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For ship achievements, see Ship Achievements.
FTL Slightly Used Achievement Screen

Slightly Used Achievement Screen

An Achievement is a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters. You can acquire them by completing challenges set forth by the achievement's description.

In FTL, achievements are organized into three categories:

  • General Progression
  • Going the Distance
  • Skill and Equipment Feats

Achievements overview[]

General Progression[]

The "General Progression" category is about, well, general progression. The achievements in this category are unlocked mainly by getting to a certain sector, defeating a certain amount of enemies, or collecting a certain amount of scrap. Basically these achievements will be unlocked by simply playing the game.

Ftl achievement 0 just getting started

Just Getting Started
"Get to sector 5."
Ftl achievement 1 federation base in range

Federation Base in Range
"Get to sector 8."
Ftl achievement 2 federation victory easy

Federation Victory (Easy)
"Beat the boss on Easy."
Ftl achievement 3 federation victory normal

Federation Victory (Normal)
"Beat the boss on Normal."

Ftl achievement 4 your own fleet

Your Own Fleet
"Unlock every playable ship."
Ftl achievement 5 rule 10 greed is eternal

Rule Ten: Greed is Eternal
"Collect 10000 scrap across all games."
Ftl achievement 6 warlord

Warlord
"Defeat 1000 ships across all playthroughs."


Going the Distance[]

The "Going the Distance" category is an extension of the "General Progression" category. The achievements in this category are unlocked by getting to a certain sector without doing specific things along the way such as getting to sector 8 without losing a crew member.

Ftl achievement 8 coming in for my pacifism run

Coming in for my Pacifism run!
"Get to sector 5 without firing a shot, using an offensive drone, or teleporting."
Ftl achievement 7 i dont need no stinkin upgrades

I don't need no stinkin' upgrades!
"Get to sector 5 with no system/reactor upgrades."
Ftl achievement 9 on a wing and a prayer

On a Wing and a Prayer
"Get to sector 5 without repairing at a store."
Ftl achievement 10 ballistophobia

Ballistophobia
"Get to sector 8 without using missiles/bombs."

Ftl achievement 11 technophobia

Technophobia
"Get to sector 8 without using drones."
Ftl achievement 12 living off the land

Living off the Land
"Get to sector 8 without buying at a store (Repairs are ok)."
Ftl achievement 13 no redshirts here

No Redshirts Here
"Get to sector 8 without losing a crewmember."


Skill and Equipment Feats[]

The “Skill and Equipment Feats” category is a list of the more difficult achievements to unlock.

Ftl achievement 16 some people just like to watch ships burn

Some people just like to watch ships burn
"Have every square of an enemy ship on fire simultaneously."
Ftl achievement 18 astronomically low odds

Astronomically Low Odds
"Fail to evade 5 shots in a row with a full powered and upgraded engine."
Ftl achievement 15 boarding objective successful

BOARDING OBJECTIVE SUCCESSFUL
"Have a single boarding drone kill 4 crewmembers on one ship."
Ftl achievement 14 they never saw it coming

They never saw it coming
"Use the Weapon Pre-Igniter augmentation to destroy an enemy ship in one volley before the enemy can get a single shot off."


Ftl achievement 19 trustworthy autopilot

Trustworthy Auto-Pilot
"Defeat an enemy ship with all of your crew aboard it."
Ftl achievement 20 slice and dice

Slice and Dice
"Hit every room of a ship with at least one beam in under 5 seconds."
Ftl achievement 17 victory through asphyxiation

Victory through Asphyxiation
"Empty the oxygen (Net level less than 5 percent) of a non-automated, hostile enemy ship."


Achievements tips[]

Going the Distance[]

  • Most of these achievements can be quite easily acquired by simply running the Nesasio through the game using the Long Range Scanners and starting engines to avoid encounters. Further tips are to pick nebula (and by extension, Zoltan) sectors where possible due to the lower encounter rates, and aim for short routes to the exit that pass by shops and distress calls. Whilst the Pacifism achievement only requires you to reach Sector 5, reaching Sector 8 using this strategy is extraordinarily easy and almost all of these achievements can be ticked off in one hit (as well the Stealth Cruiser ship achievements, and potentially even unlocking the Zoltan Cruiser).

