So I unlocked the Rock A for the first time yesterday and took it for a few spins. My three playthroughs on Normal gave me:
Score: 940
Sector: 3
Score: 327
Sector: 2
Score: 91
Sector: 1
Pretty sure that last one was me getting irritated after wasting nearly all my missiles on the Defense Drones Don't Do D'anything achievement. I don't really like the Rock's limited missile style. Or the slow-as-molasses speed, UGH! But, I did want to unlock Rock B and it seemed that I'd either have to get lucky and get a Fire Bomb + Teleportation or the Crystal Cruiser. And I do so want the Crystal Cruiser.
Enter tonight. I watched a few tips on the Crystal Cruiser (especially helpful one here). Limping through Sector 1, I found that I had the "right" map layout and could get Engi as Sector 2. Found the Stasis Pod. Sector 3, Zoltan Research Center! Now my map had a red at Sector 5 and a choice of two reds for Sector 6, so I aimed myself in that direction and thought I'd have a pretty good chance with three. But overall, it was a rough run, because I kept getting MORE missile weapons (extra Hull Missiles... hooray...) I was spending all my extra scrap on fuel, missiles, and eventually drones. Anti-Ship Drone plus Hull Laser (ho-hum) helped a bit...
In Sector 4 I found another Stasis Pod and opted for the weapon instead. Fire Beam, I think.
Sector 5 was Rebel controlled, but guess what I found there? LONG-RANGE SCANNERS! Trying to be conservative with my fuel, but not be a sitting duck, I made it to Sector 6, Rock Homeworlds, with about 4 Fuel left. There was an unmarked beacon near the left side of the screen that would have taken far too many jumps to get to and back, so I skipped it and tried to cover as many as possible, bypassing a store that I needed...
Somehow I got enough fuel through random events and found the wormhole in the bottom-right of the sector! And, to top it all of... the quest beacon was ONE JUMP from the start. After I unlocked the Crystal Ship, I breathed a big sigh of relief and tried to explore as much as possible. Picked up a Crystal Weapon for 20 (dirt cheap), let some Crystals surrender to me, made it out with a new human meatsack.
Sector 7 was Civilian, nothing much to say. Made it to the Last Stand with 4 Shields and the following weapons:
Artemis, Heavy Ion, Hull Laser I, Crystal Burst Mark I.
Had teleportation, no cloak, Defense I and Anti-Ship I droid. The battle was very long and tedious, but eventually the Federation prevailed.
So... first Rock win on Normal, fourth playthrough, unlocked Rock B, Crystal Cruiser, and Your Own Fleet achievement. Final score? 4380. Didn't even make the top five.
