Needler
The Needler is a medium-sized ship that provokes the opponent to attack using Safety Overrides, and then uses Temp Payback to punish them.
It is piloted by a character initially named Spike. Eventually, with Drake in the crew, you'll be able to rename them to either George or Spike Two.
Strategy
The Needler's offense, on its own, is underwhelming, with just a single two-damage shot every other turn. What makes this ship dangerous is its Temp Payback in conjunction with the Safety Overrides it gives. If you draw Safety Override with Temp Payback active, it will attack you for 2 damage, without giving you any opportunity to react. This usually happens at the beginning of your turn, before you've had a chance to use Evade. As the fight goes on and you accumulate Safefy Overrides, you may draw 2 or more Safety Overrides in this case, causing you to take a large amount of damage just by luck of the draw.
This enemy is much more dangerous on higher difficulties, where it may line up on your vulnerable Cockpit, and you start with less hull, making the chance of suddenly losing the run much higher. To mitigate this:
- 1. Prioritize Shield in this fight, using Evade to dodge its regular attack and using Shield reserves to tank the retaliation hits. Blocking with Midrow Objects, particularly in front of your Cockpit, is effective too.
- 2. Try to finish the fight sooner rather than later, rather than expecting to stall indefinitely. Its Weak points give you a way to do so, and it can be worth spending evade to speed up this fight.
- 3. Try not to enter Elites in Lazuli Nebula with low hull, unless you're confident you can kill this ship within the first 3 turns.
When it has Temp Payback active, you can still shoot it safely as long as you are not aligned with its cannon. (Its Temp Shield on those turns makes this often not worthwhile, however.)
Pierce is exceptionally effective in this fight thanks to its low hull. With any source of piercing, be that Piercer, Drone Piercer, or Wave Beam, it's feasible to kill Needler before you shuffle twice (just aim at the Weak points), allowing you to end this fight before it becomes dangerous and focus all your other resources on defense. Drake is exceptionally good here - she has some cards that kill Needler with just one use if aimed at its' weak points, like Sear and Explosive Slug B. Stunning Needler's Temp Payback or Safety Override adding intents is quite effective too.
Attacks
The Needler will always alternate between these two actions, starting with the first one.
| Image | Move | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Move any number of spaces | Gain 2 Temp Payback from Missile Bay
Gain 2 Temp Shield from Cockpit | |
| Move any number of spaces
Aims at player |
Give the player a Safety Override from Missile Bay, no matter where they are
Attack 2 from cannon |
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