What I am talking about here is not support frigates, Battle cruisers, or even salvage corvettes. In fact, under normal means it is unobtainable even through salvaging. Only by a mod called "Capture All" (which is sadly broken these days), I was able to get it, and it was far more than I was bargaining for even though it is already overpowered to begin with.

So what is this ship? I have a few riddles for you to answer (only for those who like that kind of stuff):

You encounter it late-game.
It is a single-player only ship.
It has the health of a cruiser.
It is fast.
A lot of players say it is the most infuriating ship on Homeworld Single Player (that is, if they do not know its simple weakness).

Spoiler (hover over the black box to reveal):

I figured out this fascinating quirk with the Junkyard Dog soon after I caught it. I did not know it at first, but when I did, I realized it completely breaks the balance of the entire game for anyone who has it. When you tell the Junkyard Dog to catch something in its jaws and wait for it to have a hold of it, then tell it to grab something else without bringing its catch to the mothership, that enemy it just let go suddenly converts to your side! So, to put it in images:




Now that is an example of being too op. However, what is considered to be too op varies between players, and I see this as a blessing in HW2RM, which has a tendency to overdo its enemy count.

If you want the "Hound of Karos" for yourself, simply follow these steps:


Step 1: find your HWRM ship persist files (Usually under Steam\steamapps\common\Homeworld\HomeworldRM\Bin\Profiles\Profile1\Campaign\ASCENSION or HOMEWORLDCLASSIC).


Step 2: Select the persist file to modify. I recommend copying that file so you have a spare just in case something goes wrong. After that, open it using Notepad.


Step 3: For the HOMEWORLDCLASSIC persist.lua file, under "shiphold" in type "Kus_Mothership", copy and paste this line of code inside of it in between other strike-craft (and it is important to add the appropriate spaces at the beginning of each line):

{
index = 0,
type = "Junk_JunkyardDog",
stance = 2,
hotkey = 2048,
teamColourHandle = 6,
size = 0,
tactic = 1,
},

After that, save the file.


Step 3.5: For the ASCENTION persist.lua file, under "shiphold" in type "Hgn_MotherShip", copy and paste this line of code inside of it in between other strike-craft (and it is important to add the appropriate spaces at the beginning of each line):

{
index = 0,
type = "Junk_JunkyardDog",
stance = 2,
hotkey = 0,
teamColourHandle = 0,
size = 0,
tactic = 2,
},

After that, save the file.


Step 4: Load up the level and see if it worked.


Step 5: If it worked enjoy your godly salvager! if something went wrong, delete the modified persist, copy and paste your backup, and try again on step 3 (or 3.5).

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Now, for anyone who may know how to hack it in on multiplayer, I forbid its use. Even with its gravitywell weakness, it can easily ruin friendships and will make the whole Homeworld multiplayer community hate you. So please, play fair and keep the Hound to singleplayer only.