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This is the article on the ship in Homeworld 2. For similarly named vessels, see Battlecruiser.
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The Battlecruiser was the ultimate Super Capital Ship of the Hiigaran and Vaygr fleets during the Vaygr War in Homeworld 2.

Background[]

Hiigaran[]

Known as the Veneration Class, The primary weapons of the Battlecruiser are heavy Ion Cannon turrets, each one able to generate two long range beams capable of taking down a frigate with a single salvo long before the frigate could come close to its own weapons range. Additional armaments include Arbiter Kinetic Burst Cannons capable of taking down corvettes, and heavily damaging most Capital Ships. These cannons are mounted on the sides and the forward section of the Battlecruiser, allowing it to aim at several targets at a time. During the Homeworld 2 campaign you can deploy up to 3 of them simultaneously.

Because it has a very limited anti-fighter armament, the ship itself cannot withstand significant attacks from bombers and therefore is usually escorted by multiple anti-fighter units. Each Battlecruiser is capable of repairing strike craft in its hangar bay, allowing its escort to withstand heavier fighter attacks and recover from damage between skirmishes. They have 2 Module slots.

Hiigaran Battlecruisers are more flexible and defensible than their Vaygr counterparts. While the Vaygr battlecruiser must point itself at a target to engage it with its Trinity Cannon, the Hiigaran version can fire at targets from nearly any direction. Due to the forward nature of its armament, a Vaygr battlecruiser can be almost completely paralyzed by disabling its engine subsystem, as it can no longer aim its primary weapons. Conversely, a Hiigaran battlecruiser is much less vulnerable as all three of its subsystems must be disabled in order to cripple the vessel. It is also able to quickly redirect a still-firing ion cannon turret to another target after destroying the first to avoid wasting firepower, making this ship brutally lethal to groups of frigates.

Even so, the Hiigaran Battlecruiser's positioning of the massive ion cannons (one in the dorsal and one in the ventral positions) mean that the combat effectiveness is reduced by half when attacking from above or below, as only one cannon is able to harm the target. As the Vaygr counterpart notably possesses essentially omnidirectional missile launchers, this gives an edge to a clever Vaygr commander by simply hyperspacing on top of a Hiigaran Battlecruiser. Also, unlike the Vaygr counterpart the Hiigaran Battlecruiser's primary firepower, the ion cannons, can be disabled by bombers. With both ion cannons disabled its damage output is extremely crippled, whereas the Vagyr battlecruiser with its missile launcher disabled is still very lethal with its Trinity Cannon if one is not careful. A critical note is that the Hiigaran Battlecruiser does not move fast enough to outmaneuver the Vaygr Battlecruiser turning to aim its Trinity Cannon when approaching at long range. It is highly recommended to send bombers first to disable the Vagyr Battlecruiser's engines before attacking.

Though the Hiigaran Battlecruiser is one of the largest combat ships the Hiigarans ever built, there were larger ships available to them, including Sajuuk's Wrath, a ship built around 6525 GSY, Tanis Station, the Progenitor Dreadnaught and the Shipyard.

By 9641 GSY, the Veneration Class is largely replaced by the Hiigara IV Class battlecruisers which are considered a direct improvement over the older model.

Vaygr[]

Armed with eight heavy Fusion Missile Launchers and a Trinity Cannon, it is able to destroy capital ships with ease.

The battlecruiser possesses five fast-firing kinetic guns as anti-fighter defense and several laser defense guns as anti-corvette weapons. Even so, these defenses are little more than token weapons and should not be relied upon to defend against anything but the lightest of strike craft harassment. The Battlecruiser's most powerful weapon is the triple-barreled Trinity Cannon. Taking up a large amount of the cruiser's internal space, this mighty energy weapon can only fire straight forward, and its long reload time make it usable only as first-strike weapon in some engagements, but a single burst can deal heavy damage even to the most well-armored capital ships. However, without this cannon's firepower a Vaygr Battlecruiser is unable to severely harm its Hiigaran counterpart, and clever Hiigaran captains could take advantage of this by maneuvering "above" the Vaygr ship, using their turreted weapons to deal heavy damage while receiving little in return. Worse, if the Vaygr battlecruiser's engines are disabled by fighters, it will be unable to maneuver to aim its Trinity Cannon, thus rendering it nearly helpless.