They never saw it coming[]

  • The game's definition of one volley is "no weapon can be fired twice". Waiting until shields are down before using a beam weapon is fine, as long as the other weapons are not fired again.
  • An asteroid field can help get this achievement. A ship that takes lethal damage from asteroid strikes after having its shields destroyed counts for this achievement.
  • Anti-Ship Drones can be used without invalidating this achievement. If your "alpha strike" is just a little short of destroying the opposing ship, consider using a drone to finish off the target.
  • Cloaking can help delay the return fire of the enemy ship (particularly when leveraging the above tips), but remember to disable auto-fire.
  • The Zoltan Cruiser Layout A and The Stealth Cruiser Layout B both come with weapons that can accomplish this off the bat. Zoltan Cruiser is more durable out the box on Hard, but Stealth Cruiser's weapon is stronger.

Slice and Dice[]

  • The Artillery Beam on the Federation Cruisers counts for this achievement. If you have any other sort of beam weapon equipped, simply "filling in the gaps" immediately after an artillery shot should be a trivial matter.
  • One could get this achievement in a single random artillery beam shot against an AI drone.
  • As the description indicates, it is possible to obtain this achievement with multiple beam weapons as long as they are discharged at nearly the same time. A room can be hit by more than one beam without penalty.

Living off the Land[]

  • As noted, you can repair at stores. You may also sell at stores, but you cannot buy anything.
  • The Osprey/Nisos Federation Cruisers are a good choice for this - the Artillery Beam comes pre-installed, and is a powerful weapon.

Astronomically Low Odds[]

  • Note: If the final shot absorbed occurs simultaneously to a dodge, it still counts. If you are going to try for this achievement deliberately, try to use crewmembers that do not have any levels of piloting or engine skill. It is possible to complete this achievement without a crewmember manning engines, but you must have a pilot. With an inexperienced pilot and engineer, and a fully-upgraded engine system, your dodge chance will be 45%, which means that an enemy has a 55% chance of hitting you. The chances of getting hit 5 times in a row are 55% * 55% * 55% * 55% * 55% = 5.033% chance of five hits in a row per enemy's 5-shot volley, so it is not as difficult as it may seem. With inexperienced crew, you have a 64.4% chance of getting this achievement after 20 5-shot volleys, in practice, however, it is difficult to keep your crewmembers from gaining experience rapidly when attempting this. The worst-case scenario is a fully-leveled pilot and engineer, which gives you a 55% chance to dodge, which means an enemy has a 45% chance of hitting you. The chances of getting hit 5 times in a row are then 45% * 45% * 45% * 45% * 45% = 1.845% chance of five hits in a row per enemy's 5-shot volley. With less than a 2% chance, you have a 31.1% chance of gaining this achievement after 20 5-shot volleys.
    • The 64.4% chance of five shots hitting using 45% dodge is misleading. For example if the enemy ship shoots seven lasers then you can get the achievement by failing to dodge shots 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, etc. You are actually more likely than just 64.4% to get the achievement after 100 shots.
      • The math is actually pretty complex; using a coin toss calculation as a reference, 45% evade results in a 50% probability of the achievement at 40 shots in a row, 75% at 77 shots in a row, 95% probability at 162 shots in a row, and 99% probability at 247 shots in a row. With 55% evade the 99% point is 302 shots in a row.
  • Note: As of Steam Version 1.03.3 for Windows, I was unable to get this achievement without also upgrading the Piloting Sub-System to level 3. This doesn't seem like it should be necessary, but I let the game run for roughly 5 hours against an opponent with a Level 3 Burst Laser (5 shots), watched combat for about 30 minutes and witnessed 5 non-dodged shots in a row many times, assumed many others happened over the course of 4 to 5 hours while I was not watching, and could not get this achievement. When I upgraded the Piloting Sub-System to level 3, I got the achievement a few minutes later. This could very well be a bug, but if you are having difficulty, you may want to try upgrading the Piloting Sub-System.
  • Note: As of GOG version 2.0.0.9 for Windows, I got this achievement with the Piloting Sub-System at level 1 and manned by an expert pilot, but no crew at all in the engine room (giving 45% dodge chance). (This was by accident as I was trying to repair my shields while fighting the boss; I got the achievement and checked what it was, then switched back to the game to check who was in the engine bay. It's possible the crew was moving out of the engine bay to repair the shields when I got the achievement and started repair before I paused, but I don't think the engine was manned.)
  • On FTL 1.5.13, I completed the achievement with unmanned engines. The shots don't have to come in a burst - I fought an auto-assault ship that had Ion Blast II and a Basic Laser only (and drones) - there's no need for them to have Level 3 Burst Lasers.
  • I received the achievement while on the second phase of the boss fight with master engineer and pilot, and fully upgraded engine and pilot systems. I'm inclined to hypothesize that the Rebel Flagship just shoots so much at you that it's rather similar to a brute-force method. Mattman0000 (talk) 10:59, April 28, 2015 (UTC)
  • I got this with 40% dodge chance (unskilled pilot, no one on engines), however, I did upgrade piloting to lvl3, just to be safe (as per comment above). Also I got it on literally the first 5 shots after upgrading.

