Let Hard Difficulty Punish You, All the Rounds

[The Captain]

After unlocking all the new ships, I decided to go to Hard Difficulty and use them. Used the randomizer, came up with the Kestrel C. I got to sector 3, learned that Hard Difficulty punishes errors. Still stuck with starting weapons, I was having trouble with ships with two layers of shields. Last battle in an asteroid field, targeted weapons when I should have targeted drones - because Combat Mk II. D'oh!

Next up was the Lanius B. Explored six whole beacons. In the next to last fight, I should have run away sooner, but instead let myself get beat up by missiles. It seems like key systems get targeted more often, as my weapons got taken out, I'd fix them, something else would get taken out, I'd go fix that, then my weapons got taken out again. Paid too much attention to fixing, then trying to do damage when my weapons were up. Next fight, a rigger's beam & beam drone finished me off.

Then came the Fed C, which I dubbed FML. Two beacons. LOL. First ship I encountered had a medbay, but since this was my first time playing the ship, I decided to attempt boarding. Artillery kept getting destroyed, couldn't take out the medbay when it got a chance to fire.

Better run with the next ship, the Rock C. Got killed in the second round. Lost two crew to events, had three or two most of the way, before finishing with four. Didn't get Cloaking till sector 8, though I did have a Zoltan Shield. When I bought Drone Control, it came with a System Repair Drone. I couldn't afford the Defense Drone Mk II at that store, and I never saw a Mk I.

Slug C, named We Hv No Bananas. Got to sector four. I need to stop staying in unwinnable or barely winnable fights too long.

Zoltan C - if you like power juggling, this is your ship. You get four Zoltans to start, but of course one is the pilot. Max auxiliary power (backup battery), but the first column of reactor power costs 30 (! ) scrap each. And scrap is soooo scarce in Hard, especially early. It's tough to get this ship powered up. And the run is slow going, because after every fight I wait to let the air recharge, because next battle, O2 is getting depowered again.

I was a bit surprised that this was the ship to get me my first Hard win. I was only able to max Shields and Cloak, reactor was only L17, L7 Weapons, L5 Engines, L3 Drone Ctrl, L2 Mind Control, Clone Bay, O2, Piloting, Sensors and Doors. I kinda wanted Hacking, but couldn't really afford it early - plus I only had a handful of drone parts at those times. I ended up buying Mind Control in sector 8 (store was first jump ). Then I had to upgrade my Sensors to use it, having no slugs.

Weapons were Ion Bomb, Hull Smasher Laser, Laser Charger and Flak Gun Mk I. I had Defense and Combat Drones Mk I. Only augment was the Zoltan Shield. Crew was 4 Zoltans, 1 Human, and 1 Engi I think I hired in the middle of the game. I don't think I was offered any crew (but if it happened late, I would have refused and gone for the scrap).

Oh, and I finished with 22 HP.

[The Captain]

So I'm finding Hard is hard, especially when you're playing ships for the first time. But Squared Circle, Engi C, got me to the boss. Unfortunately, I never got a Cloak, and weapons were barely sufficient, so I had to use my L2 Hacking on shields a lot. I finished with Hull Beam, Laser Charger, and Dual Shot Laser (I bought the beam in a late sector to replace the Heavy Laser Mk I). I had a Beam Drone Mk I, Anticombat Drone, Defense Scrambler and Shield Charge Booster, and 5 crew. L21 Reactor, L8 Shields, L5 Engines, L5 Weapons, L2 Drone Control, Clone Bay, Aux Power, O2, Piloting, Doors, and L1 Sensors. Without a cloak, I took lots of damage, but made it to round 3. Unfortunately, my weapons got taken out and set on fire, and I was in the red, so I had to jump away (no convenient repair stations nearby). I fixed up, jumped back and got finished off in round 3, part 2.

