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Twinge's FTL Balance Mod v5.0

v0.4.3 Mod Files: GMM file raw data.dat file

Forum Thread: http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14766

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Stores

Missile Base Cost 6->5
Drone Part Base Cost 8->7
(These are sometimes worth buying at current price, buy rarely - and primarily when you're in a tough spot already because you've only found missile weapons for example. This also helps curb bad lack in some ships where you can't find a good weapon early on and have to use lots of missiles.)

Mantis Crew Cost 45->50 (Comparable to Engi, which have reverse attributes. Boarding is very strong and strongest with Mantis.)
Rockmen Crew Cost 65->60 (Jack of all trades and excellent fighters, but incredibly slow.)

Engi are now slightly rarer in Slug sectors and slightly more common in Zoltan sectors. (Engi are supposed to be friends of the Zoltan.)

Ships

DA-SR 12 (Stealth B) now starts with Titanium System Casing. (Helps offset early bad luck somewhat; note that the selling price of System Casing has been reduced significantly as well.)
DA-SR 12 starting available power increased from 7 to 8. (This lets you fully power everything but the medbay to start, like on most ships.)
DA-SR 12 starting Sensors decreased to 1. (Reducing Sensors and increasing power is technically a cost nerf, but is much more useful early on.)

The Vortex (Engi B) starting Pilot increased from 1 to 3. (Slightly helps the huge drawback of only having 1 crew member and makes perfect sense for the ship.)
(The Vortex is also improved significantly with the Heavy Ion buffs, allowing for ion chaining - meaning it can surpass tier 2 shields.)

The Basilisk (Mantis B) starting available power reduced from 11 to 10. (This gives it a standard power setup compared to other ships.)

Carnelian (Crystal B) starting available power reduced from 8 to 7. (This gives it a standard power setup compared to other ships.)

Starting weapon order on The Nesasio switched.

Bulwark starting missiles 28->32.

Nisos starting Artillery level 2->3.
Nisos starting Engines level 2->1.
Nisos starting missiles 9->7.
(This is aimed at making the Nisos feel a bit more like its own ship, rather than just a worse version of The Osprey.)

Swapped the location of the Medbay and the Cloaking systems on The Stormwalker. (Makes using the Medbay + Teleporting or flushing boarders work a bit more smoothly.)
Stormwalker starting missiles 25->28.

Systems

Oxygen Level_3 Cost 50->35

Pilot Level_3 Cost 50->35

Medbay Level_2 Cost 35->30
Medbay Level_3 Cost 60->40

Engines Level_3 Cost 15->20
Engines Level_4 Cost 30->35
Engines Level_5 Cost 40->45
Engines Level_6 Cost 60->55
Engines Level_7 Cost 80->65
Engines Level_8 Cost 120->105 (Levels 6-8 of engines cost substantially more scrap for the relative dodge provided than previous levels do. This makes the cost more balanced for the result gained. See Engine Efficiency for more details.)

Doors Rarity 1->2 (Only applies to Shivan (Rock B). Makes finding door systems to buy slightly less common in case you don't want to buy doors at all, but still common enough to generally find if desired.)
Doors Level_1 Cost 60->40 (Shivan only. Does practically nothing by itself - you then need to pay more to upgrade for any real effect, AND you still don't have any doors to vent outside the ship.)
Doors Level_2 Cost 20->30
Doors Level_3 Cost 50->35

Shields Level_3 Cost 20->15
Shields Level_4 Cost 30->35
Shields Level_6 Cost 60->70
Shields Level_7 Cost 80->75
(These changes make the upgrade to Tier 3 slightly more expensive, and they make shield buffer points cheaper while otherwise keeping costs similar.)

Drones Level_7 Cost 80->75
Drones Level_8 Cost 100->90

Sensors Rarity 1->2
Sensors Level_3 Cost 60->35

Teleporter Level_1 Cost 75->80
Teleporter Level_3 Cost 60->55

Weapons

Updated several tooltips to indicate exact fire/breach chance.
Re-worded several descriptions to be more consistent and clear.

Burst Laser II Cost 80->95
Burst Laser II Cooldown 12->13 (One of the strongest weapons in the game. Nerfing it further is complicated by the fact that multiple ships - including the starting ship - rely on its strength to be good.)

