"The Hive is the focal point of the Swarm, the pinnacle of the species' millennia-spanning evolution. For zerg units, the Hive is home...and nothing says "home" like bubbling lava and black volcanic rock."
Protected by a dense exoskeleton and granted full access to the Overmind's pool of knowledge, the hive continues to provide the same functionality that it has since it was a hatchery (birthing larvae, maintaining creep, and digesting minerals/gas). Once the hive is present, the being commanding it has the potential to unleash the full fury of the zerg.[2] The genetic model for a hive is extremely complex, and would be indecipherable by any terran scientist.[3] When under attack, hives can harden their hull with bony protrusions, allowing it to shrug off weaker strikes.[4]
During the Great War or Brood War, a "Char hive" was deployed by the Swarm. This hive generated its own heat, and while not so hot that attackers would be damaged, the drones and larvae within it were able to take advantage of the warmth it provided on the colder planets of the Koprulu sector.[5]
Many zerg ground units may burrow, rendering themselves invisible but incapable of moving or attacking.
Allows most zerg land units--all but the massive ultralisk and primitive broodling--to burrow into the ground, rendering them immobile and unable to attack, but also safe from enemy fire unless the enemy has a detector nearby. Applies to: Drone, zergling, hydralisk, defiler, infested terran
In some builds of the StarCraft beta, the hive was a name given to the structure that would become the queen's nest.[6]
StarCraft II
The hive reappears in StarCraft II. The hive can set two rally points, one ("Y") for most units and one ("G") for drones. The queen does not get a rally point.
Each individual egg can be separately rallied; this overrides rally points set for the hive.[8]
Queens can target a hatchery/lair/hive, causing it to eventually spawn four larvae. These join any already-present larvae. The larva-producing structure will not naturally produce any more larvae until the total falls below three. The larva count for any given hatchery/lair/hive cannot exceed nineteen, no matter how many times spawn larva is cast.
The hive for StarCraft II was based off the lair in StarCraft, in order to make it look more 'evil'. There were also plans to change the middle maw portion more gradually as it evolved from a hatchery, but there wasn't enough time to do so.[11]
↑"for zerg is it the same that the hatchery sets the rally, or can you rally for each individual egg?"
You can do both. You can set a rally for your hatchery, but can then override it with manual orders per egg as well. Also don't forget, you can set a worker rally point for your hatchery, as well as a unit rally point. Karune, Rancid_death75. Another rally question for Kaurne!Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18.
