Cloudspire: The Graft – Faction Expansion (English)

Grotesque Reflection

The majority of The Graft's minions are "grafted versions" of familiar minions from other factions that The Graft has absorbed into its ever-growing mass of tissue. You'll recognize familiar talents that can be used in deadly new combinations against their old compatriots.

Since The Graft is a giant organism, it has a unique promotion mechanic that involves absorbing defeated Graft minions into nearby spiers. When these minions redeploy in a later wave, they exit onto their promoted side, into which they have been grafted yet again with another pre-existing minion type. It's gross, yes, but it's also a fun, wacky take on past factions that will make you think about your skills in a new way.

Power core

But it's not just about grafted henchmen. The heart of The Graft is Nucleus, the faction's starting hero who also functions as a mobile fortress gate. Graft Fortress upgrades often grant new abilities to Nucleus himself, leading to power you can deploy to ravage your enemy (and, if you're not careful, a tempting target for your opponent).

Although Nucleus is the brains of the operation, The Graft is also home to a variety of parasitic worms that live in its many nooks and crannies. These worms have a variety of malicious abilities, but one of the worst is Infest, which allows the worms to embed themselves into opposing heroes and villains and drain their HP, step by deadly step.

There are two types of minions in the Graft's arsenal: worms and grafted units. Worms are semi-autonomous creatures that thrive within the folds of the Graft and can be used for parasitic purposes. Some of them spit acid, but all of them have in common the Infest ability, which allows them to burrow into opposing units and deal damage to them every time they attack. If you see one of your worms about to fall, try using its Infest ability, denying your opponent a Source reward and hastening their demise in the process. Grafted units are fusions of familiar base game faction units. When they upgrade, they gain additional abilities from a different base game faction unit, symbolizing the further processing and transformation of the matter it absorbs. They also look pretty gross, and we love that about them.

Besides Nucleus, Graft's other two heroes belong to one of two unit types. Worm of Fury represents a particularly powerful worm unit, while Graft King Nestor is the former heir monarch (brother of Jaelana) who fell prey to the Graft's assault.