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[ HOMEWORLD 2 GUIDE / WALKTHROUGH ]
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Guide author: Orgulo
Guide version: 1.7
Game version: 1.1
System: PC
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. INTRODUCTION
|<--------------->|
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 USING THIS GUIDE
1.3 CONTACT ME
2. GAME FEATURES
|<---------------->|
2.1 CAMERA
2.2 INTERFACE
2.3 AUTOSAVE
2.4 UNIT SELECTION
2.5 TACTICS / FORMATIONS
2.6 MOTHERSHIP
2.7 CONSTRUCTION
2.8 SUBSYSTEMS
2.9 MISCELLANEOUS
3. SHIPS
|<-------->|
3.1 MILITARY
3.1.1 FIGHTER
3.1.2 CORVETTE
3.1.3 FRIGATE
3.1.4 CAPITAL
3.1.5 PLATFORM
3.2 SUPPORT
3.2.1 FIGHTER
3.2.2 CORVETTE
3.2.3 FRIGATE
3.2.4 CAPITAL
4. RESEARCH
|<----------->|
4.1 LEVEL 2
4.2 LEVEL 3
4.3 LEVEL 4
4.4 LEVEL 5
4.5 LEVEL 6
4.6 LEVEL 7
4.7 LEVEL 8
4.8 LEVEL 9
4.9 LEVEL 10
4.10 LEVEL 11
4.11 LEVEL 12
5. GAME GUIDE
|<------------->|
5.1 LEVEL 1: TANIS (GREAT WASTELANDS)
5.2 LEVEL 2: ANGEL MOON (HIIGARA - HOMEWORLD SYSTEM)
5.3 LEVEL 3: SARUM (SARUM - FLEET STAGING AREA)
5.4 LEVEL 4: GEHENNA OUTSKIRTS
5.5 LEVEL 5: GEHENNA
5.6 LEVEL 6: THE KAROS GRAVEYARD (KAROS GRAVEYARD)
5.7 LEVEL 7: DERELICTS
5.8 LEVEL 8: DREADNAUGHT BERTH
5.9 LEVEL 9: COUNTER ATTACK (VAYGR ASSEMBLY POINT - SHINING
HINTERLANDS)
5.10 LEVEL 10: KEEPERS OF SAJUUK (GREAT WASTELANDS - EN ROUTE TO
THADDIS SABBAH)
5.11 LEVEL 11: SACRIFICE (BENTUSI RUINS)
5.12 LEVEL 12: THADDIS SABBAH (VAYGR OUTPOST THADDIS SABBAH)
5.13 LEVEL 13: BALCORA GATE (BALCORA)
5.14 LEVEL 14: BALCORA
5.15 LEVEL 15: RETURN TO HIIGARA (HIIGARA - UNDER SIEGE)
6. CONTRIBUTORS / CONTRIBUTIONS
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7. VERSION HISTORY / UPDATES
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| 1. INTRODUCTION |
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1.1 INTRODUCTION
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This is my guide / walkthrough to the classic RTS game, Homeworld 2. It's the
first guide I've ever written for any game, and I've decided to concentrate
mostly on tactics for beating the single player campaign. There is little or
no mention of the multiplayer game, so if that's what you're looking for help
with, I'm afraid you won't find it here.
The game version used when writing this guide was 1.1. If you are still
playing version 1.0, certain things in this guide might conflict with your own
game experiences, because patch 1.1 changed certain aspects of gameplay.
I'm assuming that you own a legitimate copy of Homeworld 2 and its instruction
manual, in which case it would be a waste of everyone's time if I sat here and
typed out every stat on every ship, every detail of every option menu, and
every name of every programmer. The guide is for people who have questions
about conquering the single player campaign, the answers to which are not
covered in the manual. This guide is mostly about Section 5, the in-depth
walkthrough, and it is not meant to be a stat festival.
Hopefully, you will have played one or both of the Homeworld games before and
you will understand how to use the interface and perform all the most common
tasks. If not, please play the game tutorial to learn how Homeworld 2 works,
because this guide doesn't cover any basic lessons.
I have made a section about certain things which have changed in the Homeworld
universe since Homeworld and Cataclysm. You don't have to have played either
of those games to use this guide, though I can't resist mentioning them. If
you haven't played them, I definitely recommend giving them a try. Homeworld
has been my favourite game of all time since it came out; full of atmospheric
maps, captivating music and tons of different ships. Cataclysm was different
but no less fun; paring down the number of available single player ships but
packing in a heftier storyline, not to mention some pretty scary enemies.
Having reached v1.5 of this guide and received lots of reader feedback and
tactics, I now have to point something out. Sometimes people will submit a
suggestion or ask a question important enough to make me rewrite entire
sections to fit the guide around it. I've done this a couple of times, but
most reader contributions are simply included as alternatives to my original
tactics. This allows me to avoid rewriting the whole guide every time I get a
suggestion better than the ones I originally came up with; but it does mean
that you, as a reader, should always check out the reader contributions before
you try my own tactics - maybe the contributors have come up with something
better (the bastards). The more options you have available, the more likely
you are to complete the game.
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1.2 USING THIS GUIDE
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Please view this guide in a text viewer / editor with a set fixed-width
font, or else it might look a mess. I use Courier New, Size 10.
Use the Find command (CTRL + F) with the numbered contents menu at the start
of the guide, in order to quickly jump to the section you want.
I have put the main walkthrough section of the guide towards the end, after
all the other game information. This is not a design flaw - it's deliberate.
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1.3 CONTACT ME
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As the game is now quite old, and since I now consider this guide complete, I
have no intention of updating it in the future and will therefore no longer
respond to feedback.
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| 2. GAME FEATURES |
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This section describes a few of Homeworld 2's features, many of which are new
to the Homeworld saga after Cataclysm. Most of them are worth using and some
are indispensable. Not all the game features are listed here, just the ones
that are new to Homeworld 2, or that might be worth mentioning over again from
the previous two games.
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2.1 CAMERA
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The camera movement is pretty much the same as in Homeworld and Cataclysm, but
there are one or two changes which you might want to configure for yourself.
Edge of Screen Pan allows you to move the camera in any direction just by
moving your cursor to the edge of the screen. This can get very frustrating
however, especially when you are zoomed in on a battle. Disabling it will keep
the camera similar to that of Homeworld and Cataclysm.
The sensors manager is virtually identical too, but now when you double click
on a unit in the sensors manager it no longer closes to focus on that unit -
it just zooms in closer in the sensors manager. However, double-clicking on a
group number or pressing the corresponding number key twice in quick
succession will still close the sensors manager and focus on the chosen group.
Units can be given all the same commands as they can in normal camera view,
just like in Cataclysm.
Pressing Home will always centre your view on the mothership, then any
subsequent carriers / shipyards / battlecruisers you have. Friendly shipyards
are also included if there is one in the level.
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2.2 INTERFACE
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The Homeworld 2 interface is much more in-depth than in Homeworld or
Cataclysm. Sometimes it can make the screen look cluttered, especially at
lower resolutions, so pressing Backspace will reduce it to various degrees of
concealment. You can now select individual ships or groups of ships from the
taskbar, just by clicking on the appropriate icon. This is extremely useful
for picking out a particularly damaged ship and sending it out of danger to be
repaired.
Another useful feature is the Recall window, which allows you to see every
update in your commands or the game events. Keep an eye on it so that you know
where new research features came from, or what Command wanted you to do after
a specific event occurred. Sometimes you can find yourself ignoring the
Command voices and instructions in the heat of battle, so check back in the
Recall window to remind yourself. Bear in mind that the Recall window is
purged when you reload a game or move to a new level.
The Events button brings up a list of the six most recent events to have
occurred in the current level. The list is pretty comprehensive, drawing your
attention to pretty much everything you might want to know about. Click on the
corresponding icon to quickly visit the place where the event occurred.
The Objectives window performs a similar function. The primary objectives must
be completed in order to advance the game, whereas secondary objectives are
optional but may provide an advantage to your campaign if you do choose to
tackle them.
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2.3 AUTOSAVE
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The game will now autosave before or after important events in each level, and
denote each savegame with a unique, ordered name. I've included all autosaves
by name in this guide, at the points where they happen throughout each level.
Autosaves tend to be triggered by something you or the enemy has done, which
means that quite often you can force the game to wait while you get your fleet
sorted. If you don't want the level to skip to the next stage just yet, don't
do the thing which will trigger the autosave. Sometimes it's unavoidable
though.
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2.4 UNIT SELECTION
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There are a few nice additions to the unit selection process. Double-clicking
on a ship (or squadron) will select all the ships of that type on screen,
which comes in very handy for quick grouping. Hold down A while you are
bandboxing units, so that only military units will be selected. Pressing CAPS
will select every unit on screen - useful for quick mass retreats or mass
attacks.
Use groups to control your ships - numbering groups of ships from 1 - 10 (CTRL
and number key while ships are selected) will make things far easier. I tend
to group similar units into groups: interceptors = group 1, resourcers = group
9, etc. Pressing the corresponding number once on your keyboard will select
that group, pressing the number twice will focus on that group. If the group
is scattered, the view will focus on the majority together.
Bear in mind that grouped ships will move at the speed of the slowest unit in
the group. This is another reason why I don't group dissimilar ships together
- interceptors are fast, but not when they're forced to move at the same
velocity as a much slower ship with which they've been grouped.
The tactical overlay (TAB) can also provide a service, especially in big
battles full of different types of ships. Use it to identify your vessels from
those of the enemy, and also by ship type. Turn it off if it bothers you, but
it can be handy when there are lots of ships on screen.
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2.5 TACTICS / FORMATIONS
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Ships can be put into three stances - passive, neutral and aggressive. These
stances don't seem to have the same relative impact on speed and firepower as
they did in the previous games - maybe I'm wrong - but they are still useful
for dealing with enemies. Units set to aggressive will shoot at passing units
even while they move towards a previously chosen target - very handy for
taking out enemy ships while you're on your way to somewhere else. Neutral
units will only return fire, and passive ships will never fire.
Formations tend to only be useful when you have a group made up of various
different types of ships. You will notice that the strike formations have much
more effect when you group strike craft together with frigates, capital ships,
etc. Putting five interceptor squadrons into a formation on their own will
make very little difference, if any. Since I tend to keep ship types separate
from each other, rather than grouping them together, I don't use the
formations.
However, you should choose a strike formation depending on what your target is
and what the majority ship type is within your group. For instance, if you
have mostly capital ships in the group, you are probably intending to wipe out
a large group of enemy frigates or capital ships, or some major enemy
structure. In this case, the capital ships should lead the way, which means
choosing Capital Phalanx as your formation. This is obvious, but choose
whichever option corresponds with the type of group you have made. Formations
are also more effective when all ships are in aggressive stance, since they
will shoot as they move, while still maintaining their squadron shape.
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2.6 MOTHERSHIP
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As in Homeworld and Cataclysm, the surest way to lose the game is to allow
your mothership to be destroyed. Don't let this happen. The mothership has
some meagre defense turrets mounted on it, but it needs constant protection by
your military ships. As in Cataclysm, the mothership can be moved around -
albeit slowly - so use this to your advantage. The mothership is a very tough
structure, and enemy ships can be baited into attacking it, allowing you to
mop up using your lesser ships.
Bringing the mothership into the middle of a battle can often do more good
than harm - it's a very handy docking point, an attractive decoy, another set
of (small) guns, the primary manufacturer of ships which can be ejected ready
to enter battle immediately, and a resourcing drop-off point. Take care of the
mothership, but don't be shy about throwing it into the action.
You can also set a rally point - a feature new to the Homeworld games - where
new ships will gather once they leave the mothership or carrier which made
them. Once there, they will perform their default action; harvesters will
harvest, military ships will guard, etc. Keep control of the rally point
though, especially if you're going to move your ship-building facilities.
Sending new units halfway across the map is not always helpful if your
objectives have been changed since the rally point was placed. There also
seems to be a bug with the rally point feature, as from game version 1.1 (see
Section 2.8).
The mothership can also keep your ships locked up inside for protection and
repairs. Use the launch manager to instruct your ships to stay docked inside
(also works in carriers). Unfortunately, neither the mothership nor the
carriers have a huge storage capacity, and only fighter and corvette class
ships can be retained inside.
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2.7 CONSTRUCTION
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The Build manager is more detailed than in the two previous games, allowing
you to keep a close eye on everything you are constructing in your mothership
and carriers. The more ship makers you have, the faster you can build ships
and replenish your fleet. However, a construction yard must have the
appropriate facility on board before it can build that type of ship - carriers
must build a frigate facility before they can produce frigates, etc. The
mothership and the shipyard are the only two facilities big enough to produce
capital class ships, and only the shipyard can produce battlecruisers.
There are production limits on all ship types, which can be checked by
pressing I for population info. If you press Q you can keep tabs on what units
and technologies are presently being built and researched.
Make sure you have a decent mixture of all the ships you will be using - don't
fill out all your corvette slots before you get the ability to make
minelayers, and so on. Unlike in Homeworld and Cataclysm, ship type thresholds
no longer impose restrictions on each other, which means that no matter how
many capital ships you produce, it will have no bearing on the number of
strike craft you can have, etc.
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2.8 SUBSYSTEMS
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Capital and super-capital ships now have subsystems, individual sections which
are inexplicably attached to the outer hulls (why?! why!?) where they can be
extra vulnerable to attack. However, unlike in Tachyon: The Fringe ("Hail to
the king, baby"), attacking subsystems on enemy ships is easy in Homeworld 2 -
just zoom in close enough and the game will identify each subsystem for you.
Attacking these is an easy way to disable or slow down an enemy ship; for
example, attacking the fighter facility on top of a carrier won't destroy the
carrier, but it will temporarily remove its capacity to build fighters. The
facility will soon be rebuilt though, so it's perhaps better to take out the
entire carrier if possible.
Subsystems on your own ships are just as vulnerable, so it's up to you to
defend them. If they do get destroyed they can always be rebuilt (if you have
enough money), but you should endeavour to make sure that enemy ships don't
get close enough to take down any subsystems. Again, you can keep an eye on
the health of your subsystems by zooming in. Subsystems - friendly and enemy -
will regenerate their health over time.
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2.9 MISCELLANEOUS
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The first thing that really bothered me about Homeworld 2 was the difficulty
of level 3, and then level 4. The previous two games had a steady progression
from the easy early levels to the more difficult later ones, but level 4 in
Homeworld 2 was ridiculous. Then I read the release notes for patch 1.1 and
installed it immediately. The patch made a huge difference, so I'd advise
installing it if you're still on the unpatched version of the game. The patch
can be found on your Homeworld 2 CD.
Another feature I didn't like was the way the game automatically hyperspaces
your ships out of each level once it's completed - something which didn't
happen in Homeworld or Cataclysm. Homeworld happily let you take as long as
you wanted to click that hyperspace button (it was hell in the ghost ship
level, where the resources were scattered all over the map in tiny dots), and
Cataclysm had its lovely 8x speed increase feature. So play Homeworld 2 at its
own game, so to speak. Don't allow it to drag you into the next level until
you are ready, and if that means leaving one single enemy ship alive while you
research a bunch of new technologies, then so be it.
There no longer seems to be such a thing as a support frigate, which means
that to repair and replenish your fighter / corvette class ships you have to
return them all the way to the nearest carrier. For this reason, it's
advisable to keep at least one carrier grouped with some of your slower,
heavier ships (destroyers for example). The carrier will not have a hugely
detrimental effect on the speed of its group, since capital and super-capital
ships are already slow, and the presence of the carrier will make a massive
difference to the speed with which you can rebuild and deploy your smaller
ships in support of the bigger ones. Alternatively, try positioning carriers
around the map (in areas unlikely to be visited by the enemy) and use them as
docking / construction points. Keeping all your carriers stuck right next to
the mothership is a waste.
I have a decent PC, but I still experienced heavy slowups in certain levels
(Sacrifice, Derelicts). If this happens, try reducing your video modes to the
minimum levels and reloading the map. If this still has no effect, try going
back to the previous level, letting it finish in the normal way, sitting
through the cutscene, then letting the next level load up. For some reason,
this gets rid of the lag for me, though it helps to have a savegame made right
at the end of the previous map.
When writing this guide, I didn't use scouts. There are a few places in the
game when the scouts' EMP ability probably would have been very useful, but I
didn't try, because I prefer bombers and interceptors.
A useful strategy when engaging in a large, prolonged battle is to combine
ship production queues with the rally point feature. Homeworld 2 allows you to
queue many ships behind the ones currently being made, even far beyond the
ship type limits. For instance, you can only have fourteen bomber squadrons
active in the field, but you can have a hundred more queued up in the
mothership's build list, just waiting to be ejected into the fray as soon
as one of your current fourteen bombers is destroyed. The same goes for any
other ship, which means that, as long as you have the resources available, you
can replace your destroyed ships with new ones very quickly, and use the rally
point to send them right into the heart of battle if you so wish.
The downside is that there seems to be a bug related to the rally point
feature (at least in my patched game), which has the effect of making ships
overlap, unable to move. I've had four bomber squadrons all placed in the
exact same spot, and none of them could move away because they were all
banging against each other. I had to scuttle them all and start again,
discarding the rally point. I don't know if this will happen to you, but watch
out for it. You don't want to build five destroyers only to have them get
stuck immovably to each other.
Ships no longer have to dock in order for upgrades to be applied. What a life-
saver! Remember the refugees mission from Cataclysm, where new upgrades kept
appearing and you had to keep sending all your acolytes back home to get
upgraded, while Beast missiles wiped everyone else out? Well, I do.
