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 it's stingers. While losing 2 Health a second isn't much, it can accrue over time. It's also important to not get poisoned because it halts Health regenaration, 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 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
All of her attacks become progressively faster, and it's defense will increase, up to negate 10 damage when she has low health. Burst weapons can be more helpful in order to deal with the increasing defense. Moving erratically can undermine Queen Bee's accuracy when she charges more frequently, especially at low health, as at that point the charge is very short, thus having a smaller error margin.

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:

It's highly recommened to use long-range weapons against Queen Bee, and because of it, Melee users will have trouble at killing it.
 * 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.
 * or are excellent at killing Queen Bee, due to them being a long-range weapons.
 * 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 is a decent option.

For Ranged users:

Ranged players will fare considerably better than Melee ones, but Queen Bee is much more faster than the Eye of Cthulhu, so you might try to start conservative at first.
 * 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, but a  can also be used.
 * Note that Minishark is less effective in Expert mode, especially in the latter stages of the battle.
 * The and its upgrade  will find a happy balance between Power and Speed but are slightly harder to acquire.
 * are the preferred bullets to use with the gun mentioned above.
 * 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:

At this point, your Mana should be at the maximum, or at least close to it. Magic users will have no trouble dealing with Queen Bee, but they need to be more careful than them, as at this point specialized armor will give important defensive differencies.
 * 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.
 * The is a fantastic weapon if you're fighting in the Hive, due to how many times it can ricochet off walls.
 * The, with its high damage and piercing ability is very good. It's slow acceleration can make it a great item to maximize damage when Queen Bee is charging.
 * The is perfect for dealing with the bees she shoots at you.
 * can be used to quickly and repeteadly 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 very good, as it causes , increasing the damage output.

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.
 * Molotov Cocktails are good choices which deal fire damage to the Queen.
 * Poisoned Knives can poison the Queen, increasing your DPS.
 * Bone Javelins stick to the queen and deal 3 damage every second. The more you throw into her, the higher the sticking damage becomes.
 * Spiky Balls are useful against the Queen Bee since she will take damage while dashing through the platforms.
 * Bone Throwing Knives are useful and will pierce through her bees and can deal multiple hits.

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.
 * 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 great for an increase to your DPS.
 * Anything that reduces damage is very helpful, including Expert Mode-exclusive Worm Scarf and defensive reforges on accessories.
 * You may also want to get flippers so you can swim in the honey. For more mobility, a Water Walking Boots will be better since with this, you can walk on the honey.
 * If you are in Expert Mode, a Shield of Cthulhu can be used to dash into her charge attack, which negates the damage you would have taken, which is useful when her attacks get very fast in Expert Mode.

Potions

 * Swiftness Potions will aid in your dodging.
 * Ironskin Potions will help mitigate any damage you take.
 * Endurance Potions work similarly to Ironskin Potions but completely block out 10% of all damage rather than increasing defense.
 * Regeneration Potions will help you recover from attacks that are hard to avoid, like the needles and bees. However, it does not help while you are poisoned.
 * However, 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 good for mages.
 * If you already have a minion, a Summoning Potion lets you bring an extra to the fight.
 * Rage Potions increase your critical strike chance but can only be made in worlds generated with the Crimson.
 * Water Walking Potions, like the boots, let you walk on Honey.
 * Honeyfins heal more than the average Healing Potion and can prove valuable.