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This is one of the most perfectly balanced games I've ever played. I've come one shot from beating the end boss, but that final kill still evades me. The grea

by bstar77 13y ago

This is one of the most perfectly balanced games I've ever played. I've come one shot from beating the end boss, but that final kill still evades me. The great part about the game is that the beginning portion is actually quite strategic despite the battles being very easy. You really need to maximize your wins by either getting in as many battles as possible per sector or by killing opposing crews without destroying their ship. Your first 5 or so sectors really set the pace for the later game.

cstuder 13y ago
I love it too. The only weird thing I've found: There's an option to show the reachable systems on the map, so you can plan your route through a sector in advance. This is quite a gameplay change from the route guessing game you encounter with the default settings, making the game easier. I feel a little bit like cheating when enabling this...
- Semaphor 13y ago
  I always turn it on. I feel it removes a bit of the element of luck from the game as being close doesn't mean two points are connected.
- KVFinn 13y ago
  >The only weird thing I've found: There's an option to show the reachable systems on the map, so you can plan your route through a sector in advance. >This is quite a gameplay change from the route guessing game you encounter with the default settings, making the game easier. >I feel a little bit like cheating when enabling this... They patched this in and it feels weird, yeah. I wish they would tie the upgrade into the sensor systems: see one level of nodes at level 2, and the whole map at level 3. I like feeling of jumping into the uknown but i can't turn off the minmax part of my brain enough to turn off a free option.
Strilanc 13y ago
The trick to beating the final boss is to have maxed teleport and cloaking. This lets you avoid all missile volleys, by cloaking just before the first few would hit and boarding the missile weapon system to disable it. Also you should murder all but one of the crew during the first battle (this is tricky, but you can take your time), so you can disable systems quickly in the second and third battles without them being repaired. Cloaking and teleporters are great early investments, too. Cloaking saves tons of resources that would have been spent on repairs, and killing the enemy crew gives better rewards compared to blowing up the ship.
- vacri 13y ago
  Max shields make the final boss pretty easy, as long as you can get to the missile weapon to destroy it. Just make sure you can hurt an enemy with 4 shields and missile defence. I once got there and couldn't penetrate it at all...
- RickHull 13y ago
  SPOILER ALERT
- darklajid 13y ago
  For those thinking this is a spoiler: I repeatedly beat the game without following these rules. There's certainly more than one way. I do agree with the observation that killing the crew of an enemy ship gives much greater reward. I love the anti-bio weapon :)
- xentronium 13y ago
  Very dependent on the ship. Cloak can't be bought on some ships. Some ships have extremely bad crew for boarding and don't even get to get some better crew. There's certainly more than one way to win it.
  - lobotryas 13y ago
    There are a number of ways to carry out a similar strategy, ie: kill all crew except one and destroy subsystems before trying to damage the hull. The only ship that can't equip Cloak it is the Federation Cruiser (and its variant) and this ship has the Artillery Beam to make up for it. As for crew, between Stores and Slavers it's entirely possible to get to Mantis or, even better, two Rock crew members before facing the boss. This, at the very least, will let you take out the boss's weapons.
- lmm 13y ago
  Not my approach. Maxed engines for evasion, masses of lasers, and it goes down pretty quickly. Like others have said, there's more than one way to do it.
- jeltz 13y ago
WA 13y ago
This is one of the most perfectly balanced games I've ever played. Err what? I happened to play quite a few games where I advanced to sector 3 or 4, never found a good weapon in any shop. Then I was destroyed, because I couldn't kill enemies with 2 shields. And I fought as many battles as possible in each sector. Since this happened in the majority of my games, I stopped playing.
- otikik 13y ago
  You must be playing without using pause. Spacebar is your friend on this game.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - WA 13y ago
    But pause doesn't help me get through their shields if I have shitty weapons. I read some tips below and will try it again. Maybe I just bought the wrong stuff all the time.
    - danielbarla 13y ago
      Hmmm, by sectors 3 or 4, you should definitely run across something on the offensive side. This could be another weapon (and these can also be picked up outside of shops, if you are lucky), a teleporter, or a drone control / offensive done. Even failing that, the starting ship has some decent weaponry; the missile can go through shields (so if you time it together with your lasers), you should be able to completely disable a 2-level shield with your first salvo. You may want to go for their weapons first, though. Disabling their pilot / engines removes their ability to dodge, meaning that all 3 of your lasers will hit. I'd also recommend reading through the various wikis that exist, e.g. ftlwiki has great tips / strategies for each player ship. Here's their take on the Kestrel (starting ship): http://ftlwiki.com/wiki/The_Kestrel http://ftlwiki.com/wiki/The_Kestrel Other simple tips would be - always attack (and defeat) slavers, they usually offer a slave in exchange for mercy, which is a great deal. If they are non-human, you will get more "blue" options, which usually have (better) rewards. Later on, simply get to level 5 to unlock the engi ship, and play around with it to get an idea of how powerful drones can be. In summary, the gameplay is actually very balanced, and pretty deep. With a lot of skill, you should be able to get to the final level on easy most of the time (and perhaps beat the boss half the time, depending on your strategy). But being a kind of roguelike (with all its randomness), sometimes you will just have bad luck...
VonGuard 13y ago
If you're a sucker for balance, you cannot get better than Desktop Dungeon, which just launched on Steam. That game is balanced down to the last digit. I have won DD before with a single health point remaining, 0 magic points, and all potions used. It's intense. If you like Rogue-likes, then try Rogue Legacy, which is sort of the FTL take on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Your strategy for FTL is correct. I like to suck the marrow from early sectors, hoarding scrap and dough while routing early baddies. I've still never beaten it, though, and I've been playing since it was dropped on the IGF in 2011!
- gavanwoolery 13y ago
  Desktop Dungeon is awesome. Also, do not forget the game that (I think) inspired some of FTL: Spelunky.
  - VonGuard 13y ago
    Splunky is great, Derek Yu rules, but it's also a very hardcore game, as well...
Pxtl 13y ago
A game that lulls players into a false sense of security and then obliterates them is not "balanced"... although it's disputable whether "balance" is even a meaningful concept in a single-player game. That's a terrible feedback loop for the player. FTL has a lot to like about it and it deserves its popularity, but the game has some massive flaws related to randomness and difficulty.
wnevets 13y ago
if by balanced you mean completely random, then sure. Fun game but I wouldn't call it perfectly balanced.
bstar77 13y ago
To clarify, by balanced I mean that the difficulty is just hard enough for me to not be able to beat the game, yet subsequent play throughs are still extremely fun. I will eventually beat this game, but it will take some time. I consistently get to the end game battle, no matter what luck I have in random events. I could have won my last few end battles if I had just played things slightly differently. Nothing is perfect, some things are just more perfect than others ;-)

