hydra attack rate

StaticNine

44 Posts

March 06 2020 19:55 GMT

I noticed that the first 2 attacks of hydras tend to be fast and then it tapers off to a regular rhythm. I tried to show in this video that it actually does seem to attack faster the first 2 shots. I don't understand the mechanics behind it, but it kind of seems like the 2nd shot fires fast when you change direction or move any distance except toward the target.

In this video I have 2 hydras attacking 2 different turrets. The top hydra clearly fires before the bottom hydra, yet the turret dies at the same time...so the bottom hydra somehow was able to move while also reducing fire-rate gap. Both hydras also took 20 shots to kill the turret so there weren't any unlucky 1/256 air shots (I just learned about the existence of these air shots last night when Artosis took 4 vulture shots to kill a probe).

I'm not sure if this has any practical use but I found it interesting. Maybe hydras running from zealots it could be utilized to run, fire twice, run, repeat? I dunno.

*also, i'm sorry for the quality. I don't upload many videos and i'm computer illiterate. I don't know why the quality sucks so much but you can still see what's going on.

If anyone better understands the why what and how of the mechanics behind the 2nd shot of hydras coming out quickly I would be very interested.

Cryoc

Germany912 Posts

March 07 2020 16:19 GMT

It is an interesting occurrence, but I doubt that this has any application in a real game, because the gain is very small but you have to constantly micro your units.

StaticNine

44 Posts

March 07 2020 16:42 GMT

On March 08 2020 01:19 Cryoc wrote:
It is an interesting occurrence, but I doubt that this has any application in a real game, because the gain is very small but you have to constantly micro your units.

i think you're probably right that it doesn't have any applications. I just find it interesting that I'm continually learning little new details about the game that I didn't know before considering the inordinate amount of time I have spent on SC. The only place that came to mind that could possibly be of use is hydras vs zealots if it could be better understood and executed.

From a mindset point of view I always assumed that your max DPS from hydras would be from standing still and letting it fire, but perhaps you don't lose that much DPS from a certain type of hydra vs zealot micro and combined with less damage from zealots there might exist a way for some extremely potent hydralisk micro that hasn't yet been fully explored.

Greg_J

China4409 Posts

March 07 2020 19:20 GMT

I didn't know this. It's incredible the things I am capable of not noticing.

StRyKeR

United States1739 Posts

March 08 2020 14:56 GMT

My theory:

There's a built-in random wait of 0 to a few frames between every attack (which is why even if you select a group of dragoons and attack a building in range at the same time, they will at some point not attack all together). But moving disables the random wait for the next attack (or two, maybe three). I imagine the developers thought, 'Well the units are already moving and not attacking, so we want their next attack not to have a random delay'. But since fire rates for some units are low enough, you can move in between fires to disable the random wait, increasing your overall attack rate.