The FTL Essentials

An in-depth guide on ships, strategy, hints, tips, tricks, and more. Updated regularly!

Introduction

So, you've found my guide. Before we get down to business here I'd like to explain this guide a bit more and tell you why it's aimed to be better than most. As a guy who has indeed beaten the game, and come ever so close to doing so multiple times before that, I've had lots of time to develop strategies for a huge number of situations. While the Rebel Flagship is your ultimate goal, it's the decisions you make up to that point that count, right? This guide is going to ensure you get maximum scrap, a huge crew, subsystems, and good weapons. By the end of this guide, you'll know how to use the Stealth ship expertly, the Rock ship as the ultimate boarding team, and how to manage a drone power surge, invaders, and multiple hull breaches. All at once. You will emerge this guide not just a puny toilet cleaner on the almighty starship, but a full grown captain. So, that's about it. Read the guide in order, or skip to whatever section you like. Just get your game ready, and some orange soda, cause things are about to get space-tastic (sorry).

What Ship Should I Use?

The ship you choose has a massive impact on how your game will play out. This is pretty obvious, but how do you know which one to pick? This section isn't going to tell you about every ship, but rather what the best ships to use for your playstyle might be.

• Kestrel and Red-Tail

The only reason the Kestrel is on this list is because it's the first ship you have. It's not remarkable, but it is balanced. I would recommend unlocking the Red-Tail (Kestrel Type B) as soon as you can, because it is one of my personal favorite ships, and for good reason. You get four crew members, which is great. What makes it even greater is how diverse your crew is. You should have no problem quickly assembling a boarding team, or even just a team to defend against intruders. This ship also has the interesting loadout of four simple lasers. This isn't very good from sector 3 and on, but early on, when enemies have small shields, it decimates them quickly.

• Torus

When you first start out using the Torus, chances are you'll think it's terrible. It doesn't have any hard hitting weapons, or a tough crew for that matter. Heck, the starting weapon doesn't DO any damage. The drone is where things really get interesting though. Having a drone system right at the start gives you a huge advantage, since you obviously don't have to buy one now. As you saw in the picture at the start, the Torus is the ship I used to beat the Rebel Flagship for the first time. Drones are a very useful ally, you just have to use them correctly and keep your supply in stock. The very first drone you have, that shoots a puny laser, is useful even against the Flagship, because it never quits until something shoots it down (in stage two of the fight). The Engi crew is also great for making quick repairs. I think the only real problems are weapons and crew. Make sure you get a missile or bomb weapon, and probably another laser. Try and get some Rock or Mantis crew members as well, and you should be set.

• Bulwark

Ahhh, the Rock ship. I'm a veteran of this one. I've never tried the other Types of this ship, but Type A (The Bulwark) is more than enough. It's based off of brute force. You have missiles, and lots of them. You also have one of the stronger races in the game. This ship is good for so many things. A teleporter is a must. You can make a boarding party that's so good, it would make the even the strongest ship look like melted cheese in comparison. Try and get some fire bombs, or a fire beam. If you can do this, and work the fire in unison with your Rock crew members invading the other ship, you can set the entire thing aflame. Since the Rock have a fire resistance, you can wreck pirates, rebels, Mantis, or anything in about 30 seconds flat. If you don't want to use fire weapons, then try and get some Mantis. This ship just seems built for teleporting, so if you are using the Bulwark, get a teleporter ASAP.

• The Adjudicator

The Zoltan Type A. It's a very good ship, and I have to say it's probably my 2nd favorite. It feels like more of a defensive build. The Zoltan Shield works wonders for you. It absorbs 5 points of ANY damage. It's great for weapons with longer charges, since it gives you protection from pesky missiles and bombs. By the time your Zoltan Shield is knocked out, you should be ready to unleash whatever it is you had waiting. It's like an armored cloak of sorts. The Zoltan crew members are pretty weak, but they are good for powering key systems. One thing I'd like to mention is that the layout of this ship is just odd. The pilot feels sort of isolated from the other systems, and all of the key systems are grouped together, so if you get hit by a beam weapon in that area, expect to get shaken up pretty badly. Try and get some stronger crew members if you can, or else fending off invaders, or invading, will be hard.

• The Nesasio

This is another intruiging entry on my list. The stealth ship is a complicated thing to pull off correctly. Since you start out with NO SHIELD, the early sectors are actually difficult. You can survive early on by carefully timing the cloak. Make sure you know how long it takes to cool off before you can re-activate it. As long as you are careful, you should do well until you get enough scrap to buy a shield. Don't expect to not take a few hits though, especially if you are unfortunate enough to run into an asteroid field early on. As long as you use those long-range scanners you have, that shouldn't be a problem. The crew is pretty generic, as usual. Try and mix it up a bit.

• The Osprey

I didn't really like this ship until I did some testing, and playing with it for a while. My opinion has drastically changed, and it might even be one of my top three ships. It's a pretty cool ship and you get a varied crew. The layout....well, um..the ship kinda looks like a certain body part. Anyway, it's got a cool Artillery Beam subsystem to use, and it bypasses all shields. It's really helpful in any fight basically, it just needs some upgrades, or else you'll be waiting a LONG time for it to charge. On a recent run, I was lucky enough to purchase a Vulcan. The catch was, I couldn't power it, and I sold all my other weapons. I would've been up a river without a space-paddle, but the good old artillery beam was there. I survived THREE SECTORS using nothing but the artillery beam. It was tedious, but I was relatively safe due to my high powered shields. This is proof that the artillery beam can be a life-saver. I also unlocked the Type B ship during that run, and while it seems sorta crappy, I still haven't tried it too much yet. But, that's off topic. The Type A "Osprey" is a wonderful ship, and I highly reccomend it. Just make sure you get some decent weapons so you don't have to rely on the beam like I did. And before you say something, yes, this picture is mirrored for some reason. Don't ask me why, it's never happened before.

