Current Events > Has anyone actually ever beaten a run of FTL: Faster Than Light before?

(+) Yeah! (+)

i've been trying on Easy with AE off and I still can't do it.
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I have a few times. it really comes down to mostly luck, but certain ships are actually far better than others. Like, the Engi B ship is the worst ship in the game, while Lanius B is one of the better ones.

I did, once.
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I got to the end and beat the boss but there was a bullshit fucking second wave for the boss which was totally fucking impossible and pissed me the fuck off because I worked so goddamn hard

RNG: Random Number Generator is a more appropriate title. I don't know why people liked it.

MJ_Max posted...

I got to the end and beat the boss but there was a bullshit fucking second wave for the boss which was totally fucking impossible and pissed me the fuck off because I worked so goddamn hard

Yeah, the Flagship has 3 stages, each more difficult than the last.

Like twice, and that was on Easy difficulty. My friend has done it on Hard before.
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Mikablu posted...

I have a few times. it really comes down to mostly luck

If that were true, you wouldn't see people with near-100% win rates. Spoiler: you do. 98-100% is not unusual on Easy/Normal, though Hard is typically more like 80-90% among top players.
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Such a boring game tbh
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Lotsa times.

Just... let me keep my pause function.

Crew teleporter plus some ants or rockmen is a great investment, as working ships with no crew are a lot more scrap than destroyed ships.
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CircleOfManias posted...

Mikablu posted...

I have a few times. it really comes down to mostly luck

If that were true, you wouldn't see people with near-100% win rates. Spoiler: you do. 98-100% is not unusual on Easy/Normal, though Hard is typically more like 80-90% among top players.

mostly with zoltan b

philsov posted...

Lotsa times.

Just... let me keep my pause function.

Crew teleporter plus some ants or rockmen is a great investment, as working ships with no crew are a lot more scrap than destroyed ships.

early on not much more for some asinine reason

it really undermines mantis b

i forget but i think invading the final boss and wiping out all but 1 crew member actually leaves it with only that crew member the rest of the game
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am i redy for the boss?
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It's honestly pretty easy unless you get shit luck. Just get a teleporter and gg
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Two_Dee posted...

am i redy for the boss?

needs more zoltan
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ded boys


press f to pay respect
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presses x to jason
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Two_Dee posted...

ded boys


press f to pay respect

f
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sure i have. on easy.
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I beat normal fairly regularly. Haven't really tried it much on hard mode though

Darkman124 posted...

i forget but i think invading the final boss and wiping out all but 1 crew member actually leaves it with only that crew member the rest of the game

Correct.

But if you kill ALL of the crew, then the AI takes over and pushes your poo in subsequent phases iirc.
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It's been a while, but I beaten it once or twice.
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philsov posted...

Darkman124 posted...

i forget but i think invading the final boss and wiping out all but 1 crew member actually leaves it with only that crew member the rest of the game

Correct.

But if you kill ALL of the crew, then the AI takes over and pushes your poo in subsequent phases iirc.

yeah it's a pretty solid response to metagaming really

it even purges all the O2 out of the ship, which in bird culture is known as a "dick move"
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RIP

had maxed shields, 40% dodge, 8 bars worth of weapons including a halberd beam, and got rekt on the first Flagship fight

im never going to win
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Yep, several times on normal, it's great.
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Two_Dee posted...

am i redy for the boss?

Need teleport or stealth. And a better weapon. I mean I guess if you're good enough you are without that.
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Lots of times. I went thru a spell about a month ago where I played it like 80 hours in one week. Only things I still have to do in the game is unlock the damn Crystal Cruiser :/
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I beat it literally the first time I ever played it. Which was on easy, but still. Got two Mantises pretty early on, got the teleporter, beat the mothership by spamming cloaking. I don't remember exactly what weapons I had, but I know I had at least one multi-hit weapon (like the default one for the starter ship), a bomb, and a missile. Might have been a lance for the last one? I think I remember drawing a line between rooms at any rate.
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Two_Dee posted...

RIP

had maxed shields, 40% dodge, 8 bars worth of weapons including a halberd beam, and got rekt on the first Flagship fight

im never going to win

First off, 40% dodge is trash. You can get almost that much before you even leave the first sector without even upgrading your ship if you take the time to train your pilot and the guy running your engines.

Second, "eight bars worth of weapons" means nothing if they're not good weapons. Not all weapons are created equal, and Beam weapons are pretty trash in the early part of the flagship fight because you'll struggle to take down their shields enough for it to do damage consistently.

Third, max shields does nothing to stop the Flagship's missile spam. Also, the Flagship is capable of dealing 6 shield damage per volley (3 from its burst laser, 3 from its burst Ion cannon) so even with max shields you'll get chewed up without defense drones, cloaking, or good dodge rate.

Now, some advice.

You should have a crew teleporter ON EVERY RUN, period. Boarding a ship and killing its crew nets much higher rewards than blowing it up. Get some combination of Mantis and Rockmen (whether its two of one type or one of each) and get them some hand to hand experience. If nothing else, having a crew teleporter for the last fight will let you teleport a team into the individual weapons rooms on the Flagship and disable them. That fight is MUCH simpler once you eliminate the missile spam and the beam weapon. That said, running a boarding crew for almost every fight is possible and will net you far better results over the course of a run than blasting everything to scrap. Just be sure to turn OFF auto fire when your crew is on their ship, and to disable their med bay before sending in your kill squad.

