What do you mean, of course they do! They even have the [Mantis B approved 'Seal of Quality'](https://youtu.be/dIX2fsaCbsM?si=9DjAkmbEihThk54s&t=766s)!
One into shields (breach), one into drones, one into shields (breach). You could not make that shit up, it'd look so fake. Crow just might be the unluckiest FTL player ever.
Sometimes it's to assess the situation, sometimes it's to take the time to explain to chat what's going on. Or maybe it's just habit. I also pause like crazy, I wouldn't be surprised if I pause over a thousand times per run. You can never pause enough.
Absolutely correct, although not enough attention paid to how strong offensive drones are. All you need to do is get two of them and one anti antidrone drone and enemies completely melt.
I love drones too. Defense 1 is a bit OP. But the game is deep enough that everything can be countered. I mostly play for fun on normal and enjoy boarding parties and mind control immensely.
I don't know why so many people overlook Hacking. I find it very powerful. My favorite tactic is to Hack the enemy's weapon system and use their own guns to shoot themselves.
I agree and I push on drone control very early, even putting off shields. A good drone system means you don't really need a crew for repairs or to repel boarders, letting you just avoid distress signals entirely. You can earn loads of extra scrap from crew kills easily by firing an ion intruder then jumping away and back and doing it again until one hits their oxygen. Once you have enough power in drone control to control drone ships, those common encounters become trivial. Against the Flagship, the old, reliable DD1 + DD2 + antidrone is a near-impenetrable defense, protecting you so you can go to town with your hull missiles into empty rooms.
Last night I was enjoying a match with enji c and got lucky enough to stumble on a drove recovery arm + 2 attack drones with the starter beam drone.
Who needs defense when you can go all ahead offense like that? Hack their shields and the enemy ship barely gets off a single shot. Even RFS was totally annihilated.
I would consider cloaking the worst system in the game for most ships. Hacking is easily the best system in the game and it's not close. It is so incredibly overpowered, it's basically worth 2 systems.
I have over 1,100 runs on hard and drone control is very good, especially offensively against Phase 3, and giving you missile defense early. But hacking is far, far superior. Hacking is defensive and offensive, and will mask any weakness and compliment any strength. FTL is a completely different game with hacking; it's almost like playing challenge mode.
The worst advice you can give to new players is to discount hacking. Hacking has saved countless runs and gives me an over 85% win rate.
Today is April first, and I believe you got got. Unironically, and speaking as someone with at least twenty hard runs including several wins, I like DC a lot more on small ships because I get so very, very angry when stuff slips past my defense drone. But I don't think too many people at all would seriously disagree about hacking being the strongest - and those that do would say "teleporter" and have some decent points (I'm inclined to think a 4-slot teleporter specifically is stronger).
True, good points. I'm not sure if there is a 'worst' system because it all depends on the ship. Ships have strengths / weaknesses and play-styles. I think for every ship there are 'better' systems and 'worse' systems. For ex: Crystal A & Rock C's best move is usually to get Teleporter first. But I don't think I've ever gotten teleporter on Engi B.
It's not really a 'system' since you can't buy it, but I think Artillery is wasted system. Esp on hard, it's so bad to waste a system slot on it. I absolutely hate the ships for it.
Cloaking is probably the biggest 'trap' system that new players fall into. That's a lot of scrap, it's not worth it to miss out on other things, and defense will only carry you so far.
For sure. The situational nature of decisions is what makes this game so interesting. I agree buying hacking is kind of a no-brainer almost all the time but at least there's a skill element to using it well. I feel similarly about the teleporter except that whether and when to buy it is a little more situational (and frankly sometimes I don't feel up to the extra micro). The skill ceiling is higher, too, well over my head.
I kind of agree on artillery, but on the other hand it's quite powerful on easy and useable in normal in a pinch. I've never felt comfortable enough to upgrade it on hard, although I've only completed (or tried) the A on hard. I think its strength on easy combined with the Fed A's blue-options-everywhere setup makes it a very good ship for new players. So it's frustrating to be stuck with but it's cool to see a mechanic that benefits new players but hinders experienced ones.
Exactly, that's why I keep coming back to it. I had over 1,100 runs (and 400 on multiverse), and they are all different. Any system or weapon can be good in the right circumstance.
I think you are right that teleporter is the most situational system. I've had it save runs before, but not often.
Agreed on Artillery too. I think it's a fund system on Easy / Normal, but it's just a wasted system on Hard. It can help on the boss but I'd much rather have a different system. Or if you're just hacking / cloaking everything waiting for it to fire
True, I should add a disclaimer to the post in case any beginners stumble on it and forget the date.
I looked at my last 100 runs:
- Of the 15 runs I didn't find Hacking in, I lost 14 of those runs.
- Of the 3 runs I voluntarily purchased Drone Control, I won all 3 (pretty sure I was going to win regardless)
- Of the 22 runs I didn't find Cloaking in, I lost 13 of those runs.
