FTL - Faster than Light

[Grey]

Yeah, it really does have the roguelike spirit in abundance. I've seen a lot of people argue over semantics of whether it's a roguelike because it doesn't have feature x, y, etc. But you can't just decide a roguelike from that - it's the interaction of elements and how the game feels that really matters.

[Kyreles]

Well, I've beat the game on easy. Haven't quite got there on normal. Just noticed an option in the menu to turn on a thing where it shows you where a node you're about to jump to can jump to. I wish I'd noticed it earlier. I've gotten cornered a time or two because of that. Definitely feels a lot like a roguelike to me.

What are your favorite ships? I love The Torus. The Engi one. I've done the best with that one by far.

[Grey]

The option to highlight node-paths was only recently added, so you haven't been missing out that much.

The Torus is good, but I've won too many times with it, so I'm a little bored of it now. The Zoltan ship is really really cool for the first while. And the Stealth ship has all sorts of awesome around it, though it starts with no shields. Especially the type B of the Stealth ship - it starts off with a Glaive beam that will just tear apart any enemy if used right. Red Tail (type B of the starting ship) has a nice weapon loadout at the start too, though when you hit 3 shield enemies it starts suffering.

[Silfir]

My first win (Normal, I haven't touched Easy except for one or two games in the beginning) was with the Torus - the Ion Blast II is an absolute monster. There aren't many ships that start with the ability to defeat any level of shields. I've added two wins on the Osprey, one on the Bulwark and one on the Red Tail.

I still have to unlock the Slug, Mantis, Stealth and secret ship. I bungled the Slug once already, kind of annoying. My next attempts will involve the Shivan (Rock B) since Rock ships have the best shot at the secret ship, but the weapon loadout really annoys me. The Heavy Pierce Laser is a piece of crap.

[prime]

I've mostly been using the Kestrel, the default ship. I guess I don't really know how to use the Ion Blast II effectively, since it doesn't seem that amazing to me.

And I've only won on easy as well. On normal, I can make it to sector 8, but I just don't have enough stuff to take down the flagship.

[Grey]

Get the ion blast ii autofiring against their shields whilst the drone kills them. Use any lasers you get to keep their weapons suppressed so they can never hurt you, meaning all your lovely scrap goes on upgrades instead of repairs.

[prime]

Heh, I'm always reluctant to spend drones since I feel like I should save them in case I get a hull repair drone. I ended up trying to kill ships by hitting the life support until they asphyxiated...

[Silfir]

Saving drone parts for an eventual hull repair drone instead of using them to kill the enemy right now is kind of like not drinking a blessed potion of extra healing at 3/150 HP because it wastes two potential points of healing. (Though nothing to be said against asphyxiating the enemy with ions if they can't hurt you - though they might escape.)

[Grey]

If you want to kill the crew then get a teleporter. Asphyxiation is rarely easy without taking damage.

[prime]

Okay, I'm starting to see why the ion blast is so good. Hitting the shields again resets the ionization timer? Or just adds more time?

And I have a newfound love for the Noether (Zoltan B). It comes with two ion blasts, and the amazing Zoltan shield. And the less amazing half-a-shield, but I can live with that.