A) Choose the difficulty level easy and stay with it for your first timelines. Ignore the usual posers who are claiming to play only on hard since their first timeline.

B) Before a fight you can modify and test your mechs. Use this test feature, if you are not sure about the effects of the weapons on enemies or buildings.

C) There is no order for powering upgrades of a weapon.

D) You can deactivate upgrades and use the power for other upgrades of the same mech.

E) Check the enemies in the Threat Scanner before you choose an island. More info in the chapter Islands and Enemies.

F) Flamethrower pushes targets and set tiles on fire. Only if the targets are already burning, there is an additional +2 damage.

G) Go for the Perfect Island rewards. More info in the chapter Perfect Island Reward.

H) The Ice mech doesn't get frozen while it's shielded.

I) Frozen flying units are falling to the ground.

J) You can point most attacks to an empty field, if you just want the side effect like a shield, move, fire or smoke.

K) On a burning spawn point the spawning enemy is set on fire (exception: Burrower). The same applies to acid.

L) A blocked enemy is not killed and and the spawn point stays there, until the enemy has spawned or the last round arrived.

M) Before buying a second squad you should consider the impact on the Random Squad. More info in the chapter Buying Squads / Random Squad / Custom Squad.

Only the unlocked ship layouts survived death In FTL. They are comparable to unlocked mech squads and time travelers in this game.
The mech squads are bought with coins. For each achievement you get a coin. After you got all achievements of the game you canbuy the hidden squad.
Coins and squads stay unlocked after the end of a timeline (campaign), it doesn't matter whether you give up, fail or win the final fight.

The same applies to unlocked time travelers.
If time travelers die, they will stay unlocked with 0 XP in a new timeline. Only one surviving time traveller (Last Traveller) can take the XP into a new timeline.
You can choose an ordinary mech pilot as Last Traveller.

Everything else ends with a timeline, such as new weapons, upgrades, mech power and grid energy!

There are two type of mech pilots:

• ordinary random pilots
  
• pilots with an additional special ability (time travellers)

At start your only unlocked time traveller is Ralph.
You can unlock most of the other time travellers by finding them at a reward selection for a perfect island or sometimes in rescue pods. It's random what time traveller you find and whether or not it is an already unlocked one.
New unlockable time travelers are always the first choice!

3 time travellers from FTL are in hidden easter eggs, described in the following good guide:
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1318159933
All unlocked time travelers survive the end of a timeline, but only one of them can take his XP into the next timeline. Time travelers already have a starting skill compared to ordinary mech pilots. Killing enemies gives them experience.
All types of pilot can gain 2 out of 4 additional random skills by experience:

• +1 Mech Reactor
  
• +1 Mech Move
  
• +2 HP
  
• +3 Grid Def

If your time traveller gets the weak skill +3 Grid DEF and not the good +1 Mech Reactor, you can select him new without XP from the list of unlocked time travellers in the next time line and try to get better skills.
Some times it's better to boost the weakest mech with a time traveller and not the strongest mech.

Many travellers like Camila, Abe, Archimedes and Mafan boost well nearly every mech, but there are some very good combinations of mechs and travellers.

It will take many time lines to collect all the time travellers.
Don't hesitate to abandon a timeline before your favorite traveller with good experience skills (power and movement) is going to die.


Let's discuss pilot synergy with mech types.
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1697168437862779283/

Which Pilot do you think is best ?
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/3288067088092252254/

With many squads it's important to choose a good island to start, the environment is only secondary. The type of Psion, boss and other enemies are primary.

They are listed in the Threat Scanner.

If you do not fail any mission objective on a single corporate island (including the rescue pods), it counts as a perfect island and you can choose a reward. Grid damage doesn't matter.
It is always a time traveler in the selection, but it can be one that is already unlocked.
New unlockable time travelers are always the first choice!

You should go for the perfect island rewards!

Every non flying or frozen unit dies on a chasm tile.
If a complete row or line at the rim turns into chasm you may think the map is shortened, but it isn't.
Flying units can still move or be pushed to vanished tiles (chasm) without dying.

Tips: If you can freeze a flying unit on a chasm tile it dies. The Swap mech loves chasm tiles.