Heavy Laser Mark I Cost 55->50

Heavy Laser Mark II Rarity 4->3

Hull Smasher Laser 65->55
Hull Smasher Laser Breach Chance 20%->30%

Hull Smasher Laser Mark II Cost 100->85

Player Mini Beam Beam Length 45->50 (Quality of life tweak - this makes it easier to aim, but it can't hit anything it couldn't before.)
Player Mini Beam Speed 3->4 (Make speed flow more smoothly for the increased length.)

Pike Beam Cost 60->50

Fire Beam Cost 70->60
Fire Beam Cooldown 20->18
Fire Beam Speed 5->9

Hull Beam Cost 70->65
Hull Beam Breach Chance 0%->10%
Hull Beam Speed 5->7

Hull Missiles Cost 75->60
Hull Missiles Breach Chance 30%->40%

Breach Missiles Cost 70->65
Breach Missiles Cooldown 22->21
Breach Missiles Breach Chance 80%->100%
Breach Missiles Fire Chance 30%->20%

Pegasus Missiles Cost 80->70
Pegasus Missiles Cooldown 20->19

Hermes Missiles Cost 50->40
Hermes Missiles Cooldown 14->13

Heavy Ion Cost 45->50
Heavy Ion Cooldown 13->11 (This means the Heavy Ion can chain with itself as long as the weapons system is manned.)

Ion Bomb Cost 65->70
Ion Bomb Cooldown 18->17
(This cooldown allows the bomb to chain with itself as long as you have a level 1 crewman manning weapons or a Reloader.) Ion Bomb Ion Amount 4->3

Breach Bomb Mark II Cost 70->75

Fire Bomb Cost 55->50
Fire Bomb Cooldown 15->14

Healing Burst 18->17
Healing Burst Rarity 3->5 (There are several events that specifically reward this item; making it less common in stores makes those events and the Stormwalker feel more unique.)

Crystal Lockdown Bomb Cost 60->50
Crystal Lockdown Bomb Cooldown 15->14

Heavy Pierce Laser Mark I Breach/Fire Chance 30%->20%

Breach Bomb Mark I Sell Price 35->25

Dual Laser Sell Price 12->15

Drones

Renamed 'Anti-Ship Beam Drone I' to 'Beam Drone'. (Was easily confused with Anti-Ship Mark I in text.)
Player Beam Drone Movement Speed 15->16
Player Beam Drone Beam Length 20->25
(These changes only affect the player's beam drones, not the AI's. While the AI Beam Drones are also often weak, making them stronger can really increase the early luck factor for some ships such as the Stealth Cruiser.)

Anti-Ship Drone Mark II Cost 100->90
Anti-Ship Drone Mark II Movement Speed 28->30 (This means two AS Is still fire about 25% faster than one AS II.)
Anti-Ship Drone Mark II Rarity 5->4

Defense Drone Mark II Power Cost 4->3 (The ability to shoot down lasers often hurts rather than helps. This change makes it more of an interesting alternative to Defense Drone Mark I with pros and cons to both.)

Anti-Personnel Drone Cost 60->50

Boarding Drone Cost 70->60

Hull Repair Drone Cost 100->90

Augments

Crystal Vengeance Sell Price 40->15 (The Crystal ships are already on the strong end - they don't need 40 free scrap to start with.)
Crystal Vengeance Effect 10%->15% (Meanwhile, the effect is really lackluster; this provides at least a little incentive to keep the augment around rather than selling it at the first opportunity.)

Titanium System Casing Sell Price 50->20
Titanium System Casing Effect 15%->20%

Drone Reactor Booster Sell Price 25->20 Drone Reactor Booster Effect 25%->100% (Game says 50% but is actually 25%. 100% is the same speed as normal crew.)

Zoltan Shield Sell Price 40->35

Rock Plating Sell Price 40->30

Slug Repair Gel Sell Price 30->25

Mantis Pheromones Sell Price 25->20 (These changes are aimed at encouraging players to keep the racial augments more often rather than selling them off most of the time.)

Repair Arm Cost 50->40
Repair Arm Scrap Loss 15%->5% (Scrap amount rounds against you and also costs scrap even when at full health.)

Automated Re-loader Cost 40->65 (Getting cooldowns low enough to get the first volley off is very strong - there's a reason the Pre-igniter costs so much, and in many fights this can serve a similar purpose while also being great in extended fights.)

Shield Charge Booster Effect 15%->20%

FTL Recharge Booster Cost 50->35
FTL Recharge Booster Effect 25%->30% (Upgrading Engines instead is still going to be better in most cases, but this might be cheap & powerful enough to be worth considering sometimes. Potentially useful for hitting an extra beacon and then fleeing rebels.)

