Cold Blood

Information
Name	Cold Blood
Categories	Story Documentary
Environment	Swamp
Player species	Fire ant
Player units	Fire ant worker Fire ant soldier (either)
Surface	Yes
Features	Challenge mode AI colonies Titans Circadian rhythm Timed attacks Bridge building Aphid relocation

Carving out an existence at the edge of a swamp will not be easy for this fire ant colony.
Semi-aquatic predators wreak havoc with the fire ants' pontoon plans. (challenge)

Objectives

• Eiminate the bullfrog.

• Survive the final invaders.

Rewards

• Base value: 6 territory, 475 food, 17 Royal Jelly

• Difficulty bonus: 300%/ 325%/ 350%/ 380%/ 420%

• First-time bonus: + 1400%

• Challenge bonus: + 100%

• Completion bonus: + 200%

Settings

A fire ant colony must defeat an American bullfrog and the local amphibians that are waiting for its demise. Your nest is located on a small hill. Nest entrance will be excavated automatically when the little black ants are about to invade.

The level starts during the day.

You have access to a milkweed plant with 3 aphids. There are 50 aphids on the map.

You can find magnolia saplings and carnivorous plants across the map. Milkweed seeds frequently land on the map and disappear after 90 seconds.

You must choose either pervasive or vigorous soldiers before playing the level.

Non-player colonies

The enemy big-headed ant colony and little black ant colony are hostile to each other. They mostly gather food within their territories.

They leave you alone for specific number of days but will engage you immediately if you attack them first. They only conduct raids during the day and retreat at night.

They retreat inside after you have eliminated the bullfrog.

Little black ant colony

The little black ant colony gains free food every 60 seconds.

It starts taking your aphids or invading your nest from the third day on easy, medium and hard, from the second day on extreme and from the first day on impossible.

Big-headed ant colony

The big-headed ant colony gains free food only when it has no food left and 90% of its broods have been incubated.

It only has access to supermajors after you have attacked it. They are kept around the queen and are only deployed to invade your nest or to escort an aphid-gathering group.

The big-headed ant colony starts taking your aphids from the fourth day on easy, from the third day on extrme and from the second day on impossible. It will only invade your nest if you don't have any aphids and only after it has unlocked supermajors.

Notable enemies

Other enemies are on the same side and are hostile to the ants.

Checkered beetles live in your nest. Narrow-mouthed toads appear underground and move through the soil toward your queen at night. They will eventually leave in the morning if you don't dig into their paths. Number of toads increases after each invasion. Nightly invasion will stop after the bullfrog has been eliminated.

Surface enemies don't invade your nest. They occasionally fight among themselves to keep their own number in check.

Red velvet ants, checkered beetles, six-spotted tiger beetles and magnolia green jumpers only appear on the surface during the day.

Bombardier beetles, false bombardier beetles, narrow-mouthed toads and dwarf salamanders only appear on the surface at night.

Green lynx spiders can eat climbing ants one at the time when they are hiding on pitcher plants. They switch places every 5 minutes.

Wasp mantidflies can heal when they hide on pitcher plants and only attack when you approach.

60 seconds after the bullfrog has been eliminated, dwarf salamanders and narrow-mouthed toads appear on the surface and enter your nest through the 2 hillside spawners. You mustn't keep any active enemies in your nest after 2 minutes to complete the final objective. Number of enemies increases along with the time you take to eliminate the bullfrog.

Titan

The bullfrog is hostile to everything. It sits on the hill to the north of your nest. It only has 17% of its maximum health at the start of the level. It eats nearby amphibians to heal at night. It will jump out of the map if you fail to eliminate it within 30 seconds after it has been reduced to 25% of its health.

Challenge

Six-spotted fishing spiders gather around accessible notches and attack when you are building bridges.

Achievements

Achievements
Icons	Name	Requirements
	Cold Blood	Beat the level on designated difficulty.
	Grab the Bull by the Horns	Beat the level without eliminating the enemy queens. (medium)
	Toad in the Hole	Dig out all underground food before the second night then beat the level. (hard)
	Toad-al Annihilation	Eliminate both enemy queens then beat the level. (extreme)
	Raise the Alarm	Engage both enemy colonies within the first 5 minutes then beat the level. (impossible)

Trivia

• In real life, Pheidole morrisii don't naturally produce supermajors. It can be inferred that the first encounter with fire ants has caused an unusual surge of juvenile hormone in the local the big-headed ant colony.

• Toad in the hole is a dish in the UK, which has sausages buried in Yorshire pudding. The respective achievement requires you to dig out buried food.

Minimaps

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  Surface

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  Underground - player

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  Underground - blue

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  Underground - yellow