Subset Games Forum

Hi. I've recently gotten to the Flagship about four times now. Every time I can never get past the shields. On one run, I managed to get past the first phase but he destroyed the base afterwards. I use the Kestrel and the Engi ship; I haven't used the Stealth ship because it has no shields. I just unlocked the Zoltan ship; should I use this? Also, what's the best way to go? As in, should I raid, use drones, or use weapons? If so, which drones/weapons?

Thanks in advance!

That's a tough one ^^
There are so many ways in which to fight the final boss...

But there are a few general tips I can give you.

A cloak and 40% base dodge really help. You should have a defense drone mark I for the second phase and it also helps against the triple rocketlauncher.
To get through the shields have some high dmg rockets or bombs (i really like bombs here because in stage 2 he has defense drones) or the all powerfull Ion Blast II that beauty will get you through any and all shields or 2 burstlaser II or better lasers (more shots thatn burstlaser II)

Never kill all the crew or the AI will take over and that thing just destroys as it can repair all systems simultainusly (weapons too)

If you have a teleporter teleport 2 guys into every weapon and destroy it except for the green tripple laser thingy. let that guy live and you shouldn't have problems with the AI system. The tripple laser is no problem with 40% dodge and 4 shield.

In phase 2 activate your defensedrone imidiatly or the boardingdrones will get you good. he shoots about 6 or 7 of them in total i think. after that he'll stop sending boarders ^^

try these things and you should get at least to stage 3 (which is the last stage )

Good Luck

I had a Mantis type B ship and beat him with around 75% hull

I had every system manned and a four mantis boarding team (all fully veteran), a defence II drone with recovery arm, teleporter, medbay, shields, doors and reactor. I just sabotaged all weapons except for the heavy laser and slowly went about killing the crew in the main hull, once they were dead I sabotaged the shields and let my Hull smasher mk II do it's job on the room by the madbay. (I also S.bombed the medbay and ioned his laser) Second phase, sent one man into rocket battery to disable it, while the others hit drone control to halt the boarding drone, the destroyed shields and Hull laser'ed it with no crew to stop me. Third phase, Ion and hull laser to the zoltan shield, once disabled I send two into the rockets once more and shut off their shields, ion'ed his laser and pummeled his ship to dust.

Conclusion: If you can then board the flagship, this can make him significantly easier.

Basically, you'll want at least 3 shield bars and maxed out engines by the time you reach the boss. 55% evasion means it really won't do that much do you unless you take a really long time. You also want some way to bypass the shields in order to disable them and possibly kill the crew (but leave at least 1 alive). Last time I did it with a small bomb launcher and 3 basic lasers with the B-layout Kestrel, and while I was spamming bombs at the shield generator, all the crew that ran in to put out the fires and repair it got killed by my bombs and lasers, making the remaining phases easier without people to repair systems.

I beat the boss on Easy, using a Torus. I had:

1 human (pilot), 1 Engi (engine room), and 2 Zoltans, each maxed out for their particular jobs, and at least some cross training on the other stations, if a quick switch was necessary. That was all the crew I managed to have from sector 4 onward. Only a level 3 shield, with my two Zoltans staying put there, so ions wouldn't be as able to take down my shields. Engines were at 5, and I had just enough power to keep 1x Ion Blast II, 1x Ion Blast I, and 1x Ion Bomb active simultaneously. As far as damaging attack capability, I had literally only one Anti-Ship I drone. For defense, I used a level 3 cloak, powered only to the second level - just to have a buffer in case it took a hit, and a Defense Drone II. Doors were maxed, as they should be by this point.

The Defense Drone kept a lot of the damage I would have suffered away from me, though the reasonably high evasion helped with that. Boarding just wasn't a viable option, and I didn't even bother to buy a transporter...but the Medbay was at 3, and it was feasible to just have my crew stand their ground when their boarders attacked the shield room - I just pulled the Engi over to help, and that worked out fine.

While my Ion weapons were locking down the boss' shields, and the bombs were alternating between locking their Ions and missiles, the anti-ship drone kept the enemy crew running around to all the damaged stations. I just cloaked for the times missiles launched, and of course during the special attacks, but otherwise, the speed of that anti-ship drone cut the fights short. That Drone Recovery Arm was a worthwhile investment early on.

I'll admit my strategy wouldn't likely work as well on Normal, but functions well enough on Easy.

Here's a BIG tip:

There are THREE phases! ...THREE!

Make sure to plan around that because I sure hadn't the slightest clue...I was relieved after I beat it in the second phase, only to continue with my hull in the red. From that point all I could is fight again, and I lost...that loss probably made it my 12th last stand (on easy).

Having a transporter is HUGE for this fight. All of the ship weapons are isolated, making them easy to destroy with a strike team one at a time. Fire bombs also excel for this purpose.

