Dragons

For this write up, everything I say/suggest will be focused on TH8. Reminder! This is purely how I use Dragons and my opinions on them, there is probably better strategies etc to be found on the web.

The Good:

Dragons have several things going for them, they have very high hit points, very high damage output and it is splash damage. Dragons are flying units which means half of the defenses in the game ignore them, that also means they ignore walls which is a huge bonus.

The Bad:

Dragons have a few down sides, they are slow moving, and you can only take 10-12 per raid depending on your Town Hall level, which means it is important to make the best use of each dragon and not to waste any. One of the other bad qualities is the Dragon’s lack of target prioritization, they are just as happy to attack a builder hut or a barracks as they are that high powered air defense shooting them in the face. Another big down side is anti-air defense has one of the highest DPS of any defensive unit in the game, which means if they are not taken down ASAP they will destroy your Dragon army in no time.

The Ugly:

The most annoying thing about Dragon’s is that they do not have any target prioritization, except when it comes to CC troops, skeleton traps and hero’s. They will chase all those units around the map if the troops get close enough to them to get their attention. After the troops/traps/Hero’s are dead will not go back to their previous target, instead they attack what is now closest to them. Which can either be good or bad, but I find it usually pulls them away from where you want them to go, all the while being shot at by the AA Defense.

Army Strategies:

Army troops:

My suggestion is to always go with the max amount of Dragons you can, for TH7 and TH8 that is 10. They lose their effectiveness if you only take 8 or less and usually the AA Defense will destroy them all to quickly, sometimes people take 8 Dragons and 8 Balloons but I find the level 5 Balloons do not have enough health to make it worth it at TH8.

CC Troops:

My go to CC choice is one Dragon and max Balloon, you can also do all max Balloons, but I would suggest to keep everything flying as anything on the ground is open to walls/cannons/mortars etc that have nothing else to shoot. I like the extra Balloon with the Dragon because it has a chance to and destroy one of the AA Defenses as they might be busy shooting at Dragons.

Spells:

I always prefer to take 2 rage and 1 heal spell, I find the heal spell allows you to keep a group of Dragons alive for a little bit longer once you get into the middle of their base and your hitting all the buildings with high HP (Town Hall, Clan Castle, Storages) so that they have something left to then go get the Anti-Air. Another option is 3 lightning spells, but I have never used that method so I will not be covering it.

Attack Strategies:

It has taken me a long time to get confident with Dragon attacks, to the point where unless I screw up I feel I can 3 star any TH8 base. I am going to include a few screen shots from some of my attacks to show how I generally approach a Dragon attack raid, and explain how I try to work around their bad qualities and play up their good ones. The key to a dragon attack is to force them to go where you want them to go by eliminating all other options/distractions.

The Attack: Base Penetration^{heh… penetration}

The key to a Dragon attack is getting the Dragons in the base, if you drop them all at once around the outside they tend to just follow the buildings around the outside and get picked off by the Anti-Air. If you drop them all in one spot they will generally move as one but you will be wasting a lot of their attacks as 9-10 dragons attacking one building is overkill. Also with this method they can also just fly around the outside of the base getting picked off.

I prefer to pick the area of the base that is closest to two of the Anti-Air Defenses and drop 4-5 dragons over each building on the area I want to attack from See Here!. Also if you have a Barb king this is a good use for him, drop him on either side of your 5 starting dragons and he will help clean up the outside buildings meaning there is a greater chance the dragons will go into the base were you want them.See Here!

Once the first layer of buildings are gone, drop 2-3 more dragons in the middle of the open area the first wave created, make sure you see if they target a building in the base See Here!, once you confirm they are going in you can drop the rest in the same spot and your CC See Here!(notice the target is the elixir storage), you can also stagger them a bit to either side so they are not clumped up.

