1. Spitter – “The Acid Gut”
When Larvae sniff you out and Squids chew up the front line, Spitters arrive to finish the meal. They spread across hard surfaces, coating walls and rocks in a viscous acid that “pre-digests” metal and flesh for easy Nester absorption.
In-Game Behavior: Sets up corrosive pools that eat structures over time.
Counterplay: High-burst damage or captured monsters with splash are your best bet—kill them before your defenses melt.
2. Crawler – “The Bone-Plated Battering Ram”
If Squids bounce off reinforced walls, the Nester sends in Crawlers. Built from dense bone lattice, they’re slower but far tougher, shrugging off small-arms fire while smashing fortifications.
In-Game Behavior: Tanky siege unit that targets walls first, forces you to diversify damage types.
Counterplay: Armor-piercing turrets, artillery, or your own captured Brute will crack that shell.
3. Jumper – “The Wall-Hopper”
Decades of IPE defense lines taught the Nexera a new trick: Jumpers. These winged assassins vault any obstacle and dive straight for high-priority targets—usually your recruits’ faces.
In-Game Behavior: Leaps over terrain, ignores choke points, focuses on infantry.
Counterplay: Long-range fire or heavily armored mechs; keep AA turrets near vital squads.
4. Drifter – “The Living Railgun”
Only five years old in the evolutionary timeline, Drifters may contain human DNA. Early reports guessed they were tactical overseers; autopsies reveal that most of their neural energy is repurposed into destructive energy waves.
In-Game Behavior: Charges up line-beam attacks that one-shot light units and fry electronics.
Counterplay: Disrupt with stuns or spread your army to minimize beam lanes; capture attempts are… ill-advised (for now).
What’s Next?
These four units debut in our next Nexera planet mission alongside new AI behaviors and counter tools. Your feedback from the Wargame Fest demo helped shape their stats - keep those reports coming in Discord so we can fine-tune the swarm!
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The Saigon Dragon Studios Team