A Slug ship hails you: "We've detected some worrying radiation coming from your medical unit, perhaps you should take a look?" As he signs off, your medical bay shuts. While it is perfectly possible to accidentally get. Long-Ranged Scanners cost more. For weapons, Gatling gun, Vulcan, or other high DPS cap weapons are the way to go. having two scrap recovery arms early, you got extremely lucky. If you have a super shield, this charge bar is hidden, instead showing the super shield strength. (e. 0. You don't assume direct control over them, but instead they are now simply "friendly". The Drone Control system powers drones, which act automatically and cannot be controlled directly. Restored the “Low O2” Warning. Needs testing: if 2+ Reverse Ion Field augmentations provide protection for Zoltan Shield in 100% cases. Drone part is consumed once it finishes. We all know that, right? Good. It also regenerates that Zoltan shield if you take too long during the fight. OCL specializes in trucking and ocean freight. Without shield barrier: you can take 0 or 1 hull/system damage in 1-4 rooms each; minimum number of fires is 2 in 1 or 2 rooms, maximum number of fires is 6 in 5 rooms; rarely a 4. A. anarcher Apr 10, 2014 @ 2:13pm. On the sector map, there are three groups of sectors: Civilian, Hostile, Nebula. Our Full truck load services are effective for. So did the Rebel Flagship just do an invisible FTL jump that took milliseconds or what? The Engi cruisers are the ships of the Harmony Collective, and rely largely on ion and drone weaponry, in order to defend themselves. FTL: Faster Than Light. g. It makes absolutely no sense that my weapons simply stop charging just because the enemy went invisible, especially after I've already engaged in combat. Reduced the time before emergency FTL can be. There are no in-game ships with more than 4 shields, although certain auto-scouts in the endgame can put up to 9 power at once into shields; functionally no. Auto-ship fight in nebula. The only thing the Shield Overcharger does that's reasonably unique and kind of reliable is that a Supershield will completely block a Pulsar's Ion effect, which. Quests are started in some of these events. Inquire about the process. These are the Random Events that unlock the ships ' layout A and corresponding ship quest achievements. A Zoltan Shield will not protect a ship that lacks Shields system from the ion pulse of a Pulsar - the pulse will ignore the Zoltan Shield and ionize 2 random systems. Functioning system replenishes ship's oxygen supply. 12 ES while the 4 engine case has 6. payload removes systems with good breach chance, very good and fun. onslaught deletes hull and spawns tons of breaches. Starts with the Long-Ranged Sensors and Titanium Casing Augments. They either need to be cheaper (1 power) or recharge faster to have any real use. There's only two things I really like about the Shield Overcharger - one is that its shield barrier never misses, or gets distracted by other stuff, so if it's up in time, it. They give you a schematic as compensation. Showing 1 - 5 of 5 comments. ) Start the game and select the Ship Customizer Option. They stack. sarrowquand Jul 26, 2016 @ 2:52am. You can acquire them by completing challenges set forth by the achievement's description. Even the Shield+ Drone requiring 1-less power isn't. Is there any way around this? I understand the game is meant to be difficult and. E. (the ship can also be unlocked by winning the game with the Federation Cruiser) An unarmed Zoltan transport vessel is slowly making its way toward the. Earning two of the three Rock Cruiser achievements will unlock Layout B. This augment only affects Anti Drone and Defense drone (not the Overcharger, neither drones inside the enemy ship). You don't assume direct control over them, but instead they are now simply "friendly". Shield Overcharger +) An item only used by the AI. Time Between Heals 2. True, but you should be killing enemies before they can board return, heal, and reboard. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Share 170 views 6 years ago That's actually really effective at slowing us down. For FTL: Faster Than Light on the PC, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Oh no, this board died" - Page 3. Its inhabitant asks you to retake his ship from the pirates who recently commandeered it. The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect no ship presence. Fire Drone. " A good example of players' valid complaints that FTL relies too heavily on RNG, Diplomatic Immunity is seemingly much less skill-based than the majority of in-game achievements. In the Rebel Flagship Stage 3 bossfight, it has a super-powerful Zoltan shield. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games. Category:Out of Fuel Events. Overcharger drone can replenish 1 hit of a shield, can even add one hit to a ship with no zoltan shield to begin with. havokizer is basically a mining beam sidegrade, removes one hull damage in exchange for much greater effect chances. This random event occurs in: Slug Controlled Nebula Slug Home Nebula The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect no ship presence. carnage is a bit overrated imo, but still powerful. It makes absolutely no sense that my weapons simply stop charging just because the enemy went invisible, especially after I've already engaged in combat. Yesssssssss. When you mind control someone, they will act like a computer-controlled friendly unit. I've been doing a challenge run for the Stealth B, but I need a little advice since I'm not doing so well. Repair Arm is at best situationally useful, and at worst a waste of an augment slot. "An unexplained technology creates this nearly impenetrable shield. . 8 vs 1. This means they will repair broken. What is the shield overcharger? How do I get it and what does it do?Anyway, after said extended amount of waiting, draining, taking their hits and fighting boarding teams, this message popped up: The ship suddenly disables their weapons. In the Rebel Flagship Stage 3 bossfight, it has a super-powerful Zoltan shield. (The super shield is the green stuff, either through the Zoltan Shield Augmentation or the Shield Overcharger drone) If Shields block ion damage, it is treated as though the ion shot has hit the Shields room. Edit. Zoltan shields don't recharge except in two cases. Zoltan shields will also block teleporting and boarding. Rebel defector. In the Rebel Flagship Stage 3 bossfight, it has a super-powerful Zoltan shield. Overcharger acts as a fake Zoltan shield and anti drone helps it by protecting the shield and the ship from drones. Descended from a splinter group of Rockmen who rejected their species' violent ways long ago, the Crystalmen are almost completely unknown in the galaxy, having hidden from all other sentient life. However, on the wiki it says that Zoltan shields can only be regenerated by the discharge of energy from an FTL jump. They stack. " Get to sector 8 without your ship's net oxygen levels exceeding 20 percent (starts after the first jump). Though, having two or three layers of shields works well with high evasion. This random event occurs in: Slug Controlled Nebula Slug Home Nebula at a distress beacon. It takes 3 power to generate 1 zotlan shield after 8 seconds and potentially more shield taking 3 more seconds each layer. You receive a request, "All of our military ships have been destroyed or damaged during the rebellion. Enforcer Starting Reactor: 10 Max Hull: 30 Crew Capacity: 11 System Limit: 11 Starting Systems Shields (0) [Max 2] Engines (2) Oxygen (2) Weapons (2) Drones (2) Clonebay (1) Cloaking (0) [Max 1] Arbiter Artillery (1) [Max. I'm going to be so mad with my self if I mess up and lose this time :D. Default Name: The Adjudicator Starting Crew:. The Zoltan Shields is an extra shield layer that goes over your normal shields. 74K subscribers in the ftlgame community. phenir Oct 2, 2022 @ 10:49am. Crystalline research facility; Damaged Stasis Pod []. This event can occur only once per sector. However, on the wiki it says that Zoltan shields can only be regenerated by the discharge of energy from an FTL jump. Btw, if you happen to get a zoltan shield augment, you will still get boarded in boarding events. So did the Rebel Flagship just do an invisible FTL jump that. The Engi are grateful for your help and offer a small reward. Defense is ALWAYS half shield, half armor. Keep in mind that some augments only exist as locked versions and thus you will be unable to remove them afterwards. Just upgrade your Cloak and get a Zoltan Shield/Drone Control w/ Shield Overcharger. This event can occur only once per sector. the shield deploying drone takes soooo long to get a layer up and it's gone in a hit, and you lose. 2. Originally posted by Gold♥Shield: This is one of the most frustrating aspects of this game is that my weapons won't charge while an enemy cloaks. This page will provide a quick and easy way to check how to unlock all the ships in the Multiverse mod. These crewmembers are obtained through choosing particular options during specific events and come with unique pre-defined names. These upgrades can. What's worse is that beams, drones, ions, or pretty much any hazard completely negate the shield drone. Anti-ship battery firing on Lanius ships. R. