The Hive is the alien command structure, built on tech points. The alien commander enters it by pressing E on it.
What a hive does#
- Commander login. The alien commander controls the team from inside a hive.
- Spawning. Eggs grow around every hive; dead aliens respawn from them. See Eggs and evolving.
- Healing. Alien players and eggs within 12.7 m heal 8% of their max health (at least 10) every second. A burning hive does not heal.
- Infestation. A hive spreads infestation in a 20 m radius and anchors cyst chains (up to 31 m away).
- Biomass. Each hive gives 1 biomass and can research up to 3 more. Biomass unlocks lifeform abilities and adds health to aliens.
- Win condition. The aliens lose the moment their last hive dies, or when every alien is dead and there are no eggs left to respawn from.
You can climb into a freshly built hive straight away; the enter prompt only appears once the hive can actually be entered.
Biomass research#
| Research | Hive reaches | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biomass 1 | biomass 2 | 15 | 25 s |
| Biomass 2 | biomass 3 | 20 | 40 s |
| Biomass 3 | biomass 4 | 40 | 60 s |
A hive can hold at most 4 biomass, so three fully researched hives give the maximum of 12. If a hive dies, its biomass is lost and abilities that needed it switch off until the biomass is rebuilt.
Biomass research in progress shows in the alien players' research list, labelled with the level it reaches ("BIOMASS 3"), and the biomass bar shows partial progress.
Hive types#
A new hive can be upgraded (10 team res, 20 s) into one of three types. Each type can only exist once and unlocks its chamber plus commander abilities:
| Type | Chamber | Commander unlocks |
|---|---|---|
 Crag Hive | Shell | Heal Wave, Mucous Membrane, cyst and drifter Carapace/Regeneration |
 Shade Hive | Veil | Ink, Hallucination Cloud, cyst and drifter Camouflage |
 Shift Hive | Spur | Echo, Enzyme, cyst and drifter Celerity |
Maturity#
A built hive slowly matures over 220 s, going from 4000 / 750 to 6000 / 1400 health/armor. Heal spray and Nutrient Mist speed it up. See Maturity.
Tips#
- A second hive early doubles biomass income and gives a backup spawn. Build it when the map is safe.
- Hives take 180 s to build; a marine team that finds an unbuilt hive will kill it.