First normal victory in an epic way

[zoutzakje]

hi folks, I'm new here to the forum but I just really wanted to share my first normal victory. I wish I could say I owned the boss but it was a very close call.
I had already beaten easy difficulty so I played with the Osprey. After dying a number of times (to many to count) I finally had an amazing game in which I owned everything (except the boss). I unlocked 2 out of the 3 achievs to get B type. I managed to destroy an enemy ship with only my artillery and I managed to get to sector 5 without upgrading my weapons system. I got a breach missile before sector 5, but I didn't upgrade my weapons until I was actually there. Those were the only 2 weapons I used through the entire game (besides artillery beam).
I arrived at the last stand with 4 shields, evasion at 51 % (or 48%, turning medbay off unless I needed it), artillery maxed, no drones or teleport and unfortunately no cloaking either (none of the dozen stores I visited sold cloak).
Before I got to the flagship I fought 2 regular rebels. They both had 4 shields, a decent set of weapons and a teleport. They had a lot of trouble getting through my evasion + shields so my maxed artillery made short work of them.
I arrived at the flagship with only 4 hp missing. I had unlocked the Dice and Slice achiev before and I made it to sector 8 without any crew member dying. I had everybody the osprey started with + 2 engi's I recruited along the way. First part of the Flagship was easy. Despite it having cloaking I only lost a few hp. Then the part with the Drones came. Both my breach missile and my burst laser mk II were useless so I had to rely on my artillery beam all the time. Eventually I beat it but with 5 hp left. I knew I wouldn't be able to beat the last part with just that so I did some math. I'd be able to get to a repair point just before the flagship would get into range of the base. There was one stop between my current location and the repair spot and I really hoped it wouldn't be a battle. Of course It was a battle and I somehow managed to beat it with 2 hp left.
I got to the repair shop and it healed me till I was just in the green zone of hp. I quickly went to catch up with the flagship and the final battle started.
This time I could use my breach missiles so I made some progress. His power surges whittled me down and my artillery beam destroyed him when I had 1 hull hp left. Most epic fight ever!

I noticed that shields and evasion are very important to any successful campaign. Cloak max + firing while cloaked augment is amazing but full shields + high evasion without many weapons can work wonders too (perhaps even more, I died several times with cloak) I did have the pre weapon charge augment though. Helped a lot.

Amazing little game you guys made. I just wish there would be a lot more content. Like how Binding of Isaac continues after you beat it for the first time, second time, third time etc. This game has so much more potential. Expansions maybe?

[5thHorseman]

Nice win! The close ones are the best. It's fun to walk all over the boss but the ones I limp away from with 5 hull points are the ones I remember the most.

Federation Cruisers can't buy cloak, which is why it's not available in stores.

[zoutzakje]

Nice win! The close ones are the best. It's fun to walk all over the boss but the ones I limp away from with 5 hull points are the ones I remember the most.

Federation Cruisers can't buy cloak, which is why it's not available in stores.

Ah I see, makes sense then. Still surprised I actually managed to survive without cloak though. Cloak was my most important asset on my easy win.
I'm getting quite the hang of this, but I'm still not that good. How exactly would I walk all over the boss on normal? What ship type, weapons, augments, upgrades, crewmembers would I need?

also, is there any news about any expansions? Will this game have them or are the developers just leaving the game as it is?

[5thHorseman]

Nice win! The close ones are the best. It's fun to walk all over the boss but the ones I limp away from with 5 hull points are the ones I remember the most.

Federation Cruisers can't buy cloak, which is why it's not available in stores.

Ah I see, makes sense then. Still surprised I actually managed to survive without cloak though. Cloak was my most important asset on my easy win.
I'm getting quite the hang of this, but I'm still not that good. How exactly would I walk all over the boss on normal? What ship type, weapons, augments, upgrades, crewmembers would I need?

also, is there any news about any expansions? Will this game have them or are the developers just leaving the game as it is?

There are tons of threads about beating the boss. Peruse the strategy forum here. I even wrote some of the stuff

Teleporters help a TON, as does a cloak. But if you can get 10 or so shots (say 2 BL2's and 2 BL1's) you can simply pummel the flagship until it's dead.

The best strategy or beating the boss though is learning everything it does in every situation. I've not been surprised by the final boss in a long, long time.

[Rellling]

Believe it or not I usually don't upgrade my shields past 2 layers. If I play a game with the second mantis ship, I don't even touch the shields. If I'm playing with the zoltan I don't upgrade past one layer. Evasion is insanely important, but cloaking and defense drones are really important too. More so than shields. I beat the flagship on normal with the zoltan ship and one shield. But without cloaking it would be really difficult. Congrats on your first win, don't worry, it's just as satisfying after your twentieth win

[Sleeper Service]

also, is there any news about any expansions? Will this game have them or are the developers just leaving the game as it is?

As far as I know the developers stated repeatedly that there will be no FTL 2 or expansions whatsoever. They still patching the game though. If you want more content you should check out the modding section of the forum. There are a lot of ship mods and quite a few total conversations that expand or completely change the game.

[erum]

We actually did end up getting the ship!