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For its Builder Base counterpart, see Drop Ship.
Balloon info
Super Troop Symbol


"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!"

Balloon1
Level 1 & 2
Balloon3
Level 3 & 4
Balloon5
Level 5
Balloon6
Level 6
Balloon7
Level 7
Balloon8
Level 8
Balloon9
Level 9
Balloon10
Level 10
Balloon11
Level 11

Summary

  • Balloons are the sixth overall Elixir Troop unlocked in the Barracks, and is the first aerial unit unlocked in the Home Village, requiring a level 6 Barracks.
  • Balloons are "promoted" Wall Breakers that now attack from a hot air balloon. They drop bombs towards the ground with a large area splash damage, which can destroy a wide range of ground targets, but can be easily taken out by any anti-air buildings or air-targeting splash-damaging buildings (such as the Air Defense or Wizard Tower).
  • Balloons have high damage for their housing space, but low attack range and rate. They also can't hit air units.
  • When they are defeated, Balloons drop to the ground and explode, dealing relatively minor damage (as compared to the damage of their bombs).
  • Balloons prioritize defensive structures above all other targets, and will bypass all other types of enemy buildings and troops while any defenses remain on the battlefield. This is true even if they are under attack by enemy Clan Castle troops, heroes or Skeleton Trap skeletons. Note that like all troops that prioritize defenses, Balloons do not consider the Clan Castle to be a defense regardless of whether or not it contains enemy troops, but do consider the defending Grand Warden and the activated Town Hall weapon (if any) to be defensive buildings.
    Once all defenses are destroyed, Balloons become like any other troop with no preferred target; they will attack the nearest building to them regardless of type, and will turn and attack enemy units if they become aware of any nearby and can fight back against them. However, they will not switch targets to enemy units until their previous target was destroyed.

