Rate the shop Augmentations

[5thHorseman]

I just do not get the love for the Pre-Igniter! It's only worthwhile having if you've got a weapon loadout that can easily get through/past the other ship's defences in one volley and do significant damage, and if you've got a weapon loadout that can do that, then you don't actually need the Pre-Igniter and can spend your 120 scrap on something - several things - far more worthwhile.

Not true. The truly harrowing loadouts tend to have super long charge times. Getting to fire with them first, the second the round starts, means you can frequently take out a pesky weapon on the enemy side or take their shields, possibly all the way. They send 2 guys in to put out the fire and start repairing, and now instead of fighting a 3-shield, 6-manned ship with a Flak 2, heavy laser and pike beam, you're (effectively) fighting a 4-man, 1 shield ship with a heavy laser and a pike beam. If you have a cloak, zoltan shields (or both. Holy cow that was an awesome run), or a couple auto reloaders too you can sometimes get a *second* shot off before they've got a chance to fire. And with the correct loadout that's the end of the fight. Every fight.

...excepting one ship. Yeah, for one ship out of the 28, with one specific weapon, it's terrific

Glaive Beam. Halberd Beam. BL3. Flak 2. These are all weapons that can ruin your enemy's day but have horrid charge times. A pre-igniter turns these weapons from paper tigers to teleporting ninjas.

Is it the best augment for every run? Of course not. But it opens a LOT of offensive doors and in the right hands can be devastating.

[spacecadet13]

Glaive Beam. Halberd Beam. BL3. Flak 2. These are all weapons that can ruin your enemy's day but have horrid charge times. A pre-igniter turns these weapons from paper tigers to teleporting ninjas.

They can ruin your enemy's day BUT only if you have enough additional firepower to allow them to shine; a Halberd can't do anything against even two shields on its own, and again, if you've got the firepower to take those shields down and let the big, slow weapons shine, then you don't really need a pre-igniter. Especially if you've got a zoltan shield, stealth AND autoloaders...talk about overkill!

As you say, WITH THE CORRECT LOADOUT, THAT'S THE END OF THE FIGHT - yeah, if you've got an already powerful weapon loadout, the pre-ignitor makes it real kick-ass - on the condition that your first volley has to hit and do 'good' damage for the PI to be worth anything at all. But if you don't have great weapons, it does somewhere between sweet FA and bugger all for you, and that 120 scrap is much better spent actually making your weapon loadout better. Take any ship, and their starting weapon loadout. Would you rather add a PI to that, or a Heavy Laser I with the upgrade to reactor and weapon system? When you start coming up against ships with two or more shields - and higher evade percentages - I know what I'd want to have every time, and it ain't the PI.

[Snow Job]

Why do most of you guys rate the Scrap Recovery Arm so highly? When I want to haul in more loot, I go for the Teleporter, Mind Control, bombs, and whatever else helps capture enemy ships. There's almost never room for defense, reactor power, armaments, capture tech and a Scrap Recovery Arm, and I imagine the game is already won if purchasing one becomes a serious consideration. Maybe it's good when playing as a ship that isn't effective at capture (Engi, Zoltan, and Stealth ships)?

I'm also curious about the FTL Recharge Booster - what engine level would you need to skip past an ASB with it? I know Engines lvl 8 can avoid an ASB, but haven't tried anything lower. If Engines lvl 5 + FTL Recharge Booster can safely dash through the Rebel Fleet, then that augment might actually be good to hold on to.

Reverse Ion Field - Ion is rare enough that it's still not exciting, but can be decent now. Will be stronger once it works against Pulsars.

Is it official that this is going to change?

[project_mercy]

I just do not get the love for the Pre-Igniter! It's only worthwhile having if you've got a weapon loadout that can easily get through/past the other ship's defences in one volley and do significant damage, and if you've got a weapon loadout that can do that, then you don't actually need the Pre-Igniter and can spend your 120 scrap on something - several things - far more worthwhile.

