FTL: Your best/worst ships

[Tom Artingstall]

So. FTL Faster Than Light.

If you're unfamiliar with this game, go youtube for a Let's Play of the game. Watch five minutes. Come back. Don't worry, I'll wait.



Done? Want another five minutes to go buy the game?



Okay! So now that we're all on the same page, what, dear Escapists, what is your favourite ship to use? Conversely, what is your least favourite ship? And why?

Favourite Ship: Difficult to decide, but in the end I have to give it to the trusty old Stealth Cruiser. Layout A of course. Well-timed cloaking more than makes up for a lack of shields early on, and the weapons are powerful enough for anything in the first few sectors. Plus she looks sexy as all hell.

Least Favourite Ship: Mantis Cruiser. This bugger right here... You start with four crew members, but two of them have to go on the boarding team, which means you have two crewmen to man systems, one less than most. And one is a Mantis who makes a poor system controller. With two exceptionally weak starting weapons, and only enough power for one, it's an incredibly awkward ship to use early-game. Enemies have a particular fondness for one-shotting your weapons out of action while your boarding party punches uselessly at a crew with a med-bay in action.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

My best Is the artillery ship I suppose but my favorite is the Kestral Layout B. Worst is likely the stealth cruiser.

And, for the record, the solution to med bays remains fire bombs. Burn the cowards out.

 

[maxben]

Engi Ship Class A: It is just full of possibilities. My favourite is using the beginning ion weapon to lock down the shield. Using a high class laser weapon to take out their weapons. One laser drone to help take down existing shields/help damage once they are locked down by the ion weapon. One defense drone to take down enemy missiles. 3 shields to undermine enemy laser and beam weapons. And the engi-bots will help you fight in any room, just make sure to get some good fighting crew, a rock man and a mantis will do. If you're lucky, you will be able to create a God ship. Early on, its a godsend and can take anything down.
The one downside is as follows:
Ive stopped being able to play any other ship. They just feel so wrong now that I've gotten used to my engi strategy. Particularly the crystal, mantis, and slug ships but really everyone of the other ones. I truly despise boarding and the anti-bio (hence my extremely dislike choices)

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Favorite: the Engi cruiser.

Man I love drone systems. And it helps that this one comes with a drone system capable of having 3 drones active. With a fully juiced up drone system, it is oh so satisfying watching my 2 attack drones chip away at a ship while I sit safely tucked behind my defense drone.

Plus, having engi crew members off the bat is great for when the systems start going down. Terrible for boarding parties, yes. But that's what blast doors are for.

shout-out to the Slug ship as my 2nd favorite. dat anti-bio beam <3

Least favorite: Rock ship.

i WANT to like this ship. But it really doesn't want me to like it.

2 missile launchers, that's just great. 2 weapons which run off the same limited ammo pool is not good. And you better HOPE you run into ANY non-missile weapon at one point, because you absolutely cannot get by with just these weapons alone. Too many playthrough attempts with this ship ended solely because I had no other weapons to use.

3 rock crew members. Cool, I like Rockmen in my crew! Oh wait, I never considered the problem of having a crew entirely composed of Rockmen. That means my entire crew moves at a snails pace! Watching these guys slowly lumber around the ship when systems need to be repaired is painful.

But, once I get a few extra weapons and crew members. The ship becomes a blast to use. Too bad that most of my runs net me with no new weapons, and no new crew members before I die.

 

[Luca72]

Rock Cruiser has got to be my favorite, but you really need a teleporter and fire missiles to have fun. For some reason I have much better luck with them than the Mantis ships. Anyway, Mantises can't force you to fight in your medbay while it succumbs to fire.

My best is probably the Kestrel B, for the starting crew alone. The weapon set up is also nice - I don't even buy gun upgrades unless they're burst lasers. This means that by the end of the game I usually have at least 7 lasers to knock away shields.

 

[Specimen-X]

I'm partial to the Engi ship myself, probably because of the best drone control around and the starting engies. I remember making some godly setups with that ship. I was confident I could've beaten the final boss too but I wanted to repair first and by the time I started catching back up I lost it. I had cloaking, some good weapons and a badass boarding crew with that one too!

Worst, I'll go with the Zoltan ship. I just find it tricky to get power were you need with this ship. Sure the shield and zoltan crew is great but it isn't the strongest ship around IMO.

 

[hazabaza1]

Having only unlocked the Engi and the Dickship myself, my choices are a bit limited.
However, the Artilery beam fucking rocks everything's shit so I enjoy the dickship.

 

[Lilani]

FTL: Your best/worst ships

Not knowing what FTL was, I came into this thread expecting something completely different, having recently learned that "shipping" is a term used to refer to non-canon relationships contrived in fanfictions.

 

[Frankster]

Fav: Mantis Cruiser Type A.

Type B is arguably better in its role due to 4man teleporter located next to medbay, but have an irrational preference for the Type A, plus i like starting with 4 mantis crewmembers, space mantis are totally awesome.