• Man of War

I recently unlocked this ship, and I'm glad to say, it's AWESOME. It's not one of the popular ships, but trust me, it's good. You start out with three decent weapons, including the cool Anti-Bio Beam. Some say this weapon is hard to use. Don't listen to them. As long as there are no shields left for the enemy, it will take a big chunk of health off of all the crewmembers. Just remember to pause the game and draw a line straight through your targets. The Anti-Bio Beam should stay in your weapons slots the whole game. As for the weak laser weapon and the breach bomb, it's up to you. The breach bomb isn't actually that bad. The laser should go. Try and find a decent laser, such as the Burst Laser II. Your crew is sorta lacking at the start unfortunately. Only two Slug. Getting more is a must, or else doing any real defense or boarding is hard. You also lack sensors, but with the Slug's telepathy, it's made up. All in all, a pretty good ship.


Those are what I personally suggest. I didn't include some ships, mostly because they aren't too special compared to these ones. The Mantis ship is kinda cool, but I feel that these ones are the most varied and that you can do amazing things with them. I would've included the Crystal ship...but I haven't gotten it yet.

Racial Diversity (The Crew)

In hostile territory, an experienced and diverse crew can make the difference between life, and a fiery death. You need to have a balanced crew, and that's what this section is for. Here, I'll do a quick run-down of all the races, detailing their uses and strengths.

• Humans

HP: 100
Description: Do you really not know what a human looks like?
Uses: Not many, actually. I would advise having only 1 or 2 humans in a crew. They develop skills a bit faster than other races, so I guess you can put them where ever.

• Engi

HP: 100
Description: Usually gray-ish robot looking thing.
Uses: Terrible at fighting, wonderful at repairing. Let them operate vital systems that need quick repairs, such as weapons, shields, and engines.

• Zoltan

HP: 70
Description: Looks kinda like a human, except it's all a gooey shade of green.
Uses: I would NEVER use these guys in any fighting scenario. This is fine, because they make up for that in providing extra power to the room they reside in. Let them stand in the weapon, or engine room.

• Slug

HP: 100
Description: A huge slug. What did you expect?
Uses: He has the ability to see things in adjacent rooms, kinda like a mobile version of your Sensors subsystem. He can also see enemy locations on other ships. Put him anywhere you want, maybe even use them in a boarding party.

• Mantis

HP: 100
Description: A huge praying mantis looking thing. Seeing this in real life would be horrifying.
Uses: The opposite of the Engi. Terrible at repairs, but amazing at fighting. They also walk a bit quicker than other races. Use them in boarding teams, their talent is wasted sitting at a computer.

• Rock

HP: 150
Description: A huge, wide, humanoid made of rock.
Uses: They are the masters of boarding. While they are kind of slow, they have a pretty good health reserve, and their immunity to fire is very useful.

• Crystal

HP: 125
Description: Large, and made of crystal.
Uses: Wonderful for boarding, and have high health reserves.

• Lanius

HP: 100
Description: A blandly colored cockroach standing on two legs. Seriously.
Uses: These guys are alright I guess. They aren't much better than humans honestly, except that they suck all the oxygen out of rooms they stand in. Use them in boarding parties.




Now that you've reviewed the different races, you should think about what team you want. I would suggest, like I've mentioned, a diverse and balanced team. Something like:

2 Humans
2 Engi
2 Mantis
1 Zoltan
1 Rock

This set-up is pretty good for anything. You've got 3 good boarders, 3 good repairmen, and a few extra guys to man the systems. You obviously don't have to use that configuration, just make sure you think about who you're about to hire.

Armory (Most Powerful, Efficient Weapons)

This game isn't short on the amount of weapons to choose from. Heck, I haven't tried all of them yet. I decided to add this section so that you could have a reference to some of the best weapons to look out for. With that said, let's begin.

• Vulcan

You knew this would be on the list. This weapon is just so cool though. When I beat the game for the first time, the Vulcan was with me. In fact, it was the first time I had EVER gotten to use one. It was probably the main reason I beat the Flagship. There are tons of things to talk about. If you don't know how it works, it's got this system where the more times you fire, the quicker it charges. The fastes speed is god-like, especially if you have a twice prestiged weapons guy. You can melt even the toughest ship in like a minute or two. There is a variation of the Vulcan, called the Chain Vulcan, which I've never gotten to use. From what Rojnova told me, it's the same thing.

• Hull Missile

This weapon deals tons of damage to rooms without systems in them. It's great to use in conjuction with another weapon, such as a Burst Laser II or a Beam weapon. You can easily knock out the shields with a missile, then fire away with your other guns. The reason I put this weapon on the list is because it gives you higher damage than the rest, and for the same price obviously. There is an augment you can pick up called an "Explosives Replicator" that gives you a 50% chance of not using up one of your missiles when you fire one. If you get lucky with this, you can get away with firing many missiles for very little cost.

• Fire Bomb

Another weapon that uses missiles. This one is used very differently than others. For one thing, it's a bomb, so it doesn't deal hull damage. I used Fire Bombs to beat the Flagship, and I find them very helpful in doing so. Destroy enemy mebays with these and they won't stand a chance, and if you have Rock crewmembers, then it's even better. You can use the "Explosives Replicator" with this weapon too.

