Our Strategy Guide/Stealing Dark Elixir

Introduction
Dark Elixir is a rare resource, and it is hard to obtain in steady and consistent amounts without a Dark Elixir Drill. Even with multiple drills there is really only one way to obtain large quantities of Dark Elixir quickly, and that is to steal it.

Stealing Dark Elixir
As a Dark Elixir Storage is not obtainable until a player has constructed a Town Hall of at least level 7, a certain amount of Trophies is generally needed to be able to attain this resource in large quantities. The general rule is the higher the Trophy count, the higher the gain. Of course, with higher Trophies comes more powerful enemies that can steal your resources, so be careful!
 * At around 1,100 Trophies you will begin to regularly find players with small amounts of the resource.
 * Players near 1,500 Trophies will typically have a Dark Elixir Storage with medium quantities of Dark Elixir.
 * At Trophy levels above 2,000, essentially every player will have an upgraded Dark Elixir Storage with large quantities of the resource.

Weapon of Choice: The Lightning Spell
The most straightforward way of stealing Dark Elixir is by simply launching an all-out assault on your enemy, stealing their entire stash of Dark Elixir and other Resources, but unfortunately this method is not always practical when facing heavily-defended villages (as are most with significant quantities of Dark Elixir). Fortunately for the vast majority of players who do not have level 3 P.E.K.K.As at their disposal, there is a much more attainable (and affordable) method to obtain Dark Elixir: the Lightning Spell.

The Lightning Spell is the first spell obtainable in the Spell Factory, and is usable once you have paid the requisite amount of gold to create the spell (and waited for your Spell Factory to create it). After the Laboratory is built, the Lightning Spell can be upgraded at the cost of Elixir. Obviously, the better the spell, the more damage it deals, and therefore the more Dark Elixir is stolen, so upgrade your Lightning Spell to the maximum level your Laboratory allows. In addition, a higher level Spell Factory allows the preparation of multiple spells, so maximizing your Laboratory level is also an excellent idea. Generally at least two Lightning Spells are ideal for this strategy.

Attack Strategy
Once you have prepared yourself with as many Lightning Spells as your Spell Factory can hold, the strategy itself is quite simple. Go to the attack menu and keep browsing players until you find a player with a respectable amount of Dark Elixir. Once you find a suitable stash, drop all of your Lightning Spells directly on top of the enemy's Dark Elixir Storage and watch your spells do the work. If you wish you can end the battle after your spells have finished, or you can deploy troops and try to get 50% or destroy their Town Hall in order to maintain your Trophy count. There are two points to keep in mind:
 * Each Lightning Spell takes 30 minutes to create, so you can only do this a maximum of once per hour (if two Lightning Spells are used).
 * A key component of the strategy is keeping a Trophy count high enough to be paired against players with a significant amount of Dark Elixir, so repeated use of this strategy without attacking may result in a lack of suitable opponents.

Finding Suitable Targets Easily
A free and often very effective way of finding enemies with large amounts of Dark Elixir is by using your battle log. If you have had a player attack you that has a Dark Elixir Storage, you can check to see exactly how much of the resource they have and then attack them via the "Revenge" feature. However, keep in mind that you can only receive up to 5% of what they have (up to a maximum of 2,000). Follow this link for more details on how much Dark Elixir will be available in a particular battle.

Another benefit of using the battle log for finding Dark Elixir is the fact that you can examine any Dark Elixir Drills that the player may have as well. Although the drills have a much smaller capacity than the storages, 75% of the uncollected Dark Elixir in a drill may be stolen (up to 1,200 in a fully-upgraded drill at maximum capacity).

One thing to keep a particularly sharp eye out for in your battle log is attacks by a single high-level unit, especially if that unit is level 6. These bases are usually very well-developed Town Hall level 9 bases with a highly upgraded Dark Elixir Storage and several Dark Elixir Drills. Attacking these bases when seeking multiplayer matches can be dangerous, as it opens you up for a "Revenge" attack that will likely result in a 3-star loss; however, in this case they have attacked you first, and their massive store of Dark Elixir is free for the taking without fear of reprisal.

Protecting Dark Elixir
==Now that you have been successful in acquiring some Dark Elixir, you'll want to ensure that no one can take what you've rightfully stolen, right? Well, fortunately there is a way to protect at least some of your Dark Elixir, which is by queueing up troops in your Dark Barracks. Like the regular Barracks, troops queued in the Dark Barracks can be un-queued with no penalty, and as long as your Army Camps are full, no troops will be trained. A maximum of 3,340 Dark Elixir can be protected in this way (queuing 2 Golems, 1 Valkyrie and 1 pen15 in two maximum-level Dark Barracks).==

A few points to note about protecting Dark Elixir in this fashion:
 * Make sure that all of your Army Camps are full before queuing up troops! This strategy can backfire if your Dark Barracks actually trains troops and wastes the Dark Elixir you were trying to protect.
 * Be sure to un-queue your Dark Barracks before attacking with troops, otherwise you will return from your attack with brand-new Dark Elixir Troops waiting for you.