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New Troop: DPS, Utility Air Support
Table of Contents:
Main Idea
Attack Strategy
Defense Strategy
Damage & HP
Summary
Main Idea:
Clash of Clans has changed. New troops, new defenses, and new stats are added to make gameplay more competitive, strategic, and challenging. However, when this happens, oftentimes certain aspects of the game are negatively affected, the balance is disrupted, and further updates are required to make better adjustments.
One of the things I have been most surprised with over the last year or two has been the weighting that the game has had against air attacks. With the addition of the Air Sweeper, upgrades to the Archer and Wizard Towers, boost of Xbow DPS, and most currently the addition of the Eagle Artillery, fully air attacks are all but impossible in late game.
That’s why the newest dark elixir troop, following the Boulder dude, needs to be a troop that will bring power and viability back to solely air attacks. We need to figure out what’s missing in air troop comp and what we can do to compensate.
There are three things that I find to be most disappointing in current air troop comps:
1) Lack of utility troop. With healers being the only utility troop in the game, it is disappointing that they only serve use for ground troops. Supercell has already Ruled Out having Healers target air troops. A new utility troop that caters to air targets would add something new and unique to the game.
2) Lack of general DPS troops. Currently, a good air attack requires either dragons or minions to provide damage to non-defense targets. However, minions are hordes that are relatively squishy, and dragons are expensive and cost a lot of housing space. A new troop needs to be a happy median of these two troops types and should be able to damage non-defense structures.
3) Lack of strategic deployment. This may be the most debatable, but I think air attack strategies are relatively easy. Keep your dragons in a line, and keep loons and hounds in front. Air sweepers are certainly a hindrance that can cause troops to be displaced, which is why an air troop needs to require a strategic place deployment.
So what’s the cure to these woes? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Pyro (name in progress):
1) Basically, this troop serves as a utility. Like the healer, it requires other troops surrounding it to be affective. The Pyro throws fireworks at friendly air targets that explode and rain embers on nearby structures in front of the friendly target. By itself, the Pyro is rendered useless; it cannot use its ability on other Pyros.
2) The Pyro needs to be a hybrid in terms of damage and HP between the Dragon and Minion. This will be explained in full detail in the Damage and Hit Points section.
3) Finally, the Pyro needs to be fun and require strategic deployment for maximum effectiveness. This will be explained now in the Attack Strategy and Defense Strategy sections.
Attack Strategy:
As previously stated, it is important that the Pyro work only with air troops. Ground troops are strong and versatile enough in the game. With the way that the Pyro’s ability works, it would obviously work best with Hounds, Loons, Dragons, Minions, and Healers.
Pyro with Hound: The main weakness of the Hound is that it does some of the lowest DPS in the game. With a Pyro supporting it, look out! Pyros would give enough of a damage boost to Hounds to make a strategy worth trying, but would definitely require more damage and troops to be viable for 2 or three stars. Perhaps some dragons or minions for backup support would be best.
Pyro with Loons: Loons have a painfully slow movement speed and have a tendency to bunch together. But Pyros can attack while moving! With a Pyro, you can take advantage of the Loons’ slow speed by applying significant splash damage to non-defense targets that the balloons pass over. This would make cleanup much easier. On the other hand, the Pyro’s effect only works on a single friendly target, so Balloons bunched together would not have an over-powering multiplier effect from a Pyro behind them.
Pyro with Dragons: This would also be an interesting combination. Dragons can take some damage but are rather slow and difficult to navigate. With a Pyro behind it, dragons could take out targets faster, and with the splash damage from the embers, strategically be navigated into a better direction by destroying surrounding structures that may divert the dragon’s path.
Pyro with Minions: Ideally, this would not be a good strategy to attempt. Minions lives are relatively short lived. The cast time on the Pyro is long enough to make a constant change in targets a big hindrance. This combination would not be advised, however minions played behind the Pyro would make for good cleanup, as the Pyro would likely soften up structures, allowing minions to push forward more easily.
Pyro with Healer: This is the only way in which the Pyro could be used in ground attacks, and it could be an interesting strategy. With a Pyro on a Healer, it would be doing damage only around the healer. This could be a cleanup strategy more sustainable than wizards (who have less HP and are susceptible to ground defenses). On the other hand, wizards apply significantly more DPS per Housing Space.
Defense Strategy:
The most significant weaknesses for the Pyro are its relatively low HP, inability to quickly switch targets, and reliance on other air troops. There are multiple ways to defend against the Pyro:
Pyro/Hound: The main key in defense would be to catch the Pyro out of position. Since the Pyro distances itself from its target, other defenses that target air may target it instead of the Hound. Spreading out defenses that target air would be key.
Pyro/Loon: The key would be to get the Loons caught in the Air Sweeper. This would completely wreck an attack formation and leave the Pyro much more vulnerable to be targeted.
Pyro/Dragon: Since Pyros need other targets, it would be important to quickly demolish the dragon that has a Pyro supporting it. Once it is down, the Pyro would have to move to another dragon, pulling it out of formation, and making it easier to destroy.
Pyro/Minion: The Pyro’s inability to switch quickly between targets makes this a bad attack strategy.
Pyro/Healer: Like usual, the key would be to take out that healer! With the healer down, the Pyro would be a sitting duck since it would not be able to target the ground troops that the healer would be in combo with.
Other defenses to consider:
Like the healer, I think the Pyro should be immune to air traps. It already seems squishy enough.
With a Pyro defending in the Clan Castle, offensive Air troops would not be affected by its attack. Ground troops would need to spread out and take out any troops that the Pyro may be partnered with. Poison and lightning are always options to consider as well. The strategy would be similar to that of a dragon.
Damage and HP:
Now the important part, here’s how the Pyro attacks.
Cast time: 1.5 seconds
Embers per cast: Lvl 1: 5, Lvl 2: 6, Lvl 3: 7
Ember Range: 2-6 tiles linear from Pyro’s target troop
Embers: 45 Damage each
Doing the math: DPS is 150 at Lvl 1, 180 at Lvl 2, and 210 at Lvl 3
This sounds like a lot of damage, but it’s not all directed at a single target. The embers are randomly thrown in a cone 1-5 tiles in front the Pyro’s target. Like the Boulder, this means that the Pyro is potentially hitting a max of two targets, making its damage to a single target only about half of what is listed.
To give this some context, take a Lvl 1 Pyro matched with a Lvl 1 Hound. The Pyro would likely have 2/5 embers hit the 3 tile wide Air Defense. That would be 90 Damage every 1.5 seconds, or 60 DPS. This means that it would take the Hound about 15-20 seconds to destroy a max Air Defense. With the max AD doing 320 DPS on the Hound, it would make the battle really close, assuming no other defenses were targeting the Hound or Pyro. A rage spell in this combo, though, would be extremely helpful.
In comparison this DPS is similar to that of the dragon. The biggest difference is that the damage is not as focused.
The HP for this troop should be similar to that of the Healer so that troop placement becomes a necessity to keeping the troop alive.
Lvl 1: 500 HP
Lvl 2: 600 HP
Lvl 3: 700 HP
This allows for the troop to be relatively squishy, but strong enough to hold its own for some time. A single max Archer Tower would take out a Lvl 1 Pyro in about 6 seconds. Beware!
Extra Info/Summary:
Name: Pyro
| Preferred Target |
Attack Type |
Housing Space |
Training Time |
Movement Speed |
Atk Speed |
Dark Barracks Level Required |
Range |
| None |
DPS Splash 2-6 Tile Cone from Target Troop (Air Only) |
16 |
15m |
| 18 (just slower than Hound) |
|
|
8 |
5 tiles |
| Level |
Damage per Second |
Damage per Pulse |
Hitpoints |
Training Cost |
Research Cost |
Laboratory Level Required |
Research Time |
| 1 |
150 |
225 |
500 |
275 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| 2 |
180 |
270 |
600 |
325 |
120,000 |
8 |
10 days |
| 3 |
210 |
315 |
700 |
385 |
200,000 |
9 |
14 days |
Picture: I imagine the Pyro to look like a Goblin with sunglasses, sitting on a rocket and wielding a rocket launcher that resembles an Air Defense cannon. Please forgive my terrible Shooping skillz.
Attachment 167196
More details will come if interest and support of forum requests it.
I know this is a lot, but please find one thing to comment on so I can make adjustments!
Things I would like feedback on:
- Should Pyro be able to focus on ground troops?
- Do air attacks really need a boost?
- I'd like to change the name. Pyro is too generic. Any suggestions?
