The hatchery is the foundational structure for every zerg colony.

OverviewEdit

Hatcheries perform three vital functions that no colony can survive without: producing the creep, which most zerg structures require in order to be built, giving birth to larvae that can mutate into the various zerg breeds and digesting minerals and vespene gas to change into a nutrient form that zerg can use to feed their mutations. In addition, the hatchery is one of the only structures that can be built without pre-existing creep (the other being the extractor) and is therefore essential for any expansion attempt.^[1]

Game StructureEdit

StarCraftEdit

Hatchery
Structure
Race	Zerg
Role	Foundation building
Production
Minerals	300
Control	Provides 1
Build time	120
Evolves from	Drone
Protection
Hit points	1250
Armor	1
Function
Evolves to	Lair
Produces	Larva
Allows	Spawning pool Evolution chamber
Research	Burrow

Researched AbilitiesEdit

Burrow
Acquisition Minerals 100 Gas 100 Evolution time 80 Evolved at Hatchery/Lair/Hive Hotkey B	Usage Hotkey U
Notes
Many zerg ground units may burrow, rendering themselves invisible but incapable of moving or attacking.

Building AbilitiesEdit

The hatchery can mutate into a lair, and later into a hive.^[1]

StarCraft IIEdit

Hatchery
Structure
Race	Zerg
Role	Foundation building
Properties
Broodlings produced	9
Production
Minerals	300
Control	Provides 2
Build time	100
Evolves from	Drone
Hotkey	H
Protection
Hit points	1500
Armor	1
Type	Armored Biological Structure
Function
Evolves to	Lair
Produces	Larva Queen (with spawning pool)
Allows	Spawning pool Evolution chamber

The zerg continue to use hatcheries in StarCraft II. Hatcheries continue to be able to create creep. Upgrades for overlords and overseers are researched at the hatchery and its evolved forms, but at least a lair is required first. This change allows the player to research the upgrades at any hatchery they control as long as they have a lair, rather than being limited to researching them at the lair itself.

If multiple hatcheries are selected, pressing the "S" hotkey will select all of the available larvae at all the selected hatcheries. The player must press a hotkey (or select a morph icon) once for each unit they wish to build.

Two rally points are able to be set on a hatchery; one ("G") for drones and another ("Y") for warrior units. The queen doesn't get a rally point.

Each individual egg can be separately rallied; this overrides rally points set for the hatchery.^[2]

A hatchery spawns a new larva every 15 seconds if there are less than 3.

Building AbilitiesEdit

The hatchery can evolve into a lair.

Queen AbilitiesEdit

Spawn Larva
Usage Energy 25 Activation/ Build Time 40 seconds Hotkey V
Notes
Queens can target a hatchery/lair/hive with Queen Ichor,[3] causing it to swell and grow green sacs which burst, producing four larvae. These join any already-present larvae. The larva-producing structure will not naturally produce any more larvae until the total falls below three. The larva count for any given hatchery/lair/hive does not exceed nineteen, no matter how many times spawn larva is cast. The ability is not smartcast.
Edit

DevelopmentEdit

As of February 2010, the hatchery no longer researched burrow.^[4]

ReferencesEdit