Chryssalid (EU2012)

For the original UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994) version, see Chryssalid

The Chryssalid is a savage murderous insect. Standing at about 5 feet, Chryssalids serve the alien forces as terror agents and are found are mainly found on Terror sites, though sometimes they can be seen defending larger UFOs or structures of importance to the aliens. They are one of the fastest ground units in the game and they use their deadly claws to attack any humans present (either XCOM or civilians) and kill or poison them. If the attacked human dies then a Zombie will be produced, from which a new Chryssalid will burst after a few turns.

Upon activation, Chryssalids will dash towards any humans on their vicinity. On Terror Sites, this means that they'll usually spread themselves out but on missions where no civilians are present the entire group will swarm towards your soldiers, which can work for your advantage by using explosives to weaken several of them. Their increased movement (about 12 tiles or squares) and their ability to leap to higher ground also means that there is no safety on heights or behind obstacles.

Info

1st Appearance	April (Terror mission) Alien Base
HP	8/8/8/8
Aim	Melee
Defense	10
Will	120
Movement	20
Easy/Normal/Classic/Impossible

Chryssalid Abilities

Ability	Description
Implant	Victims are implanted with a Chryssalid egg if they are killed by a Chryssalid's attack (not from poison caused by Poisonous Claws).
Poisonous Claws	Poison enemies wounded with melee attacks.
Leap	Allows vertical leaps onto elevated surfaces during movement.
Hardened	Confers extra protection against critical hits. Enemies suffer a -60% chance to inflict critical hits.

Notes

• Chryssalid's melee attack deals 6 damage. On Classic and Impossible difficulties this value is increased by +2.
• Chryssalids first appear in April during the 1st terror mission. They can also be encountered first in the Alien Base if you assault it before your first terror mission.
• They can inject a venom into your operatives that effectively zombifies them, turning them into a thrall for the aliens, though that is not all. They also inject the victim with a Chryssalid egg. After 3 turns the egg will hatch and the new, fully adult Chryssalid will tear its way out of the zombie ready to inject more of your soldiers or any civilians were present.
• If the Chryssalid's attack doesn't kill your soldier, it will poison it instead, which requires usage of a Medikit to counter the poison.
• Chryssalids are immune to stun.
• If killed during a successful mission a Chryssalid Corpse will be recovered.
  • But you don't get the corpse from Chryssalid spawned from Zombies.
• After finishing Chryssalid Autopsy research, their corpses can be used to create Chitin Plating, which protects against melee damage, this can help against Chryssalids a lot. Unfortunately it has no visual effects on the soldier wearing it, wearing Chryssalid shells would probably look really cool.
  • On the Enemy Within DLC, completing the research will also unlock the Bioelectric Skin gene mod and the Needle Grenade.
• Mind-Controlled Chryssalids that kill an enemy alien do not produce a zombie afterwards.
  • Same applies in multiplayer where your own Chryssalids can't make a Zombie from opponent alien units.
• As seen in the Site Recon Council mission, Chryssalids can infest any creature large enough to support them, human or otherwise. They can also form hives which allow them to rapidly produce large numbers of Chryssalids within larger creatures.
  • From the same council mission it is evident that Chryssalids can infest and overrun towns with extreme ease if left to their own devices.

Trivia

• The removal of time units have severely crippled Chryssalids as they can no longer rely on their movement speed alone. This has slightly hurt their reputation as the most iconic alien of X-COM as they are very foolhardy and defiant of the new movement mechanics. They are at their full glory in the 1994 original X-COM.