[REQUEST] A very basic guide to homeworld.

HW1 Units

Scouts: FAST (esp. with speed burst), ultra maneuverable. In Classic, good for distraction (e.g. for salvaging) and are the best dogfighters in the game. Also good in large numbers. In Remastered, less useful due to the probabilistic combat engine.

Interceptor: Stronger than scout but slower. In classic, you don't need to bother with these because the scout is so good, but in Remastered, you will probably need a few. Good against other fighters, weak against everything else.

Defender: Exceptional accuracy and range, SLOW. Best at, well, defending ships (works very well in sphere or wall formation). Good against fighters, weak against capital ships (due to low maneuverability). Very good against Kadeshi swarmers.

Attack bomber: Very strong against capital ships, weak against everything else due to low maneuverabiity. Best used in large groups of 20+ or 30+. Very useful for disabling the ghost ship. Keep these away from corvettes at all times.

Cloaked fighter: Can cloak (but uses fuel to do so), slow. Don't bother unless you need them for a tactical reason.

Defense fighter: Shoots down bullets (maybe missiles too? Not sure about RM). Good when paired with a defense field frigate to plug up its hole.

Corvettes

Light Corvette: Good against fighters, but weaker than heavy corvette. Don't bother.

Heavy Corvette: The BEST strike craft in the game. Very strong, tough, easily blows apart fighters and can take on other corvettes in large groups. Best to use these in walls of 15-20+. Not good against capital ships due to low manueverability.

Multigun Corvette: Even better at taking on fighters due to more guns and coverage, but weaker overall than heavy corvette. Very good against Kadeshi swarmers. Probably don't need many of these in the late-game.

Salvage Corvette: SALVAGE EVERYTHING. Works best when you can distract the targets with other ships. Best tactic is to move the Salvette close to the target, THEN issue the salvage command. Easiest way of disabling heavy cruisers (esp. in Remastered).

Repair Corvette: Can refuel fighters, repair ships, Weaker repair beam than support frigate. In Classic, don't bother with these, but in RM they are more useful due to the changed repair beams.

Minelayer Corvette: Good in situations where you know the path the enemy will come towards you (like many of the final missions). Never attack with these, just use these to lay minefields.

Frigates

Assault Frigate: Good against corvettes and noncombat ships, okay against other assault frigates, bad against everything else. These are usually cannon fodder for ion cannon frigates and destroyers. In classic, don't bother building any, just capture any you want and save your cash. In Remastered, may be more useful due to probabilistic combat engine.

Ion Cannon Frigate: Bread and butter anti-capital ship unit. Very good against all frigates and capital ships. Works very well in large groups. Bad against strike craft because it can only shoot in a straight line. Less useful in Remastered due to game rebalancing, but still good against frigates.

Drone Frigate: Great against strike craft, junk against everything else. Very good against Kadeshi swarmers. If you're using these, remember to retract the drones when not in use so that they will repair faster.

Defense field frigate: Stops bullets. Has a small hole that can be plugged with a defense fighter. SMALL RANGE. Best to use these to guard your noncombat ships.

Support frigate: Repairs other ships. In Classic, very useful due to long repair range and high rate. In Remastered, less useful since it has to latch onto the ship its repairing. Want at least a couple for the final mission.

Capital ships

Destroyers: Very powerful, crushes frigates and can take on other destroyers and cruisers when supported. Can't hit strike craft with its big guns, so needs escort. In Remastered, less useful against cruisers due to rebalancing.

Missile Destroyer: Exceptional against strike craft, bad against anything else. Useful for clearing minefields too. Good when paired with destroyers or ICFs.

Heavy Cruiser: Most powerful ship in the game. Great against capital ships, bad against strike craft. Good at shielding other units due to heavy armor. Even better in Remastered due to rebalancing. Try to capture every one of these you come across.

Noncombat

Research ship: You only need the one you build in the beginning (unless it gets blown up).

Resource collectors: Getting more than one collector is handy in the middle-game, but you can probably capture the ones you need.

Probes: Cheap, so build them whenever you need one-time scouting.

Resource controller: Pobably only need one. If you tell it to guard your resource collectors, it will follow them around.

Cloak generator: Use carefully, limited range, need to take out proximity sensors first. Best in groups of 3 (to cycle through).

Gravwell generator: Traps strike craft, very weak armor, doesn't recharge (so should shut off and retire when almost out of energy). Can stop the Junkyard Dog.

/r/homeworld Thread