NPC units are all bought by influence, a special resource that you gain over time. Influence can be very hard to come by considering there are only a few ways to increase your income. Early on, the best way to gain influence is by completing NPC quests, later on it´s by clearing and controlling certain treasure sights and by upgrading your HQ.
Personally I think there are definitly some more powerful NPC factions and some more lackluster NPC factions, as you will notice the more you read this guide. Still, I tried to be objective and give all units fair credit, even if I don´t like it. One thing to keep in mind is that certain NPC factions pair well only with certain factions, while others are generally good for all factions. Also very important: There is a hardcap for influence at 200, which means that only 200 influence will be saved if you exceed this limit.

Below is a legend of the symbols I am using for the unit stats. Since you can´t build these units under normal circumstances, you won´t find the energy, cosmite or production cost symbols from my main guide.
💗 Hitpoints (HP) --> Amount of damage a unit can take before being destroyed.
👢 Movement --> How far a unit can move. In the guide, I am going to write down the
movement type behind the symbol. Example: 32 👢(Land)
▌ ▌ Armor Strenght --> Damage resistance against non-psionic attacks.
👅 Shield Strenght --> Resistance against ranged attacks.
➼ Ability Range --> The maximum range of an attack or an ability. Not displayed for melee
attacks

The Therians are the newest NPC faction added to AoW Planetfall. In my opinion they give you some of the BEST and most well-rounded NPC units out there. Like other NPC units, each Therian unit excels at a specific task - but unlike most other NPC factions the Therian units actually can fulfill a plethora of different roles outside of that specialization. This versatility in combination with reasonable unit prices and cool aesthetics make them my favorite NPC faction of them all.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(land)
Role: Main infantry
Main attack: 3x11 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, can inflict bleeding)

Secondary attack: 1x16 biochemical damage (5➼, high impact, knockbacks light unit)
Other abilities:
“Thrill” (activates when HP drops below 66%, all friendly units within 2 tiles gain +20% damage, once per battle);
Therian presence (heals 8 HP at the end of turn if adjacent to another unit with this ability for 2 turns); Prime rank: critical

Best compared to the Assembly Scavenger. The Prowler shares his attack types and combat role with the cyborg’s main infantry: A good repeating melee attack and a powerful shotgun that inflicts high impact stagger. The difference with his shotgun attack (in comparison with the Scavenger) is that it deals biochemical damage (which makes it better against crystalline enemies) and that this attack pushes back light enemy units. As a neat benefit, if you got your hands on chemical mods, they will profit both the melee and ranged attack of the prowler.
Being a Therian, the Prowler obviously has a unique ability he can trigger when getting hurt. In his case its “thrill”, which gives him and nearby allies a +20% damage boost for 2 turns. “Therian presence” allows the Prowler to heal for 8 HP if adjacent to another unit with this ability, which is particular good with the Prowler since using them in groups (or packs if you are being fancy) is a good idea.
Overall a unit you can’t really go wrong with unless you already have the assembly scavenger available to you. If that isn’t the case, the Prowler can serve as a bodyguard for your long-range units, while still being able to dish out a good amount of damage on medium range themselves. For their versatility I prefer them over the Bouncer.

45💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Strike unit/main infantry
Main attack: 3x10 kinetic damage (5➼)
Secondary attack: 1x12 ballistic damage (1 AP, hits all units within 2 hexes, enters defense mode afterwards)
Other abilities:
“Leap and Bound” (5➼, teleport to target hex, leave 1 AP point after use);
“Prance” (activates when HP drops below 66%, all friendly units within 2 tiles gain +15% evasion and skitter for 2 turns);
Therian presence;
Prime rank: evasive

Seems to be one of the favorites of many people I come across. The main attack isn´t really anything outstanding: Mediocre damage output on a medium range - most regular infantry do that job better. That leaves the secondary attack, a slightly stronger attack which only hits once, but hits all units within 2 hexes - can backfire if you already went in with Prowlers, but when used as a throwaway unit or to initiate a charge with your army this attack can be very useful.
“Leap and bound” is the signature ability of the Bouncer, allowing it to jump onto a tile that is up to 5 hexes away - not as good as the vanguard jetpack mod, since it leaves you with only 1 AP after use. Since the secondary spin attack of the Bouncer only needs 1 AP, combining it with “leap and bound” to get right into an enemy formation is a move you will see even the AI pulling off many times - with varying degrees of success mind you. If the Bouncer gets hurt, they along with nearby allies gain a small evasion boost on top of the skitter ability for 2 turns.
I prefer the Prowler in all honestly: At first the combination attack I mentioned may sound fun and rewarding, but it gets the Bouncer killed so many times that along with their lackluster main attack I just prefer to use a unit that deals only slightly less damage on medium range, but has a powerful melee attack to back it up.

45💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Sniper
Main attack: 1x18 biochemical damage (9➼, high impact, chance to inflict debilitating infection, 3 AP)
Secondary attack: 1x12 biochemical damage (7➼, 1 AP, chance to inflict debilitating infection)
Other abilities:
“Healing Shot” (range: 9 tiles, 1 AP, heals target biological or cyborg unit for 25 HP, once per battle); “Sly” (activates when HP drops below 66%, all friendly units within 2 tiles gain +20% crit chance for 2 turns);
Improved overwatch;
Therian presence;
Prime rank: bypass cover

As the name implies, the Therians use foxes as their sniper unit. Their primary attack deals a good chunk of damage on a long range, with a chance to inflict debilitating infection - a nasty debuff for biological and cyborg units. Like other snipers, the Sharpshooter can make use of a weaker snap shot if he has to move into a different position first or if he got staggered.
The “healing shot” ability on the other hand is a unique ability for a sniper unit and it might be this ability alone why I love to use them so much. That is a 25 HP healing shot that you can shoot as far as 9 tiles! This allows the Sharpshooter to double as a support unit: Either by providing long range damage or by healing allies across the map. If he gets hurt, his “sly” ability activates, which gives a massive boost to crit chance to him and nearby allies - very powerful if he is already has a high morale.
Thanks to “improved overwatch” he is more accurate during overwatch and at prime rank he
gets “bypass cover” which makes cover ineffective against the Sharpshooter. In terms of raw damage inferior to the Syndicate Assassin, but I´d say he gets the spot as 2nd best sniper - unless you face a ton of high armored units, in which case the Kir´ko Hidden is slightly better.

55💗
3 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(land)
Role: Support
Main attack: 1x18 biochemical damage (5➼, explosive, high impact, can poison target, 1 turn cooldown, ignores line of sight, 1 AP)
Secondary attack: 1x10 biochemical damage (5➼, explosive, can slow targets, ignores line of sight, 1 AP, 1 turn cooldown)
Other abilities:
“Healing acorn” (1 AP, range: 5 tiles, leaves a cloud that heals all biological and cyborg units in it for 12 HP and removes negative status effects, lasts for 2 turns, once per battle);
“Resistance acorn” (1 AP, range: 5 tiles, leaves a cloud that grants +2 damage resistance to all friendly biological and cyborg units in it, lasts for 2 turns, 2-turn cooldown);
“Bioregeneration” (activates when HP drops below 66%, all friendly units within 2 tiles gain regeneration for 2 turns restoring HP each turn);
Therian presence;
Prime rank: +1➼

Never underestimate these little squirrels, they are much more powerful than you should think. That main attack grenade of theirs deals SO much damage especially with mods - pretty much a dvar Foreman on steroids. However, never forget that the Chemist can´t use his primary attack two times in a row, so make that attack count!
There is more speaking for the Chemist other than just raw damage output: He has a slightly weaker secondary attack he can use that has a chance to slow the targets down. Then there are also his supportive “acorns”: The “healing acorn” does what the name implies, it heals all biological and cyborg units for 12 HP and removes negative status effects in a 1 tile radius. It does so by releasing a cloud of healing gas, which lasts for 2 turns. Then there is his “Resistance acorn” which also releases a cloud of gas, only that it instead grants +2 damage resistance to all friendly biological and cyborg units within. On Prime rank the Chemist gains +1 range on all of his abilities, which is a very powerful bonus to unlock. If the Chemist gets hurt, both him and nearby allies gain the regeneration ability for 2 turns, restoring some lost HP.
Almost every faction can get a lot of use out of a Chemist: Either as a support unit that focuses on buffing and healing teammates or as indirect fire support. Especially the Assembly, Kir´ko and Amazons will get a lot of bang for their influence, since none of them uses machines which can´t be affected by the support “acorns” of the Chemist.

50💗
2 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(land)
Role: Support/ranged infantry
Main attack: 3x12 biochemical damage (7➼)


Other abilities:
“Rejuvenating Ray” (range: 5 tiles, 1 AP, once per battle, heals 30 HP on biological or cyborg unit or revives them with 50% HP);
“Growth Ray” (target unit that can evolve does so, but lose 20% damage and 1 shield and 1 armor, starts on cooldown, once per battle, 1 AP);
“Wild” (activates when HP drops below 66%, spawns in a random wildlife unit next to it);
Prime rank: Shrug off

Technically the Shepherd is a Therian unit, although he isn´t recruitable from the Therian NPC faction like all the other units in this section. Shepherds are no pushovers, let me tell you that! They have a good amount of HP and good base defense stats, while having a strong ranged attack that puts dedicated ranged unit to shame.
That´s because the Shepherd, in essence, is a support unit and not a combat unit: His “rejuvenating ray” heals a whopping 30 HP with the added utility to revive a dead biological/cyborg unit with 50% HP! “Growth Ray” is much more situational: It only works on units that can evolve into a higher tier unit (for example Hopperhounds). Affected unit transforms into the next higher evolutionary stage, but loses 20% max damage, 1 shield and 1 armor in comparison with a unit that evolved naturally. Still, if used properly that ability turns a lousy unit into a terrifying one. You will usually see Shepherds hanging around hopperhound marauder armies.

70💗
5 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(land)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 3x15 ballistic damage (high impact, chance to inflict panic on target, ignores 3 armor, hits all tiles infront of this unit)

Secondary attack: 1x22 ballistic damage (5➼, melee leaves one AP, teleports behind the target, high impact)➼
Other abilities:
“Inspiring roar” (1 AP, heals Apex 20 HP and grants +400 morale to friendly units within 3 tiles for 2 turns, 2 turn cooldown);
Stagger resistant;
“Pride” (activates when HP drops below 66%, all friendly units within 2 tiles gain 2 resistance to damage for 2 turns);
Therian Presence;
Prime rank: shrug off

Kind of fitting to have what essentially are Lions be the strongest Therian unit. They deal an INSANE amount of damage even unmodded and as if the raw damage isn’t enough already, they deal full damage on all 3 tiles that are infront of them! If you factor in the 3-armor bypass plus a chance to inflict panic you can imagine in what kind of trouble you are in if this mighty Lion is in your face. The Apex also has a jump attack similar to Hopperhounds: It deals a lot of damage, leaves 1 AP after use and essentially allows the Apex to ignore all cover that is in-between them and the target.
“Inspiring roar” of the Apex heals him for 20 HP which is great considering his reliance on melee attacks and it even gives a gigantic morale boost to allied units within THREE tiles of the Apex. If the Apex gets hurt, his “Pride” ability fires which gives him and nearby allies +2 resistance to any damage type. Overall an extremely powerful tier 4 melee juggernaut that puts many faction tier 4´s to shame. His lack of ranged attacks requires you to support him either with your faction units or by mixing in other Therian units. One of the best things of the Apex might be the fact that despite his massive damage potential he is NOT a large target, allowing you to use cover.

These odd-looking aliens are quite the glass cannons. They completely lack any armor and have a low HP, but do have mediocre shielding on their units. Since all Psi Fish deal psionic damage, they can really mess up biological and cyborg units. Most Psi-fish also come with special “bond” abilities, which give enemies various debuffs. These NPC units all float or fly, which makes them very agile and useful in naval battles. Since Psi fish are essentially psionic ghosts, they can pass through all obstacles without being slowed down and are also highly resistant to status effects. The low tier Psi fish units are very squishy and weak, meanwhile the high tier Sirens and Medusas are very powerful.

25💗
0 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Ranged infantry/throwaway unit
Main attack: 3x8 psionic damage (5➼)

Secondary attack: 1x8 psionic damage (5➼, high impact, 1-tile AoE, ignores line of sight, 1 AP, once per battle)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
Small target;
Ethereal (can pass through walls; Arc, Ballistic, Thermal and Biochemical status effect immunity)

The most basic Psi-fish unit. The Chrysalis has almost no HP and only 1 shield, which makes it extremely vulnerable to damage. Their ranged attack only has a range of 5 tiles and deals only minor damage. Thankfully there still is the secondary AoE attack that inflicts high impact stagger and ignores line of sight, basically a long-range psionic grenade. Unfortunately, this ability can only be used a single time, which really limits the usefulness of Chrysalises. Overall, much more of a throwaway unit than a worthy unit for core armies. Since the Chrysalis is considered a small target, it at least is a bit harder to hit. Make sure to keep it in cover, else they will get hopelessly slaughtered. If you somehow managed to keep them alive till they hit prime rank, they will evolve into a Spawn.

35💗
0 ▌ ▌
2👅
40👢(floating)
Role: Ranged infantry
Main attack: 3x10 psionic damage (5➼)


Other abilities:
“fascinating bond” (7➼, 3 AP, 3-turn cooldown, chance to fascinate target which prevents it from using abilities);
Prime rank: evolve;
Small target;
Ethereal

Only slightly stronger than the Chrysalis. The ranged damage is a bit higher, but the Spawn lacks the psionic grenade attack that it´s smaller brother has. To make up for it the Spawn has the first ability in the series of the bonds, which has a good chance to “fascinate” the target unit. If this succeeds, the affected unit is unable to use ANY abilities for the duration of the bond. Do keep in mind though, that the moment the Spawn is staggered the bond with the enemy unit ends - don´t be caught with your pants down! Finally, the Spawn is also considered a small target, making it harder to hit. This in combination with slightly more HP and 2 shields make it a worthy addition to your less important army - they still aren’t good enough to be used in your elite armies in my opinion. This unit evolves into a Hunter on prime rank.