Construction and research gradually subtract resources from your account,
rather than taking a lump sum at once. This allows you to pause or cancel the
ships or research in progress, at which point all the resources you have spent
so far on the ship or upgrade are returned.
Speaking of pausing, using the pause to catch your breath during a big battle
is usually a good idea (though I'm personally too bloody-minded to use it).
While the game is paused, you can still pretty much tell your ships or
managers to do anything, and when you unpause the game they will carry out
your orders. Much easier than frantically clicking on a bunch of ships and
trying to catch a particular unit as it swoops by. This is especially useful
for setting rally points.
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| 3. SHIPS |
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Firstly, if you're looking for specific numerical stats for things like ship
health / damage or technology costs or whatever, don't bother looking for them
in this guide. There are two reasons why I didn't include these details in the
guide:
1. You can find out stats for yourself just by playing the game.
2. All ship stats (and pretty much all game stats) can be found in other HW
guides out there (presumably), and I could either laboriously go through every
bit of the game again, just for the sake of having these stats in the guide,
or I could plagiarise someone else's FAQ, neither of which I want to do.
Anyway, these are the ships which will make up your fleet. Everyone will have
their favourites but all ships have their uses (except mobile refineries), and
this section provides short descriptions of each ship's functions and
capabilities.
Clicking on any single ship will let you see its role within the game. Each
ship has had a role assigned to it, and these labels should give you a good
idea of which enemies your different ships will be most effective against.
Ships marked with H are only available for the Hiigarans, and ships marked
with V are Vaygr only. The single player campaign can only be played as the
Hiigarans, but the Vaygr are available in multiplayer. The ship descriptions
here are based on my experiences of them in the single player game, so if I
omit any features which become available only in the multiplayer game, this is
why.
As far as I know, all capital and super-capital ships have the capacity to
self-repair. Movers are the only other ships which have this ability.
Finally, I've used the same sub-sections for the support ships as I've used in
the military section. I realise that a probe isn't really a fighter, and so
on. I've also bunched all super-capital class ships into the capital section
for the sake of it. The classes are more to do with size than function.
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3.1 MILITARY
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These are ships which are primarily used as combat units, to either assault
enemies or defend against enemy attacks.
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3.1.1 FIGHTER
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These are the little insects of your fleet, and you'll have to rely on them
throughout the earlier levels. They get less and less useful as the game
progresses, but you should always keep some around, if only because of the
game's annoying fleet restrictions.
Scout
-----
They come under Fighter class, but really they're just recon ships. They have
great sensors and they gain the ability to ping an area to detect enemies
(though this will set you back 1000 RU each time you use it). This feature is
useful in about one single mission. Very fast and manoeuverable, but their
unbelievably crap weapons make it a given that you should keep them out of
combat. Later, they get the EMP ability, which allows you to shut down enemy
ships for a brief few moments, leaving them unable to defend themselves
against attack. For this reason alone, I've put them in the Military section
instead of Support.
Interceptor (H)
---------------
Fast, useful against enemy fighters, and good in support of capital ships or
frigates for that purpose. Not much firepower, however, and so they're little
use against any other type of ship, and should only be deployed in conjunction
with stronger ships. Feel free to use them as fodder and decoys later on in
the game, while your corvettes do all the real work.
Bomber
------
Best used against anything other than fighter class ships. Can do fantastic
damage to bigger ships and structures when compared to other early ships, but
use alongside interceptors or corvettes so that the bombers have some defense
against quick fighters.
Elite Bomber (H)
----------------
You get two free elite bomber squadrons in level 2. Make them last, because
they perform much better than normal bombers.
Assault Craft (V)
-----------------
The Vaygr's interceptor. Similar combat stats make it the Vaygr's basic
fighter unit. Pathetically easy to delete.
Lance Fighter (V)
-----------------
A nasty little ship which uses cutting beams to shred your corvettes, among
other things. They are also able to somehow disable the engines of your
carriers, making it easy for the infiltration frigates to move in. Destroy on
sight.
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3.1.2 CORVETTE
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Their primary use is to provide a fleet with an advantage over enemy fighters,
but they're not much good against anything bigger than themselves. Useful in
the early stages of the game, but later you'll be using them to mop up behind
your larger ships. Virtually superfluous later on, movers and minelayers
aside.
Gunship (H)
-----------
Fantastic against enemy strike craft, possibly the second best small ship
around for taking out enemy fighter groups. Armour is a bit rubbish but speed
is fairly good.
Pulsar gunship (H)
------------------
Slightly better than gunships versus strike craft because their pulsar beams
are instant, unlike the gunship's shells. Less good against bigger ships but
unmatched versus enemy fighters. Exact same speed and armour as gunships.
Elite Gunship (H)
-----------------
You will get two squadrons of these in level 2. They're significantly faster
and stronger in attack than gunships, but otherwise they perform the same
functions. Like elite bombers, you cannot build these at any point in the
game, so hang onto them for as long as you can.
Missile Corvette (V)
--------------------
These Vaygr corvettes are deadly against Hiigaran fighters and corvettes,
firing a continuous barrage of fast-moving homing missiles. Not particularly
strong otherwise.
Laser Corvette (V)
------------------
This is like a baby version of the Hiigaran ion frigate, drilling its own
smaller, weaker ion beams into the hulls of its enemies' ships. Pretty fast
and tough, and usually attacks in squadrons of a fair size. Definitely pay
attention to the health bars of all your sub-capital ships when these things
are around.
Minelayer
---------
They can deploy a field of mines in an area drawn out by the player, which
will home in on enemy ships and do major damage on impact. They seem to lay
far fewer mines than their Homeworld counterparts, and a bit slower too. They
have otherwise weak attacks and very weak defenses, so keep them out of the
way if they are not actively laying down mines. Mines are very good to
defend resource clumps against incoming resourcers or enemies attacking your
harvesters. Especially good in conjunction with gun platforms (for the three
or four mental patients in the universe who bother with platforms). Shitly,
you can only have five at any one time.
To deploy mines, press N and move the mouse to assign the minelayers a
horizontal field, then use SHIFT to expand the field vertically. Minelayers
are one of those ships which polarise opinion - they certainly did in the
previous Homeworld games. Some people love them and some people aren't
interested, feeling that they're somehow lame. I'm one of the ones who love
slapping down some mines, but if you don't like them then just don't use them.
Obviously.
Mover (H)
---------
Movers are an odd mixture of combat ship and utility vehicle. Their armour
isn't as good as any other corvette, but they actually do more damage than
your frigates (!). They are able to survive intense radiation, and can also
salvage certain ships, which makes them useful (and in fact essential) in
certain levels. Movers can also self-repair, and they're cheap to build too,
making them a very valuable addition not just to your salvaging operations,
but to your battle effectiveness. Movers can only be built from the mothership
from level 7 onwards and you can only have ten at once.
Don't overlook these things if you're having difficulty in certain later maps.
I realise you can't build enough for them to be able to mount any serious
challenge on their own, but they are an excellent complement to your frigate
and capital ship lines - far more useful than your corvettes, as long as you
can keep them alive long enough. If not then just build some more - they only
cost 200 RU each.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.1.3 FRIGATE
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Flak Frigate (H)
----------------
Decent in groups with other frigates, and when supported by fighters and
corvettes. Not great armour (like all frigates) but can do a fair amount of
damage to opposing frigates and carriers early on in the game.
Torpedo Frigate (H)
-------------------
They fire two homing missiles at a time, doing far more damage to enemies than
the flak frigate can.
Ion Cannon Frigate (H)
----------------------
Another frigate, this time firing ion beams at enemies. They do much more
damage than flak frigates and slightly more than torpedo frigates, but they
also move and fire a bit more slowly.
Marine Frigate (H)
------------------
The Homeworld 2, Hiigaran replacement for the old salvage frigates. Send them
to grab enemy ships (frigate class and upwards). Unlike in the previous
Homeworld games, these salvage ships don't have to drag the captured vehicle
all the way back to the mothership any more. They have about the same combat
stats as flak frigates, though enemies tend to target them as a priority. They
are needed a few times in the game to perform certain tasks, so you'll have to
build them at some point.
Bear in mind that marine frigates cannot capture ships of which you already
have the maximum allowed number - in other words, if you have already built 5
destroyers, you won't be able to capture a sixth from the enemy. And since you
will always have enough money to build all the ships you need, the marine
frigates are pushed that bit closer to being useless.
Assault Frigate (V)
-------------------
These things can be taken down pretty easily by your bombers or corvettes -
just try not to hang around them for too long before killing them off. Their
quick-firing flechette shells can be deadly to your fighter squadrons.
Heavy Missile Frigate (V)
-------------------------
You will usually see these ships attacking you in long frigate line
formations. Keep your fighters and corvettes well away from them, and don't
approach them with anything smaller than a frigate.
Captain Soban
-------------
You'll meet Soban's character at various points throughout the game, but he
only comes under your control when you rescue him from level 12. Though his
existence is not crucial, and you can afford to lose him, keep him for as long
as you can when you do get him.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.1.4 CAPITAL
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Destroyer
---------
Fantastically strong, powerful capital ships. Even one can ruin the enemy's
day. They self-repair when damaged and are equally effective against all types
of enemy ships. You can have a maximum of five in your fleet at once. The
downside is that they do not stand up well at all to enemy cruisers - one
cruiser can smear a destroyer all over the map in a very short space of time.
Battlecruiser
-------------
The destroyer's big brother. It's slow, of course, and you can only have two
of them at once, and you can't build them until you get the shipyard, but
these frightening juggernauts are worth the wait. They can also be outfitted
with fire control towers, and are capable of building strike craft.
Dreadnaught (H)
---------------
Ludicrously powerful and extremely well armoured. It's very slow, predictably,
but it's such a major coup for your single player campaign that you can
readily forgive its snail-with-a-hernia speed. It's also an integral part of
the single player storyline (for a while), and therefore, like your
mothership, you cannot afford to let it fall. Its phased cannon array is the
second most destructive thing in the entire game, and it has a decent firing
rate too. Irreplaceable.
Sajuuk Progenitor
-----------------
This is the ship you'll wish you had from the beginning of the game, though in
fact you only get it at the end. It represents your reward for reaching the
final level, and it's critical to the completion of the game. It replaces your
mothership, though you cannot build from it.
It's basically the dreadnaught's dad. It's slower than a sumo wrestler passing
a bakery window, but it does absurd damage, and its health makes it, if not
invulnerable, at least the tank to end all tanks. It also has the snazzy
ability to hyperspace across the map in about thirty seconds, which is again
vital in order to finish the final level and the game.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.1.5 PLATFORM
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Gun Platform
------------
One clear benefit of these is that they're given their own space in the fleet
allocations, which means you don't have to hold some of your combat ships back
in order to protect your resourcers. They're also cheapish, though this
shouldn't much matter in a game with so much money.
On the down side, once they stop moving they can't be moved again, and they're
not all that tough to begin with. Even if you build twenty to protect a
harvesting operation from enemies, your harvesters will eventually have to
move on, leaving the gunships completely obsolete. You're also unable to take
platforms with you to subsequent missions.
Ion Beam Platform (H)
---------------------
Same as gun platforms, but with ion beams instead of shells.
Missile Platform (V)
--------------------
You won't encounter these very often, and when you do, you'll have the
frigates there to deal with them. Keep your fighters and corvettes well away
though, including your resourcers.
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2 SUPPORT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are the ships in the background - usually best kept out of combat and
used to build more ships, research new technologies or perform other non-
combat functions.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.2.1 FIGHTER
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Probe
-----
These are a one shot chance to reveal a line of sight through an unexplored
area. Once they come to rest, that's your lot, so make sure you put them to
good use. Enemies will usually quickly detect them, and they will not take
long to collapse. They're very cheap, however, and they're even required on a
few occasions throughout the single player campaign.
Proximity Sensor Probe
----------------------
These are similar to the basic probes, except they have the ability to detect
cloaked enemies. I can think of only one occasion during the game where these
might be needed, and even then I didn't use one. If they're useful to you then
great, but they weren't to me.
Sensor Distortion Probe
-----------------------
These are the opposites of the prox. sensor probes - instead of revealing
cloaked ships, they cloak revealed ships. Useful for deployment in the middle
of resource clumps, though I'm not sure they really have an effect on the
behaviour of the Vaygr ships in the single player game.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.2.2 CORVETTE
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Resource Collector
------------------
The workhorses of the fleet, these ships will harvest resources and bring them
back to the nearest drop-off point (mothership, carrier, mobile refinery,
shipyard). They can also repair friendly ships, though they take a hell of a
long time about it, unlike their previous Homeworld incarnations. Salvaging is </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
no longer their job - that's been left to marine frigates, infiltration
frigates and movers.
Resource collectors have OK speed, but they're pretty weak in the armour
department. Keep them out of battle unless they're doing crucial repairs, and
make sure you protect any vulnerable resourcing operation, since the
collectors won't be able to deal with enemies on their own.
Another note about the resource collectors: remember that you get handed every
available RU in every level once you complete it, whether you actually told
your resource collectors to harvest or not. So if you have plenty of RU in the
bank, don't waste your resourcers on collecting more from the current level -
instead, use them as repair craft. Collectors carry a phantasmagorically crap
200 RU at a time. That's 200. Two. Hundred. Unbelievable.
Command Corvette
----------------
This is the Vaygr's answer to the Hiigaran defense field frigate, providing a
morale boost (apparently) to surrounding Vaygr ships. Taking them out of the
battle as soon as possible should make things a bit easier.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.2.3 FRIGATE
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Defense Field Frigate (H)
-------------------------
Their defense field can be activated using the T key, providing a significant
reduction to the amount of damage that friendly ships within the field's
radius are likely to take. Once the field runs out of power, it shuts down to
refill the gauge. It won't turn itself back on automatically, so remember to
reactivate it manually. Later in the game the field can be upgraded to a
short-acting anti-radiation field, essential for the completion of certain
levels.
They also have some disadvantages; the poorest armour and speed of any
Hiigaran frigate, and a very irritating tendency to stay at the back of
battles. They have no offensive capability, so when you order the rest of your
frigates to attack a distant target these things won't move, which makes their
field useless.
Infiltrator Frigate (V)
-----------------------
Vaygr equivalent of the Hiigaran marine frigate, except it hovers next to
enemy ship hulls and fires infiltration drones at the ship it's trying to
overtake. Take them out IMMEDIATELY, unless you like donating your ships to
the enemy.
Hyperspace Gate (V)
-------------------
These Vaygr waygates will crop up a few times during the game, and should be
taken straight back down as soon as you find them. They have no attack or
defense capabilities of their own, and they don't move once deployed. However,
they do allow the Vaygr to send reinforcements into the attack, without
bothering to build them from a carrier. Evil. Kill 'em.
Mobile Refinery
---------------
If there is a single more pointless ship in the game, I have yet to find it
(maybe the special probes). In the VERY SAME LEVEL as the one in which they
first appear you are given a carrier, which is frankly better in every
possible way (other than movement speed). Refineries are slow, weak and
virtually defunct anyway. If you build one, you should face the possibility
that you're an idiot from the inner circle of twats.
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
3.2.4 CAPITAL
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Carrier
-------
Each carrier can have a maximum of two modules - advanced research, platform
control, etc - and you can have four carriers in addition to your mothership
and shipyard. Build all four as soon as you have the money, since they come in
immensely useful for fleet management throughout the game. Very decent armour
and some meagre on board defenses, but very slow-moving, which makes them
vulnerable to surprise attacks from enemy frigates or capital ships. Luckily,
they repair themselves over time if damaged, and they get the nifty fire
control tower upgrade at the same time as the mothership.
Mothership (H)
--------------
The most important ship in your fleet - lose this one and everything goes tits
up. Happily, it comes with a ton of armour, and enemies will take a long time
to bring it down. It can be moved around to keep it out of danger (or bring it
into some), but it should always be protected from any heavy attacks, just in
case. Midway through the single player campaign (level 7), it gains the
ability to build a fire control tower, which creates a large and powerful
defensive field around the hull. For more information on the mothership, see
section 2.5.
Shipyard
--------
The shipyard first appears in level 3, but you finally gain control over it in
level 9. It's basically the mothership Mk II, though with only half the
armour. Defend it like you would the mothership, as it's a critical part of
the single player campaign. It's also the only facility you'll ever have
capable of building battlecruisers.
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
@-------------------@
| 4. RESEARCH |
@-------------------@
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
This is a list of all available researches in the game, along with the level
in which you will first gain access to them. I've split each level's
researches into two sub-groups:
Ship Type: These technologies will allow you to build the corresponding ship
from the build manager. Certain ships can only be built from certain ship
builders (battlecruiser from shipyard only, etc). For more information on
these limitations, see the SHIPS section of the guide.
Ship Defense / Speed: These will boost the armour or speed capabilities of the
ship.
Ship Upgrade: These will apply some new and unique feature to the ship's
abilities. Unlike in the two previous games, your ships no longer have to dock
or even halt in order for new upgrades to take effect.
Levels which contain no new ships or upgrades have been left out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1 LEVEL 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Defense / Speed:
Interceptor (Speed 1) Bomber (Speed 1) Gunship (Defense 1, Speed 1) Pulsar
Gunship (Defense 1, Speed 1) Mothership (Defense 1, Speed 1) Resource
Collector (Defense 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2 LEVEL 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Type:
Proximity Sensor Probe
Ship Defense / Speed:
Interceptor (Speed 2) Bomber (Speed 2) Flak Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Collector (Defense 2)
Ship Upgrade:
Bomber (Improved Bombs): Bombers do much more damage to the subsystems on
enemy ships.
