Andrew Lai's Strategy Guide/Ch.3-Layouts

Hi there! This is my third guide of my strategy guide series: the defensive guide! here I'll start with descriptions of every defenses and how should you place them wisely. I'll share some good layouts/ designs with you too!

Defenses
Defenses are basically things that stop invading enemies from your base. They can be further categorized by...


 * 1) Single/ splash damage?
 * 2) Air targeting ability?

and they consists of some main stats...


 * Damage per second (DPS)
 * Range
 * Type of damage
 * Targeting
 * Favorite target

and so on.

Cannon: Great damage
Cannons will be the first defense unlocked, and it proves to be a great single target defense. They shoots one bullet on one troop only, causing medium to high damage. But the mighty cannons can't hurt air troops, plus their single target shots means that they could be easily overwhelmed. It's not advisable to put them near the center of your villiage, as it is better used as a front line defense.

Best defending...
 * Giants

But can be destroyed by...
 * Hordes of troops
 * Air troops

Archer Tower: not so strong but yet useful
Much like cannons, ATs does single target attacks but dishes less damage than canons. They, however, can target air troops! This proves useful against minions but still could be overwhelmed by many troops. Most will put the with cannons to protect them from air raids, but centralized ATs are not unseen as its air targeting capability.

Best defending...
 * Giants
 * Low HP air troops

But can be destroyed by...
 * Hordes of troops

Mortar: Splash terror
Get troubled while using single target defenses against mass armies? Now devastate them with the first splash defense unlocked: the mortar. Every design will heavily protect them as they are very important in every level as mass raids are very popular. Though it's useful, it still have 4 main weaknesses: Cannot target air, Have a blind spot where troops will become safe from that mortar, low shot rate/ accuracy and it's low DPS. Don't put mortars near the edge of your village as their blind spot will be exposed!

Best defending...
 * Mass armies of low HP troops

But can be destroyed by...
 * Giants
 * Healed troops
 * Air troops

Air defense: Air-space defender
This defense is different. It doesn't bother to move when raided by land troops, but shows its fury against air raids! The air defense deals massive damage to air troops and has a superb range. It's advised to ignore at low levels, but must be kept inside in higher levels as air raids become more popular.

Best defending...
 * Air troops

But can be destroyed by...
 * Many air troops
 * Land troops

Wizard tower: Splash Horror
Wizard towers does splash damage just like mortars. They do less damage per shot, but have better attack speed and can target air troops too. It sound's like a better mortar, but why mortars are still useful? Firstly, Wizard towers has a very short range compared to mortars and secondly the Wizard tower costs much more than a mortar. Put Wizard towers near the edge or center are both acceptable.

Best defending...
 * Mass raids (land/air)

But can be destroyed by...
 * High HP troops

Hidden Tesla: powerful electro-horror
This only hidden defense is a very strong single target defense, and it can really scare your enemy! This defense does mid-high DPS, but holds low HP and its single targeted.

Best defending...
 * Relatively high HP units
 * Heroes

But can be destroyed by...
 * Many units
 * High DPS troops

X-bow: Rapid damage
The X-bow is one of the most devastating defenses in the game. It has two modes: Land/ Land-air. It has the longest range among all defenses and also attacks the fastest of all. Sadly, Its bullets of elixir will use up and you have to reload it. It is yet the most effective defense against mass army of low HP troops, but is vulnerable to high HP troops auch as PEKKAs.

Best defending...
 * Hordes of low HP troops
 * Hordes of minions (in land-air mode)

But can be destroyed by...
 * High HP and DPS troops
 * High DPS troops with meat-shield

Inferno tower: Troop devourer
The tower of troop's doom is the strongest defense yet exists. It fires a beam of hellfire which does immense damage to a single troop. Alternatively, you may switch the tower to multi-target mode and do pretty high damage to five units at a time! It can also block healing effects, too! But still, it has to be refilled with dark elixir.

Best defending...
 * High HP troops (at least better than other defenses~)
 * Troops relying on healers

But can be destroyed by...
 * Large group of troops

Traps
Traps are special defenses which...
 * Is hidden until triggered
 * Can be used once only
 * Must be rearmed with gold

Bombs
These are cheap little stuff and can hurt quite a lot of troops in one shot, but harmless to high HP troops.

Best defending...
 * Mass low HP troops

But can be wasted on...
 * Single Goblin (too fast)
 * High HP troops

Giant bombs
Basically they're bigger bombs that does massive damage lethal to most tier 1-2 troops, but more expensive. Deals 1.5x damage on hog riders!

