Running Hive Mind safely with random squads

After seeing someone on discord who was asking for help on how to run Hive Mind, I decided to write up something for them, and it ended up being extremely detailed of course, so I figured I'd make it available to everyone. I realize that a video would be more accessible than just reading all of this, but I'm a nab at video editing, so I did what I know best: writing long-winded articles to put people to sleep.

The approach I'm going to lay out to running Hive really works best for running with random teammates.  If you get really deep into the game and are looking to speedrun Hive, then the strategy and build setup are quite different, but if you are just grinding for loot, then this is the best way I've found to do it.  Before I dive in, I did want to say that it is inadvisable to enter into Hive before you are at 270 power level. Not only will many level 27s leave you at the start of the dungeon, but you will be very, very squishy and with this dungeon having many dangerous enemies, particularly red blinkers, Hellstorms, and voidcallers, it will be both frustrating and an inefficient use of your time to try to run Hive before you are 270 power. Think about it this way. You could grind out some 20-30 minute hive runs before then, but the likelihood that you’ll get something good is low, and you’ll have to infuse any good items you do get, which is very expensive. If you wait and also learn how to play hive well, you should consistently be able to run Hive in anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes (11-12 minutes is the sweet spot to look for in random matches).

Weapon Selection

First off, let's talk about build and gear setup.  Hive Mind is all about using an AR and Machine Gun.  NO exceptions.  This is not a dungeon to mess around with different guns and different setups.  Lots of people like to run this dungeon, but their skill levels vary and you don't want a bad teammate mucking up your run.  Tesla Impulsor makes running this dungeon much, much easier, but if you don't have the gun yet, just choose your AR with the highest DPS.  Niko, Faraday, Skull Blaster 3000, Nordic Guard '49, and Big Eagle Storm are the best substitutes until you get a Tesla.  For Machine Guns, Revenant is just the most reliable option here, but if you don't have that yet, Eidolon is probably my next most reliable choice.  You want a machine gun with a larger magazine capacity so that you're almost never out of ammo because the drop rate for secondary ammo in Hive can be brutally low sometimes.  This dungeon is a master class in secondary ammo management.  You need to save your MG ammo for the clusters and data hives because at any moment one or both of your teammates could die and you need to take the data hive down fast to avoid a squad wipe.

Armor Selection

As for your armor, I always equip shoulders with the highest total loot %.  This is because critical damage is not totally a huge factor in Hive.  Yes, there are some key areas where it's just killing enemies, but most of the damage you will deal in the dungeon is against the clusters, data hives, and boss, and critical shots aren't possible on these targets.  As for your gloves, I have two options that I use.  One pair of gloves I used for a long time were 8% AR damage with two melee resistance perks.  Melee resistance is a hugely helpful perk to have on your gloves and legs for this dungeon just to protect you against those red blinkers.  Some people swear by the Kira's Basilisk legs for the big time melee resistance that you can get with these, but if you run with a build that has at least 5 points in Survival, then I don't really think it's all that necessary to use these legs.  Also, there are ways to move in Hive to avoid the red blinkers ever really being a huge threat.  The other gloves that I use are 7% MG damage, 3% overall damage, and melee resistance.  These are great because extra MG damage is wonderful for the boss fight, and the 3% overall damage helps out my AR, which is what I'm mainly using for most of the dungeon before I get to the boss fight (because I'm saving secondary ammo for the boss fight).  Long story short, prioritize either your AR or MG damage depending on what you have in your inventory and if you've got melee resist, too, then that's fantastic.  For your chest, just use the highest HP chest you have.  As for your leg piece, Midnite's Invictus legs are what I always use in Hive.  I want as much secondary ammo as possible going into that boss fight so that I can finish the fight as quickly as I can.  If you don't have Midnite's Invictus legs yet, then focus on using legs that have melee resistance and support ammo capacity perks on them.  For boots, I again don't worry about critical damage here.  The most important perks will be cooldown and explosion resistance.  If you manage to find some boots with two cooldown perks and explosion resistance, these will be your go to Hive boots.

Skill Build Selection

As for your skill build, 13A-7S or 12A-8S are the best for just starting out and carrying weak teammates as well.  The high survival will keep you alive against those blinkers and voidcaller shots.  If you are using 13A-7S, then bring Supercharger and AM Bomb.  If you are using 12A-8S, then use Frag Grenades in place of AM Bomb.  AM Bomb should be used to take down the second data hive (unless you or one of your teammates uses the Sit emote to keep the red blinkers in the center of the room) and the fourth data hive once you get to the back of the room.  Frag Grenades should be used somewhat sparingly (ideally only once for any individual fight) unless you are at the fourth data hive and then I will typically throw two grenades in the back area once the data hive is exposed to give me and my teammates some breathing room to take down the data hive quickly.  Something I used to do when I had weaker gear was to swap out my AM Bomb for Survival Kit as soon as the fourth data hive is destroyed so that I could use the Survival Kit if I ran out of primary ammo during the boss fight.

Buff Selection

Finally, let's talk about buffs.  My ideal buff setup for Hive is to use 30% Critical Damage (Casino) and 9% Damage (Bar of War).  I love this setup because of all the critical damage I sacrificed in my choice of shoulders and boots, so it kind of compensates for those decisions.  This does take a bit more time to set up since you have to go to two different places to buff, so if you don't want to do that, then the next best combo is to use 15% projectile resistance and 9% Damage (both from the Bar of War).  It is essential that you grab the 9% damage buff though.  At least have that buff active.  I think that pretty much does it for the initial setup before you enter the dungeon.  Now let's talk about how to actually run the thing.

Running the Dungeon

Intro

When you load in, there are two switches that must be flipped to get into the complex.  The one on the right needs to be shot at to clear the blue goo covering it before the switch can be flipped.  The pros will throw a grenade before going up the jumppad to destroy this blue goo before you even kick down the barrier to access the switch, which can impress your teammates by being able to flip that switch at the same time as the one on the left.  Saves a couple seconds on the run by doing this.  Once the main doors open, just run straight through and keep running even when you see a white screen to get to the part where the boss gives his first little speech.  A pro technique in Hive is to know how to keep moving even when your screen is totally white to shave a few seconds here and there off the run.  When the boss is done with his creepy speech, there will be two panels that you need to hack to open the door to the first data hive.

First Data Hive

Once that door opens, you will see a big data hive in the center, which is surrounded by three shield clusters (blue diamond looking things).  There are two shields to either side of the data hive with the third shield being in the back of the room directly behind it.  If it looks like one of your teammates is running for the back of the room, give them a couple seconds to get in position before you start firing, as the red blinkers will spawn moments after you begin damaging these shield clusters.  I like to use supercharger immediately here to take down the shield on the left first, then I move to the shield on the right.  I take both of these down while standing at the door entrance spot.  Once both of these shields are down, I run to the left side up the stairs and towards the back to help take down the third shield cluster if it has not been destroyed already.  Once the data hive is exposed, you should start unloading into it.  Be mindful of the markers on your HUD that tell you where the blinkers are.  There's plenty of time to destroy the first data hive, so no need to freak out here.  The key technique that needs to be learned in Hive is how to avoid blinkers that are in pursuit.  Just keep running around the perimeter of the room and empty one clip at a time into the data hive.  Empty a clip, then run a little bit, empty a clip, then run a little bit, and this should do the trick.  Just always be running to a spot to give yourself a good amount of distance from the blinkers to then unload a clip into the data hive.  If a teammate dies here, it's often better to just finish off the data hive rather than revive them.  If things get too hairy, use your MG to finish off the data hive, and then pick up your fallen comrade(s).

First Mob Room

To go to the next part, there are two switches on the left side of the room that open doors to the next room.  Either one is fine, but the one that's directly to your left when you enter the room is the most convenient.  When the door opens, run up a little bit and then aim for the grunt that is at the back of the room directly ahead of you.  Hit some long range back shots to take them down, then reload and take aim at the voidcaller that is up on the ledge.  When you see the voidcaller fire, reload your gun and run up just a little bit.  Finish off the voidcaller and depending on where your health is at, either go into cover to regen HP or make your way to the crusher in the back right corner to take it out.  If you hit a headshot or two on the crusher, it will stumble, which gives you time to run around to its back and start burning it down.  Depending on what your teammates are doing, you could have a lot of dreads running at you right now, and what I love to do is to use the crusher as an easy target to throw a grenade at to kill all of the dreads that might be on me at once.  When the crusher is down, you should then focus on killing the chargers that are there.  The best spot to be at is with your back to the wall that the voidcaller was standing on top of.  This will allow you to shoot any chargers that drop down from here in the back for fast kills.  Just be mindful of the dreads that spawn on the left side of the room.  If a teammate is not taking care of these, they will run up on you and pester you a lot.  Once you are done killing all of the enemies here, run around the room to pick up any secondary ammo that you see on the floor.

