It is brutally difficult. I am yet to get past sector 6 on normal difficultly. Things seem to go really well right up until I explode, or everything catches fire.
Haha in the end the advertising as "roguelike elements" sold it for me. The idea of it reminds me of Infinite Space i think it is on the DS? But the game play is MUCH better (though i still love infinite space's story)
I teleported my assaulters onto a ship I didn't realise was unmanned, 3 or 4 in total. They started suffocating, they hit my teleporter with an ion blast, which caused my 4 crew members on the ship to suffocate. Because I'd been panicking, I hadnt realised my ship was taking a pounding, got hit by a missile, and it blew up.
omg, this game literally eats hours. 9 bucks well spent! For some reason, the graphics kinda remind me of Master of Orion I, though that's just an added bonus. The music score is as fitting as it is relaxing, and the micromanagement of doors and people is amazingly fun. Even better when you customise your crew to resemble characters of a Star Wars RPG you once played in.
I hope the developer expands this game somehow, I'd pay good money for ship and scenario editors, additional campaigns or multiplayer support (co-op and versus).
winnertakesall wrote:I teleported my assaulters onto a ship I didn't realise was unmanned, 3 or 4 in total. They started suffocating, they hit my teleporter with an ion blast, which caused my 4 crew members on the ship to suffocate.
Lynata wrote: omg, this game literally eats hours. 9 bucks well spent! For some reason, the graphics kinda remind me of Master of Orion I, though that's just an added bonus. The music score is as fitting as it is relaxing, and the micromanagement of doors and people is amazingly fun. Even better when you customise your crew to resemble characters of a Star Wars RPG you once played in.
I hope the developer expands this game somehow, I'd pay good money for ship and scenario editors, additional campaigns or multiplayer support (co-op and versus).
winnertakesall wrote:I teleported my assaulters onto a ship I didn't realise was unmanned, 3 or 4 in total. They started suffocating, they hit my teleporter with an ion blast, which caused my 4 crew members on the ship to suffocate.
lol, classic
Hell id settle for a "explore" mode that just keeps going with increasingly difficult enemies to keep me on my toes.
Do we have anye idea how to get that mystery ship? : s loving the rock ship lol, boarding becomes hilarious XD
I still use the classic one you begin with, tried the Engi one, which I didn't really like. My ship seems have a habit of catching fire/being boarded/being hit with missiles in the most annoying places at precisely the wrong times
winnertakesall wrote: I still use the classic one you begin with, tried the Engi one, which I didn't really like. My ship seems have a habit of catching fire/being boarded/being hit with missiles in the most annoying places at precisely the wrong times
Some of the ship designs are REALLY badly laid out.
winnertakesall wrote: I still use the classic one you begin with, tried the Engi one, which I didn't really like. My ship seems have a habit of catching fire/being boarded/being hit with missiles in the most annoying places at precisely the wrong times
2 pulse lasers, an ion cannon, a defense drone II, an anti ship drone and a drone recovery arm is a deadly combination with that ship. I got to the third stage of the mothership almost by accident with this set up (and I would have beaten it if I didn't kill half my crew with an ill advised teleport).
The basic ship always seem to run out of fuel for me.
I've been playing the game for a long while now and it is 1000% worth it's cost on steam. Extremely fun, addictive, and replayable. Every time you lose and start over there is a plethora of different choices and option to look forward to the next time around.
I think I have about 25hrs played in beta alone lol.
Destroy enemy healing bay, and then roflswarm them, as many mantis as you can, try and get around 4 crew members boarding, and have your scanning at level 2, at least, so you can see where they are. If you manage to light a fire, and then board, they won't be able to fight you properly, as they will be trying to put out the fire.
Dark Scipio wrote:I just unlocked the Eng, Fed and Stealth cruiser. How comes you unlocked the others so fast?
The Engi is the easiest to get. The Crystal ship was really just good luck and a combination of events where I made the right choice. Ultimately, you still have one more ship available than me (4 vs 3). Still trying to get the Federation Cruiser - I have yet to beat the End Boss even a single time.
Grundz wrote:How are you guys using boarding crews, the only time mine dont get massacred is when i span healing missles on themm
I guess it depends on the size of the enemy crew, but you can really aid your team by clever use of targeting (destroying the sickbay and/or "pre-injuring" enemies before you even board), dropping fire bombs, or upgrade your tellyporter to beam more crew over or get your men back depending on the situation.
I mean I like the idea, but I always end up tagging down the shield generator then focusing on the shield gen and weaponry, it seems nonsense to spend upgrades and expensive crewmembers on a mission to beat up the crew and hope to remember to teleport them back before the thing blows
do you get more scrap or supplies if you kill the crew?
You do, but its quite hard to do. The easiest way is to cripple their life support but thats difficult to sustain without taking out the enemy ship via collateral damage. Spamming Ion cannon may work or using a good alien boarding party.
I had 2 mantis, 2 humans on my boarding party, I just hit the weapons and medbay with a pair of missiles, and boom, we're good to go, win pretty much every battle.
Melissia wrote:I really want this game. I might break down and get it... heh....
It's worth it.
Palindrome wrote:a good alien boarding party
Teleport ALL the Mantis!
And yeah, "capturing" the enemy ship can even net you new weapons, system augments or drone schematics. Blowing them up usually only gets you Scrap, some fuel and missiles if you're lucky.
Also: Finally took down the boss, at least on Easy. Phewww. Now to take out this new cruiser for a spin!
Never understood how men, made of rock, can withstand fire, but need oxygen. Although I suppose if there was a race that didn't need air, everyone would have a full crew of them, and keep all the airlocks open all the time, and turn off life support, making it impossible to be boarded.
winnertakesall wrote:Although I suppose if there was a race that didn't need air, everyone would have a full crew of them, and keep all the airlocks open all the time, and turn off life support, making it impossible to be boarded.
There's the Rockmen's Crystal ancestors, but they only take reduced suffocation damage... :(
But maybe if you combine them with the Engis' Nanobot Healing augment ...
