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FTL Advanced Edition Balance Mod v0.2.0 - this is an early release which hasn't been fully tested and more changes are planned in the near future.

Goal: To improve the overall game experience by fixing balance issues throughout the game and by adding more interesting decisions to the game.

Note: This mod assumes you are using Advanced Edition content and won't work properly otherwise.

v0.2.0 Mod Files: Slipstream file | raw data.dat file

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Forum Thread: (Not yet posted). Feel free to post here with any concerns, comments, bugs, or suggestions related to the Balance Mod.

Installation: to install this mod, you have 2 options. You can download Slipstream Mod Manager and install the Slipstream file linked above with the manager. Alternatively you can install the mod directly - download the data.dat file and place it into your Steam/steamapps/common/FTL/resources folder (I suggest backing up the original data.dat file).

Also, be sure to check out my stream on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/darktwinge. I stream FTL relatively often and a variety of other games as well.

Overview of Important Changes

(Flak I rarer. Bad weapons better. Bad augments better (FTL Nav removed). Hacking more expensive. Rock A starts with Replicator.)

Stores

Missile Base Cost 6->5

Ships

Red-tail (Kestrel B)

The Zoltan now starts manning the Engines by default.

The Nesasio (Stealth A)

Starting weapon order switched.

Simo-H (Stealth C)

Starting Drone System increased from 2 to 3.

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.)

Man of War (Slug A)

Starting weapon order switched.

The Stormwalker (Slug B)

Swapped the location of the Medbay and the Cloaking system. (Makes using the Medbay + Teleporting or flushing boarders work a bit more smoothly.)

Bulwark (Rock A)

Now starts with Explosive Replicator.
Starting missiles 28->14.

Visual Tweaks

(To be tested and added.)

Systems

Oxygen Level_3 Cost 50->40

Pilot Level_2 Cost 20->25
Pilot Level_3 Cost 50->40

Medbay Level_1 Cost 50->45
Medbay Level_3 Cost 45->40
Medbay Rarity 1->2

Clone Bay Level_1 Cost 50->45
Clone Bay Rarity 1->2

Engines Level_7 Cost 80->70
Engines Level_8 Cost 120->100 (Levels 6-8 of engines cost substantially more scrap for the relative dodge provided than previous levels do. See Engine Efficiency (**Not updated for AE) for more details.)

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_3 Cost 50->45
Doors Rarity 1->2 (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.)

Drones Level_8 Cost 100->90

Sensors Level_3 Cost 40->30
Sensors Rarity 1->2

Teleporter Level_1 Cost 90->80
Teleporter Level_3 Cost 60->55

Hacking Level_1 Cost 80->90
Hacking Level_2 Cost 35->40
Hacking Level_2 Cost 60->55

Mind Control Level_3 Cost 60->50

Weapons

Burst Laser III Cost 95->85
Burst Laser III Cooldown 19s->18s
Burst Laser III Fire Chance 0%->5%

Heavy Laser Mark I Cost 50->45

Heavy Laser Mark II Cost 65->55
Heavy Laser Mark II Rarity 4->3

Hull Smasher Laser Cooldown 14->13
Hull Smasher Laser Fire Chance 0%->10%

Hull Smasher Laser Mark II Cost 75->70
Hull Smasher Laser Mark II Speed 90->75 (Standard lasers are 60; being extra fast makes it harder to land last as you generally want to.)

Chain Burst Laser Cost 65->60

Laser Charger II correctly named.

Flak Gun Mark I Cost 65->70
Flak Gun Mark I Rarity 1->2

Fire Beam Cost 70->60
Fire Beam Cooldown 20->19
Fire Beam Speed 5->8

Hull Beam Breach Chance 0%->3%

Hull Missiles Cost 65->55
Hull Missiles Cooldown 17->15
(Additional Stun to be added later.)

Breach Missiles Cost 65->60
Breach Missiles Cooldown 22->21
Breach Missiles Breach Chance 80%->100%
Breach Missiles Fire Chance 30%->20%

Hermes Missiles Cost 45->40

Swarm Missiles Cost 65->55

Heavy Ion Cooldown 13->12
(Additional Stun to be added later.)

Ion Blast Speed 30->35 (This means it will hit before a Heavy Laser instead of after, making the combo more potent on enemy ships.)

Ion Blast Mark II Speed 30->35 (For consistency with the Mark I.)

Chain Ion Cooldown 14s->13s

Ion Charger Cost 50->55

Fire Bomb Cost 50->45

Stun Bomb Cost 45->40

Healing Burst 18->17
Healing Burst Rarity 3->4 (There are several events that specifically reward this item; making it less common in stores makes those events and the Stormwalker feel more unique.)

