Guide:Queen Bee strategies

"The matriarch of jungle hives..."

The Queen Bee is a pre-Hardmode boss. It does not need to be killed to progress the game, but it has some useful drops and the Witch Doctor NPC will spawn when it is killed.

Spawning Conditions
Queen Bee can be spawned by fulfilling any of these conditions: It must then be defeated within the Jungle.
 * Break a . These can be found in Bee Hives, which are located in the Underground Jungle;
 * Use.

The Fight
Queen Bee is capable of causing if you get touched by it or by its stingers. While losing 2 Health a second isn't much, it can be more significant over time. It's also important to not get poisoned because it halts Health regeneration, thus be always ready to heal with your Potions.

The Queen Bee has 3 distinct attack patterns: When it charges you, use platforms and/or a double jump or better to dodge upwards. You can stand perfectly still upon landing which gives you a short moment to regenerate health faster. If you can Dash, you can stand in it's path and charge it just before it reaches you.
 * 1) It will fly left or right to you and charge three times;
 * 2) It will hover above you and spawn tiny  minions;
 * 3) It will behave like a normal hornet and fly around, shooting poisoning stingers at you.

When it summons its bees, use a weapon that can pierce targets and aim for its backside to stop the bees the moment they spawn. If any bees manage to escape then use a Sword with a large swing to clear them out. The Queen is at its most vulnerable in this state, so use powerful weapons to deal significant amounts of damage.

If it's using the stinger-shooting phase, keep moving back and forth. If you do get hit by a stinger, the Poisoned debuff will last longer than when you touch with Queen Bee, so make sure to dodge it. Use a ranged weapon, and try to track her movements by aiming where it's going to move.

If you're low on health and stayed in the Hive, remember to make use of the honey below you, which increases health regeneration, which will always stack with other regeneration buffs like Campfires.

Expert Mode
As the Queen Bee's health goes down, she will become a lot more aggressive, shooting more stingers and having much faster charges. Her defense will also increase, making weapons with low base damage values like the Minishark much weaker. She will also inflict the Poisoned Debuff on contact, and its duration from the stingers will double.

Dodging the charges is much harder when the Queen is at low health, since she'll move too fast to be able to move out of the way. However, the Shield of Cthulhu makes this part of the fight a lot easier: Successfully dashing into an enemy gives the player brief invincibility frames, so if timed right, the charge attacks can be completely neutralized.

Terrain Preparation
Even if you summon the Queen Bee by breaking a Larva, you do not need to stay in the hive to fight it - you can get out of the hive and fight it in the wide-open areas of the Underground Jungle if you'd prefer. However, most Hives offer an easy arena: a decent amount of space is already carved out, and the pool of Honey at the bottom provides a health-regenerating buff which stacks with other buffs.

As with most bosses, Wooden Platforms are vital. Having them every 5 blocks is an optimal height but if your jump height is boosted in some way, you can increase the number of spaces between platforms which can save you materials.

Gearing Up
It's recommended to have at least 300 Health before you try to beat Queen Bee.

Armor

 * A full set of at least Gold Armor should be acquired, but better armor is always an option. Other armor sets with set bonuses can be effective as well.
 * If one is offensively minded they can use armors that boost the damage of their weapons, such as Necro armor for rangers and Jungle armor for mages.
 * Crimson armor is excellent due to the high defense values and increased damage. Shadow armor is good too and suits a melee playstyle.

Weapons
For Melee users:
 * For swords, the best sword would be the ; despite inflicting it, the Queen Bee is not immune to the Poisoned debuff.
 * The or  are better but they are harder to acquire.
 * The performs excellently if it's acquired.
 * or are good at killing Queen Bee, due to their long range.
 * Flails are good choices for when the Queen is firing Bees at you, as they will pierce through the bees and hit the Queen too. A Blue Moon or The Meatball are good, and the Sunfury is excellent.
 * For Yoyos, the and the  are a good option.

