| For the disambiguation page on this research article, see Research. |
Research is a process that allows the player to build bigger and better vessels. Like in its predecessor, research is a necessity to build larger ships, but not necessarily a large fleet, in Homeworld: Cataclysm. Due to the nature of Kiith Somtaaw, most of the research is discovered through examination of other ships to develop similar technology and is researched through specific modules that can be added to the Kuun-Lan.
However, some technologies available for research act as upgrades to existing ships and do not actually build a new ship. Due to this, upgrades are coloured "green" in the Research Manager, to denote they are an upgrade.
List of Research[]
This table provides a list of all available technologies available in the single-player campaign and the ship that it builds. The modular ability of research in Homeworld: Cataclysm means that research is grouped by technology similarities, rather than ship classes. For example, the Hangar Module researches the basic drive technology for all classes, which would have been spread across the different classes in Homeworld.
| Technology | Outcome | Obtained |
|---|---|---|
| Hangar Module | ||
| Fighter Drive | Can build Acolytes. Allows construction of Fighters. | Already available.[note 1] |
| Frigate Drive | Can build Hive Frigates. Allows construction of Capital Ships. | This technology becomes available after reaching the third nav-point in Mission 06. |
| Destroyer Drive | Can build Destroyers. Allows construction of Super Capital Ships. | This technology becomes available after the Faal-Corum has been repaired in Mission 11. |
| Linking Technology | Can build ACVs and MCVs | This technology builds two ships and upgrades two fighters[note 2]. It becomes available shortly after defending various Ion Cannon Frigates in Mission 01. |
| Advanced Fighter Drive (Upgrade) |
Increases speed for all fighters | These two technologies become available at the start of Mission 15. |
| Advanced Frigate Drive (Upgrade) |
Increases speed for all frigates | |
| Advanced Destroyer Drive (Upgrade) |
Can build Dreadnoughts. Increases speed for all Super Capital Ships. | This technology is automatically gained at the start of Mission 14. |
| Armor Module [note 3] | ||
| Armor Level 2 [note 4] | Increases damage resistance.[note 5] | The two upgrades are made available during:
|
| Armor Level 3 | ||
| Force Field Level 1 | Upgrades Sentinel shield properties | The Force Field upgrades become available at the following times:
|
| Force Field Level 2 | ||
| Force Field Level 3 | ||
| Engineering Module | ||
| Holographic Emitter | Can build Mimics and MCVs | This technology can be researched shortly after the Beacon Pod is recovered in Mission 02. |
| Support Systems | Can build Support Modules. Increases total fleet size. | This technology becomes available shortly after the Bentusi Exchange self-destructs in Mission 05. |
| Afterburner | Ramming Frigates can push enemy ships.[note 8] | This technology is available immediately after entering Mission 03. |
| Repair Systems (Upgrade) |
Workers can repair any ships | These technology upgrades allow the Worker to repair and salvage ships. They becomes available once the Engineering Module is built in Mission 02.[note 9] |
| Salvaging Ability (Upgrade) |
Workers can salvage any ships | |
| Infection Organism | This research does not build any ships. It is needed to discover what happened to the Clee-San in Mission 04.[note 10][note 11] | |
| Advanced Engineering Module | ||
| Microship Construction | Allows construction of Microships and Hive Frigates. | This technology becomes available after building the Advanced Engineering Module in Mission 05. |
| Phased Telemetry | Allows construction of Leeches | This technology becomes available once the Heavy Cruiser is discovered in Mission 06. |
| Advanced Sensors (Upgrade) |
Recons and Sentinels can see cloaked ships | Shortly after Ion Array Frigates attack the Kuun-Lan in Mission 10, this technology will become available.[note 12][note 13] |
| Crystal Processing (Upgrade) |
Workers can salvage crystals | During Mission 08, there are some purple dots on the sensors manager. Send a recon near the dots to trigger the research. |
| Repair Bots (Upgrade) |
All Capital Ships, Super Capital Ships and the Kuun-Lan automatically repair themselves | This technology becomes available at the same as Destroyer Drive in Mission 11. |
| Inertialess Drive | Like the Infection Organism, this research does not build ships, but is required to understand the special drive used by the Naggarok in Mission 17. | |
| Weapon Module | ||
| Advanced Ion Cannon | Can build Multi-Beam Frigates. Needed for Super Capital Ships | This technology becomes available after capturing an Ion Cannon Frigate in Mission 08. |
| Missile Launcher | Requirement for missile-based ships, upgrade for Acolytes | This technology becomes available once the Weapons Module is built at the end of Mission 03. |
| Siege Cannon Weapon | Can build Siege Cannon | This technology becomes available immediately after salvaging the Siege Cannon in Mission 10. |
| Repulsor Weapon (Upgrade) | Dreadnoughts can use Repulsor Weapon | This technology becomes available shortly after the Nomad Moon uses its own repulsor field in Mission 17. |
| Energy Cannon (Upgrade) |
Mass Drivers are replaced by Energy Cannons. Needed for Dreadnoughts | This technology becomes available after capturing a Standard Frigate in Mission 08.[note 14] |
| E.M.P. Weapon (Upgrade) |
ACVs can use EMP blasts to disable ships | This technology becomes available when the second wave of Cruise Missiles appears in Mission 07. |
| Quantum Explosive Charge (Upgrade) |
Increases damage caused by MCV kamikaze attack | This technology becomes available at the start of Mission 07. |
Notes[]
- ↑ In Multi-Player, the player must research this technology.
- ↑ The ACV and MCV are the only known corvettes in Homeworld: Cataclysm
- ↑ All research in the Armor Module are upgrades to existing ships.
- ↑ Armor Level 1 is already applied on ships.
- ↑ It is not clear what this does, but it can be assumed that enemy fire does less damage to ships.
- ↑ Level 2 increases resistance to explosives.
- ↑ Level 3 increases resistance to energy based weapons (eg Energy Cannon, Ion Cannons).
- ↑ In Multi-Player, Afterburner allows construction of Ramming Frigates.
- ↑ Due to changes in salvaging mechanics, ships need to be sufficiently damaged before the Worker can capture them. Some enemy vessels are exempt and ships infected by the Beast cannot be salvaged.
- ↑ It is unknown if this actually reduces the rate of infection in the player's own ships.
- ↑ A similar research called "Infection Vaccine" is available in Multi-Player, which allows the capture of infected vessels.
- ↑ Despite the name, this technology does not upgrade sensor capacity for the Kuun-Lan.
- ↑ An unstated benefit of this technology allows the player to see the health of all enemy ships when focusing on enemy vessels with the Alt button.
- ↑ If a Standard Frigate is not captured in this mission, it becomes available immediately after the Resource Collectors are retired at the end of Mission 09.