FTL has some odd strategy bits to it, especially early game. Here's a grab bag of things: Abuse the pause button. You can take your time to think and plan. En

FTL has some odd strategy bits to it, especially early game. Here's a grab bag of things: Abuse the pause button. You can take your time to think and plan. Engines are a good upgrade: they let you avoid damage, which let's you save money. Every shield you buy is multiplied by how string your engine is. You should focus on defense over offense the first few levels. I nearly always have two shields as my first purchase, even if I have to turn off my O2 or medbay to run them. Its OK to avoid shops until you have enough scrap/junk to sell to buy something. Top priorities are usually cloaking and damage here. You can usually win battles with a very small weapons edge if you have strong enough defense, but if you go too far eventually you will be unable to touch enemies.