Balloon



"These promoted skeletons have traded in their joy of destroying walls for a joy of destroying defenses. Deploy them to take out pesky mortars and cannons!"


 * Summary
 * Balloons are "promoted" Wall Breakers that now attack from a hot air balloon. They drop bombs on the villages with a large area splash damage, but can be easily taken out by any anti-air defenses (such as the Air Defense).
 * Balloons are slow-moving aerial units that do devastating amounts of splash damage to ground targets.
 * Balloons, like Giants, target defensive structures first.
 * They are the slowest moving Troops in game.
 * Balloons explode and deal additional damage when destroyed.


 * Offensive Strategy
 * It would be advisable to destroy all aerial defenses such as Archer Towers, Wizard Towers and Air Defenses before deploying Balloons. Also beware of the Clan Castle; Archers and Wizards hiding in a Clan Castle will make short work of Balloons as well.
 * Balloons are exceptionally useful in the Single Player Campaign. You can simply destroy all of the Air Defenses, Archer Towers and Wizard Towers, then deploy a single Balloon. It will destroy every building. It takes a bit of patience, but it pays off at the end. With a Single Player Campaign, there is no time limit, so one unthreatened balloon will eventually destroy every building.
 * Important note: In many cases a single Balloon will take enough time to destroy the remaining buildings that your game will time out due to inactivity, which will cause your attack to end prematurely and be unsuccessful (regardless of how many stars you had earned to that point). To prevent this from happening simply change the view every few moments (by panning or zooming).
 * When raiding other players, time is limited, so make sure you take out all the Air Defenses quickly, then send in multiple Balloons.
 * Groups of five Balloons or more can usually overwhelm an Archer Tower. Nine Balloons is generally assured destruction unless there are Air Bomb or an Air Defense nearby.
 * If Elixir is no object, dropping a Dragon near an Air Defense before deploying Balloons can protect them from being attacked for a significant amount of time, much like Giants can occupy a Mortar.
 * You can also send Balloons after Air Defenses themselves, but this isn't recommended if the Balloons have a long distance to fly for they will be shot down quickly.
 * Although Balloons are slow moving, their damage is excellent; a good option is to speed them up with a Rage Spell. "Rage-Balloons" is an effective, if not often used, strategy (the only drawback is the time to train them).
 * Beware of Wizard Towers and Hidden Teslas, as they can cause quite a bit of damage before being destroyed, allowing Archer Towers to then destroy your balloons easily.
 * Some people forget to buy Air Defenses; Balloons (and Minions) are a great way to teach them the error of their ways.
 * Destroy the Air Defenses, as their sole purpose is to destroy air units (and they are very good at it). Mistakenly placing a Balloon while the Air Defense remains active will cost you!
 * Defensive Strategy
 * Generally, Balloons are relatively decent as a defensive unit: if a player is attacking only with troops that cannot target air units (Barbarians, Giants, Goblins, etc.), the Balloon is perfect for defending as it cannot be destroyed except by Lightning Spells. It is especially effective against Barbarians and Goblins as it does splash damage.
 * From a defensive standpoint, it takes quite a few Archers to take out the Balloon, which effectively weakens the raid. Its only major weaknesses are Dragons and Minions, both of which can destroy it easily without fear of counterattack. A single similar-level Wizard (up to level 3) is also able to destroy a Balloon due to its high damage output, but only if it has sufficient range to fire twice before the Balloon closes (the Balloon will kill the Wizard in one shot). Beyond level 3, two Wizards would be required.


 * Upgrade Differences
 * At level 3, the Balloon receives wooden armor attached to the sides of the envelope underneath its rigging.
 * At level 5, the Balloon's basket gain golden spikes attached to its side.
 * At level 6, the Balloon's red envelope turns to black with a white skull on it, and the wooden armor become gray-black steel.
 * Appropriately, at each level the Balloon pilot resembles a similar-level Wall Breaker.


 * Trivia
 * Balloons are the first aerial troop unlocked in the game.
 * Balloons are piloted by Wall Breaker units.
 * Balloons are the slowest moving troop in the game.
 * You can complete many of the single player missions using a single Balloon only, as many do not have aerial defenses.
 * You can have a maximum of 48 Balloons at one time in a full complement of fully upgraded Army Camps. This number increases to 54 if you include the 6 that can fit into a fully upgraded Clan Castle.
 * Due to a peculiarity of the Balloon attack, the first bomb a Balloon drops on an individual building does damage the instant it is dropped; the last bomb it drops will do no damage.
 * Balloons "hover around" slightly while they are attacking.
 * A level 6 Balloon has the same design on its exterior as a Seeking Air Mine, which suits as a Seeking Air Mine does significant damage to level 6 Balloons.
 * Level 6 Balloons do more damage per attack then a level 1 P.E.K.K.A.
 * The research cost for a level 6 Balloon is less than the research cost of a level 6 Archer, even though level 6 Balloons have more damage per attack and more hit points.
 * The 17 Apr 2013 update granted the Balloon the ability to explode and deliver splash damage when it dies.
 * With the exception of the Healer (which cannot attack anything at all), the Balloon is the only unit in the game that cannot attack an enemy version of itself.
 * Balloons are best suited with multiple troops and deal major damage.
 * Although piloted by former Wall Breakers, Balloons do not use kamikaze attacks.
 * Although Clash of Clans is set in a medieval time, the Mortar, Air Defense, Hidden Tesla, Elixir Collector, Dark Elixir Drill, Balloon and Santa's Surprise completely ignore that fact.

