| This is the article on the probe in Homeworld. For similar probes in other games, see Probe. |
The Probe is a non-Combat Ship designed to investigate areas of space used by the Kushan and Taiidan Empire in Homeworld.
Overview[]
Probes are cheap devices that can be used to very quickly explore areas of a map that have not been explored. However, they only have the capacity to be used once, so once they have been stopped -- either manually or by reaching the destination -- they will no longer be able to move and become an obvious target for enemy attacks who want to keep commanders from knowing whats happening in areas of space. As they have low armor ratings, they will almost certainly be destroyed by any kind of attack and remove sensor capability from where the probe stopped.
Probes require no research to build and can be used from the second mission in the campaign, however they are often not required for any mission objective that says to use them. Players who choose to "save scum" (a practice whereby the game is saved, a destructive action is taken and then the save is reloaded to wipe out any ill-effects from the said action) rarely would have a reason to use probes, but the cheapness of probes makes this less useful as a tactic.
Probes fell out of fashion very quickly when advancements in sensor technology allowed the creation of Proximity Sensors, which effectively took the position of probes without the ill-effects of a one-use engine, as such sensors could be moved indefinitely. They also detected both cloaked and uncloaked ships in their area, making them a superior investment. Most areas by the Beast War had replaced probes with Proximity Sensors for the same benefit. However, the concept of a probe had not disappeared, because they continued to be improved by the time of the Vaygr War, with the creation of Sensor Distortion Probes.
Trivia[]
- The official designation for the Kushan Probe is called the Seeker-class Probe. There are no classification codename for the Taiidan, however.
- It should not be confused with the similarly named Seeker-class Reconnaissance Fighter which also shares similar roles.
Appearances[]