Kesura Minor is Mission 03 (M03) of the Homeworld 3 campaign and the first that can be pretty difficult. Your objective is to activate the ancient Progenitor systems and jump through a Hyperspace Gate. And this strategy guide will show you how to do that.
Up to this point in Homeworld 3, you’ve been able to progress simply by following Intel’s instructions and you haven’t met much resistance. But Kesura Minor is a different matter. There are several waves of enemy ships to contend with here, and this time, there’s a lot that Intel doesn’t tell you. In fact, you’re better off ignoring some of his instructions.
How to capture the first GCM and Data Spire in Kesura Minor
Your first two objectives in this Homeworld 3 mission are very straightforward, but there are a few things you should do alongside them to make life a lot easier later on. The first is to split your fleet of Interceptors in half: One half to capture the Data Spire and the other half to guard the Resource Controller while it captures the GCM (Gate Control Module).
My second tip is that as soon as the Resource Controller has captured the GCM, set it to gather resources while still guarded by half your fleet. In my first playthrough, I didn’t gather any resources because Intel didn’t tell me to, and my mission was doomed as a result.
My third tip is that as soon as it’s gathered 500 resources, build another Resource Controller and set that one to gather resources. This way, you’re always gathering resources, even when one of your Resource Controllers is required to capture a GCM (there are two more).
How to scout the Control Node and defend the Control Module in Kesura Minor
If you’re following my advice, your fleet is already divided into two groups of Interceptors. Send one group to scout the Control Node and leave the other to guard your Resource Controller. The group guarding the Resource Controller might be close enough to the Control Module to defend it when an enemy fleet appears. If not, send them to attack when the enemies appear. As soon as the Defend Control Module objective is complete, send that defending group to join the scouting group.
How to defeat the Missile Frigate in Kesura Minor
Intel gives you two pieces of advice on defeating the Missile Frigate: Use cover and attack from the flanks and rear. Your ships will use cover automatically if they’re in the default neutral stance, so you probably don’t need to change anything to do that.
It’s not so obvious how you’re supposed to perform rear and flank attacks as you don’t have direct control over your ships. But this is one of the reasons you’ve split your fleet into two separate groups. If you command each of them to attack the Missile Frigate, they should automatically strafe the Missile Frigate in turn. So, when the first group attacks it from the front and flies past, the Missile Frigate will turn to face it, leaving itself open to a flank or rear attack from the second group. So there’s no need to micromanage your flanking tactic here.
How to secure the final node in Kesura Minor
Capturing and defending the second GCM is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you defend the Resource Controller that captures the GCM and don’t forget to set it back to gathering resources once it’s finished the task.
Your next three objectives are to secure the final node, move the Mothership to the gate, and construct 20 Bombers. The 20 Bombers objective is labeled “Optional,” but I’m telling you it’s not. You won’t survive this mission without at least 20 Bombers, and I’d recommend building more.
Don’t even proceed to the final Control Node until you’ve constructed five Fleet Bombers and moved them close to your two groups of Interceptors. Your whole fleet is going to be sticking together from now on, but they’ll be more effective if you keep those Interceptors as separate groups.
Once you have all your Interceptors and five Fleet Bombers gathered together, move them all to the Control Node, and send your Mothership to the gate transit point. The Control Node is guarded by three Missile Frigates, but now that you have a squad of bombers, you should make short work of them. Just make sure you focus all your ships on attacking one frigate at a time.
How to capture the Final GCM and defeat the Raider Carrier in Kesura Minor
This is the point at which you should definitely ignore Intel. He keeps telling you that you need to capture the GCM as soon as possible, but there’s no time pressure here. In fact, capturing the GCM immediately is a suicidal move. Instead, take as much time as you need to repair your existing ships (instruct them to dock) and build lots of new ones. I didn’t capture the GCM until I had a fleet of the maximum possible size: 35 Interceptors and 35 Fleet Bombers. That was more than I needed, I think, but you should repair your whole fleet, and I reckon you need at least 30 Interceptors and 20 Fleet Bombers. It’s a good idea to split your bombers into two even groups, too.
The reason for all this preparation is that a Raider Carrier will appear as soon as you capture the GCM, and it can launch a lot of ships. Send your Interceptors to deal with the enemy fighters, and have all of your Fleet Bombers focus their attacks on the Raider Carrier. This is a tough battle and you’ll lose a lot of ships, but if your fleet is 70 ships strong, you’ll win.
Once the Raider Carrier is defeated, you just have to defeat the remaining Raiders before sending the Mothership through the Hyperspace Gate. You’ll make it through without further incident, but there’s more trouble in store as soon as you reach the other side.