Anti-Bio Beam Color Red->Green (Visual tweak only.)

Drones

Anti-Ship Beam Drone Mark II Movement Speed 11->12 (This makes it about 40% higher DPS than Beam I instead of 30%.)

Anti-Ship Fire Drone Cost 50->45
Anti-Ship Fire Drone Movement Speed 12->13
Anti-Ship Fire Drone Beam Length 10->13
Anti-Ship Fire Drone Beam Speed 2->3

Boarding Drone Cost 70->60

Ion Intruder Drone Cost 65->55

Hull Repair Drone Cost 85->90

Anti-Combat Drone Cost 35->30
Anti-Combat Drone Firing Cooldown 7s->6s
Anti-Combat Drone Rarity 1->2

Shield Overcharger Drone Cost 60->55
Shield Overcharger Drone Movement Speed 5->4 (Visual change only, so Anti-Combat Drones and Shield Drones don't overlap.)

Augments

Crystal Vengeance Sell Price 40->25 (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.)
Crystal Vengeance Shard Breach Chance 10%->20%

Titanium System Casing Effect 15%->20%

Drone Reactor Booster Effect 25%->100%

Adv. FTL Navigation has been removed from the game.

Repair Arm Cost 50->40
Repair Arm Scrap Loss 15%->10% (Scrap amount rounds against you.)
Repair Arm Rarity 3->2

FTL Recharge Booster Cost 50->40
FTL Recharge Booster Effect 25%->30% (Upgrading Engines instead is still going to be better in most cases; this does help when avoiding ASB from fighting Rebel Elites though.)
FTL Recharge Booster Rarity 2->3

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.)

Explosive Replicator Cost 60->50
Explosive Replicator Rarity 3->2

Long-Ranged Scanners Cost 30->35

Stealth Weapons Cost 50->40

Fire Suppression Cost 65->55
Fire Suppression Effect 1.0->1.2 (Now 20% faster than a Mantis.)

Distraction Buoys Cost 55->45

Battery Charger Cost 40->35

Defense Scrambler Cost 80->70

Hacking Stun Cost 60->45

Lifeform Scanner Cost 40->30

Reconstructive Teleport Cost 70->65

Events

Fixed a bug where doors remained hacked even after you defeat the enemy ship.

Made it more clear that the reward for the Merchant_Investigate event was from scrapping the ship and the cargo reward as additional.

Prices & Trades

Reduced the cost of Lanius Research Craft event: normal 45/50/40 for augment/weapon/drone -> 40/45/35; with Lanius 35/40/30 -> 30/35/25

Blue Options

When rescuing the Stranded Madman after assessing him with a Slug, he will now be a random race (instead of Human only) and have a random skill.

Using an Anti-Personnel Drone to explore the diseased station now has a 50% chance of a reward instead of 33%.

Considering & Planned

remove shield hack from sector 1 event selection

detail mind control boost amount

'arm the tubes' text --> force rock ship with missiles

fix 'trial experimental tech' text

Possibly re-order Flagship Drones so Defense Drone goes down first, Boarding second?

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

Make waiting for fuel with beacon off worth considering more? What advantages should this have?

Possibly add a Ion (not level 1)->asphyxiate option to the CREWDEAD quest, where they accept half the time from desperation.

Give Medbay 2 to Nisos to start?

Things to Test

How enemy weaponry is determined; test rarity/bp/etc.

test fire suppression - how fast does it work

Stun & Stun chance effects (how much difference does it make for heavy laser II?)

Test & Fix Rock Nursery event

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

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

Ensure partial percentages (e.g. 3% Hull Beam breach chance) work correctly

Possible Content to Add

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

+1 Zoltan Crew Blue Option

maybe add new event to NEUTRAL_ZOLTAN

add more pirate sector hostile events

add additional mantis sector intro messages

possibly use BG_NEBULA somewhere other than free weapon events

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

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

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

Add another 1-2 slug store text blurbs?

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

Re-enable Pilot blue option for PIRATE_ASTEROID event? (Test changing environment types, etc.)

Add possibility for Crystal fight from Zoltan Wiseman Rifts (1/4 chance of it being an option)

Make Pirate_Smuggler a bit stronger as was originally planned.

Possibly use weaponOverride to give specifics ships more dangerous/fitting weapons.

Make some of the text for unlocking the Mantis ship hint at the requirements a little better.

Make 'fleeing enemy ship' slightly more common, as a minor nerf to boarders and minor buff to ftl jammer.

make variant ships (esp. engi, some zoltan/pirate) that have increased door chance and/or medbay chance, similar to the new auto-scouts.

add another blue option to the mantis warship quest

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Original FTL Balance Mod v6.3.1 can be found here: Old Balance Mod