13th Anniversary Bundle Ship Review #3: Remember to HYDRAte!

Good day, Joe and STOers! You’ve dipped your toes into the waters of the Terran Aquarius, and you’ve looked at the Terran Monitor for probably way too long. Now, I must remind you to HYDRAte with the next ship: the Terran Hydra Intel Destroyer!

Built as an updated version of the old Tier 5 Prometheus Multi-Vector Advanced Escort, the Terran Hydra plays into the one thing the Prometheus is best known for: splitting up into multiple parts!

[Screenshot of U.S.S. Prometheus’ Multi-Vector Assault Mode from Star Trek: Voyager‘s “Message in a Bottle.”]

Soaking in the HYDRAting Effects of The Ship

The Hydra basically takes the old Multi-Vector Assault Mode console from the T5 Prometheus and boosts it up a bit: You get both the ship separation ability for the Hydra/Prometheus line itself (limited only to controlling the Alpha module: the top of the saucer) and an ability any ship can use that allows your pets to form up and fire a powerful Phaser Lance at enemy ships.

But beyond that, this ship is a 5/2/1 beast! Being an Intel ship, you get enough Bridge Officer seats to use Surgical Strikes (which, for best efficiency, needs the Legendary Jem’Hadar Vanguard Pilot Attack Ship‘s Starship Trait: Vanguard Specialists), you have a high-enough Pilot seat to try Reroute Reserves to Weapons (though you need a full Pilot-spec’d ship to use the Level 3 version, which on a meta level this and Surgical Strikes are “highest version or nothing”), enough Universal seating to go a “DEWSci” direction (Lieutenant Commander Universal lets you slot a Science officer and do Gravity Well 1, not the best but it’s available), and enough Tactical slots and forward weapons to be a very solid Energy Weapon platform for any type of Energy Weapon.

Scattered Cannon Build with Scattered Meta Items

The next contributor up for this review’s build wanted to be a bit more active in the build process, and I’m glad I took GTMGina up on it. This kinda challenged me. I needed to stay fairly budget on a Tetryon build. The only expensive items I intentionally kept on it were A Good Day to Die (are you getting this is a staple Personal Space Trait for Tactical characters?) and Unconventional Systems (trying to have enough Control abilities to get “Engage the H.Y.D.R.A” ‘s cooldown reduced as much as possible). Any other gear that’s Epic’d was due to use in previous builds. Expect some lower numbers when using gear that’s under Epic rarity and under Mk XV.

Another requirement was that I’d use both the HYDRA and Multi-Vector Assault Module consoles. While HYDRA does allow a Multi-Vector separation, it’s limited to only the “Alpha” section and it’s a time-limited separation.

Multi-Vector Assault Module has three separation choices where you control the named section and the game controls the other two: “Alpha” (the saucer); “Beta” (the middle section where the top 2 nacelles are); and “Gamma” (the bottom section where the main deflector and bottom 2 nacelles are). There are slight stat buffs and debuffs depending on which section you choose to pilot (Gina’s favorite is “Beta” due to a slightly higher damage bonus as the Beta section). If both computer-controlled sections are defeated, it’s a fairly short cooldown to get put back together and re-separate controlling another section. You can effectively stay separated if your other 2 sections don’t die out quickly.

That’s important for the Hydra’s actual console called…well, HYDRA, or “Harmonic Yield Distribution via Radial Aperture.” It takes up to 8 of your pets, jumps them near your targeted enemy, and they fire off a Phaser Lance that hits anything in the lance’s damage area. While you won’t get the benefit of 8 pets doing all that damage, HYDRA having a built-in separation ability guarantees you’ll have a minimum 2 pets.

The final requirement was to use the Hydra’s trait, “Strike Group Command Authority.” Depending on the type of pet that’s your highest level of attack-capable pet, all pets you control will get a Cat2 bonus. The higher the rank, the higher the bonus up to 50%. Since the Hydra does a Multi-Vector separation, your pets get a 50% Cat2 bonus to their damage! I think we have at least a couple ships that can do a saucer separation and have at least 1 wing of Hangar Pets, so you’ll get quite a boost to everything if you can combine those ships with this trait and the Hydra’s console. I’m not saying this is an Elite-viable boost, but any boost over your normal damage output is welcome, especially if you’re into the “SUMMON ALL THE THINGS!” style of play.

