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The Hive - why so much iron in there?
INTRO
Long ago, the dwarves of Kazordoon discovered a rather disturbing phenomenon near the village of Greenshore. As they wandered west, they tracked down huge insect-like creatures. They seemed to be trying to make a new home for themselves, dreary and barren. After prolonged observation, the dwarves found no attempt by the intruders to aggressively expand the occupied territory. The insects did not approach cities inhabited by humans. They kept to themselves and were reluctant to make themselves known.
Discovered then by the fearless representatives of the scouting forces of Emperor Kruzak, the new race celebrates its 10th birthday this year! Have you ever wondered how insectoids appeared in the lands of the Mainland? What exactly are these strange creatures? And finally, how is it possible that intrusive insects, with which we dealt with no problem chasing away with a hand, or in a slightly more drastic way - crushing with a slipper, many times exceeded the size of the average person? If so, I invite you to read! 🙂
DISCOVER THE HIVE
Full speed ahead! We're heading for Quirefang!
Our destination is a small island to the east of the well-known steppes of Zao and to the west of the newly discovered island of Rascacoon. When we take our first steps on Gray Beach, we may get the impression that there is nothing going on around. Barren land, with dead coral in places. However, do not be misled by appearances. Below us, in the depths lives a race of Deeplings ready to kill to defend the sanctuary of the God King Qjell from intruders, and the older Njey, stronger and much more brutal, who will remorselessly destroy both uninvited guests and younger, unworthy brothers. We stay away from them all.
We head north. Having climbed up the not very high rocks, we see a huge desert area full of various types of overgrown vermin. We are stunned by the crunch of chitinous armors. The company does not look friendly. Only huge ladybugs lightly pinching our ankles make an impression as if they wanted to tease us. Give them a four-leaf clover to eat and they will faithfully accompany you on your adventures. No clover? No problem, maybe some other time. Let us then focus on the land around us and the creatures that live there.
Hive Pools
On the left is an area called "Hive Pools" inhabited by the weakest members of the species. There you will find Ladybugs (only during the active phase 3 of the world change), lots of Swarmers, Insectoid Workers, Crawlers, and single Waspoids.
Hive Pyramids
The area to the right is called "Hive Pyramids" and is famous for the numerous constructions created by vermin in order to better communicate with each other. This is where we spend our time completing quests for the NPC Orockle. Monsters such as Ladybugs (also only during the active 3rd stage of the world change), Swarmers, Insectoid Workers, Crawlers, Waspoids, and single Spitters can be found there.
Hive Secondary Structure
In the distance, you can see a multi-level structure resembling a hive. It is the most interesting element of the island, which we will explore a little closer! It consists of eight levels (-1 to +6) inhabited by Swarmers, Insectoid Workers, Crawlers, Waspoids, Spitters, as well as Kollos, Spidris, Spidris Elites, and the feared by low-level players: Hive Overseers. The higher the level of the hive, the stronger monsters you can meet. At the highest level (+6) we can fight single Hive Overseers!
But the most fun is at the underground level. It's a huge area with an irregular layout, where the queens of insects lay more and more eggs, and the army of destruction-causing offspring grows by the minute.
You will find here mainly the stronger representatives of their race. Swarmers, Insectoid Workers, Waspoids, and Spitters appear here in small groups. Kollos, Spidris, Spidris Elite, and Hive Overseers definitely outnumber them.
If you venture a little deeper into the underground level, you will come across numerous metal construction elements: columns supporting the ceiling, rusted walls, and iron floors overgrown with organic structures since ancient times. Don't you get the feeling that this is completely out of keeping with the surroundings and the characteristics of the whole area? To find out something about it, we have to go to a hideout located on the outskirts, where we can find eight volumes of The Hive books (I-VIII).
THE HIVE - A TRUE STORY
SPOILER WARNING!
The following is a summary of the eight volumes of The Hive books. However, I recommend that you read them yourself. As for a piece of Tibian literature, they are quite absorbing! 😉
An expedition of scientists sent by a secret research facility for biological experiments in Yalahar sets off on a mission to Quirefang. However, the real purpose of the research is known only to the main commander - to save the world from a mysterious enemy from another world, enigmatically called "IT". Overwhelmed by the enormous responsibility for the success of the mission, intertwined with self-doubt and a multitude of questions and doubts from his companions, he becomes increasingly distrustful and withdrawn.