Strategies

Offensive Strategy

  • In lower trophy ranges (up to Bronze League), you can request for Balloons and demolish your opponents because the opponents probably won't have an Air Defense yet. Balloons (as well as Minions, Baby Dragons and Dragons if you can obtain them from Clan donations) are a great way to gain trophies and resources.
  • Balloons do not have a lot of health. However they have very high damage and ability to do splash damage, as well as a relatively low housing space of 5, making them powerful in a large group.
  • Balloons can be paired with higher-health troops such as Dragons, Lava Hounds or Electro Dragons, since they can distract defenses, letting Balloons attack the defensive buildings.
  • In Town Hall 7 or above, Zap Dragons and DragLoon come into play, involving Dragons and Balloons, where dragons tank for the Balloons and the Balloons disarm the Seeking Air Mines. If the Balloons are still alive, they can help in destroying defenses.
  • In addition to the above mentioned strategy, a hybrid strategy known as DragLoonion can prove even more potent. The Dragons act as tanks to shield the Balloons and Minions so the latter two can funnel the army further into the base.
  • In Town Hall 9 or above, an attack called LavaLoon, involving Lava Hounds, Balloons and Minions is incredibly popular and also extremely powerful, though the attack generally will require use of other troops to defeat defending Heroes and Clan Castle troops.
  • Every attack that involves a member of the Dragon family will likely involve Balloons as protection against air traps and more firepower on the defenses.
    • At low levels, groups of three Balloons or more can usually overwhelm an Archer Tower. Five Balloons is generally assured destruction unless there are Air Bombs or an Air Defense nearby. More Balloons can generally destroy Air Defenses, however they will then be at the mercy of splash damage defenses.
  • 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 Single Player Campaigns, there are no time limits, so one Balloon will eventually destroy every building.
    • In some of the earlier bases, there might be no air targeting defenses so you can use the Balloon right away.
    • Important note: In many cases, a single Balloon will take enough time to destroy the remaining buildings (commonly in the Single Player Campaign maps) 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 prior 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 and at least most other defensive buildings that can target air troops (e.g. Archer Towers, Wizard Towers) quickly so you can sweep up the raid. Use Giants and Wizards to destroy these buildings.
    • This strategy loses its steam at Town Hall 7, due to a third Air Defense and more Wizard Towers along with the introduction of the much more powerful Dragon that could be used with them.
  • Although Balloons are slow moving, their damage is excellent; a good option is to speed them up with a Rage Spell or a Haste Spell.
    • Balloons deal a lot of damage on their own at higher levels and the extra bonus from the Rage Spell usually isn't necessary and can be traded with two Haste Spells but Rage Spells are still essential once the Balloons get to the center.
  • Balloons can be very strong if you know how to use them, but never train an army of only Balloons as Clan Castle troops which target air can make short work of them! Bring other troops to help out in this department. However, at around Town Hall 7, most people begin using Dragons in their army which can counter many Clan Castle troops.
    • Beware of splash damage, as a Balloon's relatively low health makes them very vulnerable once weakened from them. Once weakened, they can be quickly chopped down by other defenses like Archer Towers and X-Bows. Balloons’ slow speed and relatively mediocre health leave them vulnerable to traps. Air Bombs can drastically reduce the health of Balloons when clustered together, potentially allowing other defenses to rapidly destroy the entire group by picking them off one by one. A Healing Spell or the Healing Tome can be used to mitigate the damage if you have one.
  • If the Clan Castle happens to have a ton of Archers or other low health troops in it, a single Balloon can be used to take them all out with the death damage. Group all the Clan Castle troops together by luring them out with fellow Archers or Barbarians and as the Balloon gets destroyed by the defending troops, it will use the death splash damage to completely destroy the low HP troops below. This does not affect air troops.
    • However, this usually does not occur, since in higher trophy ranges, higher health troops such as Ice Golems, Lava Hounds, Electro Dragons and Dragons would be more likely to occupy the Clan Castle.
    • In very high trophy ranges, one would use strong single-target troops to destroy the Clan Castle, low health troops are often used in mass formation to tank for stronger troops so this strategy can be used to deal with them.
  • When Balloons are researched to level 6, they undergo a massive change. Their damage is increased drastically, and their health as well. Most interactions are changed:
    • They can destroy Mortars, Archer Towers, and other low HP defenses in two hits (Cannons may require three).
    • A pair of Air Bombs will no longer destroy Balloons, making double Air Bombs not as effective.
    • Archer Towers require more shots to destroy them, allowing you to send some Balloons to destroy it without much dying. The amount needed is significantly less.
  • Some players place air traps, particularly Seeking Air Mines, near the outside of their base to defend against Queen Walks/Charges and similar strategies. You can place a balloon in a suspicious area where you suspect an air trap might be to trigger them. Then, you can deploy your more powerful air units afterwards. These Balloons are called Coconut Loons.
  • Use Freeze Spells to freeze defenses that pose a threat to Balloons, such as Scattershots and Inferno Towers set on Multi-target mode, to be able to reach those defenses safely. Alternatively, Invisibility Spells for the former can work as well.
  • Balloons fit well inside a Battle Blimp. When the Blimp is sent to a level 12 or higher Town Hall, provided that the blimp successfully reaches the Town Hall, the blimp's death damage will trigger the Town Hall, allowing your Balloons to quickly attack it. When paired with a Rage Spell, the Balloons will make short work of the Town Hall.
    • Note that the Giga weapon will do a lot of damage to the Balloons which quickly destroys them, so you might want to disable it with a Freeze Spell.
    • Usually, the shortest path to the Town Hall may be defended with Seeking Air Mines, Air Sweepers or the Tornado Trap, which can stop your Blimp from reaching the Town Hall. Having a Lava Hound in front of the Blimp can absorb damage from Seeking Air Mines and other aerial defenses (greatly increasing the survivability of your blimp), as well as potentially trigger the Tornado Trap. On the other hand, the Air Sweeper can be countered by using a Freeze Spell on it.
      • If you have unlocked the Grand Warden, you can use the Eternal Tome to make the Blimp invincible, allowing the Blimp to go towards the Town Hall.
    • A viable strategy against bases with defenses concentrated around the Town Hall is to use multiple Clone Spells and the Grand Warden together with your blimp and Rage Spell. The Clone Spells will create a large number of Balloons, which after destroying the Town Hall, can decimate nearby defenses and they can be protected from any Town Hall explosions by the Grand Warden's ability. Done right, the Balloons and their clones can wipe out the entire center of the base, allowing for an easy cleanup.
  • In TH12 or higher, using a Mini-charge, such as the Queen Charge, Warden Charge or Mini GoWi or GoHo, with your Siege Machine is advised to destroy the Town Hall before deploying the Balloons. This is because the Balloons will not target the Town Hall until the 51% mark and then the Town Hall can do significant damage to the Balloons before they target the Town Hall and because the Giga Bomb, Freeze Bomb and Poison Bomb will decimate the Balloons' health.

