Plecton

Attack

A plecton attacks by spitting a blob of highly acidic slime at your soldiers.

Range: 42 metres
Damage: 300
Damage type: burn

Defence

Soft: 10%
Universal: 40%
Hard: 70%
Burn: 10%
Laser: 40%
Plasma: 10%
Warp: 60%
Paralyse: 50%

Health: 2,000 hit points

Distribution

Plectons can be encountered in any territory that has not been swallowed up by the Biomass. They are too big to be encountered in the interior of a base. Plectons can be encountered from almost the earliest missions in a game.

Tactical notes

Plectons are probably the most distinctive transgenant species in the game. They look like gigantic ambulatory turnips; turnip is in fact their name in the internal game files. On closer examination, you can see that they are manufactured from human body parts. The in-game glossary describes them as being animated by a core of biomass-like material, although there is no other connection between plectons and the biomass.

Although plectons are capable of spitting acid across vast distances, their aim is poor and the acid is relatively slow moving. A running soldier can easily dodge the globs of acid.

Plectons are not much of a danger in the mid to late game – they are hideously vulnerable to plasma weapons and their size makes them an easy target for snipers. However they are a formidable adversary in the early game missions.

You should not try to stand and fight against a plecton in the early game if you can avoid it. They can survive a lot of damage from human assault rifles, and their acid will kill or maim your soldiers.

The best early game weapon against a plecton is grenades. You should equip one of your soldiers with lots of grenades in the early missions, preferably a soldier with good running and throwing skills. While the rest of your squad falls back or cowers in fear, your grenadier should run around, lob a grenade at the plecton, and then run some more. He should not stand around watching to see what effect the grenade has. Two direct hits from grenades will kill or disable a plecton, even on the hard level. Your grenadier will usually avoid the globs of acid and will gain a lot of experience points. This tactic also works for a soldier equipped with a handgun, although it takes much longer to disable a plecton.

A plecton can be taken alive, although it is too big to carry. A plecton will become unconscious when its health is reduced to 1,000 hit points or below, 50% of the starting total.