Teleporting Rockmen -and- a Firebomb into the same room actually sounds like a viable boarding tactic, too... This way the crew cannot put out the fire and they take bonus damage while they're fighting your assault squad, and the fire helps damage the systems!
Palindrome wrote: You do, but its quite hard to do. The easiest way is to cripple their life support but thats difficult to sustain without taking out the enemy ship via collateral damage. Spamming Ion cannon may work or using a good alien boarding party.
Thats taking too long.
Basic advice for boarding:
- Easiest way to board is just after repelling any enemy boarding action.
- Firing some shots into the room you want to board helps.
- If you have a 2 men boarding team beam in a 2 square room (and not the sick bay, beeing as far away from it as possible helps)
- Beam into a room where there is 1 enemy crewmember. This way you can start dealing double damage right away until a second can arrive.
- Mantis are hard to fight, so dont attack them unless only 1 or 2 wounded remain and use Mantis for boarding action.
- Lack of Mantis crew? Use Rock instead, then Humans or Slugs.
- Engi and Zoltans are easy to overcome.
- When your crew goes red beam out heal and try again.
- Biokiller beam can kill the enemy crew too, easly if you take out their med-bay.
- A captured ship gives ~+50% more Scrap and a large chance for an upgrade.
If you can find it, the Small Bomb is one of the best pre-boarding weapons. Does zero hull damage, but hurts systems and crew, so you can do it as many times as you like as long as you have a stock of missiles.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Anyone figure out how to get Slug crew members? I'm trying to get the first Kestrel achievement, but Slugs seem incredibly hard to get.
I get them through events. Rescuing federation ships seems to result in me getting them quite often and I have gotten a few from slavers. I have also discovered that if you board and kill off a slavers crew you seem to have a high chance of getting a crew member.
So a few questions for those of you who have played it are in order.
What sort of strategy game is this? Is it RTS, Turn based, adjustable speed real time strategy or pausible real time strategy?
If it is a RTS game, is it a total click fest ala Starcraft or Command and Conquer? I really can't stand a game where the biggest component to winning is how fast you can click on your little guys.
Is there any sort of storyline beyond "here's your ship, go blow up other ships?"
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: So a few questions for those of you who have played it are in order.
What sort of strategy game is this? Is it RTS, Turn based, adjustable speed real time strategy or pausible real time strategy?
If it is a RTS game, is it a total click fest ala Starcraft or Command and Conquer? I really can't stand a game where the biggest component to winning is how fast you can click on your little guys.
Is there any sort of storyline beyond "here's your ship, go blow up other ships?"
It's pausable strategy so no "click fest".
The story is non-existent (Travel to last sector, once you're there - destroy the boss). It's basically a chain of random events leading to a boss fight.
IMHO it's fun. Totally worth it's price.
Dark Scipio wrote: The Engi cruiser is not the best interior design project either.
It's one of the best ships by far. On easy (OK, I'm a little ashamed of that) I've had 50% success with this baby. Once it wasn't even close for the mothership.
Sgt_Scruffy wrote: So a few questions for those of you who have played it are in order.
What sort of strategy game is this? Is it RTS, Turn based, adjustable speed real time strategy or pausible real time strategy?
If it is a RTS game, is it a total click fest ala Starcraft or Command and Conquer? I really can't stand a game where the biggest component to winning is how fast you can click on your little guys.
Is there any sort of storyline beyond "here's your ship, go blow up other ships?"
It's pausable strategy so no "click fest".
The story is non-existent (Travel to last sector, once you're there - destroy the boss). It's basically a chain of random events leading to a boss fight.
IMHO it's fun. Totally worth it's price.
Dark Scipio wrote: The Engi cruiser is not the best interior design project either.
It's one of the best ships by far. On easy (OK, I'm a little ashamed of that) I've had 50% success with this baby. Once it wasn't even close for the mothership.
Actually your on a mission to deliver news of the mother ship and rebels to the comanders. so more of an excuse plot.
And im not sold on the engi, the B-type is HORRIBLE
Lynata wrote:Teleporting Rockmen -and- a Firebomb into the same room actually sounds like a viable boarding tactic
Just as a sort of tactics update, this actually works great!
Encountered an Engi patrol cruiser with 3 shields and a MK2 defense drone that kept intercepting my EMP and laser salvos. My first boarding attempt with 2 Mantis (one of whom was just recruited; the Engi were actually after him but I granted asylum) failed as the fight slowly shifted towards their sickbay, where the enemy security got healed up constantly. So I beamed my assault squad back, but then teleported a firebomb directly into their sickbay, followed by my one fireproof Rockman crew member - who proceeded to smash the damage control team that poured through the doors in a frantic attempt to put the fire out. Meanwhile, my Mantis were healing up in my own sickbay and teleported over again as the cooldown of my fully upgraded transporter finished. Half a minute later the entire Engi crew was slain, half their ship was on fire, and I looted a Heavy Laser from their weapons grid. Great fun!
Sgt_Scruffy wrote:What sort of strategy game is this?
I think you'd get the best glimpse by watching one of the many youtube videos, like this one:
doc1234 wrote: Actually your on a mission to deliver news of the mother ship and rebels to the comanders. so more of an excuse plot.
And im not sold on the engi, the B-type is HORRIBLE
Yeah, and that's the end of the "story". Go deliver the news. Once there - destroy the mothership. This is literally it 3 pages of descriptions is not "a story".
B-type suffers from low crew count and bad special skill. A-type has enough crew and nice special.
3 engs means FAST repairs. Drones use up less materials than missiles. Boarding vulnerability is somewhat migrated by remote med-bay. Maybe I'm just lucky with that ship but it's been cake walk in comparison to others.
Currently cruising in Federation Cruiser because I feel it gives the biggest chance of unlocking other ships (with many aliens as crew).
doc1234 wrote: Actually your on a mission to deliver news of the mother ship and rebels to the comanders. so more of an excuse plot.
And im not sold on the engi, the B-type is HORRIBLE
Yeah, and that's the end of the "story". Go deliver the news. Once there - destroy the mothership. This is literally it 3 pages of descriptions is not "a story".