Honorable mention to the Federation Cruiser, makes me feel im commanding a bigger ship then it actually is.
Also like the superweapon it has

Worst: I didn't like the Stealthships playstyle. Dodging enemy missile salvos and final boss uber attacks has its moments but prefer either a more boarding oriented ship or one with more firepower.

 

[Rack]

Favourite is Stealth A. I haven't unlocked all the ships but having access to advanced sensors means no random deaths by teleporting into the sun and the Stealth itself is super useful. The guns are a nice base to improve from as well, though it foes lack something kick-ass to finish the game on.

Least favourite is the Engi. B is even worse than A but they're both several levels beyond horrible. A isn't even capable of damaging enemies without its drones and without a recycling system they are a massive drain on your resources. To rub salt into the wound that crappy ion thing it has takes 3(!) power to use. B is probably a joke ship with 1 crew and no internal sensors it's a real nightmare to do anything.

 

[Dirty Apple]

My best is easy, the Red-Tail, or Kestral B if you prefer. The varied crew combined with the 4 lasers make for an unstoppable early game ship. I basically farm the first 2 levels for all the encounters and scrap that I can get my grubby space hands on. Having that extra scrap early on is essential to building a late game juggernaut.

As for the worst, I excitedly just unlocked the stealth cruiser. I entered my first run with the new ship and immediately got my ass handed to me. I haven't got a beat down like that in Sector 1 normal in a long long time. Maybe it was just my bad luck to run into multiple drone equipped vessels in a row, I don't know. Either way it has now taken the place of my least favorite.

 

[Limecake]

Favorite: Mantis Type B (love the 4 man tele) or the Zoltan Type A

Least favorite: Engi

drones are fun on the Engi ship but I am not a fan of ion weapons.

I think I want to unlock the crystal ship next.

 

[lacktheknack]

That awkward moment where I only have the Kestrel A and Engi A/B.

Uhhhhhhhh.

I should get working on that.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

FTL: Your best/worst ships

Not knowing what FTL was, I came into this thread expecting something completely different, having recently learned that "shipping" is a term used to refer to non-canon relationships contrived in fanfictions.

jeez, for someone as normally "up to snuff" on games i figured you'd know about it! it's easily one of (if not the most) popular indie game of last year! A bit odd to start off, but dammit if that game isn't fun as hell.

OT:

probably either the zoltan cruiser or the "dickship" as hazabazazazaza put it.

the zoltan cruiser with it's extra shield is just great, not to mention the crew being able to power up most of the ships parts if you do it right. with a little bit of luck, if i get a couple rock dudes on the teleporters, i can usually sit back and just firebomb the other ship until the crew dies and my rock dudes take it over.

 

[Stomperchomper]

The Crystal B cruiser. (For the record, no I did not get it legitimately.) Anyways, it starts with 3 of the crystal aliens, who have an awesome ability where they can lock down a room and not let anyone in or out for a period of time, and they all have 120 health. The Crystal B also has a 4 person teleporter. Add a Mantis and you have an unstoppable boarding team.

Also, anytime you can get 4 laser burst mk II, be prepared for hilarious amounts of firepower. 12 laser shots at once destroys EVERYTHING.

 

[saintdane05]

Mantis type B. Vengeance for all those boarding actions shall finally be mine...

 

[Nuuu]

Looks like im alone on this one.
I like the Stealth Type B, not only does it having cloaking, but the Glaive is just plain fun to use, taking down ships in a snap. Throw it in with the double rocket and you're pretty set.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Worst, I'll go with the Zoltan ship. I just find it tricky to get power were you need with this ship. Sure the shield and zoltan crew is great but it isn't the strongest ship around IMO.

Really? My first flagship kill was with a Zoltan A.

The Halberd Beam can kill most ships in the first two sectors in 2 shots without taking down the enemy shield first.

 

[Fluxlunanos]

My personal Best Has to be the Osprey (Federation A), Only time (for me, and perhaps History of this game) Ive unlocked a ship, did a run with it, and won on the first Run.
Honorable Mentions go the Vortex (Engi B), you can work wonders with repair drones, just open the windows for the entire ship, save for the cockpit and medi-bay, and upgrade the doors to level 3, so funny to watch boarders suffocate.
As for my Worst, I would have to say the Nesasio (Stealth A). Just Urg- don't care for it in the slightest.

 

[Yojoo]

My favorite ship is Zoltan B. The unique build of having no starting shields save for the Zoltan barrier allows for an interestingly unique run, and once I got good with allocating energy it became one of the most powerful ships to use. Properly used ion guns that the ship starts with quickly disable any enemy in the first few zones, and the beam cuts everything up nicely.

I must say, the OP isn't using Mantis A appropriately. Mantis B is definitely better, but Mantis A is quite powerful. Two boarding mantis are enough to handle just about anything, and if medbays are ruining your boarding, you aren't micromanaging your boarders or bombing well enough.

I should mention that the most powerful ship I've used is definitely Crystal B. It's like the Mantis B, but more overpowered. Crystal men are the best boarders.

Worst ship is either Engi B or Stealth B. I'm also not a fan of the Slug ships, but I unlocked them last and probably haven't learned how they work yet.