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Creep tumors are zerg structure that extend creep. They are living globs of tissue that are expelled by queens onto creep, accelerating its growth.[1]

Game Unit[]

Starcraft II[]

Creep tumors are created by queens or by other creep tumors and must be built on creep.

The creep tumor is burrowed, rendering it stealthy. The stealth enables "offensive" creeping. In the single-player Wings of Liberty campaign, however, creep tumors are always able to be seen even without detector units. Later in the Heart of the Swarm campaign, it gained its burrowed ability again. Many missions feature the zerg dropping sacs on the player's base, spawning a creep tumor in addition to the occasional reinforcing zerg units.

Versus[]

Creepytumors

A creep tumor spawning another one

Upgrades and Abilities
CreepTumor SC2 Icon1
Create Creep Tumor

The queen forces a creep tumor out of her bowels.[2]
Alternatively, each creep tumor may create a single additional creep tumor, using the same build time but no energy cost. This changes the tumor's appearance.

Creep tumors can only be created upon the creep, and within a range.

Usage
Hotkey C
Cost 25 Energy 11 seconds seconds
Cooldown 13.57 seconds (can only be used once by a creep tumor) seconds
ve

Heart of the Swarm[]

In Heart of the Swarm, the creep tumor gains a new spawning animation.[3]

When Kerrigan reaches level 7 creep gets spread faster and farther.

Unburrowedcreepytumor

A new creep tumor about to burrow itself into the ground

Co-op Missions[]

SC2 KerrMalignantCreep Icon
Malignant Creep

Friendly ground units gain 30% attack speed and regenerate 1 hit point per second while on creep. Creep tumors spread creep faster (from 0.45 to 0.225) and farther (from 10 to 13).
Passive: Kerrigan's Creep bonuses applies to all creep, including Stukov's automatic creep spread.

Passive ability.

Malevolent Matriarch: Friendly ground units gain 60% attack speed and regenerate 2 hit points per second while on creep. Creep tumors spread creep faster (from 0.45 to 0.15) and farther (from 10 to 16).

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 7.
ve

Development[]

The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II which is no longer valid.
CreepTumor SC2 Game3

A creep tumor after producing another one

In older versions of StarCraft II, the creep tumor could evolve into a shrieker.[4] Shriekers extended the range of swarm clutches to anywhere within its own detection radius, and through careful positioning could effectively double their attack range in some cases.[5]

Creep tumors used to be produced from hatcheries within a given range of the producing building.[6]

By September 2008, creep tumors were made smaller and burrowed, and it was confirmed that zerg units moved faster while on creep.[7]

Patch 1.5

On August 2012, Antiga Shipyard was be used to playtest upcoming changes. Blizzard reduced the creep tumor build radius, vision radius, and creep spread radius from 10 to 8, in order to make it more difficult for a zerg player to spread creep over the entire map.[8]

Heroes of the Storm[]

Heroes DevLog2
The following section contains information from Heroes of the Storm and is not canon to StarCraft continuity

Creep tumors can be spawned by Zagara in Heroes of the Storm.[9]

Notes[]

  • The creep tumor has been referred to as a "sunken cluster"; this is a misnomer.[10]
  • Creep tumors influenced the development of creeps in Stormgate.[11]

Images[]

References[]

  1. Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2014-08-14. Units: Queen. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2014-08-14.
  2. Karune. 2009-02-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 49. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18.
  3. 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.
  4. Mielke, James. 2008-05-08. The Dangerous Book for Zerglings: The latest intel on Zerg units and structures (page 2). 1up.com Accessed 2008-05-08.
  5. AGMLauncher. 2008-03-12. Starcraft 2 Zerg Details & Trailer. GameReplays. Accessed 2008-03-20.
  6. Leord. 2008-06-30. List of New Zerg Changes. StarCraft Wire. Accessed 2008-06-30.
  7. Anderson Mccutcheon. 2008-09-17. StarCraft 2 September Discussion Topic: Zerg Creep. SC2 Blog.
  8. Blizzard Entertainment. 2012-08-08. Call to Action: Balance Testing. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2012-08-09.
  9. 2014-05-30, Blizzard Says Heroes of the Storm Is "Much Closer to a World of Warcraft Experience". Gamespot, accessed on 2014-05-31
  10. Joneagle_X. 2008-03-15. Unit Clarifications. "StarCraft 2 Forum." Accessed 2008-05-08.
  11. 2023-06-12, The Perfect Mix of Warcraft & Starcraft? Stormgate Developers Deep Dive. YouTube, accessed on 2023-06-14
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