Defending combat drone + heavy laser | FTL tips

[@mikehopley]

Probably the best way to use this tactic over multiple volleys is starting O2 at 100% and just leaving it off. That gives you a timer for every volley. You can use the "arbitrary time" option at ftl-timing.mikehopley.org/ . The formula for volley N would be (8.1 * N) - 0.9, i.e. 7.2 seconds for the first volley, 15.3 for the second, etc. This will also work with different venting patterns as described in the app documentation. Without the shields buffer against this specific enemy, I now would NOT use the tactic, because blocking the Heavy Laser just opens you up to the Mini Beam hitting shields instead. If the Mini Beam is removed, I would use the tactic.

[@crowrevell2082]

Whenever Crowrevell cries, Mike is there to save the rest of FTLers from such pain. *imagine crow's lifeless body drifting through space as Mike flies by in his party bus of alive subscribers* I think it's important to always review what seems to be "impossible to survive" situations to see if there is anything to be gleamed from one's own demise.

[@mikehopley]

I can always count on you to see the bright side! And it's so hard to find a really interesting corpse.

[@ThomasPettersson]

Normally we get to learn crazy stuff that no one would actually use on this channel, but I could see myself using this. It's just 5,7 years since I played FTL seriously, but any decade now!

[@mikehopley]

Did you just accuse me of being practical? Rude!

[@ralden2691]

re: the O2 discussion (@6:09) I think this is something I probably do too often. My slug A run recently almost died due to suffocation -- I'll have to check my video, there were rock event boarders so it may have been sloppy venting of the boarders not intentional venting below 50%, but in any case my shields and O2 were damaged (maybe weapons as well). I got shields fixed but the "timer" almost ran out 8| looking through your ship guides, my interpretation is that you recommend venting below 50% in the early game for Stealth B and Engi B (maybe for "most if not all" fights?), which has been my standard practice as well it also seems that Stealth A and Stealth C receive strong consideration for venting in order to reduce the chance of weapons being hit (& cloak for A) -- I'm phrasing it this way because, while this is laid out as a consequence/fact, I'm not sure just from the text whether it is something you necessarily recommend or favor. for Kestrel C, Engi C, Mantis C, and Lanius A & B, my interpretation of your position might be "these ships have features that help the potential benefits outweigh the risks", so they also receive consideration would that be a fair summary? are there other ships where you often consider or strongly consider venting below 50%? other ships where I think about venting are: - Fed A & Slug C, since a hit to weapons is such a drag -- but losing the game due to asphyxiation would be a bigger drag... so maybe I should reconsider. What I tell myself though, is that Fed A has 4 crew including 1 Engi, so maybe it's a little harder for the "timer to run out". Similarly, Slug C has 3 crew and a clonebay (Slug A starting with only 2 crew and medbay seems to make venting below 50% more risky) - Rock C, Fed C and maybe Crystal A since they have "features that may help the potential benefits outweigh the risks" in my mind I don't think I vented below 50% in my most recent runs with Slug C, Rock C, Fed C or Crystal A, but I think I chose to do this for at least some early encounters with Fed A. This is something I have been reevaluating, so I'm glad you brought it up here, and maybe I should be looking for other solutions based on particularly dangerous fights/enemy setups (like you've done here), rather than relying on a risky maneuver in order to gain a marginal benefit

[@mikehopley]

Good thoughts. I don't have a completely set idea about which ships I vent and when, and it is maybe something I should revisit. For me a big distinction is, "do I need any O2 prep before I jump?" I don't think I pre-vent below 50% on any ship, as that seems unnecessary and opens up some bad situations like an O2 hack. So for example on Stealth B, I drop O2 to 75% globally and then jump, which gives me time to get below 50% by only venting the empty rooms in the top half. I think Slug A is deceptively vulnerable to bad O2 situations. It really doesn't *feel* like it should be, with the Repair Gel and the adjacent medbay; but I think there's some non-obvious stuff going on that makes them happen. Only two crew is a big difference, as you mentioned. But also if you think about the way you get below 50%, you have to vent through either shields or medbay. And then if you are "at" 50% and need to vent (say) engines as well to deal with fires, suddenly you are really low. Fed A I definitely want to vent, but again that's reactively because it vents fast enough. You can also make a case for pre-venting the corridor into shields just to deal with boarders more effectively, but again there's the O2 hack consideration. As you sorta indirectly mentioned, it depends on crew type as well. Fed A has the Engi so it's pretty safe. Crystal crew are also really good, and of course Lanius. Fed C has Respirators and clonebay, and it can be really important to protect shields in bad early fights, so I vent for that -- again, reactively from 100%. It also helps a lot to turn OFF the artillery (!)

