When do you accept surrender?

[Lurker_Chan]

So I'm just wondering when everybody accepted surrender of enemy ships? I've got a bad habit of if they offer me three or more fuel you can live, but when they only offer me drone parts and missiles when I don't use either I'll blow them out of the sky.

[Sirius]

Never.
Especially not when they attack me first.

[anarcher]

If they offer pre-igniter, a good weapon or something else I need.

[Dr. McWeazel]

The only time I accepted a surrender offer was when it included a Glaive Beam. In Sector One.

[Antorius]

It depends how badly I need what they're offering. I mean, they might give more if I kill them, but then again they might not, and X fuel (or whatever) looks really good.

[Son of Simon]

I only accept surrender if they are offering something I need,or something I can sell. Usually you get more for destroying the ship.

[Sigred]

1) If they are likely to either land heavy damage, or complete an FTL jump, before I will be able to finish them off.

2) They offer a very good weapon or augment that I would actually want to keep.

3) They offer a highly desired crew member (almost always with a zoltan).

4) They offer fuel that I desperately need.

5) They're part of a quest I'm trying to complete, and they need to survive.

In every other circumstance, I will finish them off. Rewards are typically better from kills, and surrenders also don't add to your score (if you care).

[DaltonGoesFast]

just know that if you dont accept surrender, you'll get more scrap, unless they offer an exceptional amount of scrap, then maybe not.
if you are hurting for scrap, don't accept.

[Son of Simon]

Originally posted by Sigred:

1) If they are likely to either land heavy damage, or complete an FTL jump, before I will be able to finish them off.

2) They offer a very good weapon or augment that I would actually want to keep.

3) They offer a highly desired crew member (almost always with a zoltan).

4) They offer fuel that I desperately need.

5) They're part of a quest I'm trying to complete, and they need to survive.

In every other circumstance, I will finish them off. Rewards are typically better from kills, and surrenders also don't add to your score (if you care).

This. Sometimes I'm to stuborn for number one and end up regreting it. I'll usually take anyboby for number 3 unless I already have 8 crew.

[gambit]

You need to know how much scrap rewards are in sectors.
Almost always(90+% times) you will get more scrap if you don't accept surrender.
Almost always(about 80+%)I will accept surrender if it has item reward.
Obviously unless I get guaranteed item reward for destroying ship too, and reward is bad(this is rare though).

Also if you need missiles or drone or fuel, ofcourse you will accept it(unless your next jump is store)

Crew rewards, always take one that you don't have.
Due to blue events, best crew are in order: Engi, Rock, everybody else beside Human.
Try to have +/-2 crew depending on which sector you are.
You are in sector 3, but already have 6 crew, don't accept crew as surrender(unless it is one that you don't have already).
Sector 6, you have 4 crew, buy 1 you don't have in store, or 2 if you are near end of sector.

[Lurker_Chan]

Huh intresting thoughts from you all. I guess like a lot of you I don't accept unless theres a lot of fuel, or a goodie they are offerring up.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by Dawn Dancer:

So I'm just wondering when everybody accepted surrender of enemy ships? I've got a bad habit of if they offer me three or more fuel you can live, but when they only offer me drone parts and missiles when I don't use either I'll blow them out of the sky.

Almost any time they offer anything other than the usual scrap, fuel, missiles and drones combo. This is almost always better than the average reward from destroying them.

I might turn down horrible junk like the Repair Arm but if there's a store nearby it's worth selling.

[Sigred]

Originally posted by Skinny Pete:

Originally posted by Dawn Dancer:

So I'm just wondering when everybody accepted surrender of enemy ships? I've got a bad habit of if they offer me three or more fuel you can live, but when they only offer me drone parts and missiles when I don't use either I'll blow them out of the sky.

Almost any time they offer anything other than the usual scrap, fuel, missiles and drones combo. This is almost always better than the average reward from destroying them.

I might turn down horrible junk like the Repair Arm but if there's a store nearby it's worth selling.

If you don't care about score. You don't get points from an encounter if you let them live, and scrap earned from selling doesn't count either.

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by Sigred:

If you don't care about score. You don't get points from an encounter if you let them live, and scrap earned from selling doesn't count either.

Good to know that if you do care about score, but I usually don't. I figure the score from winning is generally going to be better than from losing and try to win.

[Rosy the Rascal]

This topic definitely had me thinking about trying a more moral run of the game rather than basing everything around odds of survival. I don't mean being totally naive and playing a game of avoidance, especially if it means ignoring a third party in need. I'm talking more about sparing enemies who want to live and your reasoning for allowing it goes beyond numbers. Would it make sense in a do-or-die situation like FTL presents? Probably not. In the end, it is a shame that you cannot make the Flagship consider reason (and Cap's Edition doesn't count, since the alternate ending doesn't even end the game).

[Ray Robertson]

Challenge idea: Win without killing anyone. Venting intruders is okay and of course blowing up the flagship.