last time i checked, hivehands only had 8 hornets, but these alien grunts can fire 2 times faster and have about 30 hornets stored in THEIR hivehands. also now they can dodge, and resist the gluon gun. is this because that we broke the mechanism in interloper and they became a super soldier or smth?

Yes, they do get stronger in Xen.

The in-world rationale is probably that they (and their Hivehands) are more adapted to the environment/atmosphere/gravity/etc. of Xen as opposed to Earth. The gameplay reason is more likely to be a countermeasure for your infinite-ammo Gluon Gun, as well as a general increase in challenge.

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Yes, they do get stronger in Xen.

The in-world rationale is probably that they (and their Hivehands) are more adapted to the environment/atmosphere/gravity/etc. of Xen as opposed to Earth. The gameplay reason is more likely to be a countermeasure for your infinite-ammo Gluon Gun, as well as a general increase in challenge.

ohhhhhh. could be it. but other xenians and our hivehand doesnt get stronger, so it could also be that we supercharged their systems.

Yeah they're much tougher in Interloper. They jump all over the place and can full auto the Hive Hand and eviscerate you in seconds. The section before the factory is one of the tougher fights in the game. [Where soundtrack Harbinger is played] The ones in the elevator are the same breed.