Starcraft 2 Zerg Basic Structures

Starcraft 2 Zerg Units and Structures --> Zerg Basic Structures (you are here)

Below, I have put together a list of all the Starcraft 2 Zerg Basic Structures, what they do, and how you can use each building effectively in games.

Zerg have the worst method for producing buildings among all the races. All of their buildings have to be placed on the Creep and once the building is complete, the Drone (worker unit) that produced it is gone for good.

Note that the Baneling Nest (basic Zerg Structure) requires vespene gas.

Hatchery

Cost: 300 minerals (+50 from the Drone)
Produces: Larva (all Zerg units aside from the Queen, minions, and evolutions are produced from Larva), Queen
Researches: Burrow (100 minerals, 100 vespene), Pneumatized Carapace (50 minerals, 50 vespene gas), Ventral Sacs (200 minerals, 200 vespene gas).

The Hatchery is the main Zerg building. Unlike other Zerg buildings, it does not need to be built on the Creep.

Unlike other races, the Hatchery is where all the action occurs for the Zerg. The Hatchery spawns up to 3 Larva on its own (more with the Queen's help) which can be converted into any unit, assuming the necessary buildings have been made.

Additionally, the Hatchery is where your Drones will bring minerals and vespene gas. This makes expanding convenient for the Zerg as the same building which produces their offensive units doubles as an expansion.

The Hatchery can be upgrades to a Lair (150 minerals, 100 vespene; requires a Spawning Pool), and from a Lair to a Hive (200 minerals, 150 vespene; requires an Infestation Pit). The Lair unlocks T2 units and the Hive unlocks T3 units and upgrades.

The Hatchery also has several unit upgrades. Burrow allows most ground units to hide themselves underground, cloaking them. Pneumatized Carapace brings the Overlord up to a normal movement speed for a flying unit, and Ventral Sacs allow the Overlord to become the Zerg's drop ship.

Spawning Pool

Requires: Hatchery
Cost: 200 minerals (+50 from the Drone)
Allows production of Zerglings, Queens & access to Lair
Researches: Metabolic Boost and Adrenal Glands

The Spawning Pool is the most important Starcraft 2 Zerg structure. Most players will build this as their first building. This building is of key importance because it allows players to build a Queen.

Since the Queen spawns more Larva for the Zerg, it doubles hatchery production rate (or even more), so getting a Queen somewhat early in the game is very useful. Additionally, the Queen is the only early Zerg anti-air unit, making it very useful.

You can also use the Spawning Pool to build Zerglings. The Metabolic Boost upgrade is essential for Zerglings as it gives them the speed to control the map and wipe out enemy expansions in the blink of an eye.

In every single game you will ever play you will end up building a Spawning Pool. The real question is, when is the right time to build it? It really depends on what your strategy is; this question will be answered in the Starcraft 2 Zerg Build Order section (coming soon).

Extractor

Cost: 25 minerals (+50 from the Drone)
Allows the harvesting of vespene gas.

The Extractor is that Zerg building that allows the harvesting of vespene gas. Aside from the obvious, there are two things you can do here:

One strategy is that if you know your opponent is trying to tech and not building many units (common against Protoss players), you can build an Extractor at their base, so that they will have to kill it first before they can harvest gas.

This building will also have a small field of vision to let you see what is going on in their base.

The more common strategy associated with the Extractor is that when you are out of supplies (10/10 supplies) before your second Overlord comes out, you can get an extra supply:

1. Build an Extractor (drops the supply count to 9/10).
2. Build a Drone (back up to 10/10 supplies).
3. Cancel the Extractor. Send that Drone to harvest.
4. That is it; you should now be at 11/10 supplies.

This is handy in many Zerg build orders to put off getting an Overlord for one more Larva.

Evolution Chamber

Requires: Hatchery
Cost: 75 minerals (+50 from the Drone)
Allows production of Spore Crawlers
Researches: Zerg Ground Unit Upgrades: Melee Attacks (Zerglings, Ultralisks, Broodlings, Queens (ground)), Missile Attacks (Roaches, Hydralisks, Queens (air)), Ground Carapace (all ground unit armor).

Since you will rarely get Roaches & Hydralisks exclusively (or Zerglings and Ultralisks), the Ground Carapace (armor) upgrade is the best bet for most situations. This way, you can change up your units and still get upgrades.

With that said, Melee units seem to get more out of the upgrades than do Ranged units. For example, Zerglings have a base attack is 5, each upgrade adding +1 (20% increase over base damage for first level), while Hydralisks have a base attack of 12, each upgrade adding +1 (8% upgrade).

Spine Crawler

Requires: Spawning Pool
Cost: 100 minerals (+50 from the Drone)

The Spine Crawler is an automated defensive structure that attacks ground units. It has a long range (7) and does an impressive amount of damage (25 and +5 vs armored).

It has the unique ability known as Uproot, which allows the Spine Crawler to walk and change locations. The only downside is it takes 12 seconds for the Spine Crawler to re-embed itself in the ground, making it vulnerable to attack.

While defensive structures are not of great benefit for most races, the Zerg tend to be very gas heavy, making automated structures like this one quite appealing for controlling the map and defending expansions from harassment.

Spore Crawler

Requires: Evolution Chamber
Cost: 75 minerals (+50 from the Drone)

The Spore Crawler is just like Spine Crawler except that it attacks air units and doubles as a detector. It cannot attack ground units.

The Spore Crawler can also move just like the Spine Crawler. As mentioned previously, these are a great way to defend expansions and control the map since Zerg often have excess minerals due to high gas cost of their units.

Roach Warren

Requires: Spawning Pool
Cost: 150 minerals
Allows production of Roaches
Researches: Glial Reconstitution, Tunneling Claws, and Organic Carapace (requires Hive)

The Roach Warren is a structure that allows the production of Roaches. It also contains a variety of upgrades for Roaches.

Glial Reconstitution (100 minerals, 100 vespene gas) increases Roach movement speed. This is a good upgrade to get if you plan to use Roaches as their natural movement speed is quite slow.

Tunneling Claws (150 minerals, 150 vespene gas) allows the Roach to move while burrowed. The major downside to this upgrade is that Roaches can not tunnel under buildings (it can't get past walled off bases).

Tunneling Claws also significantly increases Roach regeneration rate while burrowed. It is worthwhile if you are great at microing and can burrow roaches that are about to die. If you cannot handle that kind of micro, it may not be worth it to you.

Do not research this is you do not plan to use these units. Roaches are best versus other Zerg players and versus light units (Marines, Hydralisks, Zealots).

Baneling Nest

Requires: Spawning Pool
Cost: 100 minerals, 50 vespene gas
Allows evolution of Zerglings into Banelings
Researches: Centrifugal Hooks

The Baneling Nest allows the conversion of Zerglings into Banelings. These units are very effective at taking out masses of light units. Whether or not you build one of these buildings depends on what your opponent is doing.

Either way, you will want to get the speed upgrade when using Banelings, as they move incredibly slow and have to make contact to work.