Some ideas for a Barathos Overhaul

New Biome: Infested

I feel like the Hive King should have a great amount of influence over Barathos outside of a very small Hive with absolutely nothing occupying it. To properly reinforce insect species being prevalent over Barathos they could have their own dedicated "infested" biome, home to the Hive King's colony.

The biome would be teeming with insect-like creatures such as large wasps that survey the land from the skies and descend to attack players on sight. Workers that scrounge for resources to sustain their hive occupy the ground.

The remains of Barathos' native animals unfortunate enough to be consumed by the Hive King's swarms would dot the land and several larvae can be found feasting on the corpses. They attack players by jumping onto their bodies and biting them and can be shaken off by sneaking multiple times in succession. They would drop raw larvae which can either be cooked for food or attached to fishing poles as bait to assist in catching rarer fish while training Hauling (A possible new feature for Hauling for the Skill Update?)

Being large in size, and therefore in mass, Infested Arkbacks and Emperor Beasts, a more worn-down version of their healthy counterparts, survive being eaten by the hive's young for longer and can rarely be seen wandering aimlessly. They attack players out of fear that approach too quickly (i.e. sprint towards them) or dare to strike them. They expire on their own if left wandering for too long and on death, a large number of larvae will spawn in their place, which again can be killed for raw larvae.

Small, crimson-coloured eggs can uncommonly be found as blocks on the ground and picked up with a silk-touch tool. This egg can be placed on top of the Hive Spawner block in the Hive King's structure to incubate and hatch into the boss.

The Hive King's nest would be moved to spawn specifically in Infested biomes and, as a display of how much power the colony has over Barathos, would be made much bigger.

Improving the Hive King

It's worth mentioning that the Hive King himself should be larger in size as a show of intimidation.

Throughout the fight, as described in his Bestiary entry, Hive Workers can still come to his aid but they would spawn around the edges of the hive rather than on top of the boss, encouraging players to watch their backs. If a number of workers are pursuing a player alongside the Hive King, he will push his workers out of the way if they're obstructing the Hive King's path between him and his target.

The Hive King would also be able to summon "Hive Drones" that hover above players, moving in a circular path around the hive's ceiling, and sometimes descend quickly to sting their target before ascending back to a safe distance. Any player that's stung by a drone will be inflicted with minor poison for an extended time period. As a result they become a danger if their numbers aren't kept low.

If the Hive King hits his target, there is a small chance he will grab them with his pincers, shake them about and throw them to the hive's walls. In doing so the Hive King will tear off a random piece of armor from the target if they are wearing armor. Depending on how much durability it has, this will not destroy the armor piece but will take off a fraction of durability. The player can pick the armor piece back up from where the Hive King grabbed them.

Weather effect: Dust Storms

Barathos is a relatively peaceful dimension (Unless you're in the Infested biome) so I think weather can be used here to add some danger while exploring Barathos' surface. When a Dust Storm occurs, the sky darkens and dust particles sweep across the land, slightly obscuring the player's vision. Small tornadoes can appear on the surface which will pull in and then blow away any player or creature that comes near it.

Tslat / Advent-Of-Ascension