Double Jump GoWiVaPe Attack

   

     No one can deny that the GoWiPe family of strategies (strategies that typically involve Golems, Wizards/Witches, and/or Pekkas along with certain other troops like Valkyries) is likely one of the most popular attack styles in Clash of Clans, and has been popular for quite a long time now.  This is for good reason; it is one of the most versatile strategies out there, and can be used on almost any base to nearly always score at least 2-star victory.  GoWiPe style attacks are not difficult to master either, making them the ideal attack style for the bulk of players in Clash of Clans.  In fact, GoWiPe styled attacks are my own favorite.  I just figured this configuration out on my own while playing around with my army and spell composition a while back, and it has worked so well I wanted to take the time to share with you all so you can try it out as well.

Army Composition:

     There can be some variation as you see fit, but overall I have found that sticking with this composition or something very close to it seems to work best:

- 2 Golems (either 2 of your own or 1 of yours and a donated one from a player with higher level Golems)

- 1-2 Pekkas (can serve as both extra tanks and damage dealers/wall destroyers)

- 2-4 Wall Breakers (2-3 should be able to get through the first layer of wall)

- 8-12 Valkyries (they will tear it up and tank quite a bit of the damage!)

- 12-16 Wizards (for shooting over walls)

- 2-5 Archers (to take out builder's huts in the corners or help you get over 50% if things go wrong)

- For Clan Castle troops, ask for a Golem as stated above, or take your preference of Pekka, Wizards, Valkyries or Witches.

Spell Composition:

- 2 Jump Spells

- 1-2 Heal Spells (I usually take along 2 Jump and 2 Heal)

- 1-2 Rage

- 1 Poison (either from CC or your own)

- 1 Skeleton or Haste Spell (the choice is yours, but I like the Skeletons better personally)

     So some people may ask why not take 4 or even 8 Quake Spells instead of the 2 Jumps, and there are a few reasons.  One reason is that using Quakes over Jumps causes you to use up a lot more spell space.  To get the same effect as a Jump Spell, you need to use 4 Quakes, so a Jump costs you 2 spaces while Quakes cost you 4 spaces.  This is even more severe when using a double Jump strategy like this; you will end up using basically all your spell space just on the Quake spells.  Another reason I prefer Jump Spells is that I can drop them where they are needed while the battle is progressing, whereas when using Quake Spells they are typically dropped at the beginning of the battle in predetermined spots that will open up the most enclosures within the base.  I prefer to drop my Jump Spells as the battle is progressing, so that if my main army ends up going the wrong direction, they will still be able to get over the walls they need to easily move through the base.

     Since the Jump Spells will only take up 4 spell spaces, you will have some room left over to take along another spell or two.  As I said above, I prefer using 2 Heal Spells (after many attempts using various spell combinations, they seem to help the most).  They really seem to help when you can manage to catch most of your army in one at the point where they are slowly moving through the center of the base facing off against the enemy CC troops and the heroes as well.  This is a perfect time to catch a bunch of your troops in the spell and keep them in it for a long period of time.  I usually use the second Heal after the middle of the base has been cleared to keep the Valkyries going, or sometimes I use it before the army reaches the middle if they are having a difficult time reaching the center of the base.

     Rage Spells can certainly be effective as well; especially if it enrages several Wizards and Valkyries.  They will tear through several buildings in a matter of seconds when enraged, but the problem I have with using Rage is that they tear through the buildings so quickly that they move out of range of the Rage Spell within a few seconds, and the bulk of the spell is wasted.  Heal on the other hand seems to be wonderful when used on your Valkyries (and you can usually heal nearly all your Valks with the Heal since they will typically all run around together through the base).

Execution:

     First off, do a good thorough scout of the base (you should probably do this before any attack in war) and decide which side you will approach the base from.  Nearly all your troops will be deployed on the same side, so make sure you choose well (try to avoid running into too many high hit point buildings and defenses on your way to the center of the base, they will really slow you down).  Also keep an eye out for Golem traps; where the enemy strategically placed a few defenses outside their walls to pull your Golems to those defenses and throw them off your intended path.  If you see a cannon or archer tower outside like this make sure to plan for your Golems to head that way, otherwise you will end up with your Golems pathing one direction while the rest of your army is going a different direction.  This will cripple your attack and you will be lucky to get 2-stars, so definitely watch out for defenses outside the base (including possible hidden teslas) and if you choose to attack from a side with defenses outside like this, make sure to plan your path to account for the Golems heading to those defenses instead of to the nearest enclosure.