Spring Traps
These pesky traps springs 15 housing unit of troops off the screen! (Relax...it won't hit your face)

Best defending...
 * Giants

But can be wasted on...
 * Troops of 16+ housing space
 * Heroes

Air bombs
They're simply bombs targeting air troops.

Best Defending...
 * Minion groups
 * Balloons

But can be wasted on...
 * All other air troops, especially Lava Hounds

Seeking air mines
They are much better air bombs that only targets one air troop. But it does enough damage to almost one-shot a dragon, so becareful! Note: doesn't affect minions!

Skeleton traps
These traps holds a small amount of skeleton warriors that comes out and distract your enemy! You can set it to defend the air too.

Best defending...
 * Troops that depends on high DPS but have low HP and no preferred target
 * Troops that have preferred target and low-mid HP

But can be wasted on...
 * Troops with preferred target and high HP too, e.g. Golems
 * Troops with too-high DPS

Base designs
Apparently, there are a lot of good base layouts that already exists. In fact, there are endless of possibility when designing bases! Therefore, determining whether a design is good or not is important. Here I'll share some basic bases ideas and their pros/cons!

Big box base
The idea is to enclose everything inside a single layer of walls. It is a popular base for newbies, but indeed this is a bad design. Why? If the only layer of wall is breached, then the rest of the wall will render useless and enemy can gain access to every building in your base.

Difficulty:★☆☆☆☆

Split base
These base have 2 or more sections seprated from each other. This is a Bad design. Why? People often believe that "If one section is raided, others can survive". This is clearly a misconception, because Split bases weakens the defense network.and make the base easier to destroy.

Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

Inner and outer wall
These bases have two layers of walls as shown in the title. Resources inside and defenses in the outer layer. This is a faily good base. Why? This base can make giants circle around your base without actually touching your resources. It also gives enough support to most buildings.

Difficulty:★★★☆☆

Cyclone (swirl) bases
These bases are tricky: they are build like a whirlpool and lures enemy troops to spin around, which is a good design. Why? The enemy will easily be lured into heavily defended zones or into pesky traps, making short work on enemy troops.

Difficulty:★★★☆☆

Pocketed (checkered) bases
These bases gives most defenses a section pn their own, making a complex maze, which is good. Why? Because of the walls between everything, It's very hard to maneuver through the base in a predictable way. Also, the dividing walls greatly slow down lamd troops, making a chance for defenses to hammer them.

Difficulty:★★★★☆

Make your own base!
If none of the above pre-existing ideas helps you out, you may want to make it by your own instead! However, there are some tips you may want to know...

Wall concepts
One very importand component of a good base is good wall placement. You'll need walls to...
 * 1) Slow down/ stop enemy troops
 * 2) Alter the path/ target of enemy troops

A) No double walls!
Double walls IS NOT equivalent to double protection! Wall breakers have splash damage, which can blow up two layers of walls in one go, therefore quite meaningless.

B) Nothing can replace walls!
Note that the following CANNOT replace wall segments!
 * Decorations
 * Obstacles
 * The border
 * Traps and Hidden teslas

What to put inside walls?
Walls are indeed limited, so we should know what is more important to you!

a) Barracks, army camps, builder huts, spell factory, laboratory
Definitely not. They serves no purpose when destroyed and shouldn't be heavily protected.

b) Defenses
Inside walls, as much as you can-- especially splash defenses, which is extremely useful against engaging troops. Your defenses are the only thing other than traps and cc that can stop enemy troops in their tracks!

c) Resource storages
Inside walls, and the reason is obvious, right?

d) Collectors/mines
Well you may want to have them more protected, but probably not inside walls in order to save up walls for other purposes.

e) Town hall
That depends on if you are a farmer or not. Please visit Ch.1 of my strategy guide!

Funneling
Funnelling is a very important part of a good base! The basic concept is to have a gap/lure wher troops will be attracted and grouped into, then...POOF! You can now finish all of them off in a single blow!


 * 1) Open a gap in your wall. The gap is not suggested to be leading to critical buildings or defenses, but you may if you wish.
 * 2) Place a trap of your favour inside! (Bombs, Giant bombs and springs will do the best. Air traps are not recommended)
 * 3) (Optional, but suggested) Place one or even more splash defenses where it's range can cover the gap and deliver the killing blow! BOOM!

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