For Ranged users:
 * Bow users should use a or . You can also use a  if you've got it.
 * Bring along arrows that can pierce, such as or.
 * A or  are decent and the  can also be used. The  is also a very powerful choice.
 * Note that Minishark is much less effective in Expert mode, especially in the latter stages of the battle.
 * are the preferred bullets to use with the guns mentioned above. work better with the former two, since they dont have problems with the invincibility frames caused by piercing attacks.
 * A with  is a cheap secondary weapon to apply Poison for a little extra damage, while still providing a fair amount of damage from the darts themselves.
 * Oddly, Heart Arrows perform their initial stopping ability, then permanently slow the queen, making them a great way to kill her on, assuming the Valentine Event is happening.

For Magic users:
 * Crimson worlds will benefit from having the, as you can fire it once and then switch to another weapon, increasing damage output.
 * The is an excellent weapon, especially when combined with Meteor armor. Its piercing effect will help dealing with the bees.
 * A or  will are decent choices with low mana cost and decent piercing damage.
 * The is a fantastic weapon if you're fighting in the Hive, due to how many times it can ricochet off walls.
 * The is perfect for dealing with the bees she shoots at you.
 * This weapon should not be used on Expert mode, as her massive defense will significantly reduce damage taken.
 * can be used to quickly and repeatedly strike her with great accuracy.

For Summoners:

Once again, Summoners can't make use of any of its tools to kill Queen Bee, as it lacks gear of doing so. Meanwhile, you can use the already mentioned tips for now, until you receive your first decent Summon gear (Queen Bee drops all the items you need to start to mess with this class).
 * The earliest minion Summoning weapon is the, which is unfortunately very rare and weak.
 * You could try to farm The Underworld for Hellstone to get the, which is also the only good choice on expert mode, as the Slime Staff does not have enough base damage.

For Throwing users:
 * Grenades deal high amounts of damage, but you should be mindful of taking damage yourself. Combining this with gel will make Sticky Grenade which will be helpful for defeating the boss.
 * are good choices which deal On Fire! to the Queen.
 * can poison the Queen, increasing your DPS.
 * s stick to the queen and deal 3 damage every second. The more you throw into her, the higher the sticking damage becomes.
 * are useful as they will pierce through her bees.
 * are useful against the Queen Bee since she will take damage while dashing through the platforms.

Accessories

 * Anything that increases your vertical mobility is a godsend. The Cloud in a Bottle is good, but better choices would be the Blizzard in a Bottle or the Sandstorm in a Bottle. Having a Shiny Red Balloon will also greatly help as it will increase your jump height, it will be better if The Shiny Red Balloon is combined with any of the Cloud in a Bottle type accessory. You can also use the Rocket Boots for flight, and the Spectre Boots for flight and speed.
 * The Shark Tooth Necklace is a very good increase to DPS, especially on Expert Mode.
 * Hopefully, you have managed to find a Bezoar. While equipped, it removes the Poisoned debuff; if you are short on accessory slots, you can equip it for a moment whenever you get poisoned.
 * If you are going for a melee approach, the Magma Stone is a slight increase to your DPS.
 * Anything that reduces damage is very helpful, including Expert Mode-exclusive Worm Scarf and defensive reforges on accessories.
 * As mentioned above, the Shield of Cthulhu can negate damage taken from the charges while also being a very useful to dodge her stingers.

Potions

 * Ironskin Potions, Endurance Potions and Regeneration Potions will help tremendously with survivability.
 * A food item that provides Well Fed is very useful.
 * Swiftness Potions will aid in your dodging.
 * The Honey buff will reduce poison damage, and allows healing while poisoned. If you don't have a Bezoar this is your key to survival.
 * Ammo Reservation Potions and Archery Potions are good for rangers.
 * Magic Power Potions and Mana Regeneration Potions are must have for mages.
 * If you already have a minion, a Summoning Potion lets you bring an extra to the fight.
 * Rage Potions or Wrath Potions are useful for almost all classes.
 * Water Walking Potions, like the boots, let you walk on Honey.
 * Honeyfins heal more than the average Healing Potion and can prove valuable.