Guardian of the Hydra Boss Guide

The Guardian of the Hydra is one of the four Shaper Guardians. Next to Guardian of the Chimera, Guardian of the Phoenix and Guardian of the Minotaur, she is one of the "Guardians of the Void". Each of these Guardians drops one of the Fragments required to access the Shaper encounter, one of the pinnacle bosses. In order to fight Hydra, you have to open a Lair of the Hydra Map where he acts as the Map Boss.

These Shaper Guardian Maps are Tier 16 and can be rolled with all sorts of Modifiers to increase their loot but also their difficulty. Shaper Guardians are a lot harder than typical Map Bosses, but also have specific loot tables.

Guardians of the Void - Boss Guides:

• Pit of the Chimera Map - Guardian of the Chimera
• Lair of the Hydra Map - Guardian of the Hydra
• Forge of the Phoenix Map - Guardian of the Phoenix
• Maze of the Minotaur Map - Guardian of the Minotaur

The Shaper - Boss Guide:

• The Shaper's Realm - The Shaper

Loot Table

In addition to regular loot, the Guardian of the Hydra has the following boss-specific drops:

• Fragment of the Hydra (100%)
• Perfection

Skills Breakdown

The Guardian of the Hydra fires a series of Projectiles traveling in a straight line. These Projectiles deal heavy
amounts of Physical and Cold Damage, as well as dealing their damage in an area around the impact.
Make sure to side-step this Ability.

The Guardian of the Hydra unleashes a Barrage of Projectiles.
Make sure to not stand in front of the boss while she is performing this attack.

The Guardian of the Hydra charges up her Bow, unleashing a forking Projectile that splits on impact. This ability gets a lot worse if your Map rolled "Monsters fire 2 additional Projectiles", since Hydra gets extra Projectiles
and extra Forks which makes this ability a lot harder to dodge.

The Guardian of the Hydra uses Blink Arrow which teleports her out of the Arena for a short period of time.
Meanwhile adds are spawning and attack you on sight. Don't get too distracted by these monsters, they
are rather harmless, and the main danger comes from the Frostbolts. The boss will re-appear after a short
delay.

Cannons are placed on the sides of the Arena, firing Frostbolts that cover the whole area in multiple straight lines. The less health the boss has, the more often these Cannons shoot.

Boss Mechanics

Once you enter the Boss Arena, you find the Guardian of the Hydra to the South-East. Start attacking, but be aware of her Abilities. This boss doesn't have default attacks and spams abilities non-stop. The Doom Arrow is especially lethal, but it's fairly easy to avoid. Make sure to check out the Skills Breakdown above to learn more about each of the abilities.

If your movement is top-notch, you can easily avoid every source of damage in this encounter. Barrage, Fork Arrow and Doom Arrow can be outmaneuvered, the Frost bolts dodged, and the Minions killed to restore Flask Charges.

After fighting her for a certain duration, the Guardian of the Chimera uses Blink Arrow and teleport out of the Arena for a short amount of time. Meanwhile, Minions spawn that attack you on sight.

Map Modifiers

Since the Lair of the Hydra Map works like a typical Map, it can be modified with Currency like any other Map. But be careful! Some Map modifiers can make this Map very hard.

Here is an example of Map modifiers you might want to avoid based on your build:

Dangerous Map Modifiers

Boss Specific Modifiers

• Monsters fire 2 additional Projectiles

Global Map Modifiers that can disable your Build

• Monsters reflect X% of Elemental Damage
• Monsters reflect X% of Physical Damage
• Players cannot Regenerate Life, Mana or Energy Shield
• Monsters have X% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments

Boss Modifiers

• Unique Boss has X% increased Life
  Unique Boss has X% increased Area of Effect

Monster Modifiers (also counts for Bosses)

• Monsters have X% increased Critical Strike Chance
• X% increased Monster Damage
• X% increased Monster Movement Speed
  X% increased Monster Attack Speed
  X% increased Monster Cast Speed
• Monsters have X% increased Area of Effect
• X% more Monster Life
• Monsters gain X% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield

Atlas Passive Tree

The newly revamped Atlas Passive Tree provides us with additional ways to enhance the Pack Size and drop chances of Shaper and Elder influenced Maps:

Notables

• Remnants of the Past

Nodes

• Shaper Influenced Pack Size
• Elder Influenced Pack Size

Summary

• Always stay mobile!
• Avoid getting hit by Hydra's Abilities, such as Barrage, Fork Arrow and Doom Arrow.
• Dodge the Frostbolts fired by the Cannons on the side of the Boss Arena.

Good Luck, Exile!

Credits

Written by mbXtreme.
Reviewed by wudijo.