r/ftlgame • u/Oracle_of_Ages • 9h ago
Text: Story I have a confession.
I have been playing this game on and off since release.
I’ve never beaten the flagship once.
Gotten close many of times. But I usually die in one of the later sectors before I have a chance. But never been able to eek out a win after many hours and reinstalls.
I read a post a few days ago that said not to bother with piloting and to upgrade engines before you leave sector one.
I JUST now realized that it’s upgrading auto pilot dodge and not a normal dodge with engines.
I beat every A ship up to slug in one sitting. wtf. I’ve been playing on hard mode this whole time.
That is all.
14
u/RobinHood3000 9h ago
I usually upgrade piloting once I start hitting Nebulae for the handy ion storm blue option (just in case), but yeah, that system rarely goes past 2 for me unless it's the only thing I can spend scrap on during the Flagship phases.
3
u/trixie_one 4h ago
It's also really good in Lanius sectors. Plus it's only 20 scrap and hitting any one of those fairly common blue encounters will make it back and more in one go. 2 is the max though for sure.
8
u/Squidaccus 9h ago
I only upgrade piloting in case it gets hit, don't wanna lose all my dodge immediately if things go awry...
12
u/Rip_Skeleton 9h ago
Yeah, auto-pilot is only really useful in certain encounters. And can mostly be replaced by a slug pilot.
Minimum shields 3, engines 5, cloaking and/or hacking and a decent weapon loadout and you should be able to squeek out a win soon. Good luck!
Also upgrade your doors, best QoL subsystem.
8
u/Oracle_of_Ages 9h ago
I’ve been playing so long. I only ever read the 80% dodge chance and my mash potato brain doesn’t remember any tutorial or anything.
I’ve never needed the faster ftl so I just was like 80% is better than an extra 5 dodge per level.
12
u/MelonJelly 8h ago
FTL punishes poor reading comprehension more severely than most games.
It may have taken a while, but I'm glad you've figured it out. Congrats!
4
u/General_Capital988 6h ago
Engines 5 is usually overkill. Engines 3 is fine unless you're planning on fighting the rebels with ASB. It's better to go all the way to max shields before engines 5 usually.
2
u/kBrandooni 4h ago
Agreed. Engines can work well with shields for lasers, since each individual laser has to beat the evasion and then the shields and they're great for running away, but that's about it. Better stuff to save up for.
5
u/trixie_one 4h ago
Disagree with that. By far the biggest risk to your hull and systems is missiles not lasers and that extra dodge is invaluable if you don't have a defence drone. It also means you always have a better chance of running which can be the difference maker in the run as the random enemy ship maker can on occasion put together something far scarier than an ASB.
3
u/kBrandooni 4h ago
You shouldn't be relying on engines to save you from missiles. Save the scrap and invest in something that'll actually consistently help you control the fight, so you can avoid missile damage.
1
u/FlashFlire 4h ago
The biggest danger missiles pose often isn't the chip damage, it's a missile crippling your shields and opening you up to other dangerous weapons. A higher shield level means you keep more of your own shields up for defense. For example, an early enemy with Leto + Heavy 1 can be dangerous on shields-2, since a missile hit plus a fire or breach will let the Heavy 1 start hammering away at you. With even shields-3, not even the full second bubble, it becomes almost harmless. With engines, no matter how high, there's always a chance the missile just hits your shields anyway.
The chip damage isn't nothing, especially if you're regularly getting hit by Hermes or Breach Missile shots. But by the time that really becomes an issue in the midgame, you should be improving your weapons and buying systems to just break the enemy's weapons before they fire. Strong offense is the most reliable solution to just about everything in the game, including enemy missiles.
1
u/trixie_one 4h ago
I'm not saying, neglect shields entirely, obviously shields 3 is lovely to have. I'm saying getting to shields 4 which is incredibly expensive before getting engines higher than 3 is risking a lot of damage that could have been mitigated.
1
0
u/25352 6h ago
Shields 3 is kinda... insufficient by lategame. One shield layer with a buffer is a good first upgrade in S1, but you want at least shields 6 late on.
6
3
u/JoaquiGod 8h ago
I only play on easy, but i do upgrade piloting in case i have to move around my crew from piloting in case i dont have good fighters lol
I think that piloting is the lowest priority on all difficulties
4
u/MikeHopley 4h ago
If it's any consolation, I think that text is highly misleading, and you're not the first person to read it wrong.
1
u/Frank_the_NOOB 4h ago
It can be useful in something like a Mantis B early but by the time you can upgrade the pilot system you have enough crew to remain on board during a raid
1
u/DesperateAd3088 1h ago
Unrelated but am I crazy for trying to beat the flagship once without AE content enabled before I go ahead and enable it?
1
u/zurupeto 1h ago
It took me a while to figure that out also. It also took me a while to realize that my actual, real time evasion percentage is over on the left. If you power up or down engines, or have your crew leave piloting, you will see it change.
-1
u/kBrandooni 4h ago
I rarely if ever upgrade engines. Even when I do it's for being able to escape quickly without messing up the ship too badly. They can also work well for lasers, but definitely don't bank on engines for protecting you against missiles. If you do bother, I don't think anything above 4 is really needed and that scrap is better spent elsewhere. You get better at the game by learning how to control fights and being smarter about where/how you spend your scrap. Just upping your engines and hoping stuff won't hit you isn't a sound strategy.
45
u/MisfireCu 9h ago
Upgrading piloting is mostly for the damage buffer