Overall, compared to its Hiigaran counterpart the Vaygr battlecruiser is extremely effective against heavy single targets. Most of its firepower comes from the Trinity Cannon, which unlike the Hiigaran battlecruiser's heavy turrets can't be disabled. However, this also means that the Vagyr battlecruiser is extremely vulnerable to being outmaneuvered as mentioned above, and against groups of smaller ships like Frigates. When firing on a frigate much of its firepower is wasted; the frigate may be destroyed very early in the volley of fire, such as from the first of the three Trinity Cannon shots, but the Vagyr battlecruiser can't redirect the rest of the volley elsewhere if that target is destroyed early. It must be supported by smaller craft to avoid being swarmed.

The Battlecruiser can support nearby units with a small hangar bay for strike craft, allowing it to support its own escort when no carrier is available. The cruiser also features two modular subsystem slots, which can be outfitted with a module enabling the hyperdrive, a hyperspace inhibitor, Cloak Generator, or Fire Control Tower.

Appearances[]

Main Factions Minor Factions
Kushan and Hiigaran Ships
Fighters
Microships Sentinel-class Defense Pod (HWC) • Leech-class Breaching Pod (HWC)
Scouts Arrow-class Scout‎ (HW) • Seeker-class Reconnaissance Fighter (HWC) • Hiigaran Scout (HW2)
Interceptors Blade-class Interceptor‎‎ (HW) • Spectre-class Cloaked Fighter (HW) • Acolyte-class Heavy Fighter (HWC) Hiigaran Interceptor (HW2)
Bombers Thunderbolt-class Attack Bomber‎‎ (HW) • Hiigaran Bomber (HW2)
Defenders Shield-class Defender‎ (HW)
Weapons Platforms Hiigaran Gun Platform (HW2) • Hiigaran Ion Platform (HW2)
Fireships Mimic-class Infiltration Craft (HWC) • Martyr-class Mimic Composite Vehicle (HWC)
Corvettes
Light Corvettes Cavalier-class Light Corvette (HW)
Corvettes Avenger-class Acolyte Composite Vehicle (HWC)
Heavy Corvettes Hammer-class Heavy Corvette (HW) • Ambassador Corvette (HW)
Gunships Hiigaran Gunship (HW2) • Pulsar Gunship (HW2)
Logistical Support Corvettes Porter-class Salvage Corvette (HW) • Mercy-class Repair Corvette (HW)
Multi-Weapon Corvettes Tempest-class Multi-Gun Corvette (HW)
Minelayer Corvettes Resolute-class Minelayer Corvette (HW) • Hiigaran Minelayer Corvette (HW2)
Frigates
Assault Frigates Vengeance-class Assault Frigate (HW) • Minion-class Heavy Tug (HWC) • Flak Frigate (HW2) • Torpedo Frigate (HW2)
Logistical Support Frigates Matriarch-class Support Frigate (HW) • Marine Frigate (HW2) • Hiigaran Defense Field Frigate (HW2)
Ion Cannon Frigates Firelance-class Ion Cannon Frigate (HW) • Hiigaran Ion Cannon Frigate (HW2)
Multi-Weapon Frigates Dervish-class Multi-Beam Frigate (HWC)
Drone Frigates Puppeteer-class Drone Frigate (HW) • Hive-class Advanced Drone Frigate (HWC)
Super Capital Ships
