Err?
Actually, many people think that Spectra is a little OP here, compare with the other two ships.

You could try:
Slot Expander + Chain Reaction (OP)
Slot Expander + Reckless Claws

Reckless Claws + Sync Core (+Lyre)

Multifunctional Rudder + Monitor Chip (+Slot Expander)

Recycle core + Transmission core + any "energy injector"

Maze + any "same lane/column" temping

and still more! Change your way of thinking and you will see more.

all of these suggestions seem to be "you need to find 2 or 3 of the exact same rare core plus the other part of the combo", and they are all units that by themselves don't combo well with literally any other units available. Also an absurd amount of Orange and Blue slot requirements. Reckless claws is okay but it's still like - here's a good way to get past 1 star, now hope you find the legendary you need before 3 star because it has negative sustain.

Like there were a lot of good tier 2 strategies involving common units of spacewalker. Clusterers, Injectors, Diverters, Blessing Device. Fully loaded work well positively and negatively. There were multiple good ways to do self destruct. Charge was okay.

Like the "middle ground" of Spectra is very lacking. You're mostly aiming for 2 units to trivialize the run with 100+ single lane strength but are barely functional otherwise, or aiming for multiple copies of rares that are hard enough to get one of.

Like my best "tier 2 build" required two rare mazes, rare signal antenna and rare filler device, and legendary white star. And none of those have good substitutes or even "similar but worse" versions that you can use in the meantime.

I did fine with chimes, loop corex2, jam sat, triburst device, compete core, blue stain, reroll, exp core. -- was it op? No. did it clear difficulty 8? yes. Most damage in a lane was 54, most in a turn was 129. I had the dupe energy pilot, which is why I kept the generators -- I used them to dupe multicolored energy, which powered the two loop-cores. The small chimes got ~3-6 power per turn (had the legendary artifact that makes sum trigger on +- 1), so as long as I survive a few turns they quickly destroy their lane, as well as powering the comp core.

Originally posted by Delta:

all of these suggestions seem to be "you need to find 2 or 3 of the exact same rare core plus the other part of the combo", and they are all units that by themselves don't combo well with literally any other units available. Also an absurd amount of Orange and Blue slot requirements. Reckless claws is okay but it's still like - here's a good way to get past 1 star, now hope you find the legendary you need before 3 star because it has negative sustain.

Like there were a lot of good tier 2 strategies involving common units of spacewalker. Clusterers, Injectors, Diverters, Blessing Device. Fully loaded work well positively and negatively. There were multiple good ways to do self destruct. Charge was okay.

Like the "middle ground" of Spectra is very lacking. You're mostly aiming for 2 units to trivialize the run with 100+ single lane strength but are barely functional otherwise, or aiming for multiple copies of rares that are hard enough to get one of.

Like my best "tier 2 build" required two rare mazes, rare signal antenna and rare filler device, and legendary white star. And none of those have good substitutes or even "similar but worse" versions that you can use in the meantime.

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3473047691

I just finished a Difficult 9 just used this, maybe it can provide yousome reference.

Spectra doesn't have two unit combos, but what it does have is clusters of units that work well together. What you've found is a small number of clusters, and are stuck in those clusters because you haven't figured out how the other ones work.

I'm not going to ruin your exploration, but here's a few ideas that can get you into the other clusters. There are a LOT of clusters

Lyre+(Decay Core/Reckless Claws/Corrosion Device)+Sync Core
Small Chimes+Sync Core
Charging Core+Sync Core
Filler Device+Small Chimes

Blue Flower Device+Transmission Core
Blue Flower Device+Puzzle
Blue Flower Device+Blue Crystal
Blue Flower Device+Balance Core

Interference Core+Jam Satellite
Magnetic Field+Tracks
(+Induction Radar)

Loop Core+Blue Amplifier (+Slot Expander) (+Extreme Vortex)
Chain Reaction+Slot Expander/Chain Vortex
Loop Core+High Point Compass

Tricolor Core+Twin Stars
Tricolor Core+Triflower Device
Triflower Device+High Point Compass

Don't worry, this isn't clues to all of them! There's ones around white energy and sum, just to name two. And have fun with Omega Device, that thing is Omega Broken!

Usually ships are made up of 1-2 clusters in my experience. The clusters overlap quite a bit, so you can often get into other clusters with one, you can probably see some overlap above.