This is your starting mech squad with the 3 mechs Combat, Cannon and Artillery. It's a good and easy squad for starters, every unit deals damage and pushes.
Combat is the main damage dealer and the preferred mech for your time traveller.
Priority Upgrades: Buildings Immune (Artillery) and +2 Damage (Combat).
Special Squad Ability: None.
Possible Problems: This squad has no area damage, only addional damage with the pushing effects is possible. This can be a problem at a 4 island trip.
Final Battle: You can't solve it with pure direct damage, but you can push the enemies into various deadly tiles.
Preferred Pilots:

1. Camila / Combat
   
2. Mafan / Combat
   
3. Abe / Combat
   
4. Prospero / Combat

Combat: With the Dash upgrade you can skip chasm tiles, but after the Ramming Speed achievement it's only a low priority upgrade.


Cannon:


Artillery:

Buying other squads has a big impact on the difficulty of the Random Squad!
When you've got 2 squads you are allowed to choose the Random Squad and the Customized Squad. In both squads it's possible to have any combination of your unlocked mechs. This includes a copy of an existing squad or 3 times the same mech.

Tip: The fewer squads you have, the less random compositions are possible. With only 2 or 3 squads you need only a few dice rolls to get a wish combination for the Random Squad. Later with all 8 squads you need a lot of luck and many dice rolls.
But it's not really a big problem to achieve the achievements of the Random Squad.

My personal order of buying mech squads, if I had to start new.
Get all achievements of the Rift Walkers and make at least your first vcitory with them. Try to collect new time travellers from the Perfect Island Rewards and pods.
A) If you are lucky at unlocking time travellers and got Bethany or Mafan you can buy directly the Frozen Titans as your second squad.
B) in other cases:

1. Blitzkrieg, Zenith Guard or Rusty Hulks (only one of them!)
   
2. Frozen Titans

Now with this 2 or 3 mech squads I would try to do all Random Squad achievements as far as the right time travellers are unlocked. See the end of the chapter Frozen Titans (Triple Ice).
If you are still waiting for a time traveller with a shield, do the Customized Squad achievements and other possible achievements.

I did my first random victory with an improved Blitzkrieg squad: Ligthning (Blitzkrieg), Boulder (Blitzkrieg) and Combat (Rift Walkers). There is a screenshot at the end of the chapter Blitzkrieg .

There is no perfect buying order for the other squads, but take in consideration what time traveller you have unlocked already.
Steel Judoka and Hazardous are the most challenging squads in my opinion.

This squad can be a great damage dealer and contains Lightning, Hook and Boulder. They focus on hitting the enemies with a long chain lightning from Lightning.
The rock from Boulder and the mech Hook conduct electricity, but they get damage from Chain Lightning. Because of Hooks skill Armored its incoming weapon damage is reduced by 1. This helps a little bit, but Hook is the weak point and needs a good pilot
Price: 3 coins
Priority Upgrades: Buliding Chain and +1 Damage (Lightning).
Possible Problems: Protecting friendly units like in the train mission isn't so easy with this squad, because the chain lightning damages really every unit in the chain. After the damage upgrade it costs more health to use Hook in the chain.
Special Squad Ability: None.
Final Battle:
Preferred Pilots:

1. Harold / Hook
   
2. Mafan / Hook
   
3. Archimedes / Hook
   
4. Cheng / Hook

Lightning: The real HP is 3, because Camila has a +2 HP Bonus.


Hook: Armored)= Weapon damage to this mech is redcuced by 1. All other damage is unaffected.


Boulder: If the rock doesn't hit an enemy it stays on the map until it gets destroyed. The rock conducts electricity.


In this screenshot you can see a chain lightning by the Electric Whip through buildings and a rock. This is a Random Squad where I was lucky and got an improved Blitzkrieg with Combat instead of the weak Hook.



How to use Blitzkrieg?
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1694917906649168346/

This squad has the 3 really good and different mechs Aegis, Mirror and Ice.
For some people it's a problem that there is no obvious goal like putting all enemies into smoke or into a chain of the one big damage dealer. But I like this squad.
The start may not the easiest, but you need only 2 mech power for a good boost. At no other squad a time traveller can boost a mech like Mafan or Bethany the Ice mech, because a shield protects against the negative side effect to freeze yourself.
Price: 6 coins
Priority Upgrades: +1 Damage (Mirror) and Gain Shield (Aegis).
Possible Problems: The mech pilots get their XP by killing enemies, but not by freezing.
Missions which require a number of kills are harder and protecting missions are easier.
Tips: The Ice mechs doesn't get frozen while it's shielded!
You can freeze friendly targets and give an ice shield to buildings.
If you don't have a shield pilot in the Ice mech, you can break the ice yourself with Repair, damage from one of your other mechs or enemy damage.
Special Squad Ability: None.
Final Battle:
Preferred Pilots:

1. Mafan / Ice
   
2. Bethany / Ice
   
3. Archimedes / Aegis
   
4. Silica / Ice

Aegis:


Mirror:


Ice: This is a flying mech. A shield prevents freezing. A repair defrosts a mech.