B-type suffers from low crew count and bad special skill. A-type has enough crew and nice special.
3 engs means FAST repairs. Drones use up less materials than missiles. Boarding vulnerability is somewhat migrated by remote med-bay. Maybe I'm just lucky with that ship but it's been cake walk in comparison to others.
Currently cruising in Federation Cruiser because I feel it gives the biggest chance of unlocking other ships (with many aliens as crew).
B-type suffers from lack of airlocks too, and some bad starting drones. Guess im just biased to the engi ship generally, never seems to work for me.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So what do people normally prioritise upgrading? I try not to upgrade unless i have about 100-130 scrap left over (as in incase things like the glaive, or pre-igniter show up in the shop). Beyond that getting engine to 30% dodge and level 2 shields by sector 2 are normally the main 2 things i try and do
I get shields to level 2 asap then weapons/drones to match what ever I am using. Getting doors to at least level 2 is a very good idea as well as it is really cuts down on fires spreading and contains boarders quite well.
I don't tend to upgrade till I have left the first sector as I may find something nice in the shop (like a teleporter) that will make my life a lot easier.
Argh, does anyone know how to get the Mantis ship? I apparently screwed it up...
What I prioritize upgrading depends on the vehicle. For example, on the Federation ship I prioritize shields and then artillery, and then drones. With defense drones and shields, the federation ship can often win most matches through pure artillery, and by the time it can't, you have enough upgrades to get the wepaons needed to supplement it.
Melissia wrote: I've had some success with the Stealth b-type.
Argh, does anyone know how to get the Mantis ship? I apparently screwed it up...
What I prioritize upgrading depends on the vehicle. For example, on the Federation ship I prioritize shields and then artillery, and then drones. With defense drones and shields, the federation ship can often win most matches through pure artillery, and by the time it can't, you have enough upgrades to get the wepaons needed to supplement it.
Have a mantis on board, go to i think a mantis or pirate sector, have level 2 medbay and level 2 shield, find the pirate with the stupid name, have the mantis crewmember do a dance, win thruogh boarding and elect to save the captain and heal him. all other options just generaly lead to supplies and weapons
Automatically Appended Next Post: So, I've played a couple times. I can't seem to unlock ships and my crew keeps getting killed off in random events... man this game is tough, but still oh so fun.
Melissia wrote: Also, I managed to decrew a slaver ship. Didn't offer slug though :/
You get slaves form slavers only if you accept their bribe once they are badly injured, sadly not when you capture them or destroy them. I think they just forget to include a special outcome for capturing a slaver.
Melissia wrote: Also, I managed to decrew a slaver ship. Didn't offer slug though :/
You get slaves form slavers only if you accept their bribe once they are badly injured, sadly not when you capture them or destroy them. I think they just forget to include a special outcome for capturing a slaver.
Not always, or not exactly. One of the bonus decrew rewards (though it seems to be the rarest) is to find a captive who will join you. goes for any ship though.
Can also get slaves from using i think a leveled up teleporter
Ships take a LOT of work to unlock them in this game. When you get one, you earned it. The only easy one is the engi cruiser, and even it can take a while when you're still new. I've almost gotten the mantis, rock, and slug ships, but managed to always hit the wrong choice somehow.
So far, I've got the stealth ship, the engi ship, and the federation cruiser (got lucky and absolutely wrecked the boss yesterday) Out of all of them, I think the engi cruiser is my favorite to play. Close second is the original ship. Engi ship is a weird playstyle, but man it can become a monster when you do it right. Gotta love the good old flying toilet seat. Watching a swarm of drones warm something is just awesome.
As for the guy asking what kind of strategy it is, it's hard to explain. It's realtime, but it's nothing like starcraft or other games. You can also pause at any time, allowing you to have "micro" without developing carpral tunnel. And it's a good thing to, because without it the game would be impossible .You've got to manage power, time weapon salvos (missle to knock out a shield generator so your lasers can knock out the weapons for example) and dumping power from less important systems into your engines so you can dodge. You also need to put out fires, keep an eye on your crew members' health, keep systems repaired, and repel boarders. You can even vent atmosphere in rooms to put out fires. Watch a few let's plays, thats the best way to learn about it. Don't let the ships "sitting still" fool you, it's a very fun game.
MrMoustaffa wrote: Ships take a LOT of work to unlock them in this game. When you get one, you earned it. The only easy one is the engi cruiser, and even it can take a while when you're still new. I've almost gotten the mantis, rock, and slug ships, but managed to always hit the wrong choice somehow.
So far, I've got the stealth ship, the engi ship, and the federation cruiser (got lucky and absolutely wrecked the boss yesterday) Out of all of them, I think the engi cruiser is my favorite to play. Close second is the original ship. Engi ship is a weird playstyle, but man it can become a monster when you do it right. Gotta love the good old flying toilet seat. Watching a swarm of drones warm something is just awesome.
As for the guy asking what kind of strategy it is, it's hard to explain. It's realtime, but it's nothing like starcraft or other games. You can also pause at any time, allowing you to have "micro" without developing carpral tunnel. And it's a good thing to, because without it the game would be impossible .You've got to manage power, time weapon salvos (missle to knock out a shield generator so your lasers can knock out the weapons for example) and dumping power from less important systems into your engines so you can dodge. You also need to put out fires, keep an eye on your crew members' health, keep systems repaired, and repel boarders. You can even vent atmosphere in rooms to put out fires. Watch a few let's plays, thats the best way to learn about it. Don't let the ships "sitting still" fool you, it's a very fun game.
how in the blazes did you get the engi ship to work : s
Haha the ships "sitting still" was a bit jarring at first Though i think it would help a little if the stars behind them moved -_-
I also think the Engi Ship is pretty good. Better then the Fed cruiser and perhaps the Stealth cruiser.
I used the Engicruiser with 3 drones (1 against boarders, 1 attack and 1 defense) than 2 Ion weapons or 1 Ion and an anti-bio beam. Nearly reached the end.
