Hoarding Bug

Hoarding Bug
Information
RADAR Pip Size	Small
Power Level	1
Max Spawned	10
Door Open Speed	0.67s
Traits
Behavior	Looting / Territorial
Dwells	Inside
Vitality
Shovel HP	3 Hits
Shock Response
Stun Grenades	3.75s
Radar Booster	0.88s
Zap-Gun Difficulty	0.9
Offense
Attack Damage	30

Hoarding Bugs, also known as Loot Bugs or even Yippee Bugs, are insectoid entities in Lethal Company.

They are notorious for their unique behavior of collecting and stockpiling scrap much like Employees.

Bestiary

Sigurd's danger level: 0%

Scientific name: Linepithema-crassus

Hoarding bugs (of the order Hymenoptera) are large, social insects. While often found living alone, they have been found to share their nests with members of their own species. They measure a height of 3 feet on average, with bulbous bodies. The thinness of their fluid and blood and the material of their carapaces contributes to their low weight, making them capable of flight with their membranous wings. It also makes their bodies somewhat transparent.

Hoarding bugs were given their name due to their territorial nature. Once they have chosen a place as their nest, they will seek to adorn it with any object they can find and will protect these objects as a part of the nest. Hoarding bugs are not so dangerous alone as they are in large hives. However, if left alone, hoarding bugs are surprisingly neutral and pose little danger. wWe love the stupid cuddle bugs.!! - tjhis has been a note from the indomitable Sigurd

Occurrence

Moon	Base Spawn Chance
5-Embrion	30.6%
220-Assurance	24.22%
56-Vow	20.59%
20-Adamance	15.7%
41-Experimentation	12.33%
61-March	11.76%
68-Artifice	8.33%
7-Dine	8.17%
21-Offense	7.58%
8-Titan	6.87%

Unreleased Moon	Base Spawn Chance
44-Liquidation	7.12%

Behavior

Hoarding bugs have 3 distinct phases, they are as follows:

Roaming

Hoarding bugs will spawn in this phase, they will search around the map searching for items to bring back to their nests, occasionally backtracking, making their movements seem random and sporadic. After a while the hoarding bug will begin searching rooms they have already searched, likely to look for items dropped by the player. If the hoarding bug finds an item it will run back to its nest and enter the guarding phase. If the hoarding bug notices the player too close to its nest it will also enter the guarding phase. Lastly, if a bug hears the player (be it crouching, walking, sprinting, voice chat, or even the flashlight's click) too close to its nest it will run to the nest and enter the guarding phase.

Guarding

In this phase the hoarding bug will drop its item and sit still on its nest, guarding the items from the player. A 15 second internal timer governs how long the loot bug stays in this phase and once up it will return to the roaming phase. However, if a hoarding bug spots a player or hears a player make a noise (be it a noise-making item or their microphone) during this phase, its timer is paused and it will stay at its nest and (if spotted) will proceed to stare at the player until the line of sight is broken, in which the timer resumes. It will also pick up any item the player drops in front of it. Hoarding bugs will leave this phase if the player comes too close or it is stolen from, putting it into the aggro phase.

Aggro

Hoarding bugs have three levels of hostility, the first of which is activated when the player comes too close to the hoarding bug. In their phases, while roaming they take around three seconds to activate but in the guarding phase, this happens instantly. This level of aggro is light and will only chase the player for a few seconds before then returning to the guarding phase.

The second level of aggro is only entered when the player hits a hoarding bug. Being much more aggressive, the hoarding bug will chase the player until they either die or kill it, but breaking the line of sight for 15~ seconds will stop the aggro and they will return to the guarding phase. After leaving this aggro level the hoarding bug will buzz and upon seeing the player it will enter the aggro phase again immediately, the player must wait out the 15-second timer so that the bug enters the roaming phase again, stopping the buzzing.

The third and final level of aggro is activated if the player steals from the hoarding bug's nest and will activate even if the bug does not see the player steal it directly. The hoarding bug will chase the player just like the second phase, however, the bug is now relentless and will remain buzzing even in the roaming phase. The only ways to stop this level are to kill, die, or return the same scrap that you stole back to the bug.

Infestation

Starting from Version 65, there's a chance for a Hoarding Bug infestation.

