Hydra
Clan · 6 champions
The Fight▾
You fight 4 of the month's 6 heads at once; a decapitated head regrows from the rotation pool (2 substitutes), and heads + affinities reshuffle monthly. Decapitation: 0 HP → Exposed Neck (can't act, takes +200%) → regrows under Serpent's Will (unremovable −75% dmg until its first turn). Consumption: at battle start your HIGHEST-C.DMG champ gets Mark of the Hydra (20-count, −1 per head turn, unblockable); at 0 the next head devours them — clear the green digestion bar (150k Normal / 250k Hard / 350k Brutal / 400k NM) within ~5 head turns or they're digested (gone, no revive); each devour re-marks a RANDOM champ with a shorter countdown — that's why you bring 6. Head playbook: Torment = True Fear on any attacker not under Veil (bypasses RES/Block Debuffs); Decay = Heal Reduction + Speed of Decay (cleanses ALL heads + fills their TM 30%) — Provoke blocks it, the classic pin; Mischief = buff/TM steal + 75% chance to redirect your attacks onto another head unless the target is Hexed; Wrath = Vengeance stack per HIT taken → AoE dump (avoid multi-hit spam); Blight = Poison/Leech, takes DOUBLE HP Burn damage, and its Poison Cloud blocks YOUR Poison damage on all heads; Suffering = unavoidable Weaken + Pain Link, +50 RES to all heads, −30% AoE damage. A control-and-sustain marathon: Provoke + Veil + Block Buffs + heavy ACC + HP Burn/steady damage. Realistic target: Normal→Hard now, Brutal as gear deepens.
Team
Gwyndolin the SilentF6★. AoE Dec SPD + Leech + Dec ACC, A3 Inc ACC + steals Block Debuffs, A1 50% chance to extend ALL debuffs; C.DMG scales off ACC, so the ACC wall double-pays—
Ostrox BoneglaiveVFull-uptime AoE Block Buffs + AoE Inc ACC 50% (pays the Suffering +50 RES surcharge) + cleanse + debuff reflect. Only non-6★ seat (4★, priority #9) — gear Speed/ACC now—
GeomancerF6★. HP Burn deals DOUBLE to Blight and ticks through Serpent's Will; A2 steals back what Mischief takes; A3 TM steal + Weaken—
ValkanenV6★. Single-target nuke (ignores Shield/Unkillable/Block Dmg) for the +200% neck window and the 150–250k green-bar rescue; his ~250% C.DMG deliberately takes the opening Consumption mark — planned rescue, not avoidance. Disable A3 on auto—
VogothS6★. A2 Provoke + Dec ATK locks Decay's Speed of Decay (mass head-cleanse + 30% TM); passive heals allies 50% of damage he takes + Leech; huge HP, near-zero C.DMG—
Rector DrathS6★. Veil is the ONLY counter to Torment's True Fear (it bypasses RES and Block Debuffs); heal engine for the marathon—Affinity
Heads AND their affinities reshuffle monthly; you can't pick which 4 you face. Affinity only governs hit strength/weak-hit rolls — debuff landing is pure ACC vs head RES (Normal: highest base RES ~140 → ~215 ACC incl. the +50 while Suffering is up; scales per difficulty). This core spans Force/Void/Spirit with no stacked weak-affinity risk. Check the rotation each month: Torment up → lead Rector's Veil; Blight up → Geomancer feasts (double HP Burn) but Poison damage is blocked; Mischief up → stay buff-light or bring Hex (Akemtum).
Levers
- ›ACC first: ~215 for Normal (165 base + 50 Suffering surcharge), rising per difficulty — but Ostrox's AoE Inc ACC 50% covers the surcharge, so gear debuffers to ~165–180 and retune as you climb. Gwyndolin's C.DMG scales off ACC, so she double-dips.
- ›SPD 211+ on everyone — the fastest head is 210 SPD; Hydra is a per-champ speed check, not a TM race. High Khatun swaps in if bodies can't reach it.
- ›Consumption plan: Valkanen eats the opening mark (20-count, −1 per head turn); the team must reliably burst 150k (Normal) / 250k (Hard) on the digestion bar inside ~5 head turns — after every devour the mark goes RANDOM and the countdown shrinks, so never field a body you can't rescue.
