Any FTL players out there to view this?

Don't Fall Behind
Stay current with a recap of today's Tech News from Digital Trends


You're Killing Your iPhone With These 7 Charging MistakesThrillist.com

When Edward Snowden Tells You Not to Download Something, ListenInsidehook.com

Famous Hacking Scenes That Are Totally InaccurateLooper.com

7 Reasons You Should Quit Facebook in 2016Mensjournal.com



Powered By ZergNet



FTL: Faster Than Light is not a kind game. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, the odds against you stack high enough to make even the most seasoned Dark Souls authority quiver with fear. The new Advanced Edition update doesn’t change any of that. Hell, it adds a Hard mode to the game. That’s just sadistic.
With all of the new content added by Advanced Edition, plus a first-time appearance on iPad, we expect that there are plenty of new players discovering FTL for the first time and plenty of longtime fans returning to see what all the excitement is about. We’re here to help. These 10 tips don’t specifically apply to Advanced Edition, since all versions of the game now have that content, but they still might help you survive long enough to reach the rebel flagship.
From there, you’re on your own. That thing is the worst.

1. You are going to die

Death is a universal truth in FTL. It might happen under the sustained fire of the giant rebel cruiser at the end of the game, or it might happen after your very first jump. You need to let go of your impatience. The random delivery of events as you leap from system to system weights the odds heavily against you, and more often than not, a game will end with your crew sucking vacuum. Don’t be afraid to restart completely if it’s clear a game is turning against you. That’s going to happen often.

2. The first final frontier

The early sectors in any FTL game are the ones you’ll want to spend the most time exploring. Each jump you make inside a sector brings the pursuing rebel fleet closer, and you’ve got lots of fighting with few rewards if they happen to overtake you. Later sectors throw much tougher ships and challenges against you, so maximize your scrap (FTL‘s currency) gains early by exploring as much as you can. Consider investing early in a Scrap Recovery Arm and/or Long-Range Scanners if you happen to see either in a store. These are both a big help throughout any game.

3. Running on empty

Mind your resources. They’re all listed in the top left corner of the screen, under the damage meter. If you rely heavily on missiles or drones, make sure you stock up whenever you visit a store. You’ll always rely heavily on fuel, so make sure you grab that whenever you can as well. Play it smart though; if you have 15+ fuel, you can safely spend in other directions. It’s not game over if you run out of fuel mid-sector, since you can wait for help or deploy a distress beacon, but both of these carry the risk of drawing rebel attention. What’s important is to always be mindful of what you’re using and what you need.

4. Power struggle

There are two layers to upgrading your ship: the individual systems and the core reactor. If you don’t have a powerful enough reactor, you’re going to have to make tough choices when it comes to feeding partial power to different systems. Try to upgrade the reactor and individual systems together whenever you can. It’s tempting to juice up your weapons immediately, but it’s generally smarter focus your early upgrades in other directions.
This all depends on the ship you’re using of course. The Kestrel, which is the starting ship and the one you’ll spend the most time with early on, has enough firepower to carry you through the first half of a game. The Level 2 Medbay is ***** and opens up lots of extra options for various events. Level 2 Doors help prevent fires from spreading. Put a priority on Level 2 Shields and Engines as well, since they increase your durability and evasion, respectively. The less damage you take, the less scrap you’ll have to spend on repairs.

5. Focus your fire

There are dozens of strategies for surviving in combat, all of them dependent on how you’ve built out your ship, but there are some truths in FTL that apply universally. First and most important is that it’s best to be a focused weapon of mass destruction rather than a Swiss Army Spaceship. If you’re stacked with ranged weapons and have a small crew, don’t bother investing in a Teleporter system. Your choices in this regard are often influenced heavily by your choice of ship. Take note of each ship system and crew configuration. Play to your strengths.

6. Time out

FTL is a game of micromanagement more than anything else, and the pause feature is a vital part of that. Enemy shields recharge quickly, so try to fire all of your shield-susceptible weapons in a cluster by pausing immediately after you give the fire order on one to stack another fire order behind it. Ion shots knock your shields out quickly, but you can prevent them from leaving you vulnerable to other weapons fire if you pause and cut power to your shields when you see one of the slow-moving balls of electricity heading your way, then restore power immediately after impact. Pause is also necessary for boarding actions – engaging in them or repelling them – since you’ll want to keep your crew together.