Below, then, is the build video for this run. It’s a Cannons: Scatter Volley build, using the “Withering Barrage” Starship Trait found on the Valiant, the Kor, the Malem, and their Legendary counterparts, but most importantly it’s available for free from KDF recruits (and account-unlocked after completing a specific Recruit objective) via their M’Chla Bird-of-Prey Refit. Withering Barrage extends the duration of Cannons: Scatter Volley, usually giving you at least 1 more AoE Cannon/Turret attack before going back to normal firing. Since “free” is about as budget as it gets, and considering this thing packs 5 forward weapons we could use for Dual Heavy Cannons, well, it felt like a natural fit to use a free firing mode extender.

NOTE 1: While I did use the Tholian Webspinner Array, I would not suggest getting it just for the Tetryon damage boost. This was a Console both Gina and I had from a previous Event, so it’s “budget” to us as an extra Tetryon damage enhancer that didn’t require a Tactical Console slot. Instead, I’d recommend pushing the Vulnerability Locators into Epic rarity for more Tetryon damage and a slight boost to Critical Chance per Locator.

NOTE 2: I did not use the ship’s default Experimental Weapon (Armed Loitering Munition) as this wasn’t a Phaser-themed build. I did, however, use the Subspace Depth Charge from the Terran Eagle since it fit the Tetryon/shield damage theme.

The ISA Run and Parse Details

You’ve waited long enough, so let’s go with the build video and parse for this build challenge!

I didn’t pull the greatest DPS here, but I don’t feel 91k was bad considering I was bound by a budget and lack of upgrades. You see, I ran some numbers, and the Dilithium needed to get enough Phoenix Upgrades to get the weapons to Mk XV Very Rare from Mk XII Rare was expected to be more than the Dil needed to get Zen for Keys to sell for EC so I could buy A Good Day to Die and Unconventional Systems!). I figured that, if someone reading this were also on a bit of a real cash/Dilithium/EC budget, they’d forego the weapons in favor of 2 universal Personal Traits.

OVERALL NUMBERS

PET SPECIFIC INFORMATION

The surprise was really how badly “Engage the H.Y.D.R.A.” did, but in retrospect, that shouldn’t have been too surprising. I didn’t use the Beacon of Kahless or Nimbus Pirate Distress Call, partly because Beacon is in Mudd’s Market (so wouldn’t be budget-friendly) and partly because I plum forgot they’d be pets and would count. So lesson learned here, everyone: If you’re going to synergize with a trait and/or console, lean into it if you have available device/console/trait slots!

The Hydra currently ranks the lowest of my 3 ships in this review series, but when we consider it was budget-constrained, I’d say we’re effectively on track to have performed at least as well as the Eagle and the Monitor.

Subspace Depth Charge surprised me in a good way. Considering I wasn’t building around it, I got nearly 5k DPS (~5%) just for having it equipped. That’s not even 10% of the overall DPS, but I’d say with some upgrading of both the Experimental Weapon and the other Consoles, that would have boosted up quite nicely.

But overall, nearly half (~41.1%) of the DPS came from Scatter Volley hits. I was surprised to see a 2k difference between Tier 1 and Tier 3 of the effect! And consider, this is coming from a non-meta perspective. I could see CSV pulling 50%+ (and generally higher damage numbers) when combined with cooldown reducers, better mark level of gear, and upgraded quality of gear.

PERSONAL REACTION

The Hydra was a great middle-ground ship between the Eagle and the Monitor: Fast enough and maneuverable enough to get around the map and position as needed without feeling like you were overshooting each target, while large enough to keep track of where it and its forward arc were relative to everything else.

I’ve always loved the Multi-Vector Advanced Escort, so I figured this wouldn’t disappoint. Combined with a fresh Terran paint job, it not only feels like a bigger Escort and fights like a tougher Escort, but it also looks great doing it.

