Air Sweeper



"Air Sweepers control the sky with strong blasts of air that push back flying enemies. Air Sweepers can only face one direction, so rotate them to maximize their effectiveness."


 * Summary
 * The Air Sweeper is a defense that shoots blasts of air at Air Troops. Although it deals no damage, it pushes back air troops, giving other defenses more time to take down these Troops.
 * It cannot harm ground-based units, or interfere with them in any way other than potentially distracting them from attacking a more valuable target (e.g. the Town Hall).


 * Defensive Strategy
 * It can only shoot blasts of air in a 120-degree radius, so make sure to have it face the side of the base which is most likely to be attacked by Air Troops.
 * The level 6 Air Sweeper is capable of holding back a clump of Balloons for an extremely long time, provided there is nothing else in range of the Air Sweeper. Use this fact to cover areas of your base you want to especially defend against Balloons.
 * Ensure the sides of your base that are not covered by Air Sweepers heavily defended by anti-air defenses such as Air Defenses and Archer Towers if possible. Players may choose not to attack from the side the Air Sweepers are covering and attack from the opposite sides - if the sides not covered by the Air Sweepers are heavily defended by other anti-air defenses, the attack may be defeated quickly and this can lead to a defensive victory.
 * Air Sweepers are effective at keeping Lava Pups or Minions away from defending Heroes, and causing large clumps of enemy Air Troops to fan out or spread.
 * The value of Air Sweepers resides primarily in its ability to deter air attacks from a specific direction.
 * As a Town Hall 6-8 player, one can face the Air Sweeper in one direction and load the opposite side of the base with Air Traps.
 * As a Town Hall 9-11 player, both Air Sweepers can be stacked to make one segment of the base nearly impassable to air troops; or both Air Sweepers can face different directions to offer a wider area of deterrence. Placing them too close to each other will make them vulnerable to Lightning Spells.
 * Offensive Strategy
 * Air Sweepers can only cover a certain angle, so take advantage and attack buildings that are not covered by the Air Sweepers.
 * Slow air troops like Balloons will be devastated most by this defense as they will take a relatively long time for them to return to the building they were targeting. Combat this temporarily by using a Rage Spell or Haste Spell to speed them up.
 * A Level 1 Air Sweeper can be destroyed by 2 level 4 or higher Lightning Spells or 3 Lightning Spells of level 3 and below. A maximum-level Air Sweeper can be destroyed by 3 Lightning Spells of level 3 or higher.
 * It can be distracted by Dragons, Healers or Minions, which can give more time for any other troops to destroy it.
 * Even though the Air Sweeper covers a 120-degree radius, it can only fire blasts of air that cover a 30-degree angle. If you are going head-on against an Air Sweeper with air troops it is recommended to deploy them in a semicircle formation if possible to minimize the effect of the Air Sweeper.


 * Upgrade Differences
 * The Air Sweeper undergoes a significant visual change at levels 2, 4 and 5.
 * When initially constructed, the Air Sweeper has four wooden supports reinforced by small, metal braces and a curved, squarish platform supporting a horn-like turret made out of of blue steel, that is tied to the platform by ropes. It also has a red air pump that compresses every few seconds to release the air used to blow back Troops.
 * At level 2, the horn-like turret becomes larger and adds a decorative blue ring. The supports supporting the platform itself are now made of smooth stone (or metal) instead of rope.
 * At level 3, the four wooden supports gain extra reinforcement from extra smooth stone (or metal) braces, one on each support. It is also reinforced on the side of the platform itself.
 * At level 4, the platform itself is now made of smooth stone (or metal) with golden supports on each side and reinforcing the side of the platform. It also gains steel footings.
 * At level 5, the horn-like turret increases in size once again, this time with a black ring on it instead of a blue ring. The horn-like turret changes from being made out of blue steel to being made out of grey steel. The platform is now completely gold-plated, straps and all. The base is now reinforced as it gains an armor plating complete with golden spikes on each corner. The four supports are now gold-plated on the ends instead.
 * At level 6, the armored base is now golden, and the supports gain golden spikes all over them.


 * Trivia
 * Added in the 30th April, 2015 update.
 * The Air Sweeper is currently the only defense that can push back air troops, and also the only defense that causes no damage (the Spring Trap technically causes no damage either, but it does instantly kill troops that step on it).
 * It is also the only defense that aims at one specific direction only.
 * It can be rotated 45 degrees at a time, and hence has 8 directional settings.
 * Its range is "1-15", which means that a Balloon attacking directly above the Air Sweeper won't be pushed back.
 * The Air Sweeper is one of three defensive structures that has a blind spot, the Mortar and Eagle Artillery being the others. The Air Sweeper is the defensive structure with the largest blind spot (e.g., Balloons attacking directly above it or any unit attacking out of range of the Air Sweeper).
 * As part of the 1 July 2015 update, a second Air Sweeper was added for Town Hall 9.
 * The Air Sweeper attacks in a rectangular area of effect of width 5 tiles and length 14. This animation takes place over 3.5 seconds, meaning that attacking troops are unable to attack while being pushed for a maximum of 1.2 seconds.
 * The unit being attacked by the Air Sweeper is pushed at an angle incident to the constant curve of the attack. This means that troops (particularly Minions) will fan out when hit by an attack and may re-target separately.
 * It is one of the 2 defensive buildings that only target Air Troops, the other being the Air Defense.
 * As of the December 10, 2015 update, there is a visual glitch where the Air Sweeper's red air pump section is not displayed when searching for a base to attack.
 * There is a similarity between the Air Sweeper and a Nazi wonder-weapon called the Windkanone (wind cannon). They both shoot air.



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