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The Heavy Cruiser was a deadly Super Capital Ship designed to withstand any assault and deal incredible damage against attackers in the Kushan and Taiidan Empire fleets in Homeworld.

Background[]

For the fleet that can afford them, Heavy Cruisers are the stars of a fleet. Four times the size of a Destroyer, the next largest Capital Ship in a fleet, and its strong firepower and armor makes it a fearsome addition to any Carrier group. Only the Kushan Mothership is larger, and by far the Heavy Cruiser is the most powerful.

The weaponry of the cruiser includes six heavy gun turrets, each about half the size of a frigate, which together provide excellent coverage for a capital ship. These turrets allow the heavy cruiser some defense against nimble strike craft, which, against most capital ships, can be a real threat due to their evasiveness. Yet even more fearsome are the two ion cannon turrets, each sporting two individual cannons. These turrets allow the ship to engage multiple enemy capital ships at a time, making the heavy cruiser a true capital ship killer. Against the full power of a Heavy Cruiser, even a Mothership Class vessel can't last long.

Overview[]

The most expensive ship that can be built in a fleet, the investment into this massive combat-focused vessel is worth it. It has the strongest armor out of any ship that can be built, only surpassed by a Mothership, and its firepower is orders of magnitude stronger than any other capital ship that can be constructed. The only thing it lacks is a missile battery, but it makes up for the lack of one by having perfect coverage over all of its blind spots, with the dual ion cannons able to turn towards any enemy and do instant (and mostly catastrophic) damage to an attacker. Its strong armor allows it to withstand a huge amount of damage without needing to be healed instantly by a team of Support Frigates, making it the ideal ship to soak up any attack, while its companions do damage.

Unfortunately, all that firepower and armor makes it the slowest ship, barring the Mothership, being only slightly faster than a Carrier. Placing this ship into a formation will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the formation, so its recommended only to put ships into a guard order with it, and not use formations to try and improve the movement speed.

Strike Craft are ill-suited to try and attack a Heavy Cruiser, as their weapons will do so little damage that it will have recovered the lost health by itself, though feasibly numbers could prevail. Only the Attack Bomber or a significant quantity of combat-based Capital Ships have any hope of dealing with the Heavy Cruiser in battle. Their power and the obvious fact that so few of them show up during the single-player campaign makes them ideal capture targets for Salvage Corvettes, but care must be taken in doing so, as Heavy Cruisers have a tendency to prioritise any nearby salvaging attempt over combat ships. If captured though, they will significantly boost a fleets' firepower, potentially able to turn the tide of the battle in their favour.

Heavy Cruisers remained in active use on all sides during the Beast War, where they were often used to co-ordinate armadas of ships, taking the place of Carriers from time to time in strategic locations. Indeed, the relationship between the Turanic Raiders and the Taiidan Imperialist Faction was such that the former had access to use these ships as ways of co-ordinating groups of raiding parties. Unfortunately, events during the war led the Beast to infect them for knowledge and power: this made them extremely deadly in the wrong hands, as such infected ships gained a infection weapon that could quickly and efficiently take down whole enemy fleets for use by the virus. By the time of the Vaygr War, Heavy Cruisers of the past had stopped being used, having been replaced by even more powerful Battlecruisers which included such weapons like a Trinity Cannon, Fusion Missile Launcher, Ion Cannons and Pulsar Beams, all significantly more powerful, longer in range and superior in every way to the ageing Heavy Cruiser.

Trivia[]

  • In the Homeworld: Cataclysm manual, the Kushan ship is codenamed Avatar and the Taiidan ship is codenamed Qwaar-Jet.[1]
  • The name "Qwaar-Jet" was used by the Kushan to refer to the "God of Pain and Enslavement", who -- in ancient times -- was feared all across Kharak.[citation needed]

Appearances[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. Replaces Mass Drivers and only found in Homeworld: Cataclysm.
  2. Only found on Beast-infected versions of the ship in Homeworld: Cataclysm.
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)
Taiidani Ships
Fighters
Scouts Fiirkan-class Scout‎ (HW)
Interceptors Triikor-class Interceptor‎‎ (HW) • Koshiir-Ra-class Defense Fighter (HW)
Bombers Kaark-class Attack Bomber‎‎ (HW)
Defenders Seejur-class Defender‎ (HW)
Weapons Platforms Orbital Ion Cannon Turret (DoK)
Fireships Cruise Missile (HWC)
Corvettes
Light Corvettes Raachok-class Light Corvette (HW)
Heavy Corvettes Taiidan Heavy Corvette (HW) • Ambassador Corvette (HW)
Logistical Support Corvettes Tiirshak-class Salvage Corvette (HW) • Taiidan Repair Corvette (HW)
Multi-Weapon Corvettes Diirvaas-class Multi-Gun Corvette (HW)
Minelayer Corvettes Wodaan-class Minelayer Corvette (HW)
Frigates
Assault Frigates Kudaark-class Assault Frigate (HW)
Logistical Support Frigates Heeshk-class Support Frigate (HW) • Tiifal-class Defense Field Frigate (HW)
Ion Cannon Frigates Sajuuk Cor-class Ion Cannon Frigate (HW)
Super Capital Ships
Destroyers Skaal-Tel-class Destroyer (HW) • Skaal-Fa-class Missile Destroyer (HW)
Carriers Saarkin-Cho-class Carrier (HW)
Heavy Cruisers Qwaar-Jet-class Heavy Cruiser (HW)
Motherships
Motherships Imperial Flagship (HW) • Headshot Asteroid (HW)
Superweapons
Superweapons Low Orbit Atmosphere Deprivation Weapon (HW/HW2)
Non-Combat Ships
Resource Collectors Taiidan Resource Collector (HW)
Resource Controllers Siim Salla-class Resource Controller (HW)
Drones & Probes Target Drone (HW/HW2) • Taiidan Probe (HW) • Proximity Sensor (HW) • Taiidan Research Ship (HW) • Koraal-class Gravity Generator (HW) • Fushai-class Cloak Generator (HW) • Raakel-class Sensors Array (HW)
Other Logistical Ships Field Generator (HW) • Colony Ship (HWC)
Space Stations Research Station (HW) • Nomad Moon (HWC)
Kadeshi Ships
Fighters
Interceptors Swarmer (HW)
Defenders Advanced Swarmer (HW)
Frigates
Frigates Kadeshi Multi-Beam Frigate (HW)
Motherships
Motherships Kadeshi Mothership (HW)
Non-Combat Ships
Fuelships Fuel Pod (HW)
Bentusi Ships
Fighters
Interceptors Super Acolyte (HW/HWC)
Motherships
Motherships Bentusi Exchange (HW) • Bentus (HW2)
Non-Combat Ships
Barges Cargo Barge (HW)
Unknown Ships
Corvettes
Salvage Corvette Junkyard Dog (HW)
Non-Combat Ships
Derelicts Junkyard Office (HW) • Ghost Ship (HW)
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