Hit the best shop ever

[MrNooby]

http://postimg.org/image/jwk318uan/ is what the shop has for sale....

http://postimg.org/image/8syg9m3k1/ is what I already have.

Basically, I couldn't ask for anything better.

But what to choose? A second automated loader would make my ridiculous firing rate even more insane, a defense scrambler would make phase 2 of the flagship laughably easy, and the zoltan shield bypass will do the exact same thing for phase 3.

[stylesrj]

The Scrambler isn't that useful for Phase 2.

Want to know how to get a Hacking Drone past the enemy's defences in one easy trick? It's such an easy trick that Rebel Engineers don't want you finding out!

As soon as the Drone fires, you power down Hacking. It'll overshoot the mark and you can quickly repower Hacking.

I do recommend the shield bypass, if only so you can take out Phase 3's missiles that little bit faster. Then again, you have 2 Ion II's, so you can quickly take down the shields, switch to the Vulcan and let loose. The Reloader might be the trick then, if only to make shield destruction faster.

[MrNooby]

Really? I had no idea about that. That's exactly why I wanted the scrambler - I'll keep that in mind for future runs. I managed to give the flagship a good beating, although I took a fair amount of damage in phase 3, around half my health due to RNG - but a win never the less.

I think the zoltan shield bypass is pretty much an instant buy for any boarding strategy, and the flagship is a nasty fight if you're not boarding, without a doubt.

[stylesrj]

True, but if you have guns that fire every 4 seconds and do massive shield damage, the bypass can help but a reloader might be the better option.

But if you don't, then the bypass is your go-to system for all proper boarding strategies. Along with a reconstructive teleport and a Clone Bay

[MrNooby]

I've always stayed away from the clonebay, personally. It doesn't suit me at all. With level 3 teleporting, you can be in and out in a flash, and I very rarely lose boarders.

[stylesrj]

I've always stayed away from the clonebay, personally. It doesn't suit me at all. With level 3 teleporting, you can be in and out in a flash, and I very rarely lose boarders.

The Clone Bay allows greater risk-taking. Giant alien spiders? They're a joke now. Salvage in an ion storm? Go ahead. Great Eye? Ok the Clone Bay won't save you there either.

The only price to pay is that you can't help out infected colonists unless you have an Engi or Rock... and you shouldn't board space stations (but then again, those events are complete BS. You teleport someone back and now you have a hostile crew attacking unless you have a Level 3 medbay.)

It also means that you don't need to keep 3 power bars in the Teleporter and 3 bars in the medbay. You save 4-6 power bars that could be used for something else, like Hacking or Mind Control or a big gun.

Also, what do you do if your crew is low on health and just before you send them back to the ship, the enemy cloaks? You dash around the ship until they return to the fight? You smash Cloaking first? Great! Now that BS missile has free reign on your teleporter or medbay!

[MrNooby]

I've only done easy playthroughs so far, so that might be due to difficulty - I don't know exactly how much more difficult things get on normal or hard. Good to know though.

[stylesrj]

Well on Normal, Zoltan ships acquire super shields in Sector 1 and if you let the Rebel Fleet overrun the exit beacon, there will be an ASB waiting for you.

So not much really on Normal compared to Easy. I think also 2-shielded enemies appear more frequently in Sector 3 rather than 4.