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Those darn buzzing things, they're everywhere!
- GDI soldiers witnessing buzzers in Cologne(src)

Buzzers are the Scrin basic infantry unit. They are small, fast and agile, but extremely fragile. They swarm enemies and kill using melee attacks, and are capable of wiping out entire squads in seconds. They are roughly analogous to the the human factions' basic infantry.

Background[]

Named for the unnerving sound they make as they approach, Buzzers are like a cloud of flying razors. They are guided by a limited sentience, and are terrifyingly effective against infantry, whether they are fighting for their lives out in the open or seeking cover in urban environments. Buzzers are also often seen swarming about Scrin vehicles, forming a defensive barrier.[1]

In addition to their offensive roles, Buzzers are also released from Buzzer Hives, serving the role of anti-infantry base defense. However, Buzzers spawned from the Hives are not controllable by the player.

GDI Watch Commander Elliot Gruber, who was stationed in Cologne, later recalled how the Scrin forces who had mounted the unexpected invasion also deployed Buzzers, who quickly began "reducing our infantry to unidentifiable piles of wet flesh on the sidewalk".

Game Unit[]

Buzzers are perhaps the most flexible early infantry unit in the game. They attack by swarming enemies and are small enough to go unnoticed in hectic battle situations, and because they lack any solid mass, they are notoriously difficult to direct and track. For human players, Buzzers are extremely difficult to manage and there are only a few ways to know of their presence:

  • Faint, consistent flashes of reflected light in one spot
  • Allied infantry seem to be firing and/or dying for no reason
  • Antipersonnel defenses seem to be firing at nothing
  • Sudden, unexplained clearing of allied garrisons
  • Allied infantry attacking Scrin vehicles from the rear are killed


Buzzers are roughly equivalent to the rifleman squads deployed by the Global Defense Initiative and the militant squads commanded by the Brotherhood of Nod, filling the same anti-infantry role in the army as well as being readily available early into the deployment of a new base. However, there are some distinctions between Buzzers and the human infantry squads they can be likened to: they are able to clear out garrisons without the support of other units, but given their unique but close-ranged weaponry, are unable to fire out of them and therefore are typically only ordered into buildings for protection. Another distinction is that they are able to instantly kill their target, so long as it is an infantry unit, but are incapable of scratching armored vehicles or aircraft.


Buzzers can attach themselves to most Scrin ground vehicles, after which they will attack any infantrymen who approach the vehicle they are bound to. This affords that vehicle protection against enemy infantry. Attached Buzzers are immune to damage, and will only remove themselves if either the parent vehicle is destroyed, or their Foreman orders them to.


Buzzers are still vulnerable to anti-infantry weapons, regardless of what their appearance or alien nature might suggest. Base defenses, vehicular and aircraft anti-infantry weapons are especially effective, as they can disperse Buzzer swarms without any need to be concerned for their own safety. However, if need be, infantrymen can also defeat them as long as they keep their distance.

Abilities[]

Those buzzers! They're somehow attached to that walker!
- GDI infantryman observing the Buzzers surrounding an Annihilator Tripod

Changelog[]

  • Tiberium Wars patch 1.01: hit points reduced to 75 and weapon damage type changed to SNIPER.
  • Tiberium Wars patch 1.05:
    • hit points increased by 50%
    • move and attack rates retuned - as a result, Buzzers are now more effective at cutting through massed infantry but will no longer kill entire infantry squads all at once.

Trivia[]

  • Buzzers are somewhat similar to attack dogs from the Red Alert Universe in the sense that both can instantly kill infantry and can only attack in melee.
  • Strangely, sniper teams can kill a swarm of buzzers with a single shot, which should be impossible for sniper rifles to do. This is most likely due to balancing reasons.

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. EALA. 2007-03-20. COMMAND & CONQUER 3 FACTION FEATURE -- THE SCRIN. IGN. 2018-08-05.
CNCKW Scrin logo Scrin Third Tiberium War Arsenal CNCKW Scrin logo
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