Kenshi.zoneWorld Encyclopedia

Southern Hive VillageReport

English:Southern Hive Village · Locations

The Southern Hive keeps one village in Greyshelf and one in the Royal Valley. Worker drones mine and farm by day with Droneguards standing over them — the danger is not individual strength, it is headcount.

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Southern Hive Villages are the ordinary settlements of the Southern Hive. There are two on the continent, one in Greyshelf and one in the Royal Valley.

NoteThe Southern Hive is the faction, Southern Hive (City) is the town at the southern end of the Royal Valley, and a Southern Hive Village is the ordinary village described here. Three very similar names, three different things.

Who lives here

The villages hold a large number of Southern Hive worker drones, who mine and farm during the day and sleep at night. A few Droneguards defend them, and patrols run through occasionally.

Individually a Droneguard is not impressive — 25 strength, 40 combat, 40 stealth — but every one of them carries an Ancient-grade Polearm and wears a Leather Hive Vest with coloured armoured rags.

ImportantThe danger of a Southern Hive Village is numbers, not quality. The sheer count of hivers, plus decently powerful hive soldiers defending them, means that once the whole village is roused a mid-game squad rarely walks away intact.

The open ground in Greyshelf and the Royal Valley also produces harder squads — a patrol of 1 Prince with 8 Droneguards, or a scout group of 4 Droneguards — as long as the Queen of the South is alive.

What to watch before going in

NoteBoth Greyshelf and the Royal Valley get acid rain, with heavy acid rain and light acid rain both on their weather table. This is not a region to loiter in, particularly when you are waiting outside a village for a patrol to pass.

What is in the village

A Southern Hive Village usually has four huts, and the contents are worth the trip.

For a village with no shop in it, that is a decent haul. Catun-grade weapons and standard armour are a genuine upgrade for any squad still carrying rusted gear.

After the Queen dies

Just as with the Western Hive — when the Queen of the South dies, both Southern Hive Villages become Deadhive Overruns, ruined villages occupied by Fogmen.

It is the most direct piece of cause and effect in Kenshi's world state design. Hive society is bound entirely to its queen; remove her and the village stops being a village.

Why the player cares

For most players a Southern Hive Village is a target, not a trading partner. There are no merchants here, and the hive will not do business with you. Its value is the Catun-grade weapons and standard armour, plus one very practical question — can you beat an entire village?

If you cannot, it also makes an excellent stealth exercise. The huts are spread out, the guard count is fixed, and the goods sit in buildings rather than on people.

See also