Cysts spread infestation. The commander places a cyst and the game automatically draws a chain of cysts back to the nearest connected cyst or hive, charging 1 team res for each new cyst in the chain. Each cyst must be within 31 m of the previous one.
How cysts work#
- A cyst only spreads infestation while it is connected to a hive through its chain. Kill one cyst in the middle and everything after it is disconnected.
- Disconnected cysts take 20 damage per second and their infestation recedes. Structures off infestation slowly die.
- Cysts build in 3.33 s, and grow infestation over about 37.5 s.
- Cyst health grows as it matures; cysts far from a hive mature weaker (between 200 and 400 health depending on distance).
- Cysts are flammable: fire does ×5 to them.
Cyst upgrades#
Each hive type gives all cysts a passive bonus:
- Shade Hive: built, connected cysts are camouflaged while not in combat. Marines only see them up close or with an Observatory or scan.
- Shift Hive: cysts build 25% faster.
- Crag Hive: mature cysts get 25 armor instead of 1.
Infestation follows the floor. A cyst only covers ground it can reach by spreading along connected surfaces within its circle, so infestation does not leak through walls: you can't cyst one room and infest the room behind the wall. Generated cyst chains stay on floors, and when the commander selects a cyst a grid of green/red hexes shows exactly where its infestation counts.
Drifters follow cyst chains. A Drifter that finishes growing a cyst moves on to the nearest unbuilt connected cyst within 33 m by itself, so one drifter can grow a whole new chain without micromanagement.