Boss Overview
Hydro Tulpa has 7,658,830 HP for Fearless and 17,260,005 HP for Dire. It has a permanent hydro aura and is fully immune to Hydro damage.
The fight revolves around three major mechanics:
- Killing or freezing the Half-Tulpas.
- Preventing Hydro Tulpa from absorbing them.
- Planning around the Torrential Flurry shield when it appears.
The boss itself is not complicated if you play around the small tulpas. If not, the fight becomes much harder because every absorption can heal the boss and force you to fight into extremely high resistance.
Mechanic
Half-Tulpas
After entering battle, and every 30 seconds afterward, Hydro Tulpa summons 2 Half-Tulpas. Each Half-Tulpa has 12% of the boss’s HP and a 12U Hydro Shield. Most importantly, they die instantly if Frozen.
The Half-Tulpas should not be ignored because Hydro Tulpa can absorb them and enter Rage mode. Your goal is to kill them immediately, freeze them immediately, or use AoE damage so they die while you continue damaging the boss.
Best ways to handle Half-Tulpas:
- Freeze them with Cryo.
- Hit them with strong Pyro damage.
- Use enough Dendro.
- Use wide AoE attacks that hit both the boss and the summons.
- Use a trick to only kill 1 tulpa. More details in the Tips and Trick section.
Absorption and Rage
If Hydro Tulpa successfully absorbs a Half-Tulpa, it enters Rage Mode. During this state, all non-Hydro RES increases to 210%, and the boss heals 12.5% HP.
Rage is bad for three reasons:
- The boss heals, increasing the total damage required.
- The boss becomes extremely resistant to damage.
- The boss hits for a lot harder.
Because of this, a team with slightly lower sheet DPS but reliable Half-Tulpa control will often perform better.
Torrential Flurry Shield
After some time, Tulpa begin charging Torrential Flurry, gaining a shield equal to 8.85% of its Max HP. Shortly before the shield appears, all party members’ Elemental Skill and Burst cooldowns are reset, and their Energy, Fighting Spirit, and Serpent’s Subtlety are restored. However, if you fail to break the shield before the charge completes, the current active character is defeated and you cannot i-frame this damage.
Breaking the shield interrupts Torrential Flurry and deals 8.85% of the boss’s Max HP as True Physical DMG.
This mechanic is actually a damage opportunity if you play around it correctly:
- Set up your rotation before the shield phase.
- Since cooldowns and Energy are restored, you can often use a second full rotation right after.
If your team can take advantage of the cooldown reset, the shield phase can massively improve your clear time.
Best Teams
Pyro Teams
Pyro teams are the best match up against the Hydro Tulpa because the boss has permanent Hydro aura so Pyro carries can trigger consistent Vaporize without needing a Hydro applicator.
C0 Arlecchino
R2 Deathmatch
C6 Chevreuse
R5 Fav Lance
C6 Fischl
R5 Rainbow
C0 Nicole
R5 TTDS
C0 Durin
R5 Finale
C6 Xiangling
R5 Catch
C6 Fischl
R5 Fav Bow
C6 Chevreuse
R5 Fav Lance
Mavuika teams are especially strong because she apply a lot of Pyro with her new combos while having good AoE to kill Half-Tulpas quickly.
Citlali is very valuable in this fight because Cryo can instantly remove Half-Tulpas through Freeze, while also giving defensive comfort and Pyro Res Reduction.
Dendro Teams
Dendro-based teams are very strong because Hydro Tulpa and the Half-Tulpas naturally provide Hydro. This means that you do not need to bring a hydro applicator.
C0 Nefer
R5 Dawning
C0 Lauma
R5 Etherlight
C6 Fischl
R5 Fav Bow
C6 Sucrose
R5 Sac Frag
C0 Lauma
R5 Etherlight
C6 Fischl
R5 Stringless
C6 Collei
R5 Sac Bow
C3 Kuki
R1 Iron Sting
This archetype is especially good for players who do not have premium Pyro carries because Dendro can naturally deal with the small Tulpas very well. However, without Nefer, it is rather difficult to reach the required DPS to clear Dire.
Overload Teams
Overload teams work amazingly because Chevreuse and Hex Fischl providing massive amounts of buff to the carry, especially to a Pyro Carry.
C0 Flins
R1 Bloodsoaked
C0 Ineffa
R5 Sacrificer
C0 Durin
R5 Finale
C6 Chevreuse
R5 Fav Lance
C0 Arlecchino
R5 Deathmatch
C6 Razor
R5 Fav Greatsword
C6 Fischl
R5 Stringless
C6 Chevreuse
R5 Black
The main issue is that you still need a reliable answer to the small Tulpa. Flins can AoE both of the Tulpa with good spawn RNG while Arlecchino can use the Tulpa trick to only need to kill 1 of the 2 small Tulpas.
Cryo Teams
Freeze teams work because Half-Tulpas die instantly when Frozen. This makes Cryo one of the most valuable elements in the fight.
C0 Skirk
R5 Eshu
C6 Dahlia
R5 Fav Sword
C0 Citlali
R5 TTDS
C0 Escoffier
R5 Fav Lance
C4 Ayaka
R1 Mistsplitter
C2 Furina
R5 Fav Sword
C1 Escoffier
R1 Fork
C1 Shenhe
R5 Fav Lance
Skirk teams can brute force the boss well because she naturally has enough damage and doesn't have to change much when facing Tulpa. Akaya and Wriothesley can also clear but require a much greater vertical investment.
Required DPS
Baseline DPS
Assuming a 120s timer, the raw baseline DPS requirement is:
- Fearless: 63,824 DPS
- Dire: 143,834 DPS
This is only the simple HP divided by time number. It does not account for time spent killing Half-Tulpas, the shield mechanic, boss movement and attack patterns.
Actual DPS
The actual DPS check is best understood with this formula:
Actual DPS = Required damage / DPS window
Where:
- Actual required damage = Boss HP − damage gain shield phase
- DPS window = 120s - mini-Tulpa kill time
For Pyro and overload teams, the actual DPS requirement will actually be MUCH lower than the baseline DPS because you get free vapes from the hydro aura and most characters in these teams can take advantage of the CD reset very well.
Generally other teams that don't have to sacrafice damage in order to deal with the mini Tulpa will need around the same DPS as the baseline.
Tips and Tricks
- The Half-Tulpas spawn time and location is RNG so fishing for a good location spawn will allow certain characters like Flins and Mavuika to hit both Tulpas at the same time.
- Bring Cryo if possible since Half-Tulpas die instantly when Frozen.
- With the correct timing, you only need to take down 1 mini-tulpa instead of 2. This is dependent on RNG and there's not a lot of leeway.
- Maximize the Torrential Flurry shield by using your strongest skills and bursts beforehand, then continue with another rotation.
- Avoid bursting before the boss dives as you can actually miss your important burst.
- Be careful in Bennett's circle because Tulpa will vape you for massive damage.
Character-Specific Tech
Arlecchino
Activate Arlecchino's skill before the shield phase for maximum Bond of Life after the skill reset.
Nahida
Quick scope with Nahida to mark all of the enemies
Iansan
Iansan pair with Bennett is one of the few character that can trigger Scroll for Pyro units. This only works if you have Bennett C6 activated.