7. Enemy ship approaching

Every ship-to-ship battle has different needs, but combat always boils down to keeping your enemy off balance by forcing them to play catch-up. You’ll want to target two, even three, key ship systems so the opposing ship’s crew always has more than one repair to worry about. Weapon and Shield systems should be a top priority. Engine too, especially if you see “FTL charging” in the enemy ship window; that means they’re trying to escape. This might change depending on your weapon loadout, but one good strategy is to target the Weapons and Oxygen systems, since the former knocks out your enemy’s offensive capabilities and the latter gets repair priority.

8. To your stations

A capable crew is essential to surviving in FTL. You’ll want to have bodies manning Engines and Piloting for sure, to improve your survivability. Manned systems get an effectiveness upgrade without the need for extra reactor power. Your crew also earns experience for all activities: working on individual systems/subsystems, combat (during boarding actions), and repairs in general. Make sure to establish clear-cut roles for each crewmember; you won’t want your pilot manning the Weapons system. Advanced Edition helpfully adds the ability to save crew configurations and then use that to issue a global “return to stations” order.

9. Bigger and better

The Kestrel is an OK starting ship, but just like every other ship, it’s purpose-built for a particular kind of play. You’ll want to unlock more. The unlock conditions for most of FTL‘s ships are steep, typically requiring you to take down the rebel flagship with some other vessel. There are, however, hidden missions that offer an alternative route to filling your hangar up. There’s no surefire strategy for finding them, since all events in FTL are random.
This leaves you with two options: check on the Internet or experiment every chance you get. One game is not a huge time investment, and it’s always more valuable in the long run to take a risk on an option you’ve never seen before. Certain events, for example, have hidden choices that only unlock when you have certain ship systems or crewmembers. If you highlight a locked ship, you’ll see a vague hint about what the hidden unlock mission might entail. We won’t judge you if you ask the Internet though.

10. The basics of Advanced

FTL doesn’t change dramatically with the Advanced Edition update; there’s simply more going on. Purists have the option of turning off the new content from the main menu, though that can also be helpful for newcomers as well. You’re not the only one with access to the new stuff; your enemy uses that gear as well. If it’s your first time playing, try setting out a few times with Advanced content turned off to get a sense of how the game flows.
There’s a whole lot of new stuff in the update, including a new race and an assortment of gear, but we’re going to focus here on looking at the three new ship systems, since that’s what you’ll likely encounter the most. Hacking allows you (or your enemy) to disrupt a ship system in a variety of ways, depending on the targeted system. Hacked Weapons lose their charge, but a hacked Teleporter brings enemy boarders back to their ship. The Clone Bay revives dead crewmembers and restores some crew health with every jump, though it completely replaces your Med Bay. Finally, Mind Control turns enemy crew over to fight for you, but they’ll need to be visible on your ship’s sensors.

11. Bonus! There are no cowards in FTL

Don’t be afraid to set your difficulty to Easy. Let’s be clear: FTL is never actually easy, you just stand a better chance of surviving on the lower difficulty. Save Normal and the new Hard settings for later, after you’ve gotten a sense of how the game works and left this guide far behind.

http://www.ign.com/wikis/ftl-faster-.../Starter_Guide
FTL: Faster Than Light Starter Guide 11:55



Welcome to FTL: Faster Than Light! If you have questions, or are wondering just what have you got yourself into, then look no further. Below is a handy list of things to get you started on your trek across the stars.

What Is FTL

FTL: Faster Than Light is a space simulation game with heavy amounts of strategy laced into it. You control a ship and its crew on a journey to warn the Federation Fleet about the Rebel invasion. The game is totally random, and each time a new game is started, the sectors, encounters and enemies will all be different. This makes multiple playthroughs not only necessary to collect all the items, but quite fun.

