My hatred for Hoarding Bugs is exaggerated for the purpose of (hopefully) creating a more interesting guide to read through. If you would rather skip the jargon and get to the actual bug bullying tactics, skip forward to "The Solutions."

This is the foe, the villain of our story. This little menace believes that ALL loot belongs to it, whether it be a painting, a hair dryer, or even something as simple as a key. You may be asking: "What do the Hoarding Bugs even need all this stuff for? They're just silly bugs, they don't have any affiliation with the Company!" Wrong. False. These things are rivals to The Company, planted in each facility to prevent the employees from doing their job properly. They are intelligent. They are self-aware. They are hellbent on stopping the employees from fulfilling their precious quota, and they do not intend to let us workers off easy. Who controls these bugs? Is there a Yippee god? We may never know, but one thing is for certain: these little pests chose this path, and they will suffer for it.

Meet the Company. Or rather, the Company's cannon fodder great assets. Their only job is to bust into the various facilities completely uninvited, whacking anything that dares to protect its sacred homeland while they strip the place dry of resources! Unfortunately, not every creature our employees meet is swayed to our noble cause, and so many of the aliens you meet will be attempting to defend their precious home, such as the Thumper, Bunker Spider, and Snare Flea. Thankfully, many of these beasts are easily mitigated when they're being hit in the head by four psychopaths with shovels! But there stands one threat in the way, one demon that must be exterminated for the Company's sake: the Hoarding Bugs. They feverishly guard their nests that may yet contain the most valuable scrap you and the boys have ever seen, and in many cases, they aren't alone. These bugs were never deployed as singular agents, no, they're enlisted in entire mafias at a time. These selfish swarmers will attack intruders en mass, and once something's been taken, the entire squad has to deal with the consequences. This is (naturally) bad for business, and the Company will not stand for failures. Therefore, workers must come up with a way to exterminate these greedy yippee bugs. Thankfully, this is the right place to find many different methods of dealing with those covetous cockroaches. But before we can address the ways to handle a hoarding bug, we must first understand how those tiny brains tick.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." -Sun Tzu
As you stare down the beady eyes of a Hoarding Bug, you may ask: what is going on inside that thing's head? Today I provide an answer: evil. Hoarding Bugs are malevolent beings of destruction and malice, and they seek to ruin your mission to gather scrap. You may think that the bugs are harmless unless provoked, but it's deceit. They will randomly attack you under the guise of "personal space." (being too close to a hoarding bug for too long causes it to attack, you see) However, despite this apparent need of personal space, the bug will move erratically and in many cases, straight at you, making it difficult not to anger a yippee bug. You may believe that is caused by the bug's clumsiness or playful nature, but do not be fooled; this is a fallacy, a lie designed to fool the employees who are less headstrong. In fact, some Company scientists have managed to decipher what exactly lies in a Hoarding Bug's thick skull, and the results may shock you:
As you can see, there are four main sections in the Hoarding Bug's tiny brain: the instinct of greed, their hyperfixation on all things shiny, loyalty to an enemy corporation, but most importantly, the Hoarding Bug's dominant trait lies in the very front of their brain: evil. These archaic antlions are driven entirely by malice. They know no morals, and show no emotion, driven purely by greed and spite, and so they are not quick to forgive any employees that offend them.



Sidenotes/Addendum (TL;DR)
-Hoarding Bugs will aggro when you are too close to them for too long. Due to their evil nature, sometimes they will make a deliberate attempt to stay near you until they are enraged. This is to disguise the Hoarding Bug's true intents.
-Hoarding Bugs will attack much quicker if you are near their nest.
-Hoarding Bugs know no empathy or morals; you can only bargain. If you drop an item that you have stolen from them, they will leave you alone for the time being.
-Hoarding bugs have a very short temper. Once they are angered, they will attack relentlessly until all Employees in the vicinity have either left the building or died.

Now that we're all caught up on the way a Hoarding Bug's tiny brain works, we can get onto the many solutions involving mitigating, eliminating, and even exploiting/profiting off of these selfish sleazeballs! I'll be going over each solution in detail, providing some tips and tricks so you can choose the option that works best for your situation.

If you couldn't tell already, this is not a Hoarding Bug-friendly space. While many people will say "just avoid the silly bugs and you'll be fine! :>," this is not the intent of this guide. If you are at all disturbed by the manipulation, slaughter, and ransacking of Hoarding Bugs, then I suggest clicking away from this guide. You will not be given another warning.


1. Bring a shovel
Technically, this applies to about anything that functions as a weapon. The more options you have for dealing with a Hoarding Bug, the better.