With the help of worker golems, an underground base is created, where research is carried out. The first specimens of the new race are created, but constant attacks from the fishmen, despite the effective defense of the war golems, worsen the morale of the expedition members. There are the first casualties of the ongoing battles. However, the experiments continue and the new army of crawlers begins to take the expected form.
As the researcher's obsession with his great work grows, so does his paranoia. He attributes his collaborators to a more or less conscious conspiracy with the enemy. Under the pretext of testing the capabilities of the most advanced combat specimens, he kills expedition members who are critical of his decisions.
Plagued by nightmares, he falls into insomnia. He begins to see the faces of his murdered colleagues. Torn by doubts about the rightness of his actions, he tries to escape from responsibility. He devotes himself even further to his experiments. He isolates six stable species of a new race.
Terrified by the development of the situation and the madness of the scientist, the companions of the expedition try to leave the island, thus signing a death sentence on themselves. They all die in a ship explosion caused by the failure of the engine damaged earlier by their commander.
The army of crawlers is ready. More queens are bred. The scientist's paranoia takes its final form. Tired of lack of sleep and tormented by visions of the people he murdered, he loses his memory, sense of time, and consciousness. He calls himself a god and the creator of a new race. Devoid of fear of his own creation, he is killed by insect-like creatures.
„They attacked me. Me, their creator! I will strike them down with my godly wrath and the chorus of ghosts that accompanies me will sing a hymn of my vengeance! All will die. I will cleanse this rotten world and create a new one! ... I am dying. They wounded me. But this is fine. When they can kill a god, they are strong enough.”
source: The Hive (VIII)
The photo above probably shows the remains of the first insect queen bred by the scientist.
The text written by Knightmare in an interesting way creates a history of this place popular for years. Suddenly, the little things we have overlooked so far and ignored without a second thought while hunting on the island take on new meaning. If you've ever wondered why there are so many iron constructions on The Hive, you already know the answer. 😉
The text also seems surprisingly familiar...
Take, for example, the mysterious enemy so often referred to by the word "IT". Did the scientist have in mind the God King Qjell, whom the Njey worshipped? Or did he perhaps not know himself what he was actually dealing with? Whatever the case, a fairly obvious reference can be found in the literature. Anyone who is a fan of Stephen King is well acquainted with the 1986 novel "IT" and the character of Pennywise.
The idea of a mad scientist losing himself in his obsession and eventually dying from his own experiments is also familiar to literature.
In this case, Herbert George Wells' novel "The Island of Doctor Moreau" from 1896 came to mind first.
Leaving aside the thoughts on morality and human nature that stay in your head after reading this book and focusing solely on the facts extracted from the plot [SPOILER]: there, too, a scientist experimented by creating human-animal hybrids, also hailed himself as their god... and in the end also died by the hands of his own creation, which he was unable to control.
Do you have other ideas? Share them in the comments! 🙂
THE HIVE IN PRACTICE
The Hive, despite the passing years, is still very popular among players. This place not only attracts with an interesting layout that provides entertainment for both low and mid-level players but also gives the opportunity to get many achievements, gain a lot of points in the bestiary, earn very good money and face the bosses. In other words - something for everyone.
Interested? Choose the best options for you from the list below:
ACHIEVEMENTS The Hive is a paradise for achievement collectors. In the area inhabited by insect-like creatures, you can get as many as 21 achievements and receive 60 points for them. Most of them we can get by completing tasks ordered by NPC Orockle within War Against The Hive Quest: ANTENA BLINDING 10 tasks – achievement: „Minor Disturbance” (2 points) 50 tasks – achievement: „Dazzler” (3 points) 100 tasks – achievement: „Hive Blinder” ( 4 points) DISRUPT THE HIVES DIGESTION 10 tasks – achievement: „Hickup” (2 points) 50 tasks – achievement: „Heartburn” (3 points) 100 tasks – achievement: „Stomach Ulcer” ( 4 points) DISSOLVED CHITIN 10 tasks – achievement: „Gatherer” (2 points) 50 tasks – achievement: „Supplier” (3 points) 100 tasks – achievement: „ChitinBane” ( 4 points) PORE STUFFING 10 tasks – achievement: „Planter” (2 points) 50 tasks – achievement: „Pimple” (3 points) 100 tasks – achievement: „Supressor” ( 4 points) KOLLOS KILLING 10 tasks – achievement: „GuardKiller” (2 points) 50 tasks – achievement: „HiveInfiltrator” (3 points) 100 tasks – achievement: „Exterminator” ( 4 points) DESTROY THE HIVE CRYSTALS 10 tasks – achievement: „Headache” (2 points) 50 tasks – achievement: „Manic” (3 points) 100 tasks – achievement: „Confusion” ( 4 points) Another accomplishment to get is completing the base and two addons for the Insectoid Outfit. For this, you will receive the achievement „Bane of The Hive” (2 points). In exchange for taming a ladybug using a four-leaf clover, you will receive the "Lovely Dots" achievement (3 points). And let's not forget about exploring the map! This is one of the easiest achievements to get in Quirefang. We only have to search three small areas: Gray Beach, Hive Pools, and Hive Pyramids to unlock the "Trip To the Beach" achievement (1 point).
