For the past while, I've been putting together a flow chart describing this game's tactics and synergies. Basically, a sort of visual aid showing my thoughts on which things work well together, and which don't. What do enemies or store offers do I need to look out for? When should I consider selling a piece of equipment, even if it's good on its own? When should I consider picking up this system, or that system. And so on. Though really, it's mostly for fun. I've done my best to keep the chart from being completely unreadable, but part of this exercise is meant to demonstrate just how complex this game is. So it's more than a little crowded.
I've been asking around for people's opinions on this, and though I'm mostly done, there's still a good amount to go. A few specific questions I have:
Is there any particular build that goes well with the Artillery Beam? (I'm not even including the Flak Artillery. It's no different from a regular Flak 2, except slower and/or way more expensive) It's honestly not bad, but the ships that have it suffer from having one less system slot, and it can screw over a boarding party hard. But is there anything that it supports, or that supports it? The issue is, it doesn't damage shields, but doesn't need to. It never misses, but it can't be aimed. Basically, it just stands on its own.
How awful are environmental hazards? Particularly pulsars. Is there any situation, aside from having a Reverse Ion Field, that they aren't completely miserable?
Are internal drones at all good?
I mostly describe weapons by their classes - fire weapons, ion weapons, chain weapons, missiles, and so on - but are there specific individual weapons that deserve their own sections? The ion stunner, or anti-bio beam, for example.
A flow chart to describe the game
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- stylesrj
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Re: A flow chart to describe the game
I dunno, I think an easier flowchart would be this:
1. Are you alive?
a. Yes - Go to 2
b. No - Go to 3.
2. Are you sure?
a. Yes - Go to 4.
b. No - Go to 1.
3. Game over. Pray to RNGesus that you get better stuff and try again.
4. Foolish meatsack! You are merely delaying the inevitable!
a. Go to 3.
It's a lot easier to understand and reflects exactly how a game goes when you try for certain builds too.
To answer your questions:
1) Artillery Beam works well with any non-boarding build. In the end really, it'd just extra damage that could be useful in finishing off the Flagship once all-else fails.
2) Depends on your build. Asteroid fields are laughable if you have a boarding team take out the enemy's guns or use your firepower to keep them suppressed (or you're facing a shieldless AI ship). Solar Flares are a nuisance unless you're flying oxygen-free (or light, depending on how many rooms you've vented). Pulsars don't need the Reverse Ion Field (or two) if you have two or more Zoltan sitting in the Shield Room. But it can still be a problem.
3) I wouldn't rely on an AP drone. They take way too long to recover damage whereas a medbay can be upgraded. Repair Drones to me are hit and miss. Sometimes good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get one. Boarding Drones, both Ion and regular are immediately sold, even if I have a lacklustre boarding party.
4) Ion Stunner is technically an ion weapon - it's used on Shields mostly. The stun's just an added bonus.
Anti Bio-Beam probably should be put into the same category as "Fire Weapons" as it does a lot of crew damage but requires enemy shields to be down, like the Fire Beam
1. Are you alive?
a. Yes - Go to 2
b. No - Go to 3.
2. Are you sure?
a. Yes - Go to 4.
b. No - Go to 1.
3. Game over. Pray to RNGesus that you get better stuff and try again.
4. Foolish meatsack! You are merely delaying the inevitable!
a. Go to 3.
It's a lot easier to understand and reflects exactly how a game goes when you try for certain builds too.
To answer your questions:
1) Artillery Beam works well with any non-boarding build. In the end really, it'd just extra damage that could be useful in finishing off the Flagship once all-else fails.
2) Depends on your build. Asteroid fields are laughable if you have a boarding team take out the enemy's guns or use your firepower to keep them suppressed (or you're facing a shieldless AI ship). Solar Flares are a nuisance unless you're flying oxygen-free (or light, depending on how many rooms you've vented). Pulsars don't need the Reverse Ion Field (or two) if you have two or more Zoltan sitting in the Shield Room. But it can still be a problem.
3) I wouldn't rely on an AP drone. They take way too long to recover damage whereas a medbay can be upgraded. Repair Drones to me are hit and miss. Sometimes good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get one. Boarding Drones, both Ion and regular are immediately sold, even if I have a lacklustre boarding party.
