Table of Contents:
Main Idea
Attack Strategy
Defense Strategy
Damage & HP
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. For example, 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 support 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 Pan:
1) Basically, this troop serves as a utility. Like the healer, it requires other troops surrounding it to be affective. The Pan throws fireworks at friendly air targets that explode and rain embers on nearby structures in front of the friendly target. By itself, the Pan is rendered useless; it cannot use its ability on other Pans.
2) Pan 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, Pan 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 Pan work only with air troops. Ground troops are strong and versatile enough in the game. With the way that Loki's ability works, it would obviously work best with Hounds, Loons, Dragons, Minions, and Healers.
Pan with Hound: The main weakness of the Pan is that it does some of the lowest DPS in the game. With a Pan supporting it, look out! Pan 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.
Pan with Loons: Loons have a painfully slow movement speed and have a tendency to bunch together. But Pan can attack while moving! With Pan, 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, Pan's effect only works on a single friendly target, so Balloons bunched together would not have an over-powering multiplier effect from a Pan behind them.
Pan with Dragons: This would also be an interesting combination. Dragons can take some damage but are rather slow and difficult to navigate. With a Pan 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.
Pan with Minions: Ideally, this would not be a good strategy to attempt. Minions lives are relatively short lived. The cast time for Pan is long enough to make a constant change in targets a big hindrance. This troop combo would not be advised, however minions played behind Pan could make for good cleanup, as Pan would likely soften up structures, allowing minions to push forward more easily.
Pan with Healer: This is the only way in which Pan could be used in ground attacks, and it could be an interesting strategy. With Pan 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 Loki are its relatively low HP, inability to quickly switch targets, and reliance on other air troops. There are multiple ways to defend against Pan:
Pan/Hound: The main key in defense would be to catch Pan out of position. Since Pan 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.
Pan/Loon: The key would be to get the Loons caught in the Air Sweeper. This would completely wreck an attack formation and leave Pan much more vulnerable to being targeted.
Pan/Dragon: Since Pan need other targets, it would be important to quickly demolish the dragon that has a Pan supporting it. Once it is down, the Pan would have to move to another dragon, pulling it out of formation, and making it easier to destroy.
Pan/Minion: The Pan's inability to switch quickly between targets makes this a bad attack strategy.
Pan/Healer: Like usual, the key would be to take out that healer! With the healer down, Pan would be a sitting duck since it would not be able to target the ground troops that the healer would be in combo with. Air traps could also be a problem.
Other defenses to consider:
Unlike the healer, I think Pan should be susceptible to air traps. It should have other air troops in front of it to avoid the traps.
With a Pan 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 Pan 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 Pan 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 Loki’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 Pan’s target. Like the Boulder, this means that Pan 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 Loki matched with a Lvl 1 Hound. The Pan 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 Pan. 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 Loki in about 6 seconds. Beware!
If you like this idea, please bump the page.
Tell me what you think, especially if anything sounds confusing!!