Where To Begin

FTL really only has one thing to do in the beginning. You load up the Hangar, pick The Kestrel and begin your journey. The Hangar is where you can change ships in the future, and see detailed information about what you will start out with. The Kestrel is the starting ship, crewed by humans, and comes equipped with a healthy supply of weapons. This ship will be your primary ship for sometime, and will serve you well in learning the ropes, and your play style. More information can be found on the Hangar and The Kestrel pages respectively.

What are all these gauges?

There are quite a lot of stats in FTL. For an indepth breakdown of what everything on your screen means, head over to Battle Screen. Here you can find out just what each stat,gauge and green bar means. You can also hover over them in game, for a small explanation telling you what that current system does.

So how do I play?

Well this can be hard to answer. The game has many approaches and due to its random nature, it can be wildly unpredictable. Your goal, is to reach sector 8 where the Federation Fleet is waiting. To do so you must battle, barter and talk your way across the sectors in a desperate fight to survive and outrun the rebels. The two main screens that the player will interact with will be the Beacon Map and the Battle Screen.
The Beacon Map is how the player will travel across the sectors. Each sector is littered with random places to explore. Due to this random nature, it is impossible to plot the same course each time, and thus each new jump may lead to unexpected riches, or to terrible enemies.
The Battle Screen is where the real fun happens. Here you will assault enemies in a fight for your life. This game doesn't mess around, and each fight can spell doom if handled poorly. Information on the Battle Screen, and what it all means can be found Here. If you want a few ideas on how to outfit your ship for battle, check out Battle Strategies. There you can find ideas on how to set youself up to be succesful in the various fights that you will come across.

Battle Time!

Battles are the bulk of the game. They scale with the each sector, slowly getting more difficult until you reach sector 8, where the enemy holds nothing back. Starting out, battles will be straight forward. The Kestrel comes equipped with some potent starting weapons that a new player can employ to great success. Missiles do heavy damage and travel through shields without stopping. They do however need ammo, so make sure to keep them well stocked. Lasers do light damage, but fire in bursts and are great at knocking down shields.
When entering battle, make sure to click your weapons and power them up. Sometimes they will be grayed out, either due to a lack of power or from a previous encounter. Once charged, the player is free to target the weapons at any system. Until you form your own strategies and techniques, it is best to fire your missiles into their Shields, and lasers at their Weapons Control. The missile will damage their shields system, so that they can't recharge while the lasers will cause havoc on their own weapons, ensuring the enemy can't fire back at you.

Battles are won when the enemy, or yourself, run out of health. After each battle the player receives scrap and sometimes items such as fuel, missiles or even weapons. More info on battles can be found under Battle Screen and Battle Strategies.

Scrap, Stores and Items

Over the course of your journey you will collect plenty of scrap. This can be used in a few ways. Firstly it can upgrade your ship. To do this, simply click the ship button at the top of your screen. Here you can spend scrap to upgrade your systems, but remember you must buy additional power to go along with that. Scrap can also be used at stores.
Stores are randomly placed in each sector, and each store has a unique list of items available to buy. Each store has a few things that don't change however. You will always be able to buy fuel, missiles and drones as well as having the option to fix any hull damage you take.
Some stores will sell new crew members, even ones from other races. They will also carry either drones, augmentations or weapons. New systems can be bought as well, but before making any large purchase ensure you have the energy to power up the new toys you wish to buy. What the player buys will determine how their ship performs, so careful thought should be made before each purchase as selling selling items back only returns about 50% of their original cost.

So how do I win?

To beat FTL, the player must reach sector 8 and kill the final boss. The boss, naturally, is a gigantic rebel ship. It is very difficult to kill, and likely on your first playthrough, and possibly your next 10, it will destroy you.

And what if I die?

Dying happens often but do not fret. FTL is a short game designed for dozens of playthroughs. Each time, you get a little better and will learn more techniques and how best to play the game. There are also other ships that can be unlocked, and more info about that can be found over Here.
Upon death, you must restart from your hanger with a new ship. You keep nothing from the previous run, unless you unlocked a new vessel. Simply get back out there and try again. Each time you will get further, and eventually you will be making it to sector 8 with ease, wondering why sector 2 seemed so hard only a few hours ago.