Defensive Strategy

  • Due to the Balloon's very slow movement speed, melee range, and relatively low health an Air Defense at equivalent level can wipe out a single Balloon in two hits. It is recommended to deploy Balloons in swarms, but be careful of Air Bombs too.
    • Air Bombs, Wizard Towers, Air Defenses, Archer Queens, (especially when higher-leveled), and Air Sweepers can be very annoying to deal with when raiding with Balloons. Bringing some Lava Hounds may counter some of these, as if the Archer Queen is occupied with one of your other troops, any Lava Pups nearby can injure her or even stun her for the rest of the raid. Lava Hounds are also excellent for tanking.
      • A max level Air Sweeper can push Balloons far enough that they will never reach it. This can be quite helpful for either defeating a horde of them or for forcing the use of a Rage Spell, Freeze Spell or Haste Spell that could be used more effectively elsewhere.
    • On the defensive hand, when Balloons are in the defending Clan Castle, the Archer Queen will take massive damage from their bombs if left unattended, so do not ignore them.
      • You can use a Poison Spell to deal with the defending Balloons, to give time for the Queen to destroy the before she gets heavily damaged by them, if not kill her.
  • Generally, high-level Balloons are relatively decent as a defensive unit: their powerful bombs can destroy groups of ground troops, usually in a single hit, making them very dangerous. If your opponent does not have any troops/spells that can attack air, a Balloon in the Clan Castle will teach them a lesson. Most low-TH level troops lack the ability to target Balloons and thus will be helpless against them, leading to an easy fail. Balloons are often used to fill Clan Castles that are already partly occupied by more powerful air units, such as Dragons, Electro Dragons, or Lava Hounds.
  • 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 air troops capable of attacking air, such as Minions, 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 destroy the Wizard in one shot). Beyond level 3, two Wizards would be required.
    • However, under normal circumstances, one should not be too conservative in trying to destroy a defensive Balloon, since it will be able to deal more damage and reduce the amount of time the attacker has before the raid ends.
  • At lower levels the Balloon has such low HP that it is vulnerable to being taken down by two Air Bombs. Consequently, a great way to defend against lower-leveled Balloons is using a grouped pair of Air Bombs; they can take an entire group out before they get a chance to get healed with a Healing Spell. However, this can also hurt your chances of winning if the Air Bombs target a small group of Balloons, or other, stronger, air units like the Dragon that has an extremely high health pool which render Air Bombs ineffective.
    • However once the Balloon reaches level 6 it becomes stronger and can survive two Air Bombs, but will still be heavily damaged and can easily be finished off by splash damage.

Upgrade Differences

The Balloon undergoes significant visual changes at levels 3, 6, and 8. Appropriately, at each level the Balloon pilot resembles a similar-level Wall Breaker.

