Faster Than Light (FTL) Best Systems Upgrade Priority - Games Finder (2024)

Last Updated on June 30, 2024 by Samuel Franklin

Learn the FTL best systems and subsystems upgrade priority, maximising your chances of success in the final spaceship battle. With a large number of options, costly Scrap investment and limited system slots available these permanent upgrades can be confusing for new and experienced players with these decisions having a notable impact on your ship combat power.

In this FTL best systems comprehensive guide I detail each option to ensure players can invest wisely and optimise each FTL attempt. While some decisions will depend on your choice of FTL ship and the FTL weapons you acquire randomly there are some systems that should always be prioritised. If you’re wondering what to upgrade first these include Shields, Medbay, Cloaking, Hacking, Piloting and Doors as they provide increased chances of early game survival while also adding tools to defeat the Rebel Flagship in the final battle regardless of your FTL difficulty choice.

Table of Contents:
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– FTL Best Systems
– FTL Best Subsystems

FTL Systems & FTL Subsystems Overview

Systems and Subsystems in Faster Than Light cost Scrap to unlock and must be carefully balanced with your currently available reactor power. Similar to other roguelike adventure games these difficult upgrade decisions have a large impact on your chance of survival and the playstyle you’ll use for ship combat given players are limited to 8 slots and there are 11 possible systems available (subsystems are not counted in this cap). In addition to their direct power some system upgrades are used in random event encounters and often provide a rewarding or safe method to resolve these encounters.

The systems in Faster Than Light: Advanced Edition in order they will appear along the UI bar when installed are:

• Shields
• Engines
• Oxygen
• Medbay
• Clone Bay (Advanced Edition Only)
• Hacking (Advanced Edition Only)
• Mind Control (Advanced Edition Only)
• Teleporter
• Cloaking
• Weapons
• Drones

The subsystems in Faster Than Light: Advanced Edition in order they will appear when installed are:

• Piloting
• Sensors
• Doors
• Backup Battery (Advanced Edition Only)

FTL Best Systems

While systems priority in FTL can alter slightly based on your desired playstyle and starting ship selection the best FTL upgrade priority order I recommend is:

Shields > Medbay > Cloaking > Hacking > Teleporter > Mind Control > Drones > Clone Bay

The reasons for this FTL upgrade priority path is detailed as follows:

• Shields: Shields are vital to survival in FTL as upgrades allow you to absorb additional enemy fire or environmental hazards while protecting your critical hull health points.
  
• Medbay: Without a Medbay to recover lost crew health players won’t survive long and you should never be without at least a basic Medbay or Clone Bay to keep your crew safe. Utilising both of these bays is not recommended as the overlapping utility is a waste of your limited system slots.
  
• Cloaking: The best system for your FTL adventures as this gives you a button to dodge enemy weapon fire and even prevent their weapons from charging. This system is vital through sector progression and the final boss fight to avoid damage which offsets the high purchase cost. Level 1 of this system provides the most benefit with further upgrades to cloaking a lower priority compared to other systems.
  
• Hacking: A flexible system for attack and defence depending on which enemy system that you target with the hacking drone to disrupt for several seconds. It is this flexibility that makes it one of the best FTL systems as it can disable shields, drain weapon charge, turn a Medbay toxic, reduce evasion or other utility that prevent damage to your own ship and crew. Hacking effectiveness can be impacted by enemy defence drones though so it does require some planning to work against particular enemies.
  
• Crew Teleporter: The teleporter opens up the potential of a combat boarding party playstyle in FTL and there are a number of ships that start with this system. If available for purchase this is generally a good option as it allows you to board enemy ships to defeat the crew which rewards additional Scrap. A powerful boarding crew is also an easy to use tactic against the Rebel Flagship to disable some weapons quickly although is not as effective on hard difficultly due to a different boss ship layout on this difficulty.
  
• Mind Control: Combined with the teleporter for a boarding focused ship this can provide an extra edge when fighting enemy crew for control of a room. Given the limited number of system slots on a ship mind control can be difficult to fit into your standard layout but is an enjoyable playstyle combination with teleporter to use from time to time.
  
• Drone Control: Drones create a unique playstyle in FTL with a number of ships starting with drones as part of their core theme. Outside of these ships though it is hard to recommend purchasing drones as system slots are limited. That being said drones are quite flexible with offensive, defensive and utility options but they simply don’t do anything you can’t already achieve through other easier to use and less expensive systems already as you also need drone parts to operate this system.
  
• Clone Bay: Another niche choice the Clone Bay can actually be quite fun to use when paired with a teleporter as you send endless waves of crew to your enemy ship without a care. Most ships in FTL start with a Medbay already though which creates an unnecessary double up as the Medbay is more than enough to keep your crew alive from combat and other events.

Based on the above when upgrading systems in Faster Than Light your upgrade priorities are:

• Shields: Shields should always be your first consideration with level two shields (4 power) being an early game staple to reduce damage and save on Scrap hull repair costs. You’ll want to gradually upgrade shields to their maximum as you progress through sectors to ensure you have the necessary defence for the Rebel Flagship battle.
• Engines: Engines provide evasion benefits to further increase your defence provided the piloting room has a crew member operating it or the autopilot upgrade has been purchased. Level 5 is often a good goal to aim for as a minimum which provides 25% evasion before diminishing returns per power invested.
• Weapons: Weapons are the primary method to deal damage and gradually upgrading this system as you progress is important to ensure you have enough weapon power available to destroy enemy ships quickly with the weapons you collect during your sector adventure.
• Hacking: Hacking upgrades add 3 seconds to hacking duration which turns the initial 4 seconds into up to 10 seconds.
• Cloaking: While effective at level 1 to dodge immediate threats with careful timing the addition of extra levels increases the time you spend cloaked which means less weapon charge for your enemy.

FTL Best Subsystems

Subsystems are simple in comparison to the main systems of a FTL ship but should not be overlooked as they are a cheap upgrade for a range of utility. The vast majority of ships in FTL start with subsystems installed excluding the backup battery which can be purchased from stores.

Generally I recommend this upgrade and purchase priority for subsystems in FTL:

• Piloting: Max piloting to unlock 80% auto pilot evasion that allows you to move your pilot if necessary without significant evasion impact in combat.
• Doors: Upgrade to level 2 doors as this gives you better control over fires and enemy boarders of your ship. You can also assign any extra crew to this system to gain an upgrade level at any point in the Advanced Edition.
• Backup Battery: Consider if the Backup Battery provides some worthwhile utility to your ship although this decision must be considered against other potential (and better) system upgrades.
• Sensors: Consider if you want to purchase sensors or upgrade them a single level. Sensors are really only useful for boarding focused ships so you can scout your enemy and if you don’t have enough crew to assign here to get the extra level without having to pay for the subsystem upgrade.