Dark Scipio wrote: I also think the Engi Ship is pretty good. Better then the Fed cruiser and perhaps the Stealth cruiser.
I used the Engicruiser with 3 drones (1 against boarders, 1 attack and 1 defense) than 2 Ion weapons or 1 Ion and an anti-bio beam. Nearly reached the end.
Had a quick go at it, and i think a best case load out for it is antiship MK2, defence drone MK2, and maybe if you can spare the energy the beam turret. the boarder one was always...eh for me, much rather just use a rock or mantis for ship defence.
as for weapons, id say either the bio or fire beam (bio seams to be the rarest weapon in game) and the burst laser 3 (the lockdown from ions nice, but that puts out 5 shots, more than any shield). and swap them around with a breach bomb or missile.
You get slaves form slavers only if you accept their bribe once they are badly injured, sadly not when you capture them or destroy them. I think they just forget to include a special outcome for capturing a slaver.
I got a crew member from 2 out of 3 slavers by wiping out their crew on my last play through. Its the first time I have attempted to capture rather than destroy ships though so its possible that I was just lucky.
I have also discovered that ship fires can cause hull damage which put a stop to my cunning plan involving a fire beam.
You get slaves form slavers only if you accept their bribe once they are badly injured, sadly not when you capture them or destroy them. I think they just forget to include a special outcome for capturing a slaver.
I got a crew member from 2 out of 3 slavers by wiping out their crew on my last play through. Its the first time I have attempted to capture rather than destroy ships though so its possible that I was just lucky.
I have also discovered that ship fires can cause hull damage which put a stop to my cunning plan involving a fire beam.
Fire only causes damage when the systems in the red, kinda like how if you keep shooting the red systems it just does extra damage. overflow lol.
Melissia wrote: Also, I managed to decrew a slaver ship. Didn't offer slug though :/
You get slaves form slavers only if you accept their bribe once they are badly injured, sadly not when you capture them or destroy them. I think they just forget to include a special outcome for capturing a slaver.
Err, what? I very frequently get a freed slave crew member from capturing a slaver ship.
There's a chance they're all dead, but that's a small chance in my experience. More likely than not, you'll either have a random species single survivor (so far I've gotten a mantis, a human, and an engi this way) or you'll get your pick from a mantis, a rockman, or an engi.
The way I made the engi ship work was I maxed shields relatively early. Then I got 2 basic anti ship drones and a beam one, then I almost maxed weapons. Had a hull smasher, the starting ion cannon (that thing is great, set it to autofire shields and its gg) and I believe a halbard beam. Enemy ships died so fast it wasn't even funny.
My other loadout relied more on weapons, and a hull repair drone and a breaching drone to disrupt the enemy. One thing I learned though, is that the flyin toilet seat CANNOT dodge, so you need shields as soon as possible. At least level 3, and I was on easy. It lets you sit there and wear a guy down with drones much easier.
also. its variant is terrible. It feels like it was made to be a harder game mode more than anything.
MrMoustaffa wrote: The way I made the engi ship work was I maxed shields relatively early. Then I got 2 basic anti ship drones and a beam one, then I almost maxed weapons. Had a hull smasher, the starting ion cannon (that thing is great, set it to autofire shields and its gg) and I believe a halbard beam. Enemy ships died so fast it wasn't even funny.
My other loadout relied more on weapons, and a hull repair drone and a breaching drone to disrupt the enemy. One thing I learned though, is that the flyin toilet seat CANNOT dodge, so you need shields as soon as possible. At least level 3, and I was on easy. It lets you sit there and wear a guy down with drones much easier.
also. its variant is terrible. It feels like it was made to be a harder game mode more than anything.
That sounds just plain mean xD yeah that starting ion weapon is amazing, 4Sec recharge, i think 2-3 with a master or whatever manning it. Tho it makes me wonder, if i can get 3 on it, you could wear down normal ships by spamming the oxygen, engine and weapons. (or even just 2 if your shields outclass the guns) and set it to autofire
So i got my hands on the stealth ship finally, im kinda loving it. Takes a little more microing to play, but if you get lucky weapon options it seems like it could be insane, especially with a pre-igniter with something like the glaive/biobeam and ion-bomb. Drop in, fire. If it doesnt kill right off, wait a few seconds then cloak till you get a second wave
Dark Scipio wrote:Best loadout are 2 Antiship and 1 Defense.
At least until you get to the endboss. Having a repair drone handy is strongly recommended.
Personally, I've otherwise preferred 1 Defense, 1 Antiship and 1 Beam drone. The latter just to cause havoc by setting half the enemy ship on fire and damaging multiple systems simultaneously. They can't repair everything at once, after all!
Also, I prefer prioritising the enemy's weapons grid when it comes to EMP, with actual damage being directed towards the shield generator first, weapons second, engines third. Unless they've got friggin missiles, then I throw everything I have at their weapons array until it's red.
Melissia wrote:Err, what? I very frequently get a freed slave crew member from capturing a slaver ship. There's a chance they're all dead, but that's a small chance in my experience.
Yup, I remember the event - something about your crew searching the ship and already turning to leave, when just that very moment they hear someone coughing, then a single surviving slave falls out of a locker where he/she/it hid during the battle.
I despise beam drones. One point of shields for a second and its all blocked. Always glad to fight them.
I think its better to damage the endboss than reair the hull, although Hull Repair Drones are perhaps one of the best, however I am under the impression that they are quite rare.
I go the ame way:
- Weapons
- Shields
- Drone (if dangerous drones are in place)
- Engines
- Rooms with a lot of enemy crew
I just recently found the Hull missle. 2 Damage with double damge in rooms without systems. 4 Hull damage per shot for a 1 Missle/2 Energy weapon is quite fine. The downside is you need something to put the weapons put of action.
Well, that's a fine kettle of fish if I do say so myself .
Of course, you can through that and not die. They'll take damage yeah, but they would survive. And if you're worried you could have a guy come from the left to repair it too.
