At first I hated this ship but after a play through I actually liked it, I managed to get 2 achievements and kill the boss (easy difficulty) the first time I’ve played it. We will talk about the achievement in a next post but now let’s talk about how to play each layout.
Layout A
Unlock
- See the Slug Home Nebula Surrender random event.
- Alternatively, defeat The Rebel Flagship with the Mantis Cruiser.
- Default name: Man of War
- Starting Crew: 2 Slug
- Starting Augmentation:
- Starting Weapons:
- Starting Resources:
- Slots: 4 Weapon, 2 Drone (requires system)
What I didn’t like about that ship was the starting weapon I had a hard time of making the Anti-Bio Beam work, I sometime ended up destroying the ship before killing the crew. But when it’s work you get extra scrap and sometime you might even receive a extra crew or weapon. The beam take 2 shot kill most crew member, 3 if the member is a Rockman or Crystal.
Note that there are no sensors aboard this ship. But since Slugs can see the rooms they are adjacent to, and the locations of enemies onboard their vessel it’s shouldn’t be a problem compare to the Mantis cruiser layout A.
As for the flagship: board the missiles, hack the shields, mind control the pilot, to nullify their dodge chance, and the crew members can’t do anything about it, since hacking disables their doors, thus it’ll take time for them to get another pilot. Be sure to also take down their shields with something like a breach bomb, which will their ship rendered useless ,(this also works for difficult mode, so you’ll slow them from repairing the missiles/lasers)
Layout B
Unlock
- Earning two of the three Slug Cruiser achievements will unlock Layout B.
- Default name: The Stormwalker
- Starting Crew: 3 Slug
- Starting Augmentation:
- Starting Weapons:
- Starting Resources:
- Slots: 4 Weapon, 2 Drone (requires system)
The Stormwalker (Slug Cruiser Layout B) starts with a teleporter but lacks a medbay, resulting in reliance on the Healing Burst to heal crew members at the beginning. Grabbing either reconstructive teleport [LINK] or a Med bay will help you save on those precious missile. (Considering that the starting weapon only use missile, no beam, no laser…)
Like the initial Slug Cruiser, the layout B still lack sensor. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem though because your slug crew will be able to see boarders and the life form on the ship.
Side note: the layout of this ship allows you to remove oxygen from most of it, making boarders less of a problem.
I’ve really hit the mark with this ship, I was lucky enough to get a med bay really quickly (saving on those missile) and I’ve went through an abandoned sector and managed to grab two Lanius. And the rest is history. Considering that on this ship it’s pretty easy to clear the O2 from it because there so many door, you asphyxiate boarders really quickly and your Lanius force them to fight instead of trying to go through the door. Boarding is a charm, two Lanius quickly drain a room of oxygen, forcing enemy crew to leave the room, combine with the healing burst, your Lanius shouldn’t have any problem. For the final boss I had installed cloaking and Drone (a defense drone to block the hacking and a combat drone). Hacking can be good too, you can hack the med bay and send your Lanius there.
Layout C
Unlock
- Reaching sector 8 with the Slug Cruiser B on any difficulty with Advanced Edition Content enabled will unlock layout C.
- Starting crew: 3 Slug
- Starting Augmentation:
- Starting Weapons:
- Starting Resources:
- Slots: 4 Weapon, 2 Drone (requires system)
The Ariolimax starts with Hacking and Mind Control, making it effective at disrupting an enemy ship. As a side note, be aware that its Medbay only has one space, should you choose to replace the Cloning bay with it (don’t do it it’s a bad idea…) It’s start with a great gun too, the Chain Burst Laser can be pretty efficient even early 2 shield should be a problem, hacking will help you there.
Using the combination of the hacking on the oxygen system and mind control on the crew trying to repair it. You can kill a whole ship by asphyxiation, and get better reward (you really need them in normal & hard).
Starting with a level 2 Doors subsystem and a Mind Control, this ship is quite strong against early boarding parties. Be careful, though, as Mind-controlled enemies can pass through your doors just as if they were friends!
You can upgrade this ship in many ways, Drones and Beam Weapons work really well with hacking, as Hacking help you remove enemy shields. Burst laser can go well too with hacking since you can hack the engine or shield and blast the ship with your laser.
Bombs have great synergy to help drain/deny Oxygen from your foes, drop a bomb on oxygen and lock it with hacking and they are done. Teleporting can be a great addition especially if you can get your hand on some Lanius, combine with mind control and hacking, teleporting a Lanius on the ship will accelerates the de-oxygenation process. Teleporting work with other race to because of mind control giving you an extra member on the enemy ship to fight with you and hacking can help you lock a room, preventing the enemy from escaping or entering.
The only problem is its low shield & low engine at the beginning, everything will it you. Missile weapons are a pain, beam weapon with decent ion or laser can be a problem too. Drone can be very annoying too.