4) Ion Stunner is technically an ion weapon - it's used on Shields mostly. The stun's just an added bonus.
Anti Bio-Beam probably should be put into the same category as "Fire Weapons" as it does a lot of crew damage but requires enemy shields to be down, like the Fire Beam
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Re: A flow chart to describe the game
1) Defensive drones and cloaking go very nicely with the Artillery beam - the former to protect you from hacking and missiles, and the latter to essentially reduce the artillery beam's timer significantly. Defense Drone II especially is nice since it shoots down nearly everything.
2) Asteroid fields do at least attack the enemy ship. I like to think of it as "having about 1 1/2 shield bubbles less". It often means you can let the asteroid take down one level of enemy shielding, and have your heavier weapons like lasers or beams do more damage since less of your shield-breaker weapons need to hit. They do also automatically take down Zoltan shields, although slower than you'd like.
3) Anti-personnel drones are occasionally useful for dealing with enemy Lanius boarders, large numbers of boarders when your crew are weak, or a high-level mind-controlled crewman (since they're a big punching bag). Besides that they're not all that helpful and definitely worth selling mid-game in order to expedite getting something more directly useful. Repair drones are worth keeping if you get for free (and can fit into your drone system), but aren't worth buying and should be sold once you get something better.
4) The Ion Stunner also has a couple of other uses - it combines very nicely with mind control and/or fire, and if you down all the shields with other weapons you can land the ion stunner in weapons, medbay, etc. so as to further ionize a system and delay repairs on it.
If you're boarding, you can also use it as a pseudo-stun bomb by luring enemy crew into the shields room, then running your own crew out with expert timing so the enemy crew gets stunned and your crew don't. This can break ties, or even severely weaken crew before they can run into the medbay, leaving them weak enough that you could pick them off with extra boarders and/or a well-placed laser.
2) Asteroid fields do at least attack the enemy ship. I like to think of it as "having about 1 1/2 shield bubbles less". It often means you can let the asteroid take down one level of enemy shielding, and have your heavier weapons like lasers or beams do more damage since less of your shield-breaker weapons need to hit. They do also automatically take down Zoltan shields, although slower than you'd like.
3) Anti-personnel drones are occasionally useful for dealing with enemy Lanius boarders, large numbers of boarders when your crew are weak, or a high-level mind-controlled crewman (since they're a big punching bag). Besides that they're not all that helpful and definitely worth selling mid-game in order to expedite getting something more directly useful. Repair drones are worth keeping if you get for free (and can fit into your drone system), but aren't worth buying and should be sold once you get something better.
4) The Ion Stunner also has a couple of other uses - it combines very nicely with mind control and/or fire, and if you down all the shields with other weapons you can land the ion stunner in weapons, medbay, etc. so as to further ionize a system and delay repairs on it.
If you're boarding, you can also use it as a pseudo-stun bomb by luring enemy crew into the shields room, then running your own crew out with expert timing so the enemy crew gets stunned and your crew don't. This can break ties, or even severely weaken crew before they can run into the medbay, leaving them weak enough that you could pick them off with extra boarders and/or a well-placed laser.
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Re: A flow chart to describe the game
Okay, so the chart is... more or less done. I just have to cram in the augmentations wherever I can find room. But the thing is... mother of god, it's so hard to read. Even for me, and I've been designing the thing. I mean, I meant for it to be busy, to demonstrate how complicated this game is, but not this busy. This is going to take a little longer. I have to add something to distinguish all these lines from each other. But the first draft should be ready in another day or two.
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Re: A flow chart to describe the game
Alright, I've tried a couple things to make this look a little more readable and... none of them really worked. But it is done! And it's not... too terribly horrifically awful. In fact I'd say it's just terrible enough. As I noted before, this is more an exercise to show how complex the game is than to produce something actually helpful. It's a bit of a joke at my own expense. Anyway, here it is.
http://imgur.com/gallery/0bPgE
The colors don't seem to look right on the website, but it looks better if you download it. Almost everything is on there, except for a few augmentations. I'm tired.
http://imgur.com/gallery/0bPgE
The colors don't seem to look right on the website, but it looks better if you download it. Almost everything is on there, except for a few augmentations. I'm tired.