Lava Hound

"These fiery beasts can't resist chasing after Air Defenses, providing excellent protection for other troops. Once destroyed, they erupt into many smaller, weaker menaces."


 * Summary
 * It is like a flying fiery Golem, except its favorite target is specifically Air Defenses.
 * The Lava Hound is a volcanic creature with wings.
 * Like the Golem, the Lava Hound deals additional splash damage when it dies, before splitting into Lava Pups.
 * When the Lava Hound attacks Air Defenses, it bounces up and down while shooting little fireballs at it like a Minion.
 * Lava Hound has the most hitpoints among all the troops in the game at level 3.
 * It takes up 30 spaces in the Army Camp.


 * Offensive Strategy
 * It goes for the Air Defenses first then other defenses like Archer Towers, Cannons, etc then on to other buildings.
 * Lava Hounds have a large amount of hitpoints. Much like Golems, they're useful as an attack tank, but for air units. They protect Dragons, Minions, or Balloons, much like Golems protect a group of Wizards or Witches.
 * They can distract Air Defenses, which prevents the Air Defenses from destroying a group of Dragons or Balloons.
 * Be sure to keep it away from a single targeting Inferno Tower which can kill it with ease.
 * Defensive Strategy
 * Spreading your Air Defenses out is a good idea. Also have Seeking Air Mines and Air Bombs close by.
 * Their weaknesses include Seeking Air Mines, which do significant damage against air troops.
 * Be sure to use a single-targeting Inferno Tower, which will destroy a Lava Hound with ease.
 * Lava Hounds are not very good Clan Castle troops considering they require a level 5 Clan Castle. They also do very little damage. However, they can be used to keep the attackers at bay as they can soak up a lot of damage.


 * Upgrade Differences
 * At level 1 and 2, the Lava Hound has small amounts of lava between its skin.
 * At level 3, the spikes on its back turn into lava. Its eyes also become larger and red. The lava under the skin of the forearms also disappears. Its wings also grow in size.


 * Trivia
 * The Lava Hound was added in the 16 September 2014 update.
 * The Sneak Peek picture of the Lava Hound features its head, bearing the words "I smell fireworks..."
 * The Lava Hound bears a strong resemblance to the Lava Dragon from DragonVale, another popular iOS game.
 * The Lava Hound is often compared to the Golem due to its similar statistics and concept (e.g. once defeated mini-troops will continue to fight).
 * When clicking on an Army Camp, the Lava Hound turns away from you.
 * Some refer the Lava Hound as the offspring of a Golem, Minion, or possibly Inferno Towers because of the lava similarities.
 * The level 3 Lava Hound has the highest hitpoints among all Troops, however, it has lower DPS per housing space (0.47) than any other troop, even lower than level 1 Golem at 1.27 DPS per housing space.
 * At close inspection, the Lava Hound looks like a Minion, only "lavafied" and bulkier.
 * The Lava Hound takes up the most space of any troop in the army camps, along with the Golem (30 housing space).
 * The Lava Hound takes up the most space of any troop in the army camps, along with the Golem (30 housing space).

 For additional statistics and information, see the Unit Calculators page.