The Descent of the Shroud DLC became available on January 31st 2016 and was gifted as a free download from the GreyGoo Developers to anyone who already owned the game.

The DLC introduces the long-awaited 4th faction who open a new chapter in the Grey Goo story and provide new challenges and opportunites for seasoned multiplayer-focussed fans of the game so far.


In addition to a completely new faction (as if that wasn't enough) the Devs also threw in some new units for the Human, Goo and Beta factions for us to play around with in the expansion called the Valiant, Siphon and Squal respectively.


If you're interested, the launch notes for the update can be found here:
Descent of the Shroud Update Notes[www.greybox.com]
The first patch is scheduled for release on 09/02/16 (UK date formatting), as listed in the Grey Goo community discussions.


The million-dollar question, it seems, is who are The Shroud and where did they come from?

If you've played through the Grey Goo Emergence DLC Campain then you'll have a vague idea that there is some secretive and powerful force lashing out from the darkest depths of the universe, erradicating any life forms that it comes acorss and forcing the Goo to adapt, escape and flee to other star systems where their story brings them into contact with the intelligent Beta and Human civilisations.
The Shroud is set to become the colossal threat that unites the three initially warring factions of the Beta, the Humans and the Goo and so certainly is a force to be afraid of.

Descent of The Shroud DLC Release Trailer


Interestingly, the Shroud can build anywhere on the map giving them a huge (and easily-overlooked) terratorial advantage over all other pre-existing factions; Humans are forced to have very centrallised bases due to their power conduits; the Beta require active hubs for any structures to function, limiting their use; the Goo are largely resticted to the areas around resource spiggots. This all points towards the Shroud utilising strategically placed structures to control key positons on the map whilst keeping vision of the map maximised, without having to rely on expensive fundamental structures like conduits or hubs. Sending Mimics or other scout units to the far-flung corners of the map will allow you to set up extractors or Advents, the Shroud's unit factory, in the shadows. Building up for surprise attacks are what the Shroud do best.

Also, the economy of the Shroud is much more difficult to slow down in comparison to other factions. Their Extractor structures don't use Harvesters and so their resource stream can be harder to disrupt. The Extractors themselves are mobile too, allowing the player to move them out of harms way to ensure the Shroud economy stays strong. This provides the Shroud with a uniquely robust economy, particularly in comparison to the Beta and the Humans who rely on long Harvester journeys to secure catalyst in the mid- to late-game.

To balance against these big advantages the Shroud can not auto-produce units, so you will have to keep a much closer eye on your unit production queues as you grow.


This guide is set up in a pretty simple fashion and is broken down into sections with tables and figures to help you to quickly find what you're looking for, compare stats and learn new strategies to dominate the battlefield.

Current Sections Include:

• Part 1: Basic Unit stats and introduction
  
• Part 2: Picking the right Tech Upgrade
  
• Part 3: Shroud Structures

Check out Seraph's Shroud Guide once you're done here for more strategy help with the Shroud.

All unit stats are given in a table below the corresponding icon for each Shroud unit. Any special effects that units have, or quick notes on their strengths/ weaknesses, are also briefly mentioned so that you have a good idea of how units work together to best fill their specific roles and hence form an effective army.

Just a couple of quick points before we start:

• For anyone who doesn't know, damage done by a unit is calculated in the following way:
  
  Inflicted Damage = Unit damage - (Armour of target - Penetration)
  
  Therefore, a high armour score is desirable for meat-shield roles and a high penetration score is required for effective attackers. The inflicted damage can never be less than one.
  
  As a quick example:
  Commando attack damage = 4, penetration = 0; Bastion armour= 3
  Damage inflicted by Commado on Bastion = 4 - (3 - 0) = 4 - 3 = 1
  
  
• Rate of Fire (RoF) is given as the number of seconds between each attack. So a RoF of 1 is equivalent to one attack per second, a RoF of 5 is equivalent to one attack every five seconds and so on....

Tier 1 units are considered the first, basic units that you are able to produce in the early game. The new Shroud faction has some quirky unit mechanics even with these basic, early-game units so it's well worth having a play around with them all in an AI skirmish to get to grips with their strange abilities.



The basic anti-armour unit of the Shroud, this unit will gradually reduce the armour value of a target as it attacks. Considered an offensive unit. Clasher Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Advent


Clashers have a low damage, rapid fire attack that weakens enemy armour with each shot



The Howler is the basic defensive unit of the Shroud with an indirect firing mechanic and works best when included in groups of other units so that their AoE damage has time to erode enemy health in a localised area. They are also able to attack enemies on cliffs and mountains. Howler Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Advent


Howlers have a AoE attack which damages enemies in a small area.



