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The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II which is no longer valid.

Wings of Liberty Alpha and Beta[]

Queen SC2 DevRend1

Development render

The original queen did not play the role of leader and creator of the Swarm, which is something Blizzard Entertainment changed for StarCraft II.

Blizzard had worked on the queen for two years by June 2008.[1] Previous versions of the queen actually produced units, but since there could only be one queen, this left the zerg unit production system too vulnerable (as the queen could be hunted and killed).[1] As of this time, the queen was changed to move slower off of creep.[1] In earlier builds of the game, the queen was named "Infested Queen" and had 180 HP.[2] This was reduced to 175 by 2009.

The intention behind the visual design was suggesting that the more developed zerg were beginning to mimic Kerrigan, thus the queen has a more feminine quality to her, as well as the dreadlocks and back-wings. Once designs were starting to hone in on the roles of the Zerg Queen, the final art pass was implemented. Interestingly, when the development team designed the queen, the cinematics department applied cosmetic improvements to the design which were then reflected back on the in-game model when it was finalized.

Queen SC2 Cncpt2

Concept art

One unforeseen revision needed for the queen was in regards to the green sacks along her abdomen. Initially these bubbles were team-colored, but during playtesting the queen was actually looking very similar to the Zerg Infestor from certain angles and the two were getting confused. Henceforth, the team color was removed and the green bubbles returned for the final version of the queen.[3]

Removed abilities[]

These abilities were removed in the build displayed at BlizzCon 2008.[4]

Transforms Queen into Large Queen

Usage
Cost 100[5] Minerals 100[5] Vespene gas 20[5] seconds
ve
Razor Swarm

The queen breathes out a giant cloud of dusts and insects which can be controlled. They deal damage to enemy units, including air units, and extra damage to biological units, without injuring friendly units. The swarm eventually exhausts itself.

Acquisition
Purchased from Lair
ve
Mutate Larva
  • Queens can target a hatchery/lair/hive, instantly producing three morphalisks. When morphalisks mutate into zerg units, there is a production time discount.
Usage
Cost 50 seconds
ve

As of BlizzCon 2008, the queen had three abilities: Mutant Larva, Razor Swarm (or Razor Plague) and Create Creep Tumor.[4][6] The queen's mutant larva were replaced with Spawn Larva as of February 2009[7] as the original concept proved tedious with timed life.[8] Transfusion, which was also removed by BlizzCon 2008, returned to replace Razor Plague by June.

Unique version[]

Before BlizzCon 2008, only one queen could be produced at a time[9]. It was not a super unit or hero unit, however, and required other units to help defend it against attacks.[10]

The queen used to evolve over the course of the game, growing in size as it did so and gaining stats and abilities.[11] Morphing to the Large Queen required a lair, while the Huge Queen required a hive[12]. If the queen died, it could be produced again at the hatchery/lair/hive with any existing upgrades[13].

Structure-spawning abilities[]

Queen eggs

The queen laying eggs

The queen used to spawn numerous types of structures upon the creep. Creep does not belong to any one player, which gave the queen the ability to spawn structures upon "enemy" creep in enemy bases[1]. This ability has since been lost.[14][15]

When the queen created a structure, she was not required on-site like an SCV; rather, she built in much the same way that a probe creates protoss structures.[16]

The queen had base defense duties, including laying eggs that hatched into suicide attackers.[17]

Wings of Liberty[]

StarCraft II beta patch 9 changed the Spawn Larva hotkey from R to V and decreased the queen's speed off of creep from 1.5 to 0.938. The Patch 1.4.3 Balance Update increased the queen's anti-ground weapon attack range from 3 to 5 and allowed Point Defense Drones to defend against it, even in melee range.

Heart of the Swarm[]

In the June 2012 build of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, the queen had small changes in its appearance, making her similar to the broodmother[18]. This was later reverted in Versus, but the model was used for the swarm queen.

Legacy of the Void[]

The Patch 3.3.2 Balance Update increased the queen's anti-air weapon range from 7 to 8. Patch 4.7.1 modified Transfusion to restore 75 health and 50 over the next 7.14 seconds instead of 125 instantly. Patch 4.12 reverted the range increase.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Browder, Dustin and Kevin Yu. 2008-06-05. Episode 3. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-06-05.
  2. Starcraft 2 Alpha
  3. 2010, Starcraft 2: Zerg Queen. Deviantart, accessed on 2011-07-20.
  4. 4.0 4.1 GearvOsh. 2008-10-14. Community Q&A [Batch 1]. StarCraft II Armory. Accessed 2008-10-14.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 StarCraft Legacy
  6. Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-10-17. BlizzCon 2008: Changes to StarCraft 2. SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-10-17.
  7. Karune. 2009-02-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 49 (page 2). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18.
  8. Karune. 2009-02-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 49 (page 3). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18.
  9. Mielke, James. 2008-05-08. The Dangerous Book for Zerglings: The latest intel on Zerg units and structures. 1up.com Accessed 2008-05-08.
  10. Zerg Announcement Interview (translated). StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2008-03-10.
  11. Onyett, Charles. 2008-03-10. StarCraft II Zerg Unit List: All the monsters in the game so far. IGN. Accessed 2008-03-11.
  12. StarCraft Legacy staff. 2008-03-11. Zerg - Units. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-06-23.
  13. StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. StarCraft: Legacy Internal Q&A. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-06-17.
  14. Karune. 2008-07-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 41. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-16.
  15. Freelancer. 2008-06-28. FIRST WWI StarCraft 2 Sneak Peak. StarCraft Wire. Accessed 2008-06-28.
  16. Gunnar "Leord" Petzall 2008-03-14. The Zerg Queen. IncGamers. Accessed 2008-04-11.
  17. Korda, Martin. Hands-on: Martin Korda gets to grips with StarCraft II and gets the lowdown on the newly evolved Zerg. CVG.com Accessed 2008-05-04.
  18. Blizzard Entertainment. 2012-06-08. Heart of the Swarm Update - New Videos (StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm - Battle Report (Protoss vs Zerg)). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2012-06-08.
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