Now that there's a Hydro Hypostasis in Genshin Impact, the circle is nearly complete. Every element now has a representative in the annoying boss monster category— well, all available elements anyway as Dendro has yet to join the party. In any case, each new Hypostasis enemy has proven to be more challenging or quirkier than the last.
The Hydro Hypostasis is no exception. While it's not as nightmare-inducing as the dreaded Pyro Hypostasis, it's still a notorious enemy for having long invulnerability periods and splash damage attacks, as is fitting for its element. That's why looking for some help in the form of guides on how to beat a water blob pixel into submission is warranted in Genshin Impact. Take note of these.
Updated December 13, 2021, by Sid Natividad: A considerable amount of time has passed ever since Genshin Impact introduced the Hydro Hypostasis. While it's not the hardest enemy in the game, how to defeat the Hydro Hypostasis isn't as straightforward as it seems. As always, it's an elaborate dance where players must learn the most important steps. Thus, in order to win, one must learn how to fight the Hydro Hypostasis.
Thankfully, there are more tips added to the list and that should answer the "how" question more thoroughly. Because as time goes by, players tend to learn more techniques and even how to stop the Hydro Hypostasis from healing. These additional tips should help anyone how to beat the Hydro Hypostasis.
Unlocking The Hydro Hypostasis
First thing's first, players will have to progress through the game in order to gain access to the Hydro Hypostasis. Such is the case for anyone relatively new to Genshin Impact. There is no specific quest to unlock the Hydro Hypostasis nor is it locked behind some kind of invisible or puzzling area.
It is, however, only accessible if players have access to Inazuma. Archon Quest Chapter 2, Act 1 is the key questline here that allows players that opportunity. It should be a fairly straightforward affair assuming the players meet the level requirements of the said quest which is always indicated.
The steps are as follows:
- Unlock Inazuma to the point where one can access the waypoints.
- Go to Watatsumi Island.
- Look for the greyed-out Hydro Hypostasis icon or marker.
- In order to get to it, players need to look for a specific ridge or cavern in the surrounding area as the boss arena is underground.
- Make sure to grab and activate a nearby waypoint for convenience.
Learn What Each Slime Spawn Does
One of the most subtle elementals in the Hydro Hypostasis boss fight that can blindside beginners are the spawns. The Hydro Hypostasis will leave some special slimes behind and they can be difficult to see or even notice because of their size especially if playing on the phone. As such, players should familiarize themselves with what each slime does. There are two notable ones:
- Healing Slime: It's pretty clear what these do. Their healing interval is around five seconds and they also release healing bubbles that home in on their boss. Players can catch these bubbles or even push away the slimes.
- Exploding Slime: They explode and take away chunks of player health, pretty straightforward. They're less of a priority target than Healing Slimes though and are easier to kill.
Try To Stay Close
There are varying strategies players can utilize when fighting the Hydro Hypostasis but those looking to dispatch it quickly enough should try to stick close. That's because it's slow enough for players to dodge its attacks; also, there are only a few effective bow DPS characters in Genshin Impact and both of them are 5-star characters.
In addition to making the boss more accessible to melee characters, sticking close to the Hydro Hypostasis also ensures less wasted time whenever it reaches its vulnerable state. Because often, it will land in an area it deems a little bit safer.
Players Can Steal Its Healing
One way to ease the difficulty when sticking close to the Hydro Hypostasis is to steal its own medicine. It was mentioned earlier that the Healing Slimes it spawns will periodically release some bubbles that will seek the boss and then heal them. Instead of popping these homing bubbles, players can actually grab them for themselves.
This will heal any character who snagged the bubble. It's essentially free healing and in co-op where healers aren't always available, players can avoid killing the Healing Slimes immediately so they can steal some of the boss's healing.
Bring a Cryo DPS
Players who have spent a bit of time in Genshin Impact's late-game ought to know by now that Hydro's biggest weakness is Cryo. It literally makes any Hydro enemy freeze on their tracks. That means the Hydro Hypostasis is fair game especially for those who picked up the most recent or most powerful Cryo DPS characters in the game.
While the Hydro Hypostases doesn't freeze, it still gets the Frozen status and doesn't resist the Cryo element. Hence, these characters would do well against it:
- Ganyu
- Ayaka
- Eula
- Kaeya
- Rosaria
Moreover, the Cryo element can slow down minions spawned by the Hydro Hypostasis. More on that later.
A Pyro or Electro DPS is Also Viable
What if players don't have the top three Cryo DPS Ice Queens? Or what if they didn't level Kaeya or didn't get Rosaria as well? That's alright. Because the Hydro Hypostasis is the most vulnerable Hypostases in Genshin Impact. It's also susceptible to reactions caused by combining Hydro with Pyro or Electro.