35💗
0 ▌ ▌
3👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x12 psionic damage (melee, high impact, heals for 6 HP if used on a non-mindless unit)

Other abilities: “Captivating Bond” (7➼, 3 AP, 3-turn cooldown, chance to inflict captivated which immobilizes the target and prevents it from using abilities);
prime rank: evolve;
ethereal;
far sight

Still a lackluster unit, the Hunter at least fills the niche of aerial melee unit so it can be useful occasionally. In comparison with the Spawn the Hunter has a stronger shield and deals more damage, but to offset this he lacks a ranged attack. That ranged attack is replaced with a psionic melee attack, which is particularly nasty since that attack bypasses all shields and all armor. As if that wasn´t enough, the Hunter is also healed for 6 HP each time it hits an enemy with this - unless it’s a mindless enemy. The Hunter´s bond is slightly more powerful than that of the Spawn, since it also immobilizes the target if it succeeds - it doesn´t just shut it down. Again, if this unit is staggered the bond with the enemy unit is gone. If you managed to reach prime rank with them, they evolve into the MUCH more powerful Siren, so try to keep Hunters alive!

45💗
0 ▌ ▌
3👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Airforce
Main attack: 3x12 psionic damage (7➼, chance to inflict broken mind)
Other abilities:
“Enticing Bond” (7➼, 3 AP, chance to inflict enticed which makes the unit spend all its AP to run towards the Siren; 3-turn cooldown);
“Impregnate” (3 AP, range: 1 tile, target biological/cyborg unit goes into panic and runs away randomly for 2 turns, if it doesn’t die or the effect isn’t removed the unit dies and is replaced by a friendly Chrysalis);
ethereal;
cumbersome;
far sight;
stagger resistant;
prime rank: +1➼

The first Psi-fish unit I actually enjoy using. The ranged attack finally has a normal range and deals a nice chunk of damage with a chance to inflict broken mind. The Siren also has the HP and shields to back it up, so it can actually survive a direct confrontation with an enemy unit - I would still recommend to keep them away from powerful high tier units (especially those with shields bypass/overload mods!).
The bond ability of the Siren is much more powerful than that of it´s smaller cousins: Instead of immobilizing the target enemy, the enemy instead is brainwashed and will run towards the Siren as far as he can. This pares really good with the “impregnate” ability the Siren can use on adjacent biological/cyborg units. The affected unit will become panicked and if this effect isn’t removed the affected unit will die after 2 turns, turning into a Chrysalis you keep after the battle. The Siren is flying, which gives it a good line of sight on the battlefield, unfortunately it does have a slower movement speed due to cumbersome. Finally, the max range of the Siren is increased by +1 on prime rank, which helps the Siren to stay out of fights it can´t win.

50💗
0 ▌ ▌
6👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Support/tank
Main attack: 3x12 psionic damage (7➼, chance to inflict broken mind)
Secondary attack:


Other abilities:
“Cycle of rebirth” (1➼, once per battle, 1 AP, target dead psi-fish unit is revived as a chrysalis); “Nurturing Bond” (5➼, 3 AP, target friendly non-mechanical unit heals 40% HP at the end of its turn and gains +2 resistance to all damage, 2 turn cooldown);
defense mode: shields up;
cumbersome;
far sight;
large target;
ethereal;
prime rank: evasive;
maternal rage (damage increase each time a psi fish units is slain)

In terms of raw damage, the Medusa is quite disappointing. The ranged attack is identical to that of the Siren - buying Medusas just for combat purposes is pretty much pointless. In terms of defense stats, the Medusa is tankier than the Siren with twice as much shield and slightly more HP. So, what is the Medusa good at? Support abilities!
You should mostly be looking at “nurturing bond”, which is the only bond that is used on friendly units. This ability grants +2 resistance to all damage and a 40% HP regeneration for the affected unit - a massive buff, but do keep in mind that machines cannot be affected by this. “Cycle of rebirth” is the other support ability of the Medusa, giving you a weak revive ability that gives you a dead psi fish unit back, as a Chrysalis unfortunately… Other abilities also include maternal rage, which increases the Medusas damage each time a psi fish unit is killed, the Medusa is considered a large target and has a slow movement in combat. Overall, only worth it if you use this unit for the “nurturing bond”, otherwise I would stick with cheaper Sirens.

These psychopaths survived the cataclysm by robbing and killing innocents and are effectively the strongest marauder faction in the game - also the only one you can have diplomacy with. Spacer units deal a LOT of burst damage and many of their unit can also take quite a beating. You can see this by looking at their machines that look like they have been built by raiding a scrapyard … because that’s exactly what happened. Spacers also use effigies to boost their damage output. Effigies are totems that are spawned by killing Spacer units, that choose a random allied unit and gives it a substantial damage boost. The Effigies itself are easily destroyed and should be taken out quickly if it´s a drawn out battle. If you can finish the fight quickly focusing on the remaining enemies is a better idea. Overall a faction you can´t really go wrong with.

50💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Melee infantry
Main attack: 3x11 Kinetic damage (melee, high impact)



Other abilities:
“Berserk chemicals” (FREE action, 4 turn cooldown, this unit gains fast movement, massive impact and +25% damage for 2 turns);
Prime rank: morale

Well, I DID say the spacers are psychopaths and they´ve officially admitted it now! The psycho is a straight forward to use melee unit that has a pretty high HP for a low tier infantry unit, but lacks armor protection and any sort of faster movement. The damage output is nothing to scoff at and the damage is increased a lot with “berserk chemicals”, a FREE action which boosts damage by +25% and allows the Psycho to inflict massive impact. So apart from dealing more damage, the Psycho now can also go toe-to-toe with strong tier 3 melee units, unless those are stagger immune. Psychos are a good bodyguard for your ranged units, but since they lack any ranged capability, they get trashed by flying units. Only recommended if you want dedicated melee units in your army.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Strike unit/Throwaway unit
Main attack: 1x18 kinetic damage (7➼, 1 AP)

Secondary attack: 1x22 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, charge, 2-turn cooldown, 1 AP)
Other abilities:
1x20 explosive damage (this unit suicides which results in an explosion that also deals high impact);
stagger resistant;
“Unstable construction” (upon death this unit explodes dealing damage to all adjacent units);
prime rank: bypass cover

The AI LOVES to buy and spam these things, for good reason mind you. The Truck may not have a lot of HP, but it does have decent armor and deals a lot of damage with it´s attack. A base damage of 18 kinetic damage is pretty nasty on a range of 7 tiles, quite similar to the cannon of a hero APC. The Truck also has a powerful ram ability it can use every 3 turns, which deals even more damage than the ranged attack - but that also usually dooms the vehicle.
Other abilities include a suicide attack of the Truck I would only ever use if it´s going to die anyways, which deals a nice chunk of damage do all units adjacent to it. Due to “unstable construction” the Truck will always explode on death, so it´s questionable whether or not the suicide attack is even worth it at all. The tuck itself is stagger resistant and at prime rank it´s ranged attacks ignore penalties from cover - nasty! Overall a glass cannon: They are destroyed super-fast and they definitely should be focused down fast as well, just because of how much damage even unmodded trucks can dish out. Regarding your own usage: I would either use them as unmodded throwaway units or for factions without good ranged units as a ranged fighter.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Airforce
Main attack: 3x8 thermal damage (7➼)

Secondary attack: 1x20 thermal damage (7➼, 3 AP, explosive, can inflict burning)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
crash down;
prime rank: critical

The “gunship” of the Spacers. It´s way inferior to most faction aircraft in terms of raw damage output, a repeating attack that does a base of 8 thermal damage just isn´t that good. The Hellcopter does come with a decent amount of HP and armor for a flying unit, which along with the evade boost flying units get allows the Hellcopter to survive some light fire.
The secondary attack of the Hellcopter is a bit stronger thankfully. It has more range than all secondary attacks of other aircraft, but it does need 3 AP to be fired. What it does is shoot a barrel with gasoline in it, which explodes upon impact dealing massive damage with a chance to set the targets on fire. If the Hellcopter is destroyed, it damages the unit right under it similar to the Vanguard Gunship.

60💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(water)
Role: Navy
Main attack: 3x13 thermal damage (7➼, chance to inflict burning)

Other abilities: “Launch Tar Barrel” (2-9➼ ignores line of sight, 1-tile AoE, targets have thermal resistance reduced and are inflicted with slow);
“Boarding” (1➼, 1 AP, attempts to take control of target mechanical ship unit, 2-turn cooldown); stagger resistant;
“Unstable construction”;
prime rank: +1➼

The only NPC ship in the entire game, the Junk ship actually isn´t a junk unit at all! It has a pretty high HP and a decent armor, a powerful ranged attack that can set the targets on fire and is overall just a well-built ship that can serve many different roles. The Junk Ship has a secondary attack that doesn´t deal damage itself, but that coats the affected enemies in tar, which reduces their thermal resistance and slows them down - a fantastic combination with other Junk Ships or Vanguard Frigates.
A very fun ability of the Junk ship is it´s “boarding” ability, which attempts to take control of an adjacent mechanical ship unit - that´s devastating if it works on a high tier Vanguard and Dvar ship! The junk ship explodes upon death due to “unstable construction” and gains +1 range when on prime rank, making it even better than before.

70💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Living Tank
Main attack: 3x12 biochemical damage (7➼, removes 1 armor per hit)
Secondary attack: 1x16 biochemical damage (1➼; 1 AP; removes 1 armor, affects units infront of the Melter)

Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
prime rank: shrug off

The elite infantry of the Spacers. They have a LOT of HP and a good armor protection - both without being slowed down in combat! Their ranged attack deals a good amount of biochemical damage on normal engagement range - it also removes 1 armor on a full hit. If you combine this with the armor melt mod of the Amazons and Kir´ko the Melter could melt 2 armor with each hit which is absolutely insane.
The secondary attack affects the area infront of the Melter, dealing a good chunk of damage on the units it hits as well as removing 1 armor. Finally, the Melter is stagger resistant himself. Overall a really powerful unit even unmodded, I really do consider them to be a Living Tank. With mods these guys are often better than racial tier 3 units!

65💗
2 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢 (land)
Role: Tank
Main attack: 1x22 psionic damage (8➼, chance to inflict insanity)



Other abilities:
“Brand of the Effigy” (7➼, 1 AP, target enemy is 20% easier to hit and leaves an Effigy upon death); “Effigy Hysterics” (FREE action, 2-turn cooldown, all effigies now increase damage by 45% for 3 turns);
Stagger resistant;
“unstable construction”;
ardent brand (all units in this army leave behind an effigy upon death);
“Power Vacuum” (if the Mad Preacher dies friendly Psychos and Melters gain “Power Grip” ability, which transforms them into a Mad Preacher if used on the corpse of this unit);
Prime rank: morale

The final spacer unit, the Mad Preacher kind of follows the same high burst damage principle of the low tier truck. It deals an insane amount of damage with its main attack: A base 22 psionic attack easily kills off any unit without shields or psionic resistance if it´s already slightly hurt - with mods they can one-shot many low tier infantry units with that! As if the raw damage wasn´t enough, the Mad Preacher can also use this attack on a longer range of 8 tiles and it even has a good chance to inflict insanity on the affected unit. That combines really well, since the insane unit will usually be far away from your own units, causing it to attack it´s allies.
The Mad Preacher also comes with a debuff it can inflict on enemy units, called “brand of the effigy” - this causes the enemy to be 20% easier to hit and to leave behind an effigy upon death for your own forces to use. Speaking of effigies, the “effigy hysterics” is an ability that increases the damage bonus all effigies on the battlefield give your units. But that’s not all! Due to “unstable construction”, all adjacent units get damaged if the Mad Preacher dies. If the Mad Preacher dies, all friendly Psychos and Melters gain the “power grip” ability, which transforms them into a Mad preacher if it´s used on the corpse of the unit - his legacy lives on! Finally, all units in the Mad Preachers army leave behind an effigy upon death thanks to “ardent brand”. A fantastic damage dealing tier 4, which has decent defense stats and a good amount of HP.

These old service robots have received some serious upgrades during the 200 years that happened since the cataclysm. Autonoms have a strong emphasis on thermal damage which makes them a bit inflexible against enemies resistant to that. Since they are machines, they are all resistant to psionic damage, but very weak against arc damage. One unique thing about Autonoms is that they can network friendly machines, granting them increasingly more powerful bonuses like arc resistance, stagger resistance and more. All Autonom units are immune to flanking and most of them have a very good range. I would pass up on Sentinels and Golems for the most part, the real strength of the Autonoms are their Monitors, Justicars and Network Controllers.

30💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Main "infantry"
Main attack: 3x8 thermal damage 7➼)


Other abilities:
“Calculate targeting parameters” (3 AP, once per battle, accuracy and crit chance increases by 10%); “omnidirectional camera” (overwatch in all directions);
all-around awareness;
superior overwatch;
mindless;
prime rank: +1➼

Basically the main infantry of the Autonoms, the Sentinel is kind of weak without the networking bonuses. They have a good armor protection for a tier 1 unit, but they have a meager 30 HP making them easy prey for any coordinated attack. Their own attack deals a decent amount of thermal damage, although nothing outstanding - at least it has a good range.
A unique ability of the Sentinel are it´s “calculate targeting parameters”, which requires 3 AP to use. While that´s a lot of AP for a meager +10% accuracy and +10% crit chance, do keep in mind this affects all units that are currently networked together! Be aware that any unit can only be affected by this ability once per battle, so make it count in the big fights! Finally, the Sentinel has a very powerful overwatch with increased damage output and since the Sentinel has “omnidirectional camera” the overwatch triggers in any direction. Upon reaching prime rank, the Sentinel gains +1 range.

40💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Melee "infantry"
Main attack: 3x13 explosive damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x20 explosive damage (high impact, hits all tiles next to the Golem)

Other abilities:
defense mode: hyper armor;
all around awareness;
prime rank; shrug off;
mindless;
stagger resistant

These big boys have a very powerful armor and decent HP for their tier, allowing them to take a lot of punishment from non-arc attacks. The Golem is a dedicated melee unit: His melee attack is of the explosive nature, allowing you to surprise your enemy with some nasty mods if you use Golems as the dvar. Even without fancy mods, that is still a LOT of damage you deal on a repeating attack. Meanwhile the Golem also offers an AoE attack, which deals a nice chunk of explosive damage around the unit - just make sure not to accidently hit your own units with that! Other than that, the Golem is immune to flanking, stagger resistant and gains +2 armor while on defence. A good pick if you want a dedicated melee unit, otherwise pass up on it.

30💗
1 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Support
Main attack: 3x6 thermal damage (9➼)
Other abilities:
“Initialize connections” (3 AP, once per battle, if removed all units connected have a chance to be stunned, else they are staggered, connects all machines and gives increasingly more powerful bonuses when several Monitors use this);
“Transmit Repair Nanites” (3 AP, heals all networked units for 10 HP, once per battle);
all around awareness;
far sight;
prime rank: bypass cover;
mindless

Without doubt my favorite Autonom unit, just because that “initialize connection” buff they can give all your machines is very powerful. That ability takes the Monitor out of the fight for a turn and can only be used once by a single monitor - but it´s still worth it! Removing arc weakness from your machines is often a live safer, but increased damage output, more stagger impact and stagger resistance can go a long way as well! The only drawback of this ability is that it makes all your machines vulnerable to the “unexpected disconnect” debuff if the Monitor is destroyed - that has a chance to stun your machines, if resisted they are staggered.
“Transmit Repair Nanites” is another ability that completely takes the Monitor out of the turn, but it does heal all networked units including the Monitor for 10 HP. Frankly not a whole lot, but since the Monitor is so weak at fighting on its own you might as well use it. That brings us to it´s only real weakness in my opinion: The Monitor deals next to no damage with its primary attack - strong armored or shielded units are almost untouchable by Monitors. The attack has a sniper range, but that´s only really useful for provoking the AI to rush you. Overall a very useful unit for the Vanguard and Dvar, while Shakarn, Syndicate and Oathbound can get good uses out of them as well. Don´t use them with the Kir´ko or Amazons though.

60💗
2 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Long-range fire support
Main attack: 1x20 explosive damage (2-11➼; high impact, explosive)


Other abilities:
“Sentence target” (11➼, target is 15% easier to hit and has -2 resistance to all damage);
all around awareness;
Prime rank: +1➼;
mindless

My 2nd most favorite unit of the Autonom, the Justicar gives you a powerful explosive attack on a huge range every 2 turns. Really, an unmodded 20 explosive damage isn’t something to be underestimated, especially because it can be shot from across the map. As already mentioned, the one drawback of the Justicars attack is that it can only fire that missile every 2 turns, which is why its best to keep it in the back.
Don´t let this fool you though, the Justicar has a neat debuff ability it can use on the same ridiculous range: “Sentence target”. Making the target 15% easier to hit is already good, but the -2 resistance to all damage really is a death sentence if you got a good line of sight on the target. The Justicar can take quite a bit of punishment before going down, but again it´s best to keep them in the back since they are defenseless after shooting their missile for a turn. On prime rank the already great range is buffed by another +1 range.

60💗
4 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Heavy Tank/Support
Main attack: 3x14 thermal damage (9➼)


Other abilities:
“Initialize connections”;
“Shield projection” (3 AP, once per battle, all networked units gain 4 shields for 2 turns);
“Contact Technical Support” (1➼, 3 AP, 3-turn cooldown, spawns a random Autonom unit);
all around awareness;
cumbersome;
large target;
far sight;
prime rank: +1➼;
mindless

Pretty much a Monitor on steroids. The “initialize connection” is identical to the Monitor, but since this is a tier 4 unit buying it just for this is a waste of influence. The real game changer is the fact that the Network Controller deals an insane amount of thermal damage on a long range, more than twice of that of the Monitor.
Another fantastic thing about the Network Controller is the “Shield projection” ability, which gives all networked units a massive +4 shields buff for 2 turns. If you are in need of some cannon fodder you can also summon a random Autonom unit with “contact technical support”. Other abilities include cumbersome, large target and at prime rank the Network Controller gains +1 range. For your elite armies an overall worthy investment, at least for the machine heavy Dvar and Vanguard - if you don´t need influence for anything else that is. For regular armies a Monitor should be more than enough.

The Growth features a unique type of units: Plants. Plant units are quite resistant to arc damage but very weak against thermal damage, keep this in mind if you want to pick up Growth units. The Growth relies heavily on chemical damage, which makes them easy to deal with if you can get your hands on mods that grant biochemical resistance. Overall, I gotta say that the Growth has the WORST NPC units out there, with the exception of it´s soldier and worker bees who are cheap and effective frontline units. But I would still recommend to give them a try and see for yourself, maybe you find some ways to get more uses out of them than I did…

30💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Support/melee fighter
Main attack: 3x9 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, restores 3 HP on hit)

Other abilities:
“Regenerative pollution” (1 AP, restores 20 HP on friendly biological or cyborg unit, 3-turn cooldown); Prime rank: ignore overwatch

The most basic Growth unit. Worker Bees are very cheap to buy and give you an aerial melee unit, giving you a pretty big advantage against enemy ground melee units since most of them won´t be able to fight back. Do keep in mind though that the raw damage output isn´t very outstanding. As if this wasn´t enough, you will have a pretty hard time getting your worker bees into the enemies face in the first place considering the low HP and armor of them - the HP regen on their melee attack does nothing if you can´t even REACH your opponent.
Thankfully there is another use of worker bees if you don’t want to use them as cheap cannon fodder. It´s their healing ability called “regenerative pollution” which restores 20 HP on an adjacent friendly biological/cyborg unit”. Sure 20 HP isn’t that outstanding considering its limited by unit type, but it´s one of the few healing abilities that recharges. Still, buying them just for their mediocre healing usually isn´t worth paying influence for since you could just build your racial support units instead. At prime rank the Worker Bee ignores overwatch attacks.

45💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Airforce
Main attack: 3x10 biochemical damage (7➼, removes 1 armor on hit)

Secondary attack: 3x11 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, restores 3 Hp on hit)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: ignore overwatch

The Soldier Bee has more HP in comparison with the Worker Bee giving it much needed survivability, its melee attack deals good damage and it has a potent ranged attack that melts 1 armor on a full hit. That is a lot more firepower considering the Soldier Bee is only a little bit more expensive than it´s Worker brethren. They lack a healing ability, sure, but that should be covered by your heroes or racial support units anyways.
Just like the Worker Bee they get “ignore overwatch” on prime rank, which is great considering the Soldier Bee is quite a powerhouse in melee combat for a low tier flying unit.
A fantastic mod for a Soldier Bee is the chemical weapons mod that removes 1 armor on hit - this STACKS with it´s regular armor melting ability on the ranged attack, allowing it to melt 2 armor per hit. That´s absolutely insane especially against the armored beasts Vanguard and Dvar players will throw at you … if you got access to biochemical mods that is. For that you need to play Amazons or Kir´ko if you want to get the maximum potential out of your Soldier Bees.

45💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(amphibious)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 3x12 ballistic damage (melee, high impact, chance to entangle target)
Other abilities:
“Spawn Vine Sprout” (1➼, 1 AP spawns a disposable unit that has a good melee attack but cannot move on its own without using a tunnel ability);
defense mode: plant roots (+2 armor and 6 HP regeneration);
stagger resistant;
all around awareness;
prime rank: shrug off

Considering the cost of these things they just aren’t worth it at all. Their HP is on par with other tier 2 units, but their armor is just not strong enough for a tier 2 melee unit. Being shackled completely to melee combat is probably their biggest weakness. Flying units can bombard vine buds without a care in the world and since the Vine Bud is quite squishy even tier 1 basic infantry can take them out before they become a real threat.
If you somehow managed to get them into the face of an enemy … congratulations? Most racial or secret tech melee units are much better since they have useful secondary attacks or even a mid-range backup attack. To be fair, the Vine bud does actually have a utility ability, that being the “Spawn vine sprout” ability. This is quite similar to the Assembly Construct … just that its even squishier and immobile – it can only move with the tunneling ability, which eats up its AP upon use. What is completely killing this unit’s usefulness are the Growths Soldier Bees, however. These have a powerful ranged attack, a potent melee attack, they fly and most important: They are cheaper. Just never bother with this trash unit.

60💗
1 ▌ ▌
3👅
32👢(Amphibious)
Role: Fire Support
Main attack: 3x10 biochemical damage (7➼, chance to inflict allergic reaction which)

Secondary attack: 1x12 biochemical damage (5➼, 1 AP; 3-turn cooldown, explosive, chance to inflict poison and allergic reaction)
Other abilities:
"Phermone Spray" (5➼, chance to mind-control enemy biolgical/cyborg unit)
Defense mode: Plant roots;
stagger resistant;
cumbersome;
large target;
all around awareness;
prime rank: shrug off

A more useful version of the Vine Bud I guess? For their price, they have a pretty lousy regular attack in terms of damage output and while “allergic reaction” is a potent debuff it´s still RNG you rely on – most of the time higher base damage is better. But it is a ranged attack after all, so it´s certainly more useful and versatile than the melee shackled Vine Buds.
The Secondary attack of the Flowering node allows it to lob a biochemical artillery shell on a medium range – since it´s a single hit ability the “allergic reaction” debuff is much more likely to trigger, which allows for nasty combo attacks. The Flowering Node also has a convert ability, allowing for situational mind controlling of enemy infantry. Not terrible, but is that worth this price? No, you dont get to keep the units after battle. Soldier Bees are still a LOT better and much cheaper as well. Keep in mind that the Flowering Node is considered a large target is also pretty slow in combat due to “cumbersome”.

60💗
5 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(amphibious)
Role: Living Tank/Artillery
Main attack 3x14 biochemical damage (7➼, chance to inflict allergic reaction)


Secondary attack: 3x15 biochemical damage (2-7➼, ignores line of sight, explosive, high impact, chance to inflict allergic reaction and slow)
Other abilities:
“Regenerative Pollen Deluge”(all adjacent biological/cyborg units have negative status effects removed and regenerate 16 HP at the start of their turn for 2 turns, 3 AP);
Defense mode: Plant roots;
stagger immune;
cumbersome;
all-around awareness;
large target;
prime rank: shrug off

Probably the only plant unit of the Growth that’s actually worth using. The ranged attack finally deals a considerable amount of damage – not on par with other tier 4s, but still a nice chunk of damage. The Secondary attack is a scaled up version of that of the Flowering node: Additional damage, ignores line of sight and with a chance to inflict allergic reaction. In addition, this attack has a chance to inflict slow as well. Probably the best thing about this secondary artillery attack is that it´s actually a repeating attack!
While the Seed Cluster is slow in combat and an easy target due to its size, it´s definitely a unit that can curb stomp entire armies if properly supported – the raw AoE damage puts in a lot of work and the additional debuffs make it even better. If you even want to call it a weakness in the first place, the max range of that artillery attack is inferior to most other dedicated artillery units. The Seed Cluster also has a support ability, the “regenerative pollen deluge”, which heals all negative status effects of affected biological/Cyborg units and gives them a massive HP recovery for 2 turns. My final verdict: Extremly expensive and hard to unlock considering how awful the tier 2 Growth units are – but worth it if your army lacks a true heavy hitter.

The Paragon offer a solid mix of good units and good mods which makes them one of my favorite factions to befriend. Their early units are cheap and effective, although they lack meaningful special abilities – if you don´t overcharge them. You can do this by using the corresponding ability of a Fanatic, a Techno Prophet or by equipping them with a late game mod you unlock at integration level. Overcharged units gain a damage increase, their damage channel changes from kinetic to arc damage and they gain other great abilities, including “inflict stun” on their attacks. The Paragon offer both melee and ranged focused factions something, but in order to use them to their full potential you need to spend quite a bit of influence on buying Fanatics and/or Techno Prophets.

40💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Main infantry
Main attack: 3x9 kinetic damage (7➼)

Secondary attack: 1x8 explosive damage (3➼, explosive, high impact, ignores line of sight, 2-turn cooldown)
Other abilities:
“Imperial Augments” (can be overcharged by a Fanatic/Techno Prophet which increases damage, changes damage channel to arc and gives other additional abilities);
Overwatch;
mindless;
prime rank: +1➼

These guys are pretty much identical to Vanguard Troopers. They deal the same damage and have the same range, while their secondary grenade allows you to stagger your enemies, to get rid of cover or to deal damage to several enemies at once. The Soldier also comes with “overwatch”, allowing you to set up kill zones against enemy melee units.
Really, the “imperial augments” are what differentiate the Soldier from the Trooper. If overcharged, the Soldier out damages the Trooper and gains inflict stun on BOTH the assault rifle AND the grenade. On prime rank the Soldier gains +1 range, giving him an edge against other ranged units. Overall I really like the Soldier: He is very cheap which makes him replaceable and he offers factions without ranged infantry to fill this gap. Pretty much the only faction that should pass up soldiers is the Vanguard, since they can just produce Troopers. Despite having good core infantry, the Syndicate might find Soldiers useful as well in order to deal with enemies that resist arc damage.

