stealth b is the first one i beat the game with. i have never played on easy tho. different strokes for different folks.
strangely enough, i received a pre-igniter in the second sector, then died in the fourth. The next game i went all the way with a strong ship and no unlucky drones.
i gotta throw my weight behind the engiB. you *need more crew. without good luck, you do not get any crew. id say it is the ship that is most weighted to luck, if not the hardest.
hannofcart wrote:Definitely Stealth I thought. People find Engi B hard?!
Engi B is hard in part because of non-fighting encounters. You can't take an event option that might kill your only crew member. There are a lot of good events in that category. For example, lone madman and abandoned station. He give you a new crew member, but you can't take that risk, because he could also kill you.
If you're lucky enough to find a second crew member, Engi B becomes a lot easier. You no longer lose if an event kills a crew member, so you can greatly increase your risk tolerance. It also lets you man both your cockpit and your weapons, which is a pretty big damage saver.
The mantis B, because if you find zoltan and drone ships are impossible to kill. If you manage to survive those first few encounters though the ship can be really good.
Mantis B is not that bad. Sure you cannot harm auto-drones or zoltan shields, but with 2 shields and a defense drone, neither can they. Simply jump away and try your luck at the next beacon. You lose out on some scrap, but would be compensated by the higher rewards from boarding the ships you can.
Stealth B is at the mercy of the RNG until you get shields, as any hit to your weapon control ends that run.
Engi B is doable at the start, but needs a successful first sector. Specifically, it needs to find a way to deal with 2 shields as it's starting loadout is helpless against that. Tip for using this layout: move your starting engi to weapons. The 10% dodge you would get at the helm is negligible, while the faster weapon charge up makes it easier to get two heavy laser shots within the 10 second ion lockdown. And if your weapon control gets hit, you are right there to repair it (with 1 engine, you aren't fleeing from combat anytime soon).