Ground scout unit capable of taking on the form of enemy units (excluding Harvesters and other Mimics) when they are nearby. Form will break after a short time period (indicated by the grey time-out bar uderneath the units' health bar) if the Mimic moves and there are no other enemy units around. Use cautiously to avoid detection and the post behind enemy lines. Retains disguised form when transported with Torrents. Mimic Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Advent + Amplifier


Mimic camouflage tinmeout starts when the Mimic moves away from enemy units and is indicated by the grey bar below its health




Basic anti-aircraft unit that pulls down enemy aircraft so that your ground units can target them directly. It will immediately destroy any aircraft brought down over impassable terrain (which includes buildings/ structures!) and fires while moving. Siren Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Advent + Amplifier


Sirens ground enemy aircraft so that your ground-based units in your army can target and eliminate them

Tier 2 units are the heavy units produced from the Crucible by the Shroud faction. The Cruicble can be made as soon as you have an Advent built, but note the Amplifier requirements needed to unlock each of these units for production.



The Klaxon is the Shroud tank replacment. It has a very short range but will charge into enemy units dealing damage to any units in its charging path - great for catching a player off-guard or when used in flanking tactics. Klaxon Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Cruicble


The Klaxon charge allows the units to rush in on enemy hordes so that they are close enough to attack



Artillery unit which creates an "idestructable energy construct" on the ground where it fires (Note: Alt+Right Click allows you to fire artillery without having to fire on a specific enemy unit/ structure, allowing for strategic "energy construct" placements). Enemies that walk into the terriotory of the "energy construct" will receive damage and the unit can fire over the top of mountain ranges as long as the target is visible. Echo Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Cruicble + Amplifier




The echo launches its shot at its target, which will attack any enemy unit or structure within its reach. Shoot over impassible terrain to keep your Echo units out of the fray



This unit has a DoT (damage over time) attack mechanic whereby any unit killed whilst under the effect of this units' attack will be converted into a Coda. Codas have a short lifespan but are strong in large numbers, so the Fugue is useful for taking out large groups of light enemy units quickly. Fugue Lore[www.greybox.com]



Having a few Fugues in your offensive force will spawn Codas upon killing enemy units, which are small, short-lived units that can help out a lot in tight situations

Coda Stats


The Coda is almost a 'bonus unit' which spawns when an enemy unit dies after having just been hit by an attack from a Fugue. It can't be built, has a realtivly weak attack and loses 5 HP per second after it is formed. It is particularly vulnerable to tanks and AoE damage effects but in large numbers can shift the balance of power in a close battle. Coda Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Cruicble + Amplifier + Amplifier


Codas don't last very long but can help to soften up enemy forces and, more importantly, don't really cost you anything!

As with the Tier 1 and 2 units, you'll find that the Shourd's air units certainly have a quirky side. The Shroud currently seems to have very few options in the realms of anti-aircraft aircaft (make sense?) so you should avoid large clusters of enemy aircraft units if you don't have any Sirens. All air units require a Zenith structure to be built and some require a number of nearby Amplifiers before they can be unlocked.



An air-based scout unit, the Chime can detect stealth and has a large Sight radius and high Speed to help you gain information about the battlefield fast. If it gets caught up in enemy forces and becomes damaged, retreat quickly to let the unit heal at a rate of 6 HP per 5 seconds (the self-healing process starts after a brief period of being out of combat) before returning to gather more information. Chime Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Zenith

The huge sight radius and quick speed of the Chime make it perfectly suited for air reconnaissance



The Mach is a kamikaze-based bomber, diving from the air onto its targets and exploding upon impact to deal damage to enemy units. It inflicts relatively low damage and so is best suited to attacking tight clusters of light infantry and is capable of attacking enemy ground and air units. Mach Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Zenith + Amplifier

Machs divebomb into the target, killing themselves and damaging the enemy structure/ units as they explode



The torrent can load 5 (or 7 if you unlock the Compression Efficiency Tech Upgrade) units into its energy matrix. To fire, it unleashes these loaded units as an energy burst at its targets to deal explosive damage, which increases with the number of units stored. The attack has a knock-back effect and can be used to transport units over impassable terrain to catch opponents off-guard. Fires while moving. Torrent Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Zenith + Amplifier + Amplifier

Torrents can be used to quickly shuttle units over impassable terrain, such as mountains, to give you a big tactical advantage. Here I'm moving units across the mountain range protecting my Entity (Shroud HQ)