FTL Jammer Effect 100%->200% (Still on the weak side, but now solidly slows an escape. Potentially useful on defense-heavy builds that can't kill ships as quickly.)

Adv. FTL Navigation Cost 60->45

Reverse Ion Field Cost 60->40
Reverse Ion Field Effect 15%->60% (Game says 20% but is actually 15%.)
Reverse Ion Field no longer stacks. (Necessary to prevent invulnerability from ion effects.)

Scrap Recovery Arm Cost 50->65

Stealth Weapons Cost 50->40

Damaged Stasis Pod Sell Value 15->18 (Reduces the sting of not activating the pod ever so slightly.)

Events

Fixed several misc. typos and missing punctuation.
Tweaked the phrasing of a many events to be more consistent or clear.
Reorganized various events in the files for easier readability (for other modders).

Swapped the option order for a handful of events to put the more aggressive option first, for consistency.

Added a text prompt when you gain a new crew member from events such as a non-destroyed enemy ship. (This makes it obvious you gained a crew member; it was easy to miss previously.)

Globally reduced the odds of free crew from events slightly.

Prices & Trades

Tweaked several resource trading event to increase the number of resources traded.

Adjusted the price of hiring a mercenary to scout the sector or delay the rebels to cost less scrap on average. (This event means you're not only paying scrap but also not gaining scrap from killing the mercenary; a lower price makes it more reasonable to consider.)

Reduced the cost of buying from slavers to make it a more reasonable option if you desperately need crew.

Nebula - Black Market Weapons Trader only charges 60 instead of 65, and you have a 3/4 chance of getting the weapon instead of 1/2.

Slightly reduced the cost of the 'rescue Engi from rebel' event reward options.

Very slightly reduced the cost of fuel in one 'out of fuel' event.

Reduced the fee the pirate charges to not attack you slightly.

Blue Options

Added Fire Beam as a possible weapon for the stolen cargo event.

Tweaked stranded madman event so that using the Slug Crew Member blue option gave you a random crew member named Charlie instead of a human crew member, to align with the rest of the event results.

Increased the reward value for the blue 'warning shot' option in the distress civilian-attacked-by-pirate event. (Previously it was worse for you to use the blue option.)

Significantly improved blue anti-personnel drone option outcome for the alien neurotoxin event; improved the blue teleporter option outcome for one sub-event.

Added a blue option (requiring level 6 shields) that allows you to obtain the Stasis Pod more easily.

Removed a bad result from a Rebel radar station blue option.

Slightly reduced the reward for a Teleporter blue option when saving Federation crew in a nebula.

Slightly improved a Slug blue option in a Rock event.

Slightly improved a piloting nebula blue option.

Added Level 3 doors blue option for the slug door hacking event.

Result Tweaks

Reduced average income from killing the crew of a normal ship by about 8%.

Reduced the chance of a slaver surrendering and offering crew from 80% to 70%; reduced scrap reward from killing a slaver's crew when you also receive a crew member.

Improved one sub-event reward for the ghost ship event.

Added a black market store quest result as an uncommon outcome of freeing the trapped miner.

Tweaked the Engi surrender event to make explaining you're friendly less bad.

Added a middle-ground result to the Giant Alien Spider event where you lose a crew member but fight off the spiders, and decreased the overall chance of losing any crew at all.

Added a good result to the mining colony quarantine event and reduced the chance of losing crew.

Made the cost of legitimate repairs from the dodgy slug mechanic less ridiculous - they (somewhat) respect a business-minded person.

Fixed a Slug no-fuel event that gave you more fuel than stated.

Fixed a Crystal sector event that was supposed to cost a crew member but didn't.

Reduced the odds of the Uniformed Mantis escapee being a traitor (on either result).

Reduced the odds of losing crew from 'send in your crew to help put out the fire'.

Slightly increased risk/reduced reward for 'Dock and try to rescue the survivors'.

Sectors

Boarding events less common in Zoltan sectors. (They were as common as in Mantis/Rock sectors.)

New Events

Enabled a new neutral Rock event involving a Zoltan emissary.

Enabled a new distress Slug event involving allegiance to the slug empire.

Enemy Ships

Increased the odds of doors on the Engi Bomber ship.