That said, everytime I open my doors to put out fires some idiot blows up the door control unit. I started upgrading it to 3 just so it could take more damage. That's one thing I learned quickly, you ALWAYS need to upgrade oxygen and medibay to level w as soon as possible, maybe even level 3 for oxygen. If you dont, you'll be repairing your oxygen every minute or so.
how are you guys using the stealth ship by the way? Without shields, I'm having a hard time making it out of the first sector.
So close them again and then open all interior doors as you...
Oh.
Yeesh.
The slug ship is so annoying to get...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, does anyone else here use early ships to max their team's shield technician, pilot, and engine technician skills out?
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, can someone tell me the right answer for the slug mission -.-
MrMoustaffa wrote:Of course, you can through that and not die. They'll take damage yeah, but they would survive.
Oh yeah, it wasn't critical - especially with 2 Engi onboard. I just thought it was a funny connection of circumstances. This is exactly why I love this game so much.
Oxygen and medbay are not priority upgrades for me, though they are certainly nice to have. Oxygen on level 2 is a nice backup just in case the section takes a hit or is targeted by a boarding party, and you have the option to put it on full power for 300% air recycling when parts of your ship have been decompressed. Medbay is something I tend to upgrade when I have a teleporter and start boarding other ships myself - which I do more and more often in my recent playthroughs, just because it yields so much more rewards and is a rather fun way to play.
What I do consider a priority upgrade is door controls, though, at least to level 2 blast doors.
MrMoustaffa wrote:how are you guys using the stealth ship by the way? Without shields, I'm having a hard time making it out of the first sector.
Not unlocked yet.
Melissia wrote:Also, does anyone else here use early ships to max their team's shield technician, pilot, and engine technician skills out?
Not yet. It does sound nice, but also somewhat expensive...?
Would suck to find a nice item in the shop and not being able to buy it because all the Scrap went into hull repairs.
MrMoustaffa wrote: Well, that's a fine kettle of fish if I do say so myself .
Of course, you can through that and not die. They'll take damage yeah, but they would survive. And if you're worried you could have a guy come from the left to repair it too.
That said, everytime I open my doors to put out fires some idiot blows up the door control unit. I started upgrading it to 3 just so it could take more damage. That's one thing I learned quickly, you ALWAYS need to upgrade oxygen and medibay to level w as soon as possible, maybe even level 3 for oxygen. If you dont, you'll be repairing your oxygen every minute or so.
how are you guys using the stealth ship by the way? Without shields, I'm having a hard time making it out of the first sector.
Ignore the shields till later on, be careful to avoid space hazards (sun etc). Use your shield after they fire, keep an eye out as it comes on to your side of the screen. Get stealth to level 2 ASAP and another energy bar to put engine to 4. The starting weapons you will want to replace quickl as well, or rather upgrade. try and get the ion bomb. If your set on using it, try and get the B-type. same ship, better weapons
MrMoustaffa wrote:how are you guys using the stealth ship by the way? Without shields, I'm having a hard time making it out of the first sector.
Gotta get stealth weapons asap. Other than that, use the shield whenever your weapons are recharging, or possibly to dodge enemy shots. Not just using it every time it comes up.
Oh and yes, the B-type stealth is tons better than the A-type. Not JUST because of the weapon-- it also has more varied crew (IIRC) and better starting upgrades. And you still have long-range scanners (the main reason why I use stealth is because I start with long-range scanners).
MrMoustaffa wrote:how are you guys using the stealth ship by the way? Without shields, I'm having a hard time making it out of the first sector.
Gotta get stealth weapons asap. Other than that, use the shield whenever your weapons are recharging, or possibly to dodge enemy shots. Not just using it every time it comes up.
Yeah, the timing dodge is awesome. It works if enemy has already fired and the shots didn't get to you. Use them immediately when something nasty is fired - like those tri-missiles of endboss - and then cloak. If you stealth randomly you're only delaying, with this trick you're also resetting his weapon.
Because FORK YOU final boss' redonkulous laser spam.
I roll to dodge. AND I PASS. "Beyond All Odds" achievement unlocked
Automatically Appended Next Post: Anyoen gotten the unknown cruiser yet?
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just got the mantis b-type. The design of the ship is better definitely, but the starting equipment kinda sucks-- two mantis, a boarding drone, and a defense drone. Color scheme's nice though, and you start with four in shields and three in drone control, allowing you to play a decent passive game, and starting out with level one sensors is nice compared to the regular mantis ship.
Lynata wrote: I guess opening the airlocks to put out the fire wasn't such a smart idea after all. :>
The same happend to me, just that I emptied 4 rooms of oxygen to fight boarders and fire, when the door control went out.
Ignore the shields till later on, be careful to avoid space hazards (sun etc). Use your shield after they fire, keep an eye out as it comes on to your side of the screen. Get stealth to level 2 ASAP and another energy bar to put engine to 4. The starting weapons you will want to replace quickl as well, or rather upgrade. try and get the ion bomb. If your set on using it, try and get the B-type. same ship, better weapons
Thats how I did too, I keept the weapons (added a blaster II) and had quite sucess, but after a while you cant survive without shields. I like the weapon recharger on the Stealth ship.
I quite like that weapon config:
Ion Bomb takes out the shields, then the Anti Bio Beam brings the health of 2 enemy crewmen to 10%, beam in -> over.
In case of emergency the Hull missle can do 4 points hull damage per missle.
Tried some rockmen boarding teams, and holy crap are they good. I think they make better boarders than the mantis to be honest, since they can take the hits to actually stick around and not die in a few seconds. Plus, all you have to do is light a room on fire, and they're matching the damage the mantis did anyway
Absolutely wrecked a run through with the Federation Cruiser layout A. Got the weapon preigniter on the first sector, and the teleporter with 2 level 2 burst lasers and a small bomb. Literally nothing could stop it. Small bomb killed shields, and six laser shots later they had no weapons/shields. Then, you just start focusing whatever bothers you the most. Small bomb hits engines, lasers hit the medbay so the rockmen can beat face, and you're golden! I think I lost maybe 5 hull in all 3 stages of the boss, but then again, I had max engines, shields, and maxed crews for each (and a shield recharger). And I was on easy... don't judge me. Normal still kicks my butt :(
That said, I hate the artillery beam for that stupid ship. Nine times out of ten it never did anything, and the few times it did, it almost killed my boarding parties, because I kept forgetting to turn the thing back off. It just requires way too much power and upgrades to become truly useful. I just bought a halberd beam, and it did far more damage for only 2 power than the artillery beam ever did.
