This article is about the Hive Lord as it appears in Helldivers 2. For the enemy from the first game, check its article HERE
| “ | Helldiver. You face a Hive Lord. Liberty guide you. | „ |
| ~ Democracy Officer |
Hive Lords are the biggest 
Terminid enemy the 
Helldivers have ever encountered. They are gargantuan monstrosities that emerge from the ground during certain missions within the Hive Worlds inside of The Gloom.
Similar to their counterparts from a century ago, these Hive Lords are an extreme danger to any Helldiver and should be considered a priority target. As said previously, the Hive Lord is one of the biggest and strongest enemies the Helldivers have ever encountered, with the most HP of any enemy. (For comparison, a Hellbomb does 10,000 HP of damage)
Lore
History
| “ | Titan-class Terminids spotted on Oshaune. Unconfirmed reports indicate similarities to GW1-era Hive Lords, previously confirmed to be extinct. | „ |
| ~ Super Earth High Command |
A Hive Lord emerges from the ground during the Second Galactic War.
First encountered in the First Galactic War, the Hive Lord was a type of Terminid which created new tunnels for the 
Bug hives and, if left alone, would perforate the entire crust of a planet with tunnels. As they were found mostly underground, they were exceptionally hard to kill, with the Helldivers taking every opportunity to take one of them out whenever they were sighted above ground.
As they were not encountered at the start of the Second Galactic War (as well as more practical considerations such as how to house and feed such a large bug), it can be inferred that the Hive Lords were too dangerous to farm for Element-710 and as such were driven to ethical extinction a century ago. Even so, many of the skeletons of the creatures could be found on many previously Terminid-occupied planets.
However, after the Helldivers launched Operation Righteous Reclamation in September 2185 - a massive expedition into The Gloom - the Hive Lords were found alive again on Oshaune, seemingly given new life following rapid mutation. As massive as they are malignant, Hive Lords are rare but can emerge at random to turn a standard peacekeeping operation into a bloodbath, with efforts to humanely re-extinct them ongoing.
On September 12th, 2185, in the midst of another offensive by the Terminids, Hive Lords were spotted outside of The Gloom for the first time in an invasion of Hellmire, marking a new and terrifying stage of bug-based fascism.
On the 31st of October, 2185, tectonic disturbances on Oshaune caused by an increase in 380mm HE Barrages, supported by the DSS Heavy Ordnance Distrubtion, have led to a sharp increase in Hive Lord activity on the planet. Helldivers were advised to utilize additional 380mm HE Barrages to counter this threat, which combined with the authorized use EXO-49 Emancipator Exosuits would see the Hive Lord population pacified by the 1st of November. Following the inevitable liberation of Oshaune on the 4th of November, the massive Hive Lord carcasses were butchered and transported to off-world processing and research facilities.
Hive Lords would be rediscovered on Hive World Omicron once the planet was cleared for Helldiver operations in December 2185.
Biology
A Helldiver celebrates with their squad after slaying a Hive Lord on Oshaune. September 4th, 2185
The current generation of Hive Lords are significantly different from their ancestors a century ago. 2084-era Hive Lords resembled a cross between a myriapod/centipede and a terrestrial bobbit worm with the mouth of a lamprey. However, 2184-era Hive Lords instead have a flower mouth, much more jagged armor plating, and their smaller limbs have degenerated into mere flukes on each of their armor segments.
Indeed, it is quite evident that, like the rest of the Terminid species, Hive Lords have seemingly evolved into even more dangerous wild animals over the last century. Their mere bulk is enough to wipe out entire squads of Helldivers and battalions of 
S.E.A.F. soldiers by belly flopping on top of them.
Hive Lords are capable of reaching up to 100 meters in total length and at least 15 meters in total width. Despite their size, they move at a vertiginous pace once they burrow beneath the sand and can be deceptively quicker to drop themselves onto Helldivers and spew waves of acid at them, making good reflexes and awareness a necessity when fighting these beasts.
Behavior and Tactics
Hive Lords may emerge from the ground during a mission, which is heralded by massive quakes. Their full emergence can be quite destructive in and of itself, even able to flip massive vehicles such as the GATER. Additionally, during their full emergence out of the ground, they will eject rocks that can strike and kill players. Hive Lords take 5 seconds to fully emerge out of the ground, but will often attempt "short burst" emergences prior, which sees the hive lord quickly pop out of the ground then back in to immediately continue digging. One can tell when a Hive Lord will truly emerge out of the ground when the patch of terrain above them stops moving and the earthquake intensifies. Standing too close to the initial point from where a Hive Lord bursts out of the ground applies stun and can ragdoll players, even throwing them into the sky if directly hit by the Hive Lord's massive body
Hive Lords have 2 main attacks they will perform while they are out of the ground. Their primary attack is to simply slam their weight onto the floor, which predictably crushes any Helldiver caught beneath. Coincidentally, vehicles are unaffected by the bodyslam itself and won't take fall damage if flung into the sky. Their second attack is to spew a barrage of bile in a zig zag pattern, doing one spray back and forth. This attack has a minimum range within which it cannot hit players, which is 10 meters around the Hive Lord's base. An alternative version of this attack sees them shoot bile in a straight line longer than the base zig-zag bile spew attack's range.
