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For the DROD RPG monster, see Roach queen (RPG).
Roach queen
Dungeonqueen
A roach queen and her offspring
Monster ID 1
Layer Monsters
Movement Opposite normal beelining
First appears Webfoot DROD
Is required Yes
Is brain visible No
Traverses shallow water No

Roach queens are a typical monster in many dungeons, and are usually encountered after their offspring, dungeon roaches.


Description[]

RoachQueenSpawining Screen

A roach queen who is running away from Beethro has just spawned roaches

Roach queens give birth to roaches, fulfilling much the same role as queen bees. Unlike bees, however, all roaches that are born are considered workers - the roach queen usually carries around most, if not all, of the ingredients required to make roach eggs and is usually fed by her worker children during quiet, safe moments. Roach queens can be identified among their children by their enlarged abdomen, their glossy, silver wings (although they never fly), and, most tellingly, the fact that all the roaches are usually attacking any threat and the roach queen isn't. When threatened, the roach queen will attempt to scurry as far away from the threat as possible, occasionally stopping to lay eggs in promising-looking areas. As these are roaches, this is almost anywhere. The larvae will hatch into mostly-developed roaches in a manner of seconds. Roach queens lay eggs at a much faster rate when they are running away from a threat in this manner, relying on their children for defense. This rate is predictable, and the alert smitemaster can count precisely how long it will be until the roach queen lays more eggs.

Some roach queens are used in the roachmeat industries, but it turns out to be far more cost effective to hire smitemasters to clean out infestations and haul the carcasses back up than to breed roaches in captivity (which is dangerous, since the problems when a roach gets loose are much greater than with other, more docile meats).

Behavior[]

Target[]

  • Roach queens target the player (if not stealthed), decoys, temporal clones, stalwarts, and soldiers.
    • Roach queens prioritize the closest target first using Manhattan distance. In the case of a tie, roach queens prefer the target with the latest movement order.
    • Decoys are always prioritized last as long as there is another target within five tiles of the roach queen.

Movement[]

  • Roach queens are terrestrial creatures. They cannot swim, fly, or move into solid objects or other creatures.
  • Roach queens use normal beelining. They determine which of the eight adjoining squares is closest to the player and attempt to move in the opposite direction.
    • If blocked from moving orthogonally, she will wait in place.
    • If blocked from moving diagonally, she will try to take vertical path first. Failing that, she will attempt the horizontal path next. If both are blocked, the queen will wait in place.
  • Brained roach queens use pathfinding. The brain calculates the pathfinding algorithm it would give to a roach, excluding waiting. It would order the queen to move in the opposite direction, except the brain then reconsiders this first suggestion and and orders the queen to move in a different direction based on a set of rules:
    • If the original suggestion would have been to move vertically -- IE, directly north or south -- the brain will instead order the queen to move diagonally toward the vertical line passing through the center of the room.
    • Likewise, if the original suggestion would have been to move horizontally -- IE, directly east or west -- the brain will instead order the queen to move diagonally toward the horizontal line passing through the center of the room.
    • The queen will then try to move in the direction suggested by the brain (which is always a diagonal movement). If diagonal movement is not possible, only then will she move orthogonally: vertically first, and failing that, horizontally.

​Vulnerabilities[]

Other[]

  • Every 30 turns, roach queens who have a target and are not stunned will lay eggs on every open tile adjacent to them.
    • Roach eggs will hatch into fully-formed roaches after four turns, and they can start moving on the fifth turn.
    • Roach eggs will develop into roaches whether they have a target or not.
    • Roach eggs cannot be laid on open yellow doors, scrolls, force arrows, or trapdoors. If the queen moved from another tile in the last turn, she will not lay an egg on that tile.

Trivia[]

DROD 5.0 introduced two cosmetic changes to roach queens:

  • Roach queens received an updated model, giving them a slightly plumper form and shinier carapace than the previous models.
  • Roach queens emit a chittering sound whenever they spawn or are placed in the editor.

External Links[]

Article on Roaches and Roach Queens

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