teach me on Hydroid

[Bakul]

since i started warframe i wanted the hydroid frame ( i just love deep sea creatures etc,don´t ask) , and after i finally got him,it was such a let down...BUT...someone recommended me nezha,which is most times on the least used frames list of many players,and right now he is my main,so,i thought,why not work with hydroid also, maybe i just used him wrong.

 

so my questions are:

1. can you main hydroid for most types of missions?

2. can you play him also solo?

3. does he work without specific mods? (just standard mods right now) and how would you mod him then? life or shields? maybe both?

4. how do YOU play with him, i read he is very good as a caster/melee?

 

[Urlan]

Curative Undertow can greatly improve Hydroid's solo ability. This does limit your mod slots however which overall forces Hydroid to be weaker than other generalists. Overall, Hydroid is at his base a harasser or limited crowd control warframe but gains his usefulness from his augments which makes its frustrating that they take valuable mod real estate.

[Bakul]

anyone else? :)

[RagingLendi]

Well, I am a owner of Hydroid Prime. Whilst I mainly use him as a Pilfdroid (Pilfering Swarm mod Hydroid) for farming purposes like Orokin Cell-farming,  I do find him usefull in group-play for blocking off routes the enemy can take in for example Mobile Defense or Defense. 

You can ofc play him solo, but you can do that with any warframe. Althought most will perform better then Hydroid. But with good weapons you can solo any normal content.

If I would give you 1 tip it's : Stop thinking about using only 1 warframe as your 'Main'. Each warframe is good in certain situations. Try out every warframe you can get your hands on and get a solid warframe for each situation. For example I use Rhino Prime for solo play. Group play depends on the mission. Ash Prime for Spy Missions, Hydroid Prime/Frost Prime for Defense, Excavation, Mobile Defense. Of course normal versions of the warframes will get the job done just aswell.

[TheGrimCorsair]

18 hours ago, Bakul said:

since i started warframe i wanted the hydroid frame ( i just love deep sea creatures etc,don´t ask) , and after i finally got him,it was such a let down...BUT...someone recommended me nezha,which is most times on the least used frames list of many players,and right now he is my main,so,i thought,why not work with hydroid also, maybe i just used him wrong.

 

so my questions are:

1. can you main hydroid for most types of missions?

2. can you play him also solo?

3. does he work without specific mods? (just standard mods right now) and how would you mod him then? life or shields? maybe both?

4. how do YOU play with him, i read he is very good as a caster/melee?

 

1. Absolutely.

2. Perfectly adequate for everything but solo eidolon capturing. There he requires a pretty specialized setup and serves a support role, which when enacted can cause him to struggle to balance healing lures and dealing effective damage, particularly when going after the Gantulyst and Hydrolyst.

3. Sort of, but that's hardly unique to Hydroid as mods are where the power of all weapons and warframes lie. With Hydroid (Prime as of late), both shields and health modding are useful ways to go, but don't do them both at the same time. Typically if I build for health, I'll include Steel Fiber for the extra armor and Rage to generate power. If you go that route, you'll need a way to heal yourself quickly. My normal build uses Primed Vigor which gives me more than enough health and shields given that Hydroid's kit allows you duck damage with periods of invulnerability quite easily thanks to his 2 and 3 (mastering their use is the most important part of playing him actively and contributing to the team). When it comes to modding, duration is good, efficiency great, and range is paramount. You can sack power strength here and there or leave it neutral. Lemme just reiterate, never sack range. 100% or more (and more is generally much better for your 1, and to a lesser degree 3).

