Hey, Raiders!

One of the biggest, most important updates of the year is nearing completion, and the time has come to reveal what’s going to be in it. Prepare to meet the Hydra! Yes, we’ve spent quite a while teasing this awesome new Clan Boss, and now we can finally confirm that it’s coming to Raid soon. “In the next several weeks” kind of soon, that is. We also realize a massive new Boss will require lots of trial-and-error when it comes to Team and Artifact compositions, so you’ll get a 50% discount on swapping Artifacts for 2 weeks after the Hydra launches! 

The Highlights below will recap the main mechanics you need to learn and provide a comprehensive list of Skills for each of the Hydra Heads. Read on to find out more!

New Clan Boss: The Hydra

The Hydra is a new Clan Boss that you’ll be able to access via the Clan Boss menu - you still have to be part of the Clan for that - which has been redesigned into a map where you can choose the Boss you wish to fight. Your old friend the Demon Lord is still there, of course. He and the Hydra have many similar principles when it comes to the basics. Namely, you get a limited number of Hydra Keys you’ll need to fight it and rack up as much damage as you can before the Hydra resets. You’ll get Reward Chests for reaching certain milestones, and depleting the Hydra’s HP will ensure everyone in the Clan who took part in those battles will get double rewards depending on the Difficulty. 

The difference between this and the old Demon Lord is that the Hydra resets once per week. You’ll get 3 keys to use in that period - that is something we’ve decided on to ensure players aren’t further overwhelmed by the number of things they have to do in Raid every day. Instead, you can choose your time whenever it’s convenient and still get your best results. And your best rewards! Like with the Demon Lord, players will get their Reward Chests after the Hydra resets. 

Also, you’ll have an option to end the battle early with the Free Regroup button. If you do so, whatever damage you’ve dealt won’t count, but you won’t lose your Hydra Key either, nor will you lock out the Champions you’ve used. That way, you can try out different tactics before going for the proverbial kill.

There are also a few things to remember when it comes to the fight itself. First, you’ll be facing a combination of 4 different Hydra Heads, with two more sitting on the sidelines. When you chop one of those Heads off, there’s a chance one of those two will take its place and change the combination you’re fighting. Keep that in mind as your strategy will need to be adjusted heavily depending on which Heads you have to face! Oh, and each month we’ll shuffle which Heads make the initial “team” for the Hydra as well as their Affinities.

On the bright side, you can bring 6 Champions at the same time, so you’ll have much greater flexibility when it comes to Champion combos and Team composition. There’s a catch though! You’ll only be able to use specific Champions once per Hydra cycle, meaning that once you’ve completed a Hydra Battle, you won’t be able to use the same Champions for the next one during that week. So do mind those duplicates, they’ll be quite handy if you really want to rely on specific Skills or combinations!

Each Head will have specific Skills, strengths, and weaknesses that you’ll see in the tables presented below. But there are also several universal mechanics to keep in mind. First, every so often the Hydra will Consume one of your Champions. When that happens, you need to focus all your efforts on the Head that did it and inflict a set amount of damage before time runs out. If you fail, your Champion will be lost, and no Block Damage, Unkillable, or other protective buffs are going to save them. Nor will you be able to revive them. If you succeed, the Champion will return to the fight.

Secondly, each Head has an HP bar. When that bar is depleted, the head is Decapitated and remains inactive for a little while - that is when you want to hit it. Any damage dealt to the Exposed Neck (that’s what the severed Head will be called until it grows back) takes an extra 200% of damage, which is exactly what you want to ensure the highest possible reward. On top of that, you also get unique bonuses called Decapitation Effect, which depend on which of the Heads you just swatted. It will grow back though - or it’ll be replaced by one of the two “extra” Heads from the roster - and it’ll get a buff called Serpent’s Will for one turn. That buff reduces all incoming damage by 75%.

New Buffs and Debuffs (mostly Hydra-specific)

  
 

Life Barrier - 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 restores its HP to MAX. 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 - Poison Cloud blocks damage from all hostile [Poison] effects. Additionally, every attack dealt against the Hydra Head under this buff counts as a Weak Hit. [HP Burn] debuffs cancel the effects of Poison Cloud. Champions whose Skills mean they do not land Weak Hits and Affinitybreaker Artifact Set can counter this effect as well. Poison Cloud cannot be removed, stolen, or otherwise affected by buff manipulation Skills.

