(TH9) Raid Guide for Giants/WB/Arch/Barb/Goblin)
Hello All,
After today's update, several people appear upset about the 30% increase in DE cost for hogs. The response from the rest of the community seems to be "learn to raid if you don't like it." So, here's how you can do it now that you can't use hogs (long guide but I think it's worth it):
While BAM and BARCH are probably more effective farming armies from a "per hour" standpoint, I believe this raid style will appeal more to hoggers as you can gain some big loots in a single raid, and get a 2-3 star victory, even if the storages are vaulted inside of a base.
Pro's of this Army
Fairly quick training time (roughly 30 mins)
No DE spent
Flexability - unlike BAM, you don't have to pass on a 200k+ raid with storages in the middle of the base. You can collector raid or full-on raid when needed.
Minimal spell reliance
You can raid as high as Crystal 2 with this army, and get fairly close to Masters 3 by adding a few wizards.
Con's of this Army
You will be hitting "next" whenever you see disco infernos.
Gold/Hr is not as impressive as BAM or BARCH.
Cost is a little high for a farming army (I think about 120k elix without wizards, over 150k with wizards)
What you'll need before heading out:
In each barracks, and in this order, queue up 20 archers, 5 barbarians, 9 goblins, 3 giants, and 3 wall breakers.
(If you need more firepower, in Crystal 1 for instance, remove 1 barb and 7 archers from each barracks and add 2 wizards instead-you'll have a total of 8 wizards, and an extra 14 mins of cooking time).
Have these queued and ready when you a searching for a raid. The reason the order is important is because, in the event you find a collector raid, you only want to spend the cheap troops. You don't want to have to come back from a collector raid, try to get rid of your extra giants, change the queue order, etc. The order keeps it simple in the event you find an easy raid and don't need giants or wb
Have at least 1 rage spell and 1 lightning spell ready. I always raid with two of each, but you really can get by with 1 of each, or even just 1 rage if you need to.
If you're TH9, I find the 1700 trophy range to be ripe with awesome gold loots from both active and inactive bases. If you aren't in that range, and you're looking for gold, get to 1700.
I raid with maxed troops/spells for a TH9, and this strategy obviously works best with that being the case. If you don't have your giants at Lvl 6 or WB at Lvl 5, they should be a top prioroty upgrade for this army composition. Upgrade them AsAP!
How to Raid:
The primary target of every farmer should be collector raids when available. When I find a collector raid worth over 150k gold, I send in my gobs and archers to get the resources. Spend as few troops as possible to avoid a longer cook time for your next attack. If you can't find a collector raid, procede to the next steps.
If I'm sending my full army, I try not to raid anyone that I can't get at least 175k gold and 100k elix off of. There are plenty of 200k/200k raids out there, so spend the time and gold necessary to find them. I can usually find one between 10-15 clicks.
Once you find a loot-worthy base, check to see if it's raidable. As mentioned before, disco infernos are a no go. Unless they're out of juice or in a position away from resources, just skip these bases.
Some other things to check for are mortar placement, wall levels, xbow levels, and upgrading defenses. Mortars can destroy your archers and goblins from a long way away, if you can get to them with your giants using 4-6 wb's the base should be a go. If walls are gold/pink, the base is probably a go. Gold walls are destroyed with 1 wb and pink walls are destroyed with 1 wb and a couple of hits from a giant. Level 7/8 walls are even ok to raid as they only require 2 wb's to destroy, but you'll need to check junctions and defense placement to see if you think you can penetrate far enough with your wb's to make it worth while. X Bows are kind of tricky to explain. In general, Level 1 xbows aren't a deal breaker. If a base has level 2/3, you just have to see how easily/quickly you can get to them and destroy them. X bows on the edge of a base are pretty easy to take on, but if a base has level 3 xbows hidden in the core, protected by mortars and wiz towers, I usually pass. Lastly, check for weaknesses in the base caused by upgrading resources. If a base is upgrading a couple of mortars at once and has decent loot, you should charge in there and take it from them! Weigh these things in your mind when reviewing a base, if you think you can break through and steal at least 175k gold or more, the base is a go.
