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The Cloning Vats is the Epsilon's economy booster structure that automatically clones every infantry they have trained, essentially allowing the proselyte to procure two soldiers for the price of one.
Official description[]
Cloning used to be but a futuristic dream until Yuri turned it into a nightmarish reality. After defecting from the Soviets, Yuri took the technology for the Cloning Vats with him in order to quickly bolster his ranks. Producing near-perfect, and engineered for obedience clones of already trained soldiers allowed Epsilon to effectively double the size of their infantry divisions.
The differences between a clone and a real soldier are not noticeable to a commander. However, the appearance of clones on the battlefield is known to unsettle Epsilon infantry as their doppelgangers possess an inherent "wrongness" about them, like soulless versions of the original.[1]
Overview[]
For a detailed list of changes from the original game, click here.
Once a Cloning Vats is constructed, the Epsilon gains the ability to produce two of any infantry (except heroes) the proselyte can train. Once an infantry is trained out of the Barracks, a clone will be produced from the Cloning Vats. Thus, the Cloning Vats is a great structure to have when amassing infantry due to the double production and the fact that the clones produced are free of charge. As long as it remains operational, the Epsilon will have complete infantry superiority, both in numbers and in strength.
Additionally, Cloning Vats intermittently provide Epsilon players with a steady stream of cash like an Oil Derrick. Lastly, in the game mode Ultimate Alliance, this structure alone allows access to Epsilon stolen tech units like the Salamander.
Appearances[]
“ | Yuri has numerous Cloning Vats in this city, you better take care of those. They are a problem, we might be overrun if you don't destroy them soon. | ” |
—Allied intel during Operation: Gridlock |
In the campaign, there are instances where either the player or an enemy starts in control of more than one Cloning Vats. When an infantryman is trained from the Barracks, a clone will be produced by all Cloning Vats in the commander's possession. The build limit of 1 still applies, and it is not possible to replace lost extra Cloning Vats.
Act One[]
- The Cloning Vats belongs to the Soviet Union in Act One. The Soviet version looks slightly different from the Epsilon version in colour scheme and cosmetic appearance, is unlocked by the Palace or Battle Lab, and is buildable by PsiCorps in Moonlight as well as by all Soviet subfactions in the following Soviet missions:
- Ravages of War (cooperative)
- Lights Out (cooperative)
- Thunder God (cooperative)
- Panic Cycle
- Mad Monster (cooperative)
- Sunlight
- Dragonstorm: A few minutes into this mission, access to Cloning Vats along with the rest of PsiCorps technology will be lost.
Act Two[]
- In Huehuecoyotl, the last four Soviet-held Cloning Vats must be sabotaged by an Epsilon Infiltrator. Once infiltrated, they will constantly spew out AI-controlled Brutes until the end of the mission.
- In Exist to Exit, the Soviets found several Cloning Vats in Rio and gained information about the Libra Clones while rescuing Morales. Destroying all of them is the second mission objective.
- In Divergence, Lizard Brain and Babel, the player's base/outpost has two Cloning Vats.
- In Relentless, there are four Cloning Vats located in the center of the main Epsilon Base. They will repeatedly work at full capacity, producing large amounts of Brutes, Archers and Initiates. While not at full capacity, they will still produce cloned units in a smaller scale. Both commanders must destroy all four of them to prevent their bases from being overrun.
- In Insomnia, four Cloning Vats appear near the Rage Inductor in the center of the map, which will periodically produce various infantry in an attempt to repel the Allied attack.
- In Earthrise, the player's Soviet forces have taken control of one to two Epsilon Cloning Vats on the Moon. Alongside the Industrial Plant and Rocket Launchpads, they serve as one of the main sources of credits on the Moon, since ore isn't available.
Cooperative[]
- In Metaphor, Cloning Vats is unlocked by Pandora Hub without Geneplug.
- In Intoxicated, the four sabotaged Cloning Vats in Zaragoza that constantly spawn Infectors are uncovered by Krukov and Reznov and must be destroyed alongside the remaining Epsilon wild creatures in the ghost city.
Origins[]
- In Tainted Empire, PsiCorps have 2 Cloning Vats, one in each mind-controlled Pacific Front outpost. It will spawn various types of infantry depending on the difficulty. See here for more details.
- In The Great Beyond, PsiCorps has multiple Cloning Vats at 3 islands with deployed Stalin's Fist that will spawn 4 Duneriders and Crazy Ivans.
Challenges[]
- In the Ascension Challenge, the build limit of Cloning Vats is raised to two for the enemy Epsilon Headquarters forces. In addition, they can also clone Rahn in this challenge.
Behind the scenes[]
The Epsilon Cloning Vats' artwork is a public asset and can be used by other modders. The link can be found here.