Another problem you have is your beam weapon. The other went to cloaking. Every shield bubble reduces beam damage by 1 point. Typically you always want at least two shieldbreakers and one damage by the endgame, which usually comes down to the 'holy trinity' of weapons: Burst Laser 2, Flak 1, Halberd Beam, though you can generalise that to 2 of either Burst 2 or Flak 1, and one of either Pike, Hull or Halberd Beam. View Mobile SiteHull Laser hits systemless rooms for 2 damage per shot. Anyway just checking on how beam weapons work. Sit down Burst II and Flak, you're good but not the king. Though it's more power, I much prefer the Halberd Beam. Halberd is great, but early on in sectors say 1-3 if you don't have a bunch of scrap, you might wanna pass on halberd and hope for another beam later. Ruinae Retroque Rursus. All laser shots deplete a single shield layer, but some (Heavy or Hull) can do additional damage when shields. Ive always strayed away from bombs because i felt like they dont do much, but ever since i got a breach bomb mk 2, i feel like ive been way more successful. But really, any laser weapon that you can point at the enemy ship will work reasonably well. Sure, they do a lot of damage, but you have to get the shields down first. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games. On the sector map, there are three groups of sectors: Civilian, Hostile, Nebula. It fills the same exact role as a Halberd Beam in a weapon setup with some pros and cons: Heavy laser II is more focused damage - you can ruin their weapon system for example. This applies to all beam weapons for doing crew damage, not just the Anti-Bio Beam - you can pass the Halberd Beam or Glaive Beam over crew to do 30 or 45 damage to them, respectively. 2 BL2 and Halb seemed the way to go. not sure whether i misread or it only happens to me but : arent the beam weapons supposed to 'partially' cut thru shields? how come i never see any beam weapon cut thru even when the enemy only has level one shield? and then just today while playing w glaive beam, my ship at last does cut thru the shields (even level 3!) but suddenly in sector 3 the 'glitch'. . A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than…254 votes, 19 comments. Halberd Beam: Everybody knows the Halberd has a great balance of power and cost. Due to the higher damage, the Halberd Beam can penetrate 1 bar of shields, but no more than that. Burst Laser 1, Ion Charger, and Halberd beam by sector 6 -- could be better, but they're solid weapons for when boarding isn't an option and they'd be enough to take down the. A tier list is, quite simply, a list of all of the weapons in a specific game ranked from best to worst. i suppose you could argue that selling. Halberd Beam is the best rounded of the beam weapons. The damage is very unfocused, but the Pike inflicts so much that it's awesome regardless. Ion while not the best opens up fun options. This event can occur only once per sector. By Thomas Thomas Last updated 30 Jan 2022. I'd like a 2nd, non-missile weapon ASAP, certainly by sector 3. Halberd Beam 75 'Valefor' Explosion Beam Ranseur Ion 1 100 'Kontos' Ion Beam Ion Barrage 1 Pike Beam Scythe Beam 40 'Eternity' Beam Part 1 Part 2 Scrap Cost Result Irradiated Flak Frost Laser 2 45. Burst Laser I. 2 damage beam uses efficient 3 power; Can hit multiple rooms when shields down; Needs pairing with shield breaking weapon; A-Tier – Excellent FTL Weapons. Hull Laser will lose half its potential damage output from one shield layer, and all its damage from 2, Glaive hits for 2 damage per room through one layer of shields, 1 damage through 2 layers, and is only completely blocked with 3 layers of shields. Boarding coupled with either Mind Control or Hacking or both can be extremely effective. In the end, it made me feel like it's just all about luck, and nothing. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games. The stun gives it more personality and clever uses. The player controls a spacecraft with crew that intercepts an important data packet from the Rebel Fleet. For the cost of 1 extra power, you get 1 more damage per room, or you can penetrate 1 layer of shields, both of which are awesome. Last edited by Cryten; Oct 22, 2012 @ 5:53am #5. Ode to the humble Hull Laser II, a silent workhorse and saviour of shitty runs. The scrap you save from not having to buy a weapon for the first sector and a half is huge, and the halberd stays good throughout the whole run. Charge Laser, Chain Laser, Hull Laser: they all work just fine. Chain Ion is too slow to be good. ago. With 2 shields active, it will do 1 damage per room, because 3-2=1. