Splat Charger has Splat Bombs and Kelp Splat Charger has Sprinkler. E-litre has Echolocator and Kraken (which I view as equivalent to the Bubbler in this case). Both are similar to the Hydra.

Sure you can draw similatiries between all of them, my argument is just that the sets of the hydra are more similar to the sets of the elitre than of the splat chargers.

2) When you use the Bubble with the Hydra, 99% of the time it will be because someone is closing you down or has strafed you. A panic button. At this point, range is pretty much irrelevant. Also the Kraken is much easier to splat with at close range.

That is if you use bubbles only that way, there's a plethora of other stuff you can accomplish with a targeted bubble push. Getting shafted in close range should not be an issue if you watch your flank in the same way a good charger shouldn't have to deal with close-quarter action all too much as well. although to be honest I prefer the bubble on the zink mini (where you can snipe people with disruptors and wail on them under the safety of your bubble). I'd argue the zinkling is a better bubble providing splatling, but the mid-range + somewhat fluctuating TTK is a bit of an issue especially on more open maps where the hydra could arguably shine more.

3) Chargers cover a lot of ground too, in a better way (instant long lines). I accept that the Hydra has a range of functions that no other weapon has, it just means it doesn't do any of it as well as more focused weapons. It loses to snipers at long range, it loses to good shooters at short range.

Covering a broad surface is way more practicable and hindering for the opponent than long lines. Long lines have the advantage of providing fast "mobility strips", but they're not a whole lot of ground covered (meaning it takes longer to get a broad area covered with that) and it's almost suicidal trying to get into enemy ink with that considering you'll be surrounded by enemy ink from 3 different sides (so there's a million attack angles around you). The kind of ink pressure I am refering to is the one where the opponent can't really navigate their own ground without constantly hitting ink, rendering them hindered in the process.

I don't think the issue with the hydra is that it has a range of functions, I think the issue is that it's more or less a niche specialist that does things differently than other weapons. The question is if the niche is worth sacrificing generalist weapons for the one spot. The other problem with specialist weapon is that they depend on teammates to fulfill other functions, which in other words means you have to rely on your teammates in solo ranked... Yeah, we all know how that turns out a lot of the times.

Also let's be honest, people don't not use the hydra because it doesn't fit into a team that well, people don't use it because most people suck with the weapon. As you can maybe see I'm also not 100% sold on the hydra, but I'm open and I'd like to do more experimentation with the weapon before giving a verdict on its team viability especially since it's still a relatively young weapon. There were times when people said dynamos had no place in competitive because they were too sluggish and predictable and the range is not that good, and I feel like there may be some untapped potential in the hydra in the same way.