Catalyst
The Catalyst is a large Support-PvP Dreadnought.
Description
The Catalyst is a durable dreadnought with decent weaponry, capable of being a versatile support ship in all situations except against swarms or when fighting small and fast ships. The balanced health pool of 16,000 HP allows it to tank in sieges against a variety of bases, while the heavy-medium armament (being something like an opposite counterpart to the armament seen on the Apocalypse in terms of damage output) allows it to perform a support role well in PvP combat against other capital ships. However, there are a couple major downsides. One being that the Catalyst by comparison to other dreadnoughts, has mediocre damage output. The other, is that the ship suffers from sluggish maneuverability; which combined with the relatively poor accuracy on the armament makes it prone to being swarmed, or even harassed by fast battleships.
Appearance
The ship is mostly light grey in colour, with some black and neon blue spots here and there. It carries a roughly rectangular array of thrusters in the rear and tapers out to a point in the front, with the ship gradually stepping down in thickness. The turret array reflects this pattern, with the larger capital turrets being set back along the sides of the ship and the medium cannons being lined up along the front and top. The interior is a large white room with red lining. The pilot seat is in the middle of this room, along with three white screens.
Advantages
- Highest health pool out of any Non-Limited dreadnought, having 16,000 Total HP, higher than the Judgement's 15,000 total HP.
- Slightly above average maneuverability for a Dreadnought.
- Can do okay damage to both Shields and Hull at a close range.
- Can do decently in PvP against many Battleships.
- Can do decent Hull damage at a long range.
- Good LoS which covers most of the ship and allows the pilot to fire all turrets facing slightly downwards.
Disadvantages
- No Spinals.
- Overall rather mediocre DPS, worse than several build menu Battleships.
- Heavy Turrets have poor accuracy, making this ship easy prey for swarms of smaller, faster Ships.
- 8th most expensive Dreadnought on the build menu.
- Struggles to PvP most Dreadnoughts, even most Siege Ships of the same class outperform the Catalyst.
- Will often struggle to PvP Battleships alone due to the slow turn speed.
Strategy
- Try to stay under your opponent so all Turrets have a line of sight.
- Can do long-range support in a siege thanks to its Dual Heavy Railgun and Capital Triple Cannons, but it is not recommended to try to do long-range sieging as you will do abysmal damage without your closer range turrets.
- Don't attempt to fight maneuverable or agile ships(including many Battleships) without support, as they can easily get and stay in your blind-spots due to the poor turn speed and size of the ship.
- If necessary, you can be the tank due to your VERY large health pool. But, do not engage in ship-ship combat, as you will most likely be shredded without doing much damage.
Version History
- Shield/Hull changed from 5750/6750 to 6580/6520, armament buffed, remodelled in version .66b.
- Shield changed from 6580 to 6540 and its total cost dropped from 202k to 163k in version .66c.
- 2 Capital Triple Cannons changed to 2 Triple Heavy Lasers and 1 Triple Heavy Cannon changed to 1 Medium Railgun in version .69a1.
- 2 Capital Lasers changed to 2 Capital Triple Cannons, 2 Triple Heavy Lasers changed to 2 Dual Medium Lasers and 1 Triple Heavy Cannon changed to 1 Dual Medium Cannon in version .69a1.
- Shield increased from 6540 to 7000 in version .70a8.
- Explosion Size 140 ----> 680 .75a12
- Shield and hull increased from 7000/6520 to 8000/8000 in an unknown version.
Trivia
- This ship was heavily used by multiboxer Supreme4Ever because of the extreme ease of use and health.
- The original model was similar to the Hiigaran Destroyer from Homeworld.
- 2nd Dreadnought to be on the Weekly Discount rotation