Collector Repair: Gives resource collectors the ability to repair damaged
friendly ships. Very slowly.
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.3 LEVEL 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Type:
Minelayer (Minelaying)
Ship Defense / Speed:
Torpedo Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.4 LEVEL 5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Defense / Speed:
Gunship (Defense 2, Speed 2) Pulsar Gunship (Defense 2, Speed 2) Ion Frigate
(Defense 1, Speed 1) Gun Platform (Defense 2) Ion Beam Platform (Defense 2)
Ship Upgrade:
Improved Torpedoes: Allows torpedo frigates and destroyers to launch improved
torpedoes against capital ships.
Enhanced Sensors: Scouts can ping the area to reveal enemy ships.
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5 LEVEL 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Type:
Defense Field (Defense Field Frigate) Sensor Distortion Probe
Ship Defense / Speed:
Mothership (Defense 2, Speed 2) Carrier (Defense 2, Speed 2) Mobile Refinery
(Defense 2)
Ship Upgrade:
Improved Manufacturing: Increases construction speeds in the mothership,
carriers and shipyard by 30%.
EMP: This is an upgrade for scouts, used to temporarily disable enemy ships.
The bigger the ship, the more scouts are needed.
Anti Mover Weaponry: This upgrades all your ships to greatly increase their
combat effectiveness against the enemy movers in levels 6 and 7.
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.6 LEVEL 7
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Type:
Destroyer (Destroyer Chassis)
Ship Defense / Speed:
Flak Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2) Destroyer (Defense 1, Speed 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.7 LEVEL 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Defense / Speed:
Torpedo Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.8 LEVEL 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Defense / Speed:
Ion Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.9 LEVEL 10
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Defense / Speed:
Destroyer (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10 LEVEL 11
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Type:
Battlecruiser
Ship Defence / Speed:
Battlecruiser (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Ship Upgrade:
Improved Defense Field: An upgrade for defense field frigates, which will
allow them to survive intense radiation (while the field is active). This
ability is necessary for the completion of the level.
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11 LEVEL 12
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Defense / Speed:
Battlecruiser (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
@---------------------@
| 5. GAME GUIDE |
@---------------------@
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
This section will provide an in-depth walkthrough for each level, with the
best strategies and tactics I could come up with, as well as info on many
aspects of each level.
Everyone's game will be different, so not everything that happened to me in my
game when I was writing this guide will necessarily happen to you in the exact
same way. Even given the obvious linearity of this game, there is almost
always more than one way to complete each level, and no two battles are ever
the same. These strategies worked well for me, but if you have a better one
then you should probably use that.
I want to stress that my approach to this game is to enter each level with the
maximum capacity fleet. This is for two reasons: one, it's just my style of
play; two, this guide would be utter pish if I used the retire-and-rebuild
exploit. This exploit allows you to retire all ships before leaving each
level, so that the computer will scale down the size of the fleet awaiting you
in the next level to compensate, allowing you to max out your fleet again for
a huge advantage. If you want to do this go ahead, but this guide won't be
very useful to you.
I'll assume that you've filled out all your ship slots with the same basic
fleet as I'm using, so what works for me should also work for you.
Good luck!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 LEVEL 1: TANIS (GREAT WASTELANDS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch as the sweeping camera follows two resourcers bringing the precious Core
reverently down to the mothership, and stowing it safely inside. Someone
eventually switches Karan S'jet's microphone on, and we're ready to begin
operational tests.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an introductory level, designed to get you used to dealing with the
constant commands coming from the mothership, as well as controlling your
ships and facilities. The Homeworld 2 saga also begins with the mothership
about to come free from the enormous scaffold and venture off into space.
Take your lone harvester and begin harvesting the nearby supply crates, each
worth 200 RU. Once one has been successfully grabbed, the game will allow you
to build a fighter facility on the mothership. This will then lead to the
availability of interceptors. Build one interceptor squadron and some drones
will appear in the distance. Your harvester will meanwhile be increasing your
resources, so build a handful of interceptors before destroying all of the
drones. This will come in handy afterwards.
Anyway, once the drones are gone, the Vaygr attack you for the first time.
Oooo, some new Homeworld enemies - let's see what they've got!
AUTOSAVE: VAYGR ATTACK
Well... not much as it happens. They send in a few bombers to attack the
Chimera station, but the station will hand you a free squadron of interceptors
to help you out with your defense. The bombers will focus solely on the
station, so none of your interceptors should receive any damage. Once the
Vaygr bombers are gone, more Vaygr appear, this time attacking your
mothership. We can't have that. The mothership will come away from its
scaffold while fleet command tells you that it's time to leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: It's a pity that the launch of the mothership takes a back seat to the
combat. In Homeworld the mothership launch was a prolonged event with gorgeous
backdrops and incredible music, but in Homeworld 2 it's a hurried affair. Oh
well...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Build some bombers now that you can. You also get access to resource
collectors and probes.
You have two minutes before the Vaygr send reinforcements - don't worry, this
is plenty of time in which to take out the bombers and that single frigate
which is attacking the mothership and the Tanis base.
Once the enemy ships are down, three hyperspace gates appear in front of the
Tanis base. If the Vaygr send new ships, this is where they'll be coming from,
so you have to take the gates out sharpish. Bombers are more effective than
interceptors at attacking the gates, so take out all the enemy strike craft
with your interceptors while your bombers work on the gates. The Vaygr
concentrate their attacks on the two Tanis structures, which should make your
job extremely easy.
Once all three gates are gone and the enemy strike craft with them, everyone
docks with the mothership. Yup, more Vaygr. But this time fleet command have
decided enough is enough and they are deciding to run away and cry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Interestingly, the Vaygr get to you by hyperspacing in. Despite the
fact that you just destroyed the three hyperspace gates against that very
eventuality. Pfff...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All your ships autodock and the mothership hyperspaces the hell out of there,
to the backdrop of Tanis being hammered by Vaygr destroyers and even a
battlecruiser. Yikes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 1:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 2 Bomber
Utility: 1 Collector
Level 1 Build Options:
Fighter Facility
Interceptor
Bomber
Resource Collector
Probe
Level 1 Research Options:
N/A
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 LEVEL 2: ANGEL MOON (HIIGARA - HOMEWORLD SYSTEM)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A mothership is not much use without a crew, so we're here in the shadow of
the Angel Moon, ready to rendezvous with our prospective crewmates. But
wouldn't you know it, they're under attack. Typical.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: If you've played Cataclysm, you'll notice immediate similarities
between this level and level 7 from Cataclysm. There you had to protect a
convoy of refugees (I think they were refugees) while they made their way from
one side of a sector to the other, all the while getting attacked by the Beast
and its horribly infective missiles. Except this time it's your own crew
you're saving, and so you'd better get on with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are six Bishop ships converging on your mothership, and at least four
must make it without being destroyed by the Vaygr. There is also a carrier
lurking somewhere in between the two sets of Bishops, which must be dealt with
at some point.
You don't have many ships at the beginning of this level, so I suggest you
build another harvester straight away, then get to work on making more strike
craft. A mixture of bombers and interceptors will be best for the trials
ahead.
First of all, you can pretty much ignore Bishop One, the closest friendly,
since it should reach the mothership well before it's destroyed. However,
Bishop Two is also in trouble, and it's quite a bit farther away, so it should
be a priority. But first, let's deal with that carrier, the source of all the
misery. Send all available strike craft winging their way towards the carrier.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY FIGHTER FACILITY
When you are near enough to the carrier, the game will autosave, but not
before it tells you to focus your bomber attacks on the fighter production
facility perched on top of the carrier. Some enemy strike craft will
inconveniently launch from the carrier, so get your interceptors to take them
out while your bombers finish off the fighter facility. Once it's gone you can
ignore the carrier for now.
While you were attacking the carrier, enemy strike craft will have surrounded
most of the Bishops. Bishop One should be OK, but Two and Three will probably
need help. Wipe out any remaining strike craft around the disabled carrier,
then head over to whichever Bishop is closest. Bear in mind, the farther away
an under-attack Bishop is, the more likely it is to need help. The Bishop
ships are pretty damn tough, which gives you a nice long time to send your
strike craft backwards and forwards. But you should be harvesting with both
your resourcers all the time, and building more and more bombers to back up
your initial strike squadrons.
Here are the benefits which each Bishop brings to the fleet (in order of
arrival):
Bishop One: Mothership gains the ability to build a corvette facility.
Bishop Five: Research - Interceptor (Speed 1), Bomber (Speed 1), Mothership
(Defense 1, Speed 1), and Resource Collector (Defense 1).
Bishop Three: Improved sensors, ability to build scouts, appearance of Captain
Soban's friendly ships.
Bishop Two: Increased engine performance.
Bishop Four: Two free elite bomber squadrons.
Bishop Six: Two free elite gunship squadrons
AUTOSAVE: CAPTAIN SOBAN ARRIVES
Captain Soban of the fleet Ferin-Sha appears once Bishop Three is docked. He
brings two ion cannon frigates and two torpedo frigates. These will help
defend Bishop Six, and in fact the enemy will turn on him and his ships,
leaving Bishop Six to make its own way to the mothership unmolested. Clear
away any remaining strike craft hassling the other Bishops, and research all
the new technologies.
Once Captain Soban's mob has destroyed the ships they decoyed away from Bishop
Six, the game autosaves again.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY VAYGR CARRIER
The forgotten carrier is making a run for it! A point will appear in your
sensors manager, and the carrier will begin slowly moving towards it. You have
to destroy the carrier before it can escape, so send any available craft to
attack it (preferably bombers if you can spare them). Remember, only four
Bishops need to dock with the mothership. It's quite nice to get all six
though, so when you attack the carrier, use your free ships to make sure
Bishops Six and Four (if Four hasn't yet made it home) are not being attacked
to critical damage levels. Soban's ships will help you out with the carrier,
and you shouldn't have any problems killing it off before it scarpers.
Once your corvette facility is complete, you will be able to build gunships
and pulsar gunships. It will be too late for these to have any bearing on this
level, but you can start building some if you want.
New research can also be undertaken once the corvette facility is up:
Gunship (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Pulsar Gunship (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Giggle with uncontrollable glee as the carrier is taken down, then listen to
Soban tell you that basically the entire Vaygr fleet is out looking for you
and that you have to keep running, in order to buy the homeworld some time.
Soban's fleet will be looking for the nefarious Makaan, and will remain in
contact. Comforting.
The crew transports then head back to base, mission accomplished (bring some
frigging escort ships next time will ya!) and the mothership hyperspaces out
of there, on its way to Sarum.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 2:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 7 Bomber (5 Bomber, 2 Elite)
Corvette: 2 Elite Gunship
Utility: 2 Collector
Level 2 Build Options:
Corvette Facility
Scout
Gunship
Pulsar Gunship
Level 2 Research Options:
Interceptor (Speed 1)
Bomber (Speed 1)
Gunship (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Pulsar Gunship (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Mothership (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Resource Collector (Defense 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3 LEVEL 3: SARUM (FLEET STAGING AREA)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vaygr occupation of Hiigara is imminent, and the bombs are dropping. Makaan
claims that he will spare the Hiigarans' lives if they return the second Core,
but so far Hiigara is resisting the siege. They can't hold out for much longer
though, and so the mothership is on its way to Sarum, where it will use a
Hiigaran shipyard to help rebuild its forces and launch a counter-attack.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As soon as you arrive, the Nabaal shipyard will warn you that it is under
attack and needs your help. Command wants you to stage a resourcing operation
at a nearby dust cloud, using new Mobile Refinery technology. Frankly, this is
more trouble than it's worth, so do your best Lloyd Bridges voice and say
'That's just what they'll be expecting us to do...'
First of all, begin researching the two new items:
Mobile Refinery (Defense 1), Proximity Sensor Probes
There are three good reasons why you shouldn't waste your money on a mobile
refinery:
1. You're about to be handed a free carrier, all shiny and yummy.
2. The game wants to manipulate you into harvesting in a particular dust cloud
because it has plans for that particular dust cloud which you may not much
like.
3. They are crap; slow, weak and pretty much defenseless.
So, instead, move your mothership directly forward until it reaches the
asteroids just in front of the shipyard. Begin harvesting there. Also, max out
your fourteen strike craft slots with a mixture of bombers and interceptors,
and get them to attack the enemy ships annoying the shipyard. Now would also
be a good time to build lots of those new gunships, so again build a mixture
of gunships and pulsars to complement the two free elite squadrons you were
given in the previous level.
The shipyard should have lost about half its health by now, but this is
actually a good thing for the rest of the level. The longer it takes to heal
itself once the Vaygr attackers are gone, the longer you have to prepare
yourself for the latter stages of this level. So by all means take your time
in mopping up the Vaygr bombers, missile corvettes and the lone frigate.
Bombers are the best thing for dealing with the frigate, while interceptors
will make short work of the strike craft attacking the shipyard. Your ships
should sustain very little damage in this battle, and once it's over, leave
the shipyard to heal itself and send your own ships back to the mothership for
repairs and reinforcements.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.3 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
Beloved Spear <
[email protected]>
"A suggestion, should you be moved to incorporate it: There's a simple tactic
that changes level 3 from the first nail-biting, keyboard-pounding multiple-
reload hairball to "This is a cakewalk" central.
When defending the Nabaal shipyard, monitor the progress of the battle
carefully. After trashing the frigate, closely watch your units as they take
down the Vaygr fighters. When just one Vaygr fighter remains, drop your units
into passive stance and move them into a stand-down position a short distance
from the shipyard. That little Vaygr will still swoop and spit impotently at
the shipyard, but the yard will heal very slightly faster than the fighter can
damage it.
As the game is awaiting either the destruction of the shipyard or the Vaygr
recon fleet to move on to the probe/carrier scenarios, you've just bought
yourself the greatest luxury any Homeworld fleet commander could want: Time.
Max out your research. Build a full resourcing operation. Harvest RUs to your
heart's content. Go the fridge and get a snack. Max out your fighter and
corvette contingents...being sure to save enough RUs to build frigates.
When you're good and ready, pop that little Vaygr. The shipyard will then be
fully repaired, and will spit out the carrier, which can promptly begin
building a healthy 6-7 ship flak frigate fleet. When the first Vaygr carrier
drops out of hyperspace to attack the resourcers, a portion of your huge
flotilla of fighters and corvettes will shred it and it's fighters without
breaking a sweat. When the Vaygr frigates...and the carriers...arrive, it's
party time! Your healthy frigate wall and a full complement of fighters and
corvettes will slaughter the infiltrator frigates, and you can capture their
assault frigates with your marines as just a wee bit of gravy. Move on the
carriers one by one...I tend to trounce the fighter production carrier first.
Give it a try...after a half-dozen attempts, it was deeply satisfying to not
just win that level, but to lay a whuppin' on it."
---
I gave this a try and it's another example of how the game can be manipulated
if you're aware of the triggers in each level. Your method is better than
mine, too, since it gives you the carrier and frigates much earlier, which can
only be good. It also draws attention to the unbelievable fact that a
friggin' shipyard has absolutely no mounted guns or defense ships...
By the way, there weren't any snacks in the fridge, so I ate my grandmother.
Was that wrong?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.3 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
You can also research a new technology:
Collector Repair
This will allow resource collectors to repair damaged ships, including
friendlies like the Nabaal Shipyard (though again, I advise against helping
the shipyard repair itself). Your strike craft and corvettes can dock with the
shipyard for repairs, by the way, though you can't use it to build.
A few more collectors would come in handy for building up those corvettes.
Keep harvesting while the shipyard's health bar climbs, and begin moving your
fighters and corvettes over to that bank of asteroids which Command was
wanting you to harvest at the beginning of the level.
At this point, you will be warned of three enemy probes being launched into
the area, which must be destroyed before they alert the Vaygr to your
presence. The first probe will stop pretty near the Nabaal shipyard, the
second will be in amongst the asteroids which were pinpointed at the start of
the level, and the third will be close to the asteroids next to the place
where you hyperspaced in at first (if the Nabaal shipyard is to the north of
your entry point, the probe will stop to the west of the first asteroid
clump).
If the probes are not destroyed in time, an enemy carrier will hyperspace in
and begin lurking around near where the second probe was found, just waiting
to jump your harvesters with missile corvettes. Bet you're glad you didn't
head over there to begin with, eh? Eh? Exactly. Take it down before it does
any damage, and watch out for enemy harvesters in or around the asteroid field
nearby. Even if you do destroy all three probes, it will just appear later
rather than sooner.
By now the shipyard should be almost repaired, and you should have a handful
of harvesters running around for resources. Make sure all your ships are
repaired and ready, because the upcoming battle is by far the most difficult
yet.
AUTOSAVE: SHIPYARD REPAIRED
When the shipyard reaches a decent health level, it spits out a free carrier,
which comes with its own frigate facility, allowing you to build flak frigates
from it, as well as an advanced research module. You can also now build a
frigate facility and a capital class facility on your mothership, along with
an advanced research module there too.
New researches also appear once you get the carrier:
Interceptor (Speed 2)
Bomber (Improved Bombs, Speed 2)
Flak Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Collector (Defense 2)
Amid all these new upgrades there are one or two definite priorities. Start
building a few flak frigates from the carrier, and research interceptor and
bomber speed at the same time. All the other researches and facilities can
wait until later (queue them, obviously).
While the carrier is coming away from the shipyard, take all available
offensive ships and surround the shipyard on aggressive stance. Your
mothership will come in handy if it's positioned right next to the shipyard,
especially if you've managed to build a frigate facility on it by this point.