Frozen Titans, freeze the enemy AND yourself??
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1692669912400802228/

https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1324791835

The Ice mech is really strong and this squad is used for hunting some of the toughest achievements.
If you have only 2 or 3 squads (including Frozen Titans) the chances are good to get this squad as Random Squad after a few dice rolls.
You won't do Perfect Islands because normally this squad can't kill a boss.
You absolutely need Bethany or Mafan for this squad.

Jet, Rocket and Pulse are the squad with the smoking guns, because of the Storm Generator all enemies in smoke tiles are getting hurt between the rounds.
Price: 2 coins is cheap, but it's a good and easy to play squad.
Priority Upgrades: Shield Self (Pulse), Storm Generator (Rocket) and Range (Jet).
Possible Problems: The Blood Psion counters the smoke damage and the Blast Psion can cause a lot of trouble with exploding enemies, you should take them out fast.
Tips: As always a smoke tile doesn't allow to attack. There were situations, where I couldn't attack without self inflicting damage, but positioning Rocket near the enemy and firing in the opposite direction saved my day.
Special Squad Ability:
Final Battle:
Preferred Pilots:

1. Archimedis / Pulse
   
2. Camila / Pulse
   
3. Kazaaapleth / Pulse
   
4. Prospero / Pulse

Jet: This is a Flying mech. You can directly buy the +1 Range upgrade, you don't have to buy the damage upgrade first.
The real HP is 2, because Camila has a +2 HP Bonus.


Rocket: +2 damage, push, smoke on tile in the back, +1 damage for all enemies in smoke between the rounds.


Pulse:


Electric smoke + blast psion unpredictability
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1694922526907682988/

Is terraformer supposed to lose its attack in smoke?
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1694914736005098275/

The 3 mechs Laser, Charge and Defense are very different. Laser can damage every tile in a line, so the goal is to get all enemies in this one line. Charge has the disadvantage of self inflicting damage.
Price: 3 coins
Priority upgrades: Ally Immune (Laser) and +1 Damage Each (Charge).
Problems: Charge needs a good time traveller.
Laser is a great damage dealer, but damages buildings in its line of fire.
Tips: With Defense you can shield Charge or buildings.
Terraformer, disposal unit and satellite rockets are also allied units, who benefit from the Ally Immune upgrade of Laser.
Special Squad Ability: None.
Final battle:
Preferred Pilots:

1. Harold / Charge
   
2. Mafan / Charge
   
3. Abe / Charge
   
4. Camila / Laser

Laser: decreasing line damage (3 down to 1).


Charge:


Defense: Both weapon slots are filled. This is a flying mech.

Second weapon slot:



Zenith Guard
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/2650805212053605416/

Flame, Meteor and Swap love a warming fire and can't understand why the aliens don't. It's not about fast enemy killing. Protect your objectives and the grid, the flames are doing the rest.
Price: 6 coins
Priority upgrades: +1 Range of Swap and of Flame.
Tips: Burning spawn points are setting the new enemies directly on fire. If you have free actions set more tiles on fire.
Possible problems: The Blast Psion, who lets dying enemies explode, is always tricky, as long as you can't kill it directly in the same round. Especially for the Flame Behemoths, because there is a sequence of fire damage. You can get a lot of collateral damages, if the Blast Psion is the last to die. Another trouble maker are Burrowers, because they stop burning each time they dig into the ground.
You should avoid islands with this enemies till you have the damage upgrade of Meteor.
Special Squad Ability: In the second weapon slot of Flame is Flame Shielding (passive), it makes the squad immune to fire.
You can transfer it to another squad member.
Final battle: The reducing of tiles on this map by the vulcano works fine for this squad. Less tiles to set on fire and nice lava tiles for Swap. You should have maxed the range of the Teleporter. See screen shots at the end of this chapter.
Preferred Pilots:

1. Camila / Flame
   
2. Silica / Swap
   
3. Prospero / Flame
   
4. Mafan / Flame

Flame: Flamethrower pushes targets and set tiles on fire. Only if the targets are already burning, there is an additional +2 damage.


