Revision 1

The Endari Needler is the group's ranged infantry, a Tier 1 unit hired two at a time that pulls the spines out of its own body and throws them. It is the only Endari unit below Tier 2 that can shoot at all, and the only one below Tier 2 that can hit air. The Endari are a mercenary group hired into a main faction army rather than played on their own, so Needlers are contracted at an outpost rather than teched to.

Figures below describe the September 2026 Early Access build, the one carrying the identifier ZS.c36778, and they move with the weekly patch cadence. This unit has had its damage cut twice since Early Access launch, so read the numbers as dated rather than settled.

Stat Block

Weapons

Abilities

The Needler has no activated abilities. It does carry a passive constraint that behaves like one: it fires from a finite stock of its own spines, its attack speed drops once that stock is exhausted, and spines recharge on a 1.25 second interval. The published 40 damage per second is the figure while spines are available, not a sustained average across a long engagement.

Conversion Costs

The Needler is eligible for Infuse, Reanimate and Replicate at an identical 5.15625 power each, drawn from the top bar pool described on Resources and Economy. That is cheap enough to be worth spending casually. A conversion on a 225 health Light armour body is most valuable early, when the Needler is still the main thing the Endari can shoot with.

Role

Needlers are the Endari opening. Two of them cost 175 hexite and 25 flux, take 4 supply between them, and put out 40 damage per second each at range 7.75 against both ground and air. For a Tier 1 purchase that output is high, and it is the reason the group can be hired early and contribute immediately rather than waiting for the Wyrm or the Devourer.

The spine mechanic is what keeps that number honest. A Needler front loads its damage, so its real contribution in a long fight is well below 40 per second, and the 1.25 second recharge interval means the drop off arrives quickly. That pushes the unit toward short engagements: trade, withdraw, let spines rebuild, come back. It is a poor unit to leave standing in an attrition fight and a good one to use in a series of short ones.

Range 7.75 is respectable at Tier 1 but nowhere near the reach of a dedicated marksman, so Needlers want a front line. Endari melee gives them one: Shades at 700 move speed arrive first and absorb attention, and Needlers stand behind them.

Faction Context

Needlers are produced at Silent Hollow, the Endari outpost, and continue to be produced by the Awoken Hollow while the night is up, so an Endari player who has just called The Veil Cracks can reinforce with Needlers from a building that is flying toward the fight. The Veil Cracks also gives them 25 percent extra attack speed for its duration, which on a unit whose damage is limited by its ammunition means the night burns through spines faster as well as throwing them faster.

The level 4 Endari talent, Unceasing Violence, adds a permanent 15 percent attack speed, which has the same double edge.

Tier and Armour Interactions

The Needler carries Light armour with an armour value of 0, which is the most heavily punished combination in the game. Weapons built to kill Light armour are common and their bonuses are large: the Corsair Deadeye carries +100% against Light, the Corsair Flamer +50%, and the Valkaru Flame Walker +150%. With 225 health and no armour value to subtract from incoming hits, a Needler dies to any of them very quickly.

Its own weapon carries no armour bonus, so Impossible Shards does a flat 12 damage a shot to all six armour types. What the weapon does have is the ability to hit air, which at Tier 1 is uncommon and is the Needler's real distinguishing property inside the Endari roster.

Counters

Balance History

Notes

The published damage per second of 40 assumes spines are available. There is no separate published figure for the reduced rate once they are exhausted, so the sustained output of a Needler in a long fight is not a number the data layer states. Treat 40 as a ceiling rather than an average.

The roster record for this unit is complete. For the rest of the group see Endari. For the shared armour type, tier and supply rules that govern every unit on the site see Units.