It might also be an idea to send your new carrier all the way over to that far
off asteroid belt to continue harvesting out of the way, though I'd only do
this if my mothership had its frigate facility up and running.
AUTOSAVE: SHIPYARD UNDER ATTACK
Vaygr ships will soon appear, converging on the Nabaal shipyard. Among them
will be infiltration frigates, special ships designed to overtake opposing
ships by dropping little leech-like robots onto them.
At this point Command will come up with the idea of building marine frigates
to counteract the effects of the enemy infiltration frigates. But at 700 each,
they will take far too long to build right now. Once you begin attacking the
first wave of enemies, another alert will sound, this time informing you that
three Vaygr carriers are inbound.
This is a difficult battle because the three new Vaygr carriers are hovering
just outside the viewing range of the shipyard, two of them making
infiltration frigates (these will attach themselves to the station and slowly
convert it to enemy control) and the third making multiple squadrons of
fighters to annoy your ships. You have to simultaneously fend off the
irritating fighters and make sure the infiltration frigates don't get their
hands on the shipyard. A maximum of four inf. frigates at a time will be
trying to overtake the shipyard, and they can take a while to kill off.
If you fail to stop the shipyard being overtaken by the enemy frigates, you
will then be confronted by a five minute countdown (and an AUTOSAVE: SHIPYARD
BOARDED). You must then bring the shipyard back under your control using
marine frigates before the timer runs down, or it's game over.
As usual, the best strategy tends to be getting rid of the enemy ships at the
source - destroy the carriers first, then worry about the remaining ships
afterwards.
The best method I've found (after a million frustrated reloads) is to gather
all your attacking ships into the one group, put them all on aggressive
stance, then just get them all to attack the nearest carrier (forget about
defending the shipyard for now - the inf. frigates take years to grab it and
you're about to halve the frigate output straight away anyway by taking down
the first carrier). You could destroy the frigate subsystem on top first, but
you're better off just taking the entire ship down, since the subsystem will
soon be rebuilt and you'll be back where you started. Use your corvettes and
bombers to slaughter the main body of the carrier, while your passive-stanced
interceptors deal with the strike craft defending the carrier.
I would definitely recommend killing one of the frigate-making carriers first,
then going for the middle one which is making the fighters. Once this one is
gone, you can pretty much ignore the final carrier, since it will only be
putting out two frigates every sixty seconds or so, which can be easily mopped
up by your ships before they get anywhere near the shipyard.
Finish off any remaining enemy ships trying to take over the shipyard
(hopefully the blue gauge is not yet filled), then keep your fleet on
aggressive and get them to guard the shipyard, allowing you a long time to
rebuild your fleet and repair any damaged ships, etc. Pairs of inf. frigates
will keep approaching the shipyard from the third carrier, but your guards
will take them down before they can do any damage. Killing off the third
carrier ends the level without giving you this period of recovery, so don't
destroy it until your fleet is back up to a satisfactory standard.
Using this strategy also allows you to avoid wasting valuable time building
the very slow, vulnerable and rubbish marine frigates. In my experience, the
frigates get targeted and destroyed right away, and they take too long to
make, especially under a strict timer. They also take ages to recapture the
shipyard if it is converted by the enemy, and you'll probably need four
altogether if you're battling the timer. So don't bother.
Once your ships are happily guarding the shipyard, and the final carrier is
still putting out pairs of frigates in a futile attempt to grab it off you,
clear up any remaining researches and make sure your carrier and mothership
are up to date with their building facilities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: This level makes it pretty clear that the Vaygr don't actually need
resourcers in order to build more ships - that third carrier will never stop
putting out frigates, but I don't see their resourcers bringing them ore.
Clearly the Vaygr resourcers are just there to deplete your own ore supply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can now build carriers from the mothership if you have built the capital
class facility. The carrier you were given comes with an advanced research
module, but build one on your mothership too. I would also recommend filling
out all fourteen fighter slots, but leave one or two of your corvette slots
free, since you'll want to build minelayers in the next level.
Once your fleet is up to scratch, kill off the third carrier and any inf.
frigates that remain. This will trigger a savegame and a visit from the
omnipresent Bentusi in their enormous harbour ship. Where the bloody hell were
they ten minutes ago?! They could quite easily have wiped out you, the enemy,
themselves and everything else just by farting or something, but they have an
odd ability to turn up as soon you've done all the dirty work.
Anyway, they tell you about how Sajuuk forged the three Cores to unlock the
mystery of hyperspace. But then they got separated, one eventually being found
by the Bentusi. The Hiigaraans' ancestors found the second Core, and they
became as warlike as the Vaygr are now, until finally they took their Core
with them into exile. Makaan can only be defeated by Sajuuk, and Sajuuk can
only be awakened by bringing all three pieces of the Core together. You must
go to Gehenna and search among the asteroids.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 3:
Fighter: 7 Interceptor, 7 Bomber (5 Bomber, 2 Elite)
Corvette: 4 Gunship, 4 Pulsar, 2 Elite
Frigate: 5 Flak
Capital: 1 Carrier
Utility: 6 Collector
Level 3 Build Options:
Frigate Facility
Capital Class Facility
Advanced Research Module
Flak Frigate
Marine Frigate
Carrier
Mobile Refinery
Proximity Sensor
Level 3 Research Options:
Interceptor (Speed 2)
Bomber (Improved Bombs, Speed 2)
Flak Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Collector (Defense 2)
Collector Repair
Proximity Sensor Probe
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4 LEVEL 4: GEHENNA OUTSKIRTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apparently, we're on our way to Gehenna, on the outskirts of which we have
discovered a 'weak point' in the Vaygr defenses of an archaeological dig site.
Hmm...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ah, a good old hyperspace inhibitor level. Those Cathedral of Kadesh morons
have a lot to answer for. This level is a bit of a mixture of two of my
favourite missions from the original Homeworld, though it's far more difficult
than both put together (unpatched at least). You must take down three sets of
inhibitors attached to nearby asteroids if you want to reach Gehenna
undetected. There's heavy Vaygr activity in the area, and their station is at
the far end of the map, looking like someone stepped on a brown toadstool. It
must be destroyed into the bargain. Right then.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: In all likelihood, if you have tried it before reading this guide (or
any others), you will have experienced major problems with level 4. Three
things before you even try to attempt to try this unreasonably hard level:
1. Make sure your fleet is fully built and repaired from the end of the big
battle that occurred in the previous level. You will be at a huge disadvantage
if you just let the game hurry you into level 4 when you're not prepared.
2. Patch the game! There is a patch on your Homeworld 2 CD which updates it
from 1.0 to 1.1. In the release notes for the patch, we are told that level 4
specifically has had its difficulty reduced, so obviously I'm not the only one
who found it ludicrously tough. The patch makes a VERY significant difference
to the level.
3. Read the reader contribution below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
MAG <
[email protected]>
"Unfortunately, I have v1.0 of the game and was too lazy to update. This
brings me to the infamous mission 4: Gehenna Outskirts. I was pulverized in
the first 2 attempts of the mission, at various stages, but I did notice a
strange thing: the killer waves of frigates appeared only after saving the
game. Killing them, even if using mines, drains your fleet. In about 2-4
minutes, another wave comes and so on... doom is certain. Confirmed after I
played the mission without saving: only a couple of sporadic frigate attacks
and the usual small craft. So if you have v1.0, don't save in that mission and
all should be OK. Also, before destroying the last hyperspace inhibitor, make
sure you have a full fleet, mostly torpedo frigates if possible. You'll need
it.
After finishing the game, I searched for some walkthroughs, because the last
time I played, I beat mission 4 from the first try. Begginer's luck back
then... I updated to v1.1 and replayed some missions, including 4. Saving only
causes your harvesting operations to be harrased, so it's still easier to just
play the mission without saving."
---
I tried this in the unpatched game and it did work, though this is usually the
sort of thing that works for everyone except me. I had no trouble at all until
I reached the outpost at the end, but I did meet slightly more resistance
there than I did in the patched game. Overall this level does seem easier
without the patch and without saves. Without the patch but with saves is where
it all goes south.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
New research options become available:
Minelayer
Torpedo Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Straight away begin researching minelaying and torpedo frigates - both will
come in handy here. You can also now build a platform control module, which
will then allow you to build gun platforms and ion beam platforms, and an
advanced sensor array, which will greatly increase the scope of the
mothership's local sensors.
The gun platforms are only useful if you build a lot of them, and they're best
used to protect your harvesting operations or your mothership. Just building
one gun platform and expecting it to protect anything for long is pointless -
if you really want platforms then build as many as you can (twenty maximum)
and keep a mixture of guns and ion beams set to aggressive stance around your
weaker ships.
Move your carrier to one of the nearby dust clouds and your mothership to the</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
other one, and start harvesting. Meanwhile, take your offensive ships to the
first asteroid and begin shooting at the inhibitors. When you approach them
you spot a hyperspace gate, and you also get a
There are four inhibitors on each asteroid, and probably a few enemy fighters
flying around them - nothing you can't handle. You will also find three
hyperspace gates (one per asteroid), through which enemy fighters and
corvettes will occasionally appear.
You should come across one or two enemy carriers while you're attacking the
asteroids (and possibly one or two assault frigates), so take them out as soon
as you find them. Use flak frigates and bombers to destroy the carriers,
frigates, inhibitors and two of the gates, while your interceptors and
corvettes mop up any enemy strike teams which hassle you.
Your harvesters might get attacked by a bunch of fighters, so just dock them
safely inside your carrier or mothership until you can get some fighters back
to clear up.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.4 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
Tuan Le Quoc <
[email protected]>
"Regarding Mission 4, I have the unpatched version and I agree that it's
insane, but not all that hard. I'm not into Mission 5 yet so I don't know what
expecting ahead as my fleet suffered heavy casualties. Anyway, in Mission 4,
you have mine layers so, you know, it might be lame but I managed to get
through by using my MS and the carrier as baits to lure that huge phalanx out
into an (ad hoc actually) minefield, while the rest of the fleet attacked the
starbase then, my fighters returned and finished them out."
---
Damn, I dunno why I didn't think of this, since I do love my minelayers... I'd
say lameness goes out the window when the game throws that many vessels at
you, so no worries there. I guess this will be useful to people who don't have
the patch, for some reason or other. I still recommend patching the game to
v1.1, but thanks for the contribution.
This tactic will be as unnecessary as the patch, however, if you follow the
advice MAG submitted to v1.5 of this guide.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.4 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
AUTOSAVE: INHIBITORS DESTROYED
Once you have destroyed two gates and all the inhibitors the game will
autosave. It gives you a secondary objective when you find the first asteroid
that you have to capture one of the gates with a marine frigate, but this
wasn't the case after I patched the game. I just left one gate untouched and
this triggered the next stage of the level. But apparently, even if you
destroy all three gates, the game still progresses to your jump. Weird, but
don't worry about aggressive stanced ships taking out the last gate by
accident.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY COMMAND STATION
Anyway, whether you like it or not, once the game is saved your entire
operation will be hyperspaced to within sneezing distance of the enemy station
(with the exception of one single harvester in my case, which bugged me a fair
bit). You are now in an excellent position to attack the base and finish it
off.
Send your carrier back to the nearest asteroid belt and continue harvesting.
Push everyone else forward, including your mothership, until you reach the
station. Behind the command station you should find an enemy carrier, a
shipyard and a couple of harvesters (there might be a few fighters too,
depending on how long you took to get there). Destroy everything except the
station itself, then retreat back to your mothership for some recuperation.
Once all the enemies are destroyed the level ends, so leave the station until
your fleet is sorted again. Build a few torpedo frigates to accompany your
flak frigates, and maybe a couple of minelayers if you haven't already. Make
sure your research is up to date and finish off the station at your leisure.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 4:
Fighter: 5 Interceptor, 9 Bomber (7 Bomber, 2 Elite)
Corvette: 3 Gunship, 5 Pulsar, 2 Elite, 2 Minelayer
Frigate: 5 Flak, 5 Torpedo
Capital: 1 Carrier
Utility: 6 Collector
Level 4 Build Options:
Minelayer
Torpedo Frigate
Gun Platform
Ion Beam Platform
Platform Control Module
Advanced Sensor Array
Level 4 Research Options:
Minelaying
Torpedo Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5 LEVEL 5: GEHENNA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gehenna at last. As the Bentusi told us, the Oracle is here, and we must
recover it before the Vaygr get their grubbies on it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another level reminiscent of Homeworld. Remember the dust cloud level, where
you had to attack the command outpost, but your ships got damaged if they left
the cover of the dust streams? Similar thing here, except that your ships
don't take damage outside the dust clouds. Instead they are given a small
amount of time to get back under cover before the Vaygr detect them. And you
don't want that.
There is heavy dust in this region, which should cloak you while you search
for the Oracle around that asteroid pinpointed in the sensors manager. The
Vaygr are searching for it too, but they don't have a head start like you do.
Unfortunately, there are three (why always three?) Vaygr garrisons in the
area, and all must be eliminated in case they detect you and sound the alarm.
Begin harvesting and getting on with the tons of new research options
available. You should have plenty of money left over from the previous level,
so get stuck into this lot:
Gunship (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Pulsar Gunship (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Gun Platform (Defense 2)
Ion Beam Platform (Defense 2)
Improved Torpedoes
Enhanced Sensors
Also, pretty soon after the level begins you will be given the capability of
building ye olde ion frigates (the frigate of choice for eight out of ten
frigate choosers). And the game throws in a couple of research upgrades for
you:
Ion Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Building another three carriers would be a good plan too - might as well while
you have the money, and you can quintuple (is that a word?) your construction
and research speeds.
Move your fleet up the left arm of the dust clouds, leaving one carrier behind
to help with resourcing. Sooner or later an enemy probe will appear and you
will be detected. So much for that. Loads of enemy ships will appear - a
mixture of frigates, corvettes and fighters - to attack your fleet. Fend them
off and keep moving towards the first of the three enemy locations pointed out
in the sensors manager. Destroy any enemy ships hovering around the first
asteroid, then head towards the central one, all the time taking care of any
incoming enemies.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY VAYGR SHIPYARD
You will be alerted to the presence of a shipyard lurking next to this
asteroid, backed up by a carrier and some turrets. I'd advise taking out the
turrets first, using fighters to take out any enemy squadrons launching from
the carrier. Once the annoying turrets are gone, remove the carrier to get rid
of the fighters. Then finally the shipyard.
The shipyard is very tough, and it will be making lots of frigates. Some will
be infiltration frigates, which may try to grab some of your frigates or even
a carrier. Make them a priority. There are also assault frigates coming out of
the shipyard. You just need to keep battering away at the shipyard until it's
down, using your carriers and mothership to replenish your depleted squad.
Both the shipyard and the carrier will sometimes periodically disappear for a
few seconds amongst the dust, and you may be given a message that one of your
groups has 'defeated the enemy'. They haven't - the ships are just cloaked for
a while. Wait for them to reappear and start hitting them again, or send in a
probe to reveal them right away.
I'd recommend having frigate and corvette facilities on two of your carriers,
and a fighter facility on the third (the fourth carrier is still miles behind
with your harvesters - don't worry, your harvesters should be safe while
you're away).
AUTOSAVE: VAYGR SHIPYARD DESTROYED
Once the shipyard is down all you have to do to clear out the area is scout
around for any remaining enemy ships. There will probably be a few harvesters,
one or two scouts and some other fighter squadrons, but nothing dangerous at
all. Keep an eye out for the gigantic asteroids pocked with dig site numbers
and construction bases.
The Oracle dig site is identified in the sensors manager, so once your fleet
is back up to scratch, send a marine frigate over there and dock with the
asteroid.
AUTOSAVE: ORACLE RETRIEVAL
Your marine frigate grabs the Oracle from the very asteroid the shipyard was
guarding. The irony. Your ships then autodock quite fantastically quickly, and
you hyperspace out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 5:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 3 Gunship, 5 Pulsar, 2 Elite, 2 Minelayer
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 1 Marine
Capital: 4 Carrier
Utility: 10 Collector
Level 5 Build Options:
Ion Frigate
Level 5 Research Options:
Gunship (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Pulsar Gunship (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Ion Frigate (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Gun Platform (Defense 2)
Ion Beam Platform (Defense 2)
Improved Torpedoes
Enhanced Sensors
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6 LEVEL 6: KAROS GRAVEYARD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Oracle hijacks our navigational systems and we are forced to make an
emergency exit from hyperspace. Where better to stop than the Karos
Graveyard?...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.2 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
Benjamin Norris <
[email protected]>
"I found something out while playing the karos graveyard last night. I figured
i'd annoy you first since your guide was the most recently updated. I tried to
send two minelayer corvettes to the last place the mothership ends up. A trap
for the movers and all. The first group came out and i'll be goddamned if the
movers didn't follow the minelayers to the other side of the damn map. Movers
speed 230, minelayers 215. They caught up to them eventually but there was
only 2:15 left on the clock, for the first jump. I sent out another minelayer
after the jump, two more movers joined the main group, and no more were
spawned. This kept up till after the last jump. But i had all of my fleet
intact, and about 20K in RU's saved up. Followed up with gun platforms and ion
platforms and started the next mission in better shape than the graveyard.
Which was a first. Not sure if its a fluke but its worth sharing. Try it out."
---
Well, I tried this a few times, but with no luck. I then varied it: trying to
get the first movers to chase my faster strike craft; trying to send my
minelayers way over to the side of the map to give the movers a longer chase;
and trying to bring down all the first movers while they were chasing my
minelayers. I had no luck with any of these attempts: they ignored my strike
craft and headed for the nearest corvettes, at least until my strike craft
attacked, at which point the movers turned around and wiped my smaller ships
out; they didn't bother chasing my minelayers, and instead just headed for the
mothership; and whenever my strike craft got rid of some, more were spawned
from the same spot.
