Homeworld 3: Storm Strike (Mission 08) walkthrough

Storm Strike is Mission 08 (M08) of the Homeworld 3 campaign—and it’s particularly hard. You don’t get the Mothership or a Carrier, so you have to destroy the Citadel with a small, outnumbered fleet. Trigger the explosions with the help of this strategy guide.

Using the Incarnate Carriers you scavenged during Mission 06 and repaired during Mission 07 of the Homeworld 3 campaign, you can infiltrate the sector surrounding the Incarnate Citadel. But once you’ve deployed your fleet, they’re all on their own—and they’re very outgunned. Your objective is to reach the Citadel’s two explosive weak points while under fire from an overwhelming force of enemy ships and turrets.

It took me a few attempts to complete this Homeworld 3 mission, but I eventually figured out a strategy that worked. I still only had a handful of ships left at the end of it, though.

How to trigger an explosion on Site No. 1 in Homeworld 3 Mission 08, Storm Strike

Destroying the first target is fairly easy, but you still need to take care because you can’t afford to lose any ships at this stage. Cloak your Fleet Bombers and have them target the explosion site while your Interceptors deal with enemy fighters and your Railgun Corvettes deal with enemy frigates. Don’t attack the enemy Destroyer at all—you need to be fast and move away from it as soon as you’ve triggered the first explosion site. Once the explosion goes off, move your entire fleet to the left and prepare for things to get tricky.

How to trigger an explosion on Site No. 2 in Homeworld 3 Mission 08, Storm Strike

When explosion site No. 2 is highlighted, don’t just send your fleet directly to it. They’ll be decimated by enemy turrets (unless maybe you’re playing on easy). Instead, switch your entire fleet to passive stance and carefully position them behind the rectangular piece of debris floating near site No. 1. It’s important to direct them to the middle of that rectangle—close, but not too close. If you aim too close, some of your ships will go to the wrong side of the debris, where they’ll be sitting ducks. Monitor your fleet’s movements and positions very carefully, changing camera angles so you can ensure they’re going where you want them to go.

Once your fleet is tucked in behind that debris, they’ll be safe from the turrets on the other side. But you can’t afford to dawdle as that Destroyer is closing in. So, just as carefully as before, move them so they’re behind the next slab of debris, which is square and a little higher up. You’ll need to tap V, then hold left-click and move up so your ships increase their elevation. Again, monitor their progress carefully and rotate the camera to get a complete view of where they are.

From behind that square, send your fleet straight to the explosion site. Cloak your Fleet Bombers as they approach and activate your other ships’ special abilities to make sure they do maximum damage to the target. This time, concentrate all of your fleet’s firepower on the target. There’s no point trying to thin out the enemies. You’ll lose most of your ships anyway, so it’s best to direct the whole fleet to attack the target.

I had just six badly damaged Interceptors left at the end of the mission, but as long as you destroy the target, it doesn’t matter how many ships you lose.