The Automated Assault ship class will no longer appear in sector 1. (This is aimed as being a very minor buff for beam-based ships like the Stealth B, because one can only hit 3 rooms on this ship instead of 4.)

Made the Assault ship guarding the Slug Cruiser construction platform stronger; made the victory text hint at how to unlock the ship.

Made KazaaakplethKilik's ship stronger.

Made the automated refueling drone match the description and actually be weaker in combat.

The Rock Assault you fight to unlock the Rock Cruiser is now more resistant to fire damage, so it will die to fire much less often.

Other

Added a missing drone part cost to a Blue option using a System Repair drone.

Implemented unique text for destroying rock ships.

Removed the 'giant alien spider' event from Mantis sectors. (Will still appear in Civilian, Engi, or Rock sectors.)

Fixed a Rebel event so that it informs you of gained scrap properly.

Considering

Improve Flagship 3's super weapon if possible to shoot 1 more blast? Possibly tweak Flagship health? (Currently 20/22/20) - maybe chance to 20/20/22?

Make some alternate missile weapons - this lets the AI use the current versions while allowing the generally weak player versions to be buffed more readily.
^Hull Missile 15s cooldown?

Possibly allow some minor AI buffs - the game is slightly easier with more valid options and less chance to make excessively bad choices.
Alternatively, aim to reduce scrap accumulation a bit (esp. in Civilian sectors)

Fire Bomb Crew damage up and cooldown back up?

Slightly increase occurrence of medbays in enemy ships to nerf teleporters somewhat? -- or additionally/instead, increase occurrence of doors 2.

Evaluate hostile sectors - how does scrap compare to civ sectors? reduce their occurrence of 'nothing' events? offer some boarding events with rewards? change some rarities, e.g. teleporters most common in mantis?

Possibly give shieldless or low-shield drones system casing. --make a special class that only appears in sectors 2-4 or something?

slightly tweak ion blast particle speed or AI heavy laser 1 cooldown +1s to time them together better? (possibly make it so heavy laser + basic laser, HL hits later by slightly slowing speed?) - also check timing with mini beam

modify visuals for identical-looking weaponry? (esp. Hermes)

Buff AI Ion Bomb fire rate? (15s?)

Rarely 'surrender your good' rebel - sometimes they actually surrender goods? Maybe some of those times they warn the fleet?

Enemy Defense Drone II rarity and/or power req back up?

Things to Test

Test station sick 2 crew result = crash with too many crew to start?

Test & Fix Rock Nursery event

Test modified ROCK_ZOLTAN_HELP

test modified giant alien spider event (verify lose crew, gain crew works)

Test new Rock vs Zoltan event

Test STATION_SICK_LIST - does traitor work without the extra boarder? Anything else need traitor tag?

test alien neurotoxin event - class traitor work?

Test ghost ship event - ghost class?

bio beam counts for cutting out asteroid and shouldn't? -- this shouldn't be the case

Try out Sensors rarity=5 to see if increasing the rarity actually has the desired effect

Test refueling drone to see if it should escape faster, and verify it's trying to escape from start; test modified escape that can alert rebel fleet

Test distress beacon off fuel wait fleet delay - can it hit itself again? (Possibly fix message claiming fleet is delayed and then is coming)

bl2 + heavy laser 2 timing worse for ai with bl2 cd nerf? Anything better?

Possible Content to Add

Add new general distress beacon event to compete with charlie & spider; possibly reduce odds of Charlie

+1 Zoltan Crew Blue Option

maybe add new event to NEUTRAL_ZOLTAN

add rare outcome for declining the toll price where they flee?

add more pirate sector hostile events

change missile launcher sound for crystal vengeance

add additional mantis sector intro messages

enemy ship event that has a pre-igniter? -- part of a trap event.

possibly use BG_NEBULA somewhere other than free weapon events

maybe a blue option with high level drone system (level 5 or 6) that can disable an automated scout or prevent them from fleeing, etc.

possibly combine drone booster with anti personnel blue options once for an extra bonus

level 3 doors vs boarders event where you can ransom them off

enable MANTIS_CAPTURE_COMMANDO event?

add 1-2 more mantis-specific events? Possibly make the general odds of getting a weapon as a reward from a matis sector higher than others, while maybe dropping the store count to exactly 1?

Add another 1-2 slug store text blurbs?

Make the pirate-cache slug fight quest sometimes let you find the cache?

Make a ship type appropriate for 'refitted for transport' - more shields, less weapons, etc.