Hiigaran Corvettes
 Hiigaran
Corvettes only become available when the Research
Module and the Corvette Facility are built.
They comfortably trump Fighters by virtue of them superior armour, (unless
they happen to run into a Lance Fighter
or a lucky Bomber) but all Corvettes
are vulnerable to any heavy turrets and torpedoes, effectively finding
themselves countered by Frigates, Destroyers and the heavy point defences
of a Battlecruiser. Mind you, you will find it easier to overwhelm Frigates
one by one with a reasonable force of Corvettes than the other way around.
They still have some mobility: torpedoes have to chase them down, giving
them ample time to shoot back with their turrets. You'll generally find,
comparing one on one with the Vaygr Corvettes, Hiigaran Corvettes shoot
twice as fast with half as much.
The basic Hiigaran Corvette has about 400 hit points,
and wears Light Armour. While most weapon systems
have their own Corvette accuracy modifier, they
generally find it easier to hit a Corvette than a Fighter, scoring full
damage doing so. The Hiigaran versions all sport turrets, except for the
Minelayers, allowing them to fire in most directions
most of the time (including at any pursuers) without having to change
direction.
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This is the Hiigaran's bare basic Corvette. The Gunship
is weighted towards vanquishing Fighters,
a job it does very well. You crank out these if your opponent is swamping
you with the little buggers - and they'll keep those swarms bottled
up until heavier enemies show. Its two small twin turrets, mounted
ventrally and dorsally, can fire in all directions and pack more than
enough punch to kill a fighter in one or two shots. Like all anti-Fighter
units, it misses far more often than not, but between two twin turrets
on a trio of Gunships, the chances are something will get shot with
every squadron salvo.
Alas, these light, fast turrets have their work cut out for them when
it comes to targets as big as or bigger than itself. While Fighters
have around 30 hit points, the typical Corvette
has about 400 - so the Gunship's light 42
point bullet finds it five to ten times tougher bringing down
another Corvette than a Fighter. Plus, their accuracy against Corvettes
seems just as flaky as it is against Fighters. In most battles, Gunship
armour basically lets it trump all Fighters - except for the Vaygr's
Lance Fighter, which meets it almost on exactly equal terms -
but once anything bigger or harder hitting than itself appears on
the scene, then Gunships find themselves quickly culled in most space
battles. Nevertheless, they fill out a force nicely, adding extra
Fighter repellant for any Capital escorts.
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Prerequisites
Research Module
Corvette Facility |
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Perks
2 Gunship Armour upgrades
2 Gunship Engine upgrades |
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Pros
Excellent against Fighters
Good early force in a netgame |
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Cons
Experiences difficulties against other Corvettes and
Gun Turrets
Useless against anything Frigate sized or bigger
Susceptible to any heavy turrets or missile systems |
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Pulsar Gunship
Heavy Corvette |
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This is the bigger brother of the Gunship.
You can't miss these: Pulsar Gunships pack
a massive cannon that's almost as big as they are: the Pulsar
Cannon, a new weapon for Homeworld 2 that bridges the gap between
the basic Kinetic Turret (one that shoots high-tech bullets) and the
fearsome Ion Beam. On the field you'll see vivid blue-white beams
flickering across the battle, scoring huge, lingering hits against
their targets for a hefty 160 points. Plus
its mounted on a turret so its able to fire in most directions without
having to do a strafing run first.
Pulsars can smash through Corvette formations, demolish Frigates,
and in numbers scare lone Destroyers. Capital warship turrets bring
these heavy Corvettes to heel, though. Pulsar Gunships are excellent
against Platforms, scoring a 44% damage bonus,
hit a Fighter every fourth shot for a guaranteed kill and hit Corvettes
40% of the time. The only thing there aren't so hot at is hitting
Subsystems, where they only score 60% damage.
I've tended to find they becomes the mainstay of your Corvette forces
when the bigger units come into play. Actually, its a great ship;
they always seem to outlast Gunships - despite having exactly the
same armour and hit points - and they pack a heftier punch.
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Prerequisites
Research Module
Corvette Facility |
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Perks
2 Pulsar Gunship Armour upgrades
2 Pulsar Gunship Engine upgrades |
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Pros
Excellent against other Corvettes
Great against Platforms: 44% damage bonus!
Threatens Capital craft |
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Cons
Shoots slowly and has difficulty hitting Fighters
Only inflict 60% damage against Subsystems
Susceptible to any heavy turrets or missile systems |
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Minelayer Corvette
It lays mines! |
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For static defences, Mines can be very useful.
Like Platforms, they're insufficient on
their own, but more than enough to weaken the heavy part of an attacking
force. They inflict substantial damage to Capital
craft and are much harder to spot than Platforms. Mines are laid in
nice, orderly vertical walls, and once finished, the
Minelayer Corvette will wait at the corner of the wall. Mines
won't respond to Strikecraft, Scouts
or Probes, but are lethal against Frigates
and about a dozen lays low a Destroyer.
Triggered mines home in onto the biggest target they can find. If
the target dies before the Mines reach it, they immediately reacquire
someone else, otherwise they dutifully gravitate back home to their
old position in the wall. Alas, there's a good chance the Minelayer
Corvette will be picked off the instant any hostiles move in
close to trigger the mines: they need protection, especially against
Strikecraft. Fortunately, Minelayers aren't picked off so enthusiastically
by enemies as Marine Frigates or
Resource Collectors are. To
launch mines, use the N hotkey. You can
easily create walls of mines with these
things by dragging to resize and orientate a wall and then clicking
to set the field in space. The Minelayer then dutifully fills it.
But you can also create cube shaped minefields
by using the ctrl key!
A little word of warning, though: you are strictly limited to about
a 100 mines at any time in the game. This
cap remains strictly enforced, regardless of the number of fields
you lay. Once you exceed the cap, the first mines you laid start
winking out of existence as later ones are added.
Small squads of Minelayers build minefields all
that much quicker. If the Minelayers aren't in a Strike-Force, they
spread out across the wall and start laying. If they are in a Force,
then they clump together and spray out those mines as though they
were spread out across the field. The Minelayer
Corvette is a loner, and apart from the mines it carries
has half the weaponry of a single Gunship.This
is pretty useless against most threats, the Minelayer Corvette is
really a specialised minelayer and minesweeper (hmm, better
check that!). Watch out - they will try to duel with a Destroyer
if provoked, firing at it futilely with their tiny turret. Its best
to encourage them to drop mines instead.
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Prerequisites
Research Module
Corvette Facility
Adv. Research Module
Minelayer tech |
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Perks
none |
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Pros
Mines are devastating against Capital craft and Frigates
Can actually sweep minefields itself |
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Cons
Unable to really defend itself - its more a military
utility unit than a fighting ship
Strict cap of about 100 mines
Mines completely ignore Strikecraft, Scouts and Probes |
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Hiigaran Fighters
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