Hydra



"Cutting off heads won't work this time. Run, dodge, hide - there's no salvation."

Introduction
The Hydra is a medium homing missile weapon.

Strategy
This weapon being a homing missile launcher, requires a lock-on to fire, making it similar to the Spiral, and to a lesser degree the Aphid. When fired, the missile is propelled towards the target and when close enough, it will move in the direction of the targeted robot, just like the Spiral. Also, both the Spiral and Hydra share the same range, damage per missile (negligible difference), and have a similar firing arc, however, this weapon can fire up to 6 missile per clip, one missile at a time every 0.67 seconds, giving it an overall higher DPS (damage per second).

Another difference between this weapon and its light counterpart the Spiral, is that the Hydra missiles have a "passive tracking system". This means the the missiles can "see" obstacles and correct its flight path, thus the missiles can hit the target regardless of an obstacle. Additionally, each missile is launched from the same point, and tends to follow a similar trajectory, unlike the more chaotic paths of spiral. However, for tall and wide obstacles, such as roofs, the missiles can't correct their flight path to avoid it, as they can't exceed their max range distance.

It should be noted that the Hydra (like all homing missile weapons) does not have the splash damage effect. However sometimes, it can land on the unprotected part of physical shielded robot and deal damage.

The missiles can be curved by aiming to the left or right of a robot when the green bracket appears when locking on.

If all the missiles are not fired when the target is destroyed (or moves out of range), another target must be locked on to before the remaining missiles can be fired. This can lead to being left with only one or two missiles left in the clip, and a long reload time when engaging the next target. However, it is also useful as the first missile can be used to see if the rest of the missiles will hit without using all of the ammo.

Many pilots use Hydra's to harass enemies, due to its overall low damage output. It is best to pair this weapon with Spirals or other Hydras. Mounting this weapon on the Spectre or Fujin can prove useful. Due to these robots being able to mount 3 or 4 Hydras respectively, making this weapon more of an offensive threat.

Base Stats
This table shows the damage of each individual missile.

This table shows the damage of each individual missile.

Mark II
This table shows the damage of each individual missile.

Trivia

 * On the test server initial release the Hydra was called "Swarm". Each shell would separate in 6 little shells, for a total damage of 6000 at level 12.
 * A Hydra is a serpentine, dragon like swamp monster in Greek and Roman mythology with multiple heads.
 * Prior to the update 3.0 in game description stated "Inefficient against fast-moving robots." which was completely untrue.
 * The player needs 2,453,910 Silver and 11 days in order to gather enough WP to buy a Hydra (using all six WP slots and no Gold to buy WP).