Rhinoceros Beetle

*For the special variants, see Christmas Beetle and Flower Chafer Beetle.*

* Regular
* Golden

The second rare creature added to the game, also the first neutral creature, added alongside the scorpion.

## General Information

Similarly to the bombardier beetle, this beetle has very high health (more than Bombardier) but extremely slow speed.

They have a very deadly attack, capable of wiping out an entire soldier army in a single swipe.

They don't attack enemies on their own (they are neutral creatures), but when enemies attack the beetle, its body turns red, and it releases a swipe attack that deals massive damage to anything that is very close to it, able to easily kill an entire ant army in one blow.

The damage range of the swipe attack changes depending on the location of the beetle:

* Inside the Fire Ant Nest, the range is very small
* Spawned beetles on the main map and attacking beetles in battles have a medium range
* Defending beetles in battles have a large range

The Rhinoceros beetle is the only attractable creature on the map that may not kill your soldier ants in one hit. With level 11 soldiers and a few resilience levels, a single swipe will not kill your ants, but rather leave them at very low health. This is only true on the main map and in the Fire Ant Nest; in battles, soldiers are killed instantly, regardless of level.

It is **highly recommended** not to kill these creatures in early to mid game. In late game, or after acquiring at least one 4 star (highly recommended), they are a great source of creature parts.

## Description

If Rhinoceros Beetles are disturbed, some can release very loud, hissing squeaks. The hissing squeaks are created by rubbing their abdomens against the ends of their wing covers.

## Stats

Main article: Creature Stats

Rhinoceros Beetles have very high health. They have slow attack rate, and are very slow.

They can be upgraded a max of 20% each stat in the Creature Lab.

* Health
* Attack Rate
* Damage

**Rhinoceros Beetle health stats:** (Shown in bites from a 4-star gold spider)

 2
 3
 4
 4 (gold)

**Rhinoceros Beetle Attack Stats:**

Attack rate is how quickly it moves to attack after the first attack animations from attacking creatures appear.

**The attack speed is one hit every 8 second.**

 2
 3
 4
 4 (gold)

**Rhinoceros Beetle Damage Stats:**

Data is based on attacking a 3 star normal tarantula, shown with the % of health bar lost for each hit.

 2
 3
 4
 4 (gold)

A picture of the full Rhinoceros Beetle card can be found below:

## Obtaining

##### Attracting conditions

Rare, can appear under any weather. Can only appear at night.

##### Defeating

When fighting the beetle, send ants to attack, then when its body turns red, click 'retreat' and so that ants will go out of the beetle's range before it attacks. Once the attack is over, click 'attack' again. Do the same over and over until it is defeated (make sure all ants are out of its attack range, as being caught in its devastating attack results in annihilation).

## PvP

### Attacking

Very useful as a crowd controller against soldier ants, since ants will immediately start to bite at it as soon as it is seen. Its slow AoE attack wipes them off very easily after it's agitated, and harms close-ranged creatures.

Its slowness in movement, attack rate, and it being a neutral creature (won't actively attack unless provoked), makes it a dangerous drawback if not deployed properly. It should be "placed" when it is needed, since it moves very slow. In other words, don't deploy it when the battle starts.

Attacking rhinos will stop moving immediately upon being attacked and will not start moving again until the attacks stop. This makes them very useful as a decoy creature to draw enemy creatures' attention. Since the health is very high, it can take many hits which makes enemy creatures that attack it vulnerable to being taken out with soldiers with no losses.

### Defending

Having two or more rhinos in the defense setup is very effective and helpful.

Defending rhino beetles do not stop moving even when attacked. This causes them to lead attacking creatures around the map which means the attacking creatures will be defenseless to other attacks. Attacking creatures can be led through groups of soldier ants or right to the Venus Flytrap causing many losses. Additionally, since attacking rhinos don't stop moving, the attacking creature has the potential to get hit by a second part of the swipe damage when the rhino changes direction therefore it could take more damage.

Rhino beetles are great for blocking the stun effect of the chrysanthemum.

Its slowness to speed and attack rate makes it a sitting duck in open spaces outside the anthill as it is easy to evade its AoE attack. However, placing it near the corridor or at the queen ant's nest makes it a formidable tank and a dangerous mine trap against invaders bringing soldier ants.

Placing it in the queens chamber along with a few of its creature buddies can make it hard to see, fooling attacking soldiers to their death.

## Trivia

* The Rhinoceros Beetle species in game is fictitious. However, it is based on real species from the Dynastinae family, such as "Dynastes hercules" and "Megasoma actaeon".

* The Rhinoceros Beetle is the only creature of which we can know its gender, since in real life only male rhinoceros beetles have horns. These horns are used in fighting other males during mating season, and for digging