Ritch Hive
| Ritch Hive | |
|---|---|
| Boss | None |
| Floors | 4 |
| Level Range | 12 to 18 |
| Item Level Range | 2 to 3 |
| Size | 50x50 (final level is 10x130) |
| Zone Effect | none |
Zone Information
This is a sand-style zone similar to Sandworm Lair. As the name suggests, the only enemies here are various kinds of ritches.
This zone is the focus of the quest A Ritch Party - if aiming for the An Other Brick In The Wall Achievement, the quest must not be completed before The Deconstruction of Falling Stars.
Each of the first three levels of this zone contains 14 piles of ritch eggs, for a total of 42.
The first two levels of this zone are normal sand caverns connected by clear paths.
On the third level, the sand caverns are no longer connected by open paths, and the player must dig through the sand walls with the Stralite Sand Shredder quest item in order to find the entrance to the next level. The Shredder has 2 forms: if the player can use Tinkers, then the Shredder is a gloves tinker. If they cannot, then the Shredder is a pair of gloves. The tinker form of the Shredder is automatically attached to the player's gloves if the glove tinker slot is empty. Otherwise, the Shredder is added to the player's inventory. Upon first entering this zone with A Ritch Party started, the player is notified about the Shredder. While equipped, the Shredder is automatically activated whenever the player tries to move into a sand wall, and will immediately dig out the 8 tiles surrounding the player, as well as the tile the player is standing on. It takes 20 turns for a dug out sand tile to collapse back into a wall.
Having some means of remote scouting (e.g. a wand of clairvoyance) can help players locate the open rooms on this level, and choose a good angle to breach into them so as not to be overwhelmed by a swarm of enemies. With some preparation, it is also possible to lure large groups of enemies into collapsing sand tiles and let them be crushed and suffocated to death.
The final level (10x130 tiles) requires the player to tunnel steadily northward to get to the quest location (a comfy ritch nest on the floor). Most of the level is filled with sand walls. The only open spaces are the entrance at the south, the nest at the north, and 15 small "rooms". There are 3 kinds of rooms:
- A 3x3 room where each square has 2-6 gems on the floor, and a ritch enemy on it. The chance for each of these enemies to be a rare starts at 40%, but the chance is divided by 3 each time an enemy in the room is chosen to be a rare.
- A 4x2 room where one row is shifted 1 tile over. Each room contains 1 larvae bloated ritch mother, 6 ritch hive mothers, and 1 ritch larva (in a fixed pattern).
- A 3x1 impassible pit.
