On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

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halbarad
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On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby halbarad » Fri May 15, 2015 7:15 pm

Greeting dear space travelers,

As we know scrap should be spend as smart as possible.

I noticed sometimes you can get an option during the journey to pay some scrap for the hull repair. Even when there is no shop near the star. What's the best option, should I refuse the offer and wait for the normal shop repair? Am I paying more for this on the go option?
Leylite
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby Leylite » Fri May 15, 2015 9:47 pm

The hull repair event always costs 2 scrap per hull point, whereas normal store beacon repair costs 2 scrap per hull point in early sectors, then transitions to 3 per and 4 per in later sectors.

I don't recommend ever buying these repairs in the early game, because that scrap should be spent upgrading things like shields, engines, and weapons, but in the late game it can be well worth it if your timing is right and you don't jeopardize a later store visit by not having enough money there to buy what you want.
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stylesrj
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby stylesrj » Fri May 15, 2015 10:14 pm

I've seen people keep this as a rule of thumb - repair the hull up to 66% (or up to the second 2 section of the health bar when it turns green)

The other 33% can be fixed up via events or that hull repair station if you encounter it. Otherwise you're wasting scrap when free/cheap repairs come in.
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Twinge
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby Twinge » Sat May 16, 2015 9:57 am

I generally suggest playing a little safer than that - I'll heal up to 25 at a store in most cases. I'd rather (very rarely) waste a little bit of free repairing than risk losing the run to a series of bad fights.
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5thHorseman
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby 5thHorseman » Sat May 16, 2015 10:29 am

I personally only heal up to 15 hull points. I've found that in the vast majority of cases, if an enemy is going to do 15 hull points to me, he'll do 20, or even 30. Same for any string of enemies.

I take this rule with me through every chance to heal hull. If I'm below 15, I'll buy 5 from the wandering guy. If I'm below 10, I'll buy 10. If I'm below 5, I'm kissing his boots as he fixes me up the full amount.

I don't know if I win more or less because of this strategy. I'm not going to make spreadsheets of wins and losses following each one. However it FEELs like - since I adopted it - I win a lot more on Hard Mode than I did before.
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stylesrj
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby stylesrj » Sat May 16, 2015 11:03 am

I don't know if I win more or less because of this strategy. I'm not going to make spreadsheets of wins and losses following each one. However it FEELs like - since I adopted it - I win a lot more on Hard Mode than I did before.


Don't you think clearer knowing that because you didn't waste that 10 Scrap on repairs, you can now afford that Cloaking Device without selling off one of your important assets?

That's how I see it. "I saved money, so I feel good about buying this important system!"
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Twinge
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby Twinge » Mon May 18, 2015 1:36 am

5thHorseman wrote:I personally only heal up to 15 hull points. I've found that in the vast majority of cases, if an enemy is going to do 15 hull points to me, he'll do 20, or even 30. Same for any string of enemies.


I'd definitely disagree with this. One enemy should not be ruining your day for an experienced player, but a string of enemies potentially can, and there can be a long stretch between repairs even prioritizing sectors with more stores. Taking 7 damage from a pretty tough enemy, then another 3 from a Leto and an Artemis that land before you can fire, then another 5 from a fairly rough encounter - that's absolutely a thing that can and will happen.

Additionally, there just aren't that many events that repair you up, and even fewer than repair more than 5. Scrap isn't so tight even on Hard that it's generally going to be worth the risk for the very small chance of saving slightly more scrap.

Finally, also keep in mind events you CAN'T afford to take because your hull is too low. I'm generally happy to take 5 damage for 25 scrap if I'm at 18 hull; I definitely can't justify that risk at 8 hull.
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stylesrj
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby stylesrj » Mon May 18, 2015 7:30 am

Just don't heal up to full in Sector 7, one jump away from the exit beacon. Last Stand will give you 10 HP worth of repairs.
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5thHorseman
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Re: On the go hull repair. Is it worth it?

Postby 5thHorseman » Mon May 18, 2015 4:08 pm

Twinge wrote:I'd definitely disagree with this. One enemy should not be ruining your day for an experienced player, but a string of enemies potentially can, and there can be a long stretch between repairs even prioritizing sectors with more stores. Taking 7 damage from a pretty tough enemy, then another 3 from a Leto and an Artemis that land before you can fire, then another 5 from a fairly rough encounter - that's absolutely a thing that can and will happen.


That's fair, though something else that absolutely happens is running into enemies that are amazingly tough, but would be pushovers if you just had that one thing that you could have bought at the last store (or powered up with a little upgrade). I'm not going to do 1000 runs and fill in spreadsheets with results, but in my experience I do fine healing up to 15 hull each time, and that extra scrap - especially early in Hard mode - gets put to FANTASTIC use.

Twinge wrote:Finally, also keep in mind events you CAN'T afford to take because your hull is too low. I'm generally happy to take 5 damage for 25 scrap if I'm at 18 hull; I definitely can't justify that risk at 8 hull.


Of course you would. It'd mitigate the 30 scrap you spent to heal those 10 hull points at the store you last went to.

Though I should say, I've considered changing my strategy to healing up to 15 until the early game is over, and then going up to 20 for the last couple sectors (either 6 and 7 or 5-7) with the goal of entering the last stand with 20 hull point, to be healed up to 30. That way, I get the bulk of the benefit that that 10 scrap gives me in early upgrades, without the added risk of not having that marginal 5-hull buffer zone that others get.
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