Patch 5.0.0 Highlights

Plarium has just announced their patch 5.0.0 update highlights and they are coming in with a bang! Hydra boss is the main focus of the patch highlights and we finally get to see all the head’s abilities ready to go. In the article, they said it will be released in “the next several weeks, kind of soon” which will be cool to look forward to and prepare the new teams for.

With the new changes, you’ll have to make to get your teams in shape so Plarium have done something You’ll get a 50% discount on swapping Artifacts for 2 weeks after the Hydra launches! This is good so make full use of it even if you don’t want to face the Hydra just yet, make all your teams tiptop shape! The 50% discount is huge and we wish it was here to stay forever however we can all dream :(

So you’ll still have to be a part of a clan as it is a clan boss fight therefore 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 Hydra’s HP will ensure everyone in the Clan who took part in those battles will get double rewards depending on the Difficulty.

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.

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 with 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!

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 a 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 being protected
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 being protected

Stone Skin Buff: This 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

We have a new Void Legendary coming who is support based for the Dark Elves faction! Mithrala Lifebane She has a poison on her a1, An AOE hex on enemies then adds a increase DEFENCE and ATTACK on all allies for 2 turns. This is all on her a2! Then her a3 has a full team cleanse and applies a shield and a strengthen buff. Her passive works well in a hex team because when this champion or an ally is attacked by an enemy under Hex they have a chance to be Petrified

And to end of the highlights Plarium has announced that they’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. We hope the multipliers are better! Then he may have some use!