     Once you have chosen a side, you will be ready to deploy your army; no I did not forget about pulling the CC, but with this attack I always seem to do better when I just face the CC head on instead of wasting a bunch of time and troops/spells trying to pull the CC.  The Golems are pretty tough and can usually tank the damage from the CC troops really well, especially if you drop a Heal for them and make good use of your Poison Spell.  I like to wait until I see where the CC troops are heading then drop the Poison ahead of them at the spot where they will meet my troops; this forces them to sit in the Poison while trying to fight against my army (the Poison Spell also slows down their attack speed, which causes them to do much less damage).  With the synergistic effects of the Poison and Heal working together, the CC troops are little more than a small speed bump on your way to the center and the TH.

     You can release all of your wall breakers once you see that the Golems have gotten the attention of all the defenses that might target the wall breakers.  You can use 1 of 2 strategies when releasing your wall breakers.  You can either release them far enough away from the Golems so they don't get caught in the crossfire of a mortar or wizard tower on their way to the wall, or you can time your release so that you release them just as a mortar round hits the ground (this should give them enough time to reach the wall and explode before the mortar can fire another shot).  If you try to use the timing strategy, make sure there are no wizard towers attacking the Golems, if there are then you will most likely still get your wall breakers wiped out even if you time it right and dodge the mortar fire.  Some players prefer to release their wall breakers one-at-a-time to keep from getting them all wiped out by splash damage, but I prefer to drop all of them at once and make sure to time it correctly or position them correctly to avoid any splash damage, because this saves you valuable time completing this part of the raid.  It can take several extra seconds to release all 2-4 walls breakers one-at-a-time because you will have to wait for the mortar to fire again each time, which is why I prefer sending them all together.

      Funneling is a key part of this strategy.  Creating a good funnel and getting all your troops into the base significantly increases your chance of pulling off a 3-star victory.  To create a funnel with this army, I drop 2-4 wizards on each side of my Golems.  Place them far enough away so that once they destroy 1-2 buildings there will be no choice for the other troops but to head into the base.  Give your wizards enough time to get about 2 shots in, which should allow them to destroy a building.  Once they have destroyed at least 1 building or you can tell they have created enough space to force your troops into the base, go ahead and start releasing the rest of your army.  I usually release them in this order: Pekka(s), Valkyries, Wizards (you can save 1-4 of them for clean-up if desired).  Not only will this ensure your troops enter the base and don't just circle the outside, but it will also allow you to get maximum effect out of your spells, especially Rage or Heal, because your troops will stay grouped up as they work their way through the base; it will also help your Jump Spells be more effective because more troops will be able to make use of the Jumps if they are all inside the base together.

        Another key to success with this strategy is to keep a close eye on where your troops are heading and making sure to drop them a Jump spell when they get stuck behind some high level walls.  This will keep them moving forward so they spend less time getting hammered by defenses while attacking walls.  When you drop the Jump Spells, make sure to drop them in such a way that it allows your troops to Jump into and out of as many enclosures as possible!  Don't just drop a Jump to let them get over the wall that is right in front of them, but strategically drop it so that it covers the wall they are at and several other parts of walls that close off other enclosures.  Spend a lot of time practicing using Jump Spells so you are very familiar with their exact range, and in no time you will be able to drop them in exactly the right spot that lets you get the most out of each Jump.  Once you get really good at it, using 2 Jumps will allow you to move through a base without having to destroy almost any walls at all.  There will always be a few troops that will have to clear some walls in an attack, but you will be surprised just how much wall you can negate by using the 2 Jumps.

     Once your troops have swept past the center of the base, drop any remaining troops in areas that they can help clear several buildings without being targeted by any of the remaining defenses.  If there are not many outside buildings left or you have some troops already circling the base, you can send any remaining troops into the base to bolster your main army inside.  Sometimes this can give them just enough of a boost to wipe out those last few defenses.  If all goes well, you will be well on your way to earning a 3-star victory with plenty of time to spare!

Tips:

     Practice makes perfect:  you will not be a master of this attack on the first try, but don't give up!  Each time you perform this attack you will get better and will have a better result, and each time you will see something that you can do a little differently to improve the outcome of the battle.  Take some time to practice this attack while farming before trying it in a war.  You could also get invaluable practice (and for free I might add...) from encouraging your clan mates to post challenges, this allows you to try this strategy on different types and difficulties of bases while also not costing you anything, so make use of it!      

Dragoon ZapQuake Strategy for TH-7/8

     Since the update changed how quake spells work, they have become much more useful in battles and new strategies have sprung up that make use of them.  One new way of attacking that takes advantage of the new quake spell mechanics is referred to as the "Zap-Quake Strategy".  This strategy can be used with different types of armies and even air attacks benefit from the use of quake spells if used correctly.

