Hydroid Prime

Tank / Defense

Command the ocean’s fury with this king of gold and silver. Featuring altered mod polarities for greater customization.

Role: Tank / Defense
Aura: Naramon
Polarities: MaduraiVazarinNaramonNaramon
Mastery: 0
Introduced: Update 21.6 (2017-08-29)

RelatedStandard VersionHydroid

Stats

Type: Warframe
Category: Warframes
Mastery: 0
Health: 270
Shield: 550
Armor: 290
Energy: 175
Sprint Speed: 1.05
Build Cost: 25,000 Credits
Build Time: 72h 0m
Rush: 50 Platinum

Warframe dossier

Verified 2026-07-22

Playstyle

Hydroid Prime is the primed variant of Hydroid — same kit fantasy with Prime stats and polarities. Hydroid summons the power of the ocean depths. Built around Tempest Barrage, Tidal Surge, Plunder.

Passive

Enemies damaged by Hydroid are more vulnerable to Corrosive Status, with initial Status reducing Armor by a percentage.

When to Pick

You want Hydroid’s kit with Prime polarities / stats.
You want a tank / defense toolkit and Hydroid’s fantasy matches the mission.
Your squad is missing what Hydroid brings — especially Tempest Barrage.

Kit Overview

Ability kit matches Hydroid — open the base ability pages for deep dives.
Tempest Barrage (Ability 1): Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
Tidal Surge (Ability 2): Crash through enemies in a ferocious wall of water.
Plunder (Ability 3): Plunder Armor from nearby enemies and increase Corrosive Damage on your Abilities and weapons.

Abilities & Augments

1
Tempest Barrage →
Energy 25
Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
Augment
Viral TempestOpen augment →
2
Tidal Surge →
Energy 25
Crash through enemies in a ferocious wall of water.
Augment
Tidal ImpunityOpen augment →
3
Plunder →
Energy 25
Plunder Armor from nearby enemies and increase Corrosive Damage on your Abilities and weapons. Enemies affected by Corrosive Status offer a greater increase.
Augment
Rousing PlunderOpen augment →
4
Tentacle Swarm →
Energy 25
Summon a creature from the depths. Its watery tentacles emerge from nearby surfaces to wreak havoc.
Augment
Pilfering SwarmOpen augment →

Ability Priority

1
Plunder
Plunder Armor from nearby enemies and increase Corrosive Damage on your Abilities and weapons.
2
Tempest Barrage
Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
3
Tidal Surge
Crash through enemies in a ferocious wall of water.
4
Tentacle Swarm
Summon a creature from the depths.

Helminth / Subsume

Tempest Barrage is often the Helminth sacrifice if your build never needs Ability 1 and you’d rather import a strip, buff, or survival tool.
Keep Tidal Surge and later abilities when they define Hydroid’s identity.
Never subsume the ability that enables the rest of the kit’s energy or survival loop.

Mod Scaling

Strength: Raises damage and effect potency across Hydroid’s Strength-scaling abilities.
Duration: Extends channeled / timed effects — often comfort on Hydroid if the kit leans on buffs or zones.
Range: Helps radius / targeting tools. Dump it if Hydroid is mostly self-buff or exalted weapons.
Efficiency: Keeps ability uptime comfortable, especially on longer Steel Path missions.

Priority

Match the priority to your main ability — Strength or Duration first for most kits, then Efficiency, then Range.

Mission Usefulness

Mission / Context	Rating	Why
Steel Path Survival / Defense / Disruption	Excellent	Endless Steel Path is where Hydroid Prime’s loop peaks — Tempest Barrage is the button you press every pack. Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
Mobile Defense / Excavation	Excellent	Bring Hydroid Prime when the objective can’t move — Tempest Barrage is built for standing your ground. Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
Exterminate / Capture Speed Runs	Situational	Usable on speed runs, but Hydroid Prime’s tank / defense kit usually wants longer objectives than a 3-minute Exterminate. Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
Spy / Rescue / Nightmare	Weak	Loud kit. Leave Spy / Rescue to invis or silence frames; Tempest Barrage doesn’t make Hydroid Prime quiet. Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area. Hydroid summons the power of the ocean depths.
Open World / Bounties	Situational	Fine on clustered camps, but sparse open-world travel underuses Hydroid Prime unless you love Tempest Barrage. Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.
Long-Range Gunplay / Eidolon-Style Content	Weak	Hydroid Prime wants pack clear or finishers, not pure long-range; Tempest Barrage won’t save an Eidolon-style loadout. Summon a tempest to rain down upon a target area.