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Navigation: Homeworld 2 > Campaign Guide > Mission 3: Sarum
With the Mothership fully crewed, it is now ready to proceed with its mission in saving Hiigara from the dire circumstances it currently faces, under Vaygr siege. The first step in this effort will be to travel to Sarum, to secure the Shipyard Nabaal, which is a necessary component in rebuilding the shattered fleet of the Hiigarans. You will be arriving within the Fleet Staging area of Saruum which lies in the outskirts of the Hiigaran Control Zone.
As you arrive in Sarum, Fleet Intelligence informs you of Vaygr recon elements that are currently engaging the Shipyard Nabaal. Captain Elohim, the commander of Nabaal opens communications, reaffirming their under fire status and requesting support. Fleet Intelligence recommends establishing a forward resource operation at a nearby asteroid field and informing you of your ability to now construct Mobile Refineries for this purpose. In the mean time we will put this off for the most part, and for now, send your harvesters towards the asteroid field closest to the Pride of Hiigara and move up the Mothership closer to the field, thus cutting down on the time it takes for your Resource Collectors to drop off the goods.
Set up some control groups, personally, i like to do it by unit types for Corvettes and Fighters, since it allows me to see which need to be docked for repairs. This is important, as the more RUs you conserve now, means the more RUs you have to spend later. Begin building a Mobile Refinery to send to the forward resourcing operation location when its built to satisfy the secondary objective and prepare for further harvesting.
This mission requires a out of the ordinary approach in order to make it more manageable in terms of the threats you will need to face. For starters, do not rescue the Shipyard right away. We want Nabaal to take a good licking, preferably to be around 20-15% health by the time you finished off the attacking forces, meaning its good to wait till about 40% before moving in. In the mean time however, get your fighting units close enough to the Shipyard, so that they can begin engaging the Vaygr right away once the Shipyard Nabaal has gotten tot his point. If you still have your Elite squads (which you very well should) keep them with your Mothership for now, you will want them for other tasks soon. If for whatever reason you do not, (naughty person you) substitute with regular squads of Bombers and Gunships.
While you wait to step in to save the day, keep the Mothership moving towards the spot where you were told to set up a forward resourcing operation, however leave a scout squad where you first warped in. You will want vision on this area later.
Around this point you should be stepping in and defending the Shipyard to prevent its utter destruction. You shouldn't have to worry to much about the attacking Vaygr targeting your units, as they're pretty dead set on the Shipyard itself. Either way, clear up the bastards to proceed onwards with further tasks in this mission.
Eventualy a Vaygr attack force arrives to threaten your forward resourcing operation. This is why we wanted to delay the Reairs, because this event is triggered by your initial saving of the Shipyard, after around 5 minutes after originally defeating the Vayrgr recon force that was attacking Nabaal. The second larger attack force is triggered several minutes after the repairs, meaning if that is done too quickly, these attacks can easily overlap and overwhelm your defenses.
This Vaygr attack force attacking your resource op consists of a single Vaygr Carrier, launching a stream of Vaygr Fighters and Corvettes. Again, here is another reason for some of our previous preparation. Hiigaran Gun Platforms are very cheap anti fighter and corvette units that can soak up significant damage. In this case placed next to the asteroids, which is directly where the attacking Vaygr are headed, means they will be taking damage for your other forces, while contributing to taking down those strike craft.
Your Elite Ships should be part of this defense, placed behind your regular troops to make sure they aren't prioritized as targets. Hold the line and engage the attacking strike forces that show up at the steroid field. The carrier will also build some Vaygr Resource Collectors to try to steal your RUs, take these out as well. Once having fended off the initial strike force, jump the Carrier with every one of your defenders to quickly force it into submission, and prevent it from launching further reinforcements to threaten your harvesting. Once this task is complete, you are free until the Shipyard finishes its self Healing.
Many may argue against ever using the Marine Frigate due to some of its drawbacks, however I am here to preach the words of truth my friend, and the Marine Frigate is a hidden beauty. Engage all of the attackers that are heading for the Shipyard, making sure to keep your Elite squads on the rear of your defensive forces as there will be a lot of anti fighter and corvette units in the attacks, and they are effective against stopping the Infiltrators which do not pose a threat to the Elite Bombers and Elite Gunships.