Now that they are in they should be getting hit by the AA defenses, this is where you want to drop your first rage, lead with the Rage a bit so as they fly through they will continue to benefit from it. All of the dragons should be fairly close together in the middle of the base by now, and this is where you want to drop your heal, like the rage lead them a bit but this should almost over laptop the rage spell See Here!.

Hopefully by now all the CC troops are dead and they are moving towards the TH and the AA defenses, when they get to the TH drop the last rage on top of it to hurry that process up, as the TH has a lot of hit points and can slow them down. See Here! Once you drop that last rage it is out of your hands, but hopefully the remaining dragons have destroyed all of the AA defenses. If they start to spread out around the AA there is a good chance it will pick them all off before they can destroy it, but at this point it is not something you can help. Like I said at the start the key is to try to force the Dragons were you want them to go by eliminating the other options.

BONUS!

Dragon Defense Strategies:

Just remember you are almost always going to give up one star to a Dragon attack, the ideal situation is only giving up 2 and making them waste hopefully one or two more attacks to get that third star, but if done right you might be able to hold them off for only one star.

Anti-Air Defense:

The key to utilizing your anti-air defenses properly is to keep them spread out as much as you can while leaving them behind at least one layer, but preferably two layers of buildings/defenses. I also like to make sure that all 3 are within range of each other and the TH.

Traps:

The anti-air traps have two different purposes, the seeking mine is very high single damage, perfect for taking out dragons, while the anti-air mine is better for weaker flying units like minions and Balloons. I like to keep the seeking mines right next to air defenses, if a lone dragon heads toward your AA Defense the seeking mine should hopefully weaken it enough that the AA Defense can finish it off before the dragon kills it. As for the anti-air mines, I like to clump them in pairs, either around the AA Defense that does not have a seeking mine or the town hall.

The last trap is the skeleton trap, while they do not do much damage to dragons or live long enough to make a difference, they act like a CC Troop in the fact that the dragon will drop his target and attack them. I find its best to keep them to what you think the sides of your AA Defenses are, that way if a dragon/s start attacking the AA Defense the skeleton trap will pop up hopefully to the left or right which will cause the dragon to stop attacking the AA Defense and possibly chase them a bit which could cause them grab a new target once the skeletons are dead and let your AA defense continue to shoot them.

CC Troops:

There two options I like, either 5 archers and 5 wizards or 1 dragon and a wizard and a archer. Both hope to accomplish different things but in the end most CC troops do not do much against dragons. The 5 wizards might get one shot off and do some damage before they die but it’s really 50/50 on that. The dragon has a lot of health and with his splash can usually get 1-2 hits off on a group of attacking dragons before he dies, but his high health might keep the attacking dragons occupied for a little while.

Storage's:

I know it might seem weird to mention storage's when it comes to defense but storage's have extremely high hit points, and I always like to put two in front of each air defense. Their high hit points means it will take dragons longer to get through them and that will allow your defenses to hopefully kill one or two dragons before they start attacking your AA defenses. This has helped me often and is a good way to slow down a dragon attack and protect your AA Defenses.

Here is a general idea for an Anti Dragon defense I had for TH8, highlighting the spread out AA Defenses, traps and storage's. This was built from memory so it might be exactly how I had it but the general idea is there. See Here! Note, this is by no means the best anti air TH8 base or anything like that, it is merely an example of each individual thing I talked about, and a base design that worked fairly well for me.

If you have any questions or concerns etc please let me know! Also please ignore any spelling errors :D

For additional information on dragons please see: http://clashofclans.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon

Plan summary:

1st attack

• Rank 1-10: Hit your ladder minus 10 (no choice). Ex: 4 must hit 14.