An air-based seige unit, the Shriek fires an energy beam at targets which will subsequently bounce around multiple neighbouring targets dealing huge damage to connected structures (particularly good for use against the Beta). This makes it a particularly effective and mobile base-buster. Shriek Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Zenith + Amplifier + Amplifier

Shrieks are powerful airborne seige engines but have very slow movement speeds

Living up to the Shroud reputation, the Dirge Epic Unit is WEIRD. It has a three-stage evolution which you have to cautiously oversee before it is considered to be a fully-fledged epic and shares some similarities to the Goo's Protopurger in its' early stage vulnerabilities. To build the unit, you just need a Crucible within range of three Amplifiers, making it relatively easy to access.




Direct-fire weapon that causes damage over time to enemy units and which slows their movement. Can enter and use brush to keep it hidden during this exposed stage of development.
You need to instruct it to collect resources from resource fields to evolve and the Dirge will collect resources from a spigot (10 p/s drain) at a rate of 10 % "resourcing" per 15 s, taking 7.5 minutes to evlove to Stage 2. This might be easier to understand when you've actually had a go with using the unit!
Dirge Stage 1 Lore[www.greybox.com]


Requires Crucible + Amplifier + Amplifier + Amplifier




The Dirge collects resources from spiggots in Stage 1, can hide in brush and has a direct-fire attack



The Epic now gets some extra health and an indirect fire weapon (use Alt+Right Click to target a specific spot on the ground) that heals the epic slightly when damage is dealt to enemy units. One easy (but slow) option at this stage can be to disrput enemy resource lines by placing the Dirge along a Harvester route, allowing the Dirge to pick off incoming Harvesters. Only particularly weak enemies will be killed in one hit from this weapon, and it is particularly slow to recharge so keep the Epic guarded! The Epic also has a blind spot when enemy units get too close to it, meaning that it could easily be rushed by fast swarms of enemy units. It can still enter and use brush to hide and has to destroy 50 enemy units to progress to its most dangerous form in Stage 3.
Dirge Stage 2 Lore[www.greybox.com]






The Dirge now has to kill 50 enemy units to advance through Stage 2. Its weapon changes to an indirect-fire attack and it can still hide in brush.


The Dirge's indirect weapon will now spawn a gravity well at target, which sucks in nearby enemy units and explodes after a short delay, dealing massive damage to close-knit groups of enemy units. Destroying structures heals the epic but it cannot use brush to hide in anymore.
Note that damage listed in the in-game encyclopedia as 400 is the true damage value that this unit has, but is it given a value of just 100 in the unit icon in the in-game UI.

The gravity well attack can be very handy when wanting to clear out enemy units which you suspect will be hiding in brush, as any hiding units will be clustered together and will be easily sucked into the centre of the gravity well.

Dirge Stage 3 Lore[www.greybox.com]






The Dirge is now considered to be fully evolved and gains a powerful Gravity Well attack. It can no longer hide in brush but is healed when enemy structures are destroyed.

This section of the guide is going to look at the Tech Upgrade options available to the Shroud faction in detail.

All Techs cost 480 resources and take 2 minutes to unlock.

Some powerful Tech Upgarde combinations to note:

• Networked Armour + Compression Efficiency + Protected Investment
  
• Sacrificial Charge + Gravitic Manipulation

Whilst other techs are very powerful in their own right, the combination of these tech upgrades gives you massive benefits for certain playstyles, as dscribed below.

The Aversion Field now heals friendly units in the area with every pulse.

The pulse occurs every 2 seconds and heals ground units at a rate of 5 HP per pulse (needs verficiation, only tested with Clashers!). Healing only imparted on ground units.

This tech is useful in both defense and offense and will help you to gain terriotory and vision across the map - particularly useful for any Shroud player as their build radius increases by building more and more Extractors throughout the game. In offense it can be used strategically by placing aversion fields on unclaimed catalyst vents or by making lines of Aversion Fields behind your army. As you secure new areas of the map you can retreat to and heal up at the Aversion Field line after big fights with the enemy (think WW2 trenches) before pressing on again. After healing your units send them back at the enemy to take out key enemy structures whilst their defenses are low. Make sure that you sell off and rebuild the old Aversion Fields (so that you don't lose too much population, more on this later) as you slowly claim more and more territory.

Units heal at a rate of five HP every two seconds



Klaxons lose their charge but gains stacking armour when nearby other Klaxon units. Cannot stack more than four times.