  • Initially, the Balloon is a red-orange colored hot air balloon with a few patches on the balloon. A couple of sacks hang on the basket of the balloon. The bombs it drops look like level 1-2 Bombs.
    • 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 and the bombs it drops become golden in color.
    • At level 6, the Balloon's red-orange envelope turns to black with a white skull on it, and the wooden armor become gray-black steel, also, the golden spikes on the bottom gets shorter. The sacks of the basket turn into a red color.
    • At level 7, the Balloon's steel armor gets plated with miniature golden spikes, it also gains larger golden spikes that replace some of the old spikes. A light inside the Balloon can be seen. The bombs it drops look like the level 5 and 6 Bombs.
    • At level 8, the Balloon's envelope is now dark red, but the skull pattern is retained. The golden spikes on its armor are replaced with thicker silver ones, while the spikes on the basket are removed.
    • At level 9, the Balloon's envelope gets back its black base color with an icy blue fade on the sides. It gets golden spikes on its armor as well as spiky icicles underneath the basket.
    • At level 10, the Balloon's envelope turns purple. The base of the spikes on its armor turns green to match the jungle theme of Town Hall 14. The spikes on the base of the Balloon turn golden and the bolts of the basket turn green.
    • At level 11, the Balloon's envelope turns light red. The ropes connecting the basket to the envelope is now replaced with tree roots, with three small tree branches. The metal plating on the basket as well as the spikes become golden, and the envelope's wooden armor now becomes dark red and the spikes become golden. The frames around the spike also become golden.

Statistics

Preferred Target Favorite Target Attack Type Damage Type Housing Space Housing Space Movement Speed Movement Speed Attack Speed Attack Speed Barracks Level Required Barracks Range Range Death Damage Radius Range
Defenses Area Splash 1.2 Tile Radius (Ground Only) 5 10 3s 6 0.5 tiles 1.2 tiles
Training Time of Balloons
Barracks available Barracks upgrading
30s 1m
Level
Level
Damage per Second
Damage
Damage per Attack
Damage
Damage Upon Death
Death Damage
Hitpoints
Hitpoints
Research Cost
Elixir
Research Time
Time
Laboratory Level Required
Laboratory
1 25 75 25 150 N/A N/A N/A
2 32 96 32 180 125,000 8h 2
3 48 144 48 216 400,000 12h 4
4 72 216 72 280 720,000 18h 5
5 108 324 108 390 1,300,000 1d 6
6 162 486 162 545 2,750,000 3d 12h 7
7 198 594 214 690 4,500,000 4d 9
8 236 708 268 840 7,000,000 5d 6h 10
9 256 768 322 940 8,500,000 9d 11
10 276 828 352 1,040 17,000,000 14d 12
11 290 870 375 1,140 20,000,000 16d 14
Super Troop Boost
Super Troop
Super Troops
Boost Cost
Dark Elixir
Balloon Level Required
Level
Rocket Balloon 25,000 8

History

Patch Type Description
August 2, 2012 The Balloon was in the original release of the game, with 5 levels.Balloon1
September 19, 2012 Update
  • The upgraded Balloon now shows pink asterisks that represent its level.
  • The Balloon now has an upgrade differences at levels 3-4 and 5.Balloon3Balloon5
February 5, 2013 Update Added the level 6 Balloon. Balloon6
April 17, 2013 Update Made Balloons to deal additional damage upon death.
August 27, 2013 Update Decreased the training time of Balloon from 10 minutes to 8 minutes.Time
May 4, 2016 Balance Changes Reduced the training time of Balloon from 8 minutes to 5 minutes.Time
May 24, 2016 Update Added the level 7 Balloon. Balloon7
December 19, 2016 Update The Balloon now attacks slightly sooner after reaching their target.
June 11, 2018 Update Added the level 8 Balloon.Balloon8
June 26, 2018 Balance Changes Reduced upgrade times of level 1-6 Balloon.
October 23, 2018 Update Reduced gem donation cost of Balloon from 5 to 3 gems.
April 2, 2019 Update Reduced upgrade times of level 5-7 and reduced upgrade costs of level 1-8 Balloon.
December 9, 2019 Update Added the level 9 Balloon.link
March 30, 2020 Update Reduced upgrade cost of level 6 Balloon.
June 15, 2021 Update Added the level 10 Balloon.Balloon10
December 9, 2021 Update Reduced upgrade costs and times of level 2-8 Balloons.