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster Than Light by Subset Games. Each barrier blocks one shot regardless of the shot's damage. We all know that, right? Good. Currently the most comprehensive list is the FTL mod compendium. For three years, if I was up against a ship with say an ion blast and a minibeam, I'd cloak the ion blast and hope it didn't hit anything important (which it often did) but while I'd still do the same on the first jump, after getting. A fully upgraded cloak lasted only 5 seconds. Note: this event occurs at a regular beacon, but when you arrive there will be a nebula environment. What sectors are in FTL? There are five sector types in FTL: Civilian. Scrap Cost: 60 Shop. Subset Games referred to modding as "unexpected" and have said it is unlikely FTL will ever support mods in any way. It is the only ship which does not have airlocks, preventing any sections from being vented to space except via a hull breach or with Lanius crew. FTL Recharge Booster does far too little for the cost - you could put that money towards upgrading the Engines instead, which both increases your charge rate AND your evasion. Projectile-Based weapons that do not have hull damage nor ion damage (like most Particle Weapons) will "skip" the Zoltan Shield and hit the ship's rooms unless there is a regular Shield bubble up. What is the shield overcharger? How do I get it and what does it do?This random event occurs in: Zoltan Controlled Sector Zoltan Homeworlds The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect ship presence. If you lose the overshield then you are vulnerable until it comes back. In the Rebel Flagship Stage 3 bossfight, it has a super-powerful Zoltan shield. However, there have been reports of a Mantis war camp only a few. Nebula [] The only thing the Shield Overcharger does that's reasonably unique and kind of reliable is that a Supershield will completely block a Pulsar's Ion effect, which normally hits both Shields and random non-Shields Systems. Shields: Two small shields ideal to use in your small and medium ships. The total evasion - due to functioning Piloting, Engines - can reach or exceed 100%. To find the improved time, divide by 1. This event can occur only once per sector. Some of them have maximum training in all skills. You find a Slug Cruiser and Rock ship at a standoff, both with weapons armed and ready to fight. Civilian FTL haywire escort; Backup DNA Bank []. 15, giving about 87% of the base time (not 85%). Some enemies can have level 9 or 10 shields (up to 5 shield layers). 3; Reactions:. It's faster than pretty much all weapons. All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews. There must have been rich pickings for pirates around here up until war broke out. - Boarding drone The Zoltan cruisers are the advanced vessels of the Zoltan race, using their powerful shield technology for protection, and utilizing their natural power generation for running these cruisers effectively. The weapons are decent enough, but the lack of shields and cloak cause me to eat serious damage from every single encounter that isn't a ship with beam only weapons. You receive low scrap with resources. I would pick the Shield Charge Booster, personally. You'll have to fight! Fight a Pirate ship. A merchant ship is docked with a Lanius transport. Mind Control is a new system for FTL Advanced Edition that can convert enemy units to your alliance for a temporary period of time. You pick up a Zoltan life raft floating in space. FTL: Faster Than Light - FTL is now available in 9 languages! English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Simplified Mandarin!The free expansion, FTL: Advanced Edition, is available now! Content additions include: new alien race, events, weapons, playable ships, drones, and more! Also adds additional musical tracks by Ben Prunty. I'm going to be so mad with my self if I mess up and lose this time. Notice that the Stealth Cruiser A lacks Shields. This event sequence unlocks the Zoltan Cruiser and. It turns out they have been studying the Lanius's ability to reshape metal. Ancient Shield Overcharger's value depends on what weapons the enemy is using, but can really help against Torpedoes, Lances, and Neutron Launchers. This random event occurs in: Civilian Sector Zoltan Controlled Sector Zoltan Homeworlds The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect no ship presence. It's cool that the super shields stop hack that's already been launched. . The Envoy is a zoltan crewmember that can be found during the Unarmed Zoltan transport event in Zoltan Homeworlds. Shields [] Ion Field [] "Has 50% chance to ignore ion damage when any system is hit" Costs 50 and 1 ; Requires at least level 4 shields to install. To find the improved time, divide by 1. They will conveniently have a bypass but you can't be boarded from enemy ships. This is the Rock Cruiser ship unlocking event. Didn't test them yet but I bet Ancient Ramparts + Shield Overcharger would only make it more disgustingly efficient. You arrive at a Zoltan security checkpoint set up in a perimeter around the beacon. < > The Zoltan shield coupled with two Shield Overcharger Drones is the ultimate answer to hacking. EDIT: This is refering