Why didnt you guys tell me Hydroid was so badA**?

[Hypernaut1]

He was one of the frames that people said were terrible...so i avoided crafting him until last week. Holy crap...he is good! He may not be OP (i dont like OP frames anyway), but his kit is really good and i can take him into all content with ease. I dont know how much his rework helped, but the current Hydroid has quickly become one of my favorite frames.  I always considered him slow, but he's actually a fast frame that can zoom past others on the plains. His CC isnt complete lock-down, but its still good. IMO, this is how all CC should be, it shouldn't be brain dead lockdown anyway. Its fair. I use all 4 of his abilities frequently, his kit has good synergy and i dont mean because they are dependent either. I just played an eximus sortie, and as they were about to flood and overwhelm the room i drowned about 20 of them in an instant and killed them soon after. 

anyway...this is just a shoutout to all the other Hyrdroid fans out there. Currently i run him with corroding barrage and curative undertow. You guys have any other tips for a good Hydroid build?

edit: my biggest issue with Hydroid currently is that his prime doesn't have water tendrils for his 4!!! WHY DE? WHY??? they look so much better!

Edited December 25, 2017 by Hypernaut1

[Fallen_Echo]

17 minutes ago, Hypernaut1 said:

He was one of the frames that people said were terrible...so i avoided crafting him until last week. Holy crap...he is good! He may not be OP (i dont like OP frames anyway), but his kit is really good and i can take him into all content with ease. I dont know how much his rework helped, but the current Hydroid has quickly become one of my favorite frames.  I always considered him slow, but he's actually a fast frame that can zoom past others on the plains. His CC isnt complete lock-down, but its still good. IMO, this is how all CC should be, it shouldn't be brain dead lockdown anyway. Its fair. I use all 4 of his abilities frequently, his kit has good synergy and i dont mean because they are dependent either. I just played an eximus sortie, and as they were about to flood and overwhelm the room i drowned about 20 of them in an instant and killed them soon after. 

anyway...this is just a shoutout to all the other Hyrdroid fans out there. Currently i run him with corroding barrage and curative undertow. You guys have any other tips for a good Hydroid build?

edit: my biggest issue with Hydroid currently is that his prime doesn't have water tendrils for his 4!!! WHY DE? WHY??? they look so much better!

Okay in short:

His first is rng based and the charge mode made it clunkier to use, overall worthless if you dont have the augement for it.

His second is an uncontrolable escape skill what deals some damage. Worthless without the augement.

His third is a good area denial skill what locks you down. You can move with it but that drains energy so its the best to stay put and reel in the badguys.

His ult is rng based, deals low damage and makes it harder to kill targets. The chargemode has the same problems as his first.

 

These are the main problems with it.

[Baterial]

best part of him is that he was better and worse

better coz he could evaporate toughest enemies in 2-3 seconds

bad part was bug which appeared after when DE started to "fixing" him, when used corroding barrage we could kill ourselves

 

[-Temp0-]

There's nothing good about him or his "cc" and he hasn't changed that much, he always was used to "jump in the puddle and afk" near-a-point-in-interception-frame which alsmost ceased to exist since the puddle was nerfed and was made vulnerable to energy leeches. Now he can just afk anywhere he wants + some additional armor stripping that no one needs or wants, just like Oberon basically.

Actually now Oberon might be better than this.

[(PSN)marshb863]

@op, welcome to the club! He's my go to when I go on sorties. With corroding barrage and the healing puddle augments, I lost count how many revives I done or saved the day! Also, carry the Arca Plasmor.  ;-)

[DrBorris]

I am just here laughing that people have not yet caught on that Hydroid is now a caster and that sitting in his puddle afk is the worst way to play him (although it does work well if you want to be lazy while farming Interceptions). I am moving around while using Hydroid more than many other frames, capitalizing on his spammy CC and incredible movement. 

 

Yes OP, Hydroid is good fun, and potent too. Yeah, he is not "better" than other frames because he takes a lot more effort to do what other frames can do, but that does not mean he can't do the things. 