Mantis C - LOL. 1 ship defeated, 5 beacons explored, 0 scrap collected. I couldn't stop a transport ship from running. I boarded another ship, lockdown & stun don't last that long (haven't figured out optimal usage), and two heavy lasers and combat drone were too much for my all but defenseless ship.

unStealth C - I wasn't expecting much, but I actually had a decent run. For a while I had six crew, including two Mantises for security. But they died fighting boarders, and then my Clone Bay was destroyed, so I couldn't bring them back. I had Combat Mk II and Shield Drones, but no Defense drone. Only L1 Cloak, no Hacking or Mind Control. I could have bought one of those, but instead opted for a Breach Bomb Mk II to replace the Mini Beam, adding to Flak Gun Mk I and Laser Charger. Was still tough to take out ships. Stuck around last fight too long, was one jump away from the sector 7 exit.

Lanuis A - finally back to a ship I'd played, but it didn't seem to help. 3 ships defeated, 5 beacons explored. I got taken out by a Zoltan ship with two heavy lasers that hit weapons and shields multiples times.

Zappa II, Zoltan B - a familiar ship, so I ought to do better, right? But I thought I might not make it, as I miscalculated jumps in sector one and had to fight the rebels at the exit. Got away with 8 HP! But I survived, though. I was awarded a third Ion Blast early. Before I got it online, I decided to take a chance in an early mid sector and bought a Vulcan. I briefly held onto the Pike Beam, but eventually had to sell it. So I had the Vulcan, a Small Bomb I was given, and two Ion Blasts (though it wasn't all powered up at first). I was back in the red going into a sector 6 nebula, so I jumped to see the most beacons. After only a few jumps, no stores and I was in the middle of the sector. Then I found a store, bought Cloak and some repairs. Made a couple more jumps, then back to the store for Drone Control (even tough it was a Combat Mk I) and some repairs - could not afford the Defense Mk I. Not a great end of sector layout - I jumped to the exit, one jump past, then back to the exit.

Had only 3 fuel, 2 layers of Shields, and not enough power to start sector 7. I saw a store after my first jump, so farmed a bit before going there. Sold off an Ion Blast and bought a Flak Gun Mk I and Aux Power. I finally got my third layer of Shields at the end of the sector, still L4 Engines, not enough power.

Good fortune at the beginning of sector 8 - eight jumps for the boss to reach base, instead of six. And two repair stations right next to the start. I hit both; third jump was empty. Fourth jump I saved an outpost and got a double reward. Still no store, and I had one system slot left. Fifth jump, sixth jump, no store - but supposedly a repair station. I didn't see it anywhere. Seventh jump, no store. But I farmed all I could. I started the boss fight with L19 Reactor, L6 Shields, L5 Engines, L8 Weapons, L3 Cloak, L2 Drone Control, O2, Piloting and Doors, L1 Medbay, Aux Power and Sensors.

Round 1 my Piloting got hacked, but I made it through with 16 HP. I saved the scrap. After round 2 I had 13 HP, bought another power and a buffer level for Drone Control. I wonder if L3 Cloaking is worth it, as I didn't fire any weapons and cloaked just before the first missile reached me, but it wasn't enough to also cloak through the first power surge. But I won the game with 9 HP left!

Curious: I've won on Hard with Zoltan C and B.

[The Captain]

Red Wing IV: O Crystal B, what will you do for me? Well, I got a Rock. But that's good, I had four crew. Then I got another Rock. Pilot and a full 4-man boarding team! Early on I acquired a Pike Beam, so at least I could destroy autoships. Then a Hermes, then a Halberd Beam. I used the Hermes once by accident, but mostly the Pike, then the Halberd when I upgraded Weapons. I bought a Laser Charger to go with the Halberd, then a Burst Laser Mk I. I encountered a Flak Gun Mk II at a middle sector store, but with its inaccuracy, I didn't think it went too well with boarding, so I opted for another Laser Charger. Late, sector 6 or 7, I found a Burst Laser Mk II on p.2 of a store, so sold the Halberd. Earlier in the game I had acquired a Beam and a Combat Drone Mk I, so Drone Control became my last system. Didn't find a Defense Drone Mk I in any stores, but I did get a Mk II after round 2 with the boss (go figure). I got a Scrap Recovery Arm early, and acquired a Shield Charge Booster early in sector 8. An Engi, Human and Envoy the Zoltan rounded out my crew.