to the max power provided by the dedicated systems (Shields and Engines) this is not including augments such as the Zoltan Shield or other systems that boost either stat like Cloaking or the. Increased Vector Thruster Overcharger Density from 0. Ship Unlocking Events. So did the Rebel Flagship just do an invisible FTL jump that took milliseconds or what? 74K subscribers in the ftlgame community. Hacking Stun removed from game. g. On my Twitch channel Im currently undergoing an FTL HardChallenge where I aim to win against FTL in all 28 ships on Hard. Based on this table, we can see that the shield overcharger isn't very good at blocking shots. Three scrap arms gives you 33. Regularly the zoltan shield can only be regenerated by a FTL drive jump, and beside that it only has five points worth of defense until it goes down completely. Maximum of 3 Weapons, 2 different Drones. The Zoltan shield coupled with two Shield Overcharger Drones is the ultimate answer to hacking. A Shield Charge Booster improves recharge by 15%, and they stack additively -- so three of them improve recharge by 45%. Register for free, get approved in minutes, and quote instantly. Using certain cheat programs, you can edit your ship's stats, including shields, to 5 or more. the further you get, the less useful they are because by s6 or s7 you need to have the augment slots filled with something useful, or you're going to have a bad time. Stores can be found at designated beacons or in events. Random events are initiated by jumping to another system. In the Rebel Flagship Stage 3 bossfight, it has a super-powerful Zoltan shield. They can be encountered as starting crew on the Crystal Cruisers, in Tektite (the 3rd layout of the rock ship), in the. Note that the ships can also be unlocked through other means, as described on the Ships page . " Power Required: 3 Time Between Shield Generation: 8. A secondary Target Uplink on an Orbital Ring may be needed in extremely large systems. Enforcer, 1 C. You need to deal damage faster than his shield bubbles regen. com There's only two things I really like about the Shield Overcharger - one is that its shield barrier never misses, or gets distracted by other stuff, so if it's up in time, it works 100% of the time. When activated, the crystals appear in the room and create a coating around it preventing anyone from entering or leaving; if timed correctly, a room can be coated with crystals while a Crystal crew is leaving it (thus, avoiding contact with enemy. 15, giving about. So, with that ascension perk, they have 200 shielding, less than level 5 shields that have 220, but they do have more regen (1. Fixed a bug that cause docked ships not be able to jump to ftl when placing more than one ftl drive near a landing pad. "I'm certain it is clear," he concludes, "that you. Demonic-Toothbrush • Life-Seeded • 6 mo. Ancient Shield Overcharger 100 45: 360: 15 2 +33% Starbase and Defense Platform shield hit points without Archaeo-Engineers +33% Starbase and Defense Platform shield hardening without Archaeo-Engineers +50% Starbase and Defense Platform shield hit points with Archaeo-Engineers +50% Starbase and Defense Platform shield hardening with Archaeo. carnage is a bit overrated imo, but still powerful. In true professional wrestling fashion, "The Overcharger" garners a chorus of boos from the crowd as he taunts them with expired warranties and overpriced car repairs. . " Power Required: 3 Time Between Shield Generation: 8. I personally did, but i'm not ruling luck out of the equation. So did the Rebel Flagship just do an invisible FTL jump that took milliseconds or what? Unlike that zoltan shield though, that so long as the shield overcharger is powered and operating, the drone will continually replenish and strengthen layer by layer of the super shield. FTL Recharge Booster augmentation multiplies charge time by 80%, two of them by 67%, and three of them by 57%. Advanced Edition flagship is whipping my ass so hard at everything I tried to plan. Just having the overcharger drone active does not protect you from teleport by itself. 1, or via online chat if you need help. Exploring the devastation, you find a lone survivor. What is the shield overcharger? How do I get it and what does it do?Q: Can an enemy teleport to your ship with your Shield Overcharger. Manning the Piloting system adds up to the overall ship evasion (Piloting crew skill. Manning increases dodge chance. Most augments improved or made cheaper. Hacking will definitely be useful. We all know that, right? Good. Augments. Fire Drone slightly weaker but only requires 2 power. Unlock. Tips on Pulsars: video (1). "While using the Federation Cruiser, use your crew in 4 special blue event choices by sector 5. From there, I whipped up this little chart here. The Hull Repair Drone raises your effective health against the