How do i unlock the federation cruiser?

[Hyperman6]

Im pretty new to the game and i really like it, but you dont start with very many ships. can some one tell me how to unlock this one?

[New Moon On Monday]

Starting with few ships is a good thing. You will improve your skill greatly by mastering one ship at a time. The Kestrel is very good as a training ship.

However, the answer to your question is that you unlock it either by beating the Flagship with the Engi Cruiser. Or there is an alternate way to unlock it, by completing the Rebel Shipyard Event, in a Rebel Stronghold sector. The latter is one I have never done. The information on it (with spoilers) is here: http://ftl.wikia.com/wiki/Huge_Rebel_Shipyard

[Sam Look]

In general if you go to the list view and mouse over ships it gives you a bit of an idea how to go about unlocking them.

[Hyperman6]

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

Starting with few ships is a good thing. You will improve your skill greatly by mastering one ship at a time. The Kestrel is very good as a training ship.

However, the answer to your question is that you unlock it either by beating the Flagship with the Engi Cruiser. Or there is an alternate way to unlock it, by completing the Rebel Shipyard Event, in a Rebel Stronghold sector. The latter is one I have never done. The information on it (with spoilers) is here: http://ftl.wikia.com/wiki/Huge_Rebel_Shipyard

how hard is it to beat the flagship with the engi?

[David]

Engi A is a relatively easy ship to win with- Ion Blast II is fun to play around with, even though it's a power hog, but it goes perfectly with drones that work best when the shield is completely down, and which you have 3 slots for.

[New Moon On Monday]

You will have a learning curve figuring out what drones can and can't do. But Ion Blast II is a premium weapon, and you know you will have it for the Flagship battle because you start with it. You are set up for success.

[InsertNameHere]

You get that ship by two ways.
-Beat the game with the Engi Cruiser
For this run use Engi A, because Engi B is just plain horrible.
Engi A mainly utilizes drones and is one of the few ships that have 3 drone slots.
the main drawback is the inability to target systens directly, at least in the start, another one is that your initial crew is weak against boarders. You also have to watch your drone usage, especially once you have two drones. A drone recovery arm is almost necessary once you get 2 drones. Door upgrades are useful to counter boarders.

whenever playing this to unlock the next ship, do not activate AE content, because with the AE content this ship has been nerfed with the introduction of anti-drone drones. Just disable AE content. Also there is no shame on playing it on easy.

Fun fact: It is one of the fewest ships (or the only one) that could theoretically kill the final boss with its initial weapons. In practice it wont work due evasion.

Just a few tips. The other method is to get to a sector in the Rebel Stronghold
From there on, spoilers
It is basically the 3rd Hard Flagship stage without mind Control, power surge and Zoltan Shield and with much less HP. Disabling the missile launcher is useful here, from there on you can destroy the other systems.

[Hyperman6]

Originally posted by Romeo17:

You get that ship by two ways.
-Beat the game with the Engi Cruiser
For this run use Engi A, because Engi B is just plain horrible.
Engi A mainly utilizes drones and is one of the few ships that have 3 drone slots.
the main drawback is the inability to target systens directly, at least in the start, another one is that your initial crew is weak against boarders. You also have to watch your drone usage, especially once you have two drones. A drone recovery arm is almost necessary once you get 2 drones. Door upgrades are useful to counter boarders.

whenever playing this to unlock the next ship, do not activate AE content, because with the AE content this ship has been nerfed with the introduction of anti-drone drones. Just disable AE content. Also there is no shame on playing it on easy.

Fun fact: It is one of the fewest ships (or the only one) that could theoretically kill the final boss with its initial weapons. In practice it wont work due evasion.

Just a few tips. The other method is to get to a sector in the Rebel Stronghold
From there on, spoilers
It is basically the 3rd Hard Flagship stage without mind Control, power surge and Zoltan Shield and with much less HP. Disabling the missile launcher is useful here, from there on you can destroy the other systems.

how do i get to the rebel stong hold? is the sector actually called that?

[New Moon On Monday]

There is a sector called Rebel Stronghold. It is a red sector, and appears randomly like any other sector.

[gambit]

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

There is a sector called Rebel Stronghold. It is a red sector, and appears randomly like any other sector.

From sectors 5-7.
If you can find THAT ship it is well worth the trip.
It is at normal beacon(neber in nebula).

[Hyperman6]

Originally posted by gambit:

Originally posted by New Moon On Monday:

There is a sector called Rebel Stronghold. It is a red sector, and appears randomly like any other sector.

From sectors 5-7.
If you can find THAT ship it is well worth the trip.
It is at normal beacon(neber in nebula).

I've been trying to find it but i havent seen a sector called Rebel Stronghold once

[Psykechan]

By the way, the later ships that you get aren't magically better than the one that you start with. The Kestrel is a fine ship, no matter what people try to tell you.

[The Infamous Cloaker]

Originally posted by Psykechan:

By the way, the later ships that you get aren't magically better than the one that you start with. The Kestrel is a fine ship, no matter what people try to tell you.

"Zoltan B master race!"

[TucanSam]

Originally posted by The Bold Undertone Of Cloaker:

Originally posted by Psykechan:

By the way, the later ships that you get aren't magically better than the one that you start with. The Kestrel is a fine ship, no matter what people try to tell you.

"Zoltan B master race!"

The only ship I've managed to win with yet is the Zoltan B. Best ship I've seen so far. Ended up having more scrap than I could spend and upgraded literally everything. Still had 200 or so left over.