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- The Hydra is a weekly clan boss. You bring six champions, you face four heads at once with two more waiting, and your damage through the week fills your chest.
- You get about three keys per week, and the week resets once for the whole clan. Clans take their reset between roughly 08:00 and 13:00 UTC.
- Four difficulties: Normal, Hard, Brutal and Nightmare. Your chest depends on the damage you dealt on one difficulty.
- Each head has its own trick. The common thread: heads are immune to most crowd control, so teams win on damage, debuffs and blocking the heads' tricks.
- If the clan empties the Hydra's health bar, everyone's rewards double.
How the mode works
The Hydra is one of the three clan bosses, next to the Clan Boss and the Chimera. You need to be in a clan. The fight is a long battle against a Hydra whose heads you attack all at once, and your score is how much damage you dealt before your team fell. At the weekly reset, the clan's score and everyone's chests are paid out.
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Team | Six champions |
| Heads | Four heads fight at once. When one falls, a spare takes its place; there are two on the bench |
| Keys | About three per week (there is no daily key) |
| Difficulty | Normal, Hard, Brutal, Nightmare |
| Unlock | Reported at account level 45 |
Heads and rotation
The heads shown in the fight are four starters and two substitutes. They are reshuffled about once a month, and each head keeps its affinity for the month. The weekly reset renews the boss and your keys, but it does not change the heads. That means you can plan a team around this month's heads, and it stays correct for weeks.
Every head brings a rule you must handle. A few that guides single out:
- Head of Mischief
- Steals the buffs of whichever of your champions has the most. The usual answer is to keep a Block Buffs on it, so there is nothing to steal.
- Head of Decay
- Cleans debuffs off itself with one of its skills. Plan for damage that does not rely on a debuff staying on it for long.
- Head of Wrath
- Builds up a counter as the fight goes on. When it reaches 15, it hits with a very heavy attack that can wipe a team. Do not ignore the counter.
- Head of Torment
- Uses fear effects that make your champions lose their turns or their best skills. Block or cleanse them.
The devour mechanic
The Hydra can swallow one of your champions. The head that took them gets more health and a timer, and you must deal enough damage to it before the timer ends to get the champion back. If you fail, that champion is lost for the rest of the fight. Losing a champion lowers your damage and can cost you a chest tier.
This is why the sixth champion matters: it is the one you can afford to lose.
What a Hydra team needs
Hydra heads are immune to Stun, Freeze, Sleep and most other crowd control, so do not build around control. Build around damage and protection.
| Need | Why | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| Weaker enemies | Raises the damage every hit does and lowers the damage you take | Decrease DEF, Weaken |
| Damage over time | Keeps pressure on four heads at once | Poison, Poison Sensitivity, HP Burn |
| Control of buffs | Stops the heads' tricks that depend on buffs | Block Buffs |
| A way to survive | Heads attack hard and often | Remove debuffs, Continuous Heal, Ally Protection |
| A damage boost | Makes each hit count | Increase ATK |
Which heads are in the fight changes the plan. A month with a buff-stealing head asks for Block Buffs; a month with a fear head asks for cleansers.
Chests and rewards
Your chest depends on the total damage you dealt on one difficulty during the week. The reward screen shows each chest's damage line for your difficulty. Higher difficulties have both higher lines and better chests, and the clan's total decides whether the boss dies. If it does, the clan's rewards are doubled.
- Gear: Hydra chests are a source of the Protection and Stone Skin sets.
- Champion fragments: the chests can give fragments of the Legendary Mithrala Lifebane.
Practical rules
- Fight on a difficulty you survive on. A wipe near the start earns a low chest, and a clean, long run earns a high one.
- Do not move clans mid-week. Rewards are claimed from one clan only, and a change of clan locks you out of the clan bosses for a while (reported as six hours).
- Fight before the reset. Check your clan's reset time in the game, and spend all your keys before it.
Next: Chimera, the third clan boss.