That very well means a Pyro or Electro DPS carry will also work well against the Hydro Hypostasis. Pyro, in particular, will trigger the Vaporize reaction with the Hydro Hypostasis while Electro will trigger Electro-Charged. Both of those are stellar DPS options. These characters will thus work well against the Hydro Hypostasis as a DPS carry:
- Hu Tao
- Diluc
- Xiangling
- Klee
- Yoimiya
- Yanfei
- Raiden Shogun
- Beidou
- Keqing
- Fischl
- Razor
- Kujou Sara
Bring a Ranged DPS Too
As with any boss fight in Genshin Impact, bringing a bow to a sword fight is always a good and clever tactic. Ranged characters, for that matter, have the upper hand when tussling with a single enemy that moves around a lot.
Ranged characters, particularly bow users in Genshin Impact, also have the added bonus of being mobile while also attacking. This helps a lot in avoiding enemy attacks. Ranged DPS characters that make the fight easier against the Hydro Hypostasis are:
- Ganyu
- Yoimiya
- Fischl
- Ningguang
- Klee
- Yanfei
Attack Only When the Elemental Core is Exposed
Another reason why players might want to bring their best bow or catalyst DPS especially when speedrunning is that the Hydro Hypostasis is that there's a limited window of opportunity when attacking it. That would be when its elemental core is exposed. For the uninitiated, that would be the diamond thing at the center which appears to be the Hypostasis itself.
The Hypostasis will constantly move around guarded and will usually only expose its core after an attack move. With any other movement, it usually keeps the core protected. Sometimes it will land far away from the player with its core exposed and this is where ranged DPS characters have a good headstart in DPS. They don't have to get up close to deal damage to the core before the Hypostasis turtles up again.
Be Conservative With Elemental Bursts
In addition to only attacking when its elemental core is exposed, players will also need to be frugal with their characters' energy and their Elemental Bursts. A poorly-timed Elemental Burst will often result in wasted energy and a prolonged fight.
The Hydro Hypostasis' vulnerability window can often be treacherous and easily miscalculated. The duration of its exposed elemental core is a few seconds, give or take, much like most Hypostases. At times, it might even be better to not use a DPS' Elemental Burst at all lest players risk an unsatisfying ultimate attack.
Learn Its Attack Patterns
While the Hydro Hypostasis is the most vulnerable of its kind, it's also one of the most tenacious. It has various attacks most of which deal heavy damage and might even kill the players with one or two hits if they're unaware or inexperienced. The attacks also have a large radius of effects and might even bring back some of the players' elemental reactions to them.
Hence, one must learn to memorize its moves:
- Bubble Explosion: The Hydro Hypostasis draws in water, forms a bubble, then explodes. It will then summon a couple of Water Droplets that will slowly crawl toward the boss in an attempt to heal it. Evading the bubble is as easy as backing away fast; players will then have to deal with the Droplets afterward.
- Dive Teleport: The Hydro Hypostasis will dive on a certain spot on the ground and emerge in another spot. Avoid the dive and keep moving around the arena to prepare for where it will emerge.
- Dolphin Dive: The Hydro Hypostasis will dive into the ground and then transform into a pod of dolphins. These water dolphins will then leap to the players to damage them. It's best to have a shield during such a widespread attack.
- Dolphin Rain: The Hydro Hypostasis will create its own circle and cover itself with a bubble that will explode. After the bubble explodes, it will become vulnerable but will summon dolphin pods that will leap outwardly and attack the players. This is also a good opportunity to attack provided the players have a shield.
- Rainstorm Typhoon: The Hydro Hypostasis will transform itself into a water tornado that will chase players and places rain circles on the ground that deal damage. Evasion is easy enough, the boss will remain invulnerable while doing this.
- Wave Attacks: The Hydro Hypostasis dives into the ground, forming cubes around it, making it invulnerable still. It will also summon waves that move outward and will deal damage. Again, simply back away or generate a shield.
- Twisting Vortex: Similar to Rainstorm Maelstrom but The Hydro Hypostasis will dive afterward and deal large swathes of Hydro damage all over the arena.
Jog Instead of Dashing to Conserve Stamina
When it comes to avoiding damage, players needn't sweat too much. They can simply make their characters jog or run without dashing as most of the time, the Hydro Hypostasis' attacks are slow unlike with its Electro or Pyro cousins.
At times, players don't even need to evade the attacks. If they keep moving, they can just walk out of the boss' target circle. This conserves Stamina which the players can use for more urgent dodging. When in doubt, just keep moving during the fight.
Kill the Water Droplets Fast to Deny Revival
Once the Hydro Hypostasis gets to a certain HP threshold, which is more or less five percent, it will go into healing or revival mode like all of its cousins from other elements. Thankfully, the Hydro Hypostasis' healing mode is more manageable.
It will produce three Water Droplets that move slowly towards it. If they reach the boss, then the boss will heal itself. It's up to the players to ensure that the slow droplets don't achieve that. This is where the Cryo element comes in most handy.