Flagship from 30 to something like 60. They appear on page 5. Weapons and artillery systems stop charging and cannot target a cloaked ship (unless a friendly or mind. Massively increased the chances to lose or damage ships when a fleet uses emergency FTL to escape a battle. Garbage Tier: Ion Intruder (*I haven't actually played with this much, but my impression is that it's very weak for the player) Anti-Drone Drone. Auto-ship fight (Crystal) Auto-ship fight in asteroid field. Auto-ship fight. the shield deploying drone takes soooo long to get a. Lose a shield layer (Must have a shield system or this option. - Shield overcharger Also nicknamed by me "the shit overcharger" - Anti-drone A waste of scrap and parts. This event can occur only once per sector. Stealth C has weapons better suited for early sectors. ) Keep waiting on the star map to improve and test your ship. We all know that, right? Good. create drone recovery arm without having to go to store, etc. This event can occur only once per sector. ) Shield Overcharger+ Drone Rotation Speed 5->4 ~~~~~blueprints. Keep defending from the superweapon and firing at the shields. Boss Missile) An item only used for specific game mechanics. Upon making an FTL jump, Zoltan Shields are completely recharged. 9. We all know that, right? Good. Beams will do 2-4 damage depending on their length while the Zoltan Shield is up, whilst Lasers/Bombs/Missiles will do their normal damage to it. Scrap Cost: 60 Shop Rarity: Rare Hull Repair Drone "Automatically repairs 3-5 damage to your hull. That means most shots will miss you with no cool down, unlike shields. Level 2 doors are a godsend. Destroyed Piloting or Engines systems don't affect this increase. 105 votes, 14 comments. Get the Report>. It is actually better than a regular shield level early on, since it still recharges faster than any single weapon's cooldown, and can also sometimes stop missiles and even bombs. It is no surprise people have higher win streaks with Stealth C than B. You can use this to compare the cost and ES of different engine/shield combinations. . When you mind control someone, they will act like a computer-controlled friendly unit. This event can occur only once per sector. Cloaking will help dodge the shots, as they are all at once. Rebel attacking Federation loyalists. As hidden Augment: AUG HIDDEN id --- adds the augment as hidden, it will still retain its effect but it will not take up a slot, you may only add 2 hidden augments this way. Auto-ship attacking outpost. I personally did, but i'm not ruling luck out of the equation. having two scrap recovery arms early, you got extremely lucky. Each additional layer has longer cool-down time: 8s/10s/13s/16s/20s for 0/1/2/3/4 existing layers. A subreddit to discuss the Kickstarter-backed "roguelike-like" game FTL: Faster… In the Rebel Flagship Stage 3 bossfight, it has a super-powerful Zoltan shield. sarrowquand Jul 26, 2016 @ 2:52am. This random event occurs in: Rock Controlled Sector Rock Homeworlds The Long-Ranged Scanners will detect no ship presence. FtwLasers · 3/11/2014. (see the formula) Provides boost even if the Shields system is damaged, hacked, or ionized. Shield Overcharger Drone Rotation Speed 5->4 (these fixes make it so drones can't overlap. Merchant docked with Lanius. Here's a quick table based on the wiki: Keep in mind that most battles in FTL are decided in well under a minute. Your shield recharge speed is going to depend on how many bubbles you have, so lets be the most generous and give you max-level Shields, which will naturally recharge the 3rd to the 4th bubble in 1. Rebel boarders in nebula. The defense drone mk II also takes 3 power, but shoots down projectiles every second or so. Mind control is blocked by Zoltan Shields, unless you have Zoltan Shield Bypass augmentation. Max shields and no evade, or max evade and no shields? Just thought of this and i'm kinda curious as to what others would decide and why. Because every ship starts with 100 percent oxygen, you must vent before. Edit. (e. Many wins against the Rebel Flagship on hour for me was thanks to evading several shots. It's a 15% increase in recharge rate, not a 15% decrease in recharge time. So did the Rebel Flagship just do an invisible FTL jump that took milliseconds or what? I just lost a Zoltan B run because the defense drone 2 and shield overcharger I was relying on to block much of the enemy fire was constantly being… Anybody has that feeling? In the normal version, everything seemed really random, but in AE, in advance sectors, I ALWAYS stumble on an enemy with EXACTLY the thing that my ship cannot do anything against. The shield overcharger actually makes zoltan shield slower the more you have. Default Name: The Adjudicator Starting Crew: 3 Zoltan Starting Reactor: 5 Max Hull. You detect life signs on a nearby moon - a lone Slug marooned on its surface. Trivia. Ancient ancestors of the Rockmen. #1. There are also distress signals that may come from different systems. He immediately attacks his Engi rescuers, and your crewmember is forced to kill him. Also works for Wraiths and Pulsars,. You need to deal damage faster than his shield bubbles regen. (typical in-game example is using the Shield Overcharger + drone on Simo-H)Sectors are zones in FTL: Faster Than Light, each containing between 19 and 24 beacons. According to the wiki, it does stack. < >FTL: Faster Than Light. 