BESTIARY The Hive is one of the most popular places for players to rack up the bestiary points needed to unlock Charms. Monsters can be found in large numbers. The layout of the terrain is suitable for players with a relatively low level of experience - you can start completing the bestiary starting with Hive Pools, Hive Pyramids, and only with increased experience start hunting in the Hive and its dungeons. On Quirefang alone you can gain up to 265 points. Perhaps the biggest bane of players when it comes to completing their bestiary entries is the Hive Overseer. Insect, which constantly keeping distance from the player, summoning two Spidris Elites, which damage is quite painful. As far as magic professions and paladins were able to deal with these monsters, knights alone had a big problem with fighting with Hive Overseer. It was necessary to lure and trap them against the wall. Nowadays the so-called ranged exeta, or Chivalrous Challenge spell (exeta amp res) turns out to be helpful. Nevertheless, for those who don't particularly love The Hive - I recommend completing this entry with a team during Rapid Respawn Weekends. Let's not forget about the Insectoid Scouts! Admittedly, you won't find them in Quirefang territory, but they are closely related to the Hive Born race. From time to time we will meet them west of Greenshore village. It is worth considering completing this bestiary entry during the rapid respawn weekends (if necessary, wait for such an opportunity) because with the regular rate of monster respawns the whole thing consumes a lot of time. You can read more about this in the section dedicated to world changes.
PROFIT Earning good money in Hive can be done in two different ways: The price of green eggs has almost always been satisfactory for players who sell them. Despite the passage of years, they still guarantee a noticeable profit. You can get them by, among other things, collecting Gooey Mass from the Insectoid Cell located on all floors of The Hive. There are 16 such locations throughout The Hive and to be able to reach them you need to earn 50 points ("Favour Left") by completing tasks from War Against The Hive Quest. Every 50 points can be exchanged for 7 days (7 x 24h counted down every second from the moment of taking the prize) of access for green curtains, behind which we can find Insectoid Cell. In addition, we gain something much more attractive: access behind the curtain leading to level -1 - and it is here that I would like to focus on. The area in the basement is inhabited by a large number of Hive Overseers - you will find as many as 12 of them. Hunting Hive Overseers is the best way to collect Gooey Mass. They drop relatively often (according to the bestiary they belong to the "uncommon" group), and the amount of them depends only on us (the time we spend on the hunt and our luck). We are not limited by any cooldown specified in the quest. We are also not limited by the number of eggs we can get (as in the case of collecting eggs from Insectoid Cells - max 16). For those who love living on the edge and their motto is "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" an interesting money-making option might be to open a collected Gooey Mass and get a Four-Leaf Clover Believe it or not, I have opened several hundred of such empty eggs. It happens that the price of 100 Gooey Mass exceeds the price of one clover. In order not to be at a loss, two would have to drop! The conclusions are obvious. Another tried and tested way to get rich is to collect shimmering Dung Balls Although green shimmering Dung Balls were designed to speed up the process of gaining points necessary to receive the Insectoid Outfit - each used ball adds 10 ("War Exp."), but because of the cool animation, they are also used to decorate houses. This is why they reach quite high prices on the market. Given the high probability of obtaining these items, it is worth checking out the bosses on Hive from time to time. The screenshot above is just an example of one of the transactions I completed. I do not want to suggest to you any fair price. It is known that it depends on the server, demand, frequency of activating the third stage of The Hive World Change, and many other factors. Double Loot Event You already know that you can collect Gooey Mass without limits and sell them on the Market, you also know that green Dung Balls are often dropped by the bosses of the Hive underground and you can make good money on it. Can it get any better? By all means! Go hunting in the dungeon during the Double Loot Weekend, and you'll see how great the potential is. The event works both on regularly spawning monsters, which means more Hive Scythe and Carapace Shield (which is a nice profit on its own) and, most importantly, the opportunity to loot up to 4 Gooey Mass from one Hive Overseer. The weekend of doubled loot also affects what we get from the bosses. In this case, with a fairly high probability, we can get up to 4 shimmering balls! Sounds cool, right? 😉
out of it. However, I mention it at the end of this subsection for a reason. The chance of getting this item is really low. If you care about a specific income, it is safer to sell the eggs. To prove this thesis, I collected 100 eggs and opened them all:
, which can only be obtained by killing bosses that appear in the underground hive. Each boss can drop between 0 and 2 balls. The chance to loot them is high!