     If you have already checked out my post on the Dragoon Strategy, you will already be familiar with how to perform the attack.  If you haven't already looked at my Dragoon Strategy post, I highly suggest you check it out because I will not be going into all the details of the Dragoon attack here; I will mostly only be pointing out the ways this attack will differ from a normal Dragoon attack and some of the benefits and drawbacks to each.  So, if you haven't read my post on how to perform a Dragoon Attack , I will post the link here so you can check that out first.

http://soyouwannaclash.blogspot.com/2016/02/zap-quake-strategy.html

Battle Preparation:

     There are only a few differences in how you start the raid when using the Zap-Quake strategy.  Using this strategy will result in you having no extra spells to help your dragons and balloons once they are deployed, which is a really uncomfortable feeling the first few times you attempt this style of attack.  But in place of the normal heal, rage, and/or haste that you are used to, you will be taking 2-4 lightning spells and 1-2 quake spells.  The idea is the same as when players used to use lightning spells to take out air defenses before sending in their air troops, but instead of using 3 lightning spells you can now use only 2 lightning spells and a quake can finish it off.  This is a major difference because instead of using 3 lightning spells that would take 6 spell spaces, you can take 2 light and a quake and only use 5 spaces, which gives you room to take an extra dark spell (or another quake if you opt to use the "Double Zap-Quake Strategy").

     To begin the battle, you will want to have already chosen which air defense(s) you will use your spells on.  Preferably you will have done this prior to attacking, while scouting the base beforehand.  The key to this strategy is choosing the best air defense to remove from the battlefield.  In a base that is asymmetrical, you will likely find an air defense that will be more difficult for your dragons and loons to reach than the others; this is almost always going to be the best one to take out.  If there isn't an air defense that really stands out as more protected, see if there are any that have been placed away from other defenses and/or buildings near the center of the base.  These are usually designed this way so that your air troops will go around the air defense instead of through it, allowing it to pick them off while your troops attack all the buildings nearby.  These kinds of air defenses are ideal targets for this strategy because removing them from the battle gives your air troops a much higher chance of survival.  It is a different situation when attacking symmetrical bases.  There will likely not be any air defense that is any more difficult to reach than the others.  In this scenario, you will choose the air defense based on which side you are planning to attack from.  Look for which side has the most storages, the cc, and other high hit point buildings and attack from the opposite side.  This way, when you encounter all the high hit point structures, you will have most likely already gotten rid of most or all of the air defenses.

Execution:

     Once you have chosen an air defense to target with your spells, you will hit it with 2 lightnings (or possibly 3 if you have low level lightning spells and are attacking someone with high level air defenses).  If you are unsure how many lightnings you will need, scout the enemy base and tap on their air defenses and see how many hit points they have.  Then, check your lightning spells to see how much damage they do; if 2 lightning spells will do enough damage to put the air defense under 15-25% (depending on the level of your quake spell), then you only need 2.  But if they do not put the air defenses under that percentage, you will have to take an extra one.  This is extremely important to make sure of, because it will be a total waste if you use all those spells and the air defense is still standing (and still able to hit your troops until they can reach it to finish it off).

     One final important consideration is deciding whether to only take enough spells for 1 Zap-Quake, or taking enough spells for 2.  If you take only enough for 1, you will be able to also take your choice of heal, rage, or haste spells; but if you take enough for 2 Zap-Quakes, you can take out a second air defense.  Both strategies have their benefits and drawbacks; having the extra supporting spells like heal/rage/haste can really give your troops a boost if things begin to go awry, but using being able to destroys a second air defense right from the get-go can also really boost your attack, so this choice is completely up to you.

Pro Tips:

1.     If you are really good at judging the range of your spells, it is possible to take out 2 air defenses with a single set of Zap-Quake spells!  You have to really know the exact range of you spells to make this work, so it is definitely taking a risk because you may wind up missing slightly and end up not destroying either air defense!  The only real way to get 2 air defenses with a single set of Zap-Quake spells is if the air defenses are butted right next to each other or are within one tile of each other.  Any further than that and your lightning spells will not do enough damage to them to allow the quake to finish them off (since the lightning spell does significantly more damage in the center of it's range and less damage the further from center you go).  However, some players will opt to take 4 lightning spells and drop 2 directly on each air defense, then simply use a single quake spell to finish off both air defenses if they are in range.  While this takes up more spell space, it greatly increases the chances of destroying both air defenses.

2.     Another tip involves attacking TH-9 bases that have an Archer Queen.  If she happens to be located directly next to one of the air defenses, you can sometimes take her out as well when you take out the air defense.  To do this, simply wait and watch as she walks around patrolling the area of her altar; eventually (if she is close enough) she will step right on top of the air defense and stand there.  As soon as she approaches the air defense, drop both of your lightning spells right on top of her and the air defense.  In many cases if timed accurately, you will be able to destroy the air defense and kill the enemy Queen at the same time!!!  It is a good idea to just sit and watch her patrol while scouting the base to get familiar with how she patrols and how long she stands still when she stops.  Needless to say, pulling this off will go a very long way in helping your attack succeed, because she can take out balloons in 1-3 hits and do substantial damage to dragons as well.