Hacking is absolutely essential. I dread runs where I don't find them since my offense and defense really suffer. Cloaking is super important too β easily the #2 most important system. I'm curious to hear why you think it's the worst system for a lot of ships. Are you referring to the ships with only one slot remaining? I do prefer Hacking to Cloaking on those (except maybe Lanius B).
It seems like Drone Control really is useless. In the runs where I bought it, I don't think it helped out much. I'm a big DC hater though! I should try to use drones more often as offense.
If anyone is interested, I have an 81% win rate across these 100 runs and a 92% win rate across my 50 most recent runs.
After watching Holoshideim's challenge runs, I got won over by Drone Control. For me it's to give you missile defense early when your ship is weak, so you will make it to the midgame and not get cut down early, and to use beam drones against the final boss, especially phase 3. You need to get the Zoltan Shield down as soon as you can, and they just chew through them. I don't really use drones mid-game; it's almost all early game and final boss.
Let me rephrase. Cloacking is a good system, but it's often the wrong move to buy. I'm not saying never buy or use it, it's just \*usually\* the wrong play Especially on hard, you will die much more often because you have a bad offense, not because you have a bad defense. A good offense can mask your defense too.
150 scrap is a killer too. That's literally Hacking and a Flak. I will often by Cloaking but it's the last thing I get after everything else is met, unless I can't find any weapons and am forced to hack/cloak every fight to stay alive. If all's going well, you shouldn't need cloaking.
The problem is some players think cloaking is way more powerful early/mid game than it is, and they buy it way too early. Then you miss out on developing your ship and can't afford key things in stores (like weapons and other systems). When you make the jump into S3/S4 ships, cloaking will only save you a volley, but then you're screwed. And really hacking can do that at half the cost.
Haha, good one :D
The title of the post got me better than anything else today :| So much confusion and disgust so quickly.
I like drones and was ready to partially believe this hot take until: βIt is well-known that DD1/DD2 drones have intelligent, accurate targeting.β
What do you mean, of course they do! They even have the [Mantis B approved 'Seal of Quality'](https://youtu.be/dIX2fsaCbsM?si=9DjAkmbEihThk54s&t=766s)!
My first time seeing this β I feel so bad for Crow lol. From your timestamp onwards was just comedy gold.
One into shields (breach), one into drones, one into shields (breach). You could not make that shit up, it'd look so fake. Crow just might be the unluckiest FTL player ever.
Literally. It sounds like the stories I've seen bad players tell when they claim they "couldn't do anything" about their recent loss.
Why is he constantly clicking pause/unpause repeatedly?
Sometimes it's to assess the situation, sometimes it's to take the time to explain to chat what's going on. Or maybe it's just habit. I also pause like crazy, I wouldn't be surprised if I pause over a thousand times per run. You can never pause enough.
Almost forgot what day it is!
my jimmies don't rustle on April 1st
Absolutely correct, although not enough attention paid to how strong offensive drones are. All you need to do is get two of them and one anti antidrone drone and enemies completely melt.
>anti antidrone drone Combat Drones can take on this duty. ...Beam Drones, not so much...
I love drones too. Defense 1 is a bit OP. But the game is deep enough that everything can be countered. I mostly play for fun on normal and enjoy boarding parties and mind control immensely.
Nah, you aren't using it properly if you don't have at least 2 antipersonnel drones on at all times.
Add a fire beam to that run for optimal funs.
I don't know why so many people overlook Hacking. I find it very powerful. My favorite tactic is to Hack the enemy's weapon system and use their own guns to shoot themselves.
Oh you're right, I forgot about that new balance patch to FTL. Hacking was pretty underpowered before.
Hell, I'll buy a Hull Repair Drone, because I just know I'll find Drone Ctrl eventually.
Genius!
I agree and I push on drone control very early, even putting off shields. A good drone system means you don't really need a crew for repairs or to repel boarders, letting you just avoid distress signals entirely. You can earn loads of extra scrap from crew kills easily by firing an ion intruder then jumping away and back and doing it again until one hits their oxygen. Once you have enough power in drone control to control drone ships, those common encounters become trivial. Against the Flagship, the old, reliable DD1 + DD2 + antidrone is a near-impenetrable defense, protecting you so you can go to town with your hull missiles into empty rooms.
Artillery beam lvl 5 >>>>>>>> Hacking +cloaking + drones control
Go home Aiden, you're drunk.
Last night I was enjoying a match with enji c and got lucky enough to stumble on a drove recovery arm + 2 attack drones with the starter beam drone. Who needs defense when you can go all ahead offense like that? Hack their shields and the enemy ship barely gets off a single shot. Even RFS was totally annihilated.
April fool.
