The RNG screws me over pretty consistently. But as you go further into the game you're better prepared to deal with it, and most of the "hiccups" from sector 5 onward just mean that much more scrap, rather than threats to your survival. If you're fighting desperately for survival by sector 5, then it's probably because you got screwed over in sectors 1 to 3. Usually what happens is that I'll get taunted with a small string of excellent luck, followed by rapid descent into suckage.
I wait for the nastiness to occur, and depending on where it is I just restart. First jump of the game takes me into a sun? Restart. First distress call of the game loses me a crew member? Restart. I have no problems restarting anything before sector 3, because it's not worth the extra time to go through four more sectors and THEN lose. I'd rather lose quickly and restart with a chance at better weapons.
Worst example: One run in the Red Tail, I got lucky and pulled a free Scrap Recovery Arm from my very first distress call. Two jumps later I get the "Weapon just floating in space" event, and it's a free Glaive beam! Joy! I don't have enough power to use it effectively, but it'll sell for a pretty penny, enough to get me level 2 shields a full sector earlier than normal. There aren't any stores in sight, so I dive further in.
The VERY NEXT JUMP brought me near a sun. The attacking ship was a Zoltan fighter, with a Burst Laser I and a missile launcher. I've only got level 1 shields, so I'm worried. I power up the lasers (still using the starting four basic lasers) and try to take out their weapons systems before they can fire a missile off. Here's what happened, in rapid succession:
- I hit with all four shots, but it takes down the green shield only. One shield layer is still intact.
- Their burst laser fires its two blasts, the first hitting my shields and the second my shield system, leaving me with no shields up.
- Their missile fires, hitting my door system and starting a fire.
- I have my lasers on autofire, and they're recharged. ALL FOUR LASER SHOTS MISS.
- The solar flare goes off, setting fire to my weapons and my engines.
THAT'S getting screwed. I'm now sitting with no shields, only half weapons, and fires in three systems, one of which is the door control so I can't vent anything into space. I died most spectacularly. By the time I got the fires put out in the engine room and started repairs I had taken another volley of shots to the face, and from there it was over. I just sat back and watched everything burn/explode.