FTL: Dealing Death pt. 5

Today we are going to cover some offensive options available in FTL.

Conventional Weaponry - Energy Weapons

Lasers

The most common type of weapon in FTL is laser weaponry. Lasers come in two varieties: standard, and heavy lasers. Heavy lasers do two damage per laser blast, while standard lasers do one damage per laser blast. More powerful lasers typically shoot more laser blasts at once. Each laser blast, whether standard or heavy, depletes one layer of shielding, as was covered in the defensive section of my tips. The main advantage of lasers is that they charge relatively quickly and deplete no ammunition. They are capable of penetrating shielding if you have enough lasers, but they cannot ignore it. Lasers are a standard weapon which is mediocre at most tasks but does not excel at anything in particular. Lasers make good weaponry fillers for most strategies.

Beams

Beam weapons do damage to each system hit, and damage to the hull based on how many total rooms are hit.

Beams are another form of energy weapon which are more specialized than laser weaponry. In general, beams are devastatingly powerful, but come with the limitation that they work effectively only once the enemy shields are down, whether temporarily or permanently. Once shields are down, beams are guaranteed to hit, and are by far the most damaging weapon if used effectively. Some beams are capable of partially ignoring shields, but their damage is reduced by each layer of shield which is still operational. Beams work great when paired with a weapon which can take down the enemy shields, either permanently or temporarily. Like lasers, beams do not require ammunition.

Ion Guns

Ion guns are an energy weapon which does no permanent damage but can disable any system once shields are down. While shields are up, beam guns work towards disabling the shield. As with other energy weapons, ion guns do not require ammunition. Ion guns often charge quickly to very quickly, and can work particularly well with beam weapons, or if you are planning on boarding the enemy vessel. Ion weapons do ion damage to systems, which takes the system hit down for 5 seconds per ion damage dealt.

Tomorrow we will go over consumable weaponry such as missiles and bombs.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: If You Are Not Alive, You Do No Damage pt. 4

Today we will finish discussing your defensive options in FTL

Let's Stay Alive!

Cloaking - Because Invisibility is Almost the Same as Invincibility

Installing a cloaking system is a powerful defensive option in FTL. Cloaking systems are quite expensive, costing 150 pieces of scrap from a shop, but they give you a powerful, active, tactical defensive choice. When you activate your cloaking system, all projectiles currently preparing to explode on your weapons systems and ruin your day will have an additional 60% chance to miss. In addition, enemy ships cannot charge or lock on their weapons while you are cloaked, while your weapons continue to charge, and your crew can continue to repair any damaged systems. Cloaking comes default on the Stealth Cruiser, once you unlock it, but it is a compelling defensive option for any of the ships, no matter what your particular strategy might be for that playthrough.

Drones - Why Take a Bullet That a Robot Will Take For You?

Drone control systems give you both offensive and defensive options, but for today we will focus on the defensive possibilities. You need 4 things to make use of a drone system: the drone system installation (if it is not stock for your current vessel), drone schematics, drone parts, and, of course, the always-necessary reactor power.

Defensively you have several choices for drone varieties. There are repair drones which will quickly and automatically repair damaged systems if deployed, as well as extinguishing fires and closing breaches. In addition, there are anti-boarding drones, which will automatically respond to and eliminate any enemy personnel who teleport onto your ship. Finally, and perhaps most powerfully, there are defense drones which you can deploy to orbit your vessel for the current engagement. While deployed, defense drones shoot down incoming enemy missiles, causing them to deal no damage to your ship. This is an effective and nearly guaranteed way to eliminate the otherwise highly problematic missiles from your consideration. An advanced version of the defense drone can also shoot down incoming enemy laser projectiles. Defense drones are sometimes eliminated by enemy fire as well, if they happen to be orbiting in the path of an incoming laser blast, so they will sometimes need to be replaced. A word of caution if you are relying on defense drones, however; unless you get a drone recovery arm, you will lose the drone parts after each individual engagement, so you should keep a careful eye on your stock of drone parts, and refrain from using them if you are running low unless you know the enemy is dangerous.

