Every alien spawns as a Skulk. It costs nothing, is the fastest ground lifeform, and can run on walls and ceilings. Skulks win by surprise: ambush from a ceiling, bite from behind, and pick off marines who wander alone.
Abilities#
| Key | Ability | Energy | Damage | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mouse1 | Bite | 5.85 | 75 | Start |
| 2 | Parasite | 30 | 10 | Start |
| Mouse2 | Leap | 45 | – | Biomass 4 + research |
| 3 | Xenocide | 30 | 200 | Biomass 9 + research |
Bite#
A short-range (1.42 m) melee bite for 75 normal damage. Against marine armor levels:
| Attack | No upgrade | Focus (3 Veils) | Crush (3 Spurs) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | |
| Skulk bite | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
Hits to kill a full-health marine by armor level (A0–A3). A dot means the attack does not benefit from Focus.
Bite benefits from Focus: with three Veils a skulk kills an un-upgraded marine in 2 bites instead of 3.
Parasite#
Fires an instant hit at any range that does 10 damage and parasites the target for 44 s. Parasited marines and structures are visible to the whole alien team, through walls and on the minimap. Parasite every marine you see, and the hive's structures, Phase Gates and Exos you find.
Hit detection: parasite hits players and structures with a 0.15 m wide sweep. Only the centre line is stopped by walls, so the shot never snags on a wall corner next to your crosshair.
Parasite is also the start of the skulk's most important combo: parasite + 2 bites kills an un-upgraded marine (see Combos below).
Leap#
Secondary attack. Launches the skulk forward. Leap needs Biomass 4 and then a commander research (15 team res, 40 s). It is used to close distance, dodge, and cross gaps.
Xenocide#
Weapon slot 3. The skulk runs forward and explodes 2 s later, doing 200 damage within 14 m. Needs Biomass 9 and research (25 team res). Late-game tool for breaking turtled marine bases and power nodes.
Combos#
Parasite + 2 bites kills an un-upgraded marine; 3 bites alone are needed otherwise. Once marines have Armor 1 the trick stops working unless you have Focus.
| Target | Skulk bite hits needed after this many parasites | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Marine A0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Marine A1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Marine A2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Marine A3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Full-health targets. A highlighted cell means that many parasites save a skulk bite compared with the cell to its left.
More on Kill combos, including Focus and Xenocide.
Movement#
- Wall walking: skulks stick to any surface automatically. Use it.
- Wall jumping: jumping off a wall gives a burst of speed, up to 11 m/s.
- Bunny hopping: chained jumps on the ground keep and build speed, up to 8.5 m/s.
- Sneaking: hold Shift to move silently at reduced speed.
- Celerity adds up to 1.5 m/s.
Tips#
- Never run straight down a corridor at a marine who sees you. Go around, go over, wait.
- Bite once and back off if the marine turns: a hit-and-run skulk lives longer.
- Your score is not kills, it's res: kill extractors and power nodes when marines are elsewhere.
- Parasite everything, every time.