CS2 Operation Hydra is Live
Operation Hydra features the all-new Operation Hydra Events - a 2v2 competitive mode, a 5v5 mode that requires broad weapon proficiency, and twists on classic game rules including heavy armor, low-gravity sniping, team deathmatch, knife and zeus only, and others.
Thereโs more: a set of new and returning community maps available for casual and competitive modes, a full Guardian Mission campaign, an Operation Coin upgradable to the new Diamond level, an Operation Journal with friends leaderboards, the opportunity to gain extra XP, Operation weapon drops, and the all-new Operation Hydra Case.
The Operation Hydra Case
The Operation Hydra Case contains 17 community-designed skins. As a rare special item, it contains 24 glove finishes across six glove types - the same gloves first released in the Glove Case.
The Operation Hydra Collection
The 17 new finishes make up The Operation Hydra Collection, which is exclusive to the Operation Hydra Case. Browse all of them below.
The Operation Hydra Access Pass
The Hydra Events themselves are free for everyone, but the All Access Pass is what gets you the rest. It comes with a full Guardian Mission campaign, an Operation Journal with friends leaderboards, extra XP from the weekly events, exclusive Operation weapon drops, and an Operation Coin that can be upgraded all the way to the new Diamond level. The pass costs $5.99 and runs through September.
The Weekly Hydra Events
Operation Hydra rotates through a series of events, one active each week, and they are available to all CS2 players whether or not they own a pass. You join one via the Operation Hydra panel on the main menu. With an All Access Pass you also earn Event XP while playing them.
Wingman is a quick 2v2 best-of-16 match on CS2โs single-bombsite maps. Weapons Expert is a 5v5 best-of-30 match with a twist: once you buy a weapon, you canโt buy it again for the rest of the match, so you have to coordinate with your team and grind the enemy out of weapons. Both are queued competitive modes with their own separate skill groups, while the third event, War Games, is covered further down.
Guardian Missions and Operation Drops
Guardian missions require you or a friend in the lobby to hold an All Access Pass. New missions unlock as soon as the previous one is completed, and any completed mission can be replayed as often as you like, with your highest score shown on that missionโs Friends Leaderboard.
Earning enough Event XP for an Operation Star gives you an item, alternating between an Operation Hydra Case and an Operation weapon drop, and Guardian XP stars award weapon drops as well. Those weapon drops come from the Cobblestone, Cache, Overpass, Gods and Monsters, The Rising Sun, and Chop Shop collections. In total, 16 Operation weapon drops and 9 Operation Hydra Cases can be earned across Guardian missions and events.
The War Games
War Games are drop-in, drop-out matches built around unique twists on classic gameplay, and at the end of each match players vote on which one to play next.
Heavy Assault Suit adds a new suit of armor to the buy menu in casual bomb defusal. Headshots Only is exactly what it sounds like. Hunters-Gatherers drops a dogtag on every kill, and your team scores by collecting enemy tags and recovering your own.
Stab Stab Zap arms you with only a knife and a special recharging Zeus. The Flying Scoutsman turns the gravity down and the accuracy up, leaving you with an SSG 08 and a knife. And Trigger Discipline makes you take damage for every missed shot.
Event XP and the Operation Coin
Operation Hydra runs for 18 weeks. The Operation Coin starts at Bronze and upgrades with Operation Stars: 5 Stars for Silver, 18 for Gold, and 25 for Diamond, the new top tier introduced here.
Event XP is capped rather than endless. Each player starts with a pool of 2,000 available Event XP, and that pool grows by another 2,000 each week, up to a maximum of 36,000.