Carrier (Homeworld 3)

This is the article on the Carrier in Homeworld 3. For other similar ships, see Carrier.

Carrier
Ship Information
Classification	Capital Ship
Purpose	Mobile construction and repair craft for Strike Craft and Frigates
Ship Type	Carrier
RU Cost	1200 RUs
Technical Information
Speed	160 m/s
Armaments	4 x PAD Mk2 Light Rapid Fire Railgun (RFR)
Usage
Eras	Homeworld 3 Era
Affiliation	Hiigaran

Full Attributes

• Cost: 1200 RUs
• Build Time: 75s
• Unit Cap: 3 Campaign, 3 Skirmish
• Hitpoints: 60000
• Main Engine Max Speed: 160
• Rotation Max Speed: 12
• Relative Mass: 100000 (650000 tons)
• Primary Sensor Range: 6000
• Visual Range: 1000
• Retaliation Range: 2500
• Abilities:
  • Production Boost: Drastically increase unit production speed at the cost of this unit's weapon targeting. Cooldown 120.

In-Game Description

Forward production facility with some defense capability.

Strong vs. nothing-Utility vehicle.

Weak vs. single-target, high-damage opponents.

The "T'saan Paktu"-class Fleet Carrier, named after a hero of the Vaygr War, Admiral T'saan Soban, has been a mainstay of advanced fleed operations for the past 20 years. While it possesses enough RFRs to protect itself against enemy Strikecraft, its real purpose is to act as a forward deployment center with the ability to construct its own small ship squadrons.

Technical Manual Description

The T'saan class fleet carrier, named after a hero of the Vaygr War, Admiral T'saan Paktu, has been a mainstay of advanced fleet Strikecraft operations for the past 20 years. Fleet carriers form the core of fleet Strikecraft operations and are employed in every Strategic Operating Area across all of Hiigaran space. While every fleet recruiting cast focuses on the renowned Mothership, the truth of the matter is that while an amazing vessel, there is only one. And while the fleet needs to project power and the Mothership is already tasked with another mission, it's the fleet carriers that fill that role.

This maxim was never truer than during the Battle of Ginaar's Shoal when Vaygr remnants ambushed the fleet during repair operations. The Mothership had to retreat under heavy fire and Carrier Division 4312 bought her the time to escape. The carriers Vaal Sh'to and Kindal wen tnearly hull to hull in order to give a mothership sized return on sensors and pulled enemy forces away. In the resulting battle both carriers were heavily damaged but before they could be destroyed, the Mothership returned with a small armada at flank speed and put the enemy to route.

War Games Artifacts

• Carrier Assault Pattern: Increases Carrier damage by 50%, hit points by 50%, and speed by 33%. Reduces Strikecraft, Corvette, and Frigate pop caps by 5. Enables Assault Upgrades.
  • Assault Upgrade, Dominance: Increases Carrier damage by 33%. Reduces Strikecraft pop cap by 5.
  • Assault Upgrade, Resurgence: Increases Carrier hit points and build speed by 20%. Reduces Corvette pop cap by 5.
  • Assault Upgrade, Aeon: Increases Carrier speed by 25%. Enables passive self-repair. Reduces Frigate pop cap by 5.

• Carrier Guardian Pattern: Increases Carrier production speed. Reduces Carrier damage by 50% and health by 30%. Adds one option to future Artifact selections. Enables Guardian Upgrades.
  • Guardian Upgrade, Revitalization: Enables passive self-repair for the Carrier. Increases Frigate pop cap by 1. Carrier takes 10% extra damage.
  • Guardian Upgrade, Fortification: Increases Carrier hit points by 10%. Increases Strikecraft pop cap by 3. Reduces Carrier weapon range and vision range by 20%.
  • Guardian Upgrade, Overwatch: Increases Carrier vision range by 10%. Increases Corvette pop cap by 2. Reduces Carrier damage and weapon range by 10%.

Analysis

Just like previous generations of the ship, the Carrier is a highly useful supplemental construction facility capable of building absolutely everything of Frigate-size and below in the Hiigaran arsenal. Having supplemental production capacity can be quite helpful in many situations. It is definitely not meant for frontline combat and should be protected. Compared to the Incarnate Carrier the differences are negligible, making them a fairly even matchup.

In the War Games it is literally the most important ship in your fleet; if it dies, you lose. Consequently, keep enemy ships away from it as much as possible and do NOT choose the Assault Pattern artifact chain; it won't matter how many times you upgrade it, this ship will not have the toughness or damage output to handle the Mission 3 boss ships especially with heavily crippled Fleet Cap quantities. The Guardian Pattern, on the other hand, is quite useful to give you a stronger fleet.

Trivia

• The Hiigaran Carrier's shape resembles a Vaygr War-era Interceptor, but much bigger.
• During development, the carrier had a different model, which was reworked into the Kalan Raiders' carrier.

Appearances

• Homeworld 3