A halberd and a zoltan shield, what more can you ask for?
Sector 1
Beacon 1
Will go through the nebula, otherwise nothing special in this layout.
Beacon 3
Safe fight to train evasion. I fired the halberd so it caused only 1 damage at a time and the weapons guy also got 9 training.
Beacon 4
The zoltan shield will last long enough, target hacking and weapons.
We are quite rich - 58 scrap and a drone from two beacons (plus an empty one).
I'll upgrade weapons-4 to get a buffer for the halberd and be able to use both weapons together.
Beacon 5
A bit expensive but will help the do-not-upgrade-reactor achievement.
There is a store and if I hadn't upgraded weapons-4 I would have gone. Now I'll visiting the neighbouring beacon and if I get scrap from there will go to the store and then the nebula, otherwise will skip it.
Beacon 6
Nice to have a zoltan shield. It will save us from the first missile and the halberd will fire before the second.
Beacon 7
Ion blast is a great early weapon.
Beacon 10
The halberd guarantees they won't be getting away.
We are a little short even if we sell the leto so I'll have to skip the store. If I hadn't bought the ion blast there would have been enough cash but I think getting it was the right decision.
Beacon 12
Double miss by the ion but the halberd does the job.
Beacon 13
Another zoltan and another asteroid field.
Beacon 14
Would have been great if this were reactor but alas.
Lanius next is great.
Sector 2
Beacon 1 (15)
No beacons around the exit so we can visit only 12 instead of 14.
I'll circle a little before the store which leaves enough time to find a second store anywhere except in the two bottom left ones - but they are isolated and would require repeating jumps.
Beacon 3 (17)
They have a teleporter but between engi/lanius/medbay it would be hard to oxygen-kill.
Beacon 4 (18)
Got hacking. I should have also refuelled but didn't realise I was low until after the jump.
Beacon 7 (21)
Lanius distress is especially bad but is the only way to visit a potential corner store and not have to dive.
Beacon 9 (23)
Fights are quite easy - there is time to fire the ion twice before the halberd and they go down in one.
Beacon 10 (24)
Even a ship with strong weapons like this is not a problem. However I just realised that I didn't train weapons and we are close to sector 3 where it becomes much harder.
Got a delayed fleet reward but can't make use of it... If I had taken the corner beacon first, it would have worked. So the lesson is when pathing and choosing between two seemingly equal options, also consider what if you get a delayed fleet reward.
Beacon 11 (25)
I upgraded shields in case we can weapons-train, but no luck here.
Beacon 12 (26)
Again no luck and quite a scary fight though the zoltan shield kept us safe until the halberd could fire.
Beacon 13 (27)
Didn't manage to train weapons nor found the second store. Next up engi homeworlds.
Sector 3
Beacon 1 (28)
Start with the distress and look for the stores. Since we have a zoltan pilot I'm quite open to buying an engi if we find one early.
Also, upgraded hacking-2 before jumping.
Btw, the layout is terrible - the centre is connected only via the top and the bottom right beacons are reachable only via the exit.
Beacon 2 (29)
First damage in the run.
Beacon 4 (31)
Interesting choices, especially since we can see the next store and can visit only one beacon before it.
Buying cloaking will leave enough cash for a weapon in the next store and with 15 drone parts we can rely on hacking+halberd for a while. Buying the battery will make it easier to get the do-not-upgrade reactor achievement. And the engi will give one power from the pilot and blue options from the sector.
I decided to get cloaking as it will greatly increase our safety. However much as I'd also like the battery it won't leave enough money for the next store so I'm not going to buy it.
Beacon 5 (32)
No weapons in the next store but I'll get the battery this time.
And the LRS.
Beacon 8 (35)
Escort civilians quest reward. We'll be well over what we need to get the achievement.
Beacon 11 (38)
Lol.
Engi will be easier to go through and it has an extra store.