Gallery

Trivia

  • You can have a maximum of 64 Balloons at one time in a complete set of fully upgraded Army Camps. This number increases to 74 if you include 10 that can fit into a fully upgraded Clan Castle. On the battlefield, you can clone an additional 32 Balloons with four fully upgraded Clone Spells (three from the regular spell inventory and one from a level 10 or higher Clan Castle), for a total of 106 Balloons.
  • The first use of hot air balloons in warfare was in 1849, where the Austrian imperial forces besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 paper hot air balloons each carrying an 11–14 kg bomb that was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city. Before that, Balloons were used in wars exclusive for reconnaissance purposes.
  • 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.
  • In Clash Royale, its Star Level 3 skin resembles the level 3 Balloon in Clash of Clans, only without its crown.
    • Its card image and render are identical to the old render of the Balloon in Clash of Clans, except for the re-skinned envelope and color change.
  • A level 6 or 7 Balloon has the same design on its exterior as a Seeking Air Mine (a black sphere with a broad white skull), which suits as both do extremely high damage per hit.
  • It is somewhat ironic to note that Balloon pilots are promoted Wall Breakers, as the latter are kamikaze units and would not be actually "promoted" since they will perish instantly upon attacking.
  • While most levels of Balloons drop bombs that are carried by Wall Breakers of the same level, level 6 and higher Balloons do not drop barrels (see upgrade differences above).
  • Each of the four upgrades which upgrade the Balloon from level 2 to level 6 increases the Balloon's damage by 50%.
  • During late October 2016, the Balloon's training cost was temporarily reduced by 50% and its training time changed to 1 minute and 20 seconds to celebrate Halloween.
  • The Balloon's design strongly resembles that of the Kirov Airship from the Command and Conquer series of games. They are both airships that deal massive damage to things right under them, both are very slow and can only target ground units.
    • Unlike its counterpart in Clash of Clans, the Balloon in Clash Royale does not deal area damage.
    • In Clash of Clans, the Balloon's death damage will only affect ground troops and buildings, while in Clash Royale, the Balloon's Clash Royale will also affect air troops as well. Visually, the Balloon in Clash of Clans will crash down, dealing damage upon impact when defeated, while in Clash Royale, it will disappear completely, only dropping a bomb which will deal damage.
  • In Clash Royale, its description is based on the Clash of Clans Balloon Parade commercial.
  • The Balloon's basket looks similar to the hull of the Rocket from Clash Royale.

Comparisons

Home Village Army
Elixir Troops BarbarianArcherGiantGoblinWall BreakerBalloonWizardHealerDragonP.E.K.K.ABaby DragonMinerElectro DragonYeti (Yetimite) • Dragon RiderElectro TitanRoot Rider
Dark Elixir Troops MinionHog RiderValkyrieGolem (Golemite) • Witch (Skeleton) • Lava Hound (Lava Pup) • BowlerIce GolemHeadhunterApprentice WardenDruid (Bear)
Super Troops Super BarbarianSuper ArcherSuper GiantSneaky GoblinSuper Wall BreakerRocket BalloonSuper WizardSuper DragonInferno DragonSuper MinerSuper MinionSuper Hog Rider (Super HogSuper Rider) • Super ValkyrieSuper Witch (Big Boy) • Ice Hound (Ice Pup) • Super Bowler
Heroes & Hero Equipment Barbarian King: Barbarian PuppetRage VialEarthquake BootsVampstacheGiant GauntletSpiky Ball
Archer Queen: Archer PuppetInvisibility VialGiant ArrowHealer PuppetFrozen ArrowMagic Mirror
Grand Warden: Eternal TomeLife GemRage GemHealing TomeFireball
Royal Champion: Royal GemSeeking ShieldHog Rider PuppetHaste VialRocket Spear
Elixir Spells Lightning SpellHealing SpellRage SpellJump SpellFreeze SpellClone SpellInvisibility SpellRecall Spell
Dark Spells Poison SpellEarthquake SpellHaste SpellSkeleton Spell (Skeleton) • Bat Spell (Bat) • Overgrowth Spell
Siege Machines Wall WreckerBattle BlimpStone SlammerSiege BarracksLog LauncherFlame FlingerBattle Drill
Pets L.A.S.S.IElectro OwlMighty YakUnicornFrosty (Frostmite) • DiggyPoison LizardPhoenixSpirit FoxAngry Jelly
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