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games. It can't even punch through 4 shields by itself, even though it fires 5 shots, because the shields recharge faster than the laser fires so the last shot gets blocked by the charged last bubble. I believe that the Zoltan A is the strongest ship in this tier. There’s also a really useful path you can make with the Halberd Beam (or most other beams for that matter) which will hit the Pilot’s Seat, Shields and Rocket Room all in one go! Very handy to shut the key players downBTW, the Beam Drone II will do 1 damage, but hit a wider area, usually 2, seldom even more rooms, whereas the other drones will usually only damage 1 room, occasionally 2. You don't have to choose between a good loadout and a second drone, once you're at around 5 weapon bars, the ~100 scrap isn't so much in comparison, and it rips 2-3 shield ships apart. If you use Halberd on level 1 shields, it does one damage. Human boarders in abandoned sector. Sure, they do a lot of damage, but you have to get the shields down first. With one shield active, it will do 2 damage per room, because 3-1=2. BTW, the best three weapons in the game are the Burst Laser II, Flak Cannon I, and Halberd Beam (in terms of bang-for-your-buck) And for whatever reason, the Flak I is common as dirt and cheap while the Burst Laser II is very rare. 72K subscribers in the ftlgame community. Zoltan A Overall Ranking: 3/28 Strengths: Zoltan Shield, Halberd Beam Weaknesses: Low Reactor Power. What are your thought on my chance? For phase 1: What I would do is switch between breach missile (halberd beam can still damage with one shield up) and pike beam back and forward until crew in the main crew area is dead. Besides the zoltan shield, Zoltan A is god tier for coming with the best weapon in the game. One beam. Every time you jump, or if you have run out of fuel, there is a chance for a battle, interaction with locals of the sector, or for nothing to happen. If it is supposed to be the plasma cannon of beams, I supposed I could pump up the damage. You power up your weapons, which quickly gets. Fire drone is actually not too bad with the right setup. But strongest is probably flak 2 x2 + glaive beam x2 pre-igniter Sven maneuver. Then again, with the way that beams work you'll only be able to hit each important room once, so the bonus damage on systemless rooms would probably make up for most of the difference, even 2 tiers does seem like a big difference. Per page: 15 30 50. Once all shields are down, lasers can hit rooms and deal system, hull, and crew damage. Damage: 2 damage per room hit 6. (Halberd Beam) 전력 소비. This random event occurs in: Abandoned Sector The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect ship presence. Against Zoltan Shields, use precise beam placement and timing to help disable weapons. Reply. I suppose with hacking, you don't need anything else. I'm on Stealth A. Per page: 15 30 50. just got a second Halberd beam first move in sector 2. Beams deliver the killer damage. They are still very useful and can be deadly in the right hands. When possible, start firing the Dual Lasers before cloaking. She is supposed to be a joke enemy that cannot effectively harm the player due to using all-beam weapons and drones (although she does occasionally use different, equally harmless weapon loadouts on subsequent encounters). Due to the higher damage, the Halberd Beam can penetrate 1 bar of shields, but no more than that. Virtually no ship ever recovers from that beating, and. 후반의 무인기와 기함을 제외하고 대체로 적 함선의 최대 실드 수가 3장을 넘지. I mainly play on easy since I just started, but I only use 2 types of weapons, mainly beams and flaks. And once you're up against triple shields, the beam weapons are taking up the weapon space needed to bring those down. You have a Leto, but it will gather a ton of dust to begin with where the. Zoltan crewmbers are. The halberd hit for a full 8 damage, simply by lining up the beam properly. The Zoltan Cruiser A design is one of the more terrible ships in the game. And once you're up against triple shields, the beam weapons are taking up the weapon space needed to bring those down. The only non-situational weapon really is Advanced Flak. Power requirement: 3 power 3. Enter the fight with fully upgraded engines, at least 6 shields (3 layers), level 3 piloting system, a teleporter and a decent boarding crew. Like everything in FTL, it depends. The Beam Drone is win-more; if you can keep the enemy shields down, you can win by any method. #9. If they score more than one damage (I. #5. Each player ship can carry a maximum of eight crewmembers of various races, with an initial crew of between one and four members. Note that the Halberd and Glaive beam will lose one point of damage for each layer of. i suppose you could argue that selling. So, here are the tips I can think of. The mod takes the core gameplay of FTL and expands upon it greatly, adding a whole host of new weapons, ship