BOSSY I've already mentioned The Hive's bosses when I was discussing ways to earn money quickly. However, it's worth expanding this topic and presenting a brief description of each of them, so that their special abilities don't surprise you during the hunt - and believe me, they can! 😉 UNDERGROUNDS OF HIVE SECONDARY STRUCTURE Chopper, Maw, Shadowstalker, Mindmasher, Rotspit, and Fleshslicer are Hive Born bosses found in the Hive underground. Unlike other bosses with irregular spawn times - each of them appears several times per day. In addition, they all have a high chance of dropping 0-2 shimmering green Dung Balls Chopper Chopper looks like the Waspoid we know very well and is a stronger version of it. He doesn't require any special tactics. He is one of the weaker and easier bosses to check. He is located south of the entrance behind the green curtain. His special skill is a very weak "utura" and self-healing with insignificant values of life points. Maw Maw looks much like Kollos, or the Hive Overseer. Unlike Kollos, the boss keeps a constant distance from the player. However, he is weaker than Hive Overseer and does not summon any additional monsters. It is characterized by fairly high resistance to damage (especially physical damage) and a specific attack in the form of a very short (only 3 SQM) groundshaker beam. It heals itself using the "utura" spell, in addition to healing itself for about 500-600 HP. It is interesting to note that just a few years ago, before the era of elemental weapons, personal bodyguards-summons, ranged "exeta" and imbuements, Maw was the bane of all solo knights. It was necessary to cast him into a corner, yet the melee damage dealt by the knight was so reduced by the resistance of the boss that Maw often healed more than he got his ass kicked. It happened that the fight with this boss lasted several minutes or even several dozen minutes before he was finally defeated. Shadowstalker Shadowstalker is the weakest boss we can meet in the dungeon. He is also the easiest to check. It is located near the entrance behind the green curtain. With a bit of luck, we won't meet any Hive Overseers on the way. I can't guarantee that, though, because monsters there are often heavily lured. His special skill is invisibility. He often disappears from our sight and an area attack is needed to see him again. Shadowstalker escapes when his HP is black (less than 25). He also heals himself with the spell "utura". Mindmasher Mindmasher is one of the weaker bosses and at the same time the most treacherous one, which can take inexperienced players by surprise. Although he doesn't inflict much damage himself, his location is dangerous. He is surrounded by up to four Hive Overseers and a whole bunch of other monsters. He is the only monster with the appearance of Insectoid Worker, which is located in that particular place, so he is easy to distinguish among other monsters. In addition, he has a unique ability to clone himself - quite quickly he summons 4 copies of himself with an equal amount of HP. In a fight with him, it's absolutely necessary to have Dwarven Ring, because Mindmasher makes us very drunk. Attacked and unprepared, we find ourselves in the middle with eight monsters, most of which are Spidris Elites, either freerunning or summoned by Overseers. Another unpleasant surprise, especially for knights, can be noticeable mana draining (up to 700 mana points!) This boss heals himself using the spell "utura". Rotspit Rotspit is a boss that looks like Spitter and is its stronger version. He can be recognized by his long poison beam, which can be seen from a distance. He also boosts himself with a small amount of HP with the spell "utura". He fights his opponents in close combat. He does not require any special tactics. Fleshslicer Fleshslicer is the most difficult and the strongest boss we can meet in the underground. We can find him in the most remote part of the cave complex. He is surrounded by two Hive Overseers (and thus four summoned Spidris Elites) and a large number of independent Spidris and Spidris Elites. Its presence is primarily evidenced by a very distinctive attack - a large blood-hit wave. While running there, you often won't notice the boss itself, but you will catch the eye of the red wave he throws every second turn. Like all bosses in the Hive Underground, Fleshslicer heals slightly with the spell "utura". How exactly does the mechanic of bosses appearing in the hive underground work? I have no idea! Forgive me for being tempted into this ignorance. I only did so because it doesn't really matter in practice. These bosses used to appear very randomly. Checking them, I met, if memory serves me right, 0-3 of them. Moreover, there were situations when I killed the same boss doing another lap. Proof of this randomness can be found in a screenshot taken by my friend, a retired boss-hunter from a non-existing server - Nerana: You can see here that moments after killing a Mindmasher, another one appeared. With the changes made by Cipsoft related to the floor reset, I got the impression that the respawning of The Hive bosses became less random. I now encounter 0-2 bosses. Never more. Also, there are no situations where the same boss appears so quickly. Perhaps it's just bad luck. It is worth mentioning that bosses have appeared several times before my eyes. Does this mean that you can't block the respawn of bosses? Unfortunately not. It's very hard to check this in a reliable way. I leave the topic of the mechanics of the Hive Underground bosses open without making any theories. However, if you have any interesting insights on this topic, feel free to discuss them in the comments! 