Crystal Cruiser unlocked

[Percussigant]

I finally unlocked it earlier today and I am so happy about it that I need to share it with the internet. I only took me about 5 years of owning the game.

To anyone who might read this and go through the struggle, the easiest way to do it is with the C layout of the Rock Cruiser. Look for Rock homeworld sectors : with the crystal crew you start with, you can bypass a solid 75% of the rng of the quest.

Life good.

[Jakkson K]

I salute you. I have been going at it for 15+ hours of gameplay alternating between rock C and going for the A+B victories of every ship methods. Slug B and Engi B are the only things standing in my way for that method.

[Percussigant]

Originally posted by Jakkson K:

I salute you. I have been going at it for 15+ hours of gameplay alternating between rock C and going for the A+B victories of every ship methods. Slug B and Engi B are the only things standing in my way for that method.

Thanks friend ! Good luck to you too, and very nice job on the A+B method, I don't think I am remotely close to that way of unlocking it. You're going to have a lot of fun with the Crystal ships, I just recently started tackling normal difficulty and they're my go-to - they're not overpowered, but they're really well-designed overall and very fun to play imho.

[Jakkson K]

It is just Engi B now. I have gotten to sector 8 twice now... I hate this stupid forever alone ship.

[Jakkson K]

I did it, unlocked crystal cruiser the less rng method. A+B victories on all other ships

[Percussigant]

Originally posted by Jakkson K:

I did it, unlocked crystal cruiser the less rng method. A+B victories on all other ships

Woo congrats friend ! You're gonna have a blast with them, they're very good ships !

[daggaz]

Crystal boarders are very nice, but they make you lazy. So many tactics you never need to learn because you can just lock a room down.

[Percussigant]

Originally posted by daggaz:

Crystal boarders are very nice, but they make you lazy. So many tactics you never need to learn because you can just lock a room down.

To be fair, by the point most people unlock the crystal ships, they've probably done a good deal of boarding runs already.

[New Moon On Monday]

Hacking in Advanced Edition made the Crystal Lockdown ability a little less special, since you can use Hacking to a similar effect. I like Mantis and Lanius over Crystal when it comes to boarders.

That said, the combination of Hacking and Crystal Lockdown is pretty darn impressive.

I don't really feel like Crystal A is so great a reward as to justify the tedious process of unlocking it. The weapons are slow. The Heavy Crystal I is worth keeping as you can mitigate the speed issue somewhat, but the Crystal Burst I is just bad. The ship starts without a Crew Teleporter, so you can't make use of the Crystals as boarders early. I feel like adding Hacking and a better weapon than Crystal Burst I are both more priorities before adding Crew Teleporter; then if I already get as far as Sector 4+ with enough scrap I'd take Cloaking over Crew Teleporter. So for me, it usually never becomes a boarding ship.

Of course Crystal A leads to Crystal B, a ship that can be rough at the start without weapons. But as soon as you do something decent with the weapons, it's easy street (a lot like Mantis B, but I'll take Cloaking over Drone Control any time).

When I first unlocked the Crystal ships, I thought they would be great because I'd get chances to find the Crystal Sector in games, and get all the extra stuff that comes with a bonus sector. But in ten years of playing, I think I have seen the Crystal Sector twice, and one of those times was when I unlocked the Crystal Cruiser.

[Percussigant]

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

I don't really feel like Crystal A is so great a reward as to justify the tedious process of unlocking it (...)

I may be partial on this particular point because Crystal A was the first ship I won with in normal difficulty, but I have to strongly disagree here. I think it's a fantastic ship - 4 starting crew is already a solid asset, and the crystal weapons let you cruise through the first 2 sectors without a care in the world. The augment also sells for a ton of money, and there's no reason not to sell it.

That ship gives you a very clean cut & healthy (if very typical) game plan for the early game of rushing your second layer of shields, with a lot of freedom after that to adapt to whatever the RNG gives you - as you mentioned, teleport is great, especially if you can afford to pair it with hacking. The only thing that's kind of off the table imo is drones, because a defense drone does not cover your weapon system from missiles (and more importantly, the flagship's phase 1 hacking drone) on this ship.

I feel like the only really tricky part of that ship is transitioning from the pure crystal weaponry to something that packs more of a punch, since Crystal Heavy is pretty much viable all game, just not on its own. That's true for Rock C, too.

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

Of course Crystal A leads to Crystal B, a ship that can be rough at the start without weapons. But as soon as you do something decent with the weapons, it's easy street (a lot like Mantis B, but I'll take Cloaking over Drone Control any time).

Agree on this, Crystal B is an absolute beast of a ship. It's a pure blank slate too - you can do pretty much everything you want with the guns, and you're always going to find a use for crystal boarders or cloaking.

[Mike]

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

That said, the combination of Hacking and Crystal Lockdown is pretty darn impressive.

More so than most players realise. With 3 Crystals and hacking, you can keep enemies out a room forever.

I feel like adding Hacking and a better weapon than Crystal Burst I are both more priorities before adding Crew Teleporter; then if I already get as far as Sector 4+ with enough scrap I'd take Cloaking over Crew Teleporter. So for me, it usually never becomes a boarding ship.

You're significantly underrating how good teleporter is on that ship. I did for a long time as well.

I'd take teleporter before hacking on Crystal A. It's that good.