That’s what I thought. Today;s challenge hive will test players. I mean, for Escape veterans it’s not a big deal, but there are some truly “special” players out there who don’t have a clue. It’s a joy to watch! 
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I have completed this hive so many times, I pretty much do it on autopilot at this point. I run it by myself on no extra health Inconceivable, and I got some tips for anyone who doesn’t want to suffer with randoms.
First thing, after getting out of the pod room, don’t sprint. If you do, you will wake up the scions and you will be killed before you know it. Immediately after the pod room, look to the right. If there is a scion there, there is a really high chance he will come after you later.
The usual meta-strategy works great here. Just go for the supply cache in the middle for the Torque Bow. Once you are in the supply cache, you can sprint. Grab the Torque, one frag and one red box.
Now, depending on what kind of scions are outside the supply cache, you must prioritize targets.Top priority is Dropshot scions, as they are tricky to deal with if you don’t have a Dropshot yourself. Second in the priority list is Mulchers, and lastly Icers.
Most characters can’t one-shot scions on this difficulty with the Torque Bow, so immediately after headshotting one of them, throw your frags and get back inside. I like to kill the second scion with my pistol, or with the Hammerbursts found in the supply cache.
BTW, if there was a scion to the right of the pod room, plant a frag in the next room (the one with the three scions and the two lockers). The scion doesn’t start moving after a while. Usually, they are really weak from the venom and the frag will kill them when they try to come after you. If you forget the frag, prepare to be the most scared you are ever going to be in your life, as this guy usually catches up when you are dealing with the five scions in the big room.
For the rest of the hive, leave Buzzkill scions for last, as they can heal all enemies in a huge radius. And speaking of Buzzkills, use their weapon when you can. It staggers scions and kills them in less than ten hits.
For the big room with five scions, if you don’t mind slowing down a bit, plant two frags in the middle of the hallway. Note that you must do this quietly without running, or the scions will hear you. After you plant the frags, go around the corner and take a shot at them. Fall back to the “orange” tile where the supply caches are, and just wait. The scions will all pile up in the last spot they saw you. Once they are all in there, get their attention again and in most cases, several of them will move as one towards you and take massive damage from the frags.
Alternatively for this room, use your Torque Bow and Dropshot to their fullest.
Some tips for each scion type.
For Dropshots, if you don’t have a Dropshot yourself, and they have their shield up, stay close (but not too close so they don’t charge at you) and wait for them to shoot. Walking erratically from side to side will confuse their aim. When they are reloading, run up to them and stick them with a frag, then run away. This will leave them very weak, so you can run up to them again and finish them with melee attacks. NOTE: Shielded scions cannot be staggered.
For Mulchers, they are the most dangerous enemy in any Escape map, in my opinion. Corners are your best friends. If you get Mulchers at the start, you can just bait one to follow you around the big ice blocks while you keep picking away at their health. They won’t be able to shoot you much. For Mulchers in the rest of the hive, if you let them start shooting, there’s pretty much no way to stop them. Be accurate with your Torque, and use the Dropshot if you have to.
Icers are not a big issue, except for them having slightly more health than the rest. Just stay away from them.
Lastly, Buzzkils are a nuisance. Leave them last if you can. If you can’t, getting their health down to around 85% will open them for for instant Torque headshot kills.
My fastest run of this hive was 4:45 (including the one minute bomb delay at the start) as Veteran, so if you want quick XP and cards, this isn’t a bad option for solo runs. I grab the Claw before the last two supply caches, and try to clear the rest of the hive as fast as possible with my ult.
A solo run usually takes 7 minutes in average. I tend to get faster times with Boltok classes, as the pistol hits really hard and it speeds it up quite a bit.
One last thing: If you play with team mates and you die at some point after the locker area, and your team mates leave before the restart, any scions who had been alerted up to that point will be alerted as soon as you restart. Having 15 scions come after you at the start is not pretty. Run is FUBAR if that happens, and you have to go back to lobby.
EDIT: Spelling
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