You should have a cloaking device ON EVERY RUN, period (unless you're using the AE content). Being able to boost your dodge to 100% when an enemy fires a dangerous missile weapon or a large laser volley is worth EVERY single unit of scrap you invest in it. Not only will cloaking dodge a volley of shots, it will delay the time it takes them to charge their NEXT volley, buying you time to reload/heal your crew/teleport in your kill squad.

You should have a Drone system on *most* runs if you can afford it, and the only drone you want is a Defense Mark 1 drone. Offensive drones can be kinda useful, but you'd be better off just getting better weapons (exception: the drone carrier ships like the Engi A cruiser. Those can stack offensive and beam drones for HILARIOUSLY free wins). Boarding drones can be quite useful in conjunction with a boarding team. Anti personnel drones are a waste. System repair drones are *OK* at best and pointless if you have any Engi crew. The humble Defense Mk1 drone will keep you safe from missiles and that's all you really need. The Defense Mk2 will waste shots blocking lasers your shields could soak up and will sometimes let a missile thru as a result.

Learn what weapons are good and which ones are noob traps. For example, it may not seem like it but the Kestral starts with one of the best weapons in the game. The Burst Laser Mk2 is, simply put, the most efficient weapon in the game. One of my best runs I won with 4 of them, giving me 12 shots per volley, something that NO amount of shields can slow down. Beam weapons generally require experience to use properly. Missiles are mostly trash except for Breach missiles (which are fucking GOD tier). Other good under rated weapons include the Heavy Laser Mk1, the Breach Bomb, the Fire Bomb (used along with a double Rock boarding squad), and the Ion Blast Mk2 (easily my favorite weapon in the game, turn on auto fire and target their weapons system for free wins).
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Oh, also, you're probably not pausing enough. I pause so much that a friend who was watching me thought this game was turn based xD
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You do not need a cloak on every run at all.

You can do alright without a crew teleporter, but there are definitely real perks to having one.
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can't wait til i get my first victory then i can quit this fucking game forever
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fire_bolt posted...

Oh, also, you're probably not pausing enough. I pause so much that a friend who was watching me thought this game was turn based xD

This is true though.
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omfg this is the run if i lose im deleting the game
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I can get to the boss pretty consistently on Easy, even though I've only beaten it just once. I'm completely helpless on normal though.
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well this is the closest im ever getting LOL
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Pretty sure I took 0 points of damage through phase 1 and 2, and then phase 3 happens and i get shot with like 12 missles in 1 second and get invaded by like 4 dudes
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Once you get good you can beat the vast majority of your runs.

Two_Dee posted...

well this is the closest im ever getting LOL

That's actually not bad at all considering that's probs the first time you ever saw phases 2 and 3 of the boss fight. If you had a boarding crew and a Defense Mk 1 drone you probably would have won. Overall your build wasn't bad, other than looking like you probably were a little short on scrap to make the final set of upgrades needed to max out shields and engines.

RedWhiteBlue posted...

Two_Dee posted...

Pretty sure I took 0 points of damage through phase 1 and 2, and then phase 3 happens and i get shot with like 12 missles in 1 second and get invaded by like 4 dudes

Oh, forgot to mention, but plasma and cutting weapons are your best friend. Plasma to disable the shield after it's hacked, missile their missiles and lasers, laser cutters to hit 4-5 rooms at once. Really makes mince meat of phase 3 if you can survive the first super weapon.

I think you mean Ion and Beam weapons.

Honestly, if you're buying a bunch of weapons you're doing it wrong. Most of the time you should be given enough weapons from events to make a good build. You *might* need to buy one really good weapon (like Two_Dee's second Burst Laser Mk2 in this build) if it shows up in the shop but otherwise don't try to force a build because you'll be wasting scrap you could better use on Augmentations or ship upgrades. Good augments are WAY more useful than most weapons, especially if you have a good boarding crew
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I spend like 90% of my energy making sure i can take out those missiles quickly and consistently. The ship can handle everything else. fine
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joe40001 posted...

I spend like 90% of my energy making sure i can take out those missiles quickly and consistently. The ship can handle everything else. fine

Yep, its why I'm so insistent about using a boarding crew. Missiles go down within 20 seconds for the first two phases, and for the third phase they go down 20 seconds after you can knock out the Super Shield. You don't NEED a boarding crew, but its honestly the most effective way to knock out the Flagship's weapons.
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got a Burst Laser II literally the first marker I go to

i'm still prolly gonna lose
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omg
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Congratulations.

Wiping out the crew without destroying the ship tends to improve your rewards. One type of ship that sometimes appears earlier on has its oxygen system in a room that the crew cannot access. You can destroy that system and then wait for them to suffocate and claim greater rewards.

Times like those are also good for training your crew. If you upgrade and get two shield bubbles at the very beginning, some ships that have no missiles will be unable to damage you. For instance, ships with only a single shot laser and a beam. Maxing out the skills of your pilot and the crew member in your engine room will increase your evasion considerably, allowing you to save scrap by avoiding missiles and extra shots or asteroids that would have damaged your hull.
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i got to the final boss, phase 2 with all the drones and got wrecked
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Hey, good job TC! Now try it with another ship! I personally found the Engi class A cruiser to be very different but still fun
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Has anyone noticed how FTL is a really slow game?

Like, the title is completely contradictory!

fire_bolt posted...

Hey, good job TC! Now try it with another ship! I personally found the Engi class A cruiser to be very different but still fun

zoltan b life is best life

you can do that run on normal without ever buying another weapon!

probably not a good idea on hard though
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