The Hydra is a Greek myth unit for Age of Mythology, and is available to the Greek civilization in AoM: Retold.
In Retold, drawing on the mythical Hydra of Greek lore, is meant to supplement other myth units with its own special capabilities (often incorporating splash damage, along with regenerative properties).
How to Unlock Hydra Unit in Age of Mythology Retold
The Hydra Unit is unique to the Greek civilization. In the Classical Age, select Dionysus as your Minor God. This unlocks the Hydra unit within Age of Mythology ReTold.
Know that only Zeus and Poseidon can pick Dionysus as the minor God.
Research Bacchanalia Technology at the Temple, the tech is exclusive to Dionysus in AoM ReTold. This gives a 5% HP bonus to your Hydra Units.
If the Hydra secures 3 kills, it grows a new head (up to 5 heads max). Every new head immensely multiplies the attack damage, making it much stronger with every kill it gets:
- Damage vs. Myth Units: 2x damage
- Damage vs. Heroes: 0.5x damage
Also know that Hydras are weak against heroes and take reduced damage from them.
How to Build Hydra Units in Age of Mythology Retold
To train Hydra Units at the Temple, you need the following resources:
- 250 Food
- 28 Favor
It takes 20 seconds to train a Hydra.
In addition to these resources, Hydras need a lot of free population slots. If players picked Poseidon as their Pantheon, building it for them will require 4 Population, but if they went with Zeus instead, only 3 will be needed, thanks to his unique perk that reduces the cost of Myth Units by 1 Population.
You will only be able to train Hydras after reaching the Heroic Age. In order to reach this age, you must amass the right items:
- Food: 500
- Wood: 100
- Gold: 100
In the Heroic Age, you are asked to select a Minor God. Choose Dionysus, because the Hydra unit, as you see above, is his deity.
You do not have a Temple to train Hydras. If you still haven’t constructed one, build a Temple using these resources:
- Wood: 150
- Gold: 100
Hydra Stats
| Zeus | Poseidon | |
|---|---|---|
| Hitpoints | 800 | 800 |
| Crush Armor | 80 percent | 80 percent |
| Hack Armor | 60 percent | 60 percent |
| Pierce Armor | 50 percent | 50 percent |
| Speed | 4.0 | 4.4 |
| Hack Damage | 30 | 30 |
| Crush Damage | 15 | 15 |
| Rate of Fire | 1.5 | 1.5 |
The Hydra will grow an additional head that deals damage as long as the Hydra hits enemy units (not wild animals). The new head will double the unit’s base damage, up to a maximum of five heads.
| Total Damage Dealt | Number of Heads | Resulting Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 150 | 1 | 30 hack / 15 crush |
| 150 to less than 500 | 2 | 60 hack / 30 crush |
| 500 to less than 1,250 | 3 | 90 hack / 45 crush |
| 1,250 to less than 2,500 | 4 | 120 hack / 60 crush |
| 2,500 or more | 5 | 150 hack / 75 crush |
It’s the scaling that also makes the Hydra more and more dangerous the longer it remains in the fight, as it rewards persistence in the damage per second department by ramping up the damage its attack deals.