It does, but it still only does 1 damage no matter what, you can't control it, and it usually has at least half a minute of charge time. You also cant use the preigniter with it. i only upgraded it to max so that if my main weapon system got knocked offline I'd have a backup plan. Otherwise, I only used it by accident, to get achievements, or as the final shot to kill the boss ship.
Speaking of which, I found out that killing the entire crew on the boss doesnt beat it. The ship has an AI to keep it going without crew. however, killing the crew drastically slows repairs and weapon chargeups, so its very handy. Just make sure the med bay and drone area are knocked out or you're gonna have a bad time. teleporting a couple of guys to kill the triple rocket launcher at the beginning of the fight for example was amazing. the ship couldnt repair it and my guys were safe from reinforcements.
Finally got my first win tonight, after only seven hours overall.
Man, that flagship is a real doozy. I realized I kinda cocked up near the end when I had maxed out my energy, but didn't have enough to buy out the last two levels of shields (that is, to get the 4th bar). Wound up slugging it out with 50% dodge and full crew, 4 of them manning stations and the other 3 just keeping the thing together. Even then, the victory was entirely technical, because the flagship launched one of those salvos at me just as my guns launched a salvo at it. Both of our ships went down at the same time, but my kill counted first and I wound up with a win.
By the way, I know it's been mentioned before, but the Engi ship is really, really good if you play it right. It gets trickier near the end when everything has a bunch of dodge, but still, stunlocking enemy shields is just mean.
MrMoustaffa wrote: It does, but it still only does 1 damage no matter what, you can't control it, and it usually has at least half a minute of charge time. You also cant use the preigniter with it. i only upgraded it to max so that if my main weapon system got knocked offline I'd have a backup plan. Otherwise, I only used it by accident, to get achievements, or as the final shot to kill the boss ship.
Speaking of which, I found out that killing the entire crew on the boss doesnt beat it. The ship has an AI to keep it going without crew. however, killing the crew drastically slows repairs and weapon chargeups, so its very handy. Just make sure the med bay and drone area are knocked out or you're gonna have a bad time. teleporting a couple of guys to kill the triple rocket launcher at the beginning of the fight for example was amazing. the ship couldnt repair it and my guys were safe from reinforcements.
Apparently if you leave one crew member alive the ship doesn't auto repair but if you kill them all it does.
MrMoustaffa wrote: It does, but it still only does 1 damage no matter what, you can't control it, and it usually has at least half a minute of charge time. You also cant use the preigniter with it. i only upgraded it to max so that if my main weapon system got knocked offline I'd have a backup plan. Otherwise, I only used it by accident, to get achievements, or as the final shot to kill the boss ship.
Speaking of which, I found out that killing the entire crew on the boss doesnt beat it. The ship has an AI to keep it going without crew. however, killing the crew drastically slows repairs and weapon chargeups, so its very handy. Just make sure the med bay and drone area are knocked out or you're gonna have a bad time. teleporting a couple of guys to kill the triple rocket launcher at the beginning of the fight for example was amazing. the ship couldnt repair it and my guys were safe from reinforcements.
As was just said, the crew on the flagship carries over, so kill all the crew except the one manning the lasers. next battles you can dissable sections and that one guy cant do anything, and the lasers will just bounce off your shields
MrMoustaffa wrote:The ship has an AI to keep it going without crew. however, killing the crew drastically slows repairs and weapon chargeups, so its very handy.
I believe the AI is capable of repairing all damaged systems simultaneously, though, so I guess leaving a single guy alive really is the best solution.
Locclo wrote:Even then, the victory was entirely technical, because the flagship launched one of those salvos at me just as my guns launched a salvo at it. Both of our ships went down at the same time, but my kill counted first and I wound up with a win.
lol, that should earn an Achievement. "Suicide Run" or whatever.
I've earned both type A and B of the kestrel, stealth, mantis, engi, and federation ship trying to get one of the other ships, but actually finding them has been a pita.
Has anyone else come across that message thats a quarantine alert, with some random designation code and whatnot? not the one you use a rock to enforce, another one? Does it have a purpose? Its appeared the same regardless of what mix of stuff i have
purplefood wrote: I really enjoy the game though i'm finding it a bit tricky to unlock other ships.
I have the Engi ship unlocked but nothing else :(
Its stupidly luck based, the only 2 "certain" ships to get are the engi and federation. The rest mostly require a certain race crewmate/equipement to certain levels as you get to a homeworld sector and find a random quest then make sure you get the right events in the right order -_- needless to say, the RNG are unkind <<
All of the races are flawed. Humans have a tendency towards piracy. Rockmen are paranoid donkey-caves. Slugs are thieving donkey-caves. Zoltan are frequently arrogant donkey-caves. Mantis are aggressive donkey-caves. Engi are, frequently, codebound donkey-caves (although they are the least donkey-cave-ish of the races).
I got the mantis ship through ion weaponry and anti-bio weaponry, FWIW. Made it falrly easy.
purplefood wrote: I really enjoy the game though i'm finding it a bit tricky to unlock other ships.
I have the Engi ship unlocked but nothing else :(
I think it helps to unlock Federation Cruiser (by finishing the game). It has 3 (besides human) types of aliens so you do have some random factors under control.
I'd say Engi ship is much better for this task than your starting one. Missiles are a big no-no in some fights (Defensive drone, you stupid ).
Had a lucky run, and now I have everything but the zoltan and unidentified cruisers, although I'm still lacking the slug b-type (two of its achievements are harder than they sound).
