Mike’s FTL stuff > Event safety guide
Events can kill crew, damage hull, or advance the Rebel fleet. The wiki has a useful negative consequences super-category page.
To reduce tedious wiki checks, here’s a categorised guide. I’ve picked memorable phrases from each event. Sometimes the phrase is from your choice text.
These are simple binary choices. Is it safe to board that space station or not?
Whenever you send your crew, expect to lose them. So “boarding” is risky, but “examining” or “hailing them” is safe. Clonebays cannot cure disease, but upgraded medbays can. There’s an evil teleporter blue option that does not save your crew.
| Text cue | Crew death?* | Medical counter | Aide-memoire |
|---|---|---|---|
| No response to hails #1, #2 | 1/3 | Medbay 2 | No Hails = Needs Healing |
| Move in to examine the station | Safe | - | “Move in to examine” is safe |
| Damaged and dilapidated | 1/3 | Medbay 2 | Damaged and Dilapidated = Disease |
| Unknown disease | Always | - | Disease, so can’t clone. Only take blue options |
| Refugee drifting | Safe | - | “Hail them” is always safe |
| Refugee comms down | 1/4 | Clonebay | Comms Down = Cannibal Dicks |
| Great Eye | 1/4 | - | Reverse aging, not dying, so can’t clone |
| Giant alien spiders | 1/2 | Clonebay | Giant spiders can kill. No joke |
| Malfunctioning Mantis | 1/2 | Clonebay | Mantis may murderise |
| Pry it open | 1/3 | Clonebay | Mantis may murderise |
| Incapacitated ships | 1/5 | Clonebay | Manually search = danger. (Good reward) |
| Send some crew to help (Slugs) | 1/3 | Clonebay | Send crew to help Slugs? Seriously? |
* Ignores “nothing” outcomes, as they are irrelevant for evaluating risk vs. reward
These events have more options, stages, or nuances. I’m leaving out obvious choices like “give up your crew member”.
| Text cue | Crew death?* | Medical counter | Aide-memoire / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bring … creatures to sell | Always | (Clonebay) | Never sell the space ponies! You monster |
| Send your crew in a shuttle | 1/2 | Clonebay | Send crew = danger, fire = death |
| …dock and try to rescue | Safe | - | Docking, not sending crew. Risks 4 hull |
| Smoldering Engi | Safe | Clonebay | Engi is “safe”**, drone needs clone |
| Single life form | Safe | - | First stage always safe… |
| …mental state questionable | 1/3 | Clonebay | …but madmen can kill, also risks 4 hull |
| Have your Engi negotiate | Maybe! | - | No ship kill = dead Engi. Single crew = LOSS |
| Accept his proposal | 1/6 | Clonebay | Messy. I don’t take this |
| …reluctantly accept his proposal | 1/6 *** | Clonebay | …same, but bugged |
| Allow them to run tests | 1/3 | Clonebay | Swaps crew for weapon |
| Send an away team (no fuel) | 1/4 | - | Send crew = danger. (Can avert with scrap) |
| Rock live mine | 1/4 | Clonebay | Unavoidable. Also 6 hull damage |
| Crystalline cache | 1/6 – 1/3 | Clonebay | Unavoidable without losing all fuel |
* Ignores “nothing” outcomes, as they are irrelevant for evaluating risk vs. reward
** Taking the Engi is “safe” because they replace any lost crew (but you might lose skills). “Save yourselves” is 100% safe
*** The Rebel Defector event is bugged: if you get a second offer, a crew icon indicates safety
Hull damage is usually worth risking, unless you are low on hull. Even low-scrap outcomes become attractive in later sectors.
