The 38 Cydroids & 12 Combat Archetypes

Reality Thread 9 launches with 38 Cydroids in five rarity bands. Each carries a signature ability, a primary weapon (left mouse) and a special (right mouse). Rarity changes how far a frame can be pushed, but the model still defines how it plays.

Five frames have no damaging ordinary primary: Nanitic, Levanto, Jigeh, Bear and Brainiac. They are support, cover and rescue frames.

Each Cydroid is a different Metasprite given a body by a Mentar. Earth2 notes the frames carry classifications this release only begins to use, so a plain-looking Cydroid may later do something the game has not yet asked of it. Click any name below for the full catalog page.

Descriptions are summaries of Earth2's roster notes. Values and abilities may change during balancing.

Think in roles. Recognising a frame's preferred range, target and position is often more useful than memorising its numbers. Eleven are named archetypes in game; Utility describes an objective-focused role, often handled by Defensive or Support frames.

Rarity alone does not make a balanced squad. A Barrier paired with a long-range frame can hold a firing position, while bruisers can create space for a marksman. Four duelists may each be strong alone without giving the squad a plan.

• Zirah parries in every direction. Do not chase it with the trigger held; wait out the guard window or break off.
• Necrosignal can cloak and vanish from scan beams, but its shields are offline while cloaked.
• Venator and Zephyr mark targets so the whole squad can see them, even through cover.
• Magnetar and Nanitic pull particles toward them and share benefits with nearby squadmates, so flying close together improves the effect.
• Sirena, Mobula and Kraken are strongest on river, lake and coastal properties where water routes matter.
• Skirmishers (Moleh, Skimmer, Gambit, Caelifer) share Blink and a machine-gun bonus strongest inside 20 m.
• Alukah and Leech only tether a target whose shield is still up; drain it dry and the tether cuts.

Almost every strong tool has a counter somewhere else on the roster: streak-heavy collectors can be hunted, stealth costs shield uptime, beams announce themselves, and parries can bounce a stasis back at the caster.

Raids do not match Pilots by Rank or frame strength. You can meet a fully Jewelled Legendary flown by a Pilot four Ranks above you. Earth2 says this is deliberate: if every raid were evenly matched, upgrades and Jewels would matter much less, and the open market under Cydroid ownership would lose its meaning.

So the skill is judgement: when to collect, when to run and when to fight. Defeat never removes E-ther you already banked, and an outgunned raid can still be profitable if you work the far side of the field.

The rule helps lower-rarity attackers across a rarity gap and leaves equal-rarity fights unchanged. It scales with the size of the gap:

• A Common attacking a Legendary (four tiers apart) lands roughly 4.5 times its normal damage.
• The Legendary shooting back down that gap deals under half of its normal damage.
• A Rare against an Epic (one tier) gets a much smaller adjustment.
• An Underdog PIP perk widens the bonus when fighting upward. It does nothing when fighting a lower rarity.

That makes a Common a deliberate counterpick rather than just an entry frame. Earth2 expects stats, perk costs and cooldowns to keep changing during the Tester period.

• Cydroid Raid Flight and Combat Guide
• Cydroid Owner Guide: Lending to Pilots
• Cydroid Pilot Rank, PIPs and Perks Guide
• Cydroid catalog
• Cydroid skins

Source: Earth2 Reality Thread 9 announcement on earth2.io. Earth 2® is a trademark of Earth Version 2 Pty Ltd. E2 University is an independent community resource.