• On planets that can spawn Hoarding Bugs, every round, there's a 2.9% chance (except for on the 23rd of October, where it is only a 1.5% chance) for a Hoarding Bug infestation round. During this round, the spawn rate of Hoarding Bugs is greatly increased, similarly to the increased entity spawn rate in challenge moons.
• In addition to that, the indoor power level is set to 30 and the min indoor spawn amount is increased by 2 on that day.
• Since the max amount of Hoarding Bugs is 10, after 10 bugs have spawned, all other entities' spawn weights are equalized, meaning they all have the same chance to spawn.
• There is also a 25% chance that, if a Hoarding Bug infestation is slated to occur and Nutcrackers can spawn on the moon, it will instead be a Nutcracker infestation.

Strategy

• Employees should keep their distance and refrain from stealing items from Hoarding Bugs to prevent them from becoming hostile.
  • Employee should also place their scrap outside to avoid scrap from being stolen by Hoarding Bugs.
    • This may cause Baboon Hawks to take the scrap instead, and depending on how many there are, it might be better to leave scrap inside.
  • If a baby Maneater is the 'item' being guarded by a Hoarding Bug, seriously consider either killing the Hoarding Bug or leaving the area soon. An adult Maneater is much more dangerous than an attacking Hoarding Bug, and players will invariably be forced to confront one or the other depending on if the baby Maneater isn't picked up and calmed down.
• Hoarding Bugs take upwards of 3 seconds of near-collision with an employee before becoming hostile. Their erratic movements can occasionally cause them to follow the employee, even while trying to evade them, causing them to become aggressive.
  • Hoarding Bugs who are far from their nest may also attempt to follow players holding scrap in their hand in an attempt to grab what they are holding, despite being unable to do so, resulting in them turning hostile shortly after.
• Leaving the building will allow employees to avoid the Hoarding Bug, potentially allowing it to wander off somewhere else in the facility before employees re-enter the building. However, this strategy is time-consuming, and the crew might spend more time waiting around than looking for and gathering valuables.
• If looking to avoid confrontation but stay inside the building, an item of value can be dropped in front of the Hoarding Bug which will cause it to take the item and bring it to its hoard. The player loses out on bringing the given item back, though. If the location of the bug's hoard is found, the item can be recovered, at the cost of angering the Hoarding Bug.
• The Hoarding Bug can appear in groups, most commonly in a group of 3 and, on rare occasions, as high as groups of 4 or 5.
• Simply killing the Hoarding Bug with a weapon (such as a Shovel, Stop sign, or Yield sign) is a viable option, as the player will be able to out-DPS a single Hoarding Bug even in head-to-head combat.
  • While the Hoarding Bug can easily be killed, it is recommended for the player to attack while it's in a docile state to have the upper hand. Hoarding bugs also struggle with turns while aggressive and their attacks can be sidestepped, leaving them open for a hit.
  • Note that killing the Hoarding Bug will make it no longer count towards the moon's weight limit, allowing something else to spawn in place of a usually harmless entity.
    • Killing Hoarding Bugs for last and stealing their stash before leaving is a strategy for collecting as much scrap as possible.
• Players can drop used-up store items (such as empty spray paint and TZP-inhalants, or detonated Jetpacks) nearby a nest to have the Hoarding Bug take it. This can lead the Hoarding Bug away from its scrap pile temporarily, offering a window where its scrap is unguarded. The Clipboard and Sigurd's Note are also good for this purpose, as these offer no value and respawn upon reloading the save.

Trivia

• The nickname "Lootbug" is reference to a passive entity in Deep Rock Galactic.
• Its scientific name, Linepithema-crassus, roughly translates to "gross thing" in Latin. Linepithema is also the name of a genus of small ants in the real world.
  • This may be a reference to Marcus Licinius Crassus, "the richest man in Rome," or Deep Rock's Crassus Detonator.
• The name "Yippee Bug" originates from a very popular Lethal Company mod called YippeeMod. This alternative name for the Hoarding Bug is widely used in the LC community.
• Hoarding Bugs, as their bestiary entry suggests, do in fact have fully modelled organs inside of them. However, it is unknown if it is purely for the bestiary's scan or not.

Gallery

An angered Hoarding Bug flying.

A passive Hoarding Bug.

A Hoarding Bug

stealing a Pro-flashlight.

Hoarding Bug standing still

Hoarding Bug render

A colony of hoarding bugs

History

Launch

• Hoarding Bugs are added.

Version 67

• Hoarding Bugs now have a chance to spawn with an unique infestation mechanic.