This guide details the Quests and Collectibles found within the Hatchery Anthill, up to the Art of War Quest.
Egg Hunt
Once we have the Hatchery and Ant Nest ready to go as a result from our trip into the Snackbar Anthill, all we need to do is source a Red Soldier Ant Egg. We highly recommend making Aphid Slippers for this section, as the extra movement speed will be invaluable here.
This will take us to the aptly named Hatchery Anthill, specifically the Southern Entrance, located at 6°N / -48°E, where we’ll find the Red Soldier Ant Egg in the depths by following the wires within the anthill.
Once we enter the Anthill from here, we’ll start by following the Thicker wire along the ground.
This eventually leads to a split in the path where we’ll also find the “Taming Program Update” Data File.
From here, we’ll follow the thinner wires along the ceiling instead.
These will lead us to a small lab deeper inside the nest. In this lab, you will find extra supplies, as well as the “Egg Credit” Audio Log File.
As we pass through, we’ll very shortly reach our goal, a small room with the Red Soldier Ant Eggs.
Once collected, Red Worker Ants and Red Soldier Ants will periodically spawn near us and begind to attack us until we get the egg back to base and safely inside the Hatchery.
When leaving it’s recommended to head back the way we came, as the path should be Ant-free outside of the ones spawned due to the Egg. However, there is an altenative Exit we can take that will take us East of the Ranger Outpost, great if our base is closer to that location, but otherwise not.
Another reason to consider the alternate exit is due to the additional resources we can pick up along the way, particularly any Quartzite and Marble we can get.
Hatching a Plan
Upon placing it in the Hatchery, it will begin an incubation process that will take 12 in-game hours. Sleeping in our Lean-to will, of course, speed this up. If it’s not night time, we recommend against this
Feel Free to make use of this time window to gather building materials and make a more robust base. We’ll also need to gather supplies for Spike Traps as well, as the upcoming quest will demand we make at least 2. This means Weed Stems, Thistle Needles, Sap, and Crude Rope are among the highest priority to gather.
Once incubation has finished, we’ll be able to claim the Red Soldier Ant Buggy. Go ahead and take a bit to get familiar with the abilities of the Red Soldier Ant.
From here, we can return to the Comms Array and speak with Sloane to progress once again.
Art of War
Now comes another small prep phase for the upcoming combat segment. We’ll be tasked to head out to a small cave, located at 30°N / -58°E, blocked by roots that only our Red Soldier Ant Buggy can take care of.
The Entrance of this cave is guarded by some O.R.C. Scorpions, which, once cleared, we’ll be able to head inside and face off with a larger O.R.C. Scorpion, this time a fully grown one.
After clearing the Scorpion, we’ll find the Stolen Turbo Optical Disk as well as the “For Ominent” Data File on a table here.
To the Left of this is a Milk Molar, which we’ll absolutely want to give our Health a Boost this time, given we’re about to be under attack by multiple enemies.
Further left is a supply Chest, which contains a Gnatchos Meal, some Boost Juice Smoothies, and some Crude Rope. Addtionally there is some Brittle Quartzite here.
To the right of all of this, sitting atop a barrel and looking like part of the set piece here, is the Cryptic Recipe. This unlocks the Northern Shredders, a powerful, but short-range melee weapon we could craft if we got lucky with our Scorpion Drops. These are a direct upgrade over the Mitey Claws.
We can head back to the Ranger station now and begin our final preparations using our new unlocks. We’ll start by unlocking the Smithing Station, which will allow us to start using the Quartzite and Marble we’ve been collecting so far to finally upgrade our gear.
Place down but do not fully craft the two Spike Strips; this WILL advance the quest state and trigger the combat early. We have unlimited time to gear up and prepare before doing so, so take advantage of it.
First, we can expand the base, which the Red Soldier Ant makes very easy. A single Charge Attack will chop down Grass and Clovers, with Weed Stems needing two. This makes it much easier to gather supplies for building, in combination with pallets to carry even more of them.
We have some options for our gear at this point, and now is the perfect time to collect materials and craft them. Below are the sets we recommend, depending on the style of play we prefer.
| Item Type | Fighter | Rogue | Ranger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Crimson Saber and Crimson Buckler OR Larvalance and Crimson Buckler | Crimson Saber and Crimson Buckler OR Northern Shredders | Sprig Bow |
| Armor Set | Acorn Armor (Tanky) OR Red Ant Armor (DPS) | Red Ant Armor OR Northern Scorpion Armor | Grub Armor |
| Trinket | Astonishing Acid | Astonishing Acid | Nifty Needle |
As for our weapons, we’re still pretty limited on options. Our obvious recommendation is the Crimson Saber and Crimson Buckler combo. Alongside the Parry Master Perk we could have unlocked and even maxed back in the Onboarding Facility, we’re able to apply a steady stream of damage while also weakening our enemies if we have unlocked the Blademaster perk as well.
For Armor, the Red Ant Armor is our clear choice in most cases. We only suggest Acorn Armor as a comfortable option to have room to miss parries, even on high difficulties. The Red Ant Armor will also reduce the stamina cost of the Crimson Saber’s Attacks, making it very reliable while also boosting the final hit of our combo via the Rogue perk.
Similarly, the Astonishing Acid will also give the final hit of our combo another boost of damage, allowing for a very powerful finishing hit. Ranger builds will instead want the Nifty Needle for the extra damage.
The O.R.C. Raid
Once we’re sufficiently geared and prepared, we can finally finish up those Spike Strips. Make sure the Red Soldier Ant Buggy is also with you, as it will help in combat and deal meaningful damage so long as we keep enemies focused on us.
This Raid will consist of the following set of enemies:
- 3x O.R.C. Red Soldier Ants
- An O.R.C. Weaver Jr.
- An O.R.C. Spiderling
- 3x O.R.C. Weevils.
Of this set of enemies, the ones we’ll want to knock out the fastest are the Soldier Ants, as they will deal a ton of damage very quickly if we let them. The Weaver Jr. is also equally dangerous, but also tends to be slightly less aggressive and likes to move a lot.
The Weevils aren’t particularly dangerous, but they will run up to us and try to explode, dealing damage to both us and their allies. If we can get them to explode on multiple of the tougher foes, it will make this go much faster by chunking their health.
It’s worth keeping in mind that from this point forward, O.R.C. Raids can happen at random. Though these will come with much more warning, starting at 24 in-game hours before, and additional warning as 12 and 2 in-game hours before as well.
As we progress, these will also continue to get more and more dangerous, spawning stronger foes and more of them.
Once the foes are dispatched, we’ll be able to talk to Sloane and progress on to the next quests. From this point Forward, the path does split and can be done in any order, but we’ve put together a recommended path
