I evolve a new power slot, mostly because one starts to get a little insufficient if I find some interesting energy-hungry utilities, that plus the occasional thermal weapon. Perhaps most importantly, at this point I have enough parts that losing a lone power source is kind of annoying, and rather than spend inventory space on the spare I may as well have both attached at the same time.
It's also time for a third weapon, not necessarily one I'll always use in the volley, but maybe for backup--depends on what I find.
016 - My starting build. I check the room to the south real quick, which looks like nothing so I head north instead. I pocket the Target Analyzer and head east (the only available direction). A Grunt escorting a Hauler spots me in the first room I pop my head into, so I take his Lgt. Nuclear Core to fill my new empty slot
. At this point I'm noticing almost
all my armor is really low integrity, so I need to plan ahead for those slots. My spare Imp. Targeting Computer and Target Analyzer will do nicely for a while, though it would be a nice to take out a Sentry soon for some extra treads and armor.
017 - I head around the corner and spot just the room for me
.
018 - In much better shape after taking him out. There's also a Flak Cannon in the room, but I leave it behind since I don't like them much and still have a pristine Grenade Launcher for crowd control. I head back out and continue east and south, following the main corridor. ... Another Sentry guarding the southern corridor. He's so far away when I spot him that I decide to immediately swap out my weakest armor for a second targeting computer, just to get more of an edge over him in ranged combat. +16% (86%) to-hit with all three of my weapons
. He's down in three volleys. His treads were in better shape than one of mine, so I swapped that in and continued down the corridor, which heads east from the junction he was guarding.
019 - Rounding the corner this guy opens up on me with his Flak Gun and Gauss Rifle. I hate Hunters. Despite his cloaking I've still got a 66% chance to hit, but I really hate Hunters,
and I notice he's standing next to a Neutrino Reactor. Time for some overkill. I'd like to introduce this guy to my Grenade Launcher. I swap it in and fire
only the launcher (a simple tactic to not waste so much time firing a huge volley and risk losing the launcher to the counterattack in case I want to put it away). Bonus: By the time I have the launcher ready he and I have been stationary long enough to raise my hit chance to 76%. The shot hits, but isn't enough to take him down, nor do I have a Structural Scanner so I can't tell whether the reactor was destabilized. It's not worth losing the launcher to this, so I put it away again. ... As soon as I put it away the launcher the reactor explodes, taking with it a nearby Blade Trap I didn't see and might have otherwise stepped in
. The stupid Hunter is still staring at me, but close to death.
020 - I don't quite bring him down with a volley, and immediately an ARC rounds the corner and drops three Swarmers in my face. Oh, Grenade Launcher... I have sudden need of you. I fire it at the Hunter and one shot takes out him and all but one Swarmer. Pack up launcher
again, and take out the Swarmer with one last volley.
021 - A Sentry and two Grunts show up, no doubt warned by the ARC that came from around the corner. (I just took out the Defender before this shot.) I had gone north while they were rounding the corner to pick up some extra armor I saw lying there after a wall was brought down in the earlier battle. Apparently there's an entire minefield of Blade Traps in the area, one of which I step on after defeating them. Lots of junk lying around anyway, I'll just rebuild myself here...
022 - Me after battle: Awesome shape. Them: Dead. I'm going to head east from here.
023 - Then north... where I meet these guys. Grenade Launcher never fails in the Materials floors. This time there are five of them, but the grenade doesn't care. Unfortunately the first two shots hit the Repair Station right next to me (I didn't like that angle of attack, but didn't feel like moving). The third clears it and takes out four of the annoying Pests. One left, then their Grunt friends show up. Question: Do I need salvage? Answer: No, continue launching grenades. A few more shots and all that's left is one Grunt--too little to bother with a grenades, so I replace that with a Gauss Rifle and open fire with a full volley. I blow off his gun with the second, and let him flee past me.
024 - And there it is! The exit to the Factory, revealed more quickly by the nade-fest which took down the northern wall (although I would've found it anyway because that's where I was heading). I also see some Med. Storage Units so I'm going to drop some armor in exchange for one of those, and check out a couple of higher level weapons I see lying around here around the exit. (I want to enter the Factory ready to kick butt!)