Once you have some the Marine Frigates built, you will want to take them and capture Infiltrator frigates that are heading for the Shipyard. Why is this you may ask? Because we are getting 2 for one one capture-capable vessels, essentially cutting in half the price of the Marine Frigates, since not only can the capture the Vaygr Infiltrator frigates with ease, but aren't threatened by the pea shooter strapped to the Infiltrators hull. In addition Infiltrators are actually much better capture vessels than the Marine Frigate, since they do not need to be as close or as aligned with the vessel they are capturing as the Hiigaran counterpart, which takes more time to start the capture process. If you ever lose a Marine Frigate or Infiltrator, capture another one when you get the chance to keep you from having to spend money on the regretfully fragile ships.
Once you have 4 capturing frigates you can either use them to capture any Vaygr Assault or Missile Frigates still alive, or keep them around for later missions use, or even send them against the Carriers as a group to capture/disable them.
Use Interceptors and Gunships to keep these targets busy while Bombers and Pulsar Gunships head past these engagements to work over the Carriers as soon as the initial forces of the attack are fended off, and many of the strike craft defending the Carriers are occupied or dealt with. Usually two of the Carriers continually launch Infiltrators while one which can Alternate, launches attack forces consisting mainly of Vaygr Assault Craft. This means little in the way of reinforcements to stop your combat forces. Use this to your advantage and once one Carrier is down, move to the second and finally third. Once the first goes, the other two should fall like Dominoes, with less targets to divide your forces over.
With the Mothership fully crewed, it is now ready to proceed with its mission in saving Hiigara from the dire circumstances it currently faces, under Vaygr siege. The first step in this effort will be to travel to Sarum, to secure the Shipyard Nabaal, which is a necessary component in rebuilding the shattered fleet of the Hiigarans. You will be arriving within the Fleet Staging area of Saruum which lies in the outskirts of the Hiigaran Control Zone.
Karen S'jet: Our Home
Makaan: Children of Hiigara... you are beaten.This sector is now under my control.Stand down and prepare for Vaygr occupation.I have come to claim what is mine.Return the Second Core and I will spare your Homeworld.
Fleet Intelligence: Hiigara can resist the Vaygr Siege, but only for a limited time.The Shipyard at Sarum will allow us to rebuild our fleet.We must secure this asset before it falls to the Vaygr.Stand-by for arrival at Sarum.
[1] Primary Objective: Protect the shipyard Nabaal.
Autosave Point - Mission StartAs you arrive in Sarum, Fleet Intelligence informs you of Vaygr recon elements that are currently engaging the Shipyard Nabaal. Captain Elohim, the commander of Nabaal opens communications, reaffirming their under fire status and requesting support. Fleet Intelligence recommends establishing a forward resource operation at a nearby asteroid field and informing you of your ability to now construct Mobile Refineries for this purpose. In the mean time we will put this off for the most part, and for now, send your harvesters towards the asteroid field closest to the Pride of Hiigara and move up the Mothership closer to the field, thus cutting down on the time it takes for your Resource Collectors to drop off the goods.
Set up some control groups, personally, i like to do it by unit types for Corvettes and Fighters, since it allows me to see which need to be docked for repairs. This is important, as the more RUs you conserve now, means the more RUs you have to spend later. Begin building a Mobile Refinery to send to the forward resourcing operation location when its built to satisfy the secondary objective and prepare for further harvesting.
This mission requires a out of the ordinary approach in order to make it more manageable in terms of the threats you will need to face. For starters, do not rescue the Shipyard right away. We want Nabaal to take a good licking, preferably to be around 20-15% health by the time you finished off the attacking forces, meaning its good to wait till about 40% before moving in. In the mean time however, get your fighting units close enough to the Shipyard, so that they can begin engaging the Vaygr right away once the Shipyard Nabaal has gotten tot his point. If you still have your Elite squads (which you very well should) keep them with your Mothership for now, you will want them for other tasks soon. If for whatever reason you do not, (naughty person you) substitute with regular squads of Bombers and Gunships.