types, upgrades, an entire subset of space station-type enemies, a 'slew' of new. I had a great run going with the Mantis B. Faster Than Light (FTL) Ship Tier List – FTL Best Ship Guide. To see the stats of the unique crew Sylvan, click here. Get shields down, and it can do 8 - occasionally 10 - can't miss damage. EDIT: Also, Heavy Laser 2 has a big advantage in charging much quicker, 13s vs 16-17s. The B has been a dog in standard mode, but reasonably sucessful in AE because I can hack weapons till the Artillery Beam kicks in. 40. Only one power, it fires way faster than any missile weapon except the Leto (or an uncharged swarm missile), but unlike the Leto, it does solid damage. Halberd beams CAN pierce 1 shield layer, but still you are depending on the enemy not dodging a single flak blast. just got a second Halberd beam first move in sector 2. with pre-igniter and this set up cloaking ships were pretty much the only things that got any shots off at all. 74K subscribers in the ftlgame community. Lasers can only be shot down by Mark II Defense Drones. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games. Halberd beam will cut through one shield. Though I admit that the fire beam damaging systems is a benefit and makes it more useful even if you haven't built your loadout to specifically kill enemy crew. FTL: Faster Than Light > General Discussions > Topic Details. I find Glaive is only better than the Halberd if you have cloaking or a Pre-Ignitor. Almost always worth purchasing, and will likely disable the enemy vessel in a single shot. They could knock out the enemy shields and allow me to cut apart the defenseless ship. This event can occur only once per sector. IIRC, the Halberd and Glaive beams can still do partial damage through weak enough shields. 6. The Halberd deals typically eight unmissable damage at reasonable speed and power usage. Can I use this beat the final boss? Or does it requirement of 6 power make them useless?They generally did the same damage but hull beam often did 1 more. i had a mini beam and 2 halberd beams. These weapons can have modules assigned and removed at no extra cost (beyond the initial purchase cost of both) during Storage Checks. Hull, Halber or Glaive beam work best, you can also use mix of burst and hull lasers. Tooltip Beam weapon, 2 damage per room. Glaive Beam: Not as safe and easy to set up as the Halberd, but accomplishes the same effect and then some, especially with hacking. 25. 함포 빔 (Artillery Beam / 오스프리, 니소스 전용 함포) [12] 오스프리, 니소스의 함포로, 함포실에 전력이 공급되면 자동으로 충전하고 발사한다. Shield recharge speed varies from ship to ship. The Adjucator's armament is a Halberd Beam and a Leto missile launcher with some ammunition. Got into FTL about a month ago and already put in an unhealthy amount of time. Beams. Ensign;. Small Bomb; Breach Bomb I;. I'd probably be hesitant to sell off my weapons to equip a lone Halberd Beam. "Learn from the Zoltan, sometimes diplomacy works. Beams. Its the 3rd time in a row that i got the halberd beam from boarding. The main downside of bombs is that they don't do hull damage. Ended up finishing the run, I had hacking and had just bought cloaking so the hacking pretty much did everything I needed the flak to do. My Zoltan A was the goddamn juggernaut, bitch) I had this loadout, but with heavy 2s and a preignited. Flak II is the anti-shield weapon, striking a balance between power usage and making a hole in shields, usually taking them all down and making missiles (arguably) obsolete. Excellent weapon, as long as you can tear down shields. Full 4-mantis boarding party, 3 engis and 1 rockman to man my systems. Also could allow the enemy a second chance to Cloak. 25. Start it firing in the Shields room if you can only knock it down to 1 shield remaining, then every other room will take 2 damage, which is a lot more substantial in terms of system suppression. The Mini-Beam is highly underrated: it's the second best weapon in the game after the Halberd, actually an even better ratio of damage-per-power-second, the absolute best in the game by that metric. To be clear, it's fine to enjoy or prefer others, but in terms of general use value Glaice and especially artillery shouldn't be in the conversations. I've had a run of building seriously OP ships recently. Lanius absorbing automated scout. Faster Than Light (FTL) is a popular rogue-like space simulation game where players control a spacecraft and crew as they traverse a hostile galaxy. The civilian messages you, "Help! The metal monsters are coming to melt down our ship!" Strangely, no active weapon signatures are detected. " 1. UPD [26. If you count bombs, there are actually a lot of good options. A tier list is, quite simply, a list of all of the weapons in a specific game ranked from best to worst. Don't buy the heavy laser but keep it if you find it, it's a great 4th slot weapon, on par with the small bomb. Thanks to Alcom Isst for compiling the list. Almost always worth purchasing, and will likely disable the enemy vessel in a single shot. Sure, they do a lot of damage, but you have to get the shields down first. 