SPOILER - Western Hive

[Chonobataar]

So... I finally found the Western Hive, on far eastern part of the map, there are 2 seperate islands, the Western Hive is on the second island, South East of Mongrel (fog islands city).

And... I... found... A QUEEN!

Quite... unexpected, I was expecting like a giant bug like creature with a giant sack, pumping out those hive creatures... but... I found a MACHINE! I think it was anyway... it kept screaming at me, so... I just left, couldn't bring my self to kill it, hive creatures look so innocent and pathetic, true Sheks only fight worthy prey.

I heard it carries an Meitou (Legendary) Polearm though... Kinda... wanted to, but I didn't... Tengu's no-dachi does fine for me... for... now....

But I found it quite curious, that the island was so difficult getting to, the acid rain, that melts you when you try to swim across, almost... like "THEY" wanted to challenge you to go there... what can we make of this? what happens if we kill the queen, lorefully? will all the Hive creatures die or become disconnected?

Considering the hive is located on an island... and the COLONY hives on the mainland are placed in such a way, that it is basically a road of Hive Forts, leading to the Queen. What happens if we send a Hive Prince to the Western Hive Queen? will we be able to aid the designs of the hive things?! or perhaps... as a Shek... perhaps they seek to destroy and absorb THE LAND OF SHEK?!?!?!?!?????????????

Perhaps... they merely seek trade and alliance... but a hive mind usually has one thing on it's mind... to absorb and assimilate all things! My my... what have I stumbled upon?!

[Erei]

Hive queen are extremely reclusive. Most hivers never see her during their life. in fact, it's more than likely than only the one on the island can see her.
Which is why she is so out of the way. Which might also be why she goes into meltdown, she essentially have never seen anything that's not one of the island hiver.

It's kinda logical, since there is only one queen, and if she die, then the hive die. Also, since she is like half machine, she might be the result of some freak experiment in the age past, and the Hive might not have the ability to make a new Queen. So she is kinda one of a kind (technically one of 3, at least, but you get the idea).

As for sending a Hiver, that wouldn't change her stance. Hivers "ronin" are called "non Hive" by regular Hive. They are not Hiver anymore for them. They are worse than non Hive like human. So much that hive trader will not speak to a hiver.

As for what the Hive want, so far the Western Hive seems focused on trading. They are like Star Trek Ferengis, they'll sell you anything. Especially cheap knockoff.
Others Hive might have different agenda. The Fogmen Hive seems corrupted, and her Queen state is unknown. There is, supposedly, another Hive coming, a extremely xenophobic one. So expect the Hive version of HN, I guess ?

Also, I'm not sure if they are "linked". Telepathy or something. They seems to live together and have no free will, following the wishes of the queen transmitted by the Princes. Unless I'm mistaken.

Finally, if you have quick fingers, you don't need to kill her for her weapon, there are... other ways.

[merfrey]

There's a fogmen hive? Where is/are it's village/villages located?

[Shidan]

There is no Fogman "hive" per say, and I personally highly doubt there is a queen for them either. Which leaves only the Western Queen and the Southern Queen.

The Western Queen has a number of effects tied to her, even in just the base game. If she dies, all hive caravans across the world cease spawning, being replaced by groups of lost hivers that no longer have a purpose.

The event also causes a MASSIVE spike in Fogmen numbers. So much so that they begin to invade surrounding areas, and actually take over the Western Hive capital (once the system is finished for that).

And another event is that the Southern Hive actually march up from the south to invade Vain and the surround areas. Unsure of their goals in this from a lore perspective, unless perhaps a queen from a different hive can wrest control of another hive's drones after their connection to the queen is lost. Or perhaps they want to stop the spread of the Fogmen. Regardless of their reasoning, it's pretty important to them considering traverse half the map to get there.

Also, the Western Queen no longer has a Meitou, so you didn'y really miss out on that during the visit. It was removed from her, and now only the Southern Queen has it (rather than both of them having it).

[Retro]

^^^ see now that is cool - I am glad the DEVS put some thought into that...certain little touches like that, that can effect the whole world and either make it better or a whole lot worse (something more bad replaces what you've done)

[Darc]

Thats brings up many questions. Fogmen are often thought to be mentally suffering but the cause isn't really known. Is the mental state a result of them becoming fogmen or do they lose so much purpose that they let them destroy them? What happens to Mongrel if there are so many fogmen now? Are Shrieking Bandits suffering from something else or is it entirely cultural? Has the Western Hive made attempts to cull the Fog population before? (there is a fog tower in their territory I think.)

I really hope you can find answers to these questions in-game. I'm really hoping you'll have more chances to speak to other people to get information of the world since the devs put so much work in it. gateguards from Mongrel and the Holy Nation can't just be the only way to learn about them. Most of my knowledge of the world comes from the wiki and dev diary.

[merfrey]

Where is the southern hive located?

[Shidan]

The Southern Hive lives in the Southeast area of the map, currently locked.

As for what is really up with the Fogmen? I suspect their condition is a common side effect of being disconnected from their queen, or that their connection to the queen protects them from the parasite. Like they either survive and become ronin, or they fail and become fogmen.

I suspect this because, similar to when the Western Queen dies, if the Southern Queen dies the South Hive starts getting overrun with Fogmen as well. Considering the location, that would not be possible through normal migration or something (I've never seen any indications of there being a second Fogmen area down south). So they must be getting created down there, but only if the queen dies. And I don't see any other explanation besides the two things I mentioned.

It's defintiely an interesting thought regardless of what is really going on with them. Excited to see what else we can discover as time goes on. ;)

[nex]

i would really like it if we could defeat the "evil" southern hive queen and then they become like the western hive..