Hive Lords that burst out of the ground will remain out of the ground and continue attacking unless they take too much damage or players get too close. Hive Lords take 5 seconds to burrow back into the ground, but can still be hit while they burrow. Keep this in mind whenever attempting to use B-100 Portable Hellbombs or any single target stratagem (like the Eagle 500kg Bomb or any Orbital Barrage) to damage the Hive Lord.
Hive Lords have 6 armors plates on both their front and back sides and a seventh armor plate at their base, all of them requiring Anti-Tank capable weaponry to break. All of the armor plates have a fin on each side for a total of 14 fins, each fin also requiring anti-tank weaponry to break. The armor plate at the Hive Lord's crown, however, can only be damaged by a Hellbomb and is best left ignored, as not only is it mostly immune to most forms of damage but it is also located behind the Hive Lord's head. The jaws and mandibles of the Hive Lord also require Anti-Tank capable weaponry but, strangely enough, the mouth hole of the Hive Lord only requires medium bullet penetration weapons to damage, allowing most kinds of weapons to damage it effectively.
Beneath the armor plates of the Hive Lord, there are 7 sections of inner flesh which, like the mouth, only require medium bullet penetration weapons to damage. The Hive Lord has a total of 150,000 HP, with each armor plate having 15,000 HP and the armor plate near its tail having 20,000 HP. The mouth and inner flesh, obviously, are the only ways to directly deal damage to the Hive Lord. However, breaking the armor plates of the Hive Lord carries over some damage into the Hive Lord's main health pool.
Hive Lords can only burst out of the ground in spaces that have enough vertical and horizontal space to accommodate them and their body slam attack. For this reason, Hive Lords are unable to attack players while they are inside Terminid Caves. However, most of the Hive Lord's attacks carry enough Demolition Force to destroy structures, which renders most structures in the game unable to provide protection against the Hive Lord. For this reason, fighting the Hive Lord inside Urban Colonies is not recommended, as the buildings won't grant any protection and instead they will restrict your ability to dodge incoming attacks.
Tips
- May Liberty have mercy on you.
- There are only four ways to get a Hive Lord off your back:
- Extract or Run Away from it.
- Enter the caves. The Hive Lord may still burrow into the caves to attack Helldivers, but due to the cramped confines, it is less effective with its attacks. Additionally, the Hive Lord may still appear in areas with a large-enough hole in the roof.
- Have a teammate distract it (or THEM).
- Using an M-102 Fast Recon Vehicle helps in trying to outrun the Hive Lord.
- Should none of these ways be feasible, do not fear. Your martyrdom payment will reach your loved ones back home.
- Some of the best armaments to take down the Hive Lord:
- Eagle Strafing Run - Deals anti-tank damage in a straight line that can evenly hit all of the Hive Lord's armor plates if placed correctly.
- Orbital Gatling Barrage - Deals anti-tank damage within a radius slightly larger than the Hive Lord's total girth, which will also damage its jaws and mandibles and, occasionally, directly damage the mouth.
- EXO-49 Emancipator Exosuit - The autocannons on this exosuit can deal sustained, heavy anti-tank damage against the armor plates at most angles, being capable of breaking an armor plate in a single deployment if used correctly.
- EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit - The missiles and minigun can deal a lot of damage to the inner flesh and mouth very quickly. While the missiles can all be used to break armor, it is best to instead save them to deal with any incoming Chargers, Bile Titans, Dragonroaches or Impalers that may spawn while fighting the Hive Lord.
- M-1000 Maxigun - Can be used to quickly wear down the inner flesh thanks to its high firerate.
- B-100 Portable Hellbomb / NUX-223 Hellbomb - Hellbombs deal 10,000 damage and have the highest demolition force in the game. They can be useful for both breaking the armor plates and damaging the inner flesh, as the explosion radius can hit most, if not all, of the flesh sections at once. It can take up to four Hellbombs to kill a Hive Lord reliably. The Portable Hellbomb stratagem is granted for free during Destroy Spore Lung missions but players can also try to use normal hellbombs if they happen to fight a Hive Lord close to a Shrieker Nest. Additionally, undetonated hellbombs can still be used against Hive Lords (even in Hive Worlds), though they are a rare sight and have limited usefulness unless you or a member of your team can reliably lure a Hive Lord into one of these.
