Queen

Command
Queen	Difficulty: Very Hard Supervisors: You Are Rank: Not defined Duties: Lead The Hive Guides: N/A Unlock Requirements: Not available. Detailed Description: |__________| Not defined |__________|

Overview

The final tier. The Queen is the most vital member of the hive. But with great power comes great responsibility, and she's often misused. Evolved from a Drone, the Queen is the mind of the Hive. Comparable to the Marine Commander, her primary function is to lead the Hive. Communication is key and the Hive should follow her orders.

The Queen has the highest health of all aliens and can be tough to kill. She's a capable fighter when threatened, but very slow, and her increased health won't typically be enough to save her from a squad of Marines if she's caught in the open. Like a Hivelord or Praetorian, she's probably best used to supervise any combat, prepare defenses for the Hive, and oversee the infection of hosts. If attacked, however, her Screech ability causes nearby Marines to drop what they're holding and be stunned long enough for any assisting aliens to completely take down a small squad.

Her primary responsibility is laying the many eggs that will aid her brood in victory. These eggs make excellent defenses because Marines can't walk through them without being hugged. A Queen should be laying eggs all over the Hive like minefields in defense. Carriers and other sisters also use the eggs for combat.

The Queen has very strong corrosive acid that allows her to open new pathways or dissolve enemy weapons quickly.

Tactics

The Queen can soak up an incredible number of hits. Unfortunately, she is slow and has a large hitbox. Marines may hit you around corners; any tile your sprite is on is a tile you can be injured from. The Queen needs to fight in cramped environments where the Marines can't focus fire on her, as in the open she will quickly be torn to shreds by Marines who can run faster than her - meaning all of them.

If you manage to somehow catch a marine, perhaps by cornering him or surprising him, you have the potential to drag him into an egg chamber for instant infection, or just shove him in a nest if he was trying to escape. The Queen's disarm timer is rather long. The screech is an amazing crowd control tool and she should not be overly afraid to engage in combat with the rest of the Hive. Warn the Hive of an impending screech, then run in and do it once they're in position. This will stun every marine in its radius and turn an assault into a rout.

How to Lead

Okay, lets get this part out of the way: As the Queen, yes, technically everyone in the Hive has to do what you say.

AH AH AH! NO! CLOSE BYOND RIGHT NOW AND FINISH READING THIS!

This is the part that some people never read past. You can recognize these people because they treat the other alien players like slaves and never listen to anything they say.

Remember that the aliens are a HIVEMIND. They are not "One Mind, Many Bodies". A Hivemind is a collective intelligence. As the Queen, you are actually the member of the Hive with the LEAST personality. You're a reflection of every other member of the Hive. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give orders, but it does mean you should listen to the other aliens. Ten heads think better than one - and they're your eyes and ears. Refusing to listen to other aliens is like putting a blindfold on.

It's important to remember that while the other castes have to do what the Queen says, they don't have to like it. They can bitch and moan and make a Queen's life a living hell by generally not giving it their all. As the Queen, you need to be... NICE. The aliens have to LIKE YOU. If they don't, a Queen is in for a bad time.

The number one rule of Queen has nothing to do with how you fight, or how you build your Hive. The number one rule of playing Queen is: BE POLITE!

As the Queen, you're a monarch, not a dictator. What's the difference? A monarch rules through worldly might, but also through charisma. Do you know what happens when a monarch is hated by the people she rules? The French Revolution, that's what. Now, obviously your children can't rebel in this game quite so drastically, but aliens who hate the Queen are demoralized and their behavior is erratic. When you hate your commander's guts, you will, at least subconsciously, perform WORSE.

So how do you separate the good Queens from the bad ones? Well, here is a checklist of bad Queen behavior:

• The Queen insults the lower castes regularly or expresses contempt for the lower castes.
• The Queen insults sisters who die in battle.
• The Queen refuses to even acknowledge suggestions.
• The Queen orders any lower caste member who disagrees or criticizes them to cease talking.
• The Queen gives orders contradictory to the purpose of the caste (Ordering runners to play Hive guard, ordering drones to capture hosts).
• The Queen gives contradictory orders, or impossible orders, such as ordering the Aliens to only kill in defense of the Hive and then setting slashing to Not Allowed.
• The Queen refuses to allow the members of the Hive to hunt at all, and keeps everyone inside even when a siege is not taking place.
• The Queen refuses any responsibility for failures.

If a Queen somehow does everything on this list, tell an Admin, because that's griefing. Nobody does all this on accident. Or if they do, then they need a stern talking to.

Sources and Reading

• Doctor Bright's Guide to Proper Queen Etiquette