45💗
2 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(land)
Role: Melee Infantry
Main attack: 3x12 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x16 arc damage (melee, high impact, knockback light units, goes into defense mode afterwards, 1 AP, 3-turn cooldown)
Other abilities:
“Imperial Augments”;
“Energy Shield” (when flanked this unit has -2 shields);
mindless;
prime rank: firm

The Guards fill the melee branch of the Paragon. They are still very cheap and give factions that lack dedicated melee units something to fill that gap. That´s perfect for the Vanguard which completely lacks faction melee units (except for summons) – in return the Soldiers are quite useless to the Vanguard.
Apart from an average melee attack the Guard also has a secondary shield charge attack, which deals a nice chunk of arc damage, which knocks light units back and which puts the Guard into defense after use. In terms of defense stats, the Guard doesn’t need to fear open combat against other melee units, but shouldn´t pick fights with tier 3 melee units of the enemy since he lacks stagger resistance. “Energy Shield” is a unique debuff the Guard has, which means that he has -2 shields if flanked – similar to the “exposed flanks” certain other units have.

35💗
0 ▌ ▌
3👅
32👢(land)
Role: Support
Main attack: 3x8 arc damage (5➼)


Other abilities:
“Overdrive” (5➼, activates the imperial augments of another paragon unit);
“Activate Phase Augment” (3➼, FREE action, short range teleport to target location, 3-turn cooldown);
defense mode: evasion; “targeting jammers” (25% harder to hit with ranged attacks); prime rank: evasive

These guys have a very specific role, that being a support for other Paragon units. His trademark “overdrive” ability activates the imperial augments of another paragon unit, which increases their attack strength, changes their damage channel to arc and gives them other neat abilities, including inflict stun. In addition, the Fanatic also comes with a free action teleport ability, allowing him to either move a bit further or teleport into a better firing position to fire his pistol from…
Yep, all he has for dealing damage is a flimsy arc pistol that only deals a small amount of damage on a medium range. The Fanatic also has a very low HP for a tier 2 unit but he does have a decent shield – add defense mode “evasion” and targeting jammers (which reduce hit chance of ranged attacks by another 25%) and the Fanatic can take more punishment than you should think at first.
Unlucky RNG, AoE weapons, very precise enemy ranged units or enemy melee units will annihilate the Fanatic really quick. I personally dislike Fanatics: Most of their usefulness comes from their overdrive ability, which gets obsolete once you unlock Techno Prophets who do it much better or unlock the late game mod for paragon units, which allows them to overcharge themselves. At that point its completely pointless to use Fanatics anymore – before that only use them in stacks that have at least 2 other Paragon units.

60💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Tank
Main attack: 3x10 kinetic damage (7➼)
Secondary attack: 1x16 explosive damage (2-9➼, explosive, FREE action, massive impact, 1-turn cooldown)
Other abilities:
“Imperial Augments”;
cumbersome;
large target;
stagger resistant;
prime rank: overwatch

He is what the name implies: The heavy hitter of the Paragon. He basically is a weaker version of the Vanguard Walker in terms of raw damage if he isn’t overcharged, at least when talking about his main attack. The Secondary Missile attack is very similar if not even identical to that of the Vanguard Walker, allowing for good ranged crowd control or to damage several enemies at once.
The Heavy Soldier has the large target and the cumbersome drawback, making him a pretty slow and easy to hit unit – he shines in defensive situations or if you can attack after stepping out of cover, but is weaker if you have to move a lot before attacking. Overall a better version of the regular Paragon Soldier if you want a long-range attacker or a powerful defensive unit.
As mentioned several times the Heavy Soldier really is something like a slightly weaker Vanguard Walker if he didn´t get overcharged, at which point you get a missile attack that can inflict stun – make them a priority if you only have Fanatics to overcharge your Paragon units. I personally wouldn´t bother with them if you play Vanguard: Your Walkers deal more damage and have high impact on their primary attack and considering how hard influence is to come by you can build more Walkers than you could ever buy Heavy Soldiers (it´s a different story if you don’t bother with Walkers and Drone Carriers). You should also not buy them if you play the Dvar: Their Bulwarks are cheap to mass-produce late-game and their main attack is actually STRONGER than that of the Heavy Soldier.

60💗
2 ▌ ▌
6👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Support/Tank
Main attack: 3x14 arc damage (7➼)

Secondary attack: 1x24 arc damage (12➼, 3 AP, starts on 3-turn cooldown, oncer per battle, deals damage in a 2 hex radius which is reduced the further away it is from the central tile, all affected units are staggered)
Other abilities:
“Call in Reinforcements” (1➼, 3 AP, 6-turn cooldown, spawns in a friendly paragon unit);
“Overdrive Field” (3 AP, 3-turn cooldown, all friendly units have their imperial augments activated for 2 turns);
defense mode: shields up;
cumbersome;
large target;
stagger immune;
prime rank: +1➼

The big boss of the Paragon. I really do like to think of them being a general, leading hordes of troops into battle, which is probably because of his awesome “overdrive field” ability to overcharge ALL friendly paragon units on the entire battlefield. That ability alone makes him dwarf the Fanatics, who become next to useless once you get access to Techno Prophets. His other support ability is “call in reinforcement”, allowing him to spawn in an unmodded, unexperienced Paragon unit.
In terms of offensive and defensive stats the Techno Prophet isn’t a pushover either! His powerful shield protects him from the worst damage and its even stronger while on defense, but his weak armor (for tier 4 standards) does make him vulnerable to melee units. His own ranged attack deals a massive amount of arc damage on normal range, while his secondary attack allows him to obliterate a 2-hex area around the target with a powerful lightning blast. Do keep in mind that this attack is both a once per battle ability and that it can´t be fired for the first 3 turns of the fight. Finally, the Techno Prophet is slow in combat and an easy target due to being so large.
Overall probably my favorite NPC tier 4 of them all, just because of his immense synergy with his low tier soldiers, guards and heavy soldiers. He truly unlocks the potential of the Paragon and even if you use him as a standalone unit without support of other paragon units he can still summon a throwaway unit for you, dish out a ton of damage and tank a decent amount of damage himself. Like all tier 4s, he does have a hefty price though, but if you want to get a tier 4 NPC unit at all, then spent it here.

You should not make the mistake to forget about these guys, they deal a nasty amount of damage with their entropy attacks. Almost nothing in the game resists entropy damage, which guarantees you a high damage output against any unit that doesn´t have a very tough armor or shield – latter is less effective against the forgotten due to one of their mods that allows entropy ranged attacks to ignore ALL shields! Generally, the Forgotten units also have some sort of life steal ability, granting them some HP upon a successful kill as well as an essence charge. Essence is quite important to the Forgotten, not just in their lore – if you don’t play heritor, you can still play around with essence charges with the Forgotten, which grants you some nice bonus damage without having to invest into expensive mods.

40💗
1 ▌ ▌
1👅
40👢(floating)
Role: Throwaway unit
Main attack: 3x8 entropy damage (melee, high impact, chance to inflict energy drain, heals 8 HP and gains an essence charge upon kill)

Secondary attack: 1x15 entropy damage (unit kills itself damaging all units around it, high impact, chance to inflict energy drain)
Other abilities:
Resurgence;
prime rank: ignore overwatch

The Forgotten equivalent of the normal Drained which heritor players get to use. The Desolate is a melee focused unit – he has no ranged attack at all. That melee attack doesn’t do THAT much damage, but the Desolate does have resurgence to make up for it. You can use it as a very disposable distraction unit or just outright use their suicide ability to deal some burst damage – you get it back regardless after the battle … if you won. Overall I prefer the Drained over the Desolate any day, but the Desolate has his uses don´t get me wrong. Thankfully the other Forgotten units are less forgettable than the Desolate. 

45💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Ranged Fighter
Main attack: 1x18 entropy damage (7➼, chance to inflict energy drain, heals for 8 HP and gains an essence charge upon kill)

Secondary attack: 1x14 entropy damage (5➼, 3 AP, high impact, deals damage in a 1-hex AoE, chance to inflict energy drain, requires and consumes 1 essence charge, ignores line of sight)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
Prime rank: shrug off

The Golem might be the basic Forgotten unit, but he already packs a very powerful punch. I mean it, that single hit 18 BASE entropy attack deals SO much damage it allows a pair of 2 Golems to instant-kill most low tier units on one turn – since it has a normal range, you can keep the Golem out of harm’s way as well. Because of its attack power, the HP regen and +1 essence charge upon killing a unit is quite noticeable with the Golem.
As if this powerful combat capability paired with decent armor and HP wasn´t enough, then the Golem has another surprise waiting for you! An artillery attack which requires 3 AP and only has a medium range, but that deals a lot of damage, hits in a 1-tile AoE and staggers the targets. To use this ability, the Golem needs to have at least 1 essence charge – that´s nothing if you look at the damage and utility this attack gives you. The cherry on top is stagger resistance for free. Probably the strongest unit you can buy right out of the gate from dwellings, you can´t really go wrong with Golems at all.

50💗
2 ▌ ▌
1👅
40👢(land)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x12 entropy (melee, energy drain, heals for 8 HP and gains an essence charge upon kill)

Secondary attack: 1x18 entropy damage (3➼, chance to inflict energy drain, heals for 8 HP upon kill and gains an essence charge upon kill, 1 AP)
Other abilities:
“Rot Emanation” 1x13 entropy damage (1➼, 1 AP, requires and consumes 1 essence charge, deals damage in a 3 hex cone, has a high chance to inflict energy drain);
stagger resistant;
prime rank: Ignore overwatch

In my opinion a less useful version of the Golem. The Serpion has identical defense stats (difference being less armor but more shields) and only a tiny bit of extra HP. To be fair though, the Serpion costs the same as the Golem, just that it´s a friendship level purchase. So what are the exact differences between them? Well, the Serpion has a much weaker ranged attack due to its range being MUCH lower.
To make up for it, the Serpion comes with a powerful entropy melee attack effectively turning this unit into a melee unit with a ranged attack – this is also how I would classify them. Other abilities include a third “breath” attack that deals a good amount of entropy damage in a cone infront of the Serpion, which requires 1 essence charge to be used. At prime rank the Serpion gains “ignore overwatch” which allows it to close the gap between it and enemy ranged units or to pick a fight with a tier 3 melee unit. If you need a melee unit a good purchase, also very cheap for a friendship level purchase allowing you to quickly get to integration level with the Forgotten if that is your goal.

55💗
2 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Ranged fighter
Main attack: 1x10 entropy damage (7➼, very high chance to enter a corrupt communion with an enemy which damages it for 8 entropy damage each turn as well as applying 1 stack of energy drain and entropic decay, cannot target RPR robots, heals for 8 HP and gains an essence charge upon kill)
Secondary attack: 1x15 entropy damage (9➼, deals damage to the unit the Shattered Arc is in a corrupt communion with, has a chance to apply entropic decay up to 4 times, heals 8 HP and gains an essence charge upon kill)
Other abilities:
“Embalm Essence” (5➼, leaves one AP after use, 1 turn cooldown, requires and consumes 1 essence charge per use, heals target friendly unit for 10 HP and grants +1 resistance to all damage);
stagger resistance;
all around awareness;
large target;
prime rank: shrug off

The Shattered Arc is a variant of the Quintessence Arc that has less support capabilities but more combat abilities. The way fighting works for the Shattered Arc is that it enters a corrupt communion with an enemy unit, which has a very high chance to work and that deals a little bit of initial damage. The real damage output comes after the Communion has been established, which deals more damage each time you use it and that has a longer range allowing your Shattered Arc to back up a little.
There is ONE support ability even the Shattered Arc has – “embalm essence”. This is a healing ability that grants 10 HP and a minor damage resistance to all channels, but requires 1 essence charge to be used. The big thing about this is that it can be used every turn – the drawback is that it does almost nothing in the first place. Personally I prefer the intact heritor version of the unit. Stick to Golems and Serpions instead. 

70💗
4 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 1x20 entropy damage (2➼, melee, massive impact, chance to inflict energy drain, heals 12 HP and gains 2 essence charges upon kill)

Secondary attack: 1x9 entropy damage (3-7➼, 1 AP, melee, massive impact, teleport to target tile dealing damage to adjacent units, chance to inflict energy drain, 2-turn cooldown, heals 12 HP and gains 2 essence charges upon kill)
Other abilities:
1x12 entropy damage (12➼, 3 AP, requires and consumes 6 essence charges; hits all enemies in a massive 4 tile radius, chance to inflict entropic decay, 2-turn cooldown);
stagger immune;
large target;
ruthless killer (regains 1 AP upon kill);

Here we are, the final NPC unit of this list. Honestly I don’t have that much experience with this unit, so take this entry with a grain of salt. The Eater of the Dead is an interesting melee unit, since it´s main melee attack actually has a small range of 2 tiles. It deals a LOT of damage, has massive impact and restores 12 HP upon kill in addition of granting the unit 2 essence charges. The secondary attack is a teleport attack dealing a small amount of damage to nearby units, again with massive impact allowing this to stagger even big units.
By far the strongest attack is his third attack which consumes a massive 6 essence charges, but in return has a massive range and deals damage in a gigantic 4-tile radius around the target – for being the only ranged attack of the Eater of the Dead this packs a punch. Do keep in mind that the Eater of the Dead can store a LOT of essence charges which dramatically boosts it´s damage the more you store up – keep that in mind when looking at the damage numbers above. Back to its regular melee attack: Since the Eater of the Dead has the ruthless killer ability restoring 1 AP upon kill (once a turn) you can chain 2 melee attacks in a row if you kill something with the first attack. Overall a unit that can deal and take a big amount of damage but has a price to reflect this.

I´ve structured the misc units into 7 different sub-categories, those being:
Wildlife, Quartzite, Robots, Star Union remnant, Psionica, Mycelian and Apostates

Units in these categories will often appear together in marauder/independent guard stacks, which will roam the map hunting for prey and weakly guarded colonies. Not all of them are created equally mind you and in some cases its almost impossible to get your hands on these units if you aren´t lucky with rewards or are playing Amazons in case of the high tier wildlife units.
This doesn´t factor in empire mode, of course, where some relics allow you to build the corresponding units.

