Finding weapons

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Deadboss
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Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 9:46 am

Finding weapons

Postby Deadboss » Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:21 am

I have noticed that some games are really horrible for weapons, like I will get to the last stage with default weapons bad. I am talking more laser type weapons, as missile weapons run out of ammo quickly and more than 1 is hard to maintain. I am wondering if it is just sheer bad luck, or if there is something with my playstyle that is hindering shops from stocking them.

-I do not upgrade any secondary systems (oxygen, doors, etc.).
-I stock money until something comes available to me via shop. So I will sit with only lvl 3 guns and 400 cash for the entire time, hoping to hit a weapon and then upgrade my systems. Not sure if this makes a difference.
-I try to hit as many friendly sectors as possible, my thought process being that there will be more shops. Not sure if this is reality.
-I tend not to buy all the systems (stealth, drones, etc.), usually pick up 1 maybe 2 end game if it looks like shops are being stingy. These pop up more than I would like to in shops, not sure if this makes a difference.

Any tips to get weapons would be great. This is the second time I hit the last stand with extremely under-geared guns, it is really quite frustrating when you hit like 10-20 shops and none carry an upgrade. The game is like "well you did good, but here's a giant middle finger for you sir".

Thanks.
entropius
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby entropius » Sun Oct 27, 2013 1:38 pm

This is my problem with Rock A: I often won't find enough of a non-missile weapons setup to deal with level 2 shields, say, until after I run out of missiles.

I haven't noticed any particular pattern. For this reason I think Engi A is the best ship I've played, simply because the starting weapons setup (Ion 2 plus anti-ship drone) is a huge amount of firepower; I just won with it, finding only a pike beam and Ion 1 along the way. (I did all three stages of the flagship only taking 2-3 points of damage, using the starting weapons, the pike beam, and the ion 1. Having both Defense II and Defense I active helped, though =) )
Deadboss
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby Deadboss » Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:22 am

I noticed that with the engi ship as well, which also happens to be one of my best played ships. Unfortunately, my playthroughs have ended roughly the same as yours, basically turtling to the max because you have nothing better to spend your money on. :evil:

Lasers seem really rare for some ships like the stealth and engi ships, yet they come around much more often with the osprey and federation ones. I say "seem" because I honestly have no idea, which is why I am here. Anybody know how this game actually works? Are shop items based off of more than just luck? Is there something I should do or avoid in order to spawn the weapon I want? Etc. etc... Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
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Sleeper Service
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby Sleeper Service » Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:07 pm

There is nothing in the xml code hinting that weapon rarity depends on the ship you fly... So rarity should always be the same. But there could be some hard coded stuff that affects rarity, in the end we can't be completely sure how rarity works.

The only thing in the game that changes rarity seems to be the crystal sector, it only allows for crystal weapons to appear...
CFIT
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby CFIT » Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:50 am

Re: your playing style

1. You should upgrade secondary systems. Oxygen, you can do without (for short periods). Take doors to level 2, especially if you're heading into a Mantis or a Nebula sector. In general, L2 doors help you control boarders, giving you time to react (and to vent the gas and kill the fools). Combine that with autopilot, and even understaffed, you can handle boarders with minimal impact to your defenses (and that's where boarders really hurt -- diverting resources from combat). Medbay, Sensors, and autopilot all give extra blue events. If you hit just one of them, you pay for the upgrade. I generally upgrade Medbay before going into a distress sector.
Generally, my secondary upgrade schedule is: medbay, doors, sensors, autopilot, oxygen.

2. In the early game, it's hard to keep a lot of cash on hand, but I try to keep 50-70 on s1, 90-100 on s2, then around 120. If you've judged your ship capable of handling one Elite fighter, and you maximize your time at the end of a sector so that you need to blow through the enemy fleet to exit the sector, you'll want to spend some of that scrap on upgrading your engines and shields.

3. Friendly sectors don't make much of a difference for shops or even easy of transit. Maybe someone who's looked at the XML can correct me, but it's a matter of the scripted encounters that you have and the types of ships. So pick the sector based on what your ship can handle. If you're lightly armed, but have a lethal crew, go to the Mantis sector; if you've got the firepower, but not the crew, avoid it. If you've got ion and beam weapons, take the Zoltans on; if you're packing missiles and bombs, avoid it.

4. Build up your additional systems according to what is most effective for your style. If you're looking to capture weapons, the best choice is the teleporter; in general, the teleporter is an excellent call, as you get max scrap from captures, and blue events that increase your crew. You will also find that drones + defense I are an excellent combination to defeat missiles. Stealth is extremely useful, although its blue events tend to favor escape over scrap. If you're having trouble getting weapons, any one of the three will help turn an underagressive ship into something nasty.
zeek
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby zeek » Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:45 pm

There are a few things you can do to maximize the weapons you have access too, but in the end the random number generator could always rain on your parade.

1.) Beat ships without destroying them. If you beat a ship with boarders, asphyxiation, bio-beam, fire, etc. to kill the crew then you have a better chance of finding weapons or so I've been told.

2.) By all the systems available in the shop. Shops offer two categories to purchase from out of five available categories. Shops have a much higher chance of offering you systems than anything else. However, they only offer systems when you don't have them all. So, if you buy them all then you get a 50% chance of weapons being offered in any given shop.