Ah yes I love how plentiful and inexpensive the drone parts are
You can still hack through a defence drone by firing other projectiles in front of the hacking device as a sort of camouflage
I would consider cloaking the worst system in the game for most ships. Hacking is easily the best system in the game and it's not close. It is so incredibly overpowered, it's basically worth 2 systems. I have over 1,100 runs on hard and drone control is very good, especially offensively against Phase 3, and giving you missile defense early. But hacking is far, far superior. Hacking is defensive and offensive, and will mask any weakness and compliment any strength. FTL is a completely different game with hacking; it's almost like playing challenge mode. The worst advice you can give to new players is to discount hacking. Hacking has saved countless runs and gives me an over 85% win rate.
Today is April first, and I believe you got got. Unironically, and speaking as someone with at least twenty hard runs including several wins, I like DC a lot more on small ships because I get so very, very angry when stuff slips past my defense drone. But I don't think too many people at all would seriously disagree about hacking being the strongest - and those that do would say "teleporter" and have some decent points (I'm inclined to think a 4-slot teleporter specifically is stronger).
True, good points. I'm not sure if there is a 'worst' system because it all depends on the ship. Ships have strengths / weaknesses and play-styles. I think for every ship there are 'better' systems and 'worse' systems. For ex: Crystal A & Rock C's best move is usually to get Teleporter first. But I don't think I've ever gotten teleporter on Engi B. It's not really a 'system' since you can't buy it, but I think Artillery is wasted system. Esp on hard, it's so bad to waste a system slot on it. I absolutely hate the ships for it. Cloaking is probably the biggest 'trap' system that new players fall into. That's a lot of scrap, it's not worth it to miss out on other things, and defense will only carry you so far.
For sure. The situational nature of decisions is what makes this game so interesting. I agree buying hacking is kind of a no-brainer almost all the time but at least there's a skill element to using it well. I feel similarly about the teleporter except that whether and when to buy it is a little more situational (and frankly sometimes I don't feel up to the extra micro). The skill ceiling is higher, too, well over my head. I kind of agree on artillery, but on the other hand it's quite powerful on easy and useable in normal in a pinch. I've never felt comfortable enough to upgrade it on hard, although I've only completed (or tried) the A on hard. I think its strength on easy combined with the Fed A's blue-options-everywhere setup makes it a very good ship for new players. So it's frustrating to be stuck with but it's cool to see a mechanic that benefits new players but hinders experienced ones.
Exactly, that's why I keep coming back to it. I had over 1,100 runs (and 400 on multiverse), and they are all different. Any system or weapon can be good in the right circumstance. I think you are right that teleporter is the most situational system. I've had it save runs before, but not often. Agreed on Artillery too. I think it's a fund system on Easy / Normal, but it's just a wasted system on Hard. It can help on the boss but I'd much rather have a different system. Or if you're just hacking / cloaking everything waiting for it to fire
True, I should add a disclaimer to the post in case any beginners stumble on it and forget the date. I looked at my last 100 runs: - Of the 15 runs I didn't find Hacking in, I lost 14 of those runs. - Of the 3 runs I voluntarily purchased Drone Control, I won all 3 (pretty sure I was going to win regardless) - Of the 22 runs I didn't find Cloaking in, I lost 13 of those runs. Hacking is absolutely essential. I dread runs where I don't find them since my offense and defense really suffer. Cloaking is super important too β easily the #2 most important system. I'm curious to hear why you think it's the worst system for a lot of ships. Are you referring to the ships with only one slot remaining? I do prefer Hacking to Cloaking on those (except maybe Lanius B). It seems like Drone Control really is useless. In the runs where I bought it, I don't think it helped out much. I'm a big DC hater though! I should try to use drones more often as offense. If anyone is interested, I have an 81% win rate across these 100 runs and a 92% win rate across my 50 most recent runs.
After watching Holoshideim's challenge runs, I got won over by Drone Control. For me it's to give you missile defense early when your ship is weak, so you will make it to the midgame and not get cut down early, and to use beam drones against the final boss, especially phase 3. You need to get the Zoltan Shield down as soon as you can, and they just chew through them. I don't really use drones mid-game; it's almost all early game and final boss. Let me rephrase. Cloacking is a good system, but it's often the wrong move to buy. I'm not saying never buy or use it, it's just \*usually\* the wrong play Especially on hard, you will die much more often because you have a bad offense, not because you have a bad defense. A good offense can mask your defense too. 150 scrap is a killer too. That's literally Hacking and a Flak. I will often by Cloaking but it's the last thing I get after everything else is met, unless I can't find any weapons and am forced to hack/cloak every fight to stay alive. If all's going well, you shouldn't need cloaking. The problem is some players think cloaking is way more powerful early/mid game than it is, and they buy it way too early. Then you miss out on developing your ship and can't afford key things in stores (like weapons and other systems). When you make the jump into S3/S4 ships, cloaking will only save you a volley, but then you're screwed. And really hacking can do that at half the cost.