Basics
The Hydra is a Clan Boss fight available only to Clan Members. The Hydra can be found on the Clan Bosses Map after selecting the “Clan Bosses” Game Mode.
Note: The Hydra unlocks at Level 45. If you join a new Clan after leaving another, you must wait 6 hours before you are able to fight the Hydra again.
Hydra Battles
Similar to the Demon Lord, Hydra battles are a fight for your team to survive as long as possible and deal as much damage as you can along the way. For Hydra fights, you’ll be taking 6 Champions into battle, and you’ll be fighting 4 Hydra heads at the same time.
Each Champion can only be used in one Hydra battle per week, so you’ll need to utilize your entire Collection if you want to master the Hydra.
Hydra Head Selection
The Hydra’s Head setup will change on a regular basis, which means you need to build a flexible team that can handle almost any situation.
Monthly Rotations
The Hydra takes 6 Heads into battle, but you’ll only be fighting 4 at once. Here’s how it works:
- The Hydra works in monthly Rotations and weekly reset cycles.
- Every month, 4 of the Hydra’s total available Heads will be chosen as the “Starter Heads” for that month.
- 2 of the remaining Heads will be chosen as the “Substitute” heads for that month.*
- Each Head will also be assigned an Affinity for that Rotation.
- In every Hydra battle that month, the 4 Starter Heads and 2 Substitute Heads (and their Affinities) will be the same.
*Note: Right now, there are a total of 6 Hydra Heads, so every Head will be included in every Rotation. However, in the future, when more Hydra Heads are released, some Hydra Heads will be left out of each Rotation - and there will be a fresh challenge every month.
Weekly Cycles
Players will then fight the Hydra across weekly cycles to win Hydra Chests.
Each Hydra battle requires 1 Hydra Key. You will receive 3 Hydra Keys per week. You’ll be given your 3 Keys every Wednesday between 08:00 and 13:00 UTC. The time will vary slightly for each Clan, but it will be within that time frame.
The Hydra also resets every Wednesday between 08:00 and 13:00 UTC, and the number of Hydra Chests each player receives depends on the outcome of that week’s Hydra battles:
- If the Hydra is damaged but survives, each contributing Clan Member will receive one Hydra Chest according to the damage they dealt individually.
- If a Clan defeats the Hydra (by fully depleting its HP), each contributing Clan Member will receive two Hydra Chests according to the damage they dealt.
Pro tip: You can experiment with different team builds and strategies without using a Hydra Key. Hit pause when in Battle and select "Free Regroup" to head straight back to the Team Selection screen. Exiting a battle this way won't keep your score from the current battle, and you'll be able to immediately try again with a completely different team.
You can also re-run a completed Battle for free by selecting the same option on the Result screen. You can choose to Save and accept your score, or to Regroup and try again for free. This lets you tweak and refine your strategy without wasting Keys.
Clan Members must work together to deal damage to the Hydra. Each Clan Member fights individually, but their damage scores are added together to wear down the Hydra’s HP. The more damage each Clan Member deals, the better the Hydra Chest they will receive at the end of the week.
Once the Hydra’s HP has been fully depleted on any given difficulty, the next difficulty will be unlocked. Players can only fight the Hydra on higher difficulties if their Clan successfully defeats the Boss on the previous difficulty.
Once a new difficulty is unlocked, it is permanently unlocked for that Clan. There are currently 4 difficulties available:
- Normal
- Hard
- Brutal
- Nightmare
Hydra Clash
The Hydra Clash is a competition where 5 Clans fight to deal the most damage to the Hydra. If a player’s Clan finishes in the top 3, and the player earns at least 35M Clash Points, they will get powerful rewards. Players earn Clash Points by damaging the Hydra. The Hydra Clash is held every week, and is connected to the Hydra’s weekly cycles.
Participation Requirements
To participate in the Hydra Clash, a Clan must have at least 10 players who are Level 45 or above, and must have earned at least 50 Clan Activity Stars during the 7 days before the start of the upcoming Hydra Clash (before 10:00 UTC of the day when the Hydra Clash starts).
A player who wants to take part in the Hydra Clash must be in a Clan that has met these requirements, and have also reached Level 45. If a player and their Clan have met these conditions, they will be able to take part in the next Hydra Clash.
‘Ineligible’ Status
Players who are part of a Clan but have not met all of the above requirements will be ineligible for the Hydra Clash, as shown by the word “Ineligible” next to their name. Players who meet the participation requirements after a Hydra Clash has started will remain ineligible to earn Clash Points for the current Hydra Clash. They will be able to take part in the next Hydra Clash.
Duration
Each Hydra Clash lasts 7 days, starting at 14:00 UTC on Wednesday and ending at 08:00 UTC the following Wednesday. Between 08:00 UTC to 14:00 UTC, the Hydra Clash resets and Clans are matched up against 4 other Clans for the next Hydra Clash. Damage dealt to the Hydra during this time is not counted towards the Hydra Clash.