Okay, so my opinion about the ships I have thus far:
Spoiler:
Kestrel A-Type: Kinda boring and generic, but it gets the job done. You likely know this one well by now.
Kestrel B-Type: The four basic lasers it starts with are actually pretty good starting equipment. Also, the crew is better than the A-type.
Stealth A-Type: Starts off with stealth and kinda crappy weapons, no shields. Three weapon slots. The A-type stealth isn't all that exceptional. It does start with Titanium Plating, though, making its systems more durable (But NOT its hull!). Still, starting iwth long-ranged sensors is a great boon, helping you avoid environmental hazards, which are always a bother.
Stealth B-Type: A god among ships, mostly because of the weapon and starting with two bars in stealth. No titanium, but it does have long-ranged sensors. Its weapons can wipe out lesser ships in one go... even destroying early game automated scouts through their shields in a single beam if positioned right. Smaller medbay and engine might dissuade you though.
Mantis A-Type: Mantis ship crew move 25% faster. For mantis, this is ridiculously fast, but even for rockmen this is a notable improvement. Starting out with a small bomb allows for easy early game de-crewing of enemy ships, especially combined with the ocmbat prowess of its two Mantis crew.
Mantis B-Type: King of boarding parties. Four person teleportation system located right next to the medbay, making this an assault powerhouse. No starting weapons, but it does start with a boarding drone and a defense drone, making its intended purpose obvious. Tiny starting crew, though.
Engi A-Type: A dronespam ship which remarkably allows for extremely survivable crew members due to its medbay healing members no matter where they are on the ship (at a reduced rate). Keep the medbay on all the time for maximum effect in boarding parties. The ion weapon is useful for its rate of fire and shield deactivation, allowing the drones to maximize their use.
Engi B-Type: One crew member. Starts with a heavy ion and heavy laser, as well as an AP drone and two sys-repair drones. I dislike this, because of the single crew member, but some people can pull it off-- it does start iwth excellent equipment at least.
Federation A-Type: Fairly generic, except for the artillery beam and the superior, highly varied crew. I somewhat dislike it over the B-Type because of the placement of its external doors (for suffocating of intruders), but it is a very capable craft.
Federation B-Type: My preferred craft of the Fed ships. Slugs and Zs are useful starting crew, Has only two slots on its medbay instead of three, though it makes up for this with a level two artillery beam to start out with. Its layout is superior, in my opinion, especially for suffocating intruders.
Slug A-Type: Excellent for decrewing enemy ships. It automatically closes breaches, as well, which is nice against boarding drones especially. Its layout is somewhat annoying for suffocating enemies, though.
Slug B-Type: Starts with more crew than the A-type, but weirdly enough, it's actually designed for boarding enemy ships-- giving you the healing bomb to start off with, as well as a teleporter. I prefer its layout-- it has five rooms that can be decompressed, wearing down of any intruders that aren't boarding drones, and the drones are less of a problem because of the slug ship ability to repair breaches.
Rock A-Type: Durable, but boring. A missile cruiser to start out with, and a generic, almost square interior space. Its three rock crew members are hard to kill, and it has a decent placement of its two decompression rooms allowing for suffocation of intruders. Rock ships have no door system to start out with, however, making decompression tactics something you have to purchase. Rock Plating nullifies 15% of all hull hits (but not system damage), making for a very durable ship.
Rock B-Type: Starts with a decent laser and a fire bomb, and four rockmen, making it useful for boarding actions. The design is kind of meh for an all-rockmen crew, though. No door system, but it DOES have rock plating, nullifying 15% of all hull hits (but not system damage), so both it and its crew will take a beating.
I don't have the zoltan or unknown (crystal, judging from the crystal race guy that I picked up during a quest that I was unable to complete) cruiser. But from what I have read, the Zoltan ships have superior shields and, of course, many Zoltans, allowing for you to have more power than normal (I do love having Zoltans in the engine room).
Melissia wrote:I don't have the zoltan or unknown (crystal, judging from the crystal race guy that I picked up during a quest that I was unable to complete) cruiser.
Ironically, the Crystal ship was the third I got, right after the Engi one. Here's its layout:
Spoiler:
All the weapons it comes with are piercing the target's shields, which is of course a rather neat effect that you'd otherwise need bombs or missiles for. They don't do much damage, but are perfect for taking out the enemy shield generator, allowing your heavy-hitters to get to work. Its special ability is referenced on the screenshot. Half its crew can jerk crystal fragments around thereby "locking down" a room for a couple seconds - there's actually an achievement for trapping 4 enemy crew in a single room this way.
Okay, I am really annoyed, I can't get anywhere beyond the 5th quadrant, I always end up either getting shot to pieces, or my crew die of attrition. Even easy is...not so easy.
I always get ships shutting down o2, engines and doors. Irritating one was doors shut down, then they firebombed the ship. I couldn't put out ANY fire. had to nuke the enemy ship and was down to 1/2 hull by the time I put the fires out.
Thats why I said you need O2 and other important systems at at least level 2. If you have it at level 2 the game will say you managed to eek out just enough power to keep it online, and it will function at level 1. Thats why I always upgrade those systems when I know I'm heading into a slug nebula.
Ah, that makes sense. I do upgrade my O2 by the time I get to slug territory-- I like to make use of decompression to weaken enemy units, and then pump the oxygen back in afterwards.
So, I've started trying to board people, and while it's a lot of fun, I keep having the ships jump with my guys still in them. Anybody else having this happen? Because it is driving me crazy.
I've lost at least 10 crew members over the past few times I've played. I always knock the engine down to orange and yet they still seem to jump very quickly. I guess I need to really hammer it to stop them, or at least keep anybody from reaching the pilot's seat.
If I teleport into the cockpit, can i keep someone from using their FTL drive?
Lynata wrote: All the weapons it comes with are piercing the target's shields, which is of course a rather neat effect that you'd otherwise need bombs or missiles for.
Have not seen this happen, no. They pretty much behave like lasers, so I suppose a Mark II drone could take them out.
