Mothership

Categorized as the Superheavy Capital Ship, the Mothership is the Scrin's most powerful unit encountered to date, surpassing even their own Eradicator Hexapod in raw firepower.

Background
It is a heavy, slow moving disc-shaped aircraft that is capable of leveling whole bases in a short time. Its primary (and, to the extent of our knowledge, only) weapon is the Catalyst cannon, an energy weapon with effects not dissimilar to Nod's catalyst missile in that it causes a tremendous chain reaction. However, it is significantly more dangerous and destructive than Nod's missile, as the chain reaction is triggered between structures. The destructive effect of this weapon was evident when a single Mothership incinerated Berne in Switzerland with a single blast that leveled the dense city center. It possesses the single most powerful weapon ever to be fielded on a mobile platform in history, capable of wiping out entire bases in a single shot and leaving only a smoking crater. The effect of the chain reaction on Epic units is disputed, as different data sources conflict. Nonetheless, the Catalyst cannon is an energy-based disaster waiting to happen anytime a Foreman wants.

In addition to housing a weapon of massive destructive power, Motherships also appear to serve at least some command and control functions for the Scrin. Indeed, GDI InOps report that a Mothership was used during a Scrin retreat from Earth in the closing stages of the Third Tiberium War and defending the Relay Node.

Contrary to popular belief, a Mothership can level up like all conventional units, with increases in attack speed and near-instantaneous health regeneration being the benefits gained. However, this is not very practical often.

Strategy
While their ponderous speed has ensured that many of the small number of these units yet encountered have been destroyed, they are evidently capable of absorbing a tremendous amount of anti-aircraft fire, more than any aircraft ever manufactured by humans. Firehawks are recommended for quick and devastating attacks. If a Scrin Foreman decides to attack your base, he will guard his emissary of your destruction with high tier units, such as Devastator Warships, Annihilator Tripods, Storm Riders, or other assorted units to counter your anti-air defenses. This sheer firepower can severely damage your anti-air defenses, especially with the fact that Devastator Warships can fire out of range of AA defenses to destroy them. This will pave the way for the Mothership to arrive. All human commanders should beware, and make this unit a priority when defending your base.

Essentially, the Mothership is a mobile superweapon - but it must be used carefully. Otherwise, it will be 5000 credits wasted.

In-game


Pros
 * It's an airborne unit.


 * The Catalyst Cannon is so devastatingly powerful, that even MARVs and Redeemers as well as the Eradicator Hexapod cannot withstand its firepower.


 * This ominous capital ship can turn a large base, Blue Zone, or a large city into a Red Zone.


 * Gravity Stabilizers are not required to summon them.


 * Thick armor rivals that of the MARV. Armor is also tough enough to survive Nuclear attacks.


 * When summoned, it deploys extremely fast above the Signal Transmitter (except for the last mission of the Scrin where it deploys above the newest Gravity Stabilizer).


 * Cannon can set off a chain reaction when it destroys buildings.


 * Effective against "base creeping" tactics.


 * When it obtains Heroic status, it becomes extremely powerful - its Catalyst Cannon takes 2 seconds to charge, and it can heal itself nearly instantaneously

Cons
 * A single EMP strike from an EMP Control Center can instantly destroy the Mothership.


 * The Mothership needs to be placed right above a selected target to fire the Catalyst Cannon.


 * Is displayed as a HUGE blip on radar, making it very noticeable.


 * Anything that can shoot at air are deadly to the Mothership, because of its slow speed.


 * VERY vulnerable to hit and run attacks if unescorted.


 * Needs to charge the Catalyst Cannon for about 7 seconds before firing.


 * So pitifully slow (perhaps the slowest unit in the war) that even a Mammoth 27 can outrun it and take it down. It is also slow to turning and changing directions.


 * Swarms of enemy aircraft are able to take it down. Especially true for Firehawks,Stormriders and Venoms.


 * High Tier to build (Requires Signal Transmitter).


 * Once it reaches a friendly Gravity Stabilizer, it takes quite a while to repair it. It also cannot repair in an Ion storm.


 * Slingshots and Mantis are dangerous opponents, specially when upgraded.


 * Expensive (5000 cr, same as the train amount of MARVs, Redeemers, or Hexapods)


 * It can be destroyed by ramming a large aerial object through the centre (e.g. Drone Ship).


 * Its cannon weakens after one side of the Mothership is damaged.

reaction) is factored in, and like all units, it takes 3 times its build cost (3 x 5000 credits) to increase in one rank.
 * Extremely hard to level up - only the cost of the unit/structure it actually hits (not the ones destroyed via the chain


 * Due to a game glitch, if a catalyst cannon shot hits an enemy scrin unit, all the other units of the force will be appear white and destroyed instantly without taking any damage, this makes the enemy force an instant defeat. This may sound unfair, but if the shot also hit one of the player's unit(if the player is using a scrin faction) all the player's unit will also become white and destroyed. It works as a double edged sword so the player must be very careful when using a mothership.

Behind the scenes
A StarCraft II  Mothership is similar to it.

Its weapon is based off of "Independence Day" City Destroyers.