The Bentusi Exchange is the mainstray mothership of the Bentusi in the Homeworld series. They were mainly responsible for conducting trade or defending themselves or others.
Overview[]
The primary role of the Bentusi Tradeship was to gain resources which were used by the Bentusi. Each ship had at least one Exchange Unit, which allowed the player to trade with the Bentusi starship. Resources could be transferred from any ship to a Bentusi Tradeship, and technologies could be transported back from the Tradeship to the other ship.
Tradeship using its 3 Ion Cannons
Tradeships were also used to defend the Bentusi - whether it was the Tradeship itself or another Bentusi ship. Each tradeship was armed with three powerful, long range ion cannons, with white or yellow beams. These guns were used for defense against both strike craft and capital ships. Additionally some of the Tradeships were supplied with Super Acolytes. The first known use of a Tradeship for defence of another Bentusi ship was in the Exile Era, during the "Battle of Hiigara", when the Tradeships were wrenched by Bentus from a nebula near Hiigara.
It was very uncommon to see multiple trade ships at any one time, as they were autonomous units trading mostly on the Outer Rim Trade Routes. However, they were seen also in the Inner Rim, over Hiigara and in the Great Wastelands and various other locations around the galaxy. In the Cataclysm Era 3 Tradeships used their onboard super acolytes and weapons to neutralize the Kuun-Lan fleet. During the Homeworld 2 Era, Karan S'jet stated that the Great Harbour Ship of Bentus was the "last of the Bentusi".
Trivia[]
Early concept of Bentusi Tradeship
- In early concept art of the Bentusi Exchange ship, the vessel seems to have an external dockyard and an extra docking arm.
- Another piece of concept art/storyboarding refers to it as a 'Bentusi Mall', portraying it as a more money-driven, mall-like entity, with large billboards for 'Ammo', 'Guns' etc.
- The Tradeship is the first Bentusi ship which the player encounters in the Homeworld series, and the only Bentusi capital ship seen until the introduction of Bentus.
- Although introduced as a Mothership class vessel, it is labeled only as a carrier.
Bugs[]
- Due to balancing errors in Homeworld Remastered, the Bentusi Exchange has much weaker weapons and armor. The weapons themselves also fire in the way of a regular ion cannon frigate, rather than being "permanently" activated until the target is destroyed. As a result of this, the ship can be destroyed and if this happens, the single-play campaign is rendered unwinnable in each of the missions where they appear, since the conversations initiated between the exchange and Fleet Command can no longer happen.
- In Mission 04 specifically, the Bentusi Exchange needs to exist in order to trigger the entrance of the Turanic Raiders.
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ Super Acolytes only appear in Homeworld: Cataclysm.