• Burst Laser II

This is actually a rather common weapon, but it's good. It fires 3 lasers, which is better than you think. If you manage to hit every shot, or even just two, you can do a lot of damage. Like the Hull Missile, it's better if you pair this weapon with another one, just like the default Kestrel loadout does. Pair a missile weapon or bomb with this, and you should do well through most sectors.

• Beam Weapons

All of the Beam Weapons do a very similar thing, and the only differences between them are shield penetration and beam length. Try and get a decent length one, but only if you have a laser or missile weapon to go with it. Better yet: both. A combination of missile, laser, and beam is wonderful, and if you can somehow manage this, it's great.

• Flak Weapons

I don't really like these, but hey, they're still there. I think the main problem is that Flak weapons don't usually hit much, but the Flak II weapon isn't THAT bad. If you happen to find one of these, use it, but I don't really reccomend buying it unless you have something really good to support it.

• Ion Weapons

This is another very broad category. There are a few different kinds of Ion weapons. I suggest having one as often as you can. These usually don't require too much power, and that's a good thing, because if you have this, expect to use it a lot. The charge time is also pretty small. Having an experienced weapons guy can allow you to fire off these things extremely quickly, destroying shields and whatever else you want. If you can keep a steady stream of these aimed at a system, you can pretend it doesn't even exist, because as long as the Ions keep hitting it, you won't have to worry about it. The effect of Ions stacks, so use that to your advantage. Working this weapon in conjunction with a missile or beam weapon is very good.

• Swarm Missile

In terms of bang for buck, this thing is the king. The Swarm Missile allows you to fire THREE missiles for the cost of just one. It needs to charge three times, but it's actually a rather short charge in my opinion. There are very few drawbacks to this weapon. The only one that I can think of is that the missiles do one damage a piece, but if they did any more than that you could probably kill anything in the blink of an eye. It's a fair amount of damage for a wonderful price, and if you couple this weapon with the Explosives Replicator, you've got a killer set-up.

• Anti-Bio Beam

I didn't include this in the "Beam Weapons" category because of how uncommon it and weird it can be. I detail this weapon a bit in the entry on the Slug Cruiser Type A, but I'll put it here too. This beam deals no damage to the ship, and it has no shield penetration. This sounds kinda shabby, but it's not. This weapon can earn you gobs of scrap if you use timing and patience. It would definitely help to have some upgraded sensors, or a Slug crewmember, to see the location of enemies on the other ship. All you really have to do is lower the shields somehow, and draw the beam's line straight through the enemy crewmembers. They shouldn't walk away or move out of the way of the beam, especially if they are repairing something. Unless you're using the Slug ship, it's rather unlikely you'll get this, but I recommend it (if you can find one) anyway.

If you can get any of these weapons, I believe that your survival rate increases by at least 10%. These weapons can hold their own in most fights, and combining two or three makes it even better.

Man Vs. Machine (Drones)

This is a neat section. Using Drones, you can go through the whole game without having anything but an Ion weapon. It's a really cool way to play the game, and there's a drone for everyone. Here I've rounded up my favorite drones. Let's take a look.

• Boarding Drone

This guy is awesome. It's like sending a Rock crewmember to your enemy ship, but he arrives with a literal bang, creating a hull breach in the process. These are expendable obviously, so you don't need to worry about losing anything but a drone part. I really like the hull breach feature, because if you put it in a valuable room you can do heaps of damage. Try sending the drone to a room such as Oxygen, the Medbay, or the Pilot seat. These rooms are usually pretty small, so only a couple guys can attack the drone at one time. With the help of the hull breach, you should be able to cause quite a bit of damage and distractions, giving you enough time to either send in a REAL boarding team, or to just simply attack.

• Hull Repair Drone

This drone is exactly what you think it is. It repairs a few hull damage, about 4-6 points. The best place to use this would be somewhere of vital importance, such as a big battle, or if your ship looks like a piece of cardboard with crayon on the side. You can use up a lot of drone parts with it, but it IS a good thing to have with you. Just remember to use it with moderation, and you'll be fine.

• Beam Drone

The Beam Drone isn't as cool as the other entries, but it's practical. If you have an Ion weapon at least. Pairing this drone with ion weapons is a very effective strategy early to mid game. I've had moments where I was the one being attacked with that setup. An enemy ship had disabled my shields, and the drone just went to town, ripping up my systems and hull. There is a variant of this that shoots a Fire Beam, and it's just as good. It might even be MORE effective considering that you can ignite the entire ship with it.

• System Repair Drone

This is another simple drone. It just does what a crewmember would do, and repairs damaged systems. It's good to have if you have a crew full of crappy repairmen, like Mantis.

• Defense Drones (Mark I and II)

These are probably the most helpful drones. Mark I can shoot down missiles and asteroids, while Mark II can also shoot lasers. This can be crazy effective during missile-heavy enemies. Imagine fighting the Flagship with a Defense Drone Mark II and a 4 Layered Shield! You would basically be invincible. If you had a chance to get any of these drones I would suggest this one the most, just because of how much damage and repairing it can save you.

• Anti-Personnel Drone

This thing looks almost identical to the Boarding Drone, but it does the exact opposite. It will defend YOUR ship this time. I found it to be beneficial in situations where somebody is occupied elsewhere. If you need someone to man Engines, Doors, Shields, and Weapons, chances are you'll only have a few guys left over. They might not even be good combat characters. The Anti-Personnel Drone can really save your butt in these moments.

