Hydra Strike

Description
The Hydra Strike is a frontal reeling technique. Its name has no relation to the technique itself

Usefulness: High

Difficulty: High

Stylishness: High

Damage: Very high

Basic Execution and Tips
The basic method of executing it is by placing one or 2 hooks on the face or throat of a titan, then reeling in with the scroll wheel while gassing directionally away from the titan. Gassing away from the titan is often necessary to not crash into the titan when reeling, but occasionally it's necessary to either not gas directionally at all, or gassing towards the titan rather than away from it to prevent flying too far away from the nape.

If you swing too far around the nape, it's not entirely a loss as it is usually a good opportunity to perform a spiral strike. Keep swinging around the titan with your hooks attached, then reel when you see the opportunity. Be wary of getting slapped by the titan while circling around it.

Advanced Execution
If even gassing towards the titan isn't enough to secure the kill, shoot a second hook (or replace one) with moderate room between the first one right after reeling. If the first hook is around the vertical middle of the titan, it's preferred to place the second hook contrary to the side which you're attacking from. Doing this will make you automatically reel in slowly, which ensures that you won't fly too far around the titan if done properly. The autoreel effect is stronger if the 2 hooks are further away from each other.

The Hydra Strike can also be executed from both above and below.

To do it from above, place your hook(s) on the forehead if there's also horizontal space between you and the titan, and on the top of the head if you're directly above it. The actual execution is mostly the same.

To do it from below, place your hook(s) around the chest, the farther below the titan you are, the lower you should hook. If you're horizontally far away, the hook(s) should be placed further up the titan than normal.

A more advanced way of using it is by not circling around the titan, but simply flying over the titans shoulder, and hitting the nape without bending your path at all. This is commonly known as "Full Slash Vector".

Execution is similar to a regular Hydra Strike, except you need to not fly too far from the side of the titan, as it requires a lot more accuracy to use. Keep in mind that it's a lot more difficult than a regular Hydra Strike.

Uses
The Hydra Strike is very useful overall.

It's very useful for speedrunning, as it's the fastest possible way to kill a titan if you happen to fly away from it. It's one of your safest bets at killing grouped titan, because it's very fast and easy to do without crashing if you're good at the technique. The Hydra strike can deal damages over 3000 if mastered, but this is no easy task.