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[GlyphGryph]

Why, for the love of all that is holy, is there not a first person roguelike co-op version of a game like this with a commander role?

Uh... Artemis?

[Zangi]

Super Shields?  Beam drones are a quick and easy way to take down the super shields and do hull damage.  They are garbage against normal shields though.

[MorleyDev]

Spoiler: Yep, totally unfamiliar (click to show/hide)

All I can say is that ship could not look more like a penis...

[monk12]

Whee, finally unlocked the Zoltan Cruiser and immediately went on to post the first pair of achievements for it as well as scoring my lowest Victory yet- 4335. Also posted a mediocre Victory with the Rock Cruiser, which leaves me without wins in the Engi A or B and the Zoltan B, and I have not yet unlocked the Stealth B, Rock B, or Slug B to win with.

[kcwong]

I have extreme good luck in my current run...

Rock ship, EASY (beat easy multiple times but still getting the hang of various ships)

I started by saving scraps for a crew teleporter (the standard move)... then I received an Ion Blast MK-2. Then a second Ion Blast MK-2, followed by drone control, defense drone MK-1 and an Anti-bio beam.

Then I found the stasis pod. I wasn't expecting to be able to unlock Crystal ship, but then I stumbled into the researchers in a Zoltan homeworld.

When I found a Rock homeworld coming up next, I saved scummed. Took me 3 tries to locate the beacon.

Now I am in sector 7, with 2 rock and 2 crystal with max'ed melee, a slug as pilot, 1 human on engine and 2 engi. 2 Ion Blasts MK-2, Glaive beam and the crystal weapon.

If I lose I'll commit seppuku.

BTW I still have the save games - one at the start of Rock homeworld, one at the start of the Crystal homeworld - if anyone is interested.

[Fikes]

Anything is strong enough to take down the supershield, what are you talking about :|
Just shoot it with the burst laser you start with, if you want.

I see you are unfamiliar with Boss Form Three. The supershield recharges.

You're doing it wrong if you're relying solely on the Artillery Beam to take down the final boss and his super shield.

I had to sell my weapon a bit into the game to afford repairs+fuel after a surprisingly nasty drone battle (I mean, it's not like it was useful against anyone I was fighting, since it couldn't pierce their shields and I was winning through beam+boarding most battles no problem).

I did not expect to never ever encounter a single other weapon or offensive drone for sale throughout the entire remaining course of the game. I did not expect the artillery beam to be so incredibly terrible against super shield.

I just... don't get it. The beam is slow, has weak damage output, it can penetrate shields but hell that's not exactly a big whoop, missiles/bombs can do that way more effectively, and it so freaking expensive. You can get a glaive beam+bomb launcher active and working for half the price of a fully upgraded artillery beam, to much greater effect. It's not worth combining it with existing weaponry, since it's pitiful damage output/slowness means you'll likely get a couple of points of damage in before the enemy ship destroying. It's clearly not something you can rely upon on it's own. You guys suggest "turtling" with it, but it seriously gimps your defensive ability by filling the cloak slot.

I just don't understand how it's appealing in the slightest. o_o

I think you just had an extremely unlucky run.

Really what the arty beam is is free x damage every y seconds, for the cost of 3 power. In my victory runs power always becomes more of a problem than scrap.

Anyways, it isn't meant to be your only weapon. If you didn't come across any others and still made it to the last boss, well, that is a testiment to how good it is.

Anyways, I want to also point out that the Glaive beam does 3 damage (-1 per shield, so generally 2 damage) per room, can hit 6 (?) rooms and is on a 25 second cool down. It takes 4 power (and 4 weapon).

The Arty beam does 1 damage (full shield penetrate) per room and can hit a lot of rooms and with only two upgrades is on a 30 second cool down. It takes 3 power and zero weapons.

[Tarran]

It takes 3 power and zero weapons.

To be fair, that trades off with costing in itself instead. Though as weapons slots get more expensive, I don't think it's that bad of a trade off if a trade off at all.

[dogstile]

Honestly, I like the beam. If it really comes down to an issue of power, I usually just shove a zoltan in there. With 8 crew members, I usually have one guy spare to my 4 main systems guys, my 2 boarders and my 1 repair dude.

[GlyphGryph]

Anyways, it isn't meant to be your only weapon. If you didn't come across any others and still made it to the last boss, well, that is a testiment to how good it is.

Or rather, a testament to how good a boarding party is, since that's what won 90% of my battles.

Anyways, I want to also point out that the Glaive beam does 3 damage (-1 per shield, so generally 2 damage) per room, can hit 6 (?) rooms and is on a 25 second cool down. It takes 4 power (and 4 weapon).

