Understand Contagion Cloud
Useful when…
- Saryn builds that use Toxic Lash and want toxin clouds on kills.
- Melee-focused play that can benefit from the augment's doubled damage on melee kills.
Effect and trigger
At rank 3, every kill while Toxic Lash is active creates a 5 m toxic cloud dealing 300 Toxin Damage per second for 12 seconds. The damage is twice as strong for Melee kills. Rank 0 starts at 150 damage per second for 8 seconds; the cloud radius remains 5 m in both listed ranks.
Practical use
The augment rewards getting kills while Toxic Lash is active, and favors melee kills through its doubled damage clause. It is most relevant when enemies can encounter the resulting 5 m clouds during their 12-second duration.
Rank and slot
Contagion Cloud is a standard Saryn mod with Zenurik polarity, base drain 6, and three ranks. Rank 3 raises both damage per second and duration; the last rank costs 120 Endo and 5,796 Credits. Rank it when the longer, stronger cloud effect is useful to your kill pattern.
Different augment roles
Regenerative Molt restores Saryn's health after casting Molt. Revealing Spores marks infected enemies on the minimap and adds Enemy Radar. Venom Dose is a hold-cast Spores augment that grants nearby allies Corrosive Damage. These provide survival, enemy-location, and ally-damage effects rather than Toxic Lash kill clouds.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- Requires Toxic Lash to be active when kills occur.
- Its cloud damage benefits more from melee kills than from other kills.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Expecting clouds from kills when Toxic Lash is inactive.
- Forgetting that melee kills deal twice the cloud damage.