I also tried getting my minelayers over to the final area and dropping some
mines, but not only did they manage to drop a mere three each before being
caught and killed, the mines never even went for the movers anyway.
All of this leads me to believe that your method is a fluke, though if you
manage to do it again I'd be interested in a detailed description.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.2 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
MAG <
[email protected]>
"Regarding level 6, somebody in your walkthrough suggested that the movers can
be lured away. I remember I lured them away with 4 squads of pulsar gunships
set to evasive the first time, and did it again this time. It's frustrating,
though, because you have to periodically swing the gunships back to keep the
movers interested. Using this tactic, you can even lead on the drones in level
8, but not very much. Destroy 4 spawned drones and keep "entertaining" the 2
left ones (or even one) using evasive settings for as long as possible. Not
that 6 new ones would be a problem, but we're trying to save some pilots and
whatnot..."
---
I gave this a go and it worked like a charm. I set my ships on Aggressive, so
that their speed would be low enough to keep the movers' attention, but still
fast enough to outrun them. As you say, I did have to keep moving my pulsar
gunships around and out of the range of the movers, but wide-ranged waypoints
went some way to solving this.
While my gunships were flying around I just watched the timer and let the
first half of the level take care of itself. Excellent tactic if you use a
ship faster than the movers (231+). This is probably why I failed to get this
to work with the minelayers.
My mothership and fleet did get attacked by regular pairs of movers after the
first hyperspace jump, but the main bunch of movers was kept occupied, and the
level was made far easier.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: The original Karos Graveyard was one of my all-time favourite Homeworld
levels, not because it was a good level but because its atmosphere was
unmatched by any of the other levels, either in Homeworld or Cataclysm. If you
haven't played Homeworld, you will not have met the uniquely frightening
Junkyard Dog. If you have met him, then you probably never wanted to have to
return to the awesome Graveyard, but you're here now so you'd better change
your underwear and make a start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Oracle is now in control of your hyperspace module, and it will take eight
minutes to charge it for another jump. Meanwhile, you'll just have to sit
tight and brace yourself for any possible attacks. You are given some new
research to be getting on with:
Mothership (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Carrier (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Mobile Refinery (Defense 2)
Improved Manufacturing
EMP
Defense Field
Sensor Distortion Probe
Start researching while you move your carriers forward to begin harvesting.
Your mothership cannot move right now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Once EMP research is done, your scouts will have the ability to disable
enemy ships, leaving them totally vulnerable to attack for a short time. Until
now, you probably haven't bothered with scouts, but they're well worth
building now if you like the EMP feature. I didn't bother with them while I
was writing this guide, but I have used them since and they're worth a try.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTOSAVE: MOVERS ATTACK
It had to happen - the infamous junkyard dog had babies, and they're coming to
get you!
Horrible little insect-like ships emerge from one of the nearby scrap heaps,
to the sound of appropriately creepy music. Predictably, they attack the
immobilised mothership in regular waves. To be honest, you should have little
or no difficulty wiping these lifeless little things out. They are tough and
can take a fair whack, but you should have enough ships by now to handle them.
Your corvettes will probably take the biggest beating, so keep an eye on who
needs repairs and who doesn't.
While the combat is going on, the timer will be running down. When it reaches
under a minute the mothership will hyperspace to co-ordinates unknown and the
timer will disappear.
AUTOSAVE: MOTHERSHIP RETURNED
Then the mothership will reappear in the centre of the map, alone and
defenseless and still incapable of moving. A ten minute timer will start. Get
your fleet over there post haste, including minelayers and any carriers that
aren't helping out your nearby resource operation. Ships will stop appearing
from the first of the hostile scrap heaps, but will begin to emerge from the
two nearest the mothership's new location.
At this point, the game draws our attention to a disabled alien ship in the
distance, which must be salvaged with a resource collector - not a marine
frigate - in order to find its weaknesses. Get a resourcer over there
immediately, preferably escorted by some interceptors, since the alien ship is
lightly guarded.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
brett hawk <
[email protected]>
"Hello, I am playing Homeworld 2 and on level 6, on the part were you have to
salvege the ship, I got a resource collecter over there but then what? Please
help me."
---
Sorry, should have been a bit clearer here. Select your resource collector and
right click on the alien vessel. The resourcer should move in and attach
itself to the hull, and once it's done its thing you can let it head home
again.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: I have encountered a bug in this level, where the movers can never be
stopped if you don't get the alien vessel back to the mothership before the
ten minute timer runs out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More and more waves of movers will be vectoring in and you will soon be almost
overwhelmed. Again, your corvettes will probably take the most damage, so keep
up a quick supply of ships from the mothership and any available carriers.
Frigates are good against the movers, but also a bit slow. Bombers will be
very useful.
Once the resourcer returns the alien ship to the mothership, another autosave
occurs.
AUTOSAVE: MOVER SALVAGED
Research takes a few seconds to come up with ideas, then ANOTHER autosave.
AUTOSAVE: MOVER REENGINEERED
You can now research Anti Mover Weaponry to help deal with these irritating
little things swarming around your mothership in droves. Build frantically in
the meantime - try bombers and interceptors, since in my experience corvettes
just get eaten immediately. Once the research is done... you guessed it.
AUTOSAVE: ANTIMOVER RESEARCH COMPLETE
Your ships will now find it a lot easier to take down the movers.
When the timer reaches around two minutes, the mothership will hyperspace away
again. Hopefully you got the alien ship back in time. If not, reload and try
again.
AUTOSAVE: MOTHERSHIP RETURNED AGAIN
The mothership will reappear much farther up the map. The Oracle is focusing
on a particular derelict and you must defend the mothership while it moves
incredibly slowly into position beside the derelict. Loads of movers will now
be launching from the four nearby junk heaps, but if you keep building you
should be OK, thanks to the antimover research. Bombers and frigates will
still be the best defense against the movers. Corvettes are practically
useless since they are destroyed the second they emerge from the mothership.
Interceptors will help out a little too. Mines don't seem to be attracted to
the movers, so keep your minelayers out of the way.
Eventually, after several thousand years, the mothership will eventually get
close enough to the derelict. The Oracle will contact the derelict and the
movers will power down. Apparently there is a Progenitor relic elsewhere in
the graveyard and you have obtained the co-ordinates. We then regain control
of the hyperspace core and your ships are able to get the hell out.
Since everything in this level seems to be preset, there is not much chance to
rebuild your wrecked fleet at the end of the level. Since corvettes are the
most affected, I'd suggest building them in your carriers but keeping them out
of the battle. Your frigates and fighters are far better at dealing with the
movers, and little rebuilding will be needed for them. By the time the level
ends, you will have all your corvettes safely docked inside the carriers,
ready for the next level.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 6:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 5 Gunship, 5 Pulsar, 2 Minelayer
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 2 Marine, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier
Utility: 10 Collector
Level 6 Build Options:
Defense Field Frigate Sensor Distortion Probe
Level 6 Research Options:
Mothership (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Carrier (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Mobile Refinery (Defense 2)
Improved Manufacturing
EMP
Defense Field
Sensor Distortion Probe
Anti Mover Weaponry
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.7 LEVEL 7: DERELICTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We translate the Oracle's memory banks, and find that the wreckage we
discovered is actually that of an enormous Progenitor ship. There is a
dreadnaught - 'The Gatekeeper Of Sajuuk' - located in what used to be the aft
section of this ruined ship, and the Oracle has given us its precise co-
ordinates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, you haven't found the dreadnaught itself, but you have located the
engineering section of the Progenitor ship. However, the debris around the
area must be cleared before it can be investigated. But first, some research:
Flak Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Destroyer Chassis
Research these new techs and maybe build a defense field frigate (remember to
press T to turn the field on during combat).
Once the destroyer is researched you get more research options:
Destroyer (Defense 1, Speed 1)
You can also build a Fire Control Tower on the mothership and carriers
(improves the combat effectiveness of friendly ships close to the mothership /
carrier). Once it's built, use the tactical overlay to see two red circles
around the mothership - this is the active field.
First, send interceptors to the high derelict to the south. Movers will be
detected inside, and you will be able to build a Mover Construction Facility
on the mothership. This will then allow you to build movers, the only ships
capable of surviving the radiation clouds you'll soon be finding out about,
and destroying the derelict hulks. Send some fighters or corvettes to deal
with the two or three movers which emerge from the southern derelict. When you
get close enough to the derelict you should get a warning about radiation
emissions. This is why you are building the movers facility.
AUTOSAVE: MOVER CONSTRUCTION ONLINE
Build ten movers (maximum of ten), send them to the southern derelict and
destroy it. Don't get too close to the derelict with any of your other ships -
even carriers will quickly be decimated by the radiation (visible in the
sensors manager as brown circles around each piece of debris).
Meanwhile you should get a priority alert. A Vaygr probe appears in the
distance and heads towards you. It has to be destroyed before it relays your
position to the Vaygr. Get interceptors over there quick - you should make it
easily. Unfortunately, the Vaygr notice the probe's destruction and are
sending some ships to investigate. This might be a good time to set down some
mines around your mothership. And build those destroyers too.
While you're building your ten movers, you should get yet another alert. A
Vaygr carrier has appeared to the west and is using radiation shields to
protect it from the derelicts. Soon you will be attacked by the Vaygr from
here.
Dock your harvesters in your carrier and send the carrier back to the
mothership's protective circle. Get all your offensive ships (apart from the
movers) to defend the mothership - mine the area heavily too. Meanwhile, send
the movers over to the south-east derelict and destroy it. It will eject three
enemy movers but they're easy to take out.
From here on in, it's basically up to you what you do. A shipyard will vector
in next to the derelict north of the one your movers just destroyed, bringing
with it three or four destroyers. Another carrier will also appear to the
north, to add more enemy ships to the ones that are still attacking you from
the west. Both the carriers and the shipyard should be taken down to make this
level much easier.
Unfortunately, all three enemy ship makers are sitting in fields of intense
radiation, which will shred your ships if they go into it. Losing a destroyer
is no fun, believe me. I'd recommend taking all your forces towards the
shipyard first, and sitting them just outside the radiation field. While your
ships deal with any enemies coming out of the shipyard, send your movers in to
destroy the debris around the shipyard, allowing your fleet to move in and
destroy it once and for all. Destroyers can take the shipyard down without
going into the radiation field, so have a few of those (max 5 if you can
afford it).
Do the same with the other two carriers, and maybe leave your corvettes around
your mothership to take out any stragglers. Again, minelayers are great for
mothership defense. You will lose quite a few movers in this messy level, but
they're cheap and take seconds to build. Keep producing movers to take out all
the most dangerous debris, and get your fleet to remove the enemy ships from
the area at the same time.
There is a strong likelihood that your fleet will be heavily damaged in this
level if you don't keep them all together for mutual support. It would be a
great advantage if you moved your mothership towards where the shipyard
emerges from hyperspace. This makes it much easier to destroy the shipyard and
also sets up a good harvesting base to supply you with money to replenish your
fleet. Futhermore, it means that enemy ships from the two carriers have much
farther to travel, giving you more time to build, etc. And harvesters from the
northern carrier will soon attempt to harvest the resources from the nearby
dust cloud, making it easy for you to destroy them immediately. Just make sure
you remove the debris before you relocate to here.
Anyway, whatever you decide to do, once all the Vaygr are dead, get your
movers to skirt around the area and remove the debris while you harvest and
rebuild in peace. Removing the last piece of debris will end the level, so
don't do it until you're ready to move on. Incidentally, you only need to
destroy the pieces of debris which have been flagged in the sensors manager to
advance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Take a look at the armour of the huge piece of debris to the west. A
shade excessive I think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 7:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 5 Gunship, 5 Pulsar, 2 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 2 Marine, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer
Utility: 10 Collector
Level 7 Build Options:
Destroyer
Mover
Mover Construction Facility
Fire Control Tower
Level 7 Research Options:
Flak Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Destroyer Chassis
Destroyer (Defense 1, Speed 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.8 LEVEL 8: DREADNAUGHT BERTH
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We learn that the movers are actually ancient Progenitor constructs, made by a
people not indigenous to our galaxy. So, not the progeny of the junkyard dog
then... Anyway, we've found the foundry where the three hyperspace Cores were
first forged, so next we need to find the engineering section. Deeper into the
sinister Karos Graveyard we go...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will arrive in the graveyard and will get a message from Command about
power fluctuations coming from the dreadnaught's location. Scouts have to be
sent in to investigate - good news for anyone who has filled out all their
fighter slots with interceptors and bombers. Sigh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: I think the programmers made so many Graveyard levels just so they
could get away with putting in those incredible backdrops.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New research immediately becomes available:
Torpedo Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
You should have money coming out of your ears after the previous level, so
it's up to you if you want to harvest now or later. Send a scout towards the
dreadnaught, and a cutscene will activate. The Progenitor Dreadnaught will
transmit a repeating message: 'The Keeper is aware, the Keeper understands,
the Keeper has seen the enemy'. Bollocks. Watch as the dreadnaught slingshots
out of the wreckage, looking rather cool.
Six movers must be used to retrieve the dreadnaught.
AUTOSAVE: RETRIEVE DREADNAUGHT
The dreadnaught will set up a hyperspace inhibitor field - a pattern emerges!
- while a strange ship hyperspaces into view in front of the wreckage and
spits out six drones before disappearing again. Meanwhile, the dreadnaught
retreats into the warmth and safety of the wreckage, leaving the powerful
attack drones to patrol the area. These things do more damage than your
destroyers, though they only have about a tenth of the armour.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.6 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
vasco cardoso <
[email protected]>
"In mission 8 where you have to retrive the Dreadnaught, instead of sending
all your ships to defend the movers, send 10 movers, one of them will be
destroyed, six will get the ship, and the remaining 3 will fly above the
dreadnaught. Now the drones will fire but they wont do any damage to the
movers! and then when they get near the mothership, your entire fleet can take
care of them."
---
I've somehow managed to lose all my HW2 savegames and so I can't check this
right now. If it works it works, so I'll take your word for it, thanks.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.6 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
I'd suggest engaging the drones before you send in your movers, since the
drones will only annihilate the movers if there are no other ships there to
distract them. Command recommends using torpedo frigates and pulsar gunships
to get rid of the drones; I just sent in everyone for the tits of it.
Meanwhile, get your movers to lift the dreadnaught out of there and tow it
home. Since the dreadnaught is being towed to the mothership, it would be a
great idea to move your mothership as close to the wreckage as you dare.
While this is going on, that strange ship will keep appearing every time you
destroy its six drones, and it will deploy another six, then another six, etc.
The ship itself is completely invulnerable at this point, and even if it
wasn't immune to fire, it has incredible armour.
However, once you start towing the dreadnaught away from the wreckage, this
ship will begin to attack, which means you're in trouble. It does enormous
damage - around four times that of one of your destroyers - and every so often
it will hyperspace out of danger. When it returns within seconds, it will be
completely healed. The only way to get it to disappear into hyperspace is to
beat the crap out of it, so focus your attacks solely on it while it's around,
then deal with any remaining drones while it's gone.
The ship and its drones will follow the dreadnaught all the way back to the
mothership, so escort your movers with a guard force made up of practically
every ship you have. To be honest, despite the strength and invulnerability of
the Keeper ship, this battle is not nearly as hard as it could have been.
While your offensive fleet is around, the drones rarely target the movers
attached to the dreadnaught, and even though the drones and the Keeper ship
can both do some serious damage, your fleet doesn't take the beating you would
expect. Making sure your destroyers don't get taken down by the Keeper ship
should be your biggest task - if the Keeper targets one it can quickly be
reduced to half health.
Finally, the dreadnaught will dock with the mothership, science crews will
transfer over and the game will autosave.
AUTOSAVE: DREADNAUGHT RETRIEVED
Once the remaining drones are dealt with, research informs you that the Keeper
can't be killed off with any weapon we currently have. Funny, because I
thought I saw it bugger off when I got it down to about a third of its health.
Anyway, Command identifies Progenitor Power Modules nearby, which could cause
the Keeper ship to overload if triggered. Probes must be dispatched to each of
the pinpoints in the sensors manager to look for the triggers. Send a probe to
the western point and it should find the triggers when you select it once it's
in position.
While the probes are looking around, science teams tell you that the
dreadnaught's engines and hyperspace module are still operational, though
they're still working on getting its other systems up and running.
The probe finds the triggers and Command tells you that you have to send
movers in to salvage the triggers, so that they can be docked with the
dreadnaught's power modules. Get movers out there and grab each of the
triggers. They will then drag them to the three power modules and install them
(the power modules are those three banana-shaped things hovering near the
triggers).
While all this has been happening, the Keeper ship should still have been
emerging over and over from hyperspace in front of your mothership. But when
your movers head off towards the triggers, it appears next to the power
modules, and out come the drones again. Same as before - keep them away from
your movers and get all your combat ships hammering away at them.
Once the three triggers are installed, the modules power up and the distortion
field is activated.
AUTOSAVE: DISTORTION FIELD ACTIVATED
Mwahahahahaaaa! Hyperspace is back up and the Keeper is trapped by the three
blue beams which shoot out of the power modules. Hyperspace your way out of
that one, arsehole.