These are my top favorites. If you have any suggestions for another entry, leave a comment and I'll add it!

More Is Better (Augments)

You have a nice ship, sure, and maybe even some good weapons and a crew. But do you have augments? There are augments out there that can sometimes make the difference between winning and losing. I'm putting the best ones you can find in here, but if you know of any others that are especially helpful, tell me, this section is currently a work in progress!

• Weapon Pre-Igniter

I consider this augment the Vulcan of augments. It's that good. If you have this, whenever you enter a battle, all of your weapons are fully charged and ready to fire. It might not help you as much with smaller weapons, but for things like the Hull Missile, or a big beam weapon, it can really make a big difference. You might be able to hit a ship before it cloaks, or destroy its weapon system before it has a chance to fire at you. It's saved my life a few times, and I have no doubt it'll do the same for you. Get this thing if you see it.

• Zoltan Shield

This is pretty obvious. An extra, disposable bubble of shield for every fight. It's awesome. Before you go and say that it's unobtainable except in Zoltan ships, you can get it in the quest that involves unlocking the Zoltan ship. Kinda rare I guess. With this augment, you get a few seconds to think about what you're going to do before the shield breaks. Like I mentioned in the Ships section, it can spare you a few hull points if it happens to block an enemy missile.

• Long Range Scanners

I really like this one too. This augment lets you see things that you normally couldn't about the locations ahead of you. If you pay attention to what it says, you can go the entire game without hitting an asteroid field or ion storm. This can also really help you gather heaps of scrap. You can spot all of the distress signals early and plot a course so that you can visit most of them. If you see it, grab it, or use the Stealth cruiser, which starts out with it.

• Titanium System Casing

Another decent augment. It has a 15% chance of negating damage to your systems. It still hurts your hull, but I've found this useful if you are suddenly barraged with missiles or lasers. It has saved my shields on a few occasions, so I can reccomend it.

• Emergency Respirators

I like this augment for some strange reason. It's not really that helpful. 50% less damage from no oxygen isn't all that special. It DOES make a difference however, and it can let you play the game in a more interesting way. Obviously oxygen doesn't matter for a Lanius, but for everyone else, listen up. When you inevitably get invaders, just throw those doors open to the cold embrace of space. It'll take a while to deplete your health, and its practically impossible for the enemies to outlast you. Just a weird way of playing the game is all.

• Medi-Bot Dispersal

I don't think that this is the exact name for the Augment, but it's something like that. You start out with it in the Engi Type A ship, and it constantly heals your crew. It's not as good as standing in the medbay, but hey, free healing. This is a cool augment to find.

• Scrap Recovery Arm

More scrap is always better. This augment isn't TOO important, but it does give you a decent bonus of scrap, which adds up. Get it if you can.

• Fire Suppresion

This one isn't needed, like some of the others. It is a helpful gadget however, so it's definitely a good thing to use. It's especially helpful if you are short on crewmembers to fix things.

• Automated Re-Loader

"Nafetsky" brought this to my attention. He's actually right, in the correct hands, this CAN be better than the Weapon Pre-Igniter. If you rely on Ion weapons, this is where it can really shine. It decreases weapon charge time by 10%, so imagine having that on a twice prestiged weapons guy! Load times are virtually eliminated for some weapons under those circumstances. Most Ion weapons have rather small charge times, so that's why I mentioned them. This augment isn't all that hard to find, so pick it up if you have space for it.

Dang Those Fancy Gadgets (Subsystems and Purchasable Systems)

I'm sure you already know about what most of the systems are. It's easy to understand. The question is, do you really need Mind Control? How good is Hacking? And is Cloning is cool as it looks? Note that this section won't contain things such as Shields and Engines, but rather things like Teleporters, Doors, Sensors, and Backup Batteries. Let's take a look.

• Mind Control

Mind Control is something I could honestly live without. I can't really see the appeal here. It makes it so that the enemies work for you for a period of time. The thing is, it's not that much time unless you spend a big chunk of scrap on it. For example, say you turn an enemy on the other ship to your side. Sure, it distracts the other people on the ship, but the mind controlled guy will either be easily overpowered, or simply damage a system a bit. The NPC's aren't stupid here folks. That system will be repaired in no time flat. According to a tip by Mephistoe, you can actually teleport mind-controlled enemies to your OWN ship, which is kind of cool, since you can mind control them one by one and teleport each of them, effectively emptying their ship. I still don't prefer Mind Control, but it does have some uses, so it's your decision.

• Cloning

Ugh. Look, the concept is cool, but it's really not useful. Having a cloning system means you can't heal by visiting the room, like the medbay. No, you heal by FTL jumping instead. Please correct me here if I'm wrong, but how is that a good thing? It's like, if you wanna heal, use up some fuel. Even then, it takes upgrading for the amount of health you get back to even matter. Having a cloning system ends up basing your game around dying. You don't think as much. Who cares if sending these guys onto another ship is a suicide mission? They'll just come back. When they return, they have degraded stats too. It just stinks, and it eliminates a lot of strategy, so I don't recommend it.

• Hacking

All right, this one actually IS good. Hacking lets you shut down various systems, and even reverse what they do in some cases. You can make it so that the medbay damages people instead of healing. It's got tons of oppurtunity, and unlike silly Mind Control, it actually does quite well, with a decent length of hacking time. You can use this on the Flagship pretty well too, so long as you knock out the drone systems.

