nebulous

the worst ftl runs are the ones where you don't get any fuel but have tons of scrap to go
then you just get shredded by elite rebel interceptors with no rewards whatsoever but still make it to the final sector
you are then able to purchase a lot of shit but it isnt enough to cover for your lack of weapons and personell

did a meme run where i just wanted to get the 11 systems achievement for Kestrel so I could unlock B, picked up the super battery, mind control, and hacking in sector 3 and thought "well that was that but i guess i'll keep this cursed run going"

5 sectors later and I had 2 Flak I's, a BL II, and a pike beam and killed Flagship phase one and two in under two minutes

would've probably won if i had more than 2 shields

phase 1 is the weapon check
phase 2 the speedclear check
and phase 3 the durability check

drones are easy to deal with if you can deal with it via weapons and or fire

Missiles is a run of time wether or not the flagship outpaces you and or if you have stealth / good engines

Lasers is the ultimate tank check wether or not your ship can last 3-4 barrages

yeah i had firepower out the wazoo but a bad missile barrage decimated my engines and the next power surge vibe checked me into the ground

the first two phases i can clear the shields in a single volley and then dunk his ass but the god damn zoltan shield is too powerful

zoltan shield is the best thing that you can obtain and worst thing to fight against with beams
a good way to shred zoltan shields is a volcano or flak
Lasers and missiles arent bad persay but they are ressource intensive and require constant oversight
overall zoltan shields are pretty mean