Overview
The Stormwalker is a weird ship. No medbay, no sensors, a 2 man teleporter, some apparently unsuitable weapons and 3 slugs. This guide will show you how to make the best of a weird situation.
Introduction
Have you ever been challenged by your friend/parents/Bill Gates to an FTL race, and then discovered that it’s in the Slug B? Well don’t just refuse, pick up this guide (just kidding- don’t pick up your computer) and let’s GO!
The Slug B is a difficult ship to fly. This is undoubtedly true. But, if you have to, it can be flown. It seems to point to one, not particularly effective, strategy. But making use of the advanced starting weaponry, this ship can be a powerhouse.
Note: This guide is NOT intended to promote this ship as the best in the game. It is simply to show how to pilot the ship if necessary.
Resources
1 bar of shields (level 2)
Level 2 doors
A level 1 teleporter
3 big, slimy, telepathic slugs
Level 2 weapons, with:
. Artemis missile (1 power, 2 damage, 11 second cooldown)
. Healing Burst (1 power, heals any of your crew members in a room to full health, 18 second cooldown)
The Slug Repair Gel augment (automatically repairs breaches)
It does not have:
Sensors
A medbay
Tactics
This ship is designed for a special type of boarding. Beam 2 slugs aboard, wait until they have almost no health, and fire the healing burst. This effectively gives your slugs a maximum of 199 health (no point using healing burst on a dead pile of goo).
While this might sound good, it is severely limited by the fact that a missile (for healing burst) has to be used in almost every battle. Also, to allow the healing burst to charge before your slugs die, you have to wait about 8 seconds before sending your slugs over.
Fortunately, there are other routes to take. Rather than healing your slugs, the Artemis missile can be used to soften up enemy crew or even, with good timing, hit an enemy crew member chasing your slugs around an enemy ship. This makes it a good backup while healing burst is on cooldown.
Slugs, with their ability to see enemy crew anywhere, can anticipate threats even without sensors. As enemies converge on your slugs, you can take action just as you would if you had seen them with level 2 sensors.
The artemis missile is extremely versatile in combat. Because the Artemis missile has a short charge time, it can be used as an opener to take out enemy weapons systems. This keeps your ship safe from return fire from the enemy.
The healing burst has uses aboard your ship as well. If you end up being boarded with your boarders aboard the enemy ship (for whatever reason), it can be used to set up a medbay campish thing anywhere on your ship with your remaining crew members.
A level 2-3 teleporter is an important investment on this ship. As slugs are soft, it may become important to bail them from unwinnable fights. If this can’t be done fast enough, they are doomed. Another reason is that a second or even third (unlikely) boarding party can be sent over to the enemy ship, potentially doubling (or even tripling) the strength of the assault.
Seriously consider obtaining a weapon pre-igniter. It will give your boarding crew immediate support after jumping. With the 120 scrap price tag though, it can be a hefty investment.
With much micro skill and timing, it becomes possible to set up an attack which has many things arriving at once.
Shopping List
1) A medbay
2) A second bar of shields
3) Better/more boarding crew
4) Better teleporter
5) An Engi
6) Moar shields!
7) Bomb weapons
Sensors are not really necessary, but if you really want them, then fine, go buy some at about 5.
If you see a weapon pre igniter and have the scrap, go for it. It’s a big deal if you get one of these.
You’ll probably need a laser weapon to defeat the boss with as well, unless you find a million missiles.