Hydroid stopped being a joke after his rework: Plunder strips armour and spreads corrosive damage, Tentacle Swarm holds the crowd. The pirate finally learned to fight.
Can you buy Hydroid for platinum
Buying is simple here, yes, Hydroid costs 300 platinum in the Market and arrives fully built with a free slot.
- Price. 300 platinum for a built Hydroid with a slot for it.
- Mastery. It ticks the same whether the frame was bought or built, so buying saves time, not rank.
There is a second route people forget about. A full Hydroid Prime set on warframe.market goes for around 94 platinum as of 29 August 2026, which is 3.2 times cheaper than the 300 the shop wants for the regular version. The difference is what you get: 300 buys a finished frame with a slot, while a market set is blueprints that you still have to build and feed with resources. Platinum but no time, use the shop. Time but little platinum, buy the Prime set, which is the stronger frame anyway.
Is there a Hydroid Prime
Yes, Hydroid Prime exists, but it is vaulted: its relics left the drop tables on 06.07.2019. That leaves three ways in: trade the parts from other players, catch it in Prime Resurgence when Varzia offers it for Regal Aya, or wait for an unvaulting.
The Prime recipe is its own thing and noticeably heavier: it eats 12 750 Nano Spores instead of 1 200. Components cost 15,000 credits and 12 hours each, the final build costs 25,000 and sits for 72 h. The regular version takes exactly as long for its final build. Do not toss the spare parts, Baro Ki'Teer takes them for ducats, prices are in the table.
| Blueprint | Relics it drops from | Ducats | Resources per build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main blueprint | Axi K5 Relic, Meso B2 Relic, Meso N5 Relic, Meso Z2 Relic, Neo A6 Relic | 45 | Hydroid Prime Neuroptics x1, Hydroid Prime Chassis x1, Hydroid Prime Systems x1, Orokin Cell x5 |
| Chassis | Axi C3 Relic, Axi C4 Relic, Lith R1 Relic, Meso H1 Relic, Neo B4 Relic, Neo N8 Relic, Neo S11 Relic, Neo S8 Relic | 15 | Argon Crystal x2, Gallium x5, Salvage x10 500, Ferrite x6 750 |
| Neuroptics | Axi A3 Relic, Axi M3 Relic, Axi N4 Relic, Neo G1 Relic | 45 | Neural Sensors x5, Alloy Plate x8 750, Plastids x1 100, Nano Spores x12 750 |
| Systems | Axi H3 Relic, Axi H4 Relic, Neo H1 Relic, Neo H2 Relic, Neo H3 Relic | 100 | Nitain Extract x2, Control Module x10, Circuits x1 300, Cryotic x925 |
Where the blueprints come from
The main blueprint is in the Market. Components drop from Councilor Vay Hek on Oro, Earth. There is a gate here: the mission asks for Mastery Rank 5 and will not let you in earlier. The fight has two phases, in the second Vay Hek hides inside an armoured head. The Circuit after The Duviri Paradox covers tiers 2, 5, 8 and 10.
What it is built from
It builds like every other frame: three parts, then the main blueprint over them. Components run in the Foundry at the same time, so from the first click to a finished frame it is roughly 84 h: twelve for the parts and 72 for the Warframe itself.
| Blueprint | Credits | Time | Resources per build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis | 15 000 | 12 h | Argon Crystal x2, Polymer Bundle x1 000, Rubedo x300, Nano Spores x1 200 |
| Neuroptics | 15 000 | 12 h | Alloy Plate x150, Control Module x1, Polymer Bundle x150, Argon Crystal x2 |
| Systems | 15 000 | 12 h | Orokin Cell x1, Gallium x4, Polymer Bundle x500, Alloy Plate x220 |
| Hydroid | 30 000 | 72 h | Hydroid Neuroptics x1, Hydroid Chassis x1, Hydroid Systems x1, Orokin Cell x1 |
Where to farm the resources
The line that slows everyone down is Argon Crystal. You need 4, and this is where the build stalls. Void only, and it decays 24 hours after you pick it up. Farm it last, right before you press build. Second heaviest is Gallium at 4. Uranus and Mars. Ophelia on Uranus is the reliable one because it also gives Polymer Bundle. Everything else accumulates while you play and needs no special trip.
| Resource | Where it drops |
|---|---|
| Orokin Cell | Ceres, Saturn, and Deimos |
| Argon Crystal | Missions in the Void |
| Polymer Bundle | Mercury, Venus, and Uranus |
| Rubedo | Earth, Lua, Phobos, Europa, Pluto, Sedna, and the Void |
| Nano Spores | Saturn, Neptune, Eris, and Deimos |
| Alloy Plate | Venus, Phobos, Ceres, Jupiter, Pluto, and Sedna |
| Control Module | Europa, Neptune, and the Void |
| Gallium | Mars and Uranus |
Is Hydroid worth building
Hydroid drowns a room: Tempest Barrage softens armour, Tentacle Swarm pins everything in place, and his rework made it fast.
The numbers look like this: no mastery rank requirement, roughly 84 hours from the first foundry press to a finished frame, and 75 000 credits across all the builds together. A finished Prime set on the market runs about 94 platinum.
He used to be the punchline of the roster. After the rework he is a decent looter and a decent crowd lock.
Every other frame is broken down the same way, the full list lives in the guide to all Warframes.
Sources
Recipes and build times: the official Digital Extremes export, ExportRecipes_en. Resource locations: item descriptions from ExportResources_en. Blueprint drops and relic contents: the official Warframe drop tables. Acquisition and Prime vault status were checked against the Hydroid page on the Warframe wiki. Data as of 28.08.2026. Prime set prices: the open warframe.market API, snapshot taken on 29 August 2026, using the median of live sell orders.
