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11 The Stinger is the Grell basic melee creature, a Tier 1 unit that hatches three at a time from the Broodwomb for 75 hexite and no flux. Six damage on a 0.65 second cooldown is the fastest attack cycle in the faction, and its upgrade path pushes it toward speed, stealth and terrain access rather than toward raw damage.
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33 Figures below describe the September 2026 Early Access build, the one carrying the identifier ZS.c36778, and they move with the weekly patch cadence. Roughly half the versus roster had a stat touched in the fortnight before that build was captured, so treat every number here as dated rather than permanent.
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55 Stat Block
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77 StatValueCost75 hexite for a batch of three, which is 25 hexite eachHealth100Shields0Armor0Armor typeLightStatus resistNone listedMove speed600Vision16Supply1 per creatureBuild time30 seconds for the batchTier1DomainGround unitInfuse cost1.25Reanimate cost1.25Replicate cost1.25Built byBroodwombResearched atYoung Canopy for Tier 1, Synapse Canopy for Tier 2
88 Weapons
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1010 WeaponDamageDPSRangeCooldownTargetsBonusesFeral Claws6910.65sGroundNone
1111 Abilities
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1313 AbilityEffectCooldownCostBiomass SubmersionPassive, requires the upgrade. On friendly biomass the Stinger gains stealth and +50% attack speed.Always active on biomassNoneDissolving VenomPassive, requires the upgrade. Attacks deal 6 damage per second and slow move speed by 25% for 5 seconds.Always activeNone
1414 Upgrades
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1616 UpgradeTierCostEffectResearched atExtensor Adaptation1100 flux, 60 seconds+200 movement speedYoung CanopyBiomass Submersion1100 flux, 60 seconds+300 move speed and stealth on friendly biomassSynapse CanopyPouncing Reflex2125 flux, 60 secondsStingers can jump up and down cliffs. On landing they gain 50% attack speed for 5 seconds.Synapse CanopyDissolving Venom2125 flux, 60 secondsAttacks deal 6 damage per second and slow move speed by 25% for 5 secondsElderwomb
1717 Conversion Costs
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1919 Infuse is the Grell conversion mechanic, paid out of the same top bar power pool as the Legion Reanimate and the Xol Replicate. It permanently raises a friendly unit's health, damage and regeneration for the rest of that unit's life. Since the balance pass of August 11, 2026 the bonus is +45%, down from +50%, and the cost multiplier rose from 0.045 to 0.05 so that it matches the Protectorate shield and the Legion Reanimate.
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2121 The Stinger is eligible for all three conversions, and at 1.25 power it is the cheapest army unit in the faction to act on. The three prices are identical in this build, so Infuse, Reanimate and Replicate all cost 1.25. Infusing a Stinger is an efficient use of a nearly full power pool because the +45% applies to a unit that is already attacking every 0.65 seconds.
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2323 Role
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2525 The Stinger is the unit a Grell player has in numbers before anything else. Three per order at 25 hexite each and no flux cost means the opening army is Stingers whether the plan is aggression or defence, and 600 move speed lets them arrive somewhere before the opponent has committed. Nine damage per second each is unremarkable; eight of them is 72, which is enough to end a harvester line or a lone ranged unit.
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2727 The upgrade tree decides what the Stinger becomes. Extensor Adaptation makes them a raiding unit at 800 effective move speed. Biomass Submersion turns any ground the faction has already spread into ambush terrain, adding stealth on top of the movement bonus. Pouncing Reflex lets them cross cliffs, which on most competitive maps means an attack angle no other Grell ground unit has, and the attack speed burst on landing rewards using it aggressively. Dissolving Venom adds a slow, which converts the Stinger from a damage unit into a tool for holding something in place for the rest of the army.
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2929 They remain melee and Light armoured throughout. Against splash, and against anything that can retreat while shooting, a Stinger group melts, so they want targets that are already committed.
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3131 Faction Context
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3333 Stingers come out of the Broodwomb, the Grell basic production structure, with their first tier of research at the Young Canopy and their second at the Synapse Canopy. They sit at the bottom of the same production line that later produces Lashers and Skrell, so a Stinger opening does not lock a player out of anything.
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3535 They are also the unit the rest of the faction is measured against for performance. The Stinger animation system is the one the studio has been migrating other units onto through Early Access, and the August 19, 2026 performance update explicitly names Commandos and Stingers as the reference implementation.
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3737 Tier and Armour Interactions
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3939 The Stinger carries Light armour with an armour value of 0, so it takes every hit in full and gains nothing from the flat reduction floor. Light is the category that fast cheap units sit in, and weapons carrying a Light bonus, such as the Protectorate Titan rotary cannon at +25%, are aimed squarely at exactly this kind of swarm.
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4141 Feral Claws carries no armour bonus of its own and targets ground only, so Stingers are dead weight against any flyer. The Grell answer to air is Lashers, Skrell and Weavers, not this unit.
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4343 Counters
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4545 Strong Against
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4747 TargetWhyHarvesters and unescorted economy600 move speed, rising to 800 with Extensor Adaptation, gets a group behind an army before it can turn.Ranged units without escortA 0.65 second attack cycle across a group kills a fragile ranged unit faster than it can retreat.Positional fights on Grell biomassWith Biomass Submersion the Stinger is stealthed and faster on ground the faction already owns.
4848 Weak To
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5050 ThreatWhySplash damage100 health and Light armour across a melee clump is the ideal target for any area weapon.Air unitsFeral Claws targets ground only.Anything that can kiteMelee range 1 means a Stinger that cannot close contributes nothing.
5151 Balance History
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5353 August 11, 2026: Stinger health increased from 90 to 100.August 28, 2026: the upgrade tree was reorganised from three tiers to two. Tier 1 is now Extensor Adaptation and Biomass Submersion; Tier 2 is Pouncing Reflex and Dissolving Venom, requiring the Synapse Canopy.August 28, 2026: Biomass Submersion changed from +100% attack speed on biomass to +300 movement speed on biomass.August 28, 2026: the Dissolving Acid passive and upgrade were renamed to Dissolving Venom, with the effect unchanged.
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5555 Notes
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5757 The roster record for this unit is COMPLETE.The unit data still lists a +50% attack speed figure on the Biomass Submersion passive text alongside the August 28 change to a movement bonus. The dated studio note is the clearer of the two and is what the Balance History above records.Dissolving Venom appears twice in the stat block, once as a passive and once as the upgrade that unlocks it. That is how the data models a passive gated behind research, not two separate effects.Per unit numbers are drawn from a community maintained entity catalogue that the studio links from each of its own faction pages. It is the only place the full stat block is published, and it is not a studio document, so the figures are best read as careful community documentation of a build rather than as an official specification. Dated balance notes, by contrast, come straight from the studio patch posts.