First of all i think most of the changes feel really great and most characters are in a good spot atm. However i think Hydra sorc was nerfed a bit too much and offers no real option for dual spec since there are too many synergies and with the nerf u really need all of them. Even with full synergised hydras u will be very slow compared to blizzard sorc + there are so many fire immunes in hell difficulty that u really need the option to dual spec. Even a fireball with half the synergies maxed clears things faster than hydras as it is now. My suggestion is bump the synergies back up to 5% or remove one of the synergies and bump up the others. Was really looking forward to starting ladder with this build but it really doesnt seem worth as it is now. Guess its back to blizzard sorc again zzzZZZzzZZ
Probably move all the synergies to fire bolt and bump it to 6 percent. That way youâll get fully synergized hydras for dual spec and it wouldnât bump hydra dmg for full fire builds.
This would actually be a great solution. Then u would have the option to dual spec and not get the benefit of a fully synergised fireball at the same time.
But if the synergy bonuses for firebolt and fireball are really high, you feel like you MUST invest in the synergies because they are such an important damage boost?
Take FO for example, the synergy with icebolt is only 2%, so not a big deal if you donât max icebolt, making FO the perfect hybrid spellâŚ
Same with firewall⌠It only gets 1% synergy bonus from inferno, and 4% from warmth, so again you feel perfectly fine using that as an unsynergised hybrid spellâŚ
I think if people want hydra to be a better hybrid spell, we should expect blizzard to treat itâs synergies similar to firewall/FO - make the synergies less significant, and buff the base damage of hydraâŚ
Currently, Hydra is an excellent way to spend your last 20pts on a pure fireball-meteor sorc to maximise your damage - itâs an end-game spell.
You can use fully synergised hydra in a ladder start scenario, the trade-off is your FO will be weaker than if you went with a firewall build. This is the trade-off with hydra. If there is no trade-off, firewall sinks back into obscurity and becomes irrelevant again⌠I think the balance is good now, and offers some interesting choicesâŚ
Fireball sorcs were tough opponents in PvP before. Now they are even tougher to deal with, with fully synergised Hydras pumping out fireballs automatically for them⌠We need to be carfeful the Hydra-Meteor-Fireball build doesnât get unbalanced 
So yeah, agree early ladder, hydra is challenging, but in end-game, pure fire sorc, itâs a great source of free damage that sorcs never had beforeâŚ
Well im not in to pvp but removing the 3% synergy from fire ball and adding it to fire bolt wont change the damage on hydra and u would still need to max fireball if u wanted to go full fire ball sorc. As it is now its just not worth to play in pwm compared to any other sorc build because fire is one of the most common immunities in hell. Now im not talking about fully maxed characters but even here it doesnt really compare to a fully maxed blizz sorc not to mention some of the new builds that can litterally 2 shot baal. Btw hydra uses fire bolt so its very much single target
Damage is not the problem. I think currently fire Sorceress Hydras are no longer viable for season start. I feel like they need to do comparable damage to traps since they function like traps. Because Hydra is a level 30 skill, they ideally should have the following benefits:
⢠a) AOE damage
⢠B) Piercing damage
⢠C) Smart target (no more shooting at fire immune targets).
Damage alone will not make this skill usable or competitive under the current environment.
They should disconnect hydras synergies away from anything to do with fireball, so that it can be balanced around itâs own damage, instead of benefiting fireball meteor builds.
Definitely keep it low synergy so it can be used in hybrid builds. Not sure what itâs synergy should be. Or if it would just be better without one and have it be effective with mastery alone.
Agree.
Nerf suxs. 4% on both or 6% on firebolt
Yeah, these are wise comments⌠Disconnect it from fireball-meteor builds and no-one will complainâŚ
Iâve been thinking, why not create a completely different build, and synergise hydras with Enchant instead?
Then they can buff hydra damage/AoE/piercing however they like, because itâs disconnected from meteor-fireball builds, and can really only be combined with FO (which is not an OP skill)âŚ
Enchant could be cast on the hydras to buff their damage also and give the sorceress some active ability to keep them busyâŚ
I also think enchant would be an incredible skill if sorcs could summon a fire golem⌠An enchant, hydra, fire golem sorceress would be amazing and totally new build, and properly fit the âEnchantressâ character fantasy Would really make the enchant tree stand-out as being truly unique (and not just for melee sorcs and memes). A proper caster-type enchantress (not a melee enchantress) would be really cool
So yeah, associate Hydras with the enchant tree (and less with the meteor tree) and the Devs can have full freedom to create whatever they think is fun and viable.
Good laugh. Maybe we play different games.
a) Hydra does a lot of damage.
b) Stop comparing any skills to godlikes ones (i.e. Blizzard)
c) Regarding TC85 areas, there are not that many fire immunes. In fact, you can
even farm more areas than cold sorc.
d) Dual spec is easily possible with Hydra
You guys just do not play other classes, that sums it up. Play a magezon for instance.
Go ahead, get 1/3 of the damage and see how you like it. Then come back to the glorious sorc and enjoy. All you sorc players want is more GG Tier S skills.
FORGET IT, Sorc is already mega strong. I would even go as far and say nerf Sorc -33%.
She would still smash everything (and have teleport).
I think removing fireball synergy and increasing firebolt to 7% would be the best way to make hydra very good.
We have smiter upgraded to play with FoH and spearzon replacing javazon with infinity killing stuff as quickly as java and killing ubers as a bonus so why not making sorc hybrid FO/Hydras great? We also have some vods with Zoo Druid using some elemental skills killing P8 real fast.
The only char that need a bit more love is the Assassin hindered by the ââNext hit Delayââ.
Lol itâd be interesting if you could enchant items on the ground and have them become minions with the added damage. Kinda like the floating scimitars you find occasionally. Could make sense for an enchantress to animate something inanimate.
Idk just random thought, but Iâd rather see something like that instead of using an iconic Necro spell like fire golem.
Actually i play lots of other classes. In fact the only reason i start as a sorc is because i want a fast start and farm some items. Usually i start another char within a week or two and probably wont play my sorc for the rest of the ladder. In the current state hydra is not worth it as a playthrough char since the nerf u really need a lot of + skills before it gets decent. As it is now it has too many synergies and since its a single target skill with no aoe or pierce it ends up being pretty slow. For a lvl 30 spell its just not worth it in the current state
Comparing hydras to great builds is as valid as comparing it to bad ones likeâŚ
@op
I agree with the suggestion that hydra needs to be as good as lighting trap
Some good suggestions here. And yes the shooting at fire immunes gets really annoying especially when the hydras has no aoe or pierce
+1. Bring Back 4% or 6% fire bolt is PERFECT. At this moment its too bad.
i have not looked at the ptr but i have seen videos. if we could drop 6 hydras then start casting frozen orb like a madman for 5-8 seconds that would be insane. lightning skills and infinity as your second build on that sorc would be the ultimate. (my opinion)
as it is now i dont think it will be worth it all unless they bump up the synergies again. U kind of need all synergies atm and even then they struggle with the damage unless u are max geared . This means u have very few points left for dual spec not to mention they are pretty slow at clearing by them self since the damage got nerfed and they have no aoe or pierce + they keep focusing immune targets and u have no way of changing their target
I think they should get rid of one of the synergies and increase the damage bonus of the remaining synergy or on the skill itself. At least this way, more people will use the skill on hybrid sorcs.
I have not tested myself but from what I have witnessed hydras need a damage buff atm.