However, you must escape before the Keeper blows up. Time to go...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 8:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 5 Gunship, 5 Pulsar, 2 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 2 Marine, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer
Utility: 10 Collector
Level 8 Build Options:
N/A
Level 8 Research Options:
Torpedo Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.9 LEVEL 9: COUNTER ATTACK (VAYGR ASSEMBLY POINT - SHINING HINTERLANDS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The good news: the dreadnaught's systems are compatible with our own. The bad
news: most of them are offline. The Phased Cannon Array is still operational
though. The dreadnaught itself is also apparently a control mechanism for some
Progenitor artifact. Well, whatever it is, we're off to hunt Vaygr with it.
Prepare to rendezvous with good old Captain Soban, as well as the Nabaal
shipyard.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a serious siege level, where you must defend your objectives against
multiple heavy assaults from all directions. Brace yourself.
You arrive to find the Vaygr already attacking you from behind, which will
reaffirm something you may or may not have been thinking about the Vaygr.
However, they have other ideas when your new dreadnaught hyperspaces into the
fray and uses its phased cannon array to wipe the skirting boards with most of
their ships. Unfortunately, the dreadnaught sustains heavy damage in the
process of the cannon misfiring, and it must be repaired toot sweet. Its
engines are down too, so get some resourcers out there to repair it, while
your fleet takes care of the Vaygr destroyer and frigates.
New research is available:
Ion Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
Once the dreadnaught has been repaired a little by your resourcers, Command
announces that the Vaygr are here, and are launching attacks on the
dreadnaught via hyperspace gates, which must be destroyed. The dreadnaught
must also head for the Nabaal shipyard to complete its repairs.
Tons of Vaygr ships will converge on your fleet, looking to get at the
dreadnaught. Five hyperspace gates will also appear. I sent a different ship
group to each one; bombers to the west, frigates to the north, etc. You don't
need to send your entire fleet just to take out one gate at a time. Send your
heavier ships to the two northern gates, since this is where most of the
action is - bombers and corvettes should easily take out the other three, and
quite quickly too. The gates are the priority - leaving them open will, as
Command says, result in your being quickly overwhelmed.
Next, the Nabaal shipyard materialises from hyperspace, ready to service the
lumbering dreadnaught. Send it over there immediately, while the rest of your
fleet fends off the Vaygr.
The shipyard is now under your control, and can be moved around and used like
a second mothership (though it only has half the armour rating). It comes with
every facility and module the mothership already has except a fire control
tower, a mover construction facility and an advanced sensors array. You can't
build the mover factory, but build the other two.
AUTOSAVE: SHIPYARD NABAAL ARRIVED
At this point you will be under massive attack from all directions, kind of
like in the sabotage mission in Cataclysm. Once the gates are gone it will get
easier, but there will still be all types of enemy ships everywhere. Keep your
fleet together as usual, and your counter attack will be at its most
effective. The shipyard will also be under attack, which is why it's best to
get the heavy mob over there pretty fast.
Get the dreadnaught on neutral stance and make it dock with the shipyard.
Repair the shipyard with resourcers if its health is low, and guard the
dreadnaught with every combat vessel you have (don't worry about the
mothership - it's not a priority target for the Vaygr here).
The Nabaal shipyard claims that repairs and analysis of the dreadnaught will
take fifteen minutes, during which the Vaygr will continue to send corvettes
and fighters in from three different directions. Just guard the dreadnaught
with everything on aggressive, and bring your mothership and carriers in close
too, and you should have no problems.
AUTOSAVE: REPAIRS BEGUN
After about three minutes, a priority alert will sound. Vaygr carriers are
here, and you are surrounded. Do I need to tell you that the carriers should
be destroyed as soon as possible? Didn't think so.
Don't worry, this is actually easy. A squadron of bombers alone should be
enough to take out one of the carriers. I sent frigates to the second one and
destroyers to the third. The dreadnaught and shipyard are tough enough to
survive with the protection of your corvettes and interceptors while your
other ships are away. Given the comparative speeds of bombers, frigates and
destroyers, I sent the destroyers to deal with the closest carrier (meaning
that they could get back to the shipyard faster too), frigates to the one at
middle distance and bombers to the farthest. This last carrier will give you
the most trouble out of the three, but take it out anyway.
Even once you've dropped the last carrier, enemy ships will still be appearing
from the edge of the map. There's nothing you can do about cutting them off at
the source, so just guard the shipyard again and deal with them as they come.
When the timer reaches five minutes, two more Vaygr carriers come out of
hyperspace. This time they're a bit closer to the shipyard, but their
appearance does coincide with an attack by two destroyers and a load of
missile corvettes. Send your destroyers to take out the enemy destroyers,
while bombers or frigates attack the carriers. Also, replenish your by now
wrecked argosy via the mothership and carriers. Four hyperspace gates will
also appear on the four compass points, miles away from the shipyard. All of
them have to be brought down too.
At about one minute remaining, Command tells you that Vaygr super-capital
ships are approaching and that the dreadnaught repairs had better be completed
pretty damn fast. Once the timer runs out, the dreadnaught comes away from the
shipyard. Its phased cannon apparently suffered irreparable damage, though the
ship is otherwise back to full combat readiness.
Then the Vaygr attack again with a battlecruiser (!), two destroyers and a
mixed bunch of frigates.
AUTOSAVE: REPAIRS COMPLETE
Deal with the frigates first, since they should reach you before the others,
then take out the destroyers and finally the cruiser. Focus everything on the
cruiser and it should fall pretty soon, though you may lose a few frigates of
your own. Bring your dreadnaught into the combat if you can be bothered
watching it trundle around laboriously: it's worth it for the ludicrous damage
it can do.
Your remaining objective is to eliminate the rest of the Vaygr in the area.
Beware of the three destroyers which could be en route. Deal with them, then
skirt around for any hyperspace gates you may have missed, then wipe out any
remaining enemy ships. You may have to do some serious exploring to find the
last few Vaygr ships in the area, which will probably include a handful of
resource collectors. Alternatively, build a scout and get it to ping the
sensors manager. If you want time to rebuild before the next level, don't
finish off the Vaygr until you're ready to progress.
Once your fleet is back up to par, finish off the last enemy ship. At this
point, Captain Soban appears and transmits an important set of co-ordinates to
you. But a Vaygr carrier comes out of nowhere and swallows him up. Ooo, those
sneaky Vaygr.
You're done here, and it's time to mount a rescue mission.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 9:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 5 Gunship, 5 Pulsar, 2 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 2 Marine, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer
Utility: 10 Collector
Dreadnaught - Gatekeeper of Sajuuk
Shipyard - Nabaal
Level 9 Build Options:
N/A
Level 9 Research Options:
Ion Frigate (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.10 LEVEL 10: KEEPERS OF SAJUUK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Captain Soban's only been and gone and gotten himself nicked by the Vaygr. We
intended to rescue him, but once again we're pulled out of sodding hyperspace
(get that thing looked at) and ambushed by opportunists. But this time, it's
not the Vaygr...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you pause to gape at the unspeakably beautiful backdrop, you may or may not
fill your trousers at the sight of not one, but two Keeper ships hyperspacing
in to attack. Apparently, they are the 'Keepers of Abassid' and the 'Servants
of Sajuuk'. Possibly because 'Cheatmobiles' sounded less impressive.
Get your new research underway before you get stuck in:
Destroyer (Defense 2, Speed 2)
The Keepers launch their drones at you and move in for the kill. Start
blasting them to bugritude with your dreadnaught, destroyers and frigates,
concentrating your fire on the Keepers themselves, rather than the pretty
ineffective drones.
When you get one of them to about half health, it will vanish, leaving you to
scratch your head in bafflement. It wasn't destroyed, so where did it go? The
same will happen with the second Keeper, giving you a minute's respite.
Send your entire fleet northwards, including carriers and the shipyard,
because the Bentusi will soon appear from thereabouts, offering to repair the
cannon.
AUTOSAVE: BENTUSI ARRIVAL
Tell your dreadnaught to dock with the Bentusi harbour ship, and harvest some
resources in the meantime.
Inevitably, the Keepers return before your dreadnaught can dock, and they
begin attacking you and the Bentusi. For any other ships this would be
suicide, but there are now four Keepers and together they can do some serious
damage, even to the massive Bentusi harbour ship. It's your job to defend your
old friends, so surround the Bentusi ship with everything you've got and focus
your fire on each Keeper as it approaches.
Annoyingly, the Keepers are still doing their hyperspace-away-and-repair-when-
we-reach-half-health thing, plus there is a ten minute (grrr!) time limit on
the phased cannon repairs. To make matters a teensy bit worse, Command informs
you that the Keepers seem to be getting stronger with every hyperspace jump.
There's very little you can do here, other than fend off the Keepers as best
you can. Use everything you have; minelayers, repairs, even movers (mines
around the Bentusi ship or the shipyard make things a bit easier, though not
much). Concentrate on the four Keeper ships as and when they appear, and just
wait desperately for the timer to run down. Keep a close eye on your
destroyers and repair them when needed.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
MAG <
[email protected]>
"since you mention you were looking for a use of the Scout's EMP, movers and
drones are affected by it... if you can catch them. Frustrating. But against </pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
the Keepers in mission 10... priceless!!! EMP the Keepers to buy time and save
some of your fleet."
---
Excellent strategy this. My fighters were maxed out and I had no scouts, but
when I built some to try this I found that the EMP really is a life-saver. The
Keeper ships keep moving but they won't return fire, and they hyperspace away
quickly, as though they've been heavily damaged. Very useful trick to know,
thanks.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
Eventually, the dreadnaught's repairs will be done.
AUTOSAVE: DREADNAUGHT REPAIRED
The dreadnaught will come away from the Bentusi ship, but still the Keepers
will attack, with no sign that they're feeling the effects of ten minutes of
being shot at by every ship you have. Command gets desperate and suggests that
the Keepers cannot be stopped. Well, not with that attitude, no.
Then the dreadnaught reminds you what you're paying it for. Use it to fire
pitilessly destructive ion beams at the Keeper ships, doing enormous damage.
But STILL this is not enough to finally get rid of the Keepers. Looks like
you're finished...
Then the Bentusi come up with the idea of scuttling their own massive harbour
ship, catching the Keeper vessels in the ensuing blast. Just before their
systems go critical, they tell you that 'Sajuuk awaits, beyond the Gate of
Balcora'. You hyperspace to safety, thankfully, and the Bentusi tell you to
take their Core to unite the three. Ooo, presents.
And finally, it's goodbye to the last of the amazing Bentusi. Sit back and
watch the biggest Homeworld explosion yet.
By the way, you don't get a RESOURCES COLLECTED message at the end of this
level, but the RU will be added to your balance at the start of the next level
anyway.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 10:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 4 Gunship, 3 Pulsar, 5 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 2 Marine, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer
Utility: 10 Collector
Dreadnaught - Gatekeeper of Sajuuk
Shipyard - Nabaal
Level 10 Build Options:
N/A
Level 10 Research Options:
Destroyer (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.11 LEVEL 11: SACRIFICE (BENTUSI RUINS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The explosion from the Bentusi's kamikaze move has spat out their piece of the
Core, which should still be intact and hovering around somewhere on the
outskirts of the blast radius. The Vaygr will know all about an explosion of
that size, however, and so our retrieval of the Core will probably not be
without incident.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Command detects the two containment units and the Core, all of which must be
retrieved. But the area is hazardous as a result of the explosion, and probes
must be sent to each of the Core fragments to do some analysis.
New research options appear - it's the moment you've been waiting for:
Battlecruiser
Once the ship is available, research these:
Battlecruiser (Defense 1, Speed 1)
The battlecruiser can only be built from the shipyard - the only structure
large enough to cope - and you can only have two of them. You can also equip
the cruisers with fire control towers, making both themselves and any nearby
friendlies a bit more effective in combat. I STRONGLY suggest that you build
the battlecruisers with no further delay.
Take some time to do whatever rebuilding your fleet needs, then send a probe
to the eastern containment unit. When your probe is halfway there, it picks up
dangerous particle emissions, which can be overcome by researching:
Improved Defense Field
At this point stop the probe. The game obviously wants you to probe the first
containment unit right away, so don't. Instead shift your entire fleet into
the middle of the map, next to the Bentusi wreckage. When you're far enough up
the map, the Vaygr will arrive. I'm not sure if this is a timed event, running
from the start of the level, or whether it's triggered in some other way. But
they appear anyway.
AUTOSAVE: INCOMING VAYGR
Don't try to salvage any of the pieces yet - it'll be much easier if you
destroy the Vaygr first. The Vaygr are after the Core pieces too, and they
soon get one and take it back to one of their carriers. You have to kill the
carrier before it can enter hyperspace, but unfortunately the Vaygr have
three carriers and a shipyard with them, all of which are quite a long way
away and are being escorted by some serious bodyguards.
Bring your dreadnaught and any battlecruisers you have into the action -
you're going to need them. The Vaygr have tons of ships guarding their
carriers and shipyard, including quite a few destroyers, tons of frigates,
millions of strike craft and corvettes, and even a battlecruiser. Not good.
You'll need everything you've got to deal with the Vaygr here, and you'll need
lots of support from your resourcers and ship builders. Keep the mothership,
carriers and shipyard around the Bentusi wreckage, while everyone else fights
the battle in front.
The nearest (and perhaps easiest) fight to pick will be coming from the east,
just ahead of the Bentusi wreck. There will be a carrier there, flanked by a
bunch of destroyers and frigates, and lots of smaller ships. Take out the
destroyers first, then the carrier, then everything else. Your dreadnaught
should make this battle a joke if it can get there quick enough. Its cannon
will shear through the carrier like a knife through a... big soft carrier.
The gigantic Vaygr shipyard is located somewhere to the north west, and
is putting out frigates, corvettes and strike craft. I suggest taking it out
next, since the remaining attacks from the east are moving a little more
slowly. You might as well leave your dreadnaught behind when you attack the
shipyard, because when the shipyard reaches critical health levels it will
hyperspace to safety, leaving you to wipe away the strike craft and corvettes
around it. Your dreadnaught will take too long to get there and it won't make
any difference to the outcome anyway.
Throughout these first few battles, you will probably still be worried about
that mystery carrier running off with the Core piece it picked up. Don't
bother worrying - the Vaygr take a phenomenal amount of time to get their act
together, and as long as you keep fighting and concentrate on finding and
killing the shipyard and carriers, there should be little problem.
But you still have to find the carrier, and so it's fortunate that it's
heading towards you, bringing with it a fellow carrier, lots of destroyers,
shedloads of frigates, corvettes and strike craft, and - who could forget? -
that battlecruiser I mentioned earlier.
As soon as you see the battlecruiser, hit it with everything, including the
dreadnaught. Letting this thing live for any longer than is absolutely
necessary is a very bad idea. Once it's down, take out the destroyers and then
the two carriers, dealing with any smaller craft afterwards.
Nothing much happens once the last carrier is down - just destroy whatever
Vaygr forces remain in the area, then begin to rebuild your fleet, as I'm sure
it's in a pretty pitiful state. I was lucky enough not to lose anything larger
than a frigate (except when I accidentally let one of my destroyers pass right
through one of the radiation clouds - don't let this happen!), but my smaller
forces were almost entirely wiped out.
Conduct repairs and rebuilding, etc. Meanwhile, it's time to pick up those
Core pieces once and for all. Send one resource collector to the first piece,
and get both units waiting just outside the radiation field (the orange, furry
looking area around the piece). Get the frigate to guard the collector, then
instruct the collector to grab the piece. As the collector begins to move,
turn on the defense field using the T key. It will protect both the frigate
and the collector from the radiation, and both ships should make it out before
the defense field runs down.
The collector will then take the piece back to the mothership, and Command
will inform you that it was successfully salvaged. Do the same with the
remaining two Core fragments.
When the third and final piece has been accepted into the mothership, the
level ends and resources are collected. It's time to find Captain Soban.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 11:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 4 Gunship, 3 Pulsar, 5 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, 2 Marine, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer, 2 Battlecruiser
Utility: 10 Collector
Dreadnaught - Gatekeeper of Sajuuk
Shipyard - Nabaal
Level 11 Build Options:
Battlecruiser
Level 11 Research Options:
Battlecruiser (Defense 1, Speed 1)
Improved Defense Field
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.12 LEVEL 12: THADDIS SABBAH (VAYGR OUTPOST THADDIS SABBAH)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Captain Soban has the location of the Balcora Gate, and has been taken for
interrogation to an outpost near Thaddis Sabbah. Command thinks they have
discovered another 'weakness' in the Vaygr defenses - we've heard that one
before - and has the idea of hyperspacing into the centre of a nebula to
provide us with cover. So let's see where that gets us...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch as the Vaygr transfer Captain Soban into a carrier (or is that a
cruiser?) heading for the outpost. Your fleet appears in front of a background
like sunset over the ocean, and Command tells you to assault the outpost.
Start your research:
Battlecruiser (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.3 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
Clayton Mastaw <
[email protected]>
"hi, i just wanted to make sure you knew it was level 12 where people,
including myself, are encountering 6 battle cruisers, not 13. You have the
comment posted in 13 so I was just wondering if you had any advice for 12. I'm
about to just say screw it cuz there just doesn't seem to be a way around
this."
---
These bloody cruisers again! Well, reading back over my guide, I see mention
of at least five cruisers (though admittedly I don't enumerate them).
Unfortunately, this isn't the problem. The problem is that I blasted through
this level heroically (read: luckily) when I was writing the original version
of this guide, so I never met more than five battlecruisers. Apparently, other
people are meeting six or more...
Conclusion: you're going too slow.
After several replays I've realised that the faster you do this level the
better. If you try to take it slow you are actually making it much harder on
yourself. I attempted to crawl through it bit by bit for the purposes of this
rewrite, and I ended up meeting about eight or nine cruisers, just like other
people are obviously doing.