With 5 forward weapons, this would be a great forward-facing threat. The only downside is the 3rd potential aft weapon slot instead being an Experimental Weapon Slot which almost always has lower DPS than a traditional Energy Weapon, but considering it’s usually a 360-degree arc anyway (or a fairly wide arc if not), that’s ultimately not a problem for getting consistent shots off.

FINAL RATINGS

According to Spencer’s review, the combo of a Commander Intelligence-spec seat combined with a Lieutenant Commander Pilot-spec seat is unique and adds some diversity to build possibilities, especially after some of the Pilot ability revamps that happened about 2 months ago made Pilot seating worth considering for more than just the fun of it. The Starship Trait, Console, and Experimental Weapon I believe have proven out to not unseat anything being used on high-end, min/max builds (or at least, I’ve not seen where anything has become a must-have). We have 2 Universal Bridge Officer seats, giving you even more build variability to best suit your piloting or DPS capabilities. With a Lieutenant Commander Universal seat, you could even go a “DEWSci” route as that gives you access to Gravity Well.

This could be a 6/10 for the record-breaking meta. It’s definitely not a torpedo boat or tank, but Energy Weapons should have quite a few potential combinations among Tactical, Intelligence, and Pilot abilities to suit your energy power-up needs. With Clean Getaway becoming a Control-based ability, you can also add an Unconventional Systems proc in a Pilot seat and likely make up for losing one elsewhere for a damage or firing mode buff. It’ll be a solid Surgical Strikes build at least until you can find a better platform (read: Lock Box/Promo Ship) and set of gear. I’d say it’s a nice ship to experiment with before moving up into a ship that has more ideal seating for a record-breaking run and won’t disappoint you if you’re still working your way up the DPS charts.

From the perspective of just wanting to have fun with a ship or its theme, I’ll give it a 10/10. With the 1-minute Multi-Vector Assault Mode and combined with some pet summoning devices, this can play more like a Carrier-that’s-not-a-Carrier, letting you have a temporary Fleet ready to Phaser Lance enemies like crazy! With 5 forward weapons, even default gear with some damage boosters will easily carry you through Normal content. Although the HYDRA is best used on a Carrier or Dreadnought Cruiser, equipping the MVAM console from the T5 version and getting some Universal Console cooldown going should let you HYDRA fairly regularly, wiping out quite a few enemies in Normal and potentially dealing enough damage on Advanced to allow you to finish off enemy groups with ease. Along with the Starship Trait giving you a decent buff to your MVAM pets (once slotted, at least), you have a nice synergistic platform all in one purchase, no need to buy more stuff, and can transfer easily over to a proper Carrier/Dreadnought Carrier to be an even more potent combination.

ELITE VIABILITY

I try to highlight an Elite-level run where I can to show that the ship is capable of far more than I can do, and for this ship that honor goes to “CasualSAB,” AKA Spencer! I’ve included a link to a livestream he did, timecoded to an Infected: The Conduit run on Elite where he pulled ~1 million DPS!

Now, recall earlier that Spencer’s review video basically called the Hydra a great ship for Normal and Advanced difficulty content but not ideal for Elite, yet he posted a DPS number I think most of us would kill for! (…hopefully not literally, otherwise get out.) This is why I’m trying to show others’ abilities to use ships in Elite contexts: unless you’re deliberately chasing records, ships are capable of doing Elite content, you just need the right gear, piloting, and ability activation rotations to make it work well.

Credit Where Credit is Due: The Contributors!

As always (…all of twice so far, about to be thrice!), I couldn’t have done this without both the financial and knowledge support of these contributors. Thank you all again for your support!

* Stephen
* KWolves21
* Gina G
* EndeavourGameOn
* Ri’Shad Shadowstar
* Spencer/CasualSAB
* Pattee

Getting (Terran) Sirius Next Time!

Thank you all for your patience in getting this review done. I’m going to aim for a 2-week turnaround to have all ships finished by the middle to end of May. The next planned build is the Terran Sirius as a Budget Tank, so that may take a while but I’ll try to speed up getting it built, getting a run in, and getting the write-up completed.

Until next time, continue enjoying STO!