• Backup Battery

I've used this one only a few times. Like many of the other subsystems, this one's uses are limited. It can help you out in a pinch, but it's only really useful if whatever it is you're powering can save your life. It's up to you on this one.

• Medbay

Like I said for the Cloning subsystem, the Medbay is far superior in my opinion. Even though you usually are given this one to start with, it's extremely beneficial.

• Doors

This one really doesn't need too much explaining. You are required to have a door system(except in the Rock Type B), so you might as well make good use of it. Make sure you get at least level 2 doors as soon as you can.

• Sensors

This system actually isn't on every ship to start. The number of ships lacking it is small, but still. Sensors have limited appeal to me. As of Advanced Edition, the Sensors can be manned by a crew member, increasing it's level by one. Since you can simply put someone on the Sensors for a free upgrade, I haven't upgraded them in a while. Try and man it with someone. If not, then upgrade it how you wish.

• Cloaking

A very good subsystem. It's not exactly vital that you have this, but it's really good to have. Cloaking increases your evasion chance by a crapload, so it's virtually impossible to get hit while using it. To use Cloaking effectively, you need to use careful timing. When you see that the enemy ship has it's weapons ready, pause the game, and wait until almost the EXACT second it fires, then activate the cloak. Doing this might seem tedious and sort of stupid, but trust me, sometimes a second or two makes a big difference. Upgrading it increases the amount of time you get to be invisible, but sometimes this can be a BAD thing. Weapons don't really take 15 seconds to reach your ship, so I think the default is actually the best.

• Teleporter

Yes. YES. This has gotta be my favorite system. If you see it, I HIGHLY suggest buying it. It's an oppurtunity to gain more scrap, get more events, and play the game in a whole new way.


This section was mostly just built to show my thoughts on the various subsystems. Hopefully you've learned something. I tried not to be biased on some of them, but I AM being honest. Many of the new systems in Advanced Edition are strange, and require some getting used to. Anyway, pick whatever you like to, but try and remember what I've said.

The Theory of RNG

I'm sure you've all had a moment in FTL where you make a bad decision and lose a crewmember or something. As you raise your fist toward the heavens and curse the day this game was created, you sadly continue the game, with one less of whatever it was you lost. Is there a way to avoid this? Well, the answer is yes and no. It's really quite complicated, so if you don't care about this kind of thing, skip this section.

• The Red Wire or The Blue Wire?

Events like this one are the worst. You have two options. Which one is correct? Before we discuss how to know which to choose, let's have a quick story. Once I was happily flying around, when an event occured, as usual. This was a bad event. I forget the exact details, but a bomb needed defused. "Red Wire" or "Blue Wire" were my two options. I had no idea what to pick. Using my weird brand of logic, I contemplated which Team Fortress 2 team color I enjoyed more. I ended up picking Red, and I was greeted with an explosion, some fires, and a lost crewmember. That's pretty sad and all, but how was I supposed to know it was the blue wire? Based on the information I've gathered, there isn't a way as far as I know. It seems like it's different every time. Some people have trouble with those "Space Spiders" that eat people during that one event. I personally have NEVER had trouble with them. It's odd. My hypothesis is that it's just shuffled, so you get whatever the game chooses. This is pretty simple to understand, but that means that unless you are a good guesser, you will inevitably come across misfortune.

• Blue Text is Good!

If you EVER see a blue text option in an event, choose it. It's almost always a good thing. This happens when you have a specific crewmember race, augment, system, or even a few engine upgrades. There are quite a few ways to get these blue options, and you even need to do it at one point to unlock the Mantis ship.

• Important Words of Advice

This part is kinda silly. It's not about the nature of RNG in particular, but from experience, I know FOR A FACT that some of the things I'm about to tell you work. So, here we go.

If you ever see a pirate, and he offers to sell you a crewmember, always choose the option to battle the ship. After damaging him a bit, he'll hand over a crewmember free of charge. Just make sure not to hurt him too badly!

Never trust what Slug tell you. There are many events that involve them sabotaging your ship. I've had an occasion where a Slug man offered to sell me some items, which I could not afford. I declined his offer, and whaddaya know? He attacked my ship, hacked my oxygen, and I died. Never, ever, EVER, trust these guys.

Have you ever had that event where you find a planet full of horse-like creatures? If you ever run into it, NEVER try to bring them onto your ship. From what I've seen, it always ends badly.


That's pretty much it for advice. These are just a few tips that I know of, so if you have any, feel free to tell me! Actually, this is pretty much all you need to know about RNG and events in general without getting extremely technical. It's interesting stuff, so that's why I put it in here.

Game Plan (Sector 1-7 Strategy)

When playing FTL, you will undoubtebly run into various horrors, such as the massive ship above. This section is here to tell you all about how to sit down, calm down, and kick whatever alien scum you've run into right back into the dark corners of the abyss from which it came. This is gonna be a lengthy chapter of the guide, but it's going to teach you all about various strategies to use. Let's get started.

• Sectors 1-3

You've just been placed into the game. Small crew, limited weapons, etc. What do we do first? Well, you've got options, to say the least. If you can see any distress beacons nearby, make your way to them. Getting scrap early on is important, since you've got things pretty easy for the first few sectors. If you are lucky enough to find a free weapon or upgrade, good for you. If it's something you can't use, sell it. After a few good fights, and perhaps a distress beacon, you should have a decent amount of scrap. I usually spend it on upgrading the shields twice, giving you an extra bubble of shield. See? It's only sector 1, and you already have two shields. Things are going smoothly.