Second Data Hive

After killing all of the enemies in the room, the forcefield will be disabled, and you can hit the switch to open the door to the second hive room.  When you enter this room, there will be a shield cluster directly to your left, but do NOT shoot at this yet.  Hit both switches you see to deactivate the forcefields, then run through the crate corridor and make your way to the far left when you get through that area.  There is a switch there that will deactivate the forcefield you see.  Once the forcefield is deactivated, if you go into the far corner of that room on the right side, there is a treasure chest that you should open.  Then move to hit that next switch you see on the crate looking thing to raise the blast shield.  You will then see a glass window that has a red panel on the far wall inside the room that you must shoot to enable the jumppad.  Go on the jumppad and run straight at the next forcefield you see.  On your left is a long container that has a switch in there to raise a crate that is blocking the door that allows you to proceed in the dungeon.  It's a good idea to have one teammate hit this switch before you engage in the second data hive fight, but isn't necessary to do before the fight.  On the right side of the forcefield is yet another switch to disable the forcefield to the area with the second data hive.  Hit this switch to allow your team entrance.  Wait to start the fight until all of your teammates are with you.  Sometimes, one of your teammates will move to the center of the room and use the Sit emote to gather all the red blinkers.  If you see someone doing this, wait until they are fully seated on the floor before you start firing.  It's not absolutely necessary to have someone do this, but it does make this fight a very safe encounter even if it is a bit slow.  Also, if someone on your team does this, do not waste your MG ammo in this area.  Keep using your primary weapon to destroy the shields and data hive.  So there are three shields in this area (just like the first room).  One to either side of the data hive and then one directly behind it towards the back side of the room that is up in the air.  Go to the opposite side of whichever shield your teammate picks and start shooting.  There will likely be one blinker that spawns immediately near you.  Blast them in the head before shifting your focus back to the shield cluster.  When you've taken down the shield on your side, focus on the shield in the center that's in the air, then blast the data hive until it's destroyed.  If no one uses the Sit emote here, it's a great time to use Grenades or AM Bomb to buy yourself a little more time.  Supercharger should also be cooled down by now, but only use it if you find your team starting to look like they will be overwhelmed by blinkers soon and use your MG here with supercharger for a fast takedown of the data hive if absolutely necessary.

First Transition

After the data hive is destroyed, run back towards the jumppad and there will be a room on the left that is open now that you raised the crate with that switch that was down the long container.  Go inside the room and flip the switch to open the ventilation shaft, which is located directly to the left of the giant doors that used to have a forcefield in front of it. Go through this shaft and destroy the blue goo that is blocking your way (I like to use a grenade to take this out in one hit here).  Go through the doors directly ahead of you when you exit the ventilation shaft and turn left to start the Hive Mind's second creepy speech.  When the screen turns white again, you will spawn in one of three places.  In all of them, you just have to remember to run straight ahead (so feel free to use that pro tip I mentioned earlier and just always be running straight during this particular white screen).

Third Data Hive

If you are in the outdoors area, run towards the big gate and flip the switch, then run into where two drop ships should be pulling up to your right to deliver 4 yellow camo grunts.  Take these grunts out before starting the fight against the data hive.  A Pro Tip is time a grenade throw to one side of the room to take out both grunts while you shoot the grunts closest to you in the back.  After the grunts are down, have your teammates set up positions at each of the three shield clusters in the room.  If you spawn inside by a door with exploding barrels next to it, just open the door and run into the area with the third data hive to help with the grunts if you can. If you spawn inside with a tiny corridor straight ahead, just run straight in and post up to take out the grunts.

Two of the shield clusters are somewhat hidden, while the third is in the very back of the room directly behind the data hive.  One of the hidden shield clusters is in a room that has a window (on your left side if you were shooting the grunts in the back).  Stand outside this room and you will shoot the cluster through the window when it's time to start the fight.  The other hidden shield cluster is behind a gate that is cracked open on the right side of the room in the center.  Pay attention to where your teammates post up here and go to the shield cluster they are not at.  The two hidden clusters are the most important to bring down first because there will be a lot of enemies (particularly red blinkers) that will spawn when you start shooting and you need to get some distance from them very quickly.  This is a great spot to use your MG and Supercharger to take down whatever hidden cluster you have targeted (switch back to primary after the cluster is down).  If your team has intelligently taken these hidden shields out first, sprint to the back of the room to help take down the third cluster and then blast at the data hive.  Let the blinkers follow you to the back of the room and then run away from them around the perimeter of the room.  Use the same technique I talked about with the first data hive.  Run to a clear space, fire off a mag of primary ammo, run, and repeat the process until the data hive is destroyed.

