Category:Hellbug (Defiance Race)
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Hellbug Warrior
As dangerous as they are, hellbugs are actually an integral part of the terraformed ecosphere and economy. Their metabolism converts Gulanite into Petrohol, the fuel used by almost all ground vehicles in the Defiance universe.
The key to fighting hellbugs of all sizes is to aim for anything that glows. Mouth, chest, abdomen, butt... shoot the red-yellow glowy bits.
- Hellbug Skitterling - Very fast but easy to kill. There has never been a confirmed sighting of an Elite Skitterling, but some have a bit more chitin armor than others.
- Hellbug Archer - Winged, spits ranged blobs that do a lot of damage and snare you. Very low armor.
- Hellbug Warrior - Heavy armor and strong attack with knockdown, short-range frontal goo AE. Only real vulnerability is it's mouth. Score a shot down it's throat just as it starts it's attack to destroy it easily. They run with their mouth closed but they will stop, roar, then attack so be aware that as they reach you they will give you a second to blow them to smithereens. If you are behind one there is a second thin spot in their armor on their ass.
- Hellbug Blast Pod - These belching pillars are immobile but shoot the same ranged black tarball that Archers use, but faster. Terminate with extreme prejudice. They have no weak points but are not armored with chitin. Unlike most hellbugs, they do not attack just what attacks them or moves very near them, they will all concentrate fire on anything that attacks or angers any member of the hive.
- Hellbug Monarch - Bigger, badder bug with two linear-stroke AE attacks. The first is a strong concussive blast (he rears just before) and second is a rolling charge (no real warning). Aim for glowing spots on chest and ass. Chest is exposed when he rears, ass is exposed (chitin louvers open briefly) just after he rolls/charges. Aim explosives under him, not at his sides, to pound the chest weakness. NOTE: There is a smart way to kill Monarchs, especially when solo. Do not try to pour fire into him, there are only two things you should shoot. His chest and his ass. Both are like hitting his off switch. Run and wait for him to rise up just before his frontal AE, or wait till just after he rolls, then open up on the big glowy spot. Hit him enough and he will drop and go dormant for approx. 5 seconds. Be sure to side-step or roll after firing in case he does not drop! When he goes dormant, take this moment to reload, then repeat till he is dead. You will live a lot longer and kill him every time. BTW, the chest weakness is the softer target, but if you are behind him when the louvers open it is a safer target.
- Hellbug Matron - Seen only at the end of the Co-op map Island of Lost Soldiers and in the final encounter of the Major Arkfall "Mother of All Hellbugs". Pour fire on her face. She burrows and summons her larger children every 25% or so (more often in the Arkfall). She also spews green goo that hurts a lot, and releases skitterlings.
- Hellbug Hellion - (Major Arkfall Only) Enormous three-sided "host/nest" seen only at Major Arkfalls. There are two types of Hellion hosts: three-mouthed and three-armed. Shoot the mouths first, or the glowing gems under and between the "arms", then kill the Hellion Symbiote when it emerges. The Symbiote can fly around or stay attached to an umbilical from the top of the nest. The three glowing lines on the underside of the tail, or the umbilical, are its "sweet" spots.
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Life Cycle
Monarchs, like bee drones, are the only active males in a hellbug hive (most hellbugs are asexual). Skitterlings are born from a Matron (no one knows how a Matron is made). Skitterlings are the larval phase of hellbugs and, while maturing, work mainly as diggers and food gatherers, gathering gulanite to feed the hive by spitting an acid onto the gulanite, then consuming the liquid. When a skitterling has consumed enough of this liquefied gulanite they can return the food to the hive or burrow and make a chrysalis that, when they emerge in their mature form, produces a Warrior, Archer or Blast Pod. It can be assumed that this is also how a Monarch (and maybe even a Matron or Hellion) is produced, but it has never been observed in the wild. Monarchs always burrow up out of the ground fully formed which has prevented researchers from observing the births.
A Hellion is a mobile nest, capable of moving when the gulanite veins in an area have been depleted, and is in two distinct parts: The "host" is the enormous three-sided thing you see at Major Arkfalls, and the motivating intelligence is the "symbiote". Although the Hellion normally stays deep underground it can be drawn to the surface by large deposits of purified gulanite, such as the large crystals seen surrounding the site of a Major Arkfall, producing a feeding frenzy.
Elemental Bugs
Episode 3: Svushinnira introduced Elementally-mutated bugs. These come in three "flavors": Fire (red), Electrical (blue) and Radioactive (yellow), They are stronger than their normal cousins and the frontal attacks will be of their elemental damage type, not just concussive. In other words, when a Hellbug Fire Warrior backhands you, you burst into flame. And, yes, Elemental Archers spit Fire, Acid and Lightning instead of goo.
Minor Arkfalls
If the arkfall crystal is red, Skitterlings attack the arkfall and feed off it. This leaves a glowing carbuncle (weak point) which they will consume, then run off and burrow to make a Chrysalis. Bad as this sounds, without the skitterlings you will take a long time to destroy the arkfall. Kill the skitterling AFTER he makes the carbuncle, then concentrate your fire on the carbuncle to do a lot more damage! Regarding chrysalises, When the timer over the chrysalis expires it hatches an Archer, Blast Pod or Warrior, so destroy it before it hatches.
If the arkfall crystal is blue just kill everything until the crystal becomes unstable and explodes (EGO will warn you a few seconds before it blows).
Kill Importance:
- carbuncles
- Chrysalises and Blast Pods
- Archers and Monarchs
- Warriors
- Skitterlings
If you have any coordination with other ark hunters, try to assign some to kill mobs while some concentrate on the carbuncles made by the skitterling bites.
Editorial: There has been a lot of disagreement about this on the forums so let me be clear. Skitterlings feed on the Arkfall Crystal by biting the shell and, like a wasp stinging a peach to get juice, they then eat the carbuncle. This is bad two ways. Only a fed skitterling can burrow and make a Chrysalis, and the carbuncle vanishes faster. Killing skitterlings is NOT a bad thing! Enough will always slip through the killzone to make carbuncles, but those that do need to die the moment they form it.
Major Arkfalls
Mother of all Hellbugs: Hellbug Matron appears. See her description, above.
Revolting Hellbugs: A Hellbug Hellion rises, drawn by the "smell" of purified Gulanite,and a feeding frenzy ensues. Warriors and Archers spawn throughout this arkfall just to harass you while you try to kill the Hellion.
- Stage One: Shoot the three "hideous maws", or the glowing glands on the sides and under the arms to remove the arms.
- Stage Two: The Hellion Symbiote emerges from the "host/nest". Sometimes it detaches and flies around (Hellion with mouths), other times it stays connected by an umbilical (Hellion with arms). Shoot the glowing lines on its tail or the umbilical for max damage. During this phase you will also face 1-2 Monarchs whenever the Symbiote goes back in the nest. Kill the Monarch(s) and the Symbiote re-emerges.
Smells Like Victory: Ring of pheromone secretors around one of the three-armed Hellion Host/Nests. No real difference to Revolting Hellbugs other than the addition of the secretors, which are just window dressing.
| Trivia |
The name of this Arkfall is a reference to a line spoken by Robert Duvall in the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola film "Apocalypse Now", "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. It smells like... victory." The devs must be big Duvall fans because there is also an Emergency with this same name. |
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Note: In Emergency: Smells Like Victory, the task is to Collect pheromone samples. We have yet to reach the Smells Like Victory arkfall before the Hellion rises so "maybe" the secretors are there so the nest does not rise before players arrive?
Hellbugs in Rift
 Skitterling companion pet from Rift |  Warrior mount from Rift |
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