Tomorrow we will begin discussing the variety of offensive measures available to a captain in FTL.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Defending Your Ship in a Hostile Galaxy pt. 3

I am Allergic to Death

One of the most important things you will be doing in FTL is destroying enemy ships. There are a variety of strategies to do that, each with strengths and weaknesses. In order to make an intelligent choice about which strategy you will employ, it is important to understand how the different offensive and defensive systems work. Today we will focus on the different systems you can use to keep yourself alive.

Shields

Your basic shield is a rapidly regenerating energy based defensive system which protects you against energy based threats like laser and beam weapons. Enemy ship shields use the same mechanics as yours, so keep this in mind for both. For each level of shielding a ship has, it can absorb one laser burst, or ablate one damage from a beam blast. This temporarily depletes that level of shielding; all shields regenerate after a short period in which they do not take damage. Shields do not mitigate damage from missiles or bombs, however. Keeping your weapons systems contemporary is critical; if your weapons become too outdated, you will find yourself unable to penetrate enemy shields at all in the later sectors - for instance, if you can only fire two laser bursts at once, you will be unable to do any damage to ship systems on any ship with level two shields or higher - in this case you would have to rely on non-energy based weaponry to impair the enemy shields before being able to use your energy based weaponry against the enemy. It sounds a little complicated in text, but the shield system is very intuitive once you experience it.

Evasive Maneuvers!

As long as your ship has a pilot, it has a chance to completely evade any incoming damage (except for beam weapons, which are guaranteed to hit). You can increase your chance to dodge attacks by having a pilot man the helm, an engineer manning the engines, and by having those crew members become experienced in their tasks the evasion bonus will increase. You can also increase the evasion bonus by leveling up your engines and providing them with more power. Evasion is an extremely valuable ability because it has a chance to avoid all non beam attacks, including bombs and missiles which can bypass shields. It is also active as long as your helm and engines have power and are not destroyed, and you have a pilot in the helm. When missiles go flying past your starboard side instead of sailing into your shield generator, you will give thanks for your pilot's capable hands and your powerful engines. Do not neglect your engines!

Tomorrow we will finish outlining your defensive options.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: What Lurks in Space (pt. 2)

Last time we introduced Subset Game's FTL. Today we are going to talk about taking your first faster-than-light jump and what to watch out for when you are exploring a sector.

Nothing Suits One Bold Step Like Another

It's more about the journey

Although your goal is to get to the end of each sector, it's important to visit as many systems before leaving the sector. I recommend turning on the "Show beacon paths on hover" option in the options menu right away - this displays which FTL paths are available between any systems when you hover over them in the map. At the beginning of each sector take a few seconds to plot your route through the sector, hitting as many systems as possible while remaining ahead of the pursuing Rebellion. By default you can only see stores and distress beacons when you are within 1 jump of them, and you can see nebulae anywhere on the sector map, but by taking advantage of scanning systems and advanced sensor augmentations for your ship you can be forewarned about some other navigational hazards as well. Here's a quick list of things to watch out for:

 The Dangers of Space

• Ion Storms - these lower the power output of your (and any enemy ships') reactor by half and are extremely dangerous. I recommend avoiding these if at all possible as they can be extremely punitive. This hazard only occur in nebula systems.

• Solar Disturbances - these occasionally begin fires on and damage the hulls of any ships in the vicinity. Shields reduce the effect. Although less dangerous than an ion storm, take all due precautions when visiting a system experiencing solar disturbances, as losing atmosphere, shields, or door control can cause the fires to quickly destroy your ship.

• Asteroid Fields - while navigating an asteroid belt, any ships will be periodically pelted by asteroids which will be absorbed by shields. As long as your shield systems remain online, asteroid fields are relatively innocuous, but if your shields are taken down by enemy action the asteroids will rapidly obliterate your whole and all other systems and cause you to explode. Take out enemy shields and let the asteroids work for you but guard your own shield room carefully.

• Nebulae - while navigating through these systems, your ships sensors are disabled, but the Rebel fleet will pursue you at half the normal speed (or three-fourths normal speed in nebula sectors.) This has the obvious benefit of letting you visit twice as many nebula systems as non-nebula, and so it is often a good idea to work nebulae into your route through the sector. 

