if they enter in certain rooms, you may have to abandon and still take damage to some systems before you can asphyxiate them. I just like the greater consistency.

This is pretty succinct. To me, the way that clone bay influences events is a wash at best.

[Ghaleon]

So far ive hated my cloning bay experiences too but then i thought I only tried it on the fed cruiser c... Which is probably a ship designed to make managing the cloning bay difficult =p. i mean throwing bodies at the enemy endlessly via teleporter sounds great. But in practice, i found that that ship's lack of weaponary made it so i was completely at the mercy of the enemy not shooting my cloning bay down between waves of my transports... For there is little you can do to bet ships early game in that ship aside from boarding, dying, cloning, and repeating.

Its a shame thy have a unique unobtainable unprecise weapon on a ship that is otherwise designed for boarding over destroying