Clash Points
Players earn Clash Points by damaging the Hydra. The number of Clash Points earned depends on the amount of damage dealt to the Hydra, and the difficulty of the Hydra battle.
The first Key spent on each difficulty during the Hydra Clash will have a Clash Points Multiplier applied. For every subsequent Key spent on that difficulty, the standard 1x multiplier will be applied.
The total number of Clash Points earned is updated on the Hydra Clash tab every 30 seconds.
Please note that the amount of damage you dealt and the Clash Points you earned, displayed in the Hydra Clash interface, are rounded up. Rewards are given based on the full total number of Clash Points. The full number for the damage you dealt and the Clash Points you earned in a battle can be seen in a special tooltip in the Battle Results window.
Rewards
If a player earned more than 35M Clash Points and their Clan finished in one of the top 3 positions, they will earn rewards from Hydra Clash Chests. These Hydra Clash Chests can include Clan Gold & Clan XP, Primal Quartz, Mythical Skill Tomes, and Avatar Frames, as well as Rare, Epic, Legendary, or Mythical Stone Skin or Protection Accessories.
Different Hydra Clash Chests are available depending on which position a Clan finishes in, and the final Chest rewarded to a player depends on how much damage they personally dealt to the Hydra.
This table shows how many Clash Points are needed to get a certain Hydra Clash Chest depending on a Clan’s position:
When the Hydra Clash ends, players will be able to claim the rewards that they have earned. The Hydra Clash tab will not refresh until a player has claimed their rewards. If a player leaves their Clan or is removed while they have an unclaimed reward, it will be automatically sent to the player’s Inbox.
Milestone Rewards
Milestone Rewards are earned individually by each player as they earn personal Clash Points. These personal Clash Points are accumulated and are not reset at the end of weekly cycles, after monthly Rotations, or the end of the Hydra Clash.
If the player has claimed all Milestone Rewards, their personal Clash Points will be reset in the next weekly cycle, and the player will be able to start earning the Milestone Rewards again from scratch. If the player continues earning Clash Points during the current weekly cycle after having reached the last Milestone Reward, the Clash Points will be reset anyway in the new weekly cycle.
If the player reaches the last Milestone Reward but doesn't claim some of the Milestone Rewards until the end of the weekly cycle, the player's personal Clash Points will be reset in the next weekly cycle, and the unclaimed rewards will be sent to their Inbox.
If the player leaves their Clan while having any unclaimed Milestone Rewards, they will be sent to their Inbox, and the player's Milestone Rewards progress will be saved, meaning that they can pick up from where they left off in the new Clan.
Hydra Boss Mechanics
The Hydra brings six different heads into battle, each one with its own mechanics and strategies, but you’ll only be fighting 4 of those 6 heads at once.
Each battle will start against the 4 "Starter Heads" for that Rotation, while the other 2 will sit on the sidelines waiting to be tagged in if you manage to decapitate any Heads.
You can take up to 6 Champions to battle with the Hydra.
There are a few mechanics that are unique to Hydra:
Devouring, Digestion, Consumption
At the start of the battle, one enemy Champion will be marked with a Mark of the Hydra debuff with a 20-turn countdown. After those 20 turns, that Champion will be devoured by the Head that moves next. If one Champion has a Taunt buff, and another has the Mark of the Hydra debuff, the Devouring skill will ignore Taunt.
Once devoured, the Hydra Head will begin digesting that Champion and a 5-turn digestion countdown will begin. If the digestion countdown reaches the minimum of 2 turns, the extra health the Hydra receives when Digesting a Champion increases. You can save your Champion by attacking the Head that has devoured them; if you deal enough damage to the Head before they are fully digested, you will set them free and they will rejoin your team. If you don't, they will be consumed. Once consumed, they cannot be revived or be returned to the battle.
Once a Champion has been devoured, or if a marked Champion dies, another Champion will be marked.
Threat escalation
- Each subsequent time a Champion is marked, the countdown until devouring decreases by 1 turn (to a minimum of 2 turns)
- Each subsequent time a Champion is devoured, the digestion countdown decreases by 1 turn (to a minimum of 2 turns)
- Each subsequent time a Champion is devoured after the minimum digestion countdown of 2 turns is reached, the extra health the Hydra receives when Digesting a Champion increases on each devour:
1-4 devours - no changes
5th devour - extra HP granted by Digesting effect + bonus HP depending on difficulty
6th devour - extra HP granted by Digesting effect + 2x bonus HP depending on difficulty
7th devour - extra HP granted by Digesting effect + 3x bonus HP depending on difficulty
8th devour - extra HP granted by Digesting effect + 4x bonus HP depending on difficulty
Note: the bonus HP received will continue to increase on each devour, until the Hydra fight ends.