Boarded to my heart's content, sniped whatever systems needed damaging. I even had a Hull Repair Drone, which I didn't need much. I topped off after round 2. I did lose a Rock in round 3: a Crystal got mind controlled, so I had the Rock tank; later I used him to board, thinking he had enough HP, but I didn't pay close enough attention, so he died. I finished off the boss with 25 HP left, got my highest score on hard, 5109.

Next run with the Slug A didn't go so well. I lost one slug to an event, later got boarded by 4 Zoltans, got maybe too aggressive with venting, so two Zoltans exploded at the same time, killing my last Slug in the airless Medbay when he couldn't get out in time. Sector 3, 10 ships defeated, 26 beacons explored.

Kestrel up next, where Shields officers were like Dirty Harry's partners. Had a Zoltan, lost him to an event at the end of sector 2. Then I hired a human with Shields experience; he died while fighting boarders. It was a tough run, never could afford any systems other than Drone Control when I came across them. Weapons - Breach Bomb Mk II, Burst Laser Mk II, Hull Smasher Laser & Heavy Laser Mk I - were adequate but not overpowering. No augs. Not having a cloak meant I took a lot of damage. I actually won round 2, but lost due to doors destroyed, low O2 in ship, and a fire destroyed my O2 system, taking my last HP. Argh. 5248 pts became my new high score on hard.

Would the Crystal A be better? Not quite. Died in round 1. Had Drone Control and Hacking, again no Cloak. Again, weapons - Ion Charger, Burst Laer Mk II, Crystal Burst Mk I, Heavy Laser Mk I - were not up to fighting the boss. Had Mantis Pheromones & KazaaakplethKilik.

[The Captain]

Rock B, only made it to sector 3: 10 ships defeated, 26 beacons explored, 159 scrap collected. One ship hacked my shields, took out weapons, engines, set fires, took out piloting. I managed to get weapons repaired and eventually won the battle, but my hull was in the red. Got some repairs, made it to sector 3, where missiles and combat drones of an autoship whittled my hull down, and I couldn't get through its two layers of shields. Then a frackin' pirate scout with missiles and high dodge took me out.

Next run in the Shadows, Stealth A. I bought an Ion Stunner in sector 1 and then upgraded weapons. It made for a nice firepower enhancement. Bought shields in sector 2, only to see I missed a Burst Laser Mk II on page 2. D'OH! But I still made it to sector 8, where I got fully repaired; six jumps before the boss reaches the base. I jump to a repair station for supplies, don't see the store. Then a pirate manages to jump away. Bah. I fight some more ships, gaining scrap. Last fight I win, they set up a new repair station - but it's nowhere to be found, so doesn't help.

Going to meet the boss with max reactor and Shields, L5 Engines, L7 Weapons, L3 Drone Control & Hacking, L2 Cloak, O2, Piloting, Sensors, Doors, L1 Medbay and Auxiliary Power; weapons: Hull Smasher Mk II, Laser Charger, Dual Shot Laser; Defense Drone Mk I; Auto Reloader, Shield Charge Booster, Long Range Scanners; crew: humans x2, Engi x2, a Mantis, and Envoy the Zoltan. I have 24 HP after round 1.

Round 2, boss defense drone shoots down 5 hacking drones! ARGH! Then 6! GRRR!! Then my defense drone got hit by a stray shot. I tried a 7th hacking drone, but it got shot down, too. Saving my last two drone parts for the next round. Oops - put up the defense drone again, leaving me with one. A drone phase took me down to 11 HP - brutal. A couple volleys in the middle of the round didn't make it through the boss' 4 shield layers. Then one did, finally winning the round, but I'm down to 8 HP. AARRGGHH, fire took out sensors - 7 HP! Last scrap goes to L6 Engines.