Below is a legend of the symbols I am using for the unit stats. Since you can´t build these units under normal circumstances, you won´t find the energy, cosmite or production cost symbols from my main guide.
💗 Hitpoints (HP) --> Amount of damage a unit can take before being destroyed.
👢 Movement --> How far a unit can move. In the guide, I am going to write down the
movement type behind the symbol. Example: 32 👢(Land)
▌ ▌ Armor Strenght --> Damage resistance against non-psionic attacks.
👅 Shield Strenght --> Resistance against ranged attacks.
➼ Ability Range --> The maximum range of an attack or an ability. Not displayed for melee
attacks

Both me and the game itself aren´t using the term Wildlife in a strict way. Low tier wildlife units mostly serve as throwaway units, though be aware that a lot of them can evolve into their high tier counterpart. High tier wildlife units differ quite significantly in usefulness, some of them being worth keeping alive while others are lackluster or just straight up bad. Playing Amazons is the only true reliable way to get your hands on high tier wildlife units, thanks to their "clone predator" strategic operation.

30💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32 👢(land)
Role: Strike Unit
Main attack: 3x11 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x10 kinetic damage (3➼, 1 AP, can only affect light ground units, pushback, teleports infront of the unit)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: Evolve;
“Air leap” (3➼, 1x10 kinetic damage, 1 AP, can only affect air units, teleports behind the target)

Ah yeah, the bugs. No, I am not talking about the Kir´ko, I am talking about these squishy green meanies that like to gang up on a single unit and kill it before you have a chance to react. I can´t really say anything good about the Manhunter: He has almost no HP or armor, has a rather weak damage output for a melee unit and it´s secondary abilities expose them so hard that they almost always die after use.
The one good thing I can see in these is that they can evolve into Blademaws later on, which makes them somewhat decent - still that is a long way you are stuck with a super weak unit. In terms of mods it´s a tough call: Definitly don’t waste cosmite intensive mods on them unless you are literally swimming in cosmite already - make sure to give them stagger resistant ASAP. Getting Hopperhound units is quite hard outside empire mode (after you unlocked the corresponding artifact), since as far as I know you can only get the Manhunter and Blademaw by clearing treasure sites - the Amazons can summon the Evicserater, but more on that later.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32 👢(land)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x13 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, can cause bleeding)

Secondary attack: 1x10 kinetic damage (3➼ , 1 AP, can only affect light ground units, pushback, teleports infront of the unit)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: Evolve;
“Air leap” (3➼ , 1x10 kinetic damage, 1 AP, can only affect air units, teleports behind the target)

Still not an amazing unit, the Blademaw is at least somewhat useable thanks to better HP and armor compared to the Manhunter. The melee attack is finally worth it, being significantly stronger than what most other low tier melee units can dish out - unfortunately, both jump attacks still deal the same damage.
Really not a whole much else to talk about the Blademaw, since he still needs to be positioned carefully unless you use it as a throwaway unit. Thankfully, evolving this unit (again) turns it into an actually fearsome and useful unit - it´s still a long way for a tier 2 unit to reach prime rank though. One thing I want to mention is that BOTH the Blademaw and Manhunter have a TON of HP late game if you look at the ones that are created by Spawners, which is due to high tier Xenoplague mods. If you really have THAT much cosmite and are a Xenoplague player you can take some inspiration from that, if you want to bother with Hopperhounds at all that is.

55💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 3x15 kinetic damage (melee, hits 3 tiles infront of the unit, ignores 2 ▌ ▌, high impact)


Secondary attack: 1x13 kinetic damage (3➼ , 1 AP, only affects light ground units, pushback, teleports infront of the unit, can cause bleeding, ignores 2 ▌ ▌);
Other abilities:
Large target;
“Invigorating stridulation” (1 AP, 2-turn cooldown, this unit and allied ground units within 2 hexes gain 200 morale and fast movement);
prime rank: evasive;
stagger resistant

Pretty much the only Hopperhound that is actually useful - terrifying even. That repeating melee attack deals SO much damage and it deals full damage to all 3 units infront of the Eviscerater. Especially this mechanic tends to be HORRIBLY misused by the AI, trust me if this thing gets in your face it´s game over if you can´t save the engaged unit with other free units or operations. The secondary jump attack deals slightly more damage and even ignores some armor, but I still find that pretty bad in most circumstances.
Do keep in mind that the Eviscerater still is NOT stagger immune despite being a high tier melee unit. The Eviscerater is also a large target, making him easier to hit - it really is a high-risk-high-reward unit. If you got your hands on them because you evolved it from a Blademaw - well congratulations (despite the Eviscerater being useful I don´t think THAT headache was worth it). Why? Well because if you want Evisceraters so bad, then just play Amazons (or gain their technology tree) and summon them out of thin air! Sure it´s a random chance and expensive, but it´s still better than to worry 10+ battles that this squishy bug doesn´t die, effectively wasting an army slot. Besides, many of the alternatives summons of that operations are even better than the Eviscerater.

45💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(Land)
Role: Regular “Infantry”
Main attack: 3x8 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x14 biochemical damage (3➼; melts 1 ▌ ▌)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
small target;
skitter;
frenzy

Oof these little guys look just disgusting if you make the mistake to zoom in on them. But let me tell ya something: They are much better than Hopperhounds and many other low tier wildlife units. Why? Because they deal a reasonably amount of damage and are super hard to hit. Blame small target for that, but skitter can make quite a big impact as well since you are better off using their secondary spit attack most of the time.
The melee attack isn´t that great, it deals almost no damage to high armored units - Dvar and Vanguard players will laugh at you if you try to kill one of their armor ingots-on-tracks with a little piggy. Frenzied helps a little bit, but usually other melee units will butcher Piglets - that being their biggest weakness, since their evade boosts have no effect on enemy melee units. On prime rank they evolve into a Megasow - honestly a bad thing considering how awful Megasows can be if the terrain doesnt favor you.

55💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32 👢(land)
Main attack: 1x22 biochemical damage (melee, massive impact, high chance to inflict debilitating infection)



Other abilities:
“Consume corpse” (FREE action, eats target corpse which heals the unit for 15 HP, gains a level of “feast” which grants +15% damage and gives fast movement for 3 turns);
large target;
“rancid stench” (adjacent biological and cyborg units get poisoned at the end of the owners turn); prime rank “shrug off”;
stagger resistant

Even more disgusting that the little piggies. This thing has such a horrible stench, that adjacent enemy units are guaranteed to get poisoned at the end of the turn. In my opinion these things tend to be a downgrade from their low tier equivalent despite the Megasow being the unit the Piglet evolved into and not the other way around.
Let´s talk stats: HP is decent for a high tier unit, but defense values are trash. Even most core infantry units can EASILY deal with an incoming Megasow if they have decent chance to hit - meanwhile high tier units, especially the ranged ones, wipe the floor with these pigs. Really, it was quite hilarious how a Megasow once thought it was a good idea to charge into a Vanguard Walker with 3 active overwatch attacks - you can imagine the outcome. Really the fact how the Megasow has to expose itself in order to deal damage in combination with large target and non-existant armor makes it a super squishy melee brawler. The only real good thing about the Megasow is it´s damage output, because good lord that bite deals a TON of damage (also massive impact). Generally speaking, not a unit for high quality core armies - but deadly if you can use terrain or good mods to your advantage.

25💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Glass cannon/throwaway unit
Main attack: 3x12 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x13 biochemical damage (5➼, chance to poison target, 1 AP)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
“Beetle Death Rattle” (deals 8 biochemical damage to adjacent units upon death, as well as inflicting high impact stagger and removing one armor);
Defense mode: hyper armor

Yay, more bugs! And no, I am still talking about the Kir´ko, for some reason the devs seemed to have a bug addiction when they designed this game. Meanwhile the Mega Big Beetle Baby is probably the weakest wildlife unit in the entire game! Why? They have next to no HP, which makes their good armor protection irrelevant. Their melee attack deals quite a good amount of damage, but chances are the Beetle isn´t even reaching its target.
This leaves us with the secondary spit attack, which deals an okay amount of damage, unfortunately it still deals less damage than the Piglets spit. Upon death the Beetle Baby deals damage and high impact stagger to all adjacent units - usually bad for the one using these little bugs. Upon reaching prime rank the Beetle Baby evolves into a Beetle Adult - THEN they are useful, although still not outstanding. The Beetle Babies tend to be modded with a revive mod mid-game, keep that in mind when fighting marauder armies full of these.

55💗
6 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Brawler/Artillery
Main attack: 3x15 kinetic damage (high impact, melee)
Secondary attack: 1x17 biochemical damage (2-7➼, high impact, chance to poison targets, leaves cloud that damages enemies and may poison them, 1 turn cooldown, 3 AP)
Other abilities:
Defense mode: Hyper Armor;
stagger resistant;
Large target;
“Adult beetle death rattle” (deals 14 biochemical damage to adjacent units, otherwise identical to Beetle Death rattle);
Prime rank: critical

Has a good amount of HP and a crap load of armor protection which in combination with stagger resistance and a powerful melee attack makes them a very powerful melee combatant. The Big Beetle Adult also has a much more powerful spit attack with a long range, which deals damage in a 1-tile AoE and leaves behind a damaging cloud of gas. It can only be used every two turns, which kinda turns the big beetle adult into some sort of living assault gun - this attack still needs to have line of sight though, keep that in mind.
During defense mode these things are almost unkillable with an unmodded 8 armor - unless the enemy has psionic damage. While always very powerful, psionic damage completely annihilates Big Beetle Adults, since they rely heavily on that armor if you go in for melee combat. Large Target is also quite a big drawback, as usual for melee-heavy units. Upon death, the Beetle Adult also explodes similar to the Beetle Baby - thankfully, they usually don’t have that revive mod on them I mentioned earlier. Can be summoned by an Amazon player with a strategic operation.

50💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(land)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x13 kinetic damage (melee, chance to inflict bleeding, high impact)
Other abilities:
Flanker;
prime rank: evasive

The amazons mount animal and a quite underwhelming wildlife unit. It has much less nuance to it than the amazon lancer: You just run up to your enemy and hit it with a melee attack, which is quite strong and can cause bleeding. It also deals a lot more damage on flank attacks thanks to the Swift Beaks “flanker” ability. You can start with one of these if you play the Amazons, unfortunately they can´t be evolved into something more useful like the Hopperhounds or Big Beetles. I´d try to avoid these things if they are offered as a reward, it´s usually better to get more energy than this crappy unit. They tend to have a LOT of HP late game, at least when you are up against the Marauder Swift Beaks - Xenoplague mods make that possible. Still, even then you shouldn´t have any trouble dealing with them

30💗
0 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(flying)
Role: Strike unit/throwaway unit
Main attack: 3x9 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x12 kinetic damage (melee, can only target ground units, high impact, can inflict bleeding, enters defense mode after use)
Other abilities:
Defense mode: evasive;
far sight;
prime rank: evasive

These things are more of an annoyance than a real threat most of the time. They have next to no HP and literally no defensive values at all - usually two direct hits kill them. There is the annoying part: The Shrike is really difficult to hit due to defense mode: evasive. Hit this thing with an operation that causes stagger or using AoE weapons isn´t such a bad idea. Otherwise just hit them with your most accurate unit or use overwatch - Shrikes get butchered by that. Other than that, there isn´t that much nuance to the Shrike. It is a very good scout and has a swoop attack that allows it to stay in defense mode, which can be useful occasionally.

40💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(flying)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x11 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x14 kinetic damage (melee, targets only ground units, high impact, can inflict bleeding)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: critical

The big cousin of the Shrike. The Harrier is a bit tougher than the Shrike (both in terms of HP and armor) and also deals more damage, which finally makes it a worthwhile unit due to the general lack of airborne melee units - a great advantage against most ground-based melee units. The Harrier also comes with the same special attack of the Shrike, just that it is a bit stronger. Other than that the Harrier is straight forward to use. Worth converting as Amazons (or accepting as a treasure reward) if you have ranged combat covered and need something for CQC situations.

35💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(land)
Role: Strike unit

Main attack: 3x11 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, +20% crit chance)
Secondary attack: 1x16 sonic damage (1➼, high impact, can inflict concussion, 1-turn cooldown)
Other abilities:
Xeno debilitation;
epimorphic regeneration;
small target;
prime rank: evolve

These menacing looking … dogs? … aren’t really that dangerous as you should think. Yes, their attacks crit ridiculously often, but a 11 kinetic melee attack (unmodded) is nothing to write home about. The secondary sonic blast is a lot better, but it requires the Swarmling to be right up their enemies face. BUT it CAN cause a CONCUSSION, which is a powerful tool to have on such a low tier unit. Be advised, the Swarmling doesn´t have a lot of HP and armor itself, which makes it easy prey for any prepared enemy. If you managed to keep Swarmlings alive, you get their much stronger adult counterparts which are a LOT better than this lackluster unit - then again you have to burden yourself with a unit that usually doesn´t pull its weight in combat.

60💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(land)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 1x24 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, +20% crit chance)
Secondary attack: 1x22 sonic damage (1➼, 2-turn cooldown, chance to inflict concussion, else massive impact, affects all hexes infront of the unit)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
large target;
resolute (doesn’t lose overwatch if staggered);
Xeno debilitation;
epimorphic regeneration;
berserk (if HP is lower than 66% unit becomes insane and gains +20% damage);
prime rank: evasive

An adult Thundermaw is a lot more threatening than their Swarmlings. On the one hand, the adult Thundermaw can take more than twice as much of a beating due to a high 💗 and 3 ▌ ▌. On the other hand, they also dish out a lot more damage with their melee hit which in combination with their high crit chance makes them a dangerous foe up close. The higher movement of Thundermaws really shines with the adult version of the unit. The Secondary attack is also stronger both in damage and in the area it affects.
Something that is quite a big downside to the adult version of Thundermaws is the fact that they become berserk if their 💗 is lower than 66% - that means your own Thundermaws can turn on you! So, make sure to keep some respectful distance between them and your other units, so that an enraged Thundermaw goes after your enemies instead. Overall a unit worth keeping around and one of the units which is worth working towards if you got your hands on Swarmlings.

