Hey RAID players, in this blog post I share with you a 1 picture guide showing my team achieving 90M damage on Hydra Brutal including a lot of information about it.
If you want to skip the text just scroll down to the picture below - it is a large picture, feel free to zoom in and move around to see all aspects shown on the picture. Otherwise, continue reading below for various text explanations.
Hydra Brutal Guide by COSMOS
Team Composition 1:
There are mostly 2 types of compositions when it comes to Hydra: 4 support champions and 2 damage dealers (which is more common for beginners who struggle to stay alive) and 3 support champions with 3 damage dealers. This run is with the latter: 3 SUPPORT + 3 DMG.
Team Composition 2:
I noted on the picture the roles for each champion. This is also to help to choose alternatives if you want to adapt the team to your account. And I also explained about ALTS on the picture. Basically:
- All of the damage dealers can be replaced. What you will replace them with, of course, matters. You can't put a Rare Kael and expect to get the same result. So assuming you replace by a similar caliber all of them can be replaced. I would only recommend to try to bring at least someone with HP Burn as that will help against the Head of Blight if the Block Debuffs fails.
- MAX HP damage dealers would be the primary targets such as extra Husks or Royal Guards. Of course, if you have the cheat code (Acrizia) you don't need any guides.
- There are other unique damage dealers such as single target hitters which might need dedicated support such as the combination of Turvold and Mithrala. In this case you would switch to a 4 support + 2 damage dealer combination.
When it comes to support it is different:
- While damage dealers, most of the time, can be judged individually, the Support champions must be judged as a group.
- This is because the people who make Hydra teams think and plan for specific elements so you cannot just randomly replace one support - the whole team could fail.
- Instead, write down the things the group of supports must do for the team and if you need to replace then replace by another group that does the same.
To revive or not?
It is important to consider if you can build a team without Revive. The reason for this is because this opens up the possibility for much more damage if you don't need to worry about Reviving.
And it is not as simple as weak vs. strong equipment. It has more to do with the type of champions. For example if you compare Husk and Royal Guard, they will dish out similar damage but Royal Guard will die many times while it is very much possible to do an entire Hydra fight without Husk going down.
It is very difficult (but possible) to keep ATTACK-type champions alive.
Dealing with Hydra Heads
You need a plan to deal with them all. Often times less experienced RAID players will wine about a specific head, but when you play a full run until turn 246 as shown here, you will, 100%, end up dealing with all of Hydra Heads and multiple times at that.
There are regularly players complaining about not having Shamael, yet some of the top damage dealing teams don't use him!
Head of Torment
This Hydra run was done in Rotation #1 with the Head of Torment and, as you can see, I am not using Shamael. I dealt with this head by putting HP Burn on it and ignoring it most of the time. When Husk was not in fear (or cleansed 1 turn before his big Max HP smash was ready) he would help bring it down further. If the Fear debuff is on the plan is not to use any critical skill, use A1 and wait for the cleanse. This means watching and remembering when the critical skills are becoming ready!
Head of Mischief
Mischief Tank? Nope. I have no buffs to steal so he is free to steal nothing. OK there is a Speed-up sometimes, but I neither care if he steals that nor he manages with the Block Buffs from Uugo. So mostly I ignore this Head and don't see it as a threat unless it eats someone.
Mischief and Suffering are the most dangerous Heads in the game when you are on a high Turn count. Mischief because it is fast and Suffering because it is fat. So the plan is always to ignore them unless they will be eating your champions.
Head of Suffering
As mentioned above, completely ignore it. I don't see it as a threat at all and am happy to have that Head appearing as it means I will only have 3 opponents.
Head of Decay
This is probably the most dangerous Hydra Head. Therefore I have 3 champions in Provoke sets to keep it domesticated. Once in a rare blue moon it manages to Cleanse which is not a major issue but if all the stars align for the Hydra it can end the battle. Therefore Provoke takes priority over HP Burn.
Head of Blight
The least dangerous Head for this Team. HP Burns can bypass the Poison Cloud and Block Buffs prevents it. On top of that this Head helps to deal more damage to the Hydra via the HP Burn mechanic.
I completely ignore this Head unless it eats a champion.
Head of Wrath
The best friend you can have with this Team! Yes, I know this is a surprising statement for some players. But managing it correctly and triggering his big attack helps to both release eaten champions and to dish out more damage to the Hydra!
It is important however not to overdo it. The healing capacity is limited - you can't just constantly trigger it.
Hydra Brutal Guide by COSMOS - 1 picture guide / collage
Other / Reference:
This Hydra run was done in Rotation #1 with the Head of Torment. Here the pictures:
This was especially for those who complain about not having Shamael.