Round 3, first missile volley does no damage: one miss, two shot down. Then I get hit. Then, damn, down to 5 HP: A mind-controlled Engi took out L2 doors, though I briefly sent my other Engi to try and distract him - apparently it wasn't long enough. But the 4 human boarders were distracting me. Cloaked through power burst, but my last defense drone got hit. Fuck me. Then two missile hits and the next power burst takes me down to 1 HP. And the re-mind-controlled Engi and 2 boarders take out L2 Cloak for the final damage. Sigh.

Whoa - 70 ammo. Wish I had found an Ion Bomb. Even though I didn't win, 5494 is my highest score on Hard.

Ring of Death, Engi A. Not trying to get achievements, but in an ion storm, I get "I hardly lifted a finger," because I couldn't run my Ion Burst Mk II. Then a pulsar ionized my weapons, but the second pulse gets me "The guns ... they've stopped. I acquired a Flak Gun Mk I pretty early, but took my time getting it online, as getting to L5 Weapons is tough on Hard. Even acquired a Flak Gun Mk II, but I didn't think I'd ever use it on this ship. Turns out I was right: sold it for a Burst Laser Mk II. Never found a better weapon to replace what I had, and eventually I had some trouble taking out enemies. Could have bought Hacking earlier, but I held out for Cloaking. Then I passed up Hacking, because I only had 9 drone parts at the time, so I didn't think I could afford to use it and the Combat Drone Mk I. So Mind Control became my final system, and I found I like it much better when it's at L2. Against the boss I made sure to get my Defense Mk I out early, and it shot down several hacking drones. In the next round it shot down all the boarding drones. I went on to victory with 19 HP left and 5335 pts, my most for a win on Hard.

Quattropew IV, Red Tail, made pretty quick work of early ships. I bought a Flak Gun Mk I, which fits in pretty nicely with the Basic Lasers. But then I had some trouble finding new weapons, and it was taking longer to win battles. But a sector 5 store had a Glaive Beam and Weapon Preigniter, which I could just afford by selling off the stuff I had plus one Basic Laser, which was getting replaced. I couldn't afford Cloaking when I saw it earlier, and didn't see it later. I maxed out my weapons by the end of sector 6. Then in sector 7 I bought Drone Control and Hacking, leaving me with an open slot.

I only maxed Shields & Weapons; Reactor was L22, L5 Engines, L2 Drone Control, Hacking & O2 - Doors after rounds 1 & 2; L1 Medbay, Piloting, Sensors. I got through the first two rounds pretty well: 20 HP going into the last one. I won with 15 HP left.

I feel I'm doing better with the Basic Edition ships, since I know them better. Of course, except for the Lanius A, I played the new ships for the first time on Hard. We'll see how I do when I get back to them.

[The Captain]

Making a run in the Lanius A, bought Ion Bomb early, then didn't get any new weapons till the end of Sector 5. Took a gamble on the damaged stasis pod, never got it open. Gained a bugged Mantis, then another, then lost the first repelling boarders and my Clone Bay got destroyed at the most inconvenient time. At the end of Sector 4, I stupidly used up the rest of my bombs by trying to take out a ship that was trying to escape and also had a shield drone. Hull in the red running through Mantis controlled Sector 5 looking for a store. Went to some distress calls, two of which were traps. Tricksy Mantises! But I was able to run away without damage. Jumped to exit and found a store further east. Phew! Bought a Halberd Beam, upgraded weapons so I could use it and my Chain Burst Laser, and some much needed repairs - arrived with only 3 HP. Jumped to Sector 6 and found a store a jump away, but I'm out of scrap. Slowly my hull got whittled down to the red. Didn't find a second store. The last ship at the exit had a cloak, so I couldn't hack the weapons in time, and I got blown up. 17 ships defeated, 73 beacons explored, 753 scrap collected, 6 crew hired.