Second Mob Room

After the data hive has been destroyed, go flip the switch that is at the far end of the room to open up that big gate.  Run into the room and on your left there will be a single grunt to eliminate.  Then if you turn right, there will be a voidcaller straight ahead.  Wipe it out quickly before it shoots at you.  If you take a bunch of damage from it, back off to safety, but if you kill it before it shoots at you, run to the left of it and around to the back of the Hellstorm that is on the right side of the voidcaller.  Ideally your teammate will be shooting at the Hellstorm, too so that when you get in position, you can shoot at the Hellstorm's back and if it turns around, your teammate can also shoot its back to kill it quickly.  Don't be afraid to use your MG here to take down this Hellstorm quickly as those rockets can be deadly.  After the Hellstorm is down, kill the Charger that was with him if that is still alive, and then move to help kill the Crusher that should be on the other side of the room on the right.  There is a treasure chest in the very back of the room by where the Crusher spawns here that you should open before going to the next part of the dungeon.  Just kill all of the enemies until you get the message that the forcefield has been disabled.  In order to proceed, you will have to flip a switch to activate the gravity lift.  This switch is on the other side of the structure that the voidcaller was standing against.

Fourth Data Hive

After the forcefields have been disabled and the gravity lift has been activated, run to the gravity lift and head up to the gate to enter the fourth data hive area.  Wait for all your teammates to go up the lift before you proceed.  This next part takes coordination among all of you; otherwise, it is super easy to squad wipe.  Destroy the red panel above the top right corner of the gate, but do NOT enter the room yet.  If you stand in the corner directly below that panel you just destroyed, you should see a shield cluster in the air inside the room.  Destroy this cluster before entering the room.  Once the cluster is destroyed, run into the room and take the left corridor all the way to the far side and hit the switch that you see there.  This will deactivate a forcefield at the end of the room where there is another shield cluster to take down.  Destroy this one, too, and then turn around to engage the data hive.  By this point, there will most likely be a few blinkers that are threatening your team.  Two well thrown grenades (I like to throw one at my feet and back away and then throw one at the door entrance) help to clear out these blinkers.  AM Bomb is also a welcome thing to see at this particular moment.  Here is where you pull out the MG and pop supercharger as well to destroy that data hive as fast as you can.  A Pro tip is that if you are running with a decent team and have some assured safety, certainly use supercharger, but use your primary weapon instead to conserve MG ammo for the boss fight, since there won't be anywhere to pick up ammo for the next part of the dungeon.  If you are a newer player or an AM Bomb player, consider opening up the settings once the data hive is destroyed to change your non-supercharger skill slot to Survival Kit.  This is especially helpful if you always find yourself out of primary ammo before the boss fight is over, and it can help you regenerate health quickly without having to worry about dying from multiple voidcaller shots if the teammate on the right side in the boss fight isn't doing their job of keeping its attention.

Second Transition

Once the last data hive has been destroyed, run straight and to your right where there is a door in the middle of the room.  Hit the switch to enter a room with a big robot claw arm.  Keep running up the stairs that you see and flip the switch that is on the far side of the room when you get to the top of the stairs.  The switch that is immediately to your right doesn't have any effect.  Once the robot arm is enabled, run back down the stairs and activate the panel to hack the robot arm.  Once this has been done, run back up the stairs to that big silver ball looking thing and run into it when the forcefield looking thing deactivates.  When the screen goes white, here's an opportunity to practice a true pro technique.  If you run straight for a little bit, then turn left, then quickly left and run straight from there, by the time the white screen goes away, you should be close to the elevator switch, and you can either be a kind person and wait patiently for your other teammates to join you in the elevator or you can be a total dick like me and hit the switch before the other slowpokes who haven't learned this technique make it into the elevator.  Once you reach the bottom level, run to the left and there will be a terminal on the far side of the room on your right that you hit the switch for to open the door that was on your left side on the far end of the room.  Once this door is open, run through it, take a right, and run through the open doorway you see that is straight ahead and a little to the left.  When you enter this room, you will see four holographic panels that you need to shoot.  Two of them will be in plain view, then run to the far side of that room and shoot the other two.  Once these have been destroyed, it will start the timer to bring to the next portion of the dungeon.  You will see another white screen and when that transition ends, you will be standing in that big silver ball again.  Run straight ahead, take a right, and run to the back of the room (same room that the fourth data hive fight took place).  Turn right and then when you get to the corridor covered in blue goo, turn to the right to grab the third and final treasure chest, which can sometimes contain a Project Embra legendary AR.  Once the chest is opened, run towards the glowing orange light at the other end of the corridor to enter the boss area.