70 💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 3x13 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, can inflict bleeding)


Secondary attack: 1x20 kinetic damage (attempts to devour light biological/cyborg unit which heals this unit for 15 if it succeeds, high impact, can cause bleeding)
Other abilities:
Large Target;
stagger resistant;
“Mighty Roar” (range: 1, 1 AP, attempts to panic enemies in a 4-hex cone);
frenzy;
unstoppable juggernaut;
Prime rank: Shrug off

Oof these beasts are menacing both in appearance and in combat capabilities. As you can imagine, this thing shreds it´s enemies in melee combat. I am surprised it only inflicts high impact and NOT massive impact considering the size of this thing - which is also a disadvantage of the Voradon, as usual with melee focused high tier units. “Unstoppable juggernaut” allows Voradons to straight up charge through cover without being slowed down, which makes their secondary devour attack hard to predict.
So far, the Voradon is like a Kir´ko Ravenous - one of the units this beast was bio-engineered from. The other half was a Terradon: That heritage gives the “mighty roar” ability, which can cause several enemies to become panicked - devastating if the enemies bunched up their units. Overall definitely a very good melee brawler, better than many other tier 3 melee units. The only problem with these is getting your hands on them. The only consistent way is to play Amazon and use their clone predator strategic operation - even then its only a small chance though. Most likely you will come across them when fighting independent units or spacers.

65💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(amphibious)
Role: Artillery
Main attack: 3x14 biochemical damage (7➼, 1-tile AoE)
Other abilities:
Large Target;
Prime rank: Firm

Even though they share their origin and appearance, the difference between Amazon Bombardons and Wild Bombardons is quite big. While the tamed Amazon variant is designed to dish out a lot of concentrated damage or to shell the enemies from afar, the wild Bombardon focuses on dealing permanent AoE damage instead.
Repeating AoE damage in combination with a good range of 7 tiles make these beasts quite lethal if you made the mistake to bunch up your units. Large target makes them easy to hit, which in combination with only 3 armor allows you to pick them off rather easy as long as they are otherwise unmodded. Just do make sure to focus them down fast - they deal SO much damage if you leave them unchecked.

45💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(amphibious)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x14 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x15 kinetic damage (7➼, 3 AP, can target flying units; +30% damage and +2 range in naval battles)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: Ignore Overwatch

Ahhhhhhh yes, the eternal meme of demon penguins continues in Planetfall. Unlike the Dire Penguins of AoW3, these Penguins pack a NASTY punch. A repeating attack that deals 14 damage is outright ridiculous on a low tier unit - that’s more than most tier 3 melee units can dish out. The Penguins secondary jump attack is nothing to scoff at either: A high range attack that can even target flying units and deals even more damage in naval battles is not to be underestimated.
Unmodded they should be okay to deal with, when mods come into play though then these things will become a big nuisance. Especially the independent penguins are lethal since they get modded with psyumbra mods - #demon penguins. The Prime rank “ignore overwatch” makes them even more dangerous if you face a competent player that leveled them up.

45💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(water)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 1x20 kinetic damage (melee, massive impact)
Secondary attack: 1x16 biochemical damage (5➼, 1 AP, can blind target)

Other abilities:
“Ink Cloud” (1x12 biochemical damage, 1 AP, deals damage around the Octowhale, can blind target); defense mode: submerge;
stagger resistant;
large target;
prime rank: evolve

Not that dangerous, really. For a large target unit they have almost no HP and armor, which makes them easy pickings - especially if you compare them to these nightmare turtles with their 8+ armor. Try to keep them away regardless, their melee attack deals a lot of damage and inflicts massive impact. Their medium-range spit attack deals good damage too with a chance to blind, usually its better to go in for melee hits if you the one using these things (they are a frequent spawn when using the Amazon Aquatica`s "Aquatic lure" ability).
The Ink Cloud special attack of the Octowhale is really lame. Yes it deals damage to several units and can blind them, but this is basically a suicide run for the involved Octowhale - fine if they are the free spawned in versions, but bad if you got them for clearing a treasure site. That’s because they can evolve upon reaching prime rank and believe me that is SO worth it. Finally, Octowhales are stagger resistant themselves and have the defense mode submerge.

75💗
6 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(water)
Role: Support/Heavy Strike Unit
Main attack: 1x24 kinetic damage (melee, massive impact)
Secondary attack: 1x20 biochemical damage (5➼, 1 AP, high chance to inflict blind and slow)

Other abilities:
“Vicious Ink Cloud” (1x16 biochemical damage, 1 AP, deals damage around the octowhale, can blind and slow target);
“song of aggression” (3 AP (continue), allied units gain +15% crit chance and have a chance to inflict disable on all attacks);
“song of swiftness” (3 AP (continue), allied units gain +15% evasion and more movement, active at the start of battle);
Defense mode: submerge;
stagger immune;
Large target;
prime rank: evasive

Usually exclusive to quest enemies or player-controlled units, since they don’t occur naturally. The way you get them is to level an Octowhale (you got for clearing treasure sites) to prime rank, which transforms them into this much more powerful version. All damaging abilities of the Octowhale are significantly stronger, its Ink Cloud even has a chance to slow the affected units. Then, the Elder Octowhale also has MUCH more HP and Armor than its low tier variant: 3 times the armor and almost twice the amount of HP.
The real reason you want these are their extra “song” abilities they have. “Song of swiftness” gives all allies in the battle +15% evasion and more movement WITHOUT a turn limit, its also automatically active at the start of each battle. “Song of aggression” increases crit chance by a whopping 15% and allows attacks from all friendly units to inflict disable on their targets. Using this ability cancels out the “Song of swiftness” - only 1 of the two can be active, unless you got 2 Elder Octowhales. Finally, they are still a large target (not a huge target) and are stagger immune.

45💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(water)
Role: Strike unit/Biological Ship
Main attack: 3x13 kinetic damage (melee, high impact, heals 8 💗 if used on mechanical/cyborg unit)
Secondary attack: 1x18 kinetic damage (6➼, ignores 2 ▌ ▌, 1 AP)
Other abilities:
Defense mode: Hyper armor;
chelus formation (grants +2 ▌ ▌ if adjacent to another unit with this ability);
prime rank: critical;
protective carapace (cannot be flanked);
stagger resistant

We all know them, we all hate them. Base Chelus Steeleaters aren’t even that difficult to deal with but they get so stupidly strong with their mid/late game mods (if facing the independent version), because their armor gets increased to ridiculous levels. The main attack is very powerful, it deals a lot of damage and even restores HP if it hits a mechanical/cyborg unit - since most naval units are ships, that’s a very powerful buff.
The secondary ranged attack has an unusual base range of 6 tiles (not 5 tiles as I initially thought), it ignores 2 armor and deals 18 kinetic damage - UNMODDED. These Spikes tear through most units like a hot knife through butter. “Chelus Formation” boosts their armor by yet another +2, they have the hyper armor defense mode and cannot be flanked due to “protective carapace”. Your best bet is psionic damage, that kills them so ridiculously fast its fun to watch. Other than that use armor melting/bypassing attacks. If you have none of these … well damn. Only focused fire works in that case.

60💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(water)
Role: Support
Main attack: 1x18 kinetic damage (6➼, ignores 2 ▌ ▌, 1 AP)



Other abilities:
“Nest cohesion” (heals itself and all adjacent allies for 20 HP and removes non-psionic debuffs, 1 AP);
“Egg clutch” (1 AP, spawns a chelus egg which turns into a chelus spawn on the next turn);
Large target;
"protective carapace";
"chelus formation";
defense mode: Hyper armor;
prime rank: morale;
stagger resistant

The Steeleaters mom, basically. Her spike attack deals the same amount of damage, while she lacks a melee attack - in terms of direct combat she is a lot worse than the Steeleater. In terms of support however, she has a very nice healing ability that affects all adjacent allies and that also removes most status effects. With “Egg clutch” you also have the ablity to summon a throwaway unit for the remainder of the battle.
This egg needs a turn to hatch and can be destroyed, upon which there is a chance for the Chelus Spawn inside to die or to hatch in a much weaker state. Other than the Clutchmother is pretty much identical to the Steeleater, apart from having a little bit more HP.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(water)
Role: Throwaway unit/Strike unit
Main attack: 3x10 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x13 kinetic damage (6➼, 1 AP, ignores 2 ▌ ▌)
Other abilities:
protective carpace;
small target;
chelus formation

The Throwaway unit spawned by the Clutchmother. Has less armor than the Steeleater but surprisingly almost the same amount of HP, in that regard it is very good. The melee attack is a lot weaker than that of the Steeleater however, meanwhile the spike deals less damage as well. For a throwaway unit you can spawn in battle it is quite good and can take on even naval vessels if supported properly - still not recommended. The chelus Spawn is considered a small target, which helps a lot if you can position it behind some cover. If the egg it hatches from is destroyed the Spawn has a chance to still hatch, but it will have weakend stats.

These fellas can be compared to animals, just instead of being made of flesh and blood they are made of molten rock and crystals. Quartzite are well armored and deal elemental damage, but they are extremely weak to psionic damage, since they rely on that armor protection instead of having massive HP boosts - especially noticeable later in the game, when the marauders upgrade the Quartzite with even more armor and elemental resistances. These rock monsters are also very weak against chemical damage, which allows amazons and mid-game Kir’ko to trash these golems with ease. In my opinion more of an annoyance than a real threat, except for the Liquid Crystal maybe.

25💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Ranged “Infantry”/Throwaway unit
Main attack: 3x7 arc damage (7➼; can hit another enemy that’s within two hexes of the target)

Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
arc status effect immunity;
damage over time immunity

Bascially living crystals that are electrically charged. These things are pushovers early game, but late game they can have disgusting arc mods that give their attack inflict stun. Their ranged attack can also hit another enemy, which allows these little buggers to deal more damage than you may think. In comparison with the Liquid Magma a lot better, since arc damage deals more damage to machines (which are plentyful in PF), since the Liquid Crystal has a range of 7 tiles and since the attacks can jump to another target, like already mentioned.
Other abilities include immunities to damage over time effects, which is rather minor, and an immunity to arc status effects - no stunning these guys. On prime rank they evolve into a Crystal basher, which is a decent artillery unit - not amazing though. If it´s offered as a reward I would pass up, when it comes down to it their bad HP makes them too squishy for mid- and late-game fights.

25💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Throwaway unit
Main attack: 3x7 thermal damage (5➼)
Secondary attack: 1x16 thermal damage (1➼, hits in a two-hex cone, can inflict burning)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
thermal status effect immunity;
damage over time immunity

In short: The inferior version of the Liquid Crystal. The immunity in status effects is switched to thermal effects, while they are also immune to damage over time effects. The main attack of the Liquid Magma doesn’t have the “jump to another target” effect of his blue brother while it also has a shorter range of only 5 tiles.
To offset that they at least have a decent secondary attack allowing them to deal a good chunk of damage in a 2-hex cone which also sets the enemy on fire many times. This, as you can imagine considering the awful HP of the Liquid Magma, will doom them FAST. They evolve into a Magma Basher at prime rank - not really worth it tbh, the Crystal Basher would be better. Just overall very underwhelming, especially considering that the Liquid Crytal can be powerful late game - unlike this thing.

60💗
5 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Artillery/Brawler
Main attack: 3x16 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x12 thermal damage (3-7➼, 3 AP, 1 turn cooldown, massive impact, ignores line of sight, can inflict burning)

Other abilities:
Defense Mode: Hyper Armor;
Large target;
Cumbersome;
thermal status effect immunity;
damage over time immunity;
stagger immune

These giant golems of molten rock really aren’t that dangerous as long as you can keep them at a distance. They have an okay-ish ranged attack which allows you to use the Basher as an artillery unit since it ignores line of sight. Unfortunately, the damage output of that attack is kinda bad considering you can only use it every 2 turns plus it doesn’t have a powerful secondary effect like the stun of the Crystal Bashers boulder. It does inflict massive impact, which is nice.
Their melee attack is nothing to scoff at, a 3x16 kinetic damage melee damage is NASTY - so keep them at a distance. Due to large target and cumbersome it´s pretty hard to use them as an offensive melee brawler, but in a defensive role that melee attack is pretty useful. Finally, Magma Bashers have a high armor rating of 5, boosted by another 2 if on defense mode - meanwhile stagger immunity makes this unit a difficult target for other melee units if the Basher hasn’t been blinded.

60💗
5 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Artillery/Brawler
Main attack: 3x16 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x14 arc damage (3-7➼, 3 AP,
1 turn cooldown, can inflict stun, massive impact,
ignores line of sight)




Other abilities:
Large target;
cumbersome;
arc status effect immunity;
damage over time immunity;
stagger immune;
prime rank: shrug off

Quite similar to the small Liquid Crystal a lot better than the Magma Basher. The melee attack is the same, still dealing a massive 3x16 kinetic damage. Still best used in a defensive situation considering large target and cumbersome. It´s the ranged attack that´s different: It deals more flat-out damage, its arc damage (making it more potent vs machines), also has massive impact and it has the ability to stun the targets! Since it is a single hit attack the chance to stun is quite high, which makes this attack quite potent and allows you to remove some enemies from combat for a turn if you aren’t really unlucky, in doubt it always staggers enemy units unless they are stagger immune.

