FTL - Faster than Light

[Silfir]

If the ion damage hasn't cooled off, getting hit with more ion resets the timer - that way it can build up over time to take down the shield system entirely, regardless of how many shields there are. A string of misses can ruin the fun (more on the higher sectors), but because of the high firing rate your weapon guy will increase in levels quickly and reduce the chance of that happening.

I haven't had humongous success with the Noether. Against some opponents, the Zoltan Shield is enough, but against other Zoltans and in asteroid fields you will suffer. That said, the weapons are excellent; you just need those 100 scrap fast.

[Grey]

To stops strings of missiles with the ion take down their pilot room - cuts out their evade rate completely.

[Silfir]

If you have missiles, that's the perfect use for them, of course! Won't work against defense drones.

In my most recent win with the Shivan I had just about the perfect set: Ion Blast Mk II, Hermes missiles and Halberd Beam. Swapped missiles for beam once shields were down. I had a boarding team to disable weapons, but I couldn't send them out twice because the boss died too quickly anyway.

[Grey]

Or bombs for when they have drones. Or burst lasers.

[Kyreles]

I've been playing easy quite a bit (unlocking ships, trying different weapons/strategies). Just bumped up to normal. Geez, you really gotta stay on top of upgrading early on. I just died to one of the first fights I was in. Not *really* my fault, as I only had a single Engi crewmember and a pair of mantis men jumped on my ship. They do double damage, my guy does half... good times.

[Grey]

Open the doors and watch them asphyxiate :P But that ship that starts with just one Engi is possibly the hardest of all the starts.

[prime]

If the ion damage hasn't cooled off, getting hit with more ion resets the timer - that way it can build up over time to take down the shield system entirely, regardless of how many shields there are. A string of misses can ruin the fun (more on the higher sectors), but because of the high firing rate your weapon guy will increase in levels quickly and reduce the chance of that happening.

I haven't had humongous success with the Noether. Against some opponents, the Zoltan Shield is enough, but against other Zoltans and in asteroid fields you will suffer. That said, the weapons are excellent; you just need those 100 scrap fast.

Yeah, it takes a little bit of luck to get started. But it's not quite as bad as the Stealth B. I feel like success with that ship largely revolves around your ability to deflect lasers with prayer alone.

And a basic question for the experienced players - which systems are most important to have manned? I know having someone at the helm is pretty much mandatory, but is it better to pull someone off weapons to repair, or shields/engine?

Also, what's a good way to deal with the drone phase of the flagship? The teleporter shuts down the weapons on the other stages nicely, but I always take a lot of hull damage from drones.

[Grey]

Manning order of importance: Pilot, Engines, Weapons, Shields. Shield manning makes little difference in my experience.

For the drone special attack cloak is a life saver. But 3 or 4 shields and 45% evade is good enough too.

[Silfir]

Shield manning should reduce the number of windows of opportunity for opponents to get a hit in, which can be important against drones or asteroids. But in almost all cases, the shields guy is the most expendable. The weapons guy can be absolutely crucial when your defense is lacking, simply because you need to fire your weapons as quickly as possible, before they get hit. The engines guy provides 5-10% evade which is pretty huge, but not manning the helm means all evade is gone unless you shelled out for an autopilot (and autopilots suck).

[Grey]

It's still worth shelling out for autopilot in case of emergencies and more importantly to make the pilot station able to absorb damage before being completely disabled. For the same reason I always pump an extra point in O2.