Any point in NOT playing advanced mode?

[Spites]

It seemingly doesn't make the game any harder. It simply adds more content. Why would devs even make this an option and not just implement it into the regular game? Is there something I'm missing/overlooking?

[Biohazard063]

That and the flagship gets access to the new toys as well.
Also, you now also have to decide on what systems to get. You used to be able to get them all, now you'll always have at least 2 you can't get because you have no more system slots.

[flyingmonkeys]

Advanced mode was a massive update to the game. They freely gave it to the players, whereas many companies would have charged for it as a DLC. As people had been playing the original version for quite some time, some folks were in the middle of games, or pursuing specific goals when the new edition was released. Making it optional meant that everyone could update immediately, even if they wanted to finish something up first before adopting the new changes. The new release fixed a few bugs and made some small tweaks that provided benefits even with Advanced mode turned off. So it was thoughtful of them to include the option.

Nowadays, there isn't much reason to ever turn it off. Perhaps if I introduced the game to a new player and they were absolutely overwhelmed...

So mainly the option is there for historical reasons. Advanced is very much the normal way to play now.

[Marach]

I think the advanced mode is a little bit more difficult. At least it did get harder for me to kill the boss with the advanced mode. But probably I just didn't played it enough ;-)

[Nulien]

The flagship is definitely harder in Advanced, with 4 layers of shields instead of 3, and the hacking system in the first phase. To be honest, that, and having to deal with ships that have that extremely annoying shield supercharging drone, finally pushed me to the point where I prefer playing without Advanced content on. But, to each their own.

[Biohazard063]

Originally posted by Nulien:

The flagship is definitely harder in Advanced, with 4 layers of shields instead of 3, and the hacking system in the first phase. To be honest, that, and having to deal with ships that have that extremely annoying shield supercharging drone, finally pushed me to the point where I prefer playing without Advanced content on. But, to each their own.

Isn't that just based on the difficulty? Never played with AE content off when it came out.
Easy = 3 layers
Normal = 4 layers
Hard = Surprise !
Never played with AE content off when it came out.

[Nulien]

I should've specified that it's 3 layers on easy with AE content off, but when you play on easy with AE on, it has 4 layers.

[obliviondoll]

Advanced isn't objectively harder, but the extra systems and weapons make it more complex, which in turn makes it more difficult to learn the game with AE content turned on. If you're new to the game, it's worth taking a few runs with it off first. If you just want the vanilla experience, it can be worth turning off for that too.

The Flagship is objectively tougher in AE than it was pre-AE, for a variety of reasons, but by the time you reach the Flagship in AE, you'll usually be more powerful, because there are more opportunities to get awesome stuff, letting you tip the balance back in your favour, and (probably) balancing out to be about the same level of challenge.

[Zarock]

For experienced players, AE is easier than the normal edition. Because the game is more balanced and has more options, there is little to no luck involved in AE compared to the original FTL. But it's also harder to learn since the content is huge.
There are more ways to get through 4 layers shields, more ways to reduce enemy ship evasion to 0, more ways to kill the enemy crew, more ways to protect your ship from boarding and missiles, etc.
In the original FTL, teleporter was mandatory. Unless you got extremely lucky with your weapons, you had a really hard time winning against a 4 bubbles ship with defense drone. And if a bomb or a missile hits your weapons, you're screwed hard. So you were always forced to buy teleporter and find 2 mantis/rock men.
Now, in AE, you have hacking and mind control. Mind control can reduce the ship evasion if used on a pilot, can stop that damn engi repairing the shield, can make an ennemy mantis invading you a precious ally that will kill his mates. Hacking can make every weapons, even the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ones, dangerous. That's huge. In the original game, every time you get to a shop and see that it has not a burst laser II or III, or ion mark II, you were frustrated. Why buy a missile since it will always miss (unlike your enemy duh), why buy a heavy laser or any beam that isn't the glaive beam, it will never get through the shield etc. With hacking, every weapins are now worth. You can beat the final boss with just the initial kestrel A weapons (burst laser II and artemis) with hacking. Good luck doing that in the original game. It can remove the enemy shield, reduce the evasion rate to 0, kill crew in medbay, reduce oxygen to 0, block doors as a side effect etc. The possibilities are insane. It's basically a game winner by itself if it's lv3 and you have a good pile of drones.

Of course, since the game is easier and that every build is now viable, the devs had to make the boss harder so you actually earn the win. The flagship is definitely harder, but the way to reach it is easier since you have way more options to adapt your ship.

[shareofhonor]

Everybody that loves hacking acts like drone parts don't exist. Well they do and they are far better used for DRONES than for hacking. There is a drone recovery arm there is no hack recovery arm. Using the drone parts for hack and not having them for trades is also very bad.

I have 90 wins and I have NEVER bought hack or cloaking even once. There are ways of winning that do not require hacking. They work better and don't cost drone parts.

[obliviondoll]

Originally posted by Zarock:

In the original FTL, teleporter was mandatory. Unless you got extremely lucky with your weapons, you had a really hard time winning against a 4 bubbles ship with defense drone. And if a bomb or a missile hits your weapons, you're screwed hard. So you were always forced to buy teleporter and find 2 mantis/rock men.

In the original FTL, my first 3 wins were without the teleporter.

Ion blast II can rip down shields regardless of regular defense drones. Defense drone II had lower fire rate and accuracy than it does now, and could easily be overwhelmed by massed weapon fire. Chuck a single laser or ion shot at the ship at the same time as a missile, and that would reach first, draw the defensive shot, then the missile would get through clean. Offensive drones were also more of a threat because there were no anti-drone drones and the only way to slow down or kill a drone was with a lucky shot hitting them. You also always had bombs, which can't be shot down.