2. Don't act stupid
You might think that the bugs are oblivious, silly little fellas, but they can often outsmart even seasoned employees. Keep your guard up, and do not rush into a Hoarding Bug nest that boasts a large population. Do not leave scrap unattended in the presence of a Hoarding Bug.

3. Wait until opportune
Do not kill a Hoarding Bug on sight. Leaving it to its own devices can often result in a buildup of loot in a single, concentrated areas.


Now that the bare essentials have been said, let's get into the actual solutions.


This may be one of the easiest ways to profit off of the Hoarding Bugs. When you catch sight of a Hoarding Bug in the wild, they will often be searching around for scrap in the general area around their nest. Follow them, but not too closely. Make sure you keep your distance as to give yourself enough time to adapt to the Hoarding Bug's erratic movements. If you have a scrap item that isn't worth a lot, (like a metal sheet or a key) then drop it for the Hoarding Bug. It will bring it straight back to its nest, allowing you to pinpoint the exact location of scrap. Once you find the nest, you can either kill the Hoarding Bug then and there or leave it to its own devices to accumulate scrap for you.

Notes
-This method will not work without a shovel, or some other way of killing a Hoarding Bug.
-This method still works with multiple Hoarding Bugs, although caution should be advised when attempting to take down a nest. It can often be beneficial to wait for the bugs to isolate themselves, and pick them off one by one.
-Don't follow too closely to a Hoarding Bug. They will attack if you are too close.





This is a rather risky alternative to the first solution and should only be attempted when there are no feasible means of eliminating a Hoarding Bug. As the name suggests, an Employee (or several) will rush into a Hoarding Bug's scrap stash and take whatever they can before the bugs get hostile. (usually as soon as you grab the first item, the hoarders will become angry) An employee could also wait until the bug wanders elsewhere to grab the loot and run, but the bugs will still become enraged as soon as they see you carrying their scrap. As risky as this strategy is, it can be viable if there is a way to escape the Hoarding Bug (via the blast doors, fire exits, or the main entrance).

Notes
-This method is very risky as the Hoarding Bugs will not stop attacking until their scrap is returned to them, so casualties should be expected.
-This should be considered a last resort, as this is one of the most dangerous ways to go about profiting from Hoarding Bugs.
-Hoarding Bugs become territorial if you are close to their stash. They will stand in front to guard until you either leave or get too close.
-If you want to easily find a Hoarding Bug stash, remember that you can drop a low value scrap item for them to bring back to get a direct path back to their hoard.




Refer to this video if you need a visualization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aXoUybUGH0


In the event that the Hoarding Bug population has grown too high to feasibly eliminate, heavy weaponry should be used. I am, of course, referring to the Shotgun. With its extremely high splash damage (being able to one-shot most creatures at point-blank range), you can often clear entire crowds of bugs in just a single shell. Do note that this tactic is best utilized when there are too many Hoarding Bugs to simply beat down with a shovel without suffering losses, and it's preferable not to waste valuable shells on groups of one or two Hoarding Bugs. That is, unless you really hate the things and are willing to pay the expenses for a wasted shell to let your anger out on them, in which case, go for it. I'm not your dad.

Notes
-Make sure that all of the Hoarding Bugs are in one spot when you atomize them with your shotgun; you want to ensure you get all of those pests in a single blast.
-Try to refrain from upsetting the bugs, as you'll want to line up a proper shot before they start moving around like mad.
-Remember that you can bait a Hoarding Bug with a key to find their hotspot.


Let's say that you really hate Hoarding Bugs, and you'll stop at nothing to wipe those little pests off of the earth as soon as you see them. Luckily for you, I have just the strategy!

Kill every Hoarding Bug in sight until their corpses litter the floor. Have you truly found happiness?

Notes
-Just kill. Bring whatever you need, a stun grenade, a zap gun, a shotgun, it doesn't matter. Do what comes natural. Kill the bugs.

In summary, the overarching threat that is the Hoarding Bug can be countered and mitigated in a variety of ways if you know to employ the right tactics. Many employees will advocate for the yippee bugs, claiming that they are friends and just want some shinies for themselves. Those people are wrong, potentially even disloyal to the Company. These "little fellas" can ruin entire quotas if allowed to blatantly steal, and it's time we put the reign of these greedy creatures to an end. If you too find yourself wishing those stupid bugs would just let you have the scrap, then you are free to use any of the tactics discussed in this guide. Just remember: let nothing stand in between you and serving your purpose to the Company.

Safe travels, employee!