The Hydroid Project (memeframe)
I was watching a vid where Hydroid was getting shat on (again) and decided that I wanted to do something interesting with the frame.
"What about Tentacles???"
After Deimos Arcana, tentacles became a plentiful pool to pull from; like Undertow *pause* ...so I figured a themeframe would be a good place to start.
Hydroid has a passive and two abilities that utilize tentacles; Undertow (at least the grab portion of it) and Tentacle Swarm. Hydroid players already use Pilfering Swarm to make Hydroid a loot frame but where do we go from there... the Jugulus mod set was my first stop.
The Jugulus mods allow frames to spawn a quick tentacle (with a brief cool down) for AoE damage when performing a melee slam attack, enhancing Hydroid's passive which also produces a (longer lasting) tentacle on slam attacks.
At this point, I can pop my four (from the puddle (for double damage)) and then melee slam out even more tentacles... or pop my four and then drag mobs into my hentacle patch using Undertow.
The Proboscis Cernos lets me use tentacle arrows to draw in targets that may be just out of reach of my Swarm. I can also ignore Cernos' stagger by puddling (the explosion damage should add on to the puddle damage; hard to pin it down because of my POV). The Proboscis also chains, better than the infected primary kit gun, to targets already caught in the Swarm.
Although there's not a tentacle spawning melee, Telos Boltace matches both the snatching theme of the tentacles and the storm theme of Tidal Surge and Undertow.
I haven't really come across (thematically) much in the Helminth that also enhances functionality beyond my current build; Larva has tents but doesn't really add more than Proboscis does (same with Ensnare).
Roar (of the ocean) could be a decent replacement for Barrage though and Breach Surge could be considered ethereal tentacles (or ink sprays).
A balanced build (or one that emphasizes range) should be good for most play; you can charge your four for more range and tents.
