Hydra

Hydra
Name	Hydra
Health	360 ( x 180)
Damage	fire damage from fire breath ( every 1/2 second); explosion damage from fireball (determined by distance from explosion)
Spawn	Hydra Lairs in the Twilight Forest
Drops	x1 Hydra Trophy, x9 Fiery Blood, x16-32 Hydra Chop
Source Mod	Twilight Forest

The Hydra is a huge, three headed beast with 360 hearts of health (determined by using the mod Damage Indicators.) The Hydra is found in Hydra Lairs in the Twilight Forest. As its health is depleted, its heads will die, each one replaced with 2 more heads, shooting explosives or fires which deal large quantities of damage.

The Hydra has three attacks: Fire Breath, Fire Shot, and Bite Attack. Fire Breath ignites all entities that it encounters as well as any flammable blocks, such as trees or leaves (can cause the swamp around the Hydra to ignite and burn) and cause them to take direct fire damage from the attack as well as lingering damage from the fire. Fire Shot is quite like the fireballs of a Ghast, but with much more explosive power such that it is capable of taking out Stone, something that a Ghast cannot do. Damage is determined by the player's distance from the explosion. Bite Attack does a big knockback and lots of damage.

Due to the fact that the Hydra spawns more heads as it takes damage and each of those heads can attack the player independently, the player may quickly become overwhelmed with the quantity of heads that are dealing attacks and by the quantity of damage received with or without armor. Thus, it is advisable to use high-level armor such as the QuantumSuit and a weapon such as a Nano Saber or Gravity Gun, or take one or more friends when fighting the Hydra so as not to be overwhelmed.

If there are no players nearby to attack, the Hydra will attack and kill any mobs that walk within its reach, such as Wolves, Bats, Bighorn Sheep, Penguins, and so forth.

A Hydra within a Hydra Lair. The green grass at the top is due to the Hydra Lair intersecting a Twilight Stream.

Tactics

First of all, the most important thing about the encounter is: The amount of damage the hydra takes is based on where you hit it. This goes for both melee and ranged damage. The most vulnerable spot is it's open mouth. Ranged damage from over twenty blocks away is completely ignored

The Hydra has three attacks, the first being its fire breath. The breath deals fire damage, and also a bit of physical damage. However, it is easy to outrun it as it has a bit of travel time. A Hydra head will open its mouth to reveal tiny flames before using this attack.

The second, and probably more dangerous, is the fireball attack. It acts much like TNT, and usually doesn't explode right after hitting the ground. A Hydra head will open its mouth and emit smoke before shooting 3 fireballs.

The third, and probably the most dangerous, is the bite attack. It does a load of damage, killing players if they don't have strong armor. A Hydra head will lower itself, open its mouth, and make a small growl before biting.

If you plan to engage it in melee combat, it is suggested that you use Fire Resistance potions, wear a set of NanoSuit, and wield a Nano Saber (or better). If possible, use QuantumSuit instead of NanoSuit  to ensure an easy victory. During the fight it is advised to hug the base of its body. If its breathing fire at you (close-mid range), run in a circle. The fire is not instant and takes a moment to travel to its destination, giving you the time to dodge it. Once the fire stops, attack the head until its mouth closes (You can attack regardless of it attacking or not). Always keep up close to the body, as it'll allow you more time to attack, without compromising your security.

If you prefer being ranged, try reflecting the fireballs its shooting like you would that of a ghast. The fireballs do a lot of damage to the Hydra (about 1/8th). If you're not as good about reflecting the fireballs, simply try hitting its opened mouth with an enchanted Bow, or a Mining Laser. If using the laser, remember to use a battery pack with a lot of EU in it.

You can also use some method of flight, such as an Electric Jetpack to aid in your battle. With practice, you can get a large number of critical hits in.

When the attacked head loses enough health, it dies off, allowing two new ones to sprout (The maximum number of heads that can spawn is seven). Once the Hydra has reached seven heads, it can be killed for good once its health bar has been drained. Despite this being one entity, each head can attack a different person. Regardless of this, you will never find yourself targeted by two heads at the same time. The Hydra spawns only once, although there could be multiple Hydras.

If you cant be bothered with all this effort, simply punch one head off, and run around it in circles and it will shoot its-self until death, and you still get all the loot.

Note

It's worth noting that the Hydra Lair itself contains a lot of exposed minerals that can be mined. (Provided that the Hydra did not destroy them during the encounter) The Hydra will drop a Hydra Trophy upon death, as well as some Hydra Chops and some Fiery Blood. It is also a peaceful difficulty and up boss.