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Hiigaran Capital Craft

Hiigaran Capital Craft are wonderfully simple to use and work with, and ideal for Homeworld 2 beginners to cut their teeth on. The Destroyer and Battlecruiser are solid workhorses that can blast their way through most things from most angles, and can be left up to their own devices without too much trouble or needing to know any clever strategies or tactics. Unlike the indirect missiles of the Vaygr Capital ships, the Hiigaran Capital warships are packed full of powerful turrets that can merrily blaze away at all kinds of threats the instant anything hostile comes near. This is in keeping with the Hiigarans' heavier and more multi-roled shipping. None of these big units seem to have any glaring Achille's Heels on them either. They perform exactly as advertised, without any unpleasant surprises or unexpected disadvantages in the field. Even the Destroyer's turrets can pick off Strikecraft - although not as efficently as a few squadrons of Interceptors, of course.


	Hiigaran Carrier Capital Class Production Ship

As mentioned before, this is more the advanced and better Carrier between the two forces. More accurately, the upmarket version that comes with more features, health points and cost. You get one free at the start of every netgame. It packs more armour than the Vaygr version, and enjoys three Production slots to the Vaygr's one, but in terms of point defences, number of available Modules, speed and manoeuvrability, its identical to its rival. It comes standard with four point defence weapons, that can (eventually) nail a (small) Strikecraft force, but it can't hold its own unless its furiously building reinforcements. It is still worth its weight in gold: extremely versatile, wonderfully compact, and pretty mobile.

The only problem of having three production slots is that, like all production ships, you are still limited to only build one ship at a time. The original Homeworld's multi-streamed production queues have been abolished. You can kit this thing up almost as a fully fledged mini-Mothership, but the perils of sticking all your eggs into such a fragile basket should be obvious. With only two Module slots to work with, you quickly run out of space to adequate "develop" this Carrier.

The Carrier is the Capital ship with the emphasis on servicing your ships. If anything, the Hiigaran Carrier's probably the most efficient ship servicer in the game: unlike every other vessel equipped with a Docking Bay, it can process a two streams of Fighters and Corvettes at the same time.

Prerequisites

Research Module

Capital Facility

Perks

2 Carrier Armour Upgrades

2 Carrier Engine Upgrades

Carrier Manufacturing Upgrade

3 Production Slots

2 Module Slots

1 Sensor Slot

20 Berth Docking Bay

Can take 5 repairers

Pros

One free with every netgame!

Excellent all-purpose production vessel

Can service two streams of Strikecraft simultaneously

Cons

Pricey, but you get what you pay for

Can't build Capital shipping

Easily destroyed

Point defences are pretty crap, when you get down to it


	Hiigaran Destroyer Capital Class Knee-Capper

With its squared off nose and torpedo launchers in the place of old anchors, the Hiigaran Destroyer's hull looks just like a vintage World War I destroyer. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with Ion Beams as its predecessors once did, but it does come with an impressive battery of Heavy Kinetic Cannons, which, happily enough, can not only damage Capital craft, but can also pick off Corvettes and with enough crossfire, unlucky Fighters as well. Each turret lobs 535 points of harm a good 4500m, so a wall of Destroyers represents a substantial stream of continuous firepower, augmented with the occasional 3000 point Heavy Torpedo from each of their twin launchers. It has been nerfed against Subsystems: its turrets only inflict 30% damage. You'll hardly notice.

This is the Hiigaran's all purpose brawler - so take full advantage of it. Deploy it as the foundation stone for your forces. For its class, its light, fast, and, just like the Frigates, prone to getting battered and bruised a lot. But its tough hide is more than likely to see it outlive its escorts in many battles. It can repair itself, but very slowly: it has three "latch points" for a trio of Resource Collectors to augment repairs.

It has only one Innate Subsystem: its Engines, which can be easily immobilised by any organised foe with a few squads of Bombers. Fortunately, their weapons are unaffected until the bitter end and they will automatically repair themselves to become mobile again. Unlike all other Capital ships in the game, the Hiigaran Destroyer has absolutely no point defences, although the turrets will blow away an unlucky Fighter on occsaion. The Vaygr Destroyer outguns this thing with its big battery of four heavy missiles - but the Hiigaran Destroyer works as an "instant gratification" unit that can take on nearly every class of ship in the game, and while the Vaygr let off their missiles every twenty seconds, this warship is merrily plugging away all the time. Don't get too carried away though, for a sizeable Strikecraft force will bring down a Destroyer; and it can feel like its taking forever for all those turrets to batter their way through other Capital Warships - especially Battlecruisers.

Prerequisites

Research Module

Capital Facility

Adv. Research Module

Destroyer Tech

Perks

2 Destroyer Armour Upgrades

2 Engine Engine Upgrades

Can take 3 repairers

Pros

Its a Homeworld Destroyer! Need we say more??

Counters Frigates with ease

Extremely durable and agile, especially upgraded

Great firing range and nice rate of fire

Able to successfully strike lots of ship classes without penalties

Cons

All those turrets seem to take a while to batter down other Capital targets

Brought to heel by Battlecruisers

No point defences - but that's not really an issue, is it?

Can't hit Fighters; Engine Subsystem exposed to Bombers

Only inflicts 30% damage against Subsystems. Gee.


	Hiigaran Battlecruiser Long Range Capital Powerhouse

The monstrous Hiigaran Battlecruiser is the epitome of the Capital warship and easily the undisputed star of Homeworld 2. This ship is the nearest thing to a completely self-sufficient vessel: it can go anywhere, do anything it likes, and pretty much win the day. Its only weakness is its vulnerability to massed Strikecraft - and of course, its main rival. Battlecruisers enjoy the longest weapon ranges in the game: a whopping 6000m. Either of its two twin Ion-Cannon Turrets fry a target for 15,000 points over the course of a single, lingering blast, while four regular Kinetic Cannons, each delivering 650 points, can pummel everything in between from all angles, also at extreme range.

It almost seems underpowered for such a titanic size. You'd expect at least a few more regular turrets on the endless lines of the thing. The Battlecruiser is big enough to have its own Docking Bay, and while it can repair endless lines of Strikecraft, can only house five Squadrons for a Hyperspace jump. Its Docks frequently form long queues - not a situation you want in a major battle. Being so large, it also has its own Engine Subsystem; plus two Modules slots, and even its primary weapons, the two Ion Turrets, are also separate Subsystems - all vulnerable to Bomber incursions. The weapon modules are much stronger than normal subsystems: each worth 50,000 health points.

Interestingly enough, its Ion Beams have been softened to only do 50% damage against Frigates - not that really helps any poor Frigate: the Kinetic Turrets alone will quickly finish what's left. A Battlecruiser's uberweapons only inflict 30% damage on Subsystems. But they'll demolish the Mothership underneath in a matter of moments.

The only thing it lacks is sufficient point defences: Hiigaran Battlecruisers use cut down Pulsar Beams for hard hitting point defences, but there's only four of them and they only do 50 points of damage. A single shot will vaporise any Strikecraft: but its accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. These weapons' inaccuracy will see the Strikecraft cloud inflicting more damage on the behemoth than the other way round. A serious cloud of Strikecraft can subject a Battlecruiser to the Death of a Thousand Cuts - even when fully upgraded - and suffer few injuries; or at the very least, knobble it. Also, despite all the Engine upgrades, this beast is still very slow and sluggish, relying on its many turrets and any escorts to protect it from all sides.