Armour gain per unit within range = 1, AoE range =300.
Will massively improve the longevity of any Klaxon force (particularly useful if you plan to overcharge your klaxons!) and is practical in both offensive rushes and defensive turtling situations. However, due to the Klaxon's extremely slow movement speed, you should consider pairing this Tech with the Compression Efficiency Tech upgrade and using Torrents to move your Klaxons around for you, otherwise your Klaxons can take some serious damage before they've even reached the target - especially when you have a large army and the Klaxons have to filter through to the front! Without the use of Torrents, this tech can actually make your Klaxons very vulnerable, as they can be kited and killed by faster units, even with the armour bonuses.


Up to four additional armour points can be stacked onto a Klaxon, even when they are relatively far apart


Coda lose their ranged weapon, gain increased movement speed on attack, explodes for AoE damage and then dies. The less health it has on impact, the greater the damage.


Range = 75, AoE damage= 69, AoE radius =125.
This tech is best suited to taking out large numbers of closely-packed light units, dishing out quite a noticable explosion damage upon Coda death. Although the Shroud already have many units capable of dealing AoE damage (Echo, Howler, Torrent) that will cripple large armies made up of light units, this tech further increases your ability to do damage to clusters of enemy units and starts to pull its weight against your opponents Teir 2 units too. With relatively few Fugues, this tech upgrade can make a seriously noticable difference on the battlefield, and can be paired with the Gravitic Manipulation tech to keep enemies clustered and vulnerable to Coda attack.

The Echo creates a slow field when the projectile lands, reducing enemy movement speed in its area of effect.


This Tech Upgrade is great at creating strategically-placed choke points at naturally narrow points on the map and can work very well when trying to level up your Dirge and facing a large enemy force. This will also boost the effectiveness of any Fugues that you have in your army, as the Codas which they spawn upon killing enemy units will be able to hit targets a greater number times, and so can be useful if paring this tech with the Sacrificail Charge Tank Tech or if you just plan on using a high number of Fugues in the game. This tech is also useful for hunting down Mother Goo's in the early-to-mid game before you have much in the way of an airforce; use Echos to slow the Mother Goo when you see one then send in other units to kill it before it can escape over mountains or other no-go map terrain features.

Pick this tech if you want to level up your Dirge quickly or if you just can't get enough of those beautiful Fugues


The Siren can attack ground units causing them to rise into the air, unable to attack or move. Does not work on Epics.


Range = 600, AoE radius = 50, Rate of Fire = 8.
This tech seems to be more of a jokey one because (whilst it is hilarious to see a Commando 50 ft up in the air) it requires too much of your attention. For it to give you any noticable advantage in a fight you would have to individually target the strongest units in your opponent's army to temporarily remove them from the fight i.e. you would have to micro the crap out of every fight you send Sirens in to. Whilst this isn't necessarily a bad thing (or even a challenge) for some players, I would assume that this would be a little too much to ask of most players - myself included! Factor in that the Siren won't actually damage the units it hits, that Siren shots will now be divided between ground units and air units so that air units get grounded less frequently and also that you're losing precious time whilst micro-ing which you could be spending on managing structures/ unit production, then this could actually put you at a big disadvantage unless you're able to use it properly.

Look closely here and you'll see the Beta Commando is flying and the Stratus is grounded! A two-in-one solution!


The Howler's range and AoE radius increases but its rate of fire decreases.


AoE radius = 150, Range = 550, Rate of Fire = 6
The Channeled Buildup tech is considered to be one of the go-to techs for the Shroud faction. By increasing the range and damage radius on Howlers, which are relatively cheap and fast units to produce don't forget, you can create a powerful hit-and-run squadron of Howlers in the early game. Shoot at a target, retreat as the Howler attack cools down and then shoot and retreat all over again. This should keep your Howlers outside of the range of enemy attacks whilst inflicting big damage on any enemy force. If you're particularly good at micromanaging, stick these guys in an Overcharger for increased damage, as the penalty they take to their hit points through overcharging will be negated if you can keep them out of range of your opponent's units.


This turns Howlers into relatively decent and inexpensive grenade launchers. Their rate of fire is now quite slow however so hit-and-run plays are needed.

The Torrent can carry two more units.

Torrent damage is increased from 40 to 56.
This tech provides two obvious advantages: the ability to move more units over impassible features in the map and increasing the potential damage output of the Torrent.