It is a lot like Banshee. She is squishy af and there are other options that can yield similar results, but you can also use Banshee in a way that she is neigh unkillable while dealing stupid amounts of damage.

 

Just because something is harder it does not mean it is worse, which is something this community has trouble grasping sometimes. 

[Mousarchy]

Op you actually awnsered your own post. "sure hes not OP" and thats why most players hate him.
of course it was worst before his rework..when his 1 was unreliable and his 4 was just obnoxious. and his 3 didnt really do much dmg.
but still. people have a tier list. you have loki/nova/trinity that are awsome...then you have everyone else.
as an oberon main ive had to deal with the snickering and bickering about playing a frame.
i also have a 20 page pdf on "things ive been called an F'in noob" for during sorties...37 being taking a zephyr into a corpus sortie defense. number 45 taking a mag into a corpus defense on the moon. 
just you be you OP...play whats fun...because in the end...everything in this game (for the most part) works for "endgame" so until you start going for endurance runs...then dont listen to anyone else's opinion but yours. Stay true to your free spirit. and enjoy what you enjoy.

[Vryheid]

Hydroid is my favorite frame to play because he's extremely versatile, being able to be specced to fill a number of roles well while still requiring a decent degree of skill to play. After playing some braindead frames like Trinity and Loki I like to feel like I'm putting in some effort once in a while and frames like Hydroid fit the bill. All of Hydroid's abilities are useful and have their distinct roles but have clear weaknesses, such as Undertow being extremely vulnerable to Leech Eximus/Nullifiers and Tentacle Swarm only being able to target a limited number of enemies at once. Also, his augments all fit naturally with his kit and allow him to perform useful functions such as group healer or armor-stripper without preventing him from being the crowd control monster that he's naturally great at. He's also one of the two best frames in the game for increasing loot drops, something that anyone trying to get clan research done will find invaluable. Finally, he scales well to high levels (crowd control always being useful and Undertow being able to deal massive damage on high level units). If you know how to mitigate damage and manage energy well, Hydroid is an excellent support and caster that can act as the glue for the rest of the team.

Anyone claiming Hydroid is best just camping in undertow all mission clearly doesn't know what they're talking about, while this may have been the case back before his frame was reworked he needs to constantly be relocating and positioning himself intelligently to be effective at higher level missions. Personally I like to use Undertow as an opportunity to both fire off supercharged Tentacle Swarms and heal my shields back to full, only staying underwater for more than a few seconds when I know a specific point needs to be temporarily blockaded for the objective.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Vryheid

[Mousarchy]

6 minutes ago, Vryheid said:

Hydroid is my favorite frame to play because he's extremely versatile, being able to be specced to fill a number of roles well while still requiring a decent degree of skill to play. After playing some braindead frames like Trinity and Loki I like to feel like I'm putting in some effort once in a while and frames like Hydroid fit the bill. All of Hydroid's abilities are useful and have their distinct roles but have clear weaknesses, such as Undertow being extremely vulnerable to Leech Eximus/Nullifiers and Tentacle Swarm only being able to target a limited number of enemies at once. Also, his augments all fit naturally with his kit and allow him to perform useful functions such as group healer or armor-stripper without preventing him from being the crowd control monster that he's naturally great at. He's also one of the two best frames in the game for increasing loot drops, something that anyone trying to get clan research done will find invaluable. Finally, he scales well to high levels (crowd control always being useful and Undertow being able to deal massive damage on high level units). If you know how to mitigate damage and manage energy well, Hydroid is an excellent support and caster that can act as the glue for the rest of the team.