- G-123 Thermite & G-48 Giga Grenade - These grenades both deal high anti-tank damage. With enough supplies nearby and competent throws, you can break a Hive Lord's armor with only 10 of either grenade.
- GR-8 Recoilless Rifle - Deals high anti-tank damage, allowing it to massively damage a Hive Lord's armor or even break it in just 7 shots in HEAT mode.
- When engaging a Hive Lord, it is recommended to focus anti-tank fire on one part of the exoskeleton as it will visually crack and eventually break to reveal the more vulnerable flesh underneath.
- If you have the undemocratically horrible misfortune of getting multiple Hive Lords to spawn in your game,[1][2] it is not yet known if you will get the Experience Bonus more than once. Considering the game counts the Hive Lord as a separate hidden secondary objective, it is likely that you can get the Experience Bonus for each Hive Lord slain in your mission.
- However, should you value your life, it is advisable that you DO NOT attempt to take down multiple Hive Lords at once. Should you somehow succeed, we commend you and compel you to share your findings... if you survive.
Tactics
- Hive Lords have breakable armor in each of their segments. Once a segment is cracked, is is advised to focus fire on this part to maximize damage.
- While it is theoretically possible to also focus damage on the open jaws of the Hive Lord, it is ill advised due to how often it moves and how little the Hive Lord remains still and out of the ground.
- Orbital stratagems with a fast cooldown period, such as the Orbital Gatling Barrage and Orbital Precision Strike, may be preferable over more powerful ones with a longer cooldown time, as this theoretically allows more potential damage overtime.
- Weapons and emplacements such as the MLS-4X Commando, GR-8 Recoilless Rifle, E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement, B-100 Portable Hellbomb, GP-31 Ultimatum, and Thermite Grenades, are some of the better options against Hive Lords for either their powerful alpha or sustained AT damage.
- Before engaging a Hive Lord, it is best to decide on a general area where the team will be fighting, to prevent the Hive Lord from moving too far away. Dropping 1-2 supply drops is also recommended to sustain the team's DPS.
Trivia
- The current fastest global Hive Lord kill time record sits at 26 seconds if measured from first appearance and official death notification; the record is 16 seconds if measured by first damage and no hit indicator or death animation, accomplished by The HellDiver Core, with a team led by District-King. This has been peer reviewed and has a stop watch overlay on Level 10 (full video footage also available: 1, 2)
- However, kill times such as these require all 4 members of the team to take specific loadouts and an insane amount of planning, luck and coordination to successfully accomplish. Perform at your own risk.
- Hive Lords are considered high value targets and, should a team of Helldivers take one down, they will be rewarded with 222 XP. Once killed, Hive Lords do not re-spawn, with Helldivers able to continue their mission without fear of another attack.
- The exoskeletal remains of Hive Lords can be found on several Terminid-infested worlds, long before their confirmed re-emergence on September 3, 2185. It is currently unknown if these are simply leftover carcasses from the First Galactic War, or if these are molted exoskeletons from growing Hive Lords.
- In Retrieve Mutant Larva sub-missions, the larvae contained inside the specimen vessel looks suspiciously like a small Hive Lord, and the Terminids appear to be especially invested in destroying the container to free the larvae.
- The behavior of the Hive Lord and the design of its mouth appear to be references to the Sandworms from the Dune franchise. Its attacks, design, and name might also take inspiration from the Hive Mind from Dead Space.
- Calling in support stratagems (such as weapons) while a Hive Lord is active is risky, as the hellpod may drop onto its back and stick.
- Currently, the Hive Lord is the only enemy (that is not the target of a dedicated mission) which grants Helldivers XP when killed.
- The Hive lord is the second enemy to have a map spawn exclusive to it, with the other being the Dragonroach.
- Hive Lord Theme.
- Landing in the mouth of a Hive Lord with a Hellpod will result in instant death as the pod is eaten whole.
Timeline
- September 2nd, 2185: Hive Lords appear on Oshaune.
- September 7th, 2185: The presence of Hive Lords is recognized by High Command.
- September 12th, 2185: Hive Lords appear on Hellmire, appearing outside of The Gloom for the first time.
NOTE: Coverage of Hive Lord Movements were not tracked between September 2185 and February 2186.
- December 2185: Hive Lords appear on Omicron.
- February 2186: Hive Lords assist the Terminids in their attack on Oshaune.