Also, the crystals sadly only pierce one shield, not all. Still a nifty ability, essentially negating one deflector level. For example, if the target has two shields, the first crystal would still detonate at the bubble but lower it to one shield, and the second crystal would go through.
Ok, so I finally found the crystal pod, which I assume is how you get the ship. However, I've never noticed a quest thing for it pop up or anyone offer to help with it.
I know I'm asking for massive spoilers here, but what am I supposed to do exactly? Just go to the end and beat the boss? You can PM me if you don't feel like posting it in here.
What ticks me off is that I've found that crystal ship a good 6 or 7 times already, and everytime I took the weapon and scrap instead. I just thought it was a crew member, and took the weapon because i needed it more. Man I'm kicking myself now.
MrMoustaffa wrote: What ticks me off is that I've found that crystal ship a good 6 or 7 times already, and everytime I took the weapon and scrap instead. I just thought it was a crew member, and took the weapon because i needed it more. Man I'm kicking myself now.
MrMoustaffa wrote: Ok, so I finally found the crystal pod, which I assume is how you get the ship. However, I've never noticed a quest thing for it pop up or anyone offer to help with it.
I know I'm asking for massive spoilers here, but what am I supposed to do exactly? Just go to the end and beat the boss? You can PM me if you don't feel like posting it in here.
Spoiler:
You must find one of that Zoltan Scientist-Stations, they can open the pod which gives you a crystal-crewman. You must bring him to the Rock captial.
I dont know more, I was killed shortly before unlocking it.
MrMoustaffa wrote:What ticks me off is that I've found that crystal ship a good 6 or 7 times already, and everytime I took the weapon and scrap instead. I just thought it was a crew member, and took the weapon because i needed it more. Man I'm kicking myself now.
I feel like the game is really rewarding my "RPG playstyle" - as a player, I was really tempted to get the weapon as well, but as the commander of a Federation starship I just couldn't abandon the survivor. I had no idea what would eventually come out of it!
woooooooooooooo, finally beat the boss lol. Mantis type B ship ftw and had the perfect storm of events unlocking another ship along the way and was armed to the teeth. It was one of those runs that you were really sad that ended.
- Medbay, shields, cloaking, teleporter, all maxed.
- 4 man teleporter room with 4 skill lvl 3 Mantis
- engie and 2 slugs for blue events
- 3 weapon recharge boosts with triple shot gun, 2 shot double dmg gun, and emp bomb.
- boarding drone and attack drone
As soon as a fight starts, lob a boarding drone in that beam 4 mantis in to wreck the gun systems. If they try to heal emp the medbay. Meanwhile the guns rain hell if needed with an insane recharge rate.
BlueDagger wrote:It was one of those runs that you were really sad that ended.
I know, right? I'd really love an "endless" mode where you can just keep collecting more and more cool equipment.
Apparently, this was actually how the game was first designed - it actually having an "end boss" didn't come until shortly before release...
Dunwich: Thanks for the wiki link. I still want that Mantis ship so badly. Grr. The irony is that the supposedly oh-so-mysterious and hard-to-get Crystal ship was the 2nd one I got, even before the Fed Cruiser! Guess that used up all my luck, lol
I would love an "explore" mode, where you just keep going and going until you just can't keep going and are finally destroyed. Make it where the stores become rarer, the enemies harder, the events more brutal, and I think it'd be really awesome.
Eventually you'd just get to the point where every fight has an enviornmental hazard and every ship is just as scary and armed to the teeth as you.
Would make for some awesome last stands as well, when you finally see that one ship and go, "well, this is it guys, lets see how many of em we can take with us"
Wow, just got the mantis ship, and was amazed at how easy it was. Well....I did pretty much gut the opposing ship with fire (artemis missile) and the rest of the crew fled! then I slaughtered the pirate king in his helm! I also have the crew member Notch. (engi actually) and the pirate king, so 3 mantids, an engie and 4 humans.
The best one I've seen was on a let's play video on youtube. These three guys were playing together and ran into Butters, the rockman. They were one scrap short of buying him.
There was much lamenting.
I love the names though, they're always so random and most are good for a laugh.
Sort of reviving this topic but I didn't want to start another so I just wanted to say, this game is so freaking hard! This closest I've gotten to beating the game was the second stage of the boss fight with an underpowered engi ship. I have sunk so many hours playing it but I still love it!
Are you playing on easy or normal? Easy is normal and normal is HARD.
I find you don't stand a chance against the end boss, in either mode, unless you get 1 of 3 things (or all of them!)
1) Hull repair drone. Best item in the game. Only way you can guarantee repairs in the Last Stand
2) Get really lucky with repair station positioning.
3) Have a ship that is so powerful, both defensively and offensively, that you can take on all versions of the boss without needing to repair.
Obviously you want a powerful ship in any circumstance, but unless it's super powerful, you really need option 1) or 2) to have a chance of finishing the game.
I completed the game twice on easy and the furthest I go on normal was sector 6, but my ship was seriously under-equipped for anything past sector 4. I play a mixture.
While hull repairs are good, if you have shields level 3 or higher, and pretty much maxed out engines, you can avoid alot except the rockets.
I think a teleporter is essential for the boss levels to kill the crew of the weapon and destroy the actual weapon. I like to hire at least two mantis to teleport over and destroy the rocket launchers first, then the ion weapons and that usually does it for me.
Repair stations do it for me, I had a level where the repair stations were all on the other side of the sector, where I promptly died.
For the final boss, I've found that you need to have one of three things to bring it all together: either a teleporter (and a few off-crewmembers trained in boarding action), a stealth system, or bombs. The biggest source of pain in the final boss is the missiles, because they ignore your shields. You HAVE to take them out, or you're done for. Boarding party does this nicely, but a stealth system is fantastic for keeping the enemy salvos under control. Bombs are one of the best tools I've ever seen for dealing with the final boss, because they ignore defense drones, they usually hit, and the system ones tend to do high damage because they don't do any actual hull damage. They're perfect when used in tandem with your own weapons to deal with multiple systems at once.
Though i think it would help a little if the stars behind them moved -_-
).
