Stealth Ship, wicked underpowered?

[Tempest2097]

So, I finally unlocked the Engi stealth ship, and I think it's definitely the most beautiful ship in the game I've seen. However, it seems to be very very fragile and easy to die with it, as it appears to be the weakest ship in direct combat.

Heck, I can't even take it into an asteroid field for more than 10 seconds without half my systems being destroyed and everything on fire. Is there any way that the power level could be brought closer to the other ships? I only mention this because I think it's a cool ship.

[angelocire]

I agree that it's far too susceptible to asteroids, and is overall very fragile. If they want it to be fragile, they should also make it agile, and give it a higher dodge chance, and maybe a special passive ability that allows it to dodge asteroids when there is an active pilot.

[Khrowe]

I thought it has the armor plating augment which makes it have a chance to absorb damage, and a higher starting engine level. As long as you have someone manning engines and the cockpit you should be ok in the earlier sectors.

[timaeus]

Asteroid fields, solar flares, and beam drones are all instant death for the stealth ship. Especially if you get a beam drone combined with one of the environmental hazards.

I think the best solution to the problem would be modifying the long range sensors to actually detect environmental hazards, in addition to detecting ships.

EDIT: In general the stealth ship is actually one of my favorite ships, once you get a hang of it. And buy the shield system. For most encounters, the ability to strike first is a huge boon, and it taught me how to actually use beam weapons effectively. There have been several games with the stealth ship though that I died in the first few encounters due to running into an automated ship with beam weapons, beam drone, with either solar flares or an asteroid field.

[Darthcaboose]

The Stealth Ship is what taught me to respect the stealth system and the importance of evasion. One of the very first upgrades you want to get is a second level of Stealth, as the 10 second stealth time is really, really great for ensuring you get the first shot.

Shields are also pretty critical, but the farthest I have gotten to without getting it is Sector 4. You're going to take some hits, of course, but the repair costs aren't too bad at the start...

[spunky]

The location of the exterior blast doors on the stealth ship in particular makes it very susceptible to fires. I can't tell you how many times I've been screwed because I couldn't vent a fire without depleting nearly my entire ship of oxygen.

[FinBen]

The Stealth Ship was actually the first ship I beat the game with! Once you've got the hang of timing weapons and cloaking right, everything just sort of falls into place. Asteroid encounters can be tricky, but if you've got a fair bit of power to the engines you should have a decent evade chance, as well as allowing you to jump out of there as quickly as possible. You certainly have to pick your fights well at the beginning, and I'd suggest seeking out a Shields module by sector 3, but overall it's pretty much my favourite ship; it forces some interesting tactical thinking!

[chanman]

The location of the exterior blast doors on the stealth ship in particular makes it very susceptible to fires. I can't tell you how many times I've been screwed because I couldn't vent a fire without depleting nearly my entire ship of oxygen.

The stealth ship also has a pair of central vent doors, if you look carefully. It took me a few times to notice them too.