If you have stealth, great. On phase 2 and 3, save it for the "super weapon" (in phase 2 its a drone swarm, in phase 3 its a mass of shots that go off at once). Only use the shortest duration cloak, so that it comes back in time for the next super weapon. If you use the longest duration you'll only be able to cloak every other one.

Ideally, you don't kill the "entire" crew, you keep the guy in the beam weapon alive. This is because killing the last crew member converts the ship to an AI ship that self-repairs. This isn't THAT big a deal since it still has O2, so if you kill the last crew member and have a transporter you can basically gut all of their vital systems from the inside in future phases.

Phase 3 involves them mass boarding you if you haven't killed their crew already. If for some reason you haven't dealt with the crew, be ready. Upgrade your doors, vent O2, force them into your medbay, etc. Also, they get the Zoltan shield in phase 3 and it regenerates (on a long cooldown). So even if you are being super reliant on bombs, pack some sort of regular weapon to bring down that shield for phase 3.

Having at least 3 shields (4 is nice, but not really needed) and fairly good engines (not max, but close) is a must.

I personally try to save a lot of missiles for the boss. Trying to deal with 4 shields and high evasion without some way around it is just awful. Multiple ion weapons can potentially "stun lock" their shield regeneration, but realistically they eventually dodge a few ions in a row and the shields come back. Missiles/bombs work better. Be aware that they use a mark 2 defense drone in phase 2.....disable their drone bay asap (bombs, or transport a strike team over).

On normal, I've currently beaten the boss with the Kestrel B, the Engi A, the Fed Cruiser A, and the Zoltan B. Came very, very close with the Stealth A (boss made it to the base, would have been on phase 3).

Generally I tend to just play around with the Final boss now. Never losing more than say 75% hull. Bombs and Boarding seem to be the most effective, no energy spent wasted on getting through shields, aim directly for the weapons. The rooms are separated from the rest of the ship, meaning once you kill the person manning the station and disable the weapon it is disabled for that phase. I've found Fire Bombs are ideal for the this, causing massive damage to the system as well as the weapon manner. Breach bombs also work well. A boarding party of two can easily overpower the weapon system person and destroy the system as well.

For Defenses I would suggest to have a Fully upgraded shield, 40% evasion, Cloak, and a Defense Drone 1 for the missiles/boarding drones. DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR CLOAK. Your cloak's purpose is to evade power surges, (and the missile cannon if you really need it). If you stay cloaked for too long your cool down will not be ready for the next power surge. The first level duration is sufficient enough to evade every power surge. Putting Nuclear Reactor power into cloak will not decrease cool downs.

The oxygen system of the final boss will allow for fires to burn infinitely, as the oxygen goes into the room faster than the fire takes it away. Also, a single hull breach will not take away the oxygen of the room it is in as long as the O2 system is functional.

You don't need overpowered weapons for the last fight either, just a strategy to get past the shield. Ion Bombs are extremely helpful, taking down two levels of shields. Missiles are helpful for the first phase, however the defense drone in the second phase will shoot down every missile ( baring two at a time) making them less useful there. Just have a plan for a 4 level shield with a defense drone circling around it, keep it in mind as you make choices throughout the game.

Also, don't hoard for the weapon preigniter. It's cool if you have tons of scrap, but it's generally better to spend it on your defenses. Most ships in the game can be completely neutralized by a defense drone and a proper level of shields.

Do buy the Crew teleporter, killing every crew member on the ship instead of destroying the ship gives better rewards. It will pay for itself.

When weighing the cost and benefit to buying a drone bay, consider the free drone you get with it. You'll be amazed at how little you worry about missiles when you have a defense drone I on your side. I've found most of the damage I take through the game, before I started buying the Defense Drone I and the Drone bay as early as possible, is because of missiles.

Here's an easy tip that makes it loads easier to beat the final boss: use bombs. Any kind, really, though I'm partial to breach bombs. Missiles are fine for the first and third forms, but won't get anywhere near the drone phase. With a bomb system, you can take out the ship's systems pretty easily, allowing you a lot of breathing room to do whatever else you need to.

Bombs ,special rocket launcher that shoots 2 rockets at a time ,lots of dakka , assault team - you need at least one of these to reliably get through shields and damage boss` guns.Rocket launcher and laser weapon are nastiest so take care of them first.

Boss` laser can punch through level 2 shield,so if you have less than three go for laser as fast as you can.

WIthout stealth you simply will not survive power surges on stage 2 and 3.If you got to the end and do not have either 4 shields and crasy evasion with MK2 defense drone or Stealth backed up by shields,consider yourself out.I had all of these(but level 3 shields) and won with 3 hull points left.

Always keep someone near stealth station , drone control or shields - depends what helps you to survive at the moment - for repairs.I had a moment when my stealth got damaged by lucky rocket and I almost got my face melted by drone power surge - my engi and human fixers repaired it just in time because I was prepared for such an event and set them idle in stealth room.