Subset Games Forum

There's no consensus on what the best FTL ships are (for Hard, at least). And there probably never will be. But data can be the least subjective measure.

In this thread track your record on your ship you win the most with, OTHER than Crystal B which I think is undoubtedly the best and OP. All the rest have significant pros and cons (if anyone thinks this is wrong, I'd be glad to hear).

It's casual, not a competition (even though it can be taken as a challenge ). So there is no limit on how many games you play. More is better when it comes to data. You don't have to do the games sequentially, can play with other ships, take however long of breaks you want, etc. You can play games with that ship for fun, that don't count. It's up to you, before you start from the hanger and see the sector map, to determine whether a game is for the record.

Anyone can lie or manipulate data obviously, so this relies completely on honor/honesty. Of course it doesn't matter really since there's nothing really at stake.

My best ship is Zoltan A, which I will be doing my run with. Since I started tracking I've gone 4 for 4. (believe I was 7 of last 8 but wasn't tracking or focusing 100% on winning)

Eventually, if we get stand-out players on different ships, it would be neat for them to upload a game or two, so we can see all the little things they do in game to maximize their wins.

If you don't win or play seriously enough, or just want to use your favorite ship which is not top-tier, I and I'm guessing others would still enjoy you sharing your record .

In this thread track your record on your ship you win the most with, OTHER than Crystal B which I think is undoubtedly the best and OP. All the rest have significant pros and cons (if anyone thinks this is wrong, I'd be glad to hear).

Actually I think the best should go to the Shrike (Lanius B) as well and that should be banned from use. It's got a triple shot flak cannon that charges every 8 seconds and only uses one power.
Plus it has two Lanius (better boarders), a Clone Bay and Mind Control.
Of course, every ship has its own advantages and disadvantages. The only problem with the Shrike is that like any other ship, you don't have much to work with initially and it's impossible to get anywhere if your very first jump is a pulsar. Even the Clone Bay healing issue can be resolved with just sending the Lanius again and hoping a stray missile doesn't smash up the bay and breach it.

I've got 6436 on the iPad version as my best score with the Shrike (beats my Normal Crystal B run by a few points and that one went to the Crystal Sector!) I can't use the PC version scores as that data is corrupted by too much CE: Infinite.

Of course that's not a W/L calculation but hey, it's the Shrike.

stylesrj wrote:

In this thread track your record on your ship you win the most with, OTHER than Crystal B which I think is undoubtedly the best and OP. All the rest have significant pros and cons (if anyone thinks this is wrong, I'd be glad to hear).

Actually I think the best should go to the Shrike (Lanius B) as well and that should be banned from use. It's got a triple shot flak cannon that charges every 8 seconds and only uses one power.
Plus it has two Lanius (better boarders), a Clone Bay and Mind Control.
Of course, every ship has its own advantages and disadvantages. The only problem with the Shrike is that like any other ship, you don't have much to work with initially and it's impossible to get anywhere if your very first jump is a pulsar. Even the Clone Bay healing issue can be resolved with just sending the Lanius again and hoping a stray missile doesn't smash up the bay and breach it.

I've got 6436 on the iPad version as my best score with the Shrike (beats my Normal Crystal B run by a few points and that one went to the Crystal Sector!) I can't use the PC version scores as that data is corrupted by too much CE: Infinite.

Of course that's not a W/L calculation but hey, it's the Shrike.

While I think Shrike is a top competitor for the 2nd spot, I wouldn't rate it above Crystal B. The crystal lock off ability is extremely powerful, making boarding almost full-proof by bypassing med-bays, defense droids, etc. I completely breezed through my first games with Crystal B while I actually lost my first 2 games as Lanius B before finding the right balance, before winning most. That could just be a learning curve, of course.

And I personally rate Zoltan A higher. Although I'm not as confident about this, than about Crystal B > Lanius B.

Lanius B has two primary weaknesses, that I see. Early game, not being able to suicide your boarders with asphyxiation can lead to a failed initial assault due to low health, and slower victories. And slower victories lead to more hull damage, and a higher chance of a meltdown with unlucky system hits. And while the Shrike flak cannon is incredible, it has the drawback of being somewhat less able at targeting specific enemy systems, like weapons.

