Need a middle difficulty

[Aerowind]

I like your idea, but make it even more fun. Give you a super power tricked out ship that utterly wrecks everything in the sector, then get half your ship blown up by the flagship(losing all the fancy upgrades in the process...actually, kind of like the phases of the flagship now) and you have to limp your way away to warn the fleet.

On another note, does anyone else find the rebel ships in sector 8 ridiculously hard? Not the flagship, but just its little escorts. I seem to be killed by them way more often than the flagship.

[Derakon]

On another note, does anyone else find the rebel ships in sector 8 ridiculously hard? Not the flagship, but just its little escorts. I seem to be killed by them way more often than the flagship.

The flagship actually has a very weak offense in the first and third phases. It has only one shield-piercing attack, and its attack rate is so low that it can't really follow up on any opportunities -- even if it knocks out a critical system, by the time its other weapons are online to pummel you for it, you probably have the system repaired. It's also horrifically vulnerable to boarding to knock out its weapon systems. The second phase is a different matter of course.

Meanwhile, the ordinary ships in the last two sectors are far less likely to have one of each weapon type. This actually works in their favor since the game encourages focusing on one or two approaches (e.g. one burst laser is pretty useless; two is good; three is great). The ships tend to get multiple shield-piercing weapons (and especially bomb weapons, of which the flagship has none at all), and their weapons have shorter recharge times, making it more likely that any momentary weakness on your part will be followed up on. You can't directly assault their weapon systems with your boarders since they're 2x2 rooms attached to the rest of the ship, so the entire enemy crew can mobilize to repulse you.

[zarakon]

And the ordinary ships can have 5 shields

[Gorlom]

(and especially bomb weapons, of which the flagship has none at all)

I could have sworn the left most weapon on the flagship was an ion bomb.. 2nd from the left is a heavy burst laser, third is a 3 missile rocket launcher and fourth is the beam weapon. what is the left most if its not an ion bomb?

[Fluzing]

I'm bored with the game right now. Normal has no challenge anymore once you understand the mechanics of the game.

[Gorlom]

I'm bored with the game right now. Normal has no challenge anymore once you understand the mechanics of the game.

How many hours have you spent playing the game? Have you unlocked all the ships/achievements?

Have you played with all the mods?

[Derakon]

(and especially bomb weapons, of which the flagship has none at all)

I could have sworn the left most weapon on the flagship was an ion bomb.. 2nd from the left is a heavy burst laser, third is a 3 missile rocket launcher and fourth is the beam weapon. what is the left most if its not an ion bomb?

The flagship gets a triple-shot basic ion cannon, a triple-shot heavy laser cannon, a triple-shot basic missile launcher, and a glaive beam. Everything except the beam can be dodged or shot down by a defense drone (level-2 for the ion/laser, of course), and the beam doesn't penetrate shields well.

[StarWarsOZ]

(and especially bomb weapons, of which the flagship has none at all)

I could have sworn the left most weapon on the flagship was an ion bomb.. 2nd from the left is a heavy burst laser, third is a 3 missile rocket launcher and fourth is the beam weapon. what is the left most if its not an ion bomb?

The flagship gets a triple-shot basic ion cannon, a triple-shot heavy laser cannon, a triple-shot basic missile launcher, and a glaive beam. Everything except the beam can be dodged or shot down by a defense drone (level-2 for the ion/laser, of course), and the beam doesn't penetrate shields well.

Nevertheless, even with a defense drone 2 you won't be able to stop all the things that the flagship throws at u, and that does make the end battle pretty hard.
But there are so much worse ships out there than the flagship, it is easy to beat it when u have the right gear.
But facing a ship with 5 shields or 4 Mk2 burst lasers (oh god, that was unlucky), it is way harder than the boss.

[zarakon]

I'm bored with the game right now. Normal has no challenge anymore once you understand the mechanics of the game.

If you've learned things that let you beat normal consistently, I'd love to hear about it.

As it is, I feel like I play almost perfectly, but Normal can create such impossible scenarios for some ships that it doesn't matter.

[Jephrey]

I agree with Zarakon. Playing the Kestrel on Normal makes winning a matter of sheer luck, unless you are using some secret exploit.

But I don't think the problem is the kestrel or the overall difficulty. The problem is AI missile usage. There is only one effective defense against them, and 9 times out of 10 you'll be dead from missiles before you had any chance to buy that defense.

This game is brilliant, and I like the "rogue-like" flavor where any number of things can kill you. The problem is, 99% of what kills me is AI missiles. The logic is pretty simple: if missile weapons had unlimited, free ammo would you use anything else? No, you wouldn't. They are awesome! Well, the AI gets unlimited free ammo. If a missile doesn't kill you outright, it sas your money until you're broke and helpless.

The game cannot be won except with the most extreme good luck, or else an exploit, using the Kestrel on Normal.

Ship evasion is also greatly overrated. It is completely possible to win fights with nobody in the cockpit or engine room. Except the missiles will still kill you.