With the way that Amplifiers currently behave in the game (your units can't move through them), you can end up blocking yourself in pretty easily if you set up Plasma Spike defenses at choke points around your base. An obvious way to prevent your freshly-made armies from travelling around the other side of the map just to get to the point that you told them to meet at a mere five metres away, you can use Torrents to pick up and drop off your units on the other side of the Amplifier/ Spike road block. Having more available spaces reduces the number of trips you need and can make the crucial difference between winning or losing a fight if your units are slow movers (Klaxons, I'm looking at you!) and can swing things in your favour if you're hunting down Mother Goo's using Torrent armies. Note that you should only hunt down Mother Goo's with heavy units + Torrents, such as seven Klaxons with the Networked Armour Tech Upgrade, as deploying light units from Torrents instantly puts them in the Goo's damage radius and allows them to be quickly eaten up by the enemy Mother Goo.
The damage increase paried with this Tech Upgrade is also quite nice, but still requires a full cargo of units to take effect. As such, this puts a greater risk on using Torrents as you will lose more if your Torrents get shot down by enemy anti-air units. Be careful and make sure to come in from unexpected angles for maximum effect.

All aboard! Increase the Torrent's damage and transport more units across difficult terrain to catch your opponent by surprise with this Tech. Pair with Networked Armnour for a strong Klaxon/Torrent combo


The Chime gains a pulsing aura; all enemy air units take damage from the pulse, while all allied air units are healed by the pulse.


AoE damage = 20, AoE radius = 200, Rate of Fire = 2.
The Chime 'pings' once every two seconds, with each 'ping' healing nearby aircraft for 10 HP and damaging enemy untis for 20 HP. Note that this effect stacks, i.e. having three Chimes next to injured aircraft will heal at a rate of 30 HP every 2 seconds, and that the Chime's "heal whilst out of combat" effect also applies on top of this Tech Upgrade.
Whilst this seems like a great Tech Upgrade on paper, it proves to be difficult to fully utilise offensively on the battlefield without proper management as you have to individually controll the Chime's placement on the map to reap the rewards of this tech. The Chime doesn't have an attack command after unlocking this tech so you have to move them within the required range of enemy units for the damage to be dealt. The damage done is low and the Chime's health is too so they are still not ideal for use in offensive anti-aircraft plays, but, because the Shroud have little in the way of anti-aircraft aircraft, this tech can help to plug a hole in the Shroud's vulnerabilities. It is best used by having, for example, three Chimes guarding six to twelve Shrieks, which go in and wreck enemy bases whilst the Chimes float around and reduce damage dealt to the Shrieks from the enemy, whilst also improving vision on the map. This greatly improves the longevity of your Shrieks, which are themselves incredibly powerful base-busters!

Heal injured units rapidly with 10 HP healed per pulse per Chime. Vital to an effective large airforce that you want to last


Tether Spikes now cause the aircraft to release periodic AoE damage while landed (doens't damage the target aircraft).


AoE damage = 5, AoE radius = 200, Rate of Fire = 0.5
This tech is good for when you're dealing with a Beta/Human opponent who has built lots of Hangars within close proximity to each other and is relying on a strong aircraft-led offense. Having this tech will cause all of their aircraft to deal damage to each other whilst they return to re-arm at their base, weakening their ability to swoop in unexpectedly on you.

I haven't personally used this tech much so please do let me know in the comments section below if you've found a good way to use this tech!

Perception Spikes grant stealth to nearby units but are no longer affected by Amplifiers.


The AoE radius for this effect is 600.
This tech will give you some strategic options to play around with in-game, allowing you to sneak units up to the front line by moving them between Perception Spikes without your opponent finding them. This can be particularly useful if your oppoent isn't scouting much or has relatively few units that can detect stealth. Spikes around Extractor sites are fairly common, so having a Perception Spike there won't arouse suspicion. Posting just a few units within the stealth field around these Spikes can give your Extractors a huge defensive boost. The Pereception Spikes themselves don't gain stealth though, so could be easily targeted to foil your sneaky plans, and they lose Amplifier bonuses to vision range and the DoT attack afforded to Perception Spikes at Level 2.


The Perception Spike provides stealth to units within a certain range, as demonstrated with stealthed and unstealthed Clashers


The Mimic gains stealth detection.


This is pretty much a standard tech across all factions in the game, granting your scout units the ability to detect stealth. Whilst the advantages of this tech are fairly limited it could prove to be vital to preventing your opponent from getting information on your forces through stealth units.
Human and Goo scouting untis have a stealth cloak tech upgrade, whilst the Beta's Seeker is cloaked straight out of the factory, so this is an important tech for preventing unwanted spies! Ignore this tech upgrade if playing against another Shroud player.