While you wait to step in to save the day, keep the Mothership moving towards the spot where you were told to set up a forward resourcing operation, however leave a scout squad where you first warped in. You will want vision on this area later.
Around this point you should be stepping in and defending the Shipyard to prevent its utter destruction. You shouldn't have to worry to much about the attacking Vaygr targeting your units, as they're pretty dead set on the Shipyard itself. Either way, clear up the bastards to proceed onwards with further tasks in this mission.
[2] Primary Objective: Repair the shipyard.
Plainly put, ignore the shit out out of this command. The Shipyard can repair itself, and because of this, can jolly well go fuck itself. Not really, however, we want this to go down that way because there will be a massive Vaygr attack later in this mission, that is triggered by the repairing of the Shipyard, with other smaller threats occurring regardless of this event. Because of this, we want to split up the threats we are facing at once, so this will put off the massive attack as much as possible, allowing you to deal with these other threats first, keeping you from having to divide your forces too much. Keep 2-4 squads of units here to protect Nabaal, preferably a couple interceptors or gunships, and take the rest of your forces over to the forward resourcing operation, which your Mothership should still be heading towards.[2a] Secondary Objective: Begin Resourcing Operations.
Now that the Shipyard Nabaal is slowly healing itself without your help, and no longer under imminent threat, we can focus on resourcing and building up your forces. If there is still any RU's left in the mini field by the warp-in spot, leave them for now and send your harvesters to the forward OP, which should have a Mobile Refinery there waiting for it. If not already built, now is a good time to construct one. Also try to add a few Resorce Collectors to your harvesting ops.[3] Primary Objective: Destroy the Vaygr probes.
At this point Fleet Intelligence chimes in, warning of three Vaygr probes currently inbound into the area, that are attempting to pinpoint the Hiigaran force's location in order to launch an attack. Destroy these quickly. The probes will arrive at three locations, Your warp in spot, which is why i suggested leaving a scout and squad of units there, The forward resourcing operation, and right next to the Shipyard Nabaal. Take these out and you will delay their attacks a little more.[4] Secondary Objective: Defend the forward resourcing operation.
If you have not already done so, now is a great time to start producing some platforms. Go ahead and construct the Platform Control Module and que up 2 Hiigaran Gun Platforms afterwards. Once these roll of the lines, place them next to the asteroids of the forward resourcing operation. You should also be queing up additional fighting forces. Even though you aren't actively repairing the Shipyard, it would be a good choice to research this option anyways, since it is incredibly useful at any point in the game, especially now as you begin to gain access to larger vessels that cannot dock with the Mothership for repairs.Eventualy a Vaygr attack force arrives to threaten your forward resourcing operation. This is why we wanted to delay the Reairs, because this event is triggered by your initial saving of the Shipyard, after around 5 minutes after originally defeating the Vayrgr recon force that was attacking Nabaal. The second larger attack force is triggered several minutes after the repairs, meaning if that is done too quickly, these attacks can easily overlap and overwhelm your defenses.
This Vaygr attack force attacking your resource op consists of a single Vaygr Carrier, launching a stream of Vaygr Fighters and Corvettes. Again, here is another reason for some of our previous preparation. Hiigaran Gun Platforms are very cheap anti fighter and corvette units that can soak up significant damage. In this case placed next to the asteroids, which is directly where the attacking Vaygr are headed, means they will be taking damage for your other forces, while contributing to taking down those strike craft.
Your Elite Ships should be part of this defense, placed behind your regular troops to make sure they aren't prioritized as targets. Hold the line and engage the attacking strike forces that show up at the steroid field. The carrier will also build some Vaygr Resource Collectors to try to steal your RUs, take these out as well. Once having fended off the initial strike force, jump the Carrier with every one of your defenders to quickly force it into submission, and prevent it from launching further reinforcements to threaten your harvesting. Once this task is complete, you are free until the Shipyard finishes its self Healing.
