Part 1

Master Homeworld 3's Part 1 with our comprehensive guide. Learn about Resource Units (RU), Support Units (SU), and the vital roles of Command Ships and Carriers.

This guide is designed to help new players of Homeworld: Cataclysm improve their skills and compete with experienced players. Have fun and good luck!

Before starting a game, it's essential to understand the two main types of units that influence your fleet: Resource Units (RU) and Support Units (SU).

Resource Units (RU): These are the currency used to build ships. You can see your current RU total in the lower-right corner of your screen. Most games start with 4000 RU. To increase this, use Workers to harvest asteroids or salvage crystals (the latter requires researching specific technology first).

Support Units (SU): This number limits the size of your fleet. You start with a certain amount of SU and can build additional Support Modules to increase your total capacity. Each ship (except Command Ships and Carriers) consumes a specific amount of SU. You cannot build more ships once you reach your limit. Destroyed ships return their SU, but destroyed Carriers, Command Ships, or Support Modules require rebuilding to regain SU. The SU display in the lower-right corner shows used SU followed by the total possible SU (e.g., "SU: 244/400").

The following table shows ships that provide SU:

Ship Class Descriptions

Understanding the role and importance of each ship class is crucial.

Command Ship (CS) and Carriers

The Command Ship (CS) is your most critical unit. It's essential for building and expanding your fleet. Losing your CS and all carriers results in game over. The game's focus will be on defending your CS while attacking your opponent's.

Initially, your CS has limited operations, allowing it to build only recons, workers, and research modules (for Somtaaw) or recons, workers, and processors (for Beast). For beginners, it's recommended to start with Somtaaw, as the Beast faction is more challenging to master.

The CS serves as your base of operations and technology research hub. To use it effectively, deploy workers to harvest resources (RU) to fund research modules, which unlock new and improved ships.

Carriers function as mini-Command Ships. They can build any ship not requiring external construction (like destroyers, processors, or other carriers) and provide additional SU: 40 SU for Somtaaw Carriers and 96 SU for Beast Carriers. Somtaaw Carriers can also build 6 additional Support Modules, similar to the Command Ship (which can build 12). The Beast Carrier's capabilities are also detailed.