Anyone claiming Hydroid is best just camping in undertow all mission clearly doesn't know what they're talking about, while this may have been the case back before his frame was reworked he needs to constantly be relocating and positioning himself intelligently to be effective at higher level missions. Personally I like to use Undertow as an opportunity to both fire off supercharged Tentacle Swarms and heal my shields back to full, only staying underwater for more than a few seconds when I know a specific point needs to be temporarily blockaded for the objective.

person man understands they droid.
ya im the same way. (i used to run double augments before he got an armor buff) but ya. its nice to jsut change out my augments whenever i do a different mission type. high grineer? corrosive barrage, farming? pilfering swarm. doing some def/survival elsewere? curative undertow. run and gun mission? cleansing wave. 
and ya. unlike some frames (cough cough trinity) you dont need to hamper your other abilites sevearly to use an augment well. 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Ordosan

[Hypernaut1]

8 hours ago, Ordosan said:

person man understands they droid.
ya im the same way. (i used to run double augments before he got an armor buff) but ya. its nice to jsut change out my augments whenever i do a different mission type. high grineer? corrosive barrage, farming? pilfering swarm. doing some def/survival elsewere? curative undertow. run and gun mission? cleansing wave. 
and ya. unlike some frames (cough cough trinity) you dont need to hamper your other abilites sevearly to use an augment well. 

I use 2 augments at once on hydroid. He doesnt seem that hard to mod for, though maybe I could probably squeeze more range out of him. I mainly focus on energy efficient for him. I tend to spam his powers a lot.

[The_Tiddler]

I can't understand why people think Hydroid is meant to be sat in his puddle the whole time. To me, undertow only exists as a double-tap ability to dodge a large projectile, or quickly top up my health. 

With a full efficiency build and corrosive projection, you can spam-barrage to your heart's content to knock enemies about helplessly whilst stripping armour with ease, tidal surge around to clear large gaps and knock enemies around, and otherwise use him as an incredibly MOBILE CC/damaging frame without any real care for energy.

Some people just get stuck in the mentality of "This frame was one way before, therefore it will always be that way."

[Hypernaut1]

1 minute ago, Tiddlerdoo said:

I can't understand why people think Hydroid is meant to be sat in his puddle the whole time. To me, undertow only exists as a double-tap ability to dodge a large projectile, or quickly top up my health. 

With a full efficiency build and corrosive projection, you can spam-barrage to your heart's content to knock enemies about helplessly whilst stripping armour with ease, tidal surge around to clear large gaps and knock enemies around, and otherwise use him as an incredibly MOBILE CC/damaging frame without any real care for energy.

Some people just get stuck in the mentality of "This frame was one way before, therefore it will always be that way."

Exactly. I don't know what he was like pre-rework, but with current hydroid I don't stay in undertow much. 

Like you say I use puddle to dodge attacks. I also use it to down enemies, roll out of it and finish them off with melee. 

My style with him is quite mobile. 

[(XBOX)YoungGunn82]

Hydroid is my second favorite frame, I absolutely loved his rework. And yes he is BA. I have a really good Corod Barrage, Healing Under build, If you would like to try out my build. 

Edited December 26, 2017 by (XB1)RDeschain82

[shoopypit]

I've always liked hydroid. Super neat frame. His overhaul was the exact opposite of what anyone wanted. His puddle ability is widely regarded is boring, so what they did was they made every ability synergize around it. Makes sense right? 

Regardless I play him the same way as before. Ignore three, use two the most, one occasionally, and four for locking down narrow areas.

Edited December 27, 2017 by shoopypit

[Hypernaut1]

3 hours ago, shoopypit said:

I've always liked hydroid. Super neat frame. His overhaul was the exact opposite of what anyone wanted. His puddle ability is widely regarded is boring, so what they did was they made every ability synergize around it. Makes sense right? 

Regardless I play him the same way as before. Ignore three, use two the most, one occasionally, and four for locking down narrow areas.

What do you think people wanted? I don't think DE really intends to create a new frame with every rework. We're people expecting new abilities?

[OoKeNnEtHoO]

I think the rework made him good.

Didn't try him before the rework but I did hear bad things about him too.