Destroyers Revelation-class Destroyer (HW) • Perdition-class Missile Destroyer (HW) • Deacon-class Destroyer (HWC) • Hiigaran Destroyer (HW2)
Carriers Imperator-class Carrier (HW) • Shaman-class Carrier (HWC) • Hiigaran Carrier (HW2)
Heavy Cruisers Avatar-class Heavy Cruiser (HW)
Battlecruisers Hiigaran Battlecruiser (HW2)
Dreadnoughts Archangel-class Dreadnought (HWC) • Kalash (DoK)
Motherships
Motherships Kushan Mothership (HW) • Hiigaran Shipyard (HW2) • Pride of Hiigara (HW2)
Non-Combat Ships
Resource Collectors Providence-class Resource Collector (HW) • Worker-class Resource Collector (HWC) • Hiigaran Resource Collector (HW2)
Resource Controllers Redemption-class Resource Controller (HW) • Chieftain Mk. 3-class Ore Processor (HWC) • Hiigaran Mobile Refinery (HW2)
Drones & Probes Target Drone (HW/HW2) • Seeker-class Probe (HW) • Proximity Sensor (HW) • Hub-class Research Ship (HW) • Trapper-class Gravity Generator (HW) • Veil-class Cloak Generator (HW) • Kushan Sensors Array (HW) • Hiigaran Probe (HW2) • Hiigaran Proximity Sensor Probe (HW2) • Hiigaran Sensor Distortion Probe (HW2)
Other Logistical Ships Khar-Selim (HW) • Scaffold (HW) • Explorer-class Deep Space Mining Vessel (HWC) • Clee-San (HWC) • Hiigaran Crew Transport (HW2) • Khar-Toba (HW/HW2/DoK)
Space Stations Chimera Station (HW2) • Tanis Station (HW2)
Vaygr Ships
Fighters
Scouts Vaygr Scout‎ (HW2)
Interceptors Vaygr Assault Craft (HW2) • Harridan-class Lance Fighter (HW2)
Bombers Vaygr Bomber‎‎ (HW2)
Weapons Platforms Vaygr Gun Platform (HW2) • Heavy Missile Platform (HW2) • Hyperspace Gate (HW2)
Corvettes
Corvettes Command Corvette (HW2)
Heavy Corvettes Laser Corvette (HW2) • Hammer-class Missile Corvette (HW2)
Minelayer Corvettes Vaygr Minelayer Corvette (HW2)
Frigates
Assault Frigates Vaygr Assault Frigate (HW2) • Heavy Missile Frigate (HW2)
Logistical Support Frigates Infiltrator Frigate (HW2)
Super Capital Ships
Destroyers Vaygr Destroyer (HW2)
Carriers Vaygr Carrier (HW2)
Battlecruisers Vaygr Battlecruiser (HW2)
Motherships
Motherships Vaygr Flagship (HW2) • Vaygr Shipyard (HW2)
Supercarriers Vaygr Supercarrier (HW2)
Superweapons
Superweapons Planet Killer (Low Orbit Atmosphere Deprivation Weapon) (HW2)
Non-Combat Ships
Resource Collectors Vaygr Resource Collector (HW2)
Resource Controllers Vaygr Mobile Refinery (HW2)
Drones & Probes Vaygr Probe (HW2) • Vaygr Proximity Sensor Probe (HW2) • Vaygr Sensor Distortion Probe (HW2)
Space Stations Command Station (HW2)
Bentusi Ships
Fighters
Interceptors Super Acolyte (HW/HWC)
Motherships
Motherships Bentusi Exchange (HW) • Bentus (HW2)
Non-Combat Ships
Barges Cargo Barge (HW)
Progenitor Ships
Corvettes
Corvettes Progenitor Mover (HW2)
Gunships Progenitor Drone (HW2)
Super Capital Ships
Destroyers Keeper (HW2)
Dreadnoughts Progenitor Dreadnaught (HW2) • Sajuuk (HW2)
Motherships
Motherships Progenitor Mothership (HW2)
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