Subset Games Forum

Not an important topic, but I thought I'd share, and see if anyone else has a similarly horrible experience they want to get off their chest.

I'm making my first attempt at winning FTL in the Stealth Cruiser.

I've had REALLY bad luck with the stores. It took until halfway through sector 3 before I could find a shield system to install, and the only weapon I've picked up to supplement the starting Dual Laser and Mini Beam is a Hull Laser. I also haven't been able to find a Teleporter in my entire playthrough.

And now I'm finally at The Last Stand, and fighting the Rebel Flagship. First stage, and I've so far been at it for a little over 30 minutes with a grand total of ZERO damage dealt to it. If I could get someone on board, that would be great. Even though unskilled humans are the most effective boarders I have. Unfortunately, I can only shoot, and hope my shots hit more than theirs.

Their evade chance is 30% at best. Mine is 45% - in spite of this, all the RNG rolls seem to be going in their favour. In a 4-shot volley, I have yet to see more than 2 hits - usually I'm only hitting once and seeing 3 shots miss. Since I'm still running such basic weapons, I need to land all 4 hits in order to open them up for my beam to fire, meaning that so far, I haven't dealt any damage. On the other hand, every time they fire - EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. - they land at least 2 hits, usually 3. I started the fight with 39% evade. I took a volley from the 3-shot Ion Blast, and cloaked so they wouldn't hit. ALL THREE SHOTS LANDED WHILE I WAS AT 99% EVADE. Since my helmsman leveled up and I hit 45% (105% while cloaked), I've managed to somehow take a miracle hit from a Laser while cloaked. I'm lucky that my shields are up to 3 layers, and I have a defense drone to help with missiles, but even with those advantages, I'm taking hits regularly and they aren't getting scratched.

It's equal parts frustrating and amusing for me. Anyone else got some crazy stories like mine? From either side - winning or losing in unexpected situations.

Can't speak on the other stuff (Luck is a picky bitch. She'll put that 3rd Burst Laser 2 in the store right AFTER you spent all your scrap) but getting hit at 105% sounds to me like you're cloaking too late.

Once a shot gets within your shield bubble, cloaking will NOT save you. It MAY miss anyway, but that miss will be just a normal miss. Cloak BEFORE the shots have crossed your shield bubble's range!

Haha, that feeling when you get hit while invisible on 90+ evade chance. Sometimes RNG gods just don't want you to finish the game.

5thHorseman wrote:Can't speak on the other stuff (Luck is a picky bitch. She'll put that 3rd Burst Laser 2 in the store right AFTER you spent all your scrap) but getting hit at 105% sounds to me like you're cloaking too late.

Once a shot gets within your shield bubble, cloaking will NOT save you. It MAY miss anyway, but that miss will be just a normal miss. Cloak BEFORE the shots have crossed your shield bubble's range!

Yeah, that only happened once, and I think it may have been my fault after reading that. It was a last-second "please let my cloak come on in time" moment after I'd just taken 3 ion hits, and I THOUGHT I had it on in time to block the first laser, but apparently not. The next 2 shots missed though.

Eventually, I had my luck turn enough to pop the first stage (after about 2 hours), but the second killed me. It was a fun, and challenging, run. And as horrible as that boss encounter was, I could not stop laughing the whole way through it. "You're ***ING KIDDING ME!??!?" was a common sound to hear from me.

No, RNG hates me.

I also am trying to make it with the Nesasio. It does have its own very unique advantages early on.

But then, imagine this situation. I come through a VERY successful sector 1+2, with shields early on and a well-above-average weapon loadout - just lacking a bit in the crew department. First ship I encounter in sector 3 is a mantis with the two-man teleporter room. Not only that but "a transport comes along side and boards you!"

So I'm supposed to fight off FIVE Mantis that snipe my medical room before I can twitch. Yeah right.

While the Nesasiao may have its unique advantages, there are also more instant-death situations that make me go "I can't win" and just click restart without even fighting (encountering any opponent with a drone before upgrading the cloaking device, blech).

I've also made It to the flagship but I have always had my resources funneled into too many things other than weapons.... and can never seen to get past phase 2.

zakaluka wrote:So I'm supposed to fight off FIVE Mantis that snipe my medical room before I can twitch. Yeah right.

http://youtu.be/xIIQVEljPpw?t=1m35s

(Note, the situation is not exactly the same but it's kinda close. In darker days I'd have quit about midway through this fight).

Well, finally won the game with the nesasio

Got a scrap recovery arm early on
Bought a shield in sector 2
Scraped together for a Halberd in sector 3

By the end I had:
level 3 cloak
3 shields
weapons were, hull smasher II (the 3-shot one), halberd, heavy ion, anti-ship drone I
augments: scanners, repair arm (swapped this for the recovery arm in sector 7), stealth weapons

If you have enough weapons to consistently get the flagship's shields to 1 for your beam, and 3 or better shields, level 3 cloaking makes all of sector 8 a very slow tug of war with you winning . During 2nd and 3rd phase all you have to do is hold onto cloak until the missile launcher starts firing.

(I know another "I won the game" post but damn if I haven't played 110-ish games or so and only won twice)

zakaluka wrote:Well, finally won the game with the nesasio

...

(I know another "I won the game" post but damn if I haven't played 110-ish games or so and only won twice)

W00t! Sticktoitiveness wins out again! Congrats. When I say you can win with the ship I in no way mean that doing so is easy.