Taking a shot at the Archydra.
The Archydra loses a head.
Archydra is an Enemy in Dragon's Dogma.
The Archydra is a stronger version of the Hydra, with white scales rather than black. The Archydra has higher attack and defense than the Hydra, and on death will yield some unique crafting items.
It can be encountered in the post-Dragon The Everfall in the Chamber of Hesitation, and is one of the random encounters in post-Daimon Rotunda of Dread.
The Archydra's behavior, skills and abilities mirror the hydra - it can regenerate heads, is vulnerable to fire, and can swallow opponents - bestiary knowledge for both sub-species is shared.
Information and Stats
General Info
| Type | Monster / Boss |
|---|---|
| Experience gained |
Base Exp of 30,000
|
| Location |
|
Stats
| Health | Attack | Defence | Magick Attack | Magick Defence | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100,000 | 3,200 | 300 | 1,500 | 300 | 50,000 kg |
Damage Taken
| Slash | Bash | Fire
|
Ice
|
Thunder
|
Holy
|
Dark
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110% | 50% | 60% | 30% | 30% | 60% | 10% |
Attacks
| Attack | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Run Over | Phys | A charge that knocks you over. |
| Neck Smash | Phys | If climbing a neck, it will smash itself to the ground for very high damage. |
| Head Strike | Phys | A head smash that stabs the ground. |
| Poison Spit | Mag/Status | Sprays up to 4 beams of poison that have long range and linger on the ground for a time after being sprayed. Can cause Poison and Blindness. |
| Tail Whip | Phys | Spins around and whips you with its tail. Has long range. |
| Eat | Spec | Attempts to swallow you or a pawn. If you fail to free yourself (wiggle the L-stick fast enough) and are swallowed, you will die instantly if you aren't freed before reaching the main body. Pawns swallowed and not freed cannot be revived and will need to be re-hired.
If you are by yourself and have no Pawns with you and fail to free yourself, you die instantly and not get to see yourself sliding down its throat. If poisoned or blinded by the spit attack and attacked with the "Eat" move afterwards, you won't get the prompt to free yourself and will be instantly swallowed, resulting in death if no Pawns are around to save you. |
Item Drops
| Normal Hydra | Rate | Neck/Head Destroyed | Rate | With Drake, Wyrm, or Wyvern Tear | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rift Cluster | 4% | Hydra Gallstone | 3% | Wakestone Shard | 40% |
| Hydra Gallstone | 10% | White Hydra Scale | 7% | Wakestone | 60% |
| Poison Hydra Fang | 25% | Poison Hydra Fang | 25% | ||
| White Hydra Scale | 49% | Hydra's Lifeblood | 50% | ||
| Wakestone | 100% |
Tactics
Tactics against an Archydra are very similar to those against a Hydra.
Offensive tactics
- Nearly impervious to Dark magic (High Maelstrom is almost completely ineffective).
- Weak to Fire. Fire enchanted weapons, fire-based spells, and items causing fire are all effective.
- Weak to edged weapons. Swords & daggers can cut off its heads.
- Attacks closer to the heads are more effective.
- Immune to debilitations, except Tarred in oil and Lowered Defense (throw a Skull or use Sapfire Daggers).
- After cutting off a head, setting the stump on fire will delay the regeneration of the head whilst the stump is ablaze.
- Attacking a dead stump seems to inflict more damage than attacking the other heads.
- After one of the heads initiates a "head butt" strike, the head will be temporarily at ground level - use this opportunity to decaptitate with a strong physical attack, or to mount the snake near to the neck, and then attack.
Climbing tactics
- If possible, employ the augments Adhesion (for grip), Opportunism (+30% strength) and Arm-Strength (for stamina) with Gloves of Might (more grip and climbing speed) for best results.
Vocation-specific tactics
- Fighters, Warriors : Follow the "Climing tactics" above.
Strider vs Archydra in the Chamber of Hesitation-2
A Strider demonstrating Downpour Volley's effectiveness against Archydras with a Dragon's Ire bow. Hard mode demonstration with no armor, buffs, curatives or Wakestones used.
- Striders : Downpour Volley, Splinter Dart or Fracture Dart are good skills against the Archydra.
- Rangers, Striders, Assassins : Blast Arrows will cut off heads, and successive Blast Arrow hits on a stump not only cauterize but also exploits the additional damage hitting a stump receives. Standard climbing attacks and techniques of choice can be used on the neck.
Chamber of Hesitation Archydra, 3 Masterful Kill counters. Arisen undamaged, no buffs or curatives. Hard mode.-0
An Assassin demonstrating Masterful Kill effectiveness against an Archydra.
- Magick Archer : Immolation whilst climbing exploits the Archydra's weakness, and also prevents swallowing.
- Mages : High Comestion is the most effective mage spell against a Archydra.
- Sorcerers : High Seism, High Gicel, High Bolide, and High Miasma can all cut off multiple heads.
- Mages and Sorcerers : For fun, cast Brontide or Fulmination and wait for a head to eat the Arisen. Canceling the spell will unleash multiple tongues of Levin's lightning into the Hydra's mouth. This may cut off the head that swallowed the Arisen. Even if it fails to cut off the head, the Hydra will spit out the Arisen.
- Mystic Knights : Great Cannon is ineffective unless Fire-enchanted. Climbing attacks with Abyssal Anguish and Fire-enchanted weapons is effective. Stone Forest on a partially- or better yet, fully-decapitated Archydra does massive damage.
Defensive tactics
- Avoid the tail area. Striking the tail inflicts no damage, but tail whipping can inflict great harm to the Arisen.
- Using multi-strike attacks (like Great Windmill or Thousand Kisses) on the neck area (while standing on the ground) with a Holy enchanted weapon (like Ascalon or Heaven's Key) will incrementally heal the Arisen.
Pawn Bestiary Knowledge
For full information, refer to the Pawn Bestiary Knowledge page or the according section on the Hydra page. Enemy specific :
- None
In addition to witnessing these techniques, it is necessary for Pawns to participate in killing 7 Archydras either with their own Arisen or while travelling with others.
Strider vs Archydra in the Chamber of Hesitation-0
A Strider demonstrating Downpour Volley's effectiveness against Archydras with a Dragon's Ire bow. Hard mode demonstration with no armor, buffs, curatives or Wakestones used.
Notes
- The Headshunter trophy or achievement can be obtained by defeating a Hydra or Archydra.
Related quests
- Destruction (slay the Archydra in the Chamber of Hesitation within the Everfall)