Breachway guide: 10 tips to help you survive this roguelike journey

9.27.2024
By Jason Rodriguez, Contributor
Breachway is a sci-fi roguelike game from developer Edgeflow Studio. In it, you explore star systems in a well-equipped spaceship. Numerous dangers await, including hostile factions and elite opponents. Our Breachway guide has several tips to help you get started. We discuss everything from combat mechanics using cards to various events that you might encounter during your journey.
 

Understand the key facets of your ship


There are three facets of your ship that you always need to consider when playing Breachway:
  • Hull Points (HP) - Once depleted, your ship will explode and you’ll have no choice but to restart your run.
  • Shields - Each shield point mitigates damage.
  • Heat - Increases depending on certain card actions that you use in battle. High heat causes damage to your hull, too.
Your ship can also be equipped with the following:
  • Up to three weapon mounts.
  • One shield module.
  • One tactical hardpoint and one utility hardpoint.
  • Bonus: One exterior attachment and one auxiliary mount.
The weapon mounts, shield module, and hardpoints require a crew member or an AI core to be used in combat. The exterior and auxiliary parts don’t need to be crewed.
 

Master the complexities of card combat


Breachway might remind you of another sci-fi roguelike game, FTL: Faster Than Light, since you also need to manage your ship and crew as you navigate a galaxy filled with numerous threats. However, the key difference is that Breachway uses a card combat system.

Cards are drawn randomly from your deck. After playing a card, it’s either discarded if it has the “depleted” modifier or it goes back to your draw pile after a cooldown.
Breachway Guide 10 Tips To Help You Survive This Roguelike Journey Cards
Cards use the following resources:
  • Ordnance (orange): Usually spent when using attack cards.
  • Energy (green): Usually spent when using shielding or hacking cards.
  • Mass (blue): Often used in conjunction with attack and support cards.
Your ship generates a certain amount of these resources each turn. You can left-click on a resource to increase generation by one point, while right-clicking decreases it. The total points that can be allocated is determined by the ship’s Reactor Power.
 

Make use of powerful crew abilities, subsystems, and synergies


How do we put the above knowledge into practice? Let’s use this scenario:
  • Current resources: 6 Ordnance, 3 Energy, and 4 Mass
  • Twin Barrel: Deals flak damage and adds a Light Barrage card into your hand; costs 3 Ordnance and 2 Mass.
  • Light Barrage: Deals flak damage; costs 3 Ordnance.
  • Ordnance Surge: Gain 4 Ordnance and sustain 1 Heat; lose 4 Ordnance at the end of your turn.
  • Unload: Deals high flak damage; can only be used after playing three other flak cards; costs 2 Ordnance and 2 Mass.
Our resources at the start won’t be enough. That’s where crew abilities come into play, since the Marauder ship has the following crewmates available:
  • Sandro: +25% flak and railgun damage.
  • Mara: Draw a card for every card you play.
  • Finn: Your next attack this turn costs 3 less Ordnance.
Crew abilities require a different resource called Morale to be activated. If you have enough, you can click on all three crew members to gain powerful effects. In this particular scenario, we would be able to use Ordnance Surge for the extra resource, Twin Barrel, and two Light Barrage cards. Since we played three flak cards, we can play Unload as well. This is on top of any new card that appears in our hand thanks to Mara’s crew ability.
Breachway Guide 10 Tips To Help You Survive This Roguelike Journey Setup
Moreover, there are amazing subsystems that you can equip depending on the weapon type. There are those that make the first attack free and others that give you extra cards.
 

Pick the right weapon systems and modules for the job


Here's another Breachway tip: ship weapons have unique functions, such as the following:
  • Flak cannons cause shred, which has bonus effects depending on how many stacks are applied to a target.
  • Ion weapons are great against shields, though they usually don’t damage the hull.
  • Precision-type armaments allow you to target specific modules, whereas pulses and sweeping lasers tend to hit the ship in general.
  • Missiles and torpedoes will explode after a set number of turns, but there are also defense systems that can shoot them down.
  • Hacking tools can disable weaponry and shielding abilities for a time.
 

Choose the right cards to add to your deck


Most battles in Breachway reward you with credits, but there are those that net you additional cards that aren’t part of a ship’s default loadout. For example, Booster Pulse deals laser damage and lowers the Ordnance cost of laser attacks. Palisade adds three Shield Generator cards to your hand; this is different from Rampart, which grants 10 shield value immediately.

Try to pick the cards that would synergize with your current loadout, but be forewarned that they can also get drawn from your deck randomly and at the least opportune times.
 

Resource Bay cards are some of the best in the game


Some of the best cards you can find are those that are part of the Resource Bay category. Play these at the start of your turn and you'll earn extra resources depending on the costs of the other cards that you use:
  • Optimization: Gain 1 Ordnance for every 2 Mass.
  • Equivalence: Gain 1 Mass for every 2 Energy.
  • Conservation: Gain 1 Energy for every 2 Ordnance.
 

A galaxy at war offers numerous opportunities and threats


The galactic map in Breachway shows multiple points of interest that are interconnected. Some have random events with choices, while others are guaranteed to trigger a ship battle.

Note that four factions are vying for control of the galaxy: the Solarii, Starkin, Free-Roamers, and Deadweights. Your standing with these organizations can rise or fall depending on certain actions or decisions that you make throughout your run. For example, warning the Deadweights about a Starkin ambush will increase your reputation with the former. If you go to a location that they control, they might hand over free resources or help you in a fight.
 

Discover space stations so you can upgrade your ship


Space stations are by far the most important point of interest in Breachway due to the plethora of services they offer. These include:
  • Repairing your ship.
  • Buying new modules, subsystems, and fuel.
  • Upgrading your reactor power and resource drives.
  • Adding or removing cards from your deck.
  • Sending out your crew to relax so their morale increases.
  • Equipping an AI core or removing it to make way for a crew member.
Nevertheless, you should still be mindful of your relationships with factions that control each space station that you stumble upon. If they’re friendly or neutral, they’ll let you dock without any issues. If they’re hostile, they might only allow you to dock if you bribe them with credits. There are even situations where you have no choice but to escape due to the presence of hostile forces, forcing you to miss out on an opportunity to repair your vessel.
 

Be on the lookout for escape pods and fuel sources


While paths along a star system are interconnected, you can only freely travel along the light blue lanes. Those in yellow are alternate paths, and you need Fuel to traverse these areas. Should you run out of fuel, you have to go back the way you came to find another route.
Breachway Guide 10 Tips To Help You Survive This Roguelike Journey Station
You should also be on the lookout for escape pods, which are usually found along the yellow lanes. There are events here that allow you to recruit a crew member that can be assigned to a ship module.
 

Unlock more ships by progressing further into the campaign


Currently, there are two available star systems, with bosses that guard the very end. There are also other ships to unlock. These tend to have their own unique crewmates, as well as starting weapons:
  • Arbalest - A well-rounded ship that uses pulse lasers. This is available by default.
  • Marauder - This strike craft is unlocked once you reach the first boss while controlling the Arbalest. It relies primarily on flak cannons.
  • Lancer - If you manage to reach the second system while controlling the Marauder, then you can make use of the Lancer. This vessel has railguns and hacking tools.
  • Firebrand - This spaceship is armed with the Pyroclast. This cannon deals scorching flak damage, though it also generates more heat. You can unlock it by reaching the second boss with the Lancer.
That does it for our guide on how to survive the journey in Breachway. We hope these tips help you make the most out of each ship’s functions and card synergies. Those who would like to explore the galaxy while facing countless dangers should pick up Breachway, which is available now as an early access title on the Epic Games Store.