74K subscribers in the ftlgame community. One-shot beam setups. not sure whether i misread or it only happens to me but : arent the beam weapons supposed to 'partially' cut thru shields? how come i never see any beam weapon cut thru even when the enemy only has level one shield? and then just today while playing w glaive beam, my ship at last does cut thru the shields (even level 3!) but suddenly in sector 3 the 'glitch'. Fire. Makes beams in general a lot stronger on hard mode - Zoltan A is a great ship for your first hard mode run, and the halberd beam is as least as useful as the Zoltan shield. That is the Halberd Beam, not the often-cited Flak or Burst Laser 2. Crew damage: 30 HP per room tile 7. So I was doing a Stealth C shieldless run the other day and ended up going all beams with Halberd-Pike-Pike (along with a preigniter lol. The Pike clearly has advantages though. "Destroy a ship at full health during a single cloak in the Stealth Cruiser. FTL: Faster Than Light. A Defense drone Mk. Date Posted: Oct 21, 2012 @ 12:17pm. They are exceptionally powerful damage dealers, able to do hull damage more rapidly than any other weapon once shields are down. Good if you start with it (Zoltan B) but you'll need to replace it, as it just can't deal enough system damage to warrant 2 power. The Halberd Beam is fantastic, but 2 ion blasts and a pike beam is an amazing combination. Every time you jump, or if you have run out of fuel, there is a chance for a battle, interaction with locals of the sector, or for nothing to happen. BEAM_2 Title Halberd Beam Short title Halberd Beam Description Slow but reliably powerful standard beam weapon. Starts with the Zoltan Supershield Augment. Purchase price: 65 (Store rarity: 2) 2. Unless the beam path was curved/bent, you simply can't hit more than 4 rooms. It may have the same length as the halberd beam and deal three damage instead of two, but it requires half your maximum. The other went to cloaking. If you get it for free, it's a decent. Yeah, it can be fun but it's too easy to turn sour & frustrating too often. The mini beam is a single power(!) weapon capable of dealing up to 4 hull damage in one sweep, as it can hit up to 4 rooms on many ships if aimed correctly. Boring, but practical. Beam drone I also needs a longer beam duration so that it is more likely to hit two rooms once in awhile. If you let go, you'll have to click on the beam again in order to re-locate it. 72K subscribers in the ftlgame community. Advertisement Coins. All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews. 12. im playing on zoltan A with the halberd beam, ive been using the missle launcher and it def seems like a "destroy that thing right now" weapon. That's a myth. Glaive beam will cut through two shields. )Business, Economics, and Finance. (Zoltan A) I love beam weapons and the Halberd Beam is the best beam weapon in the game. Sure, they do a lot of damage, but you have to get the shields down first. Sure, they do a lot of damage, but you have to get the shields down first. just got a second Halberd beam first move in sector 2. Sometimes you don't have the space for 3 weapon bars, so the lower cost is crucial. wish there was a shop in the final zone i had like 380 scrap. 1 damage to a few random systems just isn't enough. Pike Beam; Halberd Beam; Hull Beam; Heavy Crystal I; Breach Bomb II; Small Bomb; Charge Laser II; FTL B Tier List (2023) The B Tier is for weapons that are not as powerful as the others but can still be useful in certain situations. Good guide for this strat though. Modular Weapons(tm) are a type of weapon manufactured by Hektar Industries(tm). I'm going with Halberd Beam. They can be bought at stores or rewarded from events. the DSR 1 sniper rifle, which fires 12,7mm (0. The Engi cruisers are the ships of the Harmony Collective, and rely largely on ion and drone weaponry, in order to defend themselves. . Date Posted: Feb 21, 2019 @. ) or with ion setups. Keep your eye out for blue options which often lead to more favorable. They are good but the Halberd is king. Sectors are zones in FTL: Faster Than Light, each containing between 19 and 24 beacons. Holoshideim's. Oh heck yeah. One of my best runs was double halberd (and double ion bomb + hacking. Flak + Chain + beam is a nice flexible setup, where the Chain matches the beam early on, then speeds up to match the flak. Keep the Glaive Beam charged and fire all your other weapons at once. One of my best runs was double halberd (and double ion bomb + hacking. e. Combat