  
 

Vengeance - Activates after the Head of Wrath suffers 15 hits, increases the Head’s damage by 300% for 1 turn and triggers an immediate AoE attack. Vengeance cannot be removed, stolen, or otherwise affected by buff manipulation Skills.

  
 

Stone Skin - Removes all debuffs from the Champion, makes them immune to all debuffs except Bombs, reduces incoming damage by 85%. Increases damage dealt by [Bomb] debuffs by 300%. Can be reset by dealing damage equal to 50% of the Champion’s MAX HP.

  
 

Serpent’s Will - Activates when a new Hydra Head grows in place of a decapitated one. Serpent’s Will decreases all incoming damage by 75%.

  
 

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 (though the Head of Suffering gets full damage from the incoming attack).

  
 

Petrification - Removes all buffs from the target Champion and blocks any other buffs from being applied while Petrification is active (but the Champion can still get debuffs). The target Champion skips their turn(s), the cooldown of their Skills does not get refreshed. Additionally, incoming damage is reduced by 60% except for damage dealt by [Bomb] debuffs - Bombs deal 300% more damage.

  
 

Decapitated - Activates when the HP of one of the Hydra’s Heads reaches 0. The head is removed and turns into Exposed Neck, it cannot act for a set number of turns and takes 200% more damage.

  
 

Mark of the Hydra - This is a special effect that marks a Champion for devouring. It cannot be blocked, removed, or otherwise manipulated. It is also not a debuff, and thus debuff limitations do not apply.

  
 

Digesting - Marks the Hydra Head that has devoured one of your Champions. The Head with this effect receives additional HP and a time counter - deal a set amount of damage before that counter runs out to return your Champion to the Battle. If you fail, the Champion is lost and cannot be revived or brought back by any other means.

That’s the basics for now! Keep in mind that we’re going to add more content for the Hydra in the coming months, including new Heads, so keep your eyes open for more teasers and announcements. All that’s left is to check out exactly what kind of beasts you’ll be facing in this first iteration!

Hydra Heads

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Hydra Rewards: Artifacts

On top of Clan Gold and other goodies, two brand new Artifact Sets will be available in the Hydra Reward Chests: Stone Skin and Protection. There are couple of unique things about these. First of all, you get bonuses for every single piece from that Set, meaning that you could have even one Artifact and still get something; secondly, these Artifacts also come in a brand new Mythical Rarity.

Mythical Artifacts start with all 4 Substats unlocked, but one of the Substats will be increased to the equivalent of a Level 4 Legendary Artifact - meaning you’ll be able to get a little bit more power from Mythical Artifacts than Legendary ones. It’s a small edge, but at the highest level, those small margins make a big difference.

Stone Skin Set (Bonuses stack)

1. Artifact: HP +8%
2. Artifacts: RES +40
3. Artifacts: DEF +15%
4. Artifacts: Champion gets the [Stone Skin] buff for 1 turn at the start of the round. This buff has a 50% chance of preventing Stone Skin from being removed or stolen. This prevention is rolled each time an enemy attempts to remove or steal the Stone Skin buff, so repeated attempts may succeed. 
5. Artifacts: DEF +15%.
6. Artifacts: Champion gets the [Stone Skin] buff for 2 turns at the start of the round. This buff has a 50% chance of preventing Stone Skin from being removed or stolen. This prevention is rolled each time an enemy attempts to remove or steal the Stone Skin buff, so repeated attempts may succeed.  

Stone Skin Buff: Makes the Champion immune to all debuffs, reduces incoming damage by 85%. Increases damage dealt by [Bomb] debuffs by 300%.

Protection Set

1. Artifact: RES +20
2. Artifacts: HP +15%
3. Artifacts: SPD +12%
4. Artifacts: +15% chance to place a Protected buff
5. Artifacts: SPD +12%
6. Artifacts: +15% chance to place a Protected buff

Note: Protected buffs cannot be stolen or removed.

Hydra Rewards: Mithrala Lifebane

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Miscellaneous

• We've decided to strengthen the Champion Aleksandr the Sharpshooter - the chance of placing Freeze on his A1 will increase from 35% to 50%, and the damage output of his A2 and A3 Skills will increase.