Don't let weapons hold you back though. Get really good at boarding and you almost don't need weapons. I'm often really happy if I can run a ship with only a small bomb as a weapon and just use boarders for everything (it's nice to have an energy weapon as backup to get through zoltan shields and to finish off automated ships). You get a nice scrap bonus from using boarders and sometimes you find a weapon, drone, augment or crewman.
The Captain
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby The Captain » Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:23 pm

CFIT wrote:Re: your playing style

1. You should upgrade secondary systems. Oxygen, you can do without (for short periods). Take doors to level 2, especially if you're heading into a Mantis or a Nebula sector. In general, L2 doors help you control boarders, giving you time to react (and to vent the gas and kill the fools). Combine that with autopilot, and even understaffed, you can handle boarders with minimal impact to your defenses (and that's where boarders really hurt -- diverting resources from combat). Medbay, Sensors, and autopilot all give extra blue events. If you hit just one of them, you pay for the upgrade. I generally upgrade Medbay before going into a distress sector.
Generally, my secondary upgrade schedule is: medbay, doors, sensors, autopilot, oxygen.

I'm going to disagree somewhat here: upgrade your secondary systems when you can afford to. Early on, you want to get shields and engines up, then possibly weapons. L2 door control would be the first one I would upgrade (especially if you're going into a Mantis sector): while you can handle boarders with L1 doors, L2 helps - also with keeping fires in check. Medbay you don't need to upgrade until you're boarding, and then I would do it only after L2 TP and L2 sensors. Piloting I often leave till later, and O2 I often upgrade after beating the boss in the first round (because it's the only thing I can afford to upgrade at that point - but L2 O2 is potentially useful in the second round). Yes, there are some blue options for upgraded secondary systems, but you may not run into them. If going into a nebula, L2 piloting and O2 might be considerations - but not necessarily a "should." The question is, what are your priorities at the moment?

2. In the early game, it's hard to keep a lot of cash on hand, but I try to keep 50-70 on s1, 90-100 on s2, then around 120. If you've judged your ship capable of handling one Elite fighter, and you maximize your time at the end of a sector so that you need to blow through the enemy fleet to exit the sector, you'll want to spend some of that scrap on upgrading your engines and shields.

It depends on the ship, but I'm probably not waiting to upgrade to L4 (second layer) shields in sector 1, even if I can't afford the power, which will be upgraded next. Then L4 engines are probably next. If you know where a store is, maybe save your scrap while making as many jumps as you can before going there, but increasing defenses means less scrap spent on repairs. Then you can save more scrap.

3. Friendly sectors don't make much of a difference for shops or even easy of transit. Maybe someone who's looked at the XML can correct me, but it's a matter of the scripted encounters that you have and the types of ships. So pick the sector based on what your ship can handle. If you're lightly armed, but have a lethal crew, go to the Mantis sector; if you've got the firepower, but not the crew, avoid it. If you've got ion and beam weapons, take the Zoltans on; if you're packing missiles and bombs, avoid it.

Friendly sectors are likely to have more stores, so if you really need one, go there. Then try and make jumps that will get you adjacent to the most unknown stars/beacons, to increase the likelihood of revealing a store.

Sometimes the RNG will just fuck you over; you just have to try to prepare your ship to handle whatever comes your way. Boarding is a good way to beat ships without having the best weapons. If you have drone control, an antiship drone might be a necessary way to increase your firepower until you can get more weapons.
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NewAgeOfPower
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby NewAgeOfPower » Wed Oct 30, 2013 6:19 am

The Captain wrote:Boarding is overpowered.


There, fixed it for you.

But seriously,

boarding =
1. MASSIVELY increases scrap income rates.

2. increase your crew's hand to hand stat (excellent for fighting off boarding events/attacks)

3. allows you to more easily overcome shielded ships without spending ammo

4. guaranteed way to beat down ships (with correct micro, tactics & crew- crystals are OP here) even if your weapons loadout sucks.
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Twinge
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby Twinge » Mon Nov 04, 2013 12:20 pm

CFIT wrote:Combine that with autopilot, and even understaffed, you can handle boarders with minimal impact to your defenses.


The autopilot it utter rubbish unfortunately. If you have 20% Evasion, that will drop to a paltry 4% when your pilot leaves - you also lose the 5% (or 7%/10%) provided by your pilot. It's simply never worthwhile unless you're doing a One Man Wolfpack challenge or such.

I will note, however, that upgrading your Piloting is still somewhat useful for the blue option in nebulae and the damage buffer (so the system can take 1 damage before going offline).

CFIT wrote:Friendly sectors don't make much of a difference for shops or even easy of transit.


Actually, it makes a HUGE difference - it's the single most important difference between sectors in my opinion. Specifically:

* Civilian, Engi, and Slug Sectors have 2 or 3 stores.
* Rock and Zoltan Sectors have exactly 2 stores.
* Pirate, Rebel, Mantis, and Neblua Sectors have 1 or 2 stores.

In my experience I don't beleive hostile sectors actually average more scrap either. Additionally, Civ/Engi Sectors have a higher chance of neutral events, which can give you a free weapon. (Killing the crew of most ships has a chance of a free weapon as well.)

So specifically OP - I suggest always prioritizing Engi or Civilian Sectors as much as possible. (Only actually visit stores if you have enough money to buy useful things, of course.)
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stylesrj
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Re: Finding weapons

Postby stylesrj » Fri May 01, 2015 5:34 am

Mclain wrote:Geth Particle Beam does NOT require that you play on any particular difficulty. It is also NOT an upgrade to the assault rifle. I am playing on Normal difficulty and I found the Pulse Rifle during the mission to recon the colony Freedom's Progress. I picked it up after the first fight where you face a collector under direct control of whoever their leader is.


Meanwhile on a Mass Effect forum, people are wondering what the spambot is on about when mentioning the chances of acquiring a Burst Laser II.

Kids, this is why when programming your spambots, you program them for advertising. [/themoreyouknow]