by bstar77 13y ago

cstuder 13y ago

I love it too. The only weird thing I've found: There's an option to show the reachable systems on the map, so you can plan your route through a sector in advance. This is quite a gameplay change from the route guessing game you encounter with the default settings, making the game easier. I feel a little bit like cheating when enabling this...

Semaphor 13y ago
I always turn it on. I feel it removes a bit of the element of luck from the game as being close doesn't mean two points are connected.
KVFinn 13y ago
>The only weird thing I've found: There's an option to show the reachable systems on the map, so you can plan your route through a sector in advance. >This is quite a gameplay change from the route guessing game you encounter with the default settings, making the game easier. >I feel a little bit like cheating when enabling this... They patched this in and it feels weird, yeah. I wish they would tie the upgrade into the sensor systems: see one level of nodes at level 2, and the whole map at level 3. I like feeling of jumping into the uknown but i can't turn off the minmax part of my brain enough to turn off a free option.

Strilanc 13y ago

The trick to beating the final boss is to have maxed teleport and cloaking. This lets you avoid all missile volleys, by cloaking just before the first few would hit and boarding the missile weapon system to disable it. Also you should murder all but one of the crew during the first battle (this is tricky, but you can take your time), so you can disable systems quickly in the second and third battles without them being repaired. Cloaking and teleporters are great early investments, too. Cloaking saves tons of resources that would have been spent on repairs, and killing the enemy crew gives better rewards compared to blowing up the ship.