positions! Fight a Lanius. No boarding or mind control, so point is there are multiple ways to beat it. I suppose with hacking, you don't need anything else. Charge Laser I. FTL: Faster Than Light. Charge time: 17 seconds 4. Beam length: 80 (1. just got a second Halberd beam first move in sector 2. And the Halberd actually kills faster than its bigger brother Glaive. You can do a possible 2 damage to each room the beam hits with both beams while it has 1 shield up. LoggedBeams can't do damage if the enemy has their shields up, so in order to use a beam, you need to have a reliable way to drop the enemy's shields. Everyone knows the holy trinity of purchasable weapons: Flak I, Burst Laser II and Halberd beam. The Halberd beam can remain a mainstay for the rest of the game. Glad to know they had the dedication to bring. Weapon shots can collide with each other, or with asteroids, drones, and hacking drones. . Pike Beam's length means it can regularly hit 4-6 rooms, whereas Hull Beam (and Glaive and Halberd) is usually going to be hitting 3-4. nothing alone beats a flak 2 for shield busting, pair it with a halberd and you are set for the game. 8 tiles diagonally) 5. At the boss I had the burst and small attack weapon you start the game with and an ion charger. There’s a rare ship or two where it does 6. Zoltan crewmbers are not good at fighting. Ive always strayed away from bombs because i felt like they dont do much, but ever since i got a breach bomb mk 2, i feel like ive been way more successful. while the torus would be better with 2 burst 2s, and 1 burst 3, since you still have the max of 8 bars on weapons, despite less slots. The beam is fast, and takes a nice big slice even when the enemy's shields are only at zero for a moment. With 6 more hull damage (like a pike beam), you can oneshot stage 2 as well. Laugh as much as you want, my 2nd best score in FTL is Slug B on hard, which I did without buying Med or Clone bay. Ideal weapon loadout would be BL2, BL2, Halberd, Heavy laser 1. But the 3 power cost on a Halberd is tough to manage in the first couple sectors before you get a chance to upgrade your weapons system. Of all the laser weapons that can be purchased at a store, the BL3 is nearly always at the bottom of the list. I've got a pretty strong build on my stealth A cruiser. FABIO. It is crewed by three Zoltans and has. Despite only getting 1715 scrap and having some awful sector layouts, it was completely trivial. Sylvan the Traveling Merchant is a slug NPC that you meet throughout a run. A Halberd Beam can do 10 damage for 3 power on certain ships, with much faster recharge. Most people know about certain weapons that specialize in different areas that make them memorable. View source. No other weapon in the game does that. Like any projectile weapon, lasers can miss. This event can occur only once per sector. Start it firing in the Shields room if you can only knock it down to 1 shield remaining, then every other room will take 2. Crystal Burst I. 0 coins. I'm wondering how to make these work. Two halberd/glaive or three pike/hull shots will kill anything. Open menu Open navigation Go to Reddit Home. FTL: Faster Than Light > General Discussions > Topic Details. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. To be clear, it's fine to enjoy or prefer others, but in terms of general use value Glaice and especially artillery shouldn't be in the conversations. FTL: Faster Than Light > General Discussions > Topic Details. (I also feel like the increased enemy evasion on Hard and the availability of Hacking tends to make ion a bit weaker in general. Even a dual laser will permit a single shield bubble assuming both hit. Every beam weapon is way more efficient than the BL2. they do X damage for every room they hit, but is there any penalty for spreading it across multiple rooms? Or rather, any benefit from. You come across a Lanius ship in the process of absorbing a Rebel automated scout. I will also slightly up the Halberd beam damage, as I was not feeling very happy with it in recent playtesting. Lanius A, almost entire ship depresurizes. This is a list of useful guides regarding FTL. I debated about it for a long time, but spreading out 5 damage across multiple rooms never seemed as good to me as doing 4 damage to the room of my choosing. One of my favorite anti-flagship weapons setups is now dual Flak 1 + Halberd Beam. Leah (also known as The Beam Master) the is a recurring character in FTL Multiverse, and the player’s self-proclaimed “rival”. Crow Revell's Playthroughs with in-depth analysis: Kestrel A: tutorial guide (Easy) Kestrel A: master class (Hard) Crew kill tactics w/out boarding How to use scrap in FTL How to not lose in FTL Augment tier list Mike Hopley's Guides and tips Guides: Beginners' guide Beginners' Flagship