There are four friggin' facilities capable of building cruisers in this level
- you shouldn't be coloured astonished to find that the Vaygr have chosen to
produce a couple more while you're busy faffing about. Your only defense
against the arrival of more than the initial five cruisers is to zoom through
the map as though your life depended on it, which, in a way, it does. If you
want to meet five, maybe six, cruisers in this level, do everything as fast as
possible, with no hanging about. If you want to meet nine or ten or more, by
all means take your time.
I probably should have realised that so many cruisers would necessitate a more
thorough walkthrough than one containing instructions like "Take them all
down". Inspired stuff, eh?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.3 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
I have now rewritten this entire section three times, after finding that all
the starting cruisers and destroyers were in different places each time I
replayed the level. Well, that's just effing marvellous, innit.
Anyway, first things first: that big resourcing operation immediately ahead:
Forty or more frigates sounds and looks worse than it is. Frigates (especially
Vaygr) are weak as hell in this game, unlike in Homeworld, and at no time
during any of my replays did my fleet have the slightest difficulty in
removing all of them.
From the beginning of the level put all your destroyers, both your cruisers
and your dreadnaught up front. Guard them with your frigates, and guard your
frigates with corvettes and movers. Leave your bombers and everything else
beside your mothership and carriers, and get your resourcers to bandbox repair
your heavy ships. This will be the basic setup until you finish this map,
which uncomplicates things even further.
Move your capital ships and their guards forward in a phalanx, and set
everyone on neutral, not aggressive. Sit halfway between your mothership and
the asteroid clump directly to the north. You should soon be attacked by the
first batch of frigates, and your combined forces should wipe them out within
about thirty seconds, with few or no friendly casualties. Get rid of any
smaller Vaygr strike craft and move forwards again, this time with everyone on
aggressive.
You will run into the resourcing operation, and if you wait long enough you
will meet another bunch of frigates. Clear out the Vaygr resourcers and
platforms until the frigates reach you, then same thing again: eliminate them
with total ease.
Now shift your mothership and all its escorts up to just behind your front
lines and leave them behind this asteroid cloud. It's essential to keep all of
your ships together for the first half of this level.
Next, those battlecruisers and destroyers:
This is trickier, because every time I go back to this level the cruisers and
destroyers change positions and behaviour. Sometimes they attack, sometimes
they don't. Sometimes there are two destroyers hanging around near the first
asteroid field, sometimes they're much farther back. Sometimes I get attacked
by a lone cruiser before Makaan appears, sometimes I don't. I can't predict
what will happen to you, but you can take certain precautions, and keeping
your fleet together with your biggest ships leading the way is by far the most
important.
At around the time you get rid of those resourcers, Makaan should appear and
begin talking bollocks.
AUTOSAVE: MAKAAN ARRIVES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Because of the randomness of this level, you may already have met one
cruiser and two destroyers by the time Makaan appears. The only way to deal
with these early, unexpected attacks is to keep your own big guns at the front
on aggressive, and keep checking the sensors manager in case you are indeed
being jumped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You used to have four facilities against you in the map before, and now you
have five, but don't panic. Push your cap. ships, frigates and corvettes
forward again, heading for the centre circle of the sensors manager. This is
the source of most of your current problems, and it will probably be well
guarded too (though exactly how many of the destroyers and cruisers will be in
there I can't tell). Keep the exact same formations as you were using to
attack the first resourcing operation as you head towards (but not yet into)
the middle of the map, with everyone on neutral again, in order to mop up all
the smaller craft which will be trying to give you grief.
Bring your mothership and so on up behind your combat ships for protection,
and guard it with bombers, movers, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Trying to come up with a sneaky strategy, I attempted to send one of my
cruisers north east and the other north west on solo missions to find the two
far off shipyards and destroy them early. I found both shipyards but the one
in the east was guarded by a Vaygr cruiser which destroyed my own. My other
cruiser had no trouble removing the yard in the north west, but unfortunately
this triggered an attack by every destroyer in the map on my mothership, and
most of my own destroyers got wiped out without the help of my two cruisers.
I also tried attacking Makaan, but this forced the spawning of his escort
ships which you would otherwise only meet after you'd rescued Soban.
Not worth it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once your mothership (being the one with the best sensors) is far enough
forward to be able to see the middle shipyard sitting in the centre circle of
the sensors manager (presumably guarded by two destroyers), stop everything.
The shipyard will be spitting out smaller ships, though you may not see its
resourcers yet. You will also have at least two different sets of Vaygr strike
craft vectoring in from the north east and north west, coming from the other
two shipyards. Bunch all your ships together on neutral, but peel all your
frigates away (if you've lost some then rebuild quickly) and send them west
towards the nearby bunch of asteroids.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: There may be more frigates coming in from the west. These are the guards
of the nearby carrier, so you might want to wait until they've reached you and
you've wiped them out before continuing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get the neutral-stanced frigate line to delete the carrier and its pathetic
escorts, who can be found fannying about among the asteroids. That middle
shipyard might also be using this resource clump for its income, so just kill
off whatever ships you find. Do this fast, fast, fast, as Mr. Wolf would say,
then send your frigates back up to rejoin your main force.
Now this is the part I think people are having trouble with. You must attack
that middle shipyard right the hell now, as well as removing as many of the
destroyers and cruisers around it as you can. I tried a few other strategies
but each of them wasted too much time - enough time for the shipyards to put
out more and more destroyers and at least two cruisers. I realise that
assaulting this central circle of the map is tough, but dealing with surplus
cruisers is even tougher, so suck it up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: From now until pretty much the end of the game, nearly every combat ship
below destroyer level is entirely expendable. You'll be relying almost
exclusively on capital ships from this point onwards, and everything else is a
mere support vessel. This means that if you can get away with using certain
weaker ships as decoys then you should, especially if you're up against
multiple cruisers.
It also means that you can scuttle or retire enough of your superfluous
corvettes to make room for the one corvette type that is still really useful -
the minelayer. Five minelayers can make a huge difference to this most
difficult part of this level.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anyway, send in all your destroyers, both cruisers, your dreadnaught and all
your frigates to the north, towards whichever Vaygr ships are awaiting you
first. While they're moving in to attack, send some movers or corvettes down
to the western asteroid field (the one you just cleared out, not the one
farther to the north, next to the outpost) and put them on aggressive stance
so that they can clear away the resourcers who will definitely be trying to
operate down there.
When your big ships do run into the first of the Vaygr heavies, make sure to
send your frigates in first. This is vital if you don't like losing capital
ships, and I know you don't. Send the frigates in just ahead of your big guys
so that the frigates (I used my frigates because they last longer, but you can
really use whichever of your smaller ships you feel are the cheapest or most
expendable) draw the fire and the cap. ships do the damage. You can run into
quite a few destroyers around this spot, and possibly up to three cruisers, so
stick everyone on aggressive and target any cruisers as soon as they're within
range. The shipyard is the lowest priority here, and the cruisers are the
highest.
Don't just steam in towards the shipyard. Move forwards until the first ship
is baited into attacking you, then stop while you deal with it; then move
forwards until you meet the next one, and so on. I know I said fast, but
there's a difference between "fast" and "stupid" (nothing, Linford; go back to
sleep). Make a save just before you head in, and reload from it if you lose
too many destroyers or a cruiser.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: By this point the remaining shipyards will almost certainly be building
more cruisers, if they haven't built them already. This is where those extra
cruisers are coming from, so the quicker you move at this stage of the level
the better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once this central area is cleared out (including the cap. ships guarding the
outpost) you'll want to shift your arse to take out the other two shipyards.
Send your frigates looking for the north west shipyard, while your cap. ships
go north east (if you have not yet met at least five cruisers, the ones you've
missed are almost certainly to the north east). Leave everyone else grouped
together in the centre circle for mutual safety, and start dropping mines
around the place, east of the outpost.
If any of your ships ever get near enough to the outpost you will be given a
message about sending in a marine frigate to retrieve Captain Soban. Leave
this until every Vaygr ship is removed from the surrounding area.
Once all three shipyards and the carrier are gone you can relax. Makaan is the
only one remaining, and if you can find and kill his resourcers he'll be
crippled and unable to build any more ships. This is your cue to repair and
rebuild your fleet, after which you can send in a marine frigate to get Soban
back. Select your frigate and right-click on the outpost and it should head
in.
Three things which might be helpful here: move your mothership close to the
outpost; move your heaviest ships into a capital phalanx between Makaan's ship
and the rest of your fleet; start dumping more mines around this same spot.
After a minute or so Soban will be rescued, and the outpost will blow up with
a weedy boom. Don't worry, this won't damage any ships you may have nearby.
AUTOSAVE: ESCORT SOBAN
Makaan should be miles away from the outpost at this point, which should make
protecting Soban pretty easy while he wends his merry way back to your
mothership. You may have noticed that Makaan has apparently pulled a
battlecruiser, two destroyers, four assault frigates and a bunch of corvettes
and fighters from the depths of his arse, and is now moving towards Soban as
he makes his way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: There's a critical bug here. If you engage Makaan and send him into
hyperspace before Soban has been returned to the mothership, the level will be
unable to end, and the objective will remain incomplete in the list. Have your
fleet ready for Makaan's intervention, but make sure Soban returns and you
receive the autosave before you pick a fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You'll get another autosave when Soban has been slotted snugly into the
mothership, he will re-emerge, and it's time to ruin Makaan's day.
AUTOSAVE: SOBAN IS SAFE
Once Soban's been docked Makaan will stop moving, so you'll have to go to him.
Nothing new here: smack the cruiser first, then the destroyers, then the
frigates, then the corvettes. Makaan will occasionally cloak his ship for a
few seconds, but he hyperspaces away when you do his flagship enough damage
(though he actually scarpered as soon as I approached - I never even shot him
once). The worst that'll probably happen to you here is losing a destroyer,
thanks to that cruiser.
Leave Makaan standing if you need to replenish your armada, then finish him
off when you're ready to progress. Soban tells you that Makaan't (god, that's
weak) has skedaddled to the Balcora Gate. Follow if you dare...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 12:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 4 Gunship, 3 Pulsar, 5 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, Captain Soban, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer, 2 Battlecruiser
Utility: 10 Collector
Dreadnaught - Gatekeeper of Sajuuk
Shipyard - Nabaal
Level 12 Build Options:
N/A
Level 12 Research Options:
Battlecruiser (Defense 2, Speed 2)
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.13 LEVEL 13: BALCORA GATE (BALCORA)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Makaan has disappeared into a cluster of black holes, only accessible through
a massive Progenitor Gate - the Gate of Balcora. But Makaan doesn't really
want us chasing after him while he searches for Sajuuk, so his goons have been
instructed to vandalise the Gate before we can use it. It's a race against
time!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
Chouru <
[email protected]>
"I was just curious as to why you only had to battle 1 battlecruiser when
everyone else seems to be battle at least 5 or 6, sometimes 10... do you use
the retire and rebuild method? Or do you just have some weird thing going on?
I don't understand this, I am stuck on this mission because 6 battlecruisers
destroy all my frigates, destroyers and battlecruisers before they're all
dead, while my bombers, gunships, and movers are trying to save the power
generators, I'm gettin' owned, plus while all my ships are busy the only thing
defending my mothership is captain soban and a scout squadron. I'm just
curious as to why this mission is so easy to you when I can't even try to get
past it anymore."
---
adrian ke <
[email protected]>
"Hey, for mission 13: When I play i do get 6 battlecruisers to fight against,
much like that other guy mentioned in your walkthrough.
There's a initial group with 1 battlecruiser somewhat nearer to the start
point, but right next to the enemy shipyard are another 4 or 5 of them.
Perhaps they get built by the AI as time in the mission passes?
Incidentally I found that the mission can be completed simply by using
bombers/movers/other fighters to assault one frigate group attacking one of
the power generators (I used 14 bombers, 10 movers and 12 gunships set on
"guard" for antifighter cover, attacking the frigate group that was at the
generator nearest to the shipyard, which has the added effect of tying up the
battlecruisers near the shipyard as they try to attack the fighters/corvettes.
I micromanaged the bombers and movers to kill frigates, allowing the gunships
to attack at will in guard mode - they target fighter/corvette size craft
automatically it seems.)
All the mission needs to be completed is to destroy one frigate group
attacking one generator, and destroy the shipyard, apparently. Then the
cutscene plays out.
After the frigate group was destroyed, i moved in my capship/frigates, setting
them all to attack the shipyard, ignoring the 5 battlecruisers at first. The
moment the shipyard blew up, the cutscene to the next mission played.. and i
skipped it to avoid extra damage to my fleet.
In theory i could rebuild the small craft and use those to attack the shipyard
after one frigate group is gone, thus finishing the mission without using
capships or the frigates. I'm not sure tho.."
---
OK. I have now rewritten this section several times, but the following rewrite
was the first time I had ever met more than one cruiser. I went back, knowing
that people were obviously still having trouble, and restarted the mission
with a full fleet from the previous level.
I realised that I wasn't taking a full fleet into this level in previous
versions of this guide - I was involuntarily missing half my frigates, for
some reason. This triggered the retire-and-rebuild exploit which led to the
absence of most of level 13's cruisers. My mistake, sorry.
Anyway, this time I met ten (beat that) battlecruisers, which changed the
level a lot, and thus changed this guide. Based partly on adrian ke's
contribution (above) and mostly on my own strategy from v1.4 of this guide,
the following is the best I could come up with.
I hope that this rewrite will solve people's problems, and that no-one ever
mails me about this level again: if I read or hear the word "battlecruiser"
one more time I think I might lose control.
By the way, those cruisers are there from the beginning - I checked. There is
only one Vaygr facility capable of building cruisers in the level - the
shipyard - and for it to produce nine or ten battlecruisers would take a
phenomenal amount of time, which you of course don't have in this level.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________V1.5 CONTRIBUTION_______________________________
The Vaygr are attacking three generators, at least one of which must still be
standing by the time the mission wraps up. They have tons of ships, including
at least one battlecruiser, a carrier, a shipyard, a few destroyers and a ton
of frigates and smaller craft.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: You can see how much or how little health each generator has by clicking
on the Gate itself, then looking at the health bars of the three subsystems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as you enter the level you will be under attack from two directions -
north east and north west. The north western bunch is pretty small - just a
few frigates and smaller craft. A tiny sneak attack will be approaching from
the north east, comprising three infiltration frigates on course to grab some
of your carriers. Set to aggressive, your ships should easily be able to
absorb both of these early attacks.
Once this is done it's time to divide your forces in two: one group to hang
back in safety, and the other to get started on the Vaygr attacking the
generators.
Move your mothership away to the east, followed by your carriers and shipyard
- you won't be needing them here, and this will keep them safe from all those
cruisers. Keep your corvettes, strike craft, movers and minelayers near the
mothership, as the first few small Vaygr attacks must be dealt with without
the help of your large ships.
Meanwhile, send your destroyers, cruisers and dreadnaught (escorted by
resourcers and all your frigates) angling directly down towards the group of
Vaygr frigates underneath the Gate (put your cap. ships on Evasive for the
speed, and send them in one big group, despite the fact that the destroyers
will be slowed down by the others). You may meet a single cruiser on the way
(in my replays sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn't). Engage it with
all of your capital ships if you do meet it, and heal up whichever ship the
cruiser decides to attack (almost always one of your cruisers).
Those other cruisers (nine of them in my game) should not have bothered to
approach your fleet if you kept all of your ships far enough away from them.
If you send your capital ships straight down to the bottom group of frigates
in a straight line they won't pass close enough to any other Vaygr ships to
attract attention, and they should be able to attack the frigates in peace,
kind of. If you avoid the cruisers in this level they won't be a problem, and
it won't matter how many the game presents you with at the start. If you are
somehow passing too close to other ships on your way to the first generator,
use waypoints to steer clear.
Another thing: while fighting these bottom frigates, make sure all of your
ships stay away from the popular area up around the middle generator. Swing
them around to the back of this lower frigate group, moving while attacking,
so that they're now east or north east of the frigates. This should keep them
far enough away from the cruisers and shipyard hanging around in the middle of
the map, and they will only have to deal with enemy strike craft. If you
attack with your ships moving around underneath the group of frigates at the
middle generator you will get far too much grief from the cruisers and all the
other Vaygr vessels.
When your cap. ships do start hammering at the first group of frigates, keep
repairing your destroyers and cruisers, and bring in your dreadnaught and
frigates to help out. As adrian ke said, once the first generator is safe you
needn't worry about the other two being destroyed. Just kill off all of those
frigates at the bottom generator and you should save it in time, even if
you're having to fend off lots of Vaygr strike craft coming from the shipyard
nearby.
If you lose that first generator, shift everyone upwards to the one in the
middle. In my experience this middle generator is the one which lasts the
longest, so save it for last and give yourself more chance of preserving any
one of the three. Going for it first is not an attractive proposition, as it
takes you too close to the shipyard and its guards, but keep it in mind as a
fallback.
Anyway, if you move fast enough your big guns should easily manage to save the
bottom generator, at which point you get an autosave.
AUTOSAVE: BALCORA GATE SAFE
When you approached the Gate you will have gotten a warning about the Vaygr
shipyard hovering around. Well, now that the Gate is safe, all that remains is
to wipe out that shipyard. When you see it you get a new autosave.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY VAYGR SHIPYARD
Unfortunately it is heavily guarded, not least by almost all of the cruisers
you skipped earlier. It will also have a big bunch of frigates in tow, and
tons of strike craft flitting around.