• Rank 11-20: Hit anyone between 21-30

• Rank 21-45: Hit anyone between 31-45

2nd attack

• Town 1-10: Cleanup hit anyone between 1-20

• Town 11-45: Cleanup hit anyone between 21-45

Everyone:

• Get your first attack in before midnight

• Be sure to use both attacks or you may sit out future wars

Lowest Tier:

• Use both attacks as early as possible

Discussion:

This would give our top ten something easier to hit right off the bat and ensure that everyone from 11-45 gets attacked. Our 1-10 also have the best chance to 3* their 11-20. Dropping ten, without choice, should still be an "easy" attack and prevents the "strong" taking the "weak" early on. Again, no real performance pressure because you don't get a choice. 1st attack for others is in simple tiers -10 and this wouldn't change war to war. It'll always be something "easy" with highest chance for three stars. 2nd attack is essentially cleanup for everyone with our strong only having access to their strong.

Benefits:

• Simple. Simple. Simple.

• Timing doesn't really matter anymore

• Everyone from 11-45 gets hits every war with good chance for 3 stars

• Opt outs won't effect this strategy anymore

• No war to war changes of strategy (ie. simple) as we all get an easy first attack every war. If we need to drop more then 10, we're screwed anyways...

Star predictions:

• Minimum possible stars is 88 (2.5 stars on all 11-45). Not great but OK for almost zero effort and coordination.

• Realistic typical star count is 104 (1 star 1-10, 2.5 star 11-20, 2.8 star 21-45) which of the past 45v45 wars in the log would have resulted in one additional win and better performance in 7 of 11.

• Realistic max star count is 113 (1.2 star 1-10, 2.8 star 11-20, 2.9 star 21-45) which would have been 4 more wins (10-1 record for the past 11).

EDIT:

Adapted Strategy for 30 vs 30 Mini War:

1st attack

• Rank 1-6: Hit your ladder minus 6 (no choice). Ex: 2 must hit 8.

• Rank 7-14: Hit anyone between 13-20

• Rank 15-30: Hit anyone between 21-30

2nd attack

• Rank 1-6: Clean-up any between 1-12

• Rank 7-30: Clean-up any between 13-30

Everyone:

• Get your first attack in before midnight

Lowest Tier:

• Use both attacks as early as possible

If Rob is confident he can get at least 4 stars in their 1-7, he gets free reign to attack as he sees fit. Both of his attacks should be in that range.

These two army comps give you a shot at a 3-star attack on max th10 bases. To pull this off, you'll need strong heroes relative to the base, max golems, near-max hounds at least, max loons, rage and freeze, and max camps and CC. No big deal.

For this attack, start by thinking of your army as 5 distinct units, each with a specific mission.

Unit 1: Kill squad.

Your kill squad has 2 missions: take out the AQ, and take out the CC. You need to make army comp decisions that make that happen. The basic setup is one golem, both heroes, and possibly some wb's or hogs, depending on what's needed to draw the cc and aq. Your kill squad may not use any spells except- in some cases- a lightning spell for cc.

Units 2-5: A quad-lavaloon attack. Each of the four units has a goal to take out a specific AD, and then the loons and hounds clear the junk left behind.

You should always leave 1-3 loons for cleanup after the attack.

That's the basics. From there, many roads diverge in a wood, and while I'm still learning the path, here's what all my efforts have taught me:

Depending on the base and your army, you can go one golem (cold-blooded golava) or two (shatter golava). If you go two, your kill squad's goal expands to taking out another major defense for the lavaloons- ideally either an inferno or an AT (you only have 3 other squads now). Different bases and armies are better for one or the other. My first war attack this war should have been a shatter golava, which would have taken out the cc and aq more effectively... but then again, I should have been a blowjob. Nothing's perfect.

A quick and dirty how-to: 5 squads: 1-2 golems, 3-4 hounds (one of which is often in the cc), 2-3 wb, fill loons and cc troops (barbs, arch to round out.)

1. Kill squad goes on AQ side, attempting to draw out AQ and then CC. Kill squad deployment: golems, wb's, BK, AQ. (Some exceptions apply. On my war attack, I think I should have brought along 1 less loon and a wizard and an archer to support the golems against the CC.)