🙂 So what tactics do you take when checking out these bosses? There are people who just go hunting in the dungeon, wanting to collect a certain amount of Gooey Mass and if they meet a boss it's cool, if not - well, bad luck. My method is to do the classic "boss-check", which consists of going around the whole area once in a while. I also take the opportunity to kill some of the more obtrusive Hive Overseers blocking my way. If no other player is there at the time, I encounter at least one boss (usually two) almost every time. THE HIVE OUTPOST Bosses of this race can also be met on distant Vandura. From time to time, on the southwestern shore of the island, we'll come across a familiar-looking structure, resembling a miniature version of a hive. It is there, on the lowest level (-2), where we can meet three bosses: The Manhunter (a stronger version of Spidris Elite), The Hungerer (a stronger version of Spitter), and The Mean Masher (a stronger version of Hive Overseer). Each of these bosses resembles its weaker counterpart in behavior. Their mechanics involve alternating respawn of a monster chosen from a specific pool, which includes: Spidris Elite, Hive Overseer, and, with a very small chance, the three bosses mentioned above. This particular respawn is independent and monsters appear with significantly lower frequency than the others (over 20 minutes). The rapid respawn weekend or the paid boost of a selected area will not help either. It is worth mentioning that all three are affected by the loot boost during the Double Loot Event. Unfortunately, these bosses are still quite mysterious to the players hunting them. For example - The Hungerer, introduced to the game in 2015, was only discovered after 5 years., which makes them relatively attractive hunting targets. Their locations are shown on the map below:
WORLD CHANGES The Hive Born is an evolved race that is constantly looking for new areas to settle. This is why their scouts appear sporadically in the lands of Mainland and Vandura. Insectoid Invasion Do you remember when I mentioned the unusual discovery of the dwarves at the beginning of this article? That was when they came face to face with Hive Born scouts in the plantations west of the town of Greenshore. Their presence depends on the activity of the "Insectoid Invasion" world change. Unfortunately, in order to find out if it is active on a given day, we have to go there in person, as we are not informed of this change either by Towncryer or on the notice board in Adventurer's Guild. The Hive Outpost The insect-like creatures have reached the south-western shore of Vandura and built their outpost there. In this case, there is a so-called "Mini World Change", which is officially announced by the Towncryer with the words: „A chitinous Hive outpost has been located on Liberty Bay's coast. Make sure those locusts are toast!” Information can also be found on the board in the Adventurer's Guild: „A hive infestation has been sighted south-west of Liberty Bay! An unnerving humming and buzzing is filling the air.” There we can meet mainly weaker representatives of the race, but at the very bottom alternately appear: Spidris Elite, Hive Overseer, and very rarely three bosses - The Manhunter, The Hungerer, and The Mean Masher. The Hive Outpost is highly recommended, especially for low-level players who still find Hive Secondary Structure too difficult for daily hunts.
SPOILER - WAR AGAINST THE HIVE QUEST:
https://tibiopedia.pl/quests/War_Against_the_Hive_Quest
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/War_Against_the_Hive_Quest
https://www.tibiawiki.com.br/wiki/War_Against_The_Hive_Quest
SOURCES:
- https://www.tibia.com/news/?subtopic=newsarchive&id=1903&fbegind=15&fbeginm=11&fbeginy=2011&fendd=14&fendm=1&fendy=2012&flist=01111111
- https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Gray_Beach_Libraries#The_Hive
- https://tibiopedia.pl/forum/t/14276,Amaros-amp-Matikss,14
- https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Insectoid_Invasion_World_Change
- https://tibiamaps.io/map#33523,31260,7:0
Special thanks to:
- Williams - for translating the guide to English,
- Xizyy - for translating the guide to Portuguese,
- Mogh and Haishen - for substantive support.