Remember to keep visiting as many areas as you can, hopefully uncovering good things in the process. Try and avoid a situation like the one above. You should focus on trying to obtain a decent weapon as well. It's just as important as your shield is. I've had moments where I was with 2 or more shields, up against a ship that just couldn't break my shield. This seems good, but the catch was that all I had was some lousy beam weapon. I couldn't do anything to them either. It was pretty much a waste of fuel and time. To avoid this happening, try and have at least one missile or bomb weapon if you can. Keep a half decent stock of missiles at hand, and you should be fine. I find that the Burst Laser II is a wonderful weapon, so try and get ahold of it. It's reasonably common.

Another good thing to think about is what sector you should travel to next, when you have a choice. It's pretty obvious...but if you want more scrap, head to a hostile sector. If you're damaged or something, try a safe sector. There isn't much of a good reason to go to a nebula unless you want Slug or something.

By the end of sector three it's generally a good idea to have:

Level 2 Shield
2-3 Engine Upgrades
At least 2 Weapons
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Try and keep all the system upgrades balanced, and you should be fine.

• Sectors 4-7

This is where things get hard. ESPECIALLY if you are on hard mode. Ships get tougher, but scrap rewards get better. Try and keep going with what you were doing in the past sectors. Try to visit as many places you can, and battle a decent amount of ships. Somewhere in these sectors, preferably as early as you can, get a teleporter. It'll be very useful for your confrontation with the flagship. I don't like to be pushy or anything, but seriously. Get a teleporter. It's needed. Besides getting a teleporter, you don't have too many other things you need. Continue upgrading systems, and try to get a level 3 shield. By the time you reach sector 7, I suggest having at least a 35% evasion chance, so keep upgrading those engines. It's likely that your crewmembers have gained experience at this point, so keep them out of harms way if they've got a lot of skill. Sector 7 is a place where you have to make sure everything is ready for the flagship. At the end of sector 7, you should have:

Level 3 or 4 Shield
5 or 6 Engine Upgrades (Important)
2 or More Weapons

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Ultimate Doom? (The Rebel Flagship)

Upon entering sector 8, you are greeted by the Federation. They tell you some stuff, heal you a bit, and send you on your way. This sector is home to the Flagship, sure, but be careful on the way. If you've made it this far, it isn't likely that you will die before getting there, but try not to blow up the whole ship and roll up on the Flagship covered in Band-Aids or something. Whatever you do, don't take too long getting to the Flagship or it will take over the Federation base. Once you finally catch up to this thing, the fight of a lifetime begins.

• Rebel Flagship Phase One

I could tell you to not get too excited here, but you probably will anyway. Stage One is the most important because it decides your fate for the rest of the fight. Try not to screw this up. I'm assuming you took my advice from countless times before, and you have a teleporter. If you do have one, immediately teleport into the missile launcher room, the one with only one person in it. It's hard to miss. All of the weapons are in small rooms like this, which is good. The missile launcher is your first priority, cause it STINGS. This thing will not hesistate to cream you, and unless you have a godly evasion rate, it will hurt. Send in a guy or two to do a bit of sabotage. Once you've defeated the guy manning the missiles, your men will get to work destroying the missile system. This takes a bit, so prepare to take a few hits in the process. Once you've destroyed the missiles, your next target should be the ion weapon. Repeat the process of invading rooms, and make sure to keep your team healed up for the next room. Once you've done the missiles, laser, and ion, all that's left is a beam weapon. You really don't need to destroy this, since the other weapons are gone, so you basically can't lose your shield. The next thing you should try to do is bomb the shield system. Remember, the weapons are gone now, so you can take your time. Use missiles or bombs on the shield, or you can try and hack it. Invading the ship's main areas is possible, but it's hard to be effective. In order to do it efficiently, you will need to destroy the medbay by some means. Try not to kill all of the crew or an A.I. will take over the ship, and it can repair any system it wants to. Not good at all. Try and keep a guy or two alive. Try and deal damage to the ship any way you can, and you should be fine.

• Rebel Flagship Phase Two

Phase two is probably the hardest one. Hopefully you have a good chunk of health left over from phase one, cause you'll need it. When the fight starts, get your missile weapons ready. Use the teleporter as well, because the weapons somehow magically came back. The missile should again be a priority. This time the Flagship has a trick up it's sleeve. After some time, a "Power Surge" will begin. When this happens, you will be FLOODED with enemy drones. This will destroy your ship in no time flat. The drone system is your next target. Shoot everything you have at it. Fire bombs, normal bombs, missiles, anything. It's important. Expect to be invaded by a boarding drone as well. Try and keep it occupied. Even if you destroy it, another one is sent in it's place. All that does is create another hull breach. Destroying the drone system doesn't completely stop the power surges, but only like 4 or 5 drones will appear, compared to the 9 or 10 from before. It's obvious that the REAL challenge here is destroying the drone system, but it's pretty tough to do. If you can manage it, then the rest of the fight should be pretty easy.

• Rebel Flagship Phase Three

I found this stage to be a walk in the park after all that other crap. The Zoltan Shield is merely a distraction. Hit it with whatever you've got. Take out the weapons, do some damage elsewhere, etc. Again, the biggest problem is another power surge. It's a blast of at least 6-10 lasers. It can hurt you pretty bad, but by the time it was about to be used for a second time, I already was nearly done with the battle. Keep at it. This has got to be the easiest part in my opinion. Fight as well as you can, and you'll soon be greeted with.....