[(PSN)TertulSee]

People think Hydroid is a CC frame. Well, those people have got the right idea but lack the full support title that Hydroid should be given. In the way that I have my Hydroid set up, he can strip armor, heal and take care of everyone’s favorite enemy, the Nullifier. Hydroid has insane CC potential now that his Tentacles have AI that isn’t just RNG. His Tempest Barrage is more reliable than some people think. Sure it hits a random location but I can guarantee that the enemy in the middle will take all the hits and any enemies hit by the droplets will also be disabled to the floor. The only enemy that will not be a reliably hit is the enemies in the outer rim but that’s more than enough CC. His Tidal Surge is also a great movement ability but it also serves as a great CC ability. It can throw enemies off cliffs and just gather them together so that you can kill them by the dozens. It’s pretty good considering the way it can be used. His Undertow is the meat of his kit. This ability allows him to become basically invincible and invisible. Not very helpful in normal scenarios but a great asset nonetheless. He can dish out the damage and even heal allies with his Augment! This is a lifesaver for allies that are near death. Just go into Undertow and make them stand on you. I guess you could get to under stand them better. His ultimate is also a huge portion of his kit. He can kill enemies with this! It’s not always the most reliable but I can handle Sortie 3 corpus easily. Plus, you have the Augment that gives you more stuff. If that wasn’t enough, it will also kindly hold an enemy right In from of you so that you can hit several enemies with a single swing of a sword. It’s reliable for CC and definitely should not be underestimated. Overall, Hydroid has a lot more utility than many of the other frames. That comes at the cost of huge damage and convenience. He’s good but you just have to play him right.

[Birdframe_Prime]

My favourite strategy is taking a really good melee weapon with him, using Undertow to grab everything in the area with its tentacles (the ability to grab enemies into Undertow didn't exist pre-rework, huge improvement on that with a Range build) then jumping out of it into a double-jump where you can then melee ground slam for a group damage attack.

More often than not you also summon his passive Tentacle for Finisher damage on top of the melee damage you're now inflicting on all the downed enemies.

With the more defensive CC he has, it's great for denying areas to enemies and keeping them out of the fight until you want them, then just grab them all together and have your way with them as you emerge from that pool dripping wet and salty as hell with a big paddle to spank them with.

[shoopypit]

15 hours ago, Hypernaut1 said:

What do you think people wanted? I don't think DE really intends to create a new frame with every rework. We're people expecting new abilities?

Yes actually. Dozens of threads of tenno wanting to replace at least the third ability. Some wanted the fourth replaced as well. Honestly the only thing I wanted was one and two switched, with barrage having an increase in duration. Which they could still do. But like I said the overhaul didn't change my playstyle at all

 

[Birdframe_Prime]

2 minutes ago, shoopypit said:

Yes actually. Dozens of threads of tenno wanting to replace at least the third ability. Some wanted the fourth replaced as well. Honestly the only thing I wanted was one and two switched, with barrage having an increase in duration. Which they could still do. But like I said the overhaul didn't change my playstyle at all

Yeah, but here's the thing, the last frames that they changed like that people have given the literal worst feedback about in the history of the forums.

Limbo was probably the deciding factor. When they reworked Limbo both the testing phase that they went through, then the in-game effects where they created a slew of exploits and bugs, and where the community feedback was so vitriolic because of the equal-parts 'why this ability', 'why did you change him in the first place', 'why didn't you use my rework ideas' and 'why did you create so many bugs and exploits'... yeah, DE absolutely hated that.

It's why in an interview at one of the conventions in the summer DE stated that all reworks from then on were going to be 'within the existing abilities of the frame'. So no new abilities, no replacements, just buffs and mechanical changes to how the abilities work, not what they do. Thus Oberon, Hydroid and now Mirage, nothing new, just additions to abilities or mechanically updated changes to the abilities.

It really hit me hard, as a rework thread writer, having to work within the constraints of the existing frame... so many ideas just... up in smoke.

But that's what they're doing, and we can only hope they do it as well as they did for Oberon.

[Autongnosis]

There are a number of reasons why Hydroid still gets a bad rep. 

The first it's that he's still Hydroid. Many people say they would like him "if he did Y and Z in place of W and X" but the truth is that they like the concept but not the execution. Thus basically they didn't want a rework, but a new frame. 

