Winning with the stealth cruiser?

[100% Wolf Urine]

I've been finding that the stealth cruiser seems the most difficult ship to win with. While the advanced sensors are nice, I've found that the 2 limiting factors of the ship are the fact that cloaking is merely a nice bonus with marginal benefits past level 1, and being limited to 3 weapon slots.

That one less weapon slot is a killer since it's best to have a lot of low tier weapons than one or two high tier.

The only ways I can see winning with this ship is getting lucky with 3 really good weapons like burst IIs, or getting really lucky with boarding party capabilities. Either way you start off behind other ships in getting to that point while being able to tank the boss.

Anyone have winning strategies for this ship? Right now I just see it as an added layer of challenge.

[Crossbow]

It is better to have a normal ship and buy a cloak (60/75 not sure?), then to have a stealth ship and buy shields (150). The Stealth Shp Type A, or Nesasio, isnt a viable option for completing the game, as much as say, the Kestrel.

[Regent]

It can be done but of course it is all a matter of luck. Lvl 3 Cloak, high ranking engines, shields if affordable (lvl 2 or above), and the other usual system upgrades are necessary. Beyond that you need to find a couple burst weapons, boarders, and/or firebombs to make it through.

Think of it in these terms: the Nesasio is designed to hunt down other ships. Upgrade cloak asap and buy cloak wepaons and literally strike every single ship possible. That way you maximize your scrap early on when you have an advantage over all other ships. The weapons provided, if used correctly, can be devastating until sector 5 at which point you will want to replace the beam with a better one and the laser with a burst laser of some sort. Take the time to kill everything and check out every shop.

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by Crossbow:

It is better to have a normal ship and buy a cloak (60/75 not sure?), then to have a stealth ship and buy shields (150). The Stealth Shp Type A, or Nesasio, isnt a viable option for completing the game, as much as say, the Kestrel.

True enough. When I pick the Nessaio or the... other one, I don`t pick it because of the cloak. I pick them because 1. Mini Beam - THE most efficient weapon in the game, hull damage wise.
2. Dual Lasers - Also one of the most efficient weapons in the game.
3. Glaive Beam - In my opinion, the out and out best weapon. Sure it needs supporting weapons later on, but that thing can carve ships up like Norman Bates naked showering ladies.

[confuzzulation]

The first time I've actually beat the game is with the Nessaio.
It just normally boils down to luck, which is basically what this game is based around

[Cryten]

Yeah the stealth ship can certainly have a game ending run very quickly if you fight anything with beam weaponry that you can't disable quickly. Its does have a really nice starter weapon setup though. Basicly you HAVE to get shields by the end of sector 1 or the start of sector 2 or your run will be frelled.

My winning run with a stealth ship involved getting shields to level 4 and stealth to level 3. I had a gun drone still had the dual laser (best 1 power weapon in the game) got a halberd beam and a Heavy laser II. I couldnt do much damage at first to the boss but my shields where so strong I could last though the super weapons without taking much damage (especially with stealth). Halberd beams are humongously strong if you get a ships shields down.

[100% Wolf Urine]

Originally posted by Cryten:

My winning run with a stealth ship involved getting shields to level 4 and stealth to level 3. I had a gun drone still had the dual laser (best 1 power weapon in the game) got a halberd beam and a Heavy laser II. I couldnt do much damage at first to the boss but my shields where so strong I could last though the super weapons without taking much damage (especially with stealth). Halberd beams are humongously strong if you get a ships shields down.

What level were engines?

[Biohazard063]

The stealth ship already benefits from stealth weapons even though it isn't mentioned in the augmentations. You don't need to buy it.
From the Wiki :"Although not listed in the starting Augmentations list, the Stealth Cruiser (both layouts) passively benefits from Stealth Weapons from the start. "

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by {-NAG-}Bombsquad:

The stealth ship already benefits from stealth weapons even though it isn't mentioned in the augmentations. You don't need to buy it.
From the Wiki :"Although not listed in the starting Augmentations list, the Stealth Cruiser (both layouts) passively benefits from Stealth Weapons from the start. "

That`s flat out wrong. The Stealth cruiser loses cloak time same as any other ship when it fires.

[wckowalski]

Originally posted by Crossbow:

It is better to have a normal ship and buy a cloak (60/75 not sure?), then to have a stealth ship and buy shields (150). The Stealth Shp Type A, or Nesasio, isnt a viable option for completing the game, as much as say, the Kestrel.

Um, buying a cloaking system costs 150.

[Purecaffeine]

I won my first game with the stealth ship XD Just upgraded sheilds and get weapons as soon as possible

[Ashinonyx]

If you're rolling a stealth ship (I know I don't own the game, but hear me out, I've watched many videos on the game to see if it's worth the money, appears to be so), get the Dual Lasers and the Glaive beam, etc. etc. with the system upgrades, but here's the most important thing: GET THE WEAPONS PRE-IGNITER! Being able to fire from the start is a blast, but cloaking so that you can fire twice before the other guy can even start? Awesome.

[100% Wolf Urine]

I've played over 40 games, and I only saw the weapon pre-igniter twice while NEVER seeing the Glaive beam. Are these supposed to be incredibly rare or is it just my luck?

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by FABIO:

I've played over 40 games, and I only saw the weapon pre-igniter twice while NEVER seeing the Glaive beam. Are these supposed to be incredibly rare or is it just my luck?

Glaive Beam is pretty rare. Unless you start with it, you`re probably not gonna see it.
Pre Igniter isn`t as rare. I`d say it`s uncommon - You mostly don`t have it because it costs 120 scrap. That`s a lot unless you`re in the last three sectors, more than you`d normally have on hand. And since returning to stores is nigh on suicidal...

[Bandy]

so is the stealth ship type b more effective than the a variant or should i just give up on trying to use the stealt ship ( i have yet t complete all three phases of the final boss with any ship)

[Skyrocitor]

Just almost beat this game with the stealth cruiser. Lvl 3 stealth, lvl 2 shields, stealth weapons aug, burst laser III and small bomb. Used the stealth to dodge the missile barrages that would have pierced my sheilds and signifigantly reduces the incoming damamge, set all weapons to attack their sheilds and brought down the flagship to zero health.

Unfortunately, due to my attempted evasion of spoilers, I didn't know this battle was multi-staged, the drone stage quickly tore me a new one.

But I did make it farther with the stealth cruiser than I have ANY other ship. It is possible. The key seems to be timing, by assessing your enemy's weapons and cloaking right before the biggest hit and not right after you see the rockets fired, you can survive even without shields for quite some time. Picking up shields at some point seems to be essential to catch whatever gets through. But I can say with confidence that the stealth showed a marked difference in how much damage I took.