4). Engines: Charges the FTL drive and powers evasion. True, but you should be killing enemies before they can board return,. "C starts with one of the best early game beams and a more reliable defense. However, on the wiki it says that Zoltan shields can only be regenerated by the discharge of energy from an FTL jump. add info --> Engines: Charges the FTL drive and powers evasion. It's too much downside for too little upside. - Anti personnel A mantis that costs power, moves sluggishly and can't do anything other than fighting. Invite him to join your crew. However, on the wiki it says that Zoltan shields can only be regenerated by the discharge of energy from an FTL jump. The shield overcharger protects you from lasers. Go down to the surface to investigate. . Misses so often that it almost feels like a 9yr old playing COD on the PS4. and luck is a significant factor there, since you need to have the Supershield generate shortly before the Pulsar does its. I group Shield Charge Booster with the Distraction Buoys - it's nice if you get it, but don't spend your scrap to buy it. 5 seconds. Plasma storm incapacitated ships. Zoltan Shields are also called Zoltan Super Shields, Zoltan Energy Shield or just Super Shields. This is where some people go wrong. Shields are a system that projects a protective barrier around your ship, which absorbs damage until it is removed. It also regenerates that Zoltan shield if you take too long during the fight. So you get (110/100 * 110/100) scrap bonus = 121% => 21% increase. As a briefing, this drone takes 8, 10, 13, 16 or 20 seconds to generate a super. This event can occur only once per sector. Command: AUG id. So did the Rebel Flagship just do an invisible FTL jump that took milliseconds or what? havokizer is basically a mining beam sidegrade, removes one hull damage in exchange for much greater effect chances. (Mind Control) Use your Mind control system to calm him down. This means they will repair broken. The actual cost/benefit analysis varies by ship, so something that can't take down Zoltan Shields is probably in serious danger facing Zoltan ships, similarly, a ship without shields and/or LRS is in serious danger in Nebula sectors because of the high likelihood of automated ships with things like beam drones, as well as these sectors being. Zoltan Shield is an augmentation that grants energy shielding which protects ship's standard shields, hull, and crew from any damage until it is depleted. Oxygen is a key element on most ships. Hack his shields for a shorter fight, or his weapons for a safer fight. Minor tooltip text changes. com, at (800) 886-4870 Ext. Cloaking is a defensive system. * No possibility of hacking shields down and vaporizing ships quickly with my ship weapons * I was so intoxicated by the boarding power that I wasn't paying attention to hull, got down to 2 hull at one pointCitronvand Apr 10, 2014 @ 1:39pm. Your sensors are picking up a single life form. xmlFederation Ships can only be fought in the Federation deserters random event. Normal is 1 bar per depletion, but this cloak bug depletes more than 1 bar, up to 3-4 bars per depletion. Otherwise, these ships are either in need (so you cannot engage them in combat) or are Pirated. Shield Overcharger "Generates a single supershield barrier periodically. Wormhole FTL for life Also this is not my idea, but i highly support it, especially with few adds from later posts. Shield Overcharger. Anti-Personnel Drone. EDIT: This is refering to the max power provided by the dedicated systems (Shields and Engines) this is not including augments such as the Zoltan Shield or other systems that boost either stat like Cloaking or the. Q: Can an enemy teleport to your ship with your Shield Overcharger. But the 3 engine case has 6. If shit goes down the sink, you can continue charging FTL and will be able to get out earlier. Zoltan Shields are outside in FTL, true, but I think spending 90% of the battle listening to overload sounds and watching your ship sparkle with green arcs is a bit irritating. The distress call appears to be emanating from a Slug ship caught in open space by a Mantis raider. Rebel attacking refueling outpost. (the most notable one is level 2 shields by the end of sector 1 ; after that, systems upgrades become already less significant).