generally when someone says optimal referring to the diablo series, at least with caster classes, it refers to killing speed. pretty sure that is well known. of course, we arent talking about defenisve and tactical abilities such as storm armor and teleport.
hydra isnt a damage "buff". it doesnt increase damage of all your attacks, it doesnt "buff" anything at all actually. its a cannon. it fires attacks while you do other things, or in the case that i explained above, while you do not do other things.
That's not how I would use "optimal," as situations vary sufficiently that offering killing power in one may not equate to killing power in another (Ray of Frost vs Meteor, for an easy example.) One can argue about average distribution of situations, and claim that X% of situations involve Y number of mobs, etc, but especially without seeing the whole game, this tenuously speculative.
Obviously, Hydra is not literally a modifier placed on your character in the sense of the Conjuration Wizard spells or passives, but as a spell cast relatively rarely, which increases your overall damage with minimal further attention, it can effectively be viewed as a damage buff.
quite simply, no. its more of a dot than anything. stop thinking of it as a buff. again, it just isnt.
was it ever even optimal in d2? most would agree when i say NO.
but was it viable? yes.
is it still viable? YES.
/rename thread to "is hydra optimal"
The question becomes, optimal for what? I'd say that counted as a damage buff along the lines of Familiar - Sparkflint or Magic Weapon, it is optimal, and probably does more net damage increase than either of those. Counting it like that, before even assessing its tactical value, "viable" seems to be an understatement imo.
generally when someone says optimal referring to the diablo series, at least with caster classes, it refers to killing speed. pretty sure that is well known. of course, we arent talking about defenisve and tactical abilities such as storm armor and teleport.
hydra isnt a damage "buff". it doesnt increase damage of all your attacks, it doesnt "buff" anything at all actually. its a cannon. it fires attacks while you do other things, or in the case that i explained above, while you do not do other things. im starting to doubt the intelligence of our community.
also keep in mind, there are people out there who just think its simply cool to have hydras attacking stuff. the devs recognize this niche, and cater to it.
was it ever even optimal in d2? most would agree when i say NO.
but was it viable? yes.
is it still viable? YES.
its not going to feel like a "wasted" skill slot at all. if blizzard designs a skill, and you dont use it because you feel it wastes a slot, they have failed. they really, really, really dont like failing. hydra can attack while you are "jailed", "walled", "feared", and many of types of cc.
imagine being "jailed" at 5 hp, one more hit and you die. you are facing your last enemy of the group, perhaps a boss or a rare champion who is also near death. you arent sure if you are going to make it. you cant cast anything or move due to the nature of the CC, however your trusty hydra is over there firing off attacks. one such attack hits the enemy right on the button, they die, you are released from the cc, and you can fortunately move on. as you continue, you remember why hardcore mode is so fun, and are glad you rolled it.
/rename thread to "is hydra optimal"
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quite simply, no. its more of a dot than anything. stop thinking of it as a buff. again, it just isnt.
generally when someone says optimal referring to the diablo series, at least with caster classes, it refers to killing speed. pretty sure that is well known. of course, we arent talking about defenisve and tactical abilities such as storm armor and teleport.
hydra isnt a damage "buff". it doesnt increase damage of all your attacks, it doesnt "buff" anything at all actually. its a cannon. it fires attacks while you do other things, or in the case that i explained above, while you do not do other things. im starting to doubt the intelligence of our community.
also keep in mind, there are people out there who just think its simply cool to have hydras attacking stuff. the devs recognize this niche, and cater to it.
was it ever even optimal in d2? most would agree when i say NO.
but was it viable? yes.
is it still viable? YES.
its not going to feel like a "wasted" skill slot at all. if blizzard designs a skill, and you dont use it because you feel it wastes a slot, they have failed. they really, really, really dont like failing. hydra can attack while you are "jailed", "walled", "feared", and many of types of cc.
imagine being "jailed" at 5 hp, one more hit and you die. you are facing your last enemy of the group, perhaps a boss or a rare champion who is also near death. you arent sure if you are going to make it. you cant cast anything or move due to the nature of the CC, however your trusty hydra is over there firing off attacks. one such attack hits the enemy right on the button, they die, you are released from the cc, and you can fortunately move on. as you continue, you remember why hardcore mode is so fun, and are glad you rolled it.
/rename thread to "is hydra optimal"