Congratulations, you've achieved the seemingly impossible! You now join the ranks of people who have defeated the odds, and now you can go and annoy people with your new accomplishment.

Unlocking Ships (Under Construction)

Somebody suggested that I add this section, so here we are. Most of these ships are actually rather easy to unlock. The problem is that you need a bit of luck. As for the Crystal ship? Well, you'll need enough luck to save the world from it's eventual destruction (funny joke) to unlock it. But don't worry! That's why this section is being made.

• Engi Ship

This is by far the easiest ship to unlock. All you have to do is get to sector 5. For something SO EASY to accomplish, it's one of my favorite ships, and as you know, I beat the game with it, so don't underestimate this guy.

• Slug Ship

Here's a bit of a challenge. The first order of business is to find a Slug Homeworlds sector. It's purple, like the nebulas. You will need level 2 sensors OR a Slug crewmember. I find it easiest to have upgraded sensors. All you really need to do is stop at as many beacons as you can and fight enemy ships until they surrender to you. Don't kill them! If the offer for surrendering is an Anti Bio Beam, you know you've found the right event. Don't pick the Anti-Bio Beam, but rather the second option, which is something like "Ask for information". A Quest beacon will show up on your map now. Go there, and you'll have to fight a ship that's trying to FTL away from you. You know what this means. Stop them! Personally, I was so excited to unlock the ship I just unloaded about 5 missiles onto it. Do whatever it takes to destroy the ship, and you'll be rewarded with the Slug Cruiser.

• Rock Ship

This is another one that requires a small amount of luck. You'll need a Rock Homeworlds sector. Go to it. As usual, visit as many beacons as you can. You need to run into an event that involves some Rock insulting you. Select the nicest option you can, which sounds similar to "I'll get there or die". You will be able to visit a Quest beacon now. When you get there, a ship will be near a fire threat, so be careful of that. This time, your objective isn't to kill the other ship, but to simply wait for it to leave. It's really easy, just lock down every door and get some crew ready to put out any fires. Once they leave, you get ANOTHER Quest beacon to go to. Once you get there you receive the Rock Cruiser. Hooray!

• Zoltan Ship

This ship is pretty easy. You need a Zoltan Homeworlds sector. When you get there, visit all the beacons possible. You need to get an event where an average ship contacts you. Listen to them, and choose all of the nice-guy options. That's pretty much it. You get the ship if you go through the whole thing without being a jerk.

• Stealth Ship

You need the Engi Homeworlds, and an Engi crewmember. As always, visit all the beacons you can find. You need to find a certain blue text option for your Engi. Just pick ANY blue options you get. If two Quest beacons are now visible on your map, you found the right one! If not, I'm sure you got something decent anyway. But you have to travel to both of those Quest beacons. In each one is a ship trying to FTL away. Make sure it doesn't, and after you've beaten one of the ships, it will give you a new Quest beacon. The other ship gives you nothing. Head to the new beacon and fight another ship. Upon beating it, you get the Stealth Cruiser!

Limit Break (Handicaps/Challenges)

The idea for this section recently occured to me, so I decided to add it because few other guides have done so. I'll talk about weird or challenging ways of playing the game in this section. Can you go through the entire game without firing a single shot? Can you beat the Flagship with no shield? Probably not, but who cares? Let's take a look at some of the craziest challenges I could think of.

• Federation Artillery Beam ONLY Playthrough

This isn't really that crazy, but trust me, it's actually quite fun. If there was one thing you needed to do this kind of run, it would be patience. Early on, the artillery beam takes ages to charge, so upgrading it will be a priority. You don't use weapons in this playthrough, only the Artillery Beam. That doesn't mean teleporters, hacking, mind control, etc. are off limits. It simply means no weapons. You can add to the challenge quite easily by simply not allowing yourself to use those subsystems. Like I explained earlier in this guide, this scenario actually happened to me once, and it was one of the strangest ways I've ever played FTL. Defensive upgrades quickly become paramount to your success.

• Teleporter ONLY Playthrough

It's pretty self-explanatory, but I'll elaborate. You can't use weapons, or the Artillery Beam. That means that if you have a ship with no starting teleporter, early sections will be hardest. If you do a teleporter only run, you'll need to upgrade the medbay/clonebay early on so that your crew is always in good shape for whatever might happen.

• Basically The Rebels Playthrough

This one is a weird idea I thought of. Rebels are only fond of humans, so you know what that means! That's right, you can't accept any new crewmembers unless they are human. I would advise using a ship that has an all-human starting crew, unless you want to dismiss all unhuman crew members upon starting. That's really the only limitation on this playthrough. If you want to go REALLY far and make it seem MORE authentic, use the Red-Tail ship. It looks just like a Rebel ship! The only problem is that you'll have to dismiss three of the four crew you start with.

• No Shields Playthrough

This is a pretty bland idea, but it's tough as nails for sure. It doesn't require much explanation, and honestly, you'd have to be insane to try it, but go right ahead!

• Blind Man Playthrough

Turn the sensors off, and never turn them back on. It sounds easy, but it gets pretty annoying once the fires and hull breaches show up. Invaders become more threatening too.


This is all I can think of at the moment. I'll be sure to add more of these, but if you can think of any interesting or fun ideas, please share.