If you had attacked the shipyard from your starting position you would have
had to deal with all of those cruisers; but now that your ships are all
hanging around east of the bottom of the Gate you can attack the shipyard from
wherever the hell you like - ideally from the least difficult direction. The
time limit is gone and the Vaygr are doing nothing but resourcing in the
middle of the map.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Try not to move any of your capital ships too near the Gate - I did and
one of my destroyers got stuck, then it took years to pull away again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are cruisers between your current position and the shipyard, and there
are also some cruisers between your mothership and the shipyard. Attack from
either of these directions and you will definitely meet cruisers, which you
don't want. But (assuming you hyperspaced into the bottom right of the map)
there are no cruisers on the "left" side of the shipyard.
So move all your frigates and capital ships along the bottom of the map, out
of reach of the Vaygr cruisers' attention span, and stop them when they're
below and on the far side of the shipyard's position (blipped in the sensors
manager). Now move them up to a level plane with the shipyard, and finally
steam your assault force towards it to begin the attack. This is long-winded
but far more effective than just sending everyone at the shipyard with no real
plan. Ten Vaygr cruisers is way more than enough to wipe out your entire
force, so don't take the risk.
If you approach from the shipyard's blind side - the side without any cruisers
protecting it - you can start battering at it before any nearby cruisers can
react. Send your frigates in a second or two before your bigger ships, so that
they can draw the fire of the cruisers and multiple enemy frigates near the
shipyard. As soon as the Vaygr open fire on the frigates you can move your big
guys in and smack the shipyard fast (ignore all the other Vaygr craft). It
won't take long if your dreadnaught, cruisers and destroyers are all hitting
it at once, and since your frigates are decoying the Vaygr cruisers you won't
lose any of your capital ships - I had the shipyard at half health before any
Vaygr cruiser got a shot off, and by the time the shipyard was dead I had lost
only a few frigates and all of my resourcers. This was OK, as I had more of
each queued up in the build managers.
AUTOSAVE: VAYGR SHIPYARD DESTROYED
You then get yet more irritating cutscenes while your ships are under attack.
Skip through whichever ones you can to save your fleet from taking any more
damage or casualties.
Done. Now, please, no more mails...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 13:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 4 Gunship, 3 Pulsar, 5 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer, 2 Battlecruiser
Utility: 10 Collector
Dreadnaught - Gatekeeper of Sajuuk
Shipyard - Nabaal
Level 13 Build Options:
N/A
Level 13 Research Options:
N/A
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.14 LEVEL 14: BALCORA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We've played right into Makaan's hands, bringing him all three pieces of the
Core which he's been after all along. But if he wants the pieces then he's
going to have to fight for them. Or just pay us lots of money to go away
quietly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch as the Vaygr heavies duck under the massive Sajuuk Progenitor ship and
head towards your mothership. Three or four destroyers and a bunch of smaller
ships are hoving into view, and to make it worse, your mothership has
hyperspaced to the front of the fleet, leaving all your bigger ships slightly
behind. Get them forwards and protect the mothership.
This shouldn't be too hard, as long as you didn't lose too many capital /
super-capital ships in the previous level. Once the first attack is dealt
with, watch out for another few Vaygr ships sneaking up on you from the south
west. Nothing difficult whatsoever.
Command then identifies Makaan's flagship on the sensors manager, hiding
beyond the Sajuuk ship. Vaygr forces are rallying around Makaan, and it's time
to destroy this joker once and for all.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY MAKAAN
But before you do that, you may have noticed a group of Vaygr off to the west.
Well there's a shipyard hiding beyond them, and it will have to be destroyed
to ease your imminent suffering. Send your destroyers and frigates up there,
with some resourcers for repairs. There's a few frigates hanging around the
shipyard, as well as one or two destroyers. Meh.
AUTOSAVE: DESTROY VAYGR SHIPYARD
I don't think the shipyard can actually be destroyed, but it can be sent
fleeing into hyperspace by reducing it to about a third of its health, and the
same goes for the two carriers accompanying it. Although I got a message from
Command telling me that the shipyard was in fact destroyed, even though I just
saw the friggin' thing vanish into the ether.
Anyway, once that's done you can concentrate on Makaan and his cronies.
Unhappily for you, Makaan is likely to have around six or seven
battlecruisers. Yes, that's battlecruisers. Along with a couple of carriers
and maybe one or two destroyers, not to mention his flagship. Oh and, by the
way, he also has his own dreadnaught.
So take a while to rebuild your fleet as you see fit. Makaan's guards won't be
producing any new ships (though one of the carriers might start sending out
resourcers to the nearest resource clump), and you've removed the shipyard
anyway, so take your time to plan it out.
I've had success with placing a large minefield around the Progenitor ship,
then baiting the Vaygr into moving towards the mines by sending in a few
frigates. The frigates get destroyed immediately, but (depending on how big a
minefield you lay down) the Vaygr take SERIOUS damage from the mines in
return.
You could also try sending a whole lot of frigates in first to distract the
big guys, then hammer them from behind with your own destroyers, cruisers and
dreadnaught.
But whatever you do, this will be a difficult battle. Keep repairing and
reload if you lose even one destroyer. Obviously, the dreadnaught should be
dealt with first, since it can do far more damage than the others. Next, take
out the cruisers two at time; target one with your dreadnaught and another
with everything else you have available. This should make this fight a bit
easier and quicker.
Take out the flagship and carriers last. The flagship has huge armour but it's
actually a sitting duck without its escorts. If you need time to rebuild your
fleet AGAIN before the next level (and you probably will), don't finish the
Vaygr off until your armada is prepared. Taking out the last of Makaan's
guards and firing on the flagship will cause it to start releasing its own
strike craft.
Once Makaan is damaged, you get an appropriately named autosave.
AUTOSAVE: MAKAAN DAMAGED
Makaan's flagship will be putting out frigates and strike craft to attack you,
but leave your ships back on neutral stance while you repair and rebuild. Your
capital ships can deal with anything Makaan puts out. Don't worry about
rebuilding your fleet for the last level - if you're using my strategy you
won't need anything above ten bombers.
Keep battering the flagship and Makaan eventually falls, with one last
declaration of defiance. It doesn't do him much good, though - his ship
explodes and the third piece of the Core is revealed. Lovely.
Watch with a lump in your throat as your crew begin to abandon the trusty old
mothership and transfer over to the Sajuuk ship. The mothership falls away
towards the flames as the completed Core is brought over last of all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fleet at end of Level 14:
Fighter: 6 Interceptor, 8 Bomber
Corvette: 4 Gunship, 3 Pulsar, 5 Minelayer, 10 Mover
Frigate: 6 Flak, 6 Torpedo, 6 Ion, Captain Soban, 1 Defense Field
Capital: 4 Carrier, 5 Destroyer, 2 Battlecruiser
Utility: 10 Collector
Dreadnaught - Gatekeeper of Sajuuk
Shipyard - Nabaal
Level 14 Build Options:
N/A
Level 14 Research Options:
N/A
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.15 LEVEL 15: RETURN TO HIIGARA (HIIGARA - UNDER SIEGE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiigara is by now under siege from the Vaygr, and the Hiigaran Navy are
fighting a losing battle. But the Trinity has now been united, thanks to us,
and we also have the yummy Sajuuk mothership into the bargain...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The space above Hiigara is under serious attack from tons of Vaygr ships. The
Hiigaran defense fleet is putting up a fight, but they're outnumbered and
outgunned. They need to get themselves a Sajuuk Progenitor ship. Shouldn't be
too hard.
This mission looks a hell of a lot tougher than it is, so don't be put off by
the chaos you see in front of you. Ignore the friendly ships. Ignore the enemy
ships. In fact, ignore most of your own fleet. You can theoretically do this
one with Sajuuk and ten bomber squadrons, and so that's how I'm going to
approach this level, just to show you how basically easy it is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: I feel a bit embarrassed at doing two previous versions of this guide,
neither of which included a walkthrough to this level. I thought it was going
to be much more difficult, so I spent ages trying unsuccessfully to build up a
hefty fleet before exiting the previous level.
Sod it, it's done now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Right. Take five bomber squadrons (build them if you don't have them), give
them a group number of their own, and send them over to the east of the map,
in evasive stance for the sake of speed. If you go far enough east you can
avoid the groups of Vaygr lurking around the area. Your ships should head for
the end of the asteroid belt, south of that blue blip to the north (which
marks the site of a Vaygr shipyard). From this waypoint, send them a bit
farther north, but don't go near the blip and be sure to avoid any red dots
nearby. Leave this first group of bombers sitting here.
Take a second group of five bomber squadrons, give this lot a different group
number, and send them away to the west, to sit somewhere due south of the
westernmost blue blip. Any nearby Vaygr should be plainly visible on the
sensors manager - avoid them and leave this second group sitting here.
Finally, send Sajuuk hyperspacing to the northern edge of the map, which
should be unoccupied and pretty lonely. There is a specific spot you should
aim to arrive at, but you can get a better feel for this from reloading if you
miss it the first time. Give Sajuuk its own group number.
You should now have five bombers in the south-east, five bombers in the south-
west, and Sajuuk lurking in the north. None of them will be under attack and
all of them will be waiting. Select Sajuuk and sit staring at it unmoving on
your screen.
Incidentally, when I said ignore most of your own fleet I meant it. Even if
they do come under attack - which they probably won't - the attack will be
weak and easily dealt with by your destroyers and cruisers. They should be
safe; and besides, Sajuuk is your mothership now, not the shipyard.
Now just wait until:
AUTOSAVE: PLANET KILLERS ARRIVE
Three big spidery missile platforms have appeared at three different places,
loading a great many missiles ready to be launched on the planet below. Your
objective has two parts: one is to destroy the platforms themselves, thus
stopping them from launching more missiles; the other is to take out the
missiles themselves before they disappear out of range.
You should have been looking at Sajuuk, like I said, so cancel your way
through the frustrating cutscenes and pull-aways. The instant that northern
platform appears, start battering at it with Sajuuk's heavy beam (hopefully
you hyperspaced to a point close enough). The quicker you get started the </pre><pre id="faqspan-5">
better, because you'll soon afterwards receive an audible warning that all
three platforms have begun simultaneously launching their payloads.
Sajuuk is the only ship capable of destroying the platforms, so don't even
bother attacking them with anything else. It takes about five of Sajuuk's
heavy beams to kill off each platform, and it can meanwhile be firing at any
airborne missiles with its secondary beams. You must make sure you target each
missile before it gets out of range, since Sajuuk will otherwise ignore them
to concentrate on the platform. If you start on that first platform as soon as
it appears, you can take it out before it even manages to get one missile
away.
If you want more good news, you don't even have to look at either of the other
two platforms if Sajuuk is quick enough at destroying the first one. They may
have started launching missiles, but they'll be moving slowly and may not have
even reached your separate groups of bombers yet. By all means, keep an eye on
them, but there should be no panic at this point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Just a word about those missiles. You should, obviously, be trying to
catch as many as you can, and getting all of them is ideal. But if some do
slip through, Hiigara will lose more of its population with each impact. You
can keep an eye on the decreasing population at the bottom of the screen.
I'm not sure how many missiles it takes to get the population to zero, but
it's not very many - no more than ten, I think. There is also a time delay
with each impact, representing the time it's taken them to drop from space
onto the surface. This means that you may not be safe if your population level
says 1.2 million or whatever - the game might just be waiting for the next one
to land.
My strategy is designed to let you catch all the missiles, though this will
still be difficult if you're unorganised. Don't worry about one or two
missiles getting past your ambushes, but if you're letting great bunches
through then you've probably already lost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTOSAVE: FIRST PLATFORM DESTROYED
Once Sajuuk's gotten rid of the first platform, hyperspace it immediately to
one of the others. I recommend the one in the east, since, in my experience,
it launches more missiles than the one to the west, and is therefore the more
dangerous.
Get both sets of bombers to start on each missile that approaches them - they
fly in straight lines so it's no problem to predict where they're going - and
get Sajuuk started on whichever platform you chose next as soon as it's able.
Now you can basically forget Sajuuk and open the sensors manager. It's much
easier to control both of your bomber groups from here. Every one of the
missiles will be shown vividly on the sensors manager as a red blip, and it's
the simplest thing in the world for you to target your bombers on each missile
from the manager, rather than from the main view. The map also lets you see
Sajuuk destroying the second platform, which will occur with a big explosion
and an autosave.
AUTOSAVE: SECOND PLATFORM DESTROYED
You know what's next. Hyperspace Sajuuk to the last platform and start firing
on it. Use your far off bombers to wipe out the last of the missiles the
second platform may have launched before it exploded, then just forget about
them. Hell, scuttle the buggers if you like.
From here it's just a case of letting Sajuuk do its thing while your other
group of bombers clears up any stray missiles coming from the last platform.
As the last platform approaches its demise, you may be starting to worry about
all those Vaygr ships dotted around the landscape, including two shipyards and
multiple capital and super-capital ships. Well, don't bother. When the third
and last platform goes it takes its missiles with it, whether they're in the
air or not, and you've completed the mission and the game.
Congratulations, now sit back and watch the suggestive end movie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: Karen is starting to look more and more like Genova, Sephiroth's mum,
from Final Fantasy 7.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
@---------------------------------------@
| 6. CONTRIBUTORS / CONTRIBUTIONS |
@---------------------------------------@
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
Version 1.0 -
25 June 2006 - Michael Sarich: Copyright Disclaimer
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<>->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->
Version 1.1 -
N/A
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<>->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->
Version 1.2 -
21 July 2006 - Benjamin Norris <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.6
30 September 2006 - Chouru <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.13
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<>->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->
Version 1.3 -
01 November - Muse
Provided the soundtrack to my replays; Bliss, Space Dementia, Supermassive
Black Hole, Map Of The Problematique, Knights Of Cydonia, Sunburn, Hysteria,
Butterflies And Hurricanes... all amazing songs to listen to while playing the
Homeworld games
01 November 2006 - Beloved Spear <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.3
01 November 2006 - Clayton Mastaw <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.12
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Version 1.4 -
10 December 2006 - Tuan Le Quoc <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.4
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Version 1.5 -
21 December 2006 - MAG <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Sections 5.4, 5.6, 5.10, and gave me headaches with all the new
formatting
21 December 2006 - brett hawk <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.6
21 December 2006 - adrian ke <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.13
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Version 1.6 -
15 February 2007 - vasco cardoso <
[email protected]>
Contributed to Section 5.8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THANK-YOU TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
@------------------------------------@
| 7. VERSION HISTORY / UPDATES |
@------------------------------------@
______________________________________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--[.]-->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______________________________________________________________________________
Version 1.0 completion - 25 June 2006
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Version 1.1 completion - 06 August 2006
Section 1:
1.2 CONTACT ME - New section of the guide
Section 2:
Removed unnecessary paragraphs
Section 3:
Lengthened introductory paragraph
3.1 MILITARY - Added description of Sajuuk Progenitor
Section 5:
Added missing index numbers to level names
5.3 Level 3: SARUM (SARUM - FLEET STAGING AREA) - Added more information
5.14 Level 14: BALCORA - Added more information
Miscellaneous:
Corrected spelling, grammar and formatting errors
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Version 1.2 completion - 05 October 2006
Section 1:
1.2 USING THIS GUIDE - New section of the guide
1.3 CONTACT ME - Moved from old Section 1.2
Section 3:
Reorganised entire section
3.1.5 PLATFORM - Added note about platforms
Section 5:
Added small note about retire-and-rebuild exploit into section introduction
5.13 LEVEL 13: BALCORA GATE (BALCORA) - Rewrote entire section
5.15 LEVEL 15: RETURN TO HIIGARA (HIIGARA - UNDER SIEGE) - Completed
Miscellaneous:
Reformatted entire document to make it look less watery and weak
Corrected typing, grammar and formatting errors
Added new allowed sites to disclaimer
Version History / Updates is now Section 7, rather than part of Section 6
Reorganised Contents to compensate for changes
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Version 1.3 completion - 03 November 2006
Section 1:
1.3 CONTACT ME - Added notes about reader emails
Section 3:
Reviewed / updated all ship descriptions
3.1.3 FRIGATE - Added description of Captain Soban
3.1.4 CAPITAL - Added description of Sajuuk Progenitor
Section 5:
Movers transplanted to Corvette rather than Utility in Fleets
5.12 LEVEL 12: THADDIS SABBAH (VAYGR OUTPOST THADDIS SABBAH) - Rewrote entire
section
5.13 LEVEL 13: BALCORA GATE (BALCORA) - Alterations to reader contribution
Miscellaneous:
Removed one allowed site from disclaimer
Corrected typing, grammar and formatting errors
Improved contribution separators
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Version 1.4 completion - 10 December 2006
Miscellaneous:
Improved formatting
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Version 1.5 completion - 24 December 2006 (I'd wrapped all my presents)
Section 1:
1.1 INTRODUCTION - Added notes about significance of reader contributions in
more recent guide versions
Section 5:
5.13 LEVEL 13: BALCORA GATE - Rewrote entire section
5.14 LEVEL 14: BALCORA - Corrected mistake about rebuilding fleet before next
level
Miscellaneous:
Improved formatting
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Version 1.6 completion - 01 February 2007
New disclaimer
Section 1:
1.2 USING THIS GUIDE - Improved information
1.3 CONTACT ME - Improved information
Miscellaneous:
Improved formatting
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Version 1.7 completion - April 2017
Guide is now considered complete
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______________________________________________________________________________
Thank-you for using this walkthrough. I hope it helped you out, or at least
taught you how _not_ to play the game. At the very least, I hope you found it
entertaining.
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This guide was written and formatted with the excellent Metapad:
http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/
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