Deathray needs nerf bad.

I think most people who have played through the game from start to finish agree that the Death Ray is by far the best weapon in the game. Perhaps it does deserve to be nerfed, but what makes this game fun is the unpredictable nature of it. Death Rays are just part of that.

After playing the game from start to finish multiple times, I have learned that within each galaxy, races tend to follow a strategy. Eg celestials that favor Ion Cannon Mk2s, Wanderers that favor flak cannons etc. I find that generally speaking, the weapons most commonly equipped on the Unknown capital ships are what the Unknown "boss" stations tend to be equipped with. If that happens to be Death Rays, well then you have a fair number of opportunities to pick them up through loot. I've yet to play a game from start to finish where I didn't find at least one Death Ray, so it might just be a case of needing to check every station on Galaxies 3 and 4. They're expensive, but available many times.

All this being said, I'm right there with you on getting wiped out on the last level in a few seconds. It's happened to me more times than I'm happy to admit.