guide Zoltan C. At times this can cause just as much disruption (like pulling the enemy pilot) as hitting multiple systems with a beam might've caused. But if you find a beam drone combo in sector 1 and no shield, might as well restart (or lose 75 worth of damage to be. Halberd Beam is powerful enough to handle ships alone, but you would need reliable shield stripping for that - better stack ions. You can hit 4 rooms at a time with the halberd beam against most ships. I'm wondering how to make these work. With 2 shields active, it will do 1 damage per room, because 3-2=1. -25% cooldown. Mini Beam. g. Upgraded cloaking makes this easier. Is it not?FTL: Faster Than Light. Flak I is unavailable in vanilla, which is one factor that makes vanilla runs less consistent than AE runs. Hello, I'm an experienced FTL no-pause player and I recently made multiple guides to help both new and veteran players. not sure whether i misread or it only happens to me but : arent the beam weapons supposed to 'partially' cut thru shields? how come i never see any beam weapon cut thru even when the enemy only has level one shield? and then just today while playing w glaive beam, my ship at last does cut thru the shields (even level 3!) but suddenly in sector 3 the 'glitch'. For weaponry, it begins with a very strong endgame weapon in the Glaive Beam, the rare beam weapon that does 3 damage per room hit at a cost of four weapon power. She is supposed to be a joke enemy that cannot effectively harm the player due to using all-beam weapons and drones (although she does occasionally use different, equally harmless weapon loadouts on subsequent. Got super lucky with all of the things I got that run, only took one hit on the flagship (95% dodge and missile still hits). So I was doing a Stealth C shieldless run the other day and ended up going all beams with Halberd-Pike-Pike (along with a preigniter lol. Once shields are down, beam drones (dealing 1-2 damage every few seconds) are one of the fastest and most devastating weapons in the game. One beam. Hull beams can replace halberd beam if need be, but are overall weaker in all aspect. Example : Enemy has 1 shield. -Glaive/Halberd Beam -Damage increased by ~10% all around -EMP component re-added-Ion Flooder -Range reduced from 800 -> 750 -Flux/shot 700 -> 880I'm going with Halberd Beam. Some beams (Halberd and Glaive) do more than one damage, which means they can pierce a shield level and still do reduced damage (e. Each laser shot temporarily removes a shield layer. With hacking, the starting weapons can be kept for the whole game. Pike Beam; Halberd Beam; Hull Beam; Heavy Crystal I; Breach Bomb II; Small Bomb; Charge Laser II; FTL B Tier List (2023) The B Tier is for weapons that are not as powerful as the others but can still be useful in certain situations. Flak 2 is very situational, usually best paired with a chunky beam, like halberd or even glaive. FTL: Faster Than Light > General Discussions >. Then there's the fun combo of two fast ion blast mk2s coupled with a Halberd beam. Hull. The Halberd Beam is the single best weapon in the game. All other beam weapons are ineffective against any shields. Halberd or Glaive only) then they ‘pierce’ with a reduction of one damage per shield. One of my favorite pre-ignited is twin Halberd Beams, BL II, and max hacking. I caution you, however- FTL is a roguelike, and part of the fun of that type of game is figuring out and winning against games. Each of these guides is written by a skilled player with a high win rate on Hard difficulty. My previous build was dual lasers, breach 1, fire beam, anti-bio beam. Swarm Missile Charges 1 shot every 7 seconds for upto 3 1-damage shots. I've got 4 shields and a 48% dodge. Make sure it's something you have acheived, at least once. FTL: Faster Than Light is a space role-playing game with roguelike elements developed by Subset Games. If you scare off the Lanius you could probably make use of it. I would replace the Pike Beam with the far superior Halberd Beam a little later, plus add Long Range Scanners, and that was more or less all I needed. Purchasing Cloaking would help your survival during early-game, as Leto Missiles combining with Halberd Beam would be sufficient for defeating most easier opponents. Lasers are general-purpose energy weapons. Sure, they do a lot of damage, but you have to get the shields down first. This random event occurs in: Abandoned Sector The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect ship presence. Halberd beam does 2 damage, so you would need a minimum of 2 shields to avoid taking damage from it. My reasoning being that with my current loadout (heavy ions supporting Beam), that I was only targeting shields and weapons anyways and wasn't getting ship layouts where the full length of the Pike Beam.