So my next run is in the Engi B, which I dub Down the Drain X, piloted by Doomed. I'm soooo optimistic. First ship is an autoscout with cloak, but no shields. My first 2 Heavy Laser shots miss. Piloting got hit and set on fire, then later my shields got hit. I win the fight, but take 7 damage. I feel things aren't going to go well. I get to Sector 3 - Engi Homeworlds - and farm a few beacons before heading to a store. Burst Laser Mk II on p. 2!! WOO HOO! Things are looking up. By the end of Sector 3, I have L5 weapons - Halberd Beam & BL2 - L4 Shields, L4 Engines. At the beginning of Sector 6, I've upgraded weapons to L6, so I can use the Heavy Laser Mk I (or the Ion Bomb), L5 Shields - to be upgraded to L6 ASAP. I have Hacking, but am using it sparingly - I have a plethora of bombs, but only about a dozen drone parts.

In a sector 7 store I see a Vulcan and decide to buy it, selling off some weapons I'd been holding onto: Hull Smasher Laser Mk II & Heavy Laser Mk I (I keep the Halberd and Hull Smasher Mk I - but never use them the rest of the way). I get to Sector 8 and have 8 jumps before the boss reaches the base, but it's in an isolated part of the sector - the adjacent chokepoint beacon is already about to be taken over by the rebels. There is another connection way to the north, and I'd never reach the base in time, not to mention having to fight the rebel fleet multiple times. So I farm some beacons, get to the repair station in the area, but don't see the store. On the way a fucking reb hacks my shields, then an Ion Intruder hits that room. My 2* Slug is stunned and dies of suffocation before it can get out (maybe I should have run away right away, but I was occupied with shooting the enemy ship). Fighting the rebel fleet, my weapons get breached and take 1 damage - but I have a buffer.

I jump away while cloaked, so arrive at the base with it in cooldown, and still repairing weapons - which distracts me from putting out my defense drone. No matter, it's only the Medbay that gets hacked. The Vulcan, once it gets going - and I make sure to get it going by most of the time just putting in on autofire, rather than waiting to volley - makes quick work of things, with support from the BL2 and Ion Bomb, and when shields are down or nearly so, my Combat and Beam drones. I win with 18 HP left. 49 ships defeated, 101 beacons explored, 2017 scrap collected, 5 crew hired. I have a new Hard high score: 6010 pts.

Reflecting on this run, it was kind of strange that I held onto so many weapons - I was really raking in the scrap - and without a Scrap Recovery Arm. Usually on Hard, I'm so low on scrap, I have to decide whether to keep and use a weapon or sell it sooner rather than later. And filling up my cargo hold with extra weapons? HA!

[The Captain]

Next run is in the Engi B, Down the Drain X, piloted by Doomed. I'm soooo optimisitic. LOL. First enemy is an autoscout with cloak, but no shields. My first two Heavy Laser shots miss. I win, but take 7 damage: Piloting got hit and set on fire, and Shields got hit later. So is this how it's going to go? Fast forward to Sector 3, Engi Homeworlds. I farm a few beacons before heading to a store. Burst Laser Mk II on p. 2! w00t! Before the end of Sector 3, I have L5 Weapons - Halberd Beam & BL2 - L4 Shields, & L4 Engines.

At the beginning of Sector 6, I have L6 Weapons - getting the Heavy Laser Mk I online (plus I have the option of swapping in an Ion Bomb that I kept) - and L5 Shields, L6 soon to come. I have Hacking, but am using it sparingly - I have a plethora of bombs, but only about a dozen drone parts. In Sector 7 I decide to buy a Vulcan, selling off a Hull Smasher Mk Ii and Heavy Laser Mk I I had been holding onto. (I keep the Halberd and Hull Smasher Mk I, but don't use them the rest of the way.)

Sector 8 - I have 8 jumps, but the base is in an isolated part of the sector - and the adjacent chokepoint beacon is about to be taken over. I farm some beacons, hit one repair station (don't see the store). A fucking reb hacks my shields, then attacks same with an ion intruder. My 2* Slug dies of suffocation before it can get out. Fighting the rebel elite, my weapons get breached and damaged - but I have a buffer. Jump to base, forgot to put out a defense drone - but it's only the Medbay that gets hacked. The Vulcan makes quick work of things, with support from the Burst Laser Mk II, Ion Bomb, Combat and Beam Drones. I win with 18 HP left, 49 ships defeated, 101 beacons explored, 2017 scrap collected, 5 crew hired. 6010 pts is a new Hard win high score.

