FTL: A space based roguelike

[eRe4s3r]

Got to end-boss and failed on attempt 1
Got to the victory screen in attempt 2
Got engi cruiser and found a bunch of win strategies on attempt 3

Never made an attempt 4

Talk about the shortest rogue like in existence. Was fun while it lasted.. but motivation to go back now? 0.

[Wingflier]

Well I've beaten it 3 times now, played it for over 50 hours, and I still see no end in sight.  I guess I'd like to unlock all the other ships, I only have 4 unlocked so far, so I still have 5 to go (that's not including all the B types, of which I only have 2 so far).  It seems a little insane that I have so few after 50 hours, but I seem to have extremely bad luck.  It seems when I run into the right scenario to unlock an alien ship, I always make the wrong damn choice.

To give an example, I ran into (what I think was) the Zoltan Ship Quest, and the situation was something like this:

You see a fierce battle between the mysterious Zoltan and a powerful Rebel ship, do you:

1. Make first contact with the mysterious alien race.

2. Attack the Rebels in defense of the alien ship.

-----

Well I chose option 1, thinking "first contact" would mean some form of communication between us, but actually "first contact" apparently meant "blow their ship up"; which the text was very unclear about.  So instead of saving them, I had to fight them, and then got nothing for it in the end.  Needless to say I was a little frustrated with the ambiguity of the whole situation and my own crappy luck.

[Mánagarmr]

I'm having a ridiculus amount of fun with it. Definitely do not see an end in sight. Guess I'm a sucker for these kinds of games. This is in spite of having beatten it multiple times.

[keith.lamothe]

I've kinda moved on, but I may come back to it.  Not a lot of free time.  Got my money's worth, certainly, and I think it's one of the better-designed games I've come across lately.

[icepick37]

I'm having a ridiculus amount of fun with it. Definitely do not see an end in sight. Guess I'm a sucker for these kinds of games. This is in spite of having beatten it multiple times.

Yeah this is me as well, haha.

I still have to unlock all the ships! 

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I'm still playing it when I can, stupid college is keeping me too busy to sink a ton of hours into it.

[zespri]

Are drones essential to winning?

[Wingflier]

It depends on what ship you're using.

Against the final boss (which is basically what every strategy eventually has to revolve around since it's completely different than any other fight), you need to have a reliable way to shut down the shields quickly, otherwise you're just going to lose a battle of attrition.

Drones - especially Anti-Ship I and II Drones are a great way to keep the pressure on the shields so your other weapons can get through.

If you aren't having problems getting down the shields, Drones aren't that important; otherwise they are critical.  It really depends on what ship you're using and what weapons you happen to have.  Remember that against the 2nd phase of the boss, he's going to shoot down your missiles with the Defense Drone, so you'll have to find another way to get through.

[icepick37]

Are drones essential to winning?

I would say no. But it does depend on the ship like Wingflier said.

But even if not essential, they are DANG useful most times. If you can spare the scrap/power. Even the def drone I reduces the amount of crap you have to fret about significantly.

EDIT: Oh, and if you get the shields down, there's not much more fun than watching a beam drone turn a ship into sushi.

[Mánagarmr]

Are drones essential to winning?

No. I've never had drones on any ships I've finished the game with. That should be proof enough

[Kahuna]

Are drones essential to winning?

No but lot of luck is. 80% luck 20% skill. It seems to be that if you don't get lucky and find 3 best burst lasers you wont win. Oh and you and a lot of positive encounters.

[keith.lamothe]

Are drones essential to winning?

No but lot of luck is. 80% luck 20% skill. It seems to be that if you don't get lucky and find 3 best burst lasers you wont win. Oh and you and a lot of positive encounters.

I won with 2 ion-IIs, a bomb, some drones, and boarders.  Burst lasers optional

[Mánagarmr]

Yeah, there are several strategies that work well against the end boss. Missiles seem to grind to a complete halt in phase 2, but other than that, pretty much anything goes. Boarding is incredibly powerful if you take out all but the burst laser battery. That way you can disable every single system on that ship, without fear of the AI taking over. You only need to deal with the super powers in the later phases then.

[Kahuna]

Are drones essential to winning?

No but lot of luck is. 80% luck 20% skill. It seems to be that if you don't get lucky and find 3 best burst lasers you wont win. Oh and you and a lot of positive encounters.

I won with 2 ion-IIs, a bomb, some drones, and boarders.  Burst lasers optional

Hmmm that sounds like a fun combo. Gonna have to try that with Engi ship's B layout. Boarding drones or crew members?

[keith.lamothe]

Hmmm that sounds like a fun combo. Gonna have to try that with Engi ship's B layout. Boarding drones or crew members?

Crew members, preferably Mantis but Rock guys are also good.  Even Humans can manage it, in a pinch.  Never tried boarding drones (the kool-aid-man maneuver is stylish, though), and I imagine I'd usually want to keep drone bandwidth free for other uses.