4. Funnily enough, I do play Hydroid as a melee frame quite often, though he's less of a brawler and more of a bully in that aspect. Hydroid's 2 turns you invincible and carries you into (and often through) packs of enemies. At anytime during it, you can hit 3 to immediately cancel the dash and go into puddle form, dragging most of the enemies into the puddle (sometimes they're left on the edges, usually well within tentacle snare range). When you stand up (either by hitting 3 again, jumping, or dodge rolling out of puddle) you'll be surrounded by knocked down enemies, setting up ample ground finishers. Further, as they stand up, they'll start taking sneak attack melee damage (8x) which lets you tear them to pieces. Your 1 can be used to keep the mob suppressed (either drag them to where you cast it, or cast it from puddle before standing up). For what it's worth, Jat Kittag (with the Vulcan Blitz) mod and Hydroid's Corroding Barrage Augment is probably the best melee weapon for him (believe me, far from the only good option, just all around the most optimal). Corroding Barrage is handy as it lets you very quickly obliterate armor allowing you to easily deal massive damage in a large area.

Another note about your 2 and 3, is that they both provide full immunity from damage, very nearly from the moment their cast begins, allowing you to duck out of the way of damage quite easily, giving you plenty of time to turn the tables on your foe. Your 2, however, only makes you immune to damage and, without its augment (Tidal Impunity), can still leave you in danger when you leave it tanks to status procs you gain while using it. Your 3 both makes you immune status procs and damage, so you won't pick up more while in puddle form and can ride out the ones you do have in relative safety, eeven recouping any health lost if you use its augment (Curative Undertow).

As I said above, your 2 and 3 are the heart of your kit, and are mostly focused on what you do where you are, or where you're moving to. Your 1 and 4 serve as your primary way to project control over long distances. Your 1 serves as a way of keeping enemies from moving through areas you don't want them to, while setting them up for ground finishers and bonus melee damage as they stand up. It doesn't work on certain enemies (mostly bosses) or under certain conditions (like when there are Ancient Healers around) and occasionally heavy units will be knocked down, then immediately do their ground slam (or in the case of Infested Ancients, their ripline). Your 4 will CC enemies under the effects of Ancients and pretty much everything else save a small number of mini-boss units (also doesn't nab bosses but that's par for the course). Both can be cast from puddle form (though your 4 will be centered on the puddle and deal double damage while your 1 can be cast to anywhere in range) and both can be channeled, though to different effects. Your 1 will double its damage per projectile and duration at full charge while your 4 will summon twice as many tentacles and double the targeting area.

In general, Hydroid's powers are less focused on large upfront burst damage, and more on damage over time as a secondary component of the CC, mobility and flexibility in range his kit offers, so make sure your weapon picks offset that. One thing to keep an eye towards are weapons with fairly large areas of effect and heavy damage. If you pair your ability to move enemies around to a single position, or keep tightly packed enemies in one place, with the Corroding Barrage augment, you can easily obliterate large numbers of enemies in short order. Corroding Barrage allows you to do this even against enemies like the Grineer as it will heavily reduce the effectiveness of, and even eliminate, their armor which is their principle defense against area-of-effect weapons.

[Bakul]

thanks everyone!! 

i will test him again, my first try while leveling him was a total disaster i guess (using his 1 as a damage source etc) 

[Cryptix123]

1 minute ago, Bakul said:

thanks everyone!! 

i will test him again, my first try while leveling him was a total disaster i guess (using his 1 as a damage source etc) 

This can be done if you use this augment mod, which can be either traded from other players for ~10 plat or you can earn it yourself by reaching the maximum syndicate rate with new loka or cephalon suda.

[(XBOX)ThermalStone]

Most players use him only for Pilfering Swarm, but he can actually be quite effective for local area control on Mobile Defenses and the like. 

Spam his 1 with corroding barrage for armor stripping and dealing area damage.  The 100 percent status proc chance also synergizes well if you use Condition Overload on your melee.  His 4 makes good local area control. His 3 turns him into a puddle which gives him protection as you use the 1 and 4.  I frequently bring him to Sorties and he does just fine although there are frames that can rack up a much higher kill count.