When a Mimic dies it leaves behind a revealing beacon. Beacon cannot be attacked or removed other than by timing out.


Sight = 300, lifetime = 60 seconds
The range that the beacon unlocked in this tech has is surprisingly large and so too is the beacon lifetime of one minute, providing you with lots of information as to what your opponent is doing after the death of your Mimic. Cloaked mimics require a lot of management to prevent your opponent from catching on to your imposter spy units and as such are prone to quickly dying. This tech helps to compensate for the scout's vulnerabilities and ensures that you stay informed even after the death of your scout. Place a few mimics in your armies and grab this tech to ensure visibility is kept on the battlefield for as long as possible.

The beacon left behind by the Mimic sticks around for a long time and gives vital information about enemy troop movements if you've just lost a major battle

Extractors are unstable and now explode with tremendous damge when destroyed.


Extractor AoE Damage set to 500, with an AoE radius of 200.
When would you ever be in a situation where you have allowed your Extractors to take so much damage that you could potentially claw some advantage back by having them explode magnificently upon death?
The answer: in the late game when you've reached your Population limit or in the mid-game when your economy is being targeted by your opponent.
The latter answer is maybe quite obvious but will essentially be ignored here beacuse, if you had a clever oppoent, your opponent could withdraw most of thier units just before destroying your Extractor so that the explosion damage from this tech barely weakens their forces. So not a big deal there really, and very easy to learn from if you're playing against the Shroud!
The former answer, focussed on the late-game, is particularly interesting. When playing as the Shroud in the late-game you could very well reach the point where you have maxed out your resource store and your Population limit and so turning to Kamikaze Extractors can prove to be a beautiful solution to this maxed out problem. They can be built with no Population expense (unlike Spikes and Aversion Fields) and can be run at enemy armies, walls or buildings to seriously soften up your enemy. Spam them in the late game after ensuring unit queues are full and move them in with your main army to deal cripilling damage!

Ever thought "I wish I could kamikaze my Extractors"? Well now you can...and with great effect! Damage is indicated by a glowing blue aura



Extractors gain an aura that grants increased armour and heal-over-time to units around it. This effect counts as one stack of Networked Armour.


Armour increased to 3. Healing effect range = 200, healing injured ground units at a rate of 5 HP per second.
This Tech Upgrade again seems to be one focussed at the late-game. It can help you to prevent disruption to your economy earlier in the game for sure but isn't a game-changer at this stage by any means. The Networked Armour benefit means that you HAVE to couple this tech with the Networked Armour tech for a seriously strong Klaxon-based army.
By building Extractors and incorporating them into your armies in the late-game, when you have maxed out your population limit, unit production queues and recource cap, you can them in their Undeployed state you provide your units with walking field hospitals that can keep your unit's health topped up. This can provide you with the advantage in any fight of longer-lasting units whilst giving you the strategic flexibility to retreat and heal up after a big fight before launching a new attack. The range and rate of healing unlocked with this tech is quite impressive, so you will only need three to five Extractors in your army to ensure all your units are covered, and the armour bonuses make the Extractors just a bit more difficult to take down when coupled with their high HP. Think of this as a late-game version of the Soothing Pulse tech, which is will probably be more influential in your fights than the Soothing Pulse tech if you can manage to last into the late game. Sadly, the healing effect is not applied to Codas :(


Useful when paired with the Networked Armour Tech Upgrade in the late-game to give super-powered Klaxons. Disperse Extractors thoughout your army for a healing advantage


The Shroud HQ acts as an amplifier with an extended radius.


AoE radius = 600
This is a nice passive tech which can save you a lot of resources when leveling up structures like Advents, Crucibles, Zeniths and Spikes. Whilst it may seem boring - and maybe even a bit pointless - this tech gives you instantly-upgraded structures if they are built within range allowing for quicker unit production and stronger/ more capable Spikes giving you advantages in both offensive and defensive playstyles. It can also reduce the number of Amplifiers needed when making a Spike outpost, which has the hidden benefit of allowing your units to move through the Spike/ Amplifier wall, or even just around your base, with ease.

The structures available to the Shroud are, like the rest of the faction covered so far, quirky, offering plenty of new strategic options for you to play around with and take advantage of.

They seem to sit somewhere between the Goo and Beta/Human factions in their buildings format, having some degree of structural mobility but largely being static in their structure design.

The Entity is the Shroud's base of command and looks very plant-like, something which seems to be a recurring theme with the Shroud faction.

