Let's talk about Homeworld 2 Remastered for a second.

[storm]

A few months ago I beat HW1, went on to play HW2. The first two or three missions were easy. Then I got to the mission where you need to destroy a base in a certain amount of time. However, I wanted to capture the first capital ship in the game (the hidden one to the side of the map). Marine Frigs are....awful. And expensive. They die too easily!

So I guess I have a few questions.

Would it even be worth it to play HW2?
Should I play the original or the remastered version?
How the **** do I play this game right?

Thank you.

[distortionorchestra]

On capturing with M/Int frigs:

Two words: Distraction & Timing
...
They need close attention (i.e micro-managing) to be effective. You should have PLENTY of
ships to distract the AI; it will target capture ships mercilessly as will a human opponent with any kind of situational awareness ;)
...
Try and maneuver them so that they flank the target vessel, preferably above/below and astern,whilst your main stike group(s) keep the enemy off balance.
...
Timing is crucial: Don't send 'em in with their a**** hanging in the wind to be picked off.
...
And yes, they are made of cheese; I've seen 'em taken down by squadrons of Interceptors/assault craft in PvP.

Hope this helps.

[Pixy_PixY_JL]

First, let me share something about the HW2's Marine frigs.

In HW2, Capture an enemy's ship, especially enemy Capital Ship is much harder than HW1.
It's not a good choice to capture enemy capital ship in HW2 campaign.

Based on following reasons:
1. Marine frigs' armor is extremely weak. All of the capital ships, most of the frigs(Torpedo/Plasma/Heavy Missile) and even Bombers can destroy one Marine Frigs in seconds.

2. In HW1, we can capture an enemy ship and drag it to the mothership. In HW2, it works completely diffrent. Marine frigs takes enemy ships by boarding it, when a marine frigs boarding successfully, it will take some time(showing as a blue bar) to take control of an enemy ship. More marine firgs, less time you need to take control. However before the boarding progress finished, those Marine firgs are just sitting duck. Remember reason No.1: Destroy a Marines Firgs is very easy. So how hard will it be to destroy a Marine frigs that can't move?

3. In campaign mode, you research upgrade DO NOT have ANY effect on any captured ships. And you will find out that every capital ships you build by yourself is much better than your enemies.

4. HW2 is not like HW1, if you reach the population limits in one of the ship-class, you CAN NOT capture any more same class ship. In example, you've already have 7 Destroyers(Reach the limits in normal battle), boarding a marine frigs on another destroyer will only make it disarmed for a short time, and you CAN NOT take the ship into your fleet.

So, it will be good to forget Marine Frigs in HW2 campaign.
I'm sorry Cpt. Soban :)

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Now, I shoud answer your questions.

Would it even be worth it to play HW2?
--
Yes. And in my opinion, HW2 is much better than HW1.


Should I play the original or the remastered version?
--
Remastered.
In fact, Original HW2 and the Remastered HW2 has the same taste. Only thing different is the texture quality. So why not Remastered?

How the **** do I play this game right?
--
In campaign, build your fleet by building it, not capturing it.
Every hints in every mission is useful.
And then, beat your enemy straight ahead.
(Well, use Bomber to destroy enemy capital ship's engine and weapon is very useful. Especially effective on enemy Battle Cruiser. When you reach that mission, you will know what I'm talking about. XD )


And, if it's still annoying, there is one more things that could help.
It will decrease lots of challenge, but also takes away lots of fun...

In every mission of HW Remastered campaign ,no matter in HW1 or HW2, the scale the enemies fleet is based on how many ship your have in the beginning of every mission.
So... you can just retire all of your fleet before you start the next mission.
This will make the campaign extremely easy.
Pls just use it when you're out of patience.

That's all. Hope this helps.
Thanks for reading.

[storm]

Wow! Thank you so much for the extremely detailed responses! You guys are awesome!!

PiXy, I think I'll try it your way and just not bother with the Marine Frigs. And I'll probably end up retiring ships at the end of each level regardless - I am not very good at strategy games, I never have been :(

Thank you so much!

[storm]

Woo! I beat it! Thanks guys!