Your Hive community has always been where you write, read and talk. Starting October 10 it is also your team.
Raidstead is a small strategy game that lives right on ecency.com. Every community on Hive is an alliance. Every week a pest drifts into town and every alliance chases it off together.
Why we made it
Hive is full of communities, but most of what we do in them happens one post at a time. We wanted something that gives a community a shared goal for a week, something to cheer about in the comments and something to write about when it is done.
We also had a few rules for ourselves:
Communities, not strangers. You play with the people you already read and follow. There is no attacking other players and no way for a veteran to farm a newcomer.
Everyone starts level. Seasons reset, so joining in week one or in season five is equally fair.
Points are spent, never paid out. Raidstead is not a way to earn. Every Point you spend in the game is burned.
No new app. It runs in the browser, on desktop and on your phone, and it uses your Ecency login.
How a week works
Pick your alliance. When the season opens, choose one of the Hive communities you have joined. That is your alliance for the whole season.
Scout the pest. Each pest is weak to one of three attack types: Ink, Signal or Forge. Scout first, because the right type does double damage.
Attack together. Each attack costs 1 energy. You get 5 energy a day, plus 1 more for each daily Ecency quest you finish: check in, publish a post, leave 3 comments.
Build your town. Wins bring materials. Spend them together on buildings like the watchtower, the workshop and the beacon, and each one helps the next raid.
If your alliance needs a push, you can rally for 5 extra energy (50 Points), or donate to the war chest. When the chest reaches 1,000 Points, everyone in the alliance hits harder for a day.
Meet the pests of season 1
Each week brings a new pest and every alliance faces the same one, so you can compare notes. We are telling you their names and their tricks now. What they look like stays a secret until the day each one arrives: the field guide on the page shows only a silhouette until then.
Week 1, the Spam Beetle. It copies itself overnight if nobody attacks all day. Hit it at least once a day.
Week 2, the Doomscroll Slug. It heals overnight if nobody keeps it busy. Show up a little every day.
Week 3, the Echo Twins. Two bodies and a hit only counts if the other twin is hit within a few seconds. Take turns.
Week 4, the Copycat Queen. She changes her weakness shortly after every scout. Scout, then hit hard and fast.
Watch out for the gnats that shield a pest at half health and for the Clickbait Wasp, which likes to join the fight.
These are community pests, played for laughs. None of them is aimed at anyone real.
What you keep
A season lasts four raid weeks. After that the towns, energy and powers reset, so the next season starts fair for everyone.
Your karma, badges and trophies stay with you. Karma cannot be spent or traded and gives no advantage in the game. It is simply a record of how much you showed up and helped.
Get ready this week
Visit ecency.com/raidstead to see the countdown and read the field guide.
Check which communities you have joined. Your alliance must be one of them, so join the one you want to play for before October 10.
Tell your community. An alliance with more active players hits harder and a pest that escapes makes a better story than one nobody fought.
Every week Raidstead drafts a raid report for your alliance: top raiders, how the fight went, how your town is doing. Edit it and post it in your community.
Season 1 opens Saturday, October 10 at 00:00 UTC. See you in town.
Try it at ecency.com/raidstead.