What's Next? (Conclusion)

You've beaten the Flagship, I presume. This doesn't mean the game is over though! You thought you could escape this game? No. Not yet. You can still unlock every ship, play with the other difficulties, and maybe even do what I did, and try to share my knowledge with the other players of FTL. Heh, I'm a little sad to reach the end of this guide. Hopefully it was helpful to you, cause I had fun making it. I plan to add a section about some of the best weapons pretty soon, and if you have anything else I can add to the guide, then I will! And you will get credit for it. Before I sign off of this thing for a day or two, let's talk about a few things. By the way, this is the end of the GAME guide. This part is just a bit about how I wrote it.

My philosophy is that when writing a guide, I don't use the Wiki, or some other guide, or what have you. I like to write these based off of what I know, not whatever everyone else tells us. That's why I think this guide might be just a bit different than the rest. Anyway, that's all. Just thought you should know that.



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Changelog

V 1.0 - March 18 - Uploaded the guide
V 1.1 - March 18 - Added some info on the Crystal.
V 1.2 - March 20 - Added the "Weapons" section.
V 1.3 - March 23 - Put some more weapons into the "Weapons" section.
V 1.4 - March 23 - Added the "Augments" section.
V 1.5 - March 26 - Added more augments to the "Augments" section.
V 1.6 - March 28 - Began the "RNG" section.
V 1.7 - March 29 - Added the Federation ship to the "Ships" section, added another augment to the "Augments" section, and fixed a few typos. A very productive day!
V 1.8 - March 30 - Added the "Drones" section. I also added a few images to the guide.
V 1.9 - April 1 - Added the "Man of War" to the ships section. Not an April Fools Joke!
V 2.0 - April 2 - Added the Crystal's HP amount, and edited the doors section.
V 2.1 - April 6 - Gave some credit, edited the "Weapons" section.
V 2.2 - April 11 - Major updates! Added the "Challenges" section, fixed a few errors, and added some small tidbits.
V 2.3 - April 12 - Added Cloaking to the "Subsystems" section.
V 2.4 - April 14 - Added the Swarm Missile and Anti-Bio Beam to the "Weapons" section.
V 2.5 - April 21 - Added that Humans develop skills faster.
V 2.6 - April 28 - Started the "Unlocking Ships" section, and fixed a typo.
V 2.7 - May 7 - Added a new augment and edited the "Ion Weapons" category a bit.
V 2.8 - June 2 - Added a little thing to the "Mind Control" entry.
V 2.9 - June 19 - Added a few statements about my ownership of this guide, and what you should do if you for some reason want it on your website.
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Thanks to:

ThePCNerd: Told me about the Slug, and a few ships. Also gave some info about augments.
DRAMALLAMA: Told me about the Engi Type B ship, which I didn't put in the guide. Still, thanks!
Gaben Leedle: Told me about what the Crystal look like.
The Lolcat: Suggested that I add an "Augments" section.
aaronwills2002: Suggested that I add an "Events" section. I did, but I called it RNG. Thanks!
bocajharryman: Reminded me that the guide was lacking a "Drones" section.
SnoopZilla: Told me that Crystal have 125 hp, and that the Rock B ship has no doors.
Rojnova: Told me that the Chain Vulcan is the same as the normal Vulcan.
Chemoeum: Made me realize that I miscounted the maximum amount of crew. Fixed it!
Star 'Sword Sage' Sil: Told me the quest in which you can get the Zoltan Shield augment.
TooMuchGarlicLuigi: Told me that humans actually have a good quality.
Elderberry-Smelling-Hamster: Told me to add an "Unlocking Ships" section.
Nafetsky: Gave me a rather large amount of helpful information. Thanks!
Mephistoe: Told me a cool tip about Mind Control.


This guide was created by Mrmarshmelloman1. It should only appear on the following websites:
-Steam

If you would like to post this guide on your website, please contact me.
All rights for this game go to their owners, not me. Thanks to the creators for making the game!

[أنا اللعنة أمك]

I just wanted to thank you for this amazing guide!

[Marsh]

Much appreciated. Hard to believe this was so long ago, honestly.

[Kill Joy]

thanks for the info, im 4 years late to the party

[Marsh]

Thanks, I never really thought it would get so high up.

[Aluminum Hydroxide]

Dude, this is the 1st guide that shows up on the FTL guide page. Nice job :).

[Joonazan]

Some more strategy tips:
The scrap recovery arm is the best augment by far. It inevitably pays itself back and even lets you mine asteroids for scrap pretty often.
When on one shield and an ion ball is about to hit your shield, unpower shield and then quickly repower it. Your shield will not be ioned and will come back pretty soon.
With the clone bay, use zoltans as kamikaze bombs.
Sometimes you can kill the enemy crew just by shooting at it. Place a crewmember in the camera room to see enemy crew location and health.

And of course pause a lot in combat.

[Joonazan]

I suggest playing on normal difficulty. At least I feel like easy is not very well balanced.
Also, for the guide I suggest you mention that there are events that hint that you can lose a crew member. You should not take a risk like that unless you have a replacement for everyone. The most prominent of those is of course the alien spiders. It is also the least profitable. I actually think "giant alien spiders are no joke" is a joke because you only should fight them if in a desperate need of missiles.

[Mephistoe]

Glad i can help you make your already good guide even better. ;p

[Mephistoe]

Am I the only one who noticed that you can teleport mind controled enemies to your own ship? Comes in handy if you want the extra scrap, but can't keep the enemy's weapons and med bay down without destroying the ship.

[[BjB] LiFE]

Thx for your work, really usefull, even for a french guy who talking english like a spanish cow. =)