abstract
| - A Zerg Hive Cluster is the designated base of operations for the Zerg, and functions in a similar manner to the military bases used by the Terrans and Protoss. The biggest difference, however, is that the hive is a giant organism, with its structures acting as its organs. A new Hive Cluster starts from a single Hatchery, the most important hive structure which spawns new Zerg and digests minerals and Vespene collected by Drones. A Hatchery also generates a carpet of biomatter called "Creep", which nourishes hive structures built upon them (note that all structures except for Hatcheries and Extractors can only be placed on Creep). The Creep can be extended by placing new Hatcheries or small structures called Creep Colonies, which in turn can be mutated into Sunken Colonies or Spore Colonies for ground defese and anti-air defense respectively. The various warrior strains the Hatchery can spawn require certain structures that produce the respective strain's genome. For example, a Spawning Pool provides the Zergling strain. Also, certain requisite structures allow the Hatchery to mutate in order to access the advanced tech tree (the Spawning Pool lets Hatcheries become Lairs and the Queen's Nest allows Lairs to become Hives).
|