vacri 13y ago
Max shields make the final boss pretty easy, as long as you can get to the missile weapon to destroy it. Just make sure you can hurt an enemy with 4 shields and missile defence. I once got there and couldn't penetrate it at all...
RickHull 13y ago
SPOILER ALERT
darklajid 13y ago
For those thinking this is a spoiler: I repeatedly beat the game without following these rules. There's certainly more than one way. I do agree with the observation that killing the crew of an enemy ship gives much greater reward. I love the anti-bio weapon :)
xentronium 13y ago
Very dependent on the ship. Cloak can't be bought on some ships. Some ships have extremely bad crew for boarding and don't even get to get some better crew. There's certainly more than one way to win it.
- lobotryas 13y ago
  There are a number of ways to carry out a similar strategy, ie: kill all crew except one and destroy subsystems before trying to damage the hull. The only ship that can't equip Cloak it is the Federation Cruiser (and its variant) and this ship has the Artillery Beam to make up for it. As for crew, between Stores and Slavers it's entirely possible to get to Mantis or, even better, two Rock crew members before facing the boss. This, at the very least, will let you take out the boss's weapons.
lmm 13y ago
Not my approach. Maxed engines for evasion, masses of lasers, and it goes down pretty quickly. Like others have said, there's more than one way to do it.
jeltz 13y ago

WA 13y ago

This is one of the most perfectly balanced games I've ever played. Err what? I happened to play quite a few games where I advanced to sector 3 or 4, never found a good weapon in any shop. Then I was destroyed, because I couldn't kill enemies with 2 shields. And I fought as many battles as possible in each sector. Since this happened in the majority of my games, I stopped playing.

otikik 13y ago
You must be playing without using pause. Spacebar is your friend on this game.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- WA 13y ago
  But pause doesn't help me get through their shields if I have shitty weapons. I read some tips below and will try it again. Maybe I just bought the wrong stuff all the time.
  - danielbarla 13y ago
    Hmmm, by sectors 3 or 4, you should definitely run across something on the offensive side. This could be another weapon (and these can also be picked up outside of shops, if you are lucky), a teleporter, or a drone control / offensive done. Even failing that, the starting ship has some decent weaponry; the missile can go through shields (so if you time it together with your lasers), you should be able to completely disable a 2-level shield with your first salvo. You may want to go for their weapons first, though. Disabling their pilot / engines removes their ability to dodge, meaning that all 3 of your lasers will hit. I'd also recommend reading through the various wikis that exist, e.g. ftlwiki has great tips / strategies for each player ship. Here's their take on the Kestrel (starting ship): http://ftlwiki.com/wiki/The_Kestrel http://ftlwiki.com/wiki/The_Kestrel Other simple tips would be - always attack (and defeat) slavers, they usually offer a slave in exchange for mercy, which is a great deal. If they are non-human, you will get more "blue" options, which usually have (better) rewards. Later on, simply get to level 5 to unlock the engi ship, and play around with it to get an idea of how powerful drones can be. In summary, the gameplay is actually very balanced, and pretty deep. With a lot of skill, you should be able to get to the final level on easy most of the time (and perhaps beat the boss half the time, depending on your strategy). But being a kind of roguelike (with all its randomness), sometimes you will just have bad luck...

VonGuard 13y ago

If you're a sucker for balance, you cannot get better than Desktop Dungeon, which just launched on Steam. That game is balanced down to the last digit. I have won DD before with a single health point remaining, 0 magic points, and all potions used. It's intense. If you like Rogue-likes, then try Rogue Legacy, which is sort of the FTL take on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Your strategy for FTL is correct. I like to suck the marrow from early sectors, hoarding scrap and dough while routing early baddies. I've still never beaten it, though, and I've been playing since it was dropped on the IGF in 2011!

gavanwoolery 13y ago
Desktop Dungeon is awesome. Also, do not forget the game that (I think) inspired some of FTL: Spelunky.
- VonGuard 13y ago
  Splunky is great, Derek Yu rules, but it's also a very hardcore game, as well...

Pxtl 13y ago

A game that lulls players into a false sense of security and then obliterates them is not "balanced"... although it's disputable whether "balance" is even a meaningful concept in a single-player game. That's a terrible feedback loop for the player. FTL has a lot to like about it and it deserves its popularity, but the game has some massive flaws related to randomness and difficulty.

wnevets 13y ago

if by balanced you mean completely random, then sure. Fun game but I wouldn't call it perfectly balanced.

bstar77 13y ago

To clarify, by balanced I mean that the difficulty is just hard enough for me to not be able to beat the game, yet subsequent play throughs are still extremely fun. I will eventually beat this game, but it will take some time. I consistently get to the end game battle, no matter what luck I have in random events. I could have won my last few end battles if I had just played things slightly differently. Nothing is perfect, some things are just more perfect than others ;-)