My build is pretty lazy.  It only takes one forma on Hydroid Prime:

Corrosive Projection

Power Drift, Transient Fortitude, Intensify, Primed Continuity - Gives you some plus duration and lots of strength

Primed Flow, Streamline, Quick Thinking - Primed Flow is a must with his frequent use of powers, I go back and forth over Quick Thinking or Vitality on all nearly my frames

Stretch - He doesn't need much range 

Corroding Barrage as explained above

Most importantly, change his energy color to gold with the Orokin color palette for golden showers.

[Bakul]

Am 7.3.2018 um 11:25 schrieb RagingLendi:

Well, I am a owner of Hydroid Prime. Whilst I mainly use him as a Pilfdroid (Pilfering Swarm mod Hydroid) for farming purposes like Orokin Cell-farming,  I do find him usefull in group-play for blocking off routes the enemy can take in for example Mobile Defense or Defense. 

You can ofc play him solo, but you can do that with any warframe. Althought most will perform better then Hydroid. But with good weapons you can solo any normal content.

If I would give you 1 tip it's : Stop thinking about using only 1 warframe as your 'Main'. Each warframe is good in certain situations. Try out every warframe you can get your hands on and get a solid warframe for each situation. For example I use Rhino Prime for solo play. Group play depends on the mission. Ash Prime for Spy Missions, Hydroid Prime/Frost Prime for Defense, Excavation, Mobile Defense. Of course normal versions of the warframes will get the job done just aswell.

i know what you mean , but i like having a frame which is able to do several jobs with his skillset

[Bakul]

Am 7.3.2018 um 14:37 schrieb TheGrimCorsair:

1. Absolutely.

2. Perfectly adequate for everything but solo eidolon capturing. There he requires a pretty specialized setup and serves a support role, which when enacted can cause him to struggle to balance healing lures and dealing effective damage, particularly when going after the Gantulyst and Hydrolyst.

3. Sort of, but that's hardly unique to Hydroid as mods are where the power of all weapons and warframes lie. With Hydroid (Prime as of late), both shields and health modding are useful ways to go, but don't do them both at the same time. Typically if I build for health, I'll include Steel Fiber for the extra armor and Rage to generate power. If you go that route, you'll need a way to heal yourself quickly. My normal build uses Primed Vigor which gives me more than enough health and shields given that Hydroid's kit allows you duck damage with periods of invulnerability quite easily thanks to his 2 and 3 (mastering their use is the most important part of playing him actively and contributing to the team). When it comes to modding, duration is good, efficiency great, and range is paramount. You can sack power strength here and there or leave it neutral. Lemme just reiterate, never sack range. 100% or more (and more is generally much better for your 1, and to a lesser degree 3).

4. Funnily enough, I do play Hydroid as a melee frame quite often, though he's less of a brawler and more of a bully in that aspect. Hydroid's 2 turns you invincible and carries you into (and often through) packs of enemies. At anytime during it, you can hit 3 to immediately cancel the dash and go into puddle form, dragging most of the enemies into the puddle (sometimes they're left on the edges, usually well within tentacle snare range). When you stand up (either by hitting 3 again, jumping, or dodge rolling out of puddle) you'll be surrounded by knocked down enemies, setting up ample ground finishers. Further, as they stand up, they'll start taking sneak attack melee damage (8x) which lets you tear them to pieces. Your 1 can be used to keep the mob suppressed (either drag them to where you cast it, or cast it from puddle before standing up). For what it's worth, Jat Kittag (with the Vulcan Blitz) mod and Hydroid's Corroding Barrage Augment is probably the best melee weapon for him (believe me, far from the only good option, just all around the most optimal). Corroding Barrage is handy as it lets you very quickly obliterate armor allowing you to easily deal massive damage in a large area.

