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2. TECHNOLOGY BRIEFING
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In this secton you'll find description of the technology you have to research to obtain new vessels during the game. A brief description of weapon types is also provided.
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-- WEAPON TYPES --
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+ Mass Drivers:
Projectile weapons. The weapon itself is small, so you'll find at least a small-caliber gun on every Fighter. Bigger ships will have mass-drivers in their secondary turrets. In HomeWorld, projectyle weapons are useful against fast strike crafts, as they travel at an higher velocity and do moderte damage to their thin armors. They have short/medium range values.
+ Energy Beams: Capital Ships only. The most common energy beam is the ion beam, mounted on a number of ships. Only Super-Capital Ships carry them in turrets, as an ion cannon is usually big as a whole Frigate. Medium/long range weapons with high damage values, mainly useful against Capital Ships, though a turret-mounted cannon can deal with Corvettes and reduce them in scraps within seconds.
+ Missiles:
Missiles are the only weapon limited by ammunition supplies, but bigger ships can build them automatically, so just make an intelligent use of them. They were developed to provide anti-Fighter capabilities to Capital Ships. Though their damage value is lower than the Beam's one, they are fired in groups and have a longer range.
+ Fields:
Some ships come equipped with a field generator capable of deflecting enemy weapons or generating gravity to stop enemy's Strike Crafts. Those shields are useful to protect valuable ships (Carriers, Cruisers, MotherShips...) or to trap enemy vessels. The third type of field is the Stealth, capable of masking crafts to enemy eyes and standard sensors. Only advanced sensor suites will detect Stealth (or cloacked) units.
+ Plasma Bombs:
Large plasma spheres that do a lot of damage; they are a bit slow, however. Very effective against large ships and, if they hit, against fighters.
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-- COMMON TECHNOLOGIES --
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FIGHTER CHASSIS
- Pre-requisites: Fighter Drive
- Lead to: Defender Sub-System, Plasma Bomb, Cloacked Fighter, Defense Fighter
- Needed for: Interceptor, Defender, Cloacked Fighter, Defense Fighter, Attack Bomber
- Notes: basic technology
FIGHTER DRIVE
- Pre-requisites: none
- Lead to: Fighter Chassis
- Needed for: Scout, Interceptor, Cloacked Fighter, Defense Fighter, Attack Bomber
Notes: basic technology
CORVETTE CHASSIS
- Pre-requisites: Corvette Drive
- Lead to: Heavy Corvette Upgrade, Fast Tracking Turret, Minelayer Technology
- Needed for: Light Corvette, Salvage Corvette, Multi-Gun Corvette, Heavy Corvette, Minelayer Corvette, Support Corvette
Notes: Base for most of Corvette-related technologies.
CORVETTE DRIVE
- Pre-requisites: none
- Lead to: Corvette Chassis
- Needed for: Light Corvette, Salvage Corvette, Multi-Gun Corvette, Heavy Corvette, Minelayer Corvette
Notes: Research ASAP to build Salvage Corvettes
CAPITAL SHIP DRIVE
- Pre-requisites: none
- Lead to: Capital Ship Chassis
- Needed for: Assault Frigate, Ion Frigate, Drone Frigate, Defense Frigate, Support Frigate, Gravity Generator, Cloack Device, Resource Controller
Notes: Needed for Frigates
CAPITAL SHIP CHASSIS
- Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Drive
- Lead to: Ion Cannon, Super-Capital Ship Drive, Super-Heavy Structure, Gravity Generator, Cloack Device
- Needed for: Ion Frigate, Drone Frigate, Defense Frigate
Notes: Needed for Frigates
SUPER-CAPITAL SHIP DRIVE
- Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Chassis
- Lead to: Heavy Guns, Guided Missile
- Needed for: Destroyer, Missile Destroyer, Carrier, Heavy Cruiser
Notes: Basic technology for Super-Capital Ships. The drive only will allow you to build a Destroyer.
PROXIMITY SENSOR
- Pre-requisites: none
- Lead to: Sensor System
- Needed for: Proximity Sensor
Notes: maneuverable Probe
PLASMA BOMB
- Pre-requisites: Fighter Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Attack Bomber
Notes: none
MINELAYER TECH
- Pre-requisites: Corvette Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Minelayer Corvette
Notes: none
ION CANNON
- Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Drive
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Ion Frigate, Destroyer, Heavy Cruiser
Notes: base technology for most Capital Ships
HEAVY GUNS
- Pre-requisites: Super-Capital Ship Drive
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Heavy Cruiser
Notes: Needed for the most powerful ship in the game
HEAVY CORVETTE UPGRADE
- Pre-requisites: Corvette Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Heavy Corvette
Notes: none
GRAVITY GENERATOR
- Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Gravity Well Generator
Notes: Traps enemy fighters.
DEFENDER SUB-SYSTEM
- Pre-requisites: Fighter Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Defender
Notes: none
SENSOR SYSTEM
- Pre-requisites: Proximity Sensor
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Sensor System
Notes: Capable of tracking most ships and revealing Cloacked ones.
FAST TRACKING TURRET
- Pre-requisites: Corvette Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Multi-Gun Corvette
Notes: Needed for the most versatile Corvette in the game
CLOAKING DEVICE
- Pre-requisites: Super-Capital Ship Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Cloak Generator
Notes: it is not the same technology needed for the Cloaked Fighter
SUPER-HEAVY STRUCTURE
- Pre-requisites: Super-Capital Ship Chassis
- Lead to: none
- Needed for: Carrier, Heavy Cruiser
Notes: Needed for the most powerful ships in the game
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--- KUSHAN TECHNOLOGIES --
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CLOAKED FIGHTER
- Pre-requisites: Fighter Structure
- Lead to: nothing
- Needed for: Cloaked Fighter
Notes: it is not the same technology needed for the Cloak Generator
DRONE TECHNOLOGY
- Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Structure
- Lead to: nothing
- Needed for: Drone Frigate
Notes: basically useless
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-- TAIIDAN TECHNOLOGIES --
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DEFENSE FIGHTER
- Pre-requisites: Fighter Structure
- Lead to: nothing
- Needed for: Defensive Fighter
Notes: basically useless
DEFENSE FIELD
- Pre-requisites: Capital Ship Structure
- Lead to: nothing
- Needed for: Defense Frigate
Notes: basically useless