For many months, Hydra and specifically Hydra Clash has been a hot topic amongst all creators and players. Where once teams using Corpulant Cadaver were able to reach extremely high damage, Trunda Giltmallet has come along and blown all of the previous records out of the water. Now with the release of Wixwell and mechanics around shields, we see even more teams utilising mechanics that were not intended for Hydra.
Plarium have today announced their intentions to update Hydra Clash in response to these teams. Let’s check it out.
Plarium’s Announcement
Hey, Raiders! It’s been quite a while since we commented on the current state of Hydra in general and Hydra Clash in particular. This topic remains hot, and we need to clarify our position and intentions towards this mighty creature. We acknowledge that Hydra Clash currently doesn’t work as intended and is off-balance as a game mode. Here goes a heads up as to what directions we prioritize to alleviate the issue
- Modifying Hydra’s general battle mechanics. Some Champions are great but become extraordinary when fighting Hydra specifically, which indicates that the issue is rather with the Hydra’s mechanics itself first and foremost. Thus, we’re considering tweaking Hydra’s overarching mechanics as a boss overall;
- Changes to the Hydra Clash competition that would make fighting Hydra on higher difficulties more appealing in terms of the number of Hydra Clash points, for instance – adjusting point multipliers. On the other hand, putting a cap on maximum damage or number of Hydra Clash points for each difficulty level looks a bit heavy-handed and so is not in our plans currently;
- Rebalancing specific Champions, but only when Hydra Clash mode and Hydra as a boss are adjusted and only if Champion rebalance is still necessary at that point.
- Consolation rewards for being ranked 4th or 5th in the Hydra Clash;
The list of the directions outlined above may be changed or even expanded depending on the on-the-ground reality of their implementation. The game design team is already testing possible solutions and we will be glad to announce the actual changes when the testing is over. Until then, we just wanted to share our point of view on the issue and how we are going to approach it.
What does this mean?
For a while we have played with the knowledge that Trunda is somewhat approved by Plarium. They have previously announced they had no intention of reworking Trunda’s skills to make her less effective in Hydra. These changes announced today follows this position but its hard not to see that any future system they implement will result in changes to the Trunda teams. Let’s break down their points individually
Hydra Mechanic Changes
For the first time, we have a public acknowledgement from Plarium that the root cause of the issue lies with the core mechanics of Hydra. The decapitation bonus of 200% increased damage allows for extreme damage numbers with all the recent power creep, mythical champion releases and powerful variable artifact sets. These allow players to often bypass core mechanics that you would normally need to build a team around such as bringing Block Buffs or Decrease Attack.
In the most extreme cases, Hydra Heads are being decapitated whilst they hold the Serpents Will buff which reduces incoming damage by 75%. We think these will be the mechanics Plarium review in order to ensure the boss mechanics matter.
With any change to mechanics there is always a significant risk that the players less fortunate with the luck of the shard pull and those taking their first steps into the halls of the Hydra Lair will be affected negatively. We hope Plarium ensure that any change doesn’t punish these players without at least granting some changes back to assist people in their efforts to progress in this area.
You can read more about what Saphyrra’s thoughts are in terms of rebalancing the boss mechanics below.
Hydra Clash Changes
One of the core issues with Hydra Clash is that many of the teams that can exploit the decapitation bonus are capable of dealing greater clash scores on Normal difficulty than typical Nightmare teams. Clash is designed to incentivise pushing the highest difficulties with the most damage which makes this feature of Clash problematic for their original design.
Plarium have confirmed what many of us considered to be a potential solution which was to increase the points multiplier to add value to higher difficulties. Its hard to imagine this being possible without first fundementally fixing the first issue as current extreme teams on Nightmare for Trunda and Yannica are capable of achieving billions of damage.
One suggestion we have seen delivered in comments across the community is the concept of Capping Hydra Clash scores. It seems Plarium has decided this would not be a viable solution and we agree. The issue with a cap would mean that players would instead chase the cap rather than chase a more powerful team. With the current crazy numbers it would be pretty quick for players to achieve their cap. Whilst this reduces the amount of time we may spend in Hydra each week – it creates the challenges of tie breakers. It makes sense that Plarium are seeking alternative solutions.
Rewards!
It was one of the worst concepts in Hydra Clash – If your clan failed to come top 3 in your clash you simply earnt nothing for your efforts. This was a highly demoralising experience and often led to clans attempting to manipulate matchmaking to ensure a favourable matchup. Clearly this needed to change and Plarium have confirmed that every rank will now receive rewards from Hydra Clash.
Whilst any reward is better than no reward – we hope Plarium provide a reward that is not extremely poor for players. Considering Hydra Clash is the only source for Accessories for Stoneskin and Protection, this change could see a massive increase in the potential builds players could run in Arena or even their Hydra Teams.
It is good to see that Plarium are not approaching these changes with a simple ban hammer to Trunda and Wixwell. They are considering a holistic approach to system in order to provide a better experience for all players whether you are end-game pushing the heights of Clash or taking your first steps in Hydra.