It has an armour rating of 6 compared to the HQ structures of the Beta and Human factions, so you do need to be careful and guard this structure well in the mid-to-late game. This will prevent the Shroud from winning too easily later on in the game, when they typically will have big economic advantages over other enemy factions due to the mobility of the Shroud Extractors, so be sure to keep a defensive force held back from the main body of your army.

The Empowered Core upgrade can give this base some additioanl usefullness and reduces the amount you need to spend building Amplifiers, but (because this upgrade has a limited range associated with it) it is more suited to defensive playstyles where you need to build up Spikes and Advents etc. within close proximity to your Entitiy for protection.

Extractors are particularly interesting structures for two reasons:

• They don't use Harvesters
  
• They can be "Undeployed" and moved about as a mobile unit

Let's take the first point.
The fact that extractors don't use Harvesters is a huge advantage over the Human and Beta factions who (particularly in the late-game) rely massively on long Harvester conveys to shuttle catalyst to their bases. This requires a lot of effort and a good number of spare units to guard the Harvesters along their path, so by removing the Harvesters from the equation you can focus a lot more intently on building and commanding effective Shroud armies.

When you then take into consideration the second point, that the extractors can move, then you can start to see the Shroud economy moving to a more Goo-like position. If an extractor comes under attack it can be undeployed and moved to safety (although it unfortunately can't move over impassible terrain like Mother Goos can) or transferred to different catalyst sites when the one they're occupying runs dry.

This makes the Shroud economy very difficult to disrupt and hence very robust, allowing the player to spend a lot more precious time on growing and using their units effectively. Because of this, Shroud extractors are slightly more expensive, costing 900 resources instead of the conventional 800.
The Extractor mobility also offers powerful strategic options in the late-game with the Protected Investment and Volatile Extractors tech upgrades, something with no equivalents in the other factions in the game.



The Shroud's Extractors should not be overlooked! They make the Shroud economy difficult to disrupt and provide strategic options in the late-game with the applicable Tech Upgrades

Below is a pictoral guide for the perfect Shroud unit production facility.
Using just three amplifiers you can get two Advents, one Crucible and one Zenith all at level 3!

Not good enough???

This set-up also allows you to place four extra amplifiers on each side of the triangular plot, allowing you to place level 3 Plasma Spikes (as shown) to defend the base!
You will need a good amount of room to build this unit production facility but I belive this to be the optimum layout for the cheapest resource price.











Advents are the Shroud equivalent of factories and pump out the light units used by the Shroud. Upgrading them with Amplifiers is necessary to unlock production slots to allow multiple units to be made at the same time, and also to unlock the Mimic and Siren units. The requirement of Amplifiers (costing 450 cataylst each) make Advents and their upgraded counterparts, the Crucible and the Zenith, relatively expensive structures so optimising their layout with respect to Amplifiers is a must to reduce resource consumption.
Amplifiers are also needed to unlock the Echo, Fugue and Dirge units in the Crucible and the Mach, Torrent and Shriek units in the Zenith so you really are forced to couple your unit factories with Amplifiers. Guarding these Amplifiers is an important task as such! Unlocking the Empowered Core econonmy Tech Upgrade will help you to reduce this resource cost but means you miss out on other available economy techs that can prove to be useful later on in the game.

It takes much longer and costs more resources for the Shroud to unlock heavy Tier 2 units when compared to the Human and Beta factions, as they have to build supporting Amplifier structures before they can even build the Crucible, which takes time to "reconfigure" from an Advent, and the production of lighter units available to the Advent is also lost upon its upgrade to a Crucible.
Because of this, the Shroud is particuarly vulnerable in the early-game and relies heavily on Clashers and Howlers for defense from Human and Beta tank units. Bear this in mind and be prepared for an early rush when playing as the Shroud - Clashers are good at countering tank units whilst Howlers are good at countering light infantry.

Spikes are to the Shroud what Turrents are to Humans...oh wait, no they're not...they don't rely on hilariously fragile energy conduits for power!

Spikes, like any Shroud structure, have the wonderful ability of being able to be built anywhere on the map where you have vison. They are made from Amplifiers, which can irreversibly transform into one of three Spike types after an eighteen second construction period; known as the Plasma, Tether and Perception Spikes respectively.

The three available Spikes which can be produced from converting Amplifiers

The general Spike roles are as follows:

• Plasma Spikes do direct damage to enemy ground untis and are the basic autonomous defensive structure of the Shroud.
  