Meteor:


Swap: This is a flying unit. You can swap your place with an enemey, an empty tile or a teammate. It works great in the final battle on lava tiles.
The Teleporter is the best weapon for a flying science mech. If you have Defense or Nano in your squad and you can buy it, don't hesitate!
Other mech classes have to pay an additional mech reactor. For most flying mechs or other mechs with Prospero as pilot this weapon is great.


Flame Behemoths
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/2650805212055108305/

Burrower are partially fire immune?
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1694922980040429293/


Battle part I: Lava from the vulcano and fire from flame squad is a good combination.

Battle part IIa: What a lucky start for the Meteor mech, with one shot the boss and another enemy are pushed to deadly tiles.

Battle part IIb: At the end of the same round it looks very well. Swap did telport an enemy into lava and Flame did set on fire a spawn point and an enemy.

Judo, Siege and Gravity are mainly focusing on moving the enemy and let them kill each other. A weak squad and especially Gravity is one of the weakest mechs in the game.
You are totally depending on the randomness of the map and the stupidity of the Vek, that they give you the chances to turn them against each other. A few missions are a walk in the park and in the next mission you can't avoid to lose objectives and Grid. This kind of gambling annoys a little bit.
I made it on a 2 islands trip with Harold.
Price: 5 coins
Big Problems: The enemy Burrower, see screenshot at the end of this chapter.
Judo can can move an enemy only in short range and Gravity only one tile.
Tips: Avoid islands with the Borrower until you got a weapon to harm it or use Kazaaapleth.
Special Squad Ability: The Vek Hormones increase the damage dealt between the Veks. They are in the second slot of Gravitiy.
You can transfer it to another squad member. Do it, if you find anything useful for the second slot of Gravity.
Priority Upgrades: Buildings Immune (Siege).
Final Battle: The final battle is not so hard, because there are many lava tiles and other deadly tiles, in which you can move the enemies.
Preferred Pilots:

1. Harold / Gravity
   
2. Kazaaapleth / Gravity
   
3. Archimedes / Judo
   
4. Camila / Judo

Judo: Armored= Weapon damage to this mech is redcuced by 1. All other damage is unaffected.


Siege:


Gravity: in the second slot is the passive squad bonus Vek Hormones (Enemies do more damage against each other).




The skills of Steel Judoka rely on moving the enemy, but this enemy can't be moved, pushed or teleported. No upgrade can help. You need luck to find a good weapon to harm it or the time traveller Kazaaapleth.

Steel Judoka vs Burrowers
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/1694919808739571667/

Steel Judoka has its fans:
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1327333533

Leap, Unstable and Nano are in this squad. Leap and Unstable damage themselves in their attacks, similar to Charge from Blitzkrieg. I played with Kazaaapleth and the general problem is a little bit similar to Steel Judoka, because you are very depending on the random design of the maps and the enemey movement.
Price: 6 coins
Problems: Direct at start you need more and better damage. Leap has the disadvantage to damage buildings with its jump atttack and Nano deals no direct damage. You need a good pilot and a bunch of luck to get a Perfect Island reward.
Special Squad Ability: Every mech of this squad can heal itself by killing enemies. The passive gear Viscera Nanobots is in the second weapon slot of Nano. You can transfer it to another mech of the squad.
It doesn't matter how deep you go into minus HP with your killing attack, the heal will bring the pilot and the mech back to life.
Priority upgrades: +1 Damage Each ( Unstable), +1 Damage Each (Leap).
Final battle:
Tips: A spawn from an acid tile is inflicted with acid. Shields are consumed by self damage.
Preferred Pilots:

1. Kazaaapleth / Leap
   
2. Camila / Leap
   
3. Abe / Leap
   
4. Harold / Leap

Leap:


Unstable:


Nano: This is a flying mech.


Hazardous Mechs
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/2650805212061723268/

Is it just me or is the Leap mech garbage?
https://steamoss.com/app/590380/discussions/0/2650805212043574406/

Feel free to write a comment, if you have any questions, info or suggestion.