The second is that Hydroid has been pretty bad for such a long time people tend to badmouth him just out of habit. Finer examples include his RNG CC on Tempest Barrage (false if you build for any kind of positive range), his forced pudding camp style (again, you can play him like that but he can do gun-ho and mobile fighting just fine), and the fact that his ult makes things a lot harder to kill and is RNG based (both are now false as the tracking is a LOT better and tentacle spawn right under stuff and barely move when they have things grabbed). 

People also tend to remember just the META of Hydroid which was a 4-spamming bot/camper for looting purposes. 

 

It's also very easy to forget all the changes and how they interact with how the frame worked and works now. 

 

The main point is that the Hydroid rework appealed to people who liked Hydroid for what he was already. IE 0eople tend to completely forget about the animation change on his 1st skill which is now a 1-handed cast that doesn't stop your movement, but many Hydroid players i talked to think that's a HUGE deal. 

I'll give you two examples. I liked Hydroid a lot but couldn't find a colour scheme that clicked. So i didn't play him. When i found one i played him. Simple as that. The rework made him hugely better to play with. 

Second: a friend of mine loves Hydroid. He played it a lot before and after the rework. He also thinks the rework was a huge boon. 

 

Bottom line is, Hydroid is not your run of the mill frame. It's good enough to handle anything thrown his way if you put the effort of understanding how his kit works. He's not as cheesy or as straightforward as other frames, but that's not inherently a bad thing. Neither is Banshee (i won't consider her soundquake abomination build for argument's sake), and she's top class.

Is there still margin for improvement? For sure. IE his 2nd could use being less clunky, using his 2 when submerged could just pick up everyone in the path, and the head of the Kraken on his 4th could do something (an occasional screech that stuns enemies as Chroma's 4th does would be great). But he's really good now. 

Edited December 28, 2017 by Autongnosis

[(PSN)WINDMILEYNO]

I KNOW RIGHT!!!

People are ridiculous. 

The one hits in area of effect and is very reliable in the area it will hit. Its missiles of water. 

The 2 can be used in air, itd be cool if it went along walls, but it can be used after double jumping as a faster version of aim gliding.

The 3 does not require you to sit in it. It helps if you are poisoned or on fire for instance, it helps if you want to jump into a crowd of enemies without dying, knocking everyone down instantly.

The 4 does not hold enemies still so you can shoot them. As it should not. That would be stupid. 

[Birdframe_Prime]

Good points all round, but this may interest you:

3 hours ago, Autongnosis said:

Neither is Banshee (i won't consider her soundquake abomination build for argument's sake), and she's top class.

Build a Soundquake Banshee, or at least the mod setup, and instead use Sonar instead for your defense, then if you really want to have fun pair up with a Speed Nova for a Defense map. Actually, another frame to take is a Vortex Vauban, and maybe a Radial Disarm Loki (not Irradiating Disarm though, slows things down).

With Loki's max-range and Nova's speed buff, you will have enemies that are disarmed sprinting at the pod right into Vauban's Vortex. You, with your Banshee hitting Sonar several times to stack up the 'weak points' on enemies will cause every single enemy to explode for massive damage, so massive that you could stay in that mission for hours.

It's an old trick that we used to use back when the Void Keys still existed to run massive T4 Defense runs for parts, then clean out Trade Chat with the spoils. It won't get you as far as the double-Equinox trick, but it will certainly let you run Void Fissures like there's no tomorrow.

[Gravitus123]

Hydroid isnt bad really after the rework.Hes just....boring.

Unless you enjoy being a puddle for most of your gameplay

[(XBOX)Demon Intellect]

On 12/25/2017 at 1:38 PM, Fallen_Echo said:

Okay in short:

His first is rng based and the charge mode made it clunkier to use, overall worthless if you dont have the augement for it.

His second is an uncontrolable escape skill what deals some damage. Worthless without the augement.

His third is a good area denial skill what locks you down. You can move with it but that drains energy so its the best to stay put and reel in the badguys.

His ult is rng based, deals low damage and makes it harder to kill targets. The chargemode has the same problems as his first.

 

These are the main problems with it.

Maybe you hate it because all of the rng, but you can easily spam cast his 1 and make it so enemies never manage to get up.