• Tether Spikes ground enemy aircraft but, in their most basic form, don't actually damage them. Other units (or Plasma Spikes) will have to target the grounded aircraft to inflict damage on it.
  
• Perception Spikes detect stealth within a certain radius around the Spike.

Upgrading the Spikes through any of the three available levels by building Amplifiers nearby increases their damage output or range and can give them special abilities, although the actual stats for each upgrade level are not currently known. Generally speaking, each Spike gains a DoT (damage over time) effect upon reaching level two and gains increased damage/ range with each level unlocked. The Perception and Tether Spikes also have Tech Upgrades associated with them (the Tether Feedback and Reversed Perception upgrades respectively).
Spikes cost 450 cataylst (from construction of an Amplifier) and also cost 1 population each. To keep your population amount consumed by Spikes down, make sure that they are only used to hold key strategic positions on the map and that any old or unused Spikes are sold to make space for new units.

All of the three Spike types can be upgraded by building Amplifiers around the structures, progressing through three levels of power before max-ing out.

The optimum arrangements for doing so are as follows:



In the above picture, three level 3 Plasma Spikes are built behind a line of Aversion Fields (more on them later...). Behind the spikes are a trio of Amplifiers, carfully arranged so that their influence radius covers all three Plasma Spikes to ensure maximum levels are attained.




Having a Perception Spike and one or two Tether Spikes will make for a very solid, autonomous road-block on the map for your opponent. They will require a protection force of friendly units to fend off enemy forces whilst the structures themselves are being built, but otherwise will generally be able to look after themselves most of the time.

An important (and annoying) thing to note is that units currently have a hard time navigating around Amplifiers. This means that your units will see a wall of Amplifiers as a wall that they cannot move through and so can end up being stuck behind these sorts of defensive outposts. To overcome the problem, Torrents can be used to shuttle units in front of the Aversion Fields so that they may push on across the map to fight the enemy.


Aversion Fields are wall structures which cost 1 population to build and which prevent enemy units from passing through them. Each pillar constructed has a specific range around it where it prevents enemy movement, so building a string of pillars at choke points on the map can be a great way to reduce the territory available to your opponent. Like any wall structure, they're often used to protect unit production facilities (explained in this guide), extractors and the player's base.
Aversion Fields can also be placed down on catalyst vents. This is commonly used to gain map control as you prevent your opponent from building extractors on the catalyst site, hence limiting their economy, and you gain vision over key sections of the map. Aversion Fields can also be placed on the border of brush - this prevents your opponent's forces from enetering the brush, where your units are hidden, until the enemy units have destroyed the Aversion Field structures. This allows you to kill enemy units from the safety of the brush in the meantime.

Note that Howlers can find it difficult to target enemy units which are being bounced off of Aversion fields as the movement of the targets make it hard for the Howlers to lock on to them. Use the Alt+Right Click attack mode to direct the Howler's fire or use units like Echos to hit the enemy units from range.




Aversion Fields are built to gain map control and are particularly useful at brush sites and on catalyst vents

The Overcharger is a late-game Shroud structure, costing 1000 resources, which supposedly pumps extra energy into your Shroud untis to make them more unstable.
By doing so the units' damage is doubled and their speed is boosted by 20 %, but their damage taken is also doubled, allowing your units to perform either a turbo-charged offensive rush, in a slash and burn style play, or otherwise used as a last resort in a desperate defensive counter-attack to defend your base.

Overcharged units have a glowing blue aura and appear to grow in size slightly, allowing you to easily distinguish them from normal non-overcharged units. They can be transported by Torrents and still retain their overcharge-edness.

Overcharged units have a glowing blue aura and look slightly bigger than their normal counterparts


Overcharging light units will make them very easy to kill, as they have no armour and generally have low health, so should be avoided unless you're happy for them to die quickly. Overcharging units with high armour scores (such as Klaxon groups with the Networked Armour tech upgrade) or long range units (such as Echos) might provide you with the best damage output/ damage taken ratios and give you more of an advantage in battle than overcharging lighter Tier 1 untis.
The speed boost gained can be useful for Overcharging lighter units however, to allow them to effectively rush remote enemy structures such as Extractors as they are generally pretty darn speedy with the Overcharger bonuses. The speed boost to Mimics will also give you a very fast (but vulnerable) scout unit and can be paired with the Retribution Beacon tech upgrade to mitigate the low effective health of the overcharged Mimic. Overcharged mimics look the same as non-overcharged mimics when in camouflaged form.




The Overcharger doubles unit damage and increases unit speed by 20 %, but also doubles the damage that they take