Slug B next. First fight, one enemy teleports over, and my crew kills him 2v1. I do not use the Heal Bomb, thinking there's only one enemy left. I teleport over to kill him - wrong, there's another - and it's a Mantis. I hit with the Heal Bomb, but the Mantis knocks my Slug down to about even HP. I think maybe he can last long enough for my other Slug to kill the human and switch, but I'm wrong again. I win, but lose a Slug. Buy a Clone Bay in Sector a, selling the Heal Bomb. Would have preferred a Medbay. Recovered an Ion Blast early in Sector 2, so I'm not reliant on missiles. Not much scrap, so I avoid the first store. I jump and find two more stores! Damn. Oh, yeah, I have a quest to rescue another store! At least I get some free hull repairs - can't afford anything else. Well, I could sell a couple things, like the Slug Repair Gel, but only to hire a Rock with no skills or get Sensors? Nah, movin' on. Distress call: giant alien spiders. I lose my pilot, but at least he's got full health now. Near the end of Sector 2, I jump away from a sun, still fixing my O2. Then the next ship hacks it and prepares to run. Slug fixes it, but gets trapped by the hack and suffocates. Cloned, but no one's manning weapons in the meantime, and the ship escapes to warn the rebel fleet, so I get caught at the exit.

But I escape to the Engi Homeworlds with 12 HP. I finally get a new crew member - an Engi with 1* weapons, and right before a distress beacon. He's going on shields, though. Distress beacon - it's an Engi ship under heavy fire. I take on the enemy. Oh noes, don't hack my teleporter! A Combat Drone gets a hit on my engine room. D'oh! My first Artemis shot misses shields. Swell. My second misses, too! Gah! I had 10 HP, now 9. Finally, a hit! And my Laser Charger damages Drone Control. Another hit on shields, and they're down. Two hits to their Drone Control. I'm down to my last engine bar from L4. They have 4 HP. Should I jump? I don't. Two more hits to Drone Control put a stop to their drone. They have 2 HP, but get a shield layer back up. I use one more missile to take them out. Sorry, Engi runabout, can't afford to give you anything.

To the store! I get Drone Control, because I have Combat and Defense Drones Mk I in storage. Sell off the extra Defense Mk I and Slug Repair Gel. Repair up to 20, upgrade weapons by one, so Laser Charger, Artemis and Ion Blast are all online. Need more power, though, at least a couple. Can I interest you in a Teleporter? Hardly used. Wish I could sell it, even though I still can't afford Hacking. There were two stores to go to, but one was too far south, and the exit's in the north.

Refueling station in bad shape - I take the gamble and lose. Fuel ignites burning up 3, and I take 3 HP, and my engines are on fire with 3 damaged bars. I lose the last and take another HP. Fuck me. Why did I do it? Didn't really need more fuel. Then a distress call, probably a trap. No, not a trap - but there is a ship in an asteroid field. I search - and I'm down to 11 HP. Shit! Why do I keep doing this to myself??? To the exit, where they offer to upgrade my doors "in exchange for some scrap": thirty-seven. 37?!?! What, do you think I'm made of scrap?!?! Piss off!

