How to deal with Mantis Boarders?

[SgtFrog]

Title.

This always seems to end my runs. Even with Anti-Personnel Drone, all my crew dies. Besides "drastic measures", like Fire-Bombing your own ship or depressurizing, is there any way to quickly kill Mantis?

[Dontmindme]

The way I usually do it is by hitting them a little at a time. I rarely upgrade doors and rarely open the airlocks. (In fact, I will usually only open airlocks for the easier battles in order to kill the boarders quicker by funneling them to the MedBay).

So, it works like this:
1) Enemy Mantis board my ship.
2) Start moving crew to the room they are attacking. (Deciding which crew to spare from what stations.)
3) Wait for my defense crew to gather one room away.
4) Have them all enter and start attacking at one time. (No reason to let multiple Mantis tee off on the first guy to arrive).
5) Before any of my crew dies, send them to heal in the MedBay. If I have extra crew, substitute for the guys leaving.
6) If I do not have enough crew to finish the job. Abandon the room the Mantis are in, in favor of the MedBay.
7) When enough of my crew are healed up (or healed up enough). Have then simultaneously return to continue the battle.

The big thing is there is no reason for your crew to die, they can leave and heal. Losing a system like doors or sensors or even O2 (typical first targets) costs just a little scrap. While the Mantis are killing those, you are healing to go back and do more damage.

And last tip, even if Mantis take out your MedBay. After they leave, send in someone to repair it, and continue healing. The AI ignores your repair efforts until it's activated again, allowing you at least a bit of healing.

[Invader Jim]

I usually upgrade my doors by one level at some point. This helps. They key is to get the manits into your Medbay. I usually open up a few doors to get rid of O2 where the mantis are. This is very effective with the upgraded doors as the mantis will take damage from lack of O2 while trying to break through the door. In any case you can sort of herd them to your medbay by strategically taking away O2. Once the mantis arrive at the medbay I shut all doors and my best fighters are there waiting. I don't think depressurizing a few rooms is drastic. It takes a little micromanagement to open a few doors individually but that is what the pause function is for. Closing all doors is just one click.

[5thHorseman]

Wait, opening all the airlocks is a "drastic measure"? It's job 1 whenever I get boarded by anybody.

Job 2 is running everybody into the medbay.

Sometimes I'll leave air in 2 rooms on opposite sides of the ship, and then whichever one they choose, open the door right as they get there. Then, they have to run all the way to the other side of the ship.

Then I open those doors too.

[The Captain]

If my crew is composed of squishy meatsacks, I definitely open the airlocks - even depower O2 so it depletes faster. If they land in the Door Control room, maybe send in a guy or two to fight them briefly - i.e., distracting them from taking out the system, then run to the Medbay when the oxygen is gone.

Pulling your pilot out too might be considered drastic, especially if there's a Mantis ship firing on you, but crew survival is the top priority, then once the boarders are dead or retrieved, you go repair stuff and hope there's enough time to win the battle, or at least run away.

[Twinge]

The two simplest things you can do to help with boarders: 1) Pause more 2) upgrade to Doors 2.

[UltraMantis]

Fight in the medbay, upgrade the medbay as well.

If you have fighters of your own then use them to dispose of intruders first. The sooner you damage them, the sooner they retreat. The danger of boarding isn't so much from the intruders themselves, it's that you must sacrifice your combat abilities against their ship in order to deal with them. This gives the enemy ship an opportunity to damage you or possibly cause fires or other problems.

Boarding is another thing to be ready for. I'm happy to be boarded, it means usually that the enemy ship has fewer weapons or drones. Just have a nice medbay and you'll clobber them and heal up quickly.

Doors i'm not a big fan of because they are purely defensive and only work well in combination with airlocks, otherwise they are just a delay. Doors and airlocks take too much attention away from ship to ship combat and i'm allways short on attention. An upgraded medbay heals your own boarders quickly enough for hit n run raids on the enemy ship and guards against elite Mantis and Slugs hackers. Upgrade doors to lvl2 only to have fewer problems with stuck doors on a vented ship.

EDIT
I forgot the airlocks. It goes without saying they should be opened... how else will you invite your guests to fight you in the medbay? It's less usefull when you have a large crew. And everybody leaves their stations. But it's the quickest way to get rid of intruders and get back to fighting the ship so it's a good plan. On a Basilisk it's really sweet because you can board the enemy and huddle your crew in your medbay for a win-win.

Ideally you will want a lvl2 Life Support as well because it is more resistant to stray shots, melee damage and it pumps O2 back real quick.

[LordAshram]

Okay, dumb question I know... but how do you open the airlocks? I remember seeing something in the tutorial but I cannot recall at all how it was done.

Thanks! Stupid mantis boarders...

[5thHorseman]

2 options:
1) Click "Open all doors" twice. This will open all doors in your ship, then open all airlocks. Drastic but easy.
2) Click the airlock. It'll open, just like an interior door would.

[Infiniportal]

I know you said you wanted to avoid depressurization, but I find that busting open the good ol' airlocks for any boarders (with upgraded doors, especially level three), and they should be taken care of.