Another note about your 2 and 3, is that they both provide full immunity from damage, very nearly from the moment their cast begins, allowing you to duck out of the way of damage quite easily, giving you plenty of time to turn the tables on your foe. Your 2, however, only makes you immune to damage and, without its augment (Tidal Impunity), can still leave you in danger when you leave it tanks to status procs you gain while using it. Your 3 both makes you immune status procs and damage, so you won't pick up more while in puddle form and can ride out the ones you do have in relative safety, eeven recouping any health lost if you use its augment (Curative Undertow).

As I said above, your 2 and 3 are the heart of your kit, and are mostly focused on what you do where you are, or where you're moving to. Your 1 and 4 serve as your primary way to project control over long distances. Your 1 serves as a way of keeping enemies from moving through areas you don't want them to, while setting them up for ground finishers and bonus melee damage as they stand up. It doesn't work on certain enemies (mostly bosses) or under certain conditions (like when there are Ancient Healers around) and occasionally heavy units will be knocked down, then immediately do their ground slam (or in the case of Infested Ancients, their ripline). Your 4 will CC enemies under the effects of Ancients and pretty much everything else save a small number of mini-boss units (also doesn't nab bosses but that's par for the course). Both can be cast from puddle form (though your 4 will be centered on the puddle and deal double damage while your 1 can be cast to anywhere in range) and both can be channeled, though to different effects. Your 1 will double its damage per projectile and duration at full charge while your 4 will summon twice as many tentacles and double the targeting area.

In general, Hydroid's powers are less focused on large upfront burst damage, and more on damage over time as a secondary component of the CC, mobility and flexibility in range his kit offers, so make sure your weapon picks offset that. One thing to keep an eye towards are weapons with fairly large areas of effect and heavy damage. If you pair your ability to move enemies around to a single position, or keep tightly packed enemies in one place, with the Corroding Barrage augment, you can easily obliterate large numbers of enemies in short order. Corroding Barrage allows you to do this even against enemies like the Grineer as it will heavily reduce the effectiveness of, and even eliminate, their armor which is their principle defense against area-of-effect weapons.

thanks alot,this really changed my view on him!!

 

how much sprint would you give him?

[polarity]

This is the build I use.

Tempest Barrage uses only 18 energy, so between Energy Siphon and Zenurik focus I can pretty much spam it constantly.  It really doesn't need any power strength, and I've seen it get kills on at least the trash mobs in sorties if I'm spamming it constantly.  It's better CC than Embers old Fire Quake WoF, because you can target it where it's needed, and the range you can aim it at is just amazing (Hydroid is my 3rd choice for PoE after Titania and Nova, because let's face it, artillery is OP in a wide open area).

For ranged weapons I use high status chance gas, and preferably a suda or red veil weapon/augment for the energy return (simulor/embolist/supra with its augment), which gives a 3rd way to keep my 'health' up with quick thinking, making me very hard to kill.  Without armor all enemies become extremely vulnerable to gas, and when they're all knocked on the ground the AoE makes quick work of them.  You can also use a slow, hard hitting melee weapon for ground finishers on the tougher enemies.

Curative Undertow can be swapped out for Natural Talent if you want to cover more area with more barrage casts, or Auger Reach if you want to do the same with a bit more efficiency.

Hydroid is just one of those frames where once you realise that there are no 'ultimate' abilities in this game (as stated by DE, there are four abilities, and the 4th is not necessarily the best), building around something other than the 4th can give you a very strong build for high level content.  In this case CC that can be directed anywhere within a huge range, that strips armor, to the point that you don't need any ability damage, as your weapons have just become much stronger.  Meanwhile Tidal Surge has excellent range to use to get out of trouble, and Undertow is efficient and covers a large area for team healing (I just wish DE would fix its use for friendly NPCs.  Totally not fair to have a healing ability, that only works on other tenno).

Edited March 9, 2018 by polarity

[DeckChairVonBananaCamel]

he is good for area denial. if you dont want enemies moving through a particular location, pop a tentacle swarm there or drop a tempest barrage.
you can also use yourself via tidal surge or undertow, however both require you to physically go to the location rather than just blasting it from afar.