BOARDING OBJECTIVE SUCCESSFUL[]

  • Must be the FIRST boarding drone you send out to get the 4 kills. If you send out one, have it killed, and then send another and get the kills on the 2nd one, you will not obtain this achievement. (tested as of v 1.03.1)
  • The drone has to get the killing hit on ALL of them all for it to count. If you use a second drone, the count starts over, so don't even think about spamming drones until the enemy is wiped out. You can help the drone with crew, and must, but the drone must get killing hits. (This is all accurate as of v1.03.1)
  • The best way to get this is to find an enemy ship that has 4 weak crew (Human Engi Zoltan Slug), but no Medbay, then teleport in 4 strong boarders in a big room (use Mantis or Crystal B variant) along with sending in the drone. (Note that the boarding drone has to land first before the boarding party is sent over or else the first kill, even if it is by the drone, won't count) Four of the enemy crew will come to fight you while the 5th fights the drone, and they will all lose because 4 Mantis/Rockmen + drone can easily beat 4 Humans/Engi/Zoltan/Slug. Once they are all injured, teleport your crew back out before any of the enemies die. You'll then have an enemy ship full of nearly dead crew for the drone to mop up. If they do have one, then you'll have to try to keep it locked down while not killing the crew trying to repair it. Remember, the drone must get the killing hits. The best ships to target are Rebel Cruisers full of Humans, but no Medbay.
  • Alternately, you could shoot directly at the enemy crew until they all got wounded, then send in the drone. But with this tactic, you risk destroying the ship itself before you can finish. A Bio Beam might be best, but you've got to be good at getting enemies to low health without killing them. Once the enemies are all low hp, send in the drone to finish them off.
  • This particular editor got this achievement after the drone killed five weakened enemies (the entire crew). The ship I found with five crew belonged to the friends who have taken to piracy in the Settlement mercenary work event. I weakened all of the crew first with Mantis boarders, making sure not to kill anyone, then recalled the boarders and launched the boarding drone. I gained the achievement only when the fifth and last enemy crew member was dead and the mission ended – nothing happened right after the drone killed the fourth crew member. [this tracks with the first tip in this section: the boarding drone must land first or else the first kill doesn't count —another ed]
  • Another way is using Lanius as boarders. Send them in a ship with at least 4 crew. All the enemies should come to fight the Lanius, but once the room is empty of oxygen, the enemies should leave the room on very low health. At that point, they are easy prey for a single boarding drone. This can also work with Rock boarders in a room that is on fire, although there is a risk destroying the ship or crew dying to fire if it spreads too quickly.
  • Playing the expansion, it's very easy, if they have a cloning bay. Every enemy crew that dies will be revived. Even if there are only 2 enemy crew on the ship, every time they are revived, killing them with your boarding drone counts as a new kill.

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Upgrades![]

  • Upgrades are OK if they come from any source except the "Ship" button. Random events where you can trade for them, buy them (e.g. run into slugs who offer it for x amount of scrap), or get them for free (e.g. get a free engine upgrade with the Confused Mantis) are safe.
  • Additionally, you can buy new systems, sub-systems, weapons, and augmentations in a store just fine. Cloaking is particularly useful, as you should have enough scrap.

