New exciting challengers are always welcome :-)
Why don't the 5 incarnations have different names?! Why aren't they at leas in chronological order in Battle Statistics? Making heads or tails of what still has to be done is a nightmare that way!!!
I agree it would have been nice to have the number of heads in the names or something, just to distinguish them easier. I figured it out by looking at the images, but that took a little extra time of making sure I was counting correctly.
The other challengers that are progressively more difficult like this have more distinguishing names (like Forj and Meatslab).
Just something to consider for the future ~
I very much liked the introduction of the Hydras. It was a great mechanic overall that allowed everyone a chance to participate. (I desperately hope they are available next year so I can take out the 7-headed.)
I know I saw a lot of comments appearing about the discrepancy of health between the first and second tier though. 25 health to 750! I mean, wow. (Yes, my battle pet was fine on 1,3,5, but that's beside the point.) It was designed that basically all pets could beat . However, the number that could then go on and beat is likely mostly diminished. I would've liked to see a medium hydra (like 400hp) to balance it out.
Also yes to the different names. There were numerous counts of confusion on the battle boards when there was a mix-up about which Hydra a person was up against.
Overall, loved the inclusion. Would be happy to see a similar mechanic employed in future events.
I feel like I wasted my medal (though I guess I don't know what else I would've done with it) unlocking the second one because I wasn't expecting such a dramatic jump in difficulty. I'm not sure I could even beat an in-between version, but I'd still like it to exist.
Considering a T3 pet could get to 5 wins against the 3-headed version: Three-headed Panzer Hydra vs. Tier 4 - possible? I'd say the different hydra versions scale as follows: T1 - T2: one-headed mid-T3 - mid-T5: three-headed mid-high T6 - mid-high T7: five-headed high T8/T9 - high T10/T11: seven-headed mid-T12 to high T12/T13: eight-headed
success against the seven-headed hydra might require a better set and perhaps an uneven built for pets at the lower end of the spectrum, but the T3 winner didn't need any godly or fancy weapons in their set, and got relatively few losses (under 25) so personally I think the jump between the versions is reasonable, with some challenge thrown in. Sometimes opponents may have high stats but actually their difficulty depends on the type of weapons they use as well. However I agree that the three-headed is not designed to give T3s-T4s a clean record (i.e. perfect 5 or 10 wins without any losses). A slight reduction in its stats to give T3s more incentive would also be great.
I really like the way the hydras were released (though ngl I was weary of turning in my last medal for the 7 headed hydra knowing I probably wouldn't get a medal to keep. yes, hoarding issues, yes.). :3 I'm all for additional steps if it means getting an extra challenger to battle hehe. :)
I really liked the way the challengers were released as well. The loot was great, too, especially the wearables' artwork. I think by adding the achievements into the mix, more people were interested in participating. I would also like to see a medium challenger added to the roster should they return next year. Overall, it was a great idea and very fun!
We had them be the same name because the idea is that the hydra is the same hydra, just upgraded a bit as you move on. In the future, we'll try to make names not as confusing ;)
Panzer Hydra 1.0
Panzer Hydra 3.0
Panzer Hydra 5.0
Panzer Hydra 7.0
Panzer Hydra 8.0
Version numbers are perfect upgrades