[GameSpot] - How To Start Back 4 Blood DLC - Ridden Hives

[343iBot]

The first major Back 4 Blood expansion, Ridden Hives, has arrived. In it, you and your team of Cleaners will descend into the hellish Ridden Hives and take on new monsters to reap exclusive legendary-tier weapons and other rewards. But none of that can happen if you don't know how to access the Ridden Hives DLC. In this quick guide, we'll explain how to play the Back 4 Blood DLC, and as you'll see, it's a bit more confusing than you'd expect.

Back 4 Blood Ridden Hives - How to play DLC

To play the Ridden Hives DLC, naturally you'll first need to ensure you've purchased the expansion. The Ridden Hives DLC is included in the game's Ultimate and Deluxe editions of the game or can be purchased for $15. Once you've gotten past the paywall, you'll maybe still have a hard time getting to the DLC.

That's because, rather than exist as a new mode to select from the gameplay hub at Fort Hope, you'll actually come upon these Ridden Hives while playing the game's original campaign levels. Seven different Ridden Hives may randomly spawn in levels, and choosing to descend into them is a group decision. You may come upon a Ridden Hive and elect, as a group, not to venture downward into hell at all. Or, eager to reap the game's best rewards, you may choose to do some cleaning below street level, after all.

The choice is yours to make, and while the appearance of Ridden Hives is random across seemingly any given level, the easiest way not to miss the chance to enter a hive is to ensure someone in your group plays as one of the two new Cleaners, Heng.

Only Heng can ping Ridden Hives, making him an essential member of any hive-hunting squad.

As each Cleaner has their own passive skills, Heng's is most valuable for hive hunting, as he can sense Ridden Hives from some distance away. Like Karlie's ability to sense Warped Ridden, Heng can highlight these hives even before seeing them with his own eyes, thus ensuring your group won't stroll (or, more likely, sprint) past one of these lucrative but vicious rabbit holes.

Once you're in there, you'll want to find Skull Totems, a new type of melee weapon that doubles as a currency for exclusive cosmetic rewards if you manage to carry it to safety at the end of a hive. Just watch out for the new Warped Ridden within these vibrant and violent dens.

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