[GFree]

Disclaimer
My last post got some good feedback so I'm going to try writing about something closer to the current state of the game rather than a proposed patch change. Feel free to give feedback. This is my take on things and I might be wrong, I'll acknowledge that in advance.

Introduction
The Hydralisk has been an interesting point of much discussion since release. With this report I want to express my view on the Hydralisk as a unit.

The Hydralisk
Important: This section will lay down my understanding of the Hydralisk, that will be used as the basis for my opinions. If anything here is BLATANTLY wrong, I don't think you'd agree with the rest of my points and I'd rather you point out my mistake. If it's merely questionable, then perhaps there might still be some worth reading on. =)

Transition
The Hydralisk is a Lair Tech(T2) unit, commonly used either as a mid game support to Roach heavy armies or as a reactionary unit to heavy aerial pressure (which generally is geared to force the Zerg player away from the other common T2 tech path, the Spire. Hydralisks can come out pretty fast (33 seconds + 40 seconds for the Hydralisk Den compared to 100 seconds for the Spire not including time taken to morph larvae to Mutalisks) which is why, they can function well as a reactionary transition.

Economic Effect
Hydralisks are significantly cost effective against most T1 - T2 mixes, with the exception of a well positioned Siege Tank line. Against a Chargelot-Sentry mix, it depends a lot of the positioning and what support, if any, the Hydralisks have. Due to this cost effective property, Hydralisks are decently light on the economy, primarily freeing up more gas, but also minerals and larvae because you don't need to produce as many Hydralisks as you would Mutalisks, as Hydralisks actually can hold a line better allowing you to spend your resources elsewhere.

Movement and Positioning
The main weaknesses of the Hydralisk are the low health and slow movement speed off creep. These two weaknesses leave the Hydralisk risky as offensive units, because good scouting is needed before you engage, because retreating will not always be an option, as compared to Zerglings and Roaches with the speed upgrade. This means that they also have a though time defending multiple bases, which is why, despite the point of Hydralisks being light on the economy (above sub-section) a Zerg player would still be hesitant expanding.

Analysis
Now that we've gone passed that (and if you're reading this I suppose you have no major objections to the previous section), I'm going to look at the Hydralisk and my take on it's function. Note: These two points work in tandem.

Combat Unit
I feel the Hydralisk shines in the early-mid game stages, before Siege Tanks get a good position or Protoss has had a chance to start getting ready to tech. Aggressive Hydra-T1 play is really strong and essentially, pigeonhole your opponent into a tech path, much the same way a Protoss player might go for Phoenixes or Void Rays to bait Hydralisks. Now I know that aggressive play needs care because a Zerg player needs to Drone up and expand. However, using Hydralisks means the Zerg players needs to use the same thought process Terran and Protoss use when they position their forces and expand. By following the same ideas used by races whose army ball has less mobility, a Zerg player should still be able to expand decently.

Transitionary Unit
So, we have a cost effective unit, that sadly doesn't allow a Zerg player to expand as much as the Spire option would, due to lack of mobility. It still prevents your opponent from attacking you too early on, though for a different reason, it can actually decimate his/her army. So what to do with this gas advantage... TECH... Get upgrades, get Hive, etc. Hydralisks strike me as a great unit to allow you to transition WITHOUT DYING. It's not much of an end game unit unless you've already had an advantage way earlier, but it's great for forcing a momentary stalemate, even as a follow up to Spire tech, to allow you to transition to Hive and Broodlords.

Conclusion
Reserved till after I've gotten feedback.Thanks for reading this far though.

[rifT_Theory]

Hi GFree! Your understanding of Hydralisks is pretty much spot on.

Hydralisks as we all know are pretty good against Gateway units hence, making them a good unit against Protoss early - mid game. Furthermore, if the Zerg scouts out a close spawn, Hydralisks will definitely be viable. This is because the amount of time required to spread creep to the opponent's base would be faster hence, allowing for faster Hydralisk reinforcements.

Always remember to scout. If Zerg sees a Robotics Bay/Colossus make Corrupters. The Zerg should always try to end the game before High Templars come into the picture. If the Protoss is skipping the Colossus tech and going straight for High Templars with storm I think the safest thing to do is to get out the Tier 3s - Broodlords & Ultralisks. If not Zerg should just end it, as the Protoss would only have gateway units to hold the line while Storm tech is completing.

These are just some of my thoughts on how Zerg need not always play those long drawn out Macro-Intensive games against Protoss.

Note: -
If your micro/macro is good making a creep highway using Overlords can be another option if the creep tumors are being killed off or unable to reach the neck of the opponent's base due to Observers, etc.

[GFree]

Thanks rift =D The close spawn thing is an excellent point and yeah, Hydralisks work well with Spire tech.

Also I think Hydra-Baneling openings would be great against Terran because it pigeonholes them into Siege Tanks, meaning Nydus play might be very effective to abuse that low mobility army.

[Melchsee]

actually high templars with storm is not effective against roaches with burrow. the dmg done to roaches burrowed with their regen makes it so much more viable against gateway+templar storm.

[GFree]

That's true. I think HTs, could still buy time though. If the Roaches are burrowed they're not tanking or attacking. That's a valid point about the viability of Hydralisks though, if they're supported well with Roaches, the Protoss doesn't have much of a chance to get too offensive if he/she opened with a 4 Gate or 3 Gate expand until after he techs, just gives you a window to get an expansion.

Of course, you got to factor in that burrow takes a 100 seconds to research so waiting for it to finish before attacking might not entirely be beneficial because in that time, your composition might be scouted and your opponent might already start putting down a Robotics Facility. Your point definitely contributes to the viability of Hydralisks but I was aiming more towards getting people to see Hydralisks as a transitionary unit into teching. Initial Roach Hydra pressure into Tunneling Roaches might be nice. Burrow a few while attacking and sneak them in. That would be so sexy to watch. Alternatively, knowing your composition will 'encourage' Robo tech, you can put down a Spire secure that they're not going to be investing in Blink Stalkers anytime soon to deal with your obnoxious =p Mutalisk play.

I feel too many people get their Roach-Hydra armies and then after that momentary tech advantage where their ball is more deadly in an a-move situation don't have their follow up. So the enemy gets defensive and gets Tanks/Collosi and rolls them.

However, even against Terran, Hydralisks are great when supported by Speedlings and Banelings and I feel by getting them, players have a window to get their T3 easily. You could open with a Spire, get Hydras to hold the line after getting an expansion or two, even if he went for Thors, because Hydralisks are still pretty cost efficient, and will still be effective if repairing SCVs come along after patch 1.2, and he might go for Tanks but he'll need to push forward REALLY SLOWLY cos of the threat of Mutas. What you do with the bought time depends on the situation. What do you think?