Trustworthy Auto-Pilot[]

  • It is possible to unlock this achievement while your crew is aboard an enemy ship that succeeds in making an FTL jump. However, all your crew will be considered dead, and you will lose the game. However, it is possible to get this achievement by destroying the final boss with all of your crew on board the enemy ship, resulting in a win with no crew.
  • This achievement is easier the sooner you get the Crew Teleporter as you should have a smaller crew.
  • One way is to find a hostile ship with no med-bay (or alternatively take out the med-bay with weapons), then transport all your crew across to kill the opposing crew while they try to repair it; be careful not to destroy the ship while your crew is aboard.
  • If your crew is about to kill the hostile crew but you still have a few crew left to transport, start your crew running about the hostile ship as they won't attack while on the move. This will give you time to transport your remaining crew.
  • Although the achievement says that all crew must be aboard enemy ship, you actually only have to have no friendly crew aboard your ship, meaning you can earn this by:
    • Having a clone bay and all of your crew are dead waiting to be cloned. (Confirmed in v1.5.4 on Linux.)
    • Having only one crew member and that is being actively mind controlled when the enemy ship is destroyed. (Confirmed in v1.5.13 on Linux.)
  • Using the Mantis B Cruiser is the easiest way to get this achievement, as you can teleport your two starting crew onboard the enemy ship. While they are buying time, teleport the rest aboard the enemy ship and take over the ship.
    • This achievement is usually possible in the first jump with Mantis B; teleport your entire crew to the enemy ship and achieve a crew kill.
  • Federation C Cruiser may also be useful getting this quickly on as it comes with both clone bay and teleport room. Send the Human and Mantis first, then hold off until teleport charges then send off the 2 Zoltans and do whatever you can to defeat the enemy ship before cloning bay reconstructs a crew, even destroying it.
  • This achievement can be also be done at the same time with Battle Royale by having 1 crew left while you do it.

Victory through Asphyxiation[]

  • This achievement can easily be obtained in early sectors when fighting a Slug Interceptor ship because its oxygen system is inaccessible to the enemy crew and thus cannot be repaired. After severely damaging its oxygen system the player just has to wait for the oxygen in the enemy ship to diminish which will kill the enemy crew.
  • Hacking can be used on the (preferably unmanned) O2 system to drain the enemy ship of a percentage of their oxygen (% depending on power levels). After then destroying the O2 system using available weapons, the oxygen will deplete further while Hacking prevents / slows down enemy crew trying to get in to fix the system.
  • Or, using the Ion Blast Mark II, continually target their life support. Given enough time, it is possible to incapacitate even a level 2 life support system as long as the enemy ship has only one shield. Two Ion Blasts (2nd doesn't need to be Mark II) makes this easier, with the second targeting their weapons. Alternately, use the Engi Cruiser and spend your first 50 scrap on shields. You should find plenty of ships you can kill by draining life support in sector 1.
  • You can get this achievement fighting the boss, after the crew has been killed and the AI takes over.

Some people just like to watch ships burn[]

  • This achievement is easy to get if you can get your hand on a Fire Beam. Simply shoot enough to drop the shields, then start torching their ship. Unless they are Engi or Rockmen, they shouldn't be able to fight the fires. Keep spreading fires while trying to let the crew live as long as possible. Once every room is on fire, you'll get credit. Alternately, you could spam a Fire Bomb, but it won't be as effective and may require a lot of ammo to waste. Rock Cruiser B starts with a Fire Bomb along with fire-immune Rockmen; it may be useful for getting this as you could use the Rockmen to defend the fires so they are allowed to spread.
  • The fires do not necessarily have to be caused by the player- the fires caused by a nearby star will also contribute towards this achievement.
  • You can get this award in Rebel Flagship 3rd stage but you need fire weapons. Destroy the Super Shield, kill ALL the crew and the AI will activate. Then Fire attack the Individual weapons. When they are down keep Fire attacking the internal areas as much as you can. Do NOT target the O2 (oxygen) room until the Fire engulfs the Med-bay AND the engine rooms. Do this and you get the award.
  • If the enemy crew is dead, and the ship has become neutral (and you can no longer see the rooms), this achievement is still obtainable if the fire spreads after your victory.

Achievements trivia[]

  • "Rule Ten: Greed is Eternal" achievement is a reference to Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from Star Trek.
  • "I don't need no stinkin' upgrades!" achievement is a reference to a well-known misquoted line.
  • "No Redshirts Here" achievement is a reference to Star Trek, in which Starfleet Security personnel (who wear red uniforms) often die soon after being introduced.
  • "Some people just like to watch ships burn" achievement is a reference to a The Dark Knight quote.
  • "On a Wing and a Prayer" is a reference to a popular American patriotic song from World War 2.
  • The icon for "Trustworthy Auto-Pilot" resembles the HAL 9000, a character from Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction Space Odyssey saga.
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