70💗
8 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(amphibious)
Role: Artillery/Brawler
Main attack: 3x15 thermal damage (melee, high impact, might kill light target instantly)
Secondary attack: 1x20 thermal damage (3-7➼, 1-turn cooldown, massive impact, can inflict burning)

Other abilities:
“Undermine” 1x14 kinetic damage (7➼, 3 AP, melee, massive impact, teleport to target dealing damage to all hexes around it);
Large target;
Cumbersome;
Thermal status effect immunity;
Damage over time immunity;
prime rank: shrug off

These bad boys are almost impossible to get your hands on, as far as I know the only way to do it is via an anomaly site. The melee attack actually deals a little bit less damage than that of the Magma Basher, but it does have a chance to instantly kill a light unit. The secondary attack meanwhile is completely identical to the magma boulder of the Magma Basher, with the difference that it deals a lot more damage.
Other abilities of the Magma Worm include a handy tunneling ability which allows to bypass overwatch zones and which allows to reach difficult places more easily considering the slower movement of the Magma Worm. Large target is kinda bad, but since the magma worm has 70 HP and a base armor of 8 it can take a LOT of punishment before going down, unless the enemy uses psionic damage.

70💗
6 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Amphibious)
Role: Ranged Fighter
Main attack: 3x12 arc damage (7➼, can electrify target)
Secondary attack: 1x16 arc damage (3-7➼, 3 AP, ignores line of sight, heals quartzite units for 15 HP instead, 1-turn cooldown)


Other abilities:
Large target;
Cumbersome;
Arc status effect immunity;
Damage over time immunity;
Static aura (all units within 3 tiles of this unit suffer 1 static charge);
Defense mode: hyper armor;
Prime rank: shrug off

As far as I know you can only meet these in NPC quests and on very rare occasion guarding things like cosmite nodes. Crystal Worms aren’t THAT amazing if you ask me. First off, their armor is weaker than that of the Magma Worm, then they also lack the handy tunneling ability and the very powerful melee attack that the Magma Worm has is replaced by a mediocre ranged arc attack. Now its not bad or anything, but nothing outstanding either.
This leaves us with the secondary attack, which deals less raw damage than that of the fiery equivalent but still ignores line of sight. It does heal quartzite units for 15 HP upon hit which allows for some high-range AoE healing - then again it´s impossible to get them as a permanent unit as far as I am aware off (exception might be empire mode, never progressed that far into it). As a final gimmick to the crystal worm is the static aura, which inflicts 1 static charge on ALL units within 3 tiles - since the Crystal Worm is a ranged fighter that’s usually a drawback for the user, not for the opponent. Overall, not that much more useful than the Magma Worm, especially considering what a melee nightmare that thing can be.

Old Star union robots, either with an entertainment or military background. The combat effectiveness differs quite a lot between the different models, so knowing when to pass up on a reward and when to accept is a big help. Robots obviously are weak to arc damage like all machines, but are resistant to psionic damage and have a better armor than many biological units.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Support/Ranged Fighter
Main attack: 3x14 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)
Secondary attack: 3x7 kinetic damage (5➼)


Other abilities:
Love pheromones (2➼, 1 AP, 3-turn cooldown, chance to mind control biological or cyborg unit);
High morale aura (adjacent friendly units gain 400 morale);
Prime rank: firm;
Mindless

A lot more dangerous than you might think at first. These “sexual entertainment” bots (don’t judge :o) have a really powerful melee attack that gives dedicated melee units a run for their energy. If that’s not enough, they have a backup (or primary?) ranged attack they can use on medium range - it doesn’t deal that much damage but its there as an option.
“Love pheromones” allows you to mind control a biological or cyborg unit, allowing you to use it till the end of the fight if you succeed. “High morale aura” gives a hefty boost to morale of nearby units, sometimes I use Emma-3s explicitly for that morale buffing alone, moving her next to the unit that I am going to attack with, after that moving “her” to the next friendly unit. Overall a LOT better than the crappy Roy-2, if you get these “girls” offered as reward I would accept it!

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Throwaway unit/Melee Fighter
Main attack: 3x11 kinetic damage (melee, high impact)



Other abilities:
Distracting pheromones (3➼, 1 AP, affects 1 tile AoE, affected units have chance to get distracted which increases fumble chance by 20%);
Prime rank: firm;
Mindless

Very disappointing to be entirely honest. The melee damage isn’t terrible at all, but the male version of an “sexual entertainment” bot for some reason deals less damage than the female version. This unit also lacks any special twist to it really. It lacks a secondary attack, all it can do is to walk up to someone and punch them in the face. The one thing they have is “distracting pheromones”, which affects a 1-tile AoE - still I´d rather have a chance to seduce a unit than to have a mediocre shot at increasing the fumble chance of my enemies. Overall something to pass up on - the Emma-3 is a lot more powerful.

45💗
2 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Regular “Infantry”
Main attack: 3x10 biochemical damage (melee, chance to inflict neural toxin which has a chance to stun biological or cyborg unit, high impact)
Secondary attack: 1x17 biochemical damage (5➼, 1 AP, high chance to inflict neural toxin)
Other abilities:
“Carve and Rend” 1x9 biochemical damage (2-5➼, 3 AP (continue), chance to inflict bleeding and poisoned, high impact, 2-turn cooldown);
“Es-Teq Hunter” (immune to energy drain and has +10 accuracy against units with essence charges); Mindless;
Prime rank: critical

The first military grade robot, made to hunt ancient heritor lords. The RPR Liquidator is the weakest but also the most plentiful of the bunch. It has a rather weak melee attack, but it can inflict “neural toxin” which has a chance to stun biological and cyborg units. Same with the secondary attack, which thankfully is better than the melee attack (1x17 biochemical damage is nothing to scoff at, also a higher chance to inflict neural toxin).
“Carve and Rend” may not deal much damage, but it can inflict both bleeding and poisoned to several enemies at once, it deals high impact stagger and allows you to follow up with a melee attack afterwards. Not to mention the ability to jump over cover, straight into the enemy formation. Finally, the “Es-Tec Hunter” which all RPR units have, increases the accuracy of this unit by +10% against enemies with at least one essence charge - situational, but useful against heritor players. In regard of defense values, the Liquidator isn’t that great. 2 armor and 1 shield give protection against basic attacks, but 45 HP in combination with how this unit has to expose itself to deal damage makes keeping them alive challenging at times. Not a bad unit overall, but still without doubt the weakest RPR unit.

50💗
3 ▌ ▌
1👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Heavy Sniper/Ranged fighter
Main attack: 1x22 kinetic damage (7➼, 3 AP, chance to cripple target)
Secondary attack: 1x25 kinetic damage (5➼, 1 AP)


Other abilities:
“Engage” (range: 7 tiles, 3 AP (continue), teleport to target hex and gain +50% evasion against ranged attacks, 2 turn cooldown);
“Agile overwatch”;
“Es-Teq Hunter”;
“Automatic Disengage” (if killed, revives and teleports to a random position within a 3-tile radius and regain 20 HP, this also gives 50% evasion to ranged attacks);
mindless;
prime rank: +1➼

These things are quite dangerous even without mods. It´s main attack is kind of disappointing: For a sniper unit it only has a range of 7 tiles which is pathetic, although it deals a high amount of damage and can cripple the target. I still prefer the secondary mid-range attack of the RPR Stalker: It deals even more damage than the main attack while only requiring 1 AP, but it has a reduced range of only 5 tiles.
If you combine the secondary attack with the “engage” ability (which the AI always seems to be doing) you can get a lot of use out of the secondary attack. Receiving +50% evasion is huge unless you are facing a lot of enemy melee units. “Agile overwatch” allows you to set up their main attack with just 1 attack, meanwhile “es-teq hunter” grants additional accuracy against units with essence charges. On prime rank the max range is increased by 1, which makes the Stalker even more deadly.

55💗
3 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(Floating)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 3x12 psionic damage (melee, high impact, heals 15 HP on kill)
Secondary attack: 1x17 psionic damage (5➼, target looses all positive status effects and all links)

Other abilities:
“Corpse denial” 1x15 damage (5➼, target biological, cyborg or mineral corpse explodes, dealing damage in a 2 hex radius, 1 AP);
Stagger immune;
Mindless;
Prime rank: evasive;
“Es Teq Hunter”;
Large target

These things may look very dangerous, but as long as you can keep them at a distance they are definitely manageable. If they get close to you however, that 3x12 psionic melee attack is going to rip your units apart though, unless you got your hands on psionic resistance mods. If you (or your enemy) manages to kill a unit with this melee attack, the Culler also regains 15 HP.
The secondary attack deals more raw damage if the Culler could only strike a single time with its melee attack, still it SHOULD be manageable if you face these things since the range is quite low with only 5 tiles. Do keep in mind though that units that get hit by this ranged attack loose all of their POSITIVE status effects including links. The former is quite annoying late game, especially with the powerful unit buffs the oathbound seers can give combat units, while the latter is quite bad for heritor and kir´ko commanders (the Transcendent share pain is considered a link).

Probably the most powerful of the Marauder sub-factions, these are old military vehicles that got into the hands of bandits (or you, if you got a rare reward from clearing treasure sights). These units tend to have a good armor and high firepower - they are old military vehicles after all! Just like with the robots, all the following units are machines: Good against psionic damage, weak against arc damage.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Main attack: 3x9 thermal damage (7➼, chance to inflict charred)
Secondary attack: 1x20 thermal damage (range 9 tiles, chance to inflict charred, 2-turn cooldown)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evasive;
Stagger resistant

The most basic combat vehicle that passed the test of time. The Imperial Buggy is clearly the weakest of the imperial vehicles, having a meager 2 armor and 40 💗. They cant take damage whatsoever, use this to your advantage when you are up against them, since their firepower (especially the secondary power-shot) is nothing to scoff at especially once they are modded. Otherwise not a whole lot to talk about them, a good unit to deal a lot of damage fast, but doesn’t have the HP or armor to survive concentrated fire.

60💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(land)
Role: Tank
Main attack: 3x11 arc damage (7➼)
Secondary attack: 1x20 arc damage (2-9➼, 3 AP, explosive, high impact, chance to inflict static charge)
Other abilities:
Cumbersome;
Large target;
Pprime rank: critical

A lot sturdier than the Imperial Buggy, these bad boys also come with a higher firepower and a nasty secondary attack. The main attack deals a reliable, although not outstanding amount of arc damage, but this does make the Imperial Walker very powerful against other machines - especially the small weak armored ones. The secondary missile attack requires 3 AP to be fired (its not for free, if you compare it to the Vanguard Walker or Paragon Heavy Soldier) but it does have a long range of 9 tiles, can inflict static charge and deals a nice amount of damage even unmodded.
With mods these things are terrifying, especially with stun module. The drawbacks of the Imperial Walker are its rarity (its almost impossible to get your hands on), large target and cumbersome. Its better when on defense, offensively you will need a turn to set up a proper attack first.

35💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(flying)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x9 kinetic damage (7➼)
Secondary attack: 1x14 explosive damage (5➼,explosive, high impact)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
Prime rank: critical

These sleek looking aircraft are quite odd in my opinion. They have almost no HP at all, which makes them very frail but on the other hand they have a whopping 4 armor, which is a lot for a tier 2 aircraft. This means armor melting/bypassing attacks will tear Dragonflies out of the sky, while it can take a little bit more punishment from thermal, chemical and kinetic attacks. The damage output isn’t too amazing, 3x9 kinetic damage on a range of 7 tiles isn’t anything amazing. It does have a nice secondary attack, which works just like the buster missile of the Vanguard Gunship. Overall I am thinking Gunship Lite when I think about the Imperial Dragonfly, since it overall just seems to be an inferior version of the Gunship - guess it makes sense considering the Dragonfly is an old imperial unit, while the Gunship is a high-tech state of the art aircraft.

60💗
5 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Heavy Tank
Main attack: 1x16 explosive damage (7➼, explosive, high impact, 2-turn cooldown, 1 AP)
Secondary attack: 3x12 kinetic damage (7➼, high impact)
Other abilities:
Cumbersome;
Large Target;
Stagger Immune;
Prime rank: Overwatch

Man I wish these things were buildable by a faction, hopefully if another faction is added they can build a tank like this. Why? Well the behemoth is a very formidable vehicle: An explosive attack that deals 16 damage is a lot considering it can fire it at a normal range of 7 tiles - that increased range makes it better than the main attack of the Excavator tank of the dvar. As a drawback, the reload time of that cannon is a turn longer which means you have to rely on the secondary machine guns of the behemoth during that period - make that shell count!
The secondary machine guns meanwhile are very powerful if you got access to kinetic weapon mods, but even without those they do quite a good amount of damage, still with a range of 7 tiles. This makes the Behemoth to the only present day tank in the entire game, even more so than the dvar excavator. In terms of drawbacks: Well for starters if you want to use them you need to be lucky and get it as a hero vehicle when clearing a treasure site. Then the Behemoth is a slow tank due to cumbersome and is obviously a large target due to its size. On Prime rank the Behemoth gains overwatch which it can use with its machine guns - great to keep melee units away from it. Overall a tank that requires skill to use and to counter.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Water)
Role: Ranged fighter
Main attack: 3x10 kinetic damage (7➼, chance to inflict turbulence on flying units)

Secondary attack: “Launch Torpedo” (leaves one AP after use, spawns in a controllable torpedo that deals 1x20 explosive damage if you detonate it);
Other abilities:
Defense mode: submerge;
prime rank: shrug off

Quite a bad naval unit, both armor and HP are next to non-existant. Its main attack deals a decent amount of kinetic damage on a normal range, as a nice little bonus it can inflict turbulence on flying units making them less effective. The trademark ability of any submarine obviously are the torpedoes, which deal SO much damage if they reach their target. The way torpedoes work in this game is that they are spawned in as a unit, which needs to be manually moved to its destination, where you can self destruct it to deal massive damage. The torpedo itself is quite frail, so using cover and good positioning is key to make them work. In doubt, the torpedo is at least a decent distraction. If you are facing submarines, make sure to destroy these torpedoes unless you only have flying units in the fight.

40💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Water)
Role: Ranged fighter
Main attack: 1x13 thermal damage (7➼, 1 AP, 1 tile AoE, leaves behind a thermal hazard, chance to inflict turbulence on flying units, removes one shield per hit)
Secondary attack: “Launch Blaze Torpedo” (1 AP, spawns a controllable torpedo that deals 1x18 thermal damage if you detonate it, the torpedo explosion leaves behind a thermal hazard and removes 1 shield per hit)
Other abilities:
Defense mode: submerge;
Stagger resistant;
Mindless;
Prime rank: shrug off

I will keep this short. The inferno submarine is a bit more powerful than the regular submarine since it´s main attack deals more damage and affects a 1-tile AoE, but can only hit once. It also leaves behind a thermal hazard damaging units within, removes 1 shield per hit and can inflict turbulence on flying units. If you target a flying unit, the AoE effect and hazard won’t have its effect, so I would stick with ground targets. The torpedo deals less concentrated damage in comparison with that of the regular submarine, but it also leaves behind a thermal hazard and removes 1 shield.

55💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Water)
Main attack: 1x22 kinetic damage (7➼, 1 AP, massive impact, chance to cause turbulence on flying units)
Secondary attack: “Launch Torpedo” (leaves one AP after use, spawns in a controllable torpedo that deals 1x20 explosive damage if you detonate it)
Other abilities:
“Smokescreen” (leaves one AP after use, conceals itself and adjacent units which makes them 40% harder to hit with ranged attacks);
“Repair nanites” (1 AP, range: 3 tiles, heals 20 HP on all units in a 1 tile AoE);
Defense mode: submerge;
Large target;
Stagger resistant;
Mindless;
Prime rank: shrug off

The bigger, stronger version of the base submarine. The main attack is a lot more powerful since it’s a 1x22 attack, deals massive impact with a chance to cause turbulence on flying units. If this things gets a good shot off especially flying units are in a lot of trouble. The torpedo of the Behemoth Submarine is identical to the regular submarine.
“Smokescreen” allows this unit to conceal itself and adjacent units, which makes them 40% harder to hit - very powerful, quite similar to the Laser Tanks smokescreen ability. “Repair nanites” on the other hand is a powerful ability restoring 20 HP on ALL units in 1 tile AoE - quite similar to the Vanguard Battleship, the Behemoth submarine can double as a support unit. Overall much better than the smaller, lackluster Imperial Submarines.

Added with the Star Kings DLC, these creatures are a special version of the regular crystal/rock monsters you can encounter in the world. Generally speaking, these Psionicas have even less HP than their regular brethren, but deal psionic damage, which is very good against biological and cyborg units. Overall not that tough to take down, they do deal a lot of damage even in the early game. Psionica are resistant to psionic damage but like their crystal/rock counterparts very weak to chemical damage.

20💗
2 ▌ ▌
2👅
32👢(land)
Role: Throwaway unit

Main attack: 1x15 psionic damage (5➼, heals 10 HP upon hit, gives a stack of glutted which gives +5 HP and +10% damage per stack)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
Damage over time immunity

The weakest of the Psionica units. It has a minor amount of HP and defensive stats which makes it very easy pickings. It deals a nice chunk of psionic damage with each hit, unfortunately on a small range of only 5 tiles - not the regular 7 tiles. This ranged attack has a nice mechanic called “glutted” which is an ability that stacks, each stack giving the Leech +5 HP and +10% damage with each successful hit. In addition, every hit also restores 10 HP - take these things out quick, else they will just heal back up! It also evolves into a Liquid Tick on prime rank, if you ever got a hand on one of them.

25💗
3 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Strike unit
Main attack: 3x10 psionic damage (melee, high impact, restores 5 HP on hit and gives a stack of glutted)
Secondary attack: 1x15 psionic damage (5➼, restores 10 HP and gives a stack of glutted)
Other abilities:
Prime rank: evolve;
Damage over time immunity;
Stagger resistant

Stronger Version of the Leech. Their ranged attack is identical to that of their smaller cousins, both in damage and special abilities - so again, finish them off quick. In addition to their ranged attack, the Liquid Tick also come with a good melee attack, which due to its psionic nature will bypass all armor and shields - devastating on all units with the exception of units with psionic resistance. It also restores 5 HP and gives a stack of glutted. Due to its melee attack and stagger resistance a lot better than the Liquid Tick, so make sure to keep them at a distance if you are fighting them. On Prime rank they evolve into a Remora, which is a good thing considering how powerful those are.

40💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Artillery/Brawler
Main attack: 3x12 psionic damage (melee, high impact, restores 5 HP on hit and gives a stack of glutted, enemies killed by this ability transform into Leeches)
Secondary attack: 1x18 psionic damage (2-9➼, 1 turn cooldown, high impact, can inflict catatonic else inflicts broken mind, ignores line of sight)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
Damage over time immunity;
Large target;
Prime rank: critical

A much more powerful version of the Liquid Tick. It´s melee attack deals more raw damage as well as transforming killed enemies into Leeches - they are multiplying! The true outstanding ability of the Remora clearly is it´s incredible powerful artillery shell it can hurl at long range. You can only use it every 2 turns, but it deals a flat-out disgusting amount of psionic damage in a 1-tile AoE with high impact stagger AND the ability to inflict the devastating “catatonic” debuff, shutting down affected units - they can still move, but all other abilities are blocked!
The one big weakness of the Remora is how vulnerable to damage it is itself, considering it only has 40 HP. Focusing them down fast and spreading out your units are the best piece of advice I can give you when fighting them. When using them, try to keep them behind large cover since their secondary attack shoots in an arc - the melee attack is more suited for self-defense situations.

Quite an interesting marauder sub-faction. These creatures are a mixture of a special kind of fungus and old star union machines. Don’t come to the wrong conclusion that this makes Mycelian units weak to arc damage, they are actually resistant to it! What they are weak against is thermal damage, so think of plants when fighting them, not machines. They themselves only use biochemical attacks, which allows certain faction-tech combos to hard counter them with chemical resistant units.

30💗
1 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(flying)
Role: Ranged fighter
Main attack: 3x6 biochemical damage (5➼, chance to poison target)
Secondary attack: 1x8 biochemical damage (5➼, 1 AP, hits in 3-hex cone, chance to blind targets)
Other abilities:
Biochemical status effect immunity;
Prime rank: evasive

Very basic unit that doesn’t deal a lot of damage and has a pretty low range on all of its attacks. Their main attack can poison the target, while the more potent secondary attack hits in a 3-hex cone and can blind affected enemies. Not that much else to say about the Sprayer: it can´t take a lot of punishment, but it is rather hard to hit since it’s a flying unit - on prime rank they get an additional evade boost. Overall nothing to write home about.

45💗
2 ▌ ▌
0👅
40👢(Land)
Role: Ranged fighter
Main attack: 3x9 biochemical damage (7➼)
Secondary attack: 1x14 biochemical damage (7➼, 1-tile AoE, 1 turn cooldown, 3 AP, high impact, chance to inflict fungal infestation)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
Large target;
Biochemical status effect immunity;
Prime rank: evasive

A lot stronger than the lame Sprayer, their attack is finally something noteworthy. It deals more raw damage than the Sprayer while also having a longer range. The secondary attack allows the Planter to shoot an artillery shell at the target tile which deals a lot of damage and can inflict fungal infestation - quite a nasty debuff! This unit does have some drawbacks however: The armor and HP are still somewhat weak, it´s a large target and for a unit of it´s caliber the damage output at the end of the day is still quite low. Useful in some cases, but I´d pass up on it if you got good ranged options already.

60💗
4 ▌ ▌
0👅
32👢(Land)
Role: Artillery
Main attack: 1x17 biochemical damage (melee, high impact, chance to entangle target)
Secondary attack: 3x9 biochemical damage (2-7➼, 1-turn cooldown, chance to inflict fungal infestation and slow, high impact)
Other abilities:
“Mycelian Connections” (3 AP, once per battle, all Mycelian units gain 2 shields and +20% damage against units that suffer from fungal infestation);
Defense mode: plant roots;
Stagger resistant;
Large target;
Cumbersome;
Biochemical status effect immunity;
Prime rank: shrug off

The strongest Mycelian unit on paper at least. HP and armor are finally a lot better than that of the low tier cousins, allowing a Fertilizer to take a lot of punishment. Unfortunately, that´s where most of the good things end already. The main melee attack may deal a lot of damage and can even entangle the target, but since the Fertilizer moves slower in combat due to cumbersome this ability is more of a defensive tool.
This leaves the Fertilizer with it´s ranged attack. It seems good at first, a repeating chemical attack that deals a base damage of 9 certainly isn’t bad. However, the fact that this ability can only be used every 2 turns seriously kills it in my opinion. Faction counterparts like the Bombardon or Disassembler at least got a secondary ranged attack they can use once they fired off their artillery shell - the Fertilizer has to sit back for a turn being useless unless an enemy wandered close enough for a melee attack. This unit does have another special ability, called “mycelian connections”: This buffs all Mycelian units in the fight with +2 shields and +20% damage against unit´s that suffer from fungal infestation.

The evil version of the Oathbound if you want the short version. Despite their talk about being the superior masters of everyone their units really arent THAT amazing, although certainly not bad. Like the Oathbound, the Apostates have good defensive stats and a good amount of HP - but are also weak in long range engagements.

45💗
4 ▌ ▌
1👅
40👢(Land)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 3x8 entropy damage (melee, high impact, deals 5 additional damage of a random channel)
Secondary attack: 1x17 entropy damage (5➼, chance to inflict chaos vulnerability)
Other abilities:
Stagger resistant;
Exposed flanks;
Large target;
Cruelty (gains 200 morale until end of battle for each enemy killed); opportunistic (gains +20% damage on flank attacks with a chance to immobilize the target);
Prime rank: firm

The Apostates equivalent to the Paladin Protector. I don´t really like either unit, the Protector is entirely melee focused and most of the time you are better off mass-producing low tier Aspirants instead who also have a ranged attack. Thankfully the Blackguard Adversary has such a ranged attack which also deals a good amount of damage - unfortunately he lacks a handy support ability like the Paladin Protectors healing.
Their melee attack deals more damage than you should think at first, since there is a semi-hidden stat that allows the Blackguard Adversary to deal 5 additional damage of a random channel with every full hit. “Cruelty” is an identical ability to what your leader can have if you picked it as a leader flaw - it grants +200 morale for every unit killed until the end of the battle. “Opportunistic” means that the Blackguard Adversary deals even more damage on flank attacks (similar to the flanker ability) with an additional chance to immobilize the target - they can´t hide and now they can´t even run anymore! Overall stronger than the Paladin Protector in my opinion, still it shouldn´t be too hard to focus them down quick if your unit´s aren’t all low-experienced, unmodded low tier units.

60💗
1 ▌ ▌
3👅
32👢(floating)
Role: Ranged fighter
Main attack: 3x9 entropy damage (7➼, deals 5 additional damage of a random channel)


Secondary attack: 1x10 entropy damage (2-7➼, 3 AP, 2-tile AoE, enemies are teleported to a random hex within two tiles, deals 6 additional random damage, ignores line of sight)
Other abilities:
“Channel Chaos” (range: 7 tiles, 3 AP, target unit and 2 other random units gain chaos vulnerability, this units main attack now hits 2 other random units in addition to its original target);
Chaos protection (if attacked by an enemy within 5 tiles that enemy has a chance to get affected by chaos vulnerability);
Prime rank: evasive

This a pretty weird unit. It deals a good amount of damage with its ranged attack which also has a normal engagement range of 7 tiles. Just like with the Blackguard Adversity, it deals more damage thanks to a semi-hidden ability they have. If you ever need it, the Chaos Witch also has an artillery like attack that has a massive 2-tile AoE blast radius and teleports enemy units up to 2 tiles in a random direction.
“Channel chaos” is a powerful buff the Chaos Witch can give itself. Technically it first affects enemy units, which gain “chaos vulnerability”. The buff comes into effect when you attack with the Chaos Witch the next time, since she now hits up to 2 other random units in addition to the original target if you use the Chaos Witches main attack. Finally, “chaos protection” allows the Chaos Witch to inflict chaos vulnerability to an enemy attacker, if they were close to her.

70💗
6 ▌ ▌
2👅
40👢(amphibious)
Role: Brawler
Main attack: 1x18 entropy damage (melee, high impact, deals 10 additional damage of a random channel)

Secondary attack: 1x18 entropy damage (3 AP, high chance to inflict all enemies within 3 hexes with insanity, heals 12 HP for each unit affected by insanity)
Other abilities:
“Tyrants Assault” (4➼; teleport to target tile, leaves one AP after use, gains tireless (infinite overwatch attacks) and resolute (doesn’t lose overwatch on stagger), gains +20% crit chance);
Cruelty;
Opportunistic;
Huge target;
Unstoppable juggernaut;
Prime rank: critical;
Stagger resistant

The strongest Apostates unit in the game, this massive unit is the counterpart to the Oathbound Exemplar. The melee attack only hits one time, but deals an insane amount of damage especially if you factor in the +10 semi-hidden damage it deals with a full hit. The secondary attack of the Tyrant deals a lot of damage in a 3-hex radius with a chance to inflict the powerful “insanity” debuff. Every affected unit heals the Tyrant for 12 HP, which makes this a very powerful ability in almost every fight.
Finally there is the “Tyrants Assault” that teleports the Tyrant in for a short distance, also giving him the insane Champion defense mode abilities for 1 turn. That includes “tireless” which translates to infinite overwatch attacks - insane considering the single hit nature of the Tyrants melee attack. The other ability is “resolute” which means this units doesn´t lose overwatch when its staggered. Other buffs include “cruelty”, “opportunistic” and “unstoppable juggernaut”. Overall a very powerful unit you shouldn’t underestimate in the hands of a good player- the AI butchers using them correctly though, just like they can´t seem to properly use Champions…