Hydra

"Project Hydra" was the codename for the Diablo III project and team before the announcement at WWI 2008.

Arcane Hydra in action.

Hydra is a Force Wizard skill unlocked at Level 21, summoning a hydra that attacks enemies with bolts of fire.

Background

Among the many secrets of the Ancient Repositories, the Wizard found the Hydra spell to call forth a ward to dispatch of enemies from multiple directions.

Skillrune Effects

The following is a very quick summary. See the Hydra rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

<skill class="Wizard">Hydra</skill>

Skill Design

This was too high level to use at BlizzCon 2009, though players sorely wanted to try it out and see the improvements from Diablo I. Graphical, if nothing else.

It's interesting to contemplate what the Hydra (multi-strike) rune would have done to Hydra. More than 3 heads per cast? Plus, Greek Mythology fans could geek out. Especially if they named their character Learnean.

Hydra with Runestones.

Synergies

Hydra benefits from the following Wizard passives: None added yet.

Development

Hydra in action. Un-runed. October 2010.

Hydra was first shown at BlizzCon 2009, where it was on the Conjuring Skill Tree at Tier IV. Unfortunately, it was too high level to select in the gameplay demo.

At BlizzCon 2010 it was shown in the gameplay panel and also in the PvP Arena. Flux discussed its viability:[1]

You could only have one Hydra active at a time, and it had a slow firing rate. Like Meteor, it was useful to stick these out there to let them ping away, hoping the damage would add up over time. They were very commonly used near the end of rounds, when one or two characters were chasing one on the other team. Most Wizards would cast Hydras in the path of the fleeing enemy, knowing they’d get in a shot or two and help finish them off.

Beta

Skill tiers were removed shortly before the beta started in September 2011, and Hydra became a level 19 skill. When the skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13 in February 2012, Hydra was classified as an Arcane skill and moved to level 20. For March's Beta Patch 14, Hydra was moved to level 21 and nerfed just a bit. Also, the category "Arcane" was renamed to "Force".

Previous Versions

See the Wizard skill archive for more details on previous versions of Hydra and other Wizard skills.
Or see Hydra (BlizzCon 2008) for the original version of this skill.

In Other Games

The hydra spell was originally seen in Diablo I, then called Guardian. The principle was that three heads were summoned from the ground, shooting firebolts at enemies for a limited time. They are more fun to cast than efficient at killing anything with.

In Diablo II, they were turned into flaming heads, and got the name Hydra. While not dealing damage to anyone near the flames, their firebolts are of more use, especially if concentrating the fire on single targets at a time, and alternating skills while waiting for the cooldown.

Trivia

Hydra was the codename for the Diablo III project and team before the announcement at WWI 2008.

Media

Hydra can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)
• Video: August 2011 Wizard Skill Animations

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Hydra specific gallery contents

• 

  Arcane and Original version comparison.

• 

  Hydra made Arcane by rune.

• 

  Hydra made Arcane by rune.

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
• BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects -- IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
• Wizard Active Skills -- Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses