A cry for help kicks off DLC 4: Corrupted Horizons, which introduces the Acheron support enemy and its deadly Corruption effect that will change the way you play Phoenix Point… but all is not lost for humanity. To help counter the threat of this new foe, Phoenix is able to leverage a new beneficial experiment, a human-Pandoran hybrid soldier: THE MUTOID.
Mutoids are a new soldier type that will help turn the tide against the Pandoran menace. Grown by Phoenix, Mutoids soldiers are unique in that they are created entirely out of Mutagens and their abilities can be acquired from any class known to the player. This adds considerable flexibility in how the player develops their soldiers, allowing them to combine existing abilities in new and exciting ways.
Due to its hybrid nature, the Mutoid can adopt certain Pandoran abilities as well, such as the Siren’s acid spit or a Scylla’s immunity to mind control, among many others. Discovered via creature autopsies, players can mix and match these passive and active abilities from Arthrons, Tritons, Sirens, and even the Acheron itself to forge lethal operatives for the battlefield.
But with great power… comes some limitations. Mutoids can only select a single human and Pandoran skill at each level, hit a max rank earlier than human operatives, and require Mutagen resources in order to heal and grow in power with new abilities. And the more Mutagens you spend on your Mutoids, the less you’ll have for other soldier mutations, ‘breeding’ Mutog war beasts or fighting back against the new game mechanic in DLC 4, Corruption.
Corruption is a new state that affects soldiers when encountering the Acheron or engaging in battles within the Mist. Its initial effects appear somewhat benign, slowly impacting the maximum willpower of a soldier while offering a small damage boost in trade, but as more encounters or attacks stack up, one can find themselves with operatives unable to properly use their abilities or even keep their sanity together in the field. Thankfully, players can leverage those precious Mutagens to temporarily cure their soldier’s Corrupted status, while working their way through the core DLC story for more permanent eradication of its source. This is where the Mutoid shines as its genetic make-up makes it inherently immune to Corruption, encouraging players to mix up their squads to best counter this new condition.
These new challenges and opportunities await all players when Corrupted Horizons arrives on October 1st on PC for $4.99 or included within the console Behemoth Edition arriving on PlayStation and Xbox that same day.