Decapitation
Once a Hydra Head's HP hits zero, it will be decapitated and become an Exposed Neck, with an entirely new set of skills and mechanics, including its own HP bar, equal to the combined HP of two Hydra Heads. A new random Hydra Head will grow out of the Exposed Neck after 2 turns or if the Exposed Neck is killed.
The Head that grows back may be the same Head that was chopped off, or it may be one of the available Substitute Heads. On lower difficulties, the same Head is likely to grow back, but on higher difficulties, there is a higher chance that a different Head will grow back, changing the battle entirely.
Hydra-specific Buffs and Debuffs
The Hydra possesses some unique buffs and debuffs that aren’t found anywhere else in the game.
Life Barrier - The Head of Decay places this buff. The Hydra Head’s HP is reinforced with a Shield-like effect; however, Life Barrier takes priority over active Shield buffs. Any damage directed at the Head with this buff will be subtracted from the Life Barrier value first before the Head’s HP is affected. If Life Barrier is not depleted within a set number of turns, the Head under this buff will be fully healed. If Life Barrier is depleted, the Head is Stunned for 1 turn. Life Barrier cannot be removed, stolen, or otherwise affected by buff manipulation Skills.
Poison Cloud - The Head of Blight places this buff. Poison Cloud blocks damage from all hostile Poison debuffs. Additionally, every attack against a Hydra Head under this buff counts as a Weak Hit. HP Burn debuffs cancel the effects of Poison Cloud, allowing Poison debuffs to deal damage and attacks to hit normally. Champion Skills that specify what kind of hit they deliver, as well as the Affinitybreaker Artifact Set, can counter this effect. Poison Cloud cannot be removed, stolen, or otherwise affected by Skills that manipulate buffs.
Vengeance - The Head of Wrath uses this buff. While it is active, all of its attacks deal 400% damage. Vengeance cannot be removed, stolen, or otherwise affected by Skills that manipulate buffs.
Pain Link - Creates a link between the Head of Suffering and a target Champion. The target Champion receives 15% of all damage that the Head of Suffering receives. This damage is duplicated, not shifted - the Head of Suffering still takes full damage.
Decapitated - When you kill a Hydra Head, you cut it off, leaving behind an Exposed Neck with this debuff. An Exposed Neck cannot act for several turns, and takes 200% damage. The Decapitated debuff cannot be removed or otherwise affected by Skills that manipulate debuffs.
Serpent’s Will - When a new Hydra Head grows in place of an Exposed Neck, the Head gains this buff until the Head gets a turn. Serpent’s Will decreases all incoming damage by 100%. Serpent’s Will cannot be removed, stolen, or otherwise affected by Skills that manipulate buffs. If two new Hydra Heads appear on the same turn, only one receives a Serpent's Will buff. Also, up to 3 Serpent's Will buffs can be present simultaneously in a battle.
Hydra Chests
Attacking the Hydra gets you Hydra Chests. Hydra Chests are given out to players at the end of the weekly cycle. The more damage you dealt to the Hydra that week, and the harder the difficulty, the more valuable your Hydra Chest.
Hydra Chests contain some Clan resources such as Clan Gold and Clan XP, but most importantly, they are the only way of winning Stone Skin and Protection Artifact Sets. They are both Variable Sets, meaning that you will gain extra bonuses depending on how many of them you equip. Also, both are available in Mythical Rarity, which is even rarer - and stronger - than Legendary.
Quick Battle
Quick Battle is an optional feature for players who want to fight the Hydra, but do not want to watch the whole battle play out in real-time.
When using Quick Battle, the game will run a Hydra battle as if the player was playing in Auto mode - but the battle will take a matter of seconds to complete. Team presets and general Hydra battle mechanics remain the same as if the player was running the battle normally in Auto mode. Once a player has initiated a Quick Battle, they cannot interfere with the battle until it finishes.
Note: Calculation of the Hydra Quick Battle result may take up to several minutes, depending on the number of turns your team can survive.
Players can use Quick Battle a limited number of times during one weekly cycle. After the cycle is over, the number of Quick Battles resets automatically. It is possible to discard a Quick Battle result without spending a Hydra Key.
Unlocking Quick Battle
The Quick Battle feature is available for all Hydra difficulties. However, a player must first unlock Quick Battle on each difficulty in order to use it.
To unlock Quick Battle, a player needs to deal a set amount of damage using a single Hydra Key. The amount of damage needed to unlock Quick Battle corresponds to the amount of damage needed to receive the highest value Hydra Chest on that particular difficulty.
It is possible to unlock Quick Battle for several Hydra difficulties at once. For example, if a player achieves the Quick Battle unlock conditions on Brutal, it will also unlock Quick Battle on all Hydra difficulties below Brutal.