[@ralden2691]

​@@mikehopley I vent to some amount before jumping with Stealth B and Engi B (I try to follow what you describe in your guides for both those ships), I think any venting I do with other ships is "reactive" (after jumping, before enemy weapons volley). I might have left some empty rooms vented on Fed A in the past but that's asking for trouble like you say. great points re: slug A and the way you actually get things vented. I had started venting piloting and then refilling a bit before jumping (I think I went back up to 80% or so on my last run, inspired by "Venting the front of the ship is awkward, so consider pre-venting and letting oxygen refill a bit." from your guide) -- but I'm not sure I love doing that anymore after the near-death experience 😬 -- edit: now that I think about it, if I am going to vent the front of the ship to some degree before jumping, I should do some door-configuring in order to equalize the rest of the ship, while leaving the front rooms slightly low/lower, kind of like you demonstrated in your mantis B fire safety video 💡 I think using slug A as a springboard will help me think more critically about how much I am risking when I reactively go below 50% prior to an enemy volley -- what systems will have to be vented, how difficult is it to get other systems vented to deal with fire, etc. (in addition to crew number and type, augments, systems/buffers) hahaha and yeah with Fed C you need to practice "artillery safety" almost like fire safety w/ Mantis B. I imagine little posters on the walls in the teleporter room and maybe piloting/engines to remind the crew: "did you turn off the artillery?" with some sort of cautionary graphic 🚭😵☠

[@mikehopley]

@@ralden2691 Very good assessment IMO. I have the same feeling about using this Slug A experience as a "springboard" to tweak my evaluation of venting in general. Also I might need to update this part of the ships guide at some point.

[@alex_zetsu]

Wouldn't the thing we want to avoid be the minibeam? So to avoid that, you should try to dodge every shot possible and don't let down the shields. If the combat drone breaks the shield 2 seconds before the minibeam fires, it will enter. If it doesn't break the shield, then we have to dodge the heavy laser to avoid the beam. The minibeam can do something nasty like hit doors and weapons (I think? I never saw this in 7 runs since I started paying attention to see if it can do that) but it can also disable the shield system by doing any damage to it (unless it has buffer). If the laser hits the doors and started a fire, that's not great, but at least it didn't drag. Since letting the heavy laser break the shield lets the beam in, I think we should try to hope to dodge it instead of trying to block it, unless we have shields-3. Shields-3 makes the minibeam less problematic (it can still do nasty drags, but if aimed at the shield system it probably just does 1 damage) while not making the heavy laser much safer/

[@mikehopley]

Yeah I think if you only have shields-2, it maybe doesn't make sense to use this tactic. I did mention that in my reply to Farb.

[@farb]

do you flash without the buffer mike? "idk good luck" lol

[@mikehopley]

Pretty much the pro answer to everything in this game

[@mikehopley]

Actually what might tip the balance here would be the Mini Beam. If we use this tactic, then we're blocking the Heavy Laser but also setting up the Mini Beam, and without the buffer, that's just as likely to take out the shield (more so even, as we can't dodge it). So I think in this case I don't use it without the buffer, but if the only weapon was a Heavy Laser I would. Really for the video I was concentrating on the combat drone / Heavy Laser combination and not thinking so much about the other weapon.

[@Jack-sy6di]

The referenced video is 9n7Q2KvVNkQ at about 12:05

[@PIEcuber]

Hi Mike! This isn't related to the video, but I didn't know where else to reach you. I have both Twinge's mod and your balance mod lite, but the augment "Adv. FTL Navigation" is still Twinge's version where it's a full map update! Is there a way to fix just this augment?

[@mikehopley]

Hi! My mod was designed for an older version of Twinge's balance mod. My installation instructions were not very good, so I've updated them with a download link to the correct version. Sorry for the confusion! mikehopley.github.io/Balance-Mod-Light/

[@crystalman1101]

Would it also be possible to time the laser by it's animation, the red light on the weapon in particular?

[@mikehopley]

Yes, that's something you can fall back on. It's really difficult to be precise about though, at least for me. Another practical application of this idea is that sometimes you can tell the difference between a Hermes and Breach missile, before firing, based on how fast it goes red.

[@malediction8984]

For the last bit about keeping track of firing times in extended fights, could you also use the enemy's weapon lighting up as an approximation?

[@mikehopley]

Definitely -- I use that as a rough guide. It's just hard to get the accuracy you want for this, at least for me.

[@ThomasPettersson]

@@mikehopley You just need to practise it more. ;)

[@mikehopley]

@@ThomasPettersson When I'm done training my colour perception, I shall perform frame-perfect weapons toggles by sight alone.

[@ThomasPettersson]

@@mikehopley Instead of training your colour perception, be more practical and turn on colourblind mode. After that helpful tip I expect frame-perfect weapons toggling in your next stream.

[@jodymarentez9847]

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