Hacking

Hacking is a system introduced in the FTL: Advanced Edition update. It can be found on some AI ships during the game, and is a starting system on the Lanius Cruiser, as well as several of the other ships' unlockable C-type layouts. It initially starts with one power bar, and can be upgraded to a maximum of 3 bars. Upgrading the system increases the length of hack it can perform. A hack generally either disables a system or causes it to malfunction (e.g., hacking a Medbay will cause it to harm enemy crew instead of healing them). Upon deploying a hacking drone (they are treated much the same as any other drone by the game, but do not require a schematic to build), if it is not hit by a stray shot or defense drone, it will latch onto the selected system room, giving you constant view of the affected room. While the hacking drone is active and there is power to the hacking system, the doors of the room become purple, locked to the crew of the targeted ship with roughly equivalent strength to that of blast doors. Also, hacked systems can't be manned while the hacking system is powered. This passive advantage means lower evasion rate, or slower recharge for shields and weapons when the correct system is targeted. Hacking will give you maximum sensor access to that system, even in conditions where sensors are disabled (such as nebula).

Effects on specific systems

The hacked system will shut its doors to the crew of the affected ship, but will grant access to any crew from the same ship as the hacking drone. For as long as there is power to the hacking drone, the doors remain locked, but triggering the actual hacking process will cause different effects depending on the targeted system. The length of each hack is dependent on the level and current power routed to the Hacking system, and there is a cooldown period between each hack, much like that of the Cloaking system. Manned systems that are hacked lose the manned bonus so long as there is a single point of power in the hacking module. The effects of hacking each type of system are documented below:

• Weapons: Passively provides information on charge status like Sensors Level 3. When activated, drains weapon charge.
• Shields: Slowly discharges shields, taking ~1.5s to discharge each level of shielding.
• Bridge or Engines: Passively shows the evasion chance. When activated, reduces the affected ship's evasion to zero and stops FTL charging.
• Oxygen: Depletes oxygen rapidly instead of regenerating it.
• Medbay: Damages crew instead of healing them.
• Clone Bay: Shut down the cloning bay, killing potential clones permanently.
• Drone Control: Deactivate enemy drones, with a chance of destroying them.
• Hacking: Disable enemy hacking modules, potentially destroying them. The enemy can launch a new module when the system goes back online, if they have the parts.
• Mind Control: Takes control of targeted enemy crew member. If the enemy has control of one of your crew, using Mind Control will cancel it out.
• Teleporter: Enemy boarders are returned to their ship. Mind-controlled enemies are not treated as enemy boarders.
• Doors: Turn all enemy doors into friendly blast doors, greatly hindering enemy crew movement (and potentially enabling free movement of friendly boarders).
• Battery: Disable bonus energy and drain two more energy bars.
• Cloaking: Disable cloaking and forcibly decloaks ship.
• Sensors: Disable sensors.

Evidence of manned bonus lost from hacked system.

You can see the pilot is not facing the Flagship console but rather outwards to the player. If the system was being manned, he would be facing the other way. If this was a player ship with unskilled crew, the dodge rate would be 20% (Level 2 engines=10% plus two manned systems, another 10%). So either the computer receives a manned bonus for engines or uses another system for bonus rate. Furthermore, when your own system is hacked, your crew does not receive experience for manning the system because they are not manning it. Your ship also loses the manned bonus.

Side-effects of hacking

Friend-or-foe identification of teleporter hacking will take into account temporary effects (mind control). Thus, the following situation may cause an unexpected outcome:

• Ship A has teleporter and mind control systems installed and activates mind control successfully on a crew member of ship B;
• Ship B has hacking system installed, hacks teleporter system of ship A and perform a hacking surge;
• If mind control and hacking durations overlap, affected crew member of ship B will be teleported to ship A. If Ship B does not have teleporter system installed, that crew member will not be able to return to ship B at all.fi