The pre-ignitor is always useful. At a minimum, it physically saves real life time by shaving off ~80 battles of waiting for guns to charge. At maximum, it takes mediocre/niche weapons and turns them into a one-shotting larf-fest.

I'll tell you, when I rolled into the Flagship battle with 2xFlak IIs and 1xBL2 (on hard) and was able to destroy phase 1 before the 2nd missile shot (the only reason it got one off was its cloak) I was loving some pre-ignitor.

I think the difference has to do with "spend 120 scrap on something more worthwhile" more often than not, if you have 120 scrap hanging around to buy the pre-ignitor, there's nothing more worthwhile. Though buying it early lets you know to hang on to weapons you might not otherwise keep (like a BL3) because you can turn them into something useful.

[5thHorseman]

I think the difference has to do with "spend 120 scrap on something more worthwhile" more often than not, if you have 120 scrap hanging around to buy the pre-ignitor, there's nothing more worthwhile. Though buying it early lets you know to hang on to weapons you might not otherwise keep (like a BL3) because you can turn them into something useful.

Yeah, and don't forget the ones just floating in space or offered as surrender. And before you say 'Of course you'll take that and keep it, it's free!' you can't say the same for a Repair Arm.

[Jerjare]

Preigniter isn't as great for some weapons; the "charge" type weapons don't start fully charged for example. Still, preigniter can turn some "meh" weapons into awesome combos:

Ion/breach bomb to their shields, then glaive their ship to pieces.

Also keep in mind you encounter unshielded autoscouts all the way through sector 8. One alpha strike can easily knock them out before they get a shot off.

Explosive replicator would be great for Rock A. It favors using faster, weaker missile weapons. It also makes some bomb weapons more viable- heal burst and repair burst for example.

[Jai]

FTL Recharge Booster deserves more respect. FTL Booster lets you jump faster than ASB, making it significantly safer to explore extra beacons, particularly in cases where you have to make 2-3 jumps through rebel controlled beacons to get out.

On Hard, where there are usually some fights you need to run from, or cases where a rebel scout is going to escape, being able to jump faster is great.

I'd rate the FTL Booster comparably with Distraction Buoys, except the FTL Booster can also save your behind.

[Merudo]

FTL Recharge Booster deserves more respect. FTL Booster lets you jump faster than ASB, making it significantly safer to explore extra beacons, particularly in cases where you have to make 2-3 jumps through rebel controlled beacons to get out.

On Hard, where there are usually some fights you need to run from, or cases where a rebel scout is going to escape, being able to jump faster is great.

I'd rate the FTL Booster comparably with Distraction Buoys, except the FTL Booster can also save your behind.

I'd actually rank it above the distraction buoys, especially if you have plenty of fuel.

Chances are, you'll be able to explore more than 1 extra beacon per system with the FTL Booster - plus it helps with random encounters, as you mentioned.

[5thHorseman]

FTL Recharge Booster deserves more respect. FTL Booster lets you jump faster than ASB, making it significantly safer to explore extra beacons, particularly in cases where you have to make 2-3 jumps through rebel controlled beacons to get out.

On Hard, where there are usually some fights you need to run from, or cases where a rebel scout is going to escape, being able to jump faster is great.

I'd rate the FTL Booster comparably with Distraction Buoys, except the FTL Booster can also save your behind.

I feel a bit stupid for never considering that. Next time I get one for free I'm going to try some post-exit-overrun farming and see how it goes.

[Twinge]

Is it official that this is going to change?

Essentially.

"I do find it very odd that Reverse Ion Fields don't do anything against Pulsars - ion damage is ion damage isn't it?" - Me
"Aye, good point. I'll mark that down as something to fix." - Matthew Davis


As for the Recharge Booster - I believe you're looking at either Level 4 Engines + Booster or Level 6 Engines to avoid the ASB. In general the booster gives far too little benefit for the cost considering Engine levels increase your FTL charge AND evasion.