Poison is a mass of electronically-attuned bacteria that interrupts with organisms ability to function, living or not, by creating magnetic fields around said organism. These fields can weaken organic material, and interfere with wargear's cognitive functions, causing the victim's tissue to become more fragile. This in turn results in the victim becoming less resilient to damage, and far less combat effective.

Hearts, however, are a visual representation of the life force or useful parts of a destroyed entity. They are not affected by the bacteria, but knights are warned not to repair their armor while under the effects of the bacteria as the repairs require unsealing parts of the armour, allowing the bacteria into critical parts of the armor, causing damage.