Why would it only average 2? I mean, maybe you'll occasionally lose the tail to the shield popping back up, but that's it. And that's assuming you're firing willy nilly nilly instead of coordinating your attacks.

The Arty beam does 1 damage (full shield penetrate) per room and can hit a lot of rooms and with only two upgrades is on a 30 second cool down. It takes 3 power and zero weapons.

The cost of the beam is on par with the cost of weapons. Except spending the equivalent amount on weapons gives a much higher damage rate, and boosts the effectiveness by doing targeted damage to sections that will disable the enemy ship long before it is destroyed. And you don't know if it will hit a lot of rooms. It could just two! (and consistently will only hit 2 against certain enemies) You can't target sections, meaning the damage it does is significantly less valuable to boot. I'll take 3 damage against the target of my choice over 6 random damage any day of the week, thank you very much.

I think you just had an extremely unlucky run.

Well, duh. But with most of the other ships, even a relatively unlucky run would have left me in better condition. To be honest, if I'd ignored the art beam entirely and just focused on gearing up the first few sectors, I'd have probably have won this one. (Which I didn't do, primarily to get the achievement for not upgrading weapons) But that would have been despite the ship, not because of it. Any other ship in the same situation would have better offensive weaponry to start with and better final defensive capabilities thanks to the cloak.

Obviously, it's possible to beat the game with it. It's not particularly hard to beat the game with any of the ships. But this is probably the one that helps you the least towards that goal - except (and this is, in m mind, the real benefit of the ship) the varied crew and easy unlock provides an early opportunity to unlock other, better ships, thanks the ability to take on a lot more blue answers throughout the course of a campaign.

[Mephansteras]

There is another, subtle, advantage of the Artillery Beam, though. It's a completely different weapon system, which means it is much harder for enemies to take out all of your weapons.

[Tarran]

Oh, yes, there's also that. In addition, I think I remember that you can't just take it out by hitting it once with one point of damage if it has at least one upgrade, it will only slow it. Compared to a normal weapon system getting hit and if you have no spare capacity it just disables a weapon entirely. So it's much harder to disable than normal weapons.

[Fikes]

Anyways, I want to also point out that the Glaive beam does 3 damage (-1 per shield, so generally 2 damage) per room, can hit 6 (?) rooms and is on a 25 second cool down. It takes 4 power (and 4 weapon).

Why would it only average 2? I mean, maybe you'll occasionally lose the tail to the shield popping back up, but that's it. And that's assuming you're firing willy nilly nilly instead of coordinating your attacks.

The Arty beam does 1 damage (full shield penetrate) per room and can hit a lot of rooms and with only two upgrades is on a 30 second cool down. It takes 3 power and zero weapons.

The cost of the beam is on par with the cost of weapons. Except spending the equivalent amount on weapons gives a much higher damage rate, and boosts the effectiveness by doing targeted damage to sections that will disable the enemy ship long before it is destroyed. And you don't know if it will hit a lot of rooms. It could just two! (and consistently will only hit 2 against certain enemies) You can't target sections, meaning the damage it does is significantly less valuable to boot. I'll take 3 damage against the target of my choice over 6 random damage any day of the week, thank you very much.

I am arguing mainly the merits of the Cruiser VS the Stealth B, just because it is silly and fun.

Had you done the same run with the Stealth B you would have been extra boned, since you had no weapons to take down shields at all. Timing doesn't help you take down shields when the Glaive is your only weapon.

Really the only advantage the Glaive beam has over the Arty beam is that you can aim it, which, I will admit is a big deal. But the Arty is cheaper, if you count the cost of weapons upgrades, and allows a lot of other weapon options. It also takes less power and fires quicker when fully upgraded.

[Graknorke]

I just bought this game because it was on sale on Steam.
How many times should I expect to fail?

[Micro102]

I just bought this game because it was on sale on Steam.
How many times should I expect to fail?

How many tries did it take for you to get through your first DF winter?

[GlyphGryph]

Depends on what you count as failure.

Imo, any run where you unlock a new ship, get an achievement, beat the game or learn something valuable that saves your ass later is a successful run.

Some important but not so obvious Hints:
If the options not blue, there's probably a chance it will go wrong. Sometimes a 100% chance.
Leaving ships intact increases rewards.
Careful timing is key to overcoming enemy defenses and dealing maximum damage.
Careful targeting is key to keeping yourself safe and the enemy helpless - remember that a disabled cockpit, for example, means every following shot will hit. And disabled enemy weapons means a lot more than dodge and shield for defense.