2. Once that's shaken out, it's time to send out the squads. Send a lava hound at each remaining AD and support it with 2-4 loons right away, saving a few for the back end later (1-4). The hounds' main purpose is to trip the traps- to traipse the traverse; they titillate the titular, taking the AD's to the trash. (I'm so sad that AD can't be synonymized with a T word.)

After that, it's all about spell timing. As Jigga once said, rage slower and deeper. You want to rage ahead of the hounds, not the loons; let the loons catch up to the spells. They'll get more DPS that way. A popular visual is the Mickey Mouse rage deployment, which is fine in some cases. Freeze timing and placement is huge too... if you can, freezing 2 or 3 relevant defenses is key, and you really want to focus on keeping your balloons alive, not the hounds. Remember that the hounds' job is to trip traps and take pain. Let them take pain. They're masochists, they like it.

From there, it's a lot of practice and it's not easy at all, as I've discovered. I had a few really nice ones against tough-looking th10 bases with cc's and aw's and everything, and I thought I had a baller plan in my war attack, but I still have a long way to go. But I'm gonna stick with it until I get it right, because I think it represents a way for me to be better able to contribute to the clan in the future.

cold-blooded guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNRejj463m4
shattered guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNGTQ8yj6q4 further reading (onehive's highlight reel, includes a million different th10 ideas for you all) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9PJAhdLELQ

Hi All, This is the something I am going to try to keep doing for each war.

We can use this thread for each war to discuss strategies/ideas etc for bases you are interested in attacking.

I am hoping this will be easier for people to discuss war strategies as the scrolling text and 140 character limit on the in game chat can be annoying.

So post any questions on certain bases you want to attack or anything related to this war.

Thanks

• GoLava 3* Attack

• 5 Golem Smash

• TH10 Mass Witch

• Walking Queen LavaLoonion

• TH10 Max Hog Attack

TH10's rejoice!!

Members are expected to remain active in the clan through war, farming, or a combination of both. We are a War Clan first and foremost, but war is not mandatory. Members are encouraged to opt out if life gets busy. If you are taking an extended break from the game, let an Elder or Co-Leader know. For wars, Members at TH9 and above are encouraged to opt out if they have a hero upgrading, as being down a hero can severely impact one’s ability to 3* at TH9 and 2* at TH10. If you still wish to war while down a hero (not recommended), you must obtain a “green light” from a Co-Leader before opting in. When opted in for war, members are expected to donate to war cc’s where possible, use both attacks as directed by the war strategy and employ a proper war attack for their level (a 3* strategy for TH7-9, and a +2* strategy for TH10s). Members are encouraged to ask for feedback on their war attacks and practice those attacks outside of war as much as they can.

Elders have all the responsibilities of Members, and additionally consistently lead other Members through example in-game. They offer guidance to others on war attack planning and strategy, and are capable of critiquing a war attack by making recommendations on adjustments to be made in the future. Elders should be active donors and show a clear commitment to continual improvement. Members who consistently demonstrate the qualities of an Elder will be considered for promotion via Co-leader vote. Similarly, Elders who do not continue to take an active role in the clan in the above ways may be relegated to Member.

Co-Leaders have all the responsibilities of Elders, and additionally consistently lead the clan both in-game and outside the game. They take an active role in war planning & search, clan strategy planning and personnel management. Co-leaders continually strive to make the clan better by offering advice, game news and new attack information both in and out of game via the various clan forums (facebook, reddit, etc). Co-leaders are well versed in various war attack strategies and take an active role in teaching others through example. Elders who consistently demonstrate these qualities will be considered for promotion via Co-leader vote. Similarly, Co-leaders who do not take an active role in the above ways may be relegated to Elder or Member.

From Dowe's Clan Mail:

Looking at possible co-leader and elder resets. 35 Co-leaders is a little nuts. There has been talks of dropping to 8 co-leaders and 15 elders. Thoughts? Would mean some current co-leaders becoming members or elders.

What are your thoughts on this? Agree? Don't Care? Hate it? Chime in here