- ›Playbook discipline: Vogoth Provokes Decay on cooldown; never hit Torment un-Veiled; burn Blight, don't poison it (Poison Cloud blocks Poison damage); don't feed Wrath multi-hit spam (Vengeance per hit); cleanse Suffering's Weaken (Ostrox/Doompriest).
- ›Decapitation timing: dump Valkanen + Gwyndolin extra turns into Exposed Neck (+200%, head can't act); the regrown head sits at −75% (Serpent's Will) until its turn, so DoTs (HP Burn/Leech) do the chipping there.
- ›Build/gate order + keys: five seats are already 6★ — only Ostrox (4★) gates the core; next Hydra investments are Umbral Enchantress (provoke upgrade) and Akemtum (Hex = the Mischief answer). 3 keys/week × 6 champs, each champ usable in ONE key — the Second-Key alt is roster #2; key 3 is filler (Corpulent Cadaver, Teryx, Jizoh, Acolyte) until the roster deepens.
Swaps
- Aox the RemembererF
AoE Dec ATK 50% + TM cut + debuff-extension passive + heal (6★) — first body in when Wrath pressure beats burst; otherwise the key-2 anchor
- Umbral EnchantressV
AoE 2-turn Provoke + AoE Block Buffs + self-Unkillable (Hydra 5, priority #8) — the provoke upgrade over Vogoth once built
- AkemtumV
[Hex] is THE Mischief counter (stops the 75% attack-redirect) + poison/debuff spread (Hydra 5, priority #2) — build target; note Blight mutes his poison half
- High KhatunS
Speed lead (5★) if the team can't hit 211 SPD on their own boots
- Stag KnightS
AoE Dec DEF 60% + Dec ATK 50% in one body — damage-amp swap / key-2 core (new)
- EndaliaM
Reactive Provoke + HP-scaled AoE Dec ATK — budget provoke alternative that doesn't spend a 6★ (new)
- Woad-PaintedS
AoE debuff-strip + 100% self-heal with overheal spill + Reflect — sustain swap vs Blight/Suffering debuff spam (new)
- SachiF
AoE Dec ACC + 50% team ATK + TM-on-crit + revive passive — key-2 support; keep her buffs away from Mischief rotations (new)
- DjamarsaF
Heal + TM + full-team revive + cooldown reduction (Hydra 5) — revive insurance (revive works on deaths, not digested champs)
- DoompriestF
Bookless per-turn cleanse + heal — auto-strips Suffering's Weaken and Blight's poisons (new)
- Corpulent CadaverS
5★ Rare, bestFor Hydra — self-shield Provoke nuker and natural high-RES Mischief-tank build; key-3 filler, not core
- HotatsuM
Hydra 4 (both sources): AoE 50% Dec ATK across the heads, Leech on the A1, team Inc DEF/heal + DEF aura — survivability engine for longer keys.
- Wyrennon the SilkenS
Revive (50% HP/30% TM) answers a head kill + team TM/Inc SPD tempo; Hydra 3.
Alternative Comps
Ideal (fully built)
dream teamIf every owned champ were 6★ + geared — the build-goal lineup.
Full head coverage: Gwyndolin glue + Geomancer burn (Blight) + Ostrox Block Buffs/ACC + Umbral AoE Provoke (Decay) & Block Buffs + Akemtum Hex (Mischief) + Rector Veil (Torment). Valkanen/Aox are the first rotation-flex bodies (burst vs Dec ATK). Still to 6★: Ostrox, Umbral, Akemtum.
Second Key
second rosterEach champ can fight in only ONE of the 3 weekly keys — this is the key-2 lineup from the remaining bench.
Aox Dec ATK/extension anchor (6★), Umbral Provoke + Block Buffs (until she graduates to the ideal core), Stag Knight Dec DEF/ATK amp, Katonn damage + Heal Red + strip, Djamarsa sustain/revive, Khatun tempo. No Veil — expect Normal, worse into Torment rotations. Bench flex: Sachi, Woad-Painted, Endalia, Doompriest, Tramaria.