Zoltan Homeworlds next. I go to the distress call like a junkie in search of his next fix. But it's only a Zoltan freighter adrift in space, and I recover 3 fuel, a drone part, 38 scrap and a Combat Mk I. Too bad it didn't magically repair my hull, which would have made up for the last few disastrous distress calls. But with the additional scrap I can buy two power. This run has been crappy, I'm taking all the risks in hopes it'll get better: I agree to take a ship intact; then I look into the Great Eye, and my pilot is gone. So I have a Slug and an Engi for crew. I can hit 5 beacons before a store, then the quest. First jump, I take one damage; down to 13 missiles. Next ship is an autoscout with no shields. I shoot the weapons, but the missile is still up. I activate my defense drone, but it misses; down to 7 HP. I activate my combat drone, then juggle with the defense drone, which shoots down 3 missiles, and the last missile misses. Phew. Next jump, 3 intruders on board. Suck on vacuum! Two of them make it through the ship, so my crew takes 5 & 11 damage. I get to the store with 93 scrap and 7 HP. Crew is healed during the jump, though. I sell an extra Combat Mk I, hire the repair Mantis (combat ability better than the repair Slug). Can't afford the Reconstructive Teleport or the Boarding Drone, but I need repairs anyway. And another power - or L2 Clone Bay or Teleporter? Clone Bay it is. With 16 HP, it's on to the quest.

The Pirate Invader has 3 shield layers and 4 crew, but no Clone or Medbay; also a Heavy Laser and some kind of bomb. I will fight them in the shield room. It's a human, but a Rock comes to join the party. Great, it's not a Heavy Laser Mk I, but a Mk II. But as long as my shields don't get bombed, I'll be OK - oh, also not in my Clone Bay. I shoot the Artemis at their weapons, and the Heavy Laser is offline. Too bad no one was manning it to take some damage. I kill a human and get some 2v1 on the Rock before another human joins. I start running around to get some 2v1 without the Rock, but a Zoltan joins in, and my Mantis goes down just before the Slug. L2 Clone Bay, go! I get an Ion Charger for my trouble. Next beacon is a worthless trade, missiles for drone parts - no thanks. Then a store, where I can't afford Hacking. Aux Power, I guess. Next, the exit, where I explore an asteroid field - and nothing happens!

Sector 5 is Civilian; its layout is rather sparse. I fight an autoship to get sensor readings, but it has two drones and weapons that are too much - I have to run away. Another fight & I got whittled down to red hull. Then an autoship mind controls my Engi, which takes out my O2, taking me down to 1 HP. I win the fight and get 5 HP repaired. And I find a store, where I can't afford Cloaking - but could get Mind Control. No, maybe the Auto Reloader is better. And repairs. But I only go to 14 HP, as I buy L5 Shields. Gah, next 2 jumps are empty, making a sucky sector even suckier. I fight a slaver scum. Get offered an engineer/combat Engi, but decline. I win, but have 4 HP. I win the next fight, but down to 1 HP. No store in sight. I win the next fight, though I didn't bother to get L6 Shields. So I do so after. No store. The next jump is empty, then the exit - I get L2 Piloting for cheap.

Sector 6, also Civilian, no store. Fight an autoship with Mind Control; weapons officer targeted. Crap. Though I do have L6 Weapons. I send my Mantis in to dance in and out of the room and distract, but I get distracted instead, and a shot gets through. I guess they had an Ion Bomb? My first shield layer of shields came up after the shot got through?? 26 ships defeated, 66 beacons explored, 816 scrap collected, 5 crew hired.

Next victim: Mantis B. First battle is against a Rock pirate scout. O2 offline, Drone Control damaged, Defense Drone misses first missile, which hits shields, then Piloting set on fire, then Drone Control down to L1, then Doors offline and on fire. FML. Killed off 1 human boarder, then both Mantises repaired shields, then drone control to L2, then O2. But shields get damaged and breached, then they're taken out. Burst Laser Mk II is going to kill me. O2 offline again. Doors fixed, then O2 set on fire. Medbay offline, but Mantises try to fix. No good, ship is out of air. Game over. Score 45. 3 beacons explored, though.

[OC2142]

I managed to die in Sector 6 in the Crystal Cruiser on Hard
2 Crystals, 2 Mantises for a boarding party.
2 Engi's, 1 Slug and 1 Crystal as general crew.
51% evade chance
NOPE! Have 3 breach missiles in a row to your shields!!
And then get diced by a Halberd Beam.
FTL, FML.