| Text cue | Damage amount | Damage chance* | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investigate the battlefield (nebula) | 5 | 1/2 | Bad without clonebay or medbay-2 |
| Ship without life forms | 5 | 1/3 | Good reward |
| Side with the fugitive | 5 | 1/2 | Risky. System damage + fight |
| …offer up the Mantis | 5 | 1/3 | Better, unless you really want the Mantis |
| Try to shield their ship | 1 or 4 | 2/3 | Good reward on average |
| …defense / repair drone | 4 | 1/2 | …even better reward |
| Try to dislodge the ship | 2 | 1/2 | Bad unless weak. Destroy them instead |
| Promise to help | (see below) | - | Cannot back out, blue options “hidden” |
| …fire on the defense system | 5 | 1/2 | Poor value in sector 1 or 2 (Hard) |
| Steal the civilian supplies | 2 | 1/3 | Worth it. System damage too |
| Explore the asteroid field | 5 | 1/5 | Good value (risk of asteroid fight) |
| Approach the asteroid field | 5 | 1/5 | You need the fuel (risk of asteroid fight) |
| Sure (Slug repair) | 5, after repair | 1/3 | Usually worth taking; may need to run |
| Buy nothing (conspicuous ship) | 3 | Always | Attack them instead |
| Dock with the refueling platform | 3 | ~2/5 | Ignore unless desperate for fuel |
| …quickly dock and refuel | 3 | 1/2 | Skip unless at 0 fuel |
| Demand the Rock ship pay | 5 | 1/3 | Usually worth taking |
| Capture the ship intact | 15 | “Always” | You were warned. THREE times! |
The following events were already covered in the “crew death” sections, but they also deal hull damage. Here they are again:
| Text cue | Damage amount | Damage chance* | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dock and try to rescue | 4 | 1/2 | Good value |
| Rock live mine | 6 | 1/4 | Missile blue option is 4 damage (saves crew) |
| Mental state questionable | 4 | 1/3 | Worth it, with clone bay |
| Accept his proposal | 2 or 3 | 1/3 | Messy. I don’t take this |
| …reluctantly accept his proposal | 2 or 3 | 1/3 *** | …same, but bugged |
* Ignores “nothing” outcomes, as they are irrelevant for evaluating risk vs. reward
*** The Rebel Defector event is bugged: if you get a second offer, a crew icon indicates safety
Some events can advance the Rebel fleet by 1 move.
| Text cue | Chance* | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Leave them to their fate | 1/2** | Avoid unless low on hull |
| Go looking for the Rebel ship | 1/3 | Okay, as you still get to fight them |
| Prepare to chase them! | 1/2 | Maybe worth it in Uncharted Nebula |
| Attempt to manually hack into the station | 1/3 | (Possible map reveal) Probably not worth it |
| Attempt to remain concealed (Rebel) | 1/3** | Fight them instead |
| Interfere - make first contact | Always | Terrible. Attack the Rebels instead |
| Attack the Crystalline ship | Always | Bad. Attack the Rebels instead |
| Give them your flight plans | Always | Lie to them instead |
| Wait (buried Crystal men) | Always | Probably not worth it I’ve never even seen this event |
| Do a full system scan | Always | Unavoidable at this point |
And once again, here’s our old friend:
| Text cue | Chance* | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Accept his proposal | 1/6 | Messy. I don’t take this |
| …reluctantly accept his proposal | 1/6 *** | …same, but bugged |
* Ignores “nothing” outcomes, as they are irrelevant for evaluating risk vs. reward
** For these events I’m including the “nothing” outcome, since there is no “do nothing” option
*** The Rebel Defector event is bugged: if you get a second offer, a crew icon indicates safety
| Text cue | Penalty | Chance | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submit to profiling | Crew loss or weapons halved | 1/2 | Attack instead; weak blue options |
| One of the N moons | Steals 35 scrap, 2-4 fuel, 1-2 drones | 3/4 | Count your moons! |
| Chuckles, the Slug | Steals 20-35 scrap, 2-4 missiles | 1/2 | Up to 10 scrap per fuel |
| Drink | Steals 25-35 scrap | 1/2 | Bad. You also miss a fight |
| Choose your own death | System is halved (rounds against you) | Always | Normally take O2 |
| Care to see our waresss? | Weapons offline | 1/3 | Pick “Forget this” at the second opportunity |
The following events were already covered in earlier sections:
| Text cue | Penalty | Chance | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purge the system code! | Engines and shields power halved | Always | Bad. Attack or use blue options |
| Sure (Slug repair) | Engines limited to 1 | 1/3 | Fine |
| Sure (Slug repair) | Weapons halved (rounds against you) | 1/3 | Usually worth the risk. Be prepared to run |
| Quicky dock and refuel | Lose 3 fuel | 1/2 | Worth it when you have no fuel |