Pentapod egg

The Pentapod egg is the spawn structure for Pentapods on Gleba. Pentapods hatch from egg rafts rather than from nests; when an egg raft is destroyed it releases a group of aging Pentapods that begin to lose health over time until they die. The egg raft functions as the source of local Pentapod waves and is the focal point for Pentapod reproduction and local enemy pressure.

Pentapods exist in small, medium and large sizes and are standard melee enemies on Gleba. Small Pentapods are the weakest and most numerous. Medium Pentapods are stronger and faster and can threaten lightly equipped players. Large Pentapods are the most durable and powerful of the standard Pentapods and can hatch from mutated sources with reduced health. Pentapod attacks combine physical and toxic damage and their behavior resembles other melee attackers that charge and swarm the player. Pentapods have a 50% resistance to Laser damage.

Killing missile-type Pentapods and stomper-type Pentapods generates additional aging Pentapods; the size of the spawned aging Pentapods scales with the size of the killed enemy. Destroying an egg raft likewise spawns a local cluster of aging Pentapods rather than simply removing the threat, so attacking egg rafts creates an immediate combat encounter.

• Egg rafts are the primary target when clearing Pentapod infestations on Gleba, but destroying an egg raft provokes a local surge of aging Pentapods that will slowly wither rather than persist indefinitely.
• Pentapods resist Laser damage by half; Lasers are less effective against them than against most other enemies.
• Engage groups spawned from egg rafts with area control and sustained damage; killing larger Pentapods produces proportionally larger groups of aging Pentapods.
• Avoid detonating egg rafts inside defensive perimeters unless you are prepared for the immediate swarm that will result.

The Pentapod egg item represents these egg rafts and their role in Pentapod propagation on Gleba. Treat egg rafts as both a removal target and a short-term hazard due to the instant generation of aging Pentapods when they are destroyed.