[4a] Exploiting the Lull in fighting.
At this point with your Resource op defended from the single Vaygr Carrier attack, dock your damaged squads for repairs before sending them back to the Shipyard Nabaal to defend it. At this point you are more or less free to do whatever until the Self Heals finish. Move the Mothership towards Nabaal and the Asteroid Field that is next to the cap ship's location. Eventually you will want to move your harvesting operations to this new location once the forward op is drained of available RUs.[4b] Shipyard Nabaal Repaired.
Once the Shipyard has self healed to around 90%, or if you got bored and decided to repair it yourself with some Hiigaran Resource Collectors, it will thank you for the effort, and deploy a Hiigaran Carrier with a pre-built Frigate Facility attached, which is transferred to your control. At this point the option to build the Hiigaran Flak Frigate is unlocked, meaning this should be the first task of your new Carrier. A couple will do well Initially, but 4 is a good number to aim for. Also you should have your support caps of Corvettes and Fighters filled out at this point to prepare for the next and final attacks. It will be about 3 minutes and 40 seconds until this final attack is triggered from this point.[5] Primary Objective: Destroy the Vaygr attackers.
Fleet Intelligence will alert you when the final attack shows up. 3 Vaygr Carriers have warped in, and are launching a variety of attack craft along with a series of Infiltrator frigates meant to capture the Shipyard. You will be informed that if the Vaygr succeed, you will require Hiigaran Marine Frigates in order to recapture the Shipyard, however we will make sure this does not happen. Begin constructing a pair (no more than 2!) of Marine Frigates with your Carrier as soon as you can, making sure to prioritize them over any Flak Frigates still in production.Many may argue against ever using the Marine Frigate due to some of its drawbacks, however I am here to preach the words of truth my friend, and the Marine Frigate is a hidden beauty. Engage all of the attackers that are heading for the Shipyard, making sure to keep your Elite squads on the rear of your defensive forces as there will be a lot of anti fighter and corvette units in the attacks, and they are effective against stopping the Infiltrators which do not pose a threat to the Elite Bombers and Elite Gunships.
Once you have some the Marine Frigates built, you will want to take them and capture Infiltrator frigates that are heading for the Shipyard. Why is this you may ask? Because we are getting 2 for one one capture-capable vessels, essentially cutting in half the price of the Marine Frigates, since not only can the capture the Vaygr Infiltrator frigates with ease, but aren't threatened by the pea shooter strapped to the Infiltrators hull. In addition Infiltrators are actually much better capture vessels than the Marine Frigate, since they do not need to be as close or as aligned with the vessel they are capturing as the Hiigaran counterpart, which takes more time to start the capture process. If you ever lose a Marine Frigate or Infiltrator, capture another one when you get the chance to keep you from having to spend money on the regretfully fragile ships.
Once you have 4 capturing frigates you can either use them to capture any Vaygr Assault or Missile Frigates still alive, or keep them around for later missions use, or even send them against the Carriers as a group to capture/disable them.
[5a] Pushing the Vaygr back.
As mentioned before, with your elite squads (or some replacements) left behind with the Shipyard along with your Hiigaran Bombers, and your Marine and Infiltrator frigates which can capture any Infiltrators that try to capture Nabaal, leaving them dead in the water since you're capped at 4 of either ship, altogether. At the same time, keep the bulk of your forces pushing the attack waves back, focusing on strike craft and attack frigates over the Infiltrator frigates which can be handled by the backup forces.Use Interceptors and Gunships to keep these targets busy while Bombers and Pulsar Gunships head past these engagements to work over the Carriers as soon as the initial forces of the attack are fended off, and many of the strike craft defending the Carriers are occupied or dealt with. Usually two of the Carriers continually launch Infiltrators while one which can Alternate, launches attack forces consisting mainly of Vaygr Assault Craft. This means little in the way of reinforcements to stop your combat forces. Use this to your advantage and once one Carrier is down, move to the second and finally third. Once the first goes, the other two should fall like Dominoes, with less targets to divide your forces over.