And on the other end of the spectrum, having only a 2 man room for boarding makes your later assaults weaker/slower, while reducing your ship to ship combat (as hacking + cloaking is ideal).

I might be wrong, and maybe someone can prove it by having an incredible record with Lanius B :p. Then we can ban it and go for 3rd(?) best, below Crystal and Lanius B, whatever order those two are.

And I personally rate Zoltan A higher. Although I'm not as confident about this, than about Crystal B > Lanius B.

Well the weapons are impressive and you can make your shields pulsar-proof right off the bat, I'll give it that but it's the Zoltan A. I don't like the Zoltan ships very much. Especially Noether. (How dare you make the high-scores on Normal! How dare you have a decent run!)

Lanius B has two primary weaknesses, that I see. Early game, not being able to suicide your boarders with asphyxiation can lead to a failed initial assault due to low health, and slower victories. And slower victories lead to more hull damage, and a higher chance of a meltdown with unlucky system hits. And while the Shrike flak cannon is incredible, it has the drawback of being somewhat less able at targeting specific enemy systems, like weapons.

Open all doors except for the Pilot and perhaps Oxygen. In a pinch, open up Pilot. If they board, they go for oxygen. Close the doors at the Clone Bay or something. Then open doors at oxygen. Crew sees oxygen running out before they get there and walk the length of the ship to the Clone Bay. Seal Oxygen, open Clone Bay. Repeat until boarders dead or your Engi pilot suffocates.

As for Weapons, you Mind Control guy on shields, send boarders into shield room. Then move Lanius to Weapons while the enemy focuses on the shield room. Or don't, let the Flak take care of it.
Or Mind Control pilot, then teleport pilot back to your ship to be suffocated.

And on the other end of the spectrum, having only a 2 man room for boarding makes your later assaults weaker/slower, while reducing your ship to ship combat (as hacking + cloaking is ideal).

2 Lanius is all you need
And Cloaking. Only because of the Phase 3 Death Blossom.

I might be wrong, and maybe someone can prove it by having an incredible record with Lanius B :p. Then we can ban it and go for 3rd(?) best, below Crystal and Lanius B, whatever order those two are.

I'd say Red-Tail but... I never won a game on Hard with it. I mean how could I possibly mess up 4 laser barrages?
Let's go with the Slug C. Only because hardly anyone unlocks it because they got to play with the Slug B(ad).
But I never got a high score with it, compared to my Hard and Normal Crystal B runs (seriously, my list is this: 2 Lanius B, 2 Crystal B and the Zoltan B at second-last place)

Well, 10/10 so far with Zoltan A. It got easier as I went along, and fine tuned my store visits and early scrap hoarding. The biggest loss condition with Zoltan A is not getting enough offense up, so gotta frequent stores since you can't rely on lucky drops.

I'll keep playing some, but can pretty much surmise that played with optimal care, Zoltan A is an easy win each game, unless a lot of things go wrong. Lowest scrap total win (and thus one of the hardest games) was 5200.

Game 5 was really close, I was only capable of beating stage 2 boss by covering a hacking drone with the starter leto missile. But after I figured out the timing there, it is easy to replicate. Hacking drone is launched just slightly before the missile is fired, like .3 seconds.

Levgre wrote:There's no consensus on what the best FTL ships are. And there probably never will be. [...] In this thread track your record on your ship you win the most with, OTHER than Crystal B which I think is undoubtedly the best and OP.

This is amusing and silly But yes, there is consensus the answer remains Crystal B. Due to boarding nerfs and another god-tier competitor in the Lanius B it's not quite as head-and-sholders above everything, but 4-man teleporters remain OP, crystal crew remain OP, and starting with cloaking + shields remains amazing.

That's why I said "ships" not "ship" I agree that Crystal B is almost surely the single best ship. Beyond that I don't think anything can be ranked nearly as conclusively.