• Distress Beacon - distress beacons will always have some sort of event, and are usually a good idea to visit. The events can be harmful, positive, or benign and are not more or less likely to help than a regular star system, but there is guaranteed to be a chance to gain an advantage. Only avoid these if your hull is already critical.

• Shops - shops are helpful space stations where you can always repair your ship and replenish consumables such as fuel, missiles, and drones. In addition, shops will have a random variety of weapons, ship enhancements, crew members for hire, drone schematics, and ship system installations for purchase. When planning to visit a shop, keep in mind that the cheapest item for purchase will be a crew member at 40 scrap; most weapons and ship enhancements cost at least 75 scrap. If you have less than 40 scrap, try not to visit the shop until you have jumped to a couple nearby systems so that you can save up enough scrap to make a purchase. If your ship needs fuel or repairs, on the other hand, you can visit it as soon as you feel it is necessary. You can never have enough fuel - if you have less than 20, you should buy as much as you can afford, after any other important purchases are made; you never know when the opportunity will arise again. Another important thing to keep in mind is that all shop consumables and repairs increase in cost as you advance to further sectors, but all ship enhancements, crew members, weapons, and drone schematics keep a static price. Choose your upgrades carefully and try to have a plan befitting your ship. You will not have enough scrap to buy everything, so buy what you need.

One more thing to keep in mind as you explore the sector - fuel is valuable, and you should try to avoid jumping to a system you have already explored. Nothing new happens in a system after you have already explored it once, so with the exception of an emergency visit to a shop you have already jumped to, you should avoid ever jumping to the same system twice.

Join us next time for more FTL tips!

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!

FTL: Faster Than Light - an Essential Indie Game pt. 1

What is FTL?

This is obviously Not Good.

FTL by indie developer Subset Games is a top-down strategy game where the player controls a spaceship and its crew in a mission to cross the galaxy with vital information to save the Federation. In your quest, you will encounter solar flares, traverse asteroid belts, struggle through nebulae, be crippled by ion storms, battle slavers, flee from the Rebellion, be boarded by man eating mantids, and you will lose. You will lose over and over again, and with all of the other elements, that is why FTL is a great game which anyone can appreciate.

FTL is a relatively short game, and winning a single game only takes an hour or two, but every time you play FTL the game will be unique. You traverse the galaxy by choosing your route through individual sectors which are randomized each time you start a new game. Your goal is to advance from star system to star system across the sector, fleeing the pursuing Rebel fleet. Each star system you visit has a random event awaiting you, ranging from benign to helpful to devastating. Some system types are inherently more dangerous - and likewise more rewarding. Accumulating as many advantages as possible is important, because the difficulty only increases as you move to the next sector.

OK, Where do I Start?

I recommend playing through the tutorial if it is your first time. It is short and painless and highly informative. FTL's mechanics are simple but deep. As you advance through FTL and are forced by its grueling difficulty to improvise, the game will naturally teach you advanced ways to apply the basic mechanics you will learn in the tutorial - but that is all down the road.

You begin with only one ship layout available to you, the Kestrel. The Kestrel is a straightforward vessel which is quite powerful, more than adequate for defeating the game - I first won using the Kestrel - but you will unlock 9 total ships with 2 layouts each as you play the game. Some of them are more difficult than others to unlock, but none is inherently superior to the others - each ship has strengths and weaknesses and I found them to be very well balanced. For now, simply know that the Kestrel is powerful and well suited to a beginning Captain.

This is your Captain speaking . . . does anyone know how to fly this thing?

The majority of the game takes place in a top-down view of your ship, with enemy ships displayed on the right hand side of the screen. From this vantage you will command countless brave space cadets, and you will mostly get them killed. But don't worry - they won't hold a grudge, and there are always more. Systems can be controlled on the lower-left hand corner, and crew can be controlled directly on the ship.

Join us next time for your first faster-than-light jump.

If FTL sounds like fun, you can purchase it directly from the developers with no DRM here. Support independent developers and have fun with an outstanding game!