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GreaterSpire SC2 Rend2

A greater spire

The zerg greater spire is evolved from the spire (if there is a hive present somewhere in the same command structure) and it produces the genetic code that allows some zerg air breeds to mutate into different forms.[1]

Game Structure[]

StarCraft[]

The greater spire enables mutalisks to mutate into guardians and devourers. It also provides the same upgrades as the spire and will retain the evolutionary progress so that any aerial units keep all upgrades that were completed at the spire.

Researched Upgrades[]

Acquisition
Purchased from
Hotkey A
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 267seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 300seconds
Required Lair
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 333seconds
Required Hive

+1 bonus to armor per level for overlords, mutalisks, guardians, devourers, scourge and queen.

Acquisition
Purchased from
Hotkey C
Level 1
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 267seconds
Level 2
Cost 225 Minerals 225 Vespene gas 300seconds
Required Lair
Level 3
Cost 300 Minerals 300 Vespene gas 333seconds
Required Hive

Development[]

The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft which is no longer valid.

The greater spire used "muta chamber" as a placeholder name,[2] referring to the cancelled mutation chamber.

StarCraft II[]

In StarCraft II the greater spire enables production of the brood lord.

Researched Upgrades[]

Acquisition
Purchased from
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Required Lair
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Required Hive
ve

Increases armor of zerg air units.

Acquisition
Purchased from
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Effect +1 armor
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Required Lair
Effect +1 armor
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Required Hive
Effect +1 armor
ve

Co-op Missions[]

The greater spire is available to Kerrigan and Abathur in Co-op Missions. For Kerrigan, the greater spire unlocks brood lords, and upgrades for Kerrigan's fliers upon reaching level 11. For Abathur, the greater spire unlocks guardians and devourers, as well as upgrades for the two strains.

Stetmann can create mecha greater spires, allowing him to produce mecha battlecarrier lords.

Upgrades[]
Kerrigan
SC2 ZergAirWeap
Zerg Flyer Attacks

Increases the attack damage of zerg air units

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey M
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Mastery: -2 Minerals -2 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -3.2seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 40 Minerals 40 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 64seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Mastery: -3.5 Minerals -3.5 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -3.8seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 70 Minerals 70 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 76seconds
Required Lair/Hive
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Mastery: -5 Minerals -5 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -4.4seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 100 Minerals 100 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 88seconds
Required Hive
ve
SC2 ZergAirCara
Zerg Flyer Carapace

Increases the armor of zerg air units.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey M
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Mastery: -2 Minerals -2 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -3.2seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 40 Minerals 40 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 64seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Mastery: -3.5 Minerals -3.5 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -3.8seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 70 Minerals 70 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 76seconds
Required Lair/Hive
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Mastery: -5 Minerals -5 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -4.4seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 100 Minerals 100 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 88seconds
Required Hive
ve
TissueRegeneration SC2-HotS Icon
Rapid Regeneration

Mutalisks regenerate 10 health per second when not in combat for 5 seconds.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey R
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 60seconds
Mastery: -3 Minerals -3 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -1.2seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 60 Minerals 60 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 24seconds
ve
SC2 ViciousGlave Icon
Vicious Glave

Mutalisks attacks bounce three more times. Increases glave's search radius from 3 to 5.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey V
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 90seconds
Mastery: -3 Minerals -3 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -1.8seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 60 Minerals 60 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 36seconds
ve
SC2 SunderingGlave Icon
Severing Glave

Subsequent bounces no longer decrease in damage.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 11
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey R
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 120seconds
Mastery: -4 Minerals -4 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -2.4seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 80 Minerals 80 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 48seconds
Required Hive
ve
PorousCartilage SC2 Icon
Porous Cartilage

Increases brood lords movement speed by 1.406 and acceleration to 1.875, and increases health by 100.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 11.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey R
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 60seconds
Mastery: -3 Minerals -3 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -1.2seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 60 Minerals 60 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 24seconds
Required Greater spire
ve
Abathur
SC2 ZergAirWeap
Zerg Flyer Attacks

Increases the attack damage of zerg air units

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey M
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Mastery: -3.2seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 64seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Mastery: -3.8seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 76seconds
Required Lair/Hive
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Mastery: -4.4seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 88seconds
Required Hive
ve
SC2 ZergAirCara
Zerg Flyer Carapace

Increases the armor of zerg air units.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey M
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Mastery: -3.2seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 64seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Mastery: -3.8seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 76seconds
Required Lair/Hive
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Mastery: -4.4seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 88seconds
Required Hive
ve
TissueRegeneration SC2-HotS Icon
Rapid Regeneration

Mutalisks regenerate 10 health per second when not in combat for 5 seconds.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey R
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 60seconds
Mastery: -1.2seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 24seconds
ve
SC2 ViciousGlave Icon
Vicious Glave

Mutalisks attacks bounce three more times. Increases glave's search radius from 3 to 4.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey V
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 90seconds
Mastery: -1.8seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 36seconds
ve
SC2 SunderingGlave Icon
Sundering Glave

Mutalisk attacks deal +100% damage to armored enemies. Flyer Attacks upgrade also increases damage for armored targets.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Abathur Level 11
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey R
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 120seconds
Mastery: -2.4seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 48seconds
Required Hive
ve
CorrosiveSpray SC2 Icon1
Corrosive Spray

Devourer attacks deal splash damage.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Abathur Level 11
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey D
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 90seconds
Mastery: -1.8seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 36seconds
Required Greater spire
ve
ProlongedDispersion SC2 Icon1
Prolonged Dispersion

Increases the range of guardian attacks by 3.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Abathur Level 11
Acquisition
Purchased from Spire/Greater spire
Hotkey E
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 120seconds
Mastery: -2.4seconds per Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery point. Down to a maximum 48seconds
Required Greater spire
ve

Development[]

GreaterSpire SC2 DevRend1

An early render of the greater spire

The greater spire went through several revisions, essentially lingering in development hell. The initial designs were updates of the StarCraft I artwork which didn't seem to work. The shapes of the SC1 greater spire design didn't look good in 3D, as it was too bulky and the numerous pieces were too busy. Conveying the height the designers wanted was also a problem, since there were height limitations on tall buildings. When the development team started using Zbrush to create unit portraits some zerg buildings were also redesigned to take advantage of the more organic sculpting process.[3] The redesigned top of the greater spire was based on an unused concept of a queen's head by Trevor Jacobs.[4]

The revision of the greater spire made progress towards the final in-game design but the building still looked out of place compared to the rest of the zerg structures. The final unification pass finally solved many of these problems. The lower portion of the spire was reused and slightly modified with additional armor. The top portion was replaced with the new greater spire design and retextured, finally completing the long process of updating the first game's design.[3]

Variants[]

Images[]

References[]

  1. Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998
  2. Hidden Pics, Angelfire. Accessed on 2019-08-28
  3. 3.0 3.1 2011, SC2: Zerg Greater Spire. Deviantart, accessed on 2011-07-01
  4. 2013, Greater Spire ver. 1. Deviantart, accessed on 2013-03-12
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