Boss Fight

So there are two things to remember here.  1. Do NOT kill the voidcaller on the right side.  If you do, this will spawn a Razor Blade that is a pain in the ass.  On top of that, when you kill the Razor Blade and the voidcaller that will then spawn on the other side, yet another voidcaller will spawn as well as another Hellstorm.  This is an absolute recipe for disaster, and it will get you left in the dungeon so fast.  2. Do NOT shoot the legs of the Hive until the Hive Body (the skinny tail looking thing at the bottom of the boss) has been destroyed.  Ideally, two team members will take the left jumppad and one will take the right.  The first thing to do is to take out the blinkers that have spawned.  On the left side, a Hellstorm will spawn after about 10 seconds of entering the boss fight.  It is imperative that the teammates on the left side take this guy down fast.  An easy way to deal with Hellstorm is to use the Stunner skill if you are specced out in Combat, but if you aren't, just use your Machine Gun to blast him in the back a bit before he turns around and engage him close range while circling him so that he doesn't fire off his rockets.  If you are on the right side, you probably want to keep voidcaller aggro on you, so if you don't see the red laser aiming at you from its gun, just shoot at it a few times to grab its attention.  This will help give you a damage bonus if you are running that 12A-8S or 13A-7S build because of fight for your life, which will be very beneficial for taking down the hive body when it is exposed.  So there are four clusters to destroy here.  You should be using your primary weapon to destroy all of them.  Two of the clusters are in plain sight, while the others are hidden.  On the right side, you will have to go to the far edge of the platform and look down to shoot at the cluster that is there.  On the left side, you will have to go the far left corner to see the cluster that is peeking behind that blue goo structure that is there.  Once all four clusters are destroyed, the forcefield around the body will go away and you will get a message that says "Hive Shield Weakened."  Now is the time to unleash hell.  Use your MG, pop Supercharger, and aim down sight and fire away.  You'll have like maybe 8-9 seconds or something like that before its forcefield comes up again.  With a decent team and someone on the right side that manages their health well to take advantage of fight for your life from those voidcaller shots, you can destroy the hive body in one go, which makes for very fast and fun runs, but if this doesn't happen, just repeat the process to destroy the four shield clusters to make this part vulnerable again.  Blinkers will be spawning in the corners of either platform periodically, so whenever you see the markers on your HUD to let you know they've spawned, shift your attention to wiping them out.  Just be careful as you're running around to not step over those shiny orange squares where the Hive Claws will try to gank you.  When the Hive Body has been destroyed, you've gotta be careful now because the Hive's laser is about to come out.  The safe places to stand now are on the front edges of the left and right side platforms or in the very back of the center platform behind those spike structures.  The very back of the center platform is the safest for newer players that don't have high killing power against Blinkers.  If you were the team member on the right side, then run towards the center platform immediately once the hive body is destroyed.  If you see the laser start on the left platform, just duck into cover in the back of the center platform and join your teammates on the left platform after the laser has gone over to the other side.  If you don't see the laser start to fire on that side, just keep running to join your teammates on the left platform.  Even though the center platform is quite safe for newer players, the left platform is the ideal location for all players to be because it is much easier to be highly accurate with your MG shots against the boss from this location, and you have help to focus on the blinkers when they come out.  If any of your teammates die during any portion of this fight, don't freak out.  Pay attention to your surroundings, and don't rush to revive them if there are a ton of blinkers around their grave or around you.  You also have to be very mindful of where the Hive laser is if they die during that specific part so that you can run to their grave when it is safest to revive.  Ok back to the boss fight mechanics.  So once you've gotten into position, you now have to take out the hive legs.  When you stand on the left platform, you can easily take down all four legs by firing at the jeg joint that connects the legs to the Hive structure.  This allows you to take out the legs on the right side without shooting at the skinny part of the leg itself.  Once all four legs have been destroyed, the force field will deactivate on the big silver face of the boss and this is the final part of the fight.  Switch to your MG, and unload on the boss.  Pay attention to your Supercharger cooldown here.  If you took out the hive body in one go, then it will not be off cooldown yet, but if your Supercharger is almost done cooling down, check your MG ammo to see if you have plenty to spare so that you can maximize your damage when your Supercharger is available again.  Once you're dry on MG ammo, just use your primary and aim down sight (which hopefully gives you a damage bonus depending on your weapon perks) and keep firing on that boss.  Like I mentioned before, if you find that you run out of primary ammo a lot in this boss fight, make use of Survival Kit to instantly refill your primary ammo.  From this point on, it's just a matter of time before the boss is dead.  All you really have to worry about is standing on the front edge of the platform to not be killed by that laser and killing any blinkers that threaten you or your team.  When the boss is down, go to the chest, and I hope you get some good loot!