For this guide, I'm going to recommend you avoid anti-hog bases. They're doable, but I think it requires a second guide. So, for the purposes of this guide, just avoid them.
Just like with PROPER a hog raid, to do this right you need to lure the heroes and CC away from defenses and kill them with barbs/arch.I like to deploy my barbs as a meat shield for the heroes/cc to attack and let a few archers take the enemy out. You can also use a lightning spell to kill cc troops after luring them out. If you're good at it, you can even lure CC troops to the DE storage and lightning them once they're on top. You kill the CC troops and get some DE at the same time. Please note, you shouldn't lighting DE alone cause it's dumb, but if you are going to throw your whole army at this base, get some DE while killing the CC! After this step is done, you're ready to start the main attack.
If one particular mortar looks like it will cause you trouble, and you have two lightning spells, zap it with both. Destroy the mortar before it deals heavy damage to your arch/barbs/gobs. If you can get to the mortars without this tactic though, it's best to save your spells for another raid.
Bases with funnelling or open walls are usually set up with spring traps that will toss giants everywhere. Don't enter these areas with a bunch of giants. Either send one giant on a suicide mission to launch the trap, or use your WB's to gain access to the base through a different route. Beware the giant's AI. Those guys will walk around to the opening of the closest defense if there isn't a closer hole already. So, if you launch a bunch of giants next to a cannon that is sitting inside of a wall segment with an opening, the giants will walk around the wall to the opening and set off any traps along the way. Never ever ever launch a bunch of giants like you would with a hog attack. Always test for traps before deploying them.
After you have tested for traps with either a giant, or a cheaper troop, you can begin the main attack. Launch about 4 giants towards whatever side you want to attack from. When picking a side, I usually go for the side with the most resources, or the side that has the defenses I want to destroy first next to one another. After youre giants are on their way, put a rage spell over the area they will be travelling to. Try to encompass as many walls and defensese in the rage circle as possible, while making sure that the giants aren't going to wonder from the rage circle before destroying all of the buildings under it. Once your giants are in, through some wb's in there to help clear them a path to new defenses. Your WB's should enjoy the benefits of the rage spell too while it's going, which is quite nice!
Once you have a few compartments blown up, send in the rest of your giants. They should catch the last bit of the rage spell, but will also be free of any traps your first 4 giants activated. If you want to use a second rage spell at this point you can, if you don't think you'll make it in far enough to get the resources you were after.
At this point in the battle, your giants are probably dispersing and most of the front line defenses are gone. You may have a few storages exposed and just need to go grab the loot. This is perhaps the 3rd most important part of this strategy, next to luring cc/heroes and checking for traps. Know the AI of your barbs/arch/gobs. They will run at the closest buildings to them and may not journey to the core of the base if there are perimeter buildings around. Clear out the perimiter buildings with a few troops before you send in large numbers of troops to attempt to backup your giants. You don't want your reinforcements dancing around the perimeter of a base. Clear out these buildings first, and then send in your archers/bars/gobs to clean up the mess your giants left behind.
Use heroes as you see fit, or keep them for the next raid.
Aftermath/Grading your Raid:
Most TH8's will be 3 starred by this army, if done correctly. It doesn't matter if they have skullies and all defenses maxed, this army can crush most of them, or at least get you to all of their storages.
Most early TH9's will be 2 starred and you should have most or all of their resources.
I'd recommend staying away from late TH9's and TH10's while you're new to this strategy, but once you're good you can get most of their resources and a 1-2 star victory usually.
